Building Strength That Performs

A bigger bench press can show that you have become better at producing force in a specific movement. It cannot tell you how you will respond when the surface changes, your position breaks down or the environment pushes back.

"In big-wave surfing, it really doesn't matter how much you can bench. You'll never beat the ocean."

Andrew Cotton's point is not that gym strength is irrelevant. His own preparation depends on serious physical work. The point is that strength needs a destination. For an athlete, its value is measured by what it helps them do.

Start with the demand

Functional training is often reduced to unusual exercises or unstable equipment. A more useful definition is simpler: training is functional when it develops qualities that serve the task.

That begins with understanding the athlete's environment. Big-wave surfing combines paddling, repeated efforts, rapid changes in position, high forces and the need to stay composed in conditions that cannot be standardised. A powerlifter, field athlete and surfer will therefore express strength differently, even when some of their foundational exercises overlap.

The exercise is not the outcome. It is a tool. Select it because it develops a quality the athlete needs, not because it looks complicated or belongs to a fashionable category.

Five qualities that make strength usable

One Build a strong base

General strength gives athletes more capacity to work with. Squat, hinge, push, pull and carry patterns can provide a stable foundation when they are coached and progressed appropriately. The aim is not to collect movements for their own sake, but to develop force through positions the athlete can control.

Two Hold useful positions

Andrew talks about increasing how much force he can hold onto. Isometric work develops the ability to produce tension without visible movement. Depending on the athlete and the goal, this might include split-squat holds, rowing holds, loaded carries or trunk exercises that resist unwanted movement.

The value lies in maintaining position under demand. Load, duration and joint angle should be chosen deliberately rather than added at random.

Three Absorb and redirect force

Sport is not only about creating force. Athletes also have to slow themselves down, receive force and move into the next action. Controlled landing, deceleration and eccentric exercises can help develop this quality when introduced at the right level.

Control comes before intensity. An athlete should earn more speed and load through consistent positions and sound coaching.

Four Connect the body

Useful strength rarely stays isolated to one joint. Carries, unilateral lower-body work, pulling movements and exercises that resist rotation can teach the body to transfer force while maintaining posture. These patterns can also reveal where an athlete loses control as the task becomes more demanding.

Five Repeat quality under fatigue

A single strong effort is only one part of performance. Conditioning supports the ability to repeat work, recover between efforts and preserve decision-making as fatigue rises. The right method depends on the sport, the training phase and the individual, but it should complement strength work rather than compete with it without a reason.

Numbers still matter

Moving beyond the bench press does not mean abandoning measurement. Athletes and coaches need evidence that training is working. Load, speed, repetitions, range of motion, work completed and recovery can all provide useful information.

The mistake is treating one number as the whole athlete. A personal best can show progress, but context determines whether that progress transfers. Has control improved? Can the athlete express force quickly enough? Are they recovering between sessions? Does the new capacity support the performance that matters?

Measurement should sharpen judgement, not replace it.

Train for the environment you have

No gym can reproduce the ocean, and it should not try. The strength environment is valuable precisely because it allows physical qualities to be developed with control. Loads can be adjusted, movements can be repeated and progress can be observed.

The bridge to performance comes from good programming. General strength creates capacity. More specific work shapes that capacity around the athlete's demands. Practice in the sport develops the timing, judgement and skill that the gym cannot provide.

For Andrew, the process is constantly changing. He adapts, improves and continues learning. That is what makes strength useful: not a fixed score, but a capacity that can keep evolving with the athlete.

Build strength with somewhere to go

The bench press can be part of an effective programme. It simply cannot answer every question. Performance requires athletes to create force, hold it, absorb it, redirect it and access it when conditions are not perfect.

Before choosing the next exercise or chasing the next number, return to the task. What does the athlete need to do? What currently limits them? Which quality will this session develop?

Strength becomes valuable when it leaves the gym with you.

Watch Andrew Cotton's Pursuit of Better, then explore BLK BOX equipment designed for serious, purposeful training.