Putting It All Out There — Fighting Complacency and Contentment
Making progress in training or in life means taking ownership of your future. Are you a passenger sitting quietly or are you grabbing the wheel and pressing the gas pedal?
Life, Death, and the Clarity of Obsession
Sometimes rather than serving as an escape from real life, our obsessions can become a source of something that everyday life cannot always provide. Here’s how it’s worked for me.
Know Your Motivation
I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met who have no time under the bar, no idea of why they’re training, and no vision for their future powerlifting career. Once I started to understand why I lift, I became a better lifter overnight.
Surviving Max Effort Day
I thought about just putting my workout off until tomorrow. That would have been the smart thing to do.
The False Prophecy of Motivation and Inspiration
It is nice to think we should always be ‘motivated’ and ‘inspired’ to achieve our dreams or goals. Shit, I wish it were like that. The truth is that that we all have ups and downs.
I’m Just Like You
I’m a judgmental dick, but technically, I’m no different than some of the people I judge.
Training Is Where Your Life Happens
There’s nothing that will ever replace good old-fashioned hard work and practice. Not only that, this is where your life happens one plateau at a time.
You Are Dying
You’re on this planet for a reason. You have a purpose. Don’t let it die inside you so that you can live a safe life.
Every Hip Replacement Has a Silver Lining
If life is a juggling act, some balls are rubber and some are glass. You can get another job, buy a new car, or pay someone to fix your house, but if you drop the ball with your family, it is broken forever.
Why You Need to Return to Powerlifting
This article is for those of you who are on the fence. For those of you who have considered a return to the sport but are having difficulty pulling the trigger. For those of you who need to feel at home again.
WATCH: Q&A with Coach Kav — The Reason for Motivational Quotes and S...
What’s the deal with all of Coach Kav’s quotes and slogans? Do they actually make a difference?
To Compete or Not to Compete
Some people only have a small window to compete in powerlifting or play sports, and then they might never compete again. Avoiding this opportunity with weak-ass excuses is the worst thing you can do.
What Inspires You?
The world records, the surgeries, the comebacks, the nights alone in motels, the tears, the blood, and everything in between needs to have a purpose. This is what I want to leave.
Top Training Tips For Advanced Lifters — The Last Two Weeks, Coaching, a...
You would think this is all common sense, right?
Motivation Found in the Gains of Others
I have trained with three classes of people in the last few months, including young college men, 50-year-old women, and two very strong powerlifters. Each group has encouraged me in its own way.
Are You a Leader or Do You Lead?
I have found there are two main types of leaders in the industry of strength and conditioning. There are those who inspire others and there are those who dictate.
The Rebirth of our Society — It's Time
We need to get our mojo back. It starts with our children. We can’t go through life simply coasting through the motions, never pushing ourselves, and setting a poor example.
Top Training Tips For Advanced Lifters — Stay Healthy and Be Your Own Wo...
Do you think the top-level guys are 100% healthy? Do you know the best way to deal with critics?
'I Need You To Bring Something To The Table' — Training With M...
We took eight weeks off after what was pretty much a train derailing from the tracks, and someone replaced my wife with some crazy bitch that I don’t recognize.
Sick of Your Gym?
It took me about two weeks to figure out I uprooted myself right into HELL. I ran into many of the same issues many of you are still dealing with.
Top Training Tips For Advanced Lifters — Life Priority and Team Role
Why am I taking the time to write this? These are the things I find myself repeating over and over again with different lifters.
Not Motivated? Unplug
If you struggle to find motivation and have been training for only a handful of years, I would question your passion for training. If you struggle to find motivation after training for 20 years, I feel ya.
The Power of Choice
It is a choice to take control of your life or to just let life happen to you. With this choice comes the power to shape your future.
The Next Cup of Coffee
I found the one thing that I was missing, and you might be too. The one thing that is a bigger energy booster than any cup of coffee.
Peak Mental Performance Podcast featuring Jim Wendler — Discipline over ...
These discipline-related principles frame the discussion that Jim and I have in this episode. We also discuss various training principles that all circle back to the idea of prioritizing discipline.
Ten Years Under the Bar
Through my years in the gym I have learned a lot about training, about life, and about myself. From my personal account, these are the most valuable lessons the iron has taught me.
Adversity Is A Blessing
We need to understand and accept the pain that life brings. If you try to pretend that the pain caused by adversity isn’t real, you may become a weak, entitled pussy.
WATCH: Sharing Love and Leaving Scars
In this piece I reflect on my stepfather and his impact on me, trying to understand how a person who loved his children so much could also inadvertently created a great deal of difficulty and strife in their lives.
Why I Need to Make a Change — The Mental Challenge
The first month of this process has passed and I’ve made a lot of progress, but I’ve also discovered a few mental challenges I didn’t recognize at first.
10 Changes That Made Me Strong(er) This Year
Like anyone, I’m far from perfect and am constantly in the process of growing. But this year I’ve seen a lot of positive fruit come from changes I’ve made in my life.
10x Lessons for Lifters
Often times, the truth hurts. In his book, The 10x Rule, Grant Cardone provides some points that we all need to hear.
Why I Need to Make a Change — The Plan
Change is difficult but can hold great rewards. Here’s how I’m going to make it all happen.
Why I Need to Make a Change
Sometimes it takes a hard push for me to initiate change, and life has definitely been pushing me.
What I Learned from Arnold Schwarzenegger
Do this every chance you get and see where it gets you in life.
WATCH: How the Bite of the Iron Nurtured My Growth
Sometimes we get so caught up in the physical nature of training we forget about the other impacts it has.
Training Beyond A Diagnosis
I found out about the cancer in 2008, but there was one major problem: there was no way I was going to take this and settle for a life of quiet mediocrity.
If I Could Write a Letter to Me...
I took the opportunity to write myself a letter but with one caveat: I couldn’t include ANY reference to working out, competing or being “buff.”
Defy Your Demons
There is no better time than this moment, right now. The perfection you seek is within you.
New Year’s Resolutions Are BS
The start of a new year isn’t going to make you a better person or a stronger, leaner, fitter lifter. If you really want to reach your goals in 2017, there are three things you’re going to need.
Just an Ordinary Guy. Kind of…
Out came the foil and a “tooter.” That was the first time I smoked Heroin.
WATCH: Motivational Rant at UGSS
You will meet people who change your life forever. I’ve found most of mine within the four steel walls we call a gym.
Thanksgiving Message From Dave Tate
Dreams I’ll Never See. Thanksgiving Letter from Dave Tate, Founder Elitefts.com Inc.
WATCH: Sources of Pre-Workout Energy with Justin Harris
Are all sources of pre-workout energy created equal? In this video, Dave and Justin discuss the best way to find motivation in the gym.
WATCH: How I Made It Easy to Rep A 1000-pound Deadlift
It may surprise you how great I felt, but if you actually take a look at my training leading into the event, you will understand why.
The Deconstruction of a SHW Powerlifter
I have two options: keep going in the same direction and die, or make changes to my life and start dropping weight.
Staying Motivated With No Chance of Winning the 2016 USAPL Raw Nationals...
We often find ourselves swimming in a sea of excellence, chasing the purple dragon of someone else’s achievements. That’s not how to become a champion.
Why Do You Lift — The Game
Is winning all that matters or is participation the purpose of competition? This is the final article in this series.
Why Do You Lift — What the Absence of Motivation Teaches Us (Suicide)
Every aspect of motivation we discussed in parts one, two, and three are evidence here, through their absence and again through their recovery.
Why Do You Lift — Defining Hope, Motivation, and Risk
This is where we find the relationship between hope and two other concepts that are directly important to sports performance and powerlifting in particular: motivation and risk.
Why Do You Lift — Defining Passion
We need to discuss passion and our affective response to any autotelic activity: it is important to understand that humans engage in things for internal forces other than survival.
Why Do You Lift — Meaning, Identity, Hope and Passion
For the next three or four articles, this is our topic: motivation. This first part will explore the construction of meaning, identity, and the origins of motivation.
Mental Characteristics of Successful Powerlifters
In my years of powerlifting, I have seen some really gifted people go nowhere, and some really poorly suited people do very well. Mindset is everything.
REGISTER NOW: April 30th Training Camp with JL Holdsworth, Swede Burns, ...
You will have the opportunity to learn about any topic in strength training you choose, from execution of the main lifts all the way down to minute details of accessory work.
How Powerlifting Saved My Life
Years of self-destructive life and eating habits led me to 430 pounds and a combined diagnosis of pre-diabetes and hypertension. I had two options: make a change or die.
THREE DAYS LEFT — Win 12 Weeks of Free Online Training from Team Elitefts
Participating coaches include; Swede Burns, Clint Darden, Julia Ladewski, Brandon Smitley, Joe Schillero, Ken Skip Hill, Zach Gallmann, Matt Ladewski, Shane Church, David Allen, Casey Williams, Dani Overcash, David Kirschen, Sheri Whethem, Ken Whethem.
Defending Margins
You might think I’m talking about business. I’m not. I’m talking about something much more important.
Coaching: Sometimes It's All in the Delivery
Learning to connect with and effectively motivate your athletes can go a long way. Choose your words wisely.
From The Quote Guy
In an endless flow of meaningless words, latch onto the lessons that challenge your mind and dictate your actions.
