It’s always nice to see my articles published (words made flesh so to speak!) and despite what will hopefully remain a glut of work with major magazines (I think we had articles in about five publications last month) I was very pleased with the latest one, on the principles of accommodating resistance in weight training, to appear in Men’s Health.

This is because it was not just words by Nick Mitchell, but also photos of Rich Phillipps (our female fat loss personal trainer) taken in our own London personal training gym.  In fact if you squint hard enough at some of the exercise demonstration photos you can even see a black & white photo of me lurking on a far wall.  Anyone who makes the suggestion that it is a B&W shot because they didn’t have colour back in my day will be forever banned from this blog!!

All being well the article will inform you about why accommodating resistance is such an important tool for advanced trainees, and if you want to read up on the subject in a bit more detail I have written a more in depth piece (Accommodating Resistance and Weight Training With Chains) that is featured in the training section on the main Ultimate Performance website.

Some quick take home lessons on Accommodating Resistance include:

1) Never use chains and the principle of Accommodating Resistance unless you have been weight training for at least 12 months, and in most cases 18 months would be better.

2) Never use Accommodating Resistance (chains or bands) for more than 3 weeks in a row.  It can be very hard on the nervous system and will lead to overtraining if used too frequently.  I often like to alternate one chains workout with one regular session.

3) The use of accommodating resistance on extensor movements is particularly effective for added muscle mass and power.  Tricep extension variations spring to mind.

4) One of the main tools of accommodating resistance – chains, at least in the United Kingdom, are notoriously hard to buy.  Contact Watson Gym and read the Men’s Health article to get a 10% off coupon code.

5) And finally, if you are one of the poor sods stuck at a commercial gym that will not allow you to use chains and bands and therefore have no clue as to the real benefits of utilising accommodating resistance in your training, then please heed my heartfelt advice and go join a real gym!  We have our personal training gym in London that is choc full of chains and bands, and there are plenty of other venues to try.  If you are struggling to find one just post a comment below and I will tell you the nearest one that I know to you.

Men’s Health Article by Nick Mitchell – How To Use Chains