Agoge Performance

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Agoge Performance Online Coaching
Semi-Private Training
Individual/Team Performance

09/29/2026

Everyone wants to know an athlete’s absolute ability.

How high can they jump?
How fast can they sprint?
How much can they lift?

Those numbers are important, but sport is rarely one perfect effort performed fully rested. It requires an athlete to access those qualities play after play, even when recovery is incomplete.

Today’s work:

• 2 depth jumps from 20 inches to a 20-inch box
• 2 speed deadlifts targeting 1.0 m/s
• Every minute on the minute for 8 rounds

The goal was not simply to make him tired. It was to maintain speed, force, and movement quality as fatigue accumulated.

That is repeated power ability.

The same principle applies to longevity performance. It is not only about what you can do when you are rested and your schedule is clear. It is about the strength, power, and conditioning you can still pull from after a brutal workday when life still requires something from you.

Build the ceiling, but also develop the capacity to keep accessing it.

At Summer Strong 19, I squatted 500 pounds and deadlifted 500 pounds on the same day.Neither was a personal record. What...
09/28/2026

At Summer Strong 19, I squatted 500 pounds and deadlifted 500 pounds on the same day.

Neither was a personal record. What made the day valuable was that I had not peaked for it. After a 10-hour drive, sleeping in a hotel, and spending most of the day listening to presentations, I treated the lifting like another training day and still accessed roughly 94% of my best in both lifts.

I still peak once each year and continue trying to push those numbers. Throughout the rest of the year, I want a high level of strength available while I sprint, run, play softball, build Agoge, and show up in the other areas of my life.

That is part of what balanced capacity means to me. It does not mean being average at everything. It means understanding which qualities you are pushing, which ones you are maintaining, and keeping them available without requiring the rest of life to stop.

My first Agoge Performance Substack article, “500 and 500 Without a Peak,” is now available through the link in my bio.

09/25/2026

Floor presses give us a way to train heavy horizontal pressing while limiting the bottom range of the movement.

The floor creates a consistent stopping point, reduces shoulder extension, and places more demand on the triceps and lockout. That does not make it better than a full-range bench press. It makes it another useful option based on the athlete, the goal, and the amount of stress we want to create.

Training for longevity does not mean avoiding heavy work. It means having enough tools to continue building strength without forcing the same movement year-round.

We still train hard. We just manage where the stress goes so performance can last.

09/23/2026

The kettlebell arm bar is a good reminder that shoulder strength is more than pressing weight overhead.

As I rotate into position, I’m working on keeping the arm steady while the upper back and hips move. Hanging the kettlebell from a band adds a little motion to the load, which makes me slow down and pay attention to where I can actually hold control.

The goal isn’t to fight the heaviest, wildest swing possible. It’s to own the position and build a shoulder I can keep using for a long time.

09/22/2026

Up at 4:00 a.m. and often working until around 7:00 p.m. Full training sessions are not always realistic right now.

But staying strong and capable requires consistency. It also requires precision: knowing what needs to be maintained, what can be reduced, and what dose fits the time and recovery available.

Some sessions will not feel great or look impressive. The weight might be lighter, the volume lower, or the session much shorter than planned. That does not make the work meaningless. The strength, movement, and conditioning are still being trained.

Consistency is not doing everything every time. It is applying the right work often enough that those qualities remain available when you need them.

Modify rather than miss.

08/27/2026

The close neutral grip lat pulldown develops the lats, upper back, and elbow flexors while allowing the shoulders and forearms to work from a relatively natural position.

The goal is not simply to pull the handle toward the chest. Each rep should begin with controlled movement of the shoulder blades, followed by the elbows driving down without excessive leaning or momentum.

For longevity performance, vertical pulling strength helps maintain upper body capacity and balances the pressing that often dominates training. A strong back supports lifting, climbing, carrying, throwing, and the repeated demands placed on the shoulders throughout life.

Train with purpose. Perform for life.

08/25/2026

265 pounds for a three rep max on the cambered bar.

The suspended load changes the demands of the press. High force production is still required, but any inconsistency in the bar path can create movement through the hanging plates. That places a greater emphasis on controlling the weight throughout the rep.

Heavy work still belongs within longevity performance. The objective is to expose the body to high levels of force within technical limits, then use purposeful variation to continue developing strength without testing the same movement every week.

This is an early step toward a straight bar peak before Thanksgiving. The cambered bar allows me to train serious effort now while leaving enough time to gradually increase specificity as the testing date approaches.

Train with purpose. Perform for life.

05/06/2026

Half kneeling jammer arm press.

A great way to train the benefits of overhead pressing without forcing the body into a fully vertical position.

The angled press allows you to develop shoulder strength, upward rotation, and force production while reducing the stress that direct overhead work can place on the shoulder, spine, and ribcage — especially for lifters with mobility restrictions, past injuries, or high training volume.

The half kneeling position adds another layer:
pelvic control, trunk stability, and clean force transfer from the ground up.

This is what longevity performance looks like:
finding positions that let you keep training hard while respecting the body’s structure and function long term.

Train with purpose. Perform for life.

05/06/2026

Half kneeling jammer arm press.

A great way to train the benefits of overhead pressing without forcing the body into a fully vertical position.

The angled press allows you to develop shoulder strength, upward rotation, and force production while reducing the stress that direct overhead work can place on the shoulder, spine, and ribcage — especially for lifters with mobility restrictions, past injuries, or high training volume.

The half kneeling position adds another layer:
pelvic control, trunk stability, and clean force transfer from the ground up.

This is what longevity performance looks like:
finding positions that let you keep training hard while respecting the body’s structure and function long term.

Train with purpose. Perform for life.

05/05/2026

Banded dips (anchored at the hips) vs. a dip belt:

A dip belt adds load the whole time — and the hardest point is the bottom.
That’s where the shoulder is most extended, the pec is lengthened, and joint stress is highest.

A band anchored at the hips does the opposite.
It gives you the most help at the bottom, then tapers off as you press.

So instead of forcing load into the most vulnerable position, you’re shifting it toward the top — where the joint is more stable and you can actually produce force cleanly.

Same movement. Different stress profile.

That makes hip-anchored bands useful for:
– getting more total reps without beating up your shoulders
– keeping dips in when straight loading starts to irritate things
– building strength through the full range without overloading the bottom

Dip belt = constant external load
Hip band = accommodating resistance based on position

Both have a place. Just depends what you’re trying to get out of the movement.

Props to for helping come up with the idea.

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