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Training Principles

Stop Chasing Novelty

I want to share a fundamental truth of training. One that’s as true of the athletes I coached at the Under Armor Performance Center ten years ago, as it is for the recreational trainees I coach now. Chasing novelty is the fastest way to sabotage your progress and spin your…

A Guide To Using RPE In Your Training

What RPE is and why you should care about it Hi, it’s Eric Helms here. Andy helped me create The Muscle and Strength Pyramid books and I’m happy to have this opportunity to talk about something I studied for my PhD and is close to my heart – Rating Perceived…

Advice For Older Strength Trainees

The first thing to understand is that there are no “training plans for over the 40s / 50s / 60s” (or diet plans for that matter). You might see things advertised as such, but this is just marketing BS — advertisers preying on fears people have that they are doing…

Can I Gain Strength While Cutting?

It is absolutely possible to gain strength while cutting. However, in this article, I argue that focusing on strength alone can lead to poor training decisions, I explain why true progress becomes increasingly difficult the leaner we get, and I give guidelines on what to expect. Dieting, cutting, shredding the…

How Important Are Lateral Raises for Building Big Shoulders?

In bodybuilding, middle deltoid development is important to make you appear wider and tapered. Due to this, I often see emphasis placed on lateral raise variations and hear the concern that without their inclusion, delt development will lack. While I don’t dispute the importance of lateral raises (you will even…

How to Address Weak Points in Your Lifts

We all find ourselves struggling at a specific point of lift, at some time or another. Addressing sticking points might be a more efficient way to attack the weakest link in the chain of a movement, and therefore a faster way to increase strength. If you have stalled with traditional…

How to Break Training Plateaus [Decision Tree & Checklist]

This is possibly one of the most important articles I have ever published. It addresses how to break through a training plateau, which is probably one of the most commonly asked questions on the internet, along with, “How do I break through a bench press plateau?” — The principles, whether…

How to Warm Up for Strength Training

Some people really overcomplicate their warm-ups. Do ALL the people I see on the stretch mats have issues that require a 30-minute complex of body pretzeling before hitting the weights? I think not. The majority are just mimicking others, avoiding getting the real work done…

How To Progress Training Loads — Rules for Novice and Intermediate Trainees

Linear Progression and Linear Periodization
Rules For Novice and Intermediate Trainees

What follows are the exact initial guidelines on training progression that I give to clients. They are an abbreviated version of the guidelines in The Muscle and Strength Training Pyramid book that I co-authored with Eric Helms and Andrea Valdez. They are exceptionally logical and structured, the antithesis to the approach of…

A Guide to Exercise Selection When You Don’t Have Access to a Coach

When putting together a training program for yourself, exercise selection is an area where there is a lot of confusion. This guide will take you through how to choose exercises and incorporate them into your routine based on your training experience. There are some things that novices need to be…

Crushing Online Coaching For Aesthetics, by Bryan Krahn

Not long ago, I found myself getting grilled on Facebook over the concept of hypertrophy training. “Strength and hypertrophy training are the same thing,” my critic wrote, with all the passionate intensity of someone who spends a lot of time on social media but not a whole lot else. While…

The Ultimate Chin-up Workout — A Full Guide To Progression

Chin-ups are a great upper-back exercise. You know it, and I’m not going to waffle on with an unnecessary paragraph explaining why. They’re hard, which is why most gym bros avoid doing them, well, at least with anything approaching good form. Most people stay the hell away from them and…

Why Too Much Cardio Can Hamper Your Physique Goals

Cardio is a poor time investment, it’s not necessary for most men to get shredded, it can steal recovery capacity, serve as a distraction, and the level of fitness most people will be happy with for their weekend warrior activities can be achieved by simply getting leaner and stronger. If physique change…

The Principle Of Progressive Overload

I’d argue that it’s program hopping. We all know someone that does it – they start a new training routine with bounding enthusiasm, give it 2-3 weeks, then read some conflicting information elsewhere and decide that they need to switch things up. This programming ADHD – the search for the…

Dreambulkeritis

noun Disease where an individual (usually male) suffers deluded notions that the enormous amounts of  weight gained due to purposeful overeating combined with weight training in the winter months is actually mostly muscle, that they can remove the ‘few pounds’ of fat gained with a quick cut in the spring, and…

Why Barbells?

If I had a dollar for every time a client or athlete has asked me why they have to do heavy squats and can’t they just do lunges instead, or the same question phrased slightly differently and with a different alternative exercise, I’d probably have enough money to equip the…

Is Cardio Necessary for Fat Loss when Intermittent Fasting?

I don’t have a problem with cardio, just wasted time. For those that enjoy cardio then this is time well spent; everyone has their own preferences, live and let live. Let’s not pretend though that most people aren’t solely doing cardio because they wish to lose fat. Cardio as a tool…

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