6 New Uses for the Safety Squat Yoke Bar
The SSB is quite possibly the best bar known to man. FYI, this article isn’t meant to sell you the SSB, but we’ve had so much success with this bar; it’s hard not to share our experiences with it.
Science is the New Religion
Here we are 400 years later and we’re still arguing like popes and polymaths.
The Gym is Open!
I pissed away a great opportunity to start fresh with a healed and rested body by jumping right back in and emptying both barrels. You can do better.
How to Tell If Your Squat is Too Wide or Too Narrow
Are your glutes activated? Are you hinging? Is it hard to reach depth? Falling forward? Answers to these questions may reveal that the stance you’re favoring is doing nothing for your squat.
Athletes and Wearing Belts
A belt is a support mechanism. Your trunk still supports, contracts, and strengthens while wearing a belt and gaining strength. Again, when not used properly, a belt is useless and has downsides. Here’s what to know as a coach with a listing of the belts I recommend for high school athletes, college athletes, and lifters.
Carb Cycling to Get Shredded
Most people are satisfied with the results they see from simply adjusting food quality alone. Others want to see more drastic results, so a specific macro breakdown is necessary IF they are ready and can handle these adjustments as well as the work that goes into tracking it.
The Pandemic Nobody Wants to Acknowledge
The pandemic I’m speaking of is obesity, and unlike COVID-19, it doesn’t seem to be subsiding. What’s even worse is that it’s getting worse each year.
INTERVIEW: Stewart-Haas Racing Athletic Director Greg Honeychuck
From football and baseball to NASCAR, learn from Greg as he continues to climb (and race) the strength and conditioning ranks.
Advice From the Past as Gyms Open in Present Day
This was the good advice my mentor and powerlifting legend Ernie Frantz gave to me some 20 years ago when I had come back from a quad tear.
LISTEN: Table Talk Podcast Clip — How JM Blakley and Dave Tate Built Ten...
JM Blakley and Dave Tate have had their fair share of tendon problems. From tears to tweaks, they’ve learned how to strengthen their tendons to help lengthen their careers and put up bigger numbers. From ultra-heavy reps to ultra-light ones, here’s a variety of tendon tools at your disposal.
The Need for a Calm Leader in 2020
There are a lot of different leadership qualities that lend themselves to different times and situations. Every leader is different, and there isn’t one perfect personality or leadership type. At this time, however, I think there is one leadership quality that is needed most.
The 4 Biggest Myths of Building a Home Gym
We hear excuses for why people don’t start home gyms every single day, but I want to break down why four of the biggest myths we hear about, simply aren’t true.
Life as a Gym Owner: What I Learned in Year Two
From everything we could tell, year two was going to be a great year of advancement, and what we had hoped to be a start to an end of our full-time jobs. But then, life happened: COVID-19, cancer, closure, and more.
Coping with COVID-19
I was alive when Pearl Harbor was attacked and the U.S. entered into World War II. In the 1940s, I remember polio. How does all of this relate to COVID-19 pandemic? I have an idea…
The Dos and Don’ts of 2020 Football
Here’s a don’t: If you are waiting until the summer to begin preparing for the fall, you’re already behind the eight ball…
Why I’ll Miss Multi-Ply Powerlifting
I’m not gonna subject you to a bunch of “back in my day” bull crap. Assuming you’re at least somewhat interested in gear, and instead of playing the middle as I’ve always done, I’m gonna give you the truth.
Digestion and Antacids: Helpful or Harmful?
A new client came to me expressing digestion issues that started occurring over the last few months. It severely impacted her appetite and comfort. She was experiencing symptoms of heartburn, a sensation of a lump in her throat after meals, and more.
LISTEN: Table Talk Podcast Clip — Ego in Powerlifting
Sometimes ego helps you out in powerlifting. Sometimes it doesn’t. Here’s where the ego will bite you, and how to mold yourself for your best lifting and life.
Foot Placement for the Sumo Deadlift
I wish I could give you exactly the stance you need, but you’ll have to dial that in for yourself. Here are some tricks to begin this process.
Editor's Letter for July
For July, we move from the weight room to the kitchen. Fun fact: In totality, considering all of the content we produce, nutrition is the one topic that doesn’t get as much airtime. Why? No one knows. It’s provocative.
Goal Structure
When it comes to my training, I don’t just show up and happen to be able to perform. No one does that. I prepare for each mile marker target ahead of time. I eat enough. I sleep enough. I hydrate. The night before, the morning of; I run my mental game.
The Body of Work
It all comes down to three rules. These three pretty much cover everything, and they can be applied anywhere in life: Education, work, family, anything…
Programming is Irrelevant
The last time I checked, there are places that squat, don’t squat, wicket run, don’t wicket run, Olympic lift, Conjugate, Triphasic, unilateral, bilateral, and whatever else…BUT ALL OF THEIR ATHLETES SEEM TO DEVELOP.
Randomized Band Shoulder Press Benefits
Do two to three work sets at the beginning of one of the weekly upper body training sessions while the nervous system and muscles are fresh.
3 Tweaks Your Squat Needs
Without a doubt, there are some things you need to pay attention to when performing and coaching squats across the board. I will list them here.
A Fast Way to Get Stronger in the Bench Press!
I increased my competition bench with more than 40 pounds in one month when I did it the first time. I can’t promise you will make the same progress, but I think you will get close!
Ladies, So You Want to Bench 315?
I never missed 315. I went for it when it was time and when my training had prepared me for it. I attempted the weight when it was the next logical step in the progression of my coach’s orders. It wasn’t a YOLO, it was what came next.
LISTEN: Table Talk Podcast Clip — Mark Bell Recalls Telling Louie Simmon...
Everyone likes putting their own tweak on popular programming. Louie Simmons was not very receptive when he learned Mark Bell had changed his, however. You’d think a 180-pound squat PR would speak for itself, but apparently it was still no good.
Three Phase Offseason Bench Protocol to Replace Dynamic Effort Waves
Following these phases, there seems to be, on average, around a five to seven percent increase in 1RM bench by the end of phase two, with a further increase after phase three.
So, You Think You Want to Build a Home Gym?
Are you the kind of person who needs the premade atmosphere of a small or commercial gym? There is nothing wrong if you do, but I would put some serious thought into questions like this before putting in the time, effort, and money it takes to create a home gym.
4 Tips for the Injury-Plagued Bencher
These ideas are all things that have helped me as my lifting age has advanced and nagging injuries have come creeping in. Don’t settle for tweaks and breaks. Instead, make these changes today to avoid being banged up.
How to Survive in the Warm-up Area
There are countless reasons for the disorganization in the warm-up room, and hopefully, some of this information will help those new or newer to the competition scene to survive in the warm-up area and benefit from it.
Back-to-the-Gym Program to Optimize the Loading Process
As most of us come out of COVID-19 lockdown and back into the gym, here’s a program that can be used as a three- or a six-day-a-week program with emphasis on simplicity and variability.
Table Talk Podcast #56: Where's Dave Tate?
What are people most interested in seeing on the podcast? Who would be the perfect guest? Which topics should be covered? Talking the future of the podcast and when Dave is returning!
Understanding Energy Systems for Freak Conditioning
When it comes to conditioning, we need to consider how fast our systems can produce ATP, how long we can produce it for, and how efficiently your body can utilize the ATP being produced. To do that, here’s what we need to do.
Putting Me Back in Max Effort
Assuming you have the basics like a straight bar, rack, bench, box, boards, bands, and chains—you have plenty to rub out a successful and safe max effort session. Go team solo!
The Most Underrated Exercise You’re Not Doing for Shoulder Health
Do your shoulders hurt at the bottom of the bench? If so, what are you doing to fix it? This exercise may help.
Dynamic Effort Board Press Cycle
I’m looking at saving this cycle for the next meet prep that I do (with the COVID-19 pandemic, who knows when that will be). In prep for a meet or not, I guarantee this will spice up your dynamic effort training for the bench press.
LISTEN: Table Talk Podcast Clip — Daily Movements Lifters Are Screwing U...
Stop screwing up your deloads and you’ll see less back pain and significantly increased performance. Then stop screwing up how you tie your shoes! Done incorrectly, small movements can add up to exacerbate back pain.
The Future of Box Programming (Part 2)
Right now, CrossFit faces challenges that no playbook illustrates. Here’s how I’m making sense of it all.
Try Harder
I want to elaborate on the most radical and misunderstood facet of the Nautilus training protocol—the concept of ONE SET TO FAILURE. Follow me down the rabbit hole.
Where Do Powerlifters Go From Here?
Listen as you may, but I strongly urge you to not max out once you return to the gym. I know, you wanna see exactly how strong you are and impress your friends, but resist. Here’s why.
I Didn’t Learn a Thing From My Father
As I got into my 20s, I was dead set on making a living as a bouncer. I mean, if John Dalton could make a living bouncing at the Double Deuce kicking everyone’s ass while driving a Mercedes, I could do it.
Bench Press More Weight
Watch this 4-part video series to learn everything from the technique of the movement to more advanced methods like overload training.
INTERVIEW: 1035-Pound Bencher Jimmy Kolb
Jimmy hit his first 600-pound bench press at the age of 18. Whether you train geared or raw, he has the info you need to harness to improve your bench press.
What We Can Do As S&C Coaches
What if the lineman loses 35 pounds as a result of not having adequate food. Are they ready for the upcoming season? Are they going to be able to perform optimally if that 35 pounds was force-producing muscle mass? Most likely not.
What Does It Mean to Be a Gamer?
The science behind cybersickness is what applies directly to anyone in the training realm of physical sports. For myself, it started in asking a straightforward question of a neurosurgeon I met decades ago.
Extra Workouts for the Off-Season Football Player
Here's an excellent example of how to place extra workouts in a weekly off-season football training schedule along with what an extra workout accomplishes (or should).
LISTEN: Table Talk Podcast Clip — Dave Tate Exposes Fitness Hacks
What does the fitness landscape look like for beginners, and what can we do as trainers to help them best? It's oversaturated with con artists, and we need to understand the beginner's perspective to be able to help them best.
After 8 Weeks of Training Every Day During Lockdown
As the lockdown has lifted, at least in Ohio, I'm slowly transitioning back into the gym. Interestingly, a lot of what I did during lockdown remains.
LISTEN: Table Talk Podcast #55: Strength History
Who becomes great? What matters now to keep your legacy moving to the next generation? Steve Goggins is Dave Tate's pick for the most underrated powerlifter, and he has his theories for why he isn't mentioned.
3 Pressing Tips for Long-Armed Lifters
When I started my powerlifting journey, Louie Simmons tried to teach me to bench press like Fred Bolt. It was clear that I was not Fred Bolt, but more importantly, I did not have the musculature at that time to bench with my feet out. Here are some tips for all you long-armed lifters to create a great bench.
8-Week Beginner Post Quarantine Strongman Program
This 8-week program is perfect for those who are just getting into strongman, or for those who have been doing bodyweight and band workouts for the last few months.
Resist the Urge to Compete
I’m betting that in the 6-8 weeks after the quarantine ends, a lot of contests are going to happen. My advice: Resist the urge!
Are Athletics Healthy for You?
Can you be an athlete performing at the highest level and also achieve optimal health, or are these two mutually exclusive? Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but those who are truly pushing their limits are either consciously or subconsciously giving up their health to do it.
Band Exercise Index
An in-depth analysis of band movements I heavily depend on for augmenting my physical prowess on the mat, and for any athletes I coach irrespective of sport.
Dan Roche Resurrects An Old School Gym
Dan Roche had a goal in mind while creating his home gym. Recreate the old school vibe he loves, and put it in his own space that inspires hard training. He packed in quality and practical equipment to maximize the effectiveness of his training and transform his headspace.
