Integration of Great Ideas into a Manageable Training Program
Westside Barbell, 5/3/1, 5thSet, and Juggernaut Training Systems all play a role in the creation of this program. Let me know how you advance using it.
5 Ways to Improve Your Programming
Program these five key areas to improve your clients’ results and keep them injury-free while staying motivated to train.
Giant Sets for Size and Strength
Skimping out on accessory work because you don’t have enough time? Get a nasty pump with giant sets and kiss your time constraints goodbye.
Pre-Season Planning
This is the first-week break-in program that I will put in place. I will also keep some players on this three-day-a-week programming based on needs-based discussions with the playing group upon their return and what other work-ons they have from a physical and skills perspective.
The Dogg Shitt Method 2
Add these six weeks to the DSM 12-week template, and you have yourself an awesome 18 weeks of training!
Specialty Bars and Sports Programming
Why do strength coaches persist in using the traditional bar now that there are many excellent alternative bars available?
The Integration of Unilateral and Bilateral Movements to Assist in Stren...
The program within is called One Big, One Small—there is one major movement, and a secondary movement supports this major movement. It can be used by anyone irrespective of sport or training goal to improve performance or get bigger and stronger.
6 Weeks to a Bigger Squat
This 6-week cycle is for the beginner and intermediate lifter who has reached a plateau. You’ll rely on core, plyometrics, and squats to achieve a new max.
Training Considerations for the Over-the-Hill Athlete
Don’t create a mental tug-of-war between the person you were, the person you are now, and the person you think you should be. Instead, channel that angry energy toward intelligent programming.
Conjuphasic Progression for Max Effort and Accessories
How many sets and reps do you do with max effort work and accessories? Here’s what I prescribe for my conjuphasic clients. You’ll notice I love coming up with ways to self-regulate my athletes and clients through exercise prescription and programming.
10-Week Program Jumpstart—Old to Athlete
This program is for those of us who love to train but don’t compete, want to look better, maintain strength, and be able to show our kids who’s boss.
Gym Programming Variation Across a Team
Here are several programs that were used during our last rugby season. Take special notice of the variety that you can achieve but also the range and breadth of programming in a team sport.
The Overall Structure of Conjuphasic
Many mistakes were made over the first one and a half years of this program. I tested and made tweaks using Julia and me as guinea pigs so that my clients (and now you) can benefit from combining conjugate with triphasic.
Speed Pull Cycle for Athletes
What athletes can I use this with? How do I know how much weight to use? How do I peak for an event or playoffs? I thought you’d never ask.
At-Home Offseason Football Training Program
You will most likely never find yourself in a situation like this. Don’t feel bad for yourself by not having access to the weight room and your teammates/coaches. Your competition is probably not training right now. TAKE ADVANTAGE!
A Fast Way to Get Stronger in the Bench Press!
I increased my competition bench with more than 40 pounds in one month when I did it the first time. I can’t promise you will make the same progress, but I think you will get close!
Three Phase Offseason Bench Protocol to Replace Dynamic Effort Waves
Following these phases, there seems to be, on average, around a five to seven percent increase in 1RM bench by the end of phase two, with a further increase after phase three.
Back-to-the-Gym Program to Optimize the Loading Process
As most of us come out of COVID-19 lockdown and back into the gym, here’s a program that can be used as a three- or a six-day-a-week program with emphasis on simplicity and variability.
Dynamic Effort Board Press Cycle
I’m looking at saving this cycle for the next meet prep that I do (with the COVID-19 pandemic, who knows when that will be). In prep for a meet or not, I guarantee this will spice up your dynamic effort training for the bench press.
Extra Workouts for the Off-Season Football Player
Here’s an excellent example of how to place extra workouts in a weekly off-season football training schedule along with what an extra workout accomplishes (or should).
8-Week Beginner Post Quarantine Strongman Program
This 8-week program is perfect for those who are just getting into strongman, or for those who have been doing bodyweight and band workouts for the last few months.
The Memorial Day Murph Experience
In honor of Lieutenant Michael Murphy, it’s time to rep out our yearly tradition. But remember, the volume of this hero WOD is brutal even if you’ve been training consistently for the last 12-weeks. Instead of trying to go “all-in” being mindful of scaling, pacing, and NOT worrying about your past times is important.
Gut Check Rule of Fives
Here’s to increasing our “power endurance.” To “Prefontaine” our training. To go hard, go heavy, and go forever! Or, at least a few sets more than what is normally accepted!
At-Home Conjugate Training With Household Items
We’re gonna use everything from books, bricks, blocks, and buckets, to water softeners, siblings, and soccer balls. Convenient, right?
Healthy Body, Healthy Mind at Home
This is not me trying to sound like a meathead lifter and talk about how I’ll go psycho if I don’t get my swole on at the gym. But kinda…
Home Gym Training Splits for Leg Day and Recovery Day
We were both a little green around the gills and looked like two wobbly penguins walking around my kitchen trying to get food after this leg day. Try the other workout (recovery day) at the nearest track and field.
The #BAMFW Home Training Plan
Chris Janek and Steve Konopka collaborate to alter their #BAMFW program to those with no training equipment so you can have a clear plan to increase your athleticism.
Bodyweight Training for Lower-Body Strength and Power
We should not lose sight of the benefits that bodyweight training provides. Take a break from the barbell and machines and try Prison Squats, Nordic Leg Curls, Jump Squats, and Jump Tucks for newfound strength and explosiveness.
Top-55 Prowler® Workouts
Buddy Runs, Death Rallies, Prowler® Mile, Prowler® Suicide, Prowler® Marathon… with this list, your Prowler® options are endless.
World Record 12-Week Squat Cycle
You can take plenty away from this program on how to structure a meet prep training program to peak a particular lift, and alternate accessory work and supplemental work to aid in building the squat.
Flow Chart to Assist in the Determination of Physical Training Content i...
Here’s the standard week-long plan with a seven-day turnaround between games, optimizing a balance between recovery both physiologically and psychologically.
How to Safely Train Every Day During Quarantine
For those who currently aren’t working and also have limited gym equipment, I wanted to provide a potential gameplan that you can use to bring some routine and mental/physical stability to your day-to-day.
Train Your Closet Bodybuilder This Off-Season
Why not have a dedicated cycle to focus on while transitioning out of some downtime after a meet? No machines at your gym? No problem. This was written for a hardcore powerlifting-friendly gym with limited access to machines.
Explosive Strength and Plyometric Options for Upper Body: How and When t...
Speed is king, right? Then you’d better train it. I have some medicine ball throws to get your athletes up to speed. Make sure those movements are crisp and fast! Go, go, go!
Bodyweight Training for Upper-Body Strength and Power
This split is customizable, flexible, and effective in helping to build and maintain lean muscle mass. Not to mention, you don’t have to have a pricey gym membership in order to see results.
Increase Maximum Strength with Low-Intensity Training
Most people today have heard about HIT (high-intensity training), which is why I want to introduce to you LIT (low-intensity training). Did you know you can reverse the immune system and boost it again through LIT under 60 percent for 20-40 minutes?
8 Lightweight Exercises for a Massive Shoulder Pump
A large amount of blood into the shoulder feels great, and over time will help them to round out. These eight exercises are easy to do anywhere, and they work great for extra workouts. Here are three shoulder workouts to get you started.
How to Write Your Own Program
Following a program along blindly without knowing much as to why you’re doing it will take you nowhere. No matter who it comes from. It’s time you think for yourself.
4-Week, 3-Day Hypertrophy and Strength Block
I, along with most of my clients, don’t have time to train 4x per week. So, I wanted to share an example of what a progressive four-week, three-day block could look like for you if you’re having the same weekly time crunch.
Choosing 1 of 10 Programs to Individualize the Training Process
In designing programs for my players, I discuss with the player, the medical staff, and the coaching staff the areas they see as major ones to work on. All 10 programs are based on the emphasis given to each of the three key areas of weight room programming: neural, mechanical, and metabolic.
6-Week Cycle for the Powerlifter in Limbo Land
Sometimes life gets busy and it cuts into your training time. However, that doesn’t mean you still can’t get a good workout in and make progress.
Glute Training for Meatheads
Training to get Instagram-worthy glutes is just as much for the guys as it is the girls. Not only will your backside look better, but working on your glutes might help out with knee and back pain, too.
12-Week Powerlifting/Strongman Hybrid Program
How are strongman and powerlifting related and how do you combine the two in a program? This is something Dave Tate wanted me to write, so here it is.
Pre-Season: Our Time to Shine
It is the one chance each year that sports practices do not take priority or leave players fatigued that they cannot give 100 percent to the physical development program.
Week of Testing: Rest or Train?
Rest and recovery is a key part of any workout program, no matter the type or level of difficulty. Remember that while reaching your PR goals is important, so is your mental and physical health.
WATCH: JM Blakley's Ultimate 6-Rep Triceps Workout
Even though it’s 6 reps, you might want to tell the person who wants to use the cable machine they’ll have to wait a bit. This exercise puts the burn in slow burn.
A Strength and Conditioning Program for Youth Swimming
As with training any new client, there is a trial and error process to see what is effective and what isn’t. In this case, the training system I have put in place for my swimmers has supported them in breaking multiple national records in various events.
Integration of Strength and Power Programming for the Lower Body in Spor...
Running sports are tangential in nature, so in order to optimize transfer from the weight room to the field, both vertical and horizontal movements need to be considered. To this end, the program I am going to outline will look at elements of training to ensure all bases are covered.
Max Effort Modifications for Lifters with Anxiety and/or Depression
Many lifters with anxiety and/or depression find that during or following max effort, their mental health symptoms worsen, and/or their sleep quality and recovery suffer dramatically. These three modifications to max effort work may prevent or lessen some of these issues.
The Terrible 10 Conjugate-Based Program for Geared Lifters Going Raw
Geared lifters who want to do a raw meet or transition to raw need to relearn or unlearn certain things, which is why this program can be manipulated for different weaknesses.
How to Use Knee Wraps for Strongman
Strongman is a brutal sport that will beat your joints up, so you might as well take all the precautions that you can. That means that knee wraps, knee sleeves, and elbows sleeves are musts.
WATCH: John Meadows and The Muscle Doc Train Back and Chest
John Meadows was interested in the things Jordan Shallow discussed in podcasts and IG posts, so he reached out to him with the intention to “steal” some of Jordan’s ideas. Well, that didn’t go as planned. Don’t waste an opportunity to steal this workout from elitefts. Not that it’s stealing; you have our permission.
Chin-Ups at a Higher Bodyweight
If you’re a heavier trainee, chin-ups are difficult… but not impossible. Case in point: I’m nearly 50 years old and weigh 245 pounds, but I do chin-ups for volume rather than output. Here lies the secret to my chin-up success.
How to Increase Work Capacity Without Overtraining
There’s a fine line between doing enough work and too much work. Don’t fall into this trap. Be realistic with yourself (and your clients, if you’re a coach) and train for long-term success, not for short-term burnout.
Daily Undulating Periodization Programming for Your Next Powerlifting Meet
Want to smoke your old PRs? Try applying daily undulating periodization, or DUP, to your programming. Rather than changing sets, reps, and intensity every 6 to 12 weeks, DUP changes those variables on a daily basis.
3 Ways I Stopped Straining My Adductors
I tried a few different things to combat the soreness and tightness I had in my adductors. Foam rolling them before and after training, stretches, adductor machine… the list went on. No matter what I did, the pain was still there. So I did more recovery, compression, and Copenhagen warm-ups.
Optimizing My Travel Training Efficiency
With this training-while-traveling program, keep in mind I’ve been in 6 cities in 5 different states in the last 5 weekends and on the road for 20 of the last 35 days. My needs and resources in terms of time, help, equipment, recovery, and a host of other factors may vary from yours.
Resistance Training for Youth Lacrosse Athletes
I introduced my daughter to resistance training a couple of years ago. This August, we ramped up the training with two weekly sessions and speed training. This article details some excerpts from the resistance training portion of our program.