Assistance Work - How important is it?

[soundsgood]

Most bodybuilders run a generic 4/5 day split similar to Quads/chest/back/arms/delts&hammies starting with a compound then doing several assistance exercises. This obviously gives solid results but I'm wondering about the importance of assistance work. And the difference it really has on our physiques.

Lots of guys will do an additional 4 or 5 exercises on each body part. Hitting it from 'a different angle'. How necessary is this? Has anyone experimented with less assistance work and just focused on the compounds with limited assistance work. I know this approach is common in power lifting circles purely for strength but surely size comes with it too? How did it affect your physique?

[Riccardo]

I've experimented with squats. Usually I do 2 heavy working sets and then sometimes a 20 rep set. This is followed by High volume leg press and lunges or occasionally hack squats. I then do Hams; SLDLs, GHRs and/or curls.

I consider this to be fairly minimalist, however I have experimented with just squats and SLDLs but upped the volume on the squats, 3-4 heavy sets (6-10 reps) ramping up and then one or two high (20) rep sets. This was followed by

3 heavy sets of SLDLs 6-8 reps.

I was concerned about losing size but It didn't happen. I still continued to gain and my strength went up. I think a lot of people do way too much volume and way to many exercises. Some times its just good to get back to basics. I suppose the basic minimalist approach would be best suited to off season body building, Its good to do a bit of a spring cleaning of your work outs sometimes.

If you have imbalances or weaknesses in certain parts of a lift it may be best to pick appropriate assistance exercises, however I tend to agree with Dave Tate who believes most sticking points can be fixed by looking at technique, recovery and diet rather than by adding numerous assistance exercises. In terms of bringing up small muscle groups and detail within a muscle is usually helped by isolation exercises but they are easy to throw into a program pre-comp and muscle separation is probably determined to a large degree by diet and genetics.

[HarryB]

I think it depends on the bodypart and how you respond. If it's genetically a strong and responsive bodypart then you don't need to more than just hit the basics, if it isn't then maybe you need more angles etc etc etc