Dr. Dwayne Jackson returns to Table Talk with six science-backed lessons on RPE calibration, auto-regulation, the gym as medicine, and what actually separates lifters who keep progressing from those who plateau and break down.

The all-in mentality of elite powerlifting demands a high price, often including personal health, marriages, and the complete absorption of one’s identity. Looking back after decades in the sport, veterans must reconcile the brutal physical toll of multiple surgeries and prosthetics against the initial drive to prove others wrong for the sake of a plastic or sculpture trophy.

Dr. Pat Davidson breaks down the three mechanical variables that determine whether an exercise builds muscle, inoculates against injury, or gets you hurt.

"The overhead press is probably the single best exercise for ingraining your ability to root into the floor and maintain a neutral posture compared to any other exercise."

"Conjugate training is basically the coupling... it's combining different methods of training... taking the method of Max effort... the repetition method and the dynamic effort method and combining them all together."

"I wanted to know what it felt like to break a PR one more time."

"We will stay on this movement until the athletes are showing proficiency in the things that we are looking for with trunk control ankle mobility squat depth all those things."

By adjusting the upper arm angle and grip during a dumbbell row, you can shift the muscular focus from a lat-dominant pull with the elbow tucked near the hip to a flared, pronated position that emphasizes the rhomboids, rear delts, and traps for upper back thickness.

 "I knew immediately like I'm not ready to sit back, I'm not ready to be just a gym owner, I'm not ready to be just a coach, I'm not okay with not competing competitively anymore".

Discover how to optimize your training success by aligning your program with your realistic time availability and recovery needs, featuring detailed workout schedules ranging from two to six days per week.

Every system in the human body... is highly affected by movement and movement has a Tipping Point that is either going to be anabolic or catabolic depending on which side of the Tipping Point you are too much or too little".

 "You learn very quickly that any idiot can get somebody tired, but it takes a skilled, professional coach to get somebody better."

"Arching is not just a trick to reduce range of motion, but a method to anchor the shoulder and use the legs to fortify upper back stability. Instead of jamming the scapula into maximal retraction, lifters should aim to lengthen the neck and spread the collarbones wide to create a larger, more stable footprint on the bench pad."

"I really started to lean into like let's be as healthy as we can while we wreck our bodies... and then as I've gotten older and my priorities have shifted, my avatar has shifted with me."

The right weight for speed bench isn't found in a book — it's found under the bar, using a simple method that tells you exactly what to use based on your own strength and skill level.

"When you're in the poly bench shirt, there is a large horizontal travel with that bar, so you want to land like an airplane, not a helicopter, to reinforce proper elbow tucking mechanics".

Autoregulation is fundamentally about managing your neurological fatigue by strategically adjusting training volume, intensity, and load to prevent overtaxing your central nervous system.

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.

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.

"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.

"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."

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.

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