8-Week Strength Training Program for the MMA Athlete
Take two athletes with roughly the same skill set, the stronger athlete will win every time. Get stronger with this program.
#82 - Commercial Gym Conjugate and Training Principles
Take a deep dive into how you can work conjugate into your training if you are restricted by what your commercial gym offers.
#81 - What Growth Means, Training Update & Lifting Tests
Dave and Sam sit down to discuss what growth means, Dave’s best raw lifts, their training updates, and 1RM testing for football players.
#80 - Mitigating Injury and Peaking for the Meet
Learn how to mitigate injury while under the bar and get the inside scoop on how Sam is peaking for his meet.
#78 - Scratched Bars, Commercial Gym's Secret & Life Strategies
Don’t miss Dave and Sam going in-depth into why scratched bars are such a big deal and Dave’s life strategies he shares with Sam.
#77 - Injuries, Perceived Maxes, & Squid Game
Dave Tate and Sam Brown discuss how injuries can make you better, perceived maxes, and Squid Game? What’s going on?
#76 - How Dave Enters the Void and Max Effort Training
Dave Tate and Sam Brown talk about how Dave enters the void, their thoughts on max effort training, and trying geared lifting.
#60 - Programming Deep Dive
If you like learning about lifting or need some guidance on where to begin when creating your own programs this is the episode for you.
Improve Endurance and Strength Simultaneously
New research on concurrent training gives us more insight into how to set up our programming considering nutrition, blood flow restriction, and VO2 max.
What Do Athletes Really Need?
Athletes need to be better at their sport. Period. Coaches, fine-tune your needs analysis with precision so you can respectively answer the question above through program design.
The Exercise Selection Chart
Let me walk you through a new weight room and share my processes for creating an exercise selection chart to best meet the needs of your athletes.
#54 pt. 1-3 - Dave Tate's Table Talk is BACK
Dave Tate’s Table Talk is BACK for the 2nd season and the first episode back covers strength topics such as surgery, autoregulation, and more.
How to Make It Big as a Strength Coach: The Application Process
Now, it’s time to get our hands dirty… Let’s start with the internship search. You have to ask yourself what you want. Assuming you want to be a strength and conditioning coach, ask yourself the following questions (part two of three).
5 Ways To Take Your Program To The Next Level
1. Prioritize Strength Training It’s important to note that strength provides the basis for success across multiple modalities, increased resiliency and longevity, connecting to every biomotor ability. Even if the goal isn’t necessarily to improve maximal strength (increasing your 1-rep max squat), there are still connections between maximal strength and other abilities such as […]
5 Ways to Improve Your Programming
Program these five key areas to improve your clients’ results and keep them injury-free while staying motivated to train.
Building The Executive Meathead’s Home Office
I wasn’t ready to settle for pick-up golf or calf roping. A busy professional and personal life didn’t keep me from making my most important training decision.
Social Skill Integration Through Movement and Strength: Home Training
Now at home, this is a great opportunity to get the family involved by creating new healthy habits using indoor and outdoor space.
Kettlebell Compounds for Conditioning
These multiple-movement sequences link a variety of kettlebell exercises for a full-body, more brutal and effective workout that can be done anywhere.
ConjugateU for College Baseball — A Powerful Combination
Jim Seratt doesn’t understand how anyone wouldn’t want baseball players to bench press. Here is his method for implementing conjugate training in his baseball program.
How to Avoid Pitfalls with Exercise Selection and Progression
You found a new fancy-looking exercise on the ‘gram, so you do it. Then, you have your athletes do it. But you don’t know the exercise’s common technique flaws or how to fix them — all you know is how the person looked and how you felt doing it.
3 Things I Learned From Training My @ss Off with Dave Tate
The Train Your @ss Off with Dave Tate event was not only a life-changing experience; it was also truly something I will remember forever. It has made me a better coach, a better training partner, and a better overall human because it helped me figure out what is truly important in my life.
Week of Testing: Rest or Train?
Rest and recovery is a key part of any workout program, no matter the type or level of difficulty. Remember that while reaching your PR goals is important, so is your mental and physical health.
LISTEN: Table Talk Podcast Clip — Are Hex Bars, High Squats, and Box Squ...
What do Dave Tate, Nick Showman, Louie Simmons, and high school athletes have in common? A love-hate relationship with the trap bar… and a few other movements.
The Path to Greatness: Tension
To me, greatness is a journey, not a destination. The next few articles I write are going to talk about the path to greatness and the key things that I think are necessary for ultimately reaching that goal. The first thing is tension.
Win Games by Waving Volume
Most college programs that I’ve seen basically run three sets on all accessories. I didn’t want to be most college programs. I had to find a way to do a ton of work and build work capacity but also not run the kids into the ground. That’s where waving volume came into play.
Does the 225 Bench Press Repetitions Test Even Matter?
In a published journal article, we examined 31 football players on the 225 Test (and we also collected some velocity data, so hold on to your hats for future publications from this data set) to see if this test made any difference in playing time.
Integration of Strength and Power Programming for the Lower Body in Spor...
Running sports are tangential in nature, so in order to optimize transfer from the weight room to the field, both vertical and horizontal movements need to be considered. To this end, the program I am going to outline will look at elements of training to ensure all bases are covered.
Women's Only Seminar at Tank's Training Facility
I found that I was even able to take something away from the women’s only seminar, and these takeaways helped me in my coaching abilities and some made me ponder more on the female experience and perspective in a male-dominated area. I also got to interview three NCAA female student-athletes.
The End of My Era as a Strength and Conditioning Coach
I have left collegiate strength and conditioning because I’m concerned with where we’re going as a profession. I still want to be a positive force for the profession, but I’m not sure how to help. I’ll try to keep being a voice of change for positivity.
Why Are We Doing This?
Here, in this article, you will find the answer to why accomplished coaches and athletes I’ve been fortunate enough to know gravitate toward the iron and have made it a core element of their life.
Common Strength Pitfalls to Avoid
Here’s an idea: If your team is losing a game, how about instead of celebrating one good play, try focusing on how you and your team can muster a win.
Do You Have a Task- or Process-Oriented Mindset?
A couple of years ago, I was fixated on all the wrong things. The big picture was out of scope. I urge you to take the time to slow down on accomplishing tasks and enjoy the process. Build relationships and make memories — you’ll regret it if you don’t.
RPE Method for the Max Effort Lane
Believe it or not, sometimes max effort work is not the best option. Here are a few scenarios where that may be the case as well as what you can do to fill in the gaps where the max effort method would be.
LISTEN: Table Talk Podcast #36 with Jordan Shallow
The Muscle Doc is in the house! Dr. Jordan Shallow is here to answer your (bench) pressing questions, so hop on the livestream and ask away!
How Athletes Come to College
I never cease to be amazed at how messed up new collegiate athletes are when they start lifting in the weight room. Year in and year out, this keeps happening without any sign of improvement. Why does this keep happening?
Interview: Brewers' Aaron Hoback's Individualized Template
If you’re looking for sets and reps, you’re in the wrong place. But if you wanted some insight on players’ knowledge bases, individualized programs, and how new technologies are becoming more reliable, from Aaron Hoback, athletic trainer for the Milwaukee Brewers, you’re right where you should be.
We Pick Things Up and We Put Them Down
A coach once asked me, “Why do you lift?” My reply: “If aliens landed here and saw a basketball game going on, they wouldn’t have any clue what was happening. But if they saw lifting, they could at least wrap their heads around what they were seeing.”
Selecting Appropriate Exercises for Youth Athletes
Parents are understandably worried about their children starting strength training. Ease their minds by selecting appropriate exercises for their kids.
A Strength Athlete's Running Journey
I always had an interest in running. I enjoyed it. It always seemed to help me mentally, and honestly, I feel it’s in all of our blood, and we are predisposed to endurance. But I had pain in my right angle and big toe, so I told myself I’d never be able to run. Until now.
Progressions in Exercise Selection Based on Technical Proficiency
I firmly believe you have to start at the simplest movement that someone can master correctly, and then, over time, progress from that simple movement to the more complex movements. The process is one of progressive skill acquisition.
The Most Underutilized Kettlebell Exercise You Should Be Doing
We think of the Kettlebell Windmill as a largely upper body exercise, but I’d like to make a case that it’s one of the most underutilized exercises to promote hip loading and control bilaterally.
Practical Prilepin Plans
It is this article’s intention to impart an easily identifiable progression in accordance with Prilepin’s stipulations and practical examples of it, all of which I’ve used at the Division I level.
5 Alternatives to Olympic Lifts
I have nothing against the Olympic lifts. They’re fantastic movements that create explosive power. It’s just that there are safer alternatives that still force the lifter into triple extension.
Combining Dynamic Hip and Stabilization Drills for Runners
Strength training for runners is the chassis that underpins the abilities of speed and endurance to help these withstand practice and compete at a higher level — no meathead approach here! Plus, all you need for this program is a buddy and a band. Easy peasy.
How My Programming's Improved Over the Years
I love and hate programming. When I’m doing research and reading stuff, my brain goes a million miles per hour. Of course, everything I read seems like the greatest idea ever, so I have to dial it down, but I’ve gotten better at it over the years, and it shows.
To Hell With Ankle Mobility...
In the strength industry, we’re putting too much emphasis on the side dishes. We’re combining the main course and the dessert. When’s the last time you smeared your cupcake frosting over your fat juicy steak and mushrooms?!
Applying The French Contrast Method to Beginners
As with all great articles and ideas, this one was inspired… by a controversial tweet. Rather than rail against the idea that newbies shouldn’t use the French Contrast Method, I argue that this training method actually may be suitable for beginners in some situations.
WATCH: Matt Rhodes' Problems with Sports Coaches
Strength coaches have a lot of problems to deal with. Some of those problems come from the strength coaches themselves, but don’t even get him started on the sports coaches… too late, though. We got him talking about them.
7 Items Rugby Players (and I) Can't Lift Without
I am seeing that the specific injuries that are inherent in rugby need a modified program that’s not using traditional training equipment to get results, so here are 7 of my non-traditional tools of the trade.
What You Will Gain From a Strength and Conditioning Internship
You’ll learn a lot from your strength and conditioning internship — but there are some things you might glean over. Keep these points in mind, and you’ll get even more out of your internship than you thought possible.
How to Effectively Train Core Strength
My idea of developing core strength is by both locally and globally training all the musculature that is attached to the hips, specifically by focusing on programming planks.
Collegiate vs. Private Sector Strength and Conditioning with Brian Bott
What are the pros and cons of being a strength coach at the collegiate level or in the private sector? The similarities? The differences? Coach Brian Bott, former University of Wisconsin strength coach-turned-founder of Sports AdvantEDGE, tells all in an interview.
Don't Be Afraid to Try
A self-made millionaire once told me that we all have great ideas; it’s just that 99% of people don’t act on them. Those words came to mind this summer when I took the largest step I’ve ever taken out of my comfort zone…
3 Quick Fixes for a Stronger Deadlift
Quick fixes: They’re usually bandages on a leaky pipe. But in some cases, a quick fix might be more like the duct tape that fixed the Apollo 13 module. These 3 technique fixes are like duct tape for your deadlift, so wrap up and strengthen that lift.
6 Keys to Starting A High School Strength and Conditioning Program
When starting a high school strength and conditioning program, be sure to implement rules early on and communicate clearly… and those are only a handful of things to get your program off the ground running.
Listen and Learn: How I'm Developing My Staff
When you sit and yammer at people, like most of us do in our leadership developments, we aren’t developing leaders… We’re gaining followers. Be quiet and listen to others’ ideas and examples and learn from them, just as they’ll learn from you.
Why You Should Never Box Squat Your Athletes
You know, we hear coaches complain about their athletes’ excuses… but let me tell you, coaches can be just as bad. Case in point: The excuses coaches make for not making their kids do box squats.
Stirring the Pot, Volume 1
I’ve been told I do a good job of being a heretic of the strength and conditioning coach profession, so I might as well keep it up and stir the pot with some of my hot takes on sumo deadlifts, box squatting, and more.