Recovery Basics: Over the long term, recovery from training probably has the greatest impact on strength and physique development of anything else you can do. Recovering properly will mean that you can do more reps each session, push yourself harder, and force more adaptation. It means you...

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Should I do cardio? I know, cardio sounds boring. Really boring, and sometimes it is, but here’s the thing: cardio isn't just for fat loss. Cardio can actually help your performance in the gym. Aerobic capacity (essentially your endurance) will come into play whenever you do a set of more...

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Why Barbell Movements? You know why we think strength is the way to go, now why do we choose to use the barbell movements, specifically squat, bench, deadlift, and overhead press? There are a few good reasons for this. First off, these are compound lifts: they require movement at multiple...

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Why strength for beginners? Why do we recommend strength-based training for new lifters? There are many different directions one can go in when they start training, and lots of them are going to get you results. But we feel that focusing on strength is a good first step for any new lifter....

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Mobility Work What is Mobility work? Should I do it? "Mobility work" is usually used as a general term for doing warmup exercises before you get under the bar and can include things like stretching, foam rolling, band exercises. These exercises focus on increasing the range of motion at a...

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Warming Up Working as a coach, I very often find that folks are not sure about the right way to warm up for lifts in the gym. Sometimes they will just load up the weight and go for it, other times they will take way too many warm up sets and tire themselves out. In today’s post I am going to...

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RPE and RIR RPE and RIR are two common terms in the lifting world right now, and understanding them can help you to understand different programs and methods better. You can also apply them to your own training right away. What do RPE and RIR stand for? RPE stands for Rate of Perceived...

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Progressive Overload Progressive overload is a core concept in strength training, and in practice is the main driver for strength gains over the long term. So what is it? I have read some complicated descriptions of Progressive Overload, and they can be helpful as you make your way...

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Maxing Out When can I max out? I used to think about this all the time, it’s what I lived for. I essentially maxed out every week for longer than I care to admit. And still, as a coach, I have lifters ask me very often when they can max out. Newer lifters want to “know where they’re at”...

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Picking A Program Now it’s time for the really fun stuff. It’s time to choose a program. I’m going to go through what I consider to be the most important things to keep in mind when you are picking a program as a beginner. These are things I wish I had thought about when I was just getting...

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