THE LATEST ARTICLES
March 13, 2025
Life can be complicated. That’s no secret. And if you’re not a professional athlete, your strength and conditioning training will have to make certain compromises. So, how can you achieve your training goals while dealing with the individual circumstances of everyday life? At the beginning of the Covid Pandemic in 2020, I decided to train […]
February 26, 2025
Would you like to learn more about a specific topic? Post your follow-up questions in this thread. Pavel will answer select questions in upcoming StrongFirst newsletters. (If you are not subscribed to the newsletter, subscribe HERE). Andrew Huberman, Ph.D. (hubermanlab.com): “In this episode, my guest is Pavel Tsatsouline, a world-renowned strength and conditioning coach, former […]
January 30, 2025
It has been stated that the swing is the center of the kettlebell universe, and it is a well-known fact that the kettlebell deadlift is the foundation of the swing. Every StrongFirst student begins their kettlebell journey with the kettlebell deadlift. By hinging the hips back into an athletic stance with the kettlebell positioned directly […]
January 2, 2025
I’m about to make a potentially heretical and controversial statement. Ready? Here we go—You don’t need a goal. And what’s more…you don’t need a plan. Let’s all take a moment to catch our collective breath. A student once said to me, “I need a goal.” And my response was, do you? Do you need a […]
December 5, 2024
In addition to being the school of strength, StrongFirst has created a culture built on pushing one’s limits, both physically and mentally. In 2013 Pavel published Kettlebell Simple & Sinister, in which he introduced a now infamous test of one’s strength, mobility, power, and overall resilience. Thus far, 72 men and 125 women have successfully […]
February 27, 2025
Please understand I grew up a very skinny kid. My dad used to tease me and call me spaghetti arms. I hated to eat and spent countless nights negotiating how many more bites I had to eat before I could get up from the table. This weaved its way into my psyche and always made […]
February 13, 2025
Five years ago, I earned my SFB (StrongFirst Bodyweight) Certification under StrongFirst Certified Master Instructor Karen Smith. The SFB StrongFirst Bodyweight Instructor Certification prepares you to teach bodyweight exercises safely and effectively, adhering to strict standards. To pass the strength test, women over 50 must perform a one-arm pushup (OAPU) from an elevation of 6-8 […]
January 16, 2025
In my previous article, “Introducing Super Sinister,” I introduced a new challenge for Sinister athletes. Classic Sinister requires you to perform 10 one-arm swings (48kg for men/32kg for women) every 30 seconds for 5 minutes, totaling 100 swings. Then after one minute of rest, you perform one get-up (48kg for men/24kg for women) every minute […]
December 19, 2024
Based just outside Belfast, I’m a busy husband, dad to two boys, and a 20-year shift lab worker (and still counting—until my lottery numbers come up). Shifts can put a lot of demands on an individual’s time and energy and may limit training time, but the benefits of training, despite these challenges, are numerous for […]
November 21, 2024
Background From 2017 to 2019, I was fortunate to support the Dutch “Project 2020” women’s eight rowing selection as a strength and conditioning coach. My task was to create and perform the day-to-day physical strength training to complement the large number of weekly rowing sessions the team performed. The team was formed in a slightly […]March 13, 2025
Life can be complicated. That’s no secret. And if you’re not a professional athlete, your strength and conditioning training will have to make certain compromises. So, how can you achieve your training goals while dealing with the individual circumstances of everyday life? At the beginning of the Covid Pandemic in 2020, I decided to train […]February 27, 2025
Please understand I grew up a very skinny kid. My dad used to tease me and call me spaghetti arms. I hated to eat and spent countless nights negotiating how many more bites I had to eat before I could get up from the table. This weaved its way into my psyche and always made […]
February 26, 2025
Would you like to learn more about a specific topic? Post your follow-up questions in this thread. Pavel will answer select questions in upcoming StrongFirst newsletters. (If you are not subscribed to the newsletter, subscribe HERE). Andrew Huberman, Ph.D. (hubermanlab.com): “In this episode, my guest is Pavel Tsatsouline, a world-renowned strength and conditioning coach, former […]February 13, 2025
Five years ago, I earned my SFB (StrongFirst Bodyweight) Certification under StrongFirst Certified Master Instructor Karen Smith. The SFB StrongFirst Bodyweight Instructor Certification prepares you to teach bodyweight exercises safely and effectively, adhering to strict standards. To pass the strength test, women over 50 must perform a one-arm pushup (OAPU) from an elevation of 6-8 […]January 30, 2025
It has been stated that the swing is the center of the kettlebell universe, and it is a well-known fact that the kettlebell deadlift is the foundation of the swing. Every StrongFirst student begins their kettlebell journey with the kettlebell deadlift. By hinging the hips back into an athletic stance with the kettlebell positioned directly […]January 16, 2025
In my previous article, “Introducing Super Sinister,” I introduced a new challenge for Sinister athletes. Classic Sinister requires you to perform 10 one-arm swings (48kg for men/32kg for women) every 30 seconds for 5 minutes, totaling 100 swings. Then after one minute of rest, you perform one get-up (48kg for men/24kg for women) every minute […]January 2, 2025
I’m about to make a potentially heretical and controversial statement. Ready? Here we go—You don’t need a goal. And what’s more…you don’t need a plan. Let’s all take a moment to catch our collective breath. A student once said to me, “I need a goal.” And my response was, do you? Do you need a […]December 19, 2024
Based just outside Belfast, I’m a busy husband, dad to two boys, and a 20-year shift lab worker (and still counting—until my lottery numbers come up). Shifts can put a lot of demands on an individual’s time and energy and may limit training time, but the benefits of training, despite these challenges, are numerous for […]December 5, 2024
In addition to being the school of strength, StrongFirst has created a culture built on pushing one’s limits, both physically and mentally. In 2013 Pavel published Kettlebell Simple & Sinister, in which he introduced a now infamous test of one’s strength, mobility, power, and overall resilience. Thus far, 72 men and 125 women have successfully […]November 21, 2024
Background From 2017 to 2019, I was fortunate to support the Dutch “Project 2020” women’s eight rowing selection as a strength and conditioning coach. My task was to create and perform the day-to-day physical strength training to complement the large number of weekly rowing sessions the team performed. The team was formed in a slightly […]