Strongman for Athletic Strength and Conditioning
The study of the science of strength and conditioning for sports is a huge endeavor. There are many differing opinions and many things that work. The key is to find out what works for your athlete based on his or her individual differences, strengths, weaknesses, and of course, sport.
Knowledge and Wisdom of the Elite
Some of the most insightful minds in athletic nutrition share their ideas.
Tattoos, Training, and the Wisdom of Stu
About a week ago, I went into Lexington to get a new tattoo. I went there with about ten ideas and worked with the artist, Stu, to develop them. After some talking, we decided on one, and Stu drew something up. Now where to put it…
My To Do List
Sometimes I reflect back on my days (or is it daze?) in college when I could just wake up, go directly to the gym, and pump away.
Wanted: Hardcore Training Partners
I know this may seem a bit strange, but it crossed my mind the other day as I was showering that certain individuals in history would make great training partners. I quickly compiled a list of historical figures that met certain personal requirements for being a good workout comrade.
General Concerns in the S&C Field
Prior to a recent transformation which I recently underwent, I made the choice to negatively interpret a great deal of circumstances which infect our industry and society. I found myself in continual disappointment with respect to a host of factors.
Letter of Resignation
This letter is to inform you that I am resigning from my position as head strength and conditioning coach. I enjoyed my time while at the university and feel grateful for the knowledge and friendships that I have gained. I feel I owe it to you to offer an explanation as to why I have made this decision.
Do You Need Your Brakes Fixed?
Many articles out there deal with enhancing acceleration but pay little attention to deceleration or force absorption. However, in most cases, you must be able to absorb force before you can create force.
Interview with Eric Serrano
Eric, give us a little information about your background for the people who do not know you.
Sliding Filament Theory of Muscle Contraction, Fiber Types, and Training...
It has been over fifty years since the sliding filament theory of muscle contraction was first proposed.
The Art of Triples
Triples in the shirt is hands down the best exercise to increase your bench. What sucks is that they are hard as shit to master. They need to be completed on one breath. I don't know how many times I have told lifters to do this exercise. But what I usually hear from the lifter is, "why?" Because I said
The Secret Behind Their Success
While at the Syracuse seminar, several of us chatted about the gyms and teams that were always kicking major ass. They all had the same thing in common—attitude. This attitude spread like wildfire throughout the gym and equated to success, BIG success.
35 Reasons to Love South Side Gym
Billy Mimnaugh wrote an article for elitefts™ about the South Side Gym in Stratford, Connecticut. Here's an update.
Workout Templates for Various Athletes
The body doesn’t know whether you're doing higher-faster-sports, Westside, HIT, swiss ball, kettlebell, or any other system. It only knows stimulation and recovery.
The Collegiate Power Rack
What makes the Collegiate Power Rack such a great piece of equipment? Just about everything!
Deadlift with Style
The deadlift has become very popular over the past few years. It’s a relatively easy exercise to understand.
Get Out of The Gym!
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.
Unconventional Exercises Using Conventional Equipment
We don’t know the guys who run EliteFTS.com. What we do know from reading the articles and asking questions is that they have helped us become better strength students.
Tire Flipping: Tips and Techniques
Aside from the Atlas Stones, the tire flip could be one of the most recognizable strongman events in the sport. However, it is probably the one event most incorrectly performed by athletes and most improperly used by strength coaches.
Forcing Our Minors to Major: Youth Athletic Specialization
For children living in the United States, sports are as common as television and snack time.
Professional 45-Degree Back Raise
We’ve had the EFS Professional 45-degree back raise in the EFS weight room for about 2–3 years. It’s the best low back strengthener I’ve ever used.
Snowed in with Dave Tate
I’ve never met “Big Bad Dave Tate.” I have never even met Dave “Fuckin” Tate. Supposedly, he is some terrifying lunatic who would throw you through a wall for squatting less than 800 pounds in his presence or suck the brains from your skull if you looked at him wrong. At least that’s what I have read on the internet.
The High School Odyssey
About 12 weeks ago, I started training with a local football player, Caleb Sexton.
Fun in the Weight Room
Keeping your athletes motivated is one of the hardest things to do as a strength coach.
What Happens When Westside Doesn't Work
I received this article and immediately realized that Alan’s plight mirrors many other lifters.
The Arnold 2006 in Review
I think everyone was holding their breath at this years WPO meet at the Arnold Classic.
The Odyssey of a Collegiate Strength & Conditioning Coach
This article is designed to give future strength & conditioning coaches a better insight as to what it takes to get your “foot in the door”.
Boston Seminar Overview
Drum roll please…..Ladies and gentlemen, get ready for the myth, the man, the legend – Dave Tate! I am going to give you readers an overview of the phenomenal presentation put on this past weekend by Dave at Total Performance Sports in Boston, MA.
The Simple Guide to Speed Training
Spend a few minutes listening to people and gurus talk about speed training nowadays and it shouldn't be too hard to understand why the average person can leave a speed training conversation with a billion more questions then they had when they started.
Cycling for the Big Meet
Getting ready for a big meet is stressful. There are a lot of things to consider, especially when using equipment. I am not going to write out all of my workouts, but I am going to give you a few points that I have learned over the last 20 years, and hopefully you can avoid some of my
Maximum Effort Training for Strongman
As covered in my last article, the dynamic effort (DE) session is dedicated to speed. Max effort (ME) is dedicated to huge weights and re-writing the record books every session you train. My approach is a bit different from the traditional Westside approach.
Deadlifting with Chains
Almost a year ago, Matt Bash and I put our collective heads together and were thinking of different ways to approach our weak point in the deadlift; the lockout.
The Right Piece for the Right Puzzle: Training High School Athletes with...
“There are a hundred ways to skin a cat, I am only good at one of them”, is something my grandfather used to say to me all the time.
Lift & Learn II: The Benefits of Bodybuilding
When I look back at my experiences as a bodybuilder there are plenty of good memories, tons of fun workouts, painful workouts and some injuries.
Doing it Differently
As a follow up to Bob Youngs article “Things I Would do Differently”, I decided to give this idea a shot and see what I could come up with.
Intermediate Madness
As I traverse the bumpy road that leads to elite level lifting, I’ve pondered what things can hasten the journey. Most trainees can rapidly progress from being a beginner to an intermediate level lifter, but many often plateau and never move out of the intermediate phase. This article is designed for the intermediate level lifter, to help them
Choosing and Training Your Openers
We get a lot of questions regarding how to choose openers for powerlifting meets and there are a lot of ways to look at this.
Since most veteran powerlifters have their own way of doing things and will probably never read this article, we are not going to address them. What I am going to do is address the lifter
Lift and Learn: The Downfalls of Bodybuilding
I started lifting weights at the age of 13. I recall the first day like it was yesterday! It was 2 weeks before 8th grade ended and I trekked down into my older brother’s room where he had a K-Mart bench, small straight bar and adjustable dumbbells. I carried Arnold’s Encyclopedia with me and followed the program of supersets. I
What Makes Functional Training Functional?
One of my favorite things to do is to sit back and observe people. Sometimes I feel like I am a scientist looking at some weird experiment gone wrong.
And You Thought You had it Tough
“Well, I stand up next to a mountain I chop it down with the edge of my hand.” –Jimi
Fun with Your (Med) Balls
If you’ve been training long enough, chances are that just about everything you do is routine. Possibly the worst part of having a routine is monotony and boredom, especially when it comes to warming-up; you know it’s important, but damn if it isn’t downright boring!
Deload to Reload
I’ve wanted to write this article for awhile and there have been several questions on the Q/A that touched on this subject. For those not familiar with the term “deload” by basic definition of it is this: to take a break from extreme training.
Bigger and Better Benching
A lot of my tips are just repeats from everyone else but I think they get overlooked while everyone is looking for the next gear craze or shortcut. Some are gear related and some are raw work.
I Thought It Was Pretty Simple
The handoff for the bench is very important but an often-overlooked skill. There are two major mistakes that are often made.
Transformation of a Young Athlete
Dan White had a lot of trouble gaining weight through his years of wrestling. As a freshman in high school he barely weighed 90 lbs and wrestled in the 103 lb weight class. As a sophomore he finally gained enough muscle and was able to wrestle at 103 lbs with no problems making weight.
The Triumvirate
The number 3 is held in reverence by many people. Of course, the title of this article is in reference to the Roman Empire and where would we be without them?
The Kids are Alright
Last night I closed the doors to my strength and conditioning facility for the last time. After over ten years in the same town and the same building, it was time for me to move on to new challenges.
How to Strengthen Rosie and Her Five Friends
One of the biggest things that I struggled with during my deadlift training was my grip. This was never a big deal when I was lighter (under 250lbs), but as I became bigger my grip began to suffer.
Bench Training with Ed Rectenwald
Coming up with new articles each month can be a challenging task and coming up with quality information can be even harder. After a couple hundred articles I find myself repeating myself time and time again.
Push/Pull
This article was inspired by Alwyn Cosgrove and something that he mentioned to me in passing.
3 Training Reasons Behind Baseball’s Steroid Problem
If those guys want to cheat the game and the fans while they destroy their health, then they can suffer the consequences.
The Circa-Maximal Squat Phase
The circa max phase is a three week squat phase designed to peak you for your contest.
Torso Training – Part 3: Advanced Training Exercises
In the past two articles, we have given you ideas and progressions for strengthening your torso. As you know by now, strong abs isn’t all that is needed.
Difference Makers
Despite the busiest summer I ever had both professionally and socially, my training has been better than ever lately.
The Individualization of Team Training
In many instances team weight training consists of athletes of varying levels of strength preparedness- all performing the same training parameters.
Field Day
Field day at elementary school means dunk tanks, water balloons, Italian ice, hanging with your friends, cool games and a bunch of other cool stuff.
Time Under Tension for Grapplers & MMA Fighters Part II
I still get goose bumps when I think of how John Smith, two time Olympic Gold Medalist was training when I attended his intensive wrestling camps.
PR Rx: Todd Brock’s Bench Routine
I have been training with Todd Brock for over 12 years now. I first met Todd during my 2 hour road trips to Westside Barbell.