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7 Exercises To Help Your Press
I love doing dips, although I'm 100% convinced they didn't help my bench press. I do think they helped my press, though.
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Running, Lifting and Becoming a Marine Officer
The thing you need to remember with your training is this: you are training to be a Marine Officer. You are not training to become a Powerlifting Marine Officer or a Bodybuilder Marine Officer.
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Instagram Training Q/A
A few weeks ago, I did a Q/A on Instagram. Keep in mind that I asked that the questions be short/answers short - like most people I find typing on a phone ridiculous and impossible to write 16 week training cycles. So I tried to be as precise with my answers as possible while not being so damn boring.
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A Letter to My Younger Self
Remember walking back from track practice amazed at your new speed? Remember looking up at the sky and thinking, "Making my body stronger made my body faster?" Don't worry, this secret is safe with us as few people seemed to have grasped it, "experts" included.
Excerpt from 5/3/1 FOREVER: Bodyweight Assistance Work
The following is an excerpt from the new book, 5/3/1 Forever. This book outlines how to program all areas of your training including assistance work. Yes, that's right; no more questions about assistance work. Everything is tied up, nice and tight AND allows for a lot of personal choices. Each and every program detailed in the book has a specific assistance profile which allows you to plug in a variety of different movements; all customized to you.
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5 Ways to Increase Your Press
Ever since I started pressing, I have been obsessed with making it better. Partly because I was so weak at it for so long (which meant that it had no place to go but up) and because it is simply a cool exercise to do. The death of the Press as a movement can be attributed to a lot of things, none of which actually matter. BUT, if you view this lift with as much enthusiasm as I do, use these tips to improve what I consider to be one of the most fun movements in the gym.
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8 Simple Ways To Build A Better Grip
One of the keys of doing grip work is to make it economical - there is no point in doing direct grip work when you can EASILY add to an exercise you would already be doing. And the BIGGEST excuse is "but I can do more weight if I don't use overhand grip or X". Well, guess what? If your grip ain't strong, it won't matter what you can tug. You are simply WEAK. Get over your own ego and do things right.
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Pressing the Bar Overhead Kicks Ass
I needed to rely on my gut and my experience, and certainly not any trends. I had to start by being brutally honest with myself and realize that I was plain weak. Weak everywhere. Everything needed to get stronger. Weak Point Training, while good in theory, suggests that you have "strong points." I'm sorry, but few people with such glaring holes can really classify themselves as strong, period. So I resolved to make everything strong.
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Weighted Chin Ups
I like weighted chin ups. I'm not voting for them in the next "Five Awesome Exercises" election but they certainly have their place. I've championed chin ups for years, mostly because they're great for the upper back, lats, and arms. And because you can do them anywhere – chin-up bar, top of the Smith machine, scaffolding, top of the monolift, playground equipment, etc. Weighted chin ups are a good idea IF you can do them, and even then you still need to keep bodyweight chin ups as part of your training (unless you can bang out multiple sets of 20 with good form). And if that's the case, gain some weight!
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5 Training Tips About Chins/Pull Ups
"If you can’t do chins, you are either hurt, fat or weak - And none of these three things are good...doing this will greatly increase your chin volume without taking any extra time or energy from your workouts."
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Boring But Big
Without a doubt, the Boring But Big is the most popular assistance template for the 5/3/1 training program. This is because it is easy to program, easy to use and great for both strength and size. There are two basic ways to do the Boring But Big template:
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