This fall marks the 10-year anniversary of my official coaching career. In 2012, I accepted my first paid coaching internship during graduate school at Xceleration Sports Training on Long Island. Although I’d “coached” some friends and teammates during undergrad, I consider this my coaching anniversary because it was the first time I’d actually gotten paid …
What’s the best thing for you to do between heavy sets of squat, bench press and deadlift? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Powerlifters understand this. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Bonvec Strength (@bonvec_strength) I’d say 99 percent of the time your best bet is to sit down, sip some water, relax and mentally …
Few things can derail a lifter’s progress and send motivation spiraling into the gutter like lower back pain. The nature of powerlifting places high amounts of stress on the spine. Even when technique is on point and weight selection is appropriate, it’s common for lifters to experience lower back fatigue, tightness and even pain. Because …
The Powerlifter’s Guide to Working Around Lower Back Pain Read More »
We can all agree that confidence is extremely important when lifting heavy weights. As the saying goes, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.” When I’m coaching my powerlifters as they approach a competition, I try to do everything I can to help them build confidence. Mostly, this involves purposeful …
Who doesn’t love a good cliché? Here’s one: more isn’t better. Better is better. This certainly applies when it comes to training volume. Defined as sets multiplied by reps, volume is a gross measure of the overall work you perform during a given period of training, typically an individual training session. After intensity (weight on …
At Bonvec Strength, we’re incredibly proud to be able to train complete beginners, national-level powerlifters and everyone else in between under the same roof. Not everyone follows the exact same workouts, does the same exercises or lifts the same weights, but they train similarly enough that our coaches can effectively train them at the same …
I had the pleasure of being a guest on The Strategy of Fitness podcast this week and they asked me a simple question: what are your top 3 favorite squat, bench and deadlift variations? In all the years I’ve been lifting and coaching, I don’t think I’d been asked that before. On-the-spot questions tend to …
My Top 3 Squat, Bench and Deadlift Variations to Maximize Strength Read More »
The start of your strength training journey is an exciting time because you’ll never make greater gains in strength and muscularity than when you first get started. That’s why it’s so important to get off on the right track. But many of us stumble out of the gate by trying to figure things out on …
A Beginner’s 10 Commandments for Strength Training Read More »
I was recently texting back and forth with an online client about his newest program. This lifter was shifting from a hypertrophy phase (focused on gaining muscle) to a strength phase (focused on increasing weight lifted in the 3-8 rep range). He raised a few concerns about losing muscle when transitioning to heavier training, which …
A training program is only as good as a lifter’s ability to stick to it. As a coach who’s working with multiple people at once AND training people online, I’m constantly searching for ways that a training program can “coach itself” so my lifters can execute their training without me having to watch every rep …
4 Ways to Build Accountability into Your Training Read More »
