Metabolic Stimulus: Fat Loss Rewards for Oxygen Debt
Metabolic Circuits: training that boosts your metabolism? Wait, I thought ALL resistance training boosts your metabolism. Yes, that would be a logical point - well made.
Abdominal Time Waster
Every day at the gym, I watch people spend anywhere from 10–30 minutes on their upper abs, lower abs, and sides.
Assistance Exercises for the Raw Squatter
So it’s been three meets now and I’m still doing this raw thing.
Priming the Pump
We’re all familiar with the standard warm-up routine that has been implemented for decades—jog a lap, perform a brief static stretch of the larger muscle groups, and hit the workout.
Links of Solid Metal Lead to Strength, Speed and Stability
No, I am not talking about the bling around your neck, what connects your wallet to your jeans, or even the crazy S&M stuff you may secretly be guilty of!
Part Two: Discussing Common Arguments Against the “Full Olympic Lifts”
I’ve heard people say it takes too long to teach the full Olympic lifts correctly and that an Olympic lift with poor technique isn’t safe or effective.
Fat Loss for Dummies, Part 2: The Lost Art of Intensity
I’ve been saying for years that fat people finish marathons all the time.
Weight Loss and Strength: A 10-Week Experiment with Shelby Starnes and ...
As Jim Wendler would say, get “north of vag” and stay there. Seriously, anybody can do this.
Part One: A Basis for Using the “Full Olympic Lifts” in Training
Lately, I’ve been reading many articles and different points of views pertaining to the Olympic lifts and their use in training athletes
Improving the Deadlift
There are two major areas that have made a profound difference in my training—proper starting position and sound programming.
Damn, My “Insert Anything Here” Hurts
You didn’t get injured today, but you exponentially increased your potential for injury because your next workout and warm up will be pretty much the same.
In the Field: Working as a High School Strength Coach
The most glaring issue I’ve seen is the lack of athletic movement in all kids in all sports of all ages.
How to Add Cardio and Diet to Your Powerlifting Regimen
I feel a man should be able to lift heavy shit, bust out 10 or more pull-ups, and get up at any given time and bang out two or three miles.
Iron Intelligence
For all the serious lifters out there wondering what they’ll do when they’re no longer able to handle the daily grind that their sport necessitates, I have a suggestion—teaching.
The New Lifter
Read all you can on the sport. A great place to start is the EliteFTS.com articles section.
The Female Athlete’s Epidemic
In 1998, the American Journal of Sports Medicine featured an article titled, “The Association Between the Menstrual Cycle and Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries in Female Athletes.”
A Beginner's Guide to Overhead Pressing
If you haven’t given overhead pressing a fair shot, throw it into your routine for a few weeks and see what happens.
Six Ways to Use Sandbags in Your Football Strength and Conditioning Pro...
Here are six ways to easily implement sandbags into your football strength and conditioning program.
Give Them What They Need
Too often, we get caught up in all the bells and whistles of lifting and forget the building blocks.
Some Days I Hate Squats
Those were the exact words used by one of my clients after finishing her last set of goblet squats.
Training Blast & Dust
With strength training or training for powerlifting, you are in the process of trying to combine many training methods to develop many different abilities.
60 Bench Tips and Common Mistakes
Maybe you just don’t know how to f&*%ing bench! Then we suggest you read these tips.
Win if You Can, Cheat if You Must, But Always Cheat!
In this day of Internet domination, we’re inundated with the insane rants of tiny, little men giving their views about what’s legitimate in our sport of powerlifting.
Fat Loss for Dummies, Part 1: Everything Works but Nothing Works Forever
There you go again—walking in a straight line for hours on that treadmill, dancing on and off that step in your “power” aerobics class.
The Holy Wars; Why I Use Olympic Lifts…Sometimes
I’ve found that I have the best alone time when walking my dogs on a nice morning. A few days ago, it was unseasonable warm here in Pennsylvania, and I was spending some quality time with two of my dogs. I started thinking about training.
The Mindset Behind a Great Bench Press
What does everyone want? A bigger bench press of course. Let’s face it—people don’t walk up to you and ask, “So what do you curl?” Everyone wants to know how much you can bench. Well, I can bench press a lot, and I’m going to share some tips with you.
Iron Warrior Training
I put this program together to try and maximize strength and mass as much as possible. I am a believer that you need to get stronger to get bigger. And also just want to be strong, but also large a lean.
Powerhouse and Hard Body
How long does it take an overweight powerlifter to turn into a chiseled X-men Wolverine? According to Jason Adams, 16 weeks.
Turning Dreams into Reality...
On November 30th I will finally open my own gym—Daman’s Strength Training. This has been a dream of mine ever since I walked into my first gym when I was 12-years-old. I walked down to the gym every day after school with a few friends.
How to Set Up on the Deadlift
Most of the time, you’ll see the deadlift performed like a cat taking a shit. You know what I mean—the arch and twitch technique? There are a ton of reasons why someone would deadlift this way:
A 4.30 40-Yard Dash
The 4.30 journey is a story that every athlete who has had to run a 40-yard dash can relate to. It is my journey from running a 4.66 40-yard dash as a freshman in college to running a 4.30 for the New Orleans Saint scouts and the New Orleans Arena 1 football team.
Bob Youngs and the Restless
I became acquainted with Bob Youngs well over a decade ago when the internet and lifting forums were still in their infancy. Like many aspiring lifters, Bob served as my guide when I was somewhat lost in the dark, weightlifting wilderness.
EliteFTS: Top 8 Good Morning Exercises
The Good Morning Movement is one of the best movements to include in any strength program. Here are our top 8 Good Morning varieties.
The Pace of Your Stroke: Using Tempo for Gains in Size and Strength
I’ve dealt with several injuries over the last few years and it has caused me to do more research on how to get jacked (more research than I ever wanted to do in my life). However, it’s allowing me to get bigger and stronger, while still rehabbing injuries. The secret to this success has been speed.
The Fifties
For several months, I’ve been doing Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 program. In it, Jim talks about doing exercises for assistance that build muscle mass. He advocates doing several reps of dips and pull-ups every week. At one point, I believe he states we should do 50 dips a week weighted or 100 dips a week with just body weight. If memory serves, he advocates doing something similar with chin-ups or pull-ups.
Smith’s Got Your Back: Warm-ups for Squat Injury Prevention
Squat injuries happen more frequently without a proper warm-up. Dr. Ryan Smith discusses a few simple movements he uses that can save you from painful complications.
Though This Be Madness, Yet There Is Method in It
This year marks the twentieth anniversary of my odyssey as a classroom teacher. Upon completion of my first year, the building principal summoned me to his office, and we reflected on what I needed to do to improve and become more effective as an instructor.
Methods for Training Clients with Hardcore Minds, Not Bodies
What happens when you get a potential client who is all about doing the most hard core exercises, who moves mountains and is willing to go the distance to achieve his goals? As I imagine, you’d probably be happy to have a motivated, determined, and disciplined trainee.
Training the High School Powerlifter
Having been head coach of the Warren Central powerlifting team for almost ten years, I can tell you without hesitation that training teenagers has to be one of the most frustrating, and at the same time, rewarding jobs of my life. Many of the guys I have coached came into our weight room as freshmen having never even seen a weight only to leave after their four years having won district, region, and even some state titles.
The Key to Reaching Athletic Achievement
The most common questions I receive are “What type of program should I be following?” and “What type of program do you follow?” In my opinion, too many athletes concern themselves far too much about what training program they’re following. They don’t focus enough on the other myriad of factors that are more influential in determining how far they’ll go in their sport.
Is Your Finisher Going to Finish You?
You’ve just spent an hour doing a grueling full body workout. Your body is spent from deep, heavy squats, weighted chins, and max effort incline presses. So what do you do now? How about loading up the bar for deadlifts? Why not do them with an underhand grip while you’re at it? Or while standing on a low box?
The Gun Show: The EliteFTS Top 10 Exercise Guide for Bigger Biceps
Honestly? I can’t believe I just wrote this title, nor can I believe I’m going to post this article.
How Do I Get Explosive Strength?
At Synergy Athletics and on nearly every training forum, people ask, “What exercises do I need to become more explosive?”
Top 75 Training Books
Dave asked for the best book on training that you’ve read. Here are your 75 responses:
Get a Grip: Know What’s False
Dave stormed into the office, slammed down his energy drink and crashed onto his chair, still scrolling through his e-mails on his iPhone.
EFS Pro Short Band Strength
Bands were first introduced to Dave Tate close to 10 years ago. After experimenting with accommodating resistance and the use of chains, Dave took his squat from 760 to 855 in 12 months.
Flying Solo: When All You Got Is You
As a lifter, I love training with a crew. Nothing will get you more physically prepared to lift big weights than a group of like-minded individuals.
Practical Training for the Civil Servant
Testing your physical wit, pushing yourself to the very limits all to move the biggest numbers—awesome!
Dual Rack Ropes
Years ago, when I was regularly conducting seminars, I began to notice a common element in many of the university weight rooms I’d visit. I’d always see towels folded over the tops of power racks and taped at their ends.
Want to Train at elitefts? Make a Plan or Suffer the Consequences
My first experience in the EFS gym…
Is Your Warm Up Effective?
Your warm-up should prepare your for the workout without hindering your ability to perform optimally.
