Powerlifters and bodybuilders — athletes across strength sports, really — have been struggling with the lack of competition and in person camaraderie during the Coronavirus pandemic. That loss has been ... Continue Reading
Will Apple Fitness+, Peloton, and Others Spell the End for Fitness Studios?
When it comes to studio fitness, many of us have sipped the Kool-Aid. The rapid growth of brands like CrossFit®, Barry’s Bootcamp, and SoulCycle are easy indicators that we’ve liked what we experienced. ... Continue Reading
Most Effective Strength Training Splits For Bodyweight-Only Programs
Whether getting back to basics for a training cycle, or sprucing up your at-home workout routine with some actual routine, it’s worthwhile to figure out the best training splits for bodyweight-only ... Continue Reading
3 Ways To Reduce Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness
Almost all lifters have experienced some sort of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Waking up a morning or two after a hard training session and it is a struggle to stand up or sit down with out more ... Continue Reading
7 Stretches That Can Help Your Posture
When your commute has been about the length of your bedroom to the couch for the past six months, posture can take a big hit from sitting all day. It can cause hips to lock up and all kinds of weird ... Continue Reading
No Crowd, No Competitors: The Virtual CrossFit Games Is a Mental Challenge
When recalling the final nail-biting event of the 2017 CrossFit Games, Tia-Clair Toomey speaks of the crowd energy in Alliant Stadium and the stress of knowing competitor Kara Webb (Saunders) was right on ... Continue Reading
3 Overrated Lifts You Should Do Less Of
For a long time, I deadlifted Sumo and thought deadlifting with a trap bar was cheating. It didn’t matter to me about the benefits of pulling with a trap bar. Even when well-known coaches said it ... Continue Reading
5 Things Mentally Strong Lifters Avoid
Mental strength can be recognized in a lot of different ways. Sometimes, mental strength is grinding through that final rep, refusing to give up halfway. Other times, it is knowing when not to push ... Continue Reading
A How-To Guide for Assessing Personal Training Clients Remotely
If you have been coaching for a while, and especially if you have been doing any individual program design, you probably appreciate the importance of assessing your clients before you start building their ... Continue Reading
Why Ivan Makarov Will Break Thor Bjornsson’s Deadlift World Record
It’s fair to say that Thor Bjornsson’s 501kg deadlift this summer was the most famous deadlift of all time. We'd venture that it's more famous than Eddie Hall’s 500kg deadlift, given the fact that it's ... Continue Reading
4 Accessory Exercises To Improve Your Pull-Ups and Chin-Ups
In high school, my masochistic P.E. teacher liked to put students through a series of fitness tests every few months to determine our grades. One of these was an isometric chin-up hold in the top position ... Continue Reading
4 Hanging Band Exercises That Can Improve Your Powerlifts
Remember the ‘functional training’ craze when people were squatting and pressing on all kinds of unstable surfaces? Barbell squats on Swiss balls? The thought was they achieved better muscle activation and ... Continue Reading
Strongman Contests and Safety: How the Sport Can Adapt to Social Distancing
With every state setting it’s own recommendations for Social Distancing, traveling from other places, and what businesses can operate, holding an athletic event can be a nightmare. COVID has canceled ... Continue Reading
3 Tips for Picking the Best Weightlifting Accessory Exercises
Olympic weightlifting is a sport, like many others, that requires a ton of repetition. Repeating the same movements over and over again with the goal of chasing perfection. Over time, due to unique ... Continue Reading
Macro Counting Might Bring Results, But At What Cost?
To say my client Trish has had success counting her macros is a huge understatement. Since January, 2019, she has lost 50 pounds, looks and feels incredible, and a recent body composition analysis showed ... Continue Reading
How To Maintain Workout Motivation In an Endless Quarantine
Quarantine is dragging, and not just on the economy and your emotions. It makes sense if you’re having a tough time maintaining your motivation to work out during a pandemic, when your favorite coping ... Continue Reading
Relearning How to Brace for Heavy Lifting
Have you ever squeezed every muscle in your body to keep six hundred pounds from falling on your chest? I have. It means nothing now, though. This was back when equipped powerlifting was normal and the ... Continue Reading
How To Maximize Your Workout With Light Dumbbells
If you’ve scoured the entire internet for heavy weights and come up empty, don’t despair. You can craft an effective lifting routine even with light dumbbells — you just have to get a little creative about ... Continue Reading
3 Steps To Rebuild Your Barbell Confidence
If you miss lifting and have a hole in your heart shaped like a 45-pound plate, it's totally understandable. But daydreaming about squats in an actual rack doesn’t mean you’ll feel ready to do so once ... Continue Reading
Pros and Cons of the Safety Squat Bar for Front Squats
In recent years, the front squat has gained a resurgence as a major training lift for strength sports other than competitive weightlifting. Along with this rise in popularity came a variation with a safety ... Continue Reading
What to Do When Your Gym Closes (Again)
Nearly every state in the country closed fitness centers during the recent first wave of the Covid outbreak. Gym goers everywhere were stuck holding their gallon water jugs in their hand while businesses ... Continue Reading
5 Tips to Fix Your Funky “Good Morning Squats” From Home
You don’t have to be back in the gym and reunited with your favorite squat rack to get rid of your good morning squat. Don’t get me wrong — good mornings are great. Squats are delightful. But you never ... Continue Reading
8 Strength Training Mistakes I See Way More Than I Should
You’ve been lifting for a while and you still enjoy training, but there are times when your gains have slowed and you become frustrated by your lack of results. You think there is something wrong with your ... Continue Reading
How To Go Back To The Gym The Wrong Way
Figuring out when to go back to the gym isn’t about you — it’s about everyone around you. But as gyms reopen in states across the country, getting back to the gym is probably on your mind. When you do ... Continue Reading