Even the strongest lifters in the world can’t figure everything out themselves.
There are tons of specialty bars on the market and they all have some value in your training. I feel that these are the three best.
The most common mistakes in the bench press haven’t changed much over the years.
Some days you go yard and sometimes the pitcher gets you reaching. You take what you can get and learn from your time in the batter’s box.
Under the skillful coaching of Steve Goggins, Meana Franco continues to establish herself as one of the top young female powerlifters today. Read about the changes she’s implementing in anticipation of the IPL Anaheim Fit Expo.
Over the course of seven episodes, Dave and Dan discuss building a base as a new lifter, limiting factors for lifters of all levels, rehab mentality, adrenaline levels in training, and more. Watch now!
Learning proper lifting technique may be a challenge, but being able to recreate it rep after rep is even more difficult.
From the bar to 95 pounds, 135, and so on, you should get under the bar and treat it like it’s 400 pounds. How will you unrack that weight? How will you set it up? How will you pull air? How will you sit down?
Use these tools to hold yourself accountable. My hope is that you can use these ideas to take the helm of your own affairs in training, business, and your personal life.
Our powerlifting squad had six lifters compete in a meet that posed some specific challenges. Here’s how they did and a sample of the training that led to the meet.
Seemingly simple questions are not simple at all if you understand strength. If you really want to bench more, you need more knowledge.
I greatly enjoy training and competing in powerlifting. I plan to compete, train, and train others for as long as I am able — not, however, without having a life.
I’ve neglected training both my upper and lower arms, and now I’m suffering for my lack of grip strength. Prevent this. Here’s my newfound twist on traditional arm and grip work.
Would it be wise to follow the same percentage for a given workout for both the main lift and the assistance work? Or should the assistance work be planned differently?
Through articles two and three we have now shared the first fourteen, of many, perspectives for the beginner and intermediate powerlifter to consider. Let’s dig into the next five.
Powerlifting isn’t always fun. You have bad days in the gym, bad training cycles, and bad meets. What happens when the bad outweighs the good? Is it time to consider leaving?
Have you ever wondered what makes powerlifting so hard? Look no further — these guys have the answer.
This is the training cycle that finally got my squat over 800 and my deadlift over 700 in the same meet.
I see many lifters lack the mind-body connection needed for getting the most out of accessory or supplemental work. Without it, you’re just going through the motions and wasting your time.
A lot of lifters think you have to train over 90% week after week to get stronger. Adjusting to a program like 5thSet may challenge you mentally to trust the process, but it won’t be long before you experience the benefits.
It’s been more than a year since I last competed (not counting the unsanctioned and unseasonable non-invitational last December) and announced that I would be taking a step back from chasing the biggest bench possible.
Improving in the sport of powerlifting is simple if you know how to approach it. I prefer using a series of three macrocyles: hypertrophy and volume, general strength, and competition preparation and peaking.
Companies are collecting data on everything: your recent purchases, internet searches, prescriptions, travel habits, and even the TV shows you are watching. So what does this have to do with powerlifting?
What has changed about 5thSet over the course of its rise to popularity? And what is it like being an elite lifter that hands his training over to someone else?
I truly believe that if not for the lessons I learned in powerlifting all those years ago, I would not be as effective a coach as I am today.
There are a lot of ways that you can make a cut easier for yourself, keep your strength, and finish the meet with a high Wilks. Maximize Your Wilks and weight loss without losing strength.
To be on the board at Westside, at the time, meant you had to break the all-time world record, because that was pretty much everybody that was on the board.
In deadlifting, the Goldilocks Zone might not be pulling conventional, nor sumo, nor even Old English Style. For those lifters, what I call the hybrid sumo stance could perhaps be best.
If I could go back in time to when I first started in this industry, I’d force myself to follow these five rules of training. Those of you starting now should listen.
You’ve probably heard it said that Westside became the strongest gym in the world by bringing in the best lifters from outside. This is a lie. What made Westside great wasn’t recruiting.
Anyone who has attended this meet describes it as an amazing experience, and I have been fortunate to speak to a few incredible women (Maureen Barbetta, Tracey Patrick, and Janel Vegter) who competed.
If you could go back 10, 15, or 20 years in the past, what would you say? What advice for life would you share?
Training in commercial gyms has its pros and cons. This is a call to arms for those who need to hear it.
From 1990 to 2000, there wasn’t a single person who came to Westside and stayed who didn’t get significantly stronger. Everyone got stronger, wearing gear or not.
In this article, you will find multiple quotes from some of the best lifters past and present regarding what makes a good bench presser — Greg Panora, Jeremy Hoornstra, Ryan Kennelly, and Eric Spoto to name a few.
I decided I was going to use this setback as a gift, to become better than I was yesterday. To become strong, pain-free, and resilient.
Tailored for the powerlifter and bodybuilder, we revisit Dave Tate’s and Mark Dugdale’s conversation covering exercise execution, pre-workout food, recoverability, training evolution, and more.
Each time I use this method myself I feel like I could run through a wall come meet day. Now after six years of using this cycle, we have proof that it works for our athletes.
So why do you want to build a strong, thick upper back? Isn’t the bench all pecs, shoulders, and triceps?
A circa max phase isn’t easy, and recovering from it isn’t either. Should you remove max effort training or keep pushing forward with it?
These elite lifters share some fundamental characteristics at the start of their deadlifts—hips high, arm length maximized, shins very close to the bar, and torsos not vertical.
Let’s get into which strongman events will help improve the big three and how to program them.
It was a team atmosphere that made me fall in love with sports, and it is a team atmosphere that has been restored to my athletic participation through powerlifting.
We’ve covered the first ten perspectives for new lifters. Now it’s time to get more specific about what it takes to break through the beginning stages of powerlifting.
With multiple Goggins Force lifters competing, Steve attended the meet — and now he has some thoughts to share.
This article will cover everything you need to build a big deadlfit as a raw lifter, from needs analysis, to the role of specific muscles, to choosing your best stance.
The max effort scheme you used for your last powerlifting meet will not work for your athletes. Keep these things in mind when implementing this style of training in athletes.
The conjugate system is about max effort, dynamic effort, and the repetition method. You can do everything with just a rack, bar, bench, and some weights. Here are the next four weeks of the program.
This was my first meet in a year and a half, since October 2015, when I was battling through a torn supraspinatus and a half torn right biceps. Training went well, but the meet reminded me of a few crucial powerlifting lessons.
Is deloading a necessary part of improving as a lifter or is it just a weak excuse to be lazy one week out of every month?
This weekend would be more of that testing, coaching twenty-one lifters over the course of a single day. People say I am crazy for working with the number of lifters I do.
What can I say? Learn from my hard lessons. Make sure your spotters are aware of the intent BEFORE the set.
The vigilant lifter wants to be a student of strength. They do not just want to be told what to do to get stronger. They want to learn and understand how to get stronger.
Bulk up your back, strengthen your deadlift, and learn to activate your lats with this one exercise.
Deadlifting is one of the oldest and hardest exercises around. It’s very simple—you just pick the bar up off the ground and stand up with it. Well, it’s not that easy for everyone.
You want debate? Go to a powerlifting meet and ask the lifters in the warm-up room if you should be focusing on your quads to build your squat. You’ll hear a lot of opinions. Who’s right?
After two pec tears, I needed to try something new. Not only did training the overhead press make my bench stronger, but it also solved all my pec injury problems.
I owe a lot to the sport of powerlifting. Now it’s about giving back in more ways than on the platform.
In five locations on earth, the people live 30% longer and continue to be active and healthy until their final days on earth. What’s the secret?