If you know me, you know I love theoretical animal fights. Who wins: A chimp vs a pit bull? An anaconda vs a wolf? The World’s Strongest Man vs a Leopard? In fact, the most popular article I have on this site about powerlifting is Who Wins: A Gorilla vs A Grizzly (Given all of the good quality fitness info I…
The 1-5% Rule of Fitness: Why You Should Follow It
As a trainer and a coach, it is my job to simplify the concepts in fitness and health and then relay that information to my clients and athletes. How often should I work out? How much time should I spend in the gym? How do I know what to do? How much exercise is too much? How much should an…
My Struggle with Fitness
Sometimes I struggle with how I feel about my fitness level. I started working out seriously when I was 14, did my first true powerlifting competition when I was 19 (22 years ago), and I have competed in about 50 meets over the last 2 decades. I have now been retired from competitive lifting for 3 years. When I look…
So You Wanna Be a Powerlifter?
Powerlifting is awesome, but it is not for everybody. If you are thinking about taking up the sport, this is what you need to have. A barbell – Powerlifting consists of the squat, the bench press, and the deadlift. Those lifts are contested for a 1 rep max. If you want to be a powerlifter, you have to practice those…
Is Michael Phelps the Greatest of All Time?
The Olympics is in full swing with the first week typically dominated by swimming and gymnastics – two sports that America (my home country) seems to excel at. Michael Phelps is the most decorated Olympian of all time – his medal total alone would be very competitive if he were his own country, and as an individual, it is unprecedented. …
All-Time Records
The Arnold expo happened recently and scrolling through my social media feed I saw several incredible lifts including a few new all-time world records. In my book All About Powerlifting I listed the All-Time World Records for each lift but it has been a few years and some of them have changed. In addition I thought it would be cool…
5 Best Exercises for Legs
I believe that proper exercise selection is very important to help one achieve their goals. If you are going to be busting your butt in the gym you want to spend your time on something that will actually give you the results you are after. To that end I have compiled the 5 best exercises for the muscle group you…
The Online Powerlifting Summit
Seminars are awesome. It is always exciting to connect with some of the best minds in the field, meet new people, learn new ideas, and get rejuvenated about a topic you are passionate about. But let’s be honest. Often they are prohibitively expense, sometimes they are filled with BS info from crappy presenters, and the time and expense to…
Science vs Anecdotal Evidence
Recently I was scrolling through my facebook feed, seeing posts about new PR’s, holiday meals, and excitement about the new Star Wars movie. I came across a post from another fitness professional who is very well read and educated and whose opinion I respect. He said: Don’t understand why lifters perform reverse grip triceps pressdowns. The triceps attaches at the…
Star Wars – A First Review
First off, this blog will have nothing to do with lifting weights, instead we will talk about another topic near and dear to my heart – Star Wars. I know you might not expect to find a Star Wars article on a powerlifting website but the movie just came out and hey – it is my blog – I…