Martijn Koevoets's Blog

4 Lifts To Boost Your Lagging Bench Press

Bench pressing never gets old. It’s the exercise that gym bros pride their existence on. It’s the lift that can make your powerlifting total either impressive or just plain average. Even though it’s one grandfather of an exercise, strength athletes still struggle to find ways to increase their bench press.

Many elite powerlifters can deadlift cows and squat over 3 times their bodyweight, but bench pressing is most commonly the biggest weakness of the big 3. Anyone who’s dropped down a weight...

5 Ways To Get Stronger In And Out Of The Gym

Feeling weak sucks.

The most frustrating feeling is when you step under the bar for a monster set of squats, and you’re squatting 10-20lbs less than last week.
You know you could lift more, but  your strength is going down instead of going up like it’s supposed to.

You can’t seem to figure it out. Your program is on point, you finally are eating things that are not just burgers and fries, aka green stuff, so why the heck does everything feel terrible.

Not only that, but your joints feel l...

Daily Undulating Periodization For Powerlifters

Not too much in life is as sweet as the start of your strength training career.

Every time you step foot into the gym you’re able to add ten pounds to your squat, deadlift and bench press. Hell, you add weight to the bar AND you’re able to bang out a rep or two more than you did in your last training session.

You get stronger by simply walking into the gym.

The amount of muscle you’re piling onto your frame is alarming. You get the occasional side-eye stare from your fellow gym goers who are...

Loaded Carries For Powerlifting Performance

People don’t always think about the foundation of a strong lift – the requisite grip strength, core tension, breathing mechanics, and full-body stabilization that contribute to super-human displays of strength and power on the platform.

But that’s a major mistake.

Enter the humble farmer carry. This underappreciated accessory lift is the simplest and most effective way to build iron-crushing grip, a bulletproof core, and nerves of steel.

Strength guru Dan John and movement expert Grey Cook a...

Why You Need To Train Like A Bodybuilder

Take that scowl off your face, bro. Yes, you read that headline correctly. Powerlifters need to train more like bodybuilders. But I’m not saying that because Powerlifting University wanted an article that would get more clicks and cause a hullabaloo online.

You’re strong. You’re not enraged Hulk slamming a god into the ground strong, but you’re a beast. And you want to be more beastly, right?

The more muscle you carry around, the more beastastic you’ll look. Now, aesthetics may not be your th...

Training For The Battered, Bruised And Seasoned

Your body’s odometer is about to roll over into the 100,000 mile range – let’s assume this equates to being in your 40’s and beyond.

You still have plenty of mileage left in the tank, but you feel each of those miles more than ever. The constant beating your knees, hips, back, shoulders and elbows receive on a weekly basis are forcing you to reevaluate how you go about hoisting heavy weights.

You don’t want to give up the adrenaline rush strength training provides. But you don’t want to be ho...

The Powerlifter’s Guide To Fat Loss

Do you know what’s freakin’ awesome?

Lifting heavy stuff.

Do you know what’s also freakin’ awesome?

Looking great naked.

So can you do both at the same time? Can you really crush some heavy numbers in ‘The Big 3’ whilst shedding body fat and have heads turn as you perform an epic deadlift?

Is powerlifting for fat loss possible?

You bet, and below I’m going to explain how.

Time and Patience

This bit’s going first. Because it’s important.

In order to minimise strength losses and maximise Instag...

How High Volume Can Build Strength

This past summer, I found myself in a bit of “training rut boredom”. Over the past year, I had shredded down to sub-10% bf, then built back up to some respectable numbers: 175 overhead press for reps, 435×7 deadlift, 275×5 on the bench, and 365 for 5 in the squat rack.

I had felt good about my progress, good about my current level of fitness, and was pleased with my body. By no means did I want to pause working out, it was simply that the thought of following another percentage based program...

5 Methods For More Muscle In Less Time

Do you find yourself irritated waiting for a machine at the gym?

Or the sweaty bench used by the ‘gym bro’ pisses you off?

Or the thought of skipping a session sounds better than working out in a crowded gym?

If you answer ‘Yes’ to any of the questions above, this piece might just be for you.

We all agonize over those busy gym hours that we are forced upon (not really). But that should not demotivate you from working out. Rather, planning the gym session in a better way should be the soluti...

Achy Knees: How To Fix This Common Powerlifting Problem

You’ve heard the following saying:

“The only guarantees in life are death and taxes.”

A fairly accurate – yet depressing – statement.

If you’ve been in the powerlifting and strength training world for an appreciable amount of time, the previous statement should be amended to:

“The only guarantees in life are death, taxes and my knees are going to feel creakier than a 148 year-old rusted door hinge.”

If you’ve never experienced the dull ache bombarding the area just above or below – or if you’...