Innovative Training: Band Suspended Weight—Not Just for the Bench
Using band suspended weight, Justin discusses a few movements that will not only keep your workouts challenging and fun but will turn your core into concrete.
Why Cardio Alone Doesn't Cut Fat
I wrote this article in order to educate women and some men who believe that doing cardio and abs will help them shed pounds on their midsection.
The Best Training for Muscle Mass for Beginners
For someone who is starting out and seeking a huge, powerful physique without using illegal drugs, you’ve found the right place.
Applying Block Periodization Principles for Your Own Mental Development
I’d like to offer a preliminary note to this article before I begin, expressing my appreciation for the service that EliteFTS provides.
So You Wanna be a Fighter? Part 3
This is the final installment of the series—where my transition from powerlifter to entering a mixed martial arts (MMA) tournament takes place.
Training in the Zone of Proximal Development
The zone of proximal development is the area between what people can do independently and when they need help.
Three Reasons Why I Hate “Fitness”
In a world full of fast food and high dollar gourmet coffee houses, fitness has become somewhat of a joke.
The Cure for Cardio ADD
When it comes to conditioning work or any form of “cardio,” going to the dentist can actually sound like a much more appealing option.
Pull-up for Activation
The largest of the active muscle groups is the latissimus dorsi, more commonly known as the lats.
Gots to Get Your Deload On
What is one of the biggest mistakes strength coaches, personal trainers, athletes and lifters make?
Parallel Bar Dips: Old School Power Builder
A big name in the strength world has written extensively about the importance of increasing triceps strength to improve bench press performance.
How to “Fire” a Client During Tough Economic Times
Working one-on-one with clients is a hugely rewarding experience for any fitness professional at any level.
Eating “Clean” isn’t Enough!
Eating clean isn’t enough to earn a low body fat level or maximize performance.
It Isn’t About the Weights
Strength and conditioning has a historical, hard nosed attitude toward training and change.
Training Alone
The inspiration for this article came to me on New Year’s morning as I sipped my coffee and checked out Dave Tate’s newest “From the Mill” segments, specifically the “Training Alone” video.
Coaching Versus Training
While training a client the other afternoon, I began to wonder what exactly separates me as a trainer and a coach?
Three Simple Steps to Building Maximum Muscle
Even with today’s technology, we still don’t completely understand everything involved in muscle growth.
Metabolic Stimulus: Fat Loss Rewards for Oxygen Debt
Metabolic Circuits: training that boosts your metabolism? Wait, I thought ALL resistance training boosts your metabolism. Yes, that would be a logical point - well made.
Abdominal Time Waster
Every day at the gym, I watch people spend anywhere from 10–30 minutes on their upper abs, lower abs, and sides.
Assistance Exercises for the Raw Squatter
So it’s been three meets now and I’m still doing this raw thing.
Priming the Pump
We’re all familiar with the standard warm-up routine that has been implemented for decades—jog a lap, perform a brief static stretch of the larger muscle groups, and hit the workout.
Links of Solid Metal Lead to Strength, Speed and Stability
No, I am not talking about the bling around your neck, what connects your wallet to your jeans, or even the crazy S&M stuff you may secretly be guilty of!
Part Two: Discussing Common Arguments Against the “Full Olympic Lifts”
I’ve heard people say it takes too long to teach the full Olympic lifts correctly and that an Olympic lift with poor technique isn’t safe or effective.
Fat Loss for Dummies, Part 2: The Lost Art of Intensity
I’ve been saying for years that fat people finish marathons all the time.
Weight Loss and Strength: A 10-Week Experiment with Shelby Starnes and ...
As Jim Wendler would say, get “north of vag” and stay there. Seriously, anybody can do this.
Part One: A Basis for Using the “Full Olympic Lifts” in Training
Lately, I’ve been reading many articles and different points of views pertaining to the Olympic lifts and their use in training athletes
Improving the Deadlift
There are two major areas that have made a profound difference in my training—proper starting position and sound programming.
Damn, My “Insert Anything Here” Hurts
You didn’t get injured today, but you exponentially increased your potential for injury because your next workout and warm up will be pretty much the same.
In the Field: Working as a High School Strength Coach
The most glaring issue I’ve seen is the lack of athletic movement in all kids in all sports of all ages.
How to Add Cardio and Diet to Your Powerlifting Regimen
I feel a man should be able to lift heavy shit, bust out 10 or more pull-ups, and get up at any given time and bang out two or three miles.
Iron Intelligence
For all the serious lifters out there wondering what they’ll do when they’re no longer able to handle the daily grind that their sport necessitates, I have a suggestion—teaching.
The New Lifter
Read all you can on the sport. A great place to start is the EliteFTS.com articles section.
The Female Athlete’s Epidemic
In 1998, the American Journal of Sports Medicine featured an article titled, “The Association Between the Menstrual Cycle and Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries in Female Athletes.”
A Beginner's Guide to Overhead Pressing
If you haven’t given overhead pressing a fair shot, throw it into your routine for a few weeks and see what happens.
Six Ways to Use Sandbags in Your Football Strength and Conditioning Pro...
Here are six ways to easily implement sandbags into your football strength and conditioning program.
Give Them What They Need
Too often, we get caught up in all the bells and whistles of lifting and forget the building blocks.
Some Days I Hate Squats
Those were the exact words used by one of my clients after finishing her last set of goblet squats.
Training Blast & Dust
With strength training or training for powerlifting, you are in the process of trying to combine many training methods to develop many different abilities.
60 Bench Tips and Common Mistakes
Maybe you just don’t know how to f&*%ing bench! Then we suggest you read these tips.
Win if You Can, Cheat if You Must, But Always Cheat!
In this day of Internet domination, we’re inundated with the insane rants of tiny, little men giving their views about what’s legitimate in our sport of powerlifting.
Fat Loss for Dummies, Part 1: Everything Works but Nothing Works Forever
There you go again—walking in a straight line for hours on that treadmill, dancing on and off that step in your “power” aerobics class.
The Holy Wars; Why I Use Olympic Lifts…Sometimes
I’ve found that I have the best alone time when walking my dogs on a nice morning. A few days ago, it was unseasonable warm here in Pennsylvania, and I was spending some quality time with two of my dogs. I started thinking about training.
The Mindset Behind a Great Bench Press
What does everyone want? A bigger bench press of course. Let’s face it—people don’t walk up to you and ask, “So what do you curl?” Everyone wants to know how much you can bench. Well, I can bench press a lot, and I’m going to share some tips with you.
Iron Warrior Training
I put this program together to try and maximize strength and mass as much as possible. I am a believer that you need to get stronger to get bigger. And also just want to be strong, but also large a lean.
Powerhouse and Hard Body
How long does it take an overweight powerlifter to turn into a chiseled X-men Wolverine? According to Jason Adams, 16 weeks.
Turning Dreams into Reality...
On November 30th I will finally open my own gym—Daman’s Strength Training. This has been a dream of mine ever since I walked into my first gym when I was 12-years-old. I walked down to the gym every day after school with a few friends.
