How to Start a Gym with Less Than $20K
Believe it or not, it took less than $20,000 to get my gym, THIRST, up and running. It’s a little over a year old now, and it’s still going strong. Point is, you don’t have to be a millionaire to start up your own gym. Here’s how I did it with THIRST.
Three Things I Would Change About the Fitness Industry
Two decades of working in this industry—and even longer being part of it as a lifter—has shown me a lot of great things, but I’ve got a few suggestions as well.
Advice High School Lifters Will Ignore (But Shouldn't)
While putting together a training presentation for a local high school, I gave some thought to the things I wish someone would have told me in high school. I probably wouldn’t have listened anyway, but here they are.
Goals for the Ex-Competitive Athlete
Leaving competition behind, either temporarily or permanently, doesn’t mean your training should stop being achievement-based. You just need to learn to set different goals.
Coaching Is More Than Just Programming
Your clients are all looking for a combination of guidance, accountability, and a relationship with a coach. It’s your job to figure out which of the three they need and how to best deliver it.
How to Know If You Should Open a Gym
For many people who are passionate about health and fitness, the idea of opening a gym is a very enticing one. These four clues can help guide you in determining if it’s the right move to make.
Chase the Pain for New Levels of Muscle Growth
To improve the CTP protocol, I’ve made a few tweaks so that you introduce a unique pain technique through one round and then switch it each time.
Three Mental Mistakes That Keep Powerlifters from Making Progress
If you plan on chasing unicorns, don’t hold your breath, because they don’t exist.
Why You Should Raise Your Prices
While it may seem like a simple, quick way to gain more clients, competing on price is usually recipe for failure.
Preventing Negative Emotions from Stealing Your Progress
Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced lifter, an iron sport athlete or a triathlete, stepping on stage at the Olympia or opening a gym door for the first time, you are going to face some mental battles.
Three Phases of Purchasing Gym Equipment for New Gym Owners
Every gym has its own unique qualities at the start, but for those of you who want to start a strength or athletic training facility, use this guide for the best approach to equipment purchases.
Steps Toward Success: Your First Year as a Personal Trainer
The first year is tough, and that’s when most trainers fail. If they stick with it they start to break through their second year — but only if they put in the ground work their first year.
How to Make Money as a Personal Trainer
My last year as a personal trainer I averaged over 40 billable training hours a week and sometimes did over 60 hours a week. The tactics I used to get to that point are now the basis of our trainer development program.
Shooting Knowledge Applied to Training
I recently made a transition from someone who had a decent amount of experience and was relatively advanced in one sport, to someone who is a true beginner in another sport. It’s taught me a lot about training and shooting.
Three Hypertrophy Waves to Use If You're Stuck on Progressive Overload
If you feel like you’re spinning your wheels, give one of these a try: Intensity-Based Hypertrophy Wave, Working Set Volume-Based Hypertrophy Wave, or Exercise Volume-Based Hypertrophy Wave.
How You Can Help Grow The Sport of Powerlifting
If the social theory holds true, then in order for powerlifting itself to make progress, individuals within the group will have to give up a little something of themselves to push the sport further.
The Three Most Important Factors for Becoming A Great Lifter
If you ever want to be a top-ranked lifter, you’re going to need all three of these things.
The Six-Day Triphasic Microcycle
We ran the first variation of this setup in preparation for our last powerlifting meet and it resulted in around 1,400 pounds of total PRs spread amongst nine different lifters.
3 Business Lessons from My First 5 Years of Gym-Ownership
The first month we opened we had around 30 members, two trainers, and I worked 80+ hours a week.
The Real Reasons You’re Not Making Progress
You can come up with a lot of excuses to explain your plateaus or you can follow this advice and find a solution.
Setting an Atmosphere for Success
Changing the culture or environment of your team is not easy but it may be the single-most important factor for your success. Here are three things to get you started.
The Three Best and Worst Parts of Owning a Gym
Over five years of owning a facility, through the survival stage and growth phase, I’ve learned a lot. Good and bad, owning a gym is a…
Three Financing Options for Your Gym Business
You may decide to use one or all three of these options to best set up your facility for profitability. What’s your plan?
Strategies of Business and Training: Save, Spend, Invest
I am going to describe the similarities between three money management strategies and their application to your time in the iron game.
Building Aerobic Capacity with Barbell Conditioning
The concept is simple but undergoing this challenge will feel anything but easy.
Hypertrophy Hierarchy: How Your Muscle-Building Program Should Evolve Ov...
The techniques of top bodybuilders may look fun. They may entice you. But first, you need to earn them.
THREE DAYS LEFT — Win 12 Weeks of Free Online Training from Team Elitefts
Participating coaches include; Swede Burns, Clint Darden, Julia Ladewski, Brandon Smitley, Joe Schillero, Ken Skip Hill, Zach Gallmann, Matt Ladewski, Shane Church, David Allen, Casey Williams, Dani Overcash, David Kirschen, Sheri Whethem, Ken Whethem.
Combining Fortitude and CTP Training
With the help of David Allen and Scott Stevenson, I have turned my six months of recovery into a period of growth and new training insight.
Finding Strength: NBS Fitness
This is a great training facility in Memphis, Tennessee owned by strength coach, athlete, and EliteFTS columnist, David Allen.
An Experiment in Overreaching
In the weeks leading up to my vacation, I intentionally out-trained by ability to recover in attempts to spur super compensation. Here’s what I learned.
Meet Day Mistakes: How to Plan for the Finer Points of Performance
You may be hearing these four tips for the first time or you may need a reminder of things you already know — it doesn’t matter. Whether you’ve done two meets or twenty, avoid these mistakes at all costs.
Poor Business Advice from Training and Business 'Gurus'
The advice of other business owners will be an invaluable asset to growing your company— but only if you’re listening to the right people.
Managing the Social Aspect of Change
Your health and fitness goals will require many sacrifices. Here’s how to ensure you don’t lose the things that truly matter.
Strength Progressions for Beginner and Intermediate Lifters
The path of continual progress includes some these important programming specialties: don’t add techniques you are ready for and don’t become stale.
Recovering from the Stressors of Contest Prep — Hormone Replacement Therapy
I feared a life without training. When I saw that fear become a reality, I knew it was time to seek professional help.
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.
BURNT OUT: Starting the Off-Season
After a competition season of pushing my body beyond its limit, I was no longer making process. Here’s how I’m turning things around for the future as I start my off-season.
How the Best Strength Coaches Deal with Scheduling Conflicts and the Coa...
Ever wonder how collegiate athletes manage time between scholastics, sports practices, and lifting? Here’s how S&C coaches can help and develop a better relationship with sport coaches.
What Type of Deload Will Help You Recover Best?
Deloads are extremely useful for making continual progress from harsh training. When the time comes for you to back off the weights, make sure you do it the right way.
WATCH: When Should You Deload?
Do you need a deload or are you just being lazy? What is a deload, anyway?
WATCH: David Allen Discusses 3 Common Back Exercise Technique Flaws
The owner of NBS Fitness gives you a back-training focused edition of NBS Whiteboard Talk.
Triphasic Training for Powerlifting
If your intensity level and explosive base are lacking, this 21-week meet prep program will help where max effort and dynamic effort work could not.
GALLERY: NBS Fitness April 1 Renovation
David Allen’s gym looked a little different than expected when he arrived to train this morning…
Brandon Smitley's Quick Picks
I’ve been an avid reader of EVERY article for roughly the past 4 years, and it’s the sole place that I go to increase my knowledge base, lifting, coaching, and personal growth. If you aren’t reading the articles on this site, you are really doing yourself a disservice!
Weight Training for Runners
Follow these weightlifting programs to increase your speed and endurance.
Perfection, Insane Competitiveness, and Four Weeks to Bigger Arms
David Allen, Justin Harris, and Josh McMillan break down mental and physical barriers to success.
Losing, Failing and Quitting
Choosing how you view the outcome, will determine if you advance in your goals.
The Ins and Outs of Knee Wraps
Team elitefts shares tips and tricks to get the most out of knee reinforcement.
Small Business Strategies and Tactics
Learn everything you need to know about business from Donald Trump, Tony Soprano, and David Allen.
Nutrition Strategies for Busy Lifters
No BS guide to packing in your food without having to resort to the drive-thru.
Twelve-Week Explosive Bench Program
Drive that bar off your chest like you’re wearing a C4-laced bench shirt.
You Ain't Shit But Neither Am I
In a world in which society is more connected than ever before, where has individual connectivity gone?