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Jordan Stanton, owner of Next Level Barbell, joins Matt & Scott to discuss his story of frugality, risk taking, and self-determination. He went to college to become a nurse, but realized this was not a career he wanted to stick with long term. He began to train lifters and came to a point where he had to decide if he was going to really pursue it or not, and he ultimately did. He paid off his bad debt with frugality and even though his initial gym was in a garage, he provided a clean space with high-quality lifting equipment and offered excellent coaching. Although Jordan discusses going All in, he didn't really go all in. He pushed hard, but he didn't buy a huge warehouse and hope customers would come. If you want to start a gym, start in your garage and get a rack. Maybe move to a larger garage or get more equipment. You might eventually consider renting a small space. You don't get an expensive space without knowing there is a customer base for you. Jordan also realized the importance of the subscription model. He didn't have clients pay monthly but rather had them pay monthly. This ensured regular pay. He also offered discounts for people who came regularly as opposed to coming in for one session. Lastly, he found a huge element to creating a successful gym was building the community. The community keeps people coming and makes it harder for them to cancel, because their friends lift at the gym. This is large element to the success of CrossFit, because group classes create a social element. 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 original Dominion Strength Training interview. Blake & Katie join Matt & Scott to discuss the creation of Dominion Strength Training. You can find their website here and follow them on Instagram here. Blake identified the possibility for creating a belt company when--as a novice lifter--he saw a gap between poorly made, cheap belts that you could get quickly and expensive, high-quality belts that took months to get to you. He realized that lifters needed a high-quality belt they could receive quickly. They initially sourced from Pakistan, but ran into quality issues and were forced to repair belts with their own hardware before a large pre-Christmas order, which led them to work toward producing the belts themselves. This led them to create the belts themselves to avoid these problems. This gave them more control of the quality of the belt, and ultimately improved the quality of the belt. They moved from Atlanta to Florida to build their business. Lots of people have good ideas, some attempt to pursue them, but few persevere through the difficulties and succeed in creating a successful business. By the way, Dominion sells more products than listed in this episode...stay tuned for episode 6 for an update from 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 The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected]

Matt & Scott share their business books that have provided them value and insight as business owners themselves. The E Myth Revisited (Matt) This book discusses business systems. There are owners, managers, and technicians in every business. If you're a great technician, you might not be a great manager or owner (e.g. if you're a great coach, it doesn't meat you'd be great at running a gym). Scott's Initial Recommendations He recommended reading the Wall Street Journal daily for a few years--stick to the business stuff. The Harvard Business Review is another good source. Lots of new business books are just repackaged old ideas. Scott got much out of My Years with General Motors. Poor Charlie's Almanac (Matt) There are some great nuggets in this book. Another great resource are the Berkshire Hathaway letters. Both also recommend the Intelligent Investor. The 4 Steps to the Epiphany (Scott) This book is about creating a start up. The Effective Executive (Matt) This book discusses time management and how to best focus your efforts. It really can apply to anyone who runs anything (a household or family, for example). Some Newer Options The Everything Store about Amazon and Jeff Bezos is a good book. Delivering Happiness is the book about Zappos. Creating a Company Culture & Expertise This is difficult to do. Also, you ultimately have to do and get over the expertise hurdle. Keep learning, get after it, and ask questions. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin This book delivers great productivity, work ethic, and living good life tips. Crucial Conversations This book discusses how to have difficult but necessary conversations. This applies to business, but also normal human interactions in any relationship. The Business of Business Business is hard. People glamorize it, but it comes with challenges and the probability of failure and failure's consequences. Plus some rapidfire book recommendations that didn't quite make the top cut. 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]

Who are we, and how did we get here? Matt addresses these in his 2021 BLOC Party State of the Union. This is Matt's address to the Barbell Logic coaches and staff at the 2021 BLOC Party. Matt delivers these roughly quarterly to the staff, and he initially intended to keep this internal as past state of the unions have been. Ultimately, though, at the prompting at some of his staff, he realized this is a good address to release. It's a good overview of how much Barbell Logic has grown and changed over the past 2 years. He touches at the staff of Barbell Logic who work to deliver the high standard of service, oversee and run operations, deliver content, create and improve the Academy, market our services, and grow the company. We hope you enjoy this, and it helps you better understand who we are, and how we got here. 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 & CJ Gotcher answer your questions about the Academy and coaching, including when you should fire a client, how Matt's coaching practice has changed, the PBC process, and how to know if coaching is NOT right for you. CJ Gotcher is a staff coach for Barbell Logic and the Academy Director. 0:00 Introduction 1:57 Firing a Client As a coach--or really anyone in the service industry--you will eventually come across a client who you no longer wish to serve. Often, this comes from repeatedly crossing boundaries. Often the coach is not a good fit for that person--it doesn't mean that the client is a bad person. How could I do this better? Often, that client needs a different coach who can better serve them. This is a great aspect of Barbell Logic, that we can usually find a different coach to better serve that client. Occasionally, a client may habitually cross boundaries--the term "malevolent" pops up--and you should not feel like you need to protect yourself from the client. That is a sign you might need to fire a client. 7:02 How Has Matt's Coaching Practice Changed? We've moved from strength at all costs to strength as a tool to improve quality of life. There are other things important beyond strength training. We still value barbells and think barbells are a fantastic tool to improve quality of life. What is the client life-cycle? Matt has hit big squat and deadlift PRs, but he's okay with the idea that he never will again. He recognizes the sacrifices it would take to hit another PR, and he doesn't want to make them. 11:32 Credibility in Coaching - Clients' Wants vs Needs Have to realize that a new client has not necessarily bought in fully to your training paradigm, that you have to build credibility. For whatever reason, they've come to you, but you were likely one of multiple options. What really matters--to you and the client? For example, if the client wants to compete in powerlifting and won't squat, that's a problem. If, however, the client wants to sumo deadlift and you think the conventional deadlift is better, how important is that to you? Can the client still accomplish his or her goals? For example, Matt now has Gillian Ward coaching him for strength (already a nutrition client). Matt is beat up from years of Strong Man & Powerlifting. Gillian has been asking how exercises feel, if they hurt, if they do hurt, where and how much? She is building trust and problem-solving and not pushing Matt into a cookie-cutter program. 16:26 Is Coaching NOT For Me? Just because you love to lift, doesn't mean you'll love coaching or be a great coach. If you don't really care about people, that's a red flag. Really ask yourself if you enjoy it? If you feel some resistance, which aspects of coaching might you not enjoy (because you will always not enjoy SOMETHING about a certain job or profession). There are lots of different demographics and types of coaching, so experiment and see if a different demographic or type is better. 23:33 Training Older Men Can I find guard rails where they can push themselves (maybe a super heavy low bar squat can't be pushed, but what about some accessories or box squats or stressing the deadlift). Educate them on why you're doing what you're doing. A huge trust-builder here is to be more right about their experience than they are (eg they hammer themselves on Wednesday with extra volume after you've pushed less volume, have a discussion with them after they bonk on Friday--not an "I told you so" but a moment for education). 27:43 How Frequent is the Academy? It's at your own pace in an online learning environment. There are optional events, but you complete it when and where you want. Also, there is the Advanced where you can deep dive into a subject you need to focus on. 30:26 Long-Legged Athletes-Squatting & Pulling They're going to look more bent over, but can also be too bent over. CJ finds himself using overcorrection cues "overcues." Most people aren't made to squat AND pull well. So, there are tradeoffs (Kirk Karwoski versus Ed Coan). 33:42 Beginning to Charge Clients Money It really should be as early as possible, because the money--even if it's not much--gives the client skin in the game. The flipside is you need to know that you can provide value to them. How Not to Totally Suck as a Coach is a good article to Read. Make the exchange explicit--it might not be monetary. 38:56 In-Person & Online Coaching Hybrid Model? It depends on your situation, but it can definitely work. The general model might look like an introductory session or sessions and then go to a cheaper, online model that stresses accountability, programming, and just technique tweaks & reminders. 40:55 Coaching as a Side Gig? Is coaching worthwhile as a side gig? It depends. You have to enjoy and be good at coaching. You can certainly MED your way into coaching. It's DEFINITELY better than quitting your accounting job and going "all in" on coaching and "swing for the fences." 46:27 Best Way to Work at BLOC

Enjoy the panel Q&A that ended the 2021 BLOC Party. Listen to Dr. Puder, Matt Reynolds, Gillian Ward, Niki Sims, Andrew Jackson, & CJ Gotcher answer questions from the BLOC Party attendees. Topics include nutrition post-vacation, finding clients in a new location, training to looked more jacked, and countering the effects of sitting. 0:00 Introduction 2:20 Finding Clients in New Location Deliberately seek out communities and meet people. Go to the same places and talk to people and get to know them well. Build relationships. Talk to your barber or stylist and have them help spread the word. Don't spread yourself thin, but rather seek out the places where the type of clients you want to coach will be. Social media can also help. Make it super easy for people to find you and sign up for your coaching on social media and search engines. Lastly, the people who are asking you questions about lifting & coaching are potential clients. 5:47 Identifying & Helping Clients with Suicidality or Depression Some people may be chronically suicidal. If you find out that that person has a plan, you may want to escort that person or ensure he or she gets help. Lifting and training will help them feel better, but it might need to be easier and meet them where they are. For depression, you might see change of appetite, loss of interest in things, express guilt or shame about just about everything they do. 9:19 Missing a Week on 3-Week Program For something like this, can usually do the previous week over. When you come back, you should probably lift heavier weights than you think but less volume than you think. 10:33 Psychological Hurdles to Training & Healthy Habits People can develop just about anything to avoid discomfort. You might just need to get people walking. Dr. Puder specifically is very repetitive and will discuss movement, exercise, and moving toward training. It's about little wins. It helps to have them identify as a lifter and see themselves as a lifter. Also, what is the meaning people ascribe to what they are doing? Also, as a lifter, Dr. Puder has noticed that Matt is great at giving Dr. Puder positivity when he needs it. He has a bad workout or a miss and Matt is positive, and that has been refreshing and encouraging. 17:18 Getting Back on Track after Vacation Don't go deprive yourself and starve yourself. Get on track with the normal plan as opposed to swinging the pendulum hard in the other direction. Guilt serves no purpose. Enjoy the vacation, and then return to the plan. Don't try to make up for the caloric surplus immediately. 20:02 Introducing Supplemental Exercises Start lighter, want them to learn the exercise. The stress is the novelty of the exercise. 24:48 Looking More Jacked? Talk to your coach, if you have a coach, but the huge contributor here is nutrition. 25:45 Mentorship Program? Your starting point is your coach if you have a coach. Your coach is your initial mentor. Obviously, if you've signed up for the Academy you can also reach out to CJ and the instructors. Also, they discuss the PBC process and how nice it is to submit a platform evaluation video. Why? Because the evaluating coach can show exactly what they saw and also the coach getting evaluating is coaching in his or her environment, as opposed to having to yell over other coaches. 33:46 Countering the Effects of Sitting Moving during the day can certainly help. It's a big change if you've been active. Also, are there reasons your posture stinks (for example, you're breaking down videos and have to be hunched over to talk into a microphone). 38:53 Why the Change to Discord? It's newer, better, and it stores old conversations. 42:09 Templates in the BLOC App It's surprisingly difficult to get this working, so it's a high priority and should happen soon...but, on promised timeframe. 50:41 Helpful Informational Source for You Lots of different and interesting answers...probably not what you'd expect. 55:30 Smart MED Programming on the App? Easy MED changes at the end of novice LP. It's not some complex programming system, but a way to plan the machine-learning programming needs as LP stops working. 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 podcast is a recording from the 2021 BLOC Party. It was the first presentation on Saturday, August 7th that Matt & Niki gave to the staff, coaches, client, friends, and family of Barbell Logic. It comes from a emerging idea that Matt and other staff and coaches at Barbell Logic have been developing, which is that STRENGTH CANNOT COME AT ALL COSTS. We have to consider and balance all facets of health. Sometimes and for some people, that means chasing PRs. But for lots of people, that does not mean chasing PRs. It doesn't mean we don't value strength or barbell training--we do--but we understand we need to improve quality of life. Most people would probably rather not get fat and get sleep apnea just to drive their squat and deadlift up. A useful value can be asking yourself why five times, as this can help you identify your values. You might not know, but it can help you identify why you want to lift, why you want to gain or lose weight, why you're pursuing certain things. Why have you set the goals you've set. Strength training gives us the most bang for our buck compared to training other physical attributes. We haven't abandoned this. We know, however, that if we add 100 pounds to a client's deadlift but that client can't meet his Army physical requirements, doesn't have time to pursue other hobbies, or health depreciates we have not helped that client meet his goals. We understand that health has many different aspects. We have to ensure we tend to mental health, financial health, social/relational health, and physical health. Barbell training is an important tool to improve our health, often across multiple domains of health and fitness, but we cannot and do not advocate strength improvements and chasing PRs regardless of the costs. 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]

Thomas Frank, popular YouTuber on productivity and related tips, joins Matt to discuss his journey as a Barbell Logic Online Coaching client as he just recently achieved a 1000-lb powerlifting total. You can learn more about Thomas Frank at his YouTube channel. Thomas is publishing a video on his channel documenting his journey. Thomas & Matt met at a conference and Thomas mentioned to Matt that he wanted to do a video on accountability. Matt pitched to Thomas to let him be his coach. Shortly thereafter, COVID hit and suddenly Thomas had no access to gyms and had little equipment. Matt worked with him to develop a program using a chin up bar, a kettlebell, and some sandbags. Despite the equipment limitations, Thomas completed the workouts and slowly got stronger until the gyms opened back up. Since then, Thomas has been able to train properly with barbells and joined Matt as his house to achieve the 1000-lb total. Thomas discusses the criticality of accountability. Without Beminder--and app the creates accountability for whatever task you want to complete--he would not be the successful YouTuber he is today. For some reason, however, he never applied this principle to working out. Thomas stressed the importance of having a coach for accountability. It's easy to lower the intensity or cut the volume if you don't have a coach. It's easy to miss workouts. Having a coach increases compliance which helps ensure results, which means meeting the goals you want to achieve. Learn about Thomas' story and the importance accountability has played to his recent 1000-lb total and his success. 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]

John Welbourn joins Scott & Matt to discuss his journey from skinny kid to NFL athlete to fitness figure trying to share the benefits of strength & fitness. John Welbourn enjoyed a long career in the NFL, in part because of his dedication in the gym and in the kitchen. He ate healthy foods, being an early adopter of the paleo diet, and saw the benefits on the field from getting strong in the gym. He also got a degree in rhetoric, of all things, certainly flying in the face of the typical big, strong guy stereotype. As he transitioned out of the NFL, he found CrossFit and initially bought into the idea of metabolic fitness serving as the base to build a well-rounded general fitness, but quickly realized that strength offers a better base upon which to add metabolic conditioning (think of someone with a 405 clean & jerk doing Grace--30 135lb clean & jerks--versus someone with a 185 clean & jerk, regardless of if the weaker person is better conditioned). Despite John's elite performance, he has a lot of practical wisdom and ultimately decided to use his knowledge and skills to help everyday people, not just act like the elite strength plans should be followed by novices. 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 Stanton, the President of the United States Strengthlifting Federation (USSF) joins Matt & Scott to discuss the differences between USSF & other federations. 3 things stand out with USSF: weigh-outs vs weigh-ins, press not bench press, and no judging commands. Immediately following your third deadlift attempt, you are escorted by someone of the same-sex to a private room where they take your weight. You are not allowed to use the bathroom until after the weight is recorded. This prevents huge weight drops (Jordan discuss dropping nearly 50 pounds for one of his meets), both making the meets safer and shorter. USSF primarily involves the press, not the bench press. The USSF now has instituted bench press competitions with rules that do not require commands, but the press is the USSF's bread and butter. Lastly, and also a huge deal, is that the USSF does not have the judges give commands. Clear rules are posted and the lifters are expected to understand the rules, but the judges judge the lifts. This prevents the judges from affecting the performance of a lift with bad commands. Some of the other details are that the attempts are in kilograms and go up in 1 kilogram increments and you get 3 attempts per lift. You can take a second attempt at the same weight, but you cannot decrease the weight once you've set the weight. The USSF, also, has many online competitions. This allows greater competition, cheaper entry, and also prevents some travel and gathering concerns with COVID. So, if you're looking for a meet to organize your training, sign up for a USSF meet, whether it be in person or online. 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]

We understand that some people don't train strength just for general health or quality of life, but to improve their performance in a sport or physical activity. How do you both train strength and improve sports performance? Right now, hyper-specific training is in fashion. For example, throwing an extra heavy shot or doing half squats with a narrow stance because it mimicks the football player's stance. This type of training neither offers productive training nor productive practice. Training prepares the athletes physically for the sport. This can be structural or metabolic (basically, strength or conditioning). Practice improves the performance of skills (eg throwing or kicking a ball). While physical stress comes from both of them, strength acquisition comes from strength training. Strength training improves the athletes' ability to produce force, which they can then apply on the field of play. A common confounding factor with sports is that while we know that strength and conditioning is important for sports performance, world-class athletes are genetic freaks and will remain world-class despite sub-par programming. Despite this, people too often look to the best athletes for their routines, when we really should look at average and below average athletes and see what works for them. How do you take, for example, the typical high school football player who might start squatting 135 on day 1 and get them to squat 405? People have a limited time and limited ability to recover from stress. The bulk of an athletes strength training should focus on multi-joint exercises that train the most muscle mass over the longest effective range of motion with the most weight. This of course means that athletes should squat, deadlift, bench press, and press. 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]

Despite the fact that meets are fun and help give more purpose to our training, they can be a long, stressful day, and we recommend having a coach or handler who can worry about the administrative and logistical things (when are you up, get you food and drinks, etc.). There are many common pitfalls that people tend to do their first meet. Don't stay amped the whole day. Relax when it's time to relax. Don't get amped up until you're going for the final attempts, and, really, you shouldn't get really amped until that final deadlift attempt. Don't stress about form. You might have that 1 cue in your mind you need to think of, but don't second guess or overthink it. Have a cue in mind and lift the darn weight. Don't warm up too much or too early. Eat and drink. If you're nervous, you're likely to undereat, which can harm your performance. Have salt, carbs, and water. Don't eat things you're not used to eating. Speaking of not eating things you're not used to eating, don't do anything new or for the first time. If you'd like to try something (deadlift slippers, singlet, a food or drink), test it out during at least one normal workout. Ensure you prepare correctly: have enough of everything. Have extra socks, extra food, extra shoes, etc. And, remember, it's about setting PRs. Go out there and have some fun. 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]

You signed up for your first meet: what do you do now? Scott & Matt discuss what to do now. A huge part of preparing for a meet is realizing the purpose of the meet. The purpose of the meet is to set PRs, give your training a purpose, have some fun, meet some people, and leave feeling encouraged about lifting. Nobody cares who wins. You should change as little as possible leading up to the meet if it's your first meet. If you're a novice, just keep doing LP. Maybe you can practice some singles and do a super short 2 week "peak," but that's not necessary. This applies to powerlifting meets and strengthlifting meets. Go set PRs. It doesn't really matter if the league doesn't enforce squat depth: squat to full depth. So, sign up for a meet, have some fun, set some PRs, and continue your lifting path. 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]

Training while traveling presents challenges, whether your a frequent business traveler or someone who only travels to visit family or for vacation. Either way, we have to decide to train or not to train and then how to adjust training before, during, and after to best meet our goals. If you are someone who rarely travels and NEVER misses a workout and you finally go on a vacation, it's not important to your long term progress to miss a week or even two. Again, though, there aren't a huge number of people in this category. For more people, it will be important to both maintain the habit of training or at least exercise and the training can help destress or at least make you feel better if on a vacation. If you're a frequent business traveler, training while traveling is a must: you cannot progress if you don't train on the road, so you'll have to develop a strategy and habits to train on the road, to include what to pack, gyms to look for, and how you train on the road). Now, let's discuss some travel hacks for lifters Matt likes to train first thing upon arrival and before departure, as it helps make travels days feel more productive and he knows he accomplished training on those days. These aren't days to hit PRs, but to get some work done. A pro-trip here is if you train at a big gym they often have showers, so you can train and still shower before getting on a plane. This also helps as training the first couple days after travel tends to not feel great, so you will have trained on the last day of travel and not feel behind on your training. Niki recommends to search for "powerlifting" when you're looking for a gym, as this probably will help you find gyms that will have the equipment you'd like to have. Both Matt & Niki acknowledge, however, that even big globo gyms tend to have at least 1 squat rack. Some hacks for travel: have liquid chalk in a travel size so it can go on your carryon bag if you check a bag, use a hard shell case to help protect your gear (and potentially any whiskey you take home pack your A7 shirts, as you'll experience some terrible benches Niki likes to have a small draw string bag that goes in her suitcase with her gym equipment Matt uses his backpack, which is also his carryon consider packing cubes for clothes eBags are great backpacks if you travel frequently, have pre-packed toiletry bags know where you can get higher protein options in the airport, or pack some drink water frequently Lastly, how should you train while you travel? This depends on your goals and preferences, but in general, we can offer some ideas and tips: not a great time for PRs - get some work done & maintain the habit know thyself: will you want more frequent, super short workouts or fewer, longer workouts have flexibility with equipment and difficulty explore the space: try out new equipment and exercises you can't at your home gym or local gym front load stress prior to travel (go for PRs before the trip) communicate with your coach ahead of time so he or she can plan accordingly plan the training around your commitments and, for vacations, tell your family (don't go to the gym when your wife wants to go to a museum) So, there's lots to consider and ways to train during travel better or worse. How do you train while you travel? 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]

Noah Hayden continues his discussion with Niki & Matt, now laying out & discussing his proposed exercise selection criteria and programming criteria. Below are his proposed exercise selection criteria. train the most muscle mass in normal, predictable movement patterns requiring normal coordination when possible over the longest effective range of motion to lift the most weight that is structurally sustainable with exercises that have a wide therapeutic window What are we looking at when we discuss the longest effective range of motion? We're looking at the movement of the joint: how much the bones move around the joint. A good proxy for this, however, is the distance the barbell moves. We also need to think that it's not really a huge deal if someone is using a safety squat bar instead of a low bar back squat. The low bar squat is our default, but if they can't low bar squat we adjust and do the best we can. How do we take these exercises and create a program? Below are the programming criteria Noah proposed. train all major muscle groups with the least number of exercises as is practical that do not interfere with other adaptations any movement done to failure must be as low skill as possible in the minimum effective dose required to continue making progress This goes back to the discussion of goals in part 1, but if you're training for a sport, you can't train strength optimally as you have to prioritize the sport (you have a time budget and a recovery budget). Strength needs to help your sport performance, not take away from it. These criteria also help with choosing when we add accessories. Initially, the deadlift is enough stress for the muscles of the upper back. But at some point it isn't, so we need to add chin ups or barbell rows or pull ups or lat pull downs. Check out the Barbell Health Series, where Noah first pitched the beginnings of some of these ideas, and his article, where he discusses these in more detail. 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]

Noah Hayden joins Matt & Niki to reexamine the exercise selection criteria. Noah first pitched these ideas in episode 3 of the Barbell Health Series & then Noah Hayden refined them in an article for Barbell Logic. As coaches, we likely love lifting, and this passion helped motivate us to pursue a career in helping others lift and experience the benefits of strength. Many of our clients, however, do not share the same passion, and while getting stronger will benefit them--and strength will likely get them closer to their goals--we cannot ignore their goals and prioritize strength about our clients' goals. Strength, in fact, is not the most important thing in life (nor the only thing). When it comes to programming, examining why we program a certain lift rather than another, we have to think about the why and then we can develop the how. A bit part of the why are the client's goals. We need to think about how we improve quality of life for the client? How do we help them meet their goals? We're Barbell Logic and we're strength coaches, so we understand the importance of strength and advocate that simple, hard, effective training should be a part of any fitness routine. If, however, we put 100 more pounds on a client's deadlift as their waistline increases when they wanted to get leaner, we failed to help the client meet their goals. In his article, Noah outlines what he considers the fitness attributes. While there are different lists, people tend to argue over whether two attributes should be combined or divided or whether there should be more that might fall under another. Below is his proposed list. strength endurance power mobility/flexibility agility/coordination precision/body awareness body composition lack of debilitating pain mental fortitude In the next episode, Noah, Matt, & Niki decide on how examining the client's goals, understanding the why, and understanding the fitness attributes helps leads to Noah's proposed Exercise Selection Criteria and Programming Criteria. 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]

Time is your most valuable resource, and you don't know how much of it you have on this earth. Because of this, protecting time, being efficient, and knowing when to trade money for time is important. Its importance heightens if you find yourself in a situation where you make enough money that you can make more money on your work than completing a menial task, such as mowing the lawn or cleaning the house. You might actually make more money paying someone else to do this. This isn't the case for everyone, and there are times in people's lives where they simply have to lower expenses and be thrifty. If you find yourself in a situation where the more you work the more money you make, then you need to think about finding time blocks where you don't work and being efficient with your work. If you find yourself with a fixed amount of time at work (eg a 40 or 60 hour work week) then you need to figure out how to leverage the time you have outside of work for both enjoyment and to complete the other tasks in your life. Regardless of your situation, it helps to consider the money-time tradeoff and how some investments of money can lead to more money in the future (and, of course, how some investments of time can lead to money in the future). Thinking this way can help clarify what you should do yourself or hire out and help block off time for leisure and family and enjoyment. 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]

Chris & Matt Reynolds like to wake up early and GET AFTER IT. If you don't, that's okay, but you might try before you write this off and it's super important to have a consistent sleep schedule regardless of when you go to bed and wake up. You can't make up for lack of sleep on the weekend, and your body will learn and adjust to a regular sleep schedule and be better off for it, as opposed to inconsistency. If you want to try this, give it a try for 3 weeks. If after 3 weeks you hate waking up early and going to bed early, that's okay: you're probably an evening person. You might then want to work on being more consistent with your sleep and how you still make time for leisure and family. One benefit that early sleep and wake provides is that many people have social activities in the evening. If you're an evening worker, you'll have to compete with these and find ways to work around these. It also can give a natural break to work and family life, and you can complete your work for the day (barring a true emergency) and then give your full attention to your family when they arrive. 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]

Let's talk about focus. This is something people don't do well these days. Focus has atrophied due to smartphones, social media, the internet, TV, etc. Focus, however, is critical to productivity, success, happiness, and getting done deep work. Something that can help both improve focus but show you how hard it is to focus and how easily you get distracted is meditation. The practice of bringing your focus back to your breath or a mantra helps build the muscle of focus and helps you see your thoughts. Also, you can't multitask. You may move from one task to another relatively smoothly or quickly, but you can't actually do two things at once. Knowing what distracts you and blocking those things out helps. For many, distractions may be broken down into visual or auditory. Know which one distracts you and plan accordingly (noise-cancelling headphones, for example, if you're distracted easily by noises). More focus means more productivity, and if you value time with family and other activities, you can be more efficient with work and urgent tasks and then spend more time doing those things that are important and give you value. 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 & Chris share a technique they use all the time, called the Pomodoro Technique. This technique is perfect for both knocking out urgent tasks or carving out time to dedicate to deeper, important work. The original approach is to dedicated 25 minutes to totally uninterrupted work followed by a 5 minute break. You can string together multiple blocks as you get better at this. Also, if you string together multiple blocks, you often need a longer break every so often. 25 minutes isn't set in stone. You may need to do longer or even shorter blocks. The principle, however, is totally uninterrupted time. If you get distracted, you QUICKLY jot down a super short note to clear your head but ensure that the task that popped up in your head (e.g. I need to take out the trash) gets accounted for. With one hand, simply jot down "trash," and then continue your work. Preparation can help here. There might be certain times of the day or locations where this isn't feasible because distractions will be inevitable. You also might need to do things to help prevent distractions: you may have to wear noise-cancelling headphones. You'll need to have your phone elsewhere and not have notifications turned on. You might need to notify your loved ones that you need 25 minutes uninterrupted time and explain the purpose. Ultimately, this is about getting the urgent things done so you can get the important things done, which include spending time with your family. You can, of course, apply this for important tasks, such as creative work. Try the Pomodoro technique to increase your efficiency with both urgent and important tasks. 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]

We all have things we think are important, we want to get done, but we continue to put off. This occurs because of the difference between urgent tasks and important tasks and the 4 different types of actions that occur (as an action can be urgent & important, neither urgent nor important, urgent but not important, or not urgent but important). We tend to put off the important but not urgent things. If they're never urgent, there's never pressure to complete them. Ultimately, we need to put pressure on ourselves to complete them. This doesn't mean we ignore the urgent: the urgent has to get done. With the urgent, we have to find ways to be efficient or have others do these things (e.g. have the groceries delivered, have someone else mow the lawn). The important and urgent things have to get done. Items that are neither urgent nor important really need to be examined: how much value do you get, for example, scrolling through social media or binge watching Netflix. We need to eliminate or at least limit these activities. All this requires, of course, identifying what's important. This comes down to what provides us value. You decide what's important. This relates directly to strength training and dieting. Strength training is not urgent, though it's important. We can increase the urgency by having accountability and protecting the space. Over time, we impart urgency on strength training, "It's getting close to training time, I'll have to do this later." The same goes for food. If eating is always urgent, then you'll find yourself eating the most convenient items, which will usually be unhealthy. Preparation prevents food from being urgent, because you're prepared and have food ready. Lastly, completing the urgent is still important. If you have urgent things floating in your head when you're attempting to get your important work done, you'll be unable to focus and accomplish the important work you want to complete. 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]

As advocates of strength training, we encourage people to add strength training as a habit. Many of the most important things we need to do to live a more fulfilling, productive life, however, involve breaking bad habits. Bad habits don't have to be bad in a moral sense. They ultimately don't provide us value and bring us closer to our goals. They might waste time or money. They might prevent us from building positive habits. They might make us less healthy or happy. Stopping these habits can be difficult. The win of not doing these is often not enough. We can leverage the fact that as humans we dislike losing more than we like winning, so we need to devise punishments or negative consequences for doing the habit and have SOMEONE ELSE hold us accountable. A note here is that the consequence should not be related to the habit. So, for instance, if you want to stop eating after 7pm, doing extra cardio or depriving yourself of food is counterproductive and can lead to other issues. Making a bet or putting money on something is a potential option. If, for example, you don't stop the habit in a specific amount of time (and you'll likely need to quantify that) you give your friend a certain amount of money. Or, you could owe your spouse $5 anytime you do the habit. Whatever habit we've decided to break, we've already decided that there are long term consequences that we don't like. But when we continue these habits, the long term negativity is hard to think about. Adding a short term negative consequence means we create a short-term negative consequence to discourage us. The other idea to this is that ultimately we have to get through the initial difficult time with discipline and the motivation will catch up. We won't have the same urge to continue the habit and we'll see the benefits of having abstained. A couple books they recommend are The Power of Habit, Thinking in Bets, & Atomic Habits 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 share some of their productivity tips: what to do, what to not do, and what equipment or apps help them. When it comes to equipment and apps, both of them find having one huge monitor, 2 monitors, or 3 monitors helps, as one monitor simply adds time to tasks on the computer. Scott has also found value in having a scanner to digitize documents. He puts these on Evernote and finds this saves time, helps keep these organized, and saves space. Both Scott and Matt value a quality backpack and headphones, which can help prevent noises distracting you when you work. Much of productivity is organizing tasks and ensuring dedicated blocks to get both urgent and important tasks done. Preventing distractions--including notifications, family interruptions, and your phone going off is critical. Matt follows the Pomodoro technique, which recommends blocks of completely undistracted time to knock out tasks on your tasks list. The general recommendation is 25 minutes, as it's long enough you can complete plenty of tasks but short enough that you can fit a few into your day and it doesn't become too inconvenient for others around you. Scott has some tips as well. Ensure you don't put projects on your task list. If you find that something stays on your task list, there's a couple ways to deal with it. If it takes less than 3 minutes to do, just do it immediately, as it takes 3 minutes to put it off. If it's really a project, break up the projects into tasks and put those tasks onto the list. Finally, if the tasks are important but not urgent, create a Sunday Maybe list where you can put important tasks that are not urgent so you can both organize them, put a place for them, but not feel guilty because they've stayed on your to do list for weeks or months. One other note is to consider the trade off with time and money. There may be things that take up huge amounts of time and that you don't enjoy. If you can afford to spend the money and feel the trade off is worth it, have someone else do it for you (trade the money for the additional time and fill that time with important things, which--important--may end up making you more money). 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]

We have a model for the proper performance of the lifts and we understand programming principles and how to drive progress over time, but we have to acknowledge that for lots of people lots of the time, they can't train optimally. And, honestly, at some point everyone--every single person--will be unable to train optimally. In these cases, we have to do the best we can. Life comes up and presents obstacles to consistent training: vacation, work, family, holidays, and injuries. Furthermore, some people can't perform the lifts as we tend to coach them. We have to deviate from the model intelligently. If, for example, you can't low bar squat, try thumbs around the bar. Try the high bar or front squat. You may have to specialize in the deadlift. And, over time, you may be able to low bar squat depending on your limitations. Though we advocate the low bar squat and a specific way to perform the lifts based on biomechanics, we know that squatting is better than not squatting at all because you can't low bar squat. If your gym closes, exercising is better than doing nothing. As an example of an intelligent deviation from optimal programming, Matt tore his pec. He now limits bench press intensity to 315. He won't ever hit a bench press intensity PR. Because of this, he prioritizes the press, he does higher volume at lower reps, and he--again--does the best he can. Time is one of the biggest limitations for people. You have to block out time and commit to training during that time. It might not be 3 or 4 times a week: it might be 5 super short workouts during lunch. It might be 2 workouts. You might have to shorten rest periods. You might have to do your warm ups for your next lift during your rest periods. That's okay: it's better than not training. A huge part of this is to stay in the habit and not get into a slump of not training. If you take long breaks from training, it gets harder to return. Maintaining a habit of exercise--even if it's something in a crappy hotel gym--is better than doing nothing. Finally, we have to acknowledge that there's not a huge number of people who can string together 6 weeks of optimal training. Though some of these could prioritize training and get it done, life gets in the way and that's okay. We maintain the habit, do the best we can, and continue to do hard things. 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 & Niki discuss their pre-workout routines, from when they train, how they plan for training on the road, food, water, clothes: everything about how to properly prepare for training--physically & mentally. Rituals both help prepare us for training specifically (e.g. laying out our clothes the night before or making some overnight oats ensures our outfit or pre-workout nutrition are ready). Beyond this, however, doing something repeatedly before the same event primes our body & brain for the event. Training--and habits around training--also help provide a feeling of control during chaotic, challenging times in our lives. When it comes to preparation for a workout, it can begin far ahead of the workout. When do you plan your workouts? If you program your own workouts, you have to set aside this time. If you have a coach, you may need to communicate things such as vacations or other events that may affect training. You must consider packing clothes and equipment and what equipment the gym will have. For typical workouts, when do they occur during they day. What do you do prior to and after the workout. How do you ensure you are mentally and physically ready for the workout? To some degree, simply having a routine will help, as your body will know training will occur, though binging fast food probably is counterproductive. Matt trains in the morning after urgent work but before important work. He enjoys training and trains with his wife. He also has a list of items and actions that contribute to his routine. Niki does BJJ in the morning but trains as a way to end the work day. When she trains, she knows she has no more work to complete for the day. Because she has completed her work tasks, she can fully focus for training and not be thinking about work or something she needs to get done. She can take her time and enjoy 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]

Jason McCarthy of GORUCK discusses rucking, his Army service, & building community through voluntary hardship & shared suffering. He shares his story of how we went from US Army Special Forces (Green Beret) to founding and running a company that--similar to Barbell Logic--believe in voluntary hardship and building community. If you're interested in GORUCK or their gear, go to http://goruck.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=16&aff_id=2784 and check out their high-quality clothing & gear. Disclaimer: Barbell Logic is compensated for purchases made using this link. You can learn more about GORUCK here. Jason joined the Army after 9/11 because of 9/11. He enlisted and eventually completed the long, arduous Green Beret pipeline. In the Army, but especially the Green Berets, shared suffering strengthens teams and prepares these units for difficulties of combat. While civilian rucking does not, cannot, and does not aim to simulate Special Forces training, the community and choosing to push oneself beyond one's limits and the comforts of society helps provide purpose and build community, as GORUCK events are done in groups. You have to swim against the current these days. Lifting, rucking--you have to choose to follow these pursuits and maintain the practice to reap the benefits they provide. This will benefit you in life, as no one--even those who shirk form hardship and choose the comfortable, the convenient, the easy--would not say that life is easy. With any change, it's important to START--start small, start now or as soon as you can. Commit to beginning. Take your first step. Stop thinking, planning, considering: do. We celebrate these steps. We celebrate PRs. We celebrate improvement and betterment. They also discuss the benefits of being a novice and how pursuing new challenges helps prevent burnout with those long term pursuits and things we must do. Finally, the joy of completion comes up. If you've never experienced a ruck flop after a heavy, long ruck, you're missing out. It's the feeling of racking the bar after your last heavy rep, jumping in a pool after a hard workout, cracking open a beer after a long ruck. After shared suffering comes communal celebration. 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, Niki & Andrew answer your lifting & life questions. Topics include best pants, jeans, & shorts (for men & women lifters), forearm pain from lifting, what to do between sets, and best song to rally at a dance party. 0:00 Intro 1:20 What to Do if Can't Press Standard Bar? aluminum bars are worth it--can use it for accessory lifts 3:01 What Should I Do Between Sets? should I sit, stand, pace, clean up, etc.? timer can help good to not take your mind away from lifting (unless you're uniquely able to focus quickly) can also see (like Matt & his wife have recently) how short you can make the rests & the workout, in general 6:16 Good Jeans for People with Thick Thighs Michael Kohr's khaki (Andrew) American Eagle makes good jeans for guys (not slim cut) get jeans and then get them tailored Made Well for women (Niki) stress test: dance party? 11:09 Best Everyday Shorts (Non-Training) Benobo's have to be SHORT Bird Dog's plus, how do you FEEL after you eat food (not during, but after) plus, Krispy Kreme donuts what does a short do? show the difference between waist & butt, butt & hamstrings 17:33 Forearm Soreness? probably resisting the bar on your squats need to carry the weight on the back cue: point fingernails to the floor cue: carry the bar on your back really squeeze shoulder blades together to: relax your grip on the bar could be bending your elbows on the deadlift 18:54 Donnie Thompson's Bowtie for Shoulder Pain? would not recommend it for the bench press puts you in "good posture" would recommend not lifting in one don't want you to be yanked into position it's fine to put stuff on that makes you feel better some time (e.g. massage) ONLY for serious athlete 23:48 Dance Song for BLOC Party Dance Party? what would Matt, Andrew, & Niki pick toward the end of a dance party when they need to rally? 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 fear of the lifts, especially heavy, PR attempts. Different people have different fears of different lifts based on history (repeated failure or past injury) and simply how they feel about the lift. Lots of people, for example, are afraid of heavy squats. There's something about a heavy bar on your back and that you're folded over in the bottom and--even with properly set safety pins--there's just no graceful way to fail a squat. Scott & Matt even share their unusual fears of what might happen when they squat. Having habits & rituals can help. This way, the lead up to the PR attempt is the same as all the sets that led up to this attempt. You can also practice "failing" a rep so that you know that the pins will take the bar and how that feels. Test your safety pins for the bench press as well. Injury history matters as well. Matt has torn both pecs on the bench press, so when the weight gets heavier for him, that fear is present on rep 1 and the later, grindier reps. There is also more irrational fear, which tends to come from misunderstanding just how low risk strength training is (even with bad form). For example, many people fear hurting their back on a heavy squat or deadlift. At the end of the day, we can mitigate fear, have rituals, and have safety equipment properly set up, but we have to simply get it done. We have to have a bias for action. The fear won't disappear. 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]

Men's style coach Tanner Guzy joins the show to share some tips for improving your style and making sure you are highlighting the physical gains you've worked so hard to make in the gym. Tanner offers an online style course for men as well as one-on-one coaching (he even helped Matt frame his baby blues). You can also take a free quiz on his site to determine your style archetype. https://masculine-style.com Also be sure to pick up Tanner's book on the intersection of style, power, and masculinity, The Appearance of Power: How Masculinity Is Expressed Through Aesthetics. https://amzn.to/2HteNjH Any time you mention style around a group of men, there's an inevitable mixture of bemusement, eye rolling, and genuine interest. Many guys proclaim (or perhaps complain) that they dress "for comfort." They just want to be comfortable, they say, and aesthetic concerns are subordinate, even anathema. Tanner argues that style and comfort are in fact closely related, and men often mistakenly believe that you cannot have both. The foundational principle of style, he says, is context. Understand who you are, what you do, and where you do it. Your geography, culture, profession, body type, and personality all affect your individual style choices. While Daniel Craig may look dashing in a bespoke dinner jacket at the Casino Royale Montenegro, an IT professional from the American midwest would look ridiculous in the same. Where a mid-level corporate worker could elevate his style with a sport jacket or better fitting slacks, a freelance programmer would perhaps fit in better with a nice pair of chinos and chukka boots. Context matters, so the more you understand where you fit into your own society and culture, and what's realistic for your climate, the better your style choices will be. When coaching men, Tanner also takes personality into account. He divides style into three broad archetypes: rugged, refined, and rakish. Each describes the intersection between personality, cultural values, and profession. The refined man exudes effortless confidence with fine but subtle clothing choices, whereas the rakish man proudly displays his rebellious spirit with bold, fashionable clothing styles. Each can dress well, to be taken seriously, and in a way that enhances his individuality. 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]

If you're failing early in LP, you have to ask yourself: are you working hard enough? Some symptoms of not working hard enough might be not uploading your failed sets to your coach & failing reps early in LP (like the first 6 weeks). This often occurs with people who think a lot in their work. No thought will help you move from the bottom of a squat to the top of a squat besides a simple cue. As an example, consider the Bulgarian Method, a program of lifting where lifters train 6 days a week with heavy weights. We don't recommend this, but the point is that you're not working that hard in the weight room and though there are people out there who coaches will need to rein in, but you're likely not one of those people. LP, especially, is simply not enough stress to overtrain you and the risk of injury is incredibly low. Not only does strength training have low risk, but you're in the steep part of the adaptivity curve and you're not moving heavy weights compared to your biological limit. Many of these people have done hard things in other areas of their lives. They might be professionals like lawyers, doctors, or engineers who solve complicated problems as part of their job, but in the case of heavy weights you need to turn your brain off a bit. If you're a coach, you might see that they failed a rep and then didn't send you the video. Or they failed the rep and then backed off. They often might have an idea or solution about what happened too. When it comes to shutting off your brain and just thinking about the cue, the lifts have different flavors. Bench press & squat are similar in that they start in the top and a failed rep can be awkward. Press starts from the bottom, but people often use something to get the bar going on heavy reps. The deadlift, though, is just going to take some time to get off the floor on a heavy rep. So, are you working hard enough? 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]

It is popular these days to laud discipline and the ability to endure suffering. The problem with this is that it ignores people's values and preferences. Some people can bear more hardships, but others are drawn to certain types of hardships. Some people--gasp--like running, and many lifters do not. Matt, for example, enjoys waking up early and getting things done. He's done this since he was young. It's not a challenge for him. Staying up late, however, to complete tasks is difficult. The path to productivity for Matt is to acknowledge this and exploit it and continue to wake up and get after it. This doesn't mean that discipline doesn't matter or won't be necessary, but we need to examine our feelings for habits we've failed to create or end. If we begin to pursue a hobby and can't seem to make time for it, despite having the time, maybe this doesn't align with our values or preferences. We either need to find the good, the enjoyment, the creativity--that thing that draws us in--or we need to potentially look for alternatives. Similarly, external motivation is a poor way to change behavior. While incentives matter, think about trying to change someone's opinion or getting someone else to lift or eat healthy or join you in something you enjoy. The other person has to come to the activity on their own terms, or they won't do it or will have resentment toward you. So, know your values & preferences. Look for the good in the things that take up your time. If you can't seem to find it, it might be time to try to change your activities. 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]

One of strength training's biggest benefits is CONFIDENCE. As people grow stronger, overcome difficult things, and build a more capable body, they tend to carry themselves differently and bring confidence to other areas of their lives. Increased capability lends itself to more confidence. You know your body and do more and meet physical challenges better than it did before. You know that you can do difficult things, repeatedly, and gain confidence from that. Finally, as you train you begin to build a capable, muscular body. All these contribute to confidence. Some may criticize this idea, as ultimately squatting and deadlifting aren't THAT hard compared to the myriad challenges humans can face. Maybe this is true--modern lives come with comforts and conveniences--but we can add difficulty with strength training, better ourselves, and prepare ourselves for unexpected, involuntary hardship. Gyms are notorious for tearing down confidence, not building it up, so as a lifter look for supportive gyms and coaches. If you're a coach, you have to know not only that you're not a drill sergeant but also that technique cues & programming aren't enough. To have to support your client. 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 throwback to the early days of the podcast. Matt and Scott discuss the concept of voluntary hardship: what is it and how does it refine us? Life will undoubtedly present difficulties. This is involuntary hardship. Choosing to go through something difficult, however, seems to provide benefits. Essentially, this is delayed gratification: do something hard now to delay the benefit to a future you. Working, working out, saving & investing money, growing food: these all require work now for future benefits. Think about what provides you value and what does not? If you're doing things that deprive you of value, reduce or eliminate these activities. One useful framework is using the concepts of urgent & important to create 4 categories of activities. Important activities provide value. Urgent things need to be completed soon. Not urgent, not important: provide no value-->reduce or eliminate Urgent, not important: these tend to take up lots of our time-->reduce the time these take up Not urgent, important: the hardest category to protect; find ways to spend more time doing these Urgent & important: worthy of your time, but don't ignore the important things that are not urgent As you can see, the important things that are not urgent are the hardest to get done. There is little to no pressure. Work seems to be something people have to do. It provides a creative outlet and helps prevent us from spending too much time with unimportant, nonurgent tasks (vices). You can also appreciate the beauty and good of human work. A well-cooked steak, good cheese, a beautiful painting or building. These required the dedication of the craftsman in pursuit of excellent, the everyday work on these skills. The fruits are sweet, though they require much work to come to fruition. Much modern work can be unsatisfactory. Some time spent on simple, hard things can be refining. Squatting, splitting wood, growing food: simple, hard, effective. Voluntary hardship goes against the grain. You have to pursue the important, nonurgent things because you value them and have the discipline to continue this work. Finally, this isn't simply work for work's sake or white knuckling discipline, though a bit of that may be necessary. It's about looking toward the future and cultivating a life spent doing more things that provide value, not pleasure in the here and 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]

Life comes with difficulties, no matter what we do. Hardship comes voluntarily or involuntarily, but for any hardship our mindset before, during, and after matters: how we approach and process challenging events matter. Hardship--voluntary or involuntary--can refine us and improve our relationships, or it can beat us down and weaken social ties. Our relationship with the event--which we define with our mindset--helps determine the benefit to us. Why are you taking on the hardship? What are your thoughts about the hardship? If it's involuntary, what's your story about the difficulty? Think of military units or families who are subjected to hardships: deaths, challenging missions, divorce, tragedy. We know that not all military units or families come out better on the other end. Our stories about these events matter. If we consider the event a challenge, it should be a self-challenge about seeing how we can push ourselves, not about being better than others or being perceived as good. In line with this, Matt even argues that past hardships can benefit more today if you reprocess them and develop healthier stories about them. This ultimately comes down to your values and priorities. Having awkward conversations can prevent huge amounts of mental bandwidth going towards resentments and anger toward others, so it's probably better to have the awkward conversations. Niki shares her experience with cleaning out her house and ridding herself of unnecessary items. Ultimately, this came down to not holding onto things she doesn't value and don't improve her life. She added that if you don't see the objects in your desired life that you're pursuing, you probably should get rid of 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 The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected]

Brett Bartholomew joins Matt & Niki to discuss the art of coaching: what is coaching and how to do it more effectively. Brett is the author of Conscious Coaching, and you can find out more about Brett & his work here. Consider experience versus exposure. Experience requires skin in the game. You might have exposure to lifting and ideas around coaching or business, but do you have experience doing it. An example might be the difference between criticizing podcasts versus doing a podcast yourself or coaching versus criticizing a coaching methodology. Brett works with professional athletes and has developed a knack & reputation for working with "difficult" athletes. He enjoyed the challenge and honing his communication and connection skills with these athletes. An important note, that applies to all coaches and really all professionals, showing your client how smart you are doesn't mean you're coaching them well: this doesn't lead to effectiveness or connection. You need to build buy-in and trust. While technique coaching and intelligent, personalized programming are great, they aren't enough. A point of discussion here is public versus private sector. Consider D1 athletes or military service members as opposed to people paying you to receive coaching. The former have to show up and work as part of their job. The latter can quit at any time, and only continue if they want to. This leads to Brett's ideas of commitment, compliance, or resistance. To create these categories, you need to consider the task and relationship in the situation. Is the relationship good or bad? Does the client appreciate or like the task or not? If both are bad, you get resistance. If both are good, you get commitment. If you relationship is good but they don't buy in with the task, you get compliance. Another factor as a coach is that one-size-fits-all doesn't work. There are different types of clients and athletes (and, again, there's variation within, but categorization aids understanding). There are also coaching types, so you have to know your preferences and tendencies. Most people learn how to coach through a combination of how they were coached and their perception of what is successful (what they observe). When coaching the world-class or professional, you have to consider the difference between behaviors and traits and how they apply to their domain of excellence. Behaviors can be situational (potentially in the case of a world class athlete). Traits stay consistent. If you are truly world class at something, you will be narcissistic in that domain, whereas if you have a narcissistic trait that remains consistent throughout your domains of life. Brett also discusses some struggles he went through when he was younger with overexercising & also finding a way to connect through Dr. Katie. He both wanted to avoid his home life and his friends who began doing hard drugs. He came to compulsively exercise, and was sent to an institution oriented toward people with eating disorders. The treatment was similar to prison, where he had no privacy and no choice. During this time, he felt no connection with the supposed experts and professionals who were supposed to help him. He was even told, as his parting, "You'll be back." Dr. Katie finally connected with him, showing him a way to help others and actually be effective in changing others' behaviors. They end by discussing marketing: how do you ethically self-promote? Well, first, differentiation is critical. What is your brand? How do you communicate your value? If you haven't thought about this, or think this is below you, you still have a brand and are still communicating your value, though not doing so consciously. This episode touches business and health, coaching and personal growth, and the personal and professional. Check it 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 The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected]

Niki talks to Chewjitsu (aka Nick Albin), a competitive black belt Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practictioner to discuss BJJ, strength, sports-specific training, & balancing various physical attributes & life pursuits. You can find him here: https://www.youtube.com/user/chewybjj https://www.chewjitsu.net/ Chewie is a strength advocate within the BJJ community, a community that sometimes dismisses strength as sloppy or cheating or preventing good technique. While proper technique is important, these same people would likely not dismiss conditioning or flexibility or dedication as things that stand in the way of good jiu jitsu. Strength is important for life, and important for BJJ. Strength is really about building your machine. Add muscle, improve strength, build your injury resilience. Then apply this strength in your pursuit of BJJ. One error many BJJ novices make is they get hooked and then want to improve everything at once, which can cause burn out. Just like with strength, consistency is key, and understanding that we're in this for the long haul can help. If you lift and decide to pursue BJJ, you'll need to set priorities. Likely one will need to be prioritized over the other (though this can change). You may almost assign seasons throughout the year where you put one above the other. For BJJ, you may focus on it for months leading up to a competition. For strength, you may decide you want to hit some new PRs, so BJJ may need to become less important. When it comes to strength training for BJJ, it's really like training for anything else. Strength training gets you stronger, and you apply your strength in BJJ. Many will try to load a BJJ movement with the idea of "sports-specific training." This is really misguided for a couple reasons. First, if you find yourself moving through a particular movement repeatedly in your sport, it probably makes sense to emphasize a different or opposite movement in your training. Second, training is meant to get your body stronger. Apply this strength on the mat, but do the same movements anyone would who is building their strength. BJJ can be a fun, meaningful pursuit that definitely falls within the voluntary hardship realm. Coming to BJJ with your strength will help. This episode will help you consider how best to do that. 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 & Niki and your lifting and life questions. Topics include coaching certifications oriented to coaching females, shoulder pain from presses & squats, adductor tears during squats, office strength groups, and power clean rack position. 0:00 Introduction & BLOC Party Overview 8:16 Programming During Weight Cuts Gained a bunch of weight during LP, having a USSF meet coming up: still want to hit big numbers, but want to lean down Performance doesn't have to suffer very much with small weight cut if done intelligently Top set with volumes can really be a nice combination of hitting enough volume and still hitting the intensity Lots of volume can help maintain muscle mass Drive up that top set as much as possible 15:21 Certification to Coach Females? Do you need to get a certification for coaching females? No Need to improve your coaching, in general Need to relate to your clients Permission to coach mindset: more variation within group than between 5x3 works well for lots of people with a deficiency of upper body muscle mass 23:32 Shoulder Pain play with squat grip: probably bring it in guess at what it is: proximal bicep tendinopathy if it persists, put squat at the end of the workout (as squat tends to make rest of workout worse) be very specific in where things hurt do more sets of lower reps with slower, perfect form lower the weight, slow down the lift keep pain below a 3 and look for it to reduce over time incline dumbbell press? work to get the intensity back up can also play around with frequency 30:14 Adductor Pain during Squats Where is the pain presenting itself? (middle or end of muscle) Is it at the tendon or in the muscle belly Did you bruise? Play with stance angle and ensure form is on point 35:25 Strength Office Activities Start a strength training for running & cycling groups, but it's really just strength Help coach 1/3 sessions they lift Cycling Power Development 38:27 Power Clean Rack Position wrist mobility or strength? have to think about strength & mobility and what they really are, first 43:00 Most Impactful Non-Strength Books Matt: Lonesome Dove, The Hard Thing About Hard Things, Measure What Matters, The Bible Andrew: Endurance, Man's Search For Meaning Niki: Deep Work, Sparking Joy, Into Thin Air, Bone Clocks 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 Ward joins Niki Sims to talk weight cuts and Niki's recent experience cutting weight, which Gillian helped her with. Why cut weight, and how do you cut weight if you decide to cut weight? Weight cuts aren't for beginners, and people need to really think about why they want to cut weight. This isn't about sustainable weight loss like we've discussed with Take Charge 10 and the Nutrition Series. It's probably better--especially around weight cuts for weight class events--to compete in a heavier weight class. Cutting weight adds a large amount of stress and can limit performance. Others may want to cut weight for their job (e.g. the military) or improve their appearance for specific event (wedding, reunion, beach). Finally, some people compete in physique competitions. This is the most advanced type of weight cut, as not only do you want to look better but looking better in a specific way at a designated time is the whole point of the competition. This requires more precise work and dedication, both long term leading up to the competition and in the days and hours before the competition. The amount of weight matters. Other factors to think about here, beyond the reason the weight cut, include: salt, carbohydrates, sweeteners--sugar & artificial, alcohol, fluid intake, and, for females, which part of the cycle the weigh in will occur during. Niki cut weight for a BJJ event and had planned to cut months in advance, so performance mattered. She has also worked with Gillian before, so Gillian had lots of information about Niki with how she and her body react to certain interventions. Niki also has high compliance, so not following Gillian's prescriptions wasn't a worry. Niki was able to be transparent with Gillian of all the relevant details leading up to the event. They knew the amount of time between the weight cut and the event, and Niki knew exactly why she wanted to cut weight. Niki manipulated carbs and liquids, and the suffering window was relatively short. She upped her liquid intake leading up to the event, then cut it immediately before the weigh-in. She also reduced carbohydrates immediately before the weigh-in. Niki & Gillian also had contingencies prepared if, on the morning of the weigh Niki's weight was not where it needed to be. Contingencies can include sauna time or other ways to induce sweating and fluid loss. Because these contingencies were not ideal, it's really important to follow the plan. The contingencies are contingencies for a reason. One hand trick Niki plans to keep is cucumber and lemon in water. Cutting weight is ultimately about manipulating fluid. Outside of manipulating fluids, manipulating salt, processed food, alcohol, sugar, artificial sweeteners, and carbohydrates can all be factors. Gillian's #1 rule is to keep the weight cut healthy: there is no reason to risk ending up in a hospital. Finally, Niki & Gillian discuss what many people can relate to: wanting to improve appearance for a specific event or period of time. Ultimately, this is NOT about scale weight but rather appearance, so fluid can be manipulated to prevent belly bloat. If the event is far off, sustainable weight loss approaches should be planned, and then the icing on the cake can be some fluid manipulation. A final note. Weight cuts can be exhausting, so, again, really think about why you want to do this. You're adding stress to the event, and it might not be worth the effort. 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]

Rachel Reynolds joins Bekah & Anna Marie to bust some strong moms myths, including toning & tightening, burning belly fat, giving you energy, and confidence. 0:00 Introduction 2:57 Energy to Keep Up with Your Kids doesn't give you energy, but gives you strength & confidence & calmness it's a give and take because it also takes energy 6:31 Tightening & Toning Your Body nope lifting does probably does what you want "toning" to be & do visible muscles but not too many muscles can't promise what you're going to look like your body will change finding clothes can be more difficult, but more options exist these days 20:15 Burning Belly Fat lifting does use some energy and also helps skews calories toward building muscle you want to be a gas-guzzling body and eat all the calories, not a prius it does take hard work to look a certain way lift+nutrition=superpower & real body transformations just dropping body weight really won't do what you think it will do (you probably won't be happy with the result) you can eat more food 35:33 Body Transformation & Not Feeling Like Yourself can cut and get stronger if you start off bigger some people have a number they're unwilling to get heavier than, regardless of how they look important to have people in your corner (spouse, friends, family) 43:33 Strength Training Builds Confidence Yep choosing to struggle builds confidence sense of control as well 52:27 Why Train as a Busy Mom? try it how important is your long term health for you and your quality of life? find a coach you connect with you can do it! most people have this "I'm so glad I did that" feeling about training, getting stronger, and the overall process & change you won't regret trying it #strongmoms 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 [email protected] [email protected] Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected]

How do you balance all your responsibilities and set a positive example for your kids? Bekah and Anna Marie discuss what they've found works for themselves and their clients. It can feel impossible to train while maintaining your other responsibilities. Despite this feeling, training can help bolster your ability to uphold your other responsibilities. Capable, strong moms who regularly subject themselves to difficulty can better weather difficult times. Training helps set an example for your children that choosing to struggle can help, shifting away the idea of body image and appearance to capability and strength, and you might hear your teenage son tell his friends "my mom can bench more than you." When you embrace voluntary hardship, you will likely find yourself gravitating toward others who act similarly. Beyond setting an example yourself, your children will see examples of your friends and acquaintances. Beyond benefiting your children, you will surround yourself with people who raise you up and make you want to be better. You'll see confidence and mental health benefits, as you realize you're tougher than you thought. You and your children will see the benefit of individual and short term failure and how pushing beyond these failures leads to long-term success. Making the mental shift to training can be difficult, so have awareness for what makes this easier and you can try some different strategies. Having a home gym helps tremendously, though you may find that you need to lift at a time when you know that your children won't be around. Plan around your family schedule, knowing when it will be the easiest for you to train, and this might mean breaking up your workouts into smaller parts throughout the day or getting in what you can during the week and then having a longer workout or workouts on the weekend. You may also want to reevaluate how you spend your time. You almost certainly are spending time on things that, if you think about them, matter less to you and provide less good than training to you and your family. Finally, you can think about your "done list." This is your to do list at the end of the day or week: what did you accomplish, and how will you feel looking at what you accomplished versus what you didn't? Would it be better that you completed what you did if you didn't train? Probably not. Return to training if you stop: you can always come back, but when you're training ensure you fit it in--even if the intensity or frequency or volume is lowered: do something. Lift. #strongmoms #donelist 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 [email protected] [email protected] Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected]

Bekah & Anna Marie take on the elephant in the room when it comes to females lifting: stress incontinence. They provide helpful tips and strategies whether you struggle with this yourself or you are a coach who has clients who struggle with this (whether they tell you or not). To be clear, we're discussing what happens if you pee when lifting, usually at heavier weights. Different types of incontinence exist, and they specifically discuss stress incontinence. Even when it comes to stress incontinence, different types exist and you may find that stress incontinence occurs along familiar patterns for different lifters. When it comes to stress incontinence, you typically two diametrically-opposed reactions: shroud of same or badge of honor. Lifters may feel ashamed that it occurs and not want to discuss and even consider not lifting anymore, or they celebrate it and see it as evidence of hard work, like some CrossFitters may feel or have felt about puking during an especially hard "met con." Some things tend to make this more likely. Below are some features or events that will likely make stress incontinence more likely to occur: being female having had kids, especially 2+ wearing a belt heavier weights during a particular portion of the monthly cycle Don't worry, though. There are ways to deal with this, beyond diapers or pads to absorb the issue at hand. Below are some important things and potential ways to address this: proper instruction on bracing incontinence RPE, where this issue limits intensity limiting rep ranges don't wear a belt adjust exercises: high bar don't drink caffeine before training on training days NOT emptying your bladder repeatedly between work sets adjust training during the portion of your cycle where this is more likely to occur think about this like a form error that you can address (and potentially a form error that you don't allow and adjust training if it occurs) prescribe tonnage goals Thinking about bearing down like you're going to the bathroom is definitely NOT helpful. Learning proper bracing and valsalva can help, and these muscles can actually be strengthened alongside your other muscles. You may find that these muscles lag behind your others, but you can still get seriously strong even if you limit stresses that tend to cause this to occur. It's more like clenching like someone is going to hit your stomach. Kegels and other exercises can help, but they simply aren't similar enough to holding a properly braced position for a hard set of squats or deadlifts. People tend to find that this occurs at a fatigue threshold or intensity threshold. Some women find that longer sets make it harder to prevent this, so lowering rep ranges and doing more sets can help. Other women may find that a certain intensity causes it. In this case, limiting intensity can help. If you find that it occurs during a certain time of the month, then you can adjust that portion of the month with lower weights or reps, no belt, tempo squats and supplemental squats that make it easier to control and lower the intensity. Another thing to note is that trying to empty your bladder before every work set likely only creates an expectation in your body that you need to pee when you train, so this is ultimately counterproductive. Bekah and Anna Marie have found that this often occurs alongside form breakdown (as, if you think about it, you tend to adjust your body in certain ways when you pee). Just like other form errors, you can learn to prevent them as much as possible and, of course, adjust training when they occur. There's the mental side to this. You may feel embarassed from this. You may get upset that your platform or clothes get urine on them. There's fear and apprehension, especially when you train in ways that tends to cause this to happen (higher reps or intensities). Finally, after hearing all this you might feel guilty or not normal if you're a woman and don't struggle with this. That's fine too! Different people struggle with different things in life and lifting, and you don't need to feel bad whether you struggle with this or not. We should be able to talk about this and help people alleviate and address this issue. This podcast is here to help. #strongmoms 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 [email protected] [email protected] Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected]

Anna Marie & Rebekah tackle pregnancy and lifting. There's lots of bad information and poor choices people can make in this arena. Recommendations generally used to be against any exercise during pregnancy. Luckily, it's much more common and acceptable to exercise while pregnant. Modifications and listening to your body will help. Anna Marie became pregnant after 4 years of consistent training. Anna Marie's personality is one where she'll push things too far and not back off when she should sometimes, whereas others may back off too much. She deadlifted and squatted up until the middle of her last week, and used RPE to modify intensity when needed. One important note for her is that she had trained for 4 years consistently and is a coach, so she was well conditioned and in shape and knew how to make intelligent modifications when needed. Some recommend against starting lifting when pregnant. While it depends on health, previous exercise and activity, and the stage of pregnancy, women can in fact begin training when pregnant, but things will need to be progressed more conservatively. The biggest thing for novices--and pregnant women in general--is managing stress. When it comes to managing stress, consider that every pregnancy is different, so you don't want to judge yourself against a previous pregnancy. You also don't want to judge yourself against other women and their pregnancy: it's ultimately about your body now. What are you capable of doing today? Different lifts may prevent pain and discomfort for different people. Some common modifications that you may use include the following: high bar squats, bodyweight squats, rack pulls, feet up on bench press, seated press, tempo squat. Modifying intensity will almost certainly be required. Some ideas for this are using RPE to modify the intensity if the lifts feel much harder than they should. Another is to prescribe tonnage. This keeps the total work and work capacity up, but allows the lifter to do more volume at lighter weights if needed as opposed to higher weights with less volume. Expect ups and downs. It's okay if you have to modify a lift or modify intensity or even skip or postpone a workout. This is definitely a place where having a coach helps, as people tend to either be too aggressive or too conservative with themselves. Consistency matters more than anything else. If you train consistently, even at light weights, you will be physically better prepared for the birth and get stronger. Following birth, don't rush into training too quickly. Though you may see others return to training or exercise almost immediately after birth, beginning before you are ready can cause injuries and complications and ultimately prevent you from serious training and returning to your previous strength levels as fast as you would have it you had had a bit more patience following the birth. Listen to your body. Getting back to training helps give many women a feeling of autonomy. Some women have feelings that--because they are supporting the fetus with their body--they lack bodily autonomy. Returning to training can help create a return to normality and bring this feeling of autonomy. Again, though, return conservatively, modify as necessary, and don't progress too quickly. There is a good hormonal environment to train post-pregnancy but, again, beginning too quickly and too aggressively can ultimately create problems that prevent progress. #strongmoms 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 [email protected] [email protected] Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected]

Rebekah Krieg and Anna Marie Oakes-Joudy discuss their journey to and with barbell training and share what strength has meant to them and to the moms they have trained. Meet your hosts, two strong people, great coaches, and wonderful moms. Anna Marie, like many, found barbells through CrossFit. She naturally gravitated toward strength workouts and looked to the CrossFitters who focused on strength training. She noticed the immediate benefits to her everyday activities, and loved how barbells helped her with body recomposition--not just gaining or losing weight, and how she felt with a stronger, more muscular body. Bekah also participated in CrossFit, but her first foray into exercise was soccer and sports. After a shoulder injury, she was told she really needed to add some muscle around her shoulder, and this helped push her toward simple, hard, effective training. Both had female athlete role models, but also felt weird in that they were attracted to strength and athleticism but it wasn't quite accepted. They find that with moms, a light bulb comes on as mothers adopt this mode of training and see the benefits in their body but also increased confidence. Strength training is part of self care as a mom, and taking care of yourself helps be a better person and mother. Strength training is empowering. Much of being a mother is about sacrifice and worrying about and taking care of others' needs. It can be hard to justify the time it takes to train and that you're spending time on yourself. Bekah says she struggles--and she finds many moms struggle with the thought: "I want this for my daughter, but I'm not sure I want this for me." Ultimately, strength training isn't for all women, but more women should try it and many would benefit from it who might misunderstand barbells and their benefits. Finally, a note to dudes and men and husbands: don't try to convince your wife to train. Be a positive role model, but pushing your wife to train will likely only push her away. She has to come to strength training on her own terms, and you have to understand and support that. #strongmoms 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 [email protected] [email protected] Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook [email protected]

Scott Hambrick & Karl Schudt of Online Great Books--Barbell Logic coaches too--discuss Yukio Mashima's Sun and Steel novel with Matt Reynolds. Go to onlinegreatbooks.com and click on Join Now to reserve your spot. Online Great Books can help you with the intellectual side of the voluntary hardship by exposing you to the Great Books of western civilization and discussing them with others in seminar. Sun and Steel follows the protagonist who begins his life focused on mental and intellectual pursuits. As he ages, he swings to the other side, obsessed with improving his body, martial arts, and physical improvement. Many modern people rarely if ever experience physical difficulty. Barbell Logic, of course, approaches this by voluntarily pursuing physical betterment through exposing yourself to lifting weights. We can go from screen to screen in temperature-controlled buildings. We are far removed from food production and war, so the need for the body to be strong and healthy seems superfluous. Mashima likely swings too far in the other direction, eschewing reading and writing, BUT he does point to some potential downsides for those who too often read and think but fail to act. You may have considered lifting or losing weight for a long time, but ultimately your success comes down to action. Furthermore, so many online arguments about coaching and lifting focus on the smallest aspects of what matters, and many can use these disagreements to shield themselves from the need to act. Consistency underpins success under the barbell and in the kitchen above any other factor. Consistency is about acting repeatedly toward your goal. You can probably use a bit of Mashima's mentality, though balancing the physical and intellectual matters. 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 talks to Niki about a refinement of MED principles and how PRs play into the ultimate goal of improving people's quality of life and reaching & surpassing their goals. At Barbell Logic, we're really oriented toward the vast majority of people who want to improve their quality of life, and strength and the process of getting stronger can help them. This doesn't mean these people can't get seriously strong, but it means we're not focused on world records or mimicking methods of the world's strongest people. Because quality of life and reaching clients' goals are really our purpose, PRs have to connect to this purpose. It can't just be about 1RMs and the typical PRs. We need to tie together consistency, form, quality of life, and PRs. First, programming consistent progress & PRs matters for EVERYBODY. People who train consistently and don't have monkey wrenches of injury or exorbitant life stress should be progressing consistently, and they can progress every single workout. Part of this came from seeing different set & rep schemes graphed on the new BLOC App, which some BLOC clients are using and to which more will be transferred soon. Matt realized that clients who weren't facing extreme life stress & injury were making volume PRs EVERY SINGLE WORKOUT. PRs are an objective way to demonstrate progress. Even people who don't agree with Barbell Logic's philosophy or programming agree that stress needs to increase over time to continue to progress. PRs demonstrate objective, quantifiable demonstrations of progress, and expanding PRs beyond the 1RM helps show that it's not just improvement every couple or few months (especially for more advanced lifters) but that you're doing more consistently. It shows that stress has gone up and that you can handle more stress and that you're stronger. It's both about objectivity and a changed mindset. It's about not only seeing the progress, but about looking for it beyond the typical PRs that most people track (1RMs, 3RMs, 5RMs). So, what PRs can we track (remembering that it's about quality of life and reaching goals)? weight on the bar volume tonnage different equipment (straps, no straps, belt, no belt, different types of bars) consistency PRs (if you struggle with this) frequency PRs (squat slots in a week or month) post-X PRs (post weight loss PRs, post-40 PRs, post-injury PRs) metrics The little wins matter--find those little wins and point them out and celebrate them. Sometimes the everyday grind can obfuscate how far we've come and how much better we are than we were before. By expanding what a PR is, we can help maintain and even increase motivation and see and celebrate our progress toward improved quality of life. Another thing to mention, of course, is that some people can push this gamification too far and can get neurotic and unhealthy in a different direction. If this is you, you might need to modify PRs--maybe consistency PRs or other measures that don't drive a neurosis. The final point is that, of course, life happens. You'll get injured or sick, life stress happens, and during this time you may have to redefine what PRs are. Focusing on consistency may matter. Focusing on time spent with family may be something you track. Broaden the definition of PRs to ensure PRs demonstrate the clients' moving toward their goals. What we measure matters. Measuring and stressing the 1RM might not matter that much for all clients, but we can identify and measure PRs that DO matter for clients, and we can ultimately help drive progress for the things that these clients value. 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 review Take Charge 10, Barbell Logic's first ever nutrition challenge. What worked, what did people struggle with, and what did we learn from the process? First, Niki & Gillian would LOVE for you to fill out the survey that you should have received via email. This provides feedback on the challenge. If you started but didn't complete the challenge, WE STILL WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! We'd love to know what caused you to struggle, what worked, and what you might like to see in a future challenge. Many commented on the benefits of water in reducing inflammation and bloat, and also helping them realize that apparent feelings of hunger in the past were actually thirst. Water really provided unforeseen benefits to many people. Logging really challenged many people. This is why Gillian deliberately did not specify that people should hit calorie or macro goals. This may have caused some discouragement and ending the challenge early. The purpose of logging is to really hold yourself accountable and give yourself an honest account of the food and calories you consume. Many people consume foods & drinks that push them over what otherwise would be a healthy amount of calories. Journaling can be taking pictures, writing down what you eat, or it can be intensely tracking macros & calories. Relatedly, some found that tracking made cooking more difficult: it became easier to cook simple meals or use packaged items, where one can easily track macros and calories, as opposed to, for example, a complicated dish like a stew or casserole. Gillian acknowledges the difficultly, and ultimately discusses adding levels of difficulty and complexity with journaling as needed. If you just take pictures of everything you eat, you don't need to track every calorie and macro that goes into a recipe. Many people commented that reducing sugar and drinking water made food taste better by the end of the challenge. Eating better changed their palate, just as more sugar and flavored drinks that caused them to become desensitized to low amounts of sugar. Things like fruit will taste better. Finally, people expressed a huge amount of interest in recipes, and we heard you. Barbell Logic will begin to assemble and share more recipes to help you make cooking and eating healthy easier. We will take these lessons learned for future content and challenges. We're excited about things to come with nutrition, recipes, and nutrition 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] boosts#toggleFormOnEscOrEnter" data-boosts-adding-class="boosts--adding" data-boosts-deleting-class="boost--deleting">

Matt & Niki are joined by Cameron Cox, BLOC Exclusive Coach and owner of Cox Sauce BBQ Sauce, delicious barbecue sauce (getchu some). They answer questions on bicep tears, lifting straps on the deadlift, shoulder pain on the bench press and squat, programming chin ups, getting your others to train more effectively, and a would you rather question. 0:00 Introduction & Cox Sauce BBQ Sauce Cameron Cox of Cox Sauce BBQ Sauce joins Matt & Niki. This came from a family recipe that was special and rare as a kid, as it was difficult to make. It doesn't exactly follow one style of BBQ sauce, but it's well balance and goes great on ANY meat. Check it out here. 9:47 Convincing Others to Improve Their Training You have to lead by example here & get jacked. Younger guys want to be jacked--so you have to show them the way. There is also some bad information here about talking to advanced bodybuilders & thinking that doing what Mr. Olympia does is what you should do. After years of consistent training, you can up the volume, but start with the basics. What the beginner needs to do is different than the person with years or decades of training. The other consideration is you can't really convince people to do things. Do the thing & be the example and have them come to you: your actions will convince them more than your words. 14:51 Dealing with High School Coaches Remember what the goal is for the child in high school. If it's just about fun & exercise, then you probably don't need to go crazy & optimize training. If you think your kid might have a legitimate chance at playing at the college or higher level, then getting him or her a coach might make sense. Also, remember, support the recovery & feed your kids. Do what you can to help your kid. Don't aim to convince the coach. 18:20 Shoulder Pain with Bench Press & Squats - No More Low Bar? You might try these movements every now and then and see if they still bother you, but you might not be able to have these be your primary lifts, and that's okay. Definitely don't give up on trying things, though. As you do an exercise, it should help make things feel better not worse. Finally, while we love the low bar squat, high bar & safety squat bars are super effective. Do your best to train the most muscle mass over the longest effective ROM. 22:34 Chin Up Programming If you're doing a 3-day/full body split, then you can have the pull up or chin up be on the light Wednesday. If you're on a 4-day split, then the chins go on the upper body day. This goes for barbell rows as well. Also, Coach Cam throws out a theory for the number of chin ups you can do being a gauge for whether you're too skinny or too fat. 27:18 Lifting Straps & Technique Often times, if you introduce a new piece of equipment, it's different enough that it's harder at first until you adjust to the equipment. Also, pulling the slack out of the bar really matters here & wrapping your straps tightly. 32:46 Excessive Layback on the Press First, of course, layback is okay, especially if your layback doesn't bother you. You also may want to train the press strict at least once a week: don't come to rely on the layback too much. Press is pretty complicated when you analyze it biomechanically & consider all the joints and all the potential press styles. Gaze is important on the lifts. It helps maintain balance and ground you, giving you a consistent point of reference. 40:35 Bicep Tears-When Most Likely Is a bicep tear more likely to occur at last rep of 5RM or during a 1RM? This occurs during SUPER HEAVY stuff during StrongMan events with stones & tires. In general, this is more likely to occur if you're SUPER STRONG, as your tendons & connective tissue are not as strong as your muscles. 44:29 Would You Rather? 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 the last installment of the Professional Transition Series, Brandon Smith joins CJ to discuss his path to coaching. He began lifting because he grew interested in cheerleading in college. When college & cheerleading ending, so did lifting for awhile. He worked in hospitality services and restaurants, and though he enjoyed it he thought about continuing down this path into his 60s and ultimately knew he needed to make a change. He began to lift & coach. Brandon found that his hospitality experience and his ability to quickly connect to people made a huge impact on his coaching ability. This is something that has popped up again and again in the series, is that you bring the tools you have from your career and life experience. You have skills that can help you be a better coach: don't be afraid to use them. For those who have trouble striking up conversation, Brandon recommends talking about the things you're passionate about. If you're not passionate about discussing training and lifting, you might need to think twice about whether you want to be a coach. Another thing Brandon recommends is being honest. If you don't feel like an expert, just be honest. Say that you think you can help improve their deadlift or squat and have some humility and underpromise and overdeliver. It really takes a relatively low level of proficiency to be able to help most clients. Don't suck, and you can help. Use the teaching scripts, improve your eye, understand some basics and you can help someone quite a bit. When Brandon started coaching people, he programmed lots of bosu ball and other stuff, and began to see a pattern of clients not improving much beyond 6 months. He searched for answers as to why this was occurring, and came to simpler, harder, more effective training with barbells. Brandon loves learning & coaching & getting better, and thinks it's really all about getting a little better everyday. You're either getting better or getting worse. Getting 1% better every day can make a huge difference. Getting 1% worse every day, similarly, can make a big difference. Choose growth. Finally, CJ & Brandon discuss mentorship & getting a mentor. Brandon ultimately says, just ask someone who you would like to be your mentor. Most of the time, they'll be flattered and say yes. If they don't want to, it's probably because of time, and that's okay, so find someone else. 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]

Eric Feigl jumps on the podcast with CJ Gotcher to discuss his evolution as a coach. Unlike many of the other coaches, Eric has been a long-time coach and personal trainer and even has his own podcast, the Fitness Candor podcast. His story is more one of adapting and evolving and improving his own coaching practice and business. Learn more here: https://ericfeigl.com Eric loves the IMPACT coaching makes on someone's everyday life. Ultimately every job HELPS people somehow, even accounting. Coaching however can really alter the quality of someone's life and how each moment feels, reducing pain, and increasing abilities. He was attracted to coaching because of this. One of the things CJ & Eric discuss is how in learning deeply about something you ultimately have to believe in that thing. For Eric, is what Arthur Jones intensity training. For CJ, it was CrossFit. Though neither believes deeply in these, they've learned the benefits and downsides despite beginning as devotees of these respective training methods. While Eric pursued a degree, he feels that most of what he learned does not help him be a better coach. You ultimately have to pursue those things that give you the tools to improve your coaching, and the Barbell Academy definitely provides many of those tools. When Eric found simple, hard, effective barbell training, he already had to have clients. This occurred during the lockdown, so when clients returned he had changed his training philosophy quite a bit. He introduced barbells. Some people were all in, some needed a more compromised solution, but ultimately using barbells was better than what they had been doing. Some clients needed to leave and go elsewhere, but Eric believed more in his new approach and it did not hurt his business. 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]

CJ talks to David Aguilera, head of an academy, Barbell Academy student, and strength coach who has worked to grow his coaching practice and, in doing so, found the balance between his life, primary career, and coaching that is healthy and good for him and his family. Learn more about David and Iron Eagle here: www.iestrength.com David began training because he felt the diminishing abilities of middle ages creeping up on him and knew he needed to combat this with exercise. Coaching became a natural thing to do for him as he found the benefits of lifting and training and feels that helping others is his mission, in both his primary career and now coaching. He loves seeing not just the physical benefits but the mental and physical changes that occur when someone subjects themselves to difficult things and grows. Training for him became a routine--a practice--that made a better day, a better week, a better life for him. One thing he found he could NOT do was coach too much or train and coach at the same time. If he coached and trained alongside his lifters, one or both suffered. Once he decided to become a coach, he knew receiving high-quality coaching would help him become a better coach, so he signed up for BLOC. He also had an experience that doesn't seem to be discussed as much with coaching but really is likely common, which is an anti-inspiration experience. He saw bad coaches and did not want to be one of those bad coaches. Another thing CJ & David discuss is getting paid & the importance of this. It really makes a difference when a client is paying you versus coaching your friend or family for free. It often makes BOTH you and your clients take it more seriously. One thing that helped David grow was social media. He began to post his coaching and lifting and acquaintances began to ask questions, and eventually some of them became clients. Also, his own transformation with lifting was important. This adds to the issue that early on he signed up for way too much coaching, and he found himself unable to train. He's learned a few lessons from this, including the importance of blocking off time for you as a coach to lift and train. He then applied this to more, and has blocked off times for coaching and lifting and other activities. It took trial and error and making mistakes and overcommitting, but he ultimately found the current set up where he has 4 clients and that's the perfect balance for him. He wouldn't want more, and is content with the current amount of time he spends with coaching. He also uses the earnings from coaching and invests them back in the business. He purchases equipment and to develop himself as a coach with things such as the Barbell Academy. 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]