Maximal strength (MxS) is defined as the maximum amount of force one can produce irrespective of time or bodyweight. The qualifiers "time" and "bodyweight" distinguish MxS from power and relative strength, respectively. MxS is perhaps the core quality that all individuals should be concerned with, because it's acquisition is the fastest route to all other motor qualities, including relative-strength, speed-strength, strength-endurance, speed, and speed-endurance...

I recently sat down with our resident supplement guru Dave Barr. We talked about protein, supplements, carbs, insulin, leucine, and what he's got in store for us for next week's teleconference. Read on Dave's forgotten more about nutrition than most people will ever know, and you can take his advice straight to the bank…

I think it's intuitively obvious that before you can recognize improvement, you must have an innate sense of what is "normal." Once you understand your current capacity, it's easy to know when you're performing better than usual...

A common postural deficit among males who weight-train on a consistent basis, and especially among those who aggressively train the bench press, is habitually protracted shoulders coupled with internally rotated arms. This so-called "gorilla posture" doesn't just look bad- it also increases the risk of training-related injury...

In my experience, "paralysis by analysis" is the most common barrier to action, and by extension, successful action. Because after all, analysis is the preface to action- it isn't action itself. Analysis can certainly serve a useful purpose, but for many, it's both a crutch and an excuse for delaying action...

I'm sure you've seen our recent requests for test subjects for an upcoming 6-week anecdotal study we're running in conjunction with USP Labs. We'll be picking and announcing our 10 test subjects later today (Sept. 5th, 2008), which will be culled from over 200 applications we received over the past week.

In past articles I've defined and described the differences between exercisers and athletes. This week, I'll present four practices that characterize the self-loathing exerciser mentality.

I have to admit, I love pull-ups. All versions actually—chins, pull-ups, parallel grip… low reps, high reps, weights strapped to my waist, you name it. I’ve done a lot of experimentation with this exercise too—much of which involved stupid-level high-tension stunts involving heavy eccentrics, plyometric loads, all sorts of stuff...

Cheating is perhaps the most maligned and least appreciated tactic in the weight room. It's so important, in fact, that I consider cheating to be the calling card of skilled lifters

While there are a lot of characteristics and traits that define skilled lifting, I believe there are two primary skills that truly separate experts from novices. The two skills I'm about to discuss allow lifters to pursue their craft for years without the troubling injuries that typically plague unskilled exercisers and Bowflex collectors...

I'll admit it— I think way too much when I lift. Maybe not during the actual lift, where I tend to focus on 1-2 primary movement cues, but between sets. Here's what's been on my frontal cortex lately...

My golf teacher Jeff Campbell recently remarked to me “Golf and bowling are the only two sports that you can enjoy without being good at them.” Luckily for me, I think he’s right. I started taking golf lessons about six months ago and have a total of 18 holes actual experience on the course to date. So I’m obviously a complete novice, but more importantly, I’m certain that golf is helping my lifting, in at least six different ways…

You can perform more work if you manage pain/fatigue by breaking the workload into several manageable chunks, rather than trying to accomplish it all in one all-out sprint. This is why I argue for many sets of low reps, as opposed to the reverse. It's also why I advocate accelerative performances with moderate weights as opposed to grinding efforts with close to maximal weights (for whatever reps are being used). These tactics favor performance over pain, which results in a higher work output with less pain and discomfort...

Last week I differentiated between the "exerciser" mindset and the athletic paradigm. I equated exercisers with an amateur approach, and athletes with a professional attitude toward fitness. Most importantly, I demonstrated how the fundamental distinction between these two divergent perspectives is one of attitude: exercisers hate what they do, they do it begrudgingly, and they wouldn't do it at all except for their certainty that they have to do it...

Probably 90 percent of all American adults are sedentary, fat, and/or just generally soft and out of shape. The fact that you're reading this probably means you're in the remaining 10 percent, which is to your credit. When I look at the active minority however, it's clear that 90 percent of them are what I call "exercisers." Allow me to explain and define...