Apto Performance 🫂

Recently we seen Murray compete down in Carlisle at the Cumbria Championship. Scottish Juniors QT secured, now we get healthy and put on kilos onto the total. #aptoperformance #naescared #aptomagic

Stop pulling numbers out of thin air. Aim high, but stay realistic and sensible with your attempts. The goal isn’t to chase fantasy numbers, it’s to build the biggest total or subtotal possible on the day. Every attempt should have a purpose and move you closer to what you need to achieve in that competition. Back yourself, be ambitious, and push for the best performance you’re capable of. But make decisions based of where you are in that given moment and try to look at the bigger picture, not off your emotion or ego. #aptoperformance #naescared #aptomagic

Competition day is not the time to change your lifter’s technique. One of the biggest mistakes coaches make is giving cues the lifter has never heard before or trying to “fix” their tech during the meet. Even if your advice is technically correct, comp day is not the place for major adjustments. Those changes should have been made weeks or months earlier in training. When a lifter steps onto the platform, especially if they’re already nervous or prone to overthinking, the last thing they need is more things running through their head. Overloading them with new cues usually does more harm than good and often leads to mistakes, hesitation, or poor execution. The goal is for the lifter to execute the lift automatically and not to consciously think through every part of the movement while under pressure. Simple reminders when warming up is fine, like telling them to sink the squat a little more or hold the pauses a little longer. But don’t start dissecting their technique or throwing out completely new cues on comp day. Good handling is about keeping the lifter confident, calm, and focused, not trying to rebuild their lift 5 minutes before they compete. #aptoperformance #aptomagic #naescared

Following on from my last video talking about set count with accessories, I thought I would together a carousel running through some evidence for the geeks 🤓 This isn’t a post to make you justify sandbagging your accessories out of fear of fatigue. It’s the opposite. If you want to get a bigger total. You should be very concerned with getting more jacked. And you do not get there with half-assed sets… even if you do a lot of them. Go harder for less sets and I guarantee you’ll make more progress than drowning in low intensity fluff work. #aptoperformance #naescared

BUCS Powerlifting 2026 recap 🏋️‍♂️ We recently had a few lifters competing at BUCS in Nottingham. A class day out for the team with 3 out of the 6 competing finishing the day on the podium. 🥇🥈🥉 As always we want to thanks all the volunteers and @gbpowerfed for putting on a great comp!

Designing the first block of training for a new lifter ✍️ We talked before about the importance of a good initial consultation. In this video we walk through how we use this information to design the first block. - - Any enquiries get in touch and we can chat about what this might look like for you

Next up for the men’s day of Westerns we had 8 lifters compete! Once again taking home lots of PBs, weight class and overall medals. Thank you to @scottishpowerlifting for running a great event 🤝 - - Interested in coaching? Drop us a message or click the link in our bio to find out more or arrange a consultation with a member of the team.

Recap of the women’s day at @scottishpowerlifting Westerns a couple of weeks ago! We had 5 lifters compete on this first day and we saw some big PBs as well as a number of weight class and overall medals 🥇🥉 We will have our men’s day recap up next! 🔜 - - Interested in working with us? Send us a message or click the link in our bio to learn more 🔗

Accessory selection matters, but so does set count. You’re already carrying fatigue from SBD, so every set has to earn its place - assuming you’re not RPE6ing all your accessory with junk work. More on this in the next carousel 🤝 #aptoperformance #naescared

This is a super common pitfall when it comes to meet day handling especially at local and regional comps (and also one of my biggest pet peeves). Before you (if you are handling yourself) or your lifter (if you are coaching) gets under the bar you should know all of their warm up jumps and timings ✍️ Not only does this minimise stress and thinking required for your lifter but it also makes it MUCH easier to work with other coaches in the warm up room and ensure everyone’s warm ups run smoothly. You should NOT need to ask your lifter what last warm up they want 2 mins before they need to take it This is one of the easiest parts of the day to plan and it can also easily be done in advance 🫡 Bonus tip - The back of your attempt slips is a great place to write out your warm ups and cross them off as you go. Especially if you are looking after multiple lifters this is an easy way to avoid confusion.

Assessing technique breakdown When our position changes throughout the lift this is usually a sign that we were not in the strongest position to begin with. Instead of fighting this we need to correct that initial position and sometimes this means leaning into the way in which technique is breaking down. Want help with assessing this for yourself? Send us a message or enquire about our coaching services via the link in our bio 🤝

Last weekend we had 5 lifters compete at the Scottish Masters championship, taking home 3 golds and a bronze. We were also proud to be the headline sponsor for this comp alongside the whole championship series! Thank you to Scottish Powerlifting and all the volunteers for running a great comp. Special thanks to @coachbilly_pl for helping in the warm up room! Interested in working with us? Send us a DM or fill out the application form in our bio and a member of the team will be in touch