training

This simplistic but highly effective banded warm-up routine teaches lifters how to stabilize the pelvis and keep the rib cage grounded while moving through hip internal and external rotation. By utilizing specific drills, such as the banded deadbug and the 90/90 hip internal rotation, athletes can enhance motor control and address common mobility restrictions that limit their squat performance.

"If you work shift work, if you're a first responder, if you're a nurse, if you're a new parent, there are things that you can be doing to improve the amount of sleep you're getting, to improve the quality of that sleep, to reduce that overall cortisol. You don't just have to suffer through it. It's not the cost of doing business, like I chose to do this job, and I made the choice to suffer for as long as I did before I found somebody who could help me write the ship."

The longer we're spending in that stretch position actively lengthening and relaxing those target muscles we are going to be spending more and more time in a lengthened position but also getting further into that stretch position which is going to leave us more mobile than when we started. Now these are going to be more effective for mobility than traditional static stretches as well because we have the external load helping us.

A 385-pound preacher once used a 1,000-pound squat to illustrate life, faith, and teamwork. His message was simple: you can take on a heavier weight when your family, friends, and purpose are solid, because nobody moves their biggest load alone.

This highly effective, two-band warm-up routine focuses on improving lumbopelvic stability, strengthening hip internal and external rotation, and addressing movement bottlenecks to enhance squat performance and reduce injury risk. Key exercises include the banded deadbug, the 90/90 banded hip internal rotation drill, and the single-leg banded hip thrust with a contralateral load.

Rebecca Roberts, a three-time World's Strongest Woman, currently holds the titles of UK's Strongest Woman, Europe's Strongest Woman, and World's Strongest Woman concurrently. Winning her second World's Strongest Woman title was deeply meaningful, as it occurred the day before the first anniversary of Paul's passing, proving she could overcome the hardest time of her life and emerge as the strongest woman, both physically and mentally.

Ben Patrick discusses how he overcame chronic knee issues that began at age nine by utilizing backward sled drags and eccentric loading to rebuild athletic resilience. The conversation bridges the gap between Westside Barbell principles and Patrick's "Knees Over Toes" methodology, exploring how scaling exercises like the split squat and seated good morning can facilitate longevity and pain-free movement.

Master the use of floss bands to achieve pain relief and increase range of motion through compression, tack and stretch, and blood flow occlusion in joints like the shoulder, elbow, and wrist.

The McGill Big Three exercises: the curl-up, side plank, and bird dog are designed to challenge your core from different directions, with the ultimate goal of creating stiffness in the spine and the surrounding musculature. For both strength enthusiasts and those with low back pain, prioritizing the proper intent, maintaining a neutral spine, and ensuring alignment of the rib cage and pelvis are absolutely paramount for stability and maximizing carryover.

Every serious lifter has been there: the bench press stalls. You’re training consistently, eating right, and putting in the work, but the numbers on the bar refuse to budge. The frustration of hitting a plateau can lead you to think that the only solution is to work harder or build more muscle. But what if the key to a bigger bench isn't in your chest or triceps, but in your upper back?

If your squat feels wobbly or your bench leaks power, the problem usually isn’t strength—it’s how you connect to the floor. This article breaks down five counterintuitive rooting tricks that instantly make you more stable, more powerful, and able to use the strength you already have.

On March 7, 2025, I did one of the stupidest things that I could've done: I flipped a tire. However, this decision turned out to be the one thing that propelled me to a place in strongman that I have never been before: at the top of the podium. I want to share my story in the hope that you can draw some lessons and inspiration from it for your own training.