Joe and Brock

KNOWLEDGE IS NOT WISDOM

— Dave Tate

Knowledge, intelligence, experience, wisdom, and bias are five different things, and confusing them is how good lifters end up taking advice from the wrong people.

dave in gym

Master What's on the Top Shelf First

Most coaches have a toolbox overflowing with certifications, tech, and special exercises, while the basic tools sit untouched on the top shelf.

Manuals stacked up with bedroom nutrition blood flow hormones and recovery

Bedroom Nutrition: The Blood Flow + Hormone Playbook for Better Performance By Scott Hayes

Better performance starts with the same fundamentals that build a stronger, healthier body. Scott Hayes breaks down how nutrition, blood flow, hormones, hydration, sleep, stress, and recovery can influence sexual health, energy, and performance both in and out of the bedroom.

Program variation

Program Variation Based on Recovery Status: Reviving, Surviving, and Thriving

A practical guide for coaches on using recovery status, INOL, and flexible programming to adjust training loads so athletes can revive, survive, or thrive at the right time.

Evan Barr

Why Olympic Lifting Still Belongs in Football I Table talk #445

University of Toledo Director of Football Strength & Conditioning Evan Barr joins Dave Tate to discuss Olympic lifting for football, movement development, programming, deloading, competition, and what it takes to build stronger athletes and a better strength staff.

Training the Youth Rugby Player: For Now and for the Future by Ashley Jones

Training the Youth Rugby Player: For Now and for the Future by Ashley Jones

Training a young rugby player is about more than getting them stronger for next season. Ashley Jones lays out a long-term approach to youth development, from maturation and movement skills to strength training, recovery, testing, and building the habits that can support a player for years to come.

A picture of charles gardner

Expect to Be Poor: The Truth About Personal Training l Charles Gardner #442

TABLE TALK  •  COACHING  •  BUSINESS 25 Years as a Personal Trainer: Why You're Still Broke Charles Gardner has spent 25 years training real people in real gyms. What kept him...
Matt Mills

The Best Educated Guess

The honest truth about training that most coaches won't admit: it all comes down to the best educated guess for the specific person, on the specific day.

band deads

Every Way You Should Be Using Resistance Bands in Your Training

Resistance bands are one of the most versatile and underused tools in strength training. Here's every way to use them, from accommodating resistance on the main lifts to rehab, speed work, and keeping a beat-up body in the game.

Avoiding Accommodation: Stay on the Gain Train

Avoiding Accommodation: Stay on the Gain Train

Progress stalls when the stimulus gets stale. Ashley Jones explains how to avoid accommodation through planned variation, three-week training blocks, exercise rotation, and smarter loading strategies that help athletes stay on the gain train.

Dave at wsbb

Brothers or Fools: What Westside Taught Me About Cooperation

— Dave Tate

What made Westside Barbell the strongest gym in the world was not the methodology. It was the people in the room and what they demanded from each other.

The Standards Before the Sets

The Standards Before the Sets

The perfect program means nothing without the standards to execute it. Drawing on more than three decades in professional sport, Ashley Jones explains why discipline, intent, professionalism, recovery, and personal responsibility matter more than any set-and-rep scheme.

Why 500lb Benchers Struggle with Bodyweight: 4 Movement Drills for Elite Performance

Why 500lb Benchers Struggle with Bodyweight: 4 Movement Drills for Elite Performance

A lifter who can bench 500 pounds will shake like a leaf on an unloaded shoulder drill, and that gap is costing you strength.

The Medical Lie Keeping Strength Athletes Injured l Table Talk Episode 440

The Medical Lie Keeping Strength Athletes Injured l Table Talk Episode 440

Dr. Christopher "Marv" Marvin joins Dave Tate for a hard look at patient-first rehab, hypertrophy, pec-tear warning signs, bracing, blood-flow restriction, imaging, and what it really takes to keep training.

gym empty

Nobody Gives You a Day Off From the Work

— Dave Tate

Labor Day is the one holiday that actually understands what training is, because both come down to the same thing: work nobody applauds you for.

Building Rugby Athletes Through Progressive Loading, Education, and Targeted Physical Preparation

Building Rugby Athletes Through Progressive Loading, Education, and Targeted Physical Preparation

Progressive pre-season planning gives rugby athletes the runway they need to build strength, speed, conditioning, and durability without rushing straight into full workloads. This article breaks down a practical three-phase model—break-in week, standard loading, and shock loading/deload—designed to prepare athletes for competition while minimizing unnecessary injury risk.

I Thought I Had Nothing Left to Say by Chad Faria

I Thought I Had Nothing Left to Say by Chad Faria

After years away from writing, Chad Faria realized he never ran out of things to say—he just stopped believing they were worth saying. From family challenges and coaching growth to an 1,800-pound total and lessons learned under pressure, he reflects on consistency, self-doubt, mentorship, and why sharing experience is simply another form of coaching.

Torn Biceps, Strongman, and the Long Game l Josh Hendrickson Table Talk #437

Torn Biceps, Strongman, and the Long Game l Josh Hendrickson Table Talk #437

Strongman competitor and gym owner Josh Hendrickson sits down with Dave Tate to talk biceps rehab, training through injury, chasing a sub-20 5K, building 580 Barbell, promoting better strongman shows, and what it takes to stay in strength sports for the long haul.

The Man Maker Beastly: Building Total-Body Strength Through the Zercher Position

The Man Maker Beastly: Building Total-Body Strength Through the Zercher Position

The Man Maker Beastly is a full-body strength circuit built around one implement and the Zercher position. Using lunges, squats, good mornings, step-ups, and loaded carries, this sequence challenges athletes to stay braced, move efficiently, and build strength that transfers beyond the weight room.

Beyond the Barbell: The Mental Side of Elite Performance l Ben Mayfield-Smith #436

Beyond the Barbell: The Mental Side of Elite Performance l Ben Mayfield-Smith #436

The hardest part of elite performance isn’t always the training. It’s managing identity, pressure, suffering, recovery, relationships, and the person you become along the way. This article breaks down the psychological architecture behind contest prep—and why building the mind matters just as much as building the body.

Build It. Test it. Tune It. Race It.

Build It. Test it. Tune It. Race It.

Build the athlete before the season demands performance. Ashley Jones uses a Formula 1 framework to show how coaches can structure the training year: build strength, durability, and capacity in the off-season; test and refine those qualities in preseason; and manage readiness, recovery, and performance during the competitive season.

Bad Sleep Can Cut Your Fat Loss By 50%

Bad Sleep Can Cut Your Fat Loss By 50%

PerformanceNutritionRecovery Bad Sleep Can Cut Your Fat Loss By 50% By Daniel DeBrocke Most dieting advice focuses on calories and training, and largely ignores sleep as anything more than a...
The Anatomy of a Loss: Why You Have to Fail Forward to Build an Empire

The Anatomy of a Loss: Why You Have to Fail Forward to Build an Empire

Winning can hide the truth, but losing exposes every weakness. This article breaks down how one failed ruck attempt became a blueprint for better strategy, stronger leadership, smarter training, and a deeper sense of purpose.

Dave Tate Crew

The Pain They Never Warn You About

— Dave Tate

The lifters who last are not the ones who felt nothing; they are the ones who learned to read the difference between the pain that builds them and the pain that ends them.