Whats in your program.

[kevinspk]

How important are assistant exercises. I have friends who are into body building. They will do a bunch of different exercises for one muscle, this helps get a good looking big muscle. But in a sport where there is 3 lifts in the comp, what good are other exercises. If you want to get better at golf, you play golf, if you want to be a better boxer, you box. Of course boxers and golfers can benefit from lifting weights. but as a weight lifter is there any other benefit to assistant lifts other than building a stronger core and back for safety reasons. And calves for good ankle support. Why do 5x5 for 3 different exercises to work the same muscle groups, when you can do 15x5 of the competition exercises. All your muscles needed will be worked and you cant really say they would be over worked as they would normally be getting worked in the assistance exercises anyway. This is just a question I ask out of curiosity, possibly to get some info you all might have and change my routines up a bit.

[osu122975]

I prefer competition lifts 90% of my training. If I do assistance, it's usually a close variation of the competition lift. I use bands to pump blood before/after a workout for high reps.

Do them or don't do them - the only difference I have found is my recovery is faster not doing them. I have had no injuries or need for surgery, etc. Just listen to your body and get plenty of food, water and rest.

I'm ALWAYS experimenting, which may be part of why I continue to make gains because I never do the same thing continuously. My body is always trying to adapt.

Right now I'm experimenting w/ no pulling or squatting again (my back is really beat up) and hitting the bench doing max effort work every fifth day (4 days off). My theory is if I feel good, I'll hit the heaviest 5 or 3 that I can on any particular day. If I don't feel strong, I'll work up to a single in the 90%+ range. Sounds backwards but I believe it'll work. Even in the heaviest 5 or 3, theoretically it's still 90%+ of whatever you 5RM or 3RM is so by "definition" it's still max effort work according to Travis Bell of Westside Barbell. I'll also rotate in the slingshot and use the 2 board for assistance work.

It might not work, but that's why they call it an experiment. So far, everything has worked to some degree. Some more than others. One thing I can say, go heavy or go home. Focus on heavy training and even harder on recovery. For me, recovery is taking days off - none of this "active recovery" BS that some think actually works.

[3speed]

The great majority of my training is the Big 3. I do a few assistance exercises but each one has a specific purpose. If an extra exercise doesn't help/improve one of the main lifts or serve a specific purpose like injury prevention then there is no reason for me to do it. Like osu122975 said, it eats into my recovery ability. I will be 49 in a few weeks and I am still getting stronger by being smarter about what I do - chief among this is maximizing my recovery.

[dbunch]

What 3speed and OSU said…. Do the big three (4 if you count pressing) then add accessory work as needed. Every movement in your training regimen should have a purpose.
All of the best program have general have 2 things in common.

The first is some sort of periodization sometimes call block training
-light weight on the main lifts with lots of volume
-intermediate - heavier weight – slightly less volume
Intensity – Heaviest weight , low volume
Recovery – Low weights, maybe not even lift at all

I think each session should have 3 components

Warm-up – something to get the juices flowing and help prevent injuries
Working sets – 3 sets for a total of 10 to 25 reps
Volume / accessory work (as needed )

This is my really basic explanation of a complex subject.

[kevinspk]

Wow, first off I want to say thanks. Such helpful and friendly answers. Secondly, if I do count pressing as a fourth, what would the other three be. Deadlift, Squat, Bench press and. Sorry for how cocky that sounds. Its an honest question. Guess most people are focusing on the comp lifts. Will try that approach until I find a coach in my area. The people I have trained with locally are either turbo jocks or gym bunny meat heads. All with the "bigger bicep, better bod" mentality. Nobody has helpful info here. Thanks again. Great site.

[dbunch]

You’re right on the money, Squat, bench and deadlift and sometimes pressing

[kevinspk]

How often do you competitive lifters train. Is Monday, Wednesday, Friday enough. Obviously focusing specifically on each of the three. If three days a week is enough, is it cool to go for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I have fight training Monday - Wednesday and don't want to have to train on any days I have been choked or have a black eye. When I trained previously for body building (around 2004-2006) I would go Monday - Friday and train pretty hard. Just not sure if Pushing as hard as I would need to be is going to hinder my training if days are back to back. Was Thinking Squat then Bench then Dead Lift.

[dbunch]

When I’m 100% on my game I will train as much as 6 day. That being said only 4 days are dedicated to Lifting the other two days are generally skill training (I also do strongman and Highland games) I trained as little as 2 days a week when things at work get crazy.

I think you can weight train 3 day a week and still see really good gains. Especially when you add fight training, I think they will complement each other. The gym where I train has strongmen, Olympic lifters, MMA fighters, and of course power lifters. I think there might even be a body builder or two. One of the things I’ve noticed is that the core training for everyone is really similar.

[kevinspk]

I suppose I will just have to give it a shot and hope for the best. If i don't suck I will get more dedicated and have to make time to train harder.

[osu122975]

If you're fighting, conditioning is generally a high priority. If your goal is to fight, then strength training 2 days/wk is fine. If you train max effort method focusing on good form while doing it, it will make you stronger and faster than any other method out there w/o gaining a bunch of body weight.