10 Reasons Why You Aren't Making Progress
Why do people give up after only a few years? Sticking to a plan for only four weeks? Always looking for motivation? Training too easy…
The Power of Perception
These studies give you some tools to use before your next training session or race to increase performance.
The Squat Bar Isn't Bad For You
I know it might FEEL bad, and you might feel banged up from squatting with it, but that does not mean you should be avoiding the straight bar.
The 6s and 7s of Training and Nutrition
Exercises or food you ranked high at some point may not be serving you anymore? It’s time to reevaluate what you lift and put in your mouth.
Pain and How We Can Better Manage It
In the moment you say, “Ow, this hurts,” what do you do? Do you push through the pain or go home? Here’s what to know about pain.
What is Pain Telling Us?
Pain is your brain going, “Hey, let’s stop this before (more) damage occurs.” Do you push through the pain or do you stop? Then what?
A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Gym Galaxy
It’s time for a talk to the young and the old about the inevitable (devastating yet fascinating) aging process under a loaded bar. Buckle up, it’s a bumpy ride!
Be Willing to Feel Pain
This is certainly anti-quit training. Learning to be uncomfortable and not stop or run away is priceless in hard training.
Does Mobility or Stability Come First?
For those involved in the healthcare, fitness, and strength industries, this is a question that has been long debated and has much enthusiasm behind it, creating the ultimate chicken vs. the egg debate in the human body. So which is the answer? How do we know once and for all?
Tendinopathy Edition: Programming Variables to Consider When Returning t...
When it comes to returning an intermediate-advanced lifter to a heavy compound, there are often more factors at play than we initially think. Perfect mechanics probably aren’t enough to get you back to where you need to be.
You Need to Feel Pain
If you never train until you puke, how can you know your limits? If you never felt like you had nothing to give and forced you to move that shit anyway, how can you be proud of what you have achieved?
Paying the Price of the Platform
The wear and tear of the sport doesn’t end when the lifter stops competing. The price of the platform may be one that they will pay for throughout the rest of their lives.
These Four Walls
Recording a podcast episode with my mentor (and cousin) John Alvino made me reflect on the pivotal role training has played in my life. Quite frankly, without it, I don’t know where I’d be. Inside these four walls, training has been my therapy, my drug, and my anchor.
New Tattoo Do's and Don'ts for the Powerlifter
Getting a new tattoo doesn’t mean you have to throw the bar down and not step foot in a gym for two months. What it does mean is that you need to ensure you don’t do anything reckless for the first couple of months.
Make Light Weight Heavy with Controlled Eccentrics and Concentrics
You don’t have to train in pain. How? Drop the heavy weights and work in some lighter options while focusing on using the best technique you can.
LISTEN: Table Talk Podcast #7 with the Hypertrophy Coach (Joe Bennett)
In this episode of Table Talk Podcast, Dave Tate and Joe Bennett (aka the Hypertrophy Coach) discuss pursuing knowledge, balancing family and work, online coaching, Dave Bautista, and more.
Troubleshooting Strength Injuries: Dealing with Injury
For those of you who are currently dealing with a significant injury, this article, the fifth and final part of the Troubleshooting Strength Injuries series, will help serve as a road map to recovery.
Returning From Injury After a Layoff
Coming back after a layoff can be a chance to address imbalances, but it also presents the opportunity for new imbalances to develop. Common sense suggests that testing strength after a layoff isn’t the best idea. But if you are going to do it, keep these things in mind.
How Irradiation Can Be Detrimental
Even though Instagram makes neural irradiation look cool, please take a moment to stop and ask yourself: What is it, and why are you doing it?
Bench training
*shoulder warm up Bench – bar x 15 x 2 – 145 x 3 – 195 x 2 – 235 x 1 – 285 x 1 – 325 x 1 – 325 x 1 – voodoo flossed – 375 x 0 – catapult Db bench – 60 x 10 – 70 x 5 – 85 […]
CBD for Lifters — Why, When, and How
In this installment, I will talk a little bit about what I learned from my tour of the Extract Labs facility, from my research of the available scientific data and my thoughts on “why,” “when” and “how” for Cannabidiol, as I understand it.
CBD for Lifters
Committed to doing a few full-power meets before I retire in 2020, I’m searching for some alternative means to deal with the pain related to inflammation. Enter Cannabidiol (CBD).
WATCH: Question & Answer Session with Dave Tate
Dave sits down to answer key questions that he received over the course of the Fixing Date Tate Series. Dave discusses everything from his biggest takeaways, to lessons learned, overall project goals, lifestyle changes, and the importance of effectively auto-regulating your own training program.
WATCH: Rapid Fire Table Talk with Dr. John Rusin
Over half an hour of non-stop Q&A, responding directly to questions from elitefts readers.
WATCH: Fixing Dave Tate — The 10-Week Update Discussion
Dr. Rusin returns to the elitefts headquarters to get an update on Dave’s progress through two training phases.
WATCH: Fixing Dave Tate — Orthopedic Evaluation
Whereas the previous screen was intended to identify red flags, this assessment will consist of clinically-based testing to produce both a medical diagnosis and a functional movement capacity diagnosis.
Why Your Meet Prep Sucks
It can be hugely discouraging to feel that all the work you did in the offseason and during your meet prep was wasted because you had one bad day, Unfortunately, all that really counts is what you put up on the platform. Or is it?
Secrets of Faster Injury Healing
There are several things to understand when putting together a rehabilitation protocol, but if you create the right plan and stick to it, you’ll be recovered in no time.
Muffled Pain — Athletes, The Opioid Epidemic, and Painkiller Paranoia
My purpose with this article is to use my involuntary position as a character in the story to explore the meaning of the opioid epidemic and its wider implications.
I Can’t Touch A Barbell Without Hurting: Train or Take Time Off?
If you try to ignore an injury, you’re going to end up in one of two places: with compensated strength or accumulated injury. Is continuing to train, but simply using lighter weights, the answer?
How To Build A Bench Press with Trashy Triceps
If you train smart and put in the work, your nagging pains will not stop you from hitting a PR.
How Can I Get Stronger?
Whether you’re healthy or coming back from injury, try incorporating these things to increase force production and longevity.
Training Heavy with Chronic Pain
No amount of strategic planning can account for your body’s unexpected responses to training and life. Be prepared to stop bowing down to your program and start listening to your body.
Dominance in Movement: Finding the Dimmer Switch
How many of you feel “broken” or immobile when you’re not under a bar? How are you accommodating?
WATCH: Have You Ever Felt Your Passion Slip Away?
It’s not going to be easy to accomplish your goals. When your will to achieve starts to fade, what will you do?
3 Things Lifters and Coaches Need to Know About Pain
Do not fear pain; it is your body’s method of communicating a need for change. Here’s how to handle the pain and determine what specific change your body needs.
How The OBB Power Handles Do More Than Save Your Shoulders
The OBB Power Handles aren’t just great for saving your shoulders and elbows, they are great assistance work and stability as well!
This Is Your Brain on Pain
Everything can be linked back to lifting. So if enduring pain is part of the game, how can we best play?
Price of the Platform
From test vials to Vicodin bottles, a handful of powerlifting champions recount their sacrifices. Was it worth it?
Killing Pain with Salmon
Salmon blood proteins are proving to be an effective painkiller- acute and chronic.
Mistakes 101: Doing Things That Hurt
Pain is inevitable. It is up to you to determine which pain to seek and which pain to avoid.
The Road to Recovery
My injuries have taken me from meet platform to operating table and back again.
Rustproofing the Iron Warrior
Aging is inevitable. What are some ways to manage its unforgiving cycle?
MMA: Painful Training for the Big Fight
If we get a bit uglier year by year through our craft…maybe we should work a bit more on defenses.
Elbow Pain and Strength Building Ergonomics
For the hardcore lifters out there, these few things may help in decreasing the pain and letting you continue to lift and get stronger when time off isn’t an option.
A Strength Coach’s Guide to Dealing with Pain, Part 3: Low Back
When training athletes, an all-inclusive approach works best.
Alleviating Ailing Ankles: Part 2
In the first part of “Alleviating Ailing Ankles,” I discussed the function of the ankle joint and demonstrated a few exercises to help achieve additional range of motion in dorsiflexion.
How We Use the Prowler
The latest installment in our “How We Use The Prowler” series comes from Elliott Hulse of St. Petersburg, Florida.
