The Phases of Life
It sounds cliché, but the older you get, the faster time seems to slip away. We really never seem to take the time to appreciate our journey until we realize it’s more than half over already and it feels like we’re just getting started.
Matt Sohmer — Squat and Deadlift World-Record Strategies
Bottom line: all that matters is results. You are either creating or you are disintegrating. If this requires breaking from orthodoxy, so be it. Here are five ways we did this with Matt.
Body Mechanics 101: Elbow Position for Triceps Extension
I see terrible training mistakes on an almost daily basis, and not just the ones veteran meatheads like to post on social media to poke fun at someone in the gym who doesn’t know any better.
WATCH: Table Talk with Mark Dugdale — What Makes You Beginner, Intermedi...
Number of competitions? Severity of injury? Conditioning and size? Powerlifting total?
Home and the Home Gym — The Heart Follows the Iron
In this article, we reach the end of our journey. You will read about how original home gym owners made different choices and changed their lives as they followed the iron.
WATCH: Dugdale UGSS Presentation — Protecting Your Joints and Life Balance
Longevity in this sport requires taking care of your body, but perhaps more importantly it requires taking care of your life.
How You Can Help Grow The Sport of Powerlifting
If the social theory holds true, then in order for powerlifting itself to make progress, individuals within the group will have to give up a little something of themselves to push the sport further.
The Finer Points of Getting Shredded
As with any training-related goal, there’s a great way to go about things, and a not-so-great way to go about things. Let’s get into four of the finer points of shedding your unwanted fluff.
Seven Tips to Get Your Ass Back in the Gym
This article is for the grizzled veterans who are now getting up in years. If you’ve fallen off the exercise wagon here are seven easy tips to get your training back on course.
24-Hour Shift Programming for Those Who Protect and Serve
This training design has taken into account 24-hour shifts over a four-week schedule. As you can see, each week has varying work demands, so the training program must reflect this.
10 Big Lessons 2016 Taught Me
Your numbers will be subject to so many external variables, but your character is forged by intentionality.
WATCH: My Biggest Mistake in Strongman
Being in this sport for long means making mistakes, but for Clint, there’s one that he considers worse than all others.
RPR: Wake Up Your True Performance Potential
The purpose of this tool is to identify problems and compensations in an individual’s movement patterns and to restore neurological balance to allow the body to perform the way it naturally should.
Vince Gironda — The World's First Personal Trainer
I’ve studied and experimented with Vince Gironda’s methods my entire training career. He has had a major impact on me as a trainer and lifter.
elitefts Customer Product Reviews — The Seated Calf/Tibia Raise Machine ...
We know you don’t want empty praise of our equipment — you want honest, detailed feedback so that you can know what to expect.
WATCH: Table Talk with Mark Dugdale — Training Evolution and the Genetic...
Do genetic ceilings exist? How can you know if you’ve reached yours? Is it possible to break through?
Train to Think or Think to Train
If you don’t understand the reason behind doing something, how will you know if you are getting the proper results out of your efforts?
WATCH: Dugdale UGSS Presentation — Guarding Your Central Nervous System
The first part of training for longevity is ensuring that your body’s central nervous system can adequately handle the demands of your program.
Life Imitates Powerlifting
The lessons I have learned from powerlifting help me with situations I come across in my life. I recently experienced this while on my first mule deer archery hunt.
25 Tips for a Bigger Raw Deadlift
A brutally strong deadlift will never come easily, but that doesn’t mean you need to get fancy.
S&C Meeting of The Minds — Training A New Generation, Bandwagon Tren...
Coaches Kitchen, Clapp, Nosak, and Showers are back to answer more questions about succeeding in the strength and conditioning field.
A Smarter Approach to Enhancing Athletic Performance
When I started to apply this 8-phase setup with my high school and college athletes, not only did their technique, mobility, and flexibility improve, but they also looked and felt stronger.
How Do I Get Into Strongman?
I’ve covered a lot of territory, and still have so much on the horizon, but I think one of the biggest things I’ve missed over the past year relates to a question I’ve been getting often.
5 Things to Know for Your First Show
Competing in a bodybuilding show can seem overwhelming, and you may have no idea what to expect. Don’t let fear hold you back.
Mighty Joe Bradley: Best Pound-for-Pound Lifter of All-Time
Joe trained under Dr. Fred Hatfield’s tutelage. This changed the sport forever.
Improving Insulin Sensitivity and Your Physique
You want nutrients to go to what you’re trying to build: THE MUSCLE. There are ways to make your body better at doing this.
7 Things That Can Make You A Successful Online Trainer
I’m putting the satire on hold for one article. Here’s some straight-up information to help you become a better online trainer.
WATCH: Table Talk with Mark Dugdale — Exercise Execution, Pre-Workout Fo...
Mark and Dave share their combined knowledge in both powerlifting and bodybuilding, gained from multiple decades honing their respective crafts.
Why Body Tempering Works
With all the buzz going on about body tempering, a lot of questions come up about why it works or what makes it different than other types of treatments. Here’s the answer.
WATCH: Dugdale UGSS Presentation — Fats, Blood Sugar, and Macronutrients
You know the importance of protein, carbohydrates, and fats, but are you overlooking the finer details such as fiber and what types of fats are best?
What Data Collection Could Mean for Your 2017 Powerlifting Total
Just like you have lifting data, you also have life data. As the New Year has begun, let’s review 2016.
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.
WATCH: Anterior Pelvic Tilt Compilation Series — Dani Overcash and Casey...
In these six videos, Dani identifies and helps resolve Casey’s hip issues while squatting. How can Casey’s powerlifting setback help you?
The Coexistence of Politics and Merit
It wasn’t until about five years into my professional career that I started to notice some problems with my upward mobility plan.
Off-Season Case Study #1 — Examining Weakness And Implementing Correctiv...
In this case, we examine a young competitive athlete who has limited experience and is facing several serious issues in his squat, bench press, and deadlift.
Joe "The Lad" Ladnier Mississippi Monster
As the first man ever to break the 2100-pound barrier (2160) in the 220-pound class, Joe Ladnier rocketed to the top of powerlifting world more than 30 years ago.
Experiments with 5x5 Training
You can use five sets for strength building, you can use it for hypertrophy, you can use it for power, and you can change it to suit whatever particular goal you have.
Off-Season Back Training: Two Sessions Per Week and More Adjustments
I'm 22 weeks into my off-season and implementing some unique tweaks to my back training.
Practical Application for Developing Rotational Power
All sports are rotational to some degree. Here are some effective ways to develop and assess rotational power within a team setting.
WATCH: Rapid Fire Table Talk — Westside Before Bands, Programming By Gen...
Looking for an unconventional use for bands?
The Isometric Deadlift Cycle That Took My Deadlift to 800 Pounds in 22 M...
Isometrics are so terrible, in fact, that I am going to give you the exact cycle I use. If you are willing to go through everything I lay out, I am willing to give it away.
WATCH: Dugdale UGSS Presentation — Bodybuilding History and Nutrition fo...
Performing best, and especially looking your best for the sport of bodybuilding, requires that your body be functioning well on the inside. Mark shares how he has accomplished this throughout his career.
Meal Prep Basics for the College Student
Why plan? What can food do for me? When should I eat for a workout? — A group of students with Asperger's asks questions to fulfill big aspirations to look and feel good.
The S Word — What I've Learned
In this final part, I try to wrap it all up with insight into how I currently feel about steroids.
WATCH: Mountain Dog Back and Biceps with Mark Dugdale
The following details my secondary back workout. I slightly deviated from the plan because the workout took place at the elitefts Compound and Dave Tate took over the biceps programming portion.
Making the Most of Your Off-Season
The off-season should be called the improvement season. It's the time when you make the most progress and work on weak areas. Don't waste it.
Are You A Teammate or Training Partner?
I am always looking into why teams win. No matter the sport, venue, business, you name it, I am constantly asking myself what they are doing to win. This is one thing they all share.
The Off-Season: Instastrong, Not Instafamous
There is a difference between what I want now and what I want most.
Lactate: Friend or Foe?
From regenerative properties to acidic buffering abilities and more, lactate has many functions and effects.
Competing Requires Management Skills
Having a good meet means accounting for every aspect of your performance. Mismanage one aspect and you're not going to have a great day.
Bodybuilding Exercises for the Powerlifter — Rear Delts Rows
Get a bigger bench and boulder shoulders with this easy movement.
How to Use Lifting Straps: A Simple Tutorial
This method is fast, simple, and won't let the bar ever slip from your hands.
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.”
WATCH: Rapid Fire Table Talk — Military Press for Powerlifters, Grip, an...
Have you ever eaten an entire box of Pop-Tarts in one sitting?
Home and the Home Gym: Barbell Clubs
To have a better grasp on the several formats and how they may (or may not) evolve into one another, I searched and found a stricto sensu barbell club: the Valhalla Barbell Club, from Wichita, Kansas.