2021 MiLB Opening Day
Oh, what a memorable day for baseball this was—the day that many of my colleagues and athletes will never forget.
Rebuild Your Gym Plan
Lifting your first PR wasn’t the end of training for you. It was hard but it motivated you to get stronger and stronger. The same concept will work for your business through these tumultuous times and I’m here to help share a plan with you today.
A Home Gym Made of Wood
Desperate times call for desperate measures. I was tired of floor presses off unstable pickle buckets and the inability to squat, so here’s my attempt at building a home gym.
The COVID-Proof Waverly Project in Phase II
Our revisited phase 2 will give you good ideas as to how to start your teams back up after an extended layoff. Waverly had one of their best years in school history following this.
The Effects of COVID-19 Eliminated My Job
I recall heading into this year like a proverbial bull in a china shop. I was prepared for a fantastic and productive 2020. It was a sound plan until it was not. So, now what?
How Private-Sector Gyms are Surviving
The gym owners you are going to hear from are from places similar to where you train or have trained. None of these gyms are the big-box gyms that thrive off of selling thousands of memberships for $10.00 a month.
A Plan in Place
If you watch games, particularly college football games in the 80s, everyone looked strong. I know they had big pads and all, but so many players just looked the part. They definitely kept strength leakage to a minimum. How?
Guns Up, Let's Do This!
We have been analyzing data, scientific and non-scientific research, burned up phone lines talking to everyone and anyone to see what they are doing, and also getting guidelines from our prospective schools or employers about what to do. In the spirit of Leeroy Jenkins, it’s time for action!
What Have I Done to Help?
I’ve said for years that my job (both current and previous careers) is very easy. What I do is not life or death. What I do is empower those around me to improve. So daily I ask myself, what have I done to help?
How to Gain 65 Pounds of Muscle in Two Months
Based on my brief observations of the garage training crew (and conversations with my son), these are a few of their Keys to Progress. These macro components (“the Keys”) have contributed to their above-average gains in size and strength.
Relationships and Team Dynamics
I write this after fielding many questions during this COVID-19 lockdown period from young strength and conditioning coaches who have either lost their jobs or are at a crossroads of confidence. In some 30 years, I’ve had 17 strength and conditioning jobs…
The Pandemic Nobody Wants to Acknowledge
The pandemic I’m speaking of is obesity, and unlike COVID-19, it doesn’t seem to be subsiding. What’s even worse is that it’s getting worse each year.
Advice From the Past as Gyms Open in Present Day
This was the good advice my mentor and powerlifting legend Ernie Frantz gave to me some 20 years ago when I had come back from a quad tear.
The Need for a Calm Leader in 2020
There are a lot of different leadership qualities that lend themselves to different times and situations. Every leader is different, and there isn’t one perfect personality or leadership type. At this time, however, I think there is one leadership quality that is needed most.
Coping with COVID-19
I was alive when Pearl Harbor was attacked and the U.S. entered into World War II. In the 1940s, I remember polio. How does all of this relate to COVID-19 pandemic? I have an idea…
The Body of Work
It all comes down to three rules. These three pretty much cover everything, and they can be applied anywhere in life: Education, work, family, anything…
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.
What We Can Do As S&C Coaches
What if the lineman loses 35 pounds as a result of not having adequate food. Are they ready for the upcoming season? Are they going to be able to perform optimally if that 35 pounds was force-producing muscle mass? Most likely not.
After 8 Weeks of Training Every Day During Lockdown
As the lockdown has lifted, at least in Ohio, I’m slowly transitioning back into the gym. Interestingly, a lot of what I did during lockdown remains.
The Thunderdome Within You
I ask a bunch of savages how this pandemic is affecting them. These strongman, powerlifters, coaches, and businessmen share their voice in this time of travesty. Here’s what they have to say.
Tough Times Need Clear Perspectives
The first thing is that lifters need to let go of the thought that they are going to lose all of those hard-fought gains after missing just a couple of training sessions. This is complete nonsense,
I Wanna Hold It
Let’s travel back to 1995 at Maryland Athletic Club, where a 29-year-old man named Kirk Karwoski was heading into the gym to hit a 1000-pound squat for two.
Make Your COVID-19 Training Better
Let’s go over the different categories of at-home training that you can begin adding to your routine right now: Bodyweight Training, Make Light Weights Feel Heavy, and Get Create and Go Outside.
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…
How to Adapt Your Training and Plyometrics During the Apocalypse
When you don’t have access to high external loads (i.e., a barbell and weights), then training for maximal strength is pretty much impossible. So we should forget about that as a direct outcome of our training for the time being.
Goal Setting and Adjusting Your Nutritional Plan During the Apocalypse
This a long timeframe to let yourself get down and to slide backward in habits and work ethic. So we need a focus, and it needs to be a change of focus. We need goals in short.
Who Are the Saviors of the Hardcore Gym?
What is intriguing today with the backdrop of COVID-19 is observing the few remaining relics of an era gone by. The hardcore lifter-built gyms. These modern-day dinosaurs that refused to become extinct…
Editor's Letter for May
Last month, the bulk of our content wore many hats: squats, legs, COVID-19, autism, home gyms, and home exercises. Here’s what you can expect for May.
COVID-19 and the Gym Rats
“Well, Lifetime Fitness is closed for now. They are freezing memberships – I am getting bloated as hell. I was wondering if you wanted some company in the garage gym and (long pause) maybe I could come and train with you a couple times?”
Pink Floyd and the True Lifters
The song is called Time, and the album is The Dark Side of the Moon. Read Roger Water’s words…
Online Trainers Going Broke: Don't Blame COVID-19 or the Government
The next few months are going to be incredibly difficult for the vast majority of online trainers. Consider me Dr. Phil for a minute as I provide four things that you can do to not find your dumbass in an anxiety-riddled situation when or if something like this happens in the future.
COVID-19 and S&C
Albert Einstein says it best, “Out of clutter, find simplicity. Out of discord, find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”
Serious Training Considerations for COVID-19
So here is the decision you need to consider: should you adapt your training in favor of less dangerous styles of exercise and workload, or continue as planned on your strength journey?
