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and want to work up to something heavy. My advice? Make some of these lifts a game time decision. See how you feel. For example, if you want to do dumbbell bench presses as an assistance exercise after you bench press, and you feel great, do one or two progressive sets and one all-out set. Here’s an example:
     80x10
     100x10
     130x16
    Track your personal records on some of your assistance lifts. When you feel great, try to break them. If you don’t feel like going crazy with a lift, simply back off the weight and perform more reps (i.e., 4x12 with 80 pounds).
    Side Note: Train Like a Bodybuilder
    Whenever I say this, people cringe and run for cover, but there’s a method to my madness.
    What’s the goal of a bodybuilder? Not size or strength, but symmetry . They want their bodies to be symmetrical, from front to back and from side to side. This is how you have to think, and this is why there’s a growing fascination with weak points and the posterior chain. It’s also why so many injuries occur. When I tell you to train like a bodybuilder, I just want balance in your training. If you train your chest, train your back. If you train explosively with weights, train your conditioning level. If you train your conditioning, train your flexibility.
    Don’t get overzealous with one area for too long. If you do, expect to spend the same amount of time getting neglected areas up to par. Remember this when choosing assistance exercises, and try to achieve balance in your training with both exercises and muscles.
    Assistance Work #1: Boring But Big
    This is probably the most popular assistance work to accompany this program, and it’s real y very simple. After you perform the sets and reps of the program, you simply follow it up with the same exercise for 5 sets of 10 reps. For example:
    Sunday
    Military Press – 3 sets of 5 reps (or whatever week you’re on) Military Press – 5 sets of 10 reps
    Chin-ups – 5 sets of 10 reps
    Monday
    Deadlift – 3 sets of 5 reps (or whatever week you’re on) Deadlift – 5 sets of 10 reps
    Hanging Leg Raise – 5 sets of 15 reps
    Wednesday
    Bench Press - 3 sets of 5 reps (or whatever week you’re on) Bench Press – 5 sets of 10 reps
    Dumbbell Row – 5 sets of 10 reps
    Friday
    Squat - 3 sets of 5 reps (or whatever week you’re on) Squat – 5 sets of 10 reps
    Leg Curl – 5 sets of 10 reps
     
    Don’t let the simplicity of this fool you. You’l get sore, and you’l be tired. The big question here is how much weight to use for the “down” sets of 10 reps. The first time you try this, go light.
    Very light. Go with something you know will be easy – maybe around 30-40% of your training max. From there, you can work with 50-60%, or whatever you want. You don’t have to progress on these down sets, although you don’t have to use the same weight, either. Although you can .
    It simply doesn’t matter! Just do 5 sets of 10 reps and build some muscle. Since you’re already warmed up, you can pyramid down here. For example: Squat – 315x10, 315x10, 275x10, 245x10, 245x10
    You can stay with the same weight for al the sets, but that’s boring as hel . Boring, but big.
    Make sure all percentages of Boring but Big are based on your training max, not your actual max.

     
    Assistance Work #2: The Triumvirate
    This is the smart man’s way to train, because it’l force you to think about which exercises are the most effective. It’l make you experiment and reevaluate. Al we’re going for here is to limit each workout to 3 exercises, including the big one. Here’s an example: Sunday
    Wednesday
    Military Press – 5/3/1
    Bench Press - 5/3/1
    Dips – 5 sets of 15 reps
    Dumbbell Bench Press – 5 sets of 15 reps
    Chin-ups – 5 sets of 10 reps
    Dumbbell Row – 5 sets of 10 reps
    Monday
    Friday
    Deadlift – 5/3/1
    Squat - 5/3/1
    Good Morning – 5 sets of 12 reps
    Leg Press – 5 sets of 15 reps
    Hanging Leg Raise – 5 sets of 15 reps
    Leg Curl – 5 sets of 10 reps
     
    This