The BEST Single Device to Prevent Frailty in Older Adults

What's the best device for seniors to get strong, prevent frailty, and stay independent? Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers answers that question and provides 7 reasons why.

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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?

8 Reasons for Older Adults to Get Stronger in 2025 (and the best way to do it!)

Here are 8 fantastic reasons to get stronger in the new year. Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers explains why older adults want to get stronger as well as the best way to do it.

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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?

DISASTROUS Weight Lifting Accident (don't let this happen...)

This article is not thrilling, it’s not earth-shattering, but it might keep you from some broken toes or even teeth . . .

One of the more disastrous mistakes you can make in the weight room is that of loading or unloading the barbell by too many plates on one side (Figure 1). Let’s quickly discuss what this error looks like, when you’re most likely to commit it, and how you can easily avoid it.

figure 1: disaster narrowly averted (but watch out for sliding plates!)

What This Mistake Looks Like (i.e., how it happens)
Typically, this error occurs with 45 lb plates, although if you train in kilograms, it will probably occur with either 20 kg or 25 kg plates. Specifically, the mistake you’ll make is that of loading or unloading too many 45 lb plates on one side of the bar (i.e., compared to the other side).

For instance, you finish squatting 315 lb for the day, so you’ve got three 45 lb plates on each side of the bar. You’re tired, but you’re happy to have successfully performed your work sets. You absentmindedly begin unloading the right side of the bar while talking to a buddy or listening to some music. You take one plate off the bar - no problem yet. You then take another plate off the same side - you still might not have a problem.

However, you go to take the third plate off the right side of the bar - remember that you still have three 45 lb plates on the left side of the bar - and you suddenly have a cartwheeling barbell (see Figure 1). The right side of the bar rotates upward, the left side rotates downward, plates fall off in a loud (and dangerous) crash, the bar rotates end-over-end, and the entire room (people, equipment, walls, windows, etc.) is in danger.

If you’ve trained long enough or been to enough powerlifting meets, you’ve seen it happen at least once, it’s a disaster whenever it happens, and nearby people can and do sometimes get injured in the process if they get hit by the falling plates or flying barbell.

When You’re Most Likely to Make This Error
You can make this mistake when loading, but it is far more likely to occur when a lifter is unloading the bar.

figure 2: A one plate difference (two 45 lb plates on the left side and one 45 lb plate on the right side)

Loading the bar during warm-ups tends to promote symmetrical loading since - unless you’re a lifting psychopath - you’re only moving up by 90 lb at most per warm-up set. For instance, moving from 135 lb to 225 lb means you add a 45 lb plate on the left side and then walk over and add a 45 lb plate on the right side. At most, you’ve briefly got a one plate difference (i.e., one 45 lb plate difference) between the two sides of the barbell, and this doesn’t cause a problem (Figure 2).

However, when you’re finished with your 315 lb squat, your goal is to unload all the plates from the bar, and if you don’t approach this in a sensible fashion, you might start unloading all the plates from one side and soon cause a big ruckus.

This most often happens with the squat, but it can happen on the bench or press as well, and if you’re fortunate enough to train with a deadlift jack, it can happen when unloading your deadlift (since a deadlift jack functions much like a pair of j-hooks on a squat rack). I’ve seen a fellow lifter nearly get popped right in the teeth by the barbell after absentmindedly unloading four 45 lb plates from one side of the bar before removing any of the plates from the other side.

The Easy Way to Prevent It
The easiest way to prevent this mistake and the potential disaster that accompanies it is to make the following rule:

No more than one 45 lb plate difference between the two sides of the bar.

For example, if you have two 45 lb plates on the left side of the bar and you’re using this rule, then the following are acceptable for the right side of the bar:

• Three 45 lb plates (one plate difference)

• Two 45 lb plates (no difference)

• One 45 lb plate (one plate difference)

However, having either four or zero 45 lb plates on the right side of the bar is a no-go. Those situations are not guaranteed to cause a problem, but you’re starting to flirt with disaster. This rule does not give you the only safe method, but it does guarantee a simple and safe approach that’s easy to remember.

Keep that one plate difference in mind (which is sometimes the hardest part!), and we hope this helps you get stronger, live better, and also live without any unnecessary broken stuff!

-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.

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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?

4 Key Things to Do AFTER You Lift Weights

What should you be doing after you lift weights so that you get the most out of your strength training? Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers covers 4 actions to take when you finish lifting.

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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?

How Long Should I REST? | Starting Strength Linear Progression

How long should I rest when working through the Starting Strength Linear Progression? How long should I rest between warm-up sets? Between work sets? Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers explains.

(A Blast from the Past video originally published on 08/22/22)

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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?

The Mistake That is RUINING Your Lifts! | Never Do This Again

Stop making this mistake when you're lifting. New lifters commit this error regularly, and to be fair, even experienced lifters make this mistake once in a while.

The Problem
What mistake are we talking about? The error of misloading the barbell. Let’s quickly address two things - first, how to notice the problem when it happens (and the sooner the better), and second, how to ideally prevent it from happening in the first place.

How to Notice a Misload: Version #1
Suppose you’re preparing for your squat work sets - they’re going to be challenging, and you really don’t want to end up squatting the wrong weight. If you’re training with a buddy, an ideal approach is to ask him to do a “bar math” check. Don’t tell your pal what the weight is supposed to be - simply ask him to do the math and tell you the answer. By not telling him what the weight is supposed to be, you haven’t biased his calculations, and if you both arrive at the same number, you’ve probably got the bar loaded correctly.

If, on the other hand, you arrive at different numbers, then you know you’ve got some double-checking to do before you start to squat.

How to Notice a Misload: Version #2
It’s ideal to catch the misload before it happens, but more commonly, you’ll notice a misload after you’ve already lifted it.

For example, you plan on squatting 155 lb, and you’ve already got 135 lb loaded up (i.e., the 45 lb bar and one 45 lb plate on each side). You think to yourself, “I need 20 lb more to get to 155, so I need two 10 lb plates,” and then you proceed to absentmindedly add two 10 lb plates to each side of the bar, resulting in a total weight of 175 lb instead of the desired 155 lb.

You might survive the set or you might fail, but the end result is that the set is much tougher than you had anticipated. On the flip side, you might unknowingly underload the bar, in which case you notice that the set was easier than expected.

Either way, it’s these thoughts - the realization that “Hmm, that was way tougher than it should have been” or “Man, that was a piece of cake!” - that should alert you to double check the weight on the bar.

Sometimes, of course, you’re just having a rough day, in which case suck it up Buttercup - that’s the weight on the bar, and you’re going to keep squatting it. On the other hand, you might be having a great day, in which case go ahead and celebrate the fact that things are moving so well.

However, quite often, these realizations occur because you’ve misloaded the bar, so always double check in these situations.

How to Prevent a Misload: What NOT To Do
Preventing a misload has everything to do with how you go about doing your bar math, i.e., how you mentally add the plates onto the bar.

Do NOT do the math “one-plate-at-a-time.” For example, you’ve got 135 lb loaded, and you’re adding a 25 lb plate to each side. Don’t mentally add 25 lb to 135 lb to get 160 lb as you load one side of the bar and then add another 25 lb to 160 lb to get 185 lb as you load the other side. You might get it right, but you very well might get it wrong as this method is quite likely to cause errors (for reasons the math teacher in me would love to dive into . . . but won’t for now).

How to Prevent a Misload: Smash-and-Add
Instead, perform the math as “smash-and-add.” That is, mentally combine the two 25 lb plates together first (mentally “smashing” them together) to get 50 lb - a very nice number which kindly ends in a zero. Then, simply add that 50 lb to your 135 lb to get 185 lb.

Likewise, if you’ve got 95 lb on the bar and you’re adding a 10 lb plate on each side, don’t add one 10 lb plate to get 105 lb and then add the other 10 lb plate to get 115 lb. Instead, it’s easier to mentally add the 10 lb plates together first to get 20 lb, and then add that 20 lb to your 95 lb to get 115 lb.

We’ve seen both of these methods in action thousands of times over years of coaching, and the smash-and-add method creates far fewer errors than the one-plate-at-a-time method.

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

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