strengtheory Archives • Page 5 of 6 • Stronger by Science

Powerlifters Should Train More Like Bodybuilders

For a MUCH more in-depth overview of training, check out this article instead. It includes all the essential information contained in this article, while going more in-depth and placing that information it its proper context. What You’re Getting Yourself Into: ~4200 words, 10-15 minute read time. Key Points 1. There are six key factors that largely determine how much you can lift. 2. Of these, muscle size is the only one that’s impacted strongly by […]

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What it Takes to Break World Records

This is something I feel like I need to say And I don’t mean that in a “this needs to be said, so I may as well say it,” way. I mean it in a, “It does not benefit me to say this, and I benefit from not saying it, so I feel like I’m the one who is supposed to say it because then people will actually listen,” way. This is what it

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High Bar vs. Low Bar Squatting

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. Sayre’s law: “In any dispute the intensity of feeling is inversely proportional to the value of the

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Speed kills: 2x the intended bar speed yields ~2x the bench press gains

If you want to get stronger, training volume and intensity are the two most important variables, right? Well, a recent (May 2014) study published in the European Journal of Sports Science sheds some light on another crucial factor – bar speed. Now, if you’re like me, you’ve always heard that you’re supposed to lift the bar (concentric) as fast as possible, and that doing so would recruit more fast twitch fibers since you’re producing more

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Two Easy Ways to Make Your Novice Strength Training Program More Effective

There are a lot of popular novice strength training programs. Though people like to obsess about the differences between them, they’re all basically set up the same way (example one, two, three, four). All of them accomplish their intended purpose relatively well: getting you somewhat proficient with the core barbell lifts. However, they all have two major pitfalls that can be easily remedied to a) make them more effective and b) set you up for greater success

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Daily Undulating Periodization: The Bogeyman of Training Programs

It’s always interesting to see how long it takes for scientific practices to gain traction on the internet, and then in gyms everywhere. Sometimes there’s an exciting paper, it gets discussed on reddit and forums across the internet, and then people become guinea pigs within weeks or months. Other times, it’s a slow burn – creatine has been researched for well over 2 decades, but only recently (in no small part because of the great

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Sleep, Pt 1: Wrecking Your Diet, One Night At a Time

“Insufficient sleep undermines dietary efforts to reduce adiposity“ The title of the study says it all. If there’s one subject I tend to get preachy about, it’s sleep. It’s not exciting like a new exercise protocol or as sexy as some new diet trend, so it doesn’t get the coverage it deserves. But it is absolutely crucial that you get a full night of sleep. This is probably going to turn into a 3-4 post

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Cardio Isn’t Going to Kill Your Gains. Need More Evidence? You Got It.

Does cardio kill gains? No. In fact, a recent study adds more evidence suggesting cardio and lifting make for a stronger, more jacked athlete.

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Practical Considerations for Combining Cardio and Lifting

Hey guys, after the huge response to my recent article about combining aerobic and resistance training, I got my friend Alex Viada to go into a little more depth on the subject. Combining the two is what he does for a living, so he’s the guy to really talk about application. I’m just a guy going through the research – he’s the expert that REALLY knows this subject inside and out. I hope you enjoy!

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Cardio and Lifting – Cardio won’t hugely impact your gains in the short run, and may be beneficial for strength and size in the long run

The strength and fitness worlds have, unfortunately, fallen prey to cardio fear-mongering, and I think that’s to their detriment. At this point, it should be indisputable that aerobic training can improve almost every major marker of health, however, I think that it might actually improve your strength and size gains (or, at the very least, not hurt them) as well. Short-Term For starters, we don’t really have to guess about the short-term effects of cardio

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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

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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

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