Why We Use These Exercises at Thorpe Performance

Barry (B-Dogg) asked recently:

"Dan, why am I doing these exercises? What are they actually doing? why do we repeat them?"

It's a fair question. So here's some fair answers.

At Thorpe Performance, we don't throw exercises into a program because they're trendy, because some influencer with a six-pack and a ring light says they're "optimal", or because we enjoy watching people suffer (although the jury is still out on that one).

Every exercise has a job.

• Some build strength.

• Some build muscle.

• Some improve specific aspects of fitness.

• Some improve resilience.

• Some simply expose weaknesses we'd rather pretend don't exist.

  
  

Let's break down some of the staples you'll see in our programming and explain why they've earned their place.

1 - Deadlift and the Romanian Deadlift

Main Muscles Worked - Glute Maximus - Hamstrings - Erector Spinae (lower back) - Lats - Trapezius - Forearms and Grip - Deep Core Muscles

The deadlift is one of the closest things we have to a full-body exercise. Its primary role is teaching your body how to produce force through the ground and transfer it efficiently through your entire system.

In simple terms: If your neighbor's washing machine needs moving, you're the person they call.

Deadlifts improve strength, muscle mass, bone density and overall physical capability.

Technical Tips - Squeeze your armpits tight to engage the lats. - Brace your abs hard before lifting. - Push the floor away. - Keep the bar close. - Finish tall, not leaning backwards.

Common Pitfall:

"Deadlifts Hurt Your Back" This is probably the biggest myth in strength training.

Most people don't injure their back because their back is weak.

They injure their back because they've never learned how to coordinate the muscles that should be sharing the load.

Then one day they walk into a gym, load up a barbell and ask their lower back to save humanity.

The deadlift isn't a one person job

Your spine isn't designed to do the job alone whilst your abs , lats, that guy from finance goes for a smoke.

A good deadlift is a team effort.

• Your abs brace.

• Your diaphragm creates pressure.

• Your lats lock the bar into position.

• Your glutes drive the hips forward.

• Your hamstrings produce force.

• Your feet drive into the floor.

• Your back provides stability.

When those systems work together, the body becomes incredibly effective.

The answer isn't avoiding deadlifts forever.

The answer is learning how to deadlift properly and progressing sensibly.

The goal isn't surviving deadlifts. The goal is becoming capable of lifting heavy things safely in the real world.

Romanian Deadlift (RDL)

The RDL is the deadlift's slightly more sophisticated cousin that for some odd reason doesn't need knees.

Main Muscles Worked - Hamstrings - Glute Maximus - Adductor Magnus - Erector Spinae - Core Stuff.

Instead of lifting from the floor, we take the bar off the pins, we're focused on loading the hamstrings through a large range of motion.

The hamstrings are placed under significant stretch, which research suggests is highly effective for building muscle and improving tissue resilience.

In short:

Results love them.

Your hamstrings hate them.

Technical Tips - Soft bend in the knees. - Push the hips backwards. - Keep the bar close. - go and find a stretch in the belly of the hamstring.

think chest up, but out.

Common Pitfall; Most people turn RDLs into mini deadlifts. Instead of pushing the hips backwards, the knees bend and they squat down. The result? Less hamstring loading and a confused-looking exercise. Think "hips back" rather than "knees forward.

2 - Single leg moves.

1. Step Ups

Main Muscles Worked - Glutes - Quadriceps - Hamstrings - Calves.

Walking upstairs is a life skill. Getting stronger doing it isn't a bad idea.

Step-ups build single-leg strength, coordination and balance whilst being relatively joint friendly.

Technical Tips - Drive through the whole foot. - Control the descent. - Stay tall.

Imagine the box as a button you are pushing and driving into the floor rather than a big step you are trying to "hitch" onto, this creates a better way to engage the muscles through the move.

Common Pitfall - Using the trailing leg to launch yourself onto the box. At that point the exercise becomes a hop rather than a step-up.

The working leg should do the work. The other leg is just there for moral support.

2 - Split Squat variations

Split Squat Variations (and why we obsess over them)

Main Muscles Worked

• Quadriceps

• Glutes

• Adductors

At Thorpe Performance, we rotate through several split squat variations because they all bias slightly different qualities—range, stability, load tolerance, and coordination.

But the truth is, I’ve got a particular love for the Bulgarian Split Squat (BSS).

Because very few movements give you this much return on investment.

Why I like them so much

If your goal is muscle

The BSS gives you:

• High levels of constant muscular tension

• Big ranges of motion

• Huge stimulus to quads and glutes

• Easy progression over time

• Low axial loading on the spine

That last point matters more than people think.

Because compared to a back squat, you get a serious lower-body stimulus without the same spinal compression or systemic fatigue.

That means you can train hard, build muscle, and still function like a human being the next day, well other than pain in your proverbial..

If your goal is longevity and function

Modern life is basically “sit down, stand up, sit down again, repeat until your hips stop working properly.”

Most people’s hips are tighter than a jar of gerkins.

That restriction doesn’t just stay at the hips—it shows up elsewhere:

• Knees start complaining

• Lower back gets stiff

• Movement starts feeling… rusty

The split squat (especially when progressed into the BSS) helps reverse that pattern.

You get:

• Deep hip flexion under control

• Strength in long ranges

• Better single-leg coordination

• Improved balance built from strength, not a wobbly cushion.

  
  

Real-world impact

If you want to:

• Avoid your knees sounding like a bowl of Rice Krispies on the stairs

• Stop your hips feeling like they’ve been welded shut after sitting

• Or prevent your lower back feeling like a breeze block by 3pm

  
  

Then split squats matter.

Because single-leg strength is one of the most undertrained, underappreciated qualities in most people.

Why I especially like the BSS

The Bulgarian Split Squat is basically the “full package” version.

By elevating the rear foot, we increase:

• Range of motion

• Stability demand

• Muscle recruitment

• Training stimulus per rep

  
  

We can also adjust setup to match the person:

• Use a rack or cage for stability early on

• Progress range of motion first

• Then increase reps

• Then reduce assistance

• Then add load

  
  

That’s how strength should be built—step by step, not ego by ego.

Common Pitfalls

Turning it into a balance drill - If you’re wobbling everywhere, it’s not a strength exercise anymore—it’s just chaos with dumbbells.

Stability should be present enough to train, not so unstable you’re surviving it.

Going too short on range -Half reps turn one of the best lower-body builders into a very uncomfortable standing exercise.

Own the depth.

Because the rear foot is elevated, we get greater range of motion and a larger strength stimulus. Unfortunately, we also get greater discomfort. Life is full of trade-offs.

3. Bench Press

The Chuck Norris of upper body exercises.

Chuck Agrees

Main Muscles Worked - Pectorals - Anterior Deltoids - Triceps - Chest Hair.

Simple. Effective. Easy to measure.

Technical Tips - Feet planted. - Shoulder blades pulled together, ribs up, back tight and keep that butt on that bench!!!

Remember the Triple S rep method?

Smooth lowering phase.

Stretch - full range, all the way to chest OR where you can comfortably go (if there is a restriction, then we also work on this)

Strong - Perform a strong concentric phase, use force to press the bar back to the start.

Common Pitfall;

not getting stable, use your feet and legs.

Performing half range of motion - lower the bar all the way to the chest - but do not bounce the bar off your chest,

This is strength training, so make it look skillful, dominate your reps, don't turn it into jujitsu with a bar, when you are fighting for survival, fatigue is rising faster the strength stimulus.

4 - Lat pull down

The Steven Seagal of upper body training - not pretty but effective and underated

Main Muscles Worked - Latissimus Dorsi - Rhomboids - Mid Traps - Biceps

Most people need more pulling strength than they realise.

Strong lats support posture, shoulder health and upper-body strength.

Technical Tips - Pull elbows towards your lower ribs and hips. - Chest proud. - Control the return aka TRIPLE S REPS.

Common Pitfall; Using every muscle except the lats. If your body is swinging backwards like you're starting an upside down lawnmower, the weight is probably (definitely) too heavy and you ARE leaving gains on the table, lighten the load, dominate the weights, yes its actually harder that way!

5 - Seated Shoulder Press

Main Muscles Worked - Deltoids - Triceps - Upper Chest

Strong shoulders make life easier;

Lifting luggage.

Putting things on shelves.

carrying the burden of other peoples shit.

Throwing children.

Around the swimming pool of course.

Technical Tips - Brace your core. - Press overhead. - Keep ribs down.

Common Pitfall; Turning it into a backbend db bench press. The goal is stronger shoulders, not testing spinal flexibility, lower the load, plant the feet in the ground, get locked into the seat.

Many people only half press these - the dumbell's come down level with the ears, thats only half the range and thats your ego, so lower those db's till they touch your delts, if you cant, then lower the load, you'll hate it, your delts will love it.

6 - Lateral Raises

I had to throw in an isolation exercise, but biceps curl would be obvious.

Main Muscles Worked - Middle Deltoids

Simple. Brutal. Effective.

The Front delts (anterior) get all the attention any time you push a bar in pretty much any direction, the rear delts (posterior) get it when you pull or row anything.

The side delts however, often get neglected, despite being a major contributor to shoulder development.

The middle of the deltoid muscles cap your shoulders, give your upper arms another shadow and make your waist look smaller.

These are superhero muscles.

They don't, however, need superhero weights to grow.

When you hold a 5kg dumbbell out at arm's length, it no longer feels like 5kg. Thanks to something called a lever arm, your shoulder has to produce far more force to hold it there.

The further the weight is from the joint, the greater the torque acting on it. That's why a light dumbbell can suddenly feel like it's filled with depleted uranium,

It's why 5kg can feel like 15kg by the last few reps...

...and why watching someone swing moderately sized metal around the gym tells me they're training their ego far more than their shoulders.

so calm down there tiny dancer, lower the weight and embrace the pain of a real deal set of lateral raises.

Technical Tips - Slight elbow bend. - very Controlled tempo, no body swinging, no twisting the dumbells out at the top, keep the dumbells flat and level, some even like to turn them in slightly (pouring a kettle) not essential, either way the elbows lead the charge, think out in wide circumference from the body not just up - Lift with the shoulders.......genius, i know..

Common Pitfall; Using enough body English to qualify for the Olympics.

Momentum is not a muscle group, LOWER THE WEIGHT!!!! no one walks up to you in a bar and says "so, how much you lat raise bro?"

7 - The Prowler

Main Muscles Worked - Total body

The sled is unique. It creates a huge conditioning effect without the muscle damage associated with running or walking lunges for example, which makes it a great exercise to lean into tougher training, develop work capacity without a big dose of DOMS (delayed muscle soreness).

This doesn't make it superior, just different, another tool that has different qualities.

Why doesn't it create as much muscle soreness even though you can feel like your legs have been dipped in acid??

Sled pushes are what is know as eccentric less, meaning they don't have a significant loaded eccentric (lowering) phase, unlike a lunge where you must lower down under control into a stretch that is loaded, when the muscle gets a stretch under load this creates higher levels of stress and subsequent muscle damage thus contributes to higher levels of hypertrophy, but this phase on the prowler is dampened.

like i say, not necessarily is this better or worse, just different and can be used at different times in someone's training journey or phase.

That's why you'll often see us use it for a multitude of adaptations, strength, muscle, conditioning, functionality even rehab.

Technical Tips - Lean forward. - Drive through the floor, stack the ribs and hips and Keep moving, find a rythm with your breathing, stay controlled.

Common Pitfall Starting like you're being chased by a bear. Most sled sessions require pacing. Otherwise you'll meet God halfway down the track, He's usually unwilling to offer help and frames it as a life lesson, cheers.

8 - Farmer's Walks

The Jeremy Clarkson of strength training.........

Main Muscles Worked

• Grip

• Forearms

• Traps

• Lats

• Core

• Glutes

• Quads

• Calves

  
  

Farmer's walks are what I call Task Orientated Resistance Training.

The goal isn't to isolate a muscle—it's to complete a task.

Pick something heavy up.

Carry it.

Don't let it carry you.

The beauty of loaded carries is that your nervous system has no choice but to recruit almost everything.

Squeeze the handles hard and you'll create tension through your forearms, arms, shoulders and lats.

Brace your trunk and your abs, obliques and spinal muscles switch on to stop you folding like a deckchair.

Keep walking and your glutes, legs and calves become the engine that keeps the whole system moving.

Great for building a strong upper back, vice-like grip strength and a rock-solid core—all while teaching your body to move as one coordinated unit rather than a collection of individual muscles.

In other words, this is an exercise that rewards strength, posture and intent.

Humans have been carrying awkward, heavy things for thousands of years. You'll thank them when it come to that weekly big shop.

Technical Tips

• Crush the handles—they're not made of glass.

• Stack your shoulders down..

• Brace your abs before you move.

• Walk tall with short, deliberate steps.

• Make the weight look lighter than it feels.

Common Pitfalls

Shrugging the shoulders - keep them packed.

Looking at the floor. - Walk proud. You didn't pick those weights up just to apologise to them.

Going too light - You might as well have gone to lidl

9 - Burpees... Why Oh Why?

Main Muscles Worked

The darkest reccesses of your soul

Why We Use Them

Transportation to Said Dark side

Confession time.

When I first opened Thorpe Performance, I told the members I'd never program burpees.

"They're pointless."

"They're unnecessary."

"You'll never have to do one."

Well...

I lied.

Not because I suddenly fell in love with them—I still think they're one of the least efficient ways of locomotion a human can do—but every pile of shite has a place.

If you're training for HYROX, CrossFit, the military or any event where burpees are part of the sport, then you need to practice them.

They’re like algebra—you’ll go most of your life without needing them… unless you’re a physicist where they suddenly matter.

Burpees are the same. You don’t need them until you do. And when that day comes, they don’t care that you avoided them for years—they just feel worse because you did.

They're a choice, not a necessity.

Could you build incredible fitness without ever doing one?

Absolutely.

Could you lose fat, build muscle and get stronger without a single burpee?

Also yes.

Think of them less as a strength exercise and more as learning the world's most inefficient form of locomotion.

Technical Tips

• Find a rhythm before you find speed.

• Breathe on every rep.

• Stay relaxed.

• Be economical with your movement.

• Smooth beats frantic every single time.

  
  

Common Pitfalls

Going full Tom Daily from the start is a brilliant way to meet David Goggins by rep fifteen.

The best burpee athletes don't look like they're trying harder They look like they're wasting less energy. Burpees reward efficiency.

The less unnecessary movement you make, the less they hurt.

And now after doing many burpees, they're still shit, just a bit less shit, and I'm much better at doing this shit, so much so that I don't think they're actually that shit anymore................let me just call my therapist.

i'll make it much more scientific next time, diagrams, the lot, maybe videos and demonstrations.

But for now, chew on that lot and feel free do drop me any question.

Crack on

Dan