Programming.
General strength programming articles that do not fit the narrower tracks.
Client Q&A #2: Coming Back After a Layoff
In the past week I've had a few recurring conversations with some clients at the gym regarding this topic. This happens pretty often in the summer months…
5 Tips for Training for a Strength Lifting Meet
Since we are 8-weeks out from the Starting Strength Fall Classic (as of this writing) I thought it might be a good time to address how I best prepare…
Avoiding "Dumb" Mistakes
The title for this article was so cheezy it's almost too painful to write, but I just couldn't pass it up. My hope is that if you rolled your eyes at the…
Training on Imperfect Schedules (Pt 2)
In Part 1 of this series we briefly went over a few training templates that work for people who can realistically only get in two full-fledged training…
Alternating Rung Method
The manipulation of sets, reps, and weight increments is probably one of the most confusing and tedious aspects of effective programming for strength…
Training on Imperfect Schedules (Part 1): Training Twice Per Week
One of the issues I deal with regularly, both here at the gym as well as with my online clients, are schedules that don't necessarily allow for the perfect…
Coming Soon!
We are hard at work preparing the content for this page. Check back soon!
Strategy: Rotating Rep Ranges
The following article was based off of a coaching call I did with one of my clients, John, just last night. John is a strong late intermediate trainee who…
5 Ways to 5x5
Most of us recognize that doing 5 sets of 5 reps – 5 x 5 – is an incredibly powerful method of getting big and strong. The method is an absolute staple of…
How to Warm Up
I’m always surprised how often I get asked about the warm up process when working up to various workloads. I guess after 18 years lifting weights “how to…
Coaching the Obese, Part 2
If you are going to actually get out on the training floor with an obese client, there are a few important points to understand regarding the clients…
Performance Flexibility
In the past couple of weeks of doing consultations with some of my clients, there was a re-occurring theme that kept popping up with many of them. The…
Coaching the Obese (Part 1)
This article is intended for those that are obese and for those coaches and personal trainers that may find themselves working with the obese. Let me start…
Chronic Program Hopping - Part 2
The second installment of a two-part series on why people fail to stick to their training plans
Chronic Program Hopping - Part 1
Chronic Program Hopping – Part 1
Article for RxMuscle.com
Follow the link below to get HUGE using the Heavy-Light-Medium system!
Goodmornings vs RDL vs SLDL
One of the most common questions I get on my forum over at StartingStrength.com is something along the lines of:
K.I.S.S. Training Program
We all fall victim to it. Over complicating our strength training programs. One expert on the internet says "X" and just a click away, another expert says…
Simplifying the Heavy-Light-Medium Training System - Part 3: Pulling
As with the squatting and pressing program, Starr’s basic template in The Strongest Shall Survive, called for just one pulling exercise to be done each…
Simplifying the Heavy Light Medium System - Part 2: Pressing
(Note to reader - this article was originally intended to be broken into just 2 parts. However, to make the content more digestible, I have decided to draw…
Simplifying the Heavy/Light/Medium System, Part 1: Squats
As strength coaches, many of us were introduced to the concept of a "heavy-light-medium" training system by Bill Starr's classic text The Strongest Shall Survive.
Welcome to The New Site!
For the initial blog post on the new site, I just wanted to start off by welcoming all the new visitors. Many of you have followed my training log and my…