training

In "In Pursuit of the Perfect Program," Ashley Jones shares his decades-long journey through strength and conditioning, outlining practical programming strategies that blend powerlifting, Olympic lifting, conjugate methods, and French Contrast training to develop strength, speed, and performance.

Conjugate training is fundamentally the coupling of different methods of muscle tension, combining the max effort method, the repetition method, and the dynamic effort method. The training week is typically divided into Max Effort Lower/Upper Body and Dynamic Lower/Upper Body days, with the critical requirement that the max effort exercise must be changed every week to provide a necessary varied stimulus.

The April 1980 issue of Powerlifting USA captures a pivotal moment in the history of strength. Bill Kazmaier is on the rise, organizational politics are heating up, and the training advice is as gritty as it gets. From roundback rack pulls to the secrets of the Spanjian Supersuit, we’re looking back at the legends who built the sport.

Eric Bugenhagen and the Szatstrength host take on an absurdly intense, Tom Platz-inspired leg workout at EliteFTS, relying on Dave Tate's expertise to push through extreme pain and train safely despite recent severe muscle tears.

Ashley Jones' comprehensive in-season strength and conditioning program focuses on force-velocity development, unilateral balance, modified French-Contrast training, and a three-week loading cycle to keep athletes powerful, prepared, and game-ready.

Matt Mills (AOS, PN1, CSCS) is a strength coach and owner of Lightning Fitness, helping athletes and lifters build strength, resilience, and performance that carries over outside the gym. A long-time elitefts columnist, he shares practical coaching lessons from the trenches. Learn more at Lightning-Fitness.com.

Most gyms won't let a metal sled touch the floor. This one goes anywhere inside, loads fast, and gives you everything sled training is supposed to deliver 

Analyze the February 1980 issue of Powerlifting USA. Featuring Mike MacDonald's bench press specifics, Mark Dimiduk’s rise, and the Finnish Deadlift routine.

I made a promise to John Meadows at his grave site that I would never walk away from the business, meaning I had to show up every single day with integrity and the highest work ethic possible to uphold his legacy. This ongoing commitment involves using a hybrid training approach, rotating between low- and high-volume exercises based on the body's response, and guiding clients through strategic fat loss and rebound phases to maximize progress.

Chris Edmonds' proven bodybuilding routine for massive chest growth: a slight incline dumbbell press focuses on progressive overload and pump, followed by an incline barbell press that employs a shortened range of motion to protect the rotator cuff. For triceps, the routine progresses from a high-rep cable push-down warm-up to a shoulder-width close-grip bench press power movement, concluding with a stretching dumbbell exercise done on a slight incline.

 To reach a 405-pound bench press, you must transition from random lifting to a structured program like the "Cast Iron" template that prioritizes specific bench volume and linear progression targets. Simultaneously, master technical efficiency by creating total body tightness and ensuring your elbows flare back toward the rack to keep the joint directly under the load.

Wave loading is a powerful strength training technique that involves cycling through sets with different weights and reps in the same session to challenge the body and break through plateaus. By strategically manipulating intensity and volume, this method drives genuine improvements in strength, muscle growth, and overall performance.