Strength
FEATURED / COACHING / INJURY / MINDSET / NUTRITION & RECOVERY / STRENGTH / MOBILITY / PROGRAMMING / RECIPE / SPEED
Our blog is a collection of articles that make up our doctrine on everything performance.
We are not beholden to corporate sponsors, influencers, or powers that be. Our commitment is to our readers; the coaches, athletes, and enthusiasts that come to us for our honest assessments, analysis, and opinions.
Our pledge to you is that we will do the heavy lifting! We go to battle with bullshit and cut to the chase. If you’re looking for honest information, you’re in the right place.
RECOMMENDED READING
Strength
Ep 872 – Why Strong Doesn’t Mean Athletic
What actually makes someone athletic? It isn’t just strength, speed, or conditioning. John Welbourn and Certified Power Athlete Master Coach, Dr Ben Skutnik, break down the principles behind elite performance, from movement quality and coaching methodology to athletic problem-solving and long-term development. If you want to become a better coach, a better athlete, or simply understand why some training transfers while other training doesn’t, this is the episode for you.
The Hidden Muscle Behind Speed
Could your psoas be limiting your speed? Power Athlete Certified Coach Dr Hunter Waldman breaks down new research revealing why this overlooked muscle may play a bigger role in sprint performance than the glutes, and what athletes and coaches should take away from the findings.
Ep 863 – The Athleticism Test: Would You Pass?
Power Athlete Certified Coach, D Ben Skutnik joins John to break down the components of athleticism and why movement quality, coordination, and muscle mass all play critical roles in long-term performance and longevity. They explore why muscle remains one of the strongest predictors of healthy aging, why strength without athleticism is a dead end, and how Power Athlete programs are designed to build specific fitness goals while following the same proven training principles.
The Fitness Industry Lied to Women About Building Muscle
The fitness industry has spent years convincing women they need special workouts, pink dumbbells, and endless sweat sessions to get results. That’s nonsense. If your goal is more muscle, more strength, and better performance, the answer isn’t training harder, it’s training smarter. Here’s what the science and decades of coaching experience tell us about building muscle as a female athlete.
Ep 850 – Why Women Over 40 Need the Barbell w/ Hailey Babcock
Think strength training is optional after 40? Think again. Hailey Babcock joins John to unpack the real challenges women face in midlife. From hormones and muscle loss to the misinformation dominating social media, and why picking up heavy weight might be the most important health decision women make after 40.
Ep 849 – Hard-Earned Hypertrophy Lessons
John sits down with resident Power Athlete Dragon Slayer, Arash Soofiani, to share the hard-earned hypertrophy lessons they wish they’d known starting out. From mistakes that kill gains to strategies that actually work. Tune in for tips on building muscle, strength, and resilience.
How to Stay Strong When Life Gets Loud
Strength and conditioning don’t fail because athletes get lazy, they fail because systems break under pressure. In a conversation with Matt Reynolds, John Welbourn explores why strength fades during high-stress periods and reveals the year-round training principles that keep athletes, soldiers, and hard-training civilians strong, resilient, and ready when it matters most.
Ep 831 – The Science of Stress & Strength
Technology’s evolving faster than our bodies can keep up. John sits down with Certified Power Athlete Coaches, Dr. Ben Skutnick and Dr. Hunter Waldman, to dig into how comfort and convenience are killing performance. They break down the science of stress, why it’s essential for growth, and how nutrition and training come together in the HAMMER 90 Challenge, a 90-day mission proving what happens when discipline, data, and discomfort collide.
Ep 828 – Hypertrophy 101: Lessons From the Iron Trenches
John and Arash share the hypertrophy lessons they wish they knew starting out. From mastering compound lifts and progressive overload to avoiding junk volume and caffeine traps, these battle-tested insights will save you years of wasted effort in the gym.
The Fine Line Between Strength and Speed
Strength builds force. Speed wins races. The real secret to elite sprinting is knowing where the two meet. John breaks down why chasing PRs in the weight room won’t automatically make you faster, and how athletes can channel raw strength into usable power that explodes off the blocks. Drawing on insights from UT Track Strength Coach Clint Martin.
