Young, Light, and Strong

Introduction After spending my teen years being bullied and feeling inadequate, I decided to stop listening to all the other voices and listen to my own. I wanted to chase something that no one would think was possible: to be the youngest and lightest Beast Tamer in the world. This meant that I would need […]

“Step Up” Your Adventure Training

Do you like good food? I mean really good food? I love great food! Have you ever had an epic meal that was so good you could recall exactly when and where it was, even years later? The best meal I have had in years was during my visit to Italy with my comrades from […]

Stop Fearing Heavy Weights

Results are What Matter For decades I have heard about thousands of training related products that claimed to work magic for athletes, oftentimes supported by “abstracts” of research and clinical studies. But very few of them were ever mentioned again just a couple of years later. Similarly, the internet and social media expose us to […]

Forging a New Path to “Functional” Hypertrophy

If there’s anyone who walks the functional hypertrophy talk, it is Fabio Zonin. Not only has he competed at the highest level in natural bodybuilding and powerlifting, he was the first Italian to best the Beast Tamer Challenge and become a StrongFirst Certified Master Instructor. Plus, he was a Master Teacher for the Italian Federation […]

Ride the Wave: How to Program for Progress

If training consistently is the foundation of results, does that mean doing the same thing over and over? If you want to keep making progress, at some point you’ll need to make changes to your program, but what, when, and how much? Brett Jones takes the mystery out of adding variety to your training. If […]

How to Achieve Your First Pistol Squat

The pistol squat is one of the best exercises to develop strong, flexible, and resilient legs, but it also requires skill, practice, and consistency. When I started practicing pistols in 2005, I didn’t have a roadmap or a solid progression, I just kept practicing until it got easier. Once I got acclimated to training pistols, […]

How I Achieved Five Reps of the Iron Maiden

The Goal The idea of the Five-Rep Iron Maiden was planted in my head back in 2018 after completing the Iron Maiden Challenge at The Dome in Chicago. Training for something as big as Iron Maiden takes years of practice and after training for something for so long, it’s hard to be “finished.” Ben Eisenmenger […]

How 10 Kettlebell Skills Turn Into 88 Million Training Sessions

These days, I join tens of thousands, if not millions of parents around the world as we facilitate our children’s homeschooling. For the sake of full disclosure, I love math. There was even a time in my past life where I fancied being a mathematician and spent my first two university years going down that […]

Ace your Snatch Test Training Plan

“The Snatch Test”—these words elicit “pure joy” for anyone who is preparing for their SFG or SFG II certifications. They tend to raise one’s blood pressure, increase their heart rate, and make their respiratory rate start to flutter. Brett Jones has a wonderful and very effective way to train for the snatch test. And just […]

Q&D + Minimalist Deadlifts

I was watching Andy Bolton pull over 900 pounds from the back stage at the Arnold Classic. It struck me that his deadlift looked exactly like a hard style kettlebell swing. Afterwards, I asked Andy, “Correct me if I am wrong, it seems that you try to keep your shins vertical, don’t think about the […]