Top Assistance Work For The Non-Novice Olympic Weightlifter

Here are some of my favorite (and thus, the best) accessories for olympic weightlifting. These should only be used once you pass the early novice phase of olympic lifting (ie. you can lift the bar + some respectable weights with decent technique consistently in the full snatch and full clean & jerk). Novices should not focus on assistance work and should spend 100% of their time perfecting snatch and clean & jerk technique. Please note these assistance exercises are SEPARATE from strength exercises, and so will not include pulls, squats and overhead work. I will discus these strength lifts in another post.

Upper Body Assistance Work

1. Weighted Dips: Better than bench press as it takes the shoulder through a greater range of motion. Great for having a decent chest as well as strong triceps for the jerk and overhead positions. I like to treat these like a main lift with percentage based programming.

2. Lu Raises/Facepulls: Both great options for shoulder health. The facepull focuses more on the rotator cuff, whereas the Lu raise develops the side delts and the overhead position. I alternate each every week since they are both so good.

3. Weighted Chinups: Great general developmental tool for the lats and biceps, which are not hit adequately by the olympic lifts. 

4. Barbell Rows: Helps keep the bar close in the snatch and clean, also develops resilience in the lower back.

5. Hanging Leg Raises: Core work helps lifters brace in the snatch and the clean and the jerk. People online claim they train core every session, but I think that's pretty stupid. I train core heavy and hard 1-2x per week and find that more effective for both skill acquisition and muscle growth. I believe this approach is more effective than training core half-arse every session.

Lower Body Assistance Work

1. Back Extensions: Simply the best exercise for lower back strength. Better with a barbell on your back.

2. Split Squats: These provide a stimulus to the quads different from the olympic lifts and squats since these are unilateral. These also develop the glute and hip muscles well. My favourite variation are bulgarian split squats.

3. Leg Curls: Train the hamstrings in the shortened positions. Hamstrings are important to train both for injury prevention and since they are not hit hard by the main lifts, squats, and even pulls!

4. Jump squats/Depth jumps: I start my cycle with 6 weeks of weighted jump squats with 10-20% of my backs quat 1RM, and then peak with 3 weeks of depth jumps. These help specifically with extension and force development in the jerk. 

5. Maybe Calf Raises/Hip Adduction: I personally do calf raises just 1x a week since I train for sprinting as well. However, calf work probably doesn't help with weightlifting specifically, unless you have terrible ankle mobility. Hip adductions are good bodybuilding exercise which target the large adductors, but these are likely trained adequately by doing squats anyways. Do these if you like, but they are not as important as the others on this list.

~ Prem