Serious powerlifting and weightlifting don’t fit into convenient 9 to 5 windows. Your body peaks at different times. Your work schedule shifts. Life happens and derails your planned training session. Then you’re stuck either skipping the workout entirely or compromising your program because the gym closes before you can get there. That’s not how you build real strength. AlphaGainz in Colorado Springs, CO operates 24 hours because we understand that peak performance requires training on…
High school weight rooms have a predictable problem. Kids rush to load the bar before they understand what they’re doing. A freshman watches a senior squat 315 and figures he should be somewhere close to that. Never mind that the senior has three years of training experience and the freshman just learned what a squat rack looks like last week. This creates injuries that shouldn’t happen. Shoulder problems from benching too heavy too soon. Lower…
My lifting buddy quit training last October. The season was over. He’d competed in three powerlifting meets between March and September, hit some PRs, and decided he’d earned a break. Took two months completely off. No gym. “I’ll get back to it after the holidays,” he said. By January, when he finally came back, his squat had dropped 40 pounds. Bench was down 25. Deadlift held up okay, but his form was sloppy. Took him…
I’m going to level with you about something most parents and young athletes don’t think about until it’s too late. Fall isn’t downtime. It’s not a break between seasons. Fall is when you’re either getting ready for winter sports or you’re falling behind. I’ve been doing sports coaching in Colorado for almost a decade now, working mostly with high school and club athletes. And every single year, I watch the same thing happen. September rolls…
Training athletes in Colorado Springs CO presents unique opportunities and challenges. The altitude, the concentration of elite competitors, and the diverse sports culture here demand specialized approaches to speed and agility training that produce real results. After coaching hundreds of athletes – from youth soccer players to competitive powerlifters transitioning to functional movement – I’ve identified what actually works at elevation and what merely looks impressive on social media. SAQ (Speed, Agility, Quickness) training isn’t…
My son got recruited to play football at a D1 school last year. Kid worked his butt off all through high school, made varsity as a sophomore, had coaches from colleges showing up to his games junior year. We thought he was ready. First week of college training, he calls me damn near in tears. “Dad, I can’t keep up. These guys are so much stronger and faster than me. I feel like I didn’t…
I hurt my back deadlifting last year. Bad. Couldn’t tie my shoes for three weeks. All because I was trying to lift more than I could handle with proper form. I thought adding weight fast meant I was getting strong fast. I was wrong. My brother-in-law Jim used to be a powerlifter. When I told him what happened, he just shook his head. Said he’d seen it a hundred times. Guys get impatient, start lifting…
When I first moved to Colorado Springs, I thought everyone was just making excuses about the altitude. “Oh, you’ll get used to it,” they said. “Just give it a few weeks.” Yeah, right. Then I tried to do my normal workout routine and nearly passed out after ten minutes on the treadmill. Turns out, they weren’t kidding. Colorado Springs sits at about 6,000 feet, which doesn’t sound like much until you’re huffing and puffing like…
I started powerlifting three years ago when I was stuck in a fitness rut. I’d been doing the same gym routine for months, not getting stronger, and honestly getting pretty bored with working out. My friend Dave kept bugging me to try powerlifting at Iron Temple downtown, but I figured it was just for huge bodybuilder types who could already bench twice their body weight. Turns out I was completely wrong. The powerlifting community in…
Personalized Workouts To Meet Personal Goals A personal trainer brings much more than just a little push or cheer. They make a fitness plan that’s totally made for you—no one else, just you. Your own goals matter most here. Maybe you want to lose weight. Or you’d like bigger muscles. Maybe you need more energy, or you just want to move better. That’s all important. It really is. But wait, there’s more. A good trainer…