The lateral squat with counterbalance mobility drill can improve your efficiency in the squat, single leg squat, single leg deadlift, lunge, and deadlift. However, like all exercises, you must perform the drill properly to reap the benefits. It’s best to start this drill without any weight until you own the pattern. Once you understand the basics, it’s … Read More
Kettlebell Training
Weighted Pullup Program
Pull-ups are one of my favorite exercises. I’ve been performing weighted pull-ups for ten years now. I’ve learned that in order to reach your goals you must follow a smart program and be careful not to overtrain. From my experience, you should never perform more than 15 reps in a training session and you need to make … Read More
Skill of Strength Kettlebell Workshop at Puma
Last week, we were able to host a kettlebell swing workshop at Puma North America in Westford, Massachusetts. We worked with our awesome HR contact over at Puma to set up a 45-minute kettlebell swing workshop for any interested Puma employees. Luckily, it was a gorgeous day so we got to have the workshop outside which … Read More
Use Kettlebells to Increase Your Vertical Leap
Did you know you can train with kettlebells to increase your vertical leap? The kettlebell swing, in particular, is a great exercise for many reasons, but today we’ll discuss how practicing and nailing this exercise can help you improve your vertical leap. The vertical leap is used as a measure for athleticism among high school, collegiate … Read More
Five Common Program Design Mistakes
Over the last few years, I’ve pretty much emerged myself in program design. I’ve followed programs, designed them and tweaked them over and over again. I’ve learned a ton along the way and this with these experiences I’ve become a better coach. Here’s the really cool part…I have been lucky enough to have a mix … Read More
10 Kettlebell Training Tips
Today we’re sharing 10 tips to help you improve your kettlebell training technique. Remember, when performed correctly, kettlebell training can do wonders for your health, fitness and fat loss! When performed improperly, you might be setting yourselves up for an injury! 1. The hips drive and the arms guide! If you are using your arms to … Read More
So You Wanna Swing?
Qualify. Pattern. Grind. Practice/train. When it comes to exercise selection, you would think that common sense would go a long way. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. Let me start with this. If an athlete is constantly getting injured due to workouts with his/her strength coach, the athlete should fire the coach immediately. Strength coaches should help you … Read More
Front Squat Your Way To a Better Kettlebell Jerk
I wrote this article for StrongFirst and wanted to re-post it here… There is no denying the benefits of the hardstyle kettlebell jerk. Whether your goal is power, strength, hypertrophy or endurance, these can all be accomplished by training the hardstyle jerk. There are various drills and exercises to improve the hardstyle clean and jerk, … Read More
Just Relax
Do not be tense, just be ready, not thinking but not dreaming, not being set but being flexible. It is being “wholly” and quietly alive, aware and alert, ready for whatever may come. -Bruce Lee Just like strength, relaxation is a skill. It’s a vital skill that is vastly overlooked in the strength and conditioning … Read More
The Floor is Your Friend
We have all been there. A new client comes in for an evaluation with a list a mile long of injuries, medical history and aches and pains. Before you even begin with this person, your strategy immediately changes. You throw out the “normal” stuff and try to gather as much information about their movement baseline … Read More