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.

Most lifters spend their time obsessing over sleep, supplements, and nutrition while the two variables that actually drive progress sit untouched. Here's why volume and intensity are still the volume controls on your training board.

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

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.

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.

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.

The challenge is knowing when to pass that on and when to let someone else learn the hard way. Because sometimes the best lesson isn’t what you tell someone; it’s what you let them experience.

The elitefts WarGrip Training Knee Sleeves are a dual-ply training sleeve built for daily use, with enough compression to keep you protected session after session, without the fight of getting them on.

Auto-regulation isn't a cheat code for lazy lifters. It's the hardest skill in strength sports to develop, and most people never get there.

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.

For years, bodybuilding work was treated like fluff, something “real” lifters didn’t waste time on. Powerlifters mocked curls, lateral raises, and cable work as meaningless vanity exercises. If it didn’t build the squat, bench, or deadlift directly, it didn’t matter. But time has a funny way of proving you wrong.

"The mission behind the whole company, Elite FTS, is to educate and outfit those with a strong desire for strength to become better".

Every generation of entrepreneurs thinks they’ve discovered something new, a revolutionary marketing system, a game-changing funnel, or the perfect “method” for growth. But when you strip the buzzwords away, the fundamentals haven’t changed: create real value, communicate clearly, and build trust through consistency.

 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.

The guys who laughed at online training now rely on it to pay their bills. That’s not hypocrisy — it’s evolution. If we return to the pre-Internet era, it’s the same story told through different technology.

 Dave Tate argues that while the fitness industry hyper-focuses on the "black margin" of complex nuances like peptides and exact RIR, the vast majority of progress actually comes from the ignored "white space" of common sense fundamentals. He contends that mastering basic compound lifts, training with sufficient effort, and maintaining consistency are far more critical for growth than obsessing over the optimization minutiae often found in online discourse.

The deciding factor for success in lifting is confidence, requiring lifters to work on their inner dialogue and reframe negative thoughts, such as the limiting belief of a sticking point that "always" happens.The only consistent variable among top strength athletes across all disciplines is the ability to autoregulate training, a crucial skill that prescriptive programming often inhibits.

Those promoting the safest, injury-free training solutions become rehab specialists.

There comes a time when the barbell stops being a scoreboard and starts being a lifeline. It’s no longer about chasing a number — it’s about maintaining the ability to move, to feel capable, to keep doing the thing you love for as long as possible. You stop chasing validation and start chasing continuity.

If I had to put a number on it, I've spent more than 50,000 hours inside a gym training, coaching, managing, or teaching. If you stack the time end to end, that's over six straight years.