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  • Home
  • Blog
  • About Marc
  • Contact Marc
  • Coaching
    • Cast Iron Strength Gym
    • Online Coaching
    • Edinburgh Barbell
    • What is Powerlifting?
  • Testimonials
  • Programming & Calculators
    • One Repition Maximum Calculator
    • 531 – Programme Calculator and Breakdown
    • Olympic Lifting Programme Calculators
      • 4 Week Novice/Intermediate Weightlifting Programme
  • Physiotherapy and rehabilitation services
    • Physiotherapy / Rehabilitation
    • About Alistair Inglis (Chartered Physiotherapist)
  • Cast Iron 10 week Bench Programme
  • The Brad Gillingham 12 week Raw Bench Program
  • Smolov Base Cycle
  • Russian Squat Routine
  • Russian Squat Masters
  • Coan/Phillipi Deadlift Routine
  • Low Carbohydrate Diet Macro Calculator (women)
  • Low Carbohydrate Diet Macro Calculator (men)
  • Intermitent Fasting Based Macro Split (leaning up)
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19 Nov
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Powerlifting a systems-based approach – Part 2 – What the fuck is a system

  • November 19, 2019
  • Featured
  • Posted by Marc Keys
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If you want to delve more into this topic or this way of thinking there is an excellent introductory book on the subject I read earlier this year. Thinking in systems...

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25 May
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Stop Focusing on F*cking Injuries and just get better

  • May 25, 2023
  • Posted by Marc Keys
  • injury, programing, rehab
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It's probably just my Instagram feed but I feel like there is a lot of attention on things like technique and different kinds of programing and how they are going to get...

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22 Dec
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5 ways to improve as a lifter without a coach.

  • December 22, 2022
  • Posted by Marc Keys
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Well ladies and gentlemen it’s been a while since I penned an article (last one I published was July 2022) it’s something I should really keep at because it really helps me...

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19 Jul
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The moving window – A practical solution to the intractable problem of training systems

  • July 19, 2022
  • Posted by Marc Keys
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In training it can be very easy to become overwhelmed very quickly.  If you remove yourself from the advice, Instagram accounts and YouTube videos and look at strength training (or training in...

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18 Jan
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10 Things Every New Lifter Should Know

  • January 18, 2022
  • Posted by Marc Keys
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New year and hopefully the same old bullshit and no more hiding in the house for the first quarter of the year.  I hope you have a good break.  You might be...

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06 Jan
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Regression towards the mean in training and why you are focusing on the wrong things

  • January 6, 2022
  • Posted by Marc Keys
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In statistics, regression toward the mean (also called reversion to the mean, and reversion to mediocrity) is a concept that refers to the simple fact that if...

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14 Oct
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Technique vs Pain science – the great straw man wars of 2021

  • October 14, 2021
  • Posted by Marc Keys
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Ever since bongols became a physio and became unhealthily obsessed with people getting hurt and how to make them unhurt using the voodoo power of physio I...

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02 Sep
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The Utility of Failure

  • September 2, 2021
  • Posted by Marc Keys
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There are few sports outside of lifting where an athlete faces an undeniable and objective measure of their own success or failures.  The higher, faster or further sports in athletics or other...

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25 Feb
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From powerlifter to physio and back again – Dealing with common injuries in Lifters and Athletes

  • February 25, 2021
  • Posted by Marc Keys
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In this article I am going to discuss my experiences of rehabbing athletes and talk about some common trends with the pain/ injuries they present with. Again I am aiming this article...

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18 Feb
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How framing can make or break your progress

  • February 18, 2021
  • Posted by Marc Keys
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No matter who you are, what you do, or where you live in the last 12 months you have seen some change.  For some of us, it could have changed for the...

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11 Feb
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From Powerlifter to Physio and back again – What is pain and how can I deal with it

  • February 11, 2021
  • Posted by Marc Keys
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In this article series, I am going to talk about some key points I have learned on my journey from powerlifter to Physio and hopefully give some good info along the way....

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21 Jan
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Training during lockdown for lifters 2.0 – Lessons learned and making the second one better,

  • January 21, 2021
  • Posted by Marc Keys
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I wrote a whole bunch of resources during the first lockdown to the point where I literally have a lockdown training E-book that I gave to my clients at the time.  What...

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08 Dec
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Testing vs Building Strength

  • December 8, 2020
  • Posted by Marc Keys
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Oh look everyone, do you see that on the horizon it’s another non-existent dichotomy grazing upon the fields of gullibility.  The goal of training should be to increase your fitness in the...

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26 Nov
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There is no system or method

  • November 26, 2020
  • Posted by Marc Keys
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The willy nilly use of words like training systems, the XYZ method, and god knows what other name has always annoyed me in the strength training world.  You...

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15 Oct
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5 Things I learned as a person during lockdown

  • October 15, 2020
  • Posted by Marc Keys
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The final of our three-part what I learned during the lockdown series as we move into the winter of 2020 and maybe entering Lockdown two electric boogaloo. This will make for...

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29 Sep
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5 things I learned during lockdown as a business owner

  • September 29, 2020
  • Posted by Marc Keys
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Lockdown was a shit time for pretty much everyone when it came to business or work.  Some people were lucky enough to have a job they could do from home, other people...

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15 Sep
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5 Things I learned during lockdown as a lifter.

  • September 15, 2020
  • Posted by Marc Keys
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It’s early September as I am writing this in 2020. If you are reading this text 20 years in the future or if you haven’t been paying attention this year has...

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12 Aug
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Lifting Stoicism – how to come to terms with the fact that steel and gravity don’t care about your feelings

  • August 12, 2020
  • Posted by Marc Keys
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When you are in the lifting game for longer than a minute you are going to come across the ups and the downs that come with this sport or hobby.  For those...

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23 Jul
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10 Reasons why Joe Wicks embodies everything that is wrong with humanity.

  • July 23, 2020
  • Posted by Marc Keys
  • Leave a comment
I mean that is clearly a clickbait title and assuming you are reading my first sentence congratulations for falling for it!  The positive argument for popular trends in health and fitness goes...

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