For those that incorporate the max effort method in their training, which exercises do you use/get the most out of and why do you use them?
I’ll go first:
Squat:
Squat w/ chain- The chain doesnt beat me up like the bands do but still require more stability than straight bar weight
Pin squats- Teach me how to strain with heavy weight on my back and also teaches me how to use my hips out of the hole
Bench-
2 board- I dont know why but as this goes up, so does my raw bench
Chain bench- Easier on my shoulders than bands, I like using a shit load of chains, works my lockout(my weakest spot) like crazy
Floor Press- Keeps my speed off my chest fast
Reverse Band Bench- I actually dont like these but keep doing them anyway for some reason
Deadlift-
Fatter Bar Reverse Band Deadlifts- Teaches speed off the floor and hip extension at lockout. The bar I deadlift with is an inch and a half thicker than a competition bar and doesnt have any flex (so, it is much harder to pick up and works the shit out of my grip
Chain Suspended GM’s- Gives my hands a break but mimics a deadlift enough to get a ton of carryover
Box Squats- help my deadlift but not my squat? Weird.
sounds about similar to yours. i like using regular lifts for max effort so i can get the mental game under control.
i don’t like using bands for anything, they are great and they DO work; but they beat me up all over.
boards for benching i will incorporate when i get into another cycle but i’m 6-1 and have a massive ROM and need at least 4 boards to hit that ‘sweet spot’ so it’s sorta annoying.
Squat:
-Box squat vs. green band
-Giant cambered bar squats. I like this because I have the WORST time unracking and stabilizing weights. This helps a lot.
Bench:
-Boards. I absolutely suck at bench and board work is the only thing that seems to help
hi box squat
low box squat…did these 2 as back-to-back cycles this past winter/spring resulting in good sized deadlift PR’s . much harder variations of the comp squat . I’ll be doing it again .
regular back squat…considering my limited experience , this is a good lift to keep in the rotation . dont think I need a boatload of variations at my experience level .
rack pulls…love doing them . targets lower back without pulling from the floor . changing pin height allows for more or less lower back involvement .
regular deadlift…do them for the same reason as back squat .
1 board press
2 board press…weak spot in my bench was about 5 or 6 inches off the chest . these 2 variations allow me to use more weight at that particular height .
regular bench press…same as regular squat and deadlift .
used in the past , but not sure if/when they’ll get rotated back in …
3 board press
4 board press…I train/compete raw ; lock out not an issue right now . I do use narrow grip 3 board as heavy tricep work , along with 2 and 1 board as a supplemental move .
floor press…Meat got me going on this one . I liked doing them alright , but it seemed that it was a 3 board from my chest (not your normal barrel-chested p’lifter…yet) . probably do a cycle or 2 next winter…we’ll see .
incline press…take it or leave it . seems like a better supplemental lift . probably wont be adding it back in anytime soon .
pin press…might get them back in .
great thread . it makes a guy think about what he’s doing and why he’s doing it . I see now that I screwed around with way too many bench variations .
Squat/Deadlift
Back Squat
Reverse Band Squat
Arched back good morning
Chain suspended good morning
Deadlift
Deadlift against bands
15" deadlift (3" blocks)
Overhead Press (I compete in SM, sue me)
12" log press
13" log press
axle clean and press
block press
circus DB Press for RE work
Standing OH lockouts w/bands
Seated OHP
I’m gunna be changing around some of my OHP variations, not sure I’m happy with them right now.
Interesting…
Squat with bands attached to top of the rack, find it mimics my suit without bruising or knee wraps and helps to keep me more upright and practice driving my head back into the bar out of the hole. I have the best good morning squat ever and really need to fix this, the bands are helping.
Snatch grip deads, more to help strengthen my upper back, see above. Plus they help the grip a lot. Usually do these at the end of my main DL training. I rotate in a 3 week cycle, deficit, rack pulls, conventional pulls and then a week to deload. I always carry bands with me, so if the one rack in my gym is occupied by some one who looks like they might be there a while, I’ll pull against bands instead of doing rack pulls. Both have helped my lockout improve.
For benching, rowing, rowing, rowing and working up to a max as often as I can. I know that sounds like it could be a shoulder killer, but so far this strategy has put 10 lbs on my bench in the past few months, which is huge for me. Also lock outs in the rack, just the last few inches and lower on the pins as well. This helps more when I do them early in the week and train later in the week in a shirt.
Squats / Deads:
-Most of the time good mornings. Narrow, medium, or wide stance, or seated, from the top or suspended from the bottom. I don’t have any special bars, but I do sometimes change the bar’s center of gravity by hanging plates from it with chains.
I’m not really sure which variations are having the biggest effect on my individual squat or deadlift because I’m not at the point yet where I worry about one or the other, I just know every time I retest them my strength is up on both.
(raw, and I don’t really follow Westside ME work, but it’s pretty similar…)
Bench
-Bench with a close-ish grip… Say, thumbs-length from the smooth parts of the bar. Suicide grip too (a bit less ROM, more stable barpath, more triceps for me) That’s my regular bench grip.
-Low (less than 45 deg, maybe 30 or so) Incline Bench (grip wider than on flat bench).
-Benching off Pins (set just a little above where I’d normally hit), both flat and incline, dead stop, grips as described above.
Deadlift
-Dead Stop Sumo Deadlift, but not with an overly wide stance… Just wide enough so my quads aren’t in the way on the way down and causing me to round my lower back… This is my regular way of deadlifting.
-Dead Stop Rack Pulls from right above the kneecap with a conv. DL stance (with my structure, that’s plenty of ROM, and I’d have to pull sumo if I wanted to go further down anyway)
Squat
-Back and
-Front Squats (same stance as sumo, def. not close but not really wide either, I can’t go too close or I end up rounding my back on the way down because my quads get in the way or something)…
-Back Squats off pins Dead Stop.
-Front Squats off pins Dead Stop.
Dead stop work/working off pins gives me some of the best strength gains… If I don’t do it, I end up weak at the bottom of a lift and that means wasted potential.
Keeping the stance virtually the same on squats, front squats and (sumo) deadlifts means that I can have times of just doing sumo deads multiple times per week heavy (could never do that with conv deads due to the lower back) and that gets my squat up just fine. Sort of nice if you can concentrate on one thing without the others deteriorating.
I just stay with the competition lifts plus chin-ups for pretty much all my ME work, though I am only competing raw right now. As long as I vary the intensity every week, I can still improve fairly consistently.
There really isn’t any way I could train with boards/chains/bands in my gym though, so if I had access to more equipment I would probably use it. Don’t even have boxes for squatting.
train for mma and have some shoulder problems so lifts are much different then if i was training for a powerlifting meet these lifts have made me strong and able to move pain free
Front box squat-done to a parallel box(15 inches for me) useing a clean grip started front squatting when back was bad, now that its better still found that i prefer front squatting to back. changed to a box and noticed improved hip strength and greater ability to drive through people
incline barbell press-shoulder issues make flat bench painfull started incline in college out of neccesity and feel i have greater power from doing so. also translates into bigger weight on overheads.
trap bar deadlift- also started when back was bad. helps with leg drive more im[portant for me to have a heavy pull movement then to do a normal deadlift
nuetral pullups-enough said
useing these lifts ive gotten much stronger then i was before people who might say you cant use enough weight on some exercises my personal best at 280lbs are a 455 font box squat, 385x2 incline press, a 600lbs tbdl(no belt) and 10 pullups find exercises that help you best achive your goals and use them despite what others say if you know what works for you go with it