Resources

MAIN SOURCES:

• Strength and Conditioning Research - Chris Beardsley's excellent resource on exercise science, biomechanics, and applied strength and conditioning

• PainScience - Paul Ingraham's overview of modern research into pain pathology including massive guides on pain, trigger points, and more

• Body Recomposition - Lyle McDonald’s website and trusted source on nutrition and strength training

• Examine.com - resource on supplements and nutrition

• Bret Contreras - strength coach and researcher, well-written

• Myosynthesis.com - Matt Perryman’s musings on strength and powerlifting

• StrongerByScience - Greg Nuckols’ website for the thinking lifter

• PowerliftingTechnique - Avi Silverberg and a handful of other writers contribute in-depth work on powerlifting’s many facets

• MASS (Monthly Applications in Strength Sport) - two years in, Eric Helms, Mike Zourdos and Greg Nuckols' joint effort at research reviews continues to get better and better

• LiftVault - a massive compiled list of available free programs for powerlifters, featuring yours truly!

BY TOPIC:

ATTEMPT SELECTION

• A Powerlifter’s Guide to Attempt Selection

• A case for sanity and powerlifting, part 1

• A case for sanity and powerlifting, part 2

• A case for sanity and powerlifting, part 3

BENCH PRESS

• Dezso Ban Bench Press Series Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

• How to Bench Press

DEADLIFT

• Lockout Strength

• Thoughts for round back deadlifters

• Improving the deadlift: understanding biomechanical constraints and physiological adaptations to resistance exercise

• Coaching the sumo deadlift

DAILY UNDULATING PERIODIZATION (DUP)

• Dr Mike Zourdos: daily undulating periodization (VIDEO)

• In defense of program hoppers; DUP revisited

• Interview with Dr. Mike Zourdos on daily undulation periodization

EQUIPMENT

• Guide to lifting shoes

GENERAL PROGRAMMING CONCEPTS

• Relative Intensity (sheiko)

• All about autoregulation - Israel Narvaez

• Hypertrophy: a new summary of the research

• Strength: a new summary of the research

• Powerlifting programming: specificity, overload, fatigue management, individual differences

• Opportunity cost in training - Adam Palmer

• Effects of different volume-equated resistance training loading strategies on muscular adaptations in well-trained men

SPECIFIC PROGRAMMING CONCEPTS

• Why speed work doesn’t work

MAKING WEIGHT

• A powerlifter’s guide to making weight

MOBILITY

• Quite a stretch: stretching science shows that a stretching habit isn’t doing much of what people hope

• The best damn squat mobility article. period.

NUTRITION

• The muscle and strength nutritional pyramid (VIDEO)

• Obesity system influence diagram

• EatThisMuch.com

• Methods of food analysis (how do we know how many calories are in foods?)

• The absence of genotoxicity of sucralose

• An overview of the safety of sucralose

• How to count macros (VIDEO)

PAIN

• Trigger points and myofascial pain syndrome

• A revolution in the understanding of pain and treatment of chronic pain

PERIODIZATION

• A programming comparison: the APRE vs. LP in short term periods

• APRE for strength & size

• A comparison of traditional and block periodized strength training programs in trained athletes

PHILOSOPHY, CRITICAL THINKING/OPEN-MINDEDNESS

• Open-mindedness (VIDEO)

• Critical Thinking (VIDEO)

• The Burden of Proof (VIDEO)

• Tribal Psychology (PODCAST)

• The Half Life of Facts (PODCAST)

POWERLIFTING

• The Belt Bible

PSYCHOLOGY

• TheSportInMind.com

• PositivePsychology.com

• Top 10 habits of the most accomplished strength athletes

• The importance of the development of psychological traits for success in weightlifting

• Technical mastery (VIDEO)

• Goal vs. process oriented training: part 1

• 5 ways we sabotage success with cognitive biases (overview of cog. biases)

SQUAT

• Beyond butt wink: hip shape, injuries, and individual ability part 1

• Beyond butt wink: part 2

• Butt wink is not about the hamstrings

• Squat biomechanics and “butt wink” (VIDEO)

• Untamed strength: “how to” squat - high bar/low bar (VIDEO)

• Squats part 1: fold-ability and proportions (VIDEO)

• Squats part 2: fold-ability and proportions (VIDEO)

• High bar squat vs low bar squat…fight! (VIDEO)

• Load ordering: the two squat squat (VIDEO)

• Why people HAVE to squat differently

SUPPLEMENTS

• Snake oil supplements: the scientific evidence for health supplements

STRESS

• Stress: the silent killer (of gains)

SERIES

PEELING BACK A LAYER (ERIC HELMS)

• Part 1: Can we train for size? (VIDEO)

• Part 2: Is a caloric deficit different than a surplus? (VIDEO)

• Part 3: caloric deficit and surplus follow up (VIDEO)

• Part 4: can I use research to guide diet and training? (VIDEO)

• Part 5: Is time under tension important? (VIDEO)

• Part 6: What have natural lifters achieved? (VIDEO)

POWERLIFTING PROGRAMS (Israel Narvaez)

• The four foundational principles of powerlifting (VIDEO)

• Undertraining and overtraining: intensity, volume, frequency (VIDEO)

• Am I a novice, intermediate, or advanced lifter? (VIDEO)

• See Izzy’s reviews of common powerlifting programs here

Morality (qualiasoup)

• Morality 1: good without gods (VIDEO)

• Morality 2: not-so-good books (VIDEO)

• Morality 3: objectivity and doughtiness (VIDEO)

Helpful:

• Here’s a whole curated list of important meta-analyses from Greg Nuckols

RECOMMENDED BOOKS

Literature

• Fantasia Mathematica, edited Clifton Fadiman

• The Mathematical Magpie, edited Clifton Fadiman

• If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler, Italo Calvino

Strength Training

• The Reactive Training Manual, Michael Tuchscherer

• Periodization, Tudor Bompa & Gregory Haff

• Practical Programming for Strength Training, Mark Rippetoe and Andy Baker

• Supertraining, Mel Siff & Yuri Verkhoshansky

• Squat Every Day, Matt Perryman

• Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology, Robert Weinberg & Daniel Gould

• Science and Practice of Strength Training, V.M. Zatsiorsky

• The Art of Lifting / The Science of Lifting, Greg Nuckols

• A Guide to Flexible Dieting, Lyle McDonald

• The Protein Book, Lyle McDonald

• The Women’s Book, Lyle McDonald

Nonfiction

• The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography, Simon Singh

• The World’s Religions, Huston Smith

• Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking, Michael Ruhlman

• What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained, Robert Wolke

• The Portable Atheist, Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever, Christopher Hitchens

PSYCHOLOGY, Neuroscience, cog psych

• Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman

• Outliers: the Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell

• Blink: the Power of Thinking Without Thinking, Malcolm Gladwell

• The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined, Steven Pinker

• Consciousness and the Brain: Deciphering How the Brain Codes Our Thoughts, Stanislas Dehaene

PHILOSOPHY

• Lying, Sam Harris

• Free Will, Sam Harris

• Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion, Sam Harris

• The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values, Sam Harris

• The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined, Steven Pinker

• Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism and Progress, Steven Pinker

PHYSICS

• Physics in Mind, Werner Loewenstein

• The Illustrated A Brief History of Time / The Universe in a Nutshell, Stephen Hawking

• The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality, Brian Greene

PODCASTS, AUDIO

• TED Radio Hour - The TED Radio Hour is a journey through fascinating ideas: astonishing inventions, fresh approaches to old problems, new ways to think and create. Based on Talks given by riveting speakers on the world-renowned TED stage, each show is centered on a common theme – such as the source of happiness, crowd-sourcing innovation, power shifts, or inexplicable connections. The TED Radio Hour is hosted by Guy Raz, and is a co-production of NPR & TED.

• RadioLab - On Radiolab, science meets culture and information sounds like music. Each episode of Radiolab® is an investigation -- a patchwork of people, sounds, stories and experiences centered around One Big Idea. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, Radiolab is produced by WNYC public radio.

• RTS Podcast with Mike Tuchscherer - Everything about RTS, auto-regulation, powerlifting, strength, and getting strong for coaches and athletes alike!