With the rampant use of steroids and performance enhancing drugs, it’s easy to get caught up in the latest and greatest product or “aid” that just might give you the edge you’ve been looking for. But ... Continue Reading
5 Ways to End Elbow Pain During Chin Ups
Experiencing pain during any exercise is a bummer. After all, your training should be making you better, not making you feel worse. If you’re experiencing pain during any exercise it’s a sign something is ... Continue Reading
Dan John, Coaching, and the Importance of Mentors
Every great training system has a history, every great system has a long lineage of coaches, and every great system has guided countless winning athletes. What is the history of the system you are ... Continue Reading
Cal Poly’s 8-Week Deadlift Program: Push Through a Strength Plateau
There’s almost nothing worse than a plateau. We all are training as hard as we can and it sucks to hit the preverbal wall. Well, guess what? It’s going to happen to all of us at some point. I’ve been a ... Continue Reading
How to Choose the Right Fitness Program for You
I like personality tests. I’ve taken just about all of them, from Myers-Briggs to the Enneagram. While personality tests aren’t an exact science, in taking such tests, I have gotten to know myself a little ... Continue Reading
Manual Therapists: Training Tips to Stay Healthy on the Job
Massage therapists and other professionals who practice bodywork do wonderful things for people. However, it is estimated that as high as 80% of professionals in this field dropout after two years. This is ... Continue Reading
Mindful Recovery: How to Add Meditation to Your Routine
Zhan zhuang, or standing meditation exercise, has been used as a method of relaxation and health cultivation for thousands of years. The earliest known reference to standing appears in The Yellow Emperor’s ... Continue Reading
Training Strength for Women: 3 Perspectives From Real Athletes
You've probably heard the latest news about the first two women to graduate from the grueling Army Ranger training. Pretty awesome stuff. When it comes to women and strength, the tides are turning in a ... Continue Reading
7 Essential Swimming Tips for Even the Strongest Athletes
Swimming is highly technical. No matter how strong and fit you are, if you don’t have the proper technique, then you won’t go fast. The best way to improve is to have a coach who gives you feedback while ... Continue Reading
The Root of All Injury: Don’t Let Altered Movement Ruin You
This article is going to be fairly short and to the point. The simple concept I want you to take away from it is that just because an injury resulted from an acute trauma does not always mean it is an ... Continue Reading
Conditioning for Fighting with Mike Perry, Part I: Energy Systems 101
Recently, I spoke with Mike Perry, from the Skill of Strength, to discuss training the energy systems in MMA fighters. He is one of the top practitioners of training energy systems and his fighters are ... Continue Reading
4 Drills for Getting Stronger and Better at Handstands
If you’ve been working on your handstand for a while now, but are still struggling with your balance and endurance upside down, don’t worry - you're not alone. Ask any longtime hand balancers and ... Continue Reading
6 Steps to Becoming the Bro With the Biggest Bench
What do you mean, ways to bench more? It’s just bench, man. Walk in the gym, fist-bump your pals, walk over to the bench, claim your territory, slap some 45s on, and go. Smash out a couple sets of five ... Continue Reading
Strength or Aesthetics? Smart Strength With Charles Staley
Note: Charles is here on a weekly basis to help you cut through the B.S. and get to the bottom of the biggest questions in health and training. Post your questions directly to Charles in the comments below ... Continue Reading
Individualized Coaching and the Future of Competitive CrossFit
When I competed in the CrossFit Games in 2011, the competition area that was set up in the StubHub Center (then known as the Home Depot Center) was “Parking Lot 17.” I had hit the big time. Painted parking ... Continue Reading
Cell Phone Ergonomics: How to Avoid the “Smart Phone Slump”
If you are one out of the every five people on this planet who owns a smart phone, now is the time to start thinking twice about looking down at your phone to check email or Facebook. By the time ... Continue Reading
What the Lower Dantian Is and Why It’s Pivotal to Your Training
How many of you are looking for an edge? What if I told you that with only a daily investment of five to ten minutes that we could dramatically increase your ability to go in the gym? Martial artist ... Continue Reading
Gym Gains Start in Your Gut: How to Amp Up Your Performance
How is your digestion? Think about it for a moment. If you’re like nine out of ten people, you probably haven’t really thought about it before. So ask yourself: ... Continue Reading
How to Increase Power Output With Better Programming
Powerful Facts About Peak Power Training Peak power outputs are correlated with increased jump height, running speed, and enhanced weightlifting outcomes Increased power outputs can enhance all ... Continue Reading
Take a Break From Weights: How to Train Intuitively
We’re in the middle of a big shift in fitness. There’s a growing departure from exercise as we’ve traditionally thought of it: treadmills, bikes, and the squat rack. With the increasing popularity of ... Continue Reading
Want to Improve Your Gym Performance? Start in Your Gut
How is your digestion? Think about it for a moment. If you’re like nine out of ten people, you probably haven’t really thought about it before. So ask yourself: How does it feel in your gut? ... Continue Reading
The Forgotten Art of Barbell Juggling
Of all the forgotten lifts I’ve covered, this activity is perhaps the oddest of the bunch and one you see even less often than the others - and for good reason. You probably haven’t heard of barbell ... Continue Reading
Build Athleticism and a Superhero Body With Rest Pause Training
When we first take an interest in fitness, the most popular reason is to make changes to our physique. We crave strength. We crave athleticism. We crave feeling as invincible as we can be in our human ... Continue Reading
The Vagus Nerve: An Unexpected Key to Better Performance
Whether you practice yoga, run, or work out - or all three - you most likely want to optimize your efforts. With the millions of dollars spent on self improvement, our intentions are clear: we want to be ... Continue Reading
