THE LATEST ARTICLES

Deadlifts: Common Misconceptions and Practical Tips

I felt a pop and folded like a house of cards. Two years ago, I herniated a disc during my top deadlift set. I was training earlier than usual so my body was rather stiff. Despite a brief warm-up, I loaded up the usual 405 pounds and got into position. Arms straight, hips hinged, and […]

Preparing Swimmers for the Olympic Games: A Three-Year Strength and Conditioning Plan Using StrongFirst Principles

In September 2018, I was fortunate to join the elite swimming club Olympique Nice Natation (ONN) as a strength and conditioning coach. Fortunate because this meant working with Fabrice Pellerin, one of the World’s most technical coaches. Fabrice trained athletes that won nine medals at the 2012 London Olympics. As the strength and conditioning coach, […]

Cheat Cleans as a Strength Builder

At the SFG I, where many of us learned to use kettlebells as strength tools, we are first taught the swing. As we’ve heard StrongFirst Certified Master Instructor Emeritus, Rif say, “the swing is the center of the kettlebell universe.” The instruction of the swing is then followed by the get-up, the squat, the press, […]

Upstream Strength Strategies

“Every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets.”—Paul Batalden, Medical Expert In his book, Upstream: How to solve problems before they happen, Dan Heath talks about how upstream decisions can have a greater impact on downstream results. He also explains the difference between upstream decisions and preventative measures (being proactive is not […]

The Triple Gear Squat Protocol

In a recent article, I explained how varying your lifting speed can help you gain more strength. Today I will show you a couple of ways of applying this knowledge to boost your squat, barbell (back, front, Zercher) or kettlebell (goblet, double front). 3 x Gear Squat Protocol #1 The simplest thing you can do […]

Rediscovering Resilience: Unifying Literacy and Strength

“No man may indeed become wise before he has had his share of winters in this world’s kingdom.”—Author: Unknown (Date: Impossible to Determine). The moment I read that out of an incredibly old selection of British literature in graduate school, I knew it would hold weight when I occupied a position in which I could […]

Hardstyle Kettlebell Snatch vs. Barbell Snatch

Introduction One of the very first principles learned in the school of hardstyle kettlebell training is that “power comes from the hips.” In the kettlebell ballistics (swing, clean, and snatch), the hips are largely what drives the lifter’s ability to move a weight from back between the legs to the end point of the movement. […]

Will You Gain More Strength by Varying Your Lifting Speed?

With this article we would like to give you a taste of what you are about to learn at Programming Demystified, a new seminar with Pavel, Fabio, and Hector, this October in Phoenix, AZ or in your living room. Over a century ago Ivan Lebedev, a big name in strength training in imperial Russia, suggested […]

The Get-up and the Shoulder Mobility Dilemma

The get-up is one of the foundational exercises of kettlebell training. I suspect that most people who follow StrongFirst are quite familiar with this exercise. If you are a StrongFirst Certified SFG Instructor, then no doubt you have done many repetitions of them on your own and at your Certification. If you have read Pavel’s […]

Putting the Wind Beneath the Stones, Part II

Lifting the Dinnie Stones is a challenge for which strength enthusiasts from all over the world travel to Scotland. Donald Dinnie not only lifted but carried the “Steens” across the Potarch Bridge in 1860—a feat that would not be replicated for more than a century. In 1972, somebody was finally able to do what he […]