Are you ready to think “outside the box”? Whether due to injury, boredom, or sticking point, allowing some creativity in your program design might yield very satisfying results. Most strength coaches and athletes base their programs around a combo of Olympic lifts and/or powerlifts. After all, the competitive lifts evolved into what we have today because they best represent a balance of strength, power, and athleticism. However, there will be times in your athletic career when Read More

There is no doubt that perhaps a powerlifters’ worst nightmare is a training-inhibiting injury; namely, the type of asymmetrical “bad pain“ that seems to arise at the worst possible time in the training cycle — the part of the cycle where you are seeing the most gains! Some of these injuries include rotator cuff issues, knee problems, and back pain. When these injuries occur, they can ruin the sense of well-being a powerlifter attains from Read More

Several sports have weight classes where the athletes compete against other athletes of similar weights. There are two different types of sports that have weight classes; Sports that pit one athlete against another in a combative format such as boxing, mixed martial arts or wrestling, or sports that demonstrate strength or power, such as weightlifting or powerlifting. Regardless of the type of sport, weight classes exist so one athlete does not have an advantage because Read More

I attended Mike Boyle’s “Death of Squatting” presentation at the 2nd Annual Boston Hockey Summit and Basketball Symposium at Northeastern University Sunday, May 23, 2010. I come from a powerlifting background and consider myself a student of periodization. I have traveled the country to train with some of the best in powerlifting from Louie Simmons to Mark Bell, but perhaps the most influential person I have meet is Saul Shocket. He has trained some the Read More