I’ve been in the game for over 30 years. Strongman. Powerlifting. Hundreds of competitions. At this point, I’ve heard every claim about “strength hacks.” Most are garbage.
A few years back, during a training session in Los Angeles, one of my buddies tossed me a strange-looking mouthpiece.
“Try this on your next pull,” he said.
I laughed. “I’ve been lifting longer than you’ve been alive. This isn’t going to help me lift 800 pounds.”
But I was in the middle of a heavy deadlift cycle, and curiosity got the better of me.
The Test
I slapped 765 on the bar. Chalked up. Bit down on the mouthpiece. From the moment I set my grip, something felt… different. My stance locked in tighter. My core braced harder.
The bar moved smoother than it ever had at that weight. We added 20 more pounds. Pulled it clean. Stable from the floor to lockout.
The Turning Point
I’m not a guy who buys into hype, so I kept testing it. Yoke walk, Atlas Stone training, and hell, even a truck pull. Same result every time: I felt more stability, better power transfer, and less energy leak.
It wasn’t magic. It was just proper alignment.
When your jaw is out of place, it throws off your entire kinetic chain.
Your jaw connects to the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), which is tied directly into muscles that stabilize your head and neck.
When the TMJ isn’t aligned, your head position shifts (usually slightly forward.) That small shift changes the angle of your cervical spine, which then alters how your thoracic and lumbar spine stack under load.
A misaligned jaw doesn’t just affect your bite. It affects posture, balance, and the way force travels through your body. Under a heavy squat or deadlift, even a few degrees of misalignment can cause energy leaks, instability, and weaker bracing.
Most people don’t realize that their jaws are actually misaligned. This is largely due to a shift in our diets compared to 60 years ago.
In the 1940s, America shifted away from tougher, unprocessed foods that activated and developed the jaw, in favor of today’s soft, processed diets which require less effort - leading to weaker jaws and poor alignment over time.
This mouthpiece instantly fixes that problem.
When the jaw sits correctly (down and forward) it sets the TMJ in a neutral position. That stabilizes the neck.
A stable neck aligns the spine. An aligned spine locks in the hips and pelvis, giving you a solid base to drive force.
It’s not magic. It’s simple biomechanics. A small adjustment at the top transfers down the entire chain, making every lift more efficient and powerful.
The Realization
I’ve competed with the strongest men on the planet. I know what it takes to stay at that level. At 54, I was still pulling 800+ not because of shortcuts, but because of smart training and dialing in every detail.
The mouthpiece wasn’t a gimmick. It was biomechanics. It took one weak link out of the chain and let the rest of my body fire the way it was supposed to.
Why I Back It
That’s why I use the 6DS Heavy Lifting Mouthpiece now. It’s not about hype. It’s about giving your body the alignment it needs to perform.
Whether you’re a weekend lifter or chasing world records, the difference is the same:
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Better bracing under load
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Stronger posterior chain activation
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Less wasted energy
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More weight moved safely
You didn’t hit your plateau. You’re misaligned. Fix that, and you’ll find strength you didn’t know was there.
If it can help a 54-year-old strongman still set PRs after three decades, imagine what it can do for you.
