Assistance exercises: melding compound with isolation, time-efficient triceps
28 September 2005If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
My old Zen powerlifting coach used to say that the best assistance exercise for a particular exercise was another exercise that most closely resembled the first exercise. This sounds a little like Professor Erwin Correy giving a lecture on table manners or Yogi Berra in deep doublespeak, but actually (as with most subtle Zen lessons on the subtleties of technique) the advice was so sound I still use it 25-years later. The idea is this: if you are stuck in an exercise, i.e., neither poundage nor reps will budge upward, use another exercise to boost performance in the first exercise. In iron lingo these secondary exercises are known as assistance exercises they are used to boost performance in a related exercise. To bust through a sticking point look for adjuncts or alternatives; pick and perform exercises similar to the target exercise. If you are stuck in the bench press and want to blow through the malaise, add some exercise(s) that closely resembles the flat bench press. What exercise most closely resembles a flat bench press? Another flat bench press. If your regular bench press protocol requires you use a 24-inch grip than the best bench assistance exercise would be a flat bench using a purposefully wider or narrower grip. Nothing more closely resembles a flat bench than another flat bench with a different grip width. Next in the resemble ranking would be a flat bench done with dumbbells. After that the closest match would be an incline bench press with a barbell using the exact same grip width as your regular flat bench pressthen comes the incline press with a wide gripthen using a narrow gripthen inclines with a dumbbell. Cable crossovers, flyes or pec-dec, though fine exercises, are ranked at the bottom of the stagnated bench press assistance exercise list.
Ditto with squats: whats the best squat assistance exercise? Why squats with a wider or narrower stancebest assistance exercise for standing overhead press? Seated overhead press then press done standing with dumbbellsseated with dumbbellsbehind the neck, etc., How about those small muscles, you ask, like calves, hamstrings, triceps and biceps? I subscribe to the line of reasoning that goes, first find an exercise that allows you to call on help from neighboring muscles before ending up at the final destination, pure isolation exercises. When in doubt think of it in a slightly different way: go from the exercises that allow you to use the most poundage to those exercises that require the least weight. Let us pick triceps as an example and work staying true to our heaviest to lightest template. This template can be used for determining exercise order in any and every workout. Start with the compound multi-joint tricep exercise that allows using the heaviest poundage and work through to the uber-isolation tricep exercises that can only be done using the dinkiest weight. The narrow grip bench press allows the use of maximum poundage on account of the muscular participation of the pectoral and front delt muscles. The pecs and delts move the weight from the chest to slightly past halfway. As the poundage approaches lockout, the triceps assume more and more of the load until at the end they are pushing 100% of the poundage. A man capable of a 200-pound bench press can tricep press 130 for 10 reps using a ten-inch grip forefinger to forefinger.
Ditto dips: because the triceps receive help from the deltoids and pectorals, the resistance used is significant. There are two distinct dip methods: the first dip variation starts the rep stroke at lockout and the athlete lowers themselves to a point where the upper arms are parallel to the floor. This shortened stroke makes the dip pure tricep and proficient athletes often strap on additional poundage to increase resistance. In the second dip version the athlete lowers down as far as possible, way past arms parallel to the floor. Pushing upward from the bottom-most point to the mid-point (where the triceps take over) requires the pecs and delts to do the Lions share of the work. I recommend both versions rotated periodically. A lot of big benchers use short, weighted dip as a mainstay tricep exercise. Pat Casey weighed 340 and could dip wearing 200-pounds strapped to his waist for additional resistance. Casey felt dips made locking out those 600-pound bench presses way easier. Bill March, Tony Garcy and the York Olympic weight lifters used weighted dips to boost their overhead pressing power. Bill March could clean and military press 390 weighing 220 and loved dips, again citing the powerful lockout power they bestowed. Dips build incredible tricep size and strength. With increased strength there always comes an increase in muscle growth. Going down the tricep list, next we have lying nose-breakers done strict, with no upper arm movement once the repping begins. Then seated overhead tricep extensions using barbell. Then the same using dumbbells. Again the poundage used is reduced until we arrive at the various super-isolation tricep cable exercises: pushdowns using both with one and two hands and over and under grip.
A solid tricep routine could commence with one of the two major compound tricep movements close grip bench or dips segue into a few sets of the heavy barbell/dumbbell French Press tricep exercises and end with a few sets of super-isolation cable or machine press-downs. A great tricep session can be completed in 15-minutes, hit three or four exercises and squeeze in twelve sets, no problem. I personally place triceps after bench press/chest but Ive seen lots of folks break them out and give them a separate arm day combined with biceps. Most trainees train triceps exclusively using the cable pushdown. Pushdowns are easy, compared to narrow grip benches, dips or heavy barbell or dumbbell work but easy in progressive resistance training is a contradiction in terms and by always picking the easiest, most convenient exercise we severely limit our growth potential. This template will work for any muscle you can name and provides real clarity when it comes to busting through lift sticking points or trying to make sense of how to set the order of the various exercises within the workout template.
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