Accessory Work
Accessory Work
You are lying on the floor, drenched in sweat and exhausted from just smashing your session. At the start of the session, you finally got those 10 Pull-ups you had been working hard for. You worked bloody hard and now you’re thinking “I’m glad that’s all over!” & you’re just about to sit down and spend some time chatting while you roll out. Then … ”Finish with your accessory work guys”. “Damn it,” you think to yourself.
Accessory work may seem too hard at the end of a tiring session or something that you can treat as optional, but understand this … doing accessory work is extremely beneficial for your overall health and fitness and will improve your performance. We understand that it is not as exciting for some, but it holds an entirely new set of benefits and rewards to be gained that most are missing out on.
So what is Accessory Work?
Simply put … accessory work are the little exercises that contribute to the bigger exercises. Accessory work is anything that compliments the bilateral and full-body movements that are done within your training at Fighting Fit. Bilateral movements involve using both sides of the body, together. Think of movements such as squats, push presses, deadlifts, cleans, thrusters, pullups, push-ups, snatches etc etc …
Accessory work may involve isolation exercises (targeting one muscle or muscle group) or unilateral movements (using one side of the body), with the intended goal of improving overall performance and helping you become stronger, happier and healthier.
Over time, doing only bilateral and full-body movements will result in an imbalance. Your body is going to focus on using your strongest movers (muscles or muscle groups) to move the weight. This will result in underdeveloped muscles or muscle groups, which can limit your potential, increase stress on your joints, develop muscular imbalances or, even worse, lead to injuries.
We think accessory work should be done for a number of important reasons:
To develop a more well-rounded body – build a strong foundation of fitness – overcome weaknesses (these are your areas of opportunity) – are less taxing on your central nervous system and joints – help prevent injuries – improve current irritations in the body before they become worse and to promote muscle growth (hypertrophy).
The more consistently you do accessory work, the quicker you will see the benefits. Make a commitment to always do the accessory work and over time you will start to see your fitness and strength improve, your will feel better and look better.
Here are our tips to help you get the most benefit out of your accessory work. Concentrate on movement quality, not the amount of weight you are using – attack these movements with the same focus that you have during your session – if you don’t know why the exercises are beneficial, then please do not hesitate to ask us to explain to you the benefits, so you are able to the execute with a purpose.
Now … ask yourself – Are you putting in the same amount of effort to your accessory work as you are in your session? You should be!