The Testify Globe - June 16, 2025

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

THIS WEEK'S SUBMISSION

From our video The Squat, Reinvented. (click the title to watch):

MKRJ
Wish I would’ve known this 35 years ago. Game changer.

Phil
At the least, I hope it helps going forward!

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

The Squat, Reinvented.
What if squatting could feel easier . . . and work better? Click here to watch.

 

The Mindset That Changed His Squat IMMEDIATELY
Want to get a bigger, stronger squat? Here are 4 simple mindset shifts that will help. Click here to read.

 

Blast from the Past: Slippery Lifting Platform?! Use THIS for Olympic Weightlifting & Strength Training
Do you have a slippery lifting surface? A slick platform can cause a lot of problems, whether you're snatching, clean-and-jerking, squatting, etc., so Phil lets you in on a very simple (and rarely discussed!) method to make sure you've got good grip between your shoes and the platform. Click here to watch.

 

Blast from the Past: Starting Out at the Gym? Don’t Miss These 4 Essentials
We cover 4 items you must have with you in the gym . . . or at least you should have them with you. Click here to read.

SLEEVES ARE OVERRATED - GRAB A TESTIFY TANK!

Sun's out, guns out, and we've got men's and women’s tank tops in multiple colors.

Get yours today and represent your favorite gym!

Click here to head to the Testify Store.

WHAT'S COMING UP

Reminder: On the afternoon of Friday, 06/20/25, our training hours will run from 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. as we are hosting the annual IronFest competition that day. The morning hours remain the same as usual.

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 2025.05.12.

Option 2
5 rounds:
10 cal bike
1 min rest
4 sandbag-over-bars
1 min rest

Set the yoke crossmember at 35/33, and the weight is 150#/75#.

Compare to 2025.03.24.

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 yd sled push (50 ft down-back)
100 yd farmer carry (50 ft down-back)
Rest 1 min

Compare to 2025.02.24.

Option 4
Row 10 x 100m
Rest 1 min between sprints. Your score is your slowest time.

Compare to 2025.02.24.

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.

The Mindset That Changed His Squat IMMEDIATELY

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

Want to squat effortlessly?

Not without effort, mind you - we are working to get stronger, of course - but actually with less effort. Instead of squatting 225 lb inefficiently - and thus with a lot of unnecessary effort - what if you could squat 225 lb more efficiently and thus with less effort? In turn, this efficiency means we can flat out squat more weight and get stronger, which is the goal.

rob knows the 4 tactics and uses them here to squat 445 lb for sets of 5.

Here are 4 tactics that will help you do exactly this. These are the basics of squatting, which shouldn’t be surprising because getting good at a task usually means becoming extraordinarily consistent at executing the basics.

Tactic #1: Stance and Knees
Start by taking a stance with your heels roughly shoulder width apart and point your toes out about 30 degrees.

As you descend, shove your knees out (i.e., apart from one another). Technically, your knees will travel forward and out, but focus on the “out” aspect as you descend. In other words, your knees should travel in the direction of your toes, and in this sense, your toes function as arrows for your knees.

Tactic #2: Reach Back with Your Hips
In addition to shoving your knees apart as you start to descend, you will also reach backward with your hips.

To keep the mechanics of this as simple and straightforward as possible, note that, in any squat, your knees will travel a certain distance forward as you descend, and your hips will travel a certain distance backward (watch yourself from the side on video to see this in action). The farther your knees travel forward, the more load they are responsible for, and conversely, the more your hips travel backward, the more load they are responsible for.

reach back with your hips like mike - even if you’re not squatting in your halloween costume.

We want to train the muscle mass surrounding both joints, and since the hips are the larger joint and are surrounded by more muscle mass, you’re going to ask them to do their fair share of the work (i.e., a larger share than the knees), so you cue yourself to reach back hard with your hips.

Tactic #3: The Lean
As you reach back with your hips when descending, point your chest at the floor.

Yes - lean over.

You will not fall over, and in fact, you need to do this to avoid falling over. Your hips reach back, so you lean over, and these two movements counterbalance each other.

Your back will still be straight and rigid because you properly performed a Valsalva maneuver and braced hard before starting the descent (if you’re not sure how to do this, watch the video below) - it just won’t always be vertical. You start at the top with a vertical back angle, and your finish at the end with a vertical back angle, but your back will move through a range of angles as you squat.

Remember, also, that getting leaned over is how your back gets strong.

With all this in mind, get leaned over on the descent and stay leaned over as you drive your hips up out of the hole. Stay leaned over longer than you think - you want your hips and chest to raise at roughly the same rate for about the first half of the ascent.

Raising your chest early makes for a harder, less inefficient, and weaker squat, so get leaned over on the descent, and stay leaned over on the ascent.

Tactic #4: Focal Point
Before you start your first rep, pick a spot on the floor about 4-6 feet in front of you. Proceed to stare at that spot with the burning intensity of one thousand suns throughout your entire set - during reps, between reps, and even while you walk the bar back to the rack at the end of the set.

note brianne’s focal point - a few feet in front of her and on the floor.

Your torso tends to follow your eyes, so if you look up, you’ll tend to not lean over on the descent, raise your chest too soon on the ascent, or some hideous combination of both of those errors.

We want to get leaned over and stay that way, so find that focal point on the floor in front of you and never waver from it.

As always, we hope these tips help 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?

Slippery Lifting Platform?! Use THIS for Olympic Weightlifting & Strength Training

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

Do you have a slippery lifting surface? A slick platform can cause a lot of problems, whether you're snatching, clean-and-jerking, squatting, etc., so Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers lets you in on a very simple (and rarely discussed!) method to make sure you've got good grip between your shoes and the platform.

(A Blast from the Past video originally published on 12/12/22)

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?

Starting Out at the Gym? Don’t Miss These 4 Essentials

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 05/12/23)

Which gym accessories are a “must” when you’re training? Let’s quickly cover four of them.

Accessory #1: Timer
At home, Becky and I have a magnetic kitchen timer attached to the squat rack (if you train at a commercial gym, simply keep it with you in your bag). We bought two pink timers - because pink is stylish and manly - for less than $9 from Amazon (it was a two-pack), but you can get them almost anywhere - Walmart, home improvement stores, grocery stores, etc.

Most of my workouts are fairly time-sensitive - I need to get in, get done, and get out in a certain amount of time, and the timer helps me do just that. Our timer has a count-up mode (i.e., it counts up continuously like a stopwatch) as well as a count-down mode (e.g., you set the timer for 5 minutes, and it will beep or flash when the time is up), and these are common features that you’ll find on most kitchen timers. I typically use the count-up feature, but many people prefer to use the count-down mode instead to keep track of rest periods.

Need to make sure you rest long enough between your squat sets? Or not too long? get a timer.

The timer is cheap, it’s effective, and it sticks to your squat rack, so if you find that your workouts are taking longer than you can afford, give it a try.

Accessory #2: Coffee
This should need no explanation, but I’ll do my best anyway. When it’s cold, you drink coffee. When it’s early, you drink coffee. When it’s hot, you still drink hot coffee (iced is fine, too). And when it’s late, you drink coffee.

Coffee. The original - and still the best - pre-workout. Drink it during the workout, too.

Accessory #3: Training Log
Sure, we can call this an accessory, but it’s really your most important piece of training equipment. If you’re going to train - if you’re going to lift intelligently - have a training log. I recommend a basic paper notebook, but if you want to go digital, that will also work. The point here is to have a training log and use it religiously.

The log is what separates training from exercise. If you want to exercise, that’s fine. You’ve got Jazzercise, you’ve got spin, you’ve got Zumba, you’ve got a lot of options. But if you want to train, have a training log. Record your warm-up sets, record your work sets, record what you’re going to do next time (before you walk out the door), and keep tabs on useful cues that you’re focusing on when performing the lifts. Get a training log.

Accessory #4: Fractional Plates
Get yourself a pair of 1.25 lb plates, or better yet, buy a set of fractional plates that has a pair (each) of 0.25 lb, 0.5 lb, 0.75 lb, and 1 lb plates. The set of 1.25 lb plates will permit you to make a 2.5 lb jump, which is a must for presses, bench presses, and even the squat and deadlift for some folks. The more complete set will allow even smaller jumps (e.g., a 1 lb jump using the two 0.5 lb plates), which will be extremely useful for many people on the press and the bench press.

Commercial gyms don’t carry plates smaller than 2.5 lb - which means you have to make jumps that are 5 lb or larger - and eventually, smaller jumps will be necessary to yield progress on a number of your lifts, so get a set before you need it and keep it with you in your gym bag.

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?

The Squat, Reinvented.

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

What if squatting could feel easier . . . and work better? Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers explains.

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?

The Testify Union - June 9, 2025

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

THIS WEEK'S SUBMISSION

From our video 10 WORST Deadlift Mistakes Most Lifters Don't Know They Are Making (most are guilty of 3) (click the title to watch):

James B.
I will occasionally scuff my shins pretty badly. This happened recently and there was a carryover effect to the next week when I was not pulling the bar straight up to avoid my now stinging shins. I wound up losing A LOT of strength (365 felt heavier than the 470 I had done recently). After some thought, I have a theory as to when I'm fouling up, but do you have general information on how, when and/or why this happens in the deadlift?

Phil
If someone is scraping their shins pretty badly, there’s a 99% chance this is related to error number 8. This happens when people lack knee extension off the floor and instead are trying to get their back angle vertical right away.

As a result of this, not only do the knees not contribute properly to the vertical elevation of the barbell, this also means that the shins and knees now pose an obstacle for the barbell, which is why we get scraped knees in this case.

To make matters worse, once a lifter’s knees are skinned, the lifter usually exaggerates this “raising the torso too soon“ error by trying to swing the bar away from the shins and knees as opposed to straightening the knees sooner, which is the correct movement anyway and also would solve the problem of scraping the shins.

This can be more readily seen on video, and this particular video might help you a lot:
When Deadlifting Heavy, Don't Stand Up & Try This Instead
https://youtu.be/heqIRjWWiLE

James B.
@TestifySC Thanks!

Phil
You’re very welcome! Here’s another video that might prove useful:
The Deadlift: Use Your Knees, Baby!
https://youtu.be/EY27KfoiQNM

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

10 WORST Deadlift Mistakes Most Lifters Don't Know They Are Making (most are guilty of 3)
Are you unknowingly sabotaging your deadlift? We break down 10 deadlift mistakes most lifters don’t even realize they’re making — and chances are good you’re guilty of at least 3. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned lifter, this video will help you lift smarter, safer, and stronger. Click here to watch.

 

The BEST Conditioning Tool NOBODY Uses (Starting Strength and Cardio?)
What's the most effective conditioning tool that people hardly ever use? Learn what it is, why it's so effective, how to program its use within your strength training programming, and pick up some sample workouts as well. Click here to read.

 

Blast from the Past: Are You Setting Your Back WRONG in the Deadlift?!
It's easy to set the back incorrectly by confusing shoulder retraction with back extension. Let's fix this in less than 2 minutes. Click here to watch.

 

Blast from the Past: What Every New Lifter Gets Wrong
If you’re a new lifter, there are a few mistakes you’re going to make rather soon. We help you avoid them. Click here to read.

SLEEVES ARE OVERRATED - GRAB A TESTIFY TANK!

Sun's out, guns out, and we've got men's and women’s tank tops in multiple colors.

Get yours today and represent your favorite gym!

Click here to head to the Testify Store.

WHAT'S COMING UP

The first ever Testify Game Night was a blast, and thank you all so much for coming out and joining us for an evening of fun and fellowship. It’s an annual tradition now!

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. Load up a manageable weight.
2. Sprint 40m at 85% intensity.
3. Rest until breathing and heart rate slow down. (45 sec – 2 min)
4. Repeat 5-15 times.

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

Compare to 2025.05.05.

Option 2
Bike/Row for 9 rounds:
1 min on
1 min off

Record distance for each round.

Compare to 2025.03.17.

Option 3
1. 5 x 50 ft seated sled pull. Add weight each round. Rest as needed.
2. 5 x 100 ft duck walk. Add weight each round. Rest as needed.

Compare to 2025.02.17.

Option 4
Outdoors
4 rounds:
50 yd farmer carry
80 m sled drag
Rest 2 min

Indoors
4 rounds:
100 ft farmer carry
100 ft sled drag
Rest 2 min

Compare to 2025.02.17.

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.