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The Training Lab is the knowledge hub for online Strength and Conditioning content. We have curated articles designed to empower you to Be Your Best inside and outside the weight room.

This isn’t some fitness blog trying to sell you a cheap diet or a new magic pill. Our writers are sourced from the top minds in the strength training industry. The Training Lab is a forum to share knowledge within a vast network of coaches and athletes around the globe.

Above all, we are here to bring performance to the people.

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How to Progress Your Squat for Functional Strength

Squats are a hot topic in the strength and conditioning world, and that fact isn’t going away any time soon. With so many resources out there on squatting, how does a novice know where to start? Cory Caruthers is a trainer and ACSM certified Exercise Physiologist...

The Top 3 Hamstring Exercises You Can’t Afford to Skip

Your hamstrings can be easy to ignore since they’re just “back there”, but strong hamstrings are the foundation for a meaty and symmetrical posterior chain. Neglect them to your peril. Aja Campbell is a CSCS/CrossFit Coach with a decade of fitness experience. She’s...

Which Deadlift Variations Hit Your Goals?

We know deadlifts help make up the meat and potatoes of posterior chain training, but there are so many underutilized ways to pick something up from the ground. How do you know which variation to work on for maximum strength gains? Daniel Yalowitz has a background of...

How & Why to Work on Split Squats

Back squats and deadlifts get the most exposure as top posterior chain builders, but what if you have imbalances or a weaker side? Split squats are the perfect underrated movement for working on unilateral strength and size gains. Coach Ryan Johnston (MS, CSCS, USAW2)...

Points of Power: Three Key Positions to Improve Your Power Clean

Your power clean capacity says a lot about your weightlifting technique—speed, explosiveness, timing—it’s all there. What should you be focusing on to dial in your power clean skills and claim beast status? Justin Barchus, owner and head coach at Kraken Strength out...

How Mental Imagery Can Boost Your Strength Training Performance

What goes on in your brain before you attempt a big lift? Are you fighting off anxiety demons? Thinking about dinner? Or are you zoned in on the task before you. Turns out, a little mental strategy goes a long way. Joseph Lucero, owner of Harvesting Strength, is a...

Work on These 3 Factors for Faster Sprinting Mechanics

Depending on your sport, your sprinting capacity can make or break your athletic performance. As one of the tenets of well-rounded athleticism, speed can be a tricky thing to train unless you know what to improve. Morey Croson, head speed coach and founder of The...

Need Better Squat Depth? Try Kettlebell Goblet Squats

Your back squat is the hallmark of your lower body strength. But what if your stiff tissues and junky joints don’t let you access a deep squat range of motion? Jason Giles, owner of Iron Monkey Strength out of New York, has a lifetime of passionate dedication to...

Get Your First Pull Up With These 5 Progressions

Pull ups are your nemesis. Maybe you haven’t really tried working on them yet, because where do you even start?? Gym Jones head coach and certified bad b*tch, Cate Williams, leads you through her tactics for nailing the most-requested movement in the gym: pull ups....

Banded Back Exercises You Can Do Almost Anywhere

Pandemic isolation was a real test of our ability to adapt to a weird new workout situation. Maybe you’re still trying to figure out just how best to use the equipment you’ve got. Sari Terranova is a total supermom, CPT, and nutrition coach who introduces women and...

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Banded Back Exercises You Can Do Almost Anywhere

How to Do Leg Extensions Without a Machine

Short shorts are the new stinger tanks...rocking those big tree trunks with canyon deep cuts is a look that works on everyone! Leg extensions are a bodybuilding staple—they isolate your quads, the front-facing muscle group of your thighs, by flexing (bending) and...

Strength Training for Runners

As a runner, endurance training means improving your speed and stamina over greater distances. But what would you be capable of if you had stronger legs or thicker glutes? Fred Ormerod, a full time fitness and healthcare pro with a strong military background, takes...

Do More Face Pulls, Grow More Back

Face pulls are an uncommon pulling exercise that bodybuilders use to shape thick, meaty back muscles and healthy shoulders. Though it sounds like a weird skincare routine or something a toddler would do to get your attention, face pulls train your ability to handle...

The Ultimate Guide to Lunges: Queen of all Glute Exercises

Your glutes are the largest muscle group in your body. They’re responsible for almost everything your legs do—walking, running, jumping, squatting, lunging, and just standing upright. As far as moving through space goes, strong glutes are the bedrock of overall...

Your Guide to Russian Twists

It sounds like some kind of crazy dance move, but the Russian twist is actually a useful core exercise that challenges more than just your abs. It’s a good staple for accessory work and useful to shake up your normal routine of situps and leg lifts, which only work...

Don’t Stop Now—The Keys to Fighting Motivation Fatigue

How’s your New Year's Resolution going? Just checking in. Has your hard-charging commitment stuck around, or have you found yourself falling off the metaphorical wagon? Even if you have a solid plan in place to keep your new fitness habit alive, you might...

The 6 Strongman Exercises You Need To Know

Strongman training looks crazy. Huge people moving huge weights in the form of semi trucks, concrete balls, massive logs, barrels, and tractor tires—how do you even get into something like that? Maybe you've seen Strongman competitors before and have written off...

5 Proven Ways to Boost Your Bench Press with Josh Bryant of Jailhouse Strong

Josh Bryant, owner of the hugely popular Jailhouse Strong programs, is an absolute badass in his own right. He specializes in powerlifting, powerbuilding, and coaching strength athletes to record-setting numbers. In this blog, he outlines the most reliable ways to...

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Mobility 101: A Complete Guide

Mobility is hot topic, and vital for anyone spending time in the weightroom.

The ability to have full range of motion in your muscles and joints is one of the most important aspects of training. Improving your mobility can help you workout for longer, reduces joint pain, and can reduce the risk of injury.

In this guide you’ll learn more about mobility, who it impacts, why you should be focusing on it no matter what your age or training history, and how to tame common mobility hot spots from head to toe.

Olympic Weightlifting 101: A Complete Guide

In this article, Mike Dewar shares a basic template on how to build an Olympic weightlifting program geared toward the beginner and intermediate lifter.

Mike covers everything from the 8 goals of an Olympic Weightlifting program, how to build your own 4 week program including full sample sessions, the 5 key variables in Olympic Weightlifting, and 30 exercises perfect for beginners.

10 ways to build an unstoppable engine for competitive crossfit

To succeed in CrossFit, you need the ability to repeat near maximum efforts with as little rest as possible.

It’s not enough to simply have a high one rep max or a large unbroken set of muscle-ups. How many reps at 90% of your max power clean can you do in 8 minutes?

In this article, Todd Nief gives us a full breakdown of the 10 ways he helps Crossfit athletes build an unstoppable engine for competition.

How to Zercher Squat: One Exercise to rule them all

We all want that golden ticket. The one-size-fits-all exercise and perfect program. You know – the one that makes us look like the Hulk as long as we follow that program to the T.

Well folks, that all sounds great. But in reality, we know there is no one-size-fits-all exercise, program, food, or supplement… PERIOD. However, coach Ryan Leibreich has a secret weapon exercise that will get us close; it has a lot of bang for its buck. It builds massive quads, big glutes, a wide back, and some awesome biceps. Exactly what every athlete needs.

4 scientifically proven ways to develop explosive power

Building athletic power is one of the most desired, if not the most desired, quality in athletic performance today. It’s as important for the athlete training for the sport of life as it is for a D1 high performance athlete.

The question is…how do we optimally train it?

In this article coach Joel Smith, a long-time D1 S&C coach, gives us the lowdown on creating explosive power in the weightroom. From Olympic lifting to plyometrics, this is your one-stop guide on all things athletic power.

Nervous system training 101: The creation of superhuman strength and athleticism

Consider the following: pound for pound apes have double the strength of a human being.
They can also jump about 30-40% higher than top human jumpers.

How is this possible given their similar amount of muscle mass?

Our simian friends have an interesting piece of their brain and spinal cord that allows them stronger muscle contractions: less grey matter.

TrainHeroic Instagram: For Athletes, By Athletes

Looking for some Monday motivation? How about a new training session to shake things up a bit?

TrainHeroic’s Instagram is for for athletes, by athletes. We share news and notes on the latest in the strength game, valuable training insights and tips from thought leaders in the fitness game, exercise guides, sample training sessions and more.