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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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: 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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
WATCH: How to Bench Press 300 Pounds This Year
Unimpressed? This old school method will help you get to 500 pounds, too.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
Five reality checks in the struggle for sponsorship
Five reality check items for individual athletes in their struggle for sponsorship
WATCH: Come Train and Learn with Legend Steve Goggins on September 26th
This training camp with Steve is set up with a limited attendance and a non-formal format. We designed it with this format so you can learn all you can from Steve and so that Steve can help tap into what YOU need to do to become better.
3 Keys for a Better Strength Program
Program writing can be difficult. Here are three solutions that I’ve used in my own training to help you with this process.
How the Mighty Fall: The Fall
After the competition, my body was ready to rest — but my mind wasn’t. My determination got me back on my feet, but I wasn’t on them for long.
Chad Aichs's Guaranteed-to-Work Miracle Program
Are you still searching for the holy grail of programs? Here it is, in all its perfection.
WATCH: How to Design An Annual Programming for Powerlifting — Weeks 1-5 ...
This 52-week approach begins immediately after a meet and constructs a long-term plan for tying together all parts of a training program.
Figure and Powerlifting Program Design: 4-Week Training Cycle
If you are a dual sport competitor, your training must allot proper focus to the intricacies of each discipline. Use this template as a guide.
WATCH: Have You Ever Felt Your Passion Slip Away?
It’s not going to be easy to accomplish your goals. When your will to achieve starts to fade, what will you do?
3 Reasons You Should Be Using Triphasic Training for Powerlifting
Is your program letting you down? These three aspects of Triphasic Training will repair the damage of repetitive incompetency.
So Many Stupid Reps — Just for Bodybuilders?
Julia, in conjunction with Alexander Cortes and Scott Paltos, discusses how training like a bodybuilder and adding in higher reps might help powerlifters with the big three lifts.
Dave and Jim: The Seminar Years
When two, fat bloated powerlifters travel the country to do seminars, you’re going to have a few interesting stories to tell.
How the Mighty Fall: Pride Comes First
Illness didn’t stop me from competing, and dropping 525 pounds on my chest didn’t stop me from finishing the meet. But later that night, I realized I was in more serious pain than it seemed at first.
WATCH: Table Talk—OH CRAP! Edition
I realized this week that I made a huge mistake in my last table talk video…this is for the female lifters I left out.
The 5 Worst Mistakes I've Made in Powerlifting
You learn a lot from the mistakes you make at your first meet. Imagine all you can learn from the mistakes spanning an entire powerlifting career.
WATCH: My Worst Injury in Powerlifting
Injuries suck, but we all get them. It’s part of the game. But there’s one injury that kept me out of the gym for months at a time. The doctor told me I’d never bench over 400 pounds again. He was wrong.
How We Learn: Being Better Students and Teacher in the Weight Room
Maximize teaching strategies and improve learning reception by familiarizing yourself with the processes of creating and enforcing new behavioral strategies.
What the Godfather Can Teach Us About Powerlifting
This crime classic is full of strength training lessons from the Corleone family. When you take the platform, are you the hot-tempered Santino or the calm, calculated Michael?
WATCH: What Makes the Texas Squat Bar So Special?
Listen to Clint Darden and learn all of the features that really matter for you, the lifter.
Reviewing the Ript 3 Phase Skin Reinforcement System for Torn Calluses
A torn callus may not be a long-term injury that requires a rehab protocol, but if it happens close to a meet, you need to be ready. Here’s how I recovered after tearing my hand open at the S4 Compound.
The Definitive Guide to the Board Press
We are certain this article and embedded videos will not hit every sports and news outlet online, but at least you will LEARN HOW TO F**CKING BOARD PRESS! We have no idea what caused the recent train wreck, but can offer one solution by reposting an article from six years ago.
Are You Overtrained or Under-Recovered?
Some people will tell you that overtraining isn’t real. Don’t listen to these people. Take the time to consider your recovery just as much as you consider your training.
Shiftwork, Sleep Deprivation, and Training: How to Overcome A Less Than ...
If you’re looking for the ideal training effect with a poor work and sleep schedule, you won’t find it. A lot of people try. A lot of people fail. Here’s how I learned to work around it.
WATCH: Passion Trumps Everything
Human potential is a lot higher than we think it is. It has always been higher.
5thSet: Swede’s Jedi Mind Trick
You can expect a good program to make you stronger. What I didn’t expect was a program to overhaul my neural network and solve every training problem I encountered.
Old School elitefts Training Motivation
Looking for motivation? We’ve got exactly the training footage you need.
Taking the Rind, Leaving the Juice
If you’re going to emulate someone great, make sure you’re picking out the things that matter and not copying the things that don’t.