This is part two to last month’s post on Un-Clawing Your Paw and Other Impediments to Grip Strength. I’m back with another video from my colleague Lillee Chandra who is now helping us to take a look at the ... Continue Reading
How Play Can Make You Fitter and Happier
Click to Start Darryl's Free Paleo Fitness and Primal Play Workouts “We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.” - George Bernard Shaw When was the last time ... Continue Reading
Muay Thai Workout: Training for the Art of 8 Limbs
When it comes to striking in the sport of MMA, there is a certain art form that many fighters adopt for the stand-up portion of their training that is based on an ancient form known as the art of eight ... Continue Reading
Proven Strategies for Getting Stronger
In the beginning, it might seem that every time you lift a barbell or swing a kettlebell that you get a little bit stronger. But at some point, you become a veteran athlete and the gains stop coming so ... Continue Reading
Women’s Self-Defense Seminar (Athlete Journal 38)
Last Saturday I held my free women’s self-defense seminar and it was great! I had a total of nineteen women attend. They all worked hard and did an awesome job. I think we picked the perfect moves for them ... Continue Reading
Working Out Isn’t Enough: Advice for Desk Workers
A recent survey found that the number one complaint among desk workers was lack of physical activity. Over half of the workers noted this disadvantage. The primary complaint among non-desk workers was ... Continue Reading
Weekly Training in Preparation for Worlds (Athlete Journal 95)
As I spoke about in my last journal entry, I’ll be competing at the AAU Powerlifting Worlds in Las Vegas on October 18th. This is a rough sketch of what my weekly training split will look like, although ... Continue Reading
3 Minute Meditation to Increase Heart Rate Awareness and Control
Heart rate variability (HRV) describes the beat-by-beat changes in your heart's pace, essentially the spaces between your heart beats. You may think this occurs beyond the reach of your conscious mind, but ... Continue Reading
Compensatory Acceleration Training: Speed Up Your Strength Gains
Andy Bolton (pictured below), the first person to deadlift 1,000lbs, and Dr. Fred Hatfield, one of the first people to squat 1,000lbs, both describe a similar phenomenon they use in their training. They ... Continue Reading
The Weightlifting Mistake You Didn’t Know You Make
Much has been written about the trajectory of the barbell on its path upwards. At one time it seemed to many coaches that the ideal upward trajectory would be a straight line. After all, didn't our physics ... Continue Reading
More Power, Faster: Benefits and Limits of Concentric Training
Exercising to achieve greater power is necessary for virtually every sport. Unfortunately, the ideal way to achieve peak power is a nuanced endeavor. In a recent study in the Journal of Strength and ... Continue Reading
Training On Vacation (Athlete Journal 24)
This past week I was on our family vacation in the Outer Banks. Although I didn’t get in any mat time, I was able to get three days of weightlifting and some interval training done. I did do ... Continue Reading
How to Win in the Age of CrossFit Proliferation
We have entered the Groupon age. CrossFit, once the underground rave of serious fitness enthusiasts, military, police, and fire, has come to the masses. The house fraus have come out to play with the ... Continue Reading
The Best Abdominal Exercises for the Strength Athlete
Take a look through the training program for any athlete in a strength sport (weightlifting, powerlifting, strongman, etc.) and you’ll typically see the following exercises programmed for the abdominals: ... Continue Reading
Plank Showdown: Science Tests Old-School vs. TRX
The plank is a simple exercise commonly used to stabilize the body. However, it’s also easy to progress beyond it pretty quickly. In a recent study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, a ... Continue Reading
The Ruptured Renegade Injury Journal (Athlete Journal 1)
Whenever someone sees me now with my sleek black soft cast around my ankle, the first thing they ask me is, “What did you do? Drop a kettlebell on your foot?” Well no, actually, it was not a ... Continue Reading
NPFL Athlete Craig Kenney: A Hard-Working Team Player
Craig Kenney is a CrossFit powerhouse from the North East Region. He finished third in his region after this year’s Open and scored an impressive 450 reps on Open workout 14.1, which was the best male ... Continue Reading
Get Stronger and Stay Honest With Pause Reps
Pause repetitions are a tried-and-true method of adding muscle and strength and should be a mainstay in any true strength-training program. In this article I’m going to address the generally accepted use ... Continue Reading
How an Increase in Cortisol Can Affect Your Libido
High cortisol levels can cause disruption in not only the male libido but can also cause erectile dysfunction. Let’s take a look at what cortisol actually is in regard to endocrinology, how you wind up ... Continue Reading
Forefoot, Midfoot, or Heel Strike? Surprising Trends in Ultrarunners
Foot strike has been a hotly debated topic of late, with some sources indicating it makes no difference to performance, and others emphasizing its importance for running form. A study in the Journal of ... Continue Reading
Working Through My Limitations (Athlete Journal 32)
Saturday Saturday's workout was clean and jerks. I started with: Speed clean and jerk: 50kg x 5 reps Speed cleans 1 jerk: 2 sets 4 speed cleans and a jerk: 75kg 4 speed cleans and a ... Continue Reading
Capturing Life on the Mat – Doug Kline (Featured Photographer)
Sometimes in life you know what exactly path you're on and can plan for every step of the way. Other times, life throws us unexpected surprises that grow organically and develop into more than we could ... Continue Reading
3 Exercises You Should Skip at the Gym
It’s a free country; at least it was the last time I checked. Freedom means it’s up to us to do what activities we wish when it comes to our leisure time. This includes the time you spend at the gym. If ... Continue Reading
The Essential Role of the Ankle in BJJ
Walk around a Brazilian jiu jitsu tournament and you may hear a coach yelling, “Watch your base!” or “Keep your base!” But what does that mean? The Definition of “Base" Before we talk about how ... Continue Reading
