What Are Your Biggest Mistakes as a Strength Coach?
For me, five big mistakes come to mind. I want to tell you how I learned from them and the steps I took to never make them again.
Four Keys to Manual Resistance
The half-kneeling y-raise is great at showing athletes correct scapulo-humeral rhythm without the common compensations of the over-dominant accessory muscles of the neck and back. To do it, follow the rules of manual resistance.
Tissue Takes Time — 3 Lessons From Improvement Season
Given the advantage of hindsight and the progress I enjoyed during a productive six month off-season, it’s time to share the most valuable lessons from placing all my efforts on getting big without letting my physique get sloppy.
WATCH: Steve Goggins Reviews the CETC US Open
With multiple Goggins Force lifters competing, Steve attended the meet — and now he has some thoughts to share.
Bench, Squat, and Deadlift Alternatives for Bodybuilding
If you’re beat up from powerlifting or more concerned with hypertrophy, some of these variations may prove useful. In all honesty, alternatives of the basic lifts have done the most for the development of my physique and hypertrophy.
Building the Raw Deadlift
This article will cover everything you need to build a big deadlfit as a raw lifter, from needs analysis, to the role of specific muscles, to choosing your best stance.
WATCH: Table Talk with Nate Harvey — Max Effort Training for Athletes
The max effort scheme you used for your last powerlifting meet will not work for your athletes. Keep these things in mind when implementing this style of training in athletes.
Bare Bones Conjugate: A Bar, Rack, and Bench Weeks 5-8
The conjugate system is about max effort, dynamic effort, and the repetition method. You can do everything with just a rack, bar, bench, and some weights. Here are the next four weeks of the program.
WATCH: Justus Galac SPS Presentation — Goals of the S&C Program
Some goals of strength and conditioning are obvious, such as a improving conditioning. Others, such as building a winning culture, aren’t so obvious. This is how Galac approaches each of his staff’s goals with the New York Jets.
WATCH: The Strength Coach Development Center — Squat Progression
For any exercise, you need to know the proper progressions and regressions. Here is a simple squat progression you can implement with your athletes today.
Your Kid Is Not a Pro Athlete
Parents often don’t realize that some of the popular programs out there look cool but are the equivalent of going from first grade to 12th grade in a week. The best program is the one your athlete is ready for.
Meet Report: 2017 Iron Battle at Showtime Strength and Performance
This was my first meet in a year and a half, since October 2015, when I was battling through a torn supraspinatus and a half torn right biceps. Training went well, but the meet reminded me of a few crucial powerlifting lessons.
So You Want to Be an Online Trainer — Three Steps to Getting Started
Within part one of this article series, I want to pass on the basics, the startup, and the initial thoughts before starting an online training business.
Shades of Grey
I remember a time in strength and conditioning when hard work and sweat equity were paramount, and the integrity of the workout was the most important thing. Our most important job was player development, period.
Learn From the Back to Lead From the Front
In sports performance, sometimes you need to shut up, take a seat in the back of the room, and learn before you are ready to lead from the front.
WATCH: The Biggest Mistakes of the Strongman Axle Clean and Press
In weightlifting, the bar has the power and your body will move around it. In strongman, your body has the power and the bar will move around it.
Kettlebells Explained — A Guide to the Most Versatile Movements
The exercises you can incorporate with kettlebells are virtually endless. Here’s how to get started with some of my favorites.
Q&A with James Smith: Upper Body Training for Volleyball Players
It is time for you to blur the lines between volleyball practice and physical preparation and fuse them into one holistic entity of movement.
Body Mechanics 101: Training Partner Form Fix
In my entire life of training, I’ve only ever had six training partners, and never more than one at a time. Now I have two. That’s right — there are three of us.
All Together Now — The Nutritionist
This article relies both on a bird’s eye-view of the scientific discipline itself, with some history to make sense of the information, and on the input of people who actually use this knowledge on a day-to-day basis.
WATCH: Table Talk with Nate Harvey — Do You Need A Planned Deload?
Is deloading a necessary part of improving as a lifter or is it just a weak excuse to be lazy one week out of every month?
Coach of the Year
This weekend would be more of that testing, coaching twenty-one lifters over the course of a single day. People say I am crazy for working with the number of lifters I do.
WATCH: Dr. Eric Serrano SPS Presentation — Factors that Influence Diet a...
In this final video of his presentation, Dr. Serrano gives advice on goal-setting, explains the factors that influence the success of a diet, and answers questions directly from the audience.
How to Make Money as a Personal Trainer
My last year as a personal trainer I averaged over 40 billable training hours a week and sometimes did over 60 hours a week. The tactics I used to get to that point are now the basis of our trainer development program.
Take It, Take It, Take It
What can I say? Learn from my hard lessons. Make sure your spotters are aware of the intent BEFORE the set.
Staying the Vigilant Lifter
The vigilant lifter wants to be a student of strength. They do not just want to be told what to do to get stronger. They want to learn and understand how to get stronger.
Engineering Physical Performance — Reassess Utilization of INOL Model
I have been a huge believer in Intensity Number of Lifts (INOL) to develop programs that are achievable and that follow a sensible loading pattern over time, but I’ve recently made some important changes.
Combatting Shoulder and Elbow Pain from Low Bar Squatting
Where you lack motion or motor control, your body will pass down the chain to the next moving part that can buy you an extra bit to help you get into position. This is dysfunction.
Bodybuilding Exercises for the Powerlifter — Widen Your Grip to Beef Up ...
Bulk up your back, strengthen your deadlift, and learn to activate your lats with this one exercise.
The Goal Review Session
Sometimes a client gets bored. Sometimes they get busy. And sometimes they just want something new.
Converting to Sumo Deadlifting: How I Made It Work for Me
Deadlifting is one of the oldest and hardest exercises around. It’s very simple—you just pick the bar up off the ground and stand up with it. Well, it’s not that easy for everyone.
LISTEN: The Podcast with Jay DeMayo — Mark Watts on the Field Today
Stepping outside ‘the grind’ of coaching has given Mark a different perspective on his career in strength and conditioning and the challenges that young coaches face. He shares his thoughts on this topic and more in Episode 77.
Celebrate World Wish Day with elitefts
To date, we (thanks to you) have granted 47 wishes. Let’s make it 48 — meet Hayden. #worldwishday
WATCH: Table Talk with Nate Harvey — How Important Are the Quads for a R...
You want debate? Go to a powerlifting meet and ask the lifters in the warm-up room if you should be focusing on your quads to build your squat. You’ll hear a lot of opinions. Who’s right?
Four Rules for First-Time Competitors
Many first-time competitors end up as only-time competitors because they neglect to take the right precautions before beginning their prep. Follow these rules to avoid letting your first show be your last.
WATCH: Dr. Eric Serrano SPS Presentation — Eating and Supplementing for ...
In part two, Serrano gives you macronutrient ratios, supplements for fat loss, and which popular ingredient found in many supplements you should avoid.
What I Learned from Arnold Schwarzenegger
Do this every chance you get and see where it gets you in life.
Off-Season Conjugate for Intermediate Strongmen
Strongman requires speed, endurance, strength, and explosiveness. What if you could build all of these qualities at the same time?
Contingencies — Why Plan B Might Be the Most Important Part of Your Stra...
As painful as it might be to ponder our actions in the event that the rug is pulled out from underneath our feet, it pales in comparison to the pain of not having a viable Plan B when life happens.
WATCH: The Hanging Hamstring Raise
Evaluate hamstring general function, range of motion, asymmetry, strength, potential for injury and more with Dr. Eric Serrano’s hanging hamstring raise.
Overhead Pressing for a Bigger and Safer Bench Press
After two pec tears, I needed to try something new. Not only did training the overhead press make my bench stronger, but it also solved all my pec injury problems.
The Law of the Paint Can: Delegate and Say No
Our ambition may be endless but our abilities are finite. When we try to take on too much, something is soon to go wrong.
Preaching to the Choir: Don't Slow Down or Reduce Activity
What can we do to get our seniors off their collective ass and into the gym for resistance training?
Dear Powerlifting
I owe a lot to the sport of powerlifting. Now it's about giving back in more ways than on the platform.
Unlocking Your Full Power Potential Through the Blue Zones
In five locations on earth, the people live 30% longer and continue to be active and healthy until their final days on earth. What's the secret?
Generation Pussy
I can’t help but be annoyed at what has come of this generation in the gym. Basketball shorts over tights? Nalgene bottles? Functional exercises? What is wrong with these kids?
WATCH: Table Talk with Dan Green — Hip Position, Not Strength, to Fix Yo...
Want to know how to have a better deadlift lockout? Look at what Pete Rubish has done in recent years and you'll see it.
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.
Meet Report: New Challenges and New Lifters — USAPL Spring Meet at CBUS ...
With this meet, I wanted to prove to myself that I could go from competing equipped to qualifying for USAPL Raw Nationals.
WATCH: Dr. Eric Serrano SPS Presentation — Eating for Size and the Probl...
In the first part of his presentation, "Sports Nutrition for Peak Athletic Performance", Dr. Serrano discusses nutrition for muscle gain, and shares several health concerns and issues with protein supplementation.
Unilateral Movements to Help Heal Nagging Injuries
I recently realized I've been looking at my back injury the wrong way all along. I needed to simplify the way I was thinking about it.
Meet Report: CETC US Open 2017 — Second Place with a 2121 Total at 220
I've had a taste for where I'm meant to be, and now I will be training with an unmatched ferocity. I may not have been strong enough to beat the colossus on this day, but I faced him prepared to die.
5 Coaching Rants to Reframe and Apply
Layering thousands of coaching hours on the floor with successes and failures, I think I know what works and what doesn't work.
My Experience at the SWIS Exercise Muscle Testing Certification
The latest and greatest from Dr. Ken Kinakin includes specific muscle tests for upper and lower body exercises to determine if the muscles are functional and capable of handling the stress of weight.
Meet Report: 2017 CETC US Open Powerlifting Championships with Ben Pollack
I’ve already written about my training strategy going into the meet, and what I’ve learned from my meet prep, but I didn’t share a few things for competitive reasons.
WATCH: Wendler's UGSS Compilation Series
If I can teach a kid to squat correctly, I can teach him anything.
WATCH: Westside History with Mark Bell and Dave Tate
Training goals after powerlifting, quality time with children, training at Westside, leaving Westside, thoughts on training methods, the purpose of life, the challenges of being a mentor, and more — all in this video.
Training Lanes: A Guide to Conjugate Programming for Athletes
Some people say that being a good teacher means explaining things in the simplest, easiest-to-understand terms. When it comes to conjugate programming, using training lanes is the way to accomplish this.
Three Solutions to Bust Through Your Next Training Plateau
Stalled progress can occur for a number of reasons. Which of these solutions will be the key to restarting your progress?
