Charles is here on a weekly basis to help you cut through the B.S. and get some real perspective regarding health and training. Please post feedback or questions to Charles directly in the comments below ... Continue Reading
Do You Need Extra Grip Work?
Anyone who has ever trained in judo or Brazilian jiu jitsu for any length of time will know this simple truth – if you can’t hang onto your opponent, you can’t control them. Grip is a large part of any ... Continue Reading
The Kettlebell Snatch: Tsar of Lifts
Kettlebell swings get all the attention, but diversity in investments is always a good thing. Swings develop the ability to project force in a horizontal plane and kettlebell snatches develop the ability ... Continue Reading
You Are Not Your Shoulder Ultrasound
When we use imaging to look at the spine, we can see things like degeneration, disc bulge, scoliosis, or maybe even an extra vertebra. These findings can make clients feel like they are broken or something ... Continue Reading
3 of the Best: This Week’s Top Articles, Vol. 22
Welcome to our brand new weekend roundup, Three of the Best! Every Sunday, we'll post up Breaking Muscle's top three articles of the week. These pieces have caught your attention throughout the last seven ... Continue Reading
Stability For Symmetry: The Continuum of Performance Rehab
Let me tell you a story that will surprise you. It’s about a performance athlete, whose rehab after a calf injury was targeted in a bizarre way and demonstrated extraordinary results. I say this rehab was ... Continue Reading
Wake Up Your Obliques With the Diagonal Side Sit
What’s a powerful way to skyrocket your power and strength? Introduce unusual movements that safely challenge your stability. Movement variability is key to preventing injuries and avoiding the dreaded ... Continue Reading
Bottoms-Up Kettlebell Presses for Solid Shoulders
The bottoms-up kettlebell press is a great drill to build shoulder strength and mobility. The challenge of keeping the kettlebell upside down teaches you how to tighten the core and find your groove in the ... Continue Reading
Mobilize Your Hips and Quads to Get More From Your Core
As a coach, not a day passes without someone saying to me, “I need a stronger core.” Nobody will argue that a strong core is bad for you. But I think what most of us mean to say is that the ... Continue Reading
The Pursuit of Excellence: Early History of Doping in Sports
The subject of doping in sports is both new and old, especially in weight sports. It is almost as old in the field events and North American-style football. Banned medications were once considered ... Continue Reading
Don’t Let Your Wants Obscure Your Needs
Charles is here on a weekly basis to help you cut through the B.S. and get some real perspective regarding health and training. Please post feedback or questions to Charles directly in the comments below ... Continue Reading
Corrective Posture Exercises for Chronic Sitters
Almost all of us are guilty of being chronic sitters. The negative effects of this epidemic are too numerous to list in a single article, but today we'll discuss how to counter the damage it does to your ... Continue Reading
Advice for the Newbie Weightlifter
Your awkward reverse-curl-clean and slow press-jerk are dead giveaways. The skin on the inside of your thumbs is still smooth, and you don't have any calluses. You're a newbie Olympic weightlifter, and you ... Continue Reading
Advanced Drills for Hip Mobility, Balance, and Power
Over/unders combine flexion, extension, rotation, abduction, and adduction at the ankle, knee, and hip joints while also promoting postural integrity and a neutral spine. Done with a quick tempo, they also ... Continue Reading
3 of the Best: This Week’s Top Articles, Vol. 21
Welcome to our brand new weekend roundup, Three of the Best! Every Sunday, we'll post up Breaking Muscle's top three articles of the week. These pieces have caught your attention throughout the last seven ... Continue Reading
Stimuli, Strength, Stability: A 3-Point System for Performance Training
If you are a performance athlete, it is likely you are supplementing your sport-specific training with some strength and conditioning in an effort to get stronger and increase your overall fitness. I can ... Continue Reading
How to Train for the Zombie Apocalypse
People love to talk about the apocalypse. Maybe it's a useful way to sort out the important issues, the non-starters and non sequiturs. Perhaps it helps them to think critically and objectively. Some even ... Continue Reading
It’s Time to Reform America’s Bad Habit Factories
Habits, more than anything else, dictate our behaviors and daily actions. But society has come to view habits as external conditions that happen to us. William James, the father of psychology, once said, ... Continue Reading
Train Like the Pros: Get More Air on Your Jumps
‘Tis the Combine season, and at Cal Poly we are hot and heavy into Pro Day prep. The college football season wrapped up a few months ago, and the seniors (along with a a few juniors) all over the country ... Continue Reading
Specificity: It’s All About Context
Charles is here on a weekly basis to help you cut through the B.S. and get some real perspective regarding health and training. Please post feedback or questions to Charles directly in the comments below ... Continue Reading
Build a Resilient Spine: Start Here
You wake up with a sore lower back, and you go to bed feeling the same way. The discomfort is a constant reminder of how deconditioned you are. Trust me, I’ve been there. You know there’s something wrong. ... Continue Reading
How to Brace Your Lats for a Monster Deadlift
In the deadlift, a common error is failing to brace the lats effectively. As the lift starts, the lats are pulled around and down, creating a rounding of the shoulders and upper back. This shift in ... Continue Reading
Hit Your Weakness With a Hammer
Let’s travel back to the first article I wrote for Breaking Muscle. In that article, I mentioned one implement that I want to examine more closely today. It’s something that anyone can afford. With ... Continue Reading
Is What You See What You Get? Focus Your Internal Camera
When you go to a doctor for an ailment, you generally have a list of symptoms ready when the doctor asks what's wrong. The doctor may ask questions or run tests to rule things out and get a more precise ... Continue Reading
