Recent Posts

Wil Fleming Interview

Note from MR: Wil Fleming is a guy I’ve become close with in recent years, and beyond having great hair, he’s also an awesome guy to chat with. The guy owns a successful business, coaches high-level athletes, and is an Olympic lifter himself. In this post we’ll discuss training, coaching, and everything in between . […]

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How to RDL

Note from MR: The following is a guest post from Aaron Cunanan. Aaron was an intern at IFAST several years ago, and a really sharp guy. I think you’re really going to love this post! —————— The Romanian Deadlift is one of the most important strength exercises out there and should be a staple in […]

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Front Squat

Front squats are a different animal. After years of dedicated powerlifting training and back squatting, I read an article by one of my strength training mentors, Brad Gillingham. “Big Brad” is one of the strongest human beings on the face of the planet, and his 5×5 squat program had worked wonders for my back squat. […]

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Stop Missing Lifts!

Spring 2001 Ball State University Powerlifting Practice One of my favorite guys on the powerlifting team is having a rough go at it. He’s in what he calls a “squatting slump” and he’s bound and determined to work his way out of it. We’re less than 1 month out from Collegiate Nationals; now is not […]

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Arching versus Bracing

What is a superior cue to the strength coach or trainer? “Arch” or “Brace”? After discussing this via e-mail with my good friend Wil Fleming last week, I felt it was finally time to sit down and put this blog together. A cue that we’ve all used in the past when teaching someone how to […]

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Olympic Lifting for Average Bros, Part II

In the second part of our Olympic Lifting series, we’re going to focus on hip mobility.  If you missed Part I, you can find it HERE. As you can tell from the picture above, hip mobility is critical to perform the lifts effectively.  But even more importantly, you need the ability to go into deep […]

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Olympic Lifting for Average Bros, Part I

The winner of our “Rock the Vote” blog post, we’re going to discuss the best ways to integrate Olympic lifts into your training program.  What I’m actually going to do is spread this out over numerous blog posts, as it’s a pretty expansive topic. DISCLAIMER:  I’m not a world-class Olympic lifting coach.  I’ve spent a […]

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An IFAST Testimonial

While revising the IFAST Website this weekend, I got an amazing testimonial from one of our former clients, Aaron Cunanan.  Rather than mince his words, I’ll just give you the testimonial. I moved back to the Indianapolis area in January 2009. I was in between jobs and had a lot of free time on my […]

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A great Olympic lifting resource…

Several years ago, I took the USA Weightlifting Club Coach certification course.  Basically, in a weekend you learn how to teach and coach the Olympic lifts. The problem, herein, lies with the process.  I had been teaching/coaching the lifts for several years while at Ball State, but I hadn’t had any formal coaching in the […]

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