Author
Kim Goss, MS.
51 articles
Kim Goss, MS contributed 51 articles to BFS Magazine, from 2010 to 2014 — part of the coaching voice that shaped the BFS Total Program.
Recurring themes include Safety, Squat, Power Clean, and Deadlift. Every story is free — read it online or open the original magazine layout as a PDF.
Balance of Power
In this remarkable sequence of photos taken by Pam Tabone, Myles McKinney demonstrates tremendous jumping power. McKinney is the starting tailback and leading receiver at Churchville-Chili, a high school near Rochester, New York, which was featured in our September/October 2007 i
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Strong Beginnings: Amber Moss
One of the distinguishing aspects of today’s best athletes is that they tend to get an early start with sport skills and also conditioning. This trend prevails in women’s sports as well as in men’s – and one young woman who is benefiting from early sports preparation is Amber Mos
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More Than a Game
A Message from BFS Editor Kim Goss, MS for that award, but he got back on track in the NFL. In his rookie season Peterson set the NFL single-game rushing record (296 yards), and the records kept coming, including his becoming the third-fastest player to reach 10,000 rushing yards
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Mike Carter Jr. Muscles Up at Rutgers
When we first interviewed Mike Carter Jr. for our September/October 2013 issue, he had just graduated from Bloomfield High School in Bloomfield, New Jersey. He finished his baseball career with a .450 batting average and became the all-time school leader in hits with 152, exceedi
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ACL Injuries and Women: What Coaches Need to Know
The incidence of ACL injuries in young women is a serious problem today. Depending upon the sport, women are far more likely than men to injure their ACL. In fact, it’s estimated that one out of 10 NCAA women will tear their ACL at some point in their college career – despite the
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Physical Superiority Made Simple
When the strength coaching profession was in its infancy in the 1970s, it was difficult to find information about periodization. Much of the material appeared only in articles published in expensive journals or a few hard-to-acquire books, many not available in English. All that
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Building Girl Power at Hayward High
Hayward High serves a student body that comes from a wide geographical area, quite rural. For some students, it’s a 30-minute commute via their parents to school; for others, it’s a 15-mile bike ride. So, when a student commits to playing sports as a Hayward Hurricane, it means t
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BFS Expands in many regions. Team BFS Growing Strong!
BFS Expands in many regions. Are you ready to lead the way? BFS is a company built on the idea that we are helping athletes succeed. Since our humble beginnings in a garage in Salt Lake City in 1976 BFS has been committed to the idea of coaches helping coaches. Now as a nationwid
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Practice Makes Perfect
BFS President John Rowbotham, shown here with his son Trace, loves the game of football. Practice Makes Perfect Through its publications, clinics, certifications, and special presentations, BFS is a leader in educating coaches, athletes, and parents about the dangers of concussio
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2014 National High School Power Clean Championships
National records were shattered once again at this major event The power clean is one of the fundamental exercises in athletic training, and in fact is one of the BFS core lifts. That’s why BFS has always had an interest in the National High School Power Clean Championships, held
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The Davis Twins: Defying the Odds
Barrett and Mary Catherine Davis are athletic twins who started weight training in middle school to help them become better athletes. Not only did they have a head start pumping iron many years before most coaches would consider allowing a young athlete in the weightroom, they ha
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Chinese Weightlifters: Why They Win Olympic Gold
FOR WOMEN ONLY 6XQ&DL\DQSKRWRE\%UXFH.OHPHQV The Chinese have dominated women’s weightlifting since it was introduced at the Olympic Games of 2000 in Sydney, Australia. Chinese Weightlifters: Why They Win Olympic Gold How the strongest women in the world train BY KIM GOSS, MS
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11 Practical Ways to Increase You Athletes' Vertical Jump
The power clean is considered a vertical jump with weights, so it’s a great exercise for improving an athlete’s vertical jump. Shown here is University of Florida’s Devon Walker, a 6-foot-6-inch sophomore for the Gator Basketball Team. As a high school senior, he was the Winter H
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The Truth About Functional Training
TRAINING & EQUIPMENT 3KRWRVE\%UXFH.OHPHQV Muscle size is not necessarily an indicator of muscle function. Indonesia’s Erwin Abdullah and Bulgaria’s Yoto Yotov both competed in the lightweight (about 150 pounds) bodyweight division. Abdullah snatched 314 pounds and clean and j
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Low Back Training for Athletes
TRAINING & EQUIPMENT %UXFH.OHPHQVSKRWR John Kuc was a three-time IPF world powerlifting champion (1974, 79, 80) in the 242-pound bodyweight class. He was the first man to deadlift 850 pounds and had a best of 870 pounds. Training for Athletes For a powerful core, bring the ere
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Neck Training: The BFS Approach
Weightlifting and powerlifting are sports that develop the muscles of the neck and trapezius. Shown are Olympic champion David Rigert from Russia and powerlifting world champion Marv Phillips. Why training these muscles is more important than ever BY KIM GOSS, MS he movie poster
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Stop Hamstring Pulls
Now! Stop Hamstring Pulls 10 tips to prevent this frustrating injury BY KIM GOSS, MS t the Olympic Trials in track and field, an athlete must finish in the top three in their event to earn a spot on the Olympic Team – finishing fourth is essentially equivalent to placing last. At
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Forgotten Secrets to Improving Lateral Speed
TRAINING & EQUIPMENT %HFN\0LOOHU3KRWR Lateral speed is a key ingredient in many sports, even those performed on ice by skaters. Shown are Michelle Hyselle of the MedCity Mafia roller derby team pulling ahead of the Moose Lake Mafia; and football player Eric Corona of Fruitand Hi
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Don't Let the Deadlift Die
BY KIM GOSS, MS 3KRWRE\.DULP*KRQHP3ROLTXLQ3HUIRUPDQFH A former strength coach at Miami University of Ohio, Ryan Faehnle is a strength coach who still “walks the talk” by staying in shape with heavy deadlifts. ften a specific weight training exercise is associated with o
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Power Clean Problems and How to Fix Them
How to Fix Them Easy coaching tips to get the most out of this great exercise BY KIM GOSS, MS 3KRWRE\%UXFH.OHPHQV n a perfect world, middle school athletes would begin with the BFS Readiness Program. They would learn how to stretch, run, lift and spot properly. By the time the
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The Science of Strength Curves
Strength Curves The evolution of variable resistance training Kristel Ngariem shows how to vary resistance in squats by using lifting chains. Ngariem represented Canada in the 2012 Junior World Championships, where she placed 12th with an 83-kilo snatch and 104-kilo clean and jer
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Monitoring Athletes for Physical Superiority
n weightlifting and powerlifting it’s natural to assume that the athletes who lift the most weight have the best training program. At the last two Olympics in weightlifting, the Chinese lifters dominated both men’s and women’s lifting, so obviously they know what they are doing.
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Power Balance Drills Revisited
Overhead lifting is often avoided by many athletes due to shoulder injuries. Nikki Gnozzio was a Division I college field hockey player at Ohio University and is now a full-time weightlifter for Team BFS. Correct round shoulders with variations of these powerful exercises BY KIM G
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Why Endurance Athletes need BFS
E C N A R U D N WHY E S F B D E E N S E T E L H AT Mountain View High School in Utah excels in distance running and was featured in our March 2011 issue. A different perspective on training for distance BY KIM GOSS, MS a 45-minute time trial and in their rate check out YouTube, y
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A Closer Look at Overhead Lifting
TRAINING & EQUIPMENT 3KRWRVE\%UXFH.OHPHQV The jerk is a total-body lift that helps athletes develop tremendous power. Here Ian Wilson is shown jerking a personal record of 423 pounds to win the 207-pound bodyweight division at the 2012 Senior Nationals. Overhead Lifting The va
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A New Look at Posture
BY KIM GOSS, MS Posturologist Paul Gagné performing a postural assessment in Napa, California. To his right are BFS writer Laura Dayton (blue shirt) and BFS Editor Kim Goss. he basic theory of corrective exercise is that you stretch muscles that are tight and you strengthen muscl
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11 Practical Ways to Get Quick Feet
Quick Feet How to improve this vital athletic quality – fast! ne of the most coveted qualities an athlete can have is quick feet. Being able to move almost instantaneously in any direction can be what it takes for a fullback to break through a defensive line, or a tennis player t
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Redefining Strength with Rob Adell
Rob Adell A look at one of America’s best hopes for iron game gold ne of the greatest venues for recruiting talent for the sport of weightlifting is the National High School Power Clean Championships in Las Vegas. Now in its eighth year, this meet has put several outstanding weig
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Answering the Critics: The Back Squat
BY KIM GOSS, MS ver since BFS was founded in 1976, we have been promoting the back squat as a core exercise for athletes – but it hasn’t been easy. On occasion the medical community has discouraged its use, thinking it was harmful to the knees and could stunt a young athlete’s gr
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Getting Back to Chin-Ups
TRAINING & EQUIPMENT 0DU\3LHU*DXGHWSKRWRE\.DULP*KRQHP The fast track to developing upper body pulling power n July 16, 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower established the President’s Council on Youth Fitness, a governmental organization that was created after a study foun
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How Women Athletes Should Eat
An interview with body composition expert Francine Savard chieving an optimal bodyweight and bodyfat level is a major concern among young women athletes, as well as for young women in general. Unfortunately, there is so much misinformation circu- Savard was a national champion in
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The Swedish Approach to BFS
BY KIM GOSS, MS In the United States, football is football – but in other parts of the world, football is soccer and what we play is called American football. But American football is not a sport played exclusively in the United States, and interestingly enough, one of those othe
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Hex Bar Squat Jumps for Ultimate Power
Jumping with a hex bar is biomechanically more specific than jumping with a barbell resting on the shoulders. Shown performing a squat jump is Lusia Angilau, a member of the women’s volleyball team at Southern Utah. Angilau appeared on our Sep/Oct 2009 cover, and had a 27.1 inch v
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The Dark Side of Sports
on Sports Liability Informative, and sometimes shocking, statements r. Marc Rabinoff has been contributing to BFS for nearly a decade, and he has written dozens of articles on many aspects of liability in sports and fitness. He has discussed the value of waivers, the basics of we
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A New Slant on Back Training
TRAINING & EQUIPMENT The glute-ham raise combines a hip extension exercise with a knee extension exercise. A New Slant on Back Training A look at great, but often overlooked, back extension exercises WRegarding athletes, if you focus on the strength aspect of this theory, a weakn
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The Shocking Truth About Inflammation
Inflammation The pros, cons and alternatives to taking popular drugs such as aspirin, ibuprofen and Aleve ot a headache? Take an aspirin. Sprain your ankle? Pop a few Aleve. Is that chronic case of jumper’s knee acting up? Some ibuprofen may do the trick. Common advice, sure – but
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Building Champions at Brodhead High
BY KIM GOSS, MS irty Jobs is a reality show hosted by Mike Rowe on the Discovery Channel. Rowe profiles jobs that most people would consider undesirable, but these jobs are necessary for us to maintain our lifestyle. Although athletic directors don’t have to dig ditches in worm-i
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BFS High School Female Athlete of the Year
3KRWRE\'DYLG-HQQLQJVRI-HQQLQJV3KRWRJUDSK\ZZZMHQQLQJVURGHRSKRWRJUDSK\FRP Athlete of the Year Multi-talented cowgirl Megan White wins our most prestigious award hen we receive nominations for our male and female high school athletes of the year, coming down to a single w
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How to Develop Powerful Athletes
BY KIM GOSS, MS n comedian Eddie Izzard’s standup routine on martial arts, he notes that tai chi is not very effective for self-defense because it is “a little too slow.” Likewise, one of the reasons for Bruce Lee’s popularity was his incredible speed, and it was reported that fo
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Can Cell Phones Make You Sick?
Make You Sick? A look at the health dangers of cell phone radiation t seems just about everything will give you cancer. What other conclusion could we make based on what we read in the papers and watch on the news? We’ve heard that dental X-rays, deodorants, grilled meat and even
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New Perspectives on Childhood Obesity
on Childhood Obesity Knowledge is key in the fight against this major health threat itness icon Jack LaLanne was best known for his television show, The Jack LaLanne Show, which debuted in 1951. Jack was lean, well-muscled and charismatic; his show was so popular that it went int
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The Evolution of Strength Coaching
BFS editor in chief Kim Goss began his education in strength coaching as a weightlifter, and is shown here competing in the 1977 Junior Olympics. Strength Coaching A personal look at the recent history of athletic and physical fitness BY KIM GOSS, MS ranted, there’s a lot of self
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Positive Results with Negative Training
hen performing core BFS exercises such as the power clean, bench press and hex bar deadlift, your focus is on pulling and pressing the weights explosively. After all, speed is king in sports, and if you want to be faster and more powerful, you need to lift fast. But sometimes to
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Rethinking the Deadlift
BY KIM GOSS, MS s with the squat and the bench press, the deadlift has been a staple in the workouts of serious athletes for many years. Football players, weightlifters and even bodybuilders frequently include this total body movement in their workouts. In fact, three decades ago
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Lifting Chains Revisited
Lifting Chains REVISTED A look at the ever increasing value of lifting chains in helping athletes achieve their physical potential BY KIM GOSS, MS f something works, there is really no reason to change it. The BFS program has been used to help create successful athletic programs
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Structural Balance and Auxiliary Exercises
TRAINING & EQUIPMENT 3KRWRFRXUWHV\8QLYHUVLW\RI/RXLVYLOOH6SRUWV,QIRUPDWLRQ Structural balance training is required in sports such as field hockey, which requires exceptional levels of lateral quickness to reach the highest levels. Demonstrating her skills is Janelle Avila, w
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Certification: A Strength Coach's Perspective
FEATURE STORY A multimedia classroom presentation is one part of the BFS certification program. Certification: A Strength Coach’s Perspective One coach’s journey through the maze of certification programs he number of certifications in the fields of athletic and physical fitness i
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Pro Football Training with Mike Bystol
t’s always been a bit of a mystery what pro football players actually do to strength train. An occasional demo from a strength coach showing some unique exercise that he or she used in training a pro doesn’t provide much evidence. Is the current training of these athletes simply
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The Education of a Strength Coach: Charles Ploiquin
Charles Poliquin A frank discussion with one of the world’s most accomplished strength coaches BY KIM GOSS, MS n outlier is someone who not only masters a certain skill or field of study but also makes us think in a different way about what they do. Examples of outliers in busine
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The Hunter High School Experiment
BY KIM GOSS, MS hen I moved to Salt Lake City in 2004 to work fulltime as the editor of BFS magazine, I eventually realized that in order to write competently about working with high school athletes, I would need to do some fieldwork. In 2007 I found the perfect learning environm
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