Assistance Exercises for the Core Four Lifts

Expanding on the ultra-basics with assistance exercises.

Absolute strength master getting his psych on prior to a maximum attempt: as is evident, powerlifting’s short movements using maximal payloads along with carefully chosen assistance exercises build herculean mass.

Assistance exercises are useful only when they assist. In Marty Gallagher’s resistance training universe, the squat, bench press, deadlift, and overhead press remain the irreducible core four. The lifter can expand the menu, but the expansion must support the main lifts, not dilute them. This is where carefully chosen strength training equipment, brutally honest free weights, and disciplined programming matter.

Three Strength Types and the Core Four

There are three generalized types of strength: absolute, explosive, and sustained. Absolute strength is best exemplified by a limit power lift wherein a maximum payload is lifted for a short distance with no regard for velocity or time. Explosive strength is best exemplified by an Olympic lift, a snatch or clean, & jerk. A moderate payload is hoisted for a relatively long distance with maximum velocity. Sustained strength purposefully injects muscular exertion into an aerobic format and is exemplified by an extended kettlebell session, sprinting up hills or perhaps hoisting or dragging strongman implements for extended periods.

In the world of absolute strength, squats, bench presses, deadlifts, and overhead pressing form “the core four.” These four lifts are the ultra-basic lifts. Frankly, to maximize absolute strength and increase muscle size, mastery of the four lifts is all that need be done as these four lifts attack every muscle on the human body. In elite absolute strength circles, technique is taken to a high art, precision techniques are taught, technical benchmarks established. Techniques are mastered over time and with continual repetition.

While the four lifts form the irreducible exercise essence, often the athlete wants to do more. The core four can easily be expanded depending on the goals, wants and needs of the trainee. When the athlete wants to expand upon the core four, and there are five variations of each of the core four lifts, there is a hierarchy of “secondary” exercises, a ranking of auxiliary exercises that “assist” the core four. If the core four are the nucleus, these key assistance exercises are protons that form the next outer orbit.

Top Tier Assistance Exercises

The core four could be expanded with great ease. First, establish the optimal training frequency. Work backwards from there. How many days a week do you want to train? Two? Three? Four? Five times a week? If, by way of example, the athlete decided that they wanted to train four times a week, the expanded program would be easy to lay out.

Sample Four-Day Assistance Exercise Template

5-rep top sets: front squats, deads off a plate, dumbbell bench press, and barbell overhead press.

8-rep top sets: hamstring deadlifts, dumbbell incline press, seated DB press.

8-10 rep top sets: spider curls, dumbbell curls, dips, nose-breakers, calf raises.

In each session, one of the five variations of the core four is selected and performed. These core exercises are augmented with additional assistance exercises. The order and flow, the construction of each of the four workouts, is given a great amount of thought: the progression of exercises follows a logical flow and order.

Why Leg and Back Training Stay Separated

Leg and back work are purposefully placed at opposite ends of the training week. The muscles of the glutes, erectors, upper quads, abs, and hamstrings are blasted twice weekly. The intensity of leg and back training tax the central nervous system. Keep legs and back separated to optimize workout performance and accelerate recovery.

Explosive Assistance Exercises Go First

Power cleans, or any explosive Olympic lift that happens to be practiced, always need be done first in the workout. The cutting-edge thinking on explosive strength is that, optimally, explosive training need always be done when the body and the central nervous system are fresh. Explosive reps are limited to singles and doubles, no more. Past the second rep explosiveness plummets. If the quick lifts are buried deep in the workout, if reps are pushed past three, the central nervous system burns out and explosiveness nosedives.

A lifter practicing power cleans, power snatches, push jerks, and fast pulls needs an appropriate Olympic barbell, enough room to move safely and repeatable loading with dependable weight plates. The exercise is explosive; the setup should be controlled.

Warmups, Top Sets and Training Logs

The generalized warmup procedure is to perform high reps on the first set in each exercise. A high rep set raises core muscle temperature while grooving in technique. The number of warm-up sets depends on the top set poundage. It takes more sets to get to 405 x 5 in the deadlift, warm-up sets with 135, 225, 275, 315, 365, than it does to get to 155 x 5 in the overhead barbell press, 95, 115. Reps are lowered as the poundage increases. Results are logged for every set of every exercise.

If you had three days to train, train legs on the first training day, train bench and arms on the second training day and back and shoulders on the third day. Fewer sessions mean longer sessions. When you expand the core four menu with assistance exercises, allot more time. The idea is to extend the session duration without diluting the intensity. How far can we push the duration envelope before results nosedive? Where is the tipping point?

What About Resistance Machines?

The number one question we are asked is, “what about resistance machines? They are everywhere. They dominate the commercial gym landscape, yet we don’t, or won’t, even mention them. What’s up with that?!” When it comes to depth of muscular inroad, machines are inferior to free weights. Pick any exercise, say, a bench press or the machine equivalent, the seated chest press. Why is the machine version inferior? Machines eliminate the third dimension of tension, the need to control side-to-side motion.

With an exercise machine, the user pushes or pulls within a mechanically frozen motor-pathway allowing muscle stabilizers to lie dormant. Machines are the Lite beer of progressive resistance training. Hit the core four variations and the “approved” assistance exercises first, still have energy, then feel free to add machine work. Just don’t let it replace the free weight movement it mimics.

That does not mean resistance machines have no role. In a commercial gym, institutional fitness room, first responder training space, or military facility, functional training equipment and a cable station such as the Body-Solid Pro Club Line S2FT can support pulldowns, cable rows, tricep pressdowns, and other assistance work. The hierarchy remains unchanged: free weight core lifts first, assistance work second, machines last.

Equipment Pairings for Assistance Exercises

Assistance exercises work best when the equipment supports the main purpose: cleaner technique, repeatable loading and enough training variety to bring up weak points without cluttering the program. For barbell-based work, compare barbells, the Iron Grip OB-7 Industrial Chrome Olympic Weightlifting Bar, and the IRON COMPANY urethane barbell set when selecting tools for rows, curls, overhead pressing, and general free weight assistance work.

For loading, a facility can pair barbell work with IRON COMPANY premium rubber bumper plates when Olympic-style pulling or versatile strength training is part of the room. For dumbbell-based assistance exercises, lifters can compare dumbbells and IRON COMPANY urethane hex dumbbells for curls, dumbbell bench presses, dumbbell inclines, seated dumbbell presses, and triceps work.

For rack-based strength training, partial pulls, rack work, squats and presses, a power rack matters. Options include power cages, platforms and power racks and the Alpha 7 Power Rack. For bench press assistance and pressing variations, compare weight benches and the Defiant Strength Olympic bench press with plate storage.

For sustained strength, loaded conditioning or supplemental strength-endurance work, IRON COMPANY premium powder coated kettlebells can support the kind of extended kettlebell work Marty places under sustained strength. The tool must match the training purpose.

Training Note

This article is strength training commentary, not medical advice or a universal program. Assistance exercises, power cleans, snatches, deadlifts, rack pulls, bench press variations, kettlebell work, resistance machines, and heavy free weight training should be matched to the lifter’s technique, health status, training age, recovery capacity, and available coaching. The useful lesson is not to add everything. The useful lesson is to add only the assistance work that actually assists.

Assistance Exercises FAQ

What are assistance exercises in resistance training?

Assistance exercises are secondary lifts used to support the main strength lifts. In this article, Marty Gallagher places the squat, bench press, deadlift, and overhead press at the center, then uses assistance exercises such as power cleans, rows, dips, curls, hamstring work, and dumbbell presses to reinforce the core four.

Do assistance exercises replace the core four lifts?

No. Assistance exercises should not replace the core four. Marty’s hierarchy is clear: the core four are the nucleus, while assistance exercises are the outer orbit. The secondary work should build weak points, improve carryover and support the main lifts.

Which assistance exercises support the deadlift?

Power cleans and snatches, rows, rack pulls, hamstring deadlifts, and deadlifts off a plate can all support pulling strength. The exact exercise depends on the lifter’s weak point, technique, and recovery capacity.

Why should power cleans and snatches be done first?

Explosive lifts require a fresh nervous system. Marty recommends performing power cleans, snatches and other explosive Olympic-style work first because explosiveness drops when the body is already fatigued.

Are resistance machines good assistance exercises?

Machines can be useful after the main free weight work is done, but Marty does not place them above barbells and dumbbells. His view is that machines eliminate the side-to-side stabilization that makes free weight training more demanding and productive.

How many assistance exercises should a lifter use?

Use only as many as the training goal requires. More is not automatically better. Assistance work should expand the core template with care and attention, not dilute the intensity, technique, or recovery needed for the main lifts.

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About the Author

As an athlete Marty Gallagher is a national and world champion in Olympic lifting and powerlifting. He was a world champion team coach in 1991 and coached Black's Gym to five national team titles. He's also coached some of the strongest men on the planet including Kirk Karwoski when he completed his world record 1,003 lb. squat. Today he teaches the US Secret Service and Tier 1 Spec Ops on how to maximize their strength in minimal time. As a writer since 1978 he’s written for Powerlifting USA, Milo, Flex Magazine, Muscle & Fitness, Prime Fitness, Washington Post, Dragon Door and now IRON COMPANY. He’s also the author of numerous books including Purposeful Primitive, Strong Medicine, Ed Coan’s book “Coan, The Man, the Myth, the Method" and numerous others. Read the Marty Gallagher biography here.