The list of Americans who can currently jerk 500 pounds/227 kilograms (or recently, meaning they've done it in the past year or so), is small. And before today, we had confirmation from the following ... Continue Reading
USA Weightlifting CEO Phil Andrews Visits IWF Headquarters, Presents Award
Last month, USA Weightlifting, the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), and Harris County — Houston Sports Authority won a SportsTravel Magazine award for the 2015 World Weightlifting ... Continue Reading
How to Design Better Warm-Ups for Yourself, Training Partners, and Clients
Strength and power athletes require high degrees of motor control, force output, and neuromuscular activity in order to elicit maximal performance in training and competition. The role of a warm-up in ... Continue Reading
All the Weightlifters Currently Suspended After Olympic Doping Retests
Beginning early this summer, numerous weightlifters from the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games were provisionally suspended following doping retests from those competitions. With numerous waves of sample ... Continue Reading
Internal Versus External Coaching Cues, and When to Use Them
Verbal cues are an important aspect in the training, development, and overall success of athletes both on and off the platform/field/competitive arena. It has been shown that verbal instructions ... Continue Reading
BarBend Black Snapbacks Now Available!
The BarBend Classic Black Snapback is currently out of stock. Made out of 100% cotton with raised BarBend "B" above the front brim and full "BarBend" logo in the back. It makes a statement about ... Continue Reading
How One Marine Did Every Hero WOD in a Year (on the Anniversary of Each Hero’s Death)
A few months ago, we interviewed Jeff Yan, an NYC-based CrossFit® trainer who made it his goal to complete every Hero WOD. Yan's journey sparked a lot of conversation on social media, and a few weeks ... Continue Reading
How One Coach Is Using Strength Sports to Fight Childhood Cancer
In 2008, Carlos Hernandez of Reno, NV had an experience that significantly impacted his life forever. Through his day job as an engineer, he met a little girl named Kylee LeSourd, who was stricken ... Continue Reading
Training Inspiration: Azekhumhe Omoh and His Homemade Barbells, Dumbbells, and More
Nigerian bodybuilder Azekhumhe Omoh has been training for around five years, and mostly, he trains on homemade equipment in his yard. Recently, a video of Omoh squatting with a homemade barbell and ... Continue Reading
Relationship Goals: How Weightlifting Brings Together Power Couples in Strength
Some people say opposites attract, and maybe that’s true in some place where I’ve never been. In my experience, I’ve seen more relationships than I can count develop through the sport of Olympic ... Continue Reading
The 5 Most Important Movements in Strongman Training
A few weeks ago I wrote and we gave away a periodized strongman program that was complex, detailed and comprehensive. It has the athlete training 5 days per week, with an optional events day on Saturday. ... Continue Reading
Thoracic, Shoulder, Elbow, and Wrist Mobility Checklist for the Overhead Squat
In part one of this two part mobility checklist series, we discussed the limitations that poor ankle, knee, and hip mobility can have on the overhead squat. In addition to lower body mobility, the mobility ... Continue Reading
The Ghost on Our Plates: How Body Standards Impact Female Strength Athletes
Author Note: This article discusses eating disorders, weight gain and loss and related mental/emotional issues. For serious strength athletes; body-weight is something to be tracked, managed and at ... Continue Reading
Jon North Recovering at Home, Starts New Blog and Details Heart Condition
Last week, 2011 USA Weightlifting National Champion Jon North suffered a cardiac arrest while visiting the zoo with his wife, Jessica Lee North, and young son. After a successful surgery to install a ... Continue Reading
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Releases Its 2017 Prohibited List
Earlier this week, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) released their annual Prohibited List of banned substances and methods for drug-tested sports. The full list can be found here. A summary of the ... Continue Reading
Ankle, Knee, and Hip Mobility Checklist for the Overhead Squat
The snatch is one of the most complex movements in strength sports, requiring the highest degrees of neuromuscular patterning, power, strength and stability, and systemic mobility. The overhead squat ... Continue Reading
Rio Silver Medalist Tian Tao Cleans 230kg
Tian Tao is an exciting lifter to watch, but sometimes, he's too exciting. He's young (just 22) and immensely strong, but his performances on the international stage are inconsistent. He won ... Continue Reading
What Your First Year of Weightlifting Really Means
“Loaders tighten that weight up, we will see Elliott following himself. He has another attempt…” These words will burn themselves into your subconscious. The verbalization that you have for the moment, ... Continue Reading
6 Reasons Why You May Be Collapsing In the Clean
Collapsing in the catch of the clean is a common issue with weightlifters and Crossfitters. In this article, we will discuss the potential technical faults and or strength limitations that may be ... Continue Reading
IWF Public Disclosure: Norik Vardanian Tests Positive for Anabolic Agent
In a public disclosure released on the International Weightlifting Federation's (IWF) website, it was announced that Norik Vardanian, a 94kg lifter who has competed internationally for both the United ... Continue Reading
Need to Warm Up for Olympic Weightlifting? Here’s Greg Everett’s Routine
Catalyst Athletics founder Greg Everett puts out a bunch of great content on the sport of weightlifting, and he's been doing so for years. Recently, Everett tackled one of the most overlooked aspects of ... Continue Reading
Canadian Weightlifter Boady Santavy Snatches 158kg in Training, Above National Record
Canadian weightlifter Boady Santavy has been weightlifting since he was around 6, and he's truly grown up around the sport: His father, Dalas, represented Canada at the 2005 World Weightlifting ... Continue Reading
4 Exercises to Improve Overhead Performance in WODs
Overhead positioning is a primary aspect of many functional fitness workouts (WODs) and training programs. Whether it is pressing, jerking, HSPU, pull ups, and/or any other variation with a wall ... Continue Reading
Weightlifter Profiles: Wes Kitts of California Strength (105kg)
On Saturday, September 3rd, I had the chance to talk with 2016 National Champion and USA Pan American Team Member Wes Kitts at the Hassle Free Invitational in Sacramento, California. In the past two years, ... Continue Reading