For experienced lifters, many of our technical issues could be lessened or resolved if we could be more focused on aggressively attacking weaknesses.
Here is my favorite system for doing just that:
The Basic Idea
- Work to a top single on a lift.
- Feel the area that you are struggling with the most.
- Then, choose a supplemental lift based on the weakness felt in that moment.
Where This Comes From
This idea was borrowed from Chinese weightlifting, whose entire existence is rooted in correcting weaknesses (strength-related, technical, and mental).
Weightlifters rarely go into a session with all of the exercises, sets and reps laid out in advance. In fact, they are perfectly cool with ditching the program (to an extent) to correct problems in real time.
In a standard session, the lifter will max out, feel the struggle point, then choose supplemental work according to whatever weaknesses are present on that particular day.
For example, if they struggled at the bottom of a snatch or clean, they might choose a paused front squat. Or, if the bar drifted away from the body after the first pull, they might snatch from blocks.
Good Things About This
Choosing supplemental work on the spot encourages responding to problems while they are fresh, rather than mindlessly cranking through work that might have been prescribed when something different was going on.
The moment that something changes or a problem pops up, there is an immediate response.
It also taps into a type of autoregulation that you don’t see being used often. In addition to adjusting loads or volumes, you are selecting lifts based on feedback, or using an autoregulated exercise selection (AES).
Simply having the option to choose your own lifts has been shown to have a positive effect on muscle and strength, stemming from (not surprisingly) more effort being put forth.
When you combine that with the careful consideration of individual technique and weaknesses, you get a nice framework for obliterating weak points and busting through plateaus.
A Loose Template
A. The Main Lift
- Work up to a top single with good technique on a squat, press, or deadlift variation. Lifts can be rotated through with different stances, grip widths, and/or specialty bars.
- Feel the area of the lift that you are struggling with the most.
- If desired, take 10-15% off the bar for some back-off doubles or triples.
B. The Supplemental Lift
- Select a lift to address whatever sucked about the main movement. This could be:
- a variation of the main lift
- a paused lift
- a partial
- an extended range of motion
- the same lift (but better)
- a different lift entirely
- 3-5 x 3-6 should cover a few bases.
- For a severe technical issue, do more sets – ex. 8×3.
- For a muscular issue, slip into builder mode – ex. 3×10.
- For a mental weakness, feel free to come outside the template – ex. more exposure to the problem lift.
- The higher the % or RPE, the lower the volume, and vise-versa (keeping in mind that control and technique are more important than precise calculations).
C. A Balancing Lift
- This would be a lift to balance whatever happened in ‘A’ and ‘B’ (most likely a posterior chain exercise or something unilateral).
- 3-5 sets of 6-12 should do the trick.
D. E. F. Assistance can include:
- Hypertrophy work
- Isolations for weak muscles
- Banded work for tendon health
- Bodyweight work
- Extra work to correct an imbalance
- Isometrics
- Bodybuilding methods like strip sets and running the rack
- Any other work to address muscular weaknesses and bring balance to the body
Sample Training Sessions
Example 1
A. Bench Press work to 1RM
~ Losing control at the bottom ~
2 x 2 @ RPE 8
B. Bench Press Double Paused – 3 x 5
C. Dumbbell Row – 5 x 10
D. Chaos Push-ups – 3 x amrap
E1. Tricep Extension – 3 x 15
E2. Band Pull-aparts – x 75 total reps
Example 2
A. Deadlift work to 1rm
~ Losing back position off the floor ~
B. Snatch-grip Deadlift – 4 x 4 @ RPE 8
C. Front Racked Reverse Lunge – 3 x 8
D. Reverse Hyper – 5 x 15
E. Stir the Pot
Getting Started
Choosing lifts on the spot can invite a bit of analysis paralysis. To keep that in check, it isn’t a bad idea to start with a small pool of pre-selected ‘fixer’ exercises for your most common issues, and choose from the list what you feel works best for the day.
Then, if something about your main lift troubles you and it isn’t addressed by anything on your list, trust your instincts and go off-script.
Choosing the Supplemental Lift
Weakness correction can get a bit complex. It isn’t always as straight forward as working on the sticking point, or bringing up a singular muscle.
That said, tune into what is going on with your body and try not to get too hung up on digging through the internet for ideas on which exercises might fix a particular issue. For example, falling forward in the squat could turn up results ranging from quad weakness, to weak posterior chain, to anthropometric factors that are out of your control.
The idea is for YOU to connect with the feeling in YOUR lift. Remember what stood out in the main movement (both physical and mental) and try to capture that here.
Trust your instincts. This method is more about developing your own intuition than allowing decisions to be guided by dogma or the latest research paper.
If in doubt, pause briefly near your trouble spot to give it time to register.
On that note, Chinese coaches tend to prefer a collaborative approach over an authoritarian one. Input from the athlete is always welcome and valued.
They encourage their athletes to experiment and even make mistakes so they can learn more.
In the long run, it is worth the effort since the lifter him/herself has the greatest potential to feel their own weaknesses.
Using This Method
This idea is pretty versatile. It could be used just 1-2 days per week, alternated with light/volume days, or turned it into a higher frequency thing.
If a max single isn’t appealing, a max 2-5 can also work (understanding that weaknesses shown with higher reps may be slightly different from a single).
Who This Is For
This method is best for seasoned lifters as it requires a solid understanding of programming, familiarity with a variety of lifts, and an ability to honestly assess your own technique.
Who This Is Not For
This method isn’t ideal for newer lifters, people who aren’t interested in refining their technique, or for people who cannot objectively rate their own effort.
A Few More Notes
- You don’t have to get an all-time PR every time you lift, but the overall trend should be upward.
- If you pick the same supplemental lift repeatedly, it is still helping and isn’t causing any overuse problems, there is probably no need to switch it out for the sake of switching.
- Feel free to reverse the order of ‘B’ and ‘C’.
- Have the right intention when lifting. If you need to work technique, don’t get impatient and go for a sloppy PR.
- You shouldn’t have to freak out and inhale ammonia caps to max (at least, not in this context).
- It isn’t imperative to max out every time.
- If you do find yourself dedicating most of your physical and mental energy to that heavy single, getting greedy for numbers and cutting corners everywhere else, it might be time to switch gears for a while.
- Keep a vigilant eye out for things that were working at one time, but are not really needed anymore.
- Make lots of notes, assess every set, and stay in the moment.
Final Thoughts
I stumbled onto this idea after falling into what I thought was a very bad habit.
I was constantly changing my supplemental work after feeling the problem in my main lift.
The thing is – the outcome was great. I had a string of epiphany moments with technique and even ended up breaking past some long-standing stalls.
Still, I was frustrated with myself for always being romanced away by the off-script work that felt right in the moment, and not being able to just stick to my program as laid out.
As this was going on, a friend was being mentored in the Chinese weightlifting system. He introduced me to their principles – one of which was very similar to what I had fallen into.
Ditch the program and go with your instincts.
Movements like cleans and snatches are much more technical than squat, bench and deadlift variations (so they say). However, many of the same principles for weakness correction can be applied to general strength or powerlifting.
This idea was inspired by Kirksman Teo’s (aka LiftHard) Chinese Weightlifting System. If you’d like more detail than what I outlined here, go check it out.
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