Desperate times call for desperate measures. I was tired of floor presses off unstable pickle buckets and the inability to squat, so here’s my attempt at building a home gym.

In hindsight, what was Yessica Martinez’s biggest takeaway from working with the bench press wizard JM Blakley?

If you think having one bar means you can’t do max effort variations, you’re wrong. It’s time to think outside of the box. If you can’t, no worries! I already have, and I came up with 230 variations you can use with a straight bar. No specialty bars required!

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!

You really don’t appreciate something until it’s gone. But man, when you’re able to bench again… there’s nothing like it.

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.

It seems that lifters do not understand the importance of the upper back or how to use it in the three main lifts. The lifters I judged at a recent meet and just about all of my clients prove that to me, so let’s fix that.

“Our human potential is much higher than we recognize.” elitefts coach and columnist JM Blakley might be the namesake of the JM Press, but he hopes his impact in the strength sports world will go far beyond that and the weights he’s lifted.

Want to smoke your old PRs? Try applying daily undulating periodization, or DUP, to your programming. Rather than changing sets, reps, and intensity every 6 to 12 weeks, DUP changes those variables on a daily basis.

There are so many movements you can do when it comes to strengthening the back for the bench press — so which ones SHOULD you do?

The debate between raw versus gear has died down, more or less, but the debate of how to train one versus the other is still on-going. This might be controversial, but for the most part, I don’t think you need to train differently raw or geared with a few exceptions.

This 12-week cycle is very effective when followed to a T. If picked apart, it won’t work as well, so listen closely.

There are a ton of questions on how to work up to a 1RM on max effort day. While many lifters don’t use percentages, it certainly makes it easier on coaches and novices on how to pick attempts. Since many people who are new to doing these movements are not familiar with their maxes, use the following to help guide you.

How many of these things do you think about when you’re training? What could you be doing to make yourself and your training partners better?

Ed Coan and Dave Tate explain their rationales and favorite accessory movements and variation lifts for training weak points.

You’ve probably heard Newton’s third law: “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” Turns out Newton DIDN’T tell you that he specifically wrote this law in anticipation of gym bros only training the muscles they see in the mirror. Let me explain.

Learn the secret that we’ve kept under wraps until now: How to properly wrap your wrists for the Big Three: bench, squat, and deadlift.

It’s one thing to read about elitefts equipment, but it’s something altogether different to see it being used in the hands of competitive powerlifters at Monster Garage Gym.

“To be able to give back is a much bigger legacy than anything you’ll leave on a platform.” elitefts coach Vincent Dizenzo finds his calling in helping others by passing on knowledge, especially when it comes to dieting and weight loss.

As strength athletes, we care only about lifting the weight from Point A to Point B, but from a bodybuilding perspective, that is dead wrong, but how does that translate to powerlifting? The idea is to challenge the muscle — not just focus on completing reps and sets.

Over the last few years, I’ve had more time to visit some major universities and professional teams and talk shop with some very good strength and conditioning coaches, and these are some of the trends we’ve noticed in the weight room and think powerlifters should start implementing.

As with anything in training, the answer always is “it depends.” With the max effort method, I can do one of these things for two hours just on advanced principles that deal with the max effort method, or I can do one very that’s simple. I choose simple.

A few weeks ago I blogged about how I was mistakenly looking for a one-size-fits-all approach to dealing with my injuries, and my circumstances are different. But with the help of four friends (and my wife), we came up with a BAMF program. Here it is.

When it comes to selecting meet attempts, there are a lot of things to take into account. The big one is your goal, but the strategy for getting that goal varies depending on lots of factors. You wouldn’t use the same process for selecting your opener and for winning — at least, I hope you don’t.

Even Doctor Deadlift has bombed out, and for him, it was at his first meet as a 15-year-old in high school. Cailer Woolam was ready to quit, but he kept on pushing, and look at him now: one of the youngest people to make the deadlift world record.

Powerlifting is so much more than physical strength. Yeah, that’s part of it, but only a fraction of the big picture. Are you strong mentally? Are you strong intellectually? Are you strong emotionally? Let’s find out.

While Dave’s AWOL, Jim Wendler, Matt Rhodes, and Vincent Dizenzo fill in and answer questions. This question (what lifts are you most proud of?) sparks a conversation about coaching and fond memories this trio of friends shared and are now sharing with you.

Newer lifters seem to think that they can squat 1,200 pounds in less than a year of training. I hate to burst your bubbles, but that’s not going to happen. It’s a long game, and you need to understand that if you’re going to survive in this sport.

Through the use of unconventional movements (or awkward movements), you can really force yourself to utilize better form and recruit numerous additional muscle fibers. Here are a handful of Big 3 variations you can try out.

In order to show real strength, arching isn’t the way to go. In order to build more strength for different sports, arching is pretty much a waste of time. But I’m not criticize arching. On the contrary, there are advantages to it if you are a competitive powerlifter.

When a Union Fitness client approached me for training, I was foaming at the mouth. He had experience in powerlifting and wanted a conjugate training approach. With this program, he added 10 pounds to his bench! You might as well give it a try.

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.

Not everyone is as lucky as me when it comes to seeing some of the most amazing moments in powerlifting. Since that’s the case, I’m sharing memories from the archives starring Chuck Vogelpohl, George Halbert, Steve Goggins, Travis Rogers, and Oleksandr Kutcher.

2018 was not a good year for my powerlifting career. 2019 has been better. My training’s gotten better, I’ve gotten better at caring for myself, and I competed better. I want to do better next time around, though….

Two years ago, I injured myself at a meet. The pain was so bad I nearly pulled out of the meet. After talking with some experts, I decided to hop into the APF Nationals without a weight cut and with a quick prep. Let’s just say it’s good to be back.

To call this program hard is an understatement. The volume is high, the work is heavy, and you’ll want to quit. But I can promise you, your back will never be thicker and your PRs will become something of the past.

This life we live is comprised of sheep, and it is also comprised of shepherds. Followers or leaders. The flock goes where it is directed. Shepherds set the course for the journey. Are you part of the flock? Or are you a shepherd? Are you a serious powerlifter or not?

Getting a new tattoo doesn’t mean you have to throw the bar down and not step foot in a gym for two months. What it does mean is that you need to ensure you don’t do anything reckless for the first couple of months.

My training was more organized than it was for the IPA meet. But I decided to experiment before this meet: I trained using my squat suit without the briefs. It actually improved my speed, depth, and how much weight I could handle.

For Ashley Jones, being at the S5 Compound is like being a kid in a candy store, meaning he needs some moderation. Rather than use all of the equipment, Ashley shows off his top-5 pieces of equipment that should be in every strength and conditioning program for rugby.

Don’t be afraid to mix up your workout routine with something new. Try a new exercise and see if it works well for you. That’s what I did today, and it ended up being a solid workout session. Plus, my bench press has felt stronger every week. Try it! What’ve you got to lose?

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.

Listen: Technique is a major part of why all top lifters are top lifters. It is crucial to being a successful strength athlete. Technique before the lift is just as important as during the lift.

This is a series of videos Dave Tate asked us to republish due to the number of times he sends them out each week on his Instagram AMA and DMs.

Now that I had the trip paid for thanks to a seminar event, I could focus on helping my lifters at the US Kern Open: the reason I’d flown all the way from the East Coast to begin with.

A lot of people use this bench press due to shoulder issues and its carryover to competition lift — and Janis Finkelman’s numbers support that claim.

An alternative title: Here are three things you can do to make your titties pop. I doubt any judge has ever said to a competitor that their chest was too large, so if you really want to wow the judges, start by working on your elbow position.

When a friend invited me to a bench press-only APF meet that also raised money for Autism and Autism Awareness, there was no way I could say no — even though I haven’t competed in quite some time.

Powerlifting is bigger and better than it was when I started in 2004. But there’s is one major exception to the positives regarding the sport’s growth: The death of the powerlifting crew.

Plan, execute, evaluate, readjust, and repeat. Those are the steps I take when developing a program for a client — and coincidentally, the same ones I cover in this article.

This program was based on a study that burned 450% more calories post-workout than a traditional workout. Are you ready to feel the burn?

I told Dave to listen carefully because this is the only time I’ll ever say it, but this was a pretty good meet. I’ll take a 50 lb meet PR.

My goal for this meet was a 400-pound squat until Dave asked, “What’s the Pro total for your weight class?” In that moment, I knew that was no longer the goal — it became a Pro total.

elitefts coach and 2019 Stronger Sports Training Success Summit speaker Julia Anto has seen far too many social media lifts with poor form — enough to start up a video series to correct lifters’ form. In the second video of the series, she fixes the bench flare.

Murphy’s Law: Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. That’s pretty much a solid description for how the Tennessee State Championships went for me. But hey, good job to the victors. Now it’s time to prepare for my next meet…

While full range of motion reps may be more convenient for the more inexperienced lifter, partial range of movement reps may be a good tool for advanced lifters hitting a plateau. Partial reps can overcome the main limitations of full range of motion training.