+joymonkey 89 anatomy and physiology (bio 106): biceps govern arm flexion and assist with internal rotation of the anti brachial. arm extension is governed by the triceps.
I'm totally sold on your methods. I've watched many training videos in the last few months, and no-one is as no nonsense and down to earth as you appear to be. Maybe not the best produced videos, but certainly right up there in content and sensibility.
My favorite assistance exercises are: Hip thrusts (under developed glutes compared to quads), incline bench, and pause reps of squat - bench - deadlift
My favorites - Direct Core work - Impossible to have too strong of a core Planks Leg Raises Pallof Press This next group is for muscle balance for muscles that I don't feel are hit well by the compound movements Rear Delt Flys Bicep Curls Shrugs (for traps) And finally Lat Pulldowns - for those that suck at pullups/chin ups this is a good way to strengthen Lats
My training is for Muay thai. Strength training (3x5, Mon, Weds, Fri) then I drop the weight and work exercise form and do pause reps(3x5) for all the major lifts. After the main lifts I do a body weight circuit consisting of chin ups, push ups, body weight squats, and lunges(5xF for Chinups the rest are 10 reps). On non strength days (Tues, Thurs, Sat) I do Muay thai, either before or after that I do a kettlebell circuit routine; Halos, KB swings, KB single arm shoulder press, KB front squats, KB single leg lunges, KB one arm swing, KB Deadlift, KB High pull, KB Clean, KB Clean & Jerk and finally KB Snatch. Heavy kettlebell for 5x5, Swings and single arm KB are from 10-20 reps. Once I finish that I work on other body parts that may be lacking in strength, pullups, triceps, biceps, calves. Also I try to work my way up to do a proper BB Front squat and Power Cleans so I practice my form with either a empty bar or super light weight. After all that I go run outside until I can't run anymore. The reason why I do all is because I feel like it's improving my strength in Muay thai. I feel stronger, faster and my hips have more strength. Also I love going to the gym and working out. I do have one day off and that's Sunday, but other than that everyday is working towards my goal in becoming a beast in Muay thai. Not to compete and win trophies but for my own personal gain.
Yo Alan was having trouble getting through a workout today about 3/4 of the way through and I just kinda jokingly said train untamed to myself and I got through it felt more motivated afterwards! Just wanted to say your an inspiration for me and I look forward to being able to watch all your videos man thanks for the content and wisdom.
Barbell rows to build my upper back and to stabilize my core Snatch grip deadlifts/Power Snatches to work on back and explosivity for the Deadlift Thanks Alan!
Favorite Assistance exercises 1. Barbell Hip thrust, same reasons as KB swings. Great glute worker, helps DL lockout 2. Overhead walking lunges, Works upper back and improves shoulder stability as well as hitting legs. 3. One armed Dumbbell over head press, without a counter weight in the other hand the core is worked to maintain stability. Good shoulder and tricep work. 4. Stiff leg DL, Romanian DL, and Deficit DL. A mainstay in all my programs. I hit the gym 3x a week and one of these is always being done. Either for strength, conditioning, or even cardio. 5. Pullups and/or Rows - same reasons. My newest cycle I'm throwing in Farmer's walks, looking forward to it. Thanks for sharing Alan!
As always, solid content my man. Your posting frequency is becoming so reliable that every Tuesday I'm going straight to your channel to see what I can find, and always delighted to see something new there. Killing the game my friend, killin' it.
+Alan Thrall (Untamed Strength) Hello Alan. Thank you for the excellent content in your vids. I find heavy Turkish Getups not only build my core strength but also aid in shoulder health and stability. I've been hitting them mid-week for several months and have been having really positive results.
I love Jefferson curls for spinal segmentation. Not only has it increased my awareness of where my spine is in the world when I'm deadlifting--or even doing clean and jerks--it's also increased the range of motion in my entire posterior chain, thus allowing an exponentially better setup and pull.
Hi, I'm 12 and I train bench and OHP. The movements I do to improve my bench (no weak spot at the moment): bench (main lift), bench with a pause (working on competition style, adding more volume), incline bench (pec developement), dumbell bench (pec developement). For OHP I'm doing: OHP (main lift), seated OHP (adding more volume), one arm dumbell press (delts development, core), bench with OHP width grip (medium grip in my case) (triceps, delts dev), front squats (legs, core), side crunches with weight (abs), goodmornings (post chain). Also for back I'm doing barbell rows and bicep barbell curls for biceps. Thank you.
Rack pulls and deficit deadlifts for help my deadlift, weighted dips and close grip bench to help my bench, and front and paused squats to help my squats. Awesome stuff
Glad to see you favor a lot of what I do. The one thing I might add, is when I don't have access to a proper kettlebell, I'll do hip thrusts with a barbell. Basically the same thing, working on explosive glute strength. Not for the socially conscience, as people will stare at you as you essentially hump the air with a giant barbell. My biggest sticking point on DL was the top end, and KB swings and hip thrusts really helped me overcome plateaus. I will also do Turkish Get-ups, KB snatches, front squat, and KB goblet squats depending on what my goals or what I think my weaknesses are (i.e. posterior or anterior work).
Barbell Glute bridges are a personal favorite of mine. I work an office job and play Ice hockey which is a great recipe for screwed up hip flexors and have found glute bridges the most effective way to keep my hips functional
My favourite assistance movements are: -Pause squats: They allow me to synchronise my squat more efficiently, and avoid shooting my butt up. I also do a lot of front squats to remedy this. -Incline press: Allows me to simultaneously work my shoulders and chest in one barbell movement. Both of which are weak muscles in my bench press. -Upper back work: Helps my lockout on deadlifts.
Sprints!! Short sprints at 100% with full recovery, long sprints with short recovery and every combination possible has really helped my main lifts. My CNS feels amped up and my glutes and hamstrings have benefitted from the extra work! Not to mention I've dropped some excess body fat lol.
my favorite assistance exercises deadlift: close grip/medium grip mid rows for the lats and mid back. slow and moderate weight weighted low back extensions to reinforce spinal erector and hamstring strength face pulls for rear delts and upper back. slow and high volume alternating dumbell curls bench press: dips along side slingshot pushups as cluster sets. slow and controlled dips 4-6 reps and ballistic slingshot pushups 15-20 reps. incline dumbell presses dumbell crossface tricep extensions slow and controlled followed by slow and heavy tricep press downs squats: front squats for quads sets of 5s wide stances box squats for abductors/adductors sets of 5s occasionally high volume leg presses
Love your assistance work Alan. My squats are suffering so I do box squats and belted squats for strong quad development and they also keeps my form on point too
for Deadlift: - Deficit Deadlifts - speed off the floor - Rack pulls - lockout, and general upper back development. They make my entire upper back look like a shield. for Squats: - Front Squats - low-rep for real quad power, higher-rep for a little more endurance and speed - Pause Squats - staying tight the whole way through, making sure I hit proper depth when squatting normally. - GoodMornings (help my DL as well) - ham & lower back development, important since I DL with quite a wide stance and need a lot of strength at the base of my back. For Bench: - Incline DB bench - keeps me stable when pressing and benching heavy - Dips - preferably low-rep, weighted - not a movement I enjoy, but one that helps by bench a lot. For OHP (a main lift for me - I'm a dancer, overhead strength is a big deal) - Wide-angle DB press - almost mimicking a BTN BB press, but with a little more freedom to move so it's kinder to my joints - Front & Lateral raises - laterals make sure I can keep the bar (or partner) stable when overhead, front raises seem to help give me more power out of the bottom of the lift Things like Inca pushups, static crucifix holds with cables or dumbells, depth jumps and prowler pushes/drags help as well, for general speed/explosiveness, endurance, conditioning etc. A big part of my training has to be geared towards stability when lifting - as I said above, I'm a dancer, and people are a lot less stable than bars. Being able to press and support from all angles is a really important attribute.
deadlift: -barbell row or pendulum row -box squats -shrugs squat: -paused squats -legpress -rdl Bench: -paused Bench -JM press -dumbell press inclined OHP: -front lever, side laterals -Z-press for imbalanceds I do reverse butterflies high reps, this YTWL Band and face pulls. I superset these after OHP, Bench, JMpress befor I go to a assistanve exercise. Band and chains are cool as well sometimes. Ton of mobility and ab work besides.
Heavy Kroc rows are my go to deadlift lockout assistance exercise. 3-5 Sets of 5-8 each side using chalk or straps if needed, but they are also valuable for building grip strength so if you have a weak grip I wouldn't recommend straps. Never a lockout issue again since I started adding Kroc rows to my program
Landmine row/T-bar row because it lights up your upper back, traps, and biceps. I also love trap-bar/hex-bar deadlifts because they're like a hybrid between squats and deadlifts.
I think the most important benefit of assistance work is that they are more fun :) I enjoy the squat press and deadlift but they get stale. mixing up my workouts with different assistance workouts gives me something new to learn and something that I can improve on more quickly than the main lifts which keeps training fresh. my favorite assistance work is the ssb squat because it puts the weight forward like a front squat but I am not as limited by mobility. also, farmers walks are dope. and anything that lets me press with a different grip. ie: football bar, dumbbells, axles, etc
Snatch grip dl, stiff legged dl and heavy hip bridges for deadlift. Lunges and step ups for squat. Pull-ups, close grip bench, db press, dips, and high rep dumbbell rows for bench and overhead press
1k likes and 1 dislike.... people must be loving your channel for the pragmatism. Keep it up man! Over here in Sac finally doing the bench press the most efficient way (ramping) and getting better at it each time. Thanks for your videos.
I do a lot of KB variatons aswell, not only to help increasing overall core strengt, but keeping myself injury free. I also do a lot of planks and TRX Workouts in a high intensitiy way since its supporting me in mountainbiking and climbing.
Deficit Paused Conventional Deadlift; I heavy deadlift sumo as a main, so deficit conventional stance helps me get my sumo pulls off the floor, pause just for the extra lower back work.
Rolling DBs or JMs for pressing. Just really helps me focus on the triceps. Farmer's walks for my grip. Front Squats for my Quads (to help with my deadlift speed off floor mostly as well). Glute ham raise or kettle bell swings for my glutes. RDLs for my Hamstrings/Posterior chain.
I like one-arm body weight rows on rings as well as one arm push ups, as both train rotational core stability AND make you stronger at pushing/pulling.
I love the concept of understanding why for all movements. Do you have a video on why each of the main lifts are main lifts? It seems obvious, but I'd like to hear your explanation. Just the fact that they use the most muscles at once and cover the whole body?
Knuckle-pushups with heavy backpack is a great bench press substitute if you are working out at home. Doing pushups on the knuckles are uncomfortable at first, but you get used to it, because it hardens the skin on the knuckle-area. Pushups on the knuckles also keeps your hand and wrist in a neutral position, strengthening the wrist.
Deadlifts- deficits for speed off floor Rack pulls for strong lockout Bent over rows for a strong overall back Bench press- incline bench press to work my weaker upper chest close grip to work my weak triceps to get a better lockout on bench and chest flyers for direct chest work Squat - pause squats to keep right Front squats because I low bar to work my anterior chain Barbell glute bridges for stronger glutea
As a powerlifter I would say my favorites are front squat for back squat, overhead press for bench press and pull ups/deadlift with elevated feet for the deadlift. Doing plyometric execises is also great.
KB swings are so awesome for explosive power in the squat and sumo deadlift. Try Those! Also, a strong core does wonders! helped me so much, alot of lower back / hip injuries comes from weak cores.
Mine are lunges, glute/ham raise, pull ups, hip thrusts, rows, face pulls, bicep curls, direct core work, and of course different variations of the main lifts.
Bodyweight squats during my warm-up. I do them low and slow on the down with explosive upward momentum. Since I only barbell squat once a week, this helps maintain and improve my form.
I really like lying ez bar triceps extensions to work all portions of the triceps. I feel that, since the triceps attach to the lats, that it helps with lock out on the bench and also works the push factor of the triceps to help drive the bar up.
I also really like weighted box jumps. They helped me to increase my clean, my squat and my condition a lot. I used to do them as a finisher on my C&J days. I wouldn't go very heavy, like 30# on each had. y body weight was 162#.
I love the leg press. this is because once performed correctly, ie deep and not half reps, it really helps build the gluten hamstrings and outer sweep of the quads giving you an overall balanced physique and making you very comfortable and explosive in and out of the hole.
Gotta love the simple life ayee, For bench, Close grip(for them volume and muscle gainz aka higher reps), for Squat, pause squat(build that skill) and for Deadlift, block pull(can handle some heavy ass weight).
I do paused front squats for squat. Stiff legged deads and hip thrusts after sumo deadlift. I do pull ups, dips, rear delts, incline dumbell press for upper body.
After a couple of years messing around with road biking and running I’m finally back to strength and feeling less like a… cat.. Now I realize how much I’ve missed watching your videos!
Weighted dips, weighted pull-ups/chin-ups, single arm dumbbell row, cable chest fly (with hands high like in a pec deck to hit my chest harder and remove the front delt after bench), RDL's from a deficit and cable Lateral raise because I'm too front delt dominant!
Serious time comment. Front squats and leg extentions for quads, French curls for triceps, Rows and pull ups for the upper back, back extensions for the lower back, around the worlds for my shoulders and traps.
I prefer front squat or pause back squat to any sort of lunge/single leg work. RDL with straps. close grip pause bench press with very little incline. pendlay rows. weighted pull ups is one of my main lifts, along with squats, deadlifts, push press, decline bench press, so I use high rep bodyweight chin ups to supplement them.
alan, i think i speak for alot of people, but myself, would love to see a day where you do pull ups and chin ups. i dont know how strong you are in them, but i would love to see you pull yourself to a new strength, since im sure you dont do them often. thanks for everything though!
I like tricept press and overhead press to help my bench. Squat leg press and well squats 😁. Deadlift, menacing ball exercises, hip lift, and leg press
I like heavy shrugs for that upper back mass(shelf for squat), grip work(deadlift), & most of the time you have to deadlift the weight to perform the exercise lol
For bench press i do: Close grip ( tricep stength in the bench press position) overhead press ( get strong shoulders to protect them in the bench press and strength is never a weakness) Dips ( hits all heads of the tricep and also works shoulders and chest all muscles used in bench press) For squats i do: Front rack step ups ( Great for explosivness from the bottem of a squat and big ass quads with that front rank position) Romanian deadlifts ( strict form so you dont go to snap city and youll build a big Post. chain For deadlifts i do Romanian deadlifts. The reason i only do romanian deadlifts with my deadlift is because i do RDL's on my 2 squat days and on my deadlift day and by that points that part of my body needs no more work. Monday: Squat Tuesday:Bench Wensday:Deadlift Thursday:Rest Friday: Bench Saturday: Squat Sunday: Rest.
For bench : floor press! Targets my lock out position which is where I failed during my last PR attempt. Targets my "lock out muscles" For squat: Pause high bar! Kills the quads which can be neglected in training when the primary squat is low bar. I also feel like my squat speed is pretty bad so the pause forces me to be explosive. For deadlift: deficit pulls! My speed off the ground is horrible and deficit deads have helped to to push passed a plateau I had along with the help of front squats .
Heavy curls to work my ego, very important.
Sounds like your ego is overworked. Consider giving it a rest, my friend
No such thing bro
+joymonkey 89 anatomy and physiology (bio 106): biceps govern arm flexion and assist with internal rotation of the anti brachial. arm extension is governed by the triceps.
***** yep. Stupid format. Somehow I thought we were talking about dips. My bad!
...aand a proper myofascial release with a foam roller, oh and remember to stretch the ego after each training session too.
I hate lunges, that's why I do them twice a week :)
Ay, it is Mario! What up man.
M
Mario Tomic - hey cutie
Do you have a boyfriend?
I hated them too, but after working them few times, i love them. Single leg work out will improve with your compound lifts.
Oh man, I'm so bad at lunges. And they suck. But I totally should do them more often.
Favorite bench accessory- dips
Squat- front squat
Deadlift- stiff legged deadlift
close grip bench, barbell rows, RDL
Good choices
Paused close grip floor press and explode out of the bottom
I'm totally sold on your methods. I've watched many training videos in the last few months, and no-one is as no nonsense and down to earth as you appear to be.
Maybe not the best produced videos, but certainly right up there in content and sensibility.
Check out Jonnie Candito. No nonsense. His and Alan's channels are amongst the best.
+Dhruv Gupta will do. thanks for the suggestion.
James Vineyard You're welcome
Calf raises cuz Omar
box jumps, jump rope, sprints, vertical leaps, dancing, or high pulls for calves
EyeDriveATruck lmao
My favorite assistance exercises are: Hip thrusts (under developed glutes compared to quads), incline bench, and pause reps of squat - bench - deadlift
My favorites -
Direct Core work - Impossible to have too strong of a core
Planks
Leg Raises
Pallof Press
This next group is for muscle balance for muscles that I don't feel are hit well by the compound movements
Rear Delt Flys
Bicep Curls
Shrugs (for traps)
And finally Lat Pulldowns - for those that suck at pullups/chin ups this is a good way to strengthen Lats
Try ab rolls. I hate those 😂
My training is for Muay thai. Strength training (3x5, Mon, Weds, Fri) then I drop the weight and work exercise form and do pause reps(3x5) for all the major lifts. After the main lifts I do a body weight circuit consisting of chin ups, push ups, body weight squats, and lunges(5xF for Chinups the rest are 10 reps).
On non strength days (Tues, Thurs, Sat) I do Muay thai, either before or after that I do a kettlebell circuit routine; Halos, KB swings, KB single arm shoulder press, KB front squats, KB single leg lunges, KB one arm swing, KB Deadlift, KB High pull, KB Clean, KB Clean & Jerk and finally KB Snatch. Heavy kettlebell for 5x5, Swings and single arm KB are from 10-20 reps.
Once I finish that I work on other body parts that may be lacking in strength, pullups, triceps, biceps, calves. Also I try to work my way up to do a proper BB Front squat and Power Cleans so I practice my form with either a empty bar or super light weight. After all that I go run outside until I can't run anymore.
The reason why I do all is because I feel like it's improving my strength in Muay thai. I feel stronger, faster and my hips have more strength. Also I love going to the gym and working out. I do have one day off and that's Sunday, but other than that everyday is working towards my goal in becoming a beast in Muay thai. Not to compete and win trophies but for my own personal gain.
Alan, can you do a video about the different sticking points at the main lifts and what you have to train to overcome that sticking point?
Yo Alan was having trouble getting through a workout today about 3/4 of the way through and I just kinda jokingly said train untamed to myself and I got through it felt more motivated afterwards! Just wanted to say your an inspiration for me and I look forward to being able to watch all your videos man thanks for the content and wisdom.
Barbell rows to build my upper back and to stabilize my core
Snatch grip deadlifts/Power Snatches to work on back and explosivity for the Deadlift
Thanks Alan!
with candito going MIA, this is my new favorite strength channel
That ankle mobility is turning me on
Favorite Assistance exercises
1. Barbell Hip thrust, same reasons as KB swings. Great glute worker, helps DL lockout
2. Overhead walking lunges, Works upper back and improves shoulder stability as well as hitting legs.
3. One armed Dumbbell over head press, without a counter weight in the other hand the core is worked to maintain stability. Good shoulder and tricep work.
4. Stiff leg DL, Romanian DL, and Deficit DL. A mainstay in all my programs. I hit the gym 3x a week and one of these is always being done. Either for strength, conditioning, or even cardio.
5. Pullups and/or Rows - same reasons.
My newest cycle I'm throwing in Farmer's walks, looking forward to it. Thanks for sharing Alan!
Love the short, informative video format. I don't always need, want, or have time for videos that are 10+ minutes long.
Floor press has really helped me hammer my sticking point on bench
Every video where I see new workouts from Mr. Thrall I'm always reminded how much more I can and probably should be doing for my own improvement:)
Front squats to work on staying upright and solid through my core on back squats.
I love rdl's, inc press, dips, face pulls
Front Squat, GHR, Dumbell Incline Press, skull crushers, Lu Raises, ham curl leg/extension, split squats, back exercises, etc
As always, solid content my man. Your posting frequency is becoming so reliable that every Tuesday I'm going straight to your channel to see what I can find, and always delighted to see something new there. Killing the game my friend, killin' it.
Credit to you for the idea dude!
Your videos are great, because you always explain why someone should do this. I respect and appreciate a lot.
+Alan Thrall (Untamed Strength) Hello Alan. Thank you for the excellent content in your vids. I find heavy Turkish Getups not only build my core strength but also aid in shoulder health and stability. I've been hitting them mid-week for several months and have been having really positive results.
Excellent tips @alan thrall. Would love to see more, maybe a series of accessory movements to add to this collection.
I love Jefferson curls for spinal segmentation. Not only has it increased my awareness of where my spine is in the world when I'm deadlifting--or even doing clean and jerks--it's also increased the range of motion in my entire posterior chain, thus allowing an exponentially better setup and pull.
Just a beautiful explanation of everything. Keep on keeping on brother.
Hi, I'm 12 and I train bench and OHP.
The movements I do to improve my bench (no weak spot at the moment): bench (main lift), bench with a pause (working on competition style, adding more volume), incline bench (pec developement), dumbell bench (pec developement).
For OHP I'm doing: OHP (main lift), seated OHP (adding more volume), one arm dumbell press (delts development, core), bench with OHP width grip (medium grip in my case) (triceps, delts dev), front squats (legs, core), side crunches with weight (abs), goodmornings (post chain).
Also for back I'm doing barbell rows and bicep barbell curls for biceps.
Thank you.
Rack pulls and deficit deadlifts for help my deadlift, weighted dips and close grip bench to help my bench, and front and paused squats to help my squats. Awesome stuff
Glad to see you favor a lot of what I do. The one thing I might add, is when I don't have access to a proper kettlebell, I'll do hip thrusts with a barbell. Basically the same thing, working on explosive glute strength. Not for the socially conscience, as people will stare at you as you essentially hump the air with a giant barbell. My biggest sticking point on DL was the top end, and KB swings and hip thrusts really helped me overcome plateaus. I will also do Turkish Get-ups, KB snatches, front squat, and KB goblet squats depending on what my goals or what I think my weaknesses are (i.e. posterior or anterior work).
I've been adding get-ups to my warm-up for anything overhead to improve stability.
THIS MAN DESERVES MORE SUBSCRIBERSSSSSS
Barbell Glute bridges are a personal favorite of mine.
I work an office job and play Ice hockey which is a great recipe for screwed up hip flexors and have found glute bridges the most effective way to keep my hips functional
My favourite assistance movements are:
-Pause squats: They allow me to synchronise my squat more efficiently, and avoid shooting my butt up. I also do a lot of front squats to remedy this.
-Incline press: Allows me to simultaneously work my shoulders and chest in one barbell movement. Both of which are weak muscles in my bench press.
-Upper back work: Helps my lockout on deadlifts.
I'm so glad I found this channel!
Sprints!! Short sprints at 100% with full recovery, long sprints with short recovery and every combination possible has really helped my main lifts. My CNS feels amped up and my glutes and hamstrings have benefitted from the extra work! Not to mention I've dropped some excess body fat lol.
One of my favorites of yours! Nice one Alan 👍🏻
Good mornings kinda helped me with deadlifts
1 arm kettlebell swings for extra tension on grip, turkish get-up mainly for mobility.
This is the second time i read turkish get ups. Going to search that now and see why it is called turkish.
my favorite assistance exercises
deadlift:
close grip/medium grip mid rows for the lats and mid back. slow and moderate weight
weighted low back extensions to reinforce spinal erector and hamstring strength
face pulls for rear delts and upper back. slow and high volume
alternating dumbell curls
bench press:
dips along side slingshot pushups as cluster sets. slow and controlled dips 4-6 reps and ballistic slingshot pushups 15-20 reps.
incline dumbell presses
dumbell crossface tricep extensions slow and controlled followed by slow and heavy tricep press downs
squats:
front squats for quads sets of 5s
wide stances box squats for abductors/adductors sets of 5s
occasionally high volume leg presses
Ed Coan - a name to conjure with, I'm sure - always did bent over rows, then stiff-leg deadlifts after every deadlift session, without fail.
Love your assistance work Alan. My squats are suffering so I do box squats and belted squats for strong quad development and they also keeps my form on point too
My fav assistance move is dead hangs, works grip to a great degree & farmers walk always.
for Deadlift:
- Deficit Deadlifts - speed off the floor
- Rack pulls - lockout, and general upper back development. They make my entire upper back look like a shield.
for Squats:
- Front Squats - low-rep for real quad power, higher-rep for a little more endurance and speed
- Pause Squats - staying tight the whole way through, making sure I hit proper depth when squatting normally.
- GoodMornings (help my DL as well) - ham & lower back development, important since I DL with quite a wide stance and need a lot of strength at the base of my back.
For Bench:
- Incline DB bench - keeps me stable when pressing and benching heavy
- Dips - preferably low-rep, weighted - not a movement I enjoy, but one that helps by bench a lot.
For OHP (a main lift for me - I'm a dancer, overhead strength is a big deal)
- Wide-angle DB press - almost mimicking a BTN BB press, but with a little more freedom to move so it's kinder to my joints
- Front & Lateral raises - laterals make sure I can keep the bar (or partner) stable when overhead, front raises seem to help give me more power out of the bottom of the lift
Things like Inca pushups, static crucifix holds with cables or dumbells, depth jumps and prowler pushes/drags help as well, for general speed/explosiveness, endurance, conditioning etc. A big part of my training has to be geared towards stability when lifting - as I said above, I'm a dancer, and people are a lot less stable than bars. Being able to press and support from all angles is a really important attribute.
Front Squats. They have helped my quad and glute strength, Thoracic extension, and posture a ton.
Believe it or not 1 of my favorite accessory movements is working with tires. Working with them has given me more balance, stamina and confidence.
deadlift:
-barbell row or pendulum row
-box squats
-shrugs
squat:
-paused squats
-legpress
-rdl
Bench:
-paused Bench
-JM press
-dumbell press inclined
OHP:
-front lever, side laterals
-Z-press
for imbalanceds I do reverse butterflies high reps, this YTWL Band and face pulls. I superset these after OHP, Bench, JMpress befor I go to a assistanve exercise.
Band and chains are cool as well sometimes.
Ton of mobility and ab work besides.
Strict rows, goblet squats, db rdls, and other lifts that I can super set with my main movements work great for me
Heavy Kroc rows are my go to deadlift lockout assistance exercise. 3-5 Sets of 5-8 each side using chalk or straps if needed, but they are also valuable for building grip strength so if you have a weak grip I wouldn't recommend straps. Never a lockout issue again since I started adding Kroc rows to my program
Great video,Alan.This is defiantly going to help me be more efficient in my work outs. Thank you.
Landmine row/T-bar row because it lights up your upper back, traps, and biceps. I also love trap-bar/hex-bar deadlifts because they're like a hybrid between squats and deadlifts.
I like box jumps,You can hold a plate or a barbell when you do them .Explosive movement and they are fun.
I think the most important benefit of assistance work is that they are more fun :) I enjoy the squat press and deadlift but they get stale. mixing up my workouts with different assistance workouts gives me something new to learn and something that I can improve on more quickly than the main lifts which keeps training fresh.
my favorite assistance work is the ssb squat because it puts the weight forward like a front squat but I am not as limited by mobility. also, farmers walks are dope. and anything that lets me press with a different grip. ie: football bar, dumbbells, axles, etc
Snatch grip dl, stiff legged dl and heavy hip bridges for deadlift. Lunges and step ups for squat. Pull-ups, close grip bench, db press, dips, and high rep dumbbell rows for bench and overhead press
Hey Alan I'm an advocate for Safety bar squats they translate well to my back squat immensely because of the demand for core tightness & balance
1k likes and 1 dislike.... people must be loving your channel for the pragmatism. Keep it up man! Over here in Sac finally doing the bench press the most efficient way (ramping) and getting better at it each time. Thanks for your videos.
Another great video.
Swiss bar benching - gives my shoulders a break once a week.
I do a lot of KB variatons aswell, not only to help increasing overall core strengt, but keeping myself injury free. I also do a lot of planks and TRX Workouts in a high intensitiy way since its supporting me in mountainbiking and climbing.
THE YOKE! BEATS ALL!
Deficit Paused Conventional Deadlift; I heavy deadlift sumo as a main, so deficit conventional stance helps me get my sumo pulls off the floor, pause just for the extra lower back work.
Rolling DBs or JMs for pressing. Just really helps me focus on the triceps. Farmer's walks for my grip. Front Squats for my Quads (to help with my deadlift speed off floor mostly as well). Glute ham raise or kettle bell swings for my glutes. RDLs for my Hamstrings/Posterior chain.
I like one-arm body weight rows on rings as well as one arm push ups, as both train rotational core stability AND make you stronger at pushing/pulling.
Concept 2 rawing, great all-around accessory, condition and warm-up move.
Your videos are always helpful!
I love the concept of understanding why for all movements. Do you have a video on why each of the main lifts are main lifts? It seems obvious, but I'd like to hear your explanation. Just the fact that they use the most muscles at once and cover the whole body?
Knuckle-pushups with heavy backpack is a great bench press substitute if you are working out at home. Doing pushups on the knuckles are uncomfortable at first, but you get used to it, because it hardens the skin on the knuckle-area. Pushups on the knuckles also keeps your hand and wrist in a neutral position, strengthening the wrist.
Deadlifts- deficits for speed off floor
Rack pulls for strong lockout
Bent over rows for a strong overall back
Bench press- incline bench press to work my weaker upper chest close grip to work my weak triceps to get a better lockout on bench and chest flyers for direct chest work
Squat - pause squats to keep right
Front squats because I low bar to work my anterior chain
Barbell glute bridges for stronger glutea
As a powerlifter I would say my favorites are front squat for back squat, overhead press for bench press and pull ups/deadlift with elevated feet for the deadlift. Doing plyometric execises is also great.
Those are highly unspecific🤔
KB swings are so awesome for explosive power in the squat and sumo deadlift. Try Those!
Also, a strong core does wonders! helped me so much, alot of lower back / hip injuries comes from weak cores.
Mine are lunges, glute/ham raise, pull ups, hip thrusts, rows, face pulls, bicep curls, direct core work, and of course different variations of the main lifts.
Bodyweight squats during my warm-up. I do them low and slow on the down with explosive upward momentum. Since I only barbell squat once a week, this helps maintain and improve my form.
I really like face pulls. I didn't realize how weak my back delts were. Everything became easier when I started doing them a few times a week.
I really like lying ez bar triceps extensions to work all portions of the triceps. I feel that, since the triceps attach to the lats, that it helps with lock out on the bench and also works the push factor of the triceps to help drive the bar up.
I also really like weighted box jumps. They helped me to increase my clean, my squat and my condition a lot. I used to do them as a finisher on my C&J days. I wouldn't go very heavy, like 30# on each had. y body weight was 162#.
Squat:Zercher squat 4 × 5
Bulgarian split 4 × 6
Goodmorning 2 × 5, 3 × 3
Belt squat 2 × 20, 2 × 15
Glute/ham 3 × 15
Chest supported row 3 × 10,
Reverse hyperextension 3 × 15
Bench press:Overhead waiters carries 4 ×
Incline press 4 × 2, 2 × 6
Seal row 4 × 10
Cable row 3 × 10
Lateral raise 3 × 15
Dumbbell skull crushers 3 × 10
Incline curl 3 × 10
Deadlift:Belt squat 3 × 20, 1 × 15 , 1 × 10
Split squat 3 × 10
Barbell back extension 3 × 10
Banded dumbbell leg curl 3 × 10
Glute/ham 3 × 15
Reverse hyperextension 3 × 15
i like heavy rack pulls/block pulls. Feel like I can do them as additional DL work, with much less burn out effect.
I love the leg press. this is because once performed correctly, ie deep and not half reps, it really helps build the gluten hamstrings and outer sweep of the quads giving you an overall balanced physique and making you very comfortable and explosive in and out of the hole.
Great video as always!!
On the overhead and bench press I like to use Dumbbells occasionally to work on stabilizing the weight.
Aint nothing better then a good ol kettlebell swing
Gotta love the simple life ayee, For bench, Close grip(for them volume and muscle gainz aka higher reps), for Squat, pause squat(build that skill) and for Deadlift, block pull(can handle some heavy ass weight).
close grip incline bench or incline dumbell press are my favourite bench accessories
I do paused front squats for squat. Stiff legged deads and hip thrusts after sumo deadlift. I do pull ups, dips, rear delts, incline dumbell press for upper body.
After a couple of years messing around with road biking and running I’m finally back to strength and feeling less like a… cat.. Now I realize how much I’ve missed watching your videos!
Weighted dips, weighted pull-ups/chin-ups, single arm dumbbell row, cable chest fly (with hands high like in a pec deck to hit my chest harder and remove the front delt after bench), RDL's from a deficit and cable Lateral raise because I'm too front delt dominant!
Serious time comment. Front squats and leg extentions for quads, French curls for triceps, Rows and pull ups for the upper back, back extensions for the lower back, around the worlds for my shoulders and traps.
Love your vids Alan. Thanks again.
I prefer front squat or pause back squat to any sort of lunge/single leg work. RDL with straps. close grip pause bench press with very little incline. pendlay rows. weighted pull ups is one of my main lifts, along with squats, deadlifts, push press, decline bench press, so I use high rep bodyweight chin ups to supplement them.
My favorite accessory for deadlifts is barbell hyper extensions.
alan, i think i speak for alot of people, but myself, would love to see a day where you do pull ups and chin ups. i dont know how strong you are in them, but i would love to see you pull yourself to a new strength, since im sure you dont do them often. thanks for everything though!
Walking barbell lunges. They've helped me build mu Glutes & Hamstrings which helped me in my squat & deadlift.
Rear delt raises supersetted with band pull aparts get the traps and rear delts nice and juicy at the end of a pull day. 3-5x8-12 for both.
I like tricept press and overhead press to help my bench. Squat leg press and well squats 😁. Deadlift, menacing ball exercises, hip lift, and leg press
I like heavy shrugs for that upper back mass(shelf for squat), grip work(deadlift), & most of the time you have to deadlift the weight to perform the exercise lol
below and above knee rack pulls, heavy barbell shrugs, tbar rows
For bench press i do:
Close grip ( tricep stength in the bench press position)
overhead press ( get strong shoulders to protect them in the bench press and strength is never a weakness)
Dips ( hits all heads of the tricep and also works shoulders and chest all muscles used in bench press)
For squats i do:
Front rack step ups ( Great for explosivness from the bottem of a squat and big ass quads with that front rank position)
Romanian deadlifts ( strict form so you dont go to snap city and youll build a big Post. chain
For deadlifts i do
Romanian deadlifts.
The reason i only do romanian deadlifts with my deadlift is because i do RDL's on my 2 squat days and on my deadlift day and by that points that part of my body needs no more work.
Monday: Squat Tuesday:Bench Wensday:Deadlift Thursday:Rest Friday: Bench Saturday: Squat Sunday: Rest.
I love you Alan!
TRAIN UNTAMEDDD!
For bench : floor press! Targets my lock out position which is where I failed during my last PR attempt. Targets my "lock out muscles"
For squat: Pause high bar! Kills the quads which can be neglected in training when the primary squat is low bar. I also feel like my squat speed is pretty bad so the pause forces me to be explosive.
For deadlift: deficit pulls! My speed off the ground is horrible and deficit deads have helped to to push passed a plateau I had along with the help of front squats .
barbell lunge... duck walk... kettle bell swing ı do those exercises on my conjugate program for max effort lowrbody days after main lift
Squat - Front Squat
Deadlift - 45 degree hyper
Bench - Weighted Push-Up
OHP - Dips