stretch band exercises

[Sharla]

Hi - I've been looking into doing exercises with stretch bands as part of my resistance training and I have a few questions for those in the know

I've been looking through this book called "strength band training" by Phil Page and Todd Ellenbecker. One of the exercise in the "functional Training Programs" chapter is called a "Serratus Punch".

It involves tying a stretch band to something shoulder height behind you, holding the end of the band with your arm extended in front of you and then extending to turn the fist and complete the punch motion. The actual exercise only uses about 6 inches of movement - not the complete punching motion. Do you think this type of exercise is actually very specific to boxing training even though it is exercising a small ROM?

Also while on the subject of ROM there were shoulder exercises in the same book which involved standing with one foot in front, wrapping the band around your elbow keeping it bent at a right angle holding the end of the band in your hand (on the side of the rear foot). The band is stretched behind you rear knee and secured under your front foot. You raise and lower your bent elbow to work your shoulder.

The book warned not to raise your elbow higher than shoulder level if you have a history of shoulder injuries. In light of the fact we might be prone to rotator cuff injuries as boxers is it best to stick to this rule for all of these kinds of shoulder exercises as a preventative measure? Or will this reduction in ROM actually increase our chances of getting a shoulder injury if we haven't already had one?

[md]

Prehabilitation is better than rehabilitation. Nothing wrong with training muscles in isolation with a view to making the whole body better. Weak links in the kinetic chain are generally the ones that cause injuries either directly or indirectly.

[tkdboy]

ill be honest i cant tell you about injuries but i can tell u from experience i use bands in my training and i find it helps my punching power and speed. i use more of a ROM than your talking about and do some twisting exercises to improve core strength.

[Sharla]

Thanks MD and tkdboy - I'll keep both your suggestions in mind when planning my resistance training.

There are so many options for resistance training it's easy to get a bit lost trying to plan the most successful program while keeping time for the almost daily cardio and boxing trainings so I appreciate your advice. :-)