The biggest obstacle most lifters face has nothing to do with heavy weights, exercise technique, or anything in the gym. Plenty of people tackle their workouts with plenty of focus, discipline, and ... Continue Reading
Forced Reps — What They Are and How to Use Them
"Good things come after failure. You just have to keep working." In any other context, this statement reads as banal self-help advice. But relative to lifting, it’s sage wisdom gleaned from bodybuilders ... Continue Reading
Workout Splits Explained — How They Work and Why You Need Them
If you have the luxury of working out, you’re squandering the opportunity by walking into the gym without a plan. To avoid wasting your time with marginally effective training, you need to get organized. ... Continue Reading
Powerbuilding: The Training Method for Size and Strength
Building strength and muscle is what drives many people to start lifting weights in the first place, so why not train for the best of both worlds? Instead of choosing between sheer power and strength or a ... Continue Reading
Two-A-Day Workouts Explained: Better Results Without Overtraining
Some lifters believe the more they work out, the better their results will be. That might mean training every day of the week or grinding out monstrous three-hour sessions in the gym. However, to ... Continue Reading
Supersets Explained: A Technique for Better Results and Less Fatigue
Want a more efficient, more effective, more engaging workout? Rest less between sets. More specifically, start using supersets — a common, but often misunderstood and misapplied, intensity-boosting ... Continue Reading
Why You Should Be Greasing the Groove During Your Workouts
Practice makes perfect, right? Wrong. Only perfect practice makes perfect. Practicing the correct skill is more important than repeating any random thing and hoping for the best. Whether you’re practicing ... Continue Reading
How To Do the Pendlay Row
Glenn Pendlay was one of the leading coaches in American weightlifting — he held a Level 5 accreditation from USA Weightlifting (the highest available) and coached many high-level athletes to medals in ... Continue Reading
Learn How to Build Strength with Three Key Principles
Weights, by their very definition, are heavy. That would explain why lifting weights is a good way to get stronger. Pick up a weight. If it’s easy, pick up more. If it’s too hard, try until it’s easy…then ... Continue Reading
Squat/Pull/Press: A 4-Week Strength Challenge
This strength cycle should help you prioritize overall squat, pull and press strength. The final week will be a test week of sorts, some lifts you will be allowed to max, others you will be given a set rep ... Continue Reading
Lift Stuff: Add Mass to Your Body and Years to Your Life
Photo by Bev Childress “Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general.” The infamous words of Mark Rippetoe are often used to drive the avid gym-goer to squat more, ... Continue Reading
The RAIL System: Shoulder Mobility for the Bench Press
Bench pressing is not a just chest exercise. There is no break in living matter. There are no empty spaces between tissue layers and body parts. When you lie down on the bench to move that weight, the ... Continue Reading
Your 1RM Present: A 4-Week End of Year Strength Program
This programs is designed for an intermediate-advanced level weightlifter. It is high volume and builds to higher intensity in week four. It should not be attempted by those with a back squat 1RM that is ... Continue Reading
The Fast Way to Long Health: Move Really Quickly
“I wish I looked less like a sprinter.” - Nobody, ever Most of us will never be graced with the physiques of Usain Bolt or Jessica Ennis, but we can all benefit from a little sprinting. In fact, ... Continue Reading
Will Online Programming Make or Break Your Training?
Online coaching and programming is a good method of getting expert tuition for a fraction of the price. With the right mindset, focus, and coach it can help you achieve brilliant results and take your ... Continue Reading
Keep It Simple: Classic Tools for Smart Training
In this day and age of accessibility for everything from strength training and nutrition, to mobility and recovery, I find myself wondering where the simplicity has gone. If you are reading this you are ... Continue Reading
Awesome At-Home Workouts: The Cinder Block Training Plan
You have a gym membership and time to use it regularly. Your facility most likely offers heart-rate elevating devices such as treadmills, ellipticals, and climbers. In addition, you have your compliment of ... Continue Reading
Don’t Be a Specialist: Your Routine Needs Variety
The human body craves variety. No matter how disciplined someone is, sooner or later he or she will need a change. For some reason, instead of embracing the fact we need variety and understanding it, many ... Continue Reading
Bobby Maximus’s 5 Favorite Not-for-Wimps Workouts
Over the years I have been asked many questions about my workouts: “What is your go-to workout?” “If you could only do one workout what would it be?” “What is the best workout to build ... Continue Reading
How to Be a Thinking Athlete: A User’s Guide to the Brain
Today, we have access to more training options than ever before. Within the click of a few buttons, we can engage with world-class coaches and pre-made programs for any performance area we ... Continue Reading
7 Ways for Experienced Lifters to Stimulate Muscle Growth
For most beginners, training is a glorious time where personal records are seen monthly, new striations pop up every day, and you feel invincible. But for those of us who have been around the iron block ... Continue Reading
Quitting Vegetarian: 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. Question #1: The Dreaded Dot Drill READER: When I do ... Continue Reading
Too Busy to Train? 6 Pieces of Advice for the Average Joe
You love to train, you want to train, but you simply don’t have the time. You have a job that demands so much of your time and energy that you find it hard to get into the gym, and when you do, it feels ... Continue Reading
5 Essential Tips for Building a Better Exercise Practice
In a previous article, I explained the difference between practicing, training, and testing, and how knowing this difference has helped me make better gains in my physical efforts. Today, I am going to ... Continue Reading
