Mike Westerdal Bio > Articles by Mike Westerdal
Mike Westerdal is the owner of CriticalBench.com. He earned his BS from Central CT State University where he played four years of D-IAA football. After college Mike went on to play and coach football in Europe before he acquired his certification as a personal trainer with the American Council on Exercise.
Westerdal is a contributing muscle writer for various iron magazines including REPS! and Monster Muscle. In addition his articles are published throughout the Internet.
Westerdal is an amatuer powerlifter competing in the APF and APA federations. He resides in sunny Clearwater, FL and trains at Tampa Barbell. He is married to his wonderful wife Courtney.
Articles by Mike Westerdal
by Mike Westerdal You can do anything that anyone else has done. You can have anything that anyone else has. You can be anything that some else already is. Why? Because they have already done it and therefore you know it can be done. The only question... read more
by Mike Westerdal Many women shy away from the idea of building muscle because they are afraid they’ll ‘bulk-up’ and look like one of the female competitive bodybuilders that used to come out of the former U.S.S.R. Fortunately, that’s... read more
Joint Pain & Inflammation Relief
Lifting weights is one of the most beneficial things you can do to improve the health and longevity of your body. Besides increasing muscle mass and building strength, a regular weightlifting routine can strengthen the body’s immune system, elevate... read more
2012 Arnold Sports Festival Trip
Ben Tatar represented Critical Bench.com at the 2012 Arnold Sports Festival. Below I ask him a few questions about the trip and share some of his pics. CB: What was different or better about this year’s Arnold? BT: The night life was... read more
Win a FREE Copy Of Bench Press Explosion!
Lets keep this simple. If you’d like to win one of ten free copies I’m giving out of my new Bench Press Explosion eBook that contains 18 of the best bench press routines I have ever come across here’s your big chance! The problem as... read more
By Mike Westerdal Many different types of athletes—weightlifters, powerlifters and combat sport enthusiasts alike—benefit from explosiveness, flexibility and strength. When it comes to developing these qualities, nothing is better than complex movements... read more
Over 3x More Power Generated By The Olympic Lifts vs. the Deadlift
If you’re an athlete, you need to be explosive… unless of course you’re a marathon runner, in which case you can just slowly jog away from this article right now because this doesn’t apply to you. But if you’re involved in any other sport that... read more
Interviewing the Interviewer – Meet All-Star Ben Tatar
Interview with strength athlete and interview All-Star Ben Tatar By Dean Bennett for CriticalBench.com Critical Bench goes one on one with strength athlete and one of the best iron game interviewers of the past decade, Ben Tatar. CB: Ben, it’s... read more
Benefits of Omega 3s & Fish Oils
Over the past 20 years or so fats have gotten a pretty bad rap in the media. Fats have been blamed for the extraordinarily high rates of obesity and heart disease in the United States. And despite the proliferation of low- or non-fat foods over the past... read more
Total Xplosive Training (TXT) Review
Total Xplosive Training is a training technique developed Chris Barnard, a strength and conditioning coach out of Florida. He is pursuing his Master’s Degree in Exercise Physiology and Kinesiology at the University of Miami. He also heads up Strength... read more
My friend Dave Ruel aka “the Muscle Cook” and author of the Anabolic Cooking was in town visiting a couple weeks ago and he taught me how to cook the perfect the steak. One terrific source of protein that tops the list for many people in terms... read more
Best Back Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of The Review
If you walk into many of the modern fancy gyms—even the ones with free weights—you’ll likely notice that benches, equipment and machines to train the chest outnumber equipment to train the back by at least four-to-one. Part of the reason for... read more
You Are the Only Fitness Guru You Need
It seems to be human nature to look outside ourselves for the answers we need. This is especially true when we want to make changes in our lives. To ourselves, we say we need the guru because we are confused and he or she can help us to understand what... read more
Interview With Bengals Cheerleader Alyson Jordan
by Ben Tatar of CriticalBench.com Alyson Jordan has been cheer leading for the Cincinnati Bengals. She is also a 3rd grade teacher and she was the Cover Champion for the Bengals 2011-2012 cheer leading swim suit Calendar. In this exclusive interview we... read more
