Bands: are they an alternative to a barbell and weights?

So I've been using these bands to workout.
http://www.muscledriverusa.com/Strength-Bands-4-inch--X-Heavy--BlackGray_p_809.html

Are they the same as a barbell with weights?
Definitely not.  If you do a deadlift with only the bands using no barbell, most of the resistance happens as you go higher up to the top of the lift. If you do a deadlift with a barbell and weights, most of the resistance is encountered just by breaking inertia and lifting the bar off the ground.

Will the bands translate to strength gains in my
barbell lifts?
That remains to be seen, and if I had to guess I would answer "no". The reason I say that  is for the same reason I stated in the above paragraph. Most of the resistance doesn't happen until you're almost done completing the lift. Another reason is that the bands limit the range of motion as you near lift lockout. This doesn't allow all the muscle fibers to be recruited as much as when compared to lifting with a barbell and weights.


So then why would I stop lifting with weights?
Time. I have little time to workout. When you're working out, it takes  time to setup the weights. The stronger you are the more time it takes to setup more plates on a barbell. If you have to work out at the gym, you might have to wait ten or more minutes to get on a power rack. If you keep on waiting to get on equipment, that will increase your workout time drastically.

The bands eliminate these problems. I can take my bands outside and workout on the sidewalk. That gets rid of the gym. Also setup time is negligible. A couple seconds to secure the band to place resistance on your targeted muscle is all it takes.

I'm also using  bands for economic reasons. To be blunt, I'm in debt. The reason for that is I'm spending too much time working out and trying to recover from my workouts. I could easily hit the six hour mark from the time I get into the gym until I finished eating my first post workout meal.  When I lose time, I lose money.
Until I pull myself out of this crushing debt, I will continue to use bands.

As for my total body workout post, I stand behind it. I was going to start applying the max out set routine to my stiff legged deadlift because I plateaud on it for a couple weeks, and I think max out sets would have yielded a greater training effect and hence led to a strength gain.  However to maintain the integrity of my total body workout routine, I won't be updating it any time soon because I stopped doing it.