Breaking through a training plateau rarely comes down to genetics or the perfect program. Strength coach Brandon Smitley explains the 7 research-backed habits that separate athletes who break through from those who stay stuck, from deliberate practice and sleep to mental toughness and process-focused goals.
Linear progression stalled and not sure what to do next? Learn the three signs you’ve hit the advanced novice wall, three bridging strategies to extend your progress, and a simple decision tree for knowing when to move to intermediate strength programming.
Online coaching software is where most coaches quietly waste hundreds — sometimes thousands — of dollars a year. This guide breaks down the online personal training tech stack into four categories, compares TrueCoach, TrainHeroic, and Trainerize, and identifies the seven essential tools every online coaching business actually needs. Learn what’s essential, what’s optional, and what to cut from your subscriptions today.
Wrestling strength training should change across the year. Learn how to periodize your off-season, pre-season, and in-season lifting and conditioning so you build size and strength in the summer, convert it to power in the fall, and peak for the postseason. Coach Brandon Smitley of THIRST Gym lays out the full blueprint.
Most personal trainers are undercharging — and it’s costing them income, energy, and their careers. Learn why fitness professionals underprice, what the market actually pays, and a step-by-step framework to set your rates, build coaching packages, and handle price objections with confidence.
Does squatting past 90 degrees really wreck your knees? We break down Joel Seedman’s 90-degree rule and chaos training against the peer-reviewed research on range of motion, instability, and joint health. Learn how fitness pseudoscience gets sold to coaches and clients — and the evidence-based principles that actually build strong, resilient athletes.
Does lifting weights make you slow? It’s one of the most damaging myths in sports. Strength training doesn’t kill speed — weakness does. Learn what the research says about strength and speed, the force-velocity curve, and how to build a program that makes athletes stronger and faster.
Velocity based training (VBT) replaces guesswork-heavy percentages with real-time bar speed data, letting the load-velocity relationship tell you exactly how hard to train on any given day. In this complete guide, strength coach Brandon Smitley of THIRST Gym breaks down autoregulation, velocity loss thresholds, and rate of force development—and shows how athletes, powerlifters, and everyday lifters can use VBT to train smarter and get genuinely stronger.
Most lifters quit their strength program right when it’s about to start working. Learn the five concrete signs your training program is actually working — from improving rep quality and volume landmarks to technique under fatigue — plus the three legitimate reasons to switch and a simple framework to know the difference. Stop program hopping and start making real, lasting strength progress.
Most plyometric training doesn’t transfer to sport performance because coaches confuse explosive strength with reactive strength — two qualities that demand entirely different programming. This in-depth guide breaks down all three phases of the stretch-shortening cycle, explains how to use the reactive strength index (RSI) to monitor contact time and readiness, and identifies the five programming mistakes that kill transfer. You’ll also get a specificity spectrum for exercise selection, a full 16-week plyometric periodization template, and sport-specific applications for sprinters, soccer players, and basketball athletes.