training

"God damn it, this place has some fucking voodoo magic on her or something, it feels so fucking good. I feel like I pulled 800 today."

"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."

Time has a way of humbling lifters. You stop worrying about who’s right and start recognizing who lasted. The legends weren’t always popular — they were just consistent long enough for everyone else to catch up. When you’ve been around this long, you realize that respect always arrives late, but it’s the only thing that sticks.

Shaun Kopplin's life pivoted around 2014 when powerlifting became a crucial path, helping him focus and deal with the grief following his brother's death after he had struggled with criminal activity and drug addiction. After time in solitary confinement, he focused on lifting weights to maintain a trajectory that kept him out of prison, eventually founding Wolfpack Barbell and Cream City Clothing.

Top powerlifter Craig Foster (2298 total) follows an unconventional training philosophy where he rarely lifts heavy weights in the gym, preferring to work up only to his opener in sessions. This approach relies heavily on high-volume work, such as five sets of 10 squats at 50-60% of his maximum, allowing his competitive maximum to exceed his training maximum far.

As middle-aged lifters, we carry a decade or more of experience to draw upon, giving us a competitive edge in training. However, we must protect our health and follow Cole’s advice when we feel the stakes are too high.

Limited Time - Lifetime Crew Access ends Tuesday, Dec 23rd, 2025 

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.

Most lifters don’t stall because their program sucks—they stall because their habits do. These are the 7 “deadly sins” of training that quietly wreck your progress and what to do about each one.

Everyone starts somewhere. Early on, it’s easy to look at newcomers and forget you were once guessing too. The difference between arrogance and experience is humility. If you’ve been in the game long enough, you realize the next wave isn’t your competition — they’re your continuation.

"I remember just taking that bar and exploding so fast off my chest I want to throw it right through the ceiling... it's like a drug right it's like holy fuck i just hit 405 like 45 pounds... and nobody even knows this except for me. I'm 42 years old why do I keep doing this... but it's all I know it's the greatest feeling in the world man."

Strength coach and powerlifter Jared Maynard battled a rare, life-threatening disease (HLH) that caused total organ failure, requiring five weeks on life support. At the same time, doctors advised his family to prepare for goodbye. Despite being left legally blind, skeletal, and wrestling with profound grief, he returned to the powerlifting platform, embodying the powerful message: "You're not done yet".