Strength Training Archives - Tucson Strength

Gym Has Been Completely Renovated

Danny — Fri, 19 Dec 2025 00:46:28 +0000

Check out the new layout

We are super excited about our new gym layout. This allowed us to organize the gym with a much more cohesive layout. We have upgraded our equipment line to offer the newest most innovative equipment on the market as well as some of the greatest classic pieces of all time. We have hand picked each piece of equipment from around the country to offer the best experience for the serious strength enthusiast. We are proud to carry some vintage Cybex, Body Masters, and Flex equipment as well as new pieces from Arsenal and Hammer Strength.

Our powerlifting area is the most comprehensive over any gym in the state of Arizona. We have numerous competition combo racks, competition benches, a monolift, and professional deadlifting platforms. All of our bars are competition bars. We have Texas Power bars, deadlift bars, and squat bars as well as every specialty bar you could imagine.

Our Functional Training area boasts an 1800sqft turf inside with More kettlebells than any other gym in town. We have a fully functioning Crossfit area and 5 Olympic Platform with bars and kilo bumpers.

Whether you are into Powerlifting, Olympic Lifting, Bodybuilding, Hyrox, Crossfit, or general Strength, you wont find a better equipped gym.

The post Gym Has Been Completely Renovated appeared first on Tucson Strength.

Deadlifting Dont’s

Danny — Wed, 26 Jun 2024 17:11:47 +0000

What not to do on the Deadlift

The Deadlift is one of the Big 3 in the sport of Powerlifting, something we take seriously at Tucson Strength. When I first shot this video the intent was to inform the powerlifting athlete of what NOT to do because it will disqualify you in in powerlifting competition. The more I think about, if you are going to deadlift with barbell you shouldn’t do any of these things regardless if you are competing in a sport or not.

Ramping

Ramping isn’t a powerlifting rule book term, but it’s the slang for letting the bar rest on your legs. Once that bar passes your knees, you should not let your knees shoot under the bar. This allows you to slide the bar up your legs and can create a mechanical advantage to getting the weight up. I’ve seen people do this quickly and get away with it, but when you do this you leave it up to the judges, you run the risk of getting DQ’d for the lift. I see people doing this in the gym on their training sets and the more you practice it, the more you will be prone to make it a part of your habit. STOP IT.

DESCENDING BAR

Once you break the ground with the bar, the bar must always be moving up. The bar can stop, but it can’t go back down then up again. If you are in a grind of a lift and fighting the weight and keep the bar moving up. Many times at a meet if the head ref sees the bar go down and back up they will give you the down command because they already know the lift has failed. Also your feet have to stay planted. If you step before the bar touches the mat its a red light.

DOnt drop the bar

DOn’t get in the habit of dropping your deadlifts in the gym. You will always revert to your training when things get heavy. When you lockout the deadlift and receive the “down” command keep your hands on the bar until the plates touch the mat. If you drop right before you will still get a red light.

shaking the bar

Many lifters have a prelift tradition of getting nuts and jerking on the bar. If you jerk on the bar so hard and the plates leave the ground, that is a red light. Once the plates leave the ground it is considered an attempt. Yes getting psyched up is part of the sport, but so is control.

Hope these tips help.

The post Deadlifting Dont’s appeared first on Tucson Strength.

Are you Doing This on Your Bench Press

Danny — Wed, 19 Jun 2024 16:29:11 +0000

This is important for a big Bench Press

The bench press is the king of all gym lifts even if you aren’t a powerlifter. How much do you bench is first thing people ask when you tell them you lift weights. It is by far the most popular and visible of the barbell lifts. Unfortunately most people mindlessly unpack the bar, let the weight drop onto their chest then push the weight up.

Try This

The bench press is a a compound movement that involves nearly your entire body. We won’t go into all the details in this blog as to keep it focused on upper body mechanics. Your lats and upper back musculature is just as important as your chest and triceps on the bench press. Before you unpack the bar your shoulders should be retracted and depressed. You should feel the muscles between your shoulder blades engaged and your lats (underneath your armpits) fully activated. Once unpacked you should be actively pulling that bar down to your chest. If the bar just falls down onto your chest you will lose tightness and be forced to fight the weight up.

Don’t mistake the lowering of the bar to a general eccentric lowering of the bar with your chest. This is an active recruitment of the back. Think about pulling your chest to the bar as you are lowering the weight. When executed correctly, you will feel your lats light up and the weight bearing on your back, not your chest. This tightness will allow you have maximal recruitment of your chest and tripes when executing the lift.

The best way to master this is to practice using your back on all your warm up sets. How you lift light weights is how you lift heavy weights. You are only as good as your practice.

In the video above we also have a warm up drill to help you activate the right muscles.

If you need help we strongly encourage finding a qualified strength coach. Don’t ask the random personal trainer at a Big box gym. If you are in Tucson, our team of coaches are happy to help.

The post Are you Doing This on Your Bench Press appeared first on Tucson Strength.

Low Bar vs High Bar on Squats

Danny — Mon, 10 Jun 2024 16:56:27 +0000

High Bar VS Low Bar on Squats

This blog could be an entire chapter in a book. Lets start with the basics of bar position. High Bar squats should have the bar placed in the meat of the upper traps. Many times lifters will put the bar where the trapezius muscle meets the cervical spine and that is not an optimal position. The bar can end up resting on the spine and cause issues. Also, having the bar that high on the back can cause the bar to roll forward and cause you to tip forward. The ability to let the bar sit on the upper trapezius muscle will give some padding and also also the lifter to achieve maximal tightens and connection to the bar. On the high bar position the lifter wants to think about pulling the body up into the bar to create a wedge. Some people think about pulling the scapula down to create the wedge. Many people will use the cue of Chest up, which is ok, but it can also cause the lifter to arch the lower back which isn’t a position to be in while squatting.

Low Bar Position

Low bar has the bar resting on the top of the rear deltoids. The lifter things about retracting or squeezing the scapula together and the bar will rest on ledge made by the rear deltoid muscles. Maintaining the back squeeze throughout the execution of the squat is crucial for a strong squat. Some lifters will allow the bar to be lower than the rear deltoids which may make the squat feel easier because the bar is lower on the back, but this can cause issues of having the bar slide down the back. If this happens it can risk serious injury or at minimum dropping of the bar off the back. The USPA Powerlifting Federation actually have rules in place to ensure super low bar position is not used.

WHO SHOULD USE WHICH POSITION?

If you are an upright squatter the high bar position is optimal. It allows the bar to stay over the mid foot throughout the execution of the squat. If you are someone that has to lean forward a bit to squat to depth then low bar position will be optimal for you. Again putting the bar lower on the back will allow the bar to stay over the mid foot during the execution of the squat. There is so much more I could say on this topic but I will point out a couple of things to be aware of. If you have really tight ankles and long femurs High bar will be very difficult for you to execute, you are most likely a low bar squatter. If you are a low bar squatter you have to have decent shoulder mobility to keep the bar in position on your rear deltoids. So if you are struggling with each position it would be helpful to get with a coach that can get you dialed in and possibly work on any mobility issues you have that is holding your squat back. Here is an article on some other key aspects of squatting you should know if you want to have a big squat. If you are looking for a gym in Tucson that specializes in powerlifting feel free to reach out to us. We also offer online programming and coaching.

The post Low Bar vs High Bar on Squats appeared first on Tucson Strength.

Bench Press Safety

Danny — Fri, 17 May 2024 16:41:46 +0000

Bench Press Safety

Bench Press is by far the most popular of all of the barbell lifts. It’s what every male in the gym under 30 cares about. “How big is your bench bro”? Bench press is a great exercise for upper body strength and development and though it is popular it is by far the one exercise that causes more injury in the gym. This occurs because most people use improper technique and usually train it too often and too hard, but that is not the purpose of this post.

We see it all to often of someone pushing to failure on the bench press. The weight seems to be going up and then it comes right back down. If you don’t have a spotter, you have big dilemma on your hands. Either your trapped under the bar on your chest, or for the very unfortunate, the bar is on your throat. Though it isn’t extremely common there are deaths associated with bench pressing every year. If that bar lands on your throat you will die from asphyxiation or a broken neck.

THe Solution

Using face savers are the answer. Unfortunately most chain gyms don’t offer benches with face savers, but powerlifting gyms usually have an this as an option. If you don’t have access to a bench with a face saver, you can bench in a squat rack and use the spotting rods. The key to setting this up is finding the correct height where the bar can touch your chest and not make contact with the spotter arms. Roll the empty bar back towards your throat and make sure the bar is resting on the arms and not your throat.

When should face savers or spotter arms be used

Face savers should be used anytime you are training without a spotter. Even if you are going light you will never know when things can go south. Last year we had a gentleman in our gym training with 75% of his max and he suddenly tore his tricep. The bar came crashing down suddenly. Even if you are using a spotter the face savers should be set up. Even with the best spotter in the world, if the weight slips out of your hand or a freak accident happens, their reaction time won’t be able to catch the bar in time to save you. We feel that Bench press face savers are crucial for safety. If you are training at home usually by yourself you should have a face saver set up without a doubt.

At Tucson Strength we have 5 competition benches all equipped with face savers and 6 squat cages with spotter arms.

The post Bench Press Safety appeared first on Tucson Strength.

Rest Time Between Sets for Hypertrophy

Danny — Mon, 13 May 2024 20:26:58 +0000

Rest Times For Hypertrophy Training

Training philosophy is all over the map on this topic. There are some pretty jacked guys talking about taking 30 seconds or less between sets and others talking about taking extended periods of rest between sets. When it comes to pure strength training no one will argue that longer rest periods are the most optimal for improvement in strength. Some Powerlifters will really push the limits on this take a nap between sets..lol Coach Christian Kruszeweski breaks down a few tips on which method is better.

Short or long rest times?

For hypertrophy training longer rest times seem to be the most optimal for the best gains in muscle size. Lets just look at it from a common sense point of view. When you are training to make muscles bigger you really want to keep tension on the muscle and train close to failure. You don’t want to go to failure every set, but getting close to that point is important to work the muscle hard enough to see increases in size. You don’t just want to push the muscle hard for one exercise, but usually 2-3 exercises of 2-3 sets per muscle group. If you are going to be doiong 6-9 hard sets of training you want to be able to get as much quality and volume out of that training day.

If you take short rest times you may only be able to do 6 hard sets of 6-8 reps before your completely get wiped out and can’t move your arms any more. Taking slightly longer breaks will allow the muscle to recover enough to be able to squeeze out a few extra reps and sets which would increase your overall training volume for the day.

Lets look at it Mathematically

If you are taking 30 seconds or less break between sets and can only do 6 sets of 8 with 100 pounds on a lift your total training volume is 4800lbs.

If you take 90 seconds to 120seconds and can do 9 sets of 8 of 100lbs you have now lifted 7200lbs of weight. You are able to move more mass put more work on that muscle to see the growth

The post Rest Time Between Sets for Hypertrophy appeared first on Tucson Strength.

Is it the Shoes?

Danny — Wed, 08 May 2024 19:35:40 +0000

QUICK guide to weightlifting shoes

We see so many lifters show up to the gym with the latest and greatest in equipment. Everything from the hottest new belt on the market, to the tightest knee sleeved ever made. Lifters want the edge and pay good money for the best equipment. So what about shoes? Shoes are the one part of your gear that can make or break your lifting performance and unfortunately we see a great shoe on the wrong lifter all the time. Shoes are one of the biggest parts of our fashion culture. Just ask any teenager that is waiting for the new Jordan to release. In the lifting world, the shoe is 100% about performance and the best looking shoe could be the one thing that kills your squat.

Types of Weightlifting shoes

Before we get into specific types of weightlifting shoes let’s get one thing out of the way. Do not lift in a running shoe, period. They have no place in the performance of the squat or deadlift. They are meant for running, which means they are made to have cushioning and “give” for your feet. These are the exactly the opposite of what you need in squat or deadlifting performance. You need stability. Moving on…..There are numerous types of shoes known as the squat shoe. Most have an elevated heel and a very firm rubber or if you go old school, a wooden base. These provide the foot the most stable base to lift from. Within the squat shoe category there are traditional Olympic Lifting shoes which have a more aggressive heel. These shoes usually have a 3/4″ elevation of the heel. These shoes work best for High Bar squatters since the high bar position needs a more vertical torso in the lift. Olympic Weightlifters also need to keep a very vertical torso through out the lift so the elevated heel will allow for this.

There is also another squat shoe that is made that only has a .60″ heel. This is less aggressive and is more suited for those squatting with a lower bar position.

Who needs an elevated heel to squat

INot everyone needs an elevated heel. If you are looking to improve your performance in the squat a show can help (some people). First, if you have poor ankle mobility a squat shoe may help with your squat especially if you are a high bar squatter. With the bar located high on the traps, you will need to maintain more upright torso since the bar will need to stay over your mid foot through out the lift. In the high bar position the knees will track forward more than a low bar squat..

Though the squat comes very natural to some people, there is a certain group of people that absolutely hate the squat, those with long femurs(thigh bone) and short tibia(lower leg). In order to squat to depth the femur has to sit back further . Even with great ankle mobility, long femurs can complicate the movement pattern. Finding a shoe with an elevated heel will increase the length of the lower leg which can help with squat mechanics. Finding the correct elevation is important. Many people with tight ankles and or long femurs tend to use a powerlifting shoe with a .60″ heel and usually choose a lower bar position since it allows the lifter to sit back further in the squat instead of being so upright.

If you don’t know what shoe is correct to you we highly recommend getting with strength coach that understands squat mechanics. More than likely it won’t be your personal trainer at LA Fitness. Get with a powerlifting or Olympic weightlifting coach to help you choose your shoe. If you are in Tucson, feel free to contact us!. If you are located else where feel free to reach out and we can see if we can help you find a qualified coach to help you out!

The post Is it the Shoes? appeared first on Tucson Strength.

Thinking about Powerlifting Part 2

Admin — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 16:39:31 +0000

You train 4 days per week banging out the iron and love it. Now you want to put your hard work on the platform and focus on a goal. Having a history of being consistent in the gym is a great quality to have if you want give powerlifting a shot. Strength is built with incremental gains over a long period of time and it takes consistent practice. One of the biggest differences between training for strength and lifting for general fitness is being able to follow a program with discipline. As mentioned in the last blog(Thinking About Powerlifting? Part 1 ) in powerlifting you aren’t training to failure or training to chase the pump.

Training for bigger or toned(whatever that means) muscles involves using a very different energy system than training for pure strength. That burn you are feeling while grinding out higher reps and pushing to near failure is utilizing your anaerobic glycolitic system. When you are training for strength you are using your creatine phosphate system. This energy system is utilized in lower rep ranges and depletes rather quickly. The metabolic by products of the creatine system don’t cause burning muscles. You will need to learn to rest between sets instead of rushing through training sessions.

It takes a change in mindset, because a bulk of your strength work will be working in lower rep ranges and not pushing to failure. You will be building volume by executing multiple sets with

lower reps. Reps which should remain faster and non fatiguing. In strength work, it is more optimal to do 80% of your 1RM for 5 sets of 3 than grinding out 3 sets of 8 with the same weight.

There are numerous training philosophies out there, but many of the top programs share a similar philosophy. When thinking about training cycles for strength, here are few different phases I consider depending on the lifter we are working with. Are you a first time competitor? Do you have a long history with training? Are you newer to training (less than 3 years). Do you want to do 1 meet per year or do you want to switch your focus entirely to Powerlifting for the long haul? Have you recently maxed out?

Here is a basic breakdown of how to cycle programming throughout the year. Length of each phase will vary based on the lifter.

Base Building

This is the phase where you are building your foundation of giving your body the volume needed at the right percentages to build the base of your strength. Think of it like a Pyramid. The pyramid can only be as stable and strong as the width of its base. The bigger that base the more solid the structure. The base building phase focuses on technique, bar speed, and building volume. This should be a larger block for the strength focused lifter. If executed correctly you will be able to train for longer periods of time without being beat up and having to de-load every 3-4 weeks.

Peaking Phase

Peaking is Meet Prep. Depending on your base, this phase can be anywhere between 9 to 4 weeks before the meet. Before peaking you should have a base of strength and fitness built up. You should now be prepared to progressively load the movements with more weight each week. This is where things start to get heavy. In doing so you will start to cut your training volume down. Instead of doing 5 sets of 5 reps you will end up working up to hitting heavy doubles and singles on your competition lifts. Your assistance exercises will be tapered considerably over this period. The goal is express your strength by loading the body with more weight while keeping the nervous system fresh and decreasing fatigue. A big mistake that is very common is seeing lifters doing high volume sets and reps to chase a burn weeks before a meet. When you are peaking there should be almost no burn being felt in the muscles. It will be heavy and it can get intense, but burning exhausted muscles are counter productive while peaking. Another important point is you don’t test your meet max before competition day.

Hypertrophy Phase

This phase is usually done post meet for most lifters. After coming off a program where you have decreased volume and increased weight, it is time to build the volume back up and get the joints moving with more repititons and moderate loads. In other words, it’s time to get your fitness back up. A big mistake many people make is jumping from peaking cycle to peaking cycle. It’s a great way to burn out, hit a plateau, or injure yourself. This phase the burn and muscle soreness will return. It is still important to have a plan with this hypertrophy blocks and not just wing it. Crushing yourself with random acts of exercise and ridiculous volume doesn’t make you a better athlete.

GPP (General Physical Preparedness)

GPP may mean different things for different lifters. In general, we want to have the best of all worlds in this phase. Maintain a base of strength, improve cardiovascular conditioning, build some strength endurance, and most importantly keep your muscles and tendons healthy and mobile. This phase can include Aerobic conditioning (this actually should be involved in some form in each phase), Anaerobic conditioning or higher intensity cardio training should also be involved with more focus than in previous phases. Incorporating multi-directional movements, loaded carries, and calisthenics can also a part of this phase. You can still incorporate the Big 3 lifts in this phase but its a good idea to utilize specialized variety lifts in this phase. Not many lifters work this into their program, but for longevity and health it is highly advisable.

Rather than just searching the web for template programs, it is a good ideas to start with a coach that get a good understanding of where you are and help plan out your training cycles to get you where you want to be.

PART 3 Coming soon: What Prepping for your first Meet Looks like

The post Thinking about Powerlifting Part 2 appeared first on Tucson Strength.

Thinking About Powerlifting? Part 1

Admin — Sun, 16 Jan 2022 18:00:16 +0000

I speak with many gym regulars asking me about wanting to train for their first powerlifting meet. The sport has become more accessible over the past decade and everyday gym goers are peaking in interest to compete. Powerlifting is a great way to train with a purpose and go after goals.

Competitive lifting is different than recreational lifting, no matter how serious you train.

Before you start putting in the work. Here are some things to consider.

Technique Is Paramount

Though you may have some years behind you with the big 3 lifts (squat, bench, deadlift), competition lifting has many rules. It is crucial to practice as you would compete when training towards the goal. It is important you know the lifting standards of the federation you are competing in so you can practice to competition standards. Though I won’t go into every rule here are some important things to focus on with each lift when you begin training.

Squat

Nearly all credible federations will require a below parallel squat, which means the top surface of the legs at the hip joint is lower than the top of the knees. All of your training reps should be at this standard. Video tape yourself and make sure your reps meet this standard. When the bar gets heavy you will revert to your training. This means treating light weights like they are heavy. Each and every training rep is prep for your meet. It isn’t just about putting more weight on the bar each to prep your body to lift heavy. You are prepping your nervous system to do the same thing every lift. Treat you warm up sets with focus and attention.

Bench Press

Powerlifting requires a pause on the chest and at the finish of each lift. I have seen people that can “gym bench” 315lbs with a bounce, but they get stuck under 285lbs with the required pause on the chest. In your training you don’t have to pause every single rep of your program, but you should become very comfortable pausing your bench working up to heavier sets in your training cycle. It is also crucial to practice controlling the weight at the top before racking. Nothing is more frustrating than hitting a huge PR at a meet, immediately racking the weight and get 3 red lights because you didn’t wait for the “rack” command.

As you get closer to meet day you should practice the commands with someone knowledgeable calling them out. On meet day you will have some jitters and adrenaline, so you will need to depend on your practice to have a successful meet. Again, it is imperative to know the rules of the federation. Some feds allow you to have your heels off the ground others don’t. Some feds allow the head to come off on the bench, others don’t. All federations make sure your butt stays on the bench. Practice practice practice all these things.

Deadlift

The simplest of all the lifts. Pick it up and put it down. Right? Though this is mostly true, there are many lifters that have bad habits with the deadlift that earn them red lights at a meet. I see lifters all the time getting called for soft knees at the lockout and then flip out when they see the reds show up at the end of the lift. Your knees have to lock out at the end. If the knees are soft or shaking, you will get caught. Another common error is letting the knees shoot forward and letting the bar use the thighs to ramp the weight up. Video tape your deadlifts and make sure your warm up sets are to competition standards. If you rush your light warm up reps, you set yourself up for these mistakes to happen on the platform.

Stop Training to Failure

If you have been training for awhile and focusing on aesthetics, it is common to push hard every training session and feel the burn with each workout. We have all walked out of the gym with shaking legs and feeling exhausted after a session. Training for strength is a different beast.

When strength is the goal we rarely ever push to failure. Doing grindy reps that push to near failure are used less in a strength program than you would imagine. A base cycle of strength programming is usually in the intensity range of 70-85% of your 1 rep max. Reps are usually programmed at around 50% of your max rep range. This means if you can bench 225lbs for 10 reps, most of your sets will be made up of rep ranges between 3-5 reps.

Get on A Program Sooner Than Later

There are tons of programs out there, but depending on where YOU are at in your development, choosing the right program is important. A newer powerlifter jumping on Sheiko, Conjugate, or Smolov makes me cringe. Just because that strong Instagram influencer says it’s the way to go doesn’t mean it’s great for you. I have always focused on different phases of programming and playing with the variables to get the desired results. There are many different phases of a strength programming which we will discuss in Part 2.

The post Thinking About Powerlifting? Part 1 appeared first on Tucson Strength.

Coach Jessica Squatting 365lbs Easy

Admin — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 08:00:05 +0000

Coach Jessica has been with us for going on 2 years. She is not only a gifted lifter, but also a knowledgable coach. She has been competing in Powerlifting for 3 decades and her years of experience unmatched. She is the current world record holder in USPA Drug Tested Division for the 82.5kg Masters Women. So proud to have her as a part of our team. If you are looking for some quality instruction, tweaks to your technique, or help with a solid program she can help.

The post Coach Jessica Squatting 365lbs Easy appeared first on Tucson Strength.