Choosing assistance lifts
Trying to figure out what assistance movements to use to raise your squat, bench, deadlift, or whatever lift can be confusing. Who here has made great progress on an assistance lift and seen no improvement in the main movement? Here is a couple of tips to prevent wasting your time.
1)The best movements will usually mimic the pattern of the main lift. Heres a few:
Bench:boards, close grip, wide grip, floor press
Squat: box squats, pause squats, reverse band squats,SSB
Deadlift:box pulls, deficits, stiff leg deads, RDL
2)You will usually initially suck at the assistance lift for thats perfect for you. The problem is that no one really likes doing something they suck at. It may be hard on the ego but if your a competitor, nobody really cares how much you board press or pause squat. If your chosen assistance lift is getting stronger and the main movement is stuck then its time to change. 2 Board press 405 and pause bench 315? You dont need to spend alot of time doing boards. Bench 315 and board press 335? You know what you got to do.
3)You still should do the lifts you are trying to improve. Do basketball players practice on a 12 foot goal and play games on the 10 foot one? It doesn't transfer. Strength sports are sports. The more you practice, the better you will get at that sport. Do the main lift, an assistance lift, and then do whatever you need to do to meet your goals.
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