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.
The proper resistance profile for strengthening external rotation should have less resistance in fully lengthened and fully shortened muscles and more resistance in mid-range lengthed muscles. While bands are great tools, they aren’t so great for strengthening rotator cuffs.
Brian Alsruhe’s background in strongman, martial arts, MMA, and counter-terrorism led to his training system being “messed up” and unique from everyone else’s. Despite that, he’s found great success with his programming and will be breaking it down in this video.
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?
I recently wrote down things I’ve learned that helped me change my life, and I hope this list of those lessons helps you break through whatever you feel is holding you back and achieve optimal health, wellness, strength, success, freedom, and happiness.
In my last article, I went over 2 of the 5 dysfunctions of a team. Here, I’ll cover the remaining 3 and how to bring the team closer together.
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.”
Growing up in the ‘80s, Brian Alsruhe found strength in Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and He-Man. The one thing these people (and cartoon character) had was muscles; therefore, he’d need muscles to be strong. That brought him to martial arts, forming a strong mindset, and eventually, to strongman.
Parents are understandably worried about their children starting strength training. Ease their minds by selecting appropriate exercises for their kids.
A strong neck is critical to preventing concussions in athletes participating in contact sports — but what are the best ways to strengthen necks?
My first experience with elitefts equipment was from the days I was a Division I strength coach at the University of New York at Buffalo. Let’s just say the price was not the only factor in why I decided we should go with elitefts equipment.
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.
Even the smartest, strongest, and best of us can learn and improve on what we do or how we do it. The journey for strength is all about education and learning, and this is how we continue to get stronger. All of this takes dedication.
I used the book The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team to help bring my athletes closer together, especially when there was a major shift in the team. These exercises helped bring us closer together and improved performance and morale.
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.
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.
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.
I’m no wizard when it comes to baseball, but I’m about to blow your mind: My team lifts heavy, keeps volume down on max effort work, does a lot of speed work, and I don’t condition the strength out of them.
With a bachelor’s degree in exercise science, a master’s degree, and a doctorate in the works, you think I’d be smart about how I trained. Well, think again! I’ve spent most of my life training like an idiot. Don’t make the mistakes I did. Learn from them.
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?!
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.
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.
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.
“Dumbbell rows are bodybuilding burpees.” For more wisdom and the full post-Table Talk Podcast workout with Justin Harris, read on. This back workout is complete with pull-overs, pull-downs, deadlifts, and multiple row variations (one by which Justin deems as the best lat exercise there is).
These are just a few of my mistakes, and I’ve made many more than the ones listed here. Remember, mistakes are just lessons, so if you haven’t made any mistakes, you haven’t learned any lessons.
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.
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…
When we talk about the Big Three, we’re usually talking about squats, deadlifts, and bench presses. Well, guess what: There are even more bigger and better Big Three movements out there. Find out what they are if you dare…
It’s great you can point out each origin and insertion of every muscle, but your client doesn’t care. Your end goal is to get your client results and to make them feel better about themselves — not getting them to the point where they’re limping out of your gym.
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.
As I close in on turning 50 this next March, I admit that death has had a much more profound impact on me, to the point of almost making me dwell on it… and taking a 3,000-mile-long trip to spend time with my mother-in-law who has stage-4 cancer didn’t really help much, either.
I hope my story encourages you to realize that your past does not hold you back, no matter the story. There is always a way to use negative experiences for good and help others. It is also at that point you are no longer pushed by pain, but otherwise, pulled by purpose.
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.
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.
Wealth, power, and fame. Some might say those are inherently negative characteristics. I, however, believe the way those characteristics are wielded determines whether they are good or bad.
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.
I am currently working as a consultant for a pro rugby team, and I was asked about the type of player I would require moving into a pro team. Fair warning: What I wrote here may be considered heretical in the strength and conditioning world…
It’s one thing to read about elitefts equipment, but it’s something altogether different to see it being used in the hands of competitive powerlifters at Monster Garage Gym.
Your employees are like your clients in the gym. They want to build their skills and strengths and hopefully, are able to do it on their own. If you’re unable to manage your management, you are doing your employees and yourself a major disservice.
The cue “push into your belt” has lifters focusing on the front of their bodies. But this operates under the assumption that the torso will expand in 360 degrees, not just out toward the front. In order to have the best brace, we need to rework our understanding of doing so in the first place.
“To be able to give back is a much bigger legacy than anything you’ll leave on a platform.” elitefts coach Vincent Dizenzo finds his calling in helping others by passing on knowledge, especially when it comes to dieting and weight loss.
As strength athletes, we care only about lifting the weight from Point A to Point B, but from a bodybuilding perspective, that is dead wrong, but how does that translate to powerlifting? The idea is to challenge the muscle — not just focus on completing reps and sets.
One of the hardest things I’ve ever done was train less. But thanks to a little advice from Dave Tate, I started looking at training in a whole new light. Strength comes from so much more than lifting heavy weights in the gym.
Enough with the “back in my day, kids did this…” crap. Today is today. Things haven’t changed that much, and if you can’t adapt to what has changed, maybe you shouldn’t be a strength coach.
Recording a podcast episode with my mentor (and cousin) John Alvino made me reflect on the pivotal role training has played in my life. Quite frankly, without it, I don’t know where I’d be. Inside these four walls, training has been my therapy, my drug, and my anchor.
Over the last few years, I’ve had more time to visit some major universities and professional teams and talk shop with some very good strength and conditioning coaches, and these are some of the trends we’ve noticed in the weight room and think powerlifters should start implementing.
As with anything in training, the answer always is “it depends.” With the max effort method, I can do one of these things for two hours just on advanced principles that deal with the max effort method, or I can do one very that’s simple. I choose simple.
A few weeks ago I blogged about how I was mistakenly looking for a one-size-fits-all approach to dealing with my injuries, and my circumstances are different. But with the help of four friends (and my wife), we came up with a BAMF program. Here it is.
I quit my personal trainer job to become a strength and conditioning coach. I lived in my car, slept on a couch, and I even had a raccoon living in my apartment wall at one point. But all of these struggles and sacrifices were worth it.
Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again to get a different result. That pretty much sums up the strength and conditioning industry, doesn’t it?
Someone once told me when it came to programming, their objective was to be able to get as much bang for your buck as possible. That stuck with me, so I ensure my programs are of good quality and don’t last more than 45 minutes.
Stop killing kids by making them run so much. Stop running them into the ground with running… and in general, stop it. It defeats the purposes of building them up.
These off-season lane options are meant to keep them in the ballpark of being in game shape without beating the crap out of them. They don’t have to be ready all the time; just ready to get ready. If you think they are not sport-specific enough or intense enough, that’s why.
Powerlifting is so much more than physical strength. Yeah, that’s part of it, but only a fraction of the big picture. Are you strong mentally? Are you strong intellectually? Are you strong emotionally? Let’s find out.
While Dave’s AWOL, Jim Wendler, Matt Rhodes, and Vincent Dizenzo fill in and answer questions. This question (what lifts are you most proud of?) sparks a conversation about coaching and fond memories this trio of friends shared and are now sharing with you.
Universal Pro Gym’s clientele might mostly be made up of bodybuilders, but that doesn’t stop owner Bob Caron from ensuring that all people who walk through the doors get a personalized experience and a variety of services — including an on-site barbershop.
In January 2017, Marc Keys and I embarked upon a labor of love to develop a questionnaire investigating what the various groups of people who make up the rugby industry think are the key elements of the physical preparation of the rugby player. Here are the results.