Are you treating your complementary training like carnivores treat vegetables? That is, as the last option to improve. People who perform the movements without intention or concentration, it is as if they are eating soft and overcooked vegetables.
When done correctly, deliberately, and calculatedly, supplemental training won't feel like the easy part at the end of every workout. In fact, it is where many of your gains will be made and you will improve weaknesses.
What is complementary training?
Before continuing, it is interesting that we delve into this type of work.
This workout is about doing what essentially complements the other strength and skill work in your regular routine. It's there to help you enhance the gains you're already getting from the major lifts you perform, like the squat, deadlift, and press. Accessory work can also include rehabilitation exercises to help correct any weaknesses in your movement patterns or eliminate muscle imbalances.
Exercises that can be recognized as accessory work are movements like glute bridges, back extensions, push-ups, or even mobility training. Often these movements seem easy, but if you're creating a lot of stress on your body when you're doing a glute bridge or deadlift, it doesn't matter how fit or strong you are.
If you can relate to any of the following points, you are probably missing the point of supplemental training.
Evaluate how your training is going
Ask yourself the following questions:
- «This pace is very slow. I do not have time for that. I'll do it a little faster to get past them«. If you've had an idea like that, you probably won't get the benefits of this type of training.
- «This is not difficult. Why am I doing this? What muscles am I supposed to feel?«. If you've felt this way during your workout, focus on developing as much tension in your body as possible while working through the exercises. In other words, try to do more.
- You do accessory work while you spend time on instagram. If you can informally train through side work while posting on social media or catching up, chances are you're not trying hard enough and definitely lacking the deliberate intent we're looking for. Similarly, if this is the time you socialize and catch up with your friends, surely something is wrong.
- «Why do people take so long?«. If you're always the first to finish, rethink how you approach the easy stuff at the end of your workout.
- You've been doing a lot of supplementary work for your glutes and hamstrings, but has not translated into greater strength in your squat or deadlift. If accessory work isn't translating to gains elsewhere, it might be time to re-evaluate your accessory training or get some help and figure out where you're missing the mark.
- you skip it completely and you decide to do 100 burpees in one go. If you think you need more bulk all the time and you're not leaving the gym until you feel like you've been hit by a bus, you're not improving as fast as you think you should, something is wrong and you probably need less burpees and more accessory work.