A Set of Elastic Bands W/ Adequate Resistance Can Fully Replace the Gym When You're Travelling - True or False?!

If you're doing only single-joint aka isolation exercises, you could fully replace your gym with a complete set of resistance training bands.

Wouldn't it be nice if all you had to do to be able to continuously make progress in the gym while you're traveling without even having to go there... I mean, to a gym? That's obviously a rhetorical question - a question the results of a recent study from the Norges Teknisk-Nnaturvitenskapelige Universitet in Trondheim, Norway (Iversen 2017), suggests that it can be answered in the affirmative... almost, at least, if you pack one or multiple (in that case with various resistances), elastic bands, whenever you travel.

Ah, and no... before you ask, the disclosure statement says the authors have "no potential conflict of interest".

Read more about exercise-related studies at the SuppVersity

Bands can Make Deadlifts More Effective

Chains and Bands Will Boost 1RM Gains

Bands Diversify and Improve 'ur Workouts

Full ROM ➯ Full Gains - Form Counts!

BFR-Preconditio- ning Useless for Weights?

Study Indicates Cut the Volume Make the Gains!

The fact that they used TheraBands® in the ERB (elastic resistance bands) group is thus probably a means to make the results representative of the results the largest group of resistance trainees would see. Speaking of groups, to elucidate, whether elastic resistance bands (ERB) can be a viable option to conventional resistance-training equipment (CRE) during multi-joint resistance exercises (for single-joint exercises this has already been proven), the authors compared muscular activation levels in four popular multiple-joint exercises performed with

• ERB (TheraBand®) vs. 
• CRE (Olympic barbell or cable pulley machines). 

In a cross-over design, men and women (n = 29) performed squats, stiff-legged deadlifts, unilateral rows and lateral pulldown using both modalities.

Figure 1: Overview of the EMG activity of training with resistance band (REB) vs. barbell & machines (CER) - The muscle activity is sign. reduced only during squats (Iversen 2017).

The scientists multilevel mixed-effects linear regression analyses of main and interaction effects, and subsequent post hoc analyses were used to assess differences between the two resistance-training modalities showed that...

• when all is said and done, the gym is still superior: CRE induced higher levels of muscle activation in the prime movers during all exercises (p < .001 for all comparisons), compared to muscle activation levels induced by ERB.
• on a per exercise basis, it's yet just the squat, where the muscle activation suffers significantly: the magnitude of the differences was marginal in lateral pulldown and unilateral rows and for the erector spinae during stiff-legged deadlifts; in squats, however, the quadriceps femoris activations were substantially lower for ERB.

The authors also found that the differences between ERB and CRE were mostly observed during the parts of the contractions where the bands were relatively slack, whilst the differences were largely eliminated when the bands became elongated in the end ranges of the movements.

Used correctly - REBs can augment your strength gains in the gym, too.

So what's the verdict? True or false!? Well, the scientists' conclusion that "ERB can be a feasible training modality for lateral pulldowns, unilateral rows and to some extent stiff-legged deadlifts, but not for the squat exercise" says it all. It depends on which body part you're training. The band may not be ideal for squats and thus leg training, but you can replace your gym with something as simple as a set of resistance bands, ... at least in the short run (a study confirming identical gains is still warranted, though, because EMG ≠ gainz, but the 'novelty effect', alone, should help you maintain or even gain muscle over those 1-2 weeks).

What? Oh yes, your guns... well, you must have overread that in the body of the article: Aboodarda, et al (2011, 2013 & 2016), Andersen et al. (2010), Brandt et al. (2013), or Jacobson (2012 & 2014) are only six out of many studies showing increases in strength and/or size with ERB training for single-joint exercises as you'd do them for your biceps and triceps - so there's reason to be afraid of losing your guns | Comment on Facebook!

References:

• Aboodarda, Saied, et al. "Electromyographic activity and applied load during high intensity elastic resistance and nautilus machine exercises." Journal of human kinetics 30 (2011): 5-12.
• Aboodarda, Saied Jalal, et al. "Resultant muscle torque and electromyographic activity during high intensity elastic resistance and free weight exercises." European Journal of Sport Science 13.2 (2013): 155-163.
• Aboodarda, Saied Jalal, Phillip A. Page, and David George Behm. "Muscle activation comparisons between elastic and isoinertial resistance: A meta-analysis." Clinical Biomechanics 39 (2016): 52-61.
• Andersen, Lars L., et al. "Muscle activation and perceived loading during rehabilitation exercises: comparison of dumbbells and elastic resistance." Physical therapy 90.4 (2010): 538-549.
• Brandt, Mikkel, et al. "Perceived loading and muscle activity during hip strengthening exercises: comparison of elastic resistance and machine exercises." International journal of sports physical therapy 8.6 (2013): 811.
• Iversen, Vegard M., et al. "Multiple-joint exercises using elastic resistance bands vs. conventional resistance-training equipment: A cross-over study." European Journal of Sport Science (2017): 1-10.
• Jakobsen, Markus Due, et al. "Muscle activity during knee‐extension strengthening exercise performed with elastic tubing and isotonic resistance." International journal of sports physical therapy 7.6 (2012): 606.
• Jakobsen, Markus Due, et al. "Effectiveness of hamstring knee rehabilitation exercise performed in training machine vs. elastic resistance: electromyography evaluation study." American journal of physical medicine & rehabilitation 93.4 (2014): 320-327.

Chains & Bands Can Double Your 1RM Strength Gains on the Bench and in the Squat Rack, Meta-Analysis Shows

Dude, it won't suffice to just bring your chains to the gym to show them off, you will also have to attach them to the barbell before squatting and benching to see results... and bro, the science on the benefits of elastic bands is much more solid - even though they are not as "cool"!

I've written about the use of bands and chains in previous SuppVersity articles, but Miguel A. Soria-Gila recent paper is the first meta-analysis that aggregates the available data to answer the important question, whether the use of "variable resistance" training (VRT), as the use of bands and chains is usually referred to in the literature, is generally advisable, or if the existing positive results are nothing but outliers.

Retraction alert: In November 2018, the paper by Soria-Gila that is at the heart of this article was retracted due to "honest error [...] which completely invalidated the results and interpretation of the findings (read more). Unfortunately, the type of error is not reported, so I can just say: probably my conclusions were mislead, too.

Now, from the headline of today's SuppVersity article you already know that Sotia-Gila's analysis yielded positive results, or as the authors have it: " Long-term VRT training using chains or elastic bands attached to the barbell emerged as an effective evidence-based method of improving maximal strength both in athletes with different sports backgrounds and untrained subjects."

Want to become stronger, bigger, faster and leaner? Periodize appropriately!

30% More on the Big Three: Squat, DL, BP!

Block Periodization Done Right

Linear vs. Undulating Periodizationt

12% Body Fat in 12 Weeks W/ Periodizatoin

Detraining + Periodization - How to?

Tapering 101 - Learn How It's Done!

What is particularly interesting, though, is whether the statistically significant benefits are practically relevant enough for you to consider bringing your chains and/or resistance bands to the gym.

Figure 1: Relative strength increase in bench press (BP), back squat (BSQ), leg press (LP) and squat (SQ) in response to regular and variable resistance training; if not indicated otherwise, the variable resistance training was done with bands, only the study by Ghigarelli, et al. compared bands to chains (Soria-Gila. 2015).

To answer this question we need both, the relative and absolute strength increases in both, the variable resistance training (VRT) and control groups of the four pertinent studies in the meta-analysis - data I've plotted for you in Figure 1 and 2.

Figure 2: Absolute increase in 1-RM strength (all values in kg) in the respective exercises (see Figure 1 for abbreviations) in the seven 7-week plus studies that were part of the meta-analysis (Soria-Gila. 2015).

In five of the studies (indexed with "(T)" in Figure 1) the subjects were trained individuals, in the studies by Anderson (basketball and hockey players + wrestlers), Cronin and McCurdy (baseball, Division I) the subjects actually had ~3 or even more years of training experience. The results of these studies may thus be of particular interest for the average SuppVersity reader of whom I know that he / she is not a total foreigner to gym. If we assume that they / you would see the same benfits, the extra-increases on the bench and in the squat would be:

• An extra 5% increase in 1RM and thus 2x greater strength gains on the bench.
• An extra 11% increase in 1RM and thus 2.6x greater strength gains for squats.

In relative terms the benefits you may achieve after only 10-13 weeks are thus quite impressive. But can the same be said for the absolute extra-gains? Soria-Gila et al. report an extra strength gain of 5.03 kg (95% confidence interval: 2.26–7.80 kg) for all studies and all exercises. If we, again, consider only the bench press and the squat and eliminate the studies with untrained participants, the absolute values are much smaller: 1.8 kg and 2.7 kg, respectively.

Are you looking for more ways to maximize your strength gains? Find out if training to failure or modifying your rest times can help in this SuppVersity article.

Variable resistance training for explosive gains? In relative terms, the effects are huge. Two-fold larger increases in 1-RM strength in trained subjects speak for themselves. The absolute strength gains, on the other hand, are - and that's typical for people who have been training for several years - relatively small. Accordingly, you should not expect to start gaining strength like a rookie again, when you incorporate bands (which are better researched than chains) in your training regimen. What you can expect, though, is that your progress will accelerate significantly. For the next 2-3 months this would mean that you may be able to add 4 kg to your bench instead of just 2 kg. That's not exactly earth-shatteringly much, but it's still a 100% increase in 1-RM strength and in my humble opinion worth the effort... no? | Comment on Facebook!

References:

• Anderson, Corey E., Gary A. Sforzo, and John A. Sigg. "The effects of combining elastic and free weight resistance on strength and power in athletes." The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 22.2 (2008): 567-574.
• Bellar, David M., et al. "The effects of combined elastic-and free-weight tension vs. free-weight tension on one-repetition maximum strength in the bench press." The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 25.2 (2011): 459-463.
• Cronin, John, Peter Mcnair, and Robert Marshall. "The effects of bungy weight training on muscle function and functional performance." Journal of sports sciences 21.1 (2003): 59-71.
• Ghigiarelli, Jamie J., et al. "The effects of a 7-week heavy elastic band and weight chain program on upper-body strength and upper-body power in a sample of division 1-AA football players." The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 23.3 (2009): 756-764.
• McCurdy, Kevin, et al. "Comparison of chain-and plate-loaded bench press training on strength, joint pain, and muscle soreness in Division II baseball players." The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 23.1 (2009): 187-195.
• Rhea, Matthew R., Joseph G. Kenn, and Bryan M. Dermody. "Alterations in speed of squat movement and the use of accommodated resistance among college athletes training for power." The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 23.9 (2009): 2645-2650.
• Shoepe, Todd, et al. "The effects of 24 weeks of resistance training with simultaneous elastic and free weight loading on muscular performance of novice lifters." Journal of human kinetics 29 (2011): 93-106.
• Soria-gila, Miguel A., et al. "Effects of variable resistance training on maximal strength: a meta-analysis." Journal Of Strength And Conditioning Research/National Strength & Conditioning Association (2015): Accepted article.

Exercise Research Update: Squat 4 Minutes Before Each Sprint | Hold the DB Right, When You Split Squat | Chains or Bands Will Vary Your Training & Maximize Your Power!

Don't forget to wait 4 minutes after your pre-sprint squats, otherwise the post-activation "bonus" is not going to show its maximal performance benefits.

Time for a brief review of the latest performance relevant exercise science from the Concordia University, the Palacky University in Olomouc and the University of Granada. Three studies that are packed with potentially performance-enhancing science on the post-activation effects of squatting before sprinting, the effect of different ways of holding your dumbbells during split and squats an walking lunges on muscle activity and the usefulness of adding bands and chains to your training regimen.

So, I guess it's best if I don't keep you on the not so tender hooks of suspense any longer and give you the elevator pitch of all three studies:

Read more short news at the SuppVersity

Exercise Research Uptake Nov '14 1/2

Exercise Research Uptake Nov '14 2/2

Weight Loss Supplements Exposed

Exercise Supplementation Quickie

Exercise Research Uptake Jan 12, 2015

Read the Latest Ex. Science Update

• Squat Before You Sprint (Wyland. 2015) - It's not exactly "news" that applying accommodating resistance combined with isoinertial resistance can effectively improve neuromuscular attributes important for sport performance.
  
  What is news, though, is the fact that short sprints can be acutely enhanced after several sets of back squats. News that was generated in a study involving twenty recreationally resistance trained males (age 23.3 ± 4.4 years; height: 178.9 ± 6.5 cm; weight: 88.3 ± 10.8 kg) who performed pre-post testing on 9.1 meter sprint time under three different conditions:

  "[O]n three separate days subjects either sat for five minutes (CTRL), performed 5 sets of 3 repetitions at 85% of their 1RM with isoinertial load (STND), or performed 5 sets of 3 repetitions at 85% of their 1RM, with 30% of the total resistance coming from elastic band tension (BAND) between pre-post 9.1 meter sprint testing. Post-testing for 9.1 sprint time occurred immediately after the last set of squats (Post-Immediate) and on every minute for 4 minutes after the last set of squats (Post-1min, Post-2min, Post 3-min, and Post-4min)" (Wyland. 2015).

  Repeated-measures ANOVA statistical analyses revealed no significant changes in sprint time across post-testing times during the CTRL and STND condition.
  

  

  Figure 1: Mean sprint times (s) in all three conditions (Wlyand. 2015).

  During the BAND condition, sprint time significantly decreased from Post-Immediate to Post-4min (p = 0.002). The uniqueness of accommodating resistance could create an optimal post-activation potentiation effect to increase neuromuscular performance. "Coaches and athletes can implement heavy accommodating resistance exercises to their warm-up when improving acute sprint time is the goal," Wyland et al. conclude.
• Hold the DBs Right, When You Split Squat or do Walking Lunges (Stastny. 2015) - If you are like me and you don't switch off your brain while you're training you will have noticed that the side on which you hold the dumbbell (assuming you don't do them unilaterally loaded, i.e. with weight on both sides)during split squats or walking lunges can have a significant effect on "where", i.e. in which muscle, you feel the exercise.
  
  According to a recent study by Stastny et al. this effect may be mediated by the effect the positioning of the dumbbells will have on the activity of the muscles which was assessed by the Polish researchers in both trained (RT) and untrained (NT) individuals via EMG measures.
  

  

  Figure 2: EMG during the eccentric phase and kinematics of all exercises (Stastny. 2015).

  What Stastny et al. found was that the effect of DB positioning was significantly more pronounced in the previously trained subjects (RT) in which the researchers observed a higher eccentric Gluteus Medius (Gmed) amplitude (p<0. 001, η²=0.46) during all exercises and a higher eccentric VL amplitude (p<0.001, η²=0.63) during contralateral walking lunges.
  
  Further differences were found between contralateral (=holding the weight on the opposite side) walking lunges and ipsilateral (=holding the weight on the same side) walking lunges in both the RT (p<0.001, η²=0.69) and NT groups (p<0.001, η²=0.80), and contralateral walking lunges resulted in higher eccentric Gmed amplitudes. In other words, if you want to train the Gluteus Medius, the broad, thick, radiating muscle, situated on the outer surface of the pelvis, hold the weight on the opposite side of the trained leg. 
• Use Chains or Bands to Power Up (Soria-Gila. 2015) - The advice is not actually new. Specifically, the tip to use bands to "power up" was in the SuppVersity news before. In view of the fact that my own gym experience tells me, though, that hardly anyone follows this advise, it may be worth taking another look at the data in Figure 3.
  

  

  Figure 3: Forest plot of the results of the meta-analysis of random effects showing the difference in mean weighted 1RM and 95% CI detected for the bench press, leg press, back squat and squat (5.03 kg; 95% CI: 2.26–7.80 kg; Z = 3.55; P < 0.001) in upper body training and lower body training subjects. Gray squares indicate the intervention effect (Soria-Gila. 2015).

  The data was collected by scientists from the University of Granada in Spain, who reviewed seven studies involving 235 subjects and concluded that "VRT [variable resistance training using bands and chains] le[a]d[s] to a significantly greater mean strength gain (weighted mean difference: 5.03 kg; 95% CI: 2.26–7.80 kg; Z = 3.55; P < 0.001) than the gain recorded in response to conventional weight training" (Soria-Gila. 2015).
  
  Now this is the point where you're supposed to acknowledge that "[l]ong-term VRT training using chains or elastic bands attached to the barbell emerged as an effective evidence-based method of improving maximal strength both in athletes with different sports backgrounds and untrained subjects" (Soria-Gila. 2015) and go get your bro's chains and your mothers resistance training bands ;-)

Squat 8% More on Your 1-RM Max Effort Set, INSTANTLY! And Generate 200% More Power After 7 Weeks of Training With Band-Aids | more

Bottom line: I have to admit that nothing in this research update is revolutionary new, but I bet that you'd already forgotten about the benefits of using bands and chains and never do squat before an important sprint - bad mistakes ;-)

What probably isn't that much of a bad mistake is that you probably don't do unilaterally loaded split squats and walking lunges, anyway... in case you do, though, you do now know that the position of the load influences only the gluteus medius, not the vastus medialis, vastus lateralis and biceps femoris loads, all of which were assessed in the Stastny study as well. Whether it makes sense to do this exercise, though, remains questionable... well, unless you want to train your gluteus medialis | Comment on Facebook!

References:

• Soria-Gila, Miguel A Nsca; Chirosa, Ignacio J Ph.D; Bautista, Iker J Ph.D; Chirosa, Luis J Ph.D; Salvador, Baena. Effects Of Variable Resistance Training On Maximal Strength: A Meta-Analysis. Journal Of Strength & Conditioning Research (2015): Ahead Of Print.
• Stastny, Petr; Lehnert, Michal; Zaatar Zaki, Amr Mohamed; Svoboda, Zdenek; Xaverova, Zuzana. Does The Dumbbell Carrying Position Change The Muscle Activity During Split Squats And Walking Lunges? Journal Of Strength & Conditioning Research (2015): Ahead Of Print.
• Wyland, Timothy P.; Van Dorin, Joshua D.; Cisco Reyes, G. F. Phd Cscs. Post-Activation Potentation Effects From Accommodating Resistance Combined With Heavy Back Squats On Short Sprint Performance. Journal Of Strength & Conditioning Research (2015): Ahead Of Print. 

Power Up With Bands: Inexpensive "Rubber Gear" Doubles Explosiveness of Professional Athletes and Will Have Similar Effects on the Bench Press of Regular Gymrats

Is "bench from the trench" all bro-science and you better bench with bands - additional bands, of course?

It's been a while since we've had a "simple" workout study here. With all the hypoxia or hyberbaric oxygen training shenanigan, it really seems as if there wouldn't be any simple and practicable ways to improve your training outcomes. Luckily, not all researchers focus on elite athletes who train in high-tech facilities with all sorts of performance enhancing gear.

David García-López, Sonsoles Hernández-Sánchez, Esperanza Martín, Pedro J. Marín, Fernando Zarzosa and Azael J. Herrero belong to this group of "low tech researchers" and their gear is a simple elastic band.

You're kiddin' me, right? Elastic bands?

I know rubber is not exactly what many of the bros consider "gear", but if you look at the astonishing results the researchers from the Laboratory of Physiology at the European University Miguel de Cervantes observed in their study, you may realize that "coolness" is a miserable guide, when it comes to exercise selection - in bros, pros, and noobs, by the way!

Figure 1: Acute changes in velocity and acceleration, when bench press is performed with / without additional bands; data expressed relative to inter-group means (García-López. 2014)

You want to know how I know that? Well, many of the bros are noobs when it comes to their actual training performance. So, if we are dealing with a study with 8 rugby players and 8 recreationally-trained subjects, we covered them all: Athletes, bros + noobs. And if the said study assigned the participants to two different experimental conditions in a cross-over design with

• regular training
• training with additional bands

says that the addition of elastic bands "significantly increased the range of concentric movement in which the barbell is accelerated and that this increase was significantly in higher in the "pros" (35%) compared to the "noobs" (13%), this tells you that using exercise bands may be especially beneficial for advanced trainees - exactly those people who usually laugh, when someone only mentions the green, red and blue bands.

Ain't got enough for today? Try this SuppVersity highly suggested read ➲ "Bicarbonate For Strength Athletes: 25g of Baking Soda Up Your Squat (+27%) and Bench Press (+6%) Within 60 Minutes" | read more

Bottom line: If we take into consideration that one of the major downfalls of the regular bench press is that it involves a certain amount of momentum, even if it is performed with picture perfect form. It is certain that adding a pair of elastic bands to your gym-tools will increase the time under tension. It is likely that this will help to increase your overall power and it is not impossible that it is going to to support your gains.

To make definitive statements about any of these "likely" and "possible" consequences of the regular use of additional bands during the bench press, we would yet need a 6-12 week trial the Spanish scientists would first have to finance - and let's be honest: Do you think the elastic band industry has the funds to do that ;-)

References:

• García-López, D. et al. "Free-weight augmentation with elastic bands improves bench-press kinematics in professional rugby players". Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. Jan 2014 [publish ahead of print]

Ballistics Lunge Activates Muscle to Just Like 34% Lighter Standardlift, Elastic Band & DBs Target Different Muscles. Plus: 10 Reasont to do Explosives & Plyometrics

Lunge with resistant bands as it was done in the study (Jakobsen. 2012)

The paper the Danish researchers Jakobsen, Sundstrup, C.H. Andersen, Aagaard and L. Andersen are about to publish in one of the forthcoming issues of Human Movement Science is not the first certainly won't be the last study on explosive training (more) and plyometrics (more) you have and still will read about, here at the SuppVersity. And while I am not sure whether you would say that it is the most exciting one, I am pretty convinced that you will be inclined to hear how different rep-speeds (ballistic=explosive vs. normal) effected the EMG activity during a full-body exercise like lunges with different loads and equipment (dumbbells vs. resistant band).

Before we start, just a brief reminder for all of you who have not read the SuppVersity EMG series as of now. If you want to know the "best" exercises to target specific muscle groups, I'd suggest you make a detour to all or just those body parts you are interested in by clicking on the respective image in the "navigation" below:

Chest	Biceps	Back	Core	Legs	Triceps	Shoulders
Navigate the SuppVersity EMG Series - Click on the desired body part to see the optimal exercises.

Apropos, lunges were (unfortunately) not among the exercises the researches tested in the study the EMG series is based on. I personally consider them extraordinary valuable for whole leg development, and have to caution you that comparing squats to lunges on EMG basis is somewhat like comparing different types of red using black and white photos, because one of the main and in my humble opinion probably the most important argument against the significance of EMG measurements is that they tend to increase with the degree of weight you can move - this puts lunges in as much into a somewhat disadvantaged position as flys as a chest exercise and could lead to the misunderstanding that it would be better to perform 10 sets of squats than 5 sets of 5 for squats and 4 sets 10 for lunges as a legworkout. Especially if your goal is skeletal muscle hypertrophy, the latter is usually (you know there are no black-and-white solutions) the far superior choice.

Same activation with less load = training economy

That being said, the results of the Jakobsen study do still have their merit. After all, they clearly show that doing explosive or ballistic movements can provide diversion and new growth stimuli especially on those "auxilliary" exercises like lunges. In that, the lower overall weight can even come very handy as it should effectively reduce the risk of injury, which is - let's be honest - a very good argument not to do max. squats in a ballistic fashion, at all.

Figure 2: Normalized EMG activity during lunges with elastic bands and dumbbells (Jakobsen. 2012)

In fact, the EMG measurements, the scientists took while their subjects, 42 subjects (18 men, 24 women; age 41/45 years, BMI 24/25m²/kg, respectively), performed unilateral lunges with their dominant / preferred leg using either elastic bands or dumbbells (see image at the top of this article) to adjust the resistance, do actually confirm that training explosively, i.e. performing the lunge movement as fast as possible (ballistic contractions) does provide an increased contractive stimulus (Desmedt. 1977; Frost. 2008; Sakamoto. 2012), which will allow you to ellicit almost identical EMG activity as during controlled reps at a rep-speed of ~3s per rep with 34% less weight. Or as Jakobsen et al. have it:

"[...] ballistic lunges performed with high speed at medium loadings showed broadly similar EMG amplitudes as that seen during slower controlled speeds with high loading." (Jakobsen. 2012)

Furthermore, the "high-speed lunges" obviously took less time and reduced the effective workout time by 23%. Now, while this could be an advantage on days where you have only a very limited time-window to train the researchers argue that this will lead to an overall reduction in time under tension and thus training volume and should - depending on your training goals (my addition) - be compensated by increasing the training volume during power training by ~23 "to  achieve the same accumulated time under tension" (e.g. doing 10 instead of just 8 reps per set).

"Wait, there is something else: What about those hilarious resistance bands?"

Actually, the benefits of explosive/ballistic training are yet only one out of two interesting findings of the study at hand, after all it's likewise interesting to see how the use of those often derided resistance bands effected the EMG activity and other training parameters. So let's see, compared to lunges done with isoinertial loading (=dumbbells)...

• lunges with elastic bands showed an overall higher EMG activity, which also resulted in a slightly but significantly higher level of perceived loading on the Borg CR10 scale
• training with resistance bands elicited higher EMG activity in knee and hip extensor muscles (vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, rectus femoris, gluteus maximus) and during the more flexed knee joint positions (i.e., in the reversal phase)
• performing lunges with resistance bands added an non-linear element to the actual resistance, with the "training load" increasing exponentially as the trainees approached the extended knee joint position 
• doing lungs with elastic resistance resulted in higher levels of erector spinae and gluteus activity and was more posterior kinetic chain-dominant, which means that they were characterized by higher levels of hamstring, gluteus and erector spinae activity 

The reasons for these differences are actually of biomechanical nature and the outcomes will probably change, if you used the bands differently. So, yes, wrapping the bands around your back / posterior shoulders will be necessary; and yes, only if you use bands similar to the close loop elastic 41 inch bands  (Iron Woody, MT, USA) the scientists used in the study will allow for identical effects (this obviously doesn't mean that you cannot do it with whatever other band you have grabbing them with your hands, but specifically the posterior kinetic chan-dominance is probably not going to be that pronounced if you do that. Why? Because you will miss the anterior pull from the distal attachment of the band below the leading foot, from where it runs to the contralateral shoulder - a pull of which Jakobsen and his colleagues argue that it ...

"[...] creates the need for generating a high net hip extensor moment. In result [...] gluteus, erector spinae and hamstring muscle activity seemed to be elevated in lunges using elastic resistance indicating an effective targeting of the hip and spinal extensor muscles throughout the range of motion." (Jakobsen. 2012)

Done the "right" way, lunges with appropriately selected elastic exercise bands (not the ones you get bundled with Kellog's Special K, or whatever ;-) can therefore be a very effective tool for thigh, hip and back development, and can - with more flexible bands - used as "an ideal exercise modality for the rehabilitation and prophylactic prevention of musculoskeletal disorders" (Jakobson. 2012).

10 scientific pieces of evidence to built a case for explosive training

If the Jakobsen study ain't enough to convince you to spend at least a couple of minutes thinking about whether or not explosive training or plyometrics (which is basically explosive training with body weight exercises) could make a valuable adjunct to your current training regimen the following 10 studies may put you in the right way:

• How can you easily implement explosive training into your current routine? There are obviously a million of ways you can implement plyometrics and explosive exercises, but if you simply wanted to incorporate them on a strength training day, as an additional, different training stimulus, the protocol the researchers in the PGC-1 α-4 study (see The IGF-1 up- & myostatin down - regulator) looks actually as if it was worth copying. This would mean that you start out with a ballistic movement (B), head into a strength part (S) and then finish up with a hypertrophy exercise (H).
  
  For leg day this could look like this: (B) 3 sets of ballistic lunges - 10-12 reps, use 66% of 10RM; (S) 5 sets of 5 reps on the leg press or in the squat rack (I suggest the leg press because it's less injury prone with really high weights), stop 1 rep away from failure; (H) 4 sets of 10 reps of deep barbell squats a 10RM + regular calf training.
  
  Obviously, this is just one way and not the way: You can also do a plyometrics only circle training or do a couple of sets of plyos + a LISS session on a separate day, etc.
  
  Be creative! Test your ideas and see how you feel, but don't simply add them on top of an already overcrowded workout!
  You can safely combine classic resistance training with explosive lifting without hampering the performance in one or another (Brandenburg. 2005)
• The addition of explosive training and high-resistance interval training to the programs of already well-trained cyclists improve exercise efficiency and anaerobic threshold and thus produce major gains in sprint and endurance performance (Paton. 2005)
• If you want to improve your 1-RM max, doing a low volume (2 reps) set of explosive push ups, or  2 medicine-ball (3 to 5 kg) chest passes 30s before the actual lift can help (Wilcox. 2006)
• Complex training, i.e. combination of heavy lifting and explosives yields higher performance gains than heavy lifting and plyometrics, alone, across all age groups (20, 40, 60y; cf. Dodd. 2007)
• Explosive resistance training is safe and well tolerated in healthy women even in the eighth decade of life and elicits adaptive neuromuscular changes in selected physiological variables that are commonly associated with the risk of falls and disability in aged individuals (Caserotti. 2008)
• Explosive plyometrics sessions comprising maximal unilateral countermovement jumps (CMJs), calf and squat plyometric jumps, and short sprints are as effective as shuttle runs in improving maximal running speed in young elite soccer players (Buchheit. 2010)
• Pimping a regular soccer training with two plyometrics session per week makes it more effective in building general athletic performance (Chelly. 2010)
• Plyometrics are safe for young children (5-14y) and beginning at 50-60 jumps a session and increasing exercise load weekly results in the largest changes in running and jumping performance (Johnson. 2011)
• Explosive isometric contractions induce neural and mechanical adaptations leading to large increases in maximum voluntary force production esp. during the early phase of a movement (50ms, +54%; cf. Tillin. 2012)
• When adjusted to absolute force production, the evoked capacity of the knee extensors for explosive force production and the ability to utilize that capacity during explosive voluntary contractions is similar for males and females (Hannah. 2012)

Bottom line: I guess with the concluding review that obviously raises no claim to completeness it should be clear that the complementation of, yet not (necessarily) the replacement of classic strength & hypertrophy training with plyometrics or explosive lifting with relatively low weight constitutes an effective means to increase the neuronal activation and thus exponentiate subsequent strength and muscle gains.

The Jack-of-All-Traits Leg Workout from the Sáez de Villarreal study I discussed on July 15, 2012, would also be something you may want to look into if you need some inspiration for your own routine.

You should be aware, though that despite the fact that plyometrics and light load explosive lifting do not put a similar strain on your body as the standard high intensity high volume BB routines and will thus probably require less time to recuperate, their incorporation into your routine will make it necessary to cut back on the overall volume of the rest of the exercises (I assume you will up your reps on the plyos anyway, so the total time under tension wouldn't be an issue). Whether you decide to replace a HIIT or regular cardio workout with a longer full body plyometric workout, or doing one exercise less during a hypertrophy specific strength workout in order to make room for additional plyometrics (see example workout to learn how that could look like) is up to you and depends on your current goals and training status.


References:

• Buchheit M, Mendez-Villanueva A, Delhomel G, Brughelli M, Ahmaidi S. Improving repeated sprint ability in young elite soccer players: repeated shuttle sprints vs. explosive strength training. J Strength Cond Res. 2010 Oct;24(10):2715-22.
• Brandenburg JP. The acute effects of prior dynamic resistance exercise using different loads on subsequent upper-body explosive performance in resistance-trained men. J Strength Cond Res. 2005 May;19(2):427-32.
• Caserotti P, Aagaard P, Larsen JB, Puggaard L. Explosive heavy-resistance training in old and very old adults: changes in rapid muscle force, strength and power. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2008 Dec;18(6):773-82.
• Chelly MS, Ghenem MA, Abid K, Hermassi S, Tabka Z, Shephard RJ. Effects of in-season short-term plyometric training program on leg power, jump- and sprint performance of soccer players. J Strength Cond Res. 2010 Oct;24(10):2670-6. 
• Desmedt JE, Godaux E. Ballistic contractions in man: Desmedt JE, Godaux E. Ballistic contractions in man: characteristic recruitment pattern of single motor units of the tibialis anterior muscle. J Physiol. 1977 Jan;264(3):673-93.
• Dodd DJ, Alvar BA. Analysis of acute explosive training modalities to improve lower-body power in baseball players. J Strength Cond Res. 2007 Nov;21(4):1177-82. 
• Frost DM, Cronin JB, Newton RU. A comparison of the kinematics, kinetics and muscle activity between pneumatic and free weight resistance. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2008 Dec;104(6):937-56.
• Hannah R, Minshull C, Buckthorpe MW, Folland JP. Explosive neuromuscular performance of males versus females. Exp Physiol. 2012 May;97(5):618-29. 
• Jakobsen MD, Sundstrup E, Andersen CH, Aagaard P, Andersen LL. Muscle activity during leg strengthening exercise using free weights and elastic resistance: Effects of ballistic vs controlled contractions. Hum Mov Sci. 2012 Dec 8.
• Johnson BA, Salzberg CL, Stevenson DA. A systematic review: plyometric training programs for young children. J Strength Cond Res. 2011 Sep;25(9):2623-33.
• Paton CD, Hopkins WG. Combining explosive and high-resistance training improves performance in competitive cyclists. J Strength Cond Res. 2005 Nov;19(4):826-30. 
• Sakamoto A, Sinclair PJ. Muscle activations under varying lifting speeds and intensities during bench press. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2012 Mar;112(3):1015-25.
• Tillin NA, Pain MT, Folland JP. Short-term training for explosive strength causes neural and mechanical adaptations. Exp Physiol. 2012 May;97(5):630-41.
• Wilcox J, Larson R, Brochu KM, Faigenbaum AD. Acute explosive-force movements enhance bench-press performance in athletic men. Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2006 Sep;1(3):261-9.