The Snatch: The Tsar of Kettlebell Lifts

How to perform the kettlebell snatch: start with a kettlebell on the ground in front of you, swing it back between your legs, and bring it into an overhead lockout position in one uninterrupted motion. My Introduction to Snatching Most people are introduced to kettlebells through swings and get-ups, and rightfully so. I, however, was […]

2020 TSC—Community Edition Recap

The Tactical Strength Challenge, StrongFirst’s opportunity to provide a challenge and “test” of our training, happens twice a year. The TSC brings together competitors from around the world who put forward their best effort in three events: max barbell deadlift, max dead hang pullups, and a five-minute kettlebell snatch test for max reps. In May […]

Avoid Common Deadlift, Pull-Up, and Snatch Mistakes to Own your TSC

Co-authored by Ryan Toshner The TSC is StrongFirst’s bi-annual strength challenge, where participants put their training pedal to the competition metal. Judged on performance while adhering to solid lifting technique, the upcoming TSC is the perfect opportunity to focus your training on new goals—learning to lift, beating a previous personal best, or ascending the podium. […]

Dairy Cows and Burrito Bowls—How to Win the TSC

The StrongFirst Tactical Strength Challenge returns around the world on Saturday, October 26. The TSC is a personal challenge held twice a year, but the October instalment also sees men and women in the Competition Division vie to be crowned annual TSC Champion. What does it take to reach the top of the scoreboard? Someone […]

Paving Your Personal Road to TSC Victory

Here's how my past athletics primed me for TSC success. Have you ever considered that yours may have, too? Included is a free 12-week TSC training program.

The Snatch Walking Protocol for Ultra-Athletes

A growing population of endurance/ultra-athletes and coaches are moving towards StrongFirst programming. These athletes and coaches bring questions on program design utilizing Strong EnduranceTM protocols. In this article, I will share the snatch walking plan I’ve designed using one of these protocols. Most of my students use this plan at the end of many months […]

How to Win the TSC? With this Program

Co-authored by Ryan Toshner Participant registration is now open for this spring’s Tactical Strength Challenge on May 9. Register here. In our previous article, we laid out the most common snatch, pullup, and deadlift technique and tactic flaws that leave a lot of TSC performance potential under-realized. And because our goal is to see people […]

TSC 2019 Competition Edition Results

The Tactical Strength Challenge—StrongFirst’s strength triathlon—happens twice each year, with hundreds of participants, and in facilities across the globe. Each year’s opening event is community-focused, where we highlight charities served, outstanding personal achievements, new participants, remarkable stories, and other matters that can’t be reflected by numbers alone. The second event—the Competition Edition—which recently happened on […]

The Critical Difference Breathing Can Make in the Snatch Test

We often revert to our training when competing. Therefore, we must practice proper breathing under extreme circumstances in order to get better at it and have it become what feels most natural.

12-Week TNT TSC Training Program

We have a training system at TNT that produces outstanding TSC numbers. I would enjoy hearing the results from anyone willing to follow this TNT TSC program.