The Snatch Pyramid: Optimize Your Snatch Training
Kettlebell snatches are one of my personal favorite lifts. They are athletic and explosive. They can be done with a variety of weights, tempos, rep schemes, and in my experience, give more “what the...
View ArticleBench Press More by Optimizing Your Bar Path
When I teach the bench press during the StrongFirst Lifter Certification, the path of the bar section is one of my favorites. In the deadlift and the squats (Zercher, front, and back), the bar path is...
View ArticleHow to Improve Your Performance by Rebalancing Your Body: A Lesson from a...
I would like to share a training method with you that is rarely understood in the realm of fitness but so powerful it completely saved me from persistent hip discomfort and tension within a few days....
View ArticleIntroducing the StrongFirst “WOD”
“If at first you don’t succeed, redefine success.” This caption for a New Yorker cartoon nails the “FOMO” mentality of a “workout of the day.” Then why, might you ask, is StrongFirst jumping on the...
View ArticleFrom Wheelchair to Sinister: The Importance of Mental Strength By Malou Fehlbaum
In June 2003, I was injured during my apprenticeship to become a truck driver. An 830kg stone, the size of an oak barrel, fell from my truck and hit me on my lower back as I was standing leaning...
View ArticlePreparing for BUD/S
Training has always been a passion of mine, actually it’s been more of an obsession. To say that I love to train would be an understatement. I need to train. Despite this obsession, it’s important for...
View ArticleStrong Endurance in Schools to Strengthen the Next Generation
Strengthen Our Youth I currently teach at one of the best physical education schools in America. Prescott Junior High School was featured in the documentary “The Motivation Factor” which stresses the...
View ArticleIncrease Your Pressing Strength and Overhead Stability with the One-Arm...
The one-arm strict barbell press is a challenging press that will build strength and muscle stability. Pavel recommended the side press in Power to the People! and this stricter variation is a valuable...
View ArticleHow I Achieved Five Reps of the Iron Maiden
The Goal The idea of the Five-Rep Iron Maiden was planted in my head back in 2018 after completing the Iron Maiden Challenge at The Dome in Chicago. Training for something as big as Iron Maiden takes...
View ArticleBe as Strong as You Look: 8 Weeks of Built Strong Training
In the first days of quarantine, when things shut down and the composition of my days changed overnight, I came to a quick realization: I may never again have an opportunity quite like this to train...
View ArticleChop Wood, Carry Water…Repeat
“Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.”—Zen Buddhism The Essential Must be Done Regularly After some rare downtime, I was watching the show “Life...
View ArticleFinding the “Easy” in Simple and Sinister…and Life
I believe one of the secrets to thriving in life is seeking out difficult challenges, and then finding the “easy” within them. Let’s think about your diet, for example. Do you want to suffer, deprive...
View ArticleAll-Around Training for the Tactical Athlete
In the movie “Remember the Titans,” Coach Boone is the new head football coach of the first integrated school in Virginia. The school staff and parents immediately begin criticizing him. As they are...
View ArticleThe Kettlebell Mile
The Kettlebell Mile is the product of a two-decade long search for a way to simultaneously train strength and aerobic capacity. It seems so obvious now, but the best ideas are seen as such only in...
View ArticleBurpees and Kettlebell Swings for Improved Athleticism
We are StrongFirst. Therefore, we know kettlebells. We know the many benefits they can have. The swing is why you get into kettlebells right? Well, it was for me. What I realized after practicing with...
View ArticleMore Mass with Minimal Gear
With training equipment running at an all-time low due to COVID-19 lockdowns, most people have access to nothing but their bodyweight and minimal equipment and are left scratching their heads with what...
View Article“Step Up” Your Adventure Training
Do you like good food? I mean really good food? I love great food! Have you ever had an epic meal that was so good you could recall exactly when and where it was, even years later? The best meal I have...
View ArticleNail the SFG II Press Test with this Six-Week Plan
So, you’ve decided to train for the StrongFirst SFG II Kettlebell Instructor Certification. Prepare to get stronger, go deeper into the skill of strength, and learn a lot about yourself. Like any goal...
View ArticleNo Time…No Problem—Minimalist Training Solution
There are times in life where your circumstances do not allow for much training. I am in one of those times as I write this. The only way for me to allocate an hour at a time to train would be to cut...
View ArticleHow to Achieve Your First Pistol Squat
The pistol squat is one of the best exercises to develop strong, flexible, and resilient legs, but it also requires skill, practice, and consistency. When I started practicing pistols, I didn’t have a...
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