Since my guess is squat and deadlift days are not the easiest, I decided to choose accessories that will 1. improve my lifts and 2. are not too taxing. I decided to do slightly more demanding accessories on Bench Press and Overhead Press days such as Barbell Rows and Chin-ups because I have off days after those. My upper back needs a little work so I have several accessories devoted to that. I like having a single leg exercise in the routine as well to keep my legs equally strong and I like to do 2 ab exercises a week to keep my abs strong. I am doing back raises, but one thing I would like to include is a second lower back exercise since I will be wearing a belt and I want to keep my lower back strong. Maybe I am mistaken, but it seems like based on the God is a Beast accessory recommendations, I don’t have room for another lower back exercise unless I get rid of one of the ab exercises and replace it with Goodmornings, more back raises, or something similar. Thank you for the help.
don’t plan your assistance in advance - that just sets you up for failure. God is a Beast is not an easy program - I wouldn’t incorporate back raises, barbell rows or split squats as tools during this cycle. At the end of the leader cycle, Jim mentions that you should only do 25-50 per category, and I would error on the side of “less is more”. Your template above looks a lot like majoring in the minors (too many assistance lifts).
Follow the program as written and go easy on the assistance - super-set the assistance with the main work as well as Jim suggests and keep the movements simple.
Push = plate raises, triceps rope push downs, dips, push ups, db bench, lateral raises (25-50 total reps, choose 1 movement per training session)
Pull = db rows, kroc rows (1 warm up, 1 all out set per arm), chin/pull ups, lat pull downs, or any type of curl (25-50 total reps, choose 1 movement per training session)
Single leg/core = any abs exercise on lower body days, single leg movements or back raises on upper body days… (again, 25-50 total reps per session, choose 1 exercise).
Training doesn’t have to be complicated, and by pre-planning your assistance is just causing you to overthink it. It bares repeating - choose the assistance for that training session that day; you’ll learn more about what works and what doesn’t and what actually assists the main movements.
Thank you for the advice. Getting hung up on the lower back exercise was making me think that I was “majoring in the minors” a bit. The book says total reps per workout. Doesn’t that mean each workout, I should be doing 25-50 reps from each category? In another thread, I asked that question and someone confirmed this, but they could have been wrong.
I like preplanning my accessories because I like coming to the gym with a game plan rather than just doing what I feel like that day and having to think about the accessories at the gym. Choosing the exercises ahead of time lets me think about my weak points and how to fix those and lets me track the progress of those. If they are getting stronger and helping my main lifts then good, if they are not helping my main lifts then I will replace them.
I see your point about doing too much. I can do 3x10 for most exercises.
Just do 2-5 sets of 10-20 reps per category (2-3x20, 3x10-15, 5x5, 5x10, etc…). You can plan your assistance for that day on that day - not for the week. I usually write out my main sets and assistance literally 5 minutes before I go to the gym (in my garage).
Thanks. I decided that for bent-over rows and chin-ups I will do 5x10, but for everything else, I will do 3x10 because based on my exercise choices, it seems like the extra 2 sets are redundant. From my experience, the additional volume for my vertical and horizontal pulling is helpful for keeping everything balanced.