DIY Lifting Straps in 3 Minutes - Stop Wasting Money

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

Don't want to waste your hard-earned cash on lifting straps? In this quick DIY guide, Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers shows you how to make your own heavy-duty lifting straps in less than 3 minutes using cheap, simple materials. Strong, durable, and budget-friendly — perfect for deadlifts, rack pulls, rows, and any heavy pull where your grip needs backup. Save money, and lift more.

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.

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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?

Testify Nugget - September 8, 2025

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

THIS WEEK'S SUBMISSION

From our video 6 Weight Lifting Secrets That Feel Like CHEATING (plus a bonus) (click the title to watch):

DLedge
Calluses are the limiting factor in my grip for deadlifts. They never go away and get in the way. Any tips?

Phil
Are you using chalk? Calluses should develop, but they should not be raised - just essentially tougher areas of skin. If they are raised (which will certainly happen far more without chalk), the bar will pull on them, and they’ll eventually tear.

We did a video on hand care for lifters a few years back, and you might find it useful:
Hand Care for Lifters
https://youtu.be/2aBErH_Yvi0

DLedge
I do use liquid chalk. They are always raised, sometimes they tear. Then they come back after healing. Thanks for the reply, I will watch the hand care video

Phil
You're welcome, and if your calluses are always raised, it's worth checking to make sure that you're using a tension grip when deadlifting, i.e., carrying the bar down slightly toward the fingers and not up by the base of the palm. If a deadlift is carried too high in the hand, it will slide or roll down in the hand, and this process makes for an insecure grip and tends to caused raised calluses as well.

Here's some more info on this:
Use This Grip for a BIGGER Deadlift! (Tension Grip) | Deadlift Technique
https://youtu.be/7e_gnfCNM_M

TESTIFY ONLINE COACHING

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ARTICLES & VIDEOS

6 Weight Lifting Secrets That Feel Like CHEATING (plus a bonus)
These aren’t gimmicks—they’re overlooked techniques and tactics that can help you train more efficiently and get stronger right now. We cover 6 lifting tips (and a bonus) to level up your training. Click here to watch.

 

He Stopped Pressing Like This. You Should Too.
Many lifters use their hips incorrectly in the press and don't even know it. Do you? Let's find out and fix it. Click here to read.

 

Blast from the Past: The BEST Warm-up for Barbell Training (Plus an EASY Math Trick to Help!)
Phil covers how to efficiently and simply structure your warm-ups for barbell training and gives you an easy math trick to help. Click here to watch.

 

Blast from the Past: One Cue to Rule Them All: Fix Every Single One of Your Lifts
We help you improve all of your lifts with one simple type of cue. Click here to read.

“GET STRONGER - LIVE BETTER” SHIRTS ARE AVAILABLE!

Why do you train? Because getting stronger makes everything else easier. Get stronger. Live better. “Testify” to this message and represent your favorite gym with this shirt in several color options.

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.

Friday Night Fun Night: Trivia Teams!

  • Join us for the first-ever Testify Friday Night Fun Night from 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. on Friday, September 26!

  • Grab your smartest friends (or the ones who make you laugh the most) and join us for a night of trivia, laughs, and good food!

  • Teams of 3-5 people will compete in a friendly trivia contest with fun prizes up for grabs.

  • We need to know numbers for planning and food, so please click here to RSVP and register your team!

Minneapolis, MN: Starting Strength Squat & Deadlift Camp

  • October 4, 2025

  • Spend the day learning the theory and practice of the low bar back squat and the deadlift.

  • Participants will spend lots of time on the platform receiving coaching and instruction on the squat and deadlift in a small group setting. We will also have a lecture and discussion on programming and cover how to identify and correct common technical problems.

  • Click here to register or for more information.

Kansas City, MO: Starting Strength Squat & Deadlift Camp

  • October 25, 2025

  • Spend the day learning the theory and practice of the low bar back squat and the deadlift.

  • Participants will spend lots of time on the platform receiving coaching and instruction on the squat and deadlift in a small group setting. We will also have a lecture and discussion on programming and cover how to identify and correct common technical problems.

  • Click here to register or for more information.

Testify Christmas Classic

  • December 13, 2025

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

  • Click here to register or for more information.

THIS WEEK’S CONDITIONING

Option 1
Sled
Outdoors:
10 rounds of:
Push sled 100 ft
Pull sled 100 ft (hand over hand)

Indoors:
20 rounds of:
Push sled 50 ft
Pull sled 50 ft (hand over hand)

Compare to 2025.08.04.

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 2025.06.16.

Option 3
5-10 rounds:
50 ft yoke carry
50 ft yoke push
100 ft sandbag carry and S.O.B. (sandbag-over-bar)

Perform 1 round every 2-3 minutes.

Compare to 2025.05.19.

Option 4
Row/Tire 10 min ladder:
2 cal row
2 tire flips
4 cal row
4 tire flips
6 cal row
6 tire flips
…
Climb the ladder as high as possible in 10 minutes.

Compare to 2025.05.19.

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.

He Stopped Pressing Like This. You Should Too.

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

Today’s press error is not difficult to correct from a technical standpoint, but it can be an annoyingly persistent habit, so let’s address it quickly (i.e., before the mistake becomes more ingrained in your movement patterns).

The Mistake: Winding Up the Hips
When you correctly initiate the press, you do so by sending the hips forward (Figure 1). As you reach forward with your hips, the barbell dips slightly, and you get a nice bounce out of the bottom of that movement.

figure 1: Mike demonstrates the correct initiation of the press.

In anticipation of the forward motion of the hips, however, some lifters will make the mistake of accidentally pushing the hips backward first - “winding up the hips” in a subconscious effort to get a bigger forward reach (Figure 2).

figure 2: Mike incorrectly reaches back with his hips at the start of the press.

Why Is This a Problem?
This backward movement of the hips causes the bar to travel forward, which means you’ve now introduced unnecessary forward motion of the bar. As the press is already very susceptible to perturbations in the bar path, this forward motion is the last thing we want to happen.

The Solution
First of all, you need to be aware of this error, and many lifters are not, so the next time you press, record yourself and then watch the video to see if you’re committing this mistake (compare your video to the demonstrations that Mike provides in the video below).

If you’re winding up the hips, simply cue yourself “hips only go forward.” You are reminding yourself that the only place for the hips to go at the start of the press is forward (and therefore not backward).

If you still find yourself pushing your hips backward first, then slow yourself down and use the following mantra: “Breath, stop - then hips forward.” In this situation, you’re commanding yourself to breathe in and get tight, then stop all motion for a moment, and only then do you push the hips forward.

By the way . . .
Don’t bother telling yourself to avoid reaching backward with the hips. Negative cues - cues wherein you try to avoid doing something - rarely work in these types of situations. You are far better off focusing on what to do as opposed to focusing on what not to do.

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 BEST Warm-up for Barbell Training (Plus an EASY Math Trick to Help!)

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers covers how to efficiently and simply structure your warm-ups for barbell training AND gives you an easy math trick to help.

(A Blast from the Past video originally published on 01/23/23)

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?

One Cue to Rule Them All: Fix Every Single One of Your Lifts

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 06/23/23)

Let’s quickly cover a cue - specifically a type of cue - that helps every single one of your lifts.

What Could Possibly Help All of My Lifts?
When giving yourself a cue, use a positive cue - not a negative cue. I don’t mean a positive cue in the sense that it makes you feel good - you’re not doing this to feel better about yourself or your lifting. A positive cue simply means that you give yourself a task to accomplish. More specifically, give yourself something to do - not something to avoid doing.

Example: The Squat
If your knees slide forward on the squat, don’t tell yourself, “Stop letting my knees slide forward.” Instead, use the cue, “Set my knees” or “Block my knees.” Again, you’re giving yourself something to do rather than something not to do.

If you ride a motorcycle, you’re already familiar with this concept. When instructors teach you how to ride, they teach you to look where you intend to go - do NOT look where you don’t want to go because whatever you look at is invariably what you ride toward. Same idea here.

Example: The Clean (or Snatch)
If you’ve got an early arm pull on your clean or snatch, don’t cue “Don’t bend my arms.” It might work, but most of the time, you’re better off using a positive cue such as “Long arms,” “Straight arms,” or even “Tight triceps.”

Example: The Deadlift
If you’re letting the barbell drift away from you on the deadlift, don’t cue “Don’t let it get away from me.” Instead, try “Pin it to the shins” or simply “Keep it close.” If the bar is looping because you’re pulling around your knees, try cueing “Push the floor” or “Stay over the bar.”

Again, give yourself a job to do, not something to avoid doing.

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?

6 Weight Lifting Secrets That Feel Like CHEATING (plus a bonus)

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

These aren’t gimmicks—they’re overlooked techniques and tactics that can help you train more efficiently and get stronger right now. Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers covers 6 lifting tips (and a bonus) to level up your training.

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?