CrossFit Athletes and Accessory Strengthening Exercises

CrossFit is renowned for its ability to build functional fitness, improve endurance and foster community. However, the high-intensity, complex movements inherent to CrossFit can place significant strain on the body. While CrossFit programming often includes well-rounded movements, the demands of the sport can sometimes create muscular imbalances or lead to underdeveloped stabiliser muscles. That’s where accessory strengthening exercises can be used to ensure that you are strengthening these stabilisers muscle which can prevent injuries and optimise your performance.

The Importance of Accessory Strengthening for CrossFit

Accessory exercises target specific muscles that may not receive adequate attention during conventional CrossFit workouts. These muscles often play a crucial role in stability and injury prevention. By incorporating accessory work into your routine, you can address common weaknesses, enhance movement efficiency and reduce the risk of overuse injuries.

For example:

• Shoulders: The rotator cuff muscles stabilise the shoulder joint during overhead movements, yet they are often neglected. Strengthening these muscles can reduce the risk of shoulder impingements or rotator cuff tears.
• Core: A strong core stabilises the spine, improving form during heavy lifts like deadlifts, squats and snatches. Accessory core exercises can help bridge the gap between functional strength and stability.
• Hips and Knees: Hamstring strength is often overlooked in CrossFit, which tends to emphasise quadriceps-dominant movements like squats. Strengthening the hamstring muscles improves knee joint stability.
• Ankles: Strong and mobile ankles enhance balance and movement efficiency during box jumps, double-unders and Olympic lifts.

Accessory Exercises to Consider

To maximise your lifts in CrossFit and prevent injury, focus on exercises that target stabiliser muscles and emphasise time under tension. Here are some examples:

• Rotator Cuff Strengthening: Use resistance bands for internal and external rotations. These small movements build endurance in shoulder stabilisers.

• Bicep Strengthening: Curls with a slow eccentric phase (lowering the weight) improve elbow and shoulder joint stability, which is critical for pull-ups, muscle-ups and presses.

• Hamstring Strength: Romanian deadlifts (RDLs), Nordic curls and hamstring bridges build strength in the posterior chain, countering the quad dominance common in CrossFit.

• Core Stability: Pallof presses, planks with shoulder taps and anti-rotation holds challenge core stability and help prevent compensatory movements.

• Ankle Strength and Mobility: Calf raises, dorsiflexion exercises and balance drills on unstable surfaces improve ankle stability and proprioception.

Time under tension exercises are particularly effective for developing strength in your stabiliser muscles. This could involve tempo goblet squats, wall sits, overhead shoulder holds and any other exercises where you must hold a contraction for a certain period of time. By extending the duration of a lift’s eccentric or concentric phase, you can increase muscle endurance and resilience.

Make Accessory Work a Habit

Consistency is key when it comes to accessory strengthening. While CrossFit programming is designed for functional fitness, supplementing it with tailored accessory exercises ensures you’re covering all your bases. Performing these exercises regularly, 2-3 times per week, can fortify your body and help you achieve your fitness goals with fewer setbacks.

So, What Next?

At Invigorate Health and Performance, we understand that every person is unique. Our practitioners specialise in assessing individual strengths and weaknesses and design personalised accessory training programs to optimize performance and reduce the risk of injury. Whether you’re a seasoned CrossFit competitor or a newcomer to the sport, we’re here to support your fitness journey.

Invest in your performance and longevity, schedule an appointment with us today! Let’s build a stronger, more resilient you.

(Published Oct 8, 2025)

Written by: Nicholas Dimos (Senior Physiotherapist)