How to Exercise the Vital Muscle of Patience

Time, training, and patience—are we using these three to our full advantage? Probably not the last one. Let’s break this down into some steps that allow us to build some patience into accomplishing our goals.

Understanding Combat Mindset and Mental Conditioning

The combat mindset applies to all the "conflicts" we experience in daily life. Proper mental training will help you perform better at work, home, or the gym, as well as is in confrontation.

Overcoming Mediocrity Through Strength and Purpose

Your brain is brimming with the mental tools to become more than what you are. In art. In business. In your profession. And particularly, in strength.

The Simple Way Pavlov’s Dogs Can Improve Your Performance

You have probably heard of "Pavlov's dogs." But did you know the work of famous Russian scientist Ivan Pavlov might have a powerful application to your training?

Use Goal Cycling to Stay on Target

Have you written down your goals? Great. The next step is to determine how to reach those goals. Some methods will work better than others, for any given person or task. On the other hand, there may be several similarly-effective ways to reach your desired endpoint. Either way, you will have to put in the work […]

The Difference a Body Positive Approach Can Make

More coaches are learning about body positive approaches that make high-quality training available and accessible to more people. Here's how to find the coach for you.

If You Want to Get Better, You Must Think Better

Just like any movement or lift you'll encounter in the gym, getting yourself into a proper head space more strongly and consistently starts with practice. And you know what the first step toward a better mental practice is?

Standing on the Shoulders of StrongFirst Giants

When I was twenty, I was arrested and sentenced to an eight-year prison term. In that unlikeliest of places, I found inspiration and a journey to something better through StrongFirst.

The Will to Happiness

I learned a lesson about life and training that I would like to pass along. It comes from the book that made the greatest impression on me last year: "Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience" by Mihaly Csíkszentmihályi.

The Psychological Complexities of Becoming Strong

As I work and observe the broad range of personalities and athleticism at my school, Five Points Academy here in New York City, I’ve come to view strength training as something like an iceberg. There’s the part you see above the surface — the sweat, the occasional cussing — and then there’s everything else. It was […]