I won my division at the 2014 WPC Worlds. I’m hoping to repeat this year, but there’s also another goal I’m focused on.
Should you press in a straight line or in an arc, finishing with the bar over your face?
We first need to look at the specific needs of a raw bencher — once we know what body parts need brought up, we can then create a program that strategically utilizes the most beneficial exercises.
Evaluating your training protocol is only the first step. The real differences are made by enacting them into the practicals of training.
Using the Conjugate Method has been one of the most rewarding and fun things I’ve ever done, but it requires ownership and a tenacity to keep looking for answers. Here are four things to avoid as you begin your quest.
This article gives you the 12 best exercises to build mass in the necessary areas for a stronger bench press. Body-part by body-part, exercise by exercise, it’s all here.
If you think you’ll make it in this sport by pushing through your workouts even when you’re injured or suffering, you’re wrong.
If you or your clients are failing to properly load your glutes and hamstrings during a competition squat, this video will show you how.
With bar exams complete and results pending, Mickey’s focus on powerlifting continues to evolve.
This meet was about a few monster numbers that have been weighing down on me. All of the lessons from my elitefts teammates are starting to pay off.
If you feel you need more work on the competition movements, can you use them as max effort work instead of doing specialty exercises?
Watching a lifter going for a lift he knows he has to make to move into first place…
Watching a lifter going for a record that has stood for 15 or 20 years…
There are a lot of things we work on with fixing lifters’ squats, let’s start here.
When Dr. Squat decided he wanted to squat over 1,000 pounds, he performed several statistical computations to figure out exactly how he would be able to get there.
What began as a heavy squat session in the S4 Compound became an impromptu coaching session with Dave. Here are the five things he told these lifters to fix.
In building your aerobic base, is it enough to simply add Prowler pushes, hill sprints, and sled drags to your program? Dave and Jim explain the purpose behind GPP.
Without that experience in their back pocket, they simply get eaten up and spit out by the industry.
You don’t need a unique piece of equipment for each muscle group or a 25-item list of accessory exercises. This program uses nothing but gym essentials to get you stronger without ever having to leave the squat rack.
Early in your powerlifting journey, this is the only weak point you need to concern yourself with.
I was warned of not taking it for granted and it burned me at the one competition I had my sights on for months.
No matter which of the many training programs out there you choose to use, or whether you train raw or equipped, one thing will always remain the same.
In this video, Maliek and Dave discuss the problems with percentage-based training and share alternative methods for strength programming.
Always being told what to do is not how one becomes great and it is most definitely not how one becomes a great lifter.
From nursing student and collegiate soccer player to one of the 10 best 181-pound powerlifters in the world.
These 17 triggers may serve as a checklist to ensure optimal flow states and encourage proper performance — ultimately what’s standing between you and your next world record.
This weekend I cried more tears than I thought were possible. It was emotional, the entire thing, from start to finish. But, it’s something I had to do, for me.
We made five specific changes to add 200 pounds to Rob’s total in the last six months.
Joining Dave for another video, Maliek discusses the challenges faced by lifters who attempt to compete both raw and in gear.
Box squats have been around for years but the debate still hasn’t been settled.
After three injuries in a half a year, I was pissed. I was depressed. I was dumbfounded. But I found my way back, hitting a PR total for my first single-ply meet.
Here is one tip I use in the gym and on the platform to make the entire movement smooth as possible.
Don’t let the mass quantities of information fool you: the basics of the bench will never change. Follow them and you’ll get stronger.
In this video, Dave and special guest Maliek Derstine discuss the topics of sticking points and longevity for raw lifters vs geared lifters.
How do we glean all the benefits of cardio without compromising our strength and size? It really comes down to two things.
It seems like Dave and Jim are never going to run out of stories from their days of travel seminars. In this video we have strip clubs, Benny Podda, alcoholism, and porn.
There are many ways lifters go about picking their openers. I admit, my way might not be for you. But if it isn’t, you can still learn something from it.
This is a time when your mind will start to play tricks on you. Are you mentally committing to the time off?
He holds the all-time world record for powerlifting total in the 181-pound weight class. He is better in that class than anyone else has ever been. When he talks about training, it’s probably best for you to listen.
If you want to build total fitness, you need to know about something Jim Wendler calls The Push-Pull Concept — and it has nothing to do with benching or deadlifting.
I hated that I fell short of my goal at the XPCs…90 pounds short to be exact. Each and every pound I left on the platform back in March is what fueled my training for my off-season and meet preparation.
Now is the time to assess the technology that’s at our fingertips. It’s also the time to become picky with what type of and when to use technology with regard to our powerlifting success.
Since competing at the XPC Finals in March, I took the last few months to regain control over my physical and mental health. In the process, I transitioned back to raw.
There are three very important priorities for a strength athlete to keep in focus during a competitive year.
It takes a long time to be elite—truly elite—in this sport. Don’t try to change the standards. Change the way you work.
Day 1: Constant, crippling pain. Day 10: Pain free. This is the new game plan for lower back nerve pain.
As simple and extremely important as this principle is, I continue to see so many lifters overlook or misunderstand it year after year.
Every lifter has their own reasons to love or hate this sport. Here are mine.
I don’t know how many questions we’ve gotten about how to train certain weak points. Of course, almost every question is in regard to a weak muscle group or a certain portion of a lift.
Getting outside of your comfort zone, and literally getting uncomfortable can be a key to get you past plateaus and sticking points.
Kicking off the new series, Dave Tate and Jim Wendler take on a topic of heated debate.
Your psych-up, intended to prepare you for a new PR, could actually be costing you precious pounds on the platform.
Think about it. How do you prioritize these aspects of your training?
While the squat is still the most technical lift we see in powerlifting, the gear whores and raw zealots have much more in common than we think.
There’s a lot of history shared between these two men. Now they’re adding to it.
The progression of gear usage is not linear; a lot of lifters actually return to raw after spending years in gear. This can be almost as challenging as learning the gear in the first place.
My road to 600 can be broken down into two phases of training: the Raw Strength Phase and The Equipped Peaking Phase. Here’s how I did it.
In any successful group or team, there are three key positions that must be filled. Does your team have them?
In a perfect world, you’re always getting stronger and your PR’s are always moving higher. Well, this world isn’t perfect, and you need to remember that if you want to get stronger.
In this first article of the series we look at the underlying purpose of a strength athlete’s training and the importance of the mesocycle.