The Training Geek

These aren’t just “pump” exercises. Every accessory in this list is pulling double duty — building the physique while quietly patching the gaps that heavy lifting leaves behind.

Overhead tricep work — beyond arm size, this trains elbow extension strength through a full range, which matters every time you’re locking out overhead.

Banded rear delt work paired with a lunge pattern — hits the posterior shoulder and glutes together, two areas that get chronically undertrained relative to how much they’re relied on for stability in the sn**ch and jerk.

Incline curls — trains the bicep tendon in a stretched, loaded position it rarely sees elsewhere, building the kind of tendon resilience that protects the shoulder overhead.

Close-grip underhand rows — strengthens the mid-back and lats in a position that directly supports bar control during the pull, not just aesthetics.

Incline reverse-grip press — loads the front delt and chest through a joint-friendly path, building pressing capacity without the shoulder strain some pressing variations carry.

None of these get programmed by accident. Aesthetics and durability were never separate goals — the right accessory work builds both at once.

Everyone chases the number on the bar. Almost no one respects the sets that lead up to it.

Your top set isn’t where you get better — it’s where you find out if you already did. The real work happens in the lighter sets: technique gets tested when it’s easy to cut corners, and that’s exactly where resilient form actually gets built.

Next time you’re pressed for time, don’t rush through your warm-ups just to get to the “real” set. They were never the warm-up.

“Trust happens when actions meet words.” — Professor Charles Xavier

We didn’t want to just say it. We wanted to build a gym on it.

For us that looks like coaching that’s shaped around the person in front of us, not a template. Programming grounded in what actually works, not what’s trending this week. And the basics taught properly, before anything else.

If that’s the kind of training you’re after, you know where to find us.

The outcome only exists because of the process. If you focus on finding the right process, the outcome takes care of itself.

That’s been the approach with his deadlift — not chasing a number, but building the pieces that let the number happen safely. Bracing, positioning, patience with the technique, even when a certain someone doesn’t love taking advice from his dad at this age 😅

Pretty sure this is a PB — 40kg for not just 1 but 2 reps, and the form to back it up. That’s not luck, that’s the process showing up.

Lianne Ho-Low

JERK WITH PAUSE IN THE DIP

Adding a pause on the dip for the jerk is a very good way to teach the proper use of the legs.

Removing momentum and timing of the whip, the lifter is forced to handle the downward resistance of the bar while keeping tension in the legs. A good one for those who soften under load in the dip.

The pause also then takes away the momentum of the whip of the bar which you try to time in a regular jerk. This forces the lifter to punch harder with the legs to get the bar moving overhead.

And because of the use of the legs, the arms now have to work in the correct manner which is to punch the lifter under the bar rather than add to the effort to create upward momentum on the bar.

So if you know someone or are one of those who struggles to find the legs under load in the dip and keep the legs working well for the drive in the jerk, this is for you and don’t forget to share the love.