Stronger Necks, Fewer Concussions
Neck training can be done with isometric or range of motion exercises, performed self-administered, working with a partner, or with equipment. I’ve recently begun to trial a new device to take this training even further.
What I Learned from Benching with Dave Tate
Based on Dave’s bench cues and progress made, I’m revising my bench goal for Reebok Record Breakers in November, from 200 kilos up to 210 — a huge jump, especially considering it’s by far my worst lift.
WATCH: Fixing Dave Tate — The Dynamic Warm-Up Sequences for Upper Body a...
Dr. Rusin has covered the purpose of the six-phase dynamic warm-up sequence. Now it’s time to dig into the specific movements in each sequence and learn proper execution.
5 Cable Exercises You Should Be Using
If you’re one of those guys who thinks anything outside of plates on a bar is blaspheme, give me five minutes to convince you otherwise.
Get Your Exercises Right: Four Movements You Aren't Using Enough
These exercises are not commonly used but they deserve a place in your strength and conditioning program. We’ve tested them on our athletes and on ourselves and we believe in them.
Bodybuilding for the Powerlifter — Programming Arm Training (with Sample...
No, hammer curls and pushdowns probably aren’t going to add 50 pounds to your bench, but they very well might keep your elbows healthy enough so that you can train consistently. And getting arms big enough to bust through shirtsleeves is fun.
WATCH: Equipment Feature — Spud Inc. Tricep, Lat, Low Pulley System
This system really comes in handy for performing movements that would otherwise require large, expensive pieces of equipment. With a little creativity, you can even add a few new unique exercises.
Fixing Your Feet: Integration and Loading
After addressing internal tibial rotation and stability and strength of the intrinsic foot musculature, we can now look at hip internal rotation, knee valgus, and exercises for progression.
Programming for the Strongman Deadlift
The deadlift program I’m going to outline will prepare you for both a heavy event and a high rep event. This will be perfect for those in strongman that are not given events for a specific contest.
7 Exercises Lost to the '80s
There’s a reason techniques in the past were so widely used for so long: they worked. Go old school and give these exercises a shot.
WATCH: Equipment Feature — Mike Bartos' Stone of Steel
No longer do you need to go through the daunting, messy process of measuring, mixing, and pouring concrete into molds to make stones. There’s now a better way.
WATCH: Equipment Feature with Josh Bryant — Neck Harness Training
These are the three best exercises you can do with a harness to build a stronger, thicker, more muscular neck.
Fivearms and Sibling Rivalry
Never underestimate the ability of healthy competition to fan the flames of the training spirit — even for something as small as forearm size.
30-Minute Chest Annihilation Workout
High volume and high intensity can be achieved in a short timeframe with this cluster set training session.
Get Stable, Get Strong: Pressing, Pulling, and Squatting
In this article, we’re going to cover the most bang-for-your-buck cues to action when performing any type of pressing, pulling, or squatting motion.
WATCH: How to Box Squat with the Rackable Cambered Squat Bar
Not only does this bar help avoid the wear and tear a straight bar can have on your shoulders, but it also enables you to build strength while using less weight and perform several very useful exercise variations.
30-Minute Back Annihilation Workout
This cluster set workout is not a marathon — it’s a sprint. You’ve got to be ready to go pedal-to-the-metal, balls-to-the-wall for the entire session.
The Posterior Chain Overhead Deadlift
Dr. Eric Serrano created this unique exercise and series of specialized executions to reduce joint stress while engaging the hamstrings, glutes, core, lower back, and posterior shoulder muscles with functional training strategies.
WATCH: Equipment Feature — Westside Inverse Curl
This machine enables hamstring training in multiple positions, at any intensity level desired, for both strength and sport athletes.
Using Squat Variations to Alter Movement Patterns
One of the best ways to correct movement patterns is to use exercise variations that address your issues. Here are the five most commons squat errors and the variations that solve each.
Baseball Players and Thoracic Rotation
Rotational power is important for both swinging and throwing. This article includes a three-exercise progression to not only develop better, more efficient rotational ability, but also to improve proficiency in weight transfer.
Skip’s Tips for Training Each Muscle Group
There are a lot of great tips, but these are what I consider the best for training back, shoulders, chest, triceps, biceps, calves, legs, and abs.
Strong, Shredded, and the Ability to Perform Pain-Free
Want to be lean, muscular, strong, and conditioned, with the ability to move without pain? There are many variables, but these guidelines apply to everyone.
WATCH: Equipment Feature — The Iron Neck and 5 Exercises for Athletes to...
Neck training is vital for athletes of contact sports. Without requiring the use of large, expensive pieces of equipment, these five exercises with the Iron Neck will prepare your athletes through many planes of motions.
The Split Squat, Its Variations, and Why Shin Angle Trumps All
Your body type and movement patterns will determine which variation of the split squat to focus on, but cycling through all variations in an intelligently-designed program will provide the greatest benefit.
WATCH: Isometric Deadlifts vs. Paused Deadlifts
A lot of lifters want to use these deadlift variations interchangeably, but Clint has a strong preference for one — and good reasoning to back it up.
WATCH: Forearms First — Building Forearms Like Popeye
Wrist curls alone aren’t going to cut it. Try this protocol instead.
Staying Calm When the Weight is On — 60 Seconds to a Huge PR
This breathing exercise will help you to perform your heaviest sets with much more confidence and ease. It will take practice to get the hang of the process, but once you do, I promise, it’s absolutely worth it.
7 Special Exercises To Build Your Main Lifts
Increasing your total in the conjugate system often means finding the right exercises to build the squat, bench press, and deadlift. Here are some builders I’ve found to be most effective.
WATCH: Equipment Feature with Nate Harvey — Rackable Cambered Squat Bar
This bar is a favorite among lifters and athletes of all kinds not only for its use in a competition-style squat but also for the large variety of special exercises you can perform with it.
WATCH: 9 Strategies to Deadlift 900 Pounds
At Boss of Bosses IV, Steve Johnson hit the number one total at 308 with a 2260-pound raw total and the all-time American deadlift record with 909. Here’s how he did it.
Extra Workout Bodybuilding-Style Lat Training for Strength Athletes
Feeling your lats engage on accessory work will make it easier to activate them on the compound lifts. One of my favorite ways to do this when I can add an extra training day is with a light, high-rep extra workout.
WATCH: Programming Back Exercises for Mobility, Strength, and Joint Health
Our daily routines force us to live anteriorly dominant, meaning that everything we do is in front of us. These banded accessory and mobility exercises will build a stronger, healthier, more stable upper back.
Density Training — How I’m Training Now
Inspired by John Meadows’ primary and secondary workouts, combined with what I know about density training from Vince Gironda, my current split accounts for time and intensity limitations.
elitefts Trap Bar Deadlift 101
Using the Trap Bar Deadlift may be one of the best exercises for beginners in a team setting.
Loaded Carries for Improved Body Position and Health
The farmer’s walk is the single best exercise you’re not doing for shoulder performance, posture, and health.
Build Your Deadlift with the Deadlift Plus Deadlift Below the Knee
This is a great specialty exercise for lifters who get stuck a few inches off the floor, allow their shoulders to get too far in front of the bar, or lose their lats.
Build Your Deadlift with the Snatch Grip Deadlift
The snatch grip deadlift is an outstanding assistance lift if you have a weak upper back or erectors, but it’s not a traditional deadlift. Many cues for it are contrary to the traditional pull.
Using Continuous Positional Feedback: Three Exercises You Can Improve by...
The continuous feedback of the wall can provide the athlete with a sense of position, tension, and compensation, resulting in improved performance and benefit of the exercises.
5 Simple Ways to Increase Grip Strength
Building a better grip doesn’t have to be complicated or time consuming, and can have a big impact on your performance for both powerlifting and strongman.
WATCH: How to Perform Strongman Axle Clean Pulls
By breaking the movement up into several segments, you can avoid overuse of your biceps and reduce risk of injury.
Band Tension for the Pull-Up and Push-Up
Band tension adds tremendous metabolic (muscle) and nervous system (brain) challenges, making them perfect for shorter training sessions. Imagine what happens when you return to bodyweight pulls and presses.
10 Exercises to Strengthen Your Spinal Erectors
The spinal erectors are often overlooked when it comes to building the physique AND deadlift. Try these 10 to add slabs of meat back there.
WATCH: How to Perform the Hook Grip
There is an astronomical amount of misinformation floating around right now about the hook grip, and, in my opinion, that’s the result of a lot of people (mostly beginners) using the hook grip inappropriately.
Peaking When Things Feel Off: Quick Corrections Before A Meet
Only five days out from an important meet, I don’t have much time to fix the issues I’m having. For this reason I’m approaching the idea of a pre-meet deload a little differently.
The One Thing Your Glutes Are Missing
Let’s take a quick look at some simple biomechanics, and then we will break down the squat so we can rebuild it with an emphasis on generating torque.
Methods to Improve Your Posture for Sport Performance
Now that we have a clear understanding of what posture is and why it is important, we can begin developing a plan to improve it.
WATCH: The Strength Coach Development Center — Olympic Lifts Progression
The Olympic lifts will develop strength, speed, and power, but this is dependent on a few things you must do for your athletes.
WATCH: Learning the Strongman Jerk
Improving the jerk is all about getting the reps, trusting your technique, and not being afraid to miss reps.
3 Ab Exercises for Powerlifting and Strongman
To perform these exercises correctly, you need to learn how to breathe and brace properly. But once you do, it will pay off big time.
My Top Five Posterior Chain Exercises and Why You Need To Do Them
These exercises will provide you with a great deal of return on investment. They will not only make you stronger but also healthier and more stable in the squat, bench press, and deadlift.
Bodybuilding Exercises for the Powerlifter — Get a Grip on Your Guns
I’ve neglected training both my upper and lower arms, and now I’m suffering for my lack of grip strength. Prevent this. Here’s my newfound twist on traditional arm and grip work.
Priorities for the Powerlifter and Bodybuilder — Upper Body Mobility and...
The first article of this series covered quick, effective drills to use prior to training that will improve your lower body performance. Now let’s look at the upper body and address the three most common dysfunction in strength athletes.
WATCH: Blast from the Past — How and Why to Use A GHR
The glute ham raise has been lauded as one of the best exercises for posterior chain development for lifters and athletes of all kinds. Are you using it correctly?
WATCH: The Strength Coach Development Center — Deadlift Progression
One of the best movements to build strength but also one of the hardest to teach for many coaches is the deadlift. It’s worth your time to learn correctly.
Utility of the Overhead Press
Looking at lats, thoracic mobility, and the ribcage during an overhead exercise can tell you a lot about a person’s pattern, position, and movement quality.
Unconventional Uses of The Strongman Yoke
The yoke is most commonly used for the traditional carry and the Zercher carry. Using it to build the bench and shoulder press is not a common practice — but it’s effective.
The Hybrid Deadlift Stance
In deadlifting, the Goldilocks Zone might not be pulling conventional, nor sumo, nor even Old English Style. For those lifters, what I call the hybrid sumo stance could perhaps be best.
