ASSISTANCE WORK
Assistance work is designed to improve your weaknesses, but as only you can truly know what those are, we’ve provided our favorite assistance exercise for each core lift.
As a general guideline for assistance work, look to do more pulling than pushing exercises to maintain healthy shoulders. Always includes one single exercise to maintain a strength balance between legs, and remember that everyone benefits from greater core stability and strength.
See page 31 for Core Stability and Strength workouts that can accompany these assistance exercises in any warm-up/activation set.
WORKOUT TEMPLATE: PR SET
The following is an example of a basic workout template, filled out to give you an indication of how best to work towards a new PR. The sets indicated with a “+” are your “Big Set;” that’s when you really go all-out and push yourself!
POWER SET TEMPLATE
First Exercise: Moderate to heavy load. 65–85% load intensity (weight used) of max
Second Exercise: Low volume (reps and sets) for max rep speed. 3–8 sets of 15–25 reps per set, with the best rep schemes being:
3,3,3,3
5,4,3,3
5,5,5
Perform as fast and explosive as correct technique allows.
Recovery: Full recovery between sets. Allow for 2–3 minutes of complete recovery between sets.