Valhalla Barbell Club is a small volunteer association of strength athletes in Wichita, Kansas. This is an interview with Valhalla Barbell Club founder Daniel J. Tennison, where he shares the group’s experience with creating a Barbell Club from scratch. When did you form the club? Can you describe the initiative? How did you come […]
Welcome to Valhalla: building a barbell club Read More »
1. Some are inevitable but manageable; some are avoidable; some are inevitable, period. 2. Among the avoidable are extremely intense forms of virilization (if this is not the goal, as in sex transitioning), usually related to poor understanding of the dose-response relation. In the sub-culture of the strength sports there is a wrong assumption according
PED (Performance Enhancing Drugs) side effects and women Read More »
I’m a motherly coach. I’ve been told that and I was even given some very cute nicknames because of that, the best one being Khaleesi. But I have a template: my master, Angelo Pio Buonafina, who brought me, in this version of myself, into the world. Which brings me to the topic of coaches as
The coach as a surrogate parent Read More »
This article is a case study partly based on ethnographic analysis about a strength training gym. The goal here is to explore the concepts related to “homeness” on the choice of the training environment. It sets the ground for subsequent essays on alternative training settings and facilities and the concepts involved in their evolution. This
The gym as the home: Brewhouse Barbell Read More »
I have been the president of a national powerlifting organization in a powerlifting and ethics-unfriendly country. Our organization never really grew: the corruption tradition was so strong that the IPL/USPA project could hardly be understood by people who were already lifters. Our chance were the newcomers. I didn’t have the time: I moved away. I
The beauty of team work in sports: organizing meets is a very specialized occupation Read More »
The four of them drive to the departure site. Scientist 1 parks the car. They all leave it, carrying cameras, bags, laptops, phones, binoculars. (Sc 1) So, here we are buddy! We’re so proud of you! (Sc 2) We are! We’ve been through so much together just to get here. This epic moment… (Coach) Oh,
The scientists and the coach Read More »
The bar is a sacred object for the lifter. No, I’m not taking poetic license here: sacred means that something is connected to something transcendent. The loaded bar a lifter is ready to lift is sacred to the bone. Be especially watchful with the deadlift bar. It’s on the ground, you might (if you are
Never cross, step on or even approach too closely a loaded bar Read More »
If you are reading this, there is a 38% chance that you are an athlete and a 17.5% chance that you are a powerlifter. Ok, I just invented those figures: numbers are important. If they are not available, invent them shamelessly and proudly admit your invention. I’m a powerlifter but also a scientist, writer, and
How to become the best in the world at what you do Read More »
1. The setup 2. The execution 3. Programming and assistance work This is the third and last part of this series on how to fix your bench press. Let us start by repeating one of my half a dozen favorite sayings in powerlifting coaching: “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” This said, understand
This is a series written for EliteFTS: Why Do You Lift — Meaning, Identity, Hope and Passion (part 1 – EliteFTS series) Peter heard his name and the bar was loaded for his first snatch. Up to one or two years ago, the minutes before he hook-gripped the bar were full of a deafening silence
Why Do You Lift — Meaning, Identity, Hope and Passion (part 1 – EliteFTS series) Read More »
