Does Mark use the ice hockey stick in his training programs?
When I used to climb power poles I had carry a rather large extension ladder over uneven ground vertically then foot it at the base then put it up against the pole. When it was in the wind it took a lot of strength to keep it upright so there was a lot of strain on your back.
On occasions I would lift the ladder off the ladder rack carry it horizontally say over to a fence line (most rural poles were in a farmers fields) and squat lift it over the fence and drop it on the other side. Some linesmen if they were on there own would use their back like a crane and bend over the fence and drop it, hence later on back problems would arise.
We had in those days ergonomic experts showing us how to lift awkward loads, watched all sorts of safety videos, but none of them mentioned anything about strength training. Being as strong as you can get will protect you to a certain level even if the lift is wrong, this would have probably saved a few injuries.
The worst back strain that I suffered was when halfway up the pole and leaning back into the safety harness trying open or close links at the top of the pole with a hot stick which were always out on the the cross arm. The good old days before the introduction of bucket trucks.