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

[Assertive Guy]

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

I do kinda agree with that last statement more than most would, but would you take a month off if that is how long it takes to recover fully after dips? That's the situation I'm in. I do only 4 sets once every 2 weeks and it takes a hella long time to recover! I do only negatives atm...

 

[TheOak84]

i was always a fan of speed work. and just planning out my workouts accordingly.

i like speed bench and dips for the bench press

as well as box squats and speed deads

 

[Khryz]

Gread idea for a thread! Currently I'm attempting pretty much all of the training methods mentioned here to help get my Big 3 up. It seems that box squats are a high favorite here.

 

[Tweakle]

very interesting responses, it's funny how everyone attacks the same problem in different ways. I'd love to use chains, bands I've been told can burn out raw lifters very quickly?

pause benches are just what they sound like - you lower the bar to your chest, keep your air , stay tight and pause for a second. Then try to blast it up as hard and fast as you can.. great if your problem is building up speed off the bottom

 

[Protobuilder]

Anyone tried pause squats w/ any success?

 

[fortunatesun]

I'd love to use chains, bands I've been told can burn out raw lifters very quickly?

It's because most cycles are designed by people that will be doing equipped lifts. There are adjustments you can make, I've seen something- maybe at elitefts?- but I'm not sure just where to look to find it right now. I think you're basically right, though, if I remember correctly. Raw lifters will benefit from less work than others: once a week is plenty, the cycles can be shorter, and something about percentages- I don't know- I wasn't using bands at the time and didn't assimilate. If I find it I'll shoot it your way.

 

[perp69]

I do kinda agree with that last statement more than most would, but would you take a month off if that is how long it takes to recover fully after dips? That's the situation I'm in. I do only 4 sets once every 2 weeks and it takes a hella long time to recover! I do only negatives atm...

What do you mean by recovery? Just fatiqued or shoulder or arm pain? Yes, if I thought I needed a month off I would take it and keep my diet on par or try to work around it if I can. Yeah, you may loose some strength briefly in that case but it comes back quickly. If you need that much time off you may already have an injury that you need to get checked out.

Another possibility may be changing technique a little-like a different grip width or trying to do exercises to strengthen the weak part that is giving you trouble. One example I can give is when I do dips my first rep will be a partial to kind of warm up and then the rest are full range of motion. We have the dip station with the handles that can flip out wide or narrow. The wide grip is more comfortable for me for some reason. Maybe stop the negatives for a bit and see what that does.

Longest I have had to take off was 1-2 weeks to let bad tendonitis heal. I do a lot of compound movements, which I think tends to keep my whole body strong as a unit. It is really more about knowing your body's limits and how to handle fatigue I think. I am learning more about what my body can take all the time.

Perp

 

[mm107]

Hey guys, what really helped me get my big 3 lifts up(even tho im a 'beginner') was the 5x5 plan. Core Lifts. But ill go in into detail about some accesory work i did

Bench:
The bands Really helped the explosiveness.
Suspended Pushups

Sqaut:
Full Range of Motion. Ass to Grass.
Bands helped somewhat on this, with the explosviness, not as much as the bench tho
Kicking a 45lb plate around(hip muscles, groin muscles, etc)
Lunges
Hamstring curls

Deadlift:
Deadlifting while standing on Mats, to imrpove the bottom part of my lift
Pullthroughs
Lockouts from the pins.


Now for DIPS, i dont know if they directly affected my bench too much, but they did help my chest improve, as well as my triceps. The dip bar is the angled dip bar so its more of a chest workout.

Also, i recently started doing Chin-ups. If you check my progress pics i can really say i think the chinups have been working. I do them after deadlifting every Weds, as my accesory work.

Most of the other work i mentioned, i dont usually do, but when i stall, i throw them in my arsenal.

Maxes as of July 21, 2006
Bench: 230x5
Sqaut: 270x5
Deadlift: 425x5

Thats a total poundage of 925lbs. Im weighing in right now at 190lbs. @ 9%BF. (calipers at 10mm)



Good Post tweakle.

 

[Sassy69]

Informative thread tweakle! I'm still learning the basic stuff to the point that I am focusing on these big 3 and noting my weaknesses - Still working to get past 30 lb on each side & keeping form. Working on explosiveness and little bawbles in stablity. But good stuff to keep in mind going forward.

 

[Illuminati]

very interesting responses, it's funny how everyone attacks the same problem in different ways. I'd love to use chains, bands I've been told can burn out raw lifters very quickly?

pause benches are just what they sound like - you lower the bar to your chest, keep your air , stay tight and pause for a second. Then try to blast it up as hard and fast as you can.. great if your problem is building up speed off the bottom

you would be fine. just cycle them into and out of your workouts. say 3 weeks with either the bands or chains, and then 3 weeks without.