The Testify Ledger - April 28, 2025

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

THIS WEEK'S SUBMISSION

From our video How to Warm-up Correctly for Lifting Weights (STOP Using Percentages) (click the title to watch):

John Fish
What about rest intervals?

Phil
Solid question, and we’ve done a few videos that have covered that as well. Here’s one that you might find useful:

Get Stronger . . . Faster! Save Time at the Gym!
https://youtu.be/6-UNUyoPjBE

In general, you don’t need to rest in between your warm-up sets – they are relatively light since they are warm-ups, and therefore the act of changing the weights will provide enough rest between your warm-up sets. (you can rest between them, of course, but if you’re looking to save time, this is an excellent place to do it)

With that said, you probably will want to rest a few minutes before you start your first work set, and you’re definitely going to need to rest sufficiently between work sets.

TESTIFY ONLINE COACHING

Interested in getting stronger working one-on-one remotely with us? Click here to book your free strategy session.

Get Stronger. Live Better. Start Today.

ARTICLES & VIDEOS

Why Does This Bar Position Just Work So Well?
When squatting, why does this particular barbell position work so well, and how do you find the correct location? Click here to watch.

 

Bench Press & the Biggest Mistake You’re Making
You're set to bench press, and for the most part, it's great. But you're missing one big detail. Click here to read.

 

Blast from the Past: The Deadlift: STOP Lifting Your Chest?!
Lack of knee extension and raising your chest too soon on the deadlift are related errors, and in the 4th video in our Saturday Shorts series on fixing the deadlift, Phil covers how to correct these issues and add pounds to your pull. Click here to watch.

 

Blast from the Past: THIS is Destroying Your Press . . . and Driving Me Nuts
Phil covers how NOT to make a very common press error. Click here to read.

TESTIFY 3/4 SLEEVE SHIRTS ARE UP!

Baseball season is here, so represent your favorite team - well, gym - in style!

PLUS - you get four different options to choose from!

Click here to head to the Testify Store.

WHAT'S COMING UP

Below are a few of our upcoming events, and you can find out what else is on the calendar by heading to our events page at www.testifysc.com/events.

Testify Barbell MAYhem - Teams Edition!

  • May 23, 2025

  • Grab a partner and take on the barbell at Testify Barbell MAYhem – Teams Edition! One lifter snatches. The other cleans & jerks. One epic night of strength, teamwork, and mayhem.

  • Click here to register or for more information.

Testify IronFest VII

  • June 20, 2025

  • IronFest is a team-based strength meet wherein the contested lifts will be the squat, press, bench press, and deadlift. Competitors will form teams of 2 lifters/team and perform all 4 lifts; each lifter will perform one upper body lift and one lower body lift, and each lifter will receive 3 attempts for each lift.

  • Click here to register or for more information.

Deadapalooza! The Annual Testify Deadlift Festival

  • August 15, 2025

  • Deadapalooza is a strength meet wherein the only contested lift is - you guessed it - the deadlift. There will be one bar (possibly multiple bars if numbers dictate), and the meet will be conducted in a "rising bar" format, so the weight on the bar only goes up! It's a ton of fun, so come on out!

  • Click here to register or for more information.

THIS WEEK’S CONDITIONING

Option 1
Sled
Outdoors:
10-20 x 25 yds EMOM at a weight of your choice

Every minute, push the sled 25 yards, i.e., if pushing the sled takes 20 seconds, then you have 40 seconds to rest. Perform 10-20 rounds.

Indoors:
10-20 x 100 ft EMOM at a weight of your choice

Every minute, push the sled 100 feet, i.e., if pushing the sled takes 20 seconds, then you have 40 seconds to rest. Perform 10-20 rounds.

Compare to 2025.03.24.

Option 2
Bike/row:
5 min on
4 min off
4 min on
3 min off
3 min on
2 min off
2 min on
1 min off
1 min on

Record distance for each interval and add for total distance.

Compare to 2025.02.03.

Option 3
Outdoors:
5-10 rounds:
50 yd sled push (25 yd down-back)
50 yd farmer carry (25 yd down-back)
Rest 1 min

Indoors:
5-10 rounds:
100 ft sled push (50 ft down-back)
100 ft farmer carry (50 ft down-back)
Rest 1 min

Compare to 2025.01.06.

Option 4
10 x 50 ft farmer carry
Each carry is 25 ft down and 25 ft back and is for time. Rest 1 minute between carries.

Women: 97# per handle (80# of plates)
Men: 137# per handle (120# of plates)
(Note: Each handle weighs 17#.)

Compare to 2025.01.06.

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

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.

  • Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

  • Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

  • Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

Bench Press & the Biggest Mistake You’re Making

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

You’re missing out on something big when it comes to your bench press, so let’s identify it and fix it real quick.

The Error
You’re set up to bench - you’ve got your stance at roughly squat width, you're driving with your legs for stability and to support your arch, you’ve got the barbell positioned in the base of the palms over the bones of your forearms, and you’ve established a stationary focal point on the ceiling.

What could you possibly be missing?

Shoulder retraction.

Why It’s Important
The bar is balanced over your shoulders, so you want as strong, stable, and safe of a platform as possible from which to bench. With this in mind, you want your shoulders pulled back into retraction. Specifically, you want them pulled back and down (i.e., toward your butt), but if you’re driving hard with your legs to support your arch while simultaneously lifting your chest, you’re already taking care of the down aspect.

You pull them back to create a wider base of support on the bench, i.e., so it’s not just the middle of your back in contact with the bench. You also pull them back to help reduce any chance of impingement when benching.

Note the height of the barbell (compared to the exit sign in the background) when mike sets up poorly (left) vs when he correctly retracts his shoulders (right).

Additionally, you pull them back to slightly reduce the range of motion on the bench press. This isn’t cheating, by the way; instead, it’s reinforcing a stable and correct range of motion as compared to the unstable and incorrect range of motion created by protracted shoulders.

Locking out the bench press on protracted shoulders is like locking out your squat standing up on your toes. Sure, it’s a longer range of motion, but it’s not stable, and it’s also idiotic. Benching with retracted shoulders is analogous to squatting with your feet firmly anchored to the floor.

What to Do
When setting up to bench, cue yourself to pull your shoulders back. Try to keep them pulled back when unracking the bar, but if they slip out of position slightly, make sure to re-retract them before starting your first rep.

When locking out a rep at the top, keep your shoulders pulled back. If you notice the outsides of your shoulders “jumping” up off the bench slightly when you finish a rep (watch yourself on video), cue yourself to “finish deliberately” or “lock out with control” as opposed to locking out aggressively.

You can also cue yourself to “lock it out with short arms” or try to lock out the bench press with the barbell as close to your chest as possible. This drives home the idea that, although your elbows are obviously straight at lockout, your shoulders should be pulled back so that the bar isn’t any further away from your chest than necessary.

Pull your shoulders back, keep them back, and 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.

  • Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

  • Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

  • Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

(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?

book a free intro

The Deadlift: STOP Lifting Your Chest?!

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

Lack of knee extension and raising your chest too soon on the deadlift are related errors, and in the 4th video in our Saturday Shorts series on fixing the deadlift, Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers covers how to correct these issues and add pounds to your pull.

(A Blast from the Past video originally published on 11/19/22)

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.

  • Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

  • Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

  • Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

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?

book a free intro

THIS is Destroying Your Press . . . and Driving Me Nuts

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 04/21/23)

Are you adjusting your wrist and elbow positioning after unracking the barbell when pressing? Stop that. Stop unracking the press like a doofus. Doofusses (Doofuses? Doofusi?) are the worst at pressing.

This makes me want to throw up in my mouth just a little bit.

We see this mistake often - the mistake of unracking the press, stepping back, and only then getting the elbows slightly forward of the bar and wrists neutral. This is inefficient, it wastes time when you’re supporting the bar, and it gets harder and harder to do as the weight on the bar gets heavier.

In the squat, we don’t make adjustments to the bar or our grip after unracking the bar, and the press is no different.

In fact, this same concept is how you check if you’re doing it correctly - after unracking the bar (i.e., after standing it up from the hooks with your legs), if nothing from your waist upward needs to change position before starting the set, you’ve got it right. You simply take two small steps back from the rack, take a breath, and start the set. On the other hand, if you have to adjust anything above the waist between the unrack and the start of your first rep, you’re unracking it incorrectly.

So, let’s get it right before you unrack it. Set your grip and wrists correctly, dip down far enough (with your hips and legs) so that you can get your elbows slightly in front of the bar, and then stand the bar up while maintaining that exact position. Watch the included video (above) for a quick demonstration of how to correctly - and incorrectly - accomplish this.

If you mess up, don’t fix your wrists and elbows after the unrack; when you do this, you’re reinforcing a bad habit. Instead, simply re-rack the bar, fix it, and then unrack it. Be correct and consistent - from the empty bar up to your work weight, every unracking of the bar should be the same.

If you unrack it correctly every time, your press will be better off, and you won’t look like a doofus. Which is good.

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.

  • Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

  • Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

  • Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

(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?

book a free intro

Why Does This Bar Position Just Work So Well? (where to put the bar for the squat)

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

When squatting, why does this particular barbell position work so well, and how do you find the correct location? Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers explains and demonstrates.

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.

  • Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

  • Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

  • Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

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?

book a free intro

The Testify Register - April 21, 2025

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

THIS WEEK'S SUBMISSION

From our video When Deadlifting Heavy, Don't Stand Up & Try This Instead (click the title to watch):

Biknjak
Wow. Thanks! I've watched approximately a bazillion videos on deadlifting cues and this is a great one. I've noticed that even though it seems totally counterintuitive, that LIGHTLY touching shins to the bar, and trying hard to keep my back more horizontal (hips higher) and over/ahead of the bar seems to result in the lift moving easier and shorter upwards. Instinct tells me to drop my knees and get more "under the bar", but that shoves my knees forward and the "wedge" becomes a "squat". Others have cued to bend the bar around your legs, but that has resulted in bloody/bruised shins and an actually more difficult pull. Now I simultaneously "kiss" shins to the bar as I flatten lower back/lift chest and cue myself with "legs!!" (i.e. push the floor down). As unnatural as it seems, the lift actually feels like it pops up faster and travels shorter if I am hovering out fairly horizontally at the beginning of the pull. Anyway, still trying to perfect it all, but your video helps!

Phil
I’m glad to hear that this video helped you, and thank you for the kind words! You are dead on that even though it can seem counterintuitive, setting up in this manner is definitely more efficient, and we see it all the time with people who come in to get coaching on their deadlifts with us.

As far as hip height, the three key factors are 1) bar over midfoot, 2) balance on your midfoot, and 3) shins touching the bar. If those three things are satisfied, then their hips will be in the correct (i.e., most efficient and effective) position for the deadlift based on mechanics and their individual anthropometry, and usually – as you noted – that is a “higher hips” position than they want to use at first.

Biknjak
@TestifySC Thank you. I think some of my trouble has been with concentrating TOO much on engaging lats and "bending the bar around your legs", which seems to result in dropping my hips too much and puts my shins too far forward, thus making a difficult pull even more difficult. Anyway, thank you for taking the time for your advice!

Phil
You’re very welcome, and although it is true that the lats are responsible for keeping the bar tight to the shins, we don’t usually recommend focusing on the lats. Instead, if you notice the barbell swinging away, a simple cue of “pin it to the shins“ will usually rectify the problem.

Biknjak
@TestifySC Thanks!👍

TESTIFY ONLINE COACHING

Interested in getting stronger working one-on-one remotely with us? Click here to book your free strategy session.

Get Stronger. Live Better. Start Today.

ARTICLES & VIDEOS

When Deadlifting Heavy, Don't Stand Up & Try This Instead
Are you trying to stand up when you deadlift? This seems counterintuitive, but trying to stand up is ruining your deadlift. Phil explains and demonstrates. Click here to watch.

 

If the Bar is Moving, You Shouldn't Be Doing This
”We humans like to complicate things. Complication is cool. Complication is interesting. Complication is sexy. Complication is also - very often - stupid…” Click here to read.

 

Blast from the Past: Simple DIY Wall Mounted Weight Plate Storage | Home Gym Storage
Need a better system for plate storage in your home gym? We did too, so in this video, we walk you through how to easily and relatively quickly construct a wall-mounted plate storage system. Click here to watch.

 

Blast from the Past: Motivation is for Suckers
Don't rely on motivation to keep your training on track. Motivation is a fickle thing. Click here to read.

TESTIFY 3/4 SLEEVE SHIRTS ARE UP!

Baseball season is here, so represent your favorite team - well, gym - in style!

PLUS - you get four different options to choose from!

Click here to head to the Testify Store.

WHAT'S COMING UP

Below are a few of our upcoming events, and you can find out what else is on the calendar by heading to our events page at www.testifysc.com/events.

Testify IronFest VII

  • June 20, 2025

  • IronFest is a team-based strength meet wherein the contested lifts will be the squat, press, bench press, and deadlift. Competitors will form teams of 2 lifters/team and perform all 4 lifts; each lifter will perform one upper body lift and one lower body lift, and each lifter will receive 3 attempts for each lift.

  • Click here to register or for more information.

Deadapalooza! The Annual Testify Deadlift Festival

  • August 15, 2025

  • Deadapalooza is a strength meet wherein the only contested lift is - you guessed it - the deadlift. There will be one bar (possibly multiple bars if numbers dictate), and the meet will be conducted in a "rising bar" format, so the weight on the bar only goes up! It's a ton of fun, so come on out!

  • Click here to register or for more information.

Benching Bonanza! The Annual Testify Bench Press Jubilee

  • November 21, 2025

  • Benching Bonanza is a strength meet wherein the only contested lift is - not surprisingly - the bench press. There will be one bar, and the meet will be conducted in a "rising bar" format, so the weight on the bar only goes up! It’s a great time for all involved, and we hope to see you there!

  • Click here to register or for more information.

THIS WEEK’S CONDITIONING

Option 1
“Prowler Base+1”
1. Load up a manageable weight.
2. Sprint 40m at 85% intensity.
3. Rest 30 sec.
4. Repeat 5-15 times.

Courtesy of “Death by Prowler” (on Starting Strength).

Compare to 2025.03.03.

Option 2
Bike/row:
4 x 3 minutes

Rest 3 minutes between each round. Score = lowest distance.

Compare to 2025.01.27.

Option 3
8 rounds:
Outdoors:
4 tire flips
50 yd sled push (25 yd down-back)
Rest 1 minute

Indoors:
4 tire flips
100 ft sled push (50 ft down-back)
Rest 1 minute

Compare to 2024.12.30.

Option 4
Sandbag-over-bars
Set yoke at #33 for women or #35 for men.
1. 1 minute AMRAP
2. 5 rounds of 2 reps every 2 minutes (speed!)
3. 1 minute AMRAP

Weights
Female under 40 years
140 lbs and under: 75 lbs
140.1 lbs – 185 lbs: 100 lbs
185.1 lbs and over: 150 lbs

Female 40 years and over
140 lbs and under: 50 lbs
185 lbs and under: 75 lbs
185.1 lbs and over: 100 lbs

Male under 40 years
185 lbs and under: 150 lbs
185.1 lbs – 235 lbs: 200 lbs
235.1 lbs and over: 250 lbs

Male 40 years and over
185 lbs and under: 100 lbs
185.1 lbs – 235 lbs: 150 lbs
235.1 lbs and over: 200 lbs

Compare to 2024.12.30.

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

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.

  • Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

  • Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

  • Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.