3 Ways to Keep Making Progress
Where do you turn for answers to continue to make progress? Beyond elitefts, are you using an online coach, a club, or consultations?
7 Tips for Your Next Meet Prep
An excerpt from The Intermediate and Advanced Lifters Peaking Squat Cycle, don’t leave pounds on the platform due to improper planning.
7 Deadlift Myths—Busted!
These deadlift myths have been around for too long and it’s time they disappear. Get ready to feel SHOCKED, LIED TO, or ANGRY.
6 Pre-Internet Gains You Can Use Today
You live in a time of instant access to knowledge to get better at your sport. Before the internet, how did the strength greats ever manage?
7 Strip Set Variations to Try in Your Home Gym
Adding in these exercises won’t make you tons of money on a paysite, but will add fun options if you have limited equipment in your home gym.
Fat Gripz—A Specialty Bar in a Gym Bag
Fat Gripz is a small and versatile tool that’ll transform the grip thickness of barbells, dumbbells, and more. What other specialty bar has these superpowers?
Get Your Powerlifting FastPass
Unlike amusement parks, this FastPass isn’t something you buy with your credit card. This transaction takes effort and time, but when you make the choice, it’ll greatly improve your lifts and ranking,
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.
Foot Placement for the Sumo Deadlift
I wish I could give you exactly the stance you need, but you’ll have to dial that in for yourself. Here are some tricks to begin this process.
3 Pressing Tips for Long-Armed Lifters
When I started my powerlifting journey, Louie Simmons tried to teach me to bench press like Fred Bolt. It was clear that I was not Fred Bolt, but more importantly, I did not have the musculature at that time to bench with my feet out. Here are some tips for all you long-armed lifters to create a great bench.
11 Medicine Ball Exercises to Improve GPP
You down with GPP? You know, General Physical Preparedness. If not, it’s time to get back in shape to dramatically and positively affect your total strength. You can start this process with a medicine ball.
Bare Bones Bodybuilding
This article is not about the bands or weights but HOW you use the bands or weights. You can use these 12 techniques to keep your workouts fresh and keep your sanity without going to the gym.
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.
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.
Mountain Dog Makeover
Don’t be afraid to steal from others if it benefits your training. Incorporating borrowed ideas into your training can take it to the next level.
Standing Ab Movements to Build Your Squat and Deadlift
Get up from the floor. You squat and deadlift standing up, so the majority of your ab work should be standing.
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.
Cast-Iron Pork Tenderloin Fillet with Jasmine Rice
Tired of eating chicken breasts? Mix things up with some seared pork tenderloin with a side of jasmine rice. It’ll hit the spot after a tough workout.
7 Supplemental Exercises to Build the Sumo Deadlift
The more advanced you are, the longer the stretches between records become. If you’re in that position (trust me, I’ve been there before), consider doing some supplemental exercises. The ones listed here will help boost your sumo deadlift.
Meet Attempt Considerations For Every Situation
When it comes to selecting meet attempts, there are a lot of things to take into account. The big one is your goal, but the strategy for getting that goal varies depending on lots of factors. You wouldn’t use the same process for selecting your opener and for winning — at least, I hope you don’t.
The elitefts Article That's Changing My Life
One elitefts article is changing my life, and it was a completely unexpected article! Thanks to Matt Ladewski’s “4 Non-Training Podcasts you Should Listen To,” I’m a third of the way done with a 75-day challenge. It’s taught me a lot about myself and my habits, both good and bad.
Now THAT'S What I Call Impressive!
Not everyone is as lucky as me when it comes to seeing some of the most amazing moments in powerlifting. Since that’s the case, I’m sharing memories from the archives starring Chuck Vogelpohl, George Halbert, Steve Goggins, Travis Rogers, and Oleksandr Kutcher.
4 Non-Training Podcasts You Should Listen To
Instead of listening to the same old radio station on your daily commute, why not learn something new from these podcasts? Stick your Airpods in your ears or connect your phone in your car’s radio via Bluetooth and listen away!
The Best Damn Specialty Bar on the Market
I can’t get over how versatile the American Cambered Grip Bar is. You can use it forward and backward, giving you a total of 8 grip options. Flip it over, you’ve got a total of 16. I’ve found 250 options, and I’m sure there are more to find.
The Poopy Raccoon
In preparation for our next training session, I knew I needed the help of my coworkers. The next morning they all received the following email blast…
How to Tame the Meet Prep Beast
The meet prep beast is going to rear its ugly heads at you sometimes, and its mugs come in many forms: injuries, stress, or a lousy no-show training partner. When one of them tries to bite, it’s best to have a flexible plan of action that helps you nimbly dodge from the monster’s jaws.
A Better Language for Coaches
This all starts with you. Being clear, setting up a growth mindset, and eliminating “no,” are just three ways to become a better communicator to your athletes.
Solve Your Training Problems with Less Than $20
Out of shape? Slow? Dumb? Weak? Ugly? Andrew Jackson (the president on a $20 bill for any non-US-based readers) has a solution for you.
Use Weight Releasers for a Better Bench
I believe that the confidence weight releasers can build is almost as important as any other factor I talk about in this article. If you want to improve your dynamic effort work, give these sample cycles a try.
Total Body Conjugate 8-Week Program
This eight-week sample program is a snapshot of a few cycles written for a former competitive weightlifter (local/state level). Michael wanted to get back into shape, lose weight, and include some weightlifting movements.
Good Training Gone Bad
In training, many choices must be made. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.
Getting the Most Out of Your Extra Workouts: Rules to Follow and Types o...
If you are looking to move up the ranks then extra workouts are the way to add extra volume, bring up weak muscle groups, and improve your general physical preparedness, mobility, flexibility, and body composition.
Training to Do Your First Pull-Up
No matter your strength, bodyweight, or training history, pull-ups may be a challenge for you. If this is the case, follow this simple progression and you’ll have your first unassisted pull-up in no time.
WATCH: Equipment Feature — Spud Inc. Tricep, Lat, Low Pulley System
This system really comes in handy for performing movements that would otherwise require large, expensive pieces of equipment. With a little creativity, you can even add a few new unique exercises.
Back on the Wagon: Returning to Training After a Long Layoff
For three months I dealt with my life while putting training in the backseat. Now with more time, energy, and motivation, these are the keys I’m using to getting back to where I was.
Simple Steps to Reaching Your Ultimate Goals
The goal-setting pyramid I use for my clients and myself helps to easily clarify daily, weekly, and monthly needs for continual progress — and when things slow down, it speeds up troubleshooting and gets you back on track.
Six Off-Season Bench Cycles to Replace Dynamic Effort Work
The six cycles in this article are a great way to add variety, cycle out of traditional dynamic effort bench work, or add some needed muscle mass.
7 Special Exercises To Build Your Main Lifts
Increasing your total in the conjugate system often means finding the right exercises to build the squat, bench press, and deadlift. Here are some builders I’ve found to be most effective.
Instilling A Growth Mindset
During his first soccer season, there were several things I said to my son each week in hopes of helping him understand that no matter what he does in life, it will take work to get there.
Mental Visualization to a Better Total
The body is limited but the mind is unbelievably more powerful. With positive mental imagery, you can take successful rep after successful rep with a weight you have never even touched.
Bare Bones Conjugate: A Bar, Rack, and Bench Weeks 9-13
This final wave includes a small taper at the end for peaking purposes. There are both banded and band-free options.
The Advanced Lifter's Peaking Cycle for Lower Body
This is the training cycle that finally got my squat over 800 and my deadlift over 700 in the same meet.
Bare Bones Conjugate: A Bar, Rack, and Bench Weeks 5-8
The conjugate system is about max effort, dynamic effort, and the repetition method. You can do everything with just a rack, bar, bench, and some weights. Here are the next four weeks of the program.
Some Like It Hot — A Guide to Choosing your Liniment
One, two, three, or even four Screamin’ Daves. If you aren’t sure which liniment is for you, use this guide to direct you to the perfect product.
How I Dropped 17 Pounds Over 9 Days and Gained It Back in 12 Hours
I don’t recommend this big of a cut for anyone. It is detrimental to many bodily processes and overall health. To be clear, this is not a how-to guide; it is a documentation of my process.
The Isometric Deadlift Cycle That Took My Deadlift to 800 Pounds in 22 M...
Isometrics are so terrible, in fact, that I am going to give you the exact cycle I use. If you are willing to go through everything I lay out, I am willing to give it away.
11 Set and Rep Schemes for Massive Reverse Hyper Back Pumps
You should be doing Reverse Hypers twice a week, year-round. Keep them fresh and challenging with these programming variations.
Frankenstein's Perfect Powerlifter
Once I caught wind of Dr. Frank’s new project, I knew I wanted to learn more. This is the story of my visit to his lab and home gym.
Four Traps to Avoid When Starting Conjugate Training
Using the Conjugate Method has been one of the most rewarding and fun things I’ve ever done, but it requires ownership and a tenacity to keep looking for answers. Here are four things to avoid as you begin your quest.
Whoa, Hamstrings
Here are six different exercises to kill your underdeveloped hamstrings — high reps, low reps, extended time, heavy weights, and GPP cover everything you need to make them bigger and stronger.
Deadlift Q&A: Block Pulls, Tension, Hip Mobility
You have questions, team elitefts has answers. Today’s topic: deadlifting.
4 Powerlifting Trump Cards You Should Hold Onto
Just like a game of euchre, there is an optimal time to play these trump cards in powerlifting.
Things I Have Learned From 15 Years of Conjugate Training
Through a lot of ups downs since 2002, I’ve learned things both the hard way and the easy way. In one quick read, here are 137 of the best things to remember about conjugate.
Are You MapQuesting Your Training?
This is the difference between running a system or following a program. It’s the difference between getting lost or arriving at your destination.
Gas Station Gains — High Calorie, Low Effort
Yes, you read that right. If you you want to get big quick, you’re not going to do it with broccoli and egg whites. It’s time get to dirty.
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.
7-Step Guide to Learning the Sumo Deadlift
This article includes video that shows the many physical and technical aspects you need to master to get the most of your sumo deadlift.