Powerlifting Advice and Idols
You never know who is looking up to you, and wouldn’t it be a damn shame if you turned out just to be another asshole with a singlet and a status.
Technique Over Aggression
Here’s what I’ve learned to become an elite lifter at 220: accumulate faults and then fix them over the course of an off-season. You’ll be surprised how it all aligns if you just stop, reflect, work, and listen.
Powerlifting Meet Manual (with Formula for Selecting Attempts)
For those of you who’ve never done a meet, save this, and read it again before your first. And for those of you who just can’t finesse attempt selection, here’s a formula I developed to make attempt selection as close to fool-proof as it’ll get.
In the Spirit of the New Year: I Quit
What is the last thing you quit to better yourself? Reflecting on this past year, 2018 has been a very interesting year for me all around, and I have grown a lot. In with new and out with the old, here’s what I’m changing for 2019.
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.”
The Death of Powerlifting
What’s wrong with powerlifting? Not online coaching. Not Crossfitters doing meets. Not other lifters secretly being deep cover Nazi operatives. Not anything about other lifters, or coaches, at all. All that’s really wrong, from my perspective, is this…
A Note to the Lifter That Chooses Coaching
You find a coach you feel is the best choice, and you make an inquiry. It’s a good fit, and you compensate him or her. You’re a powerlifter with a coach now. You await your program to begin your journey under the guidance of your chosen coach.
WATCH: Table Talk — Agreeing to Disagree with Mark Rippetoe
In this table talk, Dave Tate sits down to answer the following question on Rippetoe: Has Dave ever met Mark Rippetoe? Would be cool to see them get together for a podcast after a few drinks.
The 2018 Special Olympic Nationals with CJ Piantieri
I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of CJ. He may not fully understand what he’s overcome, but I do.
WATCH: Dedication to Powerlifting Federations
Should you spend your powerlifting career competing only with one organization, or go wherever you feel like for each meet?
Stay the Course
Think about all the things you sucked at the first time you tried them: walking, talking, reading, writing. What if you’d given up on them after a failure or two?
Training Terminology
Trying to understand programming without knowing the terminology is similar to navigating a country without knowing the language: you can do it, but it won’t be easy.
Four Simple Mistakes to Avoid to Stay Injury-Free
These are what I’d consider the biggest mistakes in letting injury dictate your ability to train.
Coaching Your First Powerlifting Meet
I’m going to give you what I wish I always had: a damn good guide for beginning coaches for their first meet. If you don’t have a mentor or somebody to help guide you, this is perfect for you.
WATCH: Table Talk — The Most Important Quality of a Great Coach
It isn’t the number of competitions they’ve won or what degrees they have that can tip you off to who’s good and who’s not. There are three types of coaches in this industry and you need to be able to tell them apart.
Reason
I realize powerlifters are all lions, beasts, and savages, but let’s not lose sight of the big picture.
Fuck Your Instincts: A Cautionary Tale
I want to introduce you to Brian, also known as Spartandeadlifter950 on Instagram, driven by his elite instincts and self-reliance.
An Argument for Specificity
Staying in my own lane and keeping a laser focus on pursuing excellence in the sport of powerlifting is what has allowed me to rise to the top of my field as a coach; specializing, not generalizing.
Motivation Found in the Gains of Others
I have trained with three classes of people in the last few months, including young college men, 50-year-old women, and two very strong powerlifters. Each group has encouraged me in its own way.
Top Training Tips For Advanced Lifters — Life Priority and Team Role
Why am I taking the time to write this? These are the things I find myself repeating over and over again with different lifters.
Coach of the Year
This weekend would be more of that testing, coaching twenty-one lifters over the course of a single day. People say I am crazy for working with the number of lifters I do.
What's Your Game Plan?
You’re never going to build a big total by going into the gym and lifting as much as possible every session, week after week, year after year.
Excuses Don't Count Towards Your Total
At least, not at this point. As it stands, we are left with adding up our heaviest successful attempt for each of the three lifts and the sum of those is how a powerlifting total is born.
Are You a Leader or a Follower?
Too often I see lifters doing the strangest stuff in the gym, and sometimes I get irritated enough to actually ask them about it. Their answers usually tells me everything I need to know: they’re followers, not leaders.
The Pursuit of Elite
Surrounding myself around top-level powerlifters for over 30 years, I’ve noticed a trend.
WATCH: Table Talk Compilation Series — Maliek Derstine
All in one article, we revisit Dave and Maliek’s discussion on sticking points, longevity, equipped powerlifting transitions, and challenges a lifter must face when following a percentage-based training program.
Finding Strength: Gleason Performance Training
Equipment, coaching, elitefts team members — this gym in Derby, Connecticut has it all, and is one of my favorite places to visit.
WPC World Championships — My 12-Week Meet Prep for a 1000-Pound Squat
I won my division at the 2014 WPC Worlds. I’m hoping to repeat this year, but there’s also another goal I’m focused on.
Boss of Bosses 3 — A Failed Water Cut, The Setback, Meet Day, What'...
This weekend I cried more tears than I thought were possible. It was emotional, the entire thing, from start to finish. But, it’s something I had to do, for me.
Rob Hall Totals 2226 Raw at Boss of Bosses 3
We made five specific changes to add 200 pounds to Rob’s total in the last six months.
WATCH: Table Talk — Problems with Gear and the Qualities of Great Power...
Joining Dave for another video, Maliek discusses the challenges faced by lifters who attempt to compete both raw and in gear.
Is Your Coach Giving You What You Need?
There are a lot of coaches to choose from and they all think they’re the best. What criteria should you use to judge them?
Wish They Could All Be California Meets
The whole point of the US Open was to show Tarra and instill some confidence in what I already knew: that she would still be able to perform well at a lighter bodyweight.
Squat and Deadlift Coaching Lessons from the XPC Training Cycle
With a limited time frame and many issues to fix for these three lifters, I had to target their specific weaknesses with training adjustments. This is how we did it.
Dario vs The Deadlift: 100 Pounds in 10 Months
By designing his training program to address each of his technical, mental, and muscular weaknesses, I was able to help Dario claim the record he deserved.
