It can happen at your first contest or fiftieth; anxiety that wrecks your first event or blows the whole day. It’s unfortunate and seems like it is completely out of your control. There are a few steps you ... Continue Reading
Pyrros Dimas Documentary Gives Rare Insight Into a Living Legend
We are fortunate to live in a day and age, where thanks to social media, we can follow our favorite athletes in their daily lives. Facebook and Instagram are able to transcend languages, religion, and ... Continue Reading
How Wave Loading Can Build Strength in Your Squat, Olympic Lifts, and More
As coaches and athletes, we are always looking for new systems to elicit greater muscular development, neuromuscular responses, and improve athletic performance. Wave loading is a technique seen in more ... Continue Reading
Structured Warm-Up Series: The Snatch
A quick and efficient warm-up routine is key to efficiently preparing for snatches in team and individual settings. As a weightlifter and coach, I have had to develop a warm-up routine that hits the ... Continue Reading
How to Train Strongman in a Commercial Gym
Strongman has certainly changed a lot since it first graced our TV screens in the 70s. Back when the sport was but a baby, the events were new, exciting, and unpredictable, designed to test both the ... Continue Reading
Why It’s Okay (and Sometimes Good!) to Do Bicep Curls
As competitive athletes, most of what we do in the gym should have a specific purpose. Squats, Olympic lifts, sprints, corrective and mobility training, and accessory work claim a large amount of our ... Continue Reading
5 Plyometric Exercises to Develop More Power
At the end of the 1950’s, Soviet coach and researcher Dr. Yuri Verkhoshansky, also know as “The Father of Plyometrics,” devoted his research to the understanding of the science and profound effectiveness ... Continue Reading
Is Strongman Training the Cure to America’s “Muscle” Problem?
It’s held back fitness for years. I’ve heard it from men, women, and kids. It’s the silliest statement made to a coach or trainer but every beginner in the weight room feels the absolute need to inform ... Continue Reading
7 Cues To Address Common Weightlifting Faults
External and internal coaching cues play a pivotal role in the performance of an athlete in training and competition. External cues seem to have greater significance when applied during complex movement ... Continue Reading
4 Ways to Reduce Sitting at Work and Improve Your Lifts Today
Do you ever feel like your coach or trainer is harassing you while you perform squats? “Almost there!” “Get Lower!” “Chest up!” “A little lower!” “No rep!” If any (or all) of these sound ... Continue Reading
The Most Important (and Overlooked) Quality All Strength Coaches Need
I’ve been around this game since I can remember. The love affair with the iron started with my Jr. High wrestling coach, Tom Frost. In the mid 80’s strength training was not nearly as popular for athletes ... Continue Reading
5 Drills to Improve Your Front Rack Position This Week
The front rack position is critical for successfully nailing cleans, heavy front squats, and even jerks. Despite our best efforts to cue this positioning, the front rack seems highly elusive to both ... 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Advice on Coaching Olympic Weightlifting to Die Hard Fitness Athletes
In 2013, my husband was offered a job at the University of Alabama, so we moved to Tuscaloosa, AL, and I got a job working in a local CrossFit® gym. At first, it was a culture shock, but I was given the ... Continue Reading
5 Things Every New Weightlifter Should Do At Weightlifting Meets
Taking the platform at your first (or any meet for that matter) can be a very nerve racking experience. Preparation can set you apart from others, as you will be more apt to come ready, warm up ... Continue Reading