You want a shock? I think the overhead press is the best upper-body exercise. Disregarding the categories of push and pull, the overhead press delivers more for your effort than any other upper-body movement. It is, however, an intimidating lift. The thought of pressing a loaded barbell over one’s cranium can be nerve wracking. It’s...Read More

 We are what we repeatedly do, and we are what repeatedly give. I keep this in mind everyday as I work hard to motivate the people in my life. Everyone deserves the opportunity to achieve more and everyone deserves a clear voice in their corner that pushes them forward. We all need to be that...Read More

 As a student of the strength game, I have spent considerable time immersing myself in volumes of research and virtually endless rounds of trial and error in the trenches — first as an athlete, later as a serious lifter, and currently as a strength coach. Over the past decade I have thousands of hours assimilating...Read More

Over the past few months I’ve been working with mixed martial artist Trey Rogers–helping him prepare for his fight on February 4th in Altoona, PA. It’s been a pleasure to watch someone work so hard; the dude is a competitor–pushing himself day in and day out. During his three days per week at my gym, Trey...Read More

I’ve been lifting weights since I was 12 years old. At first, I didn’t have a choice in the matter. During my pre-teen and teen years I spent weekends with my brother (he is 11 years older than I am) at his apartment in Bellefonte, PA. Saturday and Sunday mornings I would be dragged out...Read More

 Sumo Split-Stance Dumbbell Row  New Year’s Resolutionists occupying all of the benches while they perform seated curls and partial range of motion flat dumbbell presses? No problem.  Or are you just too damn lazy to set up a bench for a few sets of dumbbell rows? Well guess what? This bad ass exercise (well, actually...Read More

Crazy right idea, right? I mean, I think it is and I wrote it. How could this possibly be true? Why on earth would I wish injury on anyone? Great question…  The reality of the situation is that I do NOT wish injury upon anyone. I know growing up as a competitive athlete; the worst thing that...Read More

I don’t usually do this, but I am going to start this article off with a quote. Here goes, “Strength is like pudding–the proof is in it.” This gem comes to us from none other than the grand master of badassery herself, Kathy “Hot Kath” Traxler. For those of you that don’t know Hot Kath, it’s my mom. She...Read More

Unconventional exercises are the bees knees. They are a great way to break a mundane training cycle, as well as break the typical linear patterns we are all so used to training in. After the basic movements are mastered, adding in unconventional movements is necessary for helping your body adapt to chaos and bridging the gap between the weight-room...Read More

 From a professional standpoint, 2011 was by far the best year of my life — I appeared in premier online publications, such as TNation, EliteFTS, Livestrong, and Yahoo! I served as an adjunct professor at two colleges, I got published in a peer-reviewed journal, interned as a strength coach for a Division 1 college, later...Read More

Week number two of Awesome Research Thursdays is here! I feel like screaming that from a mountain top, but I live in Pennsylvania and it’s cold in the mountains. I did, however, yell it in my car as I drove to work this morning. Does that make me weird? Absolutely. But Veronica (my car, it’s...Read More

 The biggest guns in the industry are pumping out articles on the big three in droves, and while I wholeheartedly agree with each lift’s importance, expecting substantial gains on each will be impossible without proper sleep. Sleep, like nutrition and restorative work, such as soft tissue release, stretching, and mobility work, is highly critical to...Read More

Today I’m going to test drive something here on the blog. Chris and I are cooking up new ideas for a regular blog schedule for 20120 (yep, it’s three weeks away), so I’m going to hit you ladies and gents with a few ideas, take your feedback into account and keep what sticks. Our first...Read More

A couple of the athletes that I train are also required to train at the varsity weight-room of a large, Division 1 university. I won’t name names, but I live in State College, Pennsylvania. This university also has one of the largest, and most reputable kinesiology departments, in the country. It’s amazing how classroom knowledge can...Read More

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Today’s post will go in a different direction than you may be used to. There will be no talk of splitting med balls in half, slamming chains on your skull, or even leg pressing the Smith machine bar (saw this more than once at the gym, don’t ask). Today’s post isn’t cool, it isn’t...Read More