Martijn Koevoets's Blog, page 2

Powerlifting For Endurance Athletes

“Why should I do any cardio? I only need enough conditioning for five reps.”

“Lift weights? Are you freaking kidding me? I’m a runner, I’m not going to touch weights.”

“There’s no way I can go for a run. My knees would explode within the first minute.”

“Squatting and deadlifting will hurt my knees and back.”

Any of those statements sound familiar?

I think the real question is; how OFTEN have you heard each of these statements?

Powerlifters and strength athletes ripping on anyone who thinks ab...

3 Weaknesses That Ruin Your Strength Gains

3 Weaknesses That Ruin Your Strength Gains

This scenario happens all too often.

Your lifts have been going smoothly for a few weeks and then all of a sudden the bar feels heavier than it should.

Your squat is crumbling, bench feels slow, and your deadlift is glued to the floor.

Doubt starts to creep in and the next attempt is even worse. You’re pissed you can’t detect the weakness, and now you’re worried not completing this workout will throw off your whole program.

It would be such a wond...

Strength Matters: 5 Lessons From A Roller Derby Athlete (That Apply To All Lifters)

Imagine a sport where athletic blockers lay bone rattling hits on each other.

You can hear the grunts of exertion and the shouts of call signs that foreshadow the use of a specific strategy. Quick-footed players run through walls of the opposing team, sometimes getting stopped cold, sometimes finding a hole to burst through, and sometimes dancing back-and-forth laterally in an elaborate game of chicken.

Now imagine there’s no ball.

And everyone is wearing roller skates.

That’s roller derby.

T...

How To Cut Fat And Maintain Strength

Whether you let your diet get away from you during your last strength cycle, you need to cut weight for a meet, or you just want to be shredded and strong, inevitably there will come a time in your strength training career where you’ll want to lose body fat.

But you’re worried. Fat loss, and specifically a calorie deficit, are not the friends of building monster strength levels.

You’ve worked hard for your strength gains, and the last thing your want when trying to lean out is to lose them.

W...

Deciphering Milo, His Bull, And Strength Plateaus

Allow me to introduce you to Milo of Croton.

Milo was a 6th century wrestler who, legend has it, once proudly burst a band around his head by simply inflating the veins of his temples. Slightly weird, but impressive nonetheless.

What Milo was most famous for though, was lifting a baby calf onto his shoulders every day, until it eventually became a fully grown bull.

This led to Milo’s muscle mass and strength increasing rapidly, leading the Greek fighter to become a man mountain of all round s...

The Bench Press Builder You’ve Been Missing

In the world of designer barbells, bench press purists, and PR blowhards, the solution to your niggling shoulder pain, “tennis elbow,” and underwhelming amount of weight on the bar can be solved by adding one often overlooked exercise into your program.

I love programming this movement because I know that (when executed properly), nothing builds raw strength quite like it, nor allows you to master your own bodyweight.

Hold up:

In the world of chasing a bigger, more impressive bench, I unders...

Cardio for Powerlifting: The Why And How For More Strength And Muscle

What’s the first thing coming to mind when you think of the word cardio? Especially cardio for powerlifting.

I bet it brings to your thoughts the image of an emaciated guy running the Boston Marathon. As a strength athlete, the thought of running until you begin chafing in the most unmentionable of areas isn’t appealing.

Who cares if you can run for hours if it means you have less muscle and strength than a six year old?

Despite the perceived awfulness associated with aerobic work, it plays a...

Help – I’m Stuck and My Lifts Won’t Go Up! 5 Questions to Ask When Your Progress Stalls

You put in the work, day in and day out, diligently following your training program.

This is easy enough to do on the good days when you feel boss and the bar moves like a hot knife through butter, but we all know that’s not the whole story.

You also lift on the days when you’re tired and sick; you lift on the days when you just do not feel like lifting. On these days, you renew your commitment to your craft by reminding yourself what, exactly, you are training for: glory, gains, and platform...

Here’s Exactly What To Do When One Of Your Lifts Sucks

It’s Monday. While the rest of the world is hit with a mild case of depression due to the end of the weekend, you spring out of bed with excitement. Why?

Monday means you’re deadlifting.

The deadlift strength you possess is uncanny. Every one of your reps feels fast. There’s not a single ounce of wasted effort.

Other gym members are in awe of your brute strength. During deadlifts, you seem to have more followers than a half-naked Instagram model.

Midweek rolls around. It’s time to load an inh...

How To Build A Bulletproof Lower Back (and Watch Your Deadlift Skyrocket)

During my first year of acting school, I had a professor who had a bad back. He was legendarily fat and hobbled about, despite being just over 50.

As an alum of the program he now was a tenured part of, his headshot and photos of his glory days were easily found with a little digging. In his glory days, he was an absolute stud. Picture a jacked Burt Reynolds, or a slightly less beefy Reg Park with God-level acting chops. We got to talking one day, and with grave words of warning, he told me...