Everyone has an opinion on how to squat. High bar, low bar, toes forward, knees out, belt on, belt off. Coaches argue, lifters swear loyalty, and internet experts defend technique like sacred doctrine. Yet most of the things we treat as universal truths in squatting are barely a century old. The movement has never been… Continue reading How the Back Squat Took Over the Gym (and Why Its Future Is Still Being Written)
Though oftentimes derided on the gym floor, the leg press machine has nevertheless become a staple of weight lifting life through the globe. Yes it's not as 'hardcore' as the squat and yes it's oftentimes abused by bros quarter repping but this piece of equipment has a long and interesting history behind it. A long… Continue reading Who Invented the Leg Press?
For whatever reason some training systems remain in the public psyche while others fall to the wayside, continued only by a few dedicated and often fixated trainers. Thus while nearly every intermediate and certainly every advanced trainee is familiar with manipulating rep ranges, few seem to stray outside the comfort zone of 5 x 5,… Continue reading Forgotten Training Protocols: 4 x 10 Clusters
In 2018 the strength and conditioning community lost one of the most creative, and controversial, coaches of recent memory, Charles Poliquin. Known primarily for his work with Olympic athletes, Poliqun's training methods and philosophies were often times at the cutting edge of the field. This is not to say that Poliquin was not without his… Continue reading Charles Poliquin’s Nausea Leg Routine
I grew up on the internet memes of the 2000s and nothing was more pervasive than 'friends don't let friends skip leg day' or some variaton thereof. What was innocent for the time was a rallying call for trainees to actually train their legs and not just focus on the upperbody. Despite the recency bias… Continue reading Why Strong Legs Are Important!
For my sins, I enjoy writing articles. I probably do it more often than I should for my eternal damnation. I'm currently writing an article on the evolution of the back squat, a history I've previously discussed on this website and elsewhere. As part of this research, I've been deep-diving the history of squat stands,… Continue reading When Was the Squat Rack Invented?
Though few exercise programmes maintain a venerated status for long in the Iron Game, the mystique surrounding 20 Rep Squat programmes has endured. As hinted by the name, such programmes require lifters to back squat twenty times before unloading the bar, and in my own experience, lying on the ground questioning your decision-making. Primarily touted… Continue reading The History of 20 Rep Squats
Owing to the inquisitive nature of a PCS reader, I've finally gotten my act together, or at least come close enough to some semblance of normality, to go down the rabbit hole once again. The topic of todays post, is the rather more niche but nevertheless effective Glute Ham Raise (GHR) machine. Having spent years… Continue reading The History of the Glute Ham Raise
For Nasser El Sonbaty, who has spent 19 years torching, torturing and otherwise harassing every muscle fiber on his 5'11" frame, there are two absolutes. "The first thing is consistency; the second, intensity." Given his behemoth lower quarters -- complete with voluminous muscle bellies, subterranean separation, Gibraltarian density and shape -- we took notes. Nasser… Continue reading Kathleen Engel, ‘Put Size on Your Thighs with Nasser El Sonbaty’, Muscle & Fitness, 63: 6 (2002), 134-138
This website has been pretty vocal in its appreciation of Frank Zane. A three time Mr. Olympia, Zane privileged a level of conditioning and aesthetics that, even today, is still admired by bodybuilding fans. Zane's training diaries, and later books highlighted a clearly meticulous and determined attitude to training. It wasn't enough to move the… Continue reading Forgotten Exercises: The Zane Leg Blaster
