12 Outdated Lifting Trends to Ditch in 2025 (and What to Do Instead)

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

Still doing these outdated lifting trends? It's time to level up. Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers breaks down 12 common lifting habits, techniques, and myths that need to be left behind - and what you should be doing instead to actually get stronger. No gimmicks. No fluff. Just real, effective strength training advice.

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Hate Wasting Time at the Gym? Here’s What Actually Works

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 03/05/21)

You like being at the gym, but you also like other things besides being at the gym, and people are often on a tight schedule, so if your workouts are taking longer than you would like (or can afford), we are going to give you two tactics to save time at the gym. These tactics both revolve around the warm-up, because the warm-up is the best place to save time when you train.

First, don’t rest between your warm-up sets. You need to change the weights as you warm-up, and the act of unloading and loading plates between warm-up sets will provide enough rest for the purpose of warming up. Remember, these are warm-up sets - they’re not terribly difficult - you don’t need a whole lot of rest. After your last warm-up set, you’ll want to rest a few minutes (perhaps 2-4 minutes) before performing your first work set, but if you’re resting 3-5 minutes between all of your warm-up sets and you’re wondering how to shorten your workout time, this is where you start.

Second, if you really need to speed things up, start warming up your next lift between the work sets of your current lift. Let’s say you’ve just done your first work set of squats, and bench press is your next lift - while you’re resting, go ahead and grab a barbell and do your empty bar warm-up for the bench (if it’s the press, you don’t even need a rack - you can just pick it up off the floor and press it). Then, sit down and rest until it’s time to squat again. After your second set of squats, go ahead and do your next bench warm-up set. You might still have some warming up to do on the bench press when you’re done squatting, but this method will certainly shave some time off the length of your training session.

Most importantly, don’t let this tactic tire you out for your current work sets. The squat/bench press example we’ve given here will not tire you out for squatting because the bench press warm-ups are light and because the bench press is unrelated to squatting, but warming up your deadlift between work sets of squats may not be the greatest idea.

Try these tactics the next time you train, and you’ll save yourself some valuable time. Of course, you could probably shorten those 15-minute-between-set-conversations you have with your lifting buddies as well.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

-Phil

PS: Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

Stronger After 50: The Secret is Simpler Than You Think

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

Getting strong and staying strong becomes more important the older we get, and the secret is not complicated. Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers explains.

Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

You’re Probably Warming Up Wrong, and It’s Ruining Your Lifting

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

Warming up badly is inefficient, sometimes ridiculous, and it sets you up for poor results from your lifting. Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers helps you warm-up effectively, efficiently, and simply and provides plenty of examples, tips, and mistakes to avoid.

Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

You've Been Unloading Your Barbell Wrong This Whole Time (plus bonus tip)

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

You’re done lifting - you’ve finished your deadlifts, snatches, cleans, rows, whatever was on the docket for the day - you’ve got a bunch of bumper plates on the barbell, and you’ve got to unload them.

It’s a bit of a pain, of course, and you don’t want to work any harder than you have to, so let’s cover how to make your life easier when unloading your bar (and read to the end for a bonus tip).

You can also watch the video below to see these steps in action.

Step 1: Get all the metal plates or “change plates” off the bar.
Take care of the smaller plates first. If it’s not a full-sized plate (i.e., a bumper plate or a metal 45 lb plate), it’s easy to slide off since it’s not sitting on the floor, so get these plates off first.

Step 2: Outer Plates Off
Move to one side of the bar and roll the innermost plate up onto a small, change plate (a 2.5 lb plate works well). Doing this raises that entire side of the barbell up just enough that you can easily slide off any other plates on that side of the bar (Figure 1).

Figure 1

Step 3: Inner Plate Off
On the same side of the bar, you now have one remaining plate (i.e., the plate that you rolled up onto the 2.5 lb plate in Step 2). This is the only plate that requires a little work to remove. You can pick up the bar with one hand and slide the plate off with the other hand (Figure 2), or your can move to the outside of the barbell and use both hands to pull that last plate toward you.

figure 2

Note: Don’t let that end of the barbell simply drop jarringly to the floor when that last plate comes off. Be kind to your barbell.

Step 4: The Best Part
Grab the empty end of the barbell, walk it up (Figure 3) until the barbell is completely vertical, and then simply pick up the barbell as it slides up and out of the stack of plates now resting on the floor. At this point, you can store your barbell and then easily put away that stack of plates.

figure 3

Bonus Tip:
When getting your barbell out (or when putting it away), if you’d like to conserve some energy, don’t carry it in your hands. Pick it up, place it on one shoulder (one end will counterweight the other end, so this is a pretty easy process), and then carry it over to your squat rack.

figure 4

Since the bar is already on your shoulder, it’s at roughly the same height as your j-hooks (if you’re set up to squat or press), which means you can lean against the squat rack to make sure the barbell is against the uprights (Figure 4) and then just dip slightly until the bar is resting in the hooks.

Note: If there are other people around, make sure you don’t clock someone in the face when carrying it at this height.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

-Phil

PS: Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

  • Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

  • Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

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(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

How to Breathe and Brace Correctly When Lifting Heavy | Valsalva Maneuver

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

Breathing, Valsalva, getting tight, bearing down, bracing?! Learn how & when to breathe and get tight for each individual lift. It's not complicated, but new and experienced lifters get this wrong frequently, so let's fix it. Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers explains.

(A Blast from the Past video originally published on 11/21/22)

Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

  • Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

  • Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

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  • Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?