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WATCH: Table Talk — How Should a 15-Year-Old Begin Training for Powerlif...
What's the difference between a teenager who is an absolute beginner and an older lifter coming back from a decade-long layoff?
WATCH: Table Talk — When to Add Gear During A Training Cycle
This doesn't only apply to multi-ply lifters. How you add equipment in training should have a sequence to it, even if you compete raw.
WATCH: Table Talk — Run the Monolift or Walk Out?
This really shouldn't be a debate. Mimic how you compete.
WATCH: Table Talk — Personality Differences in Powerlifting
Should a training program be altered based on a lifter's personality?
WATCH: Table Talk — Natural Potential and the Genetic Ceiling
The potential for what a lifter can accomplish without using performance enhancing substances is far greater than most people assume.
WATCH: Table Talk — When to Rotate Supplemental and Accessory Exercises
How much time do you really need to spend with an exercise to know if it’s working or not?
WATCH: Table Talk — Why Are Some Lifters More Explosive Than Others?
Every lifter falls somewhere on this continuum. It will determine how your max attempts look and how you should train to increase them.
WATCH: Table Talk with Swede Burns and JP Carroll — Why an Advanced Powe...
Even the strongest lifters in the world can’t figure everything out themselves.
WATCH: Table Talk with Swede Burns and JP Carroll — The Growth of 5thSet...
What has changed about 5thSet over the course of its rise to popularity? And what is it like being an elite lifter that hands his training over to someone else?
WATCH: Westside Misconceptions — High Standards
To be on the board at Westside, at the time, meant you had to break the all-time world record, because that was pretty much everybody that was on the board.
WATCH: Westside Misconceptions — Program Design with Gear
From 1990 to 2000, there wasn’t a single person who came to Westside and stayed who didn’t get significantly stronger. Everyone got stronger, wearing gear or not.
WATCH: Westside Misconceptions — Max Effort Workouts in Circa Max Phase
A circa max phase isn’t easy, and recovering from it isn’t either. Should you remove max effort training or keep pushing forward with it?
WATCH: Table Talk with Dave Tate — Balancing Your Life
Most people just suck at time management. Have you ever paid attention to how much time you spend every day doing stupid shit that doesn’t matter?
WATCH: Table Talk with Nate Harvey — How Important Are the Quads for a R...
You want debate? Go to a powerlifting meet and ask the lifters in the warm-up room if you should be focusing on your quads to build your squat. You’ll hear a lot of opinions. Who’s right?
WATCH: Table Talk with Dan Green — Hip Position, Not Strength, to Fix Yo...
Want to know how to have a better deadlift lockout? Look at what Pete Rubish has done in recent years and you’ll see it.
WATCH: Table Talk with Dan Green — How to Choose Secondary and Accessory...
A good training program has three main parts: the main lifts for technique, the secondary movements for strength, and the accessory exercises for muscle-specific work.
WATCH: Table Talk with Dan Green — Powerlifting Longevity and Meet Strategy
A lot of strong lifters have come and gone through this sport, posting two or three big totals to then never to be heard from again. The best lifters are there, year after year, finding new ways to stay healthy enough and hit PRs. How?
WATCH: Table Talk with Dan Green — Adrenaline Levels in Training
How do you get your mind in the right place for a big lift in training? Should you treat it like meet day?
WATCH: Table Talk with Dan Green — Keeping the Endgame in Mind During th...
If you’re forced to take time away from the gym, where should your focus be? Maintaining strength? Maintaining size? Getting healthy?
WATCH: Table Talk with Dan Green — Limiting Factors for Beginner, Interm...
What holds you back as a beginner is not going to be the same as what holds you back once you reach the intermediate or advanced stages.
WATCH: Table Talk with Dan Green — Building a Base as a New Lifter
If you don’t start on the right path, you might spend years training hard and making no progress.
WATCH: Table Talk with Nate Harvey — Why Do Football Players Run Long Sp...
The easy answer is that it builds mental toughness. The strength and conditioning answer, however, involves understanding the differences between lactic acid, glycolytic, and oxidative work.
WATCH: Table Talk with Mark Dugdale — Should I Hire A Bodybuilding Coach?
It may be tempting to put your entire trust in someone with experience, but there are a few things to consider first.
WATCH: Table Talk with Mark Dugdale — What Makes You Beginner, Intermedi...
Number of competitions? Severity of injury? Conditioning and size? Powerlifting total?
WATCH: Table Talk with Mark Dugdale — Training Evolution and the Genetic...
Do genetic ceilings exist? How can you know if you’ve reached yours? Is it possible to break through?
WATCH: Table Talk with Mark Dugdale — Exercise Execution, Pre-Workout Fo...
Mark and Dave share their combined knowledge in both powerlifting and bodybuilding, gained from multiple decades honing their respective crafts.
WATCH: Rapid Fire Table Talk — Westside Before Bands, Programming By Gen...
Looking for an unconventional use for bands?
WATCH: Rapid Fire Table Talk — Military Press for Powerlifters, Grip, an...
Have you ever eaten an entire box of Pop-Tarts in one sitting?
WATCH: Table Talk Compilation Series — Justin Harris
All in one spot, check out the entire 7-part discussion with Dave Tate and Justin Harris. Pre-workout energy, GPP, muscle loss while dieting, and training age are just a few of the topics discussed.
WATCH: Rapid Fire Table Talk — Training at Night, 3x10 vs 10x3, and Illness
Dave’s back at The Table, and this time he’s answering your questions back-to-back with no preparation.
WATCH: Table Talk Compilation Series — JL Holdsworth
Stories of Westside, vomit, blood, cysts, spine health, circa max training, pizza, and more…
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.
WATCH: How to Rehabilitate A Recurring Hamstring Injury
If you misidentify the cause of the injury, not only will you fail to solve the problem, but you may actually make it worse.
WATCH: Auto-Regulation vs Percentage-Based Programming for the Off-Season
You can be certain that every great lifter you admire has mastered auto-regulation. If you want to be great, you’ll need to do the same.
WATCH: Table Talk — Lessons from Training with John Meadows
What happens when an expert in powerlifting and an expert in bodybuilding train together for five years?
WATCH: Table Talk — Should Elite Totals Be Updated?
Does being an elite powerlifter mean something different today than it did 10, 15, or 20 years ago?
WATCH: Table Talk — Bench Press Bar Path
Should you press in a straight line or in an arc, finishing with the bar over your face?
WATCH: Table Talk — The Widowmaker Squat Challenge
A high-rep squat set is a MFer challenge, there’s no doubt about it.
WATCH: Table Talk — The Current State of the Fitness Industry
What do you think of the fitness community today and all the shitty gurus on social media?
WATCH: Table Talk — Can You Use Competition Lifts for Max Effort Work?
If you feel you need more work on the competition movements, can you use them as max effort work instead of doing specialty exercises?
WATCH: Table Talk — Flaws of Percentage-Based Programming and Training
In this video, Maliek and Dave discuss the problems with percentage-based training and share alternative methods for strength programming.
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.
WATCH: Table Talk — Sticking Points and Longevity for Raw vs Gear
In this video, Dave and special guest Maliek Derstine discuss the topics of sticking points and longevity for raw lifters vs geared lifters.
WATCH: Maliek Derstine Visits elitefts
He holds the all-time world record for powerlifting total in the 181-pound weight class. He is better in that class than anyone else has ever been. When he talks about training, it’s probably best for you to listen.
WATCH: Dave and Jim Are Back
There’s a lot of history shared between these two men. Now they’re adding to it.
WATCH: Table Talk — The Reason Powerlifting Records Are Being Shattered
Raw records have been dropping at unprecedented rates in recent years — and Dave thinks he knows why.
WATCH: Table Talk — How Do You Make Training Fit Your Life Schedule?
If training is getting lost on your daily to-do list, change your approach.
WATCH: Best Secondary Movement for the Squat
This week Dave answers the question: If you could only pick one exercise as a secondary movement for squats, what would it be and why?
WATCH: Table Talk — What If Other Competitors Lie About Drug Use?
Mentally preparing for a meet isn’t easy but what if you also have to worry that the other lifters are lying about steroids?
WATCH: Table Talk — Lat Training to Build a Raw Bench Press
A lot of lifters say the lats are the most important part of a strong bench press, but few know how to train them correctly.
WATCH: Table Talk — The Early Days
What did a typical day in college look like for Dave back in his 20s?
WATCH: Table Talk — Analyzing Training Methods
The people who really don’t know what the fuck they are doing are the ones that are taking the business from you because you are too wrapped up in the wrong things.
WATCH: Table Talk — How Should a Powerlifter Use a Sled or Prowler?
You can use a sled or a prowler for a lot of reasons. People like them for conditioning but I think they’re best used for recovery and restoration when you’re getting ready for a meet.
WATCH: Table Talk — Muscular Balance in Training Programs
Should you do twice as much pulling volume as pressing volume? Some people think so, but it’s not that simple.
WATCH: Table Talk — How Should A Big Guy Lose Weight?
For someone over 350 pounds, the rules of dropping weight are a little different. There are a few things you need to remember.
WATCH: Table Talk — The Best Accessory Exercises for the Squat, Bench, a...
If you want to build your total, you need to pick the right accessory movements for all three lifts. Here are my favorites.
Table Talk — Thin Crust or Hand-Tossed Pizza?
Somehow this all ties into real-world experience and the steps taken to reach success as a business owner. Trust us.
WATCH: Table Talk — How to Maintain a Healthy Spine
Screw up your back and being unable to squat or deadlift won’t be your only concern.