Need accessory lift help

fiveminutes · May 2014

So, I posted the following on Nerd Fitness, but got no responses, so I figured I'd try here as well. I know what I'm doing regarding SL (I had to stop about a month and a half ago because of severe knee pain, but I'm starting up again on Tuesday), but I have absolutely no idea what I should do when it comes to free weight training.

Since I am one of those TL;DR people, I'll give out the Cliff's Note version. Basically last July I was fed up with my weight, physical fitness and general overall health. So I started doing Zumba - and I did it excessively. I went from 240lbs to 183lbs from basically August 2013 to April 2014 on pure cardio alone and calorie deficit. Since April I have lost another 7 pounds and I am currenty sitting at 176.6. I definitely still have fat around my midsection and hips/thighs (I'm a pear shape) and my lovely bat wings as my niece affectionately calls them. I want to build muscle to help burn the remainder of this fat and to also give me the body composition I am looking for. I've been doing much research and I think a happy weight for me would be around 155lbs, but I'm not at all about the number. I just want to look and feel healthy and happy about my body. Anyways, I need a workout plan with help with accessory lifts. This is what I have so far, but if you have any ideas about accessory lifts, please tell me - also, I have no upper body strength, I can't even do a single regular pushup.

Monday - Hot Power Yoga (1.15hrs)
Tuesday - Stronglifts 5x5, 20min cardio warm up/20 min cardio cool down, chest/back accessory lifts (maybe a 45 minute Zumba class - they are really addicting)
Wednesday - Hot Power Yoga (1.15hrs)
Thursday - Stronglifts 5x5, 20min cardio warm up/20 min cardio cool down, arms/shoulders accessory lifts
Friday - Hot Power Yoga (1.15hrs)
Saturday - Stronglifts 5x5, 20min cardio warm up/20 min cardio cool down, legs accessory lifts
Sunday - Rest Day

I am planning on running/walking a 5K on June 28 (I really hate running, I've never done a 5K before, so this is going to be a major accomplishment for me). I basically need help or a routine on my accessory lifts. I'm not scared of free weights, its just more of I have absolutely no idea what I am doing or what exercises I need to do to target those areas. My eating is TDEE-20%, so roughly a 500cal per day deficit, I don't eat clean, because I know my willpower and I need my diet to revolve around a habit that I know I can sustain in the long haul and I've been doing great with what I have set into place. Well, this turned into a TL;DR anyways, but oh well.

Stats -
6'1"
176.6lbs
26.2% BF
23.5 BMI

fivethreeone · May 2014

First of all, SL *is* free weight training and the program does not require accessories beyond what is given. I personally do a modified version of SL, adding lat pulls, push ups, hip thrusts, stiff-legged deadlifts, and good mornings, but it is not necessary.

Because you have little upper body strength, I would focus on that. Do assisted chin ups and incline pushups until you work your way to the real things. maybe some cable rows and lat pulls as well. I'd do assisted chins and cable rows on A day and pushups and lat pulls on B day.

Showcase_Brodown · May 2014

I would say just keep going with the SL. That's going to cover most of your bases, I would think, since it focuses on the compound lifts. There's nothing wrong with accessory lifts, it's just that you need to be prioritizing the compound stuff.

If you're trying to get rid of fat in certain areas, there's nothing you can do to target that. You can continue in a calorie deficit and eventually get rid of it, while doing a weight routine and getting stronger and maintaining the muscle you have. As you lose more fat, the muscles will be a little more defined.

For upper body strength, the obvious one is bench press, but also do chin-ups/pull-ups and rows of some sort to hit your back. I like doing dips and overhead press too.

And whatever you do, don't neglect the squats and deadlifts. They are going to be huge for your overall development.

fiveminutes · May 2014

First of all, SL *is* free weight training and the program does not require accessories beyond what is given. I personally do a modified version of SL, adding lat pulls, push ups, hip thrusts, stiff-legged deadlifts, and good mornings, but it is not necessary.

Because you have little upper body strength, I would focus on that. Do assisted chin ups and incline pushups until you work your way to the real things. maybe some cable rows and lat pulls as well. I'd do assisted chins and cable rows on A day and pushups and lat pulls on B day.

I know SL is a freeweight program, but when I was doing it before I had to stop because of my knees (I'm only 5 months post op from bilateral knee surgery) I didn't feel like I was working out certain muscles, such as my arms (triceps mostly) and even my core as much as I wanted to. While I understand that SL can be used as a stand alone program, I feel that I need to add accessory lifts to my routine to get the full body workout that I am particularly looking for

fiveminutes · May 2014

I would say just keep going with the SL. That's going to cover most of your bases, I would think, since it focuses on the compound lifts. There's nothing wrong with accessory lifts, it's just that you need to be prioritizing the compound stuff.

If you're trying to get rid of fat in certain areas, there's nothing you can do to target that. You can continue in a calorie deficit and eventually get rid of it, while doing a weight routine and getting stronger and maintaining the muscle you have. As you lose more fat, the muscles will be a little more defined.

For upper body strength, the obvious one is bench press, but also do chin-ups/pull-ups and rows of some sort to hit your back. I like doing dips and overhead press too.

And whatever you do, don't neglect the squats and deadlifts. They are going to be huge for your overall development.

Definitely aware on being unable to spot reduce, I just know certain muscles are weaker or feel pretty much nonexistent compared to other areas. Accessory lifts would definitely not be my main priority, as I think SL will be a great program, I just know certain areas (basically all upper body) need more help in muscle development than others. Before I stopped I was already at a 120lb deadlier and I had only been on the program about two weeks

ILiftHeavyAcrylics · May 2014

For triceps I'd add skull crushers or rolling dumbbell tricep extensions. For core you could do something like hanging leg raises or I've personally found that pull-ups/chin-ups are great for core (and upper body in general).

eta: double check your form though. Stronglifts ought to hit both of those muscle groups.

_IronDan_ · May 2014

My advice for you is get an appointment with a personal trainer and get him/her to teach you correct form for stronglifts, if you've done it before and hurt yourself there's a good chance that your technique isn't quite right. You can then ask about isolation exercises for your arms although if you do the stronglifts program correctly you shouldn't need any extra arm work (they're called compound exercises for a reason)

It also might be worth doing the couch to 5k running program when you're not lifting so you can smash that 5k.

Otterluv · May 2014

First of all, SL *is* free weight training and the program does not require accessories beyond what is given. I personally do a modified version of SL, adding lat pulls, push ups, hip thrusts, stiff-legged deadlifts, and good mornings, but it is not necessary.

Because you have little upper body strength, I would focus on that. Do assisted chin ups and incline pushups until you work your way to the real things. maybe some cable rows and lat pulls as well. I'd do assisted chins and cable rows on A day and pushups and lat pulls on B day.

I know SL is a freeweight program, but when I was doing it before I had to stop because of my knees (I'm only 5 months post op from bilateral knee surgery) I didn't feel like I was working out certain muscles, such as my arms (triceps mostly) and even my core as much as I wanted to. While I understand that SL can be used as a stand alone program, I feel that I need to add accessory lifts to my routine to get the full body workout that I am particularly looking for

It works both triceps and core. All of the lifts are compound lifts.

Core: squats, deads, well, actually all of the lifts in there if you get down to it.
Triceps: OHP and benchpress are hitting those.

The beauty of compound lifts is that you work lots of muscles at once.

You should probably develop a good habit of sticking with it, get your form down, all of that stuff before adding in accessories. My accessory work is actually just for hypertrophy.

bostonwolf · May 2014

First of all, SL *is* free weight training and the program does not require accessories beyond what is given. I personally do a modified version of SL, adding lat pulls, push ups, hip thrusts, stiff-legged deadlifts, and good mornings, but it is not necessary.

Because you have little upper body strength, I would focus on that. Do assisted chin ups and incline pushups until you work your way to the real things. maybe some cable rows and lat pulls as well. I'd do assisted chins and cable rows on A day and pushups and lat pulls on B day.

I know SL is a freeweight program, but when I was doing it before I had to stop because of my knees (I'm only 5 months post op from bilateral knee surgery) I didn't feel like I was working out certain muscles, such as my arms (triceps mostly) and even my core as much as I wanted to. While I understand that SL can be used as a stand alone program, I feel that I need to add accessory lifts to my routine to get the full body workout that I am particularly looking for

You are mistaken in this belief. Bench press/push ups is a tremendous tricep exercise. You can vary your grip placement to increase the intensity (hands closer together=more triceps work)

If you aren't doing SL now, why do you have it listed out in your weekly workout plan? I'm a bit confused about that.

Otterluv · May 2014

I would say just keep going with the SL. That's going to cover most of your bases, I would think, since it focuses on the compound lifts. There's nothing wrong with accessory lifts, it's just that you need to be prioritizing the compound stuff.

If you're trying to get rid of fat in certain areas, there's nothing you can do to target that. You can continue in a calorie deficit and eventually get rid of it, while doing a weight routine and getting stronger and maintaining the muscle you have. As you lose more fat, the muscles will be a little more defined.

For upper body strength, the obvious one is bench press, but also do chin-ups/pull-ups and rows of some sort to hit your back. I like doing dips and overhead press too.

And whatever you do, don't neglect the squats and deadlifts. They are going to be huge for your overall development.

Definitely aware on being unable to spot reduce, I just know certain muscles are weaker or feel pretty much nonexistent compared to other areas. Accessory lifts would definitely not be my main priority, as I think SL will be a great program, I just know certain areas (basically all upper body) need more help in muscle development than others. Before I stopped I was already at a 120lb deadlier and I had only been on the program about two weeks

Working those areas out more =/= working them better. Sorry. They need rest in between to repair/build. Hitting them again with something more may very well be counter-productive. Too much too soon is a great way to get injured. You are a new lifter, slow down and be patient.

Ilikelamps · May 2014

Yea add hanging leg raises..pull ups, chin ups, whatever. But focus on getting your compound numbers and form up before you worry about the arrrrmz and abbbz

12by311 · May 2014

I didn't feel like I was working out certain muscles, such as my arms (triceps mostly) and even my core as much as I wanted to. While I understand that SL can be used as a stand alone program, I feel that I need to add accessory lifts to my routine to get the full body workout that I am particularly looking for

My core (abs, lower back, obliques) get sore when I do squats and deads especially. Check your form. You should be engaging your core in pretty much all compound lifts.

bostonwolf · May 2014

I didn't feel like I was working out certain muscles, such as my arms (triceps mostly) and even my core as much as I wanted to. While I understand that SL can be used as a stand alone program, I feel that I need to add accessory lifts to my routine to get the full body workout that I am particularly looking for

My core (abs, lower back, obliques) get sore when I do squats and deads especially. Check your form. You should be engaging your core in pretty much all compound lifts.

My biggest gains in 10 months of Crossfit/Olympic lifting have been my core and I still have a long way to go. My wife says she can tell the difference when she grabs my waist.

Need accessory lift help

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