"Long time, no see" is the best time to make big progress on your favorite exercises When you go on vacation from your job, do you decide to quit just because it's been two weeks and you haven't done any work? When your refrigerator is low on food, do you simply decide to resign yourself to eating grease-laden fast food from there on out? So why are you so eager to quit exercise altogether after a layoff? A layoff might happen for any number of reasons - hectic work schedule, new … [Read more...] about How To leap forward after a layoff

(This article originally appeared on strongfirst.com) Wailing.  Gnashing of teeth.  Rending of clothing and sitting in sack cloth and ashes.Nothing about the SFG certification weekend, it seems, causes as much internal drama, strife, worry, fear, and nervousness (not to mention all 5 stages of grief) as the oft-maligned and inexplicably feared snatch test.Well, knock it off.  And for goodness sake, pull yourself together.  It’s only 5 minutes, and your cert weekend is nearly 24 hours in … [Read more...] about How To Make Your Snatch Test Easier

Your body can be persuaded to bend to your will. I'm gonna start off this post with one of Aesop's Fables. Yes, I'm serious. I love that guy. "The north wind and the sun were disputing which was the stronger, and agreed to acknowledge as the victor whichever of them could strip a traveler of his clothing.The wind tried first. But its violent gusts only made the man hold his clothes tightly around him, and when it blew harder still the cold made him so uncomfortable that he put on an … [Read more...] about How to persuade your body to hand over new results

And no, it's not as simple as just "stand on your hands". A while back I was hitch hiking back from my early morning training appointments in a town near Jerusalem (I like to live dangerously) and one of the occupants of the car and I got to talking about fitness. He asked about programming, frequency of training, and so on. Naturally, being that I'm a ‪calisthenics geek, the conversation steered toward that. "How would you start someone on ‪handstand training?" he … [Read more...] about How To Prepare For Your First Handstand