99 Lessons from 99 Articles - A Journey in Strength
- Josh Hezza
- 7 days ago
- 13 min read
99 Lessons from 99 Articles - A Journey in Strength
From Six in Twelve+ Years to Ninety-Nine in Four Months
For over a decade, I wrote maybe half a dozen articles.
Not because I didn’t have anything to say — but because I was too busy coaching, competing, and building strength the hard way: under the bar, day after day.
Then something clicked.
I realised that the real problem with most strength content isn’t that it’s wrong — it’s that it’s watered down. It’s either surface-level. It’s scared to offend. Or alternatively It’s rage bait. And it doesn’t actually help lifters get better.
So in late 2024, I made a decision: to write every damn day until I had built a body of work that not only answered the questions lifters were really asking, but challenged the ones they weren’t.
Ninety-nine articles later, this is the result.
Each one of these lessons is pulled from the trenches — not just theory, but battle-tested truths that’ve built world champions, rebuilt broken lifters, and kept athletes progressing long after the trend-hoppers burned out.
Some are practical. Some are philosophical. Some are blunt. But all of them are written with one purpose:
To build strength that actually works.
🧠 99 Lessons from 99 Articles
Each one earned. None of them borrowed. Let’s get to work.
💡 Lesson: Speed work isn’t just 8×3 — varying reps, waves, and tempos can unlock new levels of intent, recovery, and bar control.
💡 Lesson: Conjugate isn’t just for powerlifters — when adapted correctly, it’s a brutal, effective weapon for event-driven strongman programming.
💡 Lesson: Choosing the right ME lift is about attacking weak points, not stroking your ego — carryover beats clout every time.
💡 Lesson: Speed work without the right bar, stance, or intent is just wasted volume — context matters more than sets and reps.
💡 Lesson: If you’re always deadlifting to fix your deadlift, you’re probably just reinforcing the problem — build the muscles, not the movement.
💡 Lesson: Weak points aren’t excuses — they’re invitations to train smarter, rotate better, and develop strength that lasts.
💡 Lesson: Great form isn’t enough — if you’re missing off the chest or flaring at lockout, it’s time to build the muscles that actually move the bar.
💡 Lesson: The log press is not a barbell press — treat it like its own lift, and program it with the same intention you’d give a squat or deadlift.
💡 Lesson: The box squat teaches control, positioning, and power — and for strongman, that means better yokes, stones, and squats.
💡 Lesson: You don’t need to pull heavy every week — but you do need to hammer the right assistance lifts with precision and progression.
👉 Most critiques of Conjugate stem from misunderstanding its flexibility — it’s a framework, not a formula.
👉 Specialty bars and box squats aren’t just tools — they’re the difference between surviving and thriving in the squat long-term.
👉 Your squat variation should reflect your sport, weaknesses, and structure — not your favourite lifter’s YouTube.
👉 Strength starts with access — if you can’t hit the positions, you’ll never express your full potential under the bar.
15. Programming the Squat for Strongman 👉 Your squat doesn’t need to be a straight bar grind year-round — program it based on carryover, not convention.
16. Mastering the Conjugate Method: In-Depth Video Tutorials and Common Fixes 👉 You don’t need new methods — you need to learn how to execute the old ones properly.
👉 Strongman is chaotic — Conjugate offers structure without rigidity, the ideal match when done right.
👉 Waving volume and intensity every 3 weeks keeps speed work productive, not stale — progression lives in the details.
👉 Stability, structure, and progressive loading can be life-changing when training is adapted to the individual.
👉 Progress comes from looking back as well as forward — patterns reveal priorities.
👉 Your success isn’t built on content — it’s built on clarity, consistency, and actually giving a sht about your clients.*
👉 Strength without stability is just a ticking time bomb — train the trunk, the feet, and the pattern, not just the load.
👉 You don’t peak with chaos — Circamax shows how structured intensity can sharpen top-end strength without burning out.
24. Surprising and Alternative Assistance & Accessory Exercises for Stone Loading 👉 Don’t chase random volume — build event-specific strength by loading patterns, not just muscles.
👉 We can’t have honest conversations about PEDs if we ignore the societal hypocrisy that surrounds their use.
👉 Your best injury prevention tool isn’t a massage gun — it’s smarter load management, movement variation, and ego control.
👉 The triceps win bench comps and overhead events — and most lifters still train them like afterthoughts.
28. Mastering Overhead Press Variations for Strongman and Powerlifting Success 👉 If you’re pressing the same bar the same way all year, you’re not building a better press — you’re just praying for one.
👉 The straight bar is a test, not a tool — use specialty bars to build the qualities the comp bar exposes.
👉 Speed work isn’t just 8×3 forever — manipulate volume and structure for different force curve adaptations.
👉 Max effort is about straining against the right movement — not just maxing out for its own sake.
👉 The best peaks don’t feel hard — they feel precise. Fatigue masks fitness, so drop the volume and sharpen the knife.
👉 If your coach gets defensive when questioned, they’re not coaching — they’re cosplaying as one.
👉 Stop avoiding the low back — bulletproof it with calculated exposure, smart variation, and actual effort.
35. Not Just for Show: How to Actually Train Your Abs for Strength & Performance 👉 Your core isn't there to look good — it’s there to transfer force. Train it like it matters, or get exposed under load.
👉 Burnout isn’t proof of intensity — it’s proof of poor planning. The Bulgarian Method worked in a lab, not in life.
👉 Off-season is where champions are made — build capacity, fix weaknesses, and stop testing what you haven’t built.
👉 Bad comps don’t define you — how you respond, rebuild, and reflect does.
👉 Torn biceps don’t come from bad luck — they come from bad programming and ignoring what you could have trained.
👉 Stop guessing. Strength is a process, not a punchline — follow a plan that actually builds, not just exhausts.
👉 If you’re always using a straight bar, you’re always training the same pattern — and that’s not training, it’s repetition.
42. Why Most Strongman & Powerlifting Coaches Fail at Long-Term Client Retention & Programming
👉 You don’t build a coaching business on short-term intensity — you build it on long-term trust, progress, and communication.
43. Olympic Weightlifting for Strongman: A Comprehensive Guide
👉 Olympic lifts won’t make you a weightlifter — but if used right, they’ll make you more explosive and dangerous in your sport.
44. Dinosaur Training: The Lost Art of Brutal Strength
👉 Sometimes the missing link isn’t a spreadsheet — it’s effort. Old-school intensity still wins when paired with smart programming.
45. The Unbreakable Athlete: Why the Best Lifters Are Built, Not Born
👉 Durability beats talent in the long run. The strongest athletes are the ones who can keep showing up.
46. Why 90% of Strength Coaches Burn Out (And How to Build a Career That Lasts)
👉 Chasing every trend is a fast way to disappear. Build a method, coach real people, and play the long game.
47. Westside Barbell Meets Olympic Weightlifting
👉 Louie’s genius wasn’t copying — it was adapting. Conjugate works when it’s built around your sport, not someone else’s.
48. Heavy Metal? Chain Reaction? Setting Up Chains for Massive Gains
👉 Accommodating resistance isn’t a gimmick — it’s a way to train your whole strength curve if you know how to use it.
49. Dominate the Squat for Reps: Strongman Competition Strategies
👉 Winning rep events isn’t about brute strength — it’s about pacing, intent, and technical efficiency under fatigue.
50. Strength Without Weakness: Identifying and Fixing Your Biggest Lifting Limitations
👉 You don’t rise to the level of your strengths — you stall at the level of your weaknesses. Find them. Fix them. Progress.
51. The Cube Method for Strongman: Josh Thigpen’s Blueprint for Strength and Success
👉 There’s more than one way to skin a deadlift — but without rotation, autoregulation, and structure, it’s just guesswork.
52. The Conjugate Method for Beginners 👉 You don’t need to “earn” Conjugate — you need to understand it. Start with principles, not complexity.
53. How to Train for (Almost) Every Strongman Event Without Implements – Part 1
👉 If you can’t mimic the event, train the demand. Strength is specific, but effort and intent are transferable.
54. How to Train for (Almost) Every Strongman Event Without Implements – Part 2
👉 No equipment? No excuse. With the right movements, you can build event carryover with a barbell and a brain.
55. ‘Is that Not a Bit Cringe?’ Why Most Strength Coaches are Sh*t at Social Media 👉 If you’re too “serious” to show up online, don’t complain when nobody knows who you are or what you offer.
56. Iron Mindset: How Elite Lifters Handle Pressure, Failure & Long-Term Progression 👉 Mental toughness isn’t about aggression — it’s about consistency, reflection, and refusing to stay stuck.
57. 9-Week Olympic Lifting & Push Press Strength Program
👉 Power is built by blending intent, frequency, and movement selection — not chasing PRs every week.
58. Glass Houses & Fragile Egos: Why Weak Coaches Attack Stronger Ones
👉 Coaches who attack others are usually hiding their own insecurity. Build strength, not noise.
59. When It Comes to S&C – We All Love to Train Strength but No One is Bothered with Conditioning
👉 If you can’t recover, you can’t perform. Conditioning isn’t optional — it’s the backbone of progress.
60. Sam Byrd: An Overlooked Great, The Resurgence of Raw Powerlifting & What Lifters Can Learn From Him Today
👉 There’s more to learn from lifters who kept evolving than those who just lifted heavy once and disappeared.
61. Stronger Hips, Stronger Lifts: Why You Need Direct Hip Training
👉 If you’re not training your hips directly, you’re leaving power on the platform — and setting yourself up for injury.
62. Injury Risk and Prevention in Strongman Training and Competition
👉 Injury prevention isn’t foam rolling and vibes — it’s intelligent programming, movement rotation, and structural balance.
63. How to Set Up the Conjugate Method for MMA and Grappling
👉 Fighters need force and velocity, not bodybuilding splits — Conjugate works, if you know how to wield it.
64. Mastering the Atlas Stones – Part 1
👉 Atlas stones aren’t just about strength — they’re about leverage, positioning, timing, and pure intent.
65. Should You Deadlift Like KK (Konstantin Konstantinovs)?
👉 Imitating great lifters without understanding their context is a shortcut to failure — study principles, not personalities.
66. Mastering the Atlas Stones – Part 2
👉 If your stones look ugly, it's not just strength you lack — it’s tension, rhythm, and technical confidence.
67. Are You Struggling to Build Your Dream Coaching Business?
👉 Your success as a coach isn’t about your squat — it’s about systems, clarity, messaging, and giving a damn about results.
68. 9-Week UKNS Strongman Prep Program: What Could Have Been
👉 Competition prep isn’t just about maxing — it’s about specificity, pacing, stress management, and knowing your lifter.
69. NO ONE LIKES US BARBELL CLUB
👉 You don’t need approval to do great work — just consistency, results, and a refusal to dilute your standards.
70. The Shoulder Survival Guide: Press Heavier, Hurt Less
👉 Pressing pain isn’t a rite of passage — it’s a programming problem. Rotate, modify, and build around the joint, not through it.
71. The Lost Art of Lifting
👉 Old-school lifters didn’t have tech — they had intent, consistency, and grit. Stop outsourcing your discipline to gadgets.
72. The Answer Is Always in the Gym
👉 When in doubt, train. When stuck, train smart. Progress doesn’t live in your head — it lives under the bar.
73. Throwing Sandbags for Height
👉 Power isn’t built on barbells alone. If you can’t move something awkward, fast, and high — you’re not strong, you’re gym-fit.
74. Why Do People STILL Criticise the Conjugate Method?
👉 People don’t hate Conjugate because it doesn’t work — they hate it because it exposes the fact they don’t know how to coach.
75. It’s Not Just a Phase, Mom: Why Your Off-Season Isn’t a “GPP Phase”
👉 GPP isn’t filler. It’s the foundation. Skip it and your peak means nothing — because you won’t survive long enough to hit it.
76. The Warm-Up: Efficient, Effective, and Not an Hour Long
👉 Warm-ups should prepare you to perform — not gas you out. If you need 45 minutes to feel ready, your program sucks.
77. Coaching, Mentoring & Programming: Find the Right Option for You
👉 Good coaching doesn’t mean giving people more — it means giving them what they actually need to get results.
78. Perpetually Peaked, Permanently Weak 👉 If every week is a peak, you’re not strong — you’re just burning out in style. Real strength is built between the highs.
79. The Vinegar Rinse
👉 You can’t keep making vinegar and calling it wine. Bad programming with good effort still leads to disappointment.
80. Strength Is Built, Not Suffered – The Case for Training With Supports
👉 Training raw for ego kills careers. Wrap the knees, belt the waist, wear the briefs — lift heavy, smart, and for the long haul.
81. DEMYSTIFYING STRENGTH TRAINING: Are They Supercompensating for Something?
👉 The best lifters aren’t riding magic waves of supercompensation — they’re just consistent, adaptable, and brutally honest with their recovery.
82. The Max Effort Method: Why You Should Be Maxing Weekly
👉 Maxing out isn’t reckless — it’s data collection. One heavy lift tells you more than a thousand guesswork percentages.
83. Knowledge Is Power(lifting): Meet the Three New Mini-Guides
👉 The strongest athletes aren’t just strong in the gym — they’re students of the game. Read, learn, apply, repeat.
84. Bad Day? How About a Good Morning? 👉 If your squat and deadlift suck, it’s not always your technique — it might be that your posterior chain is just weak.
85. Weak Hamstrings, Weak Pulls
👉 Glutes are trendy, but hamstrings are essential. You don’t fix a broken deadlift with hip thrusts and prayers.
86. The Second Session Secret: Extra Workouts
👉 The best athletes aren’t doing more in one session — they’re doing a little more, more often. 15–30 minutes can be a gamechanger.
87. 9 Weeks to a Bigger Deadlift Without Deadlifting
👉 If deadlifting is the problem, more deadlifts aren’t always the solution. Train the movement’s muscles, not just the movement.
88. From OG to 2.0: Why the New Conjugate Strongman Program is a Whole New Beast
👉 Good programs evolve. Great ones get smarter, more adaptive, and more effective — without losing what made them work.
89. The Force–Velocity Curve
👉 Strength isn’t just how much you lift — it’s how fast, from what position, and in what time frame. Train the curve, not just the comp lift.
90. Form Follows Function
👉 Chasing aesthetics without performance is like building a house on sand. Build for strength, and the physique will follow.
91. Beyond the Chart: How Prilepin’s Principles Still Shape Strength Training Today
👉 Volume without intent is just noise. Prilepin gave us the playbook — smart lifters still use it to know when to push and when to stop.
92. German Volume Training Isn’t Real
👉 Just because a program went viral doesn’t make it valid. Always trace the origins — not all methods have real roots.
93. The TEAMJOSHHEZZA Method: How I Build Strength That Actually Work
👉 You don’t coach lifters into a system — you build the system around the lifter. Real programming is adaptive, not aesthetic.
94. Is Everything Really (70s) Bigger in Texas?
👉 The Texas Method worked — until it didn’t. If you’re still doing the same thing three months in, you’ve missed the whole point of progression.
95. The Conjugate Method for Dummies 👉 Conjugate isn’t chaos. It’s controlled variability. Rotate the right things, in the right way, and you’ll keep progressing for life.
96. Why Work With Me
👉 If you want real results, find a coach who knows when to listen more than they speak — and who’s been under the bar, not just behind a screen.
97. Introducing the New TEAMJOSHHEZZA Affiliated Athletes
👉 Community breeds excellence. Surround yourself with lifters who live it, breathe it, and expect more of you than you do of yourself.
98. Why Strongman Competitors Should Bench Press: Unlocking Upper Body Strength for Overhead Success
👉 Bench press isn’t optional for strongmen — it’s your insurance policy for lockouts, upper body stability, and pressing longevity.
99. The Journey to 99 Articles: Discipline, Not Inspiration
👉 You don’t need motivation. You need a reason. Write, train, coach, build — not when you feel like it, but because it has to be done.
What 99 Lessons Really Teach You
After writing nearly 100 articles, coaching hundreds of lifters, and training for well over a decade, one thing’s clear:
There is no secret program. There is no perfect template. There’s only consistent execution, guided by sound principles, and adapted to the person standing in front of you.
The 99 lessons in this article aren’t rules — they’re reminders. Reminders that your training should evolve with you. That your coaching should be tailored, not templated. And that good lifters aren’t born — they’re built, one smart session at a time.
And if you want to cut through the noise, avoid the nonsense, and finally train like it matters?
📩 Apply for coaching at TEAMJOSHHEZZA.com Let’s build your 100th lesson — together.
Here’s to another 99.
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