training

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.

A 760-pound squat, a meet in Toledo, and the moment I learned that fear doesn't wait for the bar to come down.

"Bodybuilders don't need sports science to be big, but it can take sport to the next level and help us iron out details".

Meta Description Dr. Eric Helms joins Dave Tate to discuss bridging the gap between "meathead" passion and academic rigor, detailing the origins of 3D Muscle Journey, the science of autoregulation and RPE, and optimal approaches to protein intake and hypertrophy for natural athletes.

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.

Most of us start out thinking strength is everything—until the bill comes due in the form of pain, surgery, or burnout. Here’s how to chase big numbers without letting them take everything from you.

Elite coaches Jon Heck, Joey Szatmary, Dave Tate, and Sam Brown share their most critical advice for upcoming fitness professionals, emphasizing deep client empathy, effective communication, and purposeful social media use.

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.

"When moving heavy weight on the bench press, holding your breath through the entire repetition maximizes full-body stability, leading to the lifting mantra that 'blindness is anabolic' because staying tight and safe is more important than having perfect vision."

The March 1980 issue of Powerlifting USA captures a sport at a crossroads. We break down Ken Leistner's pre-meet grind, John Kuc's actionable training tips, and the political drama that rocked the lifting world.

The GHR has been the most neglected piece of equipment in most gyms for decades, and this is the machine that fixes that.

Incorporating Pendlay row variations into your training repertoire provides a posturally demanding strength movement that builds massive upper back strength and teaches the full-body tension needed to directly carry over to your deadlift and bench press.

Justin Zottl explains that common bench press mistakes, such as improper forearm angles and flaring elbows off the chest, cause lifters to waste energy and increase the risk of shoulder injury. To fix these issues, he recommends specific cues like squeezing the pinkies to maintain a vertical forearm and driving the knees out to keep the glutes glued to the bench for proper leg drive,.

Loaded carries are one of the most underutilized training modalities for building unbreakable postural strength, core stability, and muscle mass with minimal soreness.

When social media showed up, lifters swore it would destroy everything authentic about training. Now, those same lifters are fighting algorithms instead of PRs. The problem isn’t the platform,  it’s how you use it.

The elitefts Arnold Classic Bingo card has been a tradition since 2010, and we're walking through every version to celebrate the 2026 card dropping today.

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.

The Glute Ham Raise (GHR) is an exceptional tool for building hamstring resiliency and strength in a lengthened position without the spinal loading associated with movements like stiff-leg deadlifts. By maintaining a neutral pelvic tilt and using the quads to initiate the descent like a leg extension, lifters can ensure the hamstrings take the full load while avoiding common compensation patterns from the lower back and glutes.

"Powerlifter Zachary 'Zeus' Smith sits down to discuss the gritty reality of strength sports, sharing wild stories of his viral rivalry with Joe Jackson, defending his gym from armed trespassers, and building a fiercely loyal, legacy-driven lifting community."

Discover the profound mental challenges athletes face when returning from a severe injury and explore actionable strategies to overcome self-doubt, rebuild your identity, and confidently regain your strength.

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 

Going backward with the sled, which places the knee over the toes, allowed the speaker to stop using painkillers for their knees and represents a significant congruency between the training systems of Louis Simmons and Charles Polloquin. This backward dragging technique is beneficial for recovery from knee injuries because it involves concentric movements while removing the eccentric load,.

Take a unique tour of the EliteFTS S5 compound to discover the 30-year history and untold stories behind the gym's most iconic pieces of strength equipment.

Applications for the 2026 Train Your Ass Off events close March 15th. Here's what past attendees said about it, in their own words.