you're

FREE WEIGHTS VS. MACHINES I've become less of a "tribal" thinker over the years. Earlier in my career, I believed that resistance-training machines were inferior to free weights. I'd argue that machines only required you to overcome the resistance, not control it. Put another way, I believed...

Most guys want a big chest, a wide back, and defined arms. Some fall short. Why? They add too much "fluff" to their workouts. If you're natural and dedicate more than half of your exercises to isolation movements like chest flyes, curls, or tricep extensions, you're doing a lot of extra work...

NO GAINS? DROP THE FLUFF If you're not happy with your progress in the gym and your motivation is lagging, don't add more to your workout plan. Instead, simplify. Take a look at how you've been training the last couple of months. There's a chance you've been overdoing it, either by having done...

Enough about the "Big 3" already. As a non-powerlifter and someone who trains non-powerlifters, I get annoyed with the powerlifting mentality that often seeps into the rest of the strength training world that places the bench press, squat, and deadlift on top of the exercise hierarchy as primary...

ALL PAIN HAPPENS IN THE BRAIN There's the old joke about shoulder injuries with lifters. The coach asks, "How many of you have a bad shoulder?" Half the group puts up their hands. The other half can't. Lots of lifters weaned on the "no pain, no gain" mantra think they should just tough pain out...

Most guys do some form of paused bench press... if they aren't ego lifters. Bring the bar down, pause at the chest, do some repping. Sweet. It's great in theory, but the application is sometimes lacking. Where? The pause itself. The whole point of the pause is to reduce the rebound from the...

Dumbbell rowing is essential. But most lifters don't spend a whole lot of time doing it, either because they're making some common mistakes and not getting results or because they're not aware of the benefits. So let's get into those. MISTAKES TO AVOID DURING DUMBBELL ROWS 1. TWISTING The goal...

Beginners trying to lose body fat don't need to follow an advanced fat loss program in order to get results. If you're fat, you're fat, and following an advanced training program won't necessarily speed up the process. All you really need to do is move. The same can be said about newbie...

Your Program + Two Boosters = New Muscle Mass! This article isn't going to overwhelm you with neuroscience or obscure language. Nope, it's going to be bare-bones simple. As I've learned over the years, elementary advice is usually what helps people most, and it tends to work best. With that in...

BODYBUILDING, ARMS Your arm workout might be missing something. What is it? It's RESULTS. Many lifters just can't seem to build their biceps with standard curls. There's a reason for that: their other muscle groups are trying to help out. If you're using lower-body assistance, involving the...

If you walk into the gym most days and you're thinking about what to watch during dinner instead of focusing on the lifting that's about to happen, you need to refocus with some serious changes ASAP. Here's what to do. 1 Grab a Calendar Now count out 12 weeks from today and put a giant X on the...

We live in an interesting era. It's an era in which food selection can actually define you as a person. It shouldn't, but if you're looking for significance or purpose, it's an easy way to feel like you've found it. This new phenomenon was catalyzed by the explosion of social media. We can now...

This is the art of volumizing: Choosing foods that seem to take up more space in your stomach, but won't make YOU take up more space. You'll feel like you're eating a ton because you're satiated, but you're actually consuming a reasonable amount of calories. And by replacing sugary ingredients...

Training with a sore or injured back is tricky. If you were to avoid working it altogether, your workout would likely be comprised of vacuums, dead bugs, and pulldowns. But it doesn't have to be that way. There are plenty of modifications you can make to existing exercises that'll keep back...

BUSY IS NOT AN EXCUSE No matter how busy you are, if you prioritize a goal you'll get it done. And unless you make getting lean a top priority, it probably won't happen. But you're busy, you say. Your schedule is tight. Sorry, not an excuse. You just need to learn to become efficient with your...

If you're trying to reach a certain physique goal and you're not paying much attention to what you're eating, you're essentially playing ping pong in the dark. You might occasionally score, but mostly you'll just be swinging wildly. To save yourself years of frustration, sub-optimal gains, and...

Science can make nutrition complicated. Measure the glycemic index of this, the glycemic load of that. How much omega-6's in this? What about omega-3's? While a deeper level of nutrition knowledge can certainly be useful, what we often get through the media are little bits of information that's...

THE MENTAL ASPECT AND THE MUSCLE MATH Eating carbs for many of us is a mental barrier, especially those of us who had a hard time getting lean and then finally got very lean by cutting carbs. But it doesn't have to be that way. As long as your muscle glycogen stores are not close to full, the...

Gaining weight is a full-time job – NOT a hobby. At IFAST, we've got a slew of high-school football players whose goal is to get bigger and stronger for the upcoming season. Some are moving from defensive back to linebacker while others are moving from linebacker to the defensive line. The...

EAT A SIMILAR DIET EVERY DAY If you're busy and struggling to stick to your diet, it could be that your diet is too varied. While the typical advice is to include as much variety as possible, from a practical perspective it might be the worst piece of advice. When you wake up in the morning...