6 Types of Accessory Exercises for the Functional Fitness Athlete

The functional athlete’s training is flush with movements, drills, and endless variations that help keep workouts exciting and athletes constantly adapting to new stimuli. There are, of course, the usual suspects that show up in workouts more often than not, such as thrusters, pull-ups, and kettlebell swings. However, accessory exercises also play a crucial, yet often underappreciated, role.

Accessory work consists of targeted exercises that support the main lifts and movements. It is essential for several reasons. It helps develop strength, enhance muscle hypertrophy, improve mobility, and support joint health. Furthermore, these exercises can address imbalances and weaknesses, reducing the risk of injury and improving overall athletic performance.

To maximize the benefits of accessory work, it’s helpful to categorize these exercises based on their primary focus. In fact, in my program, Accessory Gains, which consists of 15-30 minutes of daily pre- or post-training accessory work, this is exactly how we ensure the program targets the full needs of the athlete.

Keep in mind that many exercises can fall into different categories. For example, weighted pull-ups can be used for strength and power development, but they can also be used for gymnastics strength training.

In the Accessory Gains program, each 15-30 minute session consists of a mixture of exercises from these categories. For example, one day may focus on rehab/prehab, hypertrophy, and core work. Over an entire week, the goal is to include a balanced mix of all six categories below.

1. Strength and Power Development

Objective: Enhance overall strength, explosive power, and performance in the main lifts.

Examples:

Romanian Deadlifts (RDLs)
Pendlay Rows
Weighted Pull-Ups
Hip Thrusts

2. Hypertrophy — Muscle Growth

Objective: Increase muscle size, which can contribute to greater strength, improved performance, and injury prevention.

Examples:

Cyclist Squats
Tricep Extensions
Dumbbell Bench Press
Hammer Curls

3. Core and Stability

Objective: Strengthen the core muscles for better stability, balance, and injury prevention.

Examples:

Planks — Standard, Side, and Weighted
Turkish Sit-Ups
GHD Sit-Ups
L-Sit Holds

4. Rehabilitation and Prehabilitation

Objective: Focus on injury prevention, recovery, mobility, and overall athlete longevity. These exercises address specific weaknesses and corrective movements to help keep athletes in top form.

Examples:

Shoulder Dislocates
External Shoulder Rotations
Bar Hangs
Ankle Mobility Drills

5. Conditioning and Endurance

Objective: Enhance cardiovascular fitness and muscular endurance for better overall conditioning.

Examples:

Rowing Intervals
Sled Pushes/Pulls
Run Intervals
Assault Bike

6. Gymnastics Development

Objective: Improve gymnastic-specific strength, control, and mobility.

Examples:

Wall-Facing Handstand Holds
Strict Toes-to-Bar
Feet-Elevated Ring Rows
Hamstring Curls

Conclusion

Accessory work may not always be the most exciting part of training, but it’s one of the most important.

It helps build strength, muscle, stability, mobility, endurance, and resilience.

It helps address weaknesses before they become injuries.

It helps athletes continue progressing when simply doing more workouts is no longer enough.

Functional fitness demands a lot from the body.

Accessory work helps prepare the body for those demands.

So if you want to get stronger, move better, stay healthier, and perform better across the full range of functional fitness, accessory work should not be treated as optional.

It should be part of the plan.

If you’re looking for a simple way to add structured accessory work to your training, check out Accessory Gains.

Each session takes just 15-30 minutes and is designed to target the areas functional fitness athletes need most: strength, hypertrophy, core, stability, prehab, conditioning, and gymnastics development.

It’s not extra fluff.

It’s the work that helps everything else work better.

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