What worked for you in getting the 'big 3' up?

[Tweakle]

there's a fine line when it comes to doing assistance work for the genetically typical, step over it and exceed your work capacity and all of a sudden those exercises you're doing to improve the big lifts start sucking the life out of your workouts. That said, I found there are/were some things that helped get my relatively weak lifts up.

Bench - The decline bench has always been my number one weapon in getting the flat up. Flat benching consistantly hurts my shoulders, and I tend to lose the groove very quickly after a few reps. The decline helps overload the last 3/4ths of the movement with a heavier weight than you can flat bench, so the transfer potential is there.. and the angle of push has always felt safer for my shoulders than the flat.

Pause benches done for triples. Nothing builds explosion off the chest like these bad boys.. they can be a real ego killer when done for reps as fatigue sets in real fast.

swiss ball dumbbell benches done for high reps. I saw this one posted on elitefts a while back and found it works wonders for shoulder stablity

things that didn't work - dips (no transfer at all), inclines (I do these to give my pressing muscles a 'light day' but if I were to rely on them my bench would drop like a stone), any kind of machine work at all.

Deads

Pullthroughs and box squats both helped add 50lbs to my conventional pull in a relatively short time. The box squats really help with breaking the bar with your legs

things that didn't work - GHR's, GM's, other deadlift variations

Squats

Squats are an odd bird, no matter how strong I get in other lifts the only thing that will improve my squat is squatting. Deads I feel actually drain my CSN to the point that I can't squat and deadlift productively in the same training cycle.. rack pulls and box squats are a nice combination to cover all the bases when specialising on squats.

when I squatted 635, belt free off a 14" box (not world class even in my wettest dreams but not bad for a skinny white boy who was hardly able to walk 5 years earlier) I was coming in and doing 2-3 sets of squatting once a week. 2 heavy sets then sometimes a set of pause squats without the box. When I added assistance work, i lost strength in my legs very quickly.

 

[BiggT]

Good post, Tweakle. I'm not big on overdoing assistance work either, and I usually only include it if I need to. I am the same way with deads, actually, lol, when I train the deadlift, thats all I can push as it drains me to the point where everything else goes down the crapper.

I also notice that with the incline bench, it's a great lift I think to do for lots of reasons, but it doesn't carry over to the flat bench, but I always found flats carry over good to inclines.

 

[BiggT]

For me, consistently training my squats and pressing gets them up, I do very little assistance or accessory work, unless I have a weakness that can't be attributed to 'just train the lift more'. If my triceps are strong and conditioned, my pressing is usually good, I press with a fairly close grip on everything and have always been strong overhead, so with triceps accessory anything high-rep conditions them. Dips help me because of the tris, also close-grip pressing of all sorts, I also liked Tate Presses.

What I find helps my DL is not training it for a while, but pulling heavy and frequently from the floor in the form of the olympic lifts, and really upping my olympic and front squats (I pull conventional).....then doing a period of lower volume and less squatting, but pushing the DL hard.

Things that never did jack for me: partials, lockouts, anything on a machine, excess iso work for no specific reason, back hypers, rotating too many lifts too often and not training any of them regularly enough to get good at it.

 

[boss_]

Bench - Floor Press
Squat - Box Squats/GHR
DL - Rack Pulls

 

[Illuminati]

i'll admit, when it comes to training, i do some weird stuff. we all make gains differently. but here are some of the things that have helped me out.


All Three of the lifts:
Accomodating Resistance. I can't say enough about how this has helped me out. Generally, we are tend to fail somewhere in the middle to the end of our lifts. The use of bands has helped me out tremendously with all of my lifts. I have done more work with the bands on my bench and my squat. Not so much with my deadlift, b/c i didn't have a way to hook them up for the deadlift, until I recently found a jumpstretch platform at this one gym that I am going to.
Doing work in the single and triple range. Very rarely do I ever go over 3 reps on the big 3 lifts.

Bench:
The biggest thing that I have done here is the usage of bands. see my note above.
Incline bench work, and heavy tricep work.

Squat:
Box squatting, and learning to use a wide stance. the wider stance gives me a stronger base, which has in turn helped me to put up some big numbers.

Deadlift:
infrequently training the deadlift, and then going kamakazi over it! (and box squats) let me explain. on my max out days i alternate my squat and deadlift. generally i'll do some heavy box squats for a few weeks, and then decided that i want to deadlift. and then when I deadlift, i'll kind of make up my mind after i have maxed on box squats (a tuesday) and come friday (which should be my light day) I max on deads, then come the following tuesday I'll max on deads again (so in a one week period, i'll have a max on box squats, and two maxes on deads) i'll take the following friday and do speed deads, and then max on deads come the following tuesday. kind of messed up, but for some reason, i have found that this has worked for me.
lately, i have been doing some work with chains on my deads for my light (DE) days. I just drape 80lbs of chain over the bar put about 365 bar weight, and then pull singles w/30seconds between each pull. this is really helping me out with the top end of my lift.

on my max days, i do very little, if any assistance work. most of the time, I'll just do my max, and then leave the gym. i truly believe that less is more, in terms of assistance work. if you're tired, you're tired, and there is no point in doing more, b/c all you are going to do is end up hurting yourself. even on my DE days, i do my main exercise, and then maybe 2 or 3 assistance exercises. if for some reason i miss a day in the gym, i dont try to make it up, i just skip it. if i have to re-arrainge my days due to a need for spotters, i just skip the day that (lift) that i was supposed to be doing. i mention all of this stuff, b/c it has all helped me.

 

[Protobuilder]

Great thread. I'm not really at a level to add much. But it's a valuable thread. LoL

FWIW, I recently found out that low incline BB bench does crap for my flat BB bench.

 

[BadboyAl]

Best Bench Routine for naturals:

** The best natural lifter in the world uses this routine, Paul Bossi @ 215lb bw benched 550lb raw and natural.

http://www.rawpowerlifting.com/bossimethod1.htm

 

[fortunatesun]

Bench: easily my worst-Volume. I've never found a set/rep or exercise combination that seemed to work for me better than others but nowadays I make sure the total amount moved is improving. Also varying grips- both close and wide. Recently started using bands so they're still too new to give an opinion but I'm hopeful. Once I realized halfway through my first workout that I was overusing my triceps I've been reworking my bench form for the better. HaHa. But they may work out well in the usage for which they are intended.

Deadlift- Speed DL, as long as there's enough weight on the bar. I think this works around the CNS taxation issue but still allows you to get enough lifts in. I've also found snatch grip off a platform helpful. I'm disproportionately weak at pulling this way, probably due to past training deficiencies, but it helps me get the bar off the floor.

Squat- Box squats as well. Also conditioning: plyometrics and Litvinov workout (running 400 meters immediately after you finish your set) have improved my basic motor response and really made me understand what goes on in my entire body when I squat, that calling it a 'lower body' exercise really misstates the case.

I also like the cycling of lifts approach, although maybe in my case it's because I'm old. Nevertheless, it's advantageous not only because I can remember just so many things at once, but I can try out new ideas on the 'off' parts. Periodization and a fresh approach help keep me motivated.

 

[skullcrushin22]

there's a fine line when it comes to doing assistance work for the genetically typical, step over it and exceed your work capacity and all of a sudden those exercises you're doing to improve the big lifts start sucking the life out of your workouts. That said, I found there are/were some things that helped get my relatively weak lifts up.

Bench - The decline bench has always been my number one weapon in getting the flat up. Flat benching consistantly hurts my shoulders, and I tend to lose the groove very quickly after a few reps. The decline helps overload the last 3/4ths of the movement with a heavier weight than you can flat bench, so the transfer potential is there.. and the angle of push has always felt safer for my shoulders than the flat.

Pause benches done for triples. Nothing builds explosion off the chest like these bad boys.. they can be a real ego killer when done for reps as fatigue sets in real fast.

swiss ball dumbbell benches done for high reps. I saw this one posted on elitefts a while back and found it works wonders for shoulder stablity

things that didn't work - dips (no transfer at all), inclines (I do these to give my pressing muscles a 'light day' but if I were to rely on them my bench would drop like a stone), any kind of machine work at all.

Deads

Pullthroughs and box squats both helped add 50lbs to my conventional pull in a relatively short time. The box squats really help with breaking the bar with your legs

things that didn't work - GHR's, GM's, other deadlift variations

Squats

Squats are an odd bird, no matter how strong I get in other lifts the only thing that will improve my squat is squatting. Deads I feel actually drain my CSN to the point that I can't squat and deadlift productively in the same training cycle.. rack pulls and box squats are a nice combination to cover all the bases when specialising on squats.

when I squatted 635, belt free off a 14" box (not world class even in my wettest dreams but not bad for a skinny white boy who was hardly able to walk 5 years earlier) I was coming in and doing 2-3 sets of squatting once a week. 2 heavy sets then sometimes a set of pause squats without the box. When I added assistance work, i lost strength in my legs very quickly.

What exactly is pause benches, and what sets and reps do you do. This sounds like something that I would like to do. I think it will help.

Thanks

 

[perp69]

i'll admit, when it comes to training, i do some weird stuff. we all make gains differently. but here are some of the things that have helped me out.


All Three of the lifts:
Accomodating Resistance. I can't say enough about how this has helped me out. Generally, we are tend to fail somewhere in the middle to the end of our lifts. The use of bands has helped me out tremendously with all of my lifts. I have done more work with the bands on my bench and my squat. Not so much with my deadlift, b/c i didn't have a way to hook them up for the deadlift, until I recently found a jumpstretch platform at this one gym that I am going to.
Doing work in the single and triple range. Very rarely do I ever go over 3 reps on the big 3 lifts.

Bench:
The biggest thing that I have done here is the usage of bands. see my note above.
Incline bench work, and heavy tricep work.

Squat:
Box squatting, and learning to use a wide stance. the wider stance gives me a stronger base, which has in turn helped me to put up some big numbers.

Deadlift:
infrequently training the deadlift, and then going kamakazi over it! (and box squats) let me explain. on my max out days i alternate my squat and deadlift. generally i'll do some heavy box squats for a few weeks, and then decided that i want to deadlift. and then when I deadlift, i'll kind of make up my mind after i have maxed on box squats (a tuesday) and come friday (which should be my light day) I max on deads, then come the following tuesday I'll max on deads again (so in a one week period, i'll have a max on box squats, and two maxes on deads) i'll take the following friday and do speed deads, and then max on deads come the following tuesday. kind of messed up, but for some reason, i have found that this has worked for me.
lately, i have been doing some work with chains on my deads for my light (DE) days. I just drape 80lbs of chain over the bar put about 365 bar weight, and then pull singles w/30seconds between each pull. this is really helping me out with the top end of my lift.

on my max days, i do very little, if any assistance work. most of the time, I'll just do my max, and then leave the gym. i truly believe that less is more, in terms of assistance work. if you're tired, you're tired, and there is no point in doing more, b/c all you are going to do is end up hurting yourself. even on my DE days, i do my main exercise, and then maybe 2 or 3 assistance exercises. if for some reason i miss a day in the gym, i dont try to make it up, i just skip it. if i have to re-arrainge my days due to a need for spotters, i just skip the day that (lift) that i was supposed to be doing. i mention all of this stuff, b/c it has all helped me.

I have to agree about the bands. I am amazed at how they are helping my lifts in just the short amount time I have been using them especially on my squats. I have been picking one lift to use them on when I go through the 5x5 and they are working great for my numbers. As far as assistance work I will do some abs, calves, tris or biceps if I have time and the extra energy. Like you said some days I just don't have it in the tank so I skip em. I don't sweat it much about missing a day every now and then either because it never hurts me and in fact I feel stronger most times on my next workout. I truely feel that everyone should workout according to how their body dictates. If you are tired, hurting, etc. you need to take the time your body needs to recover or risk hurting yourself IMO.

Perp