I exist in a dilemma. One of my favorite pastimes is Western hunting, usually in the mountains. I love the animals, love the physical beauty of the terrain, and I love the challenge. The problem is that I live, work, and train on a coastal plain—low and flat. For two decades, I struggled to find […]
Last year, the primary focus of my training shifted. For my entire adult life, I had been both a strength enthusiast and a martial artist—in that order. When things started to open back up and I was able to train Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) regularly again, I decided to swap these priorities. I would, for the […]
In February of 2002 a group of 22 students assembled for the second ever kettlebell certification with Pavel. From water balloons, mattresses, and a very different teaching progression, it was life-changing to say the least. Out of the first group came many of the original senior instructors and the organic development of the School of […]
It is a tall order for a training method to live up to the title of this article—but one does. It checks off the following boxes: ☑ Power ☑ Strength ☑ Muscle hypertrophy ☑ Fat loss ☑ “Cardio” ☑ “Work capacity” ☑ Longevity through mitochondrial adaptations ☑ It “gives you more than it takes out […]
We are StrongFirst. Therefore, we know kettlebells. We know the many benefits they can have. The swing is why you get into kettlebells right? Well, it was for me. What I realized after practicing with kettlebells for many years was that I got better athletically. Simply put, the kettlebell swing exudes athleticism. The swing has […]
In the first days of quarantine, when things shut down and the composition of my days changed overnight, I came to a quick realization: I may never again have an opportunity quite like this to train for muscle mass. I was a 43-year-old father of two with a time-consuming day job who had been training […]
Kettlebell snatches are one of my personal favorite lifts. They are athletic and explosive. They can be done with a variety of weights, tempos, rep schemes, and in my experience, give more “what the heck” (WTH) effects than anything else. There is a unique and gratifying sense of completion when you lock out each rep […]
Co-authored by Jonathan Pope Special operations selection courses are not just physically challenging. They’re also incredibly mentally and emotionally stressful. One of the most common ways of creating this stress is to shroud students in a constant cloud of ambiguity. You never know what’s coming next, how long it will last, or how much more […]
The following article does not contain medical advice. It presents long term training strategies for increasing general resistance in healthy people. The author would like to thank Kristann Heinz, MD and Paul White, MD for their valuable input. Take care of your family and your other responsibilities. Then train. The following strategies should improve your […]
Kettlebell STRONG!’s goal is to get you brutally strong with a pair of kettlebells and one expertly executed exercise: the Clean and Press. Minimalism at its finest. Written some seven years ago by Geoff Neupert, former StrongFirst Certified Master Instructor, Kettlebell STRONG! is now offered through our StrongFirst online training platform. From SFG II candidates […]
