Bodybuilding for the Powerlifter— How to Use High Reps to Get Strong(er)
Bodybuilding for the Powerlifter— How to Use High Reps to Get Strong(er)
High-rep training is extraordinarily useful to powerlifters (even if it’s also extraordinarily unpleasant). Like any other programming tool, however, it needs to be used appropriately, or it can cause more harm than good.
Meet Report: Back-to-Back XPC Finals Super Heavyweight Champion
Meet Report: Back-to-Back XPC Finals Super Heavyweight Champion
Not only was I there to defend my “title,” but I was also there to finally reach a milestone only achieved by a handful of lifters: a 2300-pound total.
WATCH: Table Talk — Conjugate Method Training Tips
WATCH: Table Talk — Conjugate Method Training Tips
You can make this system as complicated as you want it to be, but you can also make it a simple as you want it to be. Understand the basics first.
5thSet Trial and Error — The Failed Experiments
5thSet Trial and Error — The Failed Experiments
Are you thinking about adding a second AMRAP to the program? What about extending the Very High Rep Protocol to squats and deadlifts? If you’re thinking of it, I’ve probably already thought of it.
Understanding Bracing
Understanding Bracing
As you keep working on the technique, you will fully understand the potential bracing has. You will see how important it is in your lifting and how it helps you lift more weight while keeping your back healthy and safe.
Coaching Your First Powerlifting Meet
Coaching Your First Powerlifting Meet
I’m going to give you what I wish I always had: a damn good guide for beginning coaches for their first meet. If you don’t have a mentor or somebody to help guide you, this is perfect for you.
WATCH: Table Talk — Programming Isometrics
WATCH: Table Talk — Programming Isometrics
Following these guidelines and using isometrics in multiple positions, you can increase strength not only at a weak point but throughout the entire movement.
Why Your Meet Prep Sucks
Why Your Meet Prep Sucks
It can be hugely discouraging to feel that all the work you did in the offseason and during your meet prep was wasted because you had one bad day, Unfortunately, all that really counts is what you put up on the platform. Or is it?
Simple Steps to Reaching Your Ultimate Goals
Simple Steps to Reaching Your Ultimate Goals
The goal-setting pyramid I use for my clients and myself helps to easily clarify daily, weekly, and monthly needs for continual progress — and when things slow down, it speeds up troubleshooting and gets you back on track.
All In — When I Got to Westside
All In — When I Got to Westside
Before I started training at Westside, I told my wife I was going to shut off my brain and do whatever I was told, no matter what. It was one of the best decisions I’ve made.
Off-Season Bodybuilding Program for Powerlifters and Strongman Competitors, Weeks 5-8
Off-Season Bodybuilding Program for Powerlifters and Strongman Competito...
The introductory four weeks should have improved your joints and helped you become accustomed to high reps. Now it’s time to get more challenging.
WATCH: Table Talk — The Best Foods for a Squat Bloat
WATCH: Table Talk — The Best Foods for a Squat Bloat
If you’re looking for a serious answer to a question about building a bloat, you’ve come to the right place.
WATCH: How Would You Program for a Deadlift Only Meet?
WATCH: How Would You Program for a Deadlift Only Meet?
Many lifters will be tempted to reduce their squat intensity to preserve energy for the deadlift, but that might not be the best idea.
Using Squat Variations to Alter Movement Patterns
Using Squat Variations to Alter Movement Patterns
One of the best ways to correct movement patterns is to use exercise variations that address your issues. Here are the five most commons squat errors and the variations that solve each.
7 Interviews with Lifters and Coaches I Respect
7 Interviews with Lifters and Coaches I Respect
I made a list of people with informed opinions, from opposite ends of the country, with a wide variety of backgrounds. Their answers to these five questions demonstrate what is alike and what is different about their perspectives on training.
WATCH: Table Talk — Rotating Specialty Bars for the Bench Press
WATCH: Table Talk — Rotating Specialty Bars for the Bench Press
If you’re a beginner or intermediate lifter, this probably doesn’t apply to you. But for advanced lifters, knowing how to alter workload without changing volume might be a big help.
Mastery of the Mundane
Mastery of the Mundane
Everyone trains hard but few do the things that are boring and tedious. It is the willingness to do the mundane that separates those top athletes from the hordes of others training away in the gym right now.
Bracing and the Hip Hinge
Bracing and the Hip Hinge
When your body is under load, minor mistakes can lead to major problems. Whether you’re an explosive lifter or more of a grinder, learning these techniques will greatly improve your squat.
Visualization for Powerlifting: How to Train Your Brain for Big Gains
Visualization for Powerlifting: How to Train Your Brain for Big Gains
Sorry to burst your bubble. There’s really no such thing as 60 seconds to a huge PR. Training, whether it’s mental or physical, requires practice.
WATCH: Table Talk — Training Changes at 50 Years Old
WATCH: Table Talk — Training Changes at 50 Years Old
Since retiring from powerlifting in 2005, Dave has tried a lot of different approaches to his training. There’s one clear winner.
The Fermi Paradox and Powerlifting
The Fermi Paradox and Powerlifting
The period of time that a lifter is a the top of their game is a delicate balancing act between utilizing the tools that got them to an elite status and backing down from those tools at appropriate times so as not to tip the scales from continued success to prematurely landing at the expiration date.
Off-Season Bodybuilding Program for Powerlifters and Strongman Competitors, Weeks 1-4
Off-Season Bodybuilding Program for Powerlifters and Strongman Competito...
A good off-season program gives your joints a break, helps you put on quality muscle, and gives you a mental break from the rigors of competing so you can just have some fun training. This program provides all of those things.
Six Off-Season Bench Cycles to Replace Dynamic Effort Work
Six Off-Season Bench Cycles to Replace Dynamic Effort Work
The six cycles in this article are a great way to add variety, cycle out of traditional dynamic effort bench work, or add some needed muscle mass.
WATCH: How Does It Feel to Do an 1100-Pound Good Morning?
WATCH: How Does It Feel to Do an 1100-Pound Good Morning?
Steve may be one of the strongest squatters of all time, but it hasn’t stopped him from receiving criticism for his squat style. Are the concerns warranted?
WATCH: Table Talk — Using Specialty Bars for Dynamic Effort Work
WATCH: Table Talk — Using Specialty Bars for Dynamic Effort Work
Can you alternate specialty bars for different dynamic effort waves? What about for different weeks within the same wave?
The Coach's Guide to Teaching the Bench Press
The Coach's Guide to Teaching the Bench Press
With beginners you need to follow a simple guide to get them going. Then once they’re ready, you need to focus on the three phases of the bench press. It’s all included in this article.
How to Teach and Coach the Box Squat
How to Teach and Coach the Box Squat
In addition to the numerous, invaluable benefits of the box squat, it’s one of the easier movements to teach if you know how. Use this process to get your athletes box squatting correctly and you’ll see their weight room and sport performance skyrocket.
Reflections on 2017
Reflections on 2017
I have been younger and I have made more money but I have never been more content.
WATCH: The Training and Life of Top-Ranked Powerlifter Rob Hall
WATCH: The Training and Life of Top-Ranked Powerlifter Rob Hall
In under three years of competing, he already has a 2210-pound raw without wraps total and has even bigger goals for the future.
Finish Your Deadlift Upright
Finish Your Deadlift Upright
Many lifters begin the pull with a good arch, approach lockout, and then exaggerate the finish position with overextension of the lumbar spine. This is a good way to become injured and weaker.
Ping Pong and Powerlifting
Ping Pong and Powerlifting
Thinking back to these two activities and my time in college, I find myself wondering if the concept of working in with strangers is a concept lost on today’s youth.
Principal by Day, Strength Legend by Night: Jim Voronin
Principal by Day, Strength Legend by Night: Jim Voronin
The world of powerlifting and Voronin’s life both look very different today than when he was competing at the highest level of the sport, but his knowledge and accomplishments are timeless.
Choosing Conventional or Sumo Based on Bone Structure
Choosing Conventional or Sumo Based on Bone Structure
You will need a tape measure.
Injury — The Real Measure of What Kind of Lifter You Are
Injury — The Real Measure of What Kind of Lifter You Are
Something doesn’t feel right as the bar descends, like your left pec is cramping or something. You touch, hear “press,” and then POP! It all goes black.
WATCH: Table Talk — The Most Important Quality of a Great Coach
WATCH: Table Talk — The Most Important Quality of a Great Coach
It isn’t the number of competitions they’ve won or what degrees they have that can tip you off to who’s good and who’s not. There are three types of coaches in this industry and you need to be able to tell them apart.
New Year, New Bench
New Year, New Bench
There is no reason in the world you can’t give up sucking at bench press. No one gets joy from incompetence in the greatest lift ever. No one. That’s something I can help you with.
A Weekend at the Kabuki Strength Seminar
A Weekend at the Kabuki Strength Seminar
It was a 10-hour drive to Portland, but everything that went into the trip was well worth it for the training knowledge I gained and the experience I had with other lifters. Here are my highlights from the weekend.
10 Stupid Things Powerlifters Need to Stop Doing
10 Stupid Things Powerlifters Need to Stop Doing
Taking five hours to do a bench workout and trying new stuff on meet day both make the list, but neither of them are number one.
WATCH: Table Talk — How to Run a Three-Day Conjugate Training Split
WATCH: Table Talk — How to Run a Three-Day Conjugate Training Split
Due to time constraints or an inability to recover optimally, many lifters seek an alternative to the traditional template. The question isn’t whether or not you can use a modified split, but whether or not your results will be optimal.
6 Big Boy Season Must-Haves
6 Big Boy Season Must-Haves
I was 417 at my biggest, and very ill-informed about my strength. Powerlifting seems to have a general acceptance of “bigger” meaning “stronger,” but bigger isn’t always better.
Staying Calm When the Weight is On — 60 Seconds to a Huge PR
Staying Calm When the Weight is On — 60 Seconds to a Huge PR
This breathing exercise will help you to perform your heaviest sets with much more confidence and ease. It will take practice to get the hang of the process, but once you do, I promise, it’s absolutely worth it.
Powerlifting to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Adapting as an Athlete
Powerlifting to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Adapting as an Athlete
As my competitive field of choice changed, so did the way I required my body and its structures to move across time and through space. This is how my training had to evolve.
7 Special Exercises To Build Your Main Lifts
7 Special Exercises To Build Your Main Lifts
Increasing your total in the conjugate system often means finding the right exercises to build the squat, bench press, and deadlift. Here are some builders I’ve found to be most effective.
Being Skinny During the Season of Weight Gain
Being Skinny During the Season of Weight Gain
Life changes as our goals change, and life sure has changed a lot for me. My excuses of the past that let me go to extremes and live in excess during the holiday season are now gone.
WATCH: 9 Strategies to Deadlift 900 Pounds
WATCH: 9 Strategies to Deadlift 900 Pounds
At Boss of Bosses IV, Steve Johnson hit the number one total at 308 with a 2260-pound raw total and the all-time American deadlift record with 909. Here’s how he did it.
Keeping My Promise
Keeping My Promise
Like most powerlifters, I’ve always bought into the old adage “weight moves weight”, and as my numbers grew, so did my ass. No matter how fat or out of shape I got, 40 was gonna be the turning point.
Strength 101 from Westside Barbell
Strength 101 from Westside Barbell
If people would take their heads out of their asses and set their egos aside, they would see that what Louie teaches has nothing to do with multi-ply powerlifting.
WATCH: Table Talk — Straight Line or Arched Bar Path in the Bench Press
WATCH: Table Talk — Straight Line or Arched Bar Path in the Bench Press
No matter which style you use, there’s one rule with your wrists and elbows you always have to follow.
The Simple Steps To Add Serious Weight To Your Deadlift
The Simple Steps To Add Serious Weight To Your Deadlift
Finding your ideal stance, nailing down good form, and programming properly for volume, intensity, and frequency will keep your weights moving up and your body healthy.
The Strongest Man in the Gym
The Strongest Man in the Gym
Although we have had a number of 1000-pound squatters and 800-pound benchers at the Monster Garage Gym, I can tell you—and so would the majority of the powerlifters at the gym—that Jerry is the strongest man in the gym.
To Arch or Not to Arch?
To Arch or Not to Arch?
For all of my powerlifting career and for my best squat and deadlifters numbers ever, I used an arched back. After working with Chris Duffin on neutral back positioning and bracing, I’m starting to think there’s a better way.
Observations of Beginner Powerlifting Mistakes
Observations of Beginner Powerlifting Mistakes
With five years in the sport of powerlifting, my best total before I came to Westside Barbell was 1685. After training at Westside for a little over three years, my best total is 1950. Here are the big issues to avoid if you want similar progress.
Reason
Reason
I realize powerlifters are all lions, beasts, and savages, but let’s not lose sight of the big picture.
MEET REPORT: 365 Strong Nationals — A Long-Ass Day and Questions Answered
MEET REPORT: 365 Strong Nationals — A Long-Ass Day and Questions Answered
I had help getting into my single-ply suit and didn’t have to wrap my own knees, but there was still the hand to deal with. There’s a long way to go and I’m taking it one post-surgery PR at a time.
Killer Mentality
Killer Mentality
Killer mentality means doing whatever it takes to be your very best and being willing to put it all on the line when the time comes. You have to be able to block out all negativity and draw in all positivity.
WATCH: Should You Keep Your Lats Tight When You Deadlift?
WATCH: Should You Keep Your Lats Tight When You Deadlift?
This popular deadlift cue might not be all it’s cracked up to be.
WATCH: Table Talk — Too Much Science?
WATCH: Table Talk — Too Much Science?
There are two types of people when it comes to using science in training. Don’t be the first kind.
Powerlifting — A Sport for Everyone?
Powerlifting — A Sport for Everyone?
If you wait for the perfect training cycle before doing a meet, you aren’t a powerlifter. You should stop calling yourself one and instead start saying you like training the squat, bench press, and deadlift.
Surviving Max Effort Day
Surviving Max Effort Day
I thought about just putting my workout off until tomorrow. That would have been the smart thing to do.

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