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How do you end your cooking rut? What do you do when your go-to foods bore you? Niki Sims & Nikki Burman have tips & tricks to re-energize your cooking & meal preparation, so you don't turn to unhealthy, convenience foods that take you away from your goals. End Your Cooking Rut It's easy to grow sick of the same meals, get burnt out by cooking, meal preparation, grocery shopping, and all the other steps (including eating) that go into healthy, sustainable nutrition. Tackle this thorny issue from both sides: remember your goals & enliven the steps to crush your goals. Remember Your Goals – Know Your Why What are your nutrition goals and why do they matter to you? Reminding yourself of why you're cooking, preparing meals, and eating healthy foods matters. Ruts happen. Don't forget why you're doing this in the first place. Nikki enjoys seeing her family happy & healthy. The physical manifestation of her goals is her family, so she not only looks toward her personal goals but her loved ones for motivation. Taking time to write your goals, post them, and investigate why they matter helps. Now, on to reenergizing meal preparation. Find New Recipes Finding new recipes can reenergize your nutrition, but doing this requires work (find the recipe, purchase the food, try it out, see if people like it). Unless you absolutely love trying new recipes, look for simpler recipes. Look at the ingredient list and the number of steps. Double-check that you're comfortable with the cooking options (if it requires an air fryer and you don't have one, move on). Beyond finding all new recipes, you can tweak go-to recipes to make them fresh and prevent boredom. Try cooking vegetables or meat, for example, with a different method (if you typically roast, try the air fryer or grill them). Change out meats and vegetables to find a different flavor profile. The basics of the recipe will remain, but the result will taste much different. Vary the spices and see what works and what you like. Make Cooking Fun If you're cooking for your family, make it a family event. Have your family join you, so you don't feel like you're sacrificing family time for food time. This is also a great way to teach your family how to cook and what is involved in making healthy food. If you're meal prepping for yourself, listen to music or your favorite podcast. Have it be – like training time – a time away from work and that is all about you and moving toward your goals. Preparation & Planning Have healthy meats & veggies frozen & on-hand. Maintain a well-stocked spice cabinet. Keep necessary & go-to sauces in your refrigerator. If you made too much of something, freeze part of it so you have a ready-to-go meal. Schedule your grocery shopping. This might mean having it delivered to your house, delivered to the car, or going in yourself, but ensure you have your grocery list complete & ensure the time works for you and your family. Don't Fear Failure You might make something that doesn't go over well. That's okay. You'll make more food that is tasty and healthy, and you'll occasionally find a new favorite dish that you'll want to make for and share with others. Experiment and try new things. If you're sick of eggs, try overnight oats, recipes with greek yogurt, or cottage cheese and fruit. Try breakfast for dinner (or dinner for breakfast). Ultimately, if you're dreading eating your prepared food, lower compliance is likely to arise. Lower compliance means moving away from your goals. Notice this early and try some new recipes or new ways of cooking now before you're noticing metrics shifting in an undesired direction. Let us know if you have some other ideas to end your cooking rut and reenergize meal preparation! GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Are there too many coaches!? Learn how to stand out, find clients & provide value as a coach in a seemingly flooded coaching market. The Flooded Fitness Market Are there too many coaches!? Learn how to stand out, find clients & provide value as a coach in a seemingly flooded coaching market. With social media & the internet, it's easy to be overwhelmed by the quantity of personal trainers, content creators, and coaches trying to find a piece of the fitness market. Niki & CJ can help. Think about your Values, Identities, & Priorities (VIP) & consider the market. Ideally, these two circles are aligned perfectly. They won't be, and you're not looking to coach everyone in the fitness market. You are not in the same pool as the expert, online coach who has been doing this for decades. While you may look up to this coach and learn from him or her, comparing yourself to him or her is ultimately counterproductive. Plus, these people didn't begin with huge social media followings or large online coaching companies. Finding Clients as a Coach What comparative advantage do you have over a Matt Reynolds, Louie Simmons, or whatever coach you look up to? You know your co-workers, friends, and family and can help them meet their goals with a relatively low knowledge level and for much cheaper than a professional barbell coach. The people around you should know that you lift and coach. Like any other hobby, talk about it in person and on social media. Start coaching friends, family, & co-workers. Do it now. Start coaching. Don't worry about finding a niche. Don't worry about marketing, having a website, starting a podcast, getting a certification, or getting articles published. These are all great. They don't help you coach. Providing Value as a Coach It doesn't take much experience or knowledge to be able to help those around you. Having some teaching progressions, knowing some cues, and understanding the basics of programming a novice means you can people meet their goals. It is not a big gap between posting videos of your friends and family hitting PRs on social media and posting videos of your clients hitting personal bests on social media. You don't need to know how to program DUP or Conjugate programming to help someone get stronger. You don't need to have 10k followers on Instagram to double someone's squat. You don't have to have a personal training certification to teach someone how to deadlift. Find Clients & Provide Value as a Coach The low barrier to entry should not discourage you but encourage you. To find clients & provide value as a coach does not require intensive study and years of experience. You can start now. This also means there are many bad coaches and personal trainers out there. You can quickly surpass them by acting professionally now, by developing and maintaining an academy study habit, and by coaching now. Certifications, content creation, and finding social media followers are great. Do these along the way. Like you shouldn't feel like a failure because you can't squat 315 on day 1, don't feel bad that as a newbie coach your skills and knowledge reflect that. Just as two months on a novice linear progression can make a big different, two months of study, coaching, and posting on social media can make a big difference. Accomplishing your goals as a professional barbell coach requires consistency over a long period of time. Start now - there is no better day or time to begin. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Online coaching is better than in-person coaching. It provides more value to the coach and client, enabling greater flexibility, personalization, and effectiveness. Online Coaching is Better Since Barbell Logic began providing online coaching, we have offered it almost apologetically, only as a backup if you lacked in-person access to a great professional barbell coach. We have changed are thinking on online coaching's value. Online coaching is better than in-person coaching for most people most of the time. Online coaching provides greater flexibility, personalization, consistency, and effectiveness for coaches and clients. We still love in-person coaching, and most of our coaches offer both online and in-person coaching. Effectiveness of Online Coaching We used to believe in the extreme importance of the first few sessions and first few months for novice lifters. Coaches correct technique errors in the initial sessions, getting lifters moving in the most biomechanically efficient way possible (with proper form). Clients needed to get as strong as possible in those first few months. While we still value correct technique and getting clients stronger in the beginning months, these are rather the initial steps in a longer transformative process of building strength to improve quality of life. Numbers on the bar increase drastically in the initial months of training, but the true value comes from how strength training and health habits become a part of their life, which ultimately creates the effectiveness, value, and lifechanging changes the clients are looking for. Flexibility of Online Coaching Online Coaching provides flexibility to coaches and clients that in-person coaching cannot compete with. Clients train when and where they want, and coaches coach when and where they want. This flexibility has led to greater consistency and higher consistency to more effectiveness. If you have an in-person session and something comes up so you can't make it, the chances that your coach has the flexibility to modify his schedule are slim. Whereas if you typically train before work and something arises where you have to train after work, it's not a problem with online coaching. This also leads to greater compliance. As a client, you can maintain your training habit through a gym closure or a vacation while still receiving coaching from your coach. As a coach, you can continue to retain your clients as they move. If you want to live in small town USA or in sunny southern California, you can and coach people around the world. This also enables better coach-client pairing. Clients with specialized needs such as postpartum or pregnancy training, training for military requirements, or training around injuries can find coaches with that knowledge. Coaches can be paired with more clients who they are better-equipped to coach. Value of Online Coaching Online coaches earn more money per hour and can have more clients than the limitations of a daily or weekly schedule allow. Beyond this, the pathways to higher-paying coaching are limiting. Personal training wages are low, and not all people want to open their own gym (plus, with business closures, this is riskier than ever before). Clients pay less money for online coaching while typically getting more or as much feedback from their coach as they would from their in-person coach. In-person coaching from an excellent professional barbell coach is extremely expensive. Most people typically get occasional technique tune ups or follow a group coaching model to make in-person coaching more affordable. Online Coaching Delivery Differences Online coaching enables coaches to video themselves while watching their clients videos and provide video feedback. While online coaching has some limitations (especially tactile cues) its capabilities enable some different coaching methods. Through either moving your body in the video or drawing on the screen, visual cues are easier to deliver to clients than when in-person. Online coaching enables more long coach-client relationships. Although long relationships certainly exist with in-person clients, oftentimes the coach or the client moves and though both would like to continue the relationship it must end. Online coaching can sustain these coach-client relationships. Online coaching excels at programming. Not only is delivering workout programming (coach) and receiving programming (client) easier, but the coach can explain strength programming decisions and adjustments easily. Metrics can be automated and tracked for all lifts and all rep ranges. While this may seem like a small benefit, if seeing different PRs go up over time motivates clients, then this again increases compliance while ultimately leads to greater effectiveness. Online coaching enables automatic storage of not only metrics and PRs but also information. Whatever cue the coach wants to think about next time, you can automatically remember. You don't have to write down programmin

Burnout can occur in any pursuit or career path, but can be particularly noxious for careers coming from passion. Coaching fits that bill certainly, as no one comes to coaching to make billions. So, acknowledging that burnout exists and can happen, how do we avoid it (or stop it if we find ourselves burnt out). What is Coaching Burnout? Burnout isn't being tired. Maybe the analogy in training is that it's not the soreness or exhaustion that one hard workout can create, but rather the buildup of stress unrecovered from (overtraining). Coaching burnout will feel like emotional exhaustion, and symptoms may include: not training not attending nutrition dreading work feeling like you're putting on a show resentment Burnout is a signal that something or many things are wrong. This is an opportunity to right those wrongs and grow as a person and professional barbell coach. Causes of Coaching Burnout What causes burnout? The reasons to feel exhausted differ, but it likely comes from a violated boundaries or a lack of priorities. It ultimately comes down to not knowing and pursuing what you want. You may not know what you want as you begin to coach. That is okay. Those desires may change, and probably will. You may begin to say yes to every coaching opportunity that presents itself, as you want coaching experience. As you gain experience and expertise, you will likely need to know how to choose opportunities, which means saying no to things that do not bring you closer to your goals. If you allow your in-person sessions to regularly bleed over their allocated time, you are not only providing more than you agreed to but you are likely stepping on your training time, family time, personal time, or lunch time. Similarly, if you retain old clients that are paying lower rates when you were a less-skilled coach, you likely need to tell those clients that your rate has increased and be prepared to justify why. You'll likely be surprised at their response. Avoiding or Ending Coaching Burnout Know your boundaries. You may not know them as you begin as a coach, but identifying them and communicating them to your clients and other clearly sets expectations up front. You may (and likely will) have to defend them at some point. Identify what you want and work toward your goals. This will require checking in, as your desires and goals will change. Keeping your goals in mind helps you evaluate opportunities and know which to follow and which to avoid. Know your scope of practice. You cannot be all things for your client. It can be helpful to have other resources or experts you can refer your clients to, but you are not and should not be a therapist or other professional. Take the time to check-in with how you feel. How do you feel after a call with a client, an in-person coaching session, or how are you feeling in general? Just as slower bar speed and lower desire to train can indicate you're heading toward overtraining, seeing repeated negative emotions can help you identify you need to change something in your coaching practice. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

How do you set yourself apart as a coach? One way is knowledge. Understanding the fundamentals that underlie anatomy, physiology, programming, technique, and platform coaching will differentiate you from the typical personal trainer. Set yourself apart with knowledge. It's easy to get a personal training certification. Even earning a degree in exercise science offers no guarantee of competence as a coach. Have a basic understanding of science. Anatomy & physiology are key here. Get a high school textbook on anatomy and physiology and read it and understand it. If you acquire this level of understanding, you stand head and shoulders above the vast majority of personal trainers. The real goal of education is to learn how to learn effectively. There are an endless number of educational pursuits, so learning HOW to learn is more important than WHAT you learn. By learning how to learn you enable yourself to continue your pursuit of knowledge to whatever you want or need to learn. Learning should be a lifelong pursuit, no matter your career, and if you want to be an excellent coach, you have to be a lifelong learner. Continue to improve and learn and get better. The Academy Principles Course is targeted at barbell enthusiasts who love to learn more and geek out on barbell & barbell-related topics and those coaches looking to master the fundamentals (or principles). GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Niki & CJ discuss overcoming imposter syndrome as a coach. The address what it is, why it's normal, when you may be beyond your abilities, and practical tips to deal with it. Learn more about overcoming imposter syndrome as a coach. Doubt, fear, and anxiety is normal. With coaching, or really any venture, you will likely experience internal self-doubt but may also have a fear of being discovered or exposed as a fraud or imposter. This appears and persists despite evidence to the contrary. Regardless of accomplishments, success, credentials, you still have a feeling of not being qualified. You're in good company, as this feeling is nearly universal. This is a sign you care, and literature suggests that those who face these feelings are less likely to cheat and more likely to work harder to improve. These feelings have become so prevalent that an entire industry has arisen to overcome imposter syndrome. These feelings appear or heighten especially around 2 phenomena: challenging obstacles & stress accumulation. When a client quits, you get a client who is a bit outside your comfort zone, or you're asked to do something novel but generally within the realm of your skill set, these feelings will likely arise. Obstacles are opportunities for growth. If you successfully overcome a novel challenge--heck, even if you fail but try your hardest--you will learn and improve as a coach. It is true, of course, that there are challenges that are truly beyond your abilities. How can you think about these? You can ask yourself: Am I as qualified and ready as I can reasonably be? You could also add a "...yet." For example, "I'm not qualified to coach professional powerlifters...yet." This allows for the possibility for growth. Stress can accumulate, create heightened negative emotions, and leave us with feelings of being a fraud or imposter at work. You may feel like you're in a "trough of despair." What can you do? First, think about the immediate stressors. You the helpful HALT acronym. Are you any of the following: Hungry Angry Lonely Tired As Niki says, you can deal with these through lunch with a friend and a nap. You can think about conditions generally in your life. CJ discusses how as an early coach he took on too much work, which prevented him from addressing his own nutrition and training. He felt worse physically, and that carried over to how he saw himself (plus, he actually didn't look the part of a physical trainer or coach). Lastly, there may be actual medical issues like anxiety or depression, outside of coaching or your professional pursuit, that can be addressed and improve this element of your coaching. This is hard to discuss. You can't and really shouldn't address this with your client. That being said, you should admit when you don't know something and look it up. You can admit to not feeling great and that you're not 100%. Consider your coaching more of a collaboration than a mechanic working on a car. Explain your thought process. This can help get buy-in. Discussing this with colleagues can come with the fear of them denying any feelings of fraud. Talking to someone in another career field can leave you with the easy excuse that "it's different for that professional field." Lastly, while the fake-it-til-you-make-it mentality isn't wrong, it can go too far. You shouldn't necessarily take on every client. You may be honest with clients you're on the fence on and develop a 3-month test run. This enables you to see if you're up to the challenge while being upfront and honest with the potential client. Because, if you truly fake it--not simply fake some confidence, but lie about your abilities and credentials, you'll likely come to believe the lie yourself. The uncomfortable feelings of imposter syndrome should result in growth or--if grounded in lies and deceit--will enable you to overcome these feelings through buying your own lies. Overcoming imposter syndrome as a coach or overcoming imposter syndrome at work can be challenging. Try some of these tips and approaches out. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Niki & CJ Gotcher discuss how to determine your values, identities, and priorities (VIP). These underlie WHY, HOW, WHAT, and FOR WHOM you coach. Learn about what these are and how you can more consciously develop and refine these over time (they aren't set in stone). Whether we do so consciously or not, we have some notion of our coaching VIP. Something brought us to coaching our friends or family or diving a bit more deeply into why we might train a certain way or how training can be more effective. Approaching these more systematically and really thinking through them can help us better understand ourselves, potentially reinvigorate our coaching practice, and help us know what to say no to. What we say no to can tell us much about what we value and what our priorities are. Why? Well, it's easy to say yes to things. Early on as a coach, you'll probably say yes to every possible opportunity to coach someone. You need the experience, and a priority early on might be simply get as much experience as possible. As you progress as a coach, however, you'll start to prefer certain types of clients or gravitate toward certain types of activities. Some may love the challenges of programming for competitive athletes, who constantly try to squeeze the most our of their performance. Others may like hybrid athletes, who try to elevate multiple physical attributes. Some may simply find joy from helping older clients regain capabilities they thought they had lost forever. Beyond finding a niche, the stakes go up for us as coaches when we transition from hobbyist to professionals. We're asking for money and ultimately making a promise that we can provide more value to the client than the money they paid us. More responsibility can often lead to more introspection and why we're doing coaching at all. boosts#toggleFormOnEscOrEnter" data-boosts-adding-class="boosts--adding" data-boosts-deleting-class="boost--deleting"> GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Consistency leads to PRs and meeting your goals, more than any other factor (form, programming). Nikki Burman, Director or Client Experience & Exclusive Coach at BLOC, discusses how as a coach she helps others and how a lifter she personally achieves consistency. Learn how to never miss a workout. Nikki often talks to clients who are considering quitting training and online coaching with BLOC, and her approach is "let's find a way to make this work." What this means if not forcing the way on the client, but rather examining and looking to improve two main things. The first item she considers is the lifter's support system. Not, as a coach, she cannot necessarily improve the support system BUT she can help be a support system of sorts by encouragement and accountability. She can also see if there are some sources of support that might not be underused or unused in the coach's life. Secondly, she asks "is the plan realistic?" Missing workouts can lead to a accumulation of discouragement and a sense of failure. The lifter is often following an unrealistic plan. Programs can be unrealistic for many reasons. A lifter may begin a block program that is realistic, but a life event occurs that makes that program no longer realistic. A client may feel burned out, get injured, get bored, or reprioritize activities in her life. How can lifters more easily accumulate workouts? Shorter workouts, potentially with optional exercises, can make it easier to get in the gym, and on those days where the motivation is there, you can do the extra work, on the other days just get the meat and potatoes done. Shifting how the workouts feel can help. That might mean getting a pump, getting sweaty, changing exercise selection, or doing things like AMRAPs, myo reps, or other means that can provide quick, different workouts that still enable productive stress. A misalignment of how important we think an activity is in our life versus how important our effort or time suggests it may be can lead to guilt. Niki suggests the following exercise, which can help you see that misalignment. List important activities and pursuits in your life. Give them an importance from 1-5. Then think about how much time and effort you put toward those activities, and identify the misalignments. Can you make that 5 a 4 and truly live it out as a 4? Build consistency, ensure your program is realistic, and learn how to never miss a workout. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Lots of people execute novice programming repeatedly, and even in advanced programming a lift is being increased through novice programming. So, how do we think about novice programming, returning to it, and how it really differs from true advanced programming? Following MED programming principles, we follow a simple yet hard program because it is effective. The simplest program is the manipulation of one training variable. For a strength novice, typically, this means increasing intensity in a linear fashion while keeping other variables constant (volume, exercise selection, frequency). At the point at which you can no longer increase only one variable - when more than one variables have to be manipulated to progress - you are not a novice. Even on advanced programs, however, the simplicity of increasing the stress for a lift or lifts linearly through univariable manipulation typically makes sense. So, for example, you may have a supplemental squat lift on your deadlift intensity day on a 4-day split, even as part of block programming. You often increase the stress of this lift by simply adding weight to the same volume. Similarly, on a daily undulating periodization program, which is a type of concurrent programming where you train multiple physical attributes at once (hypertrophy, strength, power), you still add weight to the lifts in their respective slots. Lastly, a truly advanced lifter may have some advanced lifts but others that need to be progressed with novice programming. This may be because a lifter has focused on one lift while not training other lifts (e.g. someone benched all the time but only ever really did one leg day with machines, so their squats and deadlifts need novice programming). Another situation is post-injury where some lifts were affected but others could continue as normal. For many people, novice programming is simply a somewhat regular thing they accomplish because of life factors (vacations, business travel, sickness). The thing that brings people to advanced program is consistent training over a long enough period. If a lifter repeatedly has disruptions to training, linear progression will be something he returns to frequently. We may adjust what LP looks like, we may take bigger jumps and not grind it out as much, but some type of linear progression is the quickest way to return to previous strength levels - and surpass them. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Training means you have a script or program that you follow, but whether by your choice or life circumstances, you may have to or want to go off script. So, if you're a novice and have to or want to go off script, how do you navigate the potential difficulties and tradeoffs of going off script? 0:00 BL1K! 21:53 RIP Papa Reynolds 24:53 Off Script as a Novice Lifter As a novice, you can progress quickly. For strength, this means that if you graph your progress of the weight on the bar for your lifts it will follow a line. This is a simple, hard, and effective way to train, which lets you build the habit of training, gain confidence, improve your form, and increase strength and quality of life. You cannot always--or may not always want to--follow the script. Some examples of off script events or activities include: sickness or injury vacation or business travel sports or other physical activities powerlifting or strengthlifting meet unplanned PR Different situations demand different adjustments, and it's better to plan for off script events than (e.g. powerlifting meet) than choose unplanned activities (e.g. unplanned PR) so you can both prepare and recover appropriately for them. Consistent "off script" activities will slow your strength progress, and that's okay. You'll have to adjust your program (so you'll adjust the script) and adjust your expectations. If you have a coach and participate in physical activities that the coach is not programming, communicate with your coach (to the best of your ability) when, how often, and what those activities are like. If something unexpected happens (e.g. a BJJ session is much rougher than expected), let them know. Vacations and business trips can be planned for, and you'll have to decide whether you'll train during that period or not. You can adjust planning before and after (and potentially during), and may have to take a step back afterwards. Unplanned PRs can be fun, and for advanced lifters you may develop a knack for knowing when it's there and take it. For a novice lifter, you're progressing quickly, so we don't recommend the unplanned PR...but, if you do it, realize you might have to take a step back or at least reduce the stress following the PR. Developing patience can help here. If you're sick, depending on how sick and what it is, you may still be able to get into the gym, but might simply take it easy and have the win being that you got in the gym. If you were really sick, you may not only have taken off training but might have lost some muscle if you mostly laid down. Take a step back, and adjust your mindset--it's a part of life, and you'll get back to (and surpass) where you were before. So, training requires a script, that script may need revisions in advance or on the fly, but to always be off script or revising the script means you're not really following a script or program at all, and then you're not training. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Tanner Guzy joins Matt & Niki to talk style & its effects on how you look & feel. Check out Tanner Guzy and his style coaching https://masculine-style.com/ Improving your style isn't about showing off or strutting around. It's about self-respect and adorning your body with clothes that help make you feel and look good. Tanner points out that when he's looking and feeling good, he's thinking LESS about his appearance and better able to be present and really spend good time with friends and family. When he is unhappy, he often IS focused about wishing or thinking he looked a little more like this or less like that. For Niki, she doesn't feel good when she does not uphold her boundaries. These situations typically involve social interaction, where she might eat or drink a little more than she otherwise would. Let us examine what is often an indicator of someone not looking and feeling good about himself. Baggy clothing is often used to hide our unhappiness with how we look. It has another issue, however, in that form-fitting clothing that enhances how we feel gives us feedback about when we might be gaining a bit too much weight. Our clothing, when dressing in a way that enhances how we look, thus helps provide us a natural metric for what we're doing. A similar situation is the lifter who finally goes through LP and starts putting on muscles and suddenly her clothes don't fit. While she might think that she has gotten bulky and isn't happy with how she looks, investing in a couple new outfits that flatter her new, more muscular body will help show off her work, and help make her feel good about how she looks. For both training & style, people often look to celebrities for "this is how I want to look." Tanner has a concept called "aesthetic synonyms" for this. While the person is pointing to something unachievable (he or she has a different body), Tanner can help that person identify what resonates and how he can move closer to that aspect for his own style (and for training, for his own body & athletic development). Related to this concept of style is authenticity. We don't mean to boast, but we'd like to put our best selves forward. We don't mistake humility for mediocrity, but rather aim high and work to achieve excellence. Authenticity may be hard to identify, but inauthenticity sticks out like a sore thumb. We undoubtedly have all seen someone who turns us off as inauthentic in promoting themselves, a product or service, or an idea. If you're a coach, it's important to be authentic and build trust. The client is becoming vulnerable for you, so you cannot betray that trust. Do not belittle or insult the client, but you also try to bring that person's best self forward. Yes, the client has identified something he needs to improve and actuate that improvement. Your job is to move that person closer to the ideal, building him up. So, consider taking style more seriously, as it is a tool to enhance how you look and feel. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

We return to the foundations of programming before we jump off into more advanced programming discussions in upcoming podcasts. Why are simple, hard programs the most effective? How do we decide what to do out of the countless options. The concept of MED evolved out of the idea that what coaches were doing, as opposed to simply jumping from one program (novice linear progression) to another program (some HLM or Texas Method variant), was making small changes to modify LP that led to the intermediate program. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected] Coaches compared notes and realized this is what others were doing, and Matt & Scott explored this on earlier podcasts. And, when you think about it, this makes a lot of sense. Changing 1 or 2 variables allows you to tinker and better evaluate which changes work in general and which changes a specific lifter responds well to. With enough consistency over a long enough time, lifters' programming will get complicated. But we don't need to unnecessarily complicate things, and we don't want to throw huge amounts of volume at a lifter because then it's difficult to have anywhere to go from there. This applies to LP with the intensity as well. While you may be able to do 30 more pounds on your squat day 1, if you start with your absolutely 5RM, you really don't have anywhere to go from there. So, we program simple, hard programming (sorry, but simple & easy doesn't work). We keep things as simple as they can be. We change programming based on the lifter's other life stresses (expected & unexpected). And we build habits & consistency to lead to the changes we want to see.

Choosing a coach can be daunting, but we can help guide you with what to look for and avoid when you're choosing a coach (and how to evaluate a coach once you're being coached). Andrew provides some helpful frameworks that may be more familiar to listeners: hiring an employee or choosing a contractor or company. We're essentially outsourcing a part of our life to someone who should be able to help us move toward our goals. Whether we don't have the time, bandwidth, expertise, or detachment to coach and program for ourselves, a coach can enhance our physical fitness. A coach's values and experience matter here. People can spout platitudes, but a person's track record is a better predictor of future behavior. Do your values align with the coaches? What athletic experience does the coach have? What types of people does the coach work with, and toward what goals? Does the coach have high turnover or churn? You may have the ability to do an interview with the coach. If not, you may consider the initial bit of coaching a trial run (and, let's be honest, even if you're all-in on a coach or coaching system, it's probably because you've learned about that system or coach over time, through social media, a podcast, or something like that). Some red flags include: -high churn (not keeping clients for long periods of time) -inflexibility or rigidity (my way or the highway) -not asking about circumstances or situations (e.g. how much time do you have to train, what are your goals?) It's important to listen to your intuition here. You're inevitably being vulnerable to come to a coach, so you should build trust with the coach over time. The coach should not betray that trust. That coach will need to push you into discomfort, but ignoring your feedback, fears, or current abilities is a bad sign. What should you look for in a coach? Pretty much the reverse of the red flags. A good coach should have a track record of success and longevity with clients and should have principles and beliefs but apply them to a client's circumstances. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Matt, Niki, & Andrew discuss building habits to achieve your goals. You have habits now, and your results (along any potential access: finances, health, deadlift) are the summation of your habits. One isolated act by itself does not effect excellence, but one action as part of a years of actions does. Continuing your habits is easy. It requires no real energy to continue your habits. Like momentum, it requires energy to change the trajectory of your life. You have to intentionally work to stop or create a habit, and this isn't easy. Andrew shares the characteristics of good habits (from James Clear's book Atomic Habits) that are likely to succeed: obvious, attractive, easy, and satisfying. What you're doing by following these is increasing the your chance of success in following through. For example, if you're naturally a morning person, trying to start a lifting routine at 10pm at night doesn't make sense. Set up a habit that aligns with your natural proclivities. This doesn't mean it will be easy, but it will be easier. You'll have to have some discipline and fake it before it's easy. It's discipline & motivation that leads to your goal achievement. Eventually, your identity should change ("I'm a lifter" or "I'm a meal-prepper"). The longer you follow a habit, the easier it is to follow, the less energy it takes to follow it. When the habits defines you, it is fairly easy to continue. Some examples may help. Andrew replaced a high calorie snack of nuts and beer after work with yogurt, blueberries, and walnuts. A snack of likely near 1000 calories has been reduced to 350 calories, and Andrew feels better with the new habit. Matt does something physical every single day, even if it is simply a walk. By doing this, he knows that a certain time of day is the time for physical activity. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Cardio, conditioning, energy systems training: what are these, are these the same, and why would you do them? In this episode, we come to terms with cardio. Let's first consider your training and exercise background. This often affects how you think about this. Some come from a more purse powerlifting or bodybuilding background, where the goal is building muscle or improving strength. A different background may be a cardio-centric, where you ran, did cardio classes, or CrossFit, where conditioning was a regular, dominant part of your program. Neither extreme--cardio as the be-all, end-all, upon which you attempt to lose weight and build health, nor the activity avoidance, where you eat big, train big, and rest big to maximize gains--leads to the quality of life we're seeking. So, what role should conditioning play in your training program? Let's first consider the word "cardio." It's a shortening of the word "cardiovascular," which correctly implies that this type of training helps improve the functioning of your lunges and heart. It comes with baggage, however, of being something done for weight loss (e.g. I ate these cookies so I need to "do cardio" to burn the calories I consumed). Conditioning serves 3 potential purposes: weight loss or calorie-burning, performance, health. There really is one additional bonus reason that is somewhat associated with the third. The first reason and the purpose many associate with energy systems training is actually probably the worst reason to do cardio. While "cardio" can burn calories, nutrition & building muscle is the best way to improve your bodyfat. While targeted conditioning can & should be part of your program, don't think of it as something to burn calories just as you consume cardio. A second purpose for energy systems is ability to perform for a sport, activity, or life in general. Even sports that don't require a high-level of conditioning perform some conditioning. The example is powerlifting, because elite powerlifters at some point have to perform high volume, and if you're a big powerlifter, performing 7 sets of 5 squats will get you winded and you need the ability to perform this high volume without being so winded that you cannot perform the training to get you stronger. Lastly, one may add conditioning to a program to improve health and quality of life. Cardiovascular training is associated with better health markers and better functioning of lungs, heart, and brain. A program designed to improve quality of health should include conditioning. One additional benefit, related to the above, is the ability to think, reflect, meditate, and unplug. Especially with aerobic exercise (more on that soon), the relatively light and easy, repetitive activity done outside and in nature can allow you to shut off the screen time, get some vitamin D from the sun, and think and process things (both consciously and subconsciously). Okay, now onto the underlying science. There are 3 energy systems we target with energy systems training: aerobic, glycolytic, and phosphagen. The latter two fall under the umbrella of anaerobic (without oxygen). Aerobic is low power, long duration. You're probably using it now. It is the typical energy system that provides you energy, and only gets superseded when the energy needs outstrip its ability to provide you energy. Phosphagen is the extremely short duration but high power output: think Olympic lift, heavy single, vertical jump, 10m sprint. You have the ability to go into the ready reserve of power, but it's extremely limited. The medium power, medium duration energy system is the glycolytic. This is the energy system targeted with interval training or high intensity interval training (HIIT). Training done with this should be extremely uncomfortable, plus it's long enough that it lasts awhile (compared to phosphagen training). The currency of the body when it comes to energy is adenosine triphosphate (ATP). The reaction that occurs to produce energy breaks down ATP into adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and one phosphate group. There's no on or off system, so they're all working to SOME degree all the time, but one is dominant. Just like on a lift where there are transition points where one muscle takes over as the primary moves from another, there are transition points where one begins to level off and another takes over. There's important reasons to include conditioning in your program, but it's not a panacea and the typical reason to perform it (weight loss) it probably doesn't serve all that well. That being said, including cardio makes sense. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagr

Fear, doubt, it's a part of life & certainly a part of self-improvement, strength training, & nutrition. Find some inspiration and practical ideas for how to overcome your fears and doubt. This isn't just for beginners. Doubt is typical as we begin anything new, as the unknown can overwhelm us. There are known unknowns but also unknown unknowns. We might be afraid of embarrassment or looking silly. We might fear getting injured or failing. Let's acknowledge that change and new things can be intimidating. There's a lot to learn, and you're trying to build confidence and knowledge and capability all at once. It's a lot to handle. Hard is scary. Discomfort can be terrifying. The avoidance of the uncomfortable is a self-defeating pursuit, as discomfort and suffering are a part of life. You have some control over what discomfort you face. We know you can train. You can get stronger. We've trained all demographics with countless challenges and obstacles. Very few people have the reality that barbell training is contraindicated. YES YOU CAN. If you're overwhelmed, shift your fear to curiosity. Enjoy the process of learning and improving. Start slow, start easy, start with something you know you can do in an environment you feel comfortable in. If you fear looking stupid, getting made fun of, getting criticized, or embarrassment, this is a real fear. Begin with controlling what you can control. You might begin to lift at home, listening to your favorite music, with exercises you know you can complete. Look to free how to videos to ensure your form is passable. Build the habit and develop the supportive environment. You can also control your reactions to others. If someone comes up and explains how you SHOULD do something, tell them you have a coach. Maybe lift with headphones. Fake the confidence. A coach or at least a lifting partner you trust who can support you makes a big difference here. More advanced lifts, or lifters who may have a history of training and are coming back to it may have other fears and concerns. If you've dealt with injury, you may have a very tangible fear of reinjury. Similar to being afraid of driving after a car crash, you fear a reoccurrence. Similar to a novice, start with something that doesn't scare you. You may adjust exercises to avoid the specific exercise. You also need to address whether you want to push that exercise again, or whether you'd rather work around it (at least for now; priorities change). Again, having a competent coach really helps here. Similarly, if you see a picture of yourself from an earlier time, how do you react? There's really two considerations here. One is, you may be confronting the reality of who you are, what your body is, and some limitations. For some, stubborn fat seems to always be there, despite intense efforts and even achieving lean bodyfat percentages. The other thing you're facing is your recent choices. You might realize that you're not happy with what you've done the past 6 months or 6 years or 6 decades. You can't change the past, but you control your decisions now. Don't let this discomfort cause a spiraling downward, but embrace the discomfort and help it motivate you to change. You can do it. Control what you can control. Begin with a support environment, with things you know you can do, but begin. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Matt & Niki discuss goal setting: clear goals, digging deep to identify your whys, and how different personalities can effectively develop goals. If you're trying to lose weight, get stronger, change your nutrition, gain muscle you've at some point identified you'd like to make change the direction of your life. Whether you formally identified your goals or made a quick decision, somehow you identified you didn't like where you were and shifted the trajectory of your life. What can often happen, though, is that as the process of improvement continues, we can forget why we began. When things get tough, we might not be able to latch onto a clear purpose, and we will struggle to continue. Goals guide actions. Actions determine metrics. Clear goals create clear actions and metrics. When you've dug deep into why you want to do something, oftentimes the how becomes almost self-evident. Some perform this process of delving into their whys internally, by themselves and mostly with silent reflection. Others perform it alone but by writing down answers to questions. Others bounce ideas off other people, seeking some feedback and refining what is essentially their rough draft ideas. The 5 whys is a good process, and really highlights how effective goal-setting is finding your deeper purpose. Once you've hit your why, you often have a physical reaction. It's emotional. It resonates. It's not superficial or some cliché or thing you've been told you should care about. A superficial goal is often an unsustainable goal. If you've been floundering on identifying how to achieve your goals, you might not have pinned down your goals. Now, you can get after the hows. Before you start pursuing action, you might try an intermediate step and ask (and then answer as best you can): why haven't I achieved this? This can help you identify obstacles and hurdles, which you should account for in your actions. You develop your actions to achieve the goals. These should be specific and timebound. You should be able to identify with a yes or no answer if you accomplished them. Your metrics inform the actions and the goals. They give your information so you know if you're heading in the right direction. Metrics help you make decisions. So, if you're tracking something and unhappy with your progress, you should change what you're doing. If tracking a metric does not change behaviors, you shouldn't track it. You should be able to clearly express your goals to others (and yourself). To ensure you can do this, write your goals down. If you can't clearly define your goal--or if others don't understand it when you're sharing it--you need to do some more work to ensure you understand what you really want. They end by asking, is getting the goal really the goal? As with strength, the process of undergoing voluntary hardship refines us. We're glad we get stronger, but doing what it takes to get strong makes us a better person, beyond getting stronger. This leads into a cursory discussion of a future but not-too-far-off podcast: habits. Building healthy habits will lead to health. The habits are oftentimes more important than the goal. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Matt & Niki discuss the tradeoffs of training in a home gym or commercial gym and how to build your home gym. Learn the equipment and gear to prioritize versus the nice-to-haves as well as the minimum amount of space required to have a functional home gym. Not all commercial gyms are created equal. The big box or Globo Gyms may allow you to barbell lift, but deadlifting and chalk may be prohibited. Some gyms are simply not worth your time. Long contracts or the inability to do the four main lifts--squat, press, bench press, and deadlift--make the gym not worth it unless, temporarily, it's your only option. CrossFit gyms tend to have the equipment and space you need, but some may have an issue with you not doing CrossFit. That being said, they could be a valid option for you. Powerlifting gyms or black iron gyms are the best typical option, as a good one will have everything you need and you'll find people with similar goals. The rare but optimal commercial gym solution is one like The Strength Parlor in St. Louis or Next Level Barbell in Portland, where you not only have access to the equipment you need but you get a great community of people who are excited to see you and will cheer you on. You also get access to expert coaching when you need it. If you are close to one of these gyms, you really should take advantage. Matt's quick go-to rule for evaluating a gym is if they provide chalk. If they provide chalk, it's a good gym. Niki adds an addendum, that if they provide chalk and the floors are clean, it's an excellent gym. The downsides of a commercial gym can be crowded space and waiting for equipment. You can't pick the music and there you lose time on the commute. For benefits, you can often begin training with barbells sooner, as it may take time and you may have to budget over months to have enough equipment to barbell train at home (though you can always train TODAY with WHAT YOU HAVE ON HAND). A home gym is YOUR SPACE that you can design, improve, make your own, fill with the equipment you want. You control the music, the climate (as much as possible). You don't have to wait for equipment. It also provides a space for you to mentally take a break from other aspects of your life--it's not work, it's not family, it's your space for your health and fitness. Beyond this, the biggest benefit is the time efficiency. You have no commute time, and because no one is waiting on your equipment you can set up equipment to alternate lifts, do circuits, etc. to make preparation, gym time, and recovery as quick as possible. A last huge benefit is your home gym stays open if the gyms close down again. Lots of people suffered interruptions and an inability to continue to train with barbells because of COVID. Have at least a functional home gym so you can always train. If you're looking to build a gym, you can design it and put some creativity into it. 4'x8' is Matt's minimum space required for a good gym. Prioritize the barbell and weight first, as you can begin to do certain lifts without a squat stand (though there are also ways to build your own temporary squat stands out of construction material). For the space, a power rack that can be bolted into a platform is best. If you can't do that, a squat stand with safety pins and enough weight to keep it grounded works. Also, ensure you have a place to store plates. Many power racks have this built-in, but you can also purchase things like a-frame storage. For all your gym equipment needs, there is no better place to look into options at all price ranges than Garage Gym Reviews. Here are some notes on the small things. You need chalk. You can get this anywhere. Liquid chalk can also be good if you travel frequently. Springs collars stink but are cheap. Something like Rogue Oso collars are expensive but great and should last for decades. Having a deadlift jack makes loading and unloading your deadlift more convenient and quick. Get some fractional plates. MicroGainz has well-made yet affordable fractional plates made in America. Lastly, get a flat bench. Rep Fitness has a great one. Shifting to personal gear, you need to get lifting shoes. Lifting shoes are designed for lifting. They have a flat, hard sole (no squishy). Boots or Converse all-stars are okay, but get some lifting shoes, only wear them when you lift, and they're last at least longer than a decade. Running shoes are the worst option. Adidas, Nike, Reebok, and Rogue all have good options, though ensure you don't get some hybrid cross-trainer. You'll need a belt after awhile. You want it to be leather. We recommend Dominion. You can get 3" or 4", though 3" is the safer bet unless you know you have a long torso. Lever and prong also is an option and based on personal preference. Lever requires more work to change holes but it easier and faster to take off during a workout. Prong you can change holes quickly but you lose the convenience of the quick snap to take off. Lastly, it's always important to start. Th

Why do we emphasize strength as opposed to other physical attributes, and if we value strength, how do we achieve it. Niki & Matt explore WHY you should get strong & how to get strong. Strength--and the process of getting strong--produces lasting changes in our body. Our body changes to the stress we impose on it, with denser bones and bigger, more capable muscles. This changes how we interact with the world every day. Like unlocking a new ability for a character in a videogame, strength upgrades your capability, allowing you to do things you could not do before. When we decide to get stronger, we want to get the most bang for our buck. For strength exercises, this means exercises that move the most joints and involve the most muscle mass. We'd rather do 4 exercises than 14. We're not looking to live in the gym or do as much as we can (and, if you do, that's okay, we can always add more, but remember that there comes a point in time where you HAVE to add more volume and more stress and spend more time in the gym to continue to realize strength gains, so enjoy the simplicity and relatively short workouts novices can execute). We like exercises that are incrementally loadable. Barbells--more than any other implement--allow small weight jumps and for us to train multiple joints as we overcome gravity and attempt to keep our center of mass over our center of balance. The term "functional" has been overused and has come to mean almost nothing, but if we understand that the movement we do in the gym resemble and carry over to movements we execute in our life, then we realize the functionality of free weight movements. Nothing is more natural than bending over and sitting down and then getting back up again, like the squat. The deadlift mimics picking something up off the floor. The press resembles lifting something up over our head. People who have never undergone a systematic exercise program can increase stress in a linear manner with small enough jumps. While many point to the flattened top of the curve when they reference the law of diminishing returns, as a beginner you can enjoy the steep portion, with quick gains. For those using barbells, we most often add the same amount of weight each workout in a linear fashion until this stops. If you aren't ready for barbells and are using bodyweight exercises or lightweight objects in your home, we most often add reps (though eventually the resistance must go up). The great part about this is that you'll feel better quickly--likely within 2 weeks. Furthermore, the improvements last. So, if you have to take a week off, the increased muscle mass and improved strength do not lessen as fast as conditioning changes. So, if you're unsure about strength and how you might get strong, enjoy this. If you know someone this might benefit, be sure to share this with them. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Gillian Ward joins Matt & Niki to discuss how to get started with nutrition: identifying your goals, understanding where you are now, and implementing sustainable, realistic nutrition plans. Gillian is a great simplifier of complex information and focuses not on the science of nutrition (though she knows it) but rather behavior changes and how to best modify clients' actions to meet their goals (for the action both to occur and move them toward their goals). A client must first acknowledge a need to make a change, understand why he or she wants to change, and have an idea of what direction he or she wants to head. You don't need to have a SMART goal, but you need to understand WHY you want to make a change. Next, tell the truth with yourself (and maybe your coach), so you can understand your current behaviors. An accurate picture of your actions enable you to identify a plan that will actually work for you. Once you know where you are, think about the things you want to include in your plan. What are the things you DON'T want to give up? This might be a nightly dessert or alcohol, eating out at a restaurant with your family on Saturday evenings, or Sunday morning pancake breakfasts. It doesn't mean you won't modify this at all (if you're eating 5000 calories of pancakes, we might need to reduce that). Still, this helps you identify and maintain things that actually bring you value. Now you can triage. This is identifying the behaviors that can be addressed to yield results. You're looking for the most-bang-for-your-buck changes. So what can be changed relatively easily while enabling you to work toward your goal. For example, you may identify that eating certain foods triggers a cascade of bad behaviors for the rest of the day. You next plan & prepare, which does not necessarily mean meal preparation and weighing and measuring. It could be identifying days or meals that will be challenging. How aggressive do you want to be around these? Might you address the meals leading up to or after these meals or attempt to keep this goal fairly healthy? So, if you start implementing a plan and it's working, where do you go next? First, if something is working and you enjoy it, keep doing it. Like MED programming for training, we don't need to diet hop. Small changes to avoid boredom and continuing to triage can work and continue to further you toward your goal. A more recent idea Gillian has taken from the heavy, light, medium training idea is 1, 2, 3 dieting. These correspond to aggressiveness or difficulty level and the benefit is the quantification can help give you a quasi-objective (like RPE) data point (so if your week is a 21, you expect to see progress; if it's a 7, you don't). 1 is maintenance, in which you're not trying hard. This should be easy. You're at basecamp, walking on level ground. 2 is working toward goals but not aggressively. You're walking up the mountain, but you're picking flowers, you're chatting with others, you're enjoying the view. 3 is all out, aggressively pursuing your goals. Why not just pursue 3s every meal, every day, every week? It's not sustainable. You don't actually want to live at a 3 all the time. You also likely need a relatively near-term motivator, as (I'd just like to be thinner) probably won't sustain a month of all 3s. Gillian also addresses why New Year's Resolutions often fail, because it's a false motivator. You feel as if you should ramp up your nutrition, but you might not want to. Beach season is still too far off to motivate. Furthermore, it's a cold, dark time of year for many, and the motivation to clamp down on nutrition is realistically not there. This might be a time to go at a 2 pace and identify a goal you can put on the calendar later in the year that might motivate a 3. It is critical to understand what keeps you motivated. This isn't as easy as it sounds, because you really have to question yourself and understand your motivations deeply. Once you identify this, identify some ways to measure this as best you can (if you don't care about the scale weight, why is this your primary metric). GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

You're in a bad place--you're not happy with your health & fitness--and you want to change that. What do you do? Matt & Niki explore your first steps for strength. This time of year New Years Resolutions occur, and there's nothing wrong with them. While they may have a low success rate, it's actually a good time of year to begin working toward a goal. You just had the holiday period, with--probably--lots of food and fun. It often is a time you can reflect on what you've done the previous year and decide how to change. Also, there are probably no urgent needs to perform (no beach body vacations). This means that you have time to work toward your goals to see the improvement come warmer weather. It will be difficult, and one of the most important things to begin is to be consistent. Doing something every day is a great way to build the consistency. If you're barbell training, you can do this every day, but the days you don't you could walk or do something else active. Regardless, you need to schedule the time and protect it. This needs to become a habit--like brushing your teeth. You WILL see some benefits early, as doing difficult things makes you feel good, build confidence. It doesn't feel good in the pleasure followed by bad feelings & guild of fast food or lounging watching Netflix, but you just feel better knowing what you did. Start today, build consistency, do SOMETHING--whatever that something is--and keep going. The small wins will accumulate. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

What do we mean when we say "Experience Strength"? Experiencing strength is experiencing the benefits of improved quality of life through strength training and improved nutrition and other health and fitness habits. When you're strong, you're capable and able to say yes to things. When you're weak--whether you know it or not--you're saying no to things and taking possibilities off the table. This flies in the face of conventional wisdom and many thoughts about the difficulties and sacrifices that barbell training and improved nutrition practices require. Yes, you spend time in the gym that you cannot spend elsewhere. Yes, you eat more whole foods, more protein and fiber, and do not eat or at least limit foods that do not support your goal. These sacrifices, however, move us closer to our goals--the states we which to possess, whether they be strength, lower bodyfat, appearance, or confidence. As we move closer to our goals, we gain the ability to say yes to certain things. We can go to the beach and not feel bad about ourselves. We can play with our kids or grandkids without pain and keep up with them. Our physical interaction with the world changes. So how do we Experience Strength is we're stuck in a rut of weakness? How do we change paths and begin to experience improved quality of life, better health, and increased confidence? We have to understand our goals and where we want to go. We have to take the first steps and appreciate the small wins along the way. We have to have the discipline to build habits and understand that momentum may help but we cannot expect it nor rely on it to carry us to our goals. Part of this is differentiating short-term and long-term "feel good." There's the immediate pleasure of sugary, fatty, salty food or lying on the couch watching Netflix. This pales in comparison the the longer-term "feel good" of getting your workouts in, eating healthy, prioritizing sleep, spending quality time with your family. What does an improved quality of life look like? What does an improved quality of life feel like? It's about Experiencing Strength. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Matt & Niki discuss when the human element inhibits an MED modification from being the right change for a lifter. This is a re-release of episode 341. Many BLOC coaches have found a pattern where advanced clients get bored with a program, and oftentimes this happens EVEN WHEN THE PROGRAM IS WORKING (i.e. producing PRs & achieving goals). You have to guard against program hopping or chasing the shiny object here, but if a client has trained a certain way for awhile (e.g. chasing numbers) then it might be time to make a bigger change. This doesn't really apply to novice or early intermediate lifters, as they need to build the base of strength and some small changes can be made if they're looking for a bit of variety (more conditioning or more hypertrophy at the end of the workouts). Most advanced clients need something to train for--something that focuses their training and provide purpose. Some people can simply bear down and keep going when the goal is as vague as "let's get stronger and healthier," but this is fairly rare. If your client doesn't have a goal on the horizon, discussing one may help. Changing the goal could mean focusing on volume & hypertrophy instead of weight on the bar, trying to lose weight, focusing on conditioning or another physical activity outside the gym, or trying something new like Olympic weightlifting. The goal may remain but the means to achieve it may change. EMOMs, AMRAPs, tonnage totals, circuits, and Westside Splits are all great ways that lifters can still train their lifts and work toward their goals but that are different enough than typical sets of 5. Exercise variation may help as well. Playing with supplemental lifts you normal don't (e.g. front squats or sumo deadlifts) can help provide needed variety. You may still have one heavy lift at the beginning of the workout, but the rest of the workout involves more accessories done in a circuit or to get a pump. When considering a huge shift, you have to consider the means to achieve the end and the tradeoffs. Matt shares that when one of his client proposes changing the goal for a bit, he often changes his mind after Matt explains what that revised process will look like. If you're getting sick of what you're doing but don't just want to program hop, consider changing your goal, the exercise selection, or training method. Ensure you weight tradeoffs and how this may affect your long-term goals. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Matt & Niki discuss training & programming when you prioritize PRs and chasing numbers in the gym. This is a re-release of episode 347. This really applies to intermediate & advanced lifters, as PRs tend to come with novice & early intermediate training. As you advance as a lifter, life can prevent optimal training, so priorities shift. Sometimes training works primarily toward quality of life. Sometimes training even takes a backseat. Occasionally, though, we prioritize training and decide to chase numbers. Sometimes this happens at whim, as life seems to provide you the opportunity & desire to prioritize PRs. Other times, though, you might plan this out a bit more, with certain times of year (e.g. fall) where you chase pushing the weight up on the bar. This may involve a meet, but it doesn't have to. It's fun to have a PR week you can look forward to, where you don't have to beat yourself down with lots of heavy attempts on one day. If you do want to do a mock meet, then know what will motivate you--you might want an audience or fellow lifters. We're probably looking at a goal--unless you're super advanced--of peaking 6-8 weeks out, which is enough time to prioritize intensity & peak for most people but not so long that you get beat up and burnt out. Consider if you want to prioritize 1 lift, a couple, all 4 of the big lifts, or something else (maybe you're chasing a chin-up PR or some Olympic lift numbers). If you're chasing numbers, you'll back off volume and drive up intensity. Conditioning will take a back seat, as we're prioritizing training on weight on the bar. This is not the time to lose weight. You don't necessarily have to gain weight, but this can be a fun time to eat in a caloric surplus and bump up your weight (and then, especially if you plan out your training year a bit more in blocks, post PRs might be a good time to transition to weight maintenance or loss while trying to maintain strength). This might be a time to use that "fat hole" on your belt. You can't miss training sessions when you're chasing numbers, and you can't have things like holiday parties wreck a training session. Ensure you're lifting after good sleep and with good food (as much as you can control) and if you have to shift sessions around to avoid bonking during a session, that's fine. Plus, Matt shares funny stories with internet companies and kids' checklists. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Niki and Andrew discuss what to do when training becomes a drag. This is a re-release of episode 337. Different reasons can arise to make training a drag. You might simply get a little burnt out after months and years of training. PRs don't happen as much, and you might not just hit one or two workouts where you lack motivation--and don't just need a deload--but need a larger shift in training to help build the motivation. Injuries could lower motivation, as PRs may seem far away and frustration may grow as you are limited at what you can do. Also, if you decide to cut and lose weight, this can make things harder in the gym as you have less weight--and muscle mass--to lift the weights, so suddenly your strength may start trending downward. This often happens over time with some rough workouts. You may have to adjust how you approach training mentally. Andrew discusses how he would have an intensive, long process to get himself psyched up, including coffee, a playlist, and visualization. While this did help him on the platform--in the short term--it left him drained and had longer term negative effects. You may develop a longer term goal that gives you something to look forward to: a meet or competition. This can help focus your training and help increase motivation beyond simply getting stronger. Acknowledge that off days will happen, so don't equate one or two bad workouts with a need to shift. Focus on the process of training. Remember your deeper why, that this is your time and you're doing this for yourself. Enjoy the major change from the rest of your day, which--probably--is not physical like your time in the gym. You may also adjust what you do in the gym. You may add some instant gratification. That might mean some hypertrophy work to end with a pump. If you enjoy getting sweaty, it might be your favorite conditioning work. Similarly, you might favor some of the exercises you like and not avoid but at least minimize exercises you dislike. If you dislike a main lift, maybe you back off and focus on some supplementals. Or you could shift the focus. If you've done lots of intensity work, maybe you focus on hypertrophy. If you haven't done AMRAPs or EMOMs or similar schemes, you could do something like that that involves the same lifts but with a different application of stress. Another idea is to put a time cap on the workout. Now--again--don't let yourself abuse this and drag your rest times, but if you're efficient in the gym commit to an hour in the gym and do the most you can--and then call it at an hour. This is a great time to have a coach--or a workout partner--to help keep you accountable so an adjustment doesn't turn into taking it easy for the sake of taking it easy. So, when training becomes a drag, appreciate the process, remember your goals, consider adjusting your mental approach to training & refocusing training. Or, you might adjust training to involve more instant gratification or variety. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Niki & Gillian discuss the concept of small wins and their value in nutrition (and training). Big goals can be scary and overwhelming, and--regardless of the enormity of the goal--little actions, small decisions, and changes of habit accumulate to make the goal accomplishment a reality. We have to ensure we have a way of seeing and acknowledging these small wins. If we're moving close to our goals and improving, these wins are happening. It's important to ensure we have a way to see the progress, acknowledge the progress, and celebrate the progress. Having objective, reality-based metrics (and they don't necessarily have to be scale weight) helps provide an easy way to see progress while not allowing subjective feelings to overwhelm us when we feel we have not improved. This concept becomes especially important during rough patches, when life's difficulties mount and a win might not be "Instagram-worthy," but simply NOT binging or NOT drinking large amounts of alcohol. A win might be not succumbing to self-destructive behavior or even simply limiting this behavior (e.g. we overeat, but not as much as we would have months prior in a similar situation). Another time this matters is as we age and potentially accumulate aches and injuries, or simply our ability to gain strength diminishes. There comes a day when all of our absolute PRs are historical, so we have to celebrate our capabilities and redefine PRs. Identifying and enjoying small wins is another way of saying we celebrate PRs. We may have to redefine PRs away from simply weight on the bar (PRs after 40 or 50 or 60) or enjoying new modified lifts (e.g. box squats) and celebrating what we CAN do. Some common small wins Gillian and her clients see include (but are definitely not limited to): food preparation portion control limiting sweets or alcohol trying a new, healthy recipe growing awareness taking the time to think preventing "emergency situations" (e.g. binging) taking control of your eating--and feeling empowered less guilt around food choices (is the guilt improving your decisions & ultimately your health?) how we react after a bad decision or food choice So, find ways to measure and identify, acknowledge and celebrate your small wins toward your big goals. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Matt & CJ answer your coaching questions, including ACL tears, improving vertical jump, coaching blind lifters, and coaching obese lifters. 0:00 Introduction 2:51 Nutrition Questions from Strength Clients -what is your professional scope? know it, can refer out, and admit if you can't answer the question -if you offer paid nutrition coaching, say that as part of the answer 9:15 Friendships & Clients -need to address issues early on if it's an issue (it will only get worse if you don't) 18:09 ACL Tears -ligaments cannot be healed from physical therapy (require surgery) -seems to have some correlation with hamstring weakness 28:25 Low Bar Squat Pain -high bar not causing an issue, keep doing that -could test low bar occasionally to see it it persists over time 36:15 Building At Home Coaching Clientele -have to establish local connections -need to have your gym look nice -"I take this serious" 44:12 Elbow Tendinitis & Injuries -build trust & have open communication 53:08 Vertical Jump -losing weight can really help -there is a big genetic component -increasing force development helps (strength) -practice the power development 59:00 Training Untrained Obese -meet clients where they are, but assume they can't train--they can -what CAN they do, how can you add stress to that 1:06:05 Coaching Blind Lifters -meet them where they are--they can still hear you -they can feel things better GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Matt Reynolds, founder & CEO of Barbell Logic, takes a minute to reflect on not only what he is thankful this Thanksgiving but--as Barbell Logic turns 5 years old--he reflects & lays out Barbell Logic's core values and his commitment to them. We help you improve your quality of life by experiencing strength. We meet you where you are and help you drive progress using Minimum Effective Dose measured by PRs. We deliver programming solutions that are simple, hard, & effective. Wow you with world-class service and personal, professional coaching. Coach you with models informed by science but applied practically to your real life. Have a Happy Thanksgiving! GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected]

Scott & Matt discuss recovery and how you can improve your recovery, because though most people don't give themselves enough stress others may go too far in the other direction and now recover enough, which ultimately holds them back from the gains they desire. Recovery is the opposite or absence of stress. The top two sources of recovery are rest and food. Let's discuss these. A huge area of rest that people often fall short of ideal is sleep. Here are some sleep tips: 8 hours Same wake & bed time every day (including the weekend) No electronics or light (especially blue light ) right before bed Use your CPAP is you have one If you can't get 8 hours of sleep, try to nap Food and nutrition depends on your goals and bodyfat, but here are some eneral tips: Prioritize protein: 150g for females & 200g for males every day (and there are outliers) Adequate calories (gaining weight--surplus; losing weight, small deficit) Carbohydrates: enough and--if attempting to lose weight--consume before your workout A glass of whole milk can be a good way to add calories to your meal and get in a surplus if you're looking to gain weight In addition to food and sleep, ensure you're resting long enough between sets (depending on available time, at least 5 minutes for lower body exercises). Allow yourself to do smaller weight jumps--at least 2.5lb jumps, especially for the upper body. Lastly, consider your total stress. This might be other exercise or physical activity. This might be life stress (relationships, work, etc.). Your total stress affects your ability to recover from lifting stress, so limit it insofar as you can. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected]

Dr. Jonathan Sullivan joins Matt & Scott to discuss what we know about how strength training benefits the joins and how it affects joint health. You can find Sully's YouTube channel here and his Greysteel's website here. Running actually puts more force on the knee joint than squatting below depth, so the idea that squatting below depth is bad for children (whereas people have no opposition to a child running) does not make sense. He also discusses the idea of arthritis as a "wear & tear" disease not only being wrong but this concept leading to bad, counterproductive, unhealthy recommendations from much of the medical community. They also discuss different types of joint replacements. It is always a good time when Sully joins the podcast! GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected]

Scott & Matt discuss their training and nutrition at a specific point of time. Scott is adjusting to having sold Data Storage, and training and nutrition are in flux. Scott has lost some weight from his highest weight ever, but training is not his top priority. Matt has been intermittent fasting in the morning, which he has found complementary to his daily schedule at this point in time. Both Matt & Scott HATE squatting. Matt has bad hips, and Scott has to bend over until his back is darn-near parallel to the ground because of his anthropometry. This episode really is a discussion for what happens when life prevent training & nutrition from being your focus, you're not hitting PRs, and you might be having tough workouts regularly--how do you react to maintain the habit. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected]

In this re-release, Matt & Scott discuss strategies for programing your press--practical tips as well as the underlying principles. The press typically stalls before the other lifts. Fewer muscles contribute to the press and the smallest deviations from an ideal bar path will cause missing reps. Unlike the other lifts, we also have more choices here in terms of form--strict, hip movement, arm movement, Olympic press, etc. Because the press stalls first, MED changes are used first. Here are the typical MED changes for the press. Microloading (2.5 or potentially even smaller weight jumps) 3x5 to 5x3 Move to 4-day split Intensity day & volume day Change in form: hip throw, Olympic press, bar dip Supplemental lift: for press, especially pin press or press lockouts The press reacts to programming more like an Olympic lift. The press requires practice, especially if a hip throw or Olympic style is used. Heavy triples, doubles, and singles can help. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected]

Jordan Harbinger, hugely successful podcaster and fascinating character in his own right, talks to Matt and Niki about his journey through involuntary hardship that he underwent a few years ago. A few years ago, Jordan was on a different large podcast that was not his own. During his time on the podcast, he matured and over time felt he needed a way to exit from this podcast. He had negotiated an amicable exit, but ultimately booted unceremoniously and had to deal with losing his podcast and--ultimately--his identity, as he had built up an identity as part of the old venture. Matt and Jordan linked up soon after this, as Brett McKay connected them, knowing that Matt had undergone a similar struggle being kicked out of an organization that he had identified with. Before this, he had felt like he couldn't leave. As he worked through the process, he found that getting booted was a gift. He had both the freedom and responsibility of his own brand and his own podcast. He found that those around him believed in him more than he did--a weird experience, as entrepreneurs often believe in their ventures more than anyone else. He had to both mourn the loss of his old project and identity while pushing forward, even when he didn't necessarily believe in his new project. He decided to focus on his own podcast as opposed to spending money, time, and emotionality of fighting through lawfare. He had to consider what is good for him, his new venture, and those he cared about, and that was NOT with lawsuits and bitterness. Ultimately, he summed up the whole episode with a pithy expression many of us can relate to: "wading through the crap to get to where we are now." GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected]

Niki & Gillian pick up from Episode 381 Knowing & Remembering Your Whys to address the approach to successful sustainable nutrition with practical steps and actions meet your goals. Gillian first address her approach to nutrition coaching (and this applies if you're acting as your own coach) with Consequences, Accountability, and Trust (CAT). Consequences help dictate your motivation and aggressiveness. High consequences usually are time-bound: preparing for a bodybuilding competition, cutting weight to meet a weight class, losing weight for a military bodyweight screening. We understand that some people do react severely to consuming certain foods, whether it be because of autoimmune diseases or allergies. Who is holding you accountable? Building accountability into your plan matters. Having a coach helps, but also being public with your goals, actions, and progress. Share all your steps along the way with your loved ones and social media. You can have a diet bet. Lastly, you need to trust in the process, yourself, and your coach. Nutrition progress is not linear, and you'll have to contend with stagnant metrics, setbacks, and a desire to constantly change things up. Gillian then discusses her Seven Steps to Successful Sustainable Nutrition Tell the Truth Non-Negotiables Triage Plan Ahead Plan Ahead Measure and Celebrate Your Results Mindset Tell the truth to yourself, your coach, those around you. Don't lie. If you pour a half of a bottle of wine into a glass, that's not really "one glass of wine with dinner." If you track using a food-tracking app, don't pick something with substantially fewer calories than what the food probably has. Track everything. Don't hide things. You can't properly create and adjust actions, heck you can't even identify problems, if you're not acknowledging and recording your behaviors accurately. Identify and incorporate your non-negotiables. These change, but they are the things that matter to you, you find value from, and that need to be incorporated into your diet plan. This might be eating out, alcohol, or dessert. This doesn't mean that you get to eat as much of you want, but it means that these need to be included--and you might adjust other behaviors to include them. One you understand non-negotiables and someone's behaviors (or your own) and know the person's goals, you can identify the biggest obstacles to progress. What are the changes you can make that will result in the biggest returns on investment with the least time, effort, etc. Regardless of your plan, planning ahead matters. Bad decisions occur without planning & preparation. It gives you confidence--you know you have something waiting for you at home, so you don't go through the drive through. It helps prevent you from feeling overwhelmed. Mastery of the small changes means turning actions into habits through repetition. This means that something that at first was a big change and potentially hard goes on auto-pilot, with minimal effort to sustain. Measure your results and celebrate them. This not only includes metrics, but also all the recipes, skills, knowledge, and habits you have accumulated through the process. Lastly, master your mindset--make it positive. Trust matters here. Acknowledging that setbacks, stagnation, and challenges will occur. Be able to come back after you stray from the plan--jump back, without guilt and rumination. Following these actions can help you successfully develop and follow a sustainable approach to nutrition, where you meet your goals and then maintain at a place you are happy with. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected]

Niki Sims and Gillian Ward discuss why nutrition compliance trends so much lower than training compliance, why this is, and how you--as someone who has nutrition goals--might combat this and succeed toward or past your goals. Nutrition coaching is quite different than strength or training coaching. With training, you prescribe a certain number of exercises, and the lifter does or does not do them. If the lifter successfully does them with enough compliance, the lifter sees the results. They can hit PRs for every workout, completing the workout in and of itself is success, and the lifter often feels better afterwards--physically and emotionally. With lifting, there is a feeling of deprivation and taking away. You're never done--you not only have however many meals or snacks you take as times you can fail or succeed, but literally at any point of time you are awake you may fail to follow the prescription. You also don't see the benefits of your hard work for a long time, and often progress stalls for long periods of time. For a nutrition coach, there is less clarity and it can often be less rewarding and more frustrating. You can feel as if you're failing. You have to work to boost compliance and work to modify behavior. For the nutrition client, it can be hard to continue if you don't see progress, and it can be easy to slide into screw it mode, where you not only fail to follow the plan but you eat and maybe drink with reckless abandon. It is critical that the nutrition client understand his whys: why did he sign up for coaching, why did he state the goals he stated, why do the goals matter, why is he willing to suffer to meet these goals? Has he dug deep enough and really understood why he is doing this. A good idea is to write down these whys and keep them with you. If you're struggling or think you might stray from the path, look at these whys so you can remember them. Define and celebrate the small wins. A successful meal, snack, day, or week is a big deal. Also consider the near misses--someone brought in the donuts to work and you almost grabbed one, but you decided to not eat it and stuck to the plan. Find ways to enjoy the process--daily, weekly, monthly--and increase your awareness of how good you feel when you eat and drink in a way that supports your goals and nourishes your body. Lastly, Niki & Gillian share their whys with the audience, which might help you create yours. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected]

Matt & Scott discuss the myth of maintenance and how this doesn't really apply for people, despite what people often claim. Sometimes life prevents strength training from being a high priority, so you do your best. Work, injuries, vacation, etc. can prevent improvement in the gym. When these things are not preventing improvements in the gym, then do your best to improve in the gym. The day will come when you won't hit any more PRs and you will train to stave off strength and for your health. People tend to think that they've reached a point where they're strong enough and they don't need to get any stronger. Now, if your goals change--you want to pursue some other athletic endeavors--that's fine, but you still train and training requires at least some attempt to either get stronger or stave off weakness the best you can. There are also drawbacks and real costs to getting to elite levels of strength. This level of strength does not increase your health. It's not enjoyable. You're putting strength above everything else in your life, and we're not calling for that. That being said, for most people, they're not even close to strong enough. They haven't put in the time, effort, energy to pursue fitness, strength, and health. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected]

Matt & Scott discuss how to behave properly in a gym, because to many don't respect the equipment or the people around them. Don't be that guy (or gal). Take care of the equipment and put it back where you got it. Treat the equipment with the respect it's due. Wipe down your bench and similar equipment. Put the weights away properly (right location, and lips out on the weight tree). If you're in a big box gym, don't give others unsolicited advice. If they ask for advice, give it--if you're a coach, this person might become a client. If you receive advice, don't act like you want it. You can be polite, but if that person gives it the second time, that person needs to know you don't want or need your advice. Headphones can be a useful tool in gyms like this to tell people you're not interested in talking to them. If there is a chance of good coaching, however--if you're in a good gym--then don't wear the headphones. Enjoy the fact that you're in a gym where you can receive excellent coaching. Don't break up the blocks of chalk--they should be block. Don't use baby powder. Act like a professional in the gym. You know what you're doing. You know why you're there. Act like it. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected]

Matt and Scott discuss how you can save time in the gym, because we know (with rare exception) you lift to live not live to lift. LP workouts shouldn't take that long. Early workouts should realistically take about 45 minutes. This will increase to 60 minutes as you rest more and the weights go up. They should NOT take more than 90 minutes. If you're in a hurry, warm up for your next exercise between work sets. Also, start with short rest periods (2 minutes). This can increase, but upper body exercises require less rest and lower require more, but if you're pressed for time you don't need to rest more than 5 minutes. If you have the time, by all means rest longer, but WHO CARES if you're NOT DOING THE PROGRAM perfectly because you can't rest 12 minutes between squat sets. If you're even more pressed for time, you can use the 4-day split for LP, with 2 exercises (squat & deadlift one day, press and bench press the other). This results in shorter workouts. You can also do 1 lift a day if you're in a huge rush. Having a home gym helps as well. This eliminates the commute time. Lastly, lots of people are "busy" doing BS. Think about how you can reduce or eliminate some of that BS. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected]

Matt and Scott discuss why we warm up and how to properly warm up. Warm ups--like much with lifting--can come with lots of confusion and misinformation. First, why do we warm up? We warm up to warm up the tissues, so this is the general purpose of warm up. We also warm up to practice the movement and prepare our neuromuscular system for the work sets, including the fact that as we add weight the center of mass shifts closer to the barbell, so the correct performance of the lift actually qualitatively changes. So, how do we warm up? Warming up should be done relatively quickly. The heavier the weight, the longer it will take to warm up. You should roughly use 5 warm ups, but if you're in a cold environment you might need more. Also, as you progress through the workout your tissue is warm, so the purpose of the warm up shifts more toward the practice and preparation. Fewer warm ups can be done for exercises later in the workout. You also don't need to be precise with warm up weight. If some app tells you to warm up at 88 pounds, just do 95. For the most part, stick with 25lb and 45lb plates, unless your work set weights might be relatively low. You don't need to warm up between warm ups, especially the early ones. You might rest about 1 minute between the last couple warm ups, and definitely before the work set. You also can warm up for the next lift in between work sets. Unless you're an exception (extremely small or extremely big and strong) start with 45lbs for the press, bench press, and squat and with 135lbs for the deadlift. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected]

Matt and Scott discuss the master cue, a cue developed based on a basic understanding of biomechanics that can be used for many lifters. You cannot perform a squat correctly if the center of mass of the barbell-lifter system is not directly over the center of balance (your midfoot). The midfoot really means, however, that weight is balanced between the balls of your feet and your heels. Because it can be hard for people to think about keeping the bar over the midfoot, we tend to draw the attention to the foot. As a coach, the foot is a helpful point to focus on to determine what is going on with a squat. As a lifter, paying attention to where you feel the pressure on your foot helps tell you if you're properly balance or too far back on your heels or forward on the balls of your feet. Because of this, the foot serves as a diagnostic tool for the squat. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected]

Matt and Scott discuss whether you should get hyped for a lift. They tend to say no, unless you've practiced getting hype and your form is good. If your form isn't locked in, don't hype. Also, there is an importance for regularity before lifts. Because of this, you shouldn't act completely differently for PR attempts than lighter attempts. Do the same thing. If you're an advanced lifter, you might have a pre-PR attempt rituatual that is slightly different than a normal attempt. For Matt, this doesn't bring hype but rather focus. You need to be intensely focused and present for these attempts. For many lifters, having the one cue that you should focus on can help. Your coach and you develop the one cue for you to focus your technical focus (might be KNEES OUT for the squat on the way up, for example). Lastly, consider the differences between the meet and lifting in your garage and gym and practice for those differences (practice squatting and pressing looking into an open room as opposed to close to a wall). GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected]

Matt and Scott discuss how to train older clients. Barbell Logic's age demographics tend to skew older, so the company and its coaches have lots of experience coaching older clients. Depending on the age, almost everyone can deadlift. Many can squat, bench press, and press. Some lifts may have to be modified, but an exercise similar to the lifts can be executed for most older clients. Older people can and should train hard. For older people, this means intensity. Intensity is what older clients are missing from their life. Grabbing the groceries, for example, is a low-intensity exercise, so they need to lift heavy and add muscle mass as a type of insurance. Volume, however, wrecks older people. Use less volume than you might program for younger clients. Frequency--number of workouts in a week--might also be less. 4-day splits for the very old are not recommended. You might do a 4-day split over 3 days or even have them only train twice a week with full-body sessions. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected]

Dr. Jonathan Sullivan joins Matt and Scott to discuss the merits and drawbacks of including the power clean in someone's program. Who should perform it, and how do we evaluate if someone should or should not perform the power clean? Sully has 3 criteria for assessing whether someone should perform the power clean: Want to do it Aptitude to do it Tolerate it For those who meet the above criteria, it can be beneficial. Sully believes the power clean develops and trains power. It is an accessory pulling exercise. It also introduces the lifter to Olympic weightlifting, a whole other arena in the strength and barbell world that that lifter might be interested in. The power clean also helps the lifter learn how to commit to a movement pattern. You can't hesitate with the clean. This carries over to other lifts, like the squat, in committing to the execution of the lift. Matt, Scott, and Sully agree that to be a good, well-rounded barbell coach a coach should be able to coach the power clean and power snatch. One thing they also agree on is that the power clean is not appropriate for a novice's linear progression program. Lastly, there are the limitations and realities of the coaching session. In a 2-hour out-of-town session, there's not enough time to coach the power clean and the other 4 lifts. Because of this, the power clean is best for clients who you see multiple times a week in-person (though it can be coached online, especially with some in-person additional coaching and the client being able to commit to filming and looking at his own lifts). GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected]

Scott and Matt discuss what is a cue and why good coaches give cues. You should only have to teach a lifter a lift once, but you will have to correct that person's execution of the lift. Because we can't as coaches lift the weight for the lifter, we have to deliver information to the lifter as they lift to get them lifting more in line with the model. We do this with a cue. Cues can be visual, tactile, or verbal. Verbal cues need to be loud, clear, and short. The lifter has to hear the cue, understand the cue, and use the cue. Visual is pointing or in some other way (for example, showing a lifter a relatively horizontal yet diagonal forearm to emphasize that they need to lean over in the low bar squat). A tactile cue is touching the lifter. A coach may physically put the lifter in the right position (grab the elbows in the press to bring them up and forward) or touching the low back in the deadlift to emphasize lumbar extension. Cues don't need to be correct. The point of the cue is to provide the thing the lifter needs to move more correctly during or between the performance of the lift (between is necessary for online coaching). GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected]

Matt and Scott discuss common pitfalls that novices make as they begin their strength journey. First and foremost, many people lift with horrific form. You need to get your form right or pretty close. This either requires a coach or your needing to spend the time educating yourself and filming, watching, and analyzing your own lifts. Many people don't get shoes, and proper shoes make a huge difference, especially on the squat and press. Too many people don't eat properly. This may be food quality (whole foods). This may be not eating enough. This may mean eating way too much crappy food. Protein needs to be higher for most people. Finally, too many people quit when it gets hard. They don't know how to grind. You don't have to grind every workout of every day--and you shouldn't. But, if you can't grind, you're leaving LOTS of weight on the bar and holding your own development of grit back. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected]

Scott & Matt discuss what you have to have, what you should have, and what is nice to have in the world of strength training. First--it's nice to have a home gym. It provides flexibility and convenience, though it admittedly takes an initial investment of money to get a functional gym. If you're working to create a home gym, this is what you should have: Get a 20kg or 45lb bar of relatively high quality--you can get a used one. They discuss all the details here. Get 500+ pounds of weight, including 8x45lb, 2x25lb, 2x5lb, 2x2.5lb, 2x1.25lb plates (2" holes). Olympic bumper plates are really nice. Iron is economical. Consider what you'll be lifting on--if you're lifting on a well-made platform, bumper plates are not necessary if you don't plan to do lots of Olympic lifting. A power rack is better than a squat stand. This has 4 upright, safety pins or catches, j-hooks. It often can also come with attachments (pulley attachments, dip attachments, pull up bar, etc.). You want 1" spacing around the bench press height. Regardless of if you lift in a public or home gym, you need shoes. This is the first thing you need. Don't get a CrossFit trainer. They discuss lots of good options. A belt is the next thing. You can get really strong without a belt, but most people end up getting a belt, as it adds weight to the bar and you want to get stronger. Dominion belts are great. Chalk is necessary as your pulls (deadlift, row, clean) get heavy. You probably want blocks of chalk to paint your hand. If your gym doesn't allow chalk, that's a good indication that your gym stinks and you should look elsewhere. Finally, here are nice-to-haves: wrist wraps, wrist straps, knee sleeves, squat shirt. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected]

Gillian and Niki answer your nutrition questions, including hunger & recipes, small wins & gastric distress. 0:00 Introduction & Gillian is Human -what do you do if you get off the rails? -hydrate & drink lots of water -get back to your normal: don't overreact, but get back to the routine that makes you feel good -do the things you need to do to get back (shop, food prep, etc.) 9:30 Hunger Signals -depends on your food choices (empty calories versus protein- & fiber-dense meal) -what do you mean by hungry? what does that feel like? -think about all the distinction between painfully full to truly hungry and needing food--there's lots of difference between those two extremes 14:37 Novice, Intermediate, Advanced Nutrition Clients -what defines these levels? -knowledge, skill-levels, compliance all matter 17:55 Examples of Small Wins -making changes that are different than their norms that bring them closer to their goals -think about the meal, the day, the week, the month -also, think about the small wins versus the guilt and mistakes 21:28 Gastric Distress & Nutrition -can the nutrition coach help them identify a cause (are certain foods causing this)? -might recommend seeing a doctor to see if it's something more serious (after tracking with a visual food diary) -there can be things like bubbly water or medication that might be causing a problem (so let's look at non-calorie items too) 24:53 FODMAPs -short-chain carbohydrate or sugar -tend to cause problems for people with IBS -identify what the person is sensitive to 29:45 Blood Markers -these matter, but it's really more important to focus on the behaviors -how will this data change our actions? -don't fixate on a number 34:26 Training on Low Carb Diet -understand why the person wants to follow this diet 38:37 Go-To Recipes -chicken salsa verde -has been going off what the grocery store has -instant pot healthy recipes 41:35 Losing Weight with Non-Supportive Family -need to talk to each other -might have to lead by example 45:55 Becoming a Nutrition Coach -nutrition coach versus registered dietitian (cannot prescribe a diet) -behavior-based 56:24 Nutrition Plans & Monthly Cycles -building an awareness is helpful GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected]

This is the NEW interview with Dominion Strength Training. Niki talks to Blake & Katie about their journey as entrepeneurs as their business has grown and they've expanded the products they offer. You can follow Dominion Strength Training on Instagram. Niki actually met Blake & Katie before Dominion Strength Training started, as they came to Atlanta Barbell to receive coaching. They were CrossFitters but learned to love strength training, and as they turned to purchase their belt they realized there was no high-quality belt they could get quickly. Initially, they received equipment from overseas, but production and quality issues led them to realize that they could offer a better product with less problems if they built the belts themselves, so they began to build the belts themselves. Because they control everything that goes into the belt, they create the highest quality belt on the market. They can ship the belts to you quickly because they don't customize but rather have belts in stock that can be yours within days. They have grown and offer more products now, including straps, different sizes and types of belts, and dip belts. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected]

This is a new interview with Mike Reed from MicroGainz . Mike & Matt really focus on entrepreneurship and creating a successful business. Also, Mike and his wife recently attended the 2021 BLOC Party, had a blast, was able to meet many of the coaches and clients, and brought gear to sell (without shipping). You can follow MicroGainz on Instagram here. MicroGainz offers fractional plates (now up to 10 lbs), dumbbell fractional plates, gym pins for machines, and now Barbell Logic engraved micro plates. The equipment is made in Pennsylvania, USA. You can always use cold "LOGIC" to get 10% off. Mike discovered the problem of not being able to make smaller jumps when he completed LP, and realized there weren't many options on Amazon. Plates he found were cheap and poorly made and not made in the USA. He decided to fix this problem himself and worked to make his first fractional plates. Not only does this go to show that successful business solves a problem, but it was actually a problem Mike faced himself. He had an N of 1 that this was a real problem, and he also understood the importance of this problem and how he could help his clients. People have lots of misconceptions about what entrepreneurs or business owners do. They think it's glamorous and easy, but it's really about grinding for years and maybe even decades. Mike worked 2 jobs for 4 years before he was finally able to quit his day job. Matt similarly had to work 2 jobs when he initially began coaching. For both of them, there came a point where they realized that not only could they quit their day job but they needed to if the new business would succeed. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected]

This is the episode Matt & Mike recorded the day before Thanksgiving 2020 and aired that Black Friday. Matt & Mike discuss MicroGainz and the opportunities and challenges that COVID created for their businesses. You can follow MicroGainz on Instagram here. MicroGainz offers fractional plates (now up to 10 lbs), dumbbell fractional plates, gym pins for machines, and now Barbell Logic engraved micro plates. The equipment is made in Pennsylvania, USA. You can always use cold "LOGIC" to get 10% off. 2020 has been a hard year for many people, though good professionally and personally for Matt (and he's thankful for that). MicroGainz benefited from supply issues because he was able to produce plates when others could not. The great part about his products is that they can be used whether you train at a gym--they fit easily and lightly in your gym bag--or at your house. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected]