My Favorite Assistance Exercises Before and After Adopting 10/20/Life

14 Aug My Favorite Assistance Exercises Before and After Adopting 10/20/Life

Posted at 19:36h in 10/20/Life, Articles, Bench, Deadlift Powerlifting, Powerlifting, Quick Tips, Squat, Strength Training by admin 0 Comments

0 Likes

By: Dain Soppelsa-Friends of PRS

Before I started using the 10/20/Life principles last fall, my favorite squat/deadlift assistance exercise was doing sumo kettlebell deadlifts while standing on a tractor tire on its side. I had heard about a version of this from one of Louie Simmon’s articles. Given my wide stance while both squatting and deadlifting, I felt this would give me some good carryover to my competition lifts. My training partners and I performed them for sets of 10 to 15 reps with a weight of 150 to 250 pounds. I felt like these definitely helped my squat out of the hole and my deadlift off the floor.

[wa-wps]

Since handing my training over to Dan Dalenberg and 10/20/Life, my favorite squat/deadlift assistance exercise has been pause squats. My sticking point for squats is about a foot out of the hole. I feel strong after I get through this spot, but I can definitely feel the bar slow down briefly, even with light weights during this part of the lift. I have performed these raw and with a moderate stance. Dan had me pause right above the hole after reversing the bar, which really made these difficult for me. I used rep ranges of 5-10 and weights between 225 and 405 pounds. They really kill any speed out of the hole and force you to keep everything tight for an extended amount of time.

Before starting 10/20/Life, my favorite bench press assistance exercise was probably extra wide bench presses. I felt like these were the most beneficial to me in improving my sticking point, which is two to four inches off my chest. Extra wide grip bench presses are very difficult to start because your index finger is out past the power right and it’s hard to get any drive. You just have to push and muscle it up. It really works the outside of your pecs. These make you feel grateful to when you switch back to a regular grip.

After starting 10/20/Life, I told Dan Dalenberg about my sticking point when we were deciding how to set up my off-season training. He sent me the plan and I read it over. I noticed the long pause bench press as my first assistance exercise on Day 2. I was uncertain at first. I didn’t think they would be very difficult. But, after my first session of doing them, I realized I was definitely mistaken. I missed my last rep of my last set right at the top because my triceps were so fried. The long pause really took away any speed or momentum to help me coast through my sticking point. When I do these, I really have to use my triceps to get me through my weak spot off my chest. This makes it harder to complete the lift because it’s so difficult to get it moving and keep it moving. It makes me really concentrate on keeping my whole body tight for an extended amount of time, due to the long pause. I feel like I improved vastly during my ten week block of doing them. I went from missing a rep to completing all my sets with some left in the tank. I feel like this has helped me stay tight during the longer lifts, particularly when I put on my bench shirt.

FullSizeRender My favorite Day 3 exercise since starting 10/20/Life has been Single Leg Good Mornings. I admit I laughed when these were described to me. They sort of reminded me of a powerlifting ballerina before I actually tried them. The first thing I discovered was that 300 pound men don’t balance on one leg very well, let alone while bending over at the waist for sets of 15 reps. It was weeks before I could perform these without getting a nasty lower back pump and wobbling around like a newborn deer. I haven’t even added weight yet because they still challenge me using just my bodyweight. My lower back strength has improved and I feel like my balance in general has improved due to performing these on a regular basis.

I am still learning, when it comes to powerlifting training. My plan is to keep learning as much as I can, for as long as there is new information out there. I would encourage lifters, both novice and experienced to be more open to people’s suggestions and to different outlooks. 10/20/Life has taught me that even though you may think you’re well educated on a sport and you have many years of training and competition experience, you can still learn new things and you can still improve, no matter your age or experience.