Take Your Training Day to the Zoo
A trip to the zoo provides the trainer and child a great opportunity to accomplish new challenges and exercise gym lessons. Consider these tips for the planning process.
Carbohydrate and Cortisol Control
I have implemented these nutritional and sleep strategies in attempts to manipulate my body into restoring a healthy hormonal profile.
The 3 Steps of Practicing Visualization
Surpass your mental blocks and improve your technique by putting your mind in a better place with Cook’s Model of Concentration.
WATCH: Hartman Explains Dairy, Vegetables, and Eggs for Physique Competi...
These three areas of diet are debated frequently and fervently. Here is an established position and explanation by someone who has experimented with himself and others.
Behind the Numbers: Interview with Bruce Mason
With a growing record of impressive meet numbers, this young and talented lifter aims to take over the sport of geared powerlifting.
Everybody Knows Somebody
Your appearance can be the gateway to meet new people and share a conversation. It’s up to you whether you see it as a pain in the ass or as an perfect opportunity to help someone.
Training at Westside: Priorities and Lifestyle
For us, lifting was a priority. Louie and Westside gave us the edge to move our lifters on up in the competitive world. More than a place to train, lifting was our lifestyle.
WATCH: Table Talk — Curing Common Powerlifter Pain
Biceps and triceps tendonitis are among the most likely aches to plague competitive powerlifters. Here are several go-to ways to manage these and other common tendon and joint overuse injuries.
Tuning the Human Body for Performance: A Conversation with Dr. Stuart Mc...
In these videos, I speak with world-renowned biomechanics expert Stuart McGill about how all athletes can improve warm-up routines, competitive performance, and neural drive — all while decreasing risk of injury.
MythBusters 201-203: Gluten, Clean Eating, and The Fat-Burning Zone
Are you falling for these foolish fitness fallacies? Here’s the research behind these popular claims.
Choose Your Box Squat Height Wisely
You’ve tracked the timing of rest between your sets, precisely selected your weight jumps, and perfected the fit of your gear. So why are you squatting to the same box height as everyone else?
Strong(her) Squat Progressions for the Novice Female Lifter
Use these cues and coaching methods to teach an inexperienced lifter how to squat safely and build a foundation for future strength.
WATCH: The One-Motion Log Pressing Technique — Why and When to Use It
This step-by-step guide (with video) demonstrates how a strongman competitor can use this unique technique to increase efficiency and performance in the log clean and press.
Keep It Simple, Stupid: Programming Collegiate Athletes
When it comes to training athletes in the weight room, remember that just because you love science doesn’t mean your athletes do. Learn to speak their language.
Dario vs The Deadlift: 100 Pounds in 10 Months
By designing his training program to address each of his technical, mental, and muscular weaknesses, I was able to help Dario claim the record he deserved.
WATCH: What Is Team elitefts?
Many definitions may apply, but how does Clint Darden define Team elitefts?
The Mental Games: Are You Winning or Losing?
I’ve lost, I’ve won, and now I’m tied with adversity. I refuse to the lose the next round.
Build a Bigger Bench: The Female Edition
The bench press is typically the weakest lift for women. It’s no mystery why—they require a targeted approach.
The Other Side of the Long and Winding Road
I’m sharing my difficult story not to elicit sympathy, but to point out facts of life. We all experience challenges, we all have our stories. It is how we deal with them that determines who we are.
Speed and Conditioning for the Youth Athlete
This sample one-week program outlines training tactics for developing basic fundamental movement skills.
The Scariest and Stupidest Exercises to Do This Halloween
They’re brutal, spine tingling, and puke evoking. You might even consider trying one of these workouts this Halloween weekend. If you do…good luck.
Did Creatine Monohydrate Cause 'Supplement Rage' in South Caro...
Ben Fields gained infamy overnight for his use of force against a student in Spring Valley High School. Now the media is targeting his supplements.
0-1200 in 5 Sets
Using sustainable methods, Tarra has been able to grow from wobbly softball player to unstoppable powerlifter. This is her story.
How to Set Up and Grow A Collegiate Powerlifting Club
If you want to be more than a group of people lifting weights together, this is the guide you need.
Just Load the Bar
Don’t build a false sense of security by relying on bands and chains. Remember this fact: straight weight trumps all.
WATCH: Expert Bench Press Troubleshooting with Casey Williams, Dave Tate...
As he aims to take his 540-pound bench up to 600, Casey is employing the help of these veteran coaches. Watch as he learns the adjustments needed to keep pushing forward.
Starting Your Career as a Collegiate Strength Coach
Breaking into this profession is difficult and requires determination and sacrifice but if you’re in it for the right reasons, that won’t be a problem.
Four Ways to Become a Strong(her) Boss
If you’re a woman who holds a supervisory role in a male-dominated field, you’re going to encounter unique challenges. These four principles have helped me improve management processes.
Matt Smith’s PR Westside Program
Out of 16 years at Westside, this is the program I used for my PR 1160 squat and 2673 total.
Your Body and Your Boss: My Encounter with Employer Wellness Programs
Even if you’re active, your fitness goals might not line up with standards set by workforce health management — especially if they use BMI. Here’s what I recently learned about these wellness policies.
The Ups and Downs of Competition
In every phase of the process, do prepare for the unexpected. This is the real world and it will turn out great only if everything goes according to plan.
Jump Higher and Run Faster with Contrast Training
The application of contrast training uses powerful synchronized activity to produce stronger, faster athletes. Use these practical guidelines to increase maximum power.
Training to Fix Muscle Imbalances
There's a right way and a wrong way when pursuing the balancing act of physique symmetry. Do this, never do that.
Why the Rate of Perceived Exertion System Is Not BS
With autoregulation, a system such as RPE can help manage life stressors and account for nueromuscular processes on a given day...but only if you use it correctly.
'Because Of' or 'In Spite Of': The Modes of Sport Pr...
You might know your methods and you might know your results, but do you fully understand how they relate to one another? Are your methods working for you or against you?
WATCH: Table Talk — How Much Is elitefts Worth?
This company has never existed to compete with Company A, B, or C. If you own your own business, you need to understand your culture and evaluate how that translates to a dollar value.
Managing the Social Aspect of Change
Your health and fitness goals will require many sacrifices. Here's how to ensure you don't lose the things that truly matter.
WATCH: Annual Programming for Powerlifting — Off-Season Between Meets We...
With your qualifying meet out of the way, you now have an opportunity to return to building mode before starting a peaking cycle for your next meet.
How To Develop Strength in Untrained Children
The two most important things when working with kids: keep them interested and show them how far they can go with proper training protocols.
The Great Race: Easing Back into Training After Injury or Layoff
Has an injury or your busy life schedule kept you away from the gym? Proceed with caution.
Boyneside Strength and Performance Leads Physical Development in Droghed...
Dean Gartland and his business partners found a way around their unfortunate experiences in commercial gyms: open their own facility, and do it the right way.
Encouragement and the Pump: The Ultimate Antidepressant
It's easier to mask personal issues than deal with the cause of anxiety and depression. It might feel like a solution but, just as I was forced to learn, these temporary distractions lead you down a dangerous path.
Tank's Top 10 Scariest Movements
For Halloween this year, I've created a list of exercises to haunt your athletes and send them crying for their mummies.
Programming for Rugby Inside Backs
These strength and performance methods for positions 9, 10, and 12 maximize individual player abilities on the field and produce more capable athletes.
Training Around an Injury: Weak Point Troubleshooting
Consider what areas of the body are affected, analyze what lifts aren't improving, and come up with a plan for recovery. Now is not the time to give up.
Your Actions Are Your Lifeline
Perfect circumstances are created, not found. How are you living out your words?
Graston Technique: My Experience with Instrument-Assisted Soft Tissue Mo...
As a bodybuilder, I frequently abuse my body through training. I had heard of the benefits of Graston for years and finally decided to give it a chance to treat several specific issues.
To Reach Your Goals, Be An Observer
Don't become so caught up in your own head that you lose objective grounding in your assessment of the world. Here's how to properly use detachment to reach your goals.
WATCH: Table Talk — How Can Powerlifting Become Nationally Televised?
Would powerlifting be more popular if it were in the Olympics? What if ESPN aired National Championships?
WATCH: Casey Williams' Bench Methods and 12-Week Raw Program
These 6-week max effort and 4-week dynamic effort waves have taken Casey’s raw bench to 540 pounds. Watch as he explains his approach to chasing 600 and how you can use his methods yourself.
The Right Tool for the Job
Strength is a journey, not a quick fix. Take the time to choose your tools correctly and create something indestructible.
WATCH: How to Teach Athletes to Box Squat
Use this teaching protocol to help your athletes learn the ideal squatting technique and build better athletic performance.
Correcting Asymmetries: Unilateral Work Versus Integration
What may today seem like a nagging injury you can muster through, may turn a would-be long-term powerlifting career into a short-lived experience on the platform.
WATCH: Chris Duffin Interviews New 220 All-Time Record Holder Jeremy Ham...
The best 220-pound raw lifter in the world opens up about his training and what it takes to capture an all-time record.
WATCH: S4 Weekend Training at elitefts w/ Squat Strip Puke Set
What started as a coaching weekend turned into a group training session for elitefts team members.
Distraction Control As A Performance Enhancer
Master this skill to ensure you don't let a lack of mental presence hinder your competitive performance.
Mandatory Skills for a Trainer
If one of your training partners, friends, colleagues or clients collapsed in the gym, would you be able to help? Would you know what to do besides dial 911?
Programming for Athletes: Beyond the Sets and Reps
Ensure your athletes are physically prepared for specific sport demands by properly programming these aspects of training success.
