Strength Intel newsletter by Henry Tosh

Strength Intel

Welcome to your regular dose of performance-validated and results-driven strength training intelligence. Let's get stronger and smarter.

How to Start Velocity-Based Training - Part 7

How Do You Know When to Stop Adding Weight? Here's a question most lifters answer with guesswork. When you're working up to your top set, how do you know when to stop adding weight? Most people do it by feel. They add weight when it "feels right" and stop when it "feels heavy enough." The problem...

by Henry Tosh — Mar 20, 2026

How to Start Velocity-Based Training - Part 6

How Hyped Should You Be? Why Arousal Matters for Velocity Training The last post covered intent (what you're attempting to do with each rep). Arousal is a related but separate variable that affects your training just as much. Arousal is the heightened physiological and emotional state you get int...

by Henry Tosh — Feb 18, 2026

How to Start Velocity-Based Training - Part 5

The Velocity Blind Spot: Why Intent Matters More Than You Think Velocity-based training gives you objective data. Numbers on a screen. No guesswork. But there's a blind spot that most people miss entirely. Velocity tells you how fast the bar moved. It doesn't tell you how hard you were trying to ...

by Henry Tosh — Feb 16, 2026

How to Start Velocity-Based Training - Part 4

Is Your Progress Real? Four Ways Lifters Fool Themselves You're adding weight to the bar every week. Your training log is full of personal bests. Everything points to progress. But what if you're not actually getting stronger? There are several ways progress can look real on paper while being com...

by Henry Tosh — Feb 11, 2026

How to Start Velocity-Based Training - Part 3

Why RPE Is Less Reliable Than You Think (And What to Use Instead) RPE has been the default method for managing training effort in strength sports for years. You finish a set, assign a number, and use that to guide your programming. It sounds precise. It feels scientific. But there's a fundamental...

by Henry Tosh — Feb 05, 2026

How to Start Velocity-Based Training - Part 2

How to Test Your Bench Press Technique Using Velocity You train hard. You follow your programme. But in some sessions, the bar flies off your chest, and in others, the same weight feels impossibly heavy. Most lifters blame fatigue, sleep, or just having an off day. But there's often a simpler exp...

by Henry Tosh — Jan 30, 2026

How to Start Velocity-Based Training

This is the first post in a free 8-part series that will teach you how to start using velocity-based training from scratch. If you've been relying on RPE or RIR to guide your training, you already know the problem: it's subjective. Two reps in reserve for you might be four reps in reserve for som...

by Henry Tosh — Jan 22, 2026

Strength Intel - Issue 7

How to Pick Your Openers Powerlifting competitions are about more than just strength—they're about judgment. I've watched countless strong lifters lose to competitors simply because they picked the wrong openers. The difference between walking away satisfied versus frustrated often comes down to ...

by Henry Tosh — Sep 04, 2025

Strength Intel - Issue 6

Be First, Be Smarter What is the biggest problem facing both newly qualified and highly experienced coaches today? Is it AI? Anyone can ask Chat GPT for a training program now; most of the ones generated are indistinguishable from the standard outline you’ll find being used by most coaches. What...

by Henry Tosh — Aug 25, 2025

Strength Intel - Issue 5

The 10,000-Hour Shortcut I recently received an email from a coach in Manchester. He'd been trying to implement velocity-based training for eight months, piecing together information from YouTube videos, forum posts, and scattered research papers. Despite his best efforts, he still felt like he w...

by Henry Tosh — Aug 01, 2025

Strength Intel - Issue 4

The Explore/Exploit Dilemma There's a peculiar paradox that haunts every serious lifter's training journey. Stick with what's working, and you might be leaving strength gains on the table. Chase every new method that promises better results, and you risk losing all the progress you've carefully b...

by Henry Tosh — Jul 28, 2025

Strength Intel - Issue 3

Try our new Strength Calculator Ready to have some fun with Data? Over the last few months, I’ve been analysing the complete 2024 IPF database (every single competition result from the world's largest drug-tested powerlifting federation) and building a program to convert that data into a visual...

by Henry Tosh — Jul 17, 2025

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Strength Intel

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