Always Have a Plan
It’s never been about making these “New Year, new me” resolutions; it’s about dedicating yourself to the daily process, having a vision, and having a plan in every aspect of your life. Want to be a head strength coach? Have a plan and dedicate yourself daily to the process.
12 Rules for Becoming a Better Strength Coach
These 12 rules are a culmination of experience and mistakes and were written for younger strength coaches, who I hope understand the long journey they have in front of them. While your principles are and should still be forming, it’s always a good thing to have some rules to keep you on track.
Buddy Morris on Stress and Recovery for the Athlete
"Play the game; don't let the game play you." Coach Buddy Morris (one of the speakers for the 2019 Strong(er) Sports Training and Success Seminar) talks about stress adaptation and recovery with Dave Tate, Tom Myslinski, and Jim Wendler in the sixth video of a nine-part conversation.
WATCH: Table Talk — The Most Common Mistakes Novice Powerlifters Make
Sage words Joe Sullivan recently read online: "Powerlifting is basically just keeping your abs and back tight and squeezing a bar and trying not to lose position." Joe notices his clients, both old and new, tend to struggle with at least one of these things. (And breathing. Definitely breathing.)
The Best Speed Drill for High School Athletes
Sprinting with a weighted sled has become my go-to exercise for improving an athlete’s ability to accelerate because it teaches and trains those mechanics. My athletes have consistently improved thanks to to sled sprints!
General Criteria to Consider When Writing a Program
It's important to note that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all training protocol, and these are just some general suggestions based on a few successes and countless failures over my career that I consider when writing a program.
3 Things You'll Find in My Mental Health Toolbox
Like any other coach, I love talking about training and programming and being in the weight room while coaching. But like many of you, I’ve neglected the thing between my ears, and I want you to know that it’s all right to feel. If your mental health is a weakness, don’t avoid it.
Goodbye 2018, Hello 2019
My life went through a lot of changes and adjustments during 2018, which meant I had to learn and re-learn things. Lesson 1: the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, but sometimes it is, so watch your lawn and don’t forget that some grass is better than yours.
A Thank You to My Valentine
Head's up: If you're looking for reps, sets, or percentages, you might want to look elsewhere on this website. Or take the time to make a sweet gesture for your significant other today, just like I'm about to do for my wonderful wife in this article.
How to Get In and Stay In
If you think you have what it takes to become a strength coach, you've got to start with an internship. This one's for the future interns who want to get on the field and on the strength and conditioning path. Just know there's little to no money or prestige in the gig.
WATCH: I am Ashley Jones
elitefts columnist Ashley Jones is Australian by birth, a New Zealander by choice and marriage, but first and foremost, he’s a strength and conditioning coach with 40 years of experience under his belt with plenty of passion and advice to spare to future coaches.
Peaking for Sport
If speed is what we’re going after, then why do the weights on both our heavy and light days continue to climb, and bar speed continues to fall? As we get deeper into the competitive season and continue to put more tonnage on the athletes, we are burning the candle at both ends.
WATCH: Table Talk — Dave Tate and Joe Sullivan on Working Full-Time and ...
It doesn’t matter if you’re planning on coaching part-time or full-time; coaching is a job that requires time, passion, and a deep love of the sport — no matter the paygrade. If you’re only in it for the glory or money, you’re not going to last long.
Two Crucial Components Your Training is Missing
Most intermediates that have come to me without ever working with a qualified coach before are lacking a few qualities in their technique, especially on big lifts. Lacking these qualities can potentially lead to injury at one point or another. These two qualities are tension and torque.
Championship Nature Series: The Inverted U and Wooden on Criticism
You can’t control what people say about you. Sometimes what they say will be good; sometimes what they say will be bad. What you can control is the way you respond to it. You can let the media get you on the highs and lows of the season, or you can simply choose to not respond to it. It’s your
Make It Sticky
What should you say on video, in your blog posts, or in your emails to clients? What if you’re helping them through a change? The most important thing is to say SOMETHING. So consider this list an example of “Good, better, best.”
Circuits and Supersets for BAMF Wrestlers
Steve “Kono” Konopka and I cover our daily pre-practice warm-ups, bulletproof shoulder circuits, what we call the “f@#k the bottom, you belong at the top” conditioning circuit, and answer a couple of questions in the third part of our #BAMF Wrestler series.
Feet Mindfulness
I pose the following questions: How mindful are you of your feet? Do you think about where you want to go versus where you are heading? Are your feet on the right path, and if not, why? These questions and the wisdom you can obtain from them extend far beyond chalk and iron.
WATCH: Table Talk — The Future of Powerlifting with Dave Tate and Joe Su...
Sure, you could just pull out some tarot cards or dust off your great-grandmother’s crystal ball to predict what powerlifting’s going to be like in 10 years. Better yet, you could listen to Dave Tate and Joe Sullivan’s powerlifting predictions.
Performance Drive Response
Reading Al Miller’s “The System” made me think about my most successful program. I’ve dubbed this hodgepodge of six years in strength and conditioning “Performance Drive Response,” which is a culmination of a bunch of different systems I’ve used, seen, and been in or part of.
Cal Poly Promotes Sara MacKenzie as Director of Strength and Conditioning
Sara MacKenzie was promoted to Director of Strength and Conditioning at Cal Poly, making her the second woman who holds that position among all NCAA Division I schools with football programs.
Through the Players' Eyes
Coaches, athletic trainers, physical therapists, equipment personnel, and league officials all have distinctly different vantage points on the same subject matter. Somewhere along the lines, one of the most critical perspectives gets lost in the shuffle: the players’.
What Makes a Good Coach?
One of Dave Tate’s answers to an Instagram Q&A prompted me to think about what makes a good coach in more detail… and yeah, this kind of turned into a verbal Jerk-off of Dave. But I believe what he does for lifters is the pinnacle of coaching.
How Strong is Strong Enough?
To answer this question, we need to define strength. But there are many ways to define strength, so we all have to come up with our own method for defining strength. For me, it’s the squat.
10 Ways to Develop Mental Toughness in Young Athletes
This article is not a guide to running your kids into the ground because, you know, “mental toughness.” If that’s what you’re looking for, I suggest you find a different career field.
Starting Over in the Basement
I know it is a new year, and everyone starts to look back or forward at this time, and maybe it is a good thing to act to re-evaluate what you are doing with your programs and why. 2019 brought me a new head coach and a great opportunity to review and reassess my football team’s program.
To Be or Not
People keep asking me how long I intend to train at a high level and compete? My answer: As long as I can continue to improve and get my old ass to the platform, that is where I intend TO BE.
Learn to Train X: Drop Your Nuts to the Bar Deadlift Set-Up with Ted Toa...
Don’t want to see Ted drop his nuts on the bar? Then look away! Keep your eyes off the bar! Besides, that’s exactly what Ted does when he sets up to do the deadlift: He doesn’t look at the bar.
Live and Learn (and Pass On, Too)
Live and learn from your failures and mistakes. Be willing to learn, and maybe more importantly, be willing to be wrong. Now go and pass that along.
An Epic Q&A with Dr. John Rusin and Dave Tate
Is Dave still following Dr. Rusin’s protocol? What are Dr. Rusin’s top-two training takeaways working with Dave? In this Q&A, Dave Tate and Dr. John Rusin share their overall experiences from video series “Fixing Dave Tate” and “Breaking John Rusin,” and more.
Top 5 Lessons I've Learned as a Coach
I’ve been really blessed to be around some great leaders who taught me these lessons. I wouldn’t be the man and coach I am today without them.
Rise Out of the Ashes
If I can go through hell and back and find success and happiness, so can you. Rise up out of the ashes like a phoenix.
7 NFL Teams with Job Openings
If someone gets fired, that means there's an opening. And almost a quarter of NFL teams have openings after the 2018 season, so get those resumes ready to go.
WATCH: Dave Tate and Ed Coan Show the Women How to Deadlift at Omaha Bar...
When a lifter at Omaha Barbell struggles with her deadlift during a training session, Ed Coan offers her technical advice, and Dave tells her to “clear your fucking head.”
A Varsity House Gym Check-up for Strength Coaches
Running a business is a lot like training. There are steps and signs you deal with…. and if you don’t have a long-term plan, you’re not going to get anywhere. Take action today to create career longevity as a strength coach.
You’re Training Athletes, Not Lifters
I had those days, especially early on in my career, that I didn’t understand why the athletes weren’t as enthusiastic as I was at 6 AM. I mean, what the hell is better than getting up early and training your ass off?
A Useful Coach: The Horse, The Water, and What People Miss
Knowing what to tell the horse is a lot less important than making the horse understand why the information is important.
LISTEN: Just Fly Performance Podcast Episode 16 with Guest Mark Watts
Most athletes will forget the win-loss records of their teams, but they won’t forget the way the coach treated them. This podcast episode focuses on the impact coaches can have on young athletes outside of sets and reps.
WATCH: Blast from the Past — Dave Tate's Presentation at the 2006 S...
There are four components of a weight room atmosphere: coaching, equipment, training, and athletes.
Create a Culture that Breeds Results
I don’t care if you have the best athletes and the best equipment in the world — a shitty gym atmosphere can DESTROY their results.
All Together Now — The Nutritionist
This article relies both on a bird’s eye-view of the scientific discipline itself, with some history to make sense of the information, and on the input of people who actually use this knowledge on a day-to-day basis.
5 Coaching Rants to Reframe and Apply
Layering thousands of coaching hours on the floor with successes and failures, I think I know what works and what doesn’t work.
All Together Now — The Coach, This Polyglot
Not many institutional environments promote interdisciplinary collaboration in exercise and sports performance. Starting from the ground up, how can we change this?
All Together Now — Meet the Disciplines and Our Hosts
In this series, we will explore the challenges of interdisciplinarity in Sports Performance. I have chosen six people to help us on this journey, each one representing one discipline or profession.
WATCH: Dave's Squat Tips for NBS Lifters
What began as a heavy squat session in the S4 Compound became an impromptu coaching session with Dave. Here are the five things he told these lifters to fix.
WATCH: Clint Darden Reviews Client Strongman Training
He critiques each of the following movements: Weighted Car Deadlifts, Axle Press, Stone Over Bar, Yoke Carry/Sleg Drag, Triceptecon Press, SS Yoke Bar Box Squats, Car Deadlift, Press Medley, and Keg Carry.
Verbal Cues Every Set — A Reminder of Your Duty as a Training Partner
If your training partner’s technique is poor it will take a lot more than empty encouragement to make him better.
Three Days at Kabuki Strength Systems
Through our many adventures, Chris Duffin and I trained, went four-wheeling, ate A LOT, and talked about many aspects of coaching and programming.
Reaching the Outlier — Tips for Interacting with Difficult Athletes
In coaching, it’s easy to lose hope in the student athletes that don’t seem engaged or interested in your help. It’s your job to find a way.
The Innovator, Imitator, and Integrator
There are three types of people in the world of strength and conditioning — which one are you?
Mental Characteristics of Successful Powerlifters
In my years of powerlifting, I have seen some really gifted people go nowhere, and some really poorly suited people do very well. Mindset is everything.
Three More Guidelines for Injury-Free Progress
The primary question you should ask for your training is this: How can I get stronger while staying injury free? Maximize your results with these general rules.
LISTEN: Ashley Jones — Incorporating Games in a Pre-Season Program
With proper consideration of neural, mechanical, and metabolic elements, this podcast covers the methods used for developing a proper pre-season plan.
What Is Your Programming Signature?
The style of your coaching and the content of your program say a lot about you as a coach. If someone questions your approach, do you have an answer?
WATCH: Steve Goggins Coaches Méana Franco Through A Mock Meet
To overcome the limitations of an exclusively online coach-to-client relationship, these elitefts team members traveled to the S4 Compound for a day of in-person coaching in preparation for CPU Nationals.
The CVASP Podcast: Episode #15 with Dr. Bryan Mann
Honest and open sharing for strength and conditioning coaches brought to you by Central Virginia Sport Performance. Listen!
Who Influences You?
How you learn and who you listen to will determine whether or not you keep growing in this industry.
Strength and Speed Seminar at Robert Morris University
Become a better coach by learning from Mark Watts, Cal Dietz, Cam Davidson, and other coaches and professionals in the strength and conditioning field.
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.