Accessory Exercises: Choosing the Ones That Help Your Main Lifts
Accessory exercises are the movements you do after your main lifts to strengthen the specific muscles, positions or ranges that are holding those lifts back. The good ones are chosen by watching where a lift fails, not from a list. If your squat folds forward out of the bottom, you need more upper back and quad strength, not more biceps. Most people do best with two to four accessories per session, done for moderate reps (roughly 8 to 15), with steady progress tracked just as carefully as the main lift. Change them when they stop progressing or stop addressing the problem, not because you are bored.
That is the short version. The rest of this post is how to apply it.
Main lift, assistance, accessory: the terms
Coaches use these words loosely, so it helps to define them.
- Main lift: the heavy compound movement the session is built around. Squat, deadlift, bench press, overhead press, often a pull-up or row.
- Assistance or variation: a close relative of the main lift, such as a paused squat, a Romanian deadlift or a close-grip bench. Similar pattern, slightly different emphasis.
- Accessory: a smaller, often single-joint or single-limb exercise that targets one muscle group or one weakness. Split squats, rows, triceps work, hamstring curls, face pulls.
The line between the last two is blurry and does not matter much. What matters is that each exercise has a job. Our post on compound vs isolation exercises covers the wider question of how the two kinds fit together.
Step one: find where the lift actually breaks
The most useful thing you can do is film a heavy set from the side and watch it back slowly. Lifts tend to fail in recognisable ways, and each points to a different fix.
| What you see | Likely limiter | Accessories worth trying |
|---|---|---|
| Squat: chest drops, hips shoot up first | Quads, upper back | Front squat, split squat, rows, paused squat |
| Squat: knees cave on the way up | Hip strength, control | Bulgarian split squat, step-ups, lighter tempo squats |
| Deadlift: bar will not leave the floor | Quads, starting position | Paused deadlift just off the floor, front squat |
| Deadlift: stalls at the knee, back rounds | Hamstrings, glutes, upper back | Romanian deadlift, rows, farmer’s walk |
| Bench: slow off the chest | Chest, position | Paused bench, dumbbell bench, push-ups |
| Bench: stalls near lockout | Triceps | Close-grip bench, cable pushdowns, dips if comfortable |
| Any lift: grip gives out | Grip | Farmer’s walk, dead hangs, heavy holds |
Treat the table as a starting hypothesis. Sometimes a lift that looks like a strength problem is a technique problem: a squat that folds forward might simply be a lifter who has not learned to brace. Technique comes first; accessories cannot fix a movement pattern that is wrong.
Step two: pick one or two per problem
When people discover accessories, they tend to add six. That dilutes everything and eats into recovery for the main lift. A tighter approach works better.
- Name the single biggest limiter for each main lift.
- Choose one exercise that trains that limiter directly, and if useful, one that trains it in a different way (a bilateral and a single-leg option, for example).
- Add one or two general exercises that most lifters benefit from regardless: a horizontal row and something for the hamstrings cover a lot of ground.
- Stop there. Four accessories in a session is plenty for most people training two or three times a week.
Sets, reps and effort
Accessories are generally done for more reps and less weight than the main lift. Something in the range of 8 to 15 reps, for two to four sets, suits most of them. That range builds muscle well, puts less strain on joints than very heavy work, and lets you focus on positions.
Effort matters more than the exact numbers. Finish most sets with one to three good reps still in hand. If you can comfortably do ten more, the set did very little. If every set is a grind to failure, your main lifts next session will suffer. Our guide to how many sets and reps you need goes into this in more detail.
Track them. Write down the weight and reps, and aim to beat one or the other over time. An accessory that never progresses is not building anything.
Where they go in the session
Main lift first, while you are fresh. Then the closest variation if you are using one. Then the accessories, roughly in order of how demanding they are: a split squat before a hamstring curl, a row before a biceps curl.
Pairing helps when time is short. Alternate two accessories that do not compete, such as a row and a split squat, resting briefly between them. In a 60-minute session in the studio, this is how we fit a main lift, a variation and three accessories without rushing anything.
When to change them
There is a balance between sticking with an exercise long enough to get good at it and keeping it so long it stops helping. Reasonable signs it is time to rotate:
- You have stopped adding weight or reps for three or four weeks despite good sleep and food.
- The weakness it was meant to fix has improved, and a different one is now the limiter.
- It causes discomfort in a joint that a similar exercise does not.
Rotating within the same family (from a barbell row to a cable row, or from a split squat to a step-up) keeps the training effect while changing the stimulus slightly. Swapping every week for variety, on the other hand, means you never get strong at anything.
Common mistakes
Choosing accessories by popularity
An exercise that helped a powerlifter on social media may target a weakness you do not have.
Doing them first because they are enjoyable
Fatiguing your triceps before benching makes the main lift worse, not better.
Skipping them when time is short
If you have to cut something, cut sets across the board rather than the whole accessory block. Upper back and hamstring work often protects the main lifts from going wrong.
Treating them as an afterthought
Sloppy, rushed sets of rows do not build the upper back you need for a heavy squat. Give them the same attention to form.
How it works with a coach
This is one of the places where a second pair of eyes makes a measurable difference. In 1-1 personal training at the studio, I watch the main lifts every session, so accessory choices change as the picture changes rather than sitting in a programme for months. The studio has what most accessory work needs: a squat rack, dumbbells, a two-stack cable station, lat pulldown and seated row. Details of sessions and prices are on the personal training page.
If you are coming back from an injury or have a joint that complains under load, check with your GP or a physiotherapist before adding new exercises. And if your lifts have stalled across the board, accessories may not be the answer; our post on why your lifts have stalled covers the other usual suspects.
Questions we get asked
How many accessory exercises should I do?
Two to four per session is enough for most people. More than that usually costs recovery without adding much.
Should accessories be heavy?
Moderately. Most work well at 8 to 15 reps with a couple of reps left in reserve.
Are accessory exercises necessary for beginners?
Fewer are needed early on, because the main lifts improve quickly by themselves. One or two general accessories, such as a row and a split squat, are still worth doing.
Can accessories replace the main lifts?
For a while, yes, if a main lift is uncomfortable. But if your goal is a stronger squat, you eventually need to squat.
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