The Benefits of Concurrent Training
It must be noted that this article is specifically looking at intracellular signaling pathways leading to increased muscle size.
WATCH: Table Talk — Run the Monolift or Walk Out?
This really shouldn’t be a debate. Mimic how you compete.
The Path to Anti-Fragility
This must-listen episode features clinician, author, and speaker Dr. Craig Liebenson, who first turned me on to the concept of anti-fragility.
My Position on Sex
I posted on Facebook last week asking for input on what topics I should write about for my column. The clear champion was the issue of sex within close proximity to competition and how it should be handled. Let’s start at the beginning.
Meet Report: USPA Pikes Peak Open 2017
I was setup better from this training cycle than any other. I easily made weight, had a coach with complete confidence in me, and a training partner that celebrated every step. But the meet had a different plan for me.
Hack Your Internal Clock for Improved Sleep Quality and Sport Performance
Getting stuck in the routine of a disrupted sleep-wake cycle can turn a top-tier athlete into a complete mess. Understanding circadian rhythms is the first step to avoiding this.
Are You Using Your Lats?
Many lifters believe they use their lats on the squat, bench, and deadlift, but I have found that they’re often wrong. Here’s how to know.
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.
Meet Report: UPA Summer Showdown 2017 at Old School Iron
At the beginning of this year I lost 60 pounds in less than eight weeks. I couldn’t stand longer than a few minutes because I was so tired. I couldn’t go up or down stairs without losing my breath. It was humbling, to say the least.
LISTEN: Just Fly Performance Podcast — Episode 42 with Dr. Bryan Mann
This discussion focuses on further applications of velocity based training, including the topic of fast-twitch muscular hypertrophy, ensuring athletes don’t cheat the system, and choosing between average and peak velocity.
Conjugate Bodybuilding
How does this system translate to someone that just wants a bigger set of guns? Incredibly well, actually, due to the fact you will spend the bulk of your training sessions performing hypertrophy work to bring up primary movers.
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.
Alternatives to Squat Training After Overuse Injuries
When looking at how to continue to train through overuse injuries, there are five main regressions and changes I have found able to lead to pain-free movement in the squat.
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?
WATCH: Table Talk — Personality Differences in Powerlifting
Should a training program be altered based on a lifter’s personality?
Bare Bones Home Gym: More Than A Bar, Bench and Rack
With my Bare Bones program, you can see that great progress can be made with minimal equipment, but there are some tools that make things easier. If I built a home gym all over again, these are the first things I would buy.
Back to Recovery Basics: Supplementing Your Recovery Plan
In order to best manage the time available to devote to recovery, it is essential to devise supplemental recovery methods that best target each athlete’s personal needs.
The Reincarnation of the Powerlifter
As powerlifters we are, in the sense described in ‘The Egg’, reincarnated. We live and die and are reborn several times over our lifting career.
We Better Get It Right — Securing the Future of S&C Before It's...
This is real stuff that is happening right now — not just my opinion, but what is really going on. I am not bitching, but I am calling for change in the right way. This is what needs to happen.
WATCH: Equipment Feature — The Setwear Boa Bar Clamp
The Setwear Boa Bar Clamp is the quick and easy answer to securing plates on barbells spanning a multitude of thicknesses.
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.
10 Nutrition Myths That Just Need to Die
Despite how inaccurate these nutrition beliefs are, they just won’t seem to go away. It’s time we kill them.
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.
A Contrarian’s Approach to Building Muscle
As improvement season heats up, I’ve been doing the exact opposite of the traditional bodybuilder’s approach, and the results have been incredible.
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.
'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.
WATCH: Table Talk — Natural Potential and the Genetic Ceiling
The potential for what a lifter can accomplish without using performance enhancing substances is far greater than most people assume.
From the Judge’s Chair: The Squat
Nothing trumps experience — specifically the sheer number of lifts you watch and analyze. Who sees the largest number of lifts? That’s right: the judge.
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.
Grading Professionalism in Collegiate Strength and Conditioning
This is a difficult issue to balance because people expect us to be over the top and screaming all the time. I’m asking that we raise the level of professionalism.
Back to Recovery Basics: The Big Three
In part two of this series, the topic is the big three for recovery, which allows athletes to experience better performance, resistance to injury, and longevity in their sport.
WATCH: Blast from the Past — The Number One Biggest Squat Mistake
From the moment you grab the bar until you rack it after the lift, you need to be focusing on this part of your squat.
The Swing Block Method
This program moves in a linear progression by alternating rep ranges with normal deload and sarcoplasmic hypertrophy phases to allow for supercompensation to take place.
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.
Short-Term Friends in a Long-Term Sport
Some friends remain steady and become full-time training partners. These are the people you trust with your lifting and your life. But you’ll also encounter short-term friends, where most of your trouble and drama will arise.
Improve Your Posture for Sport Performance
As a lifter, and likely someone that sits at a desk a lot, the odds are you spend a lot of time slouching, with tight hip flexors, pecs and biceps, fueling the fire of kyphosis, lordosis, and medial humeral rotation.
An Argument for Post-Training Cardio Gains
Worried that too much cardio could hinder your muscle growth? Performed the right way, at the right time, low-intensity aerobic activity can actually improve muscle hypertrophy.
Surviving a Pec Tear
Seven years ago while benching 500 pounds, I experienced a partial pec tear to the muscle belly near the attachment to the pec tendon. These are the techniques I used to recover and the exercises I perform to safeguard my pec from ever tearing again.
WATCH: Table Talk — Max Effort Work vs. Submaximal Doubles and Triples
There are different purposes, benefits, and risks of max effort work and submaximal doubles and triples. Which makes more sense for your programming?
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.
Critical Thinking in Powerlifting — Eliminating Cognitive Biases
Most of the time we are completely unaware of these biases, but they can affect the way we think and the decisions we make in our personal lives, at work, and even in our training.
Reborn After Arthritis
Surgery isn't magic but sometimes it is the best option if you're willing to take the time to recover and undergo proper rehabilitation. Here's my story of osteoarthritis at 29 years old.
The 74th Aberlour Strathspey Highland Games
My first trip to Scotland coincided with my first Highland games experience. Here's how my day went.
Back to Recovery Basics: Fundamentals of Recovery
Understanding the role of recovery is the first step to improving your health, longevity, and performance as a strength athlete. Think of it like this: your training is the sledgehammer and your recovery is the raw materials and blueprints for improvement.
Bigger Is Not Always Stronger: Fallacies of Muscle Hypertrophy for Stren...
I am going to establish an argument against a particular misconception: the fallacy that working out to make your 'muscles bigger' will make you stronger, faster, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.
Program Determination Using the Quadrant Approach: Individualization in ...
Many programs say they individualize, but in reality very few do it well. This is why I borrowed the Quadrant Management System from business and redeveloped it to meet my requirements for programming in team sports.
High-Density Training for Fat Loss and Conditioning
These high-density training protocols are the holy grails of body composition training. Here are the best ones to get you started.
Finding Strength: The Bar Strength and Conditioning
Owner Bryan May and coach John Severson are sharing their knowledge and expertise with the people of Milton, Florida and the surrounding area.
How to Hit Your Biggest Bench at Your Next Meet
If you use this peaking plan and follow these tips, it's not a question of whether or not you'll PR at your next meet — it's just a matter of by how much.
Preventing Negative Emotions from Stealing Your Progress
Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced lifter, an iron sport athlete or a triathlete, stepping on stage at the Olympia or opening a gym door for the first time, you are going to face some mental battles.
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.
A Case for Max Effort Work and How To Introduce It
For the most profound results we need to train the area of the force velocity curve our athletes have spent the least amount of time on.
WATCH: Table Talk — When to Rotate Supplemental and Accessory Exercises
How much time do you really need to spend with an exercise to know if it's working or not?
Strength Chat Podcast: Technical Aspects of Training During and After Pr...
Through their four pillars and a growing nationwide network, BIRTHFIT is helping thousands of expecting moms prepare themselves for childbirth while staying healthy, mobile, and strong.
WATCH: Blast from the Past — The Beginning Stage of a Diet
How many carbohydrates do you need in every meal? Should you consume more on training days than rest days? How many grams of protein are necessary? These actually aren't the questions you should be asking.
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.