Video Log: A New Twist on an Old Standby: the Small Circle Fly
Try this variation to smoke your pecs and build healthier shoulders.
Quick Tip: How to Get Strong(er) in Two Seconds
What if I told you that you can get Strong(er) in only two seconds?
Would you do it?
Strongman Programming Close to a Competition: Trust the Taper
Murph is the founder and owner of Total Performance Sports. In grumpy fashion, follow his sports performance, powerlifting, and strongman ideology with quick tips, video clips, and client tutorials. This month, athlete prep is underway for APF Nationals, the RPS Maine Push-pull Championships, and the RPS Winter’s Wrath.
THE Guide to Handling Lifters at the Meet
I’d rather have the lifter go 9 for 9 and have a great meet hitting PR’S, but be mad at me than have them bomb because I didn’t have the balls to tell them they were idiots for opening at 99.5% of a questionable gym lift.
The Science Behind the Bench Press
Learn the science behind the bench press.
Get wicked smart wicked fast.
How to Use Lifting Straps: A Simple Tutorial
This method is fast, simple, and won't let the bar ever slip from your hands.
TPS Don’t Chase the Brace Part 2-Deadlift, Bench Press, Overhead Press
If you try and brace your body after you un-rack the weight, you’ll never be able to get as tight as possible.
You will be chasing tension. Don’t chase it, create it.
How do I warm up? Get it right and SFW!
One of the most frequent questions I get is possibly the most misunderstood aspect of training:
How do I warm up?
I'm gonna make this simple.
She benches more than you do
She is like an ant.
She can lift 6000 times her bodyweight.
And all she does is eat donuts.
Don’t Chase the Brace Part 1-The Squat
Ok, so it seems like bracing is being kicked to death all over the internet.
If you pay attention to:
Instagram
Facebook
Guru Sites (not this one)
You’ll leave thinking that you need to brace your midsection when you:
Lift weights
Pick up your kids
Top 5 Exercise for Your Girder
I could have gotten more hits if I named this something like Build A Bullet Proof Core, but I fu**ing hate “core”.
I’m about to blow stuff up!
As I sat down to write my Coaching Log just now, I saw this question on the Q&A and thought it needed to be an article, not just a Q&A answer
The 80/20 Rule for the Holiday Season
The picture has nothing to do with the 80/20 rule, I just didn’t have any cool pictures for this article and since I just bought this sweet '68 Caddy,
I figured I’d throw it in.
10 Best Christmas Gifts for the Old Guy Who Still Wants to Lift and Get ...
I know a lot of EliteFTS.com readers fall into this category and being one myself I have some insight into this category.
Become More Awesome in 4 Weeks
The hat increased my awesomeness by 30%.
This article will increase yours by at least that.
New Lifters, Elite Lifters: TPS Interview with Rosty Kharchenko and Erik...
White Godzilla may be the best nickname ever.
5 Things to Do on a Glute Ham Raise Bench Besides GHR’s
If you are only using the bench for GHR’s, you are missing out on a lot of progress.
Here are 5 killer accessory exercises to get you strong(er) and jacked(er).
Be Tactical-What to Do at a Meet
As a Powerlifting coach you need to manage your lifters and do the thinking for them.
All they should need to do the day of the meet is lift.
What Do Hockey Goalies and Lifters Have in Common?
Murph is the founder and owner of Total Performance Sports. Follow as he preps his athletes for the Women’s Open Pro Am, the RPS New Hampshire & Vermont State Championships, the APF Nationals, and more!
How to Run a Great Strongman Contest: The Final Days Before Competition
If you followed my advice from the first article and prepared for the events, there are just a few more things you need to do before kicking off the competition.
How to Run a Great Strongman Contest: 6 Steps to a Better Competition
Our show is one of the longest-running shows in America and is a highly-organized, efficient, and well-run event that athletes look forward to. But it wasn't always like that — we started poorly and disorganized. Here's how we fixed it.
The Farmers Walk: Programming it for Powerlifters + Meet Update
I like using the Farmers Walk just about all year with our lifters.
We wave it in using a 1 handed option and using both hands from time to time.
TeamTPS at World’s Strongest Man
I am jacked up with pride about Nick Cambi's performance at World's Strongest Man.
Boris Sheiko Interview Part 2: MUST WATCH-the Secrets of Russian Powerli...
The Secrets of Russian Powerlifting Revealed
Want a bigger Squat, Bench Press and Deadlift?
Watch this interview and take notes.
You will learn what his 3 favorite special exercises are for improving your lifts.
You will learn how to use paused reps and the correct percentages and pause length and much more.
Murph’s Interview with Boris Sheiko Part 1
This is the first in a two part series.
In this one, Boris discusses his trip to the USA, his visit with American Badass Louie Simmons of Westside Barbell, what he learned at Westside and more.
Stick to the Plan or Change It?
When I sit in my high ivory tower and create the World’s Greatest Program for someone to follow it does not mean that every exercise, amount of sets, RPE assignment or variation is what they need to do today.
My Weekend with Boris Sheiko
I took away two very important and distinct differences in the way Boris does things versus how I have been taught to do things, and how they are predominantly done in the US.
1. Big Air versus Small Air
2. Rate of Force Production
How to Run a Great Strongman Contest Part 2
Last week I dropped a bunch of info on How to Run a Great Strongman Contest, before the show.
What to Do As A Novice Strongman — Writing Your Own Program
You need a lot in a strongman program: basic barbell lifts, accessory work, practice with the events, conditioning, flexibility, mobility, and recovery work. Use these ideas to build your own training program.
How to Run a Great Strongman Contest Part 1
My first show started at 9:00 a.m. and ended well past 1:30 a.m., that over 16 hours of you are doing the math.
What to Do As A Novice Strongman — Practice and Training Implements
Interested in strongman? Know this first: being as strong as a Himalayan Mountain Yak is good, but being as strong as a Himalayan Mountain Yak with really good technique is better.
Beginning Strongman-What do I do? Part 2
Last week I went on a rant on why you need to practice lot.
This week I’ll give you some ideas on how to go about it.
Beginning Strongman-What do I do? Part 1
Don’t think about practicing – Practice!
Don’t buy more stuff to practice – Practice the things you have!
Don’t buy more equipment – Practice on the equipment you have!
Don’t put it off – Practice now!
When to Build Strength, When to Display It
Think about it. How do you prioritize these aspects of your training?
Dodgeball Training: Keep the Body Guessing or Drink Your Own Urine + Tra...
Since TPS is a lot like Average Joe’s Gym I decided to take some wisdom from the movie, and Rhodes repeating the quotes:
Gordon: Hey, Peter.
Peter: Hey, Gordon. I'm wailing on my glutes.
Gordon: Sounds great.
Peter: I'm gonna shock the biceps later, then some cardio. Keep the body guessing.
Build Strength, Display Strength or Not: It’s Up to You
I tossed a Wendler quote in last time, so here is another one:
On Max Effort work, you display strength.
On Accessory work, you build strength.
OK, that may not be an actual quote, but it’s pretty close. Jim said that years ago at a Force Production seminar at TPS and it still rings true.
Acumobility — A Game Changer in Mobility
Once the orange ones lose their painful effect, you need to get yourself blue balls. Yeah, I said it. Blue balls.
The Glute Ham Raise-Is it the Single Best Hamstring Exercise?
The GHR is the only exercise the provides, in the words of Fred Hatfield, “a unilateral co-contraction of the hamstrings at the origin and the insertion”.
These 3 exercises are bullshit.
There are literally thousands of great exercises you should do, as a Powerlifter we often get pigeonholed into certain ones or certain types.
You know, we usually do the standard Squat, Bench and Deadlift plus a few variations and generally barbell or dumbbell based assistance work.
Exercise, that’s stupid, just attach a vacuum to your stomach and suck t...
I would argue that a doctor would have let me have bariatric surgery if I asked.
Not my doctor of course. He would have told me to sew my mouth shut and to get on a treadmill for a year.
That by the way would have been good advice.
Don’t Major in the Minors
I see and hear so much owning a gym for as long as I have and a lot of the times I hear people asking questions/doing things that will have little bearing on their success.
Be a Leader, Not a Boss
I have abandoned my planned topic this week and will be writing in a state of great grief.
Today I am going to tell you about how you can learn from someone who taught me a lot. He was a great leader and these lessons will help you to be a better leader, coach, team member and person.
I learned last night
This is a Game Changer-Mobility for Lifters
I am an early adopter when it comes to technology, but not fitness trends.
We see all kinds of stuff come up all the time from DVD’s and infomercials to products which are dubious at best.
Most of it is crap and some is gold.
I never rush to judgement and jump on the bandwagon. This is evident in my programming and choices
Get Stung
I had planned a sweet video for you this week instead of writing but my stupid software was missing an MP4 codec so I couldn’t edit the video.
I have used this software about 7,998,784 times and it was never missing before.
Training Through Injury: The Edema Press
A broken back doesn't mean you can't build your bench. Try this movement to teach better stability through squeezing your glutes and bracing your abs.
PART 2- You Can’t Serve Two Masters-Or Can You? + Training Template
Let’s take a look at how to add strongman into a powerlifting block.
Conveniently, I have one written as my girls are doing this right now.
They are not doing a meet until October, so we are adding in strongman events to:
Have Fun
Make it more interesting
Increase GPP
The Edema Press: How, Why, WTF: Bench with a Brokeback
Disc Injury? It's Not the End! See Why. Part 2
I currently have two lifters; the Chief and Laurie (two Brokeback Powerlifters) with this exact issue-they are almost out of the Acute Phase and will be adding in some cool stuff.
The Edema Press is one of them
OK, there are the bullet points if you didn’t read my last article on
You Can’t Serve Two Masters-Or Can You?
Can you serve two masters?
The Samurai say no.
They say to focus on one thing and do it completely.
I tend to agree with that.
Let me explain.
I see this and get asked about it all the time as a coach.
There are quite a few things to compete in nowadays:
Training Through Injury: How To Overcome Disc and Lumbar Issues
A disc injury is not a death sentence. You now need to develop into a smarter lifter who is not only focused on PR’s but also on long term health.
Disc Injury? It's Not the End! See Why.
Having a disc injury to your lumbar region is not the end of your lifting career, as a matter of fact, this is exactly what turned Vincent DiZenzo into one of the best benchers in the world.
If you train smart and do the proper rehab/prehab there is a strong chance you will return to the platform and be stronger that
Big Squat, Big Bench, Big Deadlift — Big Air
So, you want a big squat, bench and pull? You better learn how to breathe.