The BEST Assistance Exercises For The Big Three.

Back Squat. Bench Press. Deadlift. The big three. Hugely popular and hugely effective for a wide range of goals, and something most of you reading this will have in your training programmes. If you want to be great at them, putting time and effort into perfecting them is going to be time well spent... but you're likely going to need some assistance exercises to really help you master them. Assistance exercises are exercises that help bring up weak points, create balance and keep you healthy so that you can hit the big three regularly, with great technique, and using progressively heavier loads. I thought I'd use this weeks coaching email to share with you my top 3 assistance exercises for each lift, to help make sure you've got a well rounded strength training programme and to help you get the most out of your big lifts. Back Squat Assistance Exercises 1. Front Squat My number one assistance exercise for the back squat, is the front squat. The reason for this is that it's a great opportunity to practice the squat pattern with a really upright torso due to the front loading of the barbell. This helps your back squat as your intent should always be to remain as upright as possible during any squat, plus it helps load the quads and also works the upper back HARD to maintain a good front rack position (both key muscle groups in the back squat). I generally program these for lower reps, higher sets, moderate-high load with a focus on great technique 2-4 days after your back squats. 2. Split Squat I will always program some single leg work into a back squat focussed program, with a split squat being a great variation. They can really help work on left/right imbalances and hip shift which helps to keep you injury free, but they are a higher stability single leg exercise meaning you can push the load higher. They can also help you continue to load the legs after your back squat sets without placing as much stress on your lower back. I generally programme these to follow back squats for 3-4 sets of 6-8 reps each side. 3. Romanian Deadlifts Squats are a knee dominant/quad dominant movement, and some of the most common technique flaws you see can in some part be attributed to relative weakness in the hamstrings/glutes (things like tipping forwards/knees coming in/hips lifting faster than the chest). To help with this kind of weakness, there aren't many things better than RDLs. They really help strengthen the posterior chain, and can also be used as a great loaded stretch. It varies quite a lot as to when I program these, but they'll generally be in the 3-4 sets of 8-10 reps. Bench Press Assistance Exercises 1. Narrow Grip Bench Press Bench press is generally seen as the pinnacle of all chest exercises, but in my experience most people need more heavy tricep work rather than extra pec and anterior delt work. Ask any guy who's been lifting for 3-5 years un-coached what they've been doing, and there will be no shortage of heavy chest work and high rep tricep pump work. But if you can get your triceps brutally strong on a narrow grip bench press, your actual bench press numbers will fly. Lockouts become easier, bar speeds can increase and the weights go up. I sometimes programme these in place of regular bench early in a training block, or immediately after regular bench late in a training block (generally 2-4 sets of 6-8 reps) or as a main lift on a second bench day more focussed on speed (5-6 sets of 3-5 reps) 2. Face Pulls One of the biggest difficulties for most people technically when bench pressing is using the muscles of the upper back correctly to set a solid base for pressing. It's a combination of retracting and depressing the shoulder-blades (put them in your back pockets), lifting your chest to the bar, arching your back and externally rotating the shoulders. Being able to find this position increases your potential for strength mechanically, and reduces the risk of shoulder injuries due to proper positioning for heavy loads. Face pulls are a great way to strengthen these muscles and help make finding this position easier. They also have the added benefit of helping balance your posture buy strengthening those external rotators on the back of the shoulder to help counteract the strength your building on the front of the shoulder. 3-4 sets of 12-15 reps using a cable, bands or rings are my usual go-to's here. 3. Behind The Neck Press This one is a bit of a wildcard as I was initially going to use a standard overhead press, but then I decided I've just been under-using this lift more recently for no good reason. Bench pressing requires strong shoulders, and nothing builds shoulders as well as overhead pressing. But I love the behind the neck press for bench press as the difference in bar position creates 2 key differences. The shoulders must externally rotate, and get loaded in more external rotation to help balance the internal rotation I discussed previously. The shoulder-blades must retract more to get the elbows under the wrist, ending up in a similar position to how we want them in the bench press. And if someone has a big bench but can't get themselves into a behind the neck position comfortably, I think we're preparing the shoulders for issues later down the line. You can't bench press heavy on bad shoulders. Lighter weight, higher reps on these. 3-4 sets of 8-10 is my usual preference, especially if it's a new movement. Deadlift Accessory Exercises 1. Whichever Deadlift You Don't Use If you pull conventional, do some sumo sets. If you pull sumo, do some conventional sets. Similar to the front squat being a great assistance for back squat, the subtle differences in bar positioning a joint alignment can really help bring up weak areas and create hips that can tolerate load in a variety of positions (great for lower back and hip health). As I said before, you can't bench heavy on bad shoulders, and you can pull heavy on a bad back/hips. I'll either sub the less used lift in for the most used version early in a block as a straight swap, or follow the main deadlift sets with 2-3 sets of the alternative lift for 2-5 reps at 75-80% of the main lift as a kind of back-off set. 2. Good Morning A strong deadlift needs a strong back and glutes, and good mornings are right up there with the best lower back and glute builders. I think these are particularly useful for conventional lifters as the torso angle is less upright in conventional deadlifts, but it can still benefit sumo lifters too. Plus, with the weight being at the end of a longer lever, you can generally get a great benefit from these using less load, which is good for a heavy deadlift session where you've already lifted your heaviest weight of the week. 3-4 sets of 8-10 reps at moderate weight is my usual approach on these. 3. Pull-Ups One of the most common mistakes I see on the deadlift, conventional or sumo, is not using the lats to their potential. They're a huge muscle, covering the majority of your back. If you can set them tight and use them maximally, they're first and foremost going to help you keep your back in a good position under heavy loads. You also HAVE to use them to keep your bar close to you. The further away that bar comes from you, the heavier it feels, and the more it's going to pull you over and round your back (not cool). You could get fancy and use a straight arm pulldown or modified front lever to specifically train that movement, but generally I think poor use of the lats it's down to simply having weak lats. And nothing makes them stronger that doing high quality pull-ups. Pull-up ability varies HUGELY, so my programming approach varies hugely as well. This one is really a case by case basis. Ian.