In part 1 of this article, I gave a very brief introduction to energy systems, and discussed why I believe it’s important for powerlifters, strongman competitors, football players, and other strength/power athletes to incorporate aerobic work into their training program. As I also discussed in Part 1, when people hear the word “aerobic” they immediately [...]

First off, I want to make the disclaimer that my “reflections on the CrossFit Open” are as a coach and not as an athlete. I didn’t even do the workouts. I didn’t train for it and know damn good and well that I couldn’t have competed with the people that I would have expected myself [...]

“Oh no she dih-int!” Oh yes…yes I did.  I went there.  And I just called your ass out. Energy systems training, or “conditioning” as many people call it, is a subject that seems to be more misunderstood than a 15 year old emo kid with Southern Baptist parents. In the 80’s and 90’s, step aerobics [...]

With the growth of CrossFit, both as a fitness program and a competitive endeavour, programming has become a commonly argued topic all over the internets.  Commentary ranges from the insightful and intelligent to the ridiculous and disparaging.  It comes from people doing CrossFit in their garages, gym owners, gym members, and, more often than it [...]

As a strength coach in the NFL, I have worked in several philosophically different weight rooms.  Most of my time has been spent in the realm of what most would consider “traditional” ground based lifting programs (i.e. Olympic lifts, back squats, bench & incline presses).  I have also been involved in H.I.T. (High Intensity Training) [...]

I’ve been using kettlebells since 2004 when I discovered Dragondoor and Pavel, the “Evil Russian”.  I learned one way to swing a Kettlebell, how it was taught by Pavel on the Russian Kettlebell Challenge VHS tape. That was before young Freeman discovered Crossfit, and well before the American Swing was the Crossfit standard. Since then [...]

From being involved in various strength sports for this long one of the big mistakes I see is that guys never take time to have a real off season.  You also see guys who have no idea what the off season is for.  We all did it growing up with different sports.  There should be [...]

By Chad Wesley Smith Conditioning tests are a standard practice at NFL, College and High School football training camps and are for the most part poorly designed. Many of you may remember the media fiasco that Albert Haynesworth’s difficulty to pass the Washington Redskins training camp created and while I certainly won’t argue that Haynesworth [...]

By Chad Wesley Smith With my 3rd place finish at the Europa Platinum Plus Strongman show in Connecticut a few weeks ago, I failed to earn my pro card and am forced to change my training plans a bit for the rest of the year. It was very clear the things that held me back [...]

By Chad Wesley Smith In the past few weeks as Olympic Trials have been conducted, I have seen a lot of attention being given to the Strongman training done by one of the US’s top swimmers. Check it out below… The Video Has Been Removed for legal reasons but here is a summary. A World [...]

By Chad Wesley Smith Here at Juggernaut I have the awesome opportunity to work with some of the nation’s best high school football talent, many of which play for some of the state and country’s top teams. Recently I began working with one of the Class of 2013’s top offensive line prospects, unfortunately he is [...]

The power clean and other Olympic lifts are a staple in strength and conditioning programs for many sports from high school to the pros. Many Westside (Darkside, conjugate, whatever you want to call it) influenced coaches despise it. I’m not one of those. The Olympic lifts are good exercises. They help build explosive power, but you [...]