#glenn pendlay

This morning I woke up to the news that Glenn Pendlay lost his battle with metastatic cancer.

I started lifting weights nearly 10 years ago, and Glenn’s articles and videos were some of the first resources I found, and they had a long lasting effect on me and the way that I train. Throughout the years I watched every Cal Strength video, every MDUSA video, and I read every article he wrote.

The Deadlift: Part II

When a weightlifter does either a deadlift or a pull, the movement is being done to aid in pulling strength.  This pulling strength will be used in the snatch or clean, so it makes sense to do either the pull or deadlift with a movement as similar to the competitive lifts as possible.  The more deviation from line of pull, speed, and rhythm of the snatch or clean there is, the less the strength…

  Setting goals is one of the most important skills you can have as an athlete. But setting goals is sometimes harder than it sounds.  If the goals are too easily reached, they can actually hold you back instead of motivating you to move forward.  If the goals you set are too difficult they can seem unreachable and discourage you.  Many people recommend setting a big, very difficult to attain…

There is no doubt that the diet of an average American stinks.  But as a weightlifter, you shouldn’t be eating like the average American.  How should you eat?  Well, many books have been written about that, but I think I can boil it down to a couple of key rules. Rule 1:  Do not eat candy or sweets.  This takes zero smarts to figure out.  This includes candy bars, Pop tarts, most breakfast…

Breaking PR’s.

Going to maximum is a skill, and the only get good at it is through practice.  You have to challenge and break your PR’s again and again and again.  This is a mental challenge as well as a physical one, and requires both mental and physical toughness.   Snatching 101kg for a new PR is physically similar to snatching 100kg to tie your PR.    But mentally it is a whole different ball game. Breaking…

In any athletic event, winning is at least partially determined by how much discomfort you can tolerate. Some sports are well known for producing discomfort.  Everyone can imagine how the athlete must feel at the end of an endurance event like a marathon.  But shorter events can be miserable too.  Many consider wrestling to be the toughest sport.  I certainly remember my high school wrestling…

This is one question that never goes away.  We all want to improve, most of us are willing to work our ass off the improve, but most are plagued with doubt about which program to use, and why.  Every aspiring champion has doubts about the program they are using, and whether or not it is the right one.  And who can blame them?  The Bulgarians maxed out constantly, and they did pretty well.  The…

The Life of a Samurai.

Louie Simmons said something to me several years ago that resonated with me.  He said “Glenn, I have lived the life of a samurai”.  What I believe he meant by that is that he had devoted his life to one thing.  Louie’s one thing is strength, and the development of strength.  He became a master in the development of strength, his one thing.   I do not pretend to compare myself to Louie, but I have…