Been tryin some new stuff...

[spatts]

Well, it's new to me anyway. On speed days, I have been changing my accessory work structure for volume and speed. On ME days I will tend to do 3 x 15 and speed days 10x 4 or 8 x 5 (still about 40-45 reps either way). As I've mentioned before, I get pretty decent carry over from accessory work to gym lifts if I try to pick accessory work that's close to the plane of the lift. If I add 22 to 4 board, then 3, then 2, I can generally test the bench and find I've picked up 22. Again, might be beginners luck.

Lately though, on speed day, I have been doing my accessory work with speed. I figured if I train the whole movement and portions for speed, why not train the components for speed too. Well, I've been doing it for about 3-4 weeks now, and I'm really feeling stronger (read: faster) through my weak points, especially on bench.

Do any of you do accessory work for speed? If you have, what kind of results/carry-over are you seeing?

 

[Deciever1]

its an intercepting concept.. let us know how it goes.

 

[spatts]

So far it's going well...can you tell me more?

 

[jeremys]

i do all my accessory work fast, but i dont work on speed specifically(on accessory). im afraid i may be using too much momentum, now that i think about it

 

[spatts]

I have been making a conscious effort to speed the weight up, avoid the eccentric, then pause and speed the next rep up for that very reason. I've been doing it on everything...rows, presses, extensions, cleans, etc...

 

[jeremys]

thats a good idea, i think i'll try that

 

[Hannibal]

I have been making a conscious effort to speed the weight up, avoid the eccentric, then pause and speed the next rep up for that very reason. I've been doing it on everything...rows, presses, extensions, cleans, etc...

Guess I will play devil's advocate...just for the sake of discussion. My only concern is that in concentrating on speed on your accesorry work for that day...you only have one day concentrating on hypertrophy. You "might" be limiting your gains in muscle mass. More muscle mass...more muscle fibers to potentially recruit. And for you personally, you need to add thickness to your upper back to help your squat and bench, so one day might not be optimal.

I'm not sayin I'm right...honestly not sure. I think it's a great idea. We'll see if it works...I hope so. Daytona is rapidly approaching.

Anyone else have any ideas....

 

[spatts]

Don't most BB'ers, who train for size, work each muscle once per week?

 

[Hannibal]

Don't most BB'ers, who train for size, work each muscle once per week?

Good point...like I said, I am in no way tryin to disprove your theory. I honestly hope it works. I am just tryin to play the other side to get a discussion going.

Lots of BB, who train for size, do only train each muscle once per week. However, they tend to do 4-5 different exercises, and upwards of 20 sets per muscle. Where we tend to do 1 exercise per body part...4-5 sets.

 

[spatts]

20? I never did more than 10-12 and grew like a weed, but I see your point. Also, ifI increase speed, increase my stregth, and lift more...well, in theory I should grow.

You know how much faster I'm putting on muscle training explosively, which is mostly genetics I'm sure. I've put on alot of size through hang snatches and power cleans, and other heavy, explosive movements at low/moderate volume.

Would like to hear from others that have tried it.

 

[DOM]

Spatts,

I don't remember where I read it, but after Halbert's 733 bench, he said he got there by striving to be faster in everything.

So, I've been doing flat bench dumbell presses with elbows tucked in at my sides for 5x10, with acceleration throughout the lift with thirty second rest between sets after speed bench for the last 4 weeks. In effect, doing "speed triceps work" right after the speed bench workout. And then on ME day, I'll do triceps slow and controlled with heavier weight to really get them sore and growing.

I also feel like my speed has been improving throughout the time I've been doing it -- of course I can't be sure this is what it's from. It definitely isn't hurting though. I do worry that I get so much speed going on this accessory work that I'm spending the entire second half of the lift decelerating the weight. So, I'm going to continue with the experiment, but use a band wrapped behind my back for dumbell press, or wrapped behind my neck for dumbell extensions in order to compensate for all the momentum.

Should work even better.

 

[spatts]

That sounds exactly like what I've been doing.

I also added a couple new (to me) moves today. I set the bar up like a reverse band press, with blue bands and used it to do tri push downs. Those were great, and allowed me to focus on speed more.

I was looking for a way to work the very very depths of my bench for speed, as this is where I get stuck, and we don't have a cambered bar. So we took a couple heavy dbs, and sat them on the floor to either side of the bench. Doubled a mini around each, and then got into a benching position...nice and tight. Then hannibal and Project handed the bands to me, and a couple dumbbells....I think 15's. I used a supinated grip, and worked for speed from as far down as my arms would go (db's about 6 inches below my body) to upper arms just past (above) my body, but no further. I really felt it in my lats and shoulders, and I have a feeling this move might help me with the bottom speed I need.

 

[DOM]

RE: Spatts and anyone else trying this out

Has been about 6 weeks now since I started this. Positive results? Not sure yet -- can't be sure until I test max in a while.

However, just something that I've noticed -- I've been doing dumbell presses for speed with a mini around my back, and my elbows tucked right against my body -- doing this directly after my speedbench sets. I'll do them for 5x10 or 6x10 and with maybe thirty seconds rest. Anyway, I go really deep, as to work the bottom of my bench. This gives a huge amount of shoulder movement, and in hindsight, I've been overtraining my front delts. No injuries or anything, I can just tell it's time to stop or take it easy. So just as a warning, these will hit your front delts pretty good. If you throw these in after your speed benches, you may consider skipping your front delt exercise later in your workout, and just sticking to side/rear delts for example.

 

[spatts]

Hannibal started doing push ups with bands around him, and I HAVE to think this would help the bottom, as well as provide for speed work in an accessory move. I haven't tried them with the bands yet, but I will Wednesday.

http://www.asylum-strength.com/videos/hbandpushup.mpg

 

[The Shadow]

spaats as you know I have been doing the same typr thing with speed on acces as well.......I need to go count up pr's versus days trained......

 

[spatts]

I was wanting to come up with a move that would fry the hips through speed, but would also work the core, lower back especially, and would require a tight arch throughout...and something that would take on the knees out position of the squat. So this is what I came up with. Band tied to the rack, and looped though a belt, and attached to me. Then added BB weight to work up to 221. The idea was to thrust the hips forward with as much speed as possible...to build hip speed and strength (which I use to squat and sumo dead). I give these two thumbs up. Gonna stick with them and see if hip speed improves.

Also, Hannibal and I agree that the next two larger bands are better for resistance, and that two boxes (side by side) should be used to get the knees extra wide for PL purposes (to train the hips/hip flexors in the same plane as the squat stance).

 

[JDarty6173]

Spatts... When are you doing these? On DE or ME days? Sounds like something I could benefit from since I also dead sumo.... Also, what kinda rep range are you working with? Keep us posted on how this little experiment goes.. I'm really interested in what the results will be..

 

[TheProject]

I tried these yesterday too, and even though it took 4 tries for me to get close to doing them right, they really hit my hips, hamstrings and glutes, which is where I need a lot of work.

 

[spatts]

Jdarty...we did them on an ME day. Although, I think they're better suited as accesory work or extra work for the hips (as opposed to a main move).