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High Frequency Training for a Bigger Total: Research on highly trained Norwegian powerlifters

[note: edits were made and figures were removed on 2-26-2014 at the request of the orignal study’s authors] Hey guys. Today we have a guest post from my friend Martijn Koevoets. He’s one the top powerlifters in his weight class in the Netherlands, and through some of his connections in the European powerlifting world, he got his hands on a really awesome study that hasn’t gotten much press yet, but which has obvious applications for

Greg Nuckols February 18, 2014

Science, bro-science, and real-world application

Of late, bashing “bro-science” has come into vogue, and I understand why. The fitness industry has very low barriers to entry, and for a long time the sorts of claims made with an utter paucity of evidence by people in the industry more resembled articles of faith than evidence-based statement from practitioners of a legitimate profession. Such is often still the case, but within the last several years there has been a strong movement toward evidenced-based training

Greg Nuckols February 12, 2014

Genetics – How much do they limit you, and what can you do about it?

I’ll warn you from the outset – this post is going to be a cold dose of reality. There’s a ray of sunshine at the end, but it’ll take a while to get there. We’re talking about genetics. This isn’t something I like to talk about publicly a lot, but I get asked about it in private often enough that I think I should just put my views out in the open. It’s also something

Greg Nuckols February 6, 2014

Study Write-up: Sprints are anabolic*, even when fasted! …but with big gender differences

Guys, I’m STOKED about this study I have for you all today. It’s by far the most interesting journal article I’ve read in a long time. It touches on so many things that are relevant to all of us – fasted training, sprints vs(?) low-intensity cardio, gender differences, and insulin (so, by extension, peri-workout nutrition). On top of that, it’s a really well-controlled study that uses a really challenging protocol, so it should be more

Greg Nuckols January 30, 2014

How to cut through the BS in the fitness industry

I’ve got a treat for you guys today. My friend Katherine Whitfield recently wrote an ebook about how to see through the marketing and hype in the fitness industry, and she was generous enough to stop by and answer some questions about the industry and her new book. I think you guys will enjoy our interview, and if you stick around til the end, there’s a link where you can get it for free (no

Greg Nuckols January 28, 2014

Hamstrings – The Most Overrated Muscle Group for the Squat

Before we get into this post, I want to let you know about our giant How to Squat guide. It covers everything you need to know about every aspect of the squat – from biomechanics to correcting weaknesses to technique. Click here to open it in a new tab so you can check it out after you’ve finished reading this article. After the huge response I got to my article on the infamous Good Morning Squat, I realized

Greg Nuckols January 23, 2014

Fixing the Good-Morning Squat

The good-morning squat is a common problem, and one I get asked about frequently enough that it was worth explaining what’s happening and how to fix it in a blog post. For those of you who don’t know, a good-morning squat is ostensibly a squat, but when the lifter starts coming out of the hole, their butt shoots straight up, so instead of squatting the weight up, they end up using their hamstrings, glutes, and

Greg Nuckols January 2, 2014

7 Tips for Keeping New Years Resolutions

According to statistics I just made up, approximately a poop-ton of people will make New Year’s resolutions this year, and the percentage of them that will fail basically rounds up to 100%. So, now that we have that background information out of the way, it’s time for some easy tips that will help you be in the successful millionth of a percent that will keep their resolutions. Put it in writing! I’m sure most of you

Greg Nuckols January 1, 2014

Acute vs. Chronic effects – understanding what you read

Here’s a very common problem people have when reading training articles or scientific studies – they don’t take the time to differentiate between acute and chronic effects and ask to themselves which is actually important in a particular context. Now, just for a tiny bit of background to set some context, acute effects are short-term effects. Depending on what we’re talking about, they could take place over a matter of minutes, hours, or even up

Greg Nuckols December 27, 2013

How to “make it” in the online fitness world

Almost weekly I get asked one of two questions. Either 1) how do I get myself in the position you’re in? or 2) how do I “make it” in the fitness industry. I’ve told quite a few people I’d do a blog post about it, so here goes. However, I’ll warn you from the outset, this probably won’t be what you’re expecting, and it’s pretty long. Spend at least an hour a day for at

Greg Nuckols December 19, 2013

Key to confidence – Knowing your worst

If you want to set yourself up for success, you need to know your limits – both upper and lower limits. You need to know how good you can be at your best, but you also need to know how bad you can be at your worst. In my opinion, the latter is more important. People ask me all the time how I can be so relaxed all the time, especially when it comes to

Greg Nuckols December 6, 2013

Should you wear a belt or not? Study write-up

A MUCH more thorough treatment of this subject can be found here: The Belt Bible The belt vs. beltless discussion is a common one in the strength world, and is, in fact, one that I actually wrote about several weeks ago. What I have for you guys today is a study write-up to cut through the speculation and actually provide some data for the discussion. The study is titled “The Effectiveness of Weight-Belts During Multiple

Greg Nuckols December 4, 2013

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