This post gives some practical tips on training around injury.

Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor or a physio, so this article is written from the point of view of an athlete and a coach of other athletes.

Many people, especially those new to training, are worried about injury.

They can overreact when they get a minor injury. People will avoid training altogether or stuff themselves with ibuprofen.

Experienced strength athletes get used to training around injury. They learn how to identify and handle different types of pain. Read More→

“Put shoulder blades in back pockets” to protect your back when deadlifting

It is vital to protect your back when deadlifting, or doing any exercise in a bent-over position – such as bent-over row, clean, snatch.

You need to maintain a tight, flat back position.

However, many people struggle with this, especially if a lift starts from low down on the floor, like a deadlift or a snatch.

You may not have the mobility or strength to get into a safe position close to the floor.

If that sounds familiar, then there is a method to help you train the body to maintain position right from the floor: the pre-load method (or pre-tension method).

This will protect your back when deadlifting, or lifting any kind of heavy weights off the floor. Read More→

It is impossible to do something perfectly AND learn from it.

If it was ‘perfect’, what have you learned?

And yet I see many lifters expecting to be able to do a new drill or a new weight lifting technique perfectly (or near enough) first time.

Chasing perfection basically means that you are trying to skip the entire learning process and jump straight to the end. Jump straight to what takes elite lifters years of practise!

Doesn’t that sound kinda arrogant? Entitled, maybe? Read More→

Squatting in a cage with safety bars at the correct height; a safe environment in which to push yourself.

Many people come to me to improve their squat technique. There are so many of you out there who want to squat more weight (yay!) but you have plateaued at a particular weight, or the weight seems to be increasing at a glacial pace.

When I meet someone who has plateaued for a long time or who is clearly squatting weights below their strength levels, I ask: ‘how often do you fail a squat in training?’

Almost every time, the answer is ‘never’.

Read More→

Imagine a wet noodle deadlifting 100kg! Knees, hips, back all moving from side to side and collapsing over.

I’ve seen quite a few ‘wet noodle’ deadlifts in my time. They are more common in women, because women tend to be more mobile and curvy (e.g. narrower waist relative to hips). Read More→

I meet a lot of lifters who want to go to max all the time.

I understand the temptation. You are on a roll, on the steep part of the strength curve, and you want to see how far you can push it.

PBs are exciting, they are something to celebrate!

But going to max all the time is not the path to big weights. Read More→

Recently I’ve been seeing a lot of people using a deadlift stance that is too wide. This limits the amount of weight you can pull off the floor and in some people can put unnecessary strain on the knee ligaments.

I often get clients coming to me who have been lifting before and want to get their form checked. When I ask these new clients why they have adopted a wide deadlift stance, they often say that they have just not thought about it, or that they’ve always deadlifted this way.

I imagine that many more people are in this position. Perhaps even you? Read More→

Our powerlifting team bench press training session

At our last powerlifting team training session, I had the athletes doing sets of 4-6 reps on the bench press at 85% of max.

It’s quite tough!

One of my athletes did her first set, ably spotted by her training buddy. Rep 5 was a bit of a grinder but she managed it. I was all ready to shout in support for her 6th rep effort, when she racked the bar! Read More→

This article is about the rear foot elevated (rfe) split squat and the split squat – the variations I use with my clients, how I use them, and the reasons I use them.

I hope you will take plenty away from this article, but do bear in mind that there are many other variations and reasons/goals for the split squat in its various guises. Read More→