In the Lab – Buying a Non Motorized Curved Treadmill
So I got a treadmill recently and wanted to break down why. To be more specific, I got a non-motorized curved treadmill and that was intentional. I would not consider myself a runner, nor would I say that I am a sprinter either. But I do enjoy the act of sprinting and live in a […]
In the Lab – Strength Coach Conditioning Tests
Let’s talk conditioning tests, not for our athletes, but for ourselves. What is fitness for a Strength Coach? Is it the ability to knock out back-to-back 300-yard shuttles both in under 60 seconds? Is it able to run 24 x 110s all under 14 seconds? Is it running 10×40-yard dash with 90% of your best […]
In the Lab – Buying a Back Extension/Glute Ham
There are a lot of options for buying a back extension now. The advent of remote-based training has opened a ton of options for equipment and there is a lot to consider now. Let us break down what we want to look for when we decide on a back extension. We should lay out what […]
In the Lab – Buying a Cold Plunge
Why would anyone need a cold plunge? I have a driver for this decision, which is important to note because this could be a huge waste of money. I get this question a lot, and like supplements, people will look at any modality in the vein that this will positively affect behavior. In reality, like […]
In the Lab – Buying Specialty Bars
This one will be primarily about the need for speciality bars. I am going to keep it simple and break them into specialty bars that focus on squat, bench, and deadlift. There are now so many options for each of these. It is high time we have a conversation about which ones are best and […]
In the Lab – Buying Plates
This one is pretty straightforward, are you going to olympic lift or not olympic lift? The bottom line is if you are expecting your plates to crash into the ground, you are going to need weight lifting plates, or rubberized plates to absorb forces when dropped. On the other end of the spectrum, you can […]
In the Lab – Buying a Rack(s)
So this is a big one, and will largely have the most impact on how much you spend and how you structure your program. Let’s look at this from a philosophy standpoint. If we are a compound/closed kinetic chain movement based program we will need to build our weight room around racks. This may come […]
In the Lab – Buying Cardiovascular Equipment
So this will be an interesting blog post for a number of reasons. One reason: I am firm with my belief that compound-closed kinetic chain movements are superior to developing athletes and general populations. Second reason: there are serious limitations when it comes to hitting certain zones of intensity and durations with compound-closed kinetic chain […]
In the Lab – Buying a Sauna
So there is a lot we can go into on this. The big one is that all the research seems to be done by the company selling the product. This is tough. The other part is that although they are somewhat mainstream, there is still some logistics, like assembly and electrical, you will need to […]
In the Lab – Fractal Facility Design
A dilemma I am facing here is designing my home gym. Part of the dilemma comes from I have never designed a facility exclusively for myself. The other part of the dilemma is that my default is to design facilities for not only other people, but large groups. I am being pulled in multiple directions […]