By: Jordan Wilcher

We tend to write a lot about strategies, methods, studies and other things that influence training.  It is not lost on me that the world at large is a swirling vortex of electronic information, much of it being contradictory. I will save most of my thoughts on that monster of a topic, but it does seem that right now the current is largely influencers pushing agendas as firmly rooted in science and practicality as a mylar balloon found 800 nautical miles from its original birthday party.  

Despite all of this, I think everyone can agree that training involves effort.  Zoom out and look at what humans are physically capable of and it's really amazing what sustained effort in any direction leads to.  Ballet dancers, endurance athletes, baseball players, F1 drivers - just a few of the many testaments to sustained effort over time.  While most of us aren’t trying to be the next Ohtani or Verstappen, we can take one lesson with us - consistent effort drives outcomes.  

The lowest of the low hanging fruit here is frequency of effort, being that you have to train consistently over time for things to happen.  There is no getting around this, do the thing to get the prize.  We talk a lot about different mental skills regarding this topic and for the sake of this article we are going to assume you are already training consistently.  

In reviewing client data for the year we discuss the near impossibility of knowing what perceived effort for each person means.  This largely lies on past experiences for each person.  For example, most of us don’t know what a nosebleed inducing squat or exercise induced corneal edema feels like, but for some that isn’t even a 10/10 on their scale. The point in all of this? Effort is relative to current capability and past experience. 

This brings us to the low hanging fruit I am getting at with this article, the unsung hero called accessory or assistance work. 

While we may not be able to know what someone’s perceived effort may be, we can certainly identify disparities in effort between a main lift and accessory work.  In short, we can tell when someone mails this stuff in. It's not surprising. Main lifts (especially ones you like) are like tech stocks, while accessories can seem a bit like government bonds.  I implore you to invest in your accessory work and keep the effort honest here.  The reason behind this is that in a good program they keep the wheels on and act like good background singers.  Tissue tolerance, bone health, joint stability and the ability to resist and create rotational force are just a few of the benefits of the accessory work we program. We can delve into the various facets of the aforementioned benefits another time, for this article the emphasis here is to understand they are designed and implemented in benefit of the global picture of training. 

So how do we apply this?  I will say first and foremost that efforts being form dependent is critical, as how we move when we are fatigued is highly trainable.  You can strain and move a bit slower through a rep while maintaining good form.  I think it is beneficial to generate some fatigue and stay very conscious of your movement quality as for our intended purposes, fatigue will show up. Having seat time and knowing fatigue is actually pretty important.  This doesn’t mean go and crush yourself, but it does mean that accessory work is a good place to safely push up against some fatigue and intelligently meter your effort and form.  This also gives us the space to make accessory work fit our personal goals, meaning we can tailor this to address unilateral imbalances, strength, hypertrophy etc.  The way I like to challenge this is for people to take a weight they typically use for a given exercise (we see over time people often use the same weights for a given accessory movement).  Take a set to form failure and count the reps.  If the programming calls for 6-8 reps and you don’t blow up until 30, chances are you need to increase the weight so that you are leaving anywhere from 2-5 reps in the tank or change your rep or loading scheme if your weight access is limited. 

Much of this discussion has focused on strength-based metrics because they are easily quantified.  However, the sentiment applies to the rest of the supporting movements in a workout. 

Don’t mail in your mobility, plyometrics, jumps or throws.  Over the course of a year’s time, these efforts add up in a very tangible way.  Keep your throws powerful, jumps snappy, and lifts honest.

It all adds up in the end.

Jordan was born and resides in Nevada. He is an assistant coach at HPPM in addition to working as an RN. Jordan has a curiosity which leads him to a constant pursuit of knowledge in his interests. He enjoys adventures with his family and anything that involves bird dogs or fly rods.