Everything you need to know to enter the world of powerlifting is right here.
Use the omni-contraction method and the different contractions (concentric, eccentric, and isometric) to improve your powerlifting total.
In 4 weeks, relieve tired muscles, add muscle or lose fat, and reenergize your CNS for the next cycle with this hypertrophy block.
These deadlift myths have been around for too long and it’s time they disappear. Get ready to feel SHOCKED, LIED TO, or ANGRY.
When I decided to be on the platform competing with the best of the best, I had to fix these mistakes. You should too.
If you’re new to the squat or lose technique once it gets heavy, train the eccentric to become one with the bar.
Urinary Incontinence is the involuntary loss of urine, which can happen in both males and females—more than half of women experience it.
Beyond the obvious benefits of camaraderie and mutual encouragement, there are some definite positives to having a good training partner.
As long as you are meeting your caloric needs and are getting enough sleep every night, training is by far the most important thing you have to get stronger.
How you set up your max effort work is crucial to setting up the rest of the session. Don’t just pick random exercises here.
You live in a time of instant access to knowledge to get better at your sport. Before the internet, how did the strength greats ever manage?
At Showtime Strength & Performance, we have run close to 30 powerlifting meets of all sizes and for competitors of all types. Here’s how we do it.
Your battle to succeed in powerlifting is won or lost in your mind long before you chalk up and curl your fingers around the knurling of a barbell.
You never know who is looking up to you, and wouldn’t it be a damn shame if you turned out just to be another asshole with a singlet and a status.
Who’s Dani? Where is she from? What are her passions? What is she accomplishing in her practice and lifting career? She tells you here.
Trying to get stronger or bigger? Carrying too much fat? Regardless of the goal, change is inevitable. Embrace it to reach your goals.
Absolutely nothing. That may not be the best question to ask if we’re looking to improve this wonderful sport.
There is no beginning and end, no start or finish, just a boundless chasm of opportunity here. Oh, and the door still sticks.
If you’re looking for alternative ways to keep pressing for extra recovery or to safeguard wear and tear in elbows and shoulders, it’s here.
There are lots of articles and tips on getting you revved up to perform. THIS ISN’T ONE OF THEM. Learn to conserve your energy between sets.
If your movement is constrained, how will this directly affect your bench stroke? A LOT. Try these four stretches.
What moves 600 pounds, won’t necessarily move 700 pounds. Reassessing my situation, I realized my thoracic extensors were weak.
Here are my suggestions if you are training in your garage, thinking about competing in a powerlifting meet, and are intrigued about the conjugate method of training.
Cueing athletes and clients is heavily dependent on their learning style. Ask them how they learn best and use the information to your advantage!
Do you want a bigger squat? This Russian secret will help.
You are only a new lifter once, and that is a gift to take seriously. Don’t squander it by dabbling in the post-elite aspects and methods of training.
Don’t skimp out on a warm-up to only tweak your back squatting 135. I know from experience.
Here’s what my crew abides by in setting up our team training. The process starts with tryouts.
The best way I can explain this concept is to tell you a story about a pilot and his air traffic controller.
Your training log serves so many roles for you to ultimately reflect, analyze, and attack your goals and performance. For less than a dollar, get started today and see how practicing mindfulness puts more weight on the bar.
There’s a big misconception that to conquer the weights you need passion and anger. Research and personal experience disagree. If you’re prepping for a powerlifting meet, it’s time to train your mind.
If your deadlift sucks at lockout, mid-position, or from the floor, you’ll want to add the stiff-legged deadlift and Romanian deadlift into your training program. Here’s how to do them correctly, with a sample training template to get started.
Lifting, and the bench press for that matter, is not rocket science, but you do need to use your brain. Use these twelve tips to fix your damn technique and showcase all of your strength.
What does the literature tell us about using exercise before the main work we want to improve that day? It tells us A LOT.
It’s a long way to the top so find the main players who’ll walk beside you to make you better along the way. It’s easy to find people that look impressive but are they really everything they say? Are they all fluff with no substance?
Remember, you’re human. It’s OK to feel this way about training and one day you inevitably will. With these six suggestions, plan and prepare for this ugly feeling and destroy ASAP to enjoy training again.
Meet two love birds, Aaron and Kelly Grosos, and learn how they make it work as competitive powerlifters.
A personal account of my two-year journey from a broken radius, broken ulna, and a torn ACL (all on the same day) to coming back stronger than ever. Tons of people have broken bones and torn muscles and ligaments before, in and out of competition, and this is just one of those stories.
What you are about to read is a truly loving portrait of a powerlifting legend, written by one of the few who knew him best (and a great powerlifting coach in his own right).
This is certainly anti-quit training. Learning to be uncomfortable and not stop or run away is priceless in hard training.
Here’s what I’ve learned to become an elite lifter at 220: accumulate faults and then fix them over the course of an off-season. You’ll be surprised how it all aligns if you just stop, reflect, work, and listen.
Add these six weeks to the DSM 12-week template, and you have yourself an awesome 18 weeks of training!
Don’t be the lifter with headphones on all day in the warm-up room, super-hyped to the gills. Save your energy for the platform.
An exercise that has you work more from the hips, abs, and glutes will undoubtedly help you move faster. Here’s how to perform and program sumo deadlifts.
Sums up 2020…but rewinding the clock, I thought the top guys trained hard every day when I started powerlifting. I thought it was just a matter of getting strong enough and in good enough shape to go hard and heavy 24/7, 12 months a year.
Aside from Santa’s elves personalizing your hand-made gifts. Oh, and Santa traveling from the North Pole to your residence to deliver your gifts with Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer.
Unlike amusement parks, this FastPass isn’t something you buy with your credit card. This transaction takes effort and time, but when you make the choice, it’ll greatly improve your lifts and ranking,
While there is a long list of methods that go far beyond what’s mentioned in this article, these three methods develop the aerobic system—which for many, is an area of weakness and thus low-hanging fruit.
As athletes and lifters, many of us have been fortunate to have had a great coach in our lives—we are collectively thankful. Without someone like this in your life, would you tweak squat form to go from a 500-pound squat to a temporary 365-pound squat? What if that 365-pound squat evolved into a 700-pound squat?
Music was a huge part of my ritual, as was breathing and meditation. You want something that is your style, but also not too complicated.
The basics build strong and big triceps, BUT it all depends on how you execute them. I’ve got some tricks up my super tight sleeves.
There’s no way to put up impressive numbers if you can’t get the bar off your chest or you’re stalling halfway. Let’s get back to some bench press basics.
The only way I know how to explain this concept is by retelling the familiar story of Priorities and a Jar. What are you filling your empty jar with?
How many sets and reps do you do with max effort work and accessories? Here’s what I prescribe for my conjuphasic clients. You’ll notice I love coming up with ways to self-regulate my athletes and clients through exercise prescription and programming.
After 10+ years and a lot of success in just knee wraps, one might ask, “Why even bother switching?” I have a few reasons and recommendations for transitioning from raw to gear and back to raw. It takes time, and it’s hard, but it’s worth it.
It is no secret that I have always used dynamic training and that I have my clients do it as well. My standpoint is that everyone can get something out of dynamic training, but the dose of it may vary.
Is the bar even with your shoulders to optimize the pulling distance? Or is the bar pulling you forward? Are you keeping your head up? Are you holding your air while pressing your belly into the belt?
Coming from someone who didn’t listen to these tips the first time and learned the hard way…