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Hybrid
Training
By Nick Nilsson - Review
Review by Rahul Alvares
I first started using
exercise bands when I was training with a powerlifter Greg who
was following the Louie Simmons’ Westside Barbell Club style
of training. Greg was immensely strong (and built like most powerlifters
with a fair amount of fat!) and he trained a lot with bands. The
advantage of using bands he told me was that unlike regular weights
they perfectly accomodated for the variable strength curve of
every exercise.
Take for example if you are doing
an overhead tricep extension with a dumbell. You will notice that
your weakest point is somewhere when your arm is fully bent behind
your neck and you are at your strongest when your arm is almost
fully flexed overhead. Actually in lockout position you will notice
that there is almost zero pressure on the tricep. This was an
unavoidable drawback of using good ol’ iron, that is until
Westside Barbell (and now Hybrid Training!) came into the picture!
Bands eliminate this disadvantage.
Take the same tricep extension exercise but perform it with an
exercise band. The band perfectly compensates for the variable
strength curve by offering least resistance at your sticking point
and most resistance at your strongest point. And at lockout the
band is practically alive and tearing at your tricep!
Westside Barbell is basically a
powerlifting routine focussing on a few basic compound exercises
only and it was but natural that they should use bands for only
a few exercises. (Actually they also use chains but let’s
not get Nick Nillison started on that cause knowing him he’ll
soon be torturing us with a book only on chain training!)
Hybrid Training is the bodybuiders
solution to band training. And what a piece of work it is. A total
of 40 exercises covering all the major muscles of the body,almost
all of them using exercise bands. Most of them actually are a
combination of regular weights, pulley cables, and, bands (I now
finally understand why the title Hybrid Training!)
The best part about the exercises
is that they are extremely home-gym friendly. Actually with just
a few free weights, a power rack , and a pulley you can get by
with most of the exercises all at home. This suits me just fine
since I train in small sessions throughout the day and I can’t
be bothered with using the car to get to the gym all the time
(As an added advantage I consume less fossil fuel these days thus
reducing the size of my carbon footprint on the planet. Talk about
a butterfly effect!) Ok ok…I’ll stop with the environment
lecture and get back to Hybrid Training!
Considering that the reader is going
to find most of the exercises new, a lot of what I’ve mentioned
in past reviews of Nick Nilsson’s other books also holds
true (see Best Arm Exercises and Best Exercises You’ve Never
Heard Of). In short, you might find some exercises unsuitable
for you either because you don’t have the exact equipment
for it, you don’t get a good feel with it, you get too many
stares from people in the gym while performing it, or all of the
above!
Still I am confident that just like
the exercise band that so beautifully compensates for the natural
strenght curve of the muscle, Hybrid Training is a book that anyone
from the geriatric fitness enthusiast to the serious musclehead
will find extremely useful.
Like all of Nick Nilsson’s
books this is a must have.
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