Since being off work to recover from my bicep repair surgery, I’ve noticed something interesting. On the days when I let myself be lazy, aside from handling my athletes’ programs, emails, and behind the scenes work for the gym, my overall happiness takes a dip.

For me, I’ve found that there’s a direct correlation between productivity and fulfillment.

One of the things I talked about on the the most recent Powerlifter’s Den Podcast that I was a guest on was how much easier it was to stay locked in on my goals back when I was chasing my 2000lb total.

At that time, Legends didn’t exist. I wasn’t coaching any athletes. I had just moved into my first townhouse, working one full-time job with one goal in mind and that was to become the best powerlifter Rochester has seen and do my part to grow the sport in this city.

That was my entire focus and life was simple. Everything I did revolved around training, recovery, and progress. There were no distractions, no competing responsibilities, just pure obsession with getting stronger.

For stronger lifters (those handling very heavy absolute weights) even RPE 7 or 8 sets can create significant systemic fatigue. By the time week 4 rolls around, they’re still carrying that residual fatigue, which limits both performance potential and recovery.

Not many coaches can say they’ve worked with an all-time world record holder. I’ve been lucky enough to have had a hand in coaching a few, but this one was special.

One of the biggest mistakes lifters make when they get injured is swinging too far in one direction by either pushing through sharp pain or avoiding training the area entirely. Both extremes can slow down recovery. The truth lies in the middle, listening to your body, moving through pain free ranges of motion, and gradually expanding that range as the joint or muscle heals.

It’s taken me a little while to put this into words. When injuries happen, it’s not just your body that takes a hit, it’s your mindset, your confidence, and your sense of direction. Over the past few months, I’ve had to face all of that head on once again. Only this time, is a little bit different.

As a coach and gym owner, one of the most common programming trends I see lifters following is the idea of 4 week waves. A lot of newer coaches default to the modern 4 week wave modality with week one as an intro, weeks two and three build in difficulty, and week four is the heavy/intensity week before a reset.

Many lifters who pull conventional eventually experiment with sumo, whether to find better leverage, train opposite stance in the off-season, reduce back strain, or chase bigger numbers but transitioning isn’t as simple as widening your stance. It requires a new approach, new cues, and often a big mindset shift.

Here are the biggest tips and considerations I’ve learned as a coach when teaching conventional pullers how to build their sumo.

Every lifter knows they should warm up before heavy training but what most lifters don’t realize is that how you warm up can make or break your top sets.

Lockout problems in the deadlift are one of the most frustrating issues for lifters. You pull the bar past your knees, you’re right there, but it just stalls out and refuses to move. The natural assumption is, “I need to work my lockout.” But in reality, most lockout issues don’t actually start at lockout, they start from the floor.

A key question I ask new clients during our onboarding call is:

“What are your favorite accessory movements?”

Right away, most people light up. They’ll list a few exercises they enjoy and things that feel good, make them feel strong, or give them a sick pump bro. Then I follow it up with:

“What movements do you dislike?”

Almost every time, the answer is the same:
“As long as it works, I’ll do it.”

In strength training, we spend a lot of time talking about progressive overload, recovery, and managing physical fatigue. But one thing I’ve seen constantly overlooked, both in lifters I coach and in my own journey as a competitive athlete, is how important deloads and transition weeks are for your mind.

If I had a dollar for every lifter who told me, “I’ve tried everything, I just can’t gain weight,” I could retire and live off protein shakes by the lake.

As a competitive powerlifter and strength coach, strength training has shaped my life in more ways than I can count. I’ve spent years under the bar building my own strength and helping others do the same. But the truth is strength training isn’t just for lifters like me. It’s one of the most powerful tools anyone can use to feel better, move better, and live a longer, healthier life.

Too many lifters waste the time between meets by staying too close to meet prep year-round or hopping randomly from block to block with no bigger plan. A well structured 6 month macrocycle should be broken into mesocycles, each with a defined purpose that feeds into the next.

When performing a dumbbell bench press, the angle of the dumbbells should generally slightly angle inward, not held straight like a barbell. Here’s how and why…

This past weekend at RPS Nationals didn’t go the way I had planned. On my final deadlift warmup, I felt that dreaded pop in my bicep. Just like that, the meet was over. It looks like a partial tear, and I have an MRI scheduled for Friday to confirm, but even with that setback, I don’t see this meet as a failure. Not even close.

This Saturday I’ll be stepping on the platform for my 21st powerlifting meet, a journey that started all the way back in 2013 when I totaled 1425 at 242 lbs. Since then, the sport has taken me places I never imagined.

When it comes to building a stronger, more efficient squat, accessory work matters. Here are my top 3 favorite movements that I consistently program for myself and my athletes to address common weak points, improve movement quality, and pack on muscle where it counts.

As a coach, I get a lot of questions about knee sleeves… what they do, whether they’re worth it, and how tight they should be.

Here’s my breakdown…