Weightlifting Archives · Agoge Fitness Systems

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

By Dave Hall Agoge, Bodytribe, Chip Conrad, Fitness, Motivation, Olympic Weightlifting, Weightlifting

I’m sitting here somewhere around 30,000 feet over the Midwestern United States trying to make myself as small as possible and resisting the urge to play harmless, yet embarrassing, pranks on my sleeping seat mates. (I’m pretty sure I could stack at least three or four cups on the tattooed dude next to me before he fidgets again and sends them flying.) I’m on the last leg of my journey home, Las Vegas to Birmingham, and about an hour into the flight. Oh good, drink service, time for another club soda. Not too much, though. It’s a total pain in… Read More »

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Cliff Dyer

By Dave Hall Agoge, Chip Conrad, Fitness, Interviews, Jason C. Brown, Martial Arts, Mental Meat Heads, Motivation, Movement, Nick Horton, Olympic Weightlifting, Perfect Imperfection, Personal Development, Strength, Strength Training, Weightlifting

Meet Mental Meat Head Cliff Dyer. Cliff is a fitness enthusiast I met at Mental Meat Heads 2. He’s an aikidoka, an Oly weightlifter, a swing dancer and a computer programmer. Listen in as we discuss the connection between martial arts and dance, a more practical approach to training, and a grand epiphany about “She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain” is revealed. To listen in on our conversation, CLICK HERE! To download, right click and “Save As.” To watch on YouTube, click below. To our perfect imperfection, Dave Read More »

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Alexandra F. Williams

By Dave Hall Agoge, Bodytribe, Empowerment, Fitness, Interviews, Mental Meat Heads, Motivation, Movement, Perfect Imperfection, Personal Development, Personal Training, Powerlifting, Strength, Strength Training, Weightlifting

Meet Alexandra Williams. Alexandra is one of a small cohort of highly creative, intuitive, and dedicated trainers that make up the Bodytribe in Sacramento, California. I like to think of them as the Merry Pranksters of fitness. Listen in as we discuss the great college town of Athens, Georgia, swimming for UGA, a national championship and Olympic trials, hipster gyms and body image. To listen to our interview CLICK HERE. To download, right click the link and then “Save As.” To watch the video just click the link below. To learn more about Alexandra and her training, check… Read More »

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Mental Meat Heads 2

By Dave Hall Agoge, Bodytribe, Chip Conrad, Fitness, Fitness Business, Happiness, Interviews, Jason C. Brown, Kettlebell, Mental Meat Heads, Motivation, Movement, Olympic Weightlifting, Personal Development, Personal Training, Powerlifting, Self Help, Strength, Strength Training, Weightlifting, Zen

Hoo boy. This just might be a mistake. This was supposed to be a joint interview with Jason C. Brown and Chip Conrad, a slick marketing ploy to help promote our upcoming workshop, Mental Meat Heads 2, September 21 and 22, in Indianapolis, Indiana. It would probably be better titled Laugh Track with Three Goobs. If we’re lucky there’s some intelligible material here, after all we are pros and really good at what we do. But the thing is whenever the three of us get together we just end up having so much fun. Which is exactly what you’ll be doing… Read More »

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New Direction

By Dave Hall Agoge, Chip Conrad, Empowerment, Fitness, Happiness, Mental Meat Heads, Motivation, Movement, Olympic Weightlifting, Personal Development, Personal Training, Powerlifting, Strength Training, Weightlifting, Zen

Sometimes I really drop the ball. This summer has been a case in point. I got so consumed with one aspect of my goal set that I lost perspective and began to deviate from the overall master plan. When I started training, at the ripe age of 35, I had one goal in mind — longevity. I wanted to be the old man in the gym. I wanted to still be vital and active well past the point where most of us will have forsaken such strenuous activities as say — walking or better yet, going to the bathroom solo.… Read More »

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James Smith

By Dave Hall Agoge, Diet, Empowerment, Fitness, Happiness, Interviews, Martial Arts, Mental Meat Heads, Motivation, Movement, Olympic Weightlifting, Perfect Imperfection, Personal Development, Personal Training, Self Help, Strength, Strength Training, Uncategorized

This week’s interview is James Smith. James, formerly of Virginia, lives and works in Hawaii, with his wife and two boys. A work from home dad, James homeschools both the boys and maintains an active schedule of training and online activism about training. He maintains his own group on Facebook, Animal Ability, and is active in many other groups including Mental Meat Heads. James’ takes a very natural, holisitc approach to training combining, gymnastics, Olympic lifting, flow movements and martial arts. Listen in as we discuss his training, fitness past 50, Paleo eating, martial arts and raising a family in the natural paradise… Read More »

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Sally Moss

By Dave Hall Agoge, Chip Conrad, Empowerment, Fitness, Happiness, Interviews, Mental Meat Heads, Motivation, Movement, Olympic Weightlifting, Perfect Imperfection, Personal Development, Personal Training, Powerlifting, Strength, Weightlifting

Welcome all the way from the UK, the gubernatrix, herself, Sally Moss. Sally is, as Chip Conrad once named her, a strength ambassador and not just because she comes from the land of hobbits and elves…oh, wait is that New Zealand? No, Sally is a strength ambassador because she sees the value in developing strength and has made it her mission to help others bridge the gap between ability and inability, between meekness and self confidence. Strength training is a vital tool in making that happen. Sally is the driving force behind her popular blog http://Gubernatrix.co.uk and the Facebook group Women’s Strength Training… Read More »

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Of Ass and Holistic Weightlifters

By Dave Hall Agoge, Bodytribe, Chip Conrad, Empowerment, Fitness, Happiness, Mental Meat Heads, Motivation, Movement, Nick Horton, Olympic Weightlifting, Perfect Imperfection, Personal Development, Personal Training, Strength, Strength Training, Weightlifting, Zen

I need more ass. That’s an odd thing to say, I know, especially after the above photograph, but it doesn’t quite mean what it meant when I was 17, 25, 35, 40… Despite having a posterior end that defies most clothiers concepts of what is possible on an American male, my ass is a weak spot in my lifting, especially in the snatch and the clean and jerk. And it’s not as if my ass is totally weak, either. My squat is decent and since I started working with the Weightlifting Academy Mastermind my numbers have increased dramatically. No, my… Read More »

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Kat Ricker

By Dave Hall Agoge, Empowerment, Fitness, Happiness, Interviews, Martial Arts, Mental Meat Heads, Motivation, Movement, Olympic Weightlifting, Perfect Imperfection, Personal Development, Personal Training, Strength, Strength Training, Weightlifting

Welcome to the platform the Mighty Kat, Kat Ricker. Not only is she a weightlifter, she’s a former competitive bodybuilder, a boxer, a published author (no, really, she’s got REAL books for sale on Amazon), a photographer, a film maker, and a promoter of park lands for the great state of Oregon. Listen in as we discuss all these things from ill spent youth to the joy of movement and doing battle with gravity. To listen CLICK HERE! To watch GO HERE! And don’t forget, the Creating the Holistic Weightlifter workshop is THIS weekend. Reserve your spot NOW! To our perfect imperfection, Dave Read More »

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If Dirk Gently was a Weightlifter

By Dave Hall Agoge, Bodytribe, Chip Conrad, Empowerment, Fitness, Martial Arts, Motivation, Movement, Olympic Weightlifting, Perfect Imperfection, Personal Development, Personal Training, Strength, Strength Training, Weightlifting, Zen

Way back in the early eighties I became a fan of Douglas Adams. I discovered The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in middle school and his lesser known Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency shortly thereafter. I thought Dirk Gently was awesome. He was a total Zen master. Nothing was ever out of sorts, ever, no matter what happened. Lost? Just follow the car in front of you it’ll take where you need to go, wherever that might be, whether you realize it or not. The idea was: the universe is perfect as it is, no matter what happens. Little things… Read More »

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Nick and Tamara

By Dave Hall Agoge, Empowerment, Fitness, Happiness, Interviews, Mental Meat Heads, Motivation, Movement, Olympic Weightlifting, Perfect Imperfection, Personal Development, Personal Training, Strength, Strength Training, Weightlifting

I know what you’re thinking. “Dave, didn’t we just hear from these guys?” And the answer is, “Yes, you did.” But there’s so much more! Today, I’ve got Nick Horton and Tamara Reynolds giving us the skinny on the upcoming Creating the Holistic Weightlifter workshop, June 22nd and 23rd in Asheville, North Carolina. Last week I spoke with Chip Conrad, the co-presenter at this event, and today I bring you the hometown hosts. This is going to be a “can’t miss” event. Chip, Nick and Tamara are three of the best coaches in weightlifting today. Beyond coaching competitive lifters to the national… Read More »

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Chip Conrad: Part Deux

By Dave Hall Agoge, Bodytribe, Chip Conrad, Empowerment, Fitness, Happiness, Interviews, Mental Meat Heads, Motivation, Movement, Olympic Weightlifting, Perfect Imperfection, Personal Development, Personal Training, Strength, Strength Training, Weightlifting

Yep, it’s our good buddy Chip Conrad again. This time we’re talking something specific, the Creating the Holistic Weightlifter workshop that he and Nick Horton and Tamara Reynolds are hosting at Asheville Strength and Conditioning in lovely Asheville, North Carolina, June 22nd and 23rd. This is going to be a powerhouse of a weekend. If you have the least desire to improve your weightlifting skills (we’re talking snatch and clean and jerk here) then you NEED to be at this workshop. Chip, Nick and Tamara are uniquely gifted not only for their weightlifting ability but for their coaching skills AND their passion… Read More »

Mon – Thu:	6:00am – 7:00pm
Fri:	6:00am – 5:00pm
Sat:	8:00am – 1:00pm