Training Individuality
In powerlifting, there are many different paths to achieve our lifting goals.
EliteFTS Spotlight: Al Caslow
This week’s EliteFTS Spotlight focuses on powerlifter Al Caslow, the newest EliteFTS sponsored athlete and member of the Q&A staff. Al is currently ranked #1 in the world in the 165 pound class.
Block Periodization in the Sport of Powerlifting
This program is based on the concepts outlined in Dr. Vladimir Issurin’s, Block Periodization: A Breakthrough in Sports Training.
EliteFTS Spotlight: Vincent Dizenzo
This week’s EliteFTS Spotlight interview introduces the readership to powerlifting legend Vincent Dizenzo. If you’ve been reading this site for any length of time, Vincent’s name – as well as his exploits under the bar – should be very familiar to you
Proof of Life
One of my favorite moments in the history of powerlifting is Doc Rhodes’ third deadlift at the 1977 IPF Worlds in Australia. Rhodes was in the 165-lb weight class and had squatted 512 lbs and benched 374 lbs.
The Perfect Program: For Lifters and Coaches Alike
Here’s the deal. All sound programs work and they work well. The best one is your preference. However, there’s a catch to everything and this has more than one.
Product of Your Desires
You hear people talk all the time about how someone is a product of his or her environment. This is almost always the case when someone has done something wrong, and the argument is used as an excuse for the person as if they had no choice in the matter other than to become what their environment leads them to
Advice to the Beginner and Elite
When we begin to train, usually the goal of most lifters is to get big and strong. On this path, our goals stay in that realm, but how we reach them becomes ever changing and more difficult as we push our genetic and mental limits.
Interview with Jeremy Frey
I first started lifting when I was about 11-years-old. I started doing little things before this time, but I entered a weight room when I was about 11-years-old.
Under The Bar: The 2009 Underground Strength Session
Before I get to the Underground Strength Session (UGSS) I need to take care of a little business first and bring everyone up to speed with what’s been going on around here. Don’t worry – I’ll be quick and even use bullet points.
Five Pounds Is Gold
With astounding strength, brilliant technique, and a champion’s will, Andy Bolton returned to the platform and showed us who he always was. And looking at the speed of the 1008-lb deadlift, he’s not finished.
Reevaluation
Recently, I’ve been on a 10-week decline in the gym. It began with a powerlifting meet that I entered back in November.
ABCs of Squatting, Part I
Learning to squat properly may be one of the hardest tasks you have ever undertaken, but it is well worth the effort.
Five Random Things I’ve Learned at Westside
You see, unless you train at Westside, you don’t know Westside
EliteFTS Spotlight: Matt Wenning
The subject of this week’s EliteFTS Spotlight is Q&A staff member Matt Wenning. Matt is one of only a handful of people to total over 2600 pounds in professional competition.
Periodization, Part II
Complete recovery after a hard day of training may last more than 48 hours, and training every other day isn’t really an option for elite performance (there are exceptions to this rule).
Periodization, Part I
This series is an introduction to periodization. Too often, I’ve come across people who don’t understand the foundations of training so I decided to fix this situation. Obviously, I’ll need to keep many details out for the sake of simplicity.
Benching with the Big Boys When You’re Not
The last five years of my life have seen significant changes, the least of which has been my body weight.
Defending the Bench Press
The bench press is a great lift. Whether your goal is to develop a powerful overall physique or a barrel chest or just get brutally strong, the bench press can help you get there.
EliteFTS Spotlight: Julia Ladewski
EliteFTS Spotlight is a weekly feature here on EliteFTS.com where Q&A member The Angry Coach interviews athletes and strength and sport coaches from various disciplines in order to find out more about what they do, how they train and how they do business.
What’s the Big Deal with Partial Lifts?
I’ll come right out and say it—I’m a big fan of partial lifts. Some say they’re dangerous while others say they’re unproductive. Why do a partial lift when you can do the whole lift?
Going Deeper into the Deadlift with Mark Rippetoe, Part 2
What you’ll see is that he takes about two or three pulses of pull in order to get his weight from his toes back onto the middle of his foot before the bar leaves the ground. In other words, he’s using those little tugs to pull the slack out of his hamstrings after he sets his lumbar spine.
Monolifting Made Easy: Part 1
This article applies to three different types of lifters. If you’ve never squatted in a monolift, don’t train consistently in a monolift, or do squat in a monolift but don’t feel solid taking weights out of the monolift, keep reading.
The Truth about Impingement: Part 2
In Part 1 of this series, I went into some detail on why I really didn’t like the catch all term “impingement.” In Part 2, I’m going to talk about the different kinds of impingement—external and internal.
The Truth about Impingement, Part 1
Roughly 10–15 times per week, I get emails from folks who claim that they have shoulder “impingement.” Honestly, I roll my eyes the second that I read these emails.
Hardcore Extreme Jan. 09
I’ve been fighting it for a few weeks, but I’m definitely overtraining again. I don’t do shit anymore, but I keep overtraining. One of my training partners asks me what I expect, because don’t sleep. That’s easy. I’m Chad Aichs, and I expect to train hard every day while still getting stronger.
The Steel Yard (Jan 09)
Same old, same old. Just training. I just did a meet about eight weeks ago, and I’m still feeling like hell.
Training with Spud
I moved from Greenville, South Carolina, to Columbia, South Carolina, to go to school at the University of South Carolina almost three years ago. I considered myself a hardcore powerlifter, and at the seasoned age of 19-years-old, I thought I knew what I was doing.
Going Deeper into the Deadlift with Mark Rippetoe, Part 1
In the November 2006 issue of CrossFit Journal, Mark Rippetoe published, “A New, Rather Long Analysis of the Deadlift.” He concluded this breakthrough article by identifying three criteria for a correct deadlift starting position:
Your First Meet Part II: Getting Diesel
Everyone starts from different points, everyone has different training backgrounds, and everyone is a little bit different from top to bottom.
Squatting with Bands
I will focus on how to set up bands at home. It took a bit of trial and error until I found a set up that worked well for me.
Does Your Serratus Feel Neglected?
The serratus (anterior and posterior) is one of the most overlooked and undertrained areas of an athlete’s body, especially in powerlifters. These muscles aid in the lockout of the bench press and stabilize the shoulder blade and shoulder girdle. By neglecting this area, you can suffer during the last half to one inch of your bench lockout.
How I Tore My Pec
The following is a recollection of an incident that I suffered close to 12 years ago. It changed my approach to personal exercise and ultimately helped me carve my career in the fitness field.
Brian Schwab's Orlando Strength Dec 08
I have to thank Dave Tate and Justin Harris for helping me keep my weight on better this time. I ended up incorporating more sodium into my diet, and even loading with sodium tabs, which did wonders in preventing me from losing my fluids.
Balancing Act
This article is geared toward those athletes who need to balance a job, family, and competing at a high level.
2008 NASA Unequipped Nationals
This was my second raw training cycle this year. I did the USAPL State meet to qualify for the Raw Nationals and didn’t get to train for it. I had eight weeks to train for this meet, and the maxes that I based my training on were very conservative.
Get Your Back into Your Lifting
I’m becoming a deadlift supremacist more and more. Louie Simmons recently wrote in Powerlifting USA, “A weak man has a weak back, and a strong man has a strong back. It’s that simple.”
Making It Work
As a powerlifter, grad student, father, and husband, I hear piles of insane BS from the general populace. “Wow, I could never do that.” “You can lift how much?” “You must be on steroids.” “I used to do that and then I broke ____.”
Dads and Sons
As I look back, I realize that the time spent between a father and a son is by far the most precious thing that we, as men, can give to our sons. The time spent with dad is the most important time a boy can have in his entire life.
Warming Up to PRs
What’s keeping you from setting a personal record (PR) in your lifts? Why isn’t your “top end” going up?
The 5/3/1 Bench Routine for the Equipped Lifter
The entire routine is structured around the strength curve that you would use while benching in a good shirt. The main exercises are floor presses with chains, 4-boards, 5-boards, and shirted bench work.
How I Improved My Deadlift in Fifteen Months
I had just a little over a year to get where I wanted to be.
Hardcore Extreme Sep. 08
This games didn’t really go as planned. In hindsight, I made some mistakes that really affected my throwing. On the plus side, I won the national caber championship.
Concurrent Strategies in Strength Training, Part 3
Please note that different classifications may be used depending on the athletes’ weak and strong points, level of development, training period, emphasis, and additional items. Those classifications are used to help the coach organize the training system and prioritize things according to the demands of sport and position.
Spud Speaks: More News From Marc Bartley
Saturday was great because there was no cardio to do. I was drained from the week, and it took about two hours to get going. I usually do light upper body and then a dynamic speed pull day, but since I couldn’t get it going, I did some reverse bands, thinking that would be easy.
The Steel Yard (Aug 08)
On February 17, 2001, Dave Tate opened up the Q&A section on the EFS server to find the following inquiry:
Concurrent Strategies in Strength Training, Part 1
Concurrent training in the iron game was made popular by the Westside Barbell Club and Louie Simmons, who erroneously called it “conjugate.”
Hardcore Extreme July 08
My latest Highland Games competition didn’t go as well as I’d hoped it would, but I learned some stuff and didn’t finish too badly. I took second place overall, and second in the stone championship.
After the Meet Is Before the Meet
Fans of Run Lola Run might recall a piece of wisdom featured in the beginning of the movie—“After the game is before the game.”
Tricks of the Trade
In my many years of powerlifting and traveling to meets and gyms to train and through association with many shady characters, I have amassed a “bag of tricks” to help me on meet day.
Your First Meet Part I: Setting a Date and Developing Goals
Congratulations! You’ve finally decided to take the plunge and compete in a powerlifting meet
Shoulder Injury Prevention: Causes and Solutions
Chronic shoulder pain is nothing new to lifters or overhead athletes. It can range from something you just live with and work around to debilitating and career ending.
Hardcore Extreme: Is it all worth it?
Lately, it seems that I’ve gotten a lot of questions and comments from people talking about how frustrating powerlifting is, and asking if it’s all worth it. They’re thinking about the dedication, sacrifice, stress and pain powerlifting can cause.