NEW MEET, NEW TRAINING CYCLE
Strength and conditioning after a meet and before the heavy work starts is a crucial period of time and is somewhat sacred as the date of the meet is always fast approaching. Missing your window of time to rebuild your foundation is a mistake you don’t want to make. Here is what we mean....
GET IN THE GAME AND MAINTAIN RADIO SILENCE
Are you about radio silence, or socialookatmedia? Are you actually in the game, or just posting through the motions? Did you know that those with big numbers win, and those without big numbers post? Here is what we mean.....
5 Things You Must Know as a Novice Powerlifter
Your future in this sport deserves to be worked on not only at the gym and with your physical strength and power, but outside of the weight room as well, with your mental focus and contemplation.
THE PENDULUM OF POWERLIFTING
There is no right nor wrong in powerlifting as neither RAW nor equipped are better than one another. After all, minor squabbles aside, powerlifting as a whole is a brotherhood of iron. However, in the land where RAW is 90% of the game, powerlifters, like shards of metal to a magnet, are drawn to big numbers and biggest numbers reside in the land of the free and home of the equipped. Here is what we mean.....
THREE LIFTERS IN A GARAGE
If necessity is the mother of invention, then creating your own training space is the answer to your future potential. If you have been thinking about this, if it has crossed your mind more than a few times, take this as a sign and make it happen.
A VOICE FOR THE VOICELESS
As powerlifters, as powerful individuals it is always the right time for those who have power to protect those who do not.....Here is what we mean....
SHOOTOUT at the O.K. Corral
In a world that is some 90% RAW, the APF Equipped Nationals is one of those few remaining equipped meets that is still a shoot-out at the O.K. Corral for those battle tested 10% that still don the armor of the geared powerlifter. Here is a look at some of that meet training.
Dusting Off the Past to Answer Questions for the Present
There is often hope that the future is the timeframe where many problems and questions of humanity will be solved. But sometimes the questions have already been asked, pondered, explored, researched and answered.
SHIRT UP!!!!
Sometimes less is more. But then there are times when more is just plain old flippen more. Which is best depends on the situation and the circumstances. When it comes to your total, which is best can vary greatly....Here is what we mean....
GOING OFF-ROAD TO GET BACK ON TRACK
Sometimes the weights are moving like they have been hollowed out and other times they feel like they are welded to the ground. When you find yourself in a training rut, going off-road is one cure to getting back on track......Here is what we mean.....
IRON RESOLVE-ARE YOU FACING SURGERY??? *VIDEO INCLUDED
Your surgery date is set, you are going under the knife and it is going to impact your training. You hope for the best because unlike controlling your training, the surgery is something someone else will be controlling. That said, you do have some locus of control....Here is what we mean....
YOU CAN’T KILL A MASTER LIFTER!!!! *VIDEO INCLUDED
The saying goes like this….“Beware of an old man, in a profession where men usually die young.” This is true in the arena of battle. Although less lethal, this is also true with regard to the arena of strength sports. Here is what we mean......
The Silent Partner
The weights weigh what they weigh and I can either lift them or I can’t. They never try to convince me of anything. They are what they are and that is what they will always be.
KEEPING A PACE [Training Video Included]
At the big international meets the pace gets ramped up in speed with pit crew like loaders. That pace only quickens as flights find themselves getting smaller and smaller as the herd is being thinned out by stricter judging. Training pace is a variable that one must absolutely control.....here is what we mean....
BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND
Stephen Covey States...“If your ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step you take gets you to the wrong place faster.” Planning for your next meet, by beginning with the end in mind. ....here is what we mean.
EL GORDO!!!!
For today’s Coaching Log, we have reached into our mail bag. "What bar gets you a great bang for the buck, a load of versatility while on a budget?" Here is our answer.......
QUAM MINIMUM CREDULA POSTERO!!!!
“Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero,” in essence translating to "Seize the day, put very little trust in tomorrow (the future)". Things to come are not a given, they are not guaranteed, you can’t just trust that everything is going to fall into place, and you must take action for the future, today. ....Here is what this means for your training......
JACK OF ALL TRADES, MASTER OF NONE, RIGHT?....NOT SO FAST....
Not everyone wants to compete in more than one iron sport, but if you do, know that it takes a special kind of dedication and determination. But also know, if this is what you want to do, it can be done. Here is what we mean.....
NOWHERE TO RUN AND NOWHERE TO HIDE
A lifter is either prepared for their meet, or they are not. No amount of social media posts of gym lifts earn a single white light, and ones competition surely does not concern itself with that. As lifters we ask ourselves, “did we put in the work….were we honest about our depth….did we really leave it all at the gym each and every training session?” ......Here is what we mean....
STRONG(HER)
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” -Margaret Mead Making a difference, one meet at a time. ....here is what we mean....
![When the LAST day is really the FIRST day [training video included]](https://www.elitefts.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Eagle-Wallpaper_4740084130_o7001-300x250.jpg)
When the LAST day is really the FIRST day [training video included]
As the men and women of the United States Navy are cut from a cloth that demands the best out of themselves not only mentally, but physically, the Monster Garage Gym is honored to serve as powerlifting central for some of these amazing individuals. ......here is what we mean.....
You Have To Want It More Than You Are Afraid Of It
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood...who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” -Theodore Roosevelt
![SLOOOOOW AND STEADY [Includes Training Footage]](https://www.elitefts.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/EliteFTS-via-MGG1size700-300x250.jpg)
SLOOOOOW AND STEADY [Includes Training Footage]
Aesop alluded to it back in 564BC within a fable. How Slow and Steady is as relevant today in powerlifting as the concept in general was all that time ago. Here is what we mean....
FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME
Although each year’s Super Bowl has its own mystique to it, for us, this one is special because the gentleman who co-founded the Monster Garage Gym with me is Philadelphia Eagles assistant defensive line coach, Phillip Daniels. Here is the story.....
THIS TOO, SHALL PASS…(PART II of SAME WEEK DIFFERENT GOAL)
“This too, shall pass,” is often a statement uttered after a lifter fails at an attempt, or bombs at a meet, or in the case for this coaching log, falls prey to injury. In this coaching log we apply it to that time during injury rehab. Check out Part II of this series of training through injury.
The Fermi Paradox and Powerlifting
The period of time that a lifter is a the top of their game is a delicate balancing act between utilizing the tools that got them to an elite status and backing down from those tools at appropriate times so as not to tip the scales from continued success to prematurely landing at the expiration date.
THE WEIGHT IS NOT GOING TO LIFT ITSELF
There is nothing much better than a big squat or deadlift day. Gunning for a p.r. with your teammates around you as you prepare for a meet, that is just an amazing feeling. Suspended good mornings however….eh, not so much fun. Not very fun, but very essential....Here is what we mean.
The SECRET SYMMETRY between technique, programming, work ethic....
...it might not be that your program is not working for you, as it might actually be perfectly suited for your needs. Perhaps the weak link in the chain of your training is technique. Here is what we mean.... Training Video Included
![SAME WEEK DIFFERENT GOAL PART I [training video included]](https://www.elitefts.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/mggeliteftsrhinoglass1-300x250.jpg)
SAME WEEK DIFFERENT GOAL PART I [training video included]
This week we begin a multi-part series on training through injury. In the sport of competitive powerlifting, there is a 110% chance you will be injured, and the closer you are to an elite total, typically the greater the seriousness of the injury.
NEW YEAR NEW FRONTIER
As one chapter ends, another begins and so goes this great journey of ours called Powerlifting.
SANTA CLAUS and NOSE BLEEDS
As we move into the last days of 2017, rapidly approaching the New Year, the crew at the Monster Garage Gym takes pause to wish you a Happy Holiday Season and present you with a little gift.... Check it out.
THE SCRAPS
The not so Top Secret, secrets that successful powerlifters include in their training. ...THE SCRAPS. Here is what we mean.
NEW DOGS, OLD TRICKS
Following the lifters you want to be like is a smart thing. However, learn to differentiate what they are doing now, vs with what they have already done in order to get here…… this is what we mean.
The Strongest Man in the Gym
Although we have had a number of 1000-pound squatters and 800-pound benchers at the Monster Garage Gym, I can tell you—and so would the majority of the powerlifters at the gym—that Jerry is the strongest man in the gym.
EQUIPPED MONSTERS ROAMING IN A RAW WORLD
While some debate RAW vs EQUIPPED true powerlifters are honed in on what really matters and that is preparing to do better at their next meet than their last meet. Pitting RAW vs EQUIPPED is the snapshot taken by those who lack the depth to see the big picture. Here is what we mean.....
![The THANKSGIVING COACHING LOG [training video included]](https://www.elitefts.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/23847373_2136388976386698_8327536941013187070_o1-300x250.jpg)
The THANKSGIVING COACHING LOG [training video included]
Although we are sharing with you a training video which is always a part of our coaching logs, today is really about saying “thank you” for following our coaching logs.
TWO ENDS OF THE SAME SPECTRUM
Separated by some four decades, and leading two completely different lives, young twenty-something Alex Carl and 65 year old stage 4 Cancer survivor, Jerry Lezon both competed in their first powerlifting meet this past weekend.
TECHNIQUE MATTERS
Lifting heavy is essential, but doing so with sub-par form after time converts into plain and simple sub-par performance and can ultimately end in injury, neither of which serve the competitive powerlifter.
When a Building Is More Than Its Four Walls
All that the S4 embodied—all the history, all the depth of meaning, all the blood, sweat, tears, sacrifice and giving—will live on as those traits come to life and are reborn with S5.
THE EGG AND CHEESE FOOT-LONG SUB SANDWICH COACHING LOG
PART III in the series following the training of two, 1,000LB squat, 2400LB totaling powerlifters. PART III, deadlift training.
THE BEST PROGRAM FOR YOU, IS THE BEST PROGRAM FOR YOU
THE BEST PROGRAM FOR YOU, IS THE BEST PROGRAM FOR YOU...HERE IS WHAT WE MEAN…..
RAW TRAINING FOR GEARED LIFTING (VIDEO INCLUDED)
Successful geared lifters know that RAW lifting training cycles in addition to their geared work serves to give the geared lifter more bang for their equipped buck. Here is what we mean…..
Put the Phone Down!
I have never witnessed a singular item more capable of disrupting a training session than the cell phone. There's a better alternative that gives all the benefits of technology with none of the downside.
POWERLIFTING LONGEVITY W/VIDEO
The BIGGEST numbers you can attain, that is a great goal. The BIGGEST numbers you can attain, and then continue to produce for an extended period of time, that is the ultimate goal.
AWPC RAW WORLDS Best Lifter Training Program (Women's division)
This week's coaching log features the AWPC Worlds Best Lifter (Women's Division) training program from start to finish.....check it out!!!!
The Reincarnation of the Powerlifter
As powerlifters we are, in the sense described in 'The Egg', reincarnated. We live and die and are reborn several times over our lifting career.
AWPC RAW WORLDS TRAINING (WOMEN'S DIVISION)
The final two bench workouts prior to the competing, in this case, in the AWPC RAW World Powerlifting Championships are a great indicator with regard to how you peaked or didn't properly peak for the meet…..here is a closer look.
BELT SQUAT
You have heard the saying, don’t believe the hype right? Well, let me tell you it is pretty awesome when something exceeds all the hype. …..Here is what we mean.
PERFECT PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
We know the adage, Practice Makes Perfect. When it comes to power, technique and execution, the saying should really be, Perfect Practice Makes Perfect….Here is what we mean.
When Strong Is All You Can Be
Within the environment of the serious gym, race, religion, political ideation, and gender identity fall a far second to the bond of power, strength, and living life to its fullest. This is the story of strongman and powerlifter Kristian Johnson.
REPS vs REPS
When deadlifting in training, there are reps, then there are reps…..here is what we mean.
STRONGMAN SUNDAYS
We all know the story about filling the jar of life with rocks, pebbles, sand, then water. Sometimes in training, the water that tops off the jar of our powerlifting can be found within the discipline of another strength sport….Strongman. Here is what we mean.
WHEN A BARBELL IS MORE THAN JUST A BARBELL
Every powerlifter has that one barbell that they really love to train with. Maybe because it has a great knurling, or maybe because its sleeves spin flawlessly, or perhaps maybe it is because it survived a mortar round…..here is what we mean...
The Gift of Perspective: Things to Know as a New Powerlifter, Lessons 14-19
Through articles two and three we have now shared the first fourteen, of many, perspectives for the beginner and intermediate powerlifter to consider. Let's dig into the next five.
MEET THE DAY GUY
He has a chest full of military decorations, a shoulder full of titanium and 8 combat deployments in the middle east….but all that said, he prefers simply to be called, “the day guy.” ….Here is what we mean.
RELENTLESS TRAINING PART III
This is the PART III of the three part RELENTLESS TRAINING SERIES. We have jam packed this week’s 875LB bench footage, along with the training footage from the prior two weeks of 900LB and 900LB+ bench training, right here in this one Coaching Log.....