The theory behind arm assistance work?

[quagmire]

What is the theory behind arm assistance work?

i mean, why not just do more bench presses or OHP?

If compound movements are the exercises which put on mass, why not only do them? Why does arm assistance work better than more sets of compound exercises?

[gzt]

One problem with just doing more bench is that the bench is stressful on the shoulder. For some people, doing more bench would require getting another set of shoulders.

Another problem for some is that different parts of the musculature will fatigue at different rates. So trying to add more volume just means that you have blitzed your front delts and hardly touched your triceps.

More about the triceps, on why overload triceps work is valuable: your triceps really need heavy overload work in order to express themselves well in a heavy bench. lazy or long head needs close to 1RM to be activated.

[Tom Narvaez]

gzt pretty much nailed it. One thing I would add is that a compound like squats is going to cause a greater degree of systemic fatigue than an isolation movement like leg extensions. Greater volume can be accumulated on isolation movements because of this. Where one more set of bench might make you underrecovered for intensity day, it is possible a set of LTEs will not.

[elVarouza]

lazy or long head needs close to 1RM to be activated.

You're saying whether or not the long head is "activated" depends on how close to 1RM you are? So it does nothing at, say, 50%? I would think if it is "100% activated" on a 1RM attempt it would be 50% activated at 50% of 1RM. Like any other muscle its activation depends on the ROM it's put through. E.g. a close stance, toes-in squat activates the hip adductors less than a wide stance, toes-out squat.

[Patrick Stroup]

+ non scientifc jargon

arm work is fun, getting a pump is fun. period.

[Patrick Stroup]

not a whole lot of people catching a fat pump are like "OMG WHY THIS SUCKS MAN I HATE THIS" unless youre like mac.

[Squeakyguy]

A different way of saying what Tom said: assistance work allows you to accumulate greater volume for a target muscle with a movement which specifically avoids overstressing a large muscle mass.

In the same way that more advance trainees might alternate their deadlift workouts with RDLs, goodmornings, rack pulls or partials, one could improve his benching with recoverable assistance work to the "weak links" in the arm musculature in between heavy bench workouts.

I know I just repeated what Tom said, but it's a slightly different angle.

Also, beach season.

[Mark Jamsek]

I don't think direct arm work of any nature is really the best choice in most instances.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKrlqsZ9qYs#t=2m30s

Now performing primary and secondary assistance movements to address certain ranges of the lift that are particular muscle group dominant, such as pause or pin presses for extra TUT in the weak range and developing starting strength, or board presses and band work to focus on the tricep dominant range of motion would be the better choice in my opinion, as these fall within the general-specific category of movements which will always have more carry-over to your comp. lifts than tricep pushdowns or LTEs. They don't even really fall in the supplemental category in my opinion. Different grip bench, floor press, CGFP/BP, shoulder presses, push presses, dumbell bench, incline and press, and incline benching with different grips would be the better choices for supplemental work too. Selecting 2-3 to rotate which address deficiencies in muscular development for you.

Generally speaking, the bench responds well to high volume and we're all capable of increasing our work capacity and recovery too. Though if you never stress these systems, how do you expect them to adapt?

[yellowmamba]

I don't think direct arm work of any nature is really the best choice in most instances.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKrlqsZ9qYs#t=2m30s

Now performing primary and secondary assistance movements to address certain ranges of the lift that are particular muscle group dominant, such as pause or pin presses for extra TUT in the weak range and developing starting strength, or board presses and band work to focus on the tricep dominant range of motion would be the better choice in my opinion, as these fall within the general-specific category of movements which will always have more carry-over to your comp. lifts than tricep pushdowns or LTEs. They don't even really fall in the supplemental category in my opinion. Different grip bench, floor press, CGFP/BP, shoulder presses, push presses, dumbell bench, incline and press, and incline benching with different grips would be the better choices for supplemental work too. Selecting 2-3 to rotate which address deficiencies in muscular development for you.

Generally speaking, the bench responds well to high volume and we're all capable of increasing our work capacity and recovery too. Though if you never stress these systems, how do you expect them to adapt?

The problem is not about increasing work capacity and recovery and adapting to stresses. It's about fundamental anatomical limitations on our shoulders imposed by evolution. The squat is a completely natural, fundamental movement, so Oly lifters pretty much can front squat heavy weights day in, day out with no dramas. Try doing that for bench and you will need lots of new shoulders. Unless you're lucky and have good genetics that have blessed you with an invincible shoulder.

[hamburgerfan]

If a lift developed every involved muscle group equally, and did so consistently for everyone who did it, then we wouldn't need assistance work. That doesn't always happen though.