It seems like every week, I get into a discussion with someone about round-back deadlifting. So I decided to write down some random thoughts on the matter in order to save some time in the future. Besides, I think more people could use some extra understanding about a lift that usually comprises about 40% ...

Welcome to the Athlete Comments section! You’ll get to hear directly from the athletes of Team RTS just what RTS is about, how it’s helped them, as well as other training tips learned by experience that you might not find anywhere else.


It’s going to take a little time for us to build this section – we don’t want to sacrifice quality for you all! But keep checking back often. You’ll learn about the RTS system from people just like you – lifters who are trying to improve.

In the meantime, since you took the time to visit, we don't want you to leave empty-handed. So we included a smattering of unsolicited feedback we have received. Read up on RTS from some of those who know us best -- our athletes:

"By the way, I set a new Squat PR with a 185KG triple as prescribed ...

I get lots of people coming on the site asking for a program check. Actually thoroughly checking a program is an involved process and it usually requires more information than the poster supplies. What’s more, it turns out that “is this a good program” is actually a bad question. Yes, there’s science and some hard rules when it comes to planning training. But there’s also a lot of art to it. So posting a program and asking if it’s good is kind of like posting a picture of a painting and asking for a critique. You can critique some stuff, but how you paint isn’t going to be the same way I paint.

With that in mind, I decided to write the General Intermediate Program. This is a simple 9 week program for people to use and use as inspiration for their own programming.

When I get a new athlete for coaching, I first gather a lot of information. This keeps me from making assumptions during the planning process and helps me to write effective training from the first training day. In an instance like this, I’m building a generalized program, so there isn’t a person to provide those details. That means they’re left as assumptions.

In order to be as clear about my assumptions as possible, I’m going to write this program for an avatar. That means I’m going ...

Written by: Mike Tuchscherer & Sol Orwell

Sol Orwell of Examine.com has put together a list of some supplements that can be useful for Iron Sport athletes like us. This information comes from their newly released Supplement Reference Guide that you can get on Examine.com. The conclusions here are based on actual science and not supplement industry ...

Pendulums swing to and fro. That’s what pendulums do. I see another pendulum swinging lately and this one has to do with exercise specificity. Not long ago, the pendulum was as far away from specificity as it gets. Lots of lifters and popular writers talked about what assistance exercises drove their lifts the most. In powerlifting, ...

There’s a notion in the sometimes-weird world of strength training that you’ll get stronger from doing less work. You can put this in the new-age junk pile of failed ideas. ...

Lots of people talk about deadlifting, but you’ve got to examine the source that you’re listening to. I see people speaking about all sorts of things they have no authority on and the deadlift in particular is something that irritates me. It’s mostly because the deadlift is something I do have authority ...

[This was written in December 2012]

I’m sitting here in the London Gatwick airport reflecting on the last week. What a crazy week it’s been. I basically took a whirlwind Powerlifting tour of the sunshine state, had a competition, then the next day left for a new continent. So yeah… plenty ...

MT: I’m here today with Dr. Nicola Bird, Psychotherapist and founder of Self-Imaging Therapy (SIT). Dr. Bird, I don’t want to mess up a description of what you do, so I’m going to turn it over to you right away. Can you tell us a little of your background and what you do?
NB: I restarted my life at 28. I was then an unemployed single mother of a nine-month old son having ...

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