How To Choose The Best Accessories For Powerlifting?

Powerlifting, as the name actually doesn't suggest at all, is about getting as strong as possible in the 3 major lifts. The route you take to get there will be highly individual, but along the way, you will need to do some exercises which are not squat, bench or deadlift.

These supplemental exercises ought to work on improving your overall performance. Increasing muscle mass, learning optimal force output, addressing weak spots, etc.

When you pose the question, “what are the best assistance exercises?” the options are nearly endless, however, in the latest years some of them have gained almost a mythical status.

I can understand why that's the case since very strong folks have been vocal in their support of a particular accessory exercise that boosted their lifts. For example, Chance Mitchell is credited for bringing the back extensions back into the spotlight.

These movements were a part of powerlifting training for a long time now but they are once again gaining popularity. The improvement in powerlifting community knowledge, in my opinion, is the main cause of this.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy squatting just as much as the next powerlifter, but if somebody is struggling with a certain lift, and advice like "to bench more you should just bench more" doesn't work for them, maybe it's time to adjust the strategy to better suit your unique problems.

Why some accessories are better than others?

Because they allow people with suboptimal leverages for a given lift to do additional volume with high specificity to the big 3. Let's look at an example of a long femur squatter. His squat will probably look awfully similar to a good morning, which will cause much more fatigue to muscles like back extensors and glutes. As a result, there will be more central fatigue and less potential to build up an effective volume dose.

This person will fail if he tries to develop his quads just through squats. The answer isn't more squat volume, it's more quad volume specific to squatting, which may mean a belt squat, hack squat, leg press or a plethora of other exercises.

What defines a great accessory lift?

The group of exercises that I outlined above will most often accomplish at least 2 of the following 3 goals:

a) Hypertrophy - we'll experience a long range of motion and a high degree of stimulation on the target muscle. Good indicators for this are pump, targeted soreness and a sense of fatigue in the muscle without trashing the joints.

b) Specificity - e.g Hack squat which is similar to a squat and will have a bigger carryover than leg extensions.

c) Train neglected yet important movement patterns - a pillar of a strong deadlift is a good hip hinge, but still I rarely see people training it with proper intent. A deadlift specific exercise to strengthen the glutes is an RDL or a back extension as preached by Chance Mitchell.

How to find YOUR "magic" accessories

It is enough to watch closely how your body responds to different exercises. Questions which can help with identifying ones that work well:

• Do I need additional accessories or is training the main lift enough to guarantee good progress?
• Does this accessory provide good mind-muscle connection and tension on the target muscle or is it more felt on the connective tissue?
• Does this exercise train a muscle group or a movement pattern that is undertrained in my case?
• When using this exercise in my program, do I see an improvement in the main lift or strength of the target muscle?
• Can I progressively overload this exercise?
• Is this exercise specific enough to carry over to the main lift? (The movement pattern itself doesn't have to be very similar, it is enough to train muscle functions specific to main lifts)

A starting list of useful accessories

As I wrap up this article, I'll leave you with a list of accessories which are considered above average among many powerlifters. To determine what works best for you, try experimenting with these (as well as with others that fulfill my original criteria).

• Belt squat/Hack squat/Pendulum squat - additional quad volume specific to squats, decreased spine compression and a way to train around various injuries that prevent squat training.

• Dips/Weighted push ups/Good chest press - additional chest and tricep volume for people with long arms or those who tend to get beat up by benching too much.

• Back extensions/RDLs - overload for the hip hinge pattern which is often undertrained by powerlifters. Often improving this motion leads to a quick increase in deadlift strength.

Kopenhagen plank/Hip abduction/Hip flexor work - those muscle groups are very often neglected, but training them is required for longevity in the gym. Adductors are also one of the primary hip extensors so don't half-ass them.

Let me know what other exercises you found useful for gaining strength quickly, and if you like this type of content, don't forget to share it on your social media. Respectfully