Recent Posts

Bodybuilding Back for Healthy Shoulders

A common theme I see in the gym is when people mindlessly blow through their upper back work. Whether it’s rows, chins, or even something as simple as a face pull, people don’t put in the focus necessary to really develop the muscles surrounding their shoulder blades. At best, you’re leaving some upper back development […]

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The Clean Volume Concept

One of the things I’ve been thinking about a lot lately is a concept I refer to as “clean volume.” No we’re not talking about power or hang cleans – I’m talking about the quality of the volume that you’re accumulating in the gym. Let me explain a bit further.

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Mastering Tripod Foot

One of the hottest topics in the training world today is barefoot training. Is barefoot training magical, like a Pegasus or Unicorn? Can you really just kick your shoes off and your lower extremity injuries heal themselves?

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MR Training Week 6 2011

Starting to get back into some semblance of a routine this week.  Definitely had some high-quality, productive workouts. Here’s a quick update, along with my thought process behind the various days/lifts.

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REAL Turkish Get-ups

I had this amazing post all set-up for you guys today. But now? Well, it’s just not the same. In case you missed it last week, Bob Harper (the trainer from the Biggest Loser) threw up a video on YouTube about how to perform the Turkish Get-up “correctly.” The problem? His form was laughable.  I […]

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Are You a Hero?

We’re veering off the beaten path a bit today, but I think you’ll enjoy the ride! I still remember meeting Nate Green back in 2006. The guy had taken out a loan of some sort to fly across the country and hang out at the T-Nation DC Test Fest. I remember thinking at the time, […]

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Improving Your Bench Press Arch

Let’s be honest – everyone likes to bench press. And one of the easiest things you can do to increase your poundages (and look like more of a bad-ass) is to improve your bench press arch. Whether your goal is to compete in a powerlifting meet, or to simply move more weight than the other […]

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MR Training Week 5 2011

Started a new cycle – technically it started last week, but due to baby girl and a snow/ice storm to end all others, I only got one day in last week. Here’s a recap of the past two weeks. Enjoy!

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5 More Shoulder Saving Tips

My article last week on Elite got a lot of great reviews, and I sincerely hope that it’s going to help lifters of all ability levels to get stronger and stay healthier than ever before. And just in case you’re too lazy to follow the link, I’m going to include all the videos at the […]

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Q&A: Single-Leg Solution

Hi Mike! You did an AWESOME job with your article on Elite Fitness. I read most of the articles on that site, and I feel like the issues you addressed are going to be of great value to powerlifter-types who many not normally be hip to soft tissue work or shoulder stability exercises. I have […]

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Blocked 90-90 Split-Squats

Sorry I’ve been out of the loop for the past week. At midnight last Wednesday night, my wife went into labor and later than evening we celebrated the birth of our baby girl, Kendall Ann Robertson! Needless to say it’s been a crazy couple of days, but hopefully we’ll get back in the swing of […]

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Effective Birddog Performance

Birddogs are a fantastic exercise for not only improving core stability, but for rehabilitating the lower back as well. Unfortunately, a lot of people assume that just because an exercise appears simple that they can mindlessly crank out the reps. This video demonstrates proper performance of the birddog exercise, along with outlining common errors. Specific […]

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MR Training Week 4 2011

Last week was supposed to be my “heavy” week, but after the first two weeks Lil’ Stevie and I were both pretty wrecked.  We decided to deload last week, and therefore this week was our big one. Stevie had the Elite FTS seminar on Saturday, so he geared things back just a bit Thursday. Regardless, […]

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What I Learned at IFAST

The following is a guest blog by former intern (and now current IFAST team member) Zach Moore. I can honestly say that Zach is a special guy. He trained at our gym for close to a year while finishing up a Masters in Economics, and when he asked if we would consider taking him on […]

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Q&A Conventional Deadlift

Hey Mike, I need some work on my deadlift. After reviewing this video I definitely see a few things I need to work on. Would you care to take a look and let me know the biggest things you see that need work? Or feel free to pick it apart completely. I can handle it […]

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