Welcome to the training lab blog

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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BIRTHFIT: Strength Training for Bad*ss Moms

BIRTHFIT offers expert strength training for women throughout the entire motherhood journey from prenatal to postpartum. Lindsey, Leah, and Kate provide a supportive, intelligently-guided fitness community for moms and athlete moms-to-be. They take into account...

Kettlebell Training: A Guide to for Strength & Conditioning

Kettlebells are funny-looking in the world of fitness equipment, but they’re insanely useful for building your strength and conditioning. We’d argue it’s necessary to learn how to use them properly. In the spirit of spreading valuable information, here’s a piece from...

Relieve Back Pain & Bulletproof Your Spine

Chronic back keeping you from doing the things you love? You’re not alone. Nearly 80% of Americans experience back pain at some point during their life. But since it comes in all shapes and sizes, it’s hard to know how to fix it. Understanding and addressing spinal...

Working Out During Ramadan: Maintaining & Making Gains

It’s falsely believed by many Muslim athletes that Ramadan = losing progress (gains!). This isn’t the case if you train, fuel, hydrate, and sleep appropriately. Of course that’s easier said than done, but following a few of these strategies can make all the difference...

Farmer’s Walks & Carries Tips From a Strongman Pro

It's no secret that carrying heavy things will net you serious strength gains. Are you ready to get farmer strong? Check out some solid tips on farmer's walks and carries in this blog! Fred Ormerod is a freelance coach, army reserve medic, nurse, master’s student,...

The Clean and Jerk: Breaking Down the Phases

The clean and jerk is a complex and technical weightlifting movement that requires a solid level of skill and strength. It is a two-part lift that involves lifting a barbell from the ground to the shoulders (the clean), then locking out the barbell overhead (the...

5 Squat Alternatives That Don’t Use a Barbell

Squats are a staple in most training programs. But what if you don’t have access to a bar, are dealing with an injury, or just flat-out hate barbell back squats? Give these five barless squat alternatives a try instead. Jayden Pollard is a passionate powerbuilder...

Women in Bodybuilding: A Brief Timeline

To wrap up Women’s History Month, we wanted to take a look at some of the champions of women’s bodybuilding and how the sport has evolved over the years. From Rachel McLish to Iris Kyle, the women who pioneered aesthetic sports have taken on stereotypes and...

How Age Affects Your Training & What To Do About It

Your body naturally changes/slows down with age – there’s no denying that. But being aware and making some subtle changes to your training slows down that process. Marc Lavallee has trained Canadian military units in the Search and Rescue Technician (SAR-Tech)...

5 Best Medicine Ball Exercises For Training Strength & Power

Want the strength of a bear, the power of a lion, and the endurance of a horse for less than $20? A simple medicine ball is all you need. Med balls are incredibly versatile, inexpensive, and underrated tools for generating power, building strength, and gaining overall...

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Female athlete standing in gym looking straight at camera while holding a foam roller

How to Use (and Not Use) Your Foam Roller

Foam rollers: one of the most popular and arguably overrated recovery tools out there. Mostly because people don’t know how/why they’re using it. Before you start mindlessly rolling around in pain (and potentially inhibiting your performance), you need to know how...

Fit young woman lifting barbells looking focused, working out in

How To Execute The Perfect Barbell Row

Barbell rows are a pretty essential movement for building a strong back, and a strong back is often the foundation of a quality athlete. Is your row form on point? Jayden Pollard is a passionate powerbuilder (powerlifting bodybuilder) with a background in strength...

Strong man in gym facing backward on lat pulldown machine doing lat workout

How & Why To Do More Lat Pulldowns

Most people are at least somewhat familiar with the lat pulldown machine. Maybe you used it before, or maybe you hit your head on it a couple of times (yes I’m looking at everyone over 6ft tall, myself included). So what makes this machine so popular, and how can...

Professional athlete sits with a barbell on his shoulders and prepares to back squat. View from the back.

Perfect Your Squat Form

The back squat is easily one of the most famous lifts in the gym. Sure, it’s simple, but a lot of athletes unknowingly perform it wrong due to bad posture, shifting knees, or multiple other reasons. Whether you’re looking to hit a new PB or struggling with bad form...

Man in gym wearing red shirt doing triceps extensions for bigger arms on the cable machine

Tricep Extension Variations

Triceps extensions come in many shapes and sizes, from overhead extensions to straight-bar pushdowns. With so many variations, it’s hard to know which one you should do. And what’s the difference between all of them anyways? Marc Lavallee has trained Canadian...

Young active woman taking a break in the gym and drinking protei

Supplement Primer for Strength & Conditioning Athletes

The amount of misinformation out there on supplements is enough to make your head spin. So many athletes and coaches and influencers touting the benefits of this or that supplement, but wait! Don’t forget to use their referral code for a discount! Which supplements...

Strong female athlete in gym using leg press machine

Leg Press Like A Pro

Leg press: should you do it? Loved by some, scoffed at by others, the leg press is notorious for being used and abused by gym noobs. As long as you do it correctly (aka not overloading and being that guy/gal), the leg press actually offers some great benefits when...

Shirtless man in gym doing hammer curls with two dumbbells for stronger, bigger biceps.

Hammer Curls: Get Bigger, Better Biceps Faster

Want thick, juicy biceps that pop out of your T-shirt? Then you need to do more hammer curls. This curl variation shoots a powerful pump through your biceps and forearms that lead to big gains faster than traditional bicep curls. Sari Terranova is a total supermom,...

Muscular shirtless man with strong abs and core strength in gym setting

4 Core Exercises for Noticeably Stronger Abs

What does it mean to have a strong core? Is it six-pack abs? The ability to do 500 crunches in one sitting? Holding a plank for 10 minutes? If your goal is to develop real core strength, you need to understand the function of your core muscles and exercises that...

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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.