A perfect warm-up virtually ensures a perfect workout, but a poor one will almost certainly ruin what COULD have been a great training experience. Ever wake up dreading the idea of going to the gym, but after getting there, you end up having a great workout? You can thank your warm-up for that.
Training to failure... is it really necessary?
One of the most common areas of confusion for bodybuilders and other athletes engaged in resistance training is the question of the appropriate or optimal number of reps and sets for any given workout session or cycle.
By definition, a peak is surrounded by two valleys, which means (despite what athletes always like to tell me), you can't be in peak condition all the time.
One of my central operating paradigms is the realization that all methods, devices, philosophies and techniques involved in strength training have specific benefits and drawbacks. If your training lacks sufficient diversity, you'll accumulate the drawbacks and habituate to the benefits. And that ain't good.
An observational analysis
One of the most innovative and effective training programs we’ve published. Chances are, you’ve never trained like this.
"The sheer effectiveness and brutality of the EDT program does not come across in the written word. This is a TOTAL gym experience"
One Inch in One Month (Oh, and Yes, It WILL Hurt!)
EDT for Maximal Strength Breakthroughs!
It's possible to maintain and even build strength while stripping off body fat. Don't think so? Then try this when you're ready to lean down.
If you're a true musclehead like I am, you've probably read (or heard) a lot about periodization, either from classic textbooks by East-European sports training and weightlifting authorities (including the classic texts by Tudor Bompa), or by researching the subject online.
The older and wiser you get, the more you start to realize there are certain "universalities" common to successful outcomes in all of life's endeavors. These realizations are as certain as the law of gravity, albeit less obvious. You should know and understand these common threads because they make success less random and more predictable.
In the first installment of this article, I discussed the various benefits of the snatch and I also hinted at the large number of possible snatch variations.
In this final installment, I'll cover some of the variations in more detail and I'll also be providing a training cycle that features the snatch as an "anchor" movement.
The other day while standing in the checkout line at the local supermarket, I noticed a woman feverishly scratching one of those scratch-off lottery ticket thingies. I don't know what they're actually called, but I'm sure you've seen them.
Coach Staley provides his best tips that have made the greatest impact on how he thinks and trains. Check it out.
Get your mind on the weight and on the clock. This training strategy will help you get more done in less time.
If you've been training as long as I have, I'm sure you can relate to feeling a bit stale and uninspired with your workouts at times.
Although I'm better known as someone who works with high-performing athletes, I started out–like most coaches and trainers-by working with "everyday folks", and interestingly enough, after 20+ years in the game, something unusual has happened:
Ever notice how two supposedly inviolate principles of resistance training are basically contradictory?
Everything you need to know about the benefits and the risks of overhead lifts.
Imagine if there were no barriers to strength attainment: we'd all be power cleaning 500, squatting 1000, and benching 600 in no time.
When I look at all the questions that people send me, one of the more common themes I notice is confusion around the topic of putting together your weekly training cycle. So for my first edition of <i>The Staley Strategies</i>, I thought I'd elaborate on one of my all-time favorite strategies (this one being a tactic, technically speaking): the A-B split.
Whenever you can make a workout more time-efficient, you're stacking the odds heavily in your favor. Not only do you complete your training in less time, but you've also got more time to recover before the next onslaught!
