Natural Bodybuilding & Powerlifting
In my years as a personal trainer, and even more recently as a bodybuilding and powerlifting coach, I’ve consistently seen lifters at all levels struggle to properly hip hinge.
This is unfortunate, because the RDL, one of the most common hip-hinge lifts is actually quite useful. For hypertrophy, I would argue when compared head to head with a conventional deadlift, the RDL is probably a better movement (if performed correctly). [Read more…]
I recently completed a big-time coaching and career PR as I spent three weeks in Europe. First, I had the honor of being a part of the coaching team in the corner of my long-time client, friend, and colleague, Bryce Lewis at the IPF Classic World Championships. Working alongside the coaching legends Matt Gary and Sioux-z Hartwig-Gary was amazing. The fact that Bryce pulled off a silver medal second place finish was icing on the cake! [Read more…]
This is a blog post I originally wrote for our friends at DeNovo Nutrition for the Philosophy Element of their “Elements Education” series. It’s an absolute honor to help such a great group of people in their efforts to expand the knowledge and reasoning skills of the community. Not to blow my own horn, but I thought this article was some of my better work. [Read more…]
Welcome to our “Good Question!” series, where we answer the best questions from the 3DMJ community in blog format. Today, I’ll be answering the question, “I went to a lecture on metabolism and food tracking, and learned everything is variable and full of errors. [Read more…]
Welcome to our “Good Question!” series, where we answer the best questions from the 3DMJ community in blog format. Today, I’ll be answering the question “What path should someone take if they want to be a health and diet coach?”. A great question in and of itself, and for some additional context, the person also said the following: [Read more…]
If you’ve ever heard me discuss nutrition, you’ve heard me caution against a “clean and dirty/good and bad” outlook on food. You’ve heard me say there are no “bad” foods that measurably harm you or your goals if consumed, regardless of the frequency of their consumption, their dose consumed, or the composition of the rest of your diet. [Read more…]
In part 1 of this article, I discussed the contemporary history of how powerlifting has influenced bodybuilding in the last decade or so. In doing so, I presented a list of aspects of powerlifting training we know are beneficial for bodybuilding and a list of aspects we know are detrimental. In part 2, I’ll discuss what we don’t yet know:
I would like to think that 3DMJ has played a large role encouraging bodybuilders to focus on getting stronger, organizing their training more effectively, utilizing compound movements to efficiently train multiple muscle groups simultaneously, and to see lifts as skills to master. Many of these approaches are common place in powerlifting, yet historically are absent in many bodybuilding circles. [Read more…]
What are the pros and cons of high-bar vs low-bar squats?
To set this off, we’ll primarily be discussing the impacts in the context of physique and strength athletes. Let’s first analyze these two movements a bit. The high bar squat is called as such simply because the bar sits on the upper part of the traps, so the bar is higher. While the low bar squat, the bar is lower on the traps and is going to be supported mostly by the rear delts. There are some significant form differences between these squat styles. You’ll notice that no matter what the person does when they squat, to do it properly, the bar must stay over their base of support. The base of support is typically around midfoot.
Is bone structure going to dictate your success in the sport of bodybuilding? What about whether people are going to think you’re natural?
Comparing yourself to others is the fastest way to become discouraged and it won’t result in you getting your best results. Remember, it’s always you versus you. Instead of worrying about how you compare to others, focus on improving yourself every single season. You’re more likely to reach your true competitive potential with this mindset. In all honesty, worrying about your genetic potential is somewhat of a pointless practice because you’re never going to know what you can accomplish until you’ve been at it 10 years or longer anyway. [Read more…]
