Why Comfort Can Kill Your Progress
Familiarity and comfort aren’t always bad things — I drive the same route home every day. But in your diet and training? Be ready for change.
WATCH: Carlos Reyes — From Pro Strongman to Pro Powerlifter
In transition from strongman to powerlifting, and now from the XPCs to Boss of Bosses, Carlos shares his journey.
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.
WATCH: Table Talk — The Best Accessory Exercises for the Squat, Bench, a...
If you want to build your total, you need to pick the right accessory movements for all three lifts. Here are my favorites.
Speed Work — Are You Doing It Correctly?
You know the simple rules of dynamic effort training but may be forgetting the small-but-crucial details that make it effective.
Strategies of Business and Training: Save, Spend, Invest
I am going to describe the similarities between three money management strategies and their application to your time in the iron game.
WATCH: Training Camp Q&A — What Do You Wish You Would've Done S...
JL Holdsworth, Swede Burns, and Casey Williams opened their training camp by answering this question.
A Simple Flow Chart for Athlete Programming
By assessing the strengths of each athlete, you can better determine their training needs and how to address them. This chart makes it easy to evaluate progress for each player.
Training Through Injury: How To Overcome Disc and Lumbar Issues
A disc injury is not a death sentence. You now need to develop into a smarter lifter who is not only focused on PR’s but also on long term health.
Motor Patterning and PRI — Finding Solutions to Hip Shift and Dysfunctio...
Using a number of methods, here’s a look at what I did to correct a host of problems hindering my performance and health.
Inside the Mind of Stuart McRobert — Training Advice You're Not Fol...
Get bigger and stronger with these four cornerstones of McRobert’s training method.
Hypertrophy Is The Holy Grail
After so many years and so many clients, I’ve begun to realize that everyone’s training needs are the same.
Building the Biggest Hood in the Hood — Spoto Press
Why the hell not just use a full range of motion? This is why.
Should Powerlifters Do Curls?
Your biceps aren’t the prime movers for any of the three powerlifts. A lot of people think this means you shouldn’t train them. Are they right?
Passion vs Zeal — Reconsidering What Matters Most
If passion most closely relates to desire, then zeal implies action. I often say I’m passionate about training, but in reality I possess more of a zeal for the iron.
Table Talk — Thin Crust or Hand-Tossed Pizza?
Somehow this all ties into real-world experience and the steps taken to reach success as a business owner. Trust us.
The Innovator, Imitator, and Integrator
There are three types of people in the world of strength and conditioning — which one are you?
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.
6 Don'ts for New Lifters Going Into a Meet
As a coach and competitor these are the recurring mistakes I witness many first-timers make.
Physical Preparation Guidelines Every Firefighter Should Follow
Your job is your playing field and you need to prepare your body for game situations through proper training, nutrition and hydration, along with preventative maintenance and recovery.
Do You Believe?
Was I able to do these things and reach the level that I did simply because I believed?
Social Skill Integration Through Movement and Strength — Off-Site Training
½ Gym, ½ Off-Site Training leads us here: a full session away from gym grounds. Fit your programming needs within these structures to differentiate skill, meet new people, and have fun.
WATCH: Periodization Differences Between Small and Large Groups
In a question-and-answer session, Dave Tate and Mark Watts talk training with a group of strength and conditioning students.
Logistics of Coaching — Working With What You Have
You can have an amazing battle plan but if you can’t support it with beans and bullets, it’s worthless.
Finding Strength: Cold Front CrossFit
Merging with Traverse City and Bulky Boys Barbell clubs, this Northern Michigan facility has welcomed strongman into their doors.
Big Squat, Big Bench, Big Deadlift — Big Air
So, you want a big squat, bench and pull? You better learn how to breathe.
What's Old?
Instead of thinking of age as a disability or a disadvantage, recognize your experience for what it is: an advantage in achieving physical and mental greatness.
Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed…Someone’s Blue
There’s a difference between using someone’s ideas or concepts and flat-out stealing them. It’s very simple to figure out, even though a lot of you blow it.
Understanding the Strategy of Periodization
Knowing how to implement proper periodization will set you free from being slave to rigid programs and pre-written training plans.
WATCH: Table Talk — How to Maintain a Healthy Spine
Screw up your back and being unable to squat or deadlift won’t be your only concern.
WATCH: Chris Duffin Interviews Kettlebell Expert Joe Daniels
In this first interview within a 3-part series, we discuss the commonalities in our training philosophies and address methods for staying in touch with your body.
Know Your Bars
Nobody wants to waste hard earned money on equipment they’re not sure about. Use this overview of the SS Yoke Bar and the Rackable Cambered Bar to make your next purchasing decision is an educated one.
4 Big Errors of Beginner Strength Programs
These four things can make or break your program. Do you know of them?
Post-Meet Training — What to Do the First 9 Weeks After Competition
This 9-week program is designed to allow recovery, build muscle, improve conditioning, and prepare you mentally and physically for another heavy training cycle.
Jeff Magruder: Powerlifter and Bench Press Champion
A multi-world record holder in the bench press, a successful gym owner, and a successful all-around lifter, Magruder has certainly made his mark.
How Good Is Your Huddle?
The huddle has everything to do with your team's success. What might surprise you is that it also has everything to do with your success in life.
My Weekend of Strength
With a clinic and meet scheduled on back to back days, I was surrounded by influential members of the strength community and made a few discoveries.
Three More Guidelines for Injury-Free Progress
The primary question you should ask for your training is this: How can I get stronger while staying injury free? Maximize your results with these general rules.
WATCH: Reno Hardcore With Guests Dan and Sparkle Green
Chad interviews world-record holding powerlifter Dan Green and his wife Sparkle after a seminar at American Iron gym.
Building the Biggest Hood in the Hood — Unchained Chest Mass
Chains change the game — and not just for powerlifters. I'm going to show you an unconventional fly that is fit for the bro to the top pro.
The Training Ego — Are You Letting It Win?
I had a training ego. It drove everything I did — every weight I put on the bar, every lift I took, and the design of every workout. And then one day, my training ego gave up.
Tapering for a Powerlifting Meet
Let's evaluate how to train in the final four weeks leading to a competition. Most importantly, what does it mean to taper and how should you do it?
WATCH: Table Talk — Peaking for A Meet with Circa Max Training
Dave and JL talk about the aspects of Circa Max that many lifters overlook: the what, how, when, why, and who.
Are You MapQuesting Your Training?
This is the difference between running a system or following a program. It's the difference between getting lost or arriving at your destination.
WATCH: Dumbbell Rows vs Barbell Rows for Back Development
These two back exercises are a staple of every bodybuilder's program but there are many ways to screw them up. Are you performing them correctly?
How To Train Around Old
Please don't believe the clichés that age is only a number or you're only as old as you feel. If it were only a state of mind, we all could stay 21 forever.
Three Powerlifting Fads That Are Hurting Your Total
Training isn't meant to be flashy — it's meant to be effective. Resist the temptation of these "hip" techniques and stay on track to bigger PRs on meet day.
Confidence — What Separates the Elite from the Novice
Where is your confidence and what are you willing to do to strengthen it?
Glute Gains: My Top Exercises and Build-A-Booty Program Design
Engaging your glutes is half the battle. Structuring a program with the right exercises is the other.
Communication in Strength and Conditioning — The Heartbeat of a Successf...
With your athletes and with your staff, communication is all you have for keeping everyone on the same page. If you won't talk to them, you won't understand them, and your program will fail.
Unraveling Insulin Resistance
IR sufferers need to replace their carb intake with proteins and fats...or do they?
Finding Strength: Area 56
Owned and operated by Tyler Petro and his wife Sarah Connors-Petro, this gym started in a storage unit and has grown to a premier facility in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
Powerlifting as a Team Sport — The Professional Mindset of Tank's T...
Any successful team needs all of its athletes to be on the same page and shooting for the same goal.
Seminar Lessons from Kettlebell Workshop at Elite Training Systems
Even at the highest levels of coaching and training, there is a need and desire to continuously learn from different people to consistently improve your ability to help your clients get better and improve.
WATCH: How To Properly Use the SS Yoke Bar
This bar brings endless potential to your weight room — but only if used properly. Don't forget these two cues.
Where Everybody Knows Your Name
If I left work and went to the bar instead of the gym, would it really make a difference?
WATCH: Table Talk — What Is the Most Disgusting Thing You've Seen i...
If visions of vomit, blood, cysts, and puss make you queasy, find another video to watch.
How to Fix Your Bench Press: Programming Issues and Assistance Work
Knowing now how to set up and execute the lift, there is one final process to perfect your bench press.