Technology, training tools, and programming methods will continue to evolve, but the fundamentals of athletic development remain the same. Drawing on more than three decades of coaching professional rugby, Ashley Jones explains why mastering basic movement patterns, building strength and power, managing recovery, and holding athletes to high standards will always matter more than chasing the latest trend.

Resistance bands are one of the most versatile and underused tools in strength training. Here's every way to use them, from accommodating resistance on the main lifts to rehab, speed work, and keeping a beat-up body in the game.

Progress stalls when the stimulus gets stale. Ashley Jones explains how to avoid accommodation through planned variation, three-week training blocks, exercise rotation, and smarter loading strategies that help athletes stay on the gain train.

What made Westside Barbell the strongest gym in the world was not the methodology. It was the people in the room and what they demanded from each other.

Modern rugby programs are filled with GPS data, velocity trackers, testing batteries, and performance dashboards. Ashley Jones challenges coaches to look beyond the numbers and ask the question that matters most: Is the program actually helping players perform better when the game is on the line?

I've used the box squat for decades, but only after it exposed everything I thought I knew about squatting.

The perfect program means nothing without the standards to execute it. Drawing on more than three decades in professional sport, Ashley Jones explains why discipline, intent, professionalism, recovery, and personal responsibility matter more than any set-and-rep scheme.

Individualizing training inside a team environment is one of the hardest jobs in strength and conditioning. Ashley Jones explains how his four-stage Quadrant Management System shifts decision-making from coach to player without sacrificing structure, readiness, or care.

A lifter who can bench 500 pounds will shake like a leaf on an unloaded shoulder drill, and that gap is costing you strength.

Dr. Christopher "Marv" Marvin joins Dave Tate for a hard look at patient-first rehab, hypertrophy, pec-tear warning signs, bracing, blood-flow restriction, imaging, and what it really takes to keep training.

The planning conversation never gets you stronger. Only the bar does.

Labor Day is the one holiday that actually understands what training is, because both come down to the same thing: work nobody applauds you for.

A reason is why you can't. An excuse is why you won't. Most lifters never learn the difference because the honest answer costs something.

Fordham strength coach Mark Uptegraff took his team from nine athletes over 20 mph to 46 in a single offseason, and cut the grade-two MCL return-to-play time from 6 weeks to 11 days.

The powerlifting you argue about online is being defined by less than 1% of the people actually in it.

Progressive pre-season planning gives rugby athletes the runway they need to build strength, speed, conditioning, and durability without rushing straight into full workloads. This article breaks down a practical three-phase model—break-in week, standard loading, and shock loading/deload—designed to prepare athletes for competition while minimizing unnecessary injury risk.

A chance re-read of Ethan Hawke's Rules for a Knight uncovered a fable that maps directly to everything elitefts was built on, and everything the training process asks of you.

After years away from writing, Chad Faria realized he never ran out of things to say—he just stopped believing they were worth saying. From family challenges and coaching growth to an 1,800-pound total and lessons learned under pressure, he reflects on consistency, self-doubt, mentorship, and why sharing experience is simply another form of coaching.

With over 35 years in elite sport, Ashley Jones has built his reputation on one thing: mastering the basics. Learn how simplicity, consistency, and individualization drive real strength and performance.

Strongman competitor and gym owner Josh Hendrickson sits down with Dave Tate to talk biceps rehab, training through injury, chasing a sub-20 5K, building 580 Barbell, promoting better strongman shows, and what it takes to stay in strength sports for the long haul.

The Man Maker Beastly is a full-body strength circuit built around one implement and the Zercher position. Using lunges, squats, good mornings, step-ups, and loaded carries, this sequence challenges athletes to stay braced, move efficiently, and build strength that transfers beyond the weight room.

I've used every excuse in the book. It took me years to see the one thing all of them had in common.

The hardest part of elite performance isn’t always the training. It’s managing identity, pressure, suffering, recovery, relationships, and the person you become along the way. This article breaks down the psychological architecture behind contest prep—and why building the mind matters just as much as building the body.

Build the athlete before the season demands performance. Ashley Jones uses a Formula 1 framework to show how coaches can structure the training year: build strength, durability, and capacity in the off-season; test and refine those qualities in preseason; and manage readiness, recovery, and performance during the competitive season.