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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The Best Suggested Swaps for 6 Common Exercises

You’ve programmed the perfect session… only for your athlete to DM you five minutes before training: “Hey coach, the squat racks are all taken.” “My gym doesn’t have that piece of equipment.” “My knee is feeling a little spicy today.” Exercise swaps are a normal part...

6 Best Landmine Exercises for Full Body Strength

Although typically used for simple core and functional movements, the landmine is an amazingly versatile tool that can be used as a primary exercise for many muscle groups. If you’re looking for a new way to build overall strength and power, give these 6 effective...

What Is the RPE Scale and How Do We Use It?

If you’re familiar with strength training, you’ve probably heard someone say… Go until it feels tough! PUSH HARDER! …but what does this really mean? How is it possible to quantify words like “tough” or “hard?” How do you know when a set is heavy enough to produce...

Top 5 Nutrition Tracking Apps to Fuel Your Training

When you’re pushing for PRs in the gym, there’s one variable that matters just as much as your sets and reps: fuel. You can follow the best program in the world, but if your nutrition isn’t dialed in, your progress will reflect that (along with your energy and...

Winter Warfare: How to Bulk Up This Season

It’s that time of the year to wreak havoc and prepare for a massive winter bulk! But wait, what is a winter bulk? What does it take, and how do we achieve it? Joseph Lucero (CSCS), owner of Harvesting Strength, is a powerlifter and strongman coach with years of...

A Simple Guide to Nutrition Tracking

Nutrition tracking: loved by Type A athletes, loathed by everyone else. But it doesn’t have to feel like balancing your checkbook. With the right tools (and the right mindset), tracking becomes less about obsession and more about awareness.Written ByFred ormerod Fred...

How to Do Preacher Curls for Bigger Biceps

Who doesn’t love hitting a good biceps workout and feeling that skin-splitting pump? The preacher curl is a great exercise for bulking up your biceps, but using the EZ bar isn’t the best option for everyone. To build juicy biceps without pissing off your elbow joint,...

The Best Exercises for Developing Speed

Want to run faster? It’s not just about sprinting more. The real secret lies in the weight room. Strength training builds the raw power, stability, and mechanics that turn into explosive speed on the field or track. Here’s how to train smarter and unlock your fastest...

Optimize Your Sleep Hygiene for Peak Performance

Every rep, every mile, every drop of sweat, it all counts. But if you’re not prioritizing sleep, you’re sabotaging your own progress. Here’s how to turn your nights into your biggest performance edge.Written ByLily Frei Lily is TrainHeroic’s Marketing Content Creator...

Why Plyometrics Are Essential As You Age

As we age, our bodies slow and our power output trends downward. This affects a ton of fitness factors like your speed, balance, agility and the “pep in your step” later in life. Adding some simple plyos to your current training routine will give you an edge on your...

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The Case for Continual Coaching Development and Education

If you’re anything like me, I bet you were on fire those first couple of years – eager to learn everything you could and apply it to help your athletes get better every day.

The Basics Will Never Fail You: Dan John Talks The Future of Fitness

I get asked a fair amount of questions at parties. If you train people, party go-ers want you to sum up 52 years of experience in one sentence…then, they argue with you using something they read on the internet.

Program Design 101: How to Build Your Own Workout Program

Athletes that have been in my program for 4 to 5 years graduate. They have been told what to do for their entire athletic career and suddenly they are thrown out into the world on their own and have no idea about what to do concerning their fitness.

Pre-Season Camps Are a Go. Here’s How to Get Your Athletes Through…Injury-Free

Over the next few weeks, thousands of pro, semi-pro, college, and high school athletes will be reporting for camp. Football’s first, followed by lacrosse, basketball, soccer, and just about every other sport you can think of.

Posterior Chain Exercises: 10 Glutetastic Moves

Much has been said about the benefits of building your Posterior Chain. Whether you're trying to defy gravity, dominate on the football field, or simply make Sisqo proud, a set of Christmas hams that jut out like Pride Rock make life easier.

Performance Psychology 2.0 (Part 2): Self-Regulation

Self-awareness gives us insight, while self-regulation helps us take appropriate action.

Awareness of self is essential if high performance is important to you. Yet it’s only as valuable as the changes you’re willing to make in service of the outcome you seek.

Performance Psychology 2.0 (Part 1): Beginning Your Mindset Overhaul with Self-Awareness

In the world of sports performance, when advancing the art of coaching, it’s all too tempting to become mired in the minutiae of physical training. After all, the most evident outcomes for our athletes are those that we can observe with the naked eye, and many of the results our athletes seek are tied to how they express their physicality.

Path to the Podium Episode 1: The Road to AO3 Las Vegas

We're on a mission as partners with USA Weightlifting to help identify the next generation of American weightlifting talent.

Off-Season Training for High School Football: Developing Explosive Speed and Power

In the first article, we discussed the first three months of your off-season program, from December to February. During this time your emphasis should be to recover from the season, lay the foundation for your off-season program, build strength, and develop the lifts and abilities you will shape your training around.

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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.