Training the Inner Drive
Your career in this world of strength will only go as far as your desire to win. Lose that, and you lose any chance you ever had to succeed.
Barely Making Weight and My Results from Team Universe
The days leading up to my competition were full of challenges and stress. My coach John Meadows listened and helped me formulate a plan for this show and the future.
WATCH: A Better Way to Train High School Athletes
A year-round training solution for the multi-sport athletes.
Expanding My Circle of Training Knowledge
There is a well-known saying in our industry: information in strength and conditioning doubles every eighteen months. How will you keep up?
Ka-BOOM! A Learning Experience in Failure and Bombing
When faced with failure you have two options: sit down and quit or push harder. Several weeks ago I found myself in this predicament.
Do Your Records Mean Anything?
There’s a lot of hatred thrown around when a lifter hits a federation record. Should we be celebrating the PR with them?
The 6 Best Peri-Workout Nutrition Compilation
Peri-workout nutrition experts Justin Harris, Ben Hartman, and Scott Stevenson, give you the insight you need to understand and create your own protocol.
Integrity (Or a Lack Thereof)
Why is our industry full of morally corrupt lifters and unoriginal thieves? Isn’t there something we can do?
Price of the Platform
From test vials to Vicodin bottles, a handful of powerlifting champions recount their sacrifices. Was it worth it?
LISTEN: Delegating High School Athlete Accountability Through Character ...
NSCA High School Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year Fred Eaves discusses the culture he has created at Battle Ground Academy.
The Practice of Overcoming Fear
Fear is not something to be avoided. Do not run from one of the most powerful human sensations. Embrace it and use it to your advantage.
WATCH: Clint Darden Shows How to Teach and Use the Clean for Athletes
An old football programming staple, the clean is used (and misused) by hundreds of coaches every year. Clint Darden starts at the bottom and fixes everything a football player needs for better carryover and better performance.
Did You Win or Lose the Day?
Build your winning culture the same way you build in the weight room: every session, every set, and every rep leading to game day.
8 Best Maximal Lifting Techniques for Mega Mass
Bodybuilding training isn’t the only way to build muscle. Here are serious hypertrophy techniques ripped straight from the powerlifting platform.
Cutting Weight for Strongman: Is It Helping or Hurting You?
Unlike other strength sports, your weight class dictates the implements you’ll use to compete in Strongman. Here’s how to know if and when to cut weight.
Solving the Summer Challenges of Coaching Collegiate Athletes
With summer programming for athletes, control what you can control and don’t sweat the rest.
Competence is Confidence
Belief in yourself is only useful if you take the time to build your abilities. Here's the formula to turn bravado into skilled-mastery.
The Hook Grip & Straps by the Legend Steve Goggins. Plus a 900lb pull!
The Hook Grip & Straps by the Legend Steve Goggins. Plus a 900lb pull!
WATCH: Buddy Morris's Physical Preparation for Football
This specially-released footage from the elitefts Sport's Performance Training Summit goes inside the mind of a strength and conditioning pioneer.
Single-Legged and Semi-Functional?
Can proper implementation of unilateral exercise produce healthier, higher-performing athletes?
8-Week Off-Season Figure Training Plan
This program reveals the approach I use for bringing up weak points between shows without neglecting the necessary foundation for all competitors.
12 Tips for the Advanced Lifter
If you've been in the sport for more than a few years, you no longer need programming tips and coaching cues. These higher level lessons will help you reach your prime.
Strength Development for the Casual Male Lifter
For our readers not looking to the take platform or the stage, this program delivers only what you need to become a stronger, leaner version of yourself.
Staying Committed to the Future: The New elitefts.com
The many products and services we offer have been complicated by technology. Now we want to make that up to you.
The Long Road To Victory: Dark Ages
With the struggles of PhD demands affecting my personal and professional life, I needed to change my approach.
The Quick Fix: Simple Ways to Conquer Common Powerlifting Mistakes
You might need a long-term progression to overcome nagging pains and to increase your lifts. Or maybe you just need these simple tips.
WATCH: Tate, Dizenzo, and Goggins Present Coaching Methods from The Powe...
Three of our best experts discuss world-class coaching of the squat, the bench, and the deadlift.
Everything You Didn't Know About Surviving Smolov
This program is known for two things: absurd increases in competition lifts, and destroying lifters' bodies. Use these tips to make sure you fall in the first group.
WATCH: Mastering the Kettlebell Clean
This fundamental movement requires an advanced technical proficiency. Use this video guide to help you reach total kettlebell comprehension.
Identity Crisis: Who Are You in the Fitness Industry?
The expense of climbing the wrong mountain is falling back down before finding the right one. Choose wisely.
Powerlifting and meaning: I think we lie to ourselves
I just watched Dan Ariely’s TED conference about motivation and work and it made me think about our attitude towards other people’s reaction to powerlifting. Most of us (in fact, I would say all of us) claim we don’t give a shit.
WATCH: The Keyhole Barbell Mindset
Keyhole Barbell isn't meant to be comfortable — it's meant to scare you. And it will.
The elitefts Powerlifting Experience II: From Reno to London
Even at my reduced bodyweight, the travel was rigorous. In the end, getting to see my family was worth every uncomfortable plane seat.
My First Trip to elitefts and Talking with Dave Tate
My mentor and I traveled to London, Ohio and saw first-hand that some people truly never stop learning.
Could You Be Getting More Out of Your Knee Wraps?
In an exchange with Marilla Coutinho, Swede determines the primary flaw that reduces knee-wrap carryover.
WATCH: Go All In or Get Out
When he spoke at The elitefts Powerlifting Experience II, Clint Darden didn't present on squat cues or deadlift programming. He asked a more important question: Do you know why?
WATCH: Swede Shares the Training History That Developed '5th Set'
As we prepare for the release of his highly-anticipated book, Swede shares the foundation of his strength training and the programming philosophy he has developed.
Under Pressure: Are Life Factors Influencing Your Training?
From your job, from your marriage, or from a loaded barbell, your body is going to revolt against stress. How will you adjust?
WATCH: Steve Goggins and Swede Burns Explain How to Coach The Big Three ...
Author of the upcoming '5th Set' ebook joins lifting legend and hall-of-famer Steve Goggins to break down powerlifting movements and programming.
Have We Lost Trust in Our Foundation?
In your search of what is new and exciting, do not forget the principles that are proven to produce success.
WATCH: Adjusting the Glute-Ham Raise to Optimize Your Training
Don't let a substandard equipment setup ruin your best asset for posterior chain strength.
How I Use CTP Training to Force Frequency and Intensity
When I tore my rotator cuff, I transitioned to more concentrated stimuli and a higher frequency per muscle group to avoid being forced to reduce my training intensity.
LISTEN: Mark McLaughlin's Best Practices for Physical Preperation
The owner of Performance Training Center has combined a comprehensive program management system with extensive communication skills to optimize athlete development.
Mistakes 101: Schedule Inflexibility
Part of being an adult is learning to prioritize; If training is important to you, you won't have to tell anyone.
WATCH: Dave Tate Weak Point Training with elitefts Interns
The summer interns at elitefts sit down with Dave for a post-training chalk talk.
Hawaiian Pizza, Baseball, and Group Training
With young athletes, the key to using a group training protocol to fuel PRs is understanding the psychology of friendly competition.
WATCH: Team Elitefts Training and Coaching at The Powerlifting Experience
When weekend seminars at the S4 Compound come to a close, everyone in attendance leaves with a renewed determination for self-improvement. We have harnessed this motivation for you.
23 Loading Methods for Effective Set and Rep Schemes
These creative methods will reignite your boring routine. They work as long as you do.
The Responsibilities of a Strength Coach: How Much is Too Much?
With all the new technology for improving athletic performance, strength coaches should remember why they are there in the first place.
The elitefts Powerlifting Experience II: With Great Risk Comes Great Reward
It takes courage to lift under the scrutiny of the world's greatest lifters. On one particular weekend, this courage produced 164 PRs.
Mental Imagery Techniques: Can They Make You Bigger and Stronger?
Want to add new size and strength? Start IMAGINING those brutal training sessions.
The Hypocrisy of Intent Without Action
Are you using your busy schedule as an excuse for your wasted potential?
The Hardcore Underground: Lifting in the Shadiest Gym of the Industriali...
We gave up the glamour and comfort of a commercial gym. Here in our dungeon, 15-feet underground, we've found the secret to building strength.
The Pursuit of Likes: Why Women Should Save Competition for the Stage
Beautiful women, so what’s your Instagram account look like? Selfie-fest? Pushing the limits of skin exposure?
Managing the Dynamics of the High School Athlete
As strength and conditioning coaches, we need to adapt to every athlete who walks into our weight room.
LISTEN: Chris Doyle Off-Season and In-Season
Iowa's Strength and Conditioning Coach Chris Doyle sets a high standard for coaches and athletes to aspire for.
Lacrosse Training and Sports Psychology at Sean Kelly's Performance...
After a lucrative eight-year career in the world of trading equity derivatives, this gym-owner gave up Wall Street for a life of sports training.
Mistakes 101: Too Much Surfing, Not Enough Lifting
Do not oversaturate your mind with the knowledge of the internet and forget to do what really counts.