This is the third article of a seven part series.

We all have our dreams, but it’s rare for many of us to ever achieve them. Months ago, I was intrigued by an article on the ADCC website about Royler Gracie’s challenge to Gracie Barra.

It seems that during WWII the U.S. was losing a large number of aircrafts during various missions. Obviously, the job of flying these planes was a treacherous one, and you could assume that the casualty rate was very high. But something else was wrong.

After you spend an appreciable number of years in the weight room and only the weight room, you start to really look for ways to spice up your training program and get some results.

I received a call two weeks ago from a friend of mine, and he had some good news for me. About five months ago, he and I were discussing a three-day split that would accommodate his needs and time schedule. He’s an ex-football player, and competes in the 242 lbs class. Like many of you, he’s tried the standard four-day split, but because of work commitments (60+ hours a week) and a long drive time to the gym, he has trouble getting to the gym all the time.

Keeping your athletes motivated is one of the hardest things to do as a strength coach.

Needless to say I spent the next hour or so tossing ideas around and keep coming up blank.

Since my first Under the Bar article and now after the release of the Under the Bar book I have been asked one question more than any other.

Risk is one factor that can and will make or break you. There are many types of risks you can take and trying to organize them in an easy way is not as easy as you may think.

Having coached for several years and after attending several Force Training seminars, I see the same problems on dynamic bench day no matter where I am. These problems aren’t always reserved for the beginner; I seem to make some of these same mistakes and have to take a step back and re-evaluate. Let us first take a look at the general parameters on this day so that we are all on the same page.