Christian Thibaudeau used to make fun of CrossFit athletes, but since he began coaching them, they’ve taught him a few valuable things… along with earning his respect. …read more

You only need two or three exercises to build your abs. The trick is to choose the right exercises and breathe correctly while doing them. Here’s how. …read more

We all know how important it is to keep a neutral spine while deadlifting.  There are so many fantastic videos out there showing how not to deadlift.  Here’s one of my favorites:

I honestly feel bad posting this video.  In reality this looks like a hard working gentleman, but his technique could definitely use a little work in order to make it a bit safer.  Also, lifting in pajamas in the living room is pretty sweet, beautiful plants in the background as well.

For most, just cueing to keep your back flat is enough to square things away and get the spine in a neutral position.  For others it’s not so easy.  If you’ve coached people the olympic lifts or deadlifting for long enough you’ve probably encountered this.

For some athletes as they reach the bottom of the deadlift, their lumbar spine starts to round.  It’s even worse with a snatch grip or deficit deadlift.  Your first intuition is to tell the athlete to keep their back flat.  Then their snatch or deadlift ends up looking like this:

So your next logical cue is to keep the knees back so the bar travels up in a straight line and doesn’t grind your patient’s knee caps off.  So now the lift looks like this again:

The lumbar spine starts to round again.  Despite all of the cueing you give your athlete, you can’t clean things up.  If you’re looking for a more in depth explanation of why this happens and why it’s important to correct this, then read my article HERE.

This is where a bit of corrective exercise is going to be needed.  However, the first thing that is needed is an assessment or screening tool to determine if there is a problem.  If you’ve got an athlete …read more

The full-body routines of guys like Gironda and Schwarzenegger work as well today as they did 40 or 50 years ago. …read more

Get shredded and increase your “secret” reflexive strength. But remember, with great abs come great responsibility. …read more

Post-activation potentiation, bottoms-up squats, and smart warm-ups are the keys to a new PR. …read more

For lifters with specific goals, counting calories and macros is a valuable tool. For others, it can become an obsessive habit that derails their long-term progress. …read more

Some time ago I made a video which showed my favorite videos for warming up and practicing the snatch.  This week I’ve compiled a video of my favorite warm-up and technical drills for the Clean and Jerk.  I do this sequence before doing any clean and jerk work and it really helps get you prepared for the workout.  These drills are also excellent to work on the finer points of the lift as well.  Check it out:

Give it a try and let me know what you think,

Dan Pope DPT, CSCS

P.S. If you enjoyed this article then sign up for the newsletter to receive the FREE guide – 10 Idiot Proof Principles to Performance and Injury Prevention as well as to keep up to date with new information as it comes out via weekly emails.

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The sport of powerlifting is awesome, except for all the not-so-awesome parts. Here are the pros and cons you need to know. …read more

Dips are awesome, but you better learn proper form and how to dose them. Once that’s done, try ring dips, countdowns, combos, and dead stops. …read more