Foundational Guiding Principles
Nobody who is serious about forward progress enters the gym without a plan, without a set of guiding principles. I’ll argue the same is true in life.
The Nines and Tens of Training and Nutrition
The things to which you devote your time fall into one of two categories: those that are building your future or those that are holding you back.
WATCH: Table Talk — Jim Wendler Travel Stories and 7 Quick Questions
The seminar era produced stories about cabs and airports and churches and bomb shelters. This is one of my favorites.
Fixing Your 'Fail at the Chest' Bench Press
For correcting weaknesses in a given portion of a lift, you need to use what I call Mechanically Similar Movements.
Brandon Smitley's 9-Week Conjugate Training Program
This program is built on the foundation of tried-and-true conjugate training methods and includes personal adjustments from a world-record philosophy.
The Sticking Point: How To Find Your Weakness and Fix It
A logical process of elimination begins by considering all possible causes of your sticking point. I don’t have the answer but I can help you find it.
Conditioning for the Gridiron Warrior
What good is that 500-pound squat if you’re taking a knee in the fourth quarter desperately gasping for air?
Carbohydrates and Cortisol Control: Rediscovering Passion
Now that I’ve found solutions to many of my own problems, I’m faced with a new challenge: helping my IFBB coach out of a lengthy retirement.
Time Under Tension: It's Not Just For Bodybuilders
As a powerlifter, you have one goal: move the weight. The faster, the better. Or maybe not.
Meditation for the Coach: Starting the Recovery Process
If you spend all your time in high gear, you need to find a way to downshift. This technique is what works for me.
WATCH: Darden Q&A From the Compound — How Long Should Your Warm-Up Be?
What is the best way to prepare for your training session? Do you need a foam roller? Muscle activation techniques? A reverse hyper?
Finding Strength: The Origin Story
This is my journey: to help people find strength, like I found strength.
The Pharmaceutical Buffet
Feeling sick? Before pressing the pill cap down and turning to the right, try this swallow-free alternative.
Four Sure-fire Ways to Harvest Calf Meat
Building calf size takes time—a lot of it. This is the system I’ve used countless times to bring up my calves and the calves of my clients.
Finding A Personal Record Through Consistency
Powerlifting is one tool I use to measure my strength. Through relocation, job change, a virus, a motorcycle crash, and children (the list goes on), there’s one thing I learned this past year: consistency.
WATCH: Table Talk — How to Keep Strength While Cutting Weight
Dropping bodyweight doesn’t have to mean dropping pounds off your total. If you have reasonable expectations, there are ways to maintain your strength while cutting weight.
WATCH: Chris Duffin Interviews Ryan 'Bench Monster' Kennelly
The record-holder and 1075-pound bench presser openly discusses technique and his comeback from injury in this Kabuki Strength Lab video.
Third Time’s a Charm or Three Strikes You're Out?
After two heart surgeries, I was starting to recover. I was making progress. That’s when my cardiologist called with more bad news.
The Warm-Up Clock and Controlled Chaos
When meet day arrives, you’ll be faced with variables you don’t see in the gym. At Monster Garage Gym, we’ve developed a way to control the most stressful of these variables: the clock.
WATCH: How to Coach Yourself
Your training partners and coaches aren’t always going to be there. When they’re not around, what will you do?
Strong(her) Deadlift Progressions for the Novice Female Lifter
The final powerlifting movement may seem simple, but it isn’t. Use this teaching progression with the proper cues to help new lifters.
Group Training: Use Your Constraints for Program Construction
The first thing that you need to do is decide on what your limiting factors are: time, equipment, physical abilities, skill, and audience.
RMU Strength and Speed Conference Recap
Instead of telling you about the event, I’ll do you a favor: here is an eight-hour video of every presentation.
elitefts Classic: RIP Dynamic Effort Bench?
The role and reputation of the DE bench press has received nothing but a bad rap. I have to admit that I am partly to blame.
On-Court Results with APRE Cluster Method
We’ve utilized Mann’s method with great results as written and with a few tweaks — breaking up the fourth set is just what our basketball players needed to bust through their strength plateau.
elitefts Classic: Falling Forward in the Squat
Novice and advanced lifters make this mistake all the time, in the gym and at meets. To fix this, figure out if the problem is mental, physical, or technical.
Training Women: There Is A Difference
Men and women have different needs. Pay attention to these eleven factors when programming for your female clients.
Your Guide to a Mountain Dog Back
This five-principle compilation walks you through the ins and outs of Mountain Dog Back Training.
Are You Getting Enough O2? — Oxygen's Role in Muscle Growth
On the quest for hypertrophy? Take note of these facts before shunning cardio.
WATCH: Table Talk — The Three Biggest Mistakes Intermediate Lifters Make
If you ever want to reach an elite level in this sport, you have to get the rookie mistakes out of the way. These are the most common problems I see in intermediate lifters.
Implementing 5/3/1 Principles in a Conjugated Program
These options can help you combine the best parts of Wendler’s program with your regular routine of max effort and dynamic effort training.
WATCH: Darden Q&A From the Compound — Weightlifting for Strongman, D...
Clint answers your questions: Olympic weightlifting for Strongman performance? Sumo or conventional deadlift stance?
Swede's Diet Strategies
There are simple rules to follow to keep your nutrition 90% perfect, without letting diet control your life. This is how I do it.
'Tis the Season: The Pros and Cons of Being Huge
It's not all glitz and glamour in the world of gluttony — but there are some perks.
Food Prep Hacks for the Busy Bodybuilder
A little creativity can go a long way when time and sanity are on the brink.
The Four Steps of Establishing Your Program
The success of your program depends on your ability to balance what your head coach wants to do, what you want to do, and what your team really needs.
Are You Pissing Off the Right People?
Do great work and take note of who discourages your success. There are critics to listen to and there are critics to ignore.
Mobility for the Desk Jockey
If you're anchored to a desk at work, performing these daily exercises will keep your body moving the way it's supposed to.
The Power Triangle
Proper posture and alignment in these three areas of your body will not only reduce pain and keep you healthy, but will also eliminate the energy leaks that are holding you back from maximal strength.
Virtual Existence: Are You Clark Kent, Pretending to be Superman?
It’s pretty damn easy to disguise yourself behind the anonymity of a keyboard, but the character you create online isn't the person you get to be in the real world.
The Mental Woes of Breaking in New Gear
The whole process is a mental fuck if you let it be. From poly to canvas, here's my most recent battle with unanticipated obstacles.
Happy Holidays and Mind Your Own Business
Something else to steal: my views on how to maintain "bodybuilder status" this holiday season. Yeah, I've dramatically changed my opinions on the topic in these past couple of years. Take notes.
WATCH: Table Talk — How Can You Become Part of Team elitefts?
There are a lot of strong lifters in the world. That's not all we're looking for.
The After Action Review
A vehicle for advancing operational efficiency in sport may render a level of operational improvement commensurate with the aptitude of the organization's employees abilities and commitments.
WATCH: High Volume Back Training with Dave Tate and John Meadows (Full T...
Training in the S4 Compound means knowing when and how to turn up the intensity. In this back session, Dave and John do exactly that.
Meet Day Mistakes: How to Plan for the Finer Points of Performance
You may be hearing these four tips for the first time or you may need a reminder of things you already know — it doesn't matter. Whether you've done two meets or twenty, avoid these mistakes at all costs.
The Balls to the Walls Paradox
Pull back, be patient, and wait for the right time. There are many times I should have taken this advice.
8 Training Types to Progressively Integrate Social Networks
These training types are rooted in movement that naturally progress the child from private training to play dates with a friend.
Improve Performance on the Field: Individualize, Prioritize, Optimize
Communicating with your athletes and ensuring you have a mutual understanding of goals and systems is vital to improving the physical capabilities of your players.
All Movement Begins in the Brain
No matter the athlete, the ability to move is the most important function to build. Sometimes, it's best to slow things down.
Rehab and Training: Forward-Thinking Prevention, Retrospective-Thinking ...
You're always going to be in one of the three phases of training. Your goal is to find a way to stay in Phase One as long as possible while avoiding Phase Three at all costs.
The Pyramids of Giza: A Prowler Challenge
This three-part competitive conditioning challenge will leave you searching for a puke bucket. Can you handle it?
Personal Training Is NOT Easy
To be a successful trainer, it takes more than showing up and looking the part. It takes more than you think.
Three Pounds Heavier: The Holiday Struggle
Minimize the consequences when you enjoy time with your family and eat good food this holiday season. These tips help me every year.
WATCH: Table Talk — Do Your Genetics Suck?
There's a way to know if your genetics suck — but not until you've given 100%. If you don't spend enough time trying, you'll never know.
Passive vs Active: Why Your Plank Sucks (Plus Two Tips for Making it Bet...
Do planks feel easy? If so, you're doing them wrong. Here's how to get the most out of this stability and posture-building exercise.
