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Other/Mixed What are your favorite assistance exercises?

Other strength modalities (e.g., Clubs), mixed strength modalities (e.g., combined kettlebell and barbell), other goals (flexibility)
watchnerd said:
Ditto.

I have years of catch up work to do on biceps because I bought into the meme that curls "aren't functional".
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The question is: after the years of catching up on your biceps work - will those curls lead to better function in your lifts/sport? You'll then know if they're functional...or not.
 
Washed up Meathead. said:
For me, weighted pullups and chinup variations. I've always loved them and they have a lot of carryover to other lifts.

Also with Assistance work, Any kind of grip work. I enjoy it but it's also very important and I put a high priority on it.

Your grip can never be too strong and the stronger your grip is, the more force you can apply through your hands to the bar, handle or whatever lift you are training.

Imo for a lot of people in lifts like heavy snatches, Deadlifts or pull-ups for example the grip is the weak link and it's holds back progress. They have the body strength but not the grip required. Making your grip a priority and as strong as possible will take your training to new heights.
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Why don't the people with grip problems use straps
 
Honestly any "assistance" movements I do I build into the warmup

So an example on my military press days (say ROP, victorious etc)

OS resets
Some shoulder stab stuff like TGU or arm bar
TRX rows, Ys, Ts etc for some pulling
Carry variation

Then get into my training

I think of them as more of "fillers" bc they're filling in the gaps in my main training... I think there is a myth out there that you have to train every pattern with equal intensity for balance, I don't buy that... Like gray cook says "maintain the squat, train the DL"

On my swing A+A or Q&D days

OS resets
Some glute bridges & mini band walks
Goblet Squats

Then get into it

If you're overly concerned about hitting everything then you could hit 2-3 sets of a light complex in your warmup
 
Antti said:
Why don't the people with grip problems use straps
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To each and their own, I personally would never use straps as I want to hands to be strong as can be and my hands can always hold whatever i can pull.

Imo they do have their place in lifts like Deadlifts, a lot of people overuse them to though and that's why they have weak grips.

You can't really use them for kettlebells though.
 
Washed up Meathead. said:
To each and their own, I personally would never use straps as I want to hands to be strong as can be and my hands can always hold whatever i can pull.

Imo they do have their place in lifts like Deadlifts, a lot of people overuse them to though and that's why they have weak grips.

You can't really use them for kettlebells though.
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Personally, I would never want any of my training to be compromised by grip strength.

If I really had a grip strength issue, I would train it separately.
 
Washed up Meathead. said:
Imo for a lot of people in lifts like heavy snatches, Deadlifts or pull-ups for example the grip is the weak link and it's holds back progress. They have the body strength but not the grip required. Making your grip a priority and as strong as possible will take your training to new heights.
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Tell me something about it. Specifically in my case, when I significantly improved my grip, my snatch went from 16kg to 28kg in few weeks. And also the biggest obstacle in achieving S&S simple was a grip... again. Now it is no more a problem ^^
 
Kenny Croxdale said:
The Infamous "They"

Who is the "They" of this opinion?
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For example, I went through several discussions on this forum, where the topic was "Is A,B all you need?" and the discussion was sometimes quite fierce.

Kenny Croxdale said:
What are your favorite assistance exercises?

Most invividual favorite Assistance Exercises, all Exercises, are the one's the good at.
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Not in my case. I was dying of boredom when I was doing rows and split squats/lunges - I took me some time to realize how important for me they are. And I cannot say I am good at them.
 
jozko said:
Tell me something about it. Specifically in my case, when I significantly improved my grip, my snatch went from 16kg to 28kg in few weeks. And also the biggest obstacle in achieving S&S simple was a grip... again. Now it is no more a problem ^^
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That is awesome man, I bet that felt good to progress so quick?

It's a common problem yet many still don't address it as grip training might not be the most exciting thing to train. Too many people believe normal training is enough for grip, for the vast majority it's not.
 
jozko said:
I was thinking a lot about assistance exercises recently. The opinions on this topic differ greatly, from "assistance work is overrated" to "variety is the key".

Depending on your background, occupation and leisure time activities, you might fall anywhere between this. If you are very active person, then your everyday life is your assistance work and you do not need to worry about it as much as I do.

The answer for me lies somewhere in between - I like my training to be structured and well-defined, but my body definitely does not like doing only 2 or 3 exercises.

After quite a bit of experimentation, I identified my big three for assistance work, which is pretty compatible with all protocols I like (RoP, DFW, Red Zone, S&S,...):
  • horizontal rowing. My shoulders crave for it! I like gorilla rows, because they can be done with two kettlebells and they do not put much stress to lower back.
  • single kettlebell overhead squat. Shoulders, basically whole back, hips and knees.
  • split squats/lunges - at the first sight redundant with the one above, but as a sedentary guy I apparently need both.
Sure, there other movements I do, but this forms main part of my assistance work during these days.

So - what are yours? How often do you do them?
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I have been doing reverse step ups. I can really feel the difference in knee stability. I recommend these for those who can't do a pistol yet.
 
Washed up Meathead. said:
That is awesome man, I bet that felt good to progress so quick?

It's a common problem yet many still don't address it as grip training might not be the most exciting thing to train. Too many people believe normal training is enough for grip, for the vast majority it's not.
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Of course it did!

Grip training requires quite a bit of volume, at least in my case. The trick was to train grip without specifically training a grip - thick bar RDL, farmer's walk, pull ups on a wooden joist instead of comfortable pull up bar, etc.
 
jozko said:
Of course it did!

Grip training requires quite a bit of volume, at least in my case. The trick was to train grip without specifically training a grip - thick bar RDL, farmer's walk, pull ups on a wooden joist instead of comfortable pull up bar, etc.
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Excellent.

That's mainly the way I train grip myself, I like to make normal moves more grip heavy if I can, so for example instead of normal weighted pullups I'll train them using 2 thick ropes, towels or a 2" thick bar.
 
Antti said:
Personally, I would never want any of my training to be compromised by grip strength.

If I really had a grip strength issue, I would train it separately.
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Which is important, since your grip recovery is a lot different from your deadlift recovery. Dictating it to be trained differently.

Personally my grip improved once I started using straps strategically.

Oddly enough, my deadlift is the same with and without straps. But if I use straps, my grip isn't as fried for more grip intensive events like farmer walks.

There might just be a reason why the best grip athletes use straps when they deadlift...
 
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