Stop Putting Your Lifting Belt On Wrong & Try This Instead

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

Putting your lifting belt on should be easy and straightforward. Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers gives you 3 methods that accomplish exactly that . . . and 1 is sneaky smart.

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

Testify Star-Advertiser - August 17, 2026

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

THIS WEEK'S SUBMISSION

From our video Easy Slow Cooker Mexican Shredded Chicken (click the title to watch):

Aloysius
Yes! This is how I make white chilli - I could easily eat this every day for the rest of my life and not get bored, haha. Absolutely delicious and almost no prep time required, just throw it in and go!

Phil
Absolutely, and “throw and go“ should be a phrase right up there with “set it and forget it.“

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

Easy Slow Cooker Mexican Shredded Chicken
This Mexican shredded chicken is easy, delicious, and works in just about everything — tacos, burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas, burrito bowls, and more. It's also packed with protein, which means it's as practical as it is tasty. Set it. Forget it. Eat well all week. Click here to watch.

 

Want a BIGGER Bench Press? | Use These FOUR Tactics
Phil covers four major technical aspects to focus on and evaluate when trying to improve your bench press. Click here to read.

 

Blast from the Past: The 2 Most Overlooked Bench Press Tips
What's the worst mistake on the bench press? It's not what you think. Click here to watch.

 

Blast from the Past: Fix Your Early Arm Bend on Your Cleans and Snatches!
Struggling to keep your arms straight on your cleans and snatches? Phil provides 4 cues to help avoid that power leak as well as the inconsistency that it often brings with it. 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

Below is one 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.

Minneapolis, MN: Starting Strength Squat & Deadlift Camp

  • October 3, 2026

  • 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.

THIS WEEK’S CONDITIONING

Option 1
Sled Pyramid – 4, 5, or 6 tiers
Go up and down a 4, 5, or 6 tier “sled pyramid” – rest as needed. The distance for each round is 80 m indoors (a down-back on the 40m course) or 200 ft outdoors (2 down-backs on the 50 ft course). Rest as needed.

For example, Bob does the following (4 tiers):
Round 1: Empty sled
Round 2: 25#
Round 3: 50#
Round 4: 75#
Round 5: 50#
Round 6: 25#
Round 7: Empty sled

Compare to 2026.07.13.

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 2026.05.25.

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

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

Compare to 2026.04.27.

Option 4
5 rounds:
4 tire flips
8 sledgehammer strikes
6 pull-ups
10 push-ups

Pull-ups and push-ups can be modified – talk to the coaches for options.

Compare to 2026.04.27.

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.

Want a BIGGER Bench Press? | Use These FOUR Tactics

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

Today, let’s quickly cover four tactics to help you get a better – and therefore bigger – bench press. 

Remember, if you don't have a coach, then by default, you are your own coach, so be sure to check for these items when you watch your own bench on video.

These are not the only things to look for, of course, but they certainly are large “bang-for-your-buck” items. Solve these issues, and you’re well on your way to a much-improved bench press.

#1 Focal Point
Have one, and no – it’s not the barbell. You want a stationary focal point, and the moving barbell obviously fails this criterion.

When the bar is locked out overhead, i.e., before you start your first rep, find a point on the ceiling to stare at – you're going to stare at this point before each rep, during each rep, and between reps. You'll note that you can see the bar in your periphery when it’s locked out overhead, and to help achieve the desired bar path, you're going to make sure that that bar finishes in the same place in your periphery every single time

#2 Shoulders
Performed correctly, the bench press requires effort to get and keep your shoulders in the correct position when bench pressing. You want your shoulders retracted and pulled down – think “back and down.” This puts your shoulders in a stronger, more stable, and safer position from which to bench so lift your chest (more on that in a moment) and pull your shoulders back and down.

A solid cue for shoulder retraction is “grip the bench with your shoulders.”

#3 Touch Point (and bonus tip)
The bar starts (i.e., at lockout) directly above your shoulders, but you do not bench straight down. The bench is the one lift wherein we're not trying to have a vertical bar path. Instead, you touch the bar to your chest a little lower than the level of your shoulders. The precise point will depend on anthropometry, but let’s say roughly 2 inches as a general ballpark figure. To help with this, check to make sure your elbows are oriented vertically when viewed from the 6 o’clock position (as if someone was standing at the foot of the bench).

Be consistent with your touch point, and be sure that you drive the bar up and slightly backward on the ascent (since the bar needs to finish directly above the shoulders).

Here’s the bonus - to assist with the “up and back” bar path, make sure that the tips of your elbows are just a bit forward of the bar (i.e., slightly in front of the bar when viewed from the side).

#4 Leg Drive
When we lay down on the bench, we’re just a mushy mess of humanity, but we want to be as rigid and stable as possible to achieve efficient force transfer.

To achieve this, drive hard with your legs. Get your feet flat on the floor, and drive your body in the direction of your head. You don’t actually slide in that direction because the bar is pinning you to the bench, but this allows you to correctly set your arch, gets your chest up as much as you can without your hips coming up off the bench, and it has a compressive effect as well.

Check out the video below for a demonstration of the error as well as the solution.

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 2 Most Overlooked Bench Press Tips

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

What's the worst mistake on the bench press? It's not what you think.

(A Blast from the Past video originally published on 07/15/23)

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?

book a free intro

Fix Your Early Arm Bend on Your Cleans and Snatches!

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 12/03/21)

Bent arms on a clean or snatch are a problem, so we’re going to try to solve this.

Figure 1: Becky reaches the top of the clean with straight arms, which is what we want.

In Figure 1, Becky demonstrates a clean with straight arms - which is what we want at this point in the lift.

In Figure 2, Becky demonstrates what we don’t want to see, which is a clean with an early arm pull (or “early arm bend”). In other words, we see her bend her arms before they are supposed to bend (for a real time view of this, watch the included video below).

Figure 2: Becky demonstrates an early arm pull (notice the bent elbows), which we don’t want.

The problem with bent arms is that they are deformable, i.e., they can change shape. If you’re Babe Ruth, and you want to hit a baseball, you want to do so with a bat - a rigid, non-deformable object. You don’t want to hit a baseball with a pool noodle because, no matter how strong or fast you are, you can’t effectively transfer that power into the baseball through a squishy pool noodle.

Likewise, during a clean (or snatch) you are trying to take all the power generated in your legs and hips and transfer it through your (hopefully) rigid spine and then down through your long, straight arms into the barbell. If your back isn’t rigid or if the arms aren’t straight, then those structures are deformable, which means they can absorb some of the power you’re trying to transmit to the bar. We don’t want this, so let’s cover some cues to solve this problem.

Cue #1: Long arms (or “straight arms”)
The first cue we’re going to use is the simplest approach. Just cue yourself “long arms” or “straight arms” (or even “straight elbows”). If this works, don’t make it any more complicated. The goal was long, straight arms, so we cued exactly that.

Cue #2: Flex your triceps (or “tight triceps”)
The job of the triceps is to extend (i.e., straighten) the elbow, so if you cue yourself to flex your triceps or tighten your triceps, then your elbows will be nice and straight, which is exactly what we’re looking for.

Cue #3: Shrug
If the first two cues don’t work, try cueing yourself to shrug at the top of the pull (i.e., the top part of the clean where your knees and hips are straight and you’re up on your toes - the top of the “jump”). A shrug is inherent to the movement anyway, but reminding yourself to aggressively shrug at the top of the clean will often solve a bent arm situation (very few people shrug with bent arms).

Cue #4: Leave it on the floor
This one requires some explanation before you actually try it out. The idea here is that you are endeavoring to have such long arms, straight arms that - even though you’re moving upward as you pull the bar off the floor - you are simultaneously trying to leave the bar on the floor. You’re trying to actively stretch your arms out so that, even while standing up, you’re trying to keep the bar down on the floor. It’s obviously an exaggerated mental picture - kind of a “go, go, Gadget-arms!” type of situation - but the cue itself shortens up to “leave it on the floor,” and it tends to work quite well.

We hope these cues help, 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

Easy Slow Cooker Mexican Shredded Chicken

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

This Mexican shredded chicken is easy, delicious, and works in just about everything — tacos, burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas, burrito bowls, and more. It's also packed with protein, which means it's as practical as it is tasty.

If you've ever wanted a go-to meal that practically makes itself, this is it. Set it. Forget it. Eat well all week. Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers explains.

Don’t feel like watching the video? Here are the details:

Ingredients

(If you have 2-3 lb of chicken, simply use 1 taco seasoning packet and 12 oz of salsa)

Steps

  1. Place chicken breasts in slow cooker.

  2. Add taco seasoning to chicken.

  3. Pour salsa into the slow cooker.

  4. Mix together.

  5. Set slow cooker to low for 8 hours (or high for 4 hours).

  6. Pull/shred chicken with two forks.

  7. Enjoy!

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