Lifts that are Worth a Damn

Inspired by my favorite blog, Chaos and Pain, Ive decided to write on the movements that I feel have the best carryover and provide the most benefit in improving the big 3.

Behind the Neck Push Press

  This is slowly becoming one of my favorite exercises.  I first saw this movement on the Chaos and Pain blog.  The first time I tried this lift, I almost killed myself with 185 pounds.  I couldn't lock out the weight and the bar came crashing down on top of my head.  Luckily though, people seem to be able to progress fast with the weight.  When I first started doing these in March of this year, I could barely do 185.  This past week I just did 225 for 2.

 Pros
   - Helps with Leg Drive in Bench since it teaches you legs to drive along with your pressing muscles
   - Looks fucking badass.  Putting some benchbro's max bench up above your head for reps is awesome
   - Develops your entire body from calves all the way up to your traps.
 
 Cons
   - You could seriously die.
   - Seriously you could die if you mess up the negative portion of this lift.

I never personally go above 3 reps on this exercise.  Theres no point.  This movement is meant to be done explosively.  I generally do 4 or 5 sets of these after my squat sets.  After squats, the weight on the bar feels extremely light which in turn helps you to be more explosive.


Pause Squat 

 Paul Carter, of the Lift Run Bang blog, has been proclaiming the benefits of these for years.  Ed Coan was also a big fan of these and that should be all you need to know.

Pros
   - Helps you to learn how to drive out of the whole with your hips and not your knees
   - Helps to develop all the muscles that are used in the turnaround portion of the squat.  If you are a raw lifter this will be your weakest area.
   - Helps instill confidence in your squat ability.  Once you know that you can dominate 315 for a 7sec pause, you know for a fact that 405 is in the bag.  Pause squats are great because they allow you to roughly know what your good for without having to test your max every damn week.

I generally do 3-5 sets of 5 sec pause squats after hitting my PR set of squats.  Then a few days later Ill do an entire squat workout of nothing but 3 sec pause squats. 8 sets of 3 reps works well for me.  Twice a week squatting is an absolute must if you want to become elite in the squat.

 The beginning of the year my squat was 350. Now after doing pause squats and 2 or 3 weekly squat sessions, I just hit 365x8 which puts me right around a 460 squat.  I know Ill destroy 500 before the end of the year.

So try these moves and let me know how things work out.