Do I really need to be doing extra work outside of class?
No.
A lot of people are perfectly content to spend one hour 3-4x per week in class and continue to do that for years and years. I’ve witnessed that at several different affiliates I’ve been a part of either as a paying member or coach.
However, these people are often the exception to the rule and not a model to emulate for the average class goer.
Furthermore, these people have chosen to outsource their thinking to the person writing the affiliate’s programming -allowing them to focus on other things- but that doesn’t mean they are mindless in (a) how they choose when to go to class or not, (b) how they take care of themselves outside of the gym, and (c) how they listen to their body in the middle of workouts.
Not everyone is as good at being objective with themselves and giving their body time off when needed, dialing back the intensity if something feels “off,” and hitting class at a frequency that is sustainable over the long haul.
Additionally, not everyone wants to show up 2-4x per week…some of us want to push the boundaries a bit more aggressively and see how quickly we can improve.
Plus, our classes at Lumber Capital Athletics are written in a way where athletes should be able to show up every day and not burn out.
However, (a) the more aggressive you are in your fitness growth curve, (b) the more volume and intensity you are pushing on a weekly basis, and (c) the worse you move / your positions are, you will 100% benefit from adding additional accessories to your programming.
This is why the competitive athletes I coach get weekly (if not daily) doses of accessory, prehab & corrective exercises. Here’s some examples.
It’s not that you couldn’t get away with not doing them, it’s just that it’s a liability if you don’t.
My best analogy is eating your vegetables. You can skip them here and there and you’ll be fine. But make a habit of never getting them in and you’ll find all kinds of negative downstream effects after months or years of neglect.
And this… is why I named our weekly prescribed optional accessory work “vegetables.”
…it’s dang hard to overdo it & it’s essential to your functioning as an athlete and human being.
There is really no better way to spend 15-30 minutes each week as an investment in your longevity and movement quality.
The easiest way to get in some veggies?
Pick a class to show up a few minutes early and use the veggies as a warm-up, or stick around a few minutes afterwards and use it as an extended cooldown.
To view the current week’s vegetables, click class programming and select “vegetables” in the table of contents.
ps. just because you’re not a member here doesn’t mean you can’t complete our vegetables.