Connective tissue first
Tendons and ligaments load before the muscles do. Get the structure ready, then chase the numbers.
✺ ATG
What is ATG?
Balanced Exercise.
Pain-Free Level.
Ben Patrick’s system for building knees, hips and ankles that don’t break — trained through full range, in every direction, at a level you can own today.
§ 01
Where it came from
ATG stands for “Ass to Grass” — full-range squatting that was wrongly mandated against for decades alongside letting the knees pass the toes. Ben Patrick built the system after that same misinformation cost him nearly a decade of fragile knees, surgery, painkillers, and depression.
The exercises came from what actually worked: knee strengthening from early gymnastics, the full split squat abandoned by Olympic weightlifting, and the sled work Louie Simmons invented in powerlifting. Balanced. Forward and backward. Fast and slow. High and low. Strength and flexibility.
He’s now over a decade without a knee setback and coaches the same principles that took him there.
§ 02
Six Principles
Joint-friendly loading
Taking a joint through its true range under load feeds the tissues that keep it healthy. Motion is maintenance.
Full range of motion
Ass-to-grass isn't a stunt. It's the standard. Range is trained before load is added on top.
Evidence, not tradition
Built from what actually worked — gymnastics, Olympic lifting, and powerlifting sled work from Louie Simmons. Not from what was banned by habit.
Posterior chain balance
Hamstrings, glutes and calves trained as hard as the quads. Balanced force in, balanced force out.
Tibialis anterior
The missing muscle at the front of the shin. Trained on purpose to protect the knee, ankle, and everything above them.
✺ Core Idea
“Balanced exercise at your pain-free level.”
— Ben Patrick, Kneesovertoesguy
Forward and backward. Fast and slow. High and low. Strength and flexibility. Every exercise scaled on a gradient so you always have a version you can own today.
§ 03
Where Bulletproof fits
Sid is an ATG L2 certified coach. Bulletproof takes those principles — connective tissue first, full range, balanced load — and pairs them with barbell strength programming and rehab protocols built for people who have to perform.
ATG is the foundation. Barbell strength is the ceiling. The two aren’t alternatives. They’re the same job, run properly.