Recently, one of my favourite sites on the internet, Elite FTS, underwent a revamp. It was one of the oldest strength sites on the internet (some of the oldest articles are just text on a white background) and it was starting to look a little bit shabby compared with the flash colours and design of sites like T-Nation. But it did the job and the content was always something that you could take away and use for yourself.
The renewed site looks fantastic but every page now takes forever to load and I can’t find any of the older articles. Still, you can’t have everything.
Anyway, with a little help from my friend the Google site search, I’ve done a compilation of my top 10 favourite posts from the old article bank. Be aware that the formatting on these posts is not great and there aren’t loads of pretty pictures to look at if you’re easily bored. For great content, though, these articles are hard to beat:
- The path to pulling 600lbs: Steven Morris took himself to task because he woke up one morning and found that he could bench more than he could deadlift. The road he embarked upon led him to pull over 600lbs only a little over a year later…
- Steve Cotter on pistols: the original pistol-powered human spring, Steve Cotter, gives his view on why pistols are a great exercise and gives some pointers on how to do them well.
- Dave Tate explains how to remedy falling forward on the squat: falling forward on the squat is one of the most common errors when squatting heavy. Tate explains why this might be happening to you and what you can do about it.
- Eric Cressey talks shoulder impingements (part one and part two): Eric is a well-recognised expert on all things shoulder-related. In these two posts, Eric talks about what shoulder impingement actually means and what the difference is between external and internal impingement…
- Andrew Billing reassures us that there is life after 30: Andrew was a late starter but still managed to get up the motivation to build his own garage gym and even compete at powerlifting. In this article, he talks about his experiences.
- Louie Simmons reflects on powerlifting since 1966: pretty much what it says on the tin. The grandfather of modern powerlifting reminisces about the last forty years of lifting heavy stuff and talks about some of the successes he’s been a part of.
- Jim Wendler talks about upper back training for the bench press: forgetting to build a stable platform for benching is often referred to trying to “fire a canon from a canoe”. Here, Jim talks about how to go about training the upper back to get that canoe bigger and heavier.
- J P Carlson on dips: people often get quite strongly divided over dips. For some, they are a great triceps builder and a sexy, kind-of-bodyweight-but-with-extra-weight old-school movement. For others, they are the fastest way to sore shoulders. This is a great article, though, because it really grabs the bull by the horns and asks how much weight you should be using if you’re going to get anything out of them. Hint: if you’re not using lots of extra weight, you might want to take up knitting…
- Wendler on the Yoke: in one of my favourite articles, Jim Wendler talks about the importance of and the enjoyment in building big traps. Apparently, deadlifting is just part of the answer.
- Dave Tate does what he does: this is a great article by Dave Tate: an introspective about why he lifts and what he gets out of it. Inspired by yet another shoulder operation to help remove bone spurs caused by benching, it starts in a very dark place and gradually claws its way back to the light. Very much like Dave’s experience being put under general anaesthetic, really…
Did I miss your favourite? Let me know in the comments.
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