In order to understand how to get stronger, I think it's helpful to to start by defining strength. Strength is the ability to produce force against an external resistance. Simply, strength is force production. The person that can produce the most force is the most strong. Someone who has enough force production to squat 150 pounds is stronger than someone who can only squat 100 pounds. Someone who has enough force production to bench press 200 pounds is stronger than someone who can only bench press 135 pounds. It's black and white. If you want to get stronger, you can't just be exercising at a gym. You have to be constantly increasing force production. It doesn't matter how many lunges you are doing or leg extensions. Yes, you may get hot and sweaty and feel sore the next day but if you are not increasing force production then you are not getting stronger. You are just exercising. If you want to get stronger, force production must be increasing.

Know thy limits. There are times when I turn clients down because I'm aware of the value I bring to the table. For example if you are into bodybuilding, I'm the wrong guy to hire. Although many smart body builders will build up a base strength first then sculpt and shape it through bodybuilding. If you are professional power lifter or olympic lifter then I'm not the guy to hire. If you like doing cardio with light weights (90% of the people I see at the gym are doing this), then I'm not your guy to hire. What I am though is a professional barbell strength coach. And if you want to double your strength in less than 3 months or triple your strength in less than 6 months, then I can help.

So excited for my client JoAnn. She is 59 and an active pickle ball player. She just did 135lbs in the squat for the first time. We call this getting your first plate because she finally go to use the big 45lb plate on each side. JoAnn has been training with me for about 3 months. When she started her squat she was at 60 pounds. She has more than doubled her strength in a very short amount of time. All we did was add 5 pounds to her squat each workout. After just 3 months of training she said she feels stronger than she was in her 20s. She said strength training is about the only thing she has ever found that is truly like drinking from the fountain of youth. She also has a higher confidence in her pickle ball game that allows her to play more aggressive. She knows that doubling her strength has also gave her denser bones, stronger ligaments and tendons. While many of her friends that are in the same age are getting injured, she feels there's nothing better to prevent injuries than being stronger. #getstrong #strengthtraining #barbellcoach #liftheavy #strength #pickleball #squat #strengthcoach

I don't do contracts because I'm confident in my ability to deliver results. You can cancel at any time for any reason. If I wasn't confident, I would probably look to lock my clients up in a 6 month to year contract.

Would you rather be old beat up and weak or old beat up and strong? You can't prevent old and beat up but you can decide if you want to be weak or strong. By the way the photo is from the cover of The Barbell Prescription: Strength Training for Life After 40 book written by Dr. Jonathan Sullivan and Andy Baker. Fantastic book going into detail how barbell strength training is one of the best things you can do for your health as you age.

Are you stuck on a current lift? Need some programming advice? Do you want some technical feedback of your lift? My DMs are open.

Curious how strong your are in natural human movement patterns? Get under a barbell and see how much you can squat for 5 reps. See how much you can bench press for 5 reps See how much you can deadlift for 5 reps The numbers on the barbell don't lie.

In my novice program I'm able to add 5lbs to my clients lifts 3 x per week. They are getting stronger by 15lbs per week with each lift. How do I get a way with this? Stress Recovery Adaptation Stress/Recovery/Adaptation framework is based on Hans Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS). Selye is the creator of the model for stress events. According to GAS theory, organisms respond to stress in stages: alarm or shock, followed by resistance as they attempt to adapt to the stress. This adaptation aims to render the organism capable of withstanding similar stresses in the future. With the appropriate prescribed amount of stress, the lifter can recover within 48 hours and adapt to the new stress. Then we repeat the process and stress it more by increasing the weight 5 more pounds. Depending on the age and genetics of the client we can do this for a couple of months to 5 months. Take advantage of this biological process. If you do, you can get very strong in a short amount of time.

Does the human body move in isolation or as a whole system? When you move around in your daily life whether that's doing chores, playing sports, or just taking a walk, you body is working as a whole system not in isolation. That's why I focus on getting people stronger in big compound movements that mimic natural human movement patterns like the squat, deadlift, bench press and overhead press. When you are getting stronger in these lifts you are getting the whole system stronger. Compound lifts are movements that engage multiple joints simultaneously, typically necessitating the use of multiple limbs to complete a single repetition. Take the squat, for instance, which demands coordinated involvement of the ankles, knees, hips, and back to execute a proper full squat. And look at all the muscle groups that get strengthened in a squat. It focuses on the front of your thighs (quadriceps), the back of your thighs (hamstrings), and your buttocks (gluteus maximus). It also involves the inner thighs (adductors) and the calf muscles. The muscles along your spine (erector spinae) help you stand up straight during the squat, making your back stronger. Plus, your core muscles, like your abs and obliques, get a good workout too, making the low bar squat great for overall lower body strength and stability. These compound movements are essential for building a strong foundation and promoting overall strength and muscle development. Incorporating these exercises into your weight training routine can help you achieve your fitness goals more effectively. #barbellcoach #compoundmovements #getstrong #squat #deadlift #liftheavy #strengthcoach #strengthtraining #pickleball

The lifting shoe is the most important piece of equipment you will need if you are going to lift heavier weights. You can find them from anywhere around $100 to $300. You don't need to break the bank. The shoes in the $100 range are just fine for starting out. Adidas, Nike, Do-win, Risto and Rogue fitness carry good quality lifting shoes. I know, I can already hear some of you saying "Eww, they look ugly." Yes, they do but they do an incredible job of keeping your foot stable during a heavy load. I have lifted in personal trainers, vans, and converse. Trust me, they don't work well when it comes to lifting a heavy load. Trying to do a squat in a pair of converse is like trying to do the squat on your mattress. Weightlifting shoes are not compressible. They are firm and hard which allows for better force production to take place between your foot and the floor. All other shoes are too squishy. The straps you see on the tongue are metatarsal straps and secure the metatarsal region. The straps help maintain proper foot positioning and prevent any unwanted movement or sliding within the shoe. There's also an elevated heel of about 1/2 to 3/4 inch which allows for greater ankle mobility, enabling the lifter to maintain proper form and achieve a deeper squat without compromising their balance or technique. This can also help prevent the feet from moving forward under heavy weight, keeping the lifter in the correct position throughout the lift. Make a lifting shoe a priority if you want to strength train. #liftingshoe #weightliftingshoe #squatshoe #squat #deadlift #barbellstrategy #strengthcoach #liftheavy #getstrong

Meet Jeannie. She's an online client who lives in Chihuahua Mexico. She's 27, a mother of 4 beautiful children and had her last child about 6 months ago. She started lifting in the program about 3 months ago and built her squat up from 100lbs for 5 reps to 175lbs. In the video, it's her light day doing 155lbs. She loves the feeling of being strong and she said she's doing it to perform better in daily life. She's also an avid basketball and volleyball player. She mentioned that the increase strength is a game changer on how she feels throughout the day. She feels like a super mom and not exhausted and tired at the end of day. Strength is the final way on how we interact with our environment. Increasing your base strength in a short amount makes everything in life feel easier. #squat #deadlift #getstrong #liftheavy #barbellcoach #strengthcoach https://m.primal.net/HWiX.mov#strengthtraining

Who wants to increase their base strength with an online strength coach? January promotion. First month free. No credit card required. You just have to have the will to get strong. It's life changing and I can help you get there in a short amount of time. No contracts! If I can't deliver you results then I deserve to be fired. Only 3x per week to get incredible results. That's only 3 hours per week. You will be hitting a new PR 3x per week. That's the proof you know you are getting stronger. You will be getting stronger on each lift by 15lbs per week. You will feel like a whole new person full of strength. Everything in life will feel easier as you get stronger. Rapid feedback - Programming and feedback the same day through our custom app. You will video your last work set of each exercise and I will provide technical feedback to improve your form. Flexible. You workout when it's convenient. #squat #deadlift #liftheavy #strengthcoach #barbellcoach #getstrong #strength #proofofwork

Is doing the deadlift dangerous? Not really. I would argue that walking around life with a weak back is what really is dangerous. Back pain is the #1 cause of workdays in the US and very few people are deadlifting yet they suffer from back pain which I would argue is the result of a weak back. Humans have been bending over and picking things up for millions of years. Every time you bend down to pick up a child, you just did the deadlift movement. If you are doing weekend chores and pick up a 50lb bag of fertilizer, you just did the deadlift. Most of us sit in a chair thorough the day and are not working out our back the same way our ancestors were. So when the weekend finally rolls around and you go do some chores to lift up something heavy you are more than likely doing that with a very weak back. And this is when back injuries occur. Doing the deadlift with "proper" technique and intelligent programming is one of the safest things you can do to build a really strong back. I emphasize proper technique because I cringe when I walk into a gym and see a lot of people deadlifting with questionable form. Even if you already suffer from back pain, learning to deadlift can be a miracle for taking the pain away. The top feedback I hear from clients and my own experience is that after a week or two of deadlifting their back pain either went away completely or significantly. A stronger back will always hurt less than a weaker back. The failure to strengthen the large muscles in the back is a recipe for future pain or continued pain. These large muscles when built up through the deadlift will stable you spine better than anything else and especially important for the older person who is facing spine degeneration. I'm not going to say there's zero risk in deadlifting. Injuries can happen to anybody at anytime in any sport or hobby. You could just lay on the couch and not do anything. But then you are going to have a lot more serious health issues versus and injury. Looking at the data, weightlifting with proper technique and intelligent programming is one of the safest activities you can do. Soccer and basketball have one of the highest injury rates than any other sport. Soccer leads the way with an injury rate of 6.2 per 100 hours of participating and weightlifting is one of the lowest at .0006. The reason weightlifting is one of the lowest is that its done in a controlled environment where as other sports and hobbies ar e more dynamic and unpredictable. You can either have a weak back or a strong back. If you chose a strong back then make deadlifting a priority. #deadlift #liftheavy #barbellcoach #getstrong #strengthtraining

Meet Rob. He's in his 60s and is a commercial airline pilot and loves to play competitive tennis. He recently had a full knee replacement and is working on getting his strength back up. In this video he's doing the overhead press. As we age its very common for older people to lose their mobility of raising their hands over their head. He's not lacking any cardio but he knows how important it is to increase his base strength to remain competitive on the tennis court and injury free. He also wants a stronger back for his long international flights. He's been noticing more aches and pains in his back over the years. He's making good progress on his deadlift. A stronger back will always hurt less than a weaker back. #barbellstrength #barbellcoach #getstrong #liftheavy #strengthmatters

How is your program different? This is a beginner online barbell strength program to increase your base strength. You will get stronger by about 15 pounds per week in natural human movement patterns like the squat, deadlift, bench press and over head press. You are already doing these movement patterns throughout the week. You are just going to get much stronger in them. If you bend down and pick up a child, you just mimicked the deadlift. If you lift a box over your head to put it in the attic then you just did an overhead press. If you grab a 50 pound bag of fertilizer out of your truck and squat it down on the ground then you just did the squat. Anybody can do this program regardless of age or shape. The more you are complaining about aches and pains in your body then the more you need a program like this. A stronger body will always hurt less than a weaker body. A stronger back will always hurt less than a weaker back. A stronger body = a stronger mind. Not just stronger muscles but your bones will become denser, and your tendons and ligaments will become stronger. My average client is over 40 and these are the the things that start to deteriorate and this program will reverse the process. If you have never trained for strength in a program like this then you will be stronger than you ever have been in your life. Whether you're 40, 50, 60 or 70. Out of all the levers you can pull for your health I believe strength training is the one that offers a true "fountain of youth". When you feel stronger than your 20 year old self, you will know what I mean. You don't have to wonder whether this program is working or not because the numbers on the barbell don't lie. Each time you show up I'm going to add 5 pounds to your lift. You will be feeling great about yourself as you hit a new PR every time you workout. This process can last several months before we have to adjust the programming. All the data will be kept on your App. Simple and time efficient - Only lift 3 x per week. That's only 3 hours per week! We only do three lifts per workout. We squat, then we either bench press or overhead press and we end with the deadlift. We only do 3 sets of 5 reps for all the lifts except for the deadlift which we only do 1 set of 5 reps. I know, complexity is all the rage these days on the internet on workout programs but getting strong is a very simple process. You will not feel sore in this program! Maybe the first workout or two but after that it goes away and you feel like your muscles are tired and got a good workout but you will not feel sore. It's a very mellow or natural way of working out. This is NOT anything like Crossfit. This is not a cardio type workout. You are not going to be destroying your body and laying in a pool of sweat wondering how you survived. I'm not here to destroy you, I'm here to help you get stronger. I will train you initially over a zoom call showing you the proper technique of how to do the lifts. If you live in the Austin area, we can do this at my garage or at your gym. I will program your week with the exact amount of weight you will be lifting. You will video the last set of each workout and upload it on a custom App. I will review your video and have feedback for you by the end of the day. #liftheavyshit #barbellcoach #getstrong #strength #deadlift #squat #strengthcoach

I will never post a before/after pic of a guy without his shirt on or a girl in a bikini. I don't care about your beach bod. I don't care about your abs. I care about whether you are getting stronger or not. I will post videos of my clients doing their lifts and the RESULTS of how strong they have gotten. With that said, the secondary benefit of doing a strength program is you will look damn good.....especially with your clothes on. It's just not my focus as a coach to highlight that in a post. #liftheavyshit #getstrong

Congrats to Devin for hitting a new PR of 450lbs on the deadlift. His bar speed looks really good and I think he's sandbagging. He could have pulled another 15 to 20lbs. A year ago he was only deadlifting 175lbs before deciding to strength train. How did he go from 175lbs to 450lbs? We added 5lbs per workout. His deadlift was increasing by about 15lbs per week. He travels a lot so some weeks he missed a few sessions. Devin just joined jiujitsu a couple of months ago and said his new base strength is a game changer when he rolls with opponents of equal skill. He pretty much dominates them with his strength and gives other higher ranked belts a tough time on the mats. When two people are equal in skill and one person increases their base strength, they now have a competitive advantage. #deadlift #liftheavyshit

Being sore from a workout does not make you stronger. It just makes you hurt. I hear too many people complain how sore they are from their workouts yet they think it’s some badge of honor that they have to go through to prove that their program is working. You don't have to do a workout program that makes you sore though. If you are training for strength with an intelligent linear progression model your body will adapt to the work out and you will only feel sore the first couple of workouts. After that, you will never feel sore. Your muscles will feel tired that day like they got a good workout but they wont feel sore. For example if you are attempting a new squat PR for say 275lbs for 5 reps of 3 sets, you won't feel sore. Now you can train for strength and enjoy the time in between your workouts with other hobbies without complaining how sore you are. Would you rather be out the next day playing golf or basketball feeling very sore or feeling refreshed?

Skinny guy: Bro, why would I do barbell strength training with low reps and heavy weight? All my social media influences say that I won’t get hypertrophy that way. And bro, I want massive hypertrophy. I think I’ll pass on your program. Me: I see skinny guy 9 month later and skinny guy still looks skinny with some tiny bumps on his arms and chest. There’s this ridiculous notion lately flying around the internet that hypertrophy equals high reps and low weight and that strength training with heavy weight and low reps does not work for hypertrophy. Like many things on the internet these days, this is Fake News. Let's look at the numbers of a typical novice who starts a barbell strength training program and compare it to where they could be in 9 months. The numbers below are very typical of the results we see. Let's say skinny guy is 6 feet and weighs 170lbs. If eating enough calories and protein they could easily be 200+lbs in 9 months. They could take their squat from 100lbs to 350lbs. What do you think their quads will look like being able to squat 350lbs? They will look a lot bigger than when they could only squat 100lbs. They could take their deadlift from 140lbs to 405lbs. What do you think will happen to the size of their neck, traps, and forearms when they can deadlift over 400lbs? They will have gotten much bigger. They have to. They could take their bench press from 135lbs to 225lbs. What do you think their chest will look like being able to bench 225lbs? The truth is the skinny guy who went with a "hypertrophy" program probably didn't grow that much. (unless they are taking steroids). If your goal is to get bigger (hypertrophy) and stronger, then there's no faster way then starting a Novice Linear Progression with barbell strength training. #hypertrophy #barbellcoach #Strength #barbelltraining #liftheavy #getstrong

Balance is a derivative of strength.   If you want to improve your balance, then getting your base strength up is the fastest way. As we age, we don't lose something called "balance". We lose our strength as our muscles start to deteriorate.  The best thing an elderly person can do it keep from falling is to increase their base strength which will increase their balance.   For younger people, I often see videos of them trying to improve their balance by holding on to dumbbells and standing on one leg on an unstable surface.  Not sure if this is effective as they think it is. I think most people would be better served to focus on getting their base strength up in natural human movement patterns like the squat, deadlift, overhead press and the bench press and would find this to be the single best lever you can pull for balance.