How much assistance work is too much?

_lyndseybrooke_

If you're still gaining strength on your main lifts, is there any problem with doing a good deal of assistance work?

I really enjoy doing supersets - I do 3-4 exercises per muscle group and I hit two muscle groups per workout after doing my main compound lift (I follow Wendler's 5/3/1 for my main lift, but I stray from it with assistance work). So it's 3 sets of 10 reps done in ABABAB format per superset alternating muscle groups, if that makes any sense. I'm only working out for 1-1.5 hours including warm up and cool down, so it's not an excessive amount of time, and I'm using pretty decent weight for all of my lifts.

I suspect the answer is "it depends on your goals." I'm about to start a quick 8-week cut, but I'm currently at a healthy weight. Looking to lose 8ish lbs (through a 20% calorie deficit, of course), maintain strength as much as I can, and look hot and fit. That's it. I'll focus on gaining more strength after the cut, but I don't want to lose much strength or muscle mass while I'm cutting.

Pros? Cons? Thoughts? Go for it.

Sam_I_Am77

LyndseyLovesToLift wrote: »

If you're still gaining strength on your main lifts, is there any problem with doing a good deal of assistance work?

I really enjoy doing supersets - I do 3-4 exercises per muscle group and I hit two muscle groups per workout after doing my main compound lift (I follow Wendler's 5/3/1 for my main lift, but I stray from it with assistance work). So it's 3 sets of 10 reps done in ABABAB format per superset alternating muscle groups, if that makes any sense. I'm only working out for 1-1.5 hours including warm up and cool down, so it's not an excessive amount of time, and I'm using pretty decent weight for all of my lifts.

I suspect the answer is "it depends on your goals." I'm about to start a quick 8-week cut, but I'm currently at a healthy weight. Looking to lose 8ish lbs (through a 20% calorie deficit, of course), maintain strength as much as I can, and look hot and fit. That's it. I'll focus on gaining more strength after the cut, but I don't want to lose much strength or muscle mass while I'm cutting.

Pros? Cons? Thoughts? Go for it.

I've been using 5/3/1 for 2 years now and have been a member of his forum for about the same amount of time, so I'm very familiar with this method. Generally speaking 5 to 6 assistance exercises, if you can do more then you have to ask how hard are you pushing the main work sets? The point of assistance work is not to become great at ez bar tricep extensions, it's to get stronger in the main lifts, the accessory work is just to support those lifts and you don't need a lot. Jim's general recommendation for accessory are Dips, Pull-ups / Lat Pulldowns / Rows, Back Raises, some Core work, maybe a bicep exercise. I think I'm missing one but you have the idea. If you haven't picked up a copy of "Beyond 5/3/1" I would highly recommend it because it has some great additions for the original program and he changes the deload timing.

If you're going through a cut, you may want to reduce accessory work so you have energy for the main work sets which is what matters most. Pushing the main work sets hard is what's going to help you maintain your strength, not the accessories.

Here's an example of a full-body session I use (I use a couple concepts from Beyond 5/3/1).

Emphasis: Squat using 5's Progression (i.e. 70% @ 5 / 80% @ 5 / 90% @ 5)
Variation: Press 5 x 5 @ 70%
Dips
Chins
DB Curls
Back Raises
Side Crunches

Simple, effective, frequent PR's.

DopeItUp

I agree with Sam. The only thing I'm going to add is:

There's nothing inherently wrong with doing a lot of assistance work. Most people who do tons of it are people looking to add as much mass as possible (more of a focus on bodybuilding). The main 5/3/1 lifts don't offer a ton of volume so that extra volume tends to come from assistance work. And hell, if you just enjoy it, why not? Just be aware of recovery issues because if you ARE pushing yourself to the max with your 5/3/1 sets and then adding tons of accessory work, you may find yourself spinning your wheels. Not enough recovery == not getting stronger (and potential injury risk can rise). This will only be compounded by a caloric deficit. Just something to keep in mind and watch out for.

Sam_I_Am77

If you don't feel the main lift is enough volume, then buy Beyond 5/3/1 or two; Reverse Pyramid the sets after the PR sets. For instance, 5@75%, 3@85%, 1+@95%, 3+@85%, 5+@75%. That would be a lot better than doing a bunch of abdominal tricep-blasters or whatever. The simpler your training is the better.