Back to the Belt
I thought my back-injury days were over. I thought I would continue to stay healthy if I stretched and visited my chiropractor. I was wrong.
Olympic Lifts Have No Place in an Athlete's Physical Preparation
Do these beloved training movements contribute to soft tissues injuries more than they improve athletic performance? Before you make up your mind, hear me out.
Don't Believe Your Own Bullshit
If you wouldn’t let your clients make excuses for poor performance, why do you make exceptions for yourself?
WATCH: Table Talk — Dave Tate's Best Fat Man Story
I can understand how you can squat, bench, and deadlift as a fatass. The real question is, how do you survive?
What If Passion Was A Full-Time Thing?
I’ve always said that passion trumps everything, and when it’s real and from the heart, it does. When it’s from the head, it doesn’t trump shit.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Using the Ultimate Performance Enhancer
Thirteen months into my time as a member of CPAP Nation, I’ve made several ground-breaking discoveries for optimizing the use of your CPAP.
What Foundation Are You Building?
You can choose to be a wise builder or a foolish builder. You may not notice the difference at the start, but once meet day comes, there will be no way to hide a weak foundation.
Are You a Gym Gypsy?
If your allegiance to a gym only lasts as long as your free membership or you bash your old gym on social media, this term may apply to you.
Strongman Strategy: Events for Time
There are few things you can control at a strongman competition. Pace is one of them.
Crazy Mistakes Strength Coaches Make
These 10 coaching mistakes can hurt you, your team, and your entire program. Are you making any of them?
WATCH: CNS Burnout in the Gym
With all the energy Clint spends on being a chaotic animal in the weightroom, is he vulnerable to central nervous shutdown?
Why Context Matters
If you don’t know your audience, you can’t communicate your message. If your audience doesn’t have your knowledge, you can’t assume they’ll understand.
A Practical Guide to Real World Nutrition
The most advanced scientific diet program only works if you stay committed. Consider a more flexible approach to keep you living a normal life while you transform your body.
WATCH: Training Chest at elitefts Compound with Dave Tate
I’m still learning how to train like a bodybuilder in my current cycle. Here’s the full workout and everything Dave taught me this week.
WATCH: Table Talk — What Are the Best Core Exercises?
You should be doing core exercises as part of your warm-up and as part of your accessory work on certain training days. Are you doing the right ones?
Turning Passion Into Business: Running A Private Powerlifting Gym
RiverCity Barbell started as most gyms do: in a garage. We defined our business and used these tactics to make our training facility what it is today.
Big Bench Rules to Fix Your Weak Point
Before you start plugging in the exercises figure out why your bench sucks.
How the Mighty Fall: The Road From Hell
I learned what it was like to feel old and weak, but my heartbeat was a war drum again. As long as I was breathing, I would be moving — I would be moving toward the conflict.
4 Essential Qualities of A Badass Wrestler
If you want to be elite in this sport, there are distinct qualities you must possess. This is my guide to identifying and training those traits.
It's All About Heart and Will
There are a lot of factors involved in being a good strength athlete. From most to least important, here is my list of what you need to excel in this industry. Do you have them all?
WATCH: Annual Program for Powerlifting — Preparing for a Qualifying Meet...
With the first two phases behind you, it’s time to move into higher gear for the first meet of the year. Are you ready to apply what you learned in weeks 1-13?
RECIPE: Protein Packed Pumpkin Pancakes
These two recipes will let you indulge your pumpkin cravings whether your dieting or bulking this fall season.
The Murkiness of High School Prep: Are Collegiate Athletes Prepared?
How prepared are freshmen athletes for the rigors of strength and conditioning at the collegiate level? A recent survey asked this question and the results are in contention.
Stay the Course
I have made the mistake of letting other programs distract me from my own. It is a waste of time and effort and I vow to never do it again.
Training Around an Injury: Warm-Ups, Effective Dose, and Balance
At times, training around an injury may be your only option in this sport. There is no easy fix, but these small adjustments can combine to keep you moving forward.
The Elitefts Manor— A Retirement Home for Powerlifters
Where do the old, broken hip, ate-up powerlifters go after they retire from the sport? What do young guys in their prime get to look forward to? It’s glorious…just glorious.
Men's Physique — Bottom of the Pecking Order?
You may or may not like it, but your girlfriend would love to bang a Men’s Physique guy. Can you really blame her?
The Science Behind the Weight Cut
Weight cuts are one of the worst parts of powerlifting. Here are the ins and outs of the entire process and why you might respond differently than your fellow competitor.
WATCH: Table Talk — Bodily Stress and Increasing Range of Motion After A...
Coming off a debilitating injury, respect your body’s range of motion and only push the limits when the time is right. You’re on your way back, don’t blow it now.
WATCH: The Meathead Mobility Series
The specific practices demonstrated and discussed in these videos improve power transfer and increase distal mobility through focus on proximal stability.
What Shoes Should You Be Wearing in the Gym?
A runner wouldn’t show up to a marathon in work boots, so why do so many lifters go to the gym in the wrong shoes?
Strength Progressions for Beginner and Intermediate Lifters
The path of continual progress includes some these important programming specialties: don't add techniques you are ready for and don't become stale.
From Living and Lifting to Hardly Living and Hardly Lifting
Life can throw a lot of obstacles your way — my health issues and hospital stay weren't part of my lifting plan this year. But, hey, at least I am alive.
Grip, Masochism, and Asphalt: Training During Travel Season
My son baseball's schedule has kept me away from the gym and forced me to come up with creative ways to keep training.
What Has Shaped Your Training Philosophy?
Elitefts strength athletes and coaches discuss the most influential knowledge they have gained in their careers.
Assessment Methods to Determine Ideal Speed Development Protocols
These three velocity-based sessions build the trainable aspects of athletic speed development.
WATCH: How to Bench Press 300 Pounds This Year
Unimpressed? This old school method will help you get to 500 pounds, too.
Inspiration and Motivation: 6 Articles to Help You Find Your Inner Drive
Being truly great means finding a way to help others the same way you seek to improve yourself.
Dirty Bulking: The XXX Edition
Take your eating seriously by following these ten tactics to pack on pounds in a short time.
The Power of Patience
If you want to rise to the top in bodybuilding, you have to start at the bottom. These ideas about gratification and perspective will help you on the climb.
Coaching From A Distance
When you are not able to be physically present for an athlete or client's training session, certain coaching strategies must be emphasized.
WATCH: Annual Programming for Powerlifting — Reintroducing Moderate Barb...
Following an early GPP phase, the yearly program moves toward variations of competition movements and learning which exercises you'll need later on.
WATCH: Into The Void Documentary
Within those seconds, between with the chalk box and the bar, that's what I'm talking about. That's the void.
How the Mighty Fall: Limbo
I found myself in a hospital bed and then on an operating table. Through all of the delays and the drugs, I knew I had to lift again, no matter what it took.
Technical Performance Factors to Consider During the 2015 Rugby World Cup
Many of the vital skills each team and player must optimize are rooted in applied physics and mechanical principles that serve as the basal constituents of all movement.
Life, Lifting, and Facial Disfigurement with Power Tools
I was stupid, and lazy, and it led to a freak accident. Remember this when you're training: as soon as confidence becomes arrogance, you're in trouble.
Recovering from the Stressors of Contest Prep — Hormone Replacement Therapy
I feared a life without training. When I saw that fear become a reality, I knew it was time to seek professional help.
Mobility Basics for Sticky Hips
It's time to roll out a mat and put down the sandwich for a few minutes while we go through some joint greasing.
WATCH: Into The Void
This is pain that you crave, because the load you've been carrying all your life is now resting on your back — and you have the power to smash it.
The Most Important Thing You Can Do As A Strength Coach
It isn't the squats. It isn't the cleans, nor the reverse hypers or pull-ups.
The New Era of Athletes
Expectations and beliefs about work ethic are changing. Are our kids striving to maintain high energy, good health, and proper nutrition in order to train hard consistently?
The Ultimate Support System
Having the support of fellow lifters and training partners is really significant to progress in your lifting career. However, having the support of your family is especially important.
How Bodybuilding Changed My Life
I lacked endurance. I had no drive. Then I found Men's Physique. Through this I gained confidence. I gained ambition. Driven, I am.
3 Things You Will Need to Be Successful
This isn't rocket science people. Stop complicating every damn process and start simplifying.
WATCH: The Red Flags of Online Coaching
Everything you're seeing online is a mirage. How do you filter through all the bullshit?
A Powerlifter's Guide to Wimpy Exercises
As you focus on moving maximum weight on squats, benches and deadlifts, wimpy isolation movements just don’t have a place. Or do they?
The Art Behind the Strongman Macrocycle
How can you effectively program for a sport with an unimaginable amount of variety? Integrating block periodization with event specific training is one way.
A Glimpse Into the Rebirth of Powerlifting
One doesn't need to look that hard to see glimpses of this rebirth of powerlifting because they are all around us. I caught a glimpse (one of many) of the resurgence at the 2015 APF Chicagoland Summer Bash.