Speed Strength: The Phase before The Phase
Speed Strength: The Phase before The Phase

Use the guidelines to increase your speed strength.

Raising the Bar: A Review
Raising the Bar: A Review

Dave Tate’s first book, Under the Bar, was billed as a book that wasn’t about training but kind of was. It wasn’t about business but kind of was, and it wasn’t about life but kind of was. His second book, Raising the Bar, is very similar but with a dark twist.

 Underground Strength Session 2009 Review
Underground Strength Session 2009 Review

It was Friday night. I set my alarm for 5:00 a.m. This was nothing new, but when I woke up in five hours, I would be starting my trek to one of the strongest gyms in the Midwest—the EliteFTS compound.

Injury Prevention Strategies for Female Basketball Players
Injury Prevention Strategies for Female Basketball Players

Injuries are a major setback for any competitive athlete. It can be physically taxing to recover and mentally stressful and draining to be sitting on the bench and going through rehabilitation.

My First Three Weeks as a Strength Coach
My First Three Weeks as a Strength Coach

Since I enlisted in the U.S. Army, I’ve wanted to be a coach. My drive is directly related to my high school experiences as a student athlete and the positive impact one person can have on another individual.

Things I’ve Learned
Things I’ve Learned

As I sat here reading the new articles on EliteFTS.com, I wondered why many of the authors weren’t female

EliteFTS Spotlight: Juliet Deane
EliteFTS Spotlight: Juliet Deane

I’ve been reading the site for a while, but we have our own training studio business, and in the past couple of years, it’s been about a hundred-twenty-five miles an hour, every single day.

Blood and Chalk: Jim Wendler Talks Big Weights
Blood and Chalk: Jim Wendler Talks Big Weights

Jim Wendler of elitefts knows a lot about moving big weights.

Powerlifting Sport Psychology Training
Powerlifting Sport Psychology Training

Have you ever been to a powerlifting meet and heard someone boast about colossal training lifts?

EliteFTS Spotlight: Vincent Dizenzo
EliteFTS Spotlight: Vincent Dizenzo

This week’s EliteFTS Spotlight interview introduces the readership to powerlifting legend Vincent Dizenzo. If you’ve been reading this site for any length of time, Vincent’s name – as well as his exploits under the bar – should be very familiar to you

Proof of Life
Proof of Life

One of my favorite moments in the history of powerlifting is Doc Rhodes’ third deadlift at the 1977 IPF Worlds in Australia. Rhodes was in the 165-lb weight class and had squatted 512 lbs and benched 374 lbs.

Spotlight on Nutritionist Dr. Chris Fox
Spotlight on Nutritionist Dr. Chris Fox

My name is Dr. Chris Fox. I’m a chiropractor who specializes in spinal rehabilitation. I’m 35 years old, I’ve been lifting since I was 13, and I’ve been seriously bodybuilding since I was 20.

Product of Your Desires
Product of Your Desires

You hear people talk all the time about how someone is a product of his or her environment. This is almost always the case when someone has done something wrong, and the argument is used as an excuse for the person as if they had no choice in the matter other than to become what their environment leads them to be

 A Better Way to Achieve Fat Loss
A Better Way to Achieve Fat Loss

Forget what you think you know about losing fat and pay attention. The best way to lose fat is to train for performance.

 Under The Bar: WTF
Under The Bar: WTF

Have you ever been asked a question or heard a statement that made you think or say, “WTF?!?”

The Origin of 5/3/1
The Origin of 5/3/1

In the summer of 2005, I was burned out from competitive powerlifting. I was tired of bench shirts, box squats, bands and being fat.

Matt Holmes’ Journey of a Warehouse Gym
Matt Holmes’ Journey of a Warehouse Gym

ZE: Matty, tell the readers of EliteFTS about yourself, how you started in the fitness industry, and what you have going on right now.

 Interview with Jeremy Frey
Interview with Jeremy Frey

I first started lifting when I was about 11-years-old. I started doing little things before this time, but I entered a weight room when I was about 11-years-old.

 What I Wish I Knew as a Female Athlete
What I Wish I Knew as a Female Athlete

As an athlete, you’re taught many things—work hard, compete until the end, work together with your teammates, push yourself to the limit, and have fun.

Sporting Parents from a Coach’s Perspective
Sporting Parents from a Coach’s Perspective

I know that the EliteFTS.com website and article listings that I look forward to each and every Friday are usually reserved for strength and lifting as well as articles of an informative nature. However, I’m writing one myself from a different perspective.

5/3/1 In A Commercial Gym: Observations
5/3/1 In A Commercial Gym: Observations

Because of a major career change, I’ve recently relocated to a new city. With this move, and all the bullshit that goes along with moving, I’ve been forced to endure the misfortune of trying to find a new gym

 Under The Bar: The 2009 Underground Strength Session
Under The Bar: The 2009 Underground Strength Session

Before I get to the Underground Strength Session (UGSS) I need to take care of a little business first and bring everyone up to speed with what’s been going on around here. Don’t worry – I’ll be quick and even use bullet points.

EliteFTS Spotlight: Joel Jamieson
EliteFTS Spotlight: Joel Jamieson

My career as a strength and conditioning coach essentially began at the University of Washington when I interned under a great coach named Bill Gillespie back in the late 1990s.

Three Reasons Why I Hate “Fitness”
Three Reasons Why I Hate “Fitness”

In a world full of fast food and high dollar gourmet coffee houses, fitness has become somewhat of a joke, and the major players in the game are doing nothing to help matters. By major players, I mean those monstrous facilities with all of their chrome machines, pencil neck trainers, and high pressure sales people.

My Fight: Living With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
My Fight: Living With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

If you’re in the military, or you’re a police officer or fireman, or you work some other job where you’re under considerable amounts of stress on a regular basis, you’re going to want to read this article.

 Fat Loss Without Cardio?!?
Fat Loss Without Cardio?!?

Aerobic exercise is often very rhythmic, and many people detest it because it is so boring. Every time I go into a gym, the so-called cardio section is full, and the weight area is somewhat like a ghost town.

 Raising the Bar Introduction: Blast and Dust
Raising the Bar Introduction: Blast and Dust

Were you fed through a bottle, or were you fed naturally? Did you eat from plastic plates? Stand too close to the microwave? Did you grow up in the ghetto? Are you a recovering drug addict? Is your life a living hell? Are there things about yourself that you don’t like? Do you procrastinate?

 Reevaluation
Reevaluation

Recently, I’ve been on a 10-week decline in the gym. It began with a powerlifting meet that I entered back in November.

The Return of Hardcore
The Return of Hardcore

That’s it. I can’t take it anymore. These sissified commercial gyms and their clipboard holding trainers have just about ruined the weightlifting world.

 My Top Five Strength Movements for Basketball Players
My Top Five Strength Movements for Basketball Players

Players need overall lower body strength, single leg strength, upper back and shoulder strength, mobility, and a solid core. The game also subjects players to pounding and stress on the lower body.

EliteFTS Spotlight: Matt Wenning
EliteFTS Spotlight: Matt Wenning

The subject of this week’s EliteFTS Spotlight is Q&A staff member Matt Wenning. Matt is one of only a handful of people to total over 2600 pounds in professional competition.

Are you playing with a full deck?
Are you playing with a full deck?

Here is a question I was just asked on the Q and A. I do not watch or read the news in regards to political issues so my answer is based solely on the issues I deal with on a day to day basis with no BS or political agenda. It is what it is…

EliteFTS Spotlight: Shannon Turley
EliteFTS Spotlight: Shannon Turley

EliteFTS Spotlight is a new weekly feature here on EliteFTS.com where Q&A member The Angry Coach interviews athletes and strength and sport coaches from various disciplines in order to find out more about what they do, how they train and how they do business.

EliteFTS Spotlight: Julia Ladewski
EliteFTS Spotlight: Julia Ladewski

EliteFTS Spotlight is a weekly feature here on EliteFTS.com where Q&A member The Angry Coach interviews athletes and strength and sport coaches from various disciplines in order to find out more about what they do, how they train and how they do business.

Sick of Your Gym, Part 6; Metro-Sexuals Be Damned!
Sick of Your Gym, Part 6; Metro-Sexuals Be Damned!

As I sit here at my computer, I am battling a certain EliteFTS employee on his desire to become a Metro-sexual. Yes, the current trend of being an androgynous male has invaded the holy ground of the Compound and it is my job, nay my civic and Holy duty, to prevent this at all costs.

Going Deeper into the Deadlift with Mark Rippetoe, Part 2
Going Deeper into the Deadlift with Mark Rippetoe, Part 2

What you’ll see is that he takes about two or three pulses of pull in order to get his weight from his toes back onto the middle of his foot before the bar leaves the ground. In other words, he’s using those little tugs to pull the slack out of his hamstrings after he sets his lumbar spine.

An Interview with Pat Ivey, Assistant Athletics Director, Athletic Performance, Missouri Tigers
An Interview with Pat Ivey, Assistant Athletics Director, Athletic Perfo...

It might seem like I’ve been doing many interviews lately. There’s good reason for this. A few weeks ago, I did an interview for EliteFTS, and I was asked the question, “Who do you feel is getting it done in strength and conditioning?”

Hardcore Extreme Jan. 09
Hardcore Extreme Jan. 09

I’ve been fighting it for a few weeks, but I’m definitely overtraining again. I don’t do shit anymore, but I keep overtraining. One of my training partners asks me what I expect, because don’t sleep. That’s easy. I’m Chad Aichs, and I expect to train hard every day while still getting stronger.

The Steel Yard (Jan 09)
The Steel Yard (Jan 09)

Same old, same old. Just training. I just did a meet about eight weeks ago, and I’m still feeling like hell.

Lifting with Limits
Lifting with Limits

“A man has got to know his limitations.”

Training with Spud
Training with Spud

I moved from Greenville, South Carolina, to Columbia, South Carolina, to go to school at the University of South Carolina almost three years ago. I considered myself a hardcore powerlifter, and at the seasoned age of 19-years-old, I thought I knew what I was doing.

The Dungeon
The Dungeon

Wabush, Labrador, Canada. A small mining town nestled in the cold and desolate woodland of northern Canada. Seven months of the year this isolated town in the middle of nowhere is covered in a deep and cold blanket of snow.

The Reintroduction of J.L. Holdsworth, and the Introduction of the FIVE PERCENT
The Reintroduction of J.L. Holdsworth, and the Introduction of the FIVE ...

Hello Everyone! My name is J.L. Holdsworth and I’m an asshole.

Going Deeper into the Deadlift with Mark Rippetoe, Part 1
Going Deeper into the Deadlift with Mark Rippetoe, Part 1

In the November 2006 issue of CrossFit Journal, Mark Rippetoe published, “A New, Rather Long Analysis of the Deadlift.” He concluded this breakthrough article by identifying three criteria for a correct deadlift starting position:

 Olympic Lifting for the Growing Gymnast, Part 2
Olympic Lifting for the Growing Gymnast, Part 2

Figure 3 exhibits an example of the progression of strength from the developmental strength workout for the compulsory age group.

 How I Passed Basic Training at 235 Pounds
How I Passed Basic Training at 235 Pounds

Before I get started here, I want to say that I am in no way, shape or form a badass. I’m simply an average guy with a little better than average genetics, and a good work ethic. I know a hundred guys that are tougher and more hardcore than I am. They just haven’t written their stories down on paper yet.

 Olympic Lifting for the Growing Gymnast, Part 1
Olympic Lifting for the Growing Gymnast, Part 1

As gymnastics coaches, sometimes we get caught up in sport-specific strength training because that’s what we know best. The belief is that if we strength train for sport-specific movements repetitiously, the gymnast will not only become stronger during those movements but will have less cause for injury. However, it is that frame of mind in which we fail as coaches.

Under The Bar: How to make Dreams come true.
Under The Bar: How to make Dreams come true.

How do you make your dreams and wishes come true?

What I Learned from Donovan McNabb
What I Learned from Donovan McNabb

I’ll have to start this story with an admission—I didn’t play for the Philadelphia Eagles, but I did play a Philadelphia Eagle. Long story short, I played semi-professional football for a few seasons and made the All Star team. Campbell’s Soup took photos of all of the All Stars and selected the ones who looked most like NFL players to play as Eagles for their 2004–2006 Campbell’s Soup campaign with the NFL players and their mothers.

Balancing Act
Balancing Act

This article is geared toward those athletes who need to balance a job, family, and competing at a high level.

An Interview With The Angry Coach
An Interview With The Angry Coach

The Angry Coach is the newest member of the Elite Fitness Systems Q&A Staff. I first met this guy at a seminar back in 2005, and I was immediately impressed with his life experience, his training knowledge and his ability to communicate the things he felt were right and wrong with both athletics coaching and the fitness industry.

Five Questions for The Thinker
Five Questions for The Thinker

1. It must be very exciting to be involved with a winning program at this point in the season. How has this football season been progressing for you, personally?

Dreams, Labor, Facts
Dreams, Labor, Facts

I recently slayed a dragon. It wasn’t a large dragon, but it was mine.

The Entity of Respect
The Entity of Respect

Following my article, “The Age of the Perpetually Entitled,” there was a common theme to the emails that I received. The point made in these emails was that most, if not all, of the “entitled” lack respect yet expect to be respected by their peers. This is a common and recurring issue in athletics and in the workplace.

2008 NASA Unequipped Nationals
2008 NASA Unequipped Nationals

This was my second raw training cycle this year. I did the USAPL State meet to qualify for the Raw Nationals and didn’t get to train for it. I had eight weeks to train for this meet, and the maxes that I based my training on were very conservative.

An Interview with Cal Dietz
An Interview with Cal Dietz

I’m the head Olympic strength and conditioning coach at the University of Minnesota and am currently working with eight sports. These include men’s and women’s hockey, men’s basketball, men’s track and field, men’s swimming, baseball, and men’s and women’s golf.

Interview with Strength Coach Todd Hamer
Interview with Strength Coach Todd Hamer

Todd Hamer is the head strength and conditioning coach at Robert Morris University.

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