Best Articles of 2014… and an Announcement!

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted an article. Between spending time with family over Christmas and making a career move, writing has been on the back burner. Which leads me to an announcement…

At the end of my internship at Cressey Sports Performance, I accepted a position at CSP as a full-time coach. I’ll be on staff until the new batch of interns come in at the end of February. I’m unbelievably honored to work alongside some of the best coaches in the industry and I’ll do my best to keep pushing CSP forward as the best baseball training facility in the world.

Now, onto the best articles of 2014 on Bonvecstrength.com, as determined by page views during the calendar year.

#1 – STOP SAYING THESE 4 PHRASES IF YOU WANT TO BE SUCCESSFUL

For me, 2014 was a huge year for learning how to think and speak like a successful person. Mindset is huge, and this article is all about removing negative self-talk from your vocabulary.

I was inspired by a podcast with EliteFTS coach Mark Watts and peak performance coach Brian Cain. When I tagged them in a Facebook post, Watts shared the article and almost instantly rocketed this article to my most-read post of all time.

#2 – GET STRONG AS AN OX WITH FARMERS WALKS

I’ve always loved loaded carries, but this year, I learned how truly valuable they are to anyone, whether you’re a pro athlete or just want to lose fat. We use loaded carries every single day at CSP and nearly all my personal training clients do too because they’re that awesome. This article shows you how to choose the right farmers walk variation for you and how to plug them into your current exercise program.

#3 – ARE YOU MAKING THESE 3 DEADLIFT MISTAKES?

Every year I go to the Arnold Classic fitness expo in Columbus, Ohio, and I always come back inspired and motivated to kick ass and take names. This year, I got to watch world-class powerlifter Dan Green deadlift 865 pounds in the Animal Cage. Dan is not only one of the best lifters in the world – he’s also a super nice guy and was tremendously helpful at his lifting seminar that I attended in Connecticut a few weeks ago.

Inspired by Dan’s deadlifting mastery, this article discussed three ofter-overlooked deadlift mistakes that could be holding you back from a bigger pull.

#4 – TRAINING FOOTWEAR 101

Who knew that something as simple as what’s on your feet could make such a dramatic difference in your lifting performance? This article explains what shoes to wear based on your fitness goals. It was also my first article to be featured on the Personal Training Development Center’s Best Articles of the Week list.

#5 – THE “BIG 3” EXERCISES FOR FAT LOSS

Since I started personal training at a commercial gym, I’ve had to shift my focus from maximal strength to fat loss, since that’s what most of my clients are after. And while strength has its “Big 3” in the squat, bench and deadlift, fat loss has a big 3 as well. This article talks about the three exercises I turn to time and again to help clients shed fed fast.

That’s it! I hope you enjoy re-reading these articles as much as I enjoyed writing them. Keep an eye out for more “Best of 2014” posts over the next few weeks.