The Tale of Two Leopards: An Excerpt from The Quick and the Dead
The antelope was grazing, oblivious of the superbly camouflaged cat stealthily closing in. The predator flowed like mercury, hugging the terrain. It was a busy day in the savannah, but only one pair of...
View ArticleHang On! The Forgotten Anti-Gravity Exercise Everyone Should Start Doing
What if I told you about an extremely underutilized movement that could improve your overall mobility, strength, and posture? One thing that, once added to your training regimen (or life in general),...
View Article“Masters of Life and Death” —An Excerpt from The Quick and the Dead
In the South American jungle, a jaguar hunts a prey that bites back, a caiman. In a show of absolute superiority, the cat makes his kill on the dangerous dinner’s turf. The jag jumps into the river and...
View ArticlePlans for Building Powerful Pushups
A couple of years ago, I wrote an article, Strength in Numbers, about my journey towards a set of 100 pushups. I used ’grease the groove’ (GTG) sets regularly throughout my day to achieve a high daily...
View ArticleBitter Pills and Being Sedentary
Even if you enjoy throwing iron around on a regular basis, or spend your days advising others on health and wellbeing, the reality of modern living means even the best of us can feel the effects of...
View ArticleControlling Gravity for Better Squats, Deadlifts, and Presses
The very definition of a lift is moving load upwards against gravity; but what goes up must come down. If you’re only paying attention to one half of every squat, deadlift, and press, you’re missing...
View ArticleNo Pain, Less Strain, More Gain—What the…?
Most endurance training plans are predicated on sheer volume. For triathletes, runners, and cyclists, that can mean triple-digit mileage every week. In other sports and activities, it involves more...
View ArticleHelping Performers Fly Higher and Women Believe in Their Strength
There are plenty of instructors in the StrongFirst community who have diverse skill sets, but few are as versatile as Artemis Scantalides. 16 years ago, she made the decision to leave a job in I.T. to...
View ArticleThe SFG Clock—A Guide for the Swing, Clean and Snatch
“If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.” George Harrison Over my years as a coach, I have seen many people demonstrate a variety of kettlebell movements with differing...
View ArticleAcid, the Enemy of the Quick—An Excerpt from The Quick and the Dead
Over 200 years ago, Swedish scientist Jöns Berzelius discovered lactic acid in the muscles of an exhausted stag that had just been hunted down. Acid is the enemy of both tension and relaxation, drawing...
View ArticleQ&D + Minimalist Deadlifts
I was watching Andy Bolton pull over 900 pounds from the back stage at the Arnold Classic. It struck me that his deadlift looked exactly like a hard style kettlebell swing. Afterwards, I asked Andy,...
View ArticleBox Clever—How to Unlock your Range of Motion
Serious strength is best built on a solid foundation of fundamental compound lifts, such as deadlifts, squats, and pressing. To ensure safety and maximize the benefits, that strength needs to be...
View ArticleKnowledge is Power—Velocity-Based Training
There are many ways to assess the quality of your kettlebell training. One is being mindful of how your training feels. Another, admittedly more scientific way, is to keep tabs on how fast your body is...
View ArticleControlling Your Breath for Performance and Health
“It’s funny, but you never really think much about breathing. Until it’s all you ever think about.” – Author Tim Winton There is no doubt that you have heard of employing some type of breath control to...
View ArticleRide the Wave: How to Program for Progress
If training consistently is the foundation of results, does that mean doing the same thing over and over? If you want to keep making progress, at some point you’ll need to make changes to your program,...
View ArticleDairy Cows and Burrito Bowls—How to Win the TSC
The StrongFirst Tactical Strength Challenge returns around the world on Saturday, October 26. The TSC is a personal challenge held twice a year, but the October instalment also sees men and women in...
View ArticleTaming the Arc in Kettlebell Lifts—A Shortcut with a Catch
The offer of a shortcut always seems tempting. But life experiences quickly teach us that they usually come with a catch—or simply don’t deliver the promised results. However, if you’ve ever struggled...
View ArticleSwinging for the Fences and Driving the Greens—Training Baseball and Golf Pros
If you’ve ever encountered StrongFirst Certified Team Leader Jimmy Yuan at a certification or event, you’ll probably remember him as the good-natured joker whose wicked sense of humor livens up any...
View ArticleLift No Faster Than You Can Talk: An Excerpt from S&S 2.0
We are proud to officially present Kettlebell Simple & Sinister: Revised and Updated Edition, or simply S&S 2.0. Time is a man’s best friend if he makes good use of it and a man’s worst enemy...
View ArticleYou’re Part of Our Family: Cole Summers on Building a Legacy in Coaching and...
If you were to ever mention the name Cole Summers to anyone involved in Canadian track, hockey, or rugby, you’d most likely get a knowing nod and a smile in return. The title of ‘legend’ is overused in...
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