Has anyone heard of putting chains on the bench and squat bars

Question

My coach is using 1/2 steel chains that weigh 25 or so pounds for weight lifting. Why is he doing this and how does it work

Answer 1

like durf said.  With the chains, as you bring the bar down to your chest (for bench press) part of the chains rest on the ground, making the weight lighter, the closer it gets to your chest.  it also allows a lighter weight as you're pushing off from your chest then increasing as you get the bar farther and farther from your chest.

its basically like someone is taking off weight for the hardest part of the lift, then adding for the easier part, but a lot less complicated.

the chains allow you to get all your reps in, at the best possible weight, rather than not being able to pump out all your reps because the weight is too heavy to lift off your chest.

Answer 2

that is a very good question

maybe he is trying to get you to work on you balance

ask him about it to make sure tho

Answer 3

while your benching and squating the hardest part of the lift is at the bottum when you first start pushing up. so the idea behind using chains when doing some of these lifts is that at the bottum of the lift the wieght is lighter and as you go up it would normaly get easier but with chains the heigher you go the more the chain comes off the ground and the more wieght you have to lift. so doing this helps work the muscles that you use at the top of the lift as well as the ones you use at the bottum