My Favorite Lift

If I had a nickel for every time I’ve been asked what my favorite lift is, I’d be on my own private island, chillin’ with an umbrella drink. To me it’s the same as being asked my favorite NFL team – I really don’t have one. I love lifting and I love the NFL. Both have provided me with some awesome opportunities, and lifting in particular has opened many doors for me in life.

Am I better at some lifts than others? Of course. But I always took that as a challenge to get better at the lifts which weren’t my strong suits. At one point earlier in my life I was infatuated with the bench press and forearm exercises. By the time I got to college I wanted to master the squat. When I started coaching, Olympic lifts became my infatuation because they were a means to maximize my explosiveness. Later in my coaching career I started to dabble with the deadlift and the Conjugate method.

And all that is just for me personally. If people ask me what my favorite lift for training athletes is, I take it as a general indicator of wanting to talk shop. Because there is no ‘one lift’ that’s the chupacabra for training athletes. All strength coaches know it’s a loaded question – depends on the sport, time of year, the head coach, the state of the team, etc. The one thing I can say with confidence in response to my favorite lift for training athletes – I prefer ones that work!!

So back to the original question, “what is my favorite lift?” For my personal lifting, my favorite lift(s) are the ones when I’m around other people who love to lift and compete with themselves. My favorite lifts aren’t a specific exercise, but rather a type of lifting session. Lifting weights is a lifestyle, I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t lift. I know I’d be hell bent on finding a way to get some kind of swole sesh in … picking up things around the house or doing bodyweight exercises until the next time I got in the gym. With all that being said, if I see someone deadlifting, it’s almost a certainty I’d ask if I could work in with them!