Don’t do drugs. Negative side effects and addiction concerns aside, PEDs can really harm athletes’ long-term development and careers. They’re not worth losing the future gains over, we promise.

Fun fact: the farmer’s walk is one of Brian Alsruhe’s favorite exercises of all time. It works your grip, back, traps, biceps, core, and calves… what’s not to love?

I’m going to share a program with you that someone asked for my advice and input on. I know very little about this lifter. I got a little bit of information from them through Instagram, but other than that, what I’m writing are my initial thoughts and an improved program based on this information.

If you have gym friends with different focuses, no worries! The gifts on this shopping list are sure to please both of your powerlifting pals, regardless of their goals, focus, or social media presence.

Since you guys couldn’t get enough of him the first time, we’ve asked JM Blakley to come back to record another Table Talk Podcast episode. So sit back, relax, and listen to JM’s soothing voice instruct you on how to become a better lifter!

Here’s an idea: If your team is losing a game, how about instead of celebrating one good play, try focusing on how you and your team can muster a win.

It’s a double-whammy when you’re the last person standing from the most recent rounds of strength staff layoffs. You’ll have to deal with new head coaches and new staff members. What do you do in that situation? Follow these tips, and you’ll have a good grip on the handle if this happens to you.

Using powerbuilding blocks intermittently can help the weak get stronger and the small get bigger without fully compromising or favoring the other. That’s exactly what this program aims to achieve.

A couple of years ago, I was fixated on all the wrong things. The big picture was out of scope. I urge you to take the time to slow down on accomplishing tasks and enjoy the process. Build relationships and make memories — you’ll regret it if you don’t.

This little old man’s secret to recovery lies in one word: bands.

John Meadows was interested in the things Jordan Shallow discussed in podcasts and IG posts, so he reached out to him with the intention to “steal” some of Jordan’s ideas. Well, that didn’t go as planned. Don’t waste an opportunity to steal this workout from elitefts. Not that it’s stealing; you have our permission.

Believe it or not, sometimes max effort work is not the best option. Here are a few scenarios where that may be the case as well as what you can do to fill in the gaps where the max effort method would be.

Don’t do any of these things… unless you can pull them off.

My fiancée has helped me grow as a person emotionally, mentally, and of note here, physically — I’ve put on about 100 pounds in the last four years, so I need to become the man she sees me as. The items on this list will help me accomplish just that.

“…I’m using powerlifting lifts in a bodybuilding style…” Dan Green shares the secrets to building muscle as a powerlifter and as a bodybuilder.

This is a completely different type of article you’ll find within my column. It’s personal and it makes a case for increased injury burden as an athlete progresses in their career, gets older, trains more, competes more, the list goes on…

The wear and tear of the sport doesn’t end when the lifter stops competing. The price of the platform may be one that they will pay for throughout the rest of their lives.

No aspect of physical culture is more rife with myth, misunderstanding, falsehoods, and fantasy than is the field of nutrition. There is a very good reason that there exists so much confusion to this day when it comes down to what to eat: money.

Having a garage gym has been my dream since 1999. Now I’m going on my 10th year in my second marriage with two kids and working as a part-time Mr. Mom and a part-time gas utility worker in Northern California. That dream is slowly becoming a reality, and the items on this list will help speed things up.

If you’re a heavier trainee, chin-ups are difficult… but not impossible. Case in point: I’m nearly 50 years old and weigh 245 pounds, but I do chin-ups for volume rather than output. Here lies the secret to my chin-up success.

Not every athlete can feel their spine twist into a pretzel, so how do you teach them not to do that? This article will give you a model for how to manipulate the sense of touch to create an altered feedback environment for your athlete. Work your way up from simple movements, such as the prone stick hold, to something more complex, like the overhead press.

A third-year sports coaching strength and conditioning major told me he had learned more about exercise technique in two 10-minute sessions under my instruction than he had over the entirety of his degree to that point. How can we ensure these students are getting the best education?

The Muscle Doc is in the house! Dr. Jordan Shallow is here to answer your (bench) pressing questions, so hop on the livestream and ask away!

The proper resistance profile for strengthening external rotation should have less resistance in fully lengthened and fully shortened muscles and more resistance in mid-range lengthed muscles. While bands are great tools, they aren’t so great for strengthening rotator cuffs.

Don’t despair. Christmas is the season of hope, and these 10 ideas will help ease the pain that years of abuse from Uncle Sam have wrought on that body. So break out the AMEX and get your older military officer or veteran back in the fight!

You write programs for your athletes, but have you programmed anything for your business? Think about GPP for your clients and then create a GPP program for your gym.

When you think of “investment,” you usually think of money. For this article, think about other types of investments: time, effort, and energy. Now, answer this question: What are you investing in?

If we want to help people, we have got to stop picking camps and start putting the client first. Here’s a prime example of how to do that with a focus on the respiratory system.

Brian Alsruhe’s background in strongman, martial arts, MMA, and counter-terrorism led to his training system being “messed up” and unique from everyone else’s. Despite that, he’s found great success with his programming and will be breaking it down in this video.

There’s a fine line between doing enough work and too much work. Don’t fall into this trap. Be realistic with yourself (and your clients, if you’re a coach) and train for long-term success, not for short-term burnout.

I never cease to be amazed at how messed up new collegiate athletes are when they start lifting in the weight room. Year in and year out, this keeps happening without any sign of improvement. Why does this keep happening?

If you’re looking for sets and reps, you’re in the wrong place. But if you wanted some insight on players’ knowledge bases, individualized programs, and how new technologies are becoming more reliable, from Aaron Hoback, athletic trainer for the Milwaukee Brewers, you’re right where you should be.

We value warming up before lifting or any exercise, but we don’t really think much about how to structure a warm-up. This article will help solve just that with a comprehensive review of the literature on approaches to warming up.

Even after 47 years of life, I continue to realize there are crossover lessons between powerlifting and life. Case in point: modifying a new Jeep for desert driving.

Brian Alsruhe’s training style is going to be different than what you’d usually see at the elitefts S5 Compound, but that certainly didn’t stop him or Team elitefts athletes from exchanging ideas and having a good time.

I recently wrote down things I’ve learned that helped me change my life, and I hope this list of those lessons helps you break through whatever you feel is holding you back and achieve optimal health, wellness, strength, success, freedom, and happiness.

Save your back from disc compressions by shifting from heavy squats to belt squats. It’ll help you recover faster, which will give you results faster and with fewer injuries.

In my last article, I went over 2 of the 5 dysfunctions of a team. Here, I’ll cover the remaining 3 and how to bring the team closer together.

Find out who’s coming to elitefts for November, read what content we’re working on for you, and try to win $500 just in time for the holidays!

With $50 you could buy a pair of Croc Lock Collars, so many bands, a Shoulder Saver Pad, (2) Dead Wedges, lots of apparel, a Backnobber, Spud Straps, (7) bottles of Wake Up Motherf****r Smelling Salts, (1 1/2) pair of compression pants. Imagine what you could do with $500…

“I do feel the back is the engine of the powerlifter. You could almost not train anything else but just pound the shit out of your back four times a week and still be strong.”

I have compiled a list of what I have noticed in the 35 years I have spent in gyms that I feel are the five biggest obstacles to growing a great set of titties. Also, ease up on the bench press.

The conjugate method isn’t simple for everyone, which is why Dave decided to write down an explanation on the Table Talk table.

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.

A coach once asked me, “Why do you lift?” My reply: “If aliens landed here and saw a basketball game going on, they wouldn’t have any clue what was happening. But if they saw lifting, they could at least wrap their heads around what they were seeing.”

Dave didn’t realize he had a podcast scheduled for today, so he’s in the hot seat without any prep. If you have questions for Dave, fire away on YouTube’s live stream, NOW.

I tried a few different things to combat the soreness and tightness I had in my adductors. Foam rolling them before and after training, stretches, adductor machine… the list went on. No matter what I did, the pain was still there. So I did more recovery, compression, and Copenhagen warm-ups.