Correcting and/or Preventing Muscular Imbalances
Many articles extol the need for balancing the muscles. Much of this is warranted. The problem lies in how to do this and when it should be done. In some cases, it’s necessary to look at what actually constitutes an imbalance.
Problem—Raw Bench Press; Solution—Plyometrics
Speed training in the bench press has become increasingly popular. Louie Simmons of Westside Barbell Club popularized this concept by advocating a speed day in the bench press. Some call it a “dynamic” day, and some call it a “light” day.
EliteFTS Spotlight: Justin Cecil
Justin Cecil is a full time staff member at St. Vincent Sports Performance in Indiana, and serves as the head strength and conditioning coach at Lawrence Central High School.
EliteFTS Spotlight: Josh Bryant
Josh Bryant is a speed, strength, and conditioning coach. He is also a personal trainer who has works with many clients in person at Metroflex Gym in Arlington, Texas and via the internet.
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.
Powerlifting Sport Psychology Training
Have you ever been to a powerlifting meet and heard someone boast about colossal training lifts?
EliteFTS Spotlight: Al Caslow
This week's EliteFTS Spotlight focuses on powerlifter Al Caslow, the newest EliteFTS sponsored athlete and member of the Q&A staff. Al is currently ranked #1 in the world in the 165 pound class.
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
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.
The Perfect Program: For Lifters and Coaches Alike
Here’s the deal. All sound programs work and they work well. The best one is your preference. However, there’s a catch to everything and this has more than one.
Monitoring Training Status: The Finger Tap Test
Monitoring training status is something very vital when training athletes.
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.
Bridge the Gap: Sprint-Resisted Training
“Heredity only deals the cards; environment and training plays the hand”(1). It’s possible for an athlete to improve in every phase of playing speed, whether it be maximum miles per hour, stopping and starting, feinting, faking and cutting, or multi-directional high speed acceleration with a complete “holistic” speed development plan (1). Genetically gifted athletes may be fast with little work or preparation, but they are nowhere near their genetic limitations with regards to maximum speed.
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
My Journey into Bodybuilding (Part 3)
My journey to bodybuilding hasn’t been an easy one. The diet, the cardio, the training—it’s all become old pretty quickly. I’ve found that the most difficult thing about this “sport” is the time you need to invest in it to make it work.
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.
Triple Extension Movements for Football Using Strongman Training
When you watch the world’s strongest man contests on television, it should be obvious that these athletes are not only aggressive, fast, explosive, athletic, and flexible, but they have a great anaerobic threshold.
EliteFTS Spotlight: Jim Steel
This week’s EliteFTS Spotlight features University of Pennsylvania strength and conditioning coach Jim Steel. Coach Steel is a former college football player with an extensive powerlifting background.
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.
The Prowler Challenge
It’s the perfect conditioning device for anyone looking to cut the B.S., start training like a man again and not waste time.
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 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!
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.
The Power of Information
As coaches, we all know about the myriad problems we’ll encounter in the course of trying to make our athletes better. These problems are generated by everyone our players come into contact with on a daily basis. From their parents, to their friends, to the ubiquitous “guys on message boards,” our kids are bombarded with stuff that’s not coming from us. From where I’m standing, there are two major problems with this:
The Angry Coach Sounds Off
If you had control of everything in your football program, how would you set up your work week with regard to the organization of in-season practices? What would be the ideal way to marry the biological needs of the athletes with their game day needs (individual and group drills to implement and execute your game plan for the week)?
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?
Elitefts Spotlight: Yosef Johnson
Yosef Johnson is the owner and president of Ultimate Athlete Concepts, a company he founded in Muskegon, Michigan in 2001 with the goal of bringing together the best scientists from a variety of fields and incorporating their knowledge into a comprehensive line of products which were previously unavailable to North American athletics coaches.
Muscle Relaxation Techniques
The ability to reduce tension and relax muscles affects strength, speed, coordination, and in turn, sports performance.
Are Your Lateral Rotators Strong?
The rotator cuff muscles of the shoulder play a very important role in the prevention of shoulder injury and in the execution of overhead throwing and hitting actions.
The Making of Elite Sports Performance
There are many great gyms in the United States. Ohio has the great Westside Barbell, California has Diablo Barbell, New York has Adirondack Barbell—home of the Metal Militia, and Nebraska has Big Iron.
Are Plank Exercises for You?
One of the latest rages in the fitness industry is the plank exercise. In essence, plank refers to maintaining your body in a straight line from head to toe, as for example, in the up position of a push-up.
How We Use The Prowler
A few weeks ago, we decided to put together a roundtable-style article about the use of the Prowler...
EliteFTS: A Thank You Letter
I am honored to say that I own one of your “build your own 3 X 3 professional racks.
Why Does the Butt Kick Reign Supreme?
If you watch runners before a race or if you watch baseball, football, or other athletes warming up before a game, you will see that most of them do the butt kick (quadriceps) stretch.
Are You Setting Yourself Up for Injury?
Lifting weights is easy, but preventing injuries when lifting weights is not always as simple. Because of this, it is not uncommon to find many injuries in weight training. To help prevent injuries and make your workouts more productive, here are seven key factors that you should take into account when weight training.
Is Technique Important for Better Playing?
Coaches believe that technique should not be touched. They firmly believe that technique is an individual thing that is innate to each individual. However, these ideas could not be further from the truth. One of the most effective ways to improve sports performance is to improve technique.
Does the Football Combine Predict Playing Ability?
Football coaches know that selecting a player based on combine results is a crap shoot at best. In this article, Dr. Yessis evaluates the tests used to offer a possible explanation of why the combine results are such poor predictors of game play success.
General Versus Special Exercises
One of the main distinguishing features of the Soviet system of training athletes is their distinction between general and specialized exercises.
To My Readers.. by The Thinker
One week ago I was offered and accepted an incredible opportunity to co-author a book outlining the physical preparation training of 6-time UFC Champion Randy Couture.
Are We Truly Improving Performance?
A noted sports columnist in the San Diego area lamented the fact that one of the state universities was unable to field a championship women’s volleyball team (they already dropped the men’s program even though it was the only program to bring in an NCAA championship).
The Stretch Reflex
Many people refer to the stretch reflex as the key to explosive training. How it is applied, however, is frequently misunderstood. This article takes an in-depth look at this action and how you can better utilize it in any or all aspects of your training.
Review of Explosive Running by Anatoly Bondarchuk
Short, middle, and long-distance runners all need explosiveness.
The Tendo and Its Use for Autoregulation
The Fitrodyne Powerlyzer by Tendo, or Tendo unit as it’s more commonly known, is a piece of equipment used to measure the speed of the bar. This allows the coach to know several things such as whether the athlete is training what he or she is supposed to be training and whether the bar speed has started to drop. Here, I’ll discuss how to use the Tendo unit as a means of autoregulation.
The Thinker: An Update From Behind the Iron Curtain
The Thinker, over the past few years, has in all likelihood answered more Q&A inquiries on this site than anyone else on our staff.
Powerlifting: The Choice of the Two Pains
The great philosophers pontificate about man’s existence preceding his essence.
The Thinker Discusses Olympic Lifts
Question 1: I’d like to thank you for all of the helpful tips, but this is where we’re going to crash. As an athlete, I’ve been performing the Olympic lifts since middle school. I use them with the athletes I train from day one and haven’t had any problems.
The Power of the Team
It’s similar to when your favorite song comes blasting through the speakers at the gym and you get that little extra charge of power for the movement that you’re performing.
What Determines Proper Squat Technique?
The question of how deep you should go in the squat is constantly debated.
10 Reasons to Call your Mom
If you are like me, you probably forgot it was Mother’s Day this weekend. It’s not that I don’t love my mother; I love and admire her. But I had to clear the space in my head to make room for important things such as band tension, the history of Slayer and porn passwords.
Why I Hate Joe DeFranco
Joe DeFranco is full of shit. There I said it. If you have a problem with that statement, then you are wrong.
Teaching the Squat
I have been going to Force Training Seminars, either to help Dave or to do them on my own, for almost 3 years and one of the hardest things to do is get someone to squat correctly.
Spud Inc. Strongman Harness: Product Review
The first thing that you need for serious pulling is a good harness.
Tattoos, Training, and the Wisdom of Stu
About a week ago, I went into Lexington to get a new tattoo. I went there with about ten ideas and worked with the artist, Stu, to develop them. After some talking, we decided on one, and Stu drew something up. Now where to put it…
General Concerns in the S&C Field
Prior to a recent transformation which I recently underwent, I made the choice to negatively interpret a great deal of circumstances which infect our industry and society. I found myself in continual disappointment with respect to a host of factors.
Repetition Work (or How to Rip Off Joe DeFranco, Add a Twist, and Call I...
Last week, I wrote about dynamic bench work and how you shouldn’t just kick it to the curb. I listed several different dynamic cycles, and there are approximately 5,000 more that have been written about. The whole purpose of the article was to revive the dead and bloated dynamic bench press.
Strap It On
Lifting accessories have been around since lifting began. Accessories cover the gamut from bars to gloves to belts to hats to knee and wrist wraps.
Letter of Resignation
This letter is to inform you that I am resigning from my position as head strength and conditioning coach. I enjoyed my time while at the university and feel grateful for the knowledge and friendships that I have gained. I feel I owe it to you to offer an explanation as to why I have made this decision.
The Collegiate Power Rack
What makes the Collegiate Power Rack such a great piece of equipment? Just about everything!