More Than Mobility: Build Strength with Rogue Monster Bands

Monster Bands are a great tool used in the gym to warm up and stretch, but they can also be used to help build serious strength.

Louie Simmons, the founder of Westside Barbell, known for being one of the strongest gyms in the world, is well known for popularizing and promoting the use of chains and bands to accommodate resistance, meaning they alter the strength curve of an exercise, making it harder at specific points in the lift. Using bands can help optimize strength training by manipulating the strength curve, improving bar speed, and developing strength at different parts of the lift.
Most lifts tend to have an ascending strength curve (easier at the top), but adding accommodating resistance in the form of bands can create a descending curve, making it harder at the top of the lift.

How can the bands be used?

Accommodating resistance: Bands increase tension as you lift, matching your natural strength curve (hardest at lockout, attach bands below the bar).
Overspeed eccentrics: On the way down, bands accelerate the load, teaching control and improving muscle recruitment (attach bands below the bar).
Reverse Band Training: Can reduce load at bottom of lift, making the hardest part of the lift easier, and can be used to allow you to train with loads heavier than normal (attach bands above the bar).
Versatile for both assistance & resistance

Some common applications of accommodating resistance using bands:

Band-Resisted Squats

Setup: Bands attached to the floor using dumbbells/kettlebells or band pegs, looped over the barbell.
Effect: Adds tension at the top of the squat to develop explosive lockout power.
Benefit: Improves speed, control, and top-end strength.

Band-Resisted Deadlifts

Setup: Bands anchored on a deadlift platform or under heavy dumbbells.
Effect: Forces faster lockout; great for lifters with weak top-end.
Benefit: Improves bar path, and lock out of the lift.

Band-Resisted Bench Press

Setup: Loop bands under bench or around pegs, up over bar.
Effect: Increases resistance through concentric phase.
Benefit: Great for explosive pressing power and lockout.

Some common applications of assisted variations (deload effect) using bands:

Reverse Band Squats

Setup: Bands attached overhead (to a rack), barbell loops through bands.
Effect: Lightens load at the bottom, full weight at top.
Benefit: Allows overloading safely and builds confidence with heavy loads.

Reverse Band Deadlifts

Setup: Bands from top of rack, bar suspended slightly.
Effect: Lighter off the floor, heavier at lockout.
Benefit: Makes breaking the ground easier, but the lock out harder.

Reverse Band Bench Press

Setup: Bands attached overhead (to a rack), barbell loops through bands.
Effect: Lightens load at the bottom, full weight at top.
Benefit: Helps overload the top portion of the press without shoulder strain.

Monster bands can also be used in the following ways:

Dynamic Effort Work

Speed reps with bands (light weight + high speed) to improve rate of force development (popularized by Westside Barbell).

Recovery

Increase bloodflow
Band Pull-aparts / Face Pulls
For shoulder health and upper back activation before benching.

Triceps & Glute Work

Banded pushdowns, kickbacks, hip thrusts, and pull-throughs to target accessory muscles.

Shorty Monster Bands make it easier to hang weights from a barbell without having to loop longer bands multiple times. This training technique technique is called “band-suspended loading” or “chaos training.” It is used to improve stability, control, and bar path awareness during lifts like the bench press, squat, or deadlift.

Hanging weights like plates and kettlebells from bands will swing slightly, causing the load being lifted to become unstable. The muscles being used in the lift will work harder to help stabilize the load. This instability can create a significant training stimulus without the need for heavy load.

Benefits of suspending load from the bar:

Improves neuromuscular control. Helps to train motor control, proprioception, and bar path discipline and can therefore be used to not only develop strength but during rehabilitation from injury.
Increases time under tension as the lifter has to move slower as accurately as possible. This therefore creates a significant stimulus from the eccentric portion of the lift, and betters the movement pattern of the lift.
Can be used to strengthen the core musculature and muscles used to stabilise the bar, especially in overhead lifts or holds.

Commonly used in the following lifts:

Bench Press

Enhances shoulder stability and bar path control.
Can be used for the complete lift or holds at lockout
Used during deloads, rehab, or as an accessory variation.

Squats – Back, Front and Overhead

Forces the lifter to stabilize through the entire range of the lift, and shoulder stabilisation in the overhead position
Especially effective for breaking bad habits like shifting, collapsing knees, or bouncing or creating confidence in the catch of the snatch

Deadlifts

Usually done with deficits or light weight.
Improves bar path and control off the floor.

Whether you’re looking to develop explosive power, improve bar path control, or add variety to your training, Monster Bands offer a straightforward way to get more out of your lifts. Easy to set up and built to last, they’re a tool worth having in any serious strength program.