It doesn’t matter if you’re planning on coaching part-time or full-time; coaching is a job that requires time, passion, and a deep love of the sport — no matter the paygrade. If you’re only in it for the glory or money, you’re not going to last long.

I get a lot of questions about bars from people. As someone who loves car shows and learning more about cars, I decided to teach people about specialty bars in a similar type of format. I call it: the bar show. (Get it? Bar show? Car show? OK, fine, I’ll see myself out for that pun.)

Enough of the excuses. I’m sick of hearing them. You have the energy to roll on the floor for 45 minutes before you train, take 34 selfies, and tag the gang before you leave the gym, but you can’t spend an extra 30 minutes on your back?

It’s inevitable that a lifter will hit a plateau at some point or another. It’s frustrating, I know. Trust me, I’ve been there. But after 10 years of powerlifting and 14 years of strength training before that, I think I’ve unlocked some of the secrets to making gains. Here are five things that helped me increase my lifts.

I started my career as a strength and conditioning coach nearly 40 years ago. Throughout those 40 or so years, I picked up and learned a lot from other people. I tried to name as many of these people and their ideas as possible, so here it is, in an easy-to-read ABCs format.

Why are we not focusing on the mechanics? Why is this not important to more coaches and personal trainers? Why are we not laying the groundwork for these athletes to be successful? Staying healthy is a huge part of being successful and in the world of college athletics, if you are injured, you’re not playing.

Most intermediates that have come to me without ever working with a qualified coach before are lacking a few qualities in their technique, especially on big lifts. Lacking these qualities can potentially lead to injury at one point or another. These two qualities are tension and torque.

You can’t control what people say about you. Sometimes what they say will be good; sometimes what they say will be bad. What you can control is the way you respond to it. You can let the media get you on the highs and lows of the season, or you can simply choose to not respond to it. It’s your choice.

What should you say on video, in your blog posts, or in your emails to clients? What if you’re helping them through a change? The most important thing is to say SOMETHING. So consider this list an example of “Good, better, best.”

Here are the articles, blogs, and logs that were clicked, read, liked, and shared the most for January: Operation Be Less Fat, GHR Methods You Should Be Using, Extra Bodybuilding Workouts for the Powerlifter, a Six-Week Wave Bench Progression, and more! Find out too, a couple of things we’re compiling for February.

Steve “Kono” Konopka and I cover our daily pre-practice warm-ups, bulletproof shoulder circuits, what we call the “f@#k the bottom, you belong at the top” conditioning circuit, and answer a couple of questions in the third part of our #BAMF Wrestler series.

Here are two versions of a Super Bowl feast that can easily be prepared just in time for the game. There are many versions of macronutrient cycling protocols that we use to maximize client success. These two examples are a great way to get you started.

I pose the following questions: How mindful are you of your feet? Do you think about where you want to go versus where you are heading? Are your feet on the right path, and if not, why? These questions and the wisdom you can obtain from them extend far beyond chalk and iron.

I’m not going to waste your time today, so I’ll get right to the point. Here is my list of reasons why you should avoid linear programming for group box classes at your facility like the plague. Your clients will thank you — maybe not directly, but at least by continuing to show up for class.

Sure, you could just pull out some tarot cards or dust off your great-grandmother’s crystal ball to predict what powerlifting’s going to be like in 10 years. Better yet, you could listen to Dave Tate and Joe Sullivan’s powerlifting predictions.

For those of you who’ve never done a meet, save this, and read it again before your first. And for those of you who just can’t finesse attempt selection, here’s a formula I developed to make attempt selection as close to fool-proof as it’ll get.

Reading Al Miller’s “The System” made me think about my most successful program. I’ve dubbed this hodgepodge of six years in strength and conditioning “Performance Drive Response,” which is a culmination of a bunch of different systems I’ve used, seen, and been in or part of.

Rather than get into a debate over the best videos of 2018, we just decided to pull together a video montage of some of our favorite moments in 2018. If you missed anything in this montage, it’s all good. We have timestamps with links to the video in question.

In an effort to accomplish the goals of both athlete preparedness and strength, power, and speed development, the Belt Squat Overcoming Isometric can be utilized effectively and specifically to an athlete’s sport.

Coaches, athletic trainers, physical therapists, equipment personnel, and league officials all have distinctly different vantage points on the same subject matter. Somewhere along the lines, one of the most critical perspectives gets lost in the shuffle: the players’.

After being officially diagnosed with sleep apnea, it was time for the CPAP machine to arrive. Let’s just say I felt like a cross between a giddy kid on Christmas Eve and as reluctant as Darth Vader probably would’ve been in the bedroom. Little by little, I’m feeling better, thanks to the supportive gear for my lungs.

“If the bar ain’t bending, then you’re just pretending.” What that saying doesn’t account for is the danger of a bar bending over you mid-squat. Joe Sullivan’s no pretender, and luckily he’s here to tell the tale of surviving a bar-bending incident that could’ve been deadly.

We associate the word “heart” with an emotional response and driving purpose, when it is, in fact, the opposite. It’s the act of leaving emotions and connections behind, if only for a short while.

This month’s featured program should help build confidence by benching with low rep sets with lower percentage weights and practicing higher percentage singles. Feel free to toss in some assistance work while you’re at it, too.

This episode’s guest is Georgia Southern University’s sports psychologist Dr. Brandon Harris. He explains what exactly he does and what his job entails while giving listeners a deeper insight into sports psychology.

I decided to make some notes about the main things I would have in a gym if I owned one and didn’t care as much about making money as I did about just having a badass gym to train in. I think every meathead has done this at one time or another.

Obesogens are kind of exactly what they sound like: a chemical that can heavily contribute to obesity. Get to know some of them by name, learn how to avoid them, and potentially drop some body fat.

Disclaimer: Not all of us here at elitefts are doctors or physical therapists. Case in point: Joe Sullivan thinks the best way to deal with bicep tendonitis is to watch Dave Tate’s Q&A because someone asks this question at least once a week.

One of Dave Tate’s answers to an Instagram Q&A prompted me to think about what makes a good coach in more detail… and yeah, this kind of turned into a verbal Jerk-off of Dave. But I believe what he does for lifters is the pinnacle of coaching.

Are you always on the go? Not sure when you’re going to get your next box squat in? We have the perfect solution for you, and it’s called the elitefts Squat Box. Not only is it lightweight, but it’s incredibly versatile, with three heights in one box!

There is a tool for every job, and as there are many jobs for the powerlifter, there are many tools at their disposal. The key is to apply the proper tool to the proper job at the proper time. Let’s focus on the tool known as the wrist strap.

Powerlifting gave me a great foundation for strongman, but I still had to do a lot of training for it. Even though I technically qualified for USS Nationals, I want to make sure I can handle heavier events before I even think about competing.

With all of the information we have at our fingertips, it’s easy to lose track of some of the basic principles of strength training. One that’s easy to forget: Balance training and recovery as evenly as possible.

In this collaborative podcast, Zach Gallman and Mark Valenti bring on Dave Tate as a guest. Together, the trio talks about a variety of subjects, including elitefts’ history, Crossfit, the shift from geared to raw powerlifting, and more.

If you are a bench-only lifter, an older beat-up powerlifter, or just really need to get in some lower body training in, these six exercises will cover all three of those bases. These exercises are my workaround to hammer the lower and upper body while keeping a strong bench.

I bet you thought you’d seen the last of me and my logs. And… in a way, you might have. But at the very least, I wanted to update all of my readers and followers here on my life before I start a social media blackout so I can get back into training.

Even though squatting is rare in the lower levels of strong(wo)man competitions, I believe it’s something we still need to work on as an accessory movement. Grab some of your elitefts specialty bars, and I’ll show you the ropes.

Understanding the warning signs and red flags of injury are paramount to successfully pushing your body to the brink without derailing due to injury. So what signs did our example athlete miss in the previous article?

Where part of the problem lies is in the assumption that a single should always or usually be heavy or maxed. The single, the heavy single, and the 1RM should really be seen as three different terms entirely.

As Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu grows more popular, so does misinformation about training for the martial art. This article will provide both empirical and anecdotal information about strength and conditioning for this particular combat sport.

This part of my program has got your back. Literally. This time around, we’re going to focus on the back. We’re gonna send it shooting off like a rocket. Blast-off!

“Training is my therapy” should sideline a powerlifter from competitions. If training really is your therapy, you’re going to get hurt. If that’s the case, you need to see an actual therapist. Seriously.

This article is not a guide to running your kids into the ground because, you know, “mental toughness.” If that’s what you’re looking for, I suggest you find a different career field.

To quote the third single from The Offspring’s album Americana: The kids aren’t alright. But a solid school weight room can make a huge difference in these kids’ lives and overall education. Here are five things the best school weight rooms have.