After a few days of struggling to make it up the stairs, I figured it was time to make some revisions to my training plan.

Your mental climate during workouts is one of the most significant factors for success. Here's how to optimize it.

I had been lifting heavy for a few years, but never had a goal to work towards. I decided it was time to compete.

When you think about your training as a system composed of several interrelated components, you're likely to succeed.

My orthopedic health is holding up great, and I had another productive week of training.

For the first time since starting the Matt Kroc deadlift cycle, I’m feeling confident that I’ll make it through the entire sixteen weeks.

The most successful people keep constant pressure on themselves. This is the price that must be paid for excellence.

To be successful in lifting, you have to use the greatest amount of intensity that you can sustain long-term.

If you’re a competitive athlete, the time for testing your maximum capacity is in competition, not in training.

My training volume this week was the highest it's been in a while, so I may have to take a deload week.

I’ve managed much better accumulation of volume this week, and not at the expense of intensity either. I’m happy with everything I’m doing and looking to continue the current trend.

I hit some pretty high volume at the beginning of this week. I continued doing the SSB squats with chains and have also started using the ab wheel on my days off.

This week I entered a high-volume phase in hopes I can maintain or increase maximal strength and also improve body composition.

It’s easy to get weighed down in the trap of defining our successes by comparison to others. But what's even more important are the small, everyday self-victories.

After the last couple weeks of heavy volume it was time to cycle it down a little. The timing worked well as I had to take a day off from training anyway.

Between two rest days this week and a rough snatch workout, I wasn't at 100 percent. Fortunately a good front squat session on Sunday saved my training week.

This week was a testing week and also turned out to be a recovery week. Check out the videos I've included this week to see some of the results!