
What You (And Your Doctor) Should Know About Type 2 Diabetes: Part 1
Diabetes is among the most common conditions encountered by patients and doctors today, affecting nearly 1 in 11 people worldwide. Unfortunately, it remains poorly understood …
Diabetes is among the most common conditions encountered by patients and doctors today, affecting nearly 1 in 11 people worldwide. Unfortunately, it remains poorly understood …
What approaches come to mind when thinking about rehabilitation after an injury? Many people imagine visiting an outpatient physical therapy clinic and receiving various treatment …
Pain in the hips and low back are common reasons people visit doctors and physical therapists. These professionals are often tasked with identifying a cause …
In part one we discussed how to interpret blood tests of kidney function in the context of exercise. Today in part two we will discuss …
Headaches are a common, painful, and oftentimes disabling symptom that can pop-up during exercise or at rest. Exercise may be useful for not only reducing migraine frequency in many, but also for improving nearly every aspect of general health in the population. Individuals who frequently experience the onset of headache during exercise should work with their physician to make sure there isn’t an underlying medical cause.
You rolled your ankle, whether it be in a pick-up basketball game, stepping awkwardly off the platform, or performing your best interpretive dance of Kenny …
Debate around how deep you should squat is one example of a range of motion (ROM) controversy. Range of motion (ROM) can be defined as …
When starting their training journey, people begin to learn many of the fundamental principles of programming and progression. Terms like “adaptation”, “recovery”, and “specificity” come …
In part one of this article series we discussed terminology, incidence, and the implications of spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis. In this second and final installment, we’ll …
Spondylolysis or spondylolisthesis are two intimidating words that are often described as representing a “broken back”. These aren’t words anyone wants to hear when experiencing …
So you’re experiencing pain in your heel. It’s especially painful when you take your first few steps out of bed in the morning and limits …
Do you wake up feeling unrested in the morning? Have you experienced morning headaches, or been told that you snore at night? Do you feel …
In part I we discussed the role of blood pressure in health and how to measure it. Having a high resting blood pressure over long …
Blood pressure is a key indicator of your health. This is why it is checked at every visit with a healthcare professional. Understanding this measurement …
A Basic Guide to Cholesterol, Part 3: Myths & Misconceptions In part 1 of this article series we discussed the basics of cholesterol and blood …
In part 1 we discussed the basics of cholesterol and why we should care about it. We also described a simplified approach to blood tests …
Cholesterol is a substance that plays many essential roles in the body. It is involved in things like the structure of our cells, brain and …
A doctor has just diagnosed you or a family member with osteoporosis. What does this mean, and what should you do about it? In this …
Collagen is a protein found in many tissues in animals and humans, ultimately making up about 30% of the entire body’s protein content. Di Lullo …
Obesity is a chronic disease resulting from genetic, environmental, and psychosocial factors resulting in increased adipose (fat) tissue that increases the risk of disease such …
We all have beliefs about the world. Some we may have spent significant time establishing – for example, pursuing a degree in a particular field …
The efficacy of placebo in enhancing performance is as well established as it is multifactorial. Geers 2014 This presents a paradox of a placebo being …
Cancer is among the leading causes of disease and death in the U.S. and contributes to a substantial burden of disease in the world [CDC, …
In the final part of this series we will look at how altering exercise programming based on the menstrual cycle actually affects strength in athletes. …
In the third installment of this series, we’ll review the data on how the menstrual cycle affects training and sports performance. If you’re new to …
The United States population has become profoundly physically inactive in recent years. This has contributed to an increase in health problems such as heart disease …
The word protein is derived from the Greek proteios meaning “primary” or “taking first place.” This is appropriate, as proteins are found everywhere in the …
Discussing the biological plausibility that the menstrual cycle affects physical performance requires an understanding of the menstrual cycle’s physiology, exercise’s effect on that physiology, and …
The increase in women’s involvement in sports has increased interest in the influences of women’s unique physiology on athletic performance. The effect of the menstrual …
Today we’ll be wrapping up our hip pain series with the familiar topic of osteoarthritis, and summarize some practical take-home points at the end (see …
In our last article we discussed how to manage muscle injuries of the hamstrings, groin (adductors), hip flexors, and quadriceps. Today we’ll move on to …
In the first two installments of this article series we discussed the science of hip pain and management strategies. In this article, we’ll discuss the …
In the first article of this series we provided an introduction to the hip, discussing anatomy as well as ideas about “normal” versus “abnormal” findings …
Pain in the front, side, or back of the hip are common complaints within the lifting community. A combination of factors are typically involved when …
Low back pain is commonly attributed to a ‘weak core’ or a lack of ‘core stability’, and this leads to lots of advice about ‘activating …
In the late 17th century physician-philosopher John Locke published An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, which suggested that the mind was a blank slate at birth …
The ability to engage in physical activity is an integral component of the maintenance of health and independence with age. This capacity is typically developed …
While resistance training for the calf muscles is typically the butt of jokes in bodybuilding gym culture, there are some legitimate benefits to increasing the …
Lifters occasionally ask us whether it is “okay” to include snatches or cleans in a training program that is otherwise focused on building strength in …
Blood pressure is a key vital sign that describes the force the blood exerts on the walls of the blood vessels. Blood pressure readings are …
Performance in specific sports requires specific adaptations, while developing overall physical literacy and athletic power is predicated on a broad range of traits. If an …
Barbell Medicine values the development of a well-rounded athlete and healthy individual, so while we have a clear focus on strength training, we aim to …
We’ve previously published a number of articles on pain and the complexities of making sense of pain both as a human who personally experiences pain …
Interest in cannabidiol – better known as CBD – has recently exploded in America, with an estimated 1 in 7 adults currently using a CBD-based …
Belief that you can perform a task is an essential component to beginning the process of mastery. There are a host of both internal and …
In this segment of the How-To Do GPP series, we tackle direct arm training, or “arm work”. In the context of GPP, we train the …
Last week’s article made a strong case for embracing variability in movement for active individuals, particularly when learning a new movement. Still, much has been …
Last week’s article made a strong case for embracing variability in movement for active individuals, particularly when learning a new movement. However, much has been …
Our attempts to understand and explain complex systems commonly involve reductionist analysis, whereby a system is broken down into its component parts for easier understanding. …
There are a variety of knee surgeries that may be recommended for an individual. These range from “minimally invasive” (also known as arthroscopic) surgeries, such …
Have you ever been told you have “tendonitis,” golfer’s elbow, tennis elbow, or jumper’s knee? Tendonitis is a common concern among those who engage in …
It is late afternoon on a Monday and you’ve just arrived at the gym for Day 1 of this week’s training after a tough day …
The process of strength training is not a linear one where every workout allows us to realize a new level of performance, although improvement early …
Exercise selection is an important programming variable for both performance and health outcomes. From a performance standpoint, the type(s) of exercises selected play a major …
Have you ever been told you have “arthritis” in one of your joints? Do you know anyone who said they have “bad knees” or who …
We frequently receive questions from lifters who see their doctors and get a variety of screening tests done, including bloodwork. Interpreting lab data accurately can …
Introduction If it has been some time since you last exercised, whether due to COVID-related restrictions or other circumstances, there is one important point to …
Hopefully after our journey through Part I, Part II, Part III and Part IV of this series it is clear that youth benefit from a …
In 2019 we published our Beginner Prescription, a free workout program with supporting materials designed to answer the question, “Where do I start with exercise …
People are bombarded with conflicting and confusing information from multiple sources on health related topics. This makes it hard to recognize who to trust, what …
In part four of the Resistance Training for Youth series, we’ll discuss the role of different training elements (or modalities) in athletic development. We recommend …
So you’ve been training, but have started experiencing pain. This is an extremely common experience that we get asked about on a daily basis. Essentially, …
Meat is an important dietary component for much of the world, whereas the prevalence of veganism or vegetarianism varies widely in different countries. For example, …
Part III will focus on the specific effects of resistance training on youth athletes. As mentioned in the previous parts of this series, resistance training …
If early sports specialization is not advantageous in most scenarios, and with an epidemic of inactivity among our youth, we need to find a more …
This series will analyze current evidence for training the general youth populations as well as for those who already consider themselves athletes. We will give …
The benefits of resistance training for reducing injury risk in endurance athletes was covered in Part 1 of this series. In Part 2, we examined …
The role of gender in sports dates to the 1890’s and the birth of the modern Olympic movement. When asked about the inclusion of women …
For an introduction to this program, please check out The Barbell Medicine Podcast: Episode #58: Programming For Beginners (and other musings on training) You can sign …
If you’ve ever tried to lose weight, have ever missed a meal, or have even just driven by your favorite bakery…chances are you’ve experienced hunger. …
Crepitus is the menacingly-named phenomenon of noises produced by a joint during movement. It is common to hear snaps, crackles, and pops when flexing or …
It is important to note that the assumptions discussed in the last article are not arbitrary to the biomedical model, but legitimized through common sense …
In the second part of this article series we discussed the utility, limitations, and misconceptions related to the prospective cohort design for nutrition science. As …
The “rotator cuff” is a set of four muscles around the glenohumeral joint including the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, subscapularis, and teres minor (see figure). These muscles …
In the first article in this series we discussed the history of nutrition science and traced its evolution alongside the biomedical model. We also introduced …
To anyone versed in biomedicine, the so-called “hierarchy of evidence” is well-established and unquestioned. The randomized , double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (RCT) is considered the gold standard …
In part 2 of our shoulder series we discussed the topic of “shoulder impingement”, which is commonly understood as the mechanical compression of the tissues …
In the first article of this series we discussed the concept of “normal” or “abnormal” scapular movement (i.e., scapular dyskinesis), which is the pathomechanical foundation …
The shoulder joint is complex, and pain affecting its use in daily activities and sport is common. This article series will review common shoulder diagnoses, …
This article was originally published in September of 2014 as the first of four blog posts addressing The Principle of Specificity. Since then, the coaches at Barbell …
Rolling through Instagram or Facebook, we find narratives and interventions claiming to improve something called “mobility”. We can select from options including stretching, foam rolling …
Take home points: In the context of complex systems, logical analysis can be useful in generating hypotheses, but not for drawing conclusions with a high …
If you’ve been paying attention to our latest podcasts, articles, Q/A’s, and other content then you’ve likely heard us discuss the importance of waist circumference …
I will spare you my lengthy back pain origin story and set the scene in 3 bullet points: Pre-back pain, I was a pretty killer …
Introduction Regular followers are likely familiar with our interest in a “biopsychosocial” approach to both training and injury, particularly the modifiable psychological factors that can …
Note: We published this protocol in the Barbell Medicine newsletter in March of 2018, but have since added some additional context, explanation, and recommendations for …
Prologue Alexis Irwin has been a client of mine for some time now. Together, we’ve successfully added hundreds of pounds to her lifts in total …
Yes. Your metabolism changes when you lose weight. Some of these changes are good, e.g. decreased fasting blood sugar, improved cholesterol measures, decreased storage of …
It has been said that using Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) is useless for strength and conditioning, which has caused quite a stir between the …
A 2014 paper by Draganich & Erdal studied the effect of sleep on cognitive functioning in 164 undergraduate students – with an interesting twist. Participants …
In late February, 2018 of this year, after a series of back and forth emails, I informed Rip et al that I was resigning from …
A little over one year ago I reached out to Austin Baraki in desperate need of coaching. Thankfully, he didn’t hesitate to accept the task …
“How do I increase my press?”- The Internet Fresh on the heels of the 2017 USSF Fall Classic, a strengthlifting meet that contests the press instead …
If you’re reading this, please raise your hand if you’ve heard the phrase “Americans eat too much salt” or, alternatively, that we should “cut back …
This is a transcription of the podcast, which is available on iTunes, SoundCloud, or YouTube. But first, a brief comment on this topic. This is …
We are very excited about our upcoming Barbell Medicine Seminar (Next one in Tempe, AZ in March 2018 Click Here For More Info). For those who …
Dr. Feigenbaum: Hey, welcome back to the Barbell Medicine Podcast. I’m Dr. Feigenbaum, I’m joined here with Dr. Baraki. This is another Q&A …
Week number 2 is here and guess what….more dumbbells! Great! Let’s get into it: The Workout: Duration: 12 minutes Like last week, this has quite …
This article was originally published on StartingStrength.com on August 3rd, 2016. I am reposting it on my own personal blog. All images are property of The …
17.1 (<<<PDF available here) A brief introduction and then we can get right into this. I’m Jordan. I’m a lifter, a doctor, and I help people …
By Jordan Feigenbaum Hey there! I was contacted by Scivation a few months back to come up with a series of workouts geared toward improving …
By Jordan Feigenbaum Hey there, readers! A different kind of post today and luckily for those of you who are still recovering from reading about …
By Jordan Feigenbaum So this is about a week two weeks late, but I thought I would catalogue my thoughts about how my foray into …
By Austin Baraki, MD, SSC, ft. Leah Lutz “You refuse to settle for mediocrity in those around you, and you relentlessly push people to be …
By Leah Lutz Hardly a day goes by that someone doesn’t ask me about my new hobby, my new life, and my new confidence. My …
Tom Campitelli and I are going to visit Australia this January to hold a series of extended Starting Strength Camps. While camps normally cover one …
By Austin Baraki, MD, SSC This past week I was alerted to a new article in the journal Physical Therapy by Falvey et al. titled …
By Jordan Feigenbaum If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you probably have a vested interest in things pertaining to training, nutrition, and a …
“Just keep putting in the work. You’ll be fine. You’re strong. You’ve got this. Focus, Jordan.” This was just some of my internal dialogue on …
By Jordan Feigenbaum This post was inspired by a recent Facebook post of another coach, Jacob Tsypkin, owner of TZ Strength when he mentioned the idea …
This past Winter Tom Campitelli and I once again toured through Europe. While in London, we visited CrossFit Perpetua where I did a nutrition seminar …
By Jordan Feigenbaum About two weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending my first CrossFit Games, held every summer since 2007 in sunny southern California. …
By Jordan Feigenbaum, Emily Sanchez, Brandon Schabacker, and Movicque King Updated 3/30/2016 Readers, I’m posting part of a quality improvement project I’ve been working on …
By Austin Baraki Sorry for the delay, folks! I’ve been busy graduating from medical school :). We’ve made it to the fourth, final, and most …
By Austin Baraki In our first article we defined sarcopenia as a loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength, and discussed how disuse, poor nutrition, …
By Jordan Feigenbaum The Texas Method may be one of the most popular intermediate training programs in existence. Developed by happenstance in Texas (duh) and …
By Austin Baraki In our first article we defined sarcopenia as a loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength. We discussed how disuse, poor nutrition, …
This article begins a multi-part series discussing the growing problem of sarcopenia in our aging population. We will discuss our current understanding of sarcopenia, ways …
By Jordan Feigenbaum MS, Starting Strength Staff, CSCS, HFS, USAW Club Coach After explaining these same issues over and over again literally hundreds of times …
By Jordan Feigenbaum MS Anatomy and Physiology, Starting Strength Staff, HFS, CSCS, USAW Club Coach In part three of this series, we’re going to discuss …
By Jordan Feigenbaum MS Anatomy and Physiology, Starting Strength Staff, HFS, CSCS, USAW Club Coach In part two of this series, we’re going to discus …
By Austin Baraki Introduction Today we’ll be discussing a paper published in the Journal of Sports Sciences in April of this year (see here) …
By Jordan Feigenbaum MS, Starting Strength Staff, CSCS, HFS, USAW Club Coach In response to this gem of an article. I answered this on the …
By Jordan Feigenbaum MS, CSCS, Starting Strength Staff, USAW CC, HFS In general, I am not a fan of rules, dogma, or rigid guidelines. That …
Hey everyone, you can access my power point presentation from the FIM lecture today. I will be making a YouTube video with the slideshow + …
Recently got this question on my forum and thought I’d post it here for all to see. Question: I’m interested in your opinion on the …
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Pmrni6WvIY&w=420&h=315]
By Jordan Feigenbaum MD, MS, Starting Strength Staff 1) Not reading the book Seriously, most people who are doing “Starting Strength Novice Progression” have never …
By Jordan Feigenbaum MS, Starting Strength Staff, CSCS, HFS, USAW CC In case you missed part one of this three part series, click here. In …
By Jordan Feigenbaum MS, CSCS, HFS, USAW CC, Starting Strength Staff One of the most common questions I get with regards to nutrition and/or training …
Hey everyone!! Thanks for all the support and for checking up on me. It was a fun day at the Arnold and although things didn’t …
Jordan Feigenbaum MS, CSCS, HFS, USAW CC, Starting Strength Staff When it comes to dialing in the training there are numerous valid approaches that will …
By Jordan Feigenbaum MS, CSCS, HFS, USAW CC, Starting Strength Staff You can read parts one, 1.5, two , three, and four, before checking this …
By Jordan Feigenbaum MS, CSCS, HFS, USAW CC, Starting Strength Staff This study, The Effect of a Plant-Based Low-Carbohydrate (“Eco-Atkins”) Diet on Body Weight and …
By Jordan Feigenbaum MS, CSCS, HFS, USAW CC, Starting Strength Coach Week 6: Cycle 1: Peaking (2 of 2) Day 1 i. Bench Press- up …
By Jordan Feigenbaum MS, Starting Strength Coach, CSCS, HFS, USAW CC Yea, it’s that time again Resolution Time! People will be thinking about, discussing, and …
This past week I competed at the USAPL NE Regionals in Philadelphia, PA and had, by far, my worst performance at a meet ever. The …
By Jordan Feigenbaum MS, CSCS, HFS, USAW Club Coach, Starting Strength Coach Ahhh, deload weeks…..the week(s) that EVERYONE hates (including me). In this installment I’m …
The idea is to give the athlete the best preparation for CrossFit competitions, which will start in late February. You may notice the trend of …
Just a little pre-weekend update before I head down to Atlanta to hang out with the Starting Strength crew and help out at Rip’s seminar …
By Jordan Feigenbaum Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past few years, you’ve undoubtedly seen or heard of the CrossFit Games. An …
By Jordan Feigenbaum MS, CSCS, HFS, USAW Club Coach Weight class sports, by definition, offer advantages to those who are at the top of their …
While cruising Twitter this morning I saw this: The title of this blog post, Finding Your Fire, represents the single most important component in your …
I’ll be chronicling my participation in the USAPL Raw Nationals (181 class) on this post and will update it throughout the weekend. You can watch …
By Jordan Feigenbaum MS, Starting Strength Staff, CSCS, HFS, USAW Club Coach Updated 01/26/2015: Finally, I have updated what has been the most viewed blog …
By Jordan Feigenbaum MS, CSCS, HFS, USAW Club Coach DFM Director of Strength and Conditioning This article is all about force and it’s relationship to …
This is part two of the multi-part Hunger Games series. Check out part one here. Ghrelin, as mentioned before is made by cells in the …
Hunger Games: Part One By Jordan Feigenbaum MS, CSCS, HFS, USAW Club Coach In this multi-part series I hope to start unraveling the science behind …
By Jordan Feigenbaum MS*, CSCS, HFS, USAW Club Coach If the title of the article didn’t give this article’s topic then let’s spell it out, …
Hey everyone! Thanks for checking out the blog once again. Today’s post is about my powerlifting meet (USAPL MO State Raw Meet) and a little …
I’m gonna be frank, I love (and hate) food. I love all the tastes, culinary novelties, and the satiety provided by an epic meal. At …
I had an excellent squat session today. Getting ready for a meet in March and switched to 3’s. Hit 200kg x 3 x 3 with …
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