Strive For Progress Not Perfection: Squat Edition
My dream as a kid was to be He-Man play professional baseball. Growing up in Middle-of-Nowhere, NY made this dream a bit more of challenge because 1) I often had to resort to doing things alone and 2) I didn’t have a ton of access to watching baseball. My parent’s house was outside of town lines,… Read more
Layering the Kettlebell Swing
The kettlebell swing offers many benefits and can be utilized in many ways. It’s a fantastic modality to train explosiveness and power (especially as a more “user friendly” alternative to Olympic lifting), it’s a back saver in that 1) when it’s performed correctly it helps to dissociate hip movement from lumbar movement (it’s all about… Read more
3 Ways the Kettlebell Deadlift Can Improve Your Barbell Deadlift
Today’s guest post comes courtesy of Providence, RI based strength coach, Joe DeLeo. He discusses the kettlebell deadlift and why it can have a lot of influence on one’s performance with the barbell deadlift. Enjoy! 3 Ways the Kettlebell Deadlift Can Improve Your Barbell Deadlift The kettlebell deadlift can help you improve your barbell deadlift… Read more
Exercises You Should Be Doing: Hinge Row
Mike Boyle was once quoted as saying: “Most trainees can never really do enough (horizontal) rowing.” I tend to agree. It’s no secret most guys (and girls) are mirror-centric, often training the muscles most easily viewed when staring into a mirror – pectorals, shoulders, biceps, abdominals, and the tranzipidous It’s also no secret most guys… Read more
3 Squat Variations You Haven’t Tried Yet, But Need To
Today’s guest post comes courtesy of Jennifer Vogelgesang Blake – or JVB as she’s affectionately called – a coach at The Movement Minneapolis, competitive powerlifter, and author (along with Jen Sinkler) of Unapologetically Powerful, a new resource designed as a go-to source for learning the “big 3” lifts, and removes the intimidation often attached at… Read more
How To Improve Chin-Ups and Pull-Ups From the Ground
Excuse my language: but fuck what the scale says. I hate that the scale is often deemed the end-all, be-all measure of progress; the litmus test innumerable people gravitate towards to gauge their success when it comes to their health and well-being (or worse, self worth). I’ve written on this topic before – Should You Use… Read more
4 Easy Ways to Improve Classic Lifts
I’ve been on a “less is better” stick to the basics kick lately with my writing. Last week I wrote an article on T-Nation on why I feel “muscle confusion” is wack, and this week I have a new article on BodyBuilding.com with a similar vibe… …extolling people to make the “classic” moves (squats, deadlifts,… Read more
The Deadlift: Beginner Basics
I came across this comment yesterday on Twitter from a friend of mine who’s an accomplished trainer and someone I respect a lot: How many articles can be written about the deadlift? And when writing, does the author ever say to self, “maybe I should wait on this one.” I can’t say I disagree with… Read more