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Coaching

RTS Coaching: Hip Postion on 2-KB Front Squats

I’m a huge fan of 2-kettlebell front squats. In fact, with a lot of my athletes that I may only have in for a short period of time, it’s my go-to squatting progression. Not only can you load it up fairly quickly, but it’s almost impossible to screw up. Almost. As with most lifts, the […]

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RTS Coaching: Floor Coming UP on Squats

If you’ve followed my site for any extended period of time, you know that my thoughts on the squat have changed pretty drastically over the years. As a powerlifter, my goal was to hoist as much weight as possible, by any means possible. So low bar, wide stance, bent-over torso squattin’ was all fine and […]

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Tips for Client-Centered Coaching

Note from MR: I’m a big fan of Todd Bumgardner. Both he and Chris Merritt are guys I truly feel “get it” when it comes to training clients and athletes. (And if you missed Todd’s podcast last week, I’d definitely check it out – it’s a doozy.) So when Todd asked to write a guest […]

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My Top 5 Fitness Apps

Ever since Al Gore invented the internet, technology has seen explosive growth. And in recent years, one of the biggest areas of growth in our world comes in the form of “fitness apps.” Whether it’s interval timers, apps to help improve sleep and recovery, or guided meditations, there are literally thousands fitness apps out there. […]

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RTS Coaching: The Plate Squat

Anyone who is serious about training likes to squat. Well, let’s be honest – it’s probably more of a love-hate relationship. Maybe a better way to put it is that everyone who is serious about training respects the squat. But this leads us to a big question: How do you teach someone to squat safely, […]

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RTS Coaching: The Crossover Step-up

If you’ve been training for any extended period of time, you’re familiar with the step-up. The step-up is a fantastic exercise for many reasons: It builds single-leg stability and control, It can help iron out side-to-side strength imbalances, and It’s a functional, real-world movement. Like most weight room lifts, however, the step-up is very sagittal […]

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RTS Coaching: The Sprinter Step-up

Step-ups are one of my favorite single-leg exercises. (Well if we’re being transparent, I think of them as pseudo single-leg exercises. But I’ll discuss that more in the EADS 3.0 videos coming soon!) There are numerous benefits to the step-up over similar exercises: It leads with a concentric (versus eccentric) movement. You can easily adjust […]

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Why YOU Should Keep a Coaching Log

If you’ve been training for any period of time, chances are you’ve kept a training log at some point in your career. A training log is an invaluable tool, because it goes a step further than then typical tracking of sets, reps, etc. Instead, a training log digs deeper into each training session. What was your […]

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RTS Coaching: Thorax Rotation

Earlier this week, you and I had a little talk about alternating function. Needless to say, whether you want to play rotational sports, go for a leisurely jog from time-to-time, or simply want to be a better moving human being, you should find ways to emphasize alternating function in your programming. However, when I first […]

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RTS Coaching: Push-up to Downward Dog

We’ve focused a lot on the push-up in recent weeks (and in case you missed it, you see what I mean here, here, here, and the big push-up article here). With all of this focus on coaching and cuing, something I wanted to throw in this week was one of my favorite push-up variations of […]

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4 Ways to Upgrade Your Programming and Coaching

As coaches and trainers, we’re constantly looking for tools to make us better. Maybe it’s a new style of programming. Maybe it’s a new exercise you’ve heard a lot about. And maybe it’s  coaching and cuing one of our big-bang exercises in a slightly different way. The bottom line is that we coaches will leave […]

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RTS Coaching: What Torso Position is Best on Split-Squats?

Split-squats are one of my all-time favorite exercises. When you think about it, they can do numerous things for you: Build single-leg strength, Improve flexibility in the trailing leg, Improve stability and control through the hip, knee and ankle, etc. Yet, when it comes to the split-squat, a common question comes up time and again: […]

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My 5 LEAST FAVORITE Coaching Cues

(Lead Photo Courtesy of Flickr) After last week’s article, I was perusing the Twitterverse and came across the following comment: @RobTrainSystems can you write one with your least favorite cues? — Jared Rosenberg (@JRStrengthFit) June 8, 2016 Thanks Jared for the great idea! Normally I like to keep my articles positive. Yet in this case, […]

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RTS Coaching: Knees First on Squats?

The other day I was perusing the Interwebz, and I came across this awesome tweet from my guy Mike Roncarati: Vertical tibia during a squat means anterior head and trunk displacement as the first move for most. Or a very wide BOS #letquadswork — Mike Roncarati (@RoncMike) June 8, 2016 The timing was impeccable, because […]

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My Top 5 Coaching Cues

(Lead photo courtesy of Flickr) As you may or may not know, I’ve gone through something of a Marvel obsession that past couple of months. Whether it’s the big Avengers roll-outs, the solo movies, or even the Netflix series’ like Daredevil and Jessica Jones, I’ve pretty much seen all of their recent work in the […]

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