If you have an equal love for bodybuilding and powerlifting with a goal to become bigger and stronger, this program is for YOU.
Many of my online clients and members of my gym don’t have a squat rack or bench at home, unfortunately. However, many of them have access to a barbell. Are you in this same predicament?
Do yourself a favor and focus on technique; don’t get too wrapped up in band tension, percents, etc. Get your technique down and worry about the other things later.
As told to Dave Tate, some 18 years ago, these tips stand up to the gauntlet of common sense and I’m sure that at least a few will be of use to you. Load the bar!
Even though lifting weights is a passion, sometimes life challenges you to take a new direction. When Nicholas Bronkall’s body couldn’t take any more of the same, he got acquainted with movement in brand new ways.
OK, maybe I shouldn’t have gone so hardcore with jiu-jitsu, but you know what? I made the best of my injury and learned from it.
Tired of the same old training program? Want a break from your normal training specificity? Why not mix things up with this program? All you’ll need is a barbell, plates, a bike, a box for squatting, and a bench.
In this episode of Table Talk Podcast, Dave Tate, Joe Sullivan, and Janis Finkelman talk about a variety of powerlifting topics and answer questions, both bizarre and mundane, and more.
If you think you’re getting a solid upper back that’ll improve your bench press, deadlifts, and squats by using hard, forceful rowing exercises and lat pulldowns, think again. When you realize that, you’ve figured out that you need to change the way you train. Not sure what you should do? Let me explain.
Every seasoned lifter appreciates how easy it is to lose simple habits in pursuit of getting stronger. One such habit: Getting a good grip.
You hear people in an attempt to salvage their fragile egos say they are afraid of nothing. But I have never understood why being afraid of something is a bad thing.
What did your training look like before you began this training? Give us a sample week/template that would be fairly typical of what you did.
This is a repost of what Dave feels is one of the most educational articles we have ever posted.
Recently I was in the market for another barbell for my home setup, and at the start of this journey I thought all barbells were equal. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
These elite lifters share some fundamental characteristics at the start of their deadlifts—hips high, arm length maximized, shins very close to the bar, and torsos not vertical.
A big yoke equals instant respect. No one wants to screw with a guy that has a big neck and a thick yoke.
You don’t need a unique piece of equipment for each muscle group or a 25-item list of accessory exercises. This program uses nothing but gym essentials to get you stronger without ever having to leave the squat rack.
The healthier you can keep your spine, the longer you can train heavy and grow muscle. Here are my top-10, spine-friendly exercises.
I don’t know how many questions we’ve gotten about how to train certain weak points. Of course, almost every question is in regard to a weak muscle group or a certain portion of a lift.
Through our many adventures, Chris Duffin and I trained, went four-wheeling, ate A LOT, and talked about many aspects of coaching and programming.
If you aren’t getting stronger or making gains, you’re doing something wrong. Your first job is figuring out what that is.
With a clinic and meet scheduled on back to back days, I was surrounded by influential members of the strength community and made a few discoveries.
For most things in life, you start with nothing. Get comfortable with this.
Are you conscious of where you’re placing your elbows during presses, rows, flyes, curls, and pullovers?
Now that we’ve tackled the squat, let’s break down the bench set up and introduce a cue system to use during every set.
We have known for years that the Glute Ham Raise (GHR) was regarded as one the best movements for the posterior chain (lower back, glutes, hamstrings and calves).
To develop and ingrain the habits of success overlook no fine details.
Use these cues and coaching methods to teach an inexperienced lifter how to squat safely and build a foundation for future strength.
Don’t build a false sense of security by relying on bands and chains. Remember this fact: straight weight trumps all.
These strength and performance methods for positions 9, 10, and 12 maximize individual player abilities on the field and produce more capable athletes.
The path of continual progress includes some these important programming specialties: don’t add techniques you are ready for and don’t become stale.
As you focus on moving maximum weight on squats, benches and deadlifts, wimpy isolation movements just don’t have a place. Or do they?
With a variety of unique, specialized equipment, you can program to address a multitude of player strengths and weaknesses.
You learn a lot from the mistakes you make at your first meet. Imagine all you can learn from the mistakes spanning an entire powerlifting career.
The three laws of motion are the roots of athlete programming. Find out how to apply these rules and improve your athletes.
Remember all those things you wish you would have known when you started? Maybe we should do more than laugh at the guy across the gym doing machine decline iso-lateral presses.
Get more out of your standard barbell and dumbbell set by the swivel of a bolt and the tightening of a wing nut. It’s that easy.
There is a well-known saying in our industry: information in strength and conditioning doubles every eighteen months. How will you keep up?
There’s a lot of hatred thrown around when a lifter hits a federation record. Should we be celebrating the PR with them?
Build your winning culture the same way you build in the weight room: every session, every set, and every rep leading to game day.
With summer programming for athletes, control what you can control and don’t sweat the rest.
Can proper implementation of unilateral exercise produce healthier, higher-performing athletes?
You might need a long-term progression to overcome nagging pains and to increase your lifts. Or maybe you just need these simple tips.
In your search of what is new and exciting, do not forget the principles that are proven to produce success.
When I tore my rotator cuff, I transitioned to more concentrated stimuli and a higher frequency per muscle group to avoid being forced to reduce my training intensity.
We gave up the glamour and comfort of a commercial gym. Here in our dungeon, 15-feet underground, we’ve found the secret to building strength.
When you’re chipping away at that all-time PR, every pound matters.
Having the opportunity to bring up the next generation of strength athletes is a task as much as a privilege. Use your influence wisely.
Doctors and strength athletes frequently argue over the effects (good and bad) of performance-enhancing drugs, but some facts aren’t debatable.
Whether you’re an off-season athlete or an athlete who isn’t getting everything you want out of your school’s team sports, powerlifting can be a viable option in your yearly process.
Two programs outline how to use the ballistic methods of kettlebell training to improve joint mobility and strengthen ligaments and tendons for a competitive edge.
These alternate setups for non-traditional microcycles in a powerlifting program have allowed my clients and I to target the specific needs of individual athletes.
Whether you’re a beginner to a training program or a personal trainer working with first-time clients, these progressions work as a fool-proof guide to producing results over time.
As your athletes grow and develop, so should the movement patterns of their program.
This typical throw-away, punishment exercise is in fact a highly-technical skill capable of teaching and reinforcing proper movement patterns.
