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This mental approach is done for every single work set with a barbell. If you want to get good at singles, take some time to build your body. But you best have your mind ready to. Don't wait until the meet to practice. You have thousands of reps to practice; use them.

It’s been over 20 years since I had last played football. The first 15 of these years flew by; life moved forward fast and I never really had a chance to look back and appreciate that time of my life. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized how lucky I was to have Dick Tomey as a head coach.

In this episode of Mark Bell's Power Podcast, there's tons of info on coaching athletes and training kids - and lots of stuff about mindset. If you want Done-For-You obvious training information it won't be your favorite episode but there is always applicable information for different goals when you apply concepts.

I get asked quite a bit about how we train and what we do. To sum up our strength training in one statement: “Bodybuild the Upper and Athlete the Lower.”

Pick a template and follow it to its entirety. Learn and observe what did and did not work - understand what went south and how to make it go north.

The more that I work with people, the more that I believe the adage of "bodybuild the upper, athlete the lower".

I recently did a podcast with Nick Holderbaum - we discussed training, self-worth, Bruce Lee and everything in between.  The episode is about an hour long; so if you are doing a weight vest walk, driving to/from work or just want to bask in the glory of my voice, give it a listen.

Attached is my plan of attack. I’m a full time firefighter, a Dad and I dabble in strongman. With my work schedule, 24 on 48 off, it can be difficult to find a solid schedule that works. After years of bouncing around trying to find a good fit, I finally sat down and laid out my goals.

Many years ago while at EFS, someone asked me, "What's the best way to get lean?" (or something similar). To this day I stand by my answer, "Never get fat in the first place." While I did follow that up with some very basic advice there is still a lot of truth to it. I see it every day I coach young kids. The kids who grow up with poor diet/exercise habits are in a constant stage of trying to dig themselves out of a hole that is damn near impossible to get out of. And it can consume them for the rest of their lives.

I'm amazed at how many people train kids like they are Olympic level athletes who need some advanced programming/training.  It is also equally obnoxious to train them like they are elderly or made of glass, having entire workouts of pre-hab, rehab and balance work.  If you are an athlete who hasn't mastered basic calisthenics, running and bodyweight movements, you better build your base before you try to touch the clouds.  No base = no foundation.  And a proper foundation isn't built on a Bosu.

Add "Beefcake" to your list of nicknames.

And the things that are stronger than other things on your body? Well, these are what made you strong in the first place - make them even stronger than ever. In other words, dance with the girl you brought.

Make sure each and every rep is done in such a way that the triceps is the focus  - don't just hammer the reps.  In other words, make slow, passionate love to the back of your arms.  Don't be a High School Jackhammer.