This video goes over the best squat variations for Powerlifting broken up into categories of technique, strength, and hypertrophy. So, regardless of what your goal is for a training block, you can watch this video, see what variations I list for your goal, and then make sure you have it programmed for your training block. When it comes to squat technique, I’m a big fan of the tempo squat. You can choose your tempo based Read More
Written by: Kevin Cann I have been a very vocal proponent of direct hypertrophy work in powerlifting. I think my argument against it gets misunderstood. I never said that hypertrophy is not important, it most definitely is. However, hypertrophy is built over a large number of rep ranges, but strength is more directed and developed with higher loads and lower rep ranges. Hypertrophy is developed from a well-organized plan and more direct work is probably unnecessary. We take a Read More
Check out our #BlackFriday Specials including ones from our Sponsors! The post Black Friday Specials first appeared on USA Powerlifting. Read More
This video goes over Jonathan Garcia’s performance at the 2020 USA Powerlifting (USAPL) North Florida Open Championships where he totaled 697 kg in the 66 kg weight class. I go over his training going in, our original game plan, changes we made the day of, what goals we hit, and the plan going forward. Jonathan ended up hitting a 264 kg squat for a new American record and was over the current World record, though Read More
Written by: Kevin Cann We seem to be in a fad of “evidence based” coaching right now. I also see a lot of coaches touting that they follow general principles in their programs, but when you see their programs there is a definite misunderstanding of those general principles of strength training. Training needs to be individualized for sure, but this pendulum has also swung a bit too far into the direction of over-individualization. Small adjustments in the Read More
My latest YouTube video is up! This one goes over 7 tips you can use to develop a more effective meet day warm up plan.1. For most raw lifters, you only need 4 to 6 warm ups. Don’t turn your warm up into a workout.2. As you go from first to last warm up, you want the jumps to get smaller.3. You also want the number of reps to go down as you progress through Read More
This video goes over the pros and cons of using an upper/lower body training split versus a full-body training split for powerlifting. In an upper/lower body training split, you do squat and deadlift in the same sessions and bench press in a separate session. In a full-body training split, you do bench press with squat or deadlift in the same session. There are pros and cons to each when it comes to schedule flexibility, training Read More
Written by: Kevin Cann I saw a video last week where a coach was taking questions from followers. One of these followers asked about a conjugate program for raw lifting. The coach then said it was not a program that is useful for raw lifting and only one high level lifter uses it. This statement is incredibly ignorant and incorrect. We need to first identify what the term conjugate means. Conjugate is synonymous with concurrent periodization. This means that we Read More
Written by: Kevin Cann This is a message that I am really trying to send to Precision Powerlifting Systems right now. We all can train harder than what we have been. There is a current trend in powerlifting that seems to tell us that we need more. We need more frequency, more comp lifts, and more volume. This I find to never really be the case. If you are a lifter in the top 1% of the sport, and Read More
This video goes over the proper starting position for the bench press, specifically where the barbell should be over the body. I often see powerlifters have a starting position where the barbell is too far in one direction or the other. This makes the starting position unstable, inefficient, a waste of energy, and can lead to a bad lift off. So this video breaks it all down to help you figure out your correct starting Read More