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Strength Training & Joint Health with Dr. Sullivan Nov 16, 2021

Show notes

Dr. Jonathan Sullivan joins Matt & Scott to discuss what we know about how strength training benefits the joins and how it affects joint health. You can find Sully's YouTube channel here and his Greysteel's website here.

Running actually puts more force on the knee joint than squatting below depth, so the idea that squatting below depth is bad for children (whereas people have no opposition to a child running) does not make sense.

He also discusses the idea of arthritis as a "wear & tear" disease not only being wrong but this concept leading to bad, counterproductive, unhealthy recommendations from much of the medical community.

They also discuss different types of joint replacements.

It is always a good time when Sully joins the podcast!

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Training IRL: How Training Habits Change with Life Nov 11, 2021

Show notes

Scott & Matt discuss their training and nutrition at a specific point of time. Scott is adjusting to having sold Data Storage, and training and nutrition are in flux. Scott has lost some weight from his highest weight ever, but training is not his top priority.

Matt has been intermittent fasting in the morning, which he has found complementary to his daily schedule at this point in time.

Both Matt & Scott HATE squatting. Matt has bad hips, and Scott has to bend over until his back is darn-near parallel to the ground because of his anthropometry.

This episode really is a discussion for what happens when life prevent training & nutrition from being your focus, you're not hitting PRs, and you might be having tough workouts regularly--how do you react to maintain the habit.

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Build Your Press with Better Programming Nov 09, 2021

Show notes

In this re-release, Matt & Scott discuss strategies for programing your press--practical tips as well as the underlying principles.

The press typically stalls before the other lifts. Fewer muscles contribute to the press and the smallest deviations from an ideal bar path will cause missing reps. Unlike the other lifts, we also have more choices here in terms of form--strict, hip movement, arm movement, Olympic press, etc. Because the press stalls first, MED changes are used first.

Here are the typical MED changes for the press.

Microloading (2.5 or potentially even smaller weight jumps)
3x5 to 5x3
Move to 4-day split
Intensity day & volume day
Change in form: hip throw, Olympic press, bar dip
Supplemental lift: for press, especially pin press or press lockouts

The press reacts to programming more like an Olympic lift. The press requires practice, especially if a hip throw or Olympic style is used. Heavy triples, doubles, and singles can help.

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Involuntary Hardship with Jordan Harbinger #383 Nov 02, 2021

Show notes

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

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Seven Steps to Successful Sustainable Nutrition #382 Oct 26, 2021

Show notes

Niki & Gillian pick up from Episode 381 Knowing & Remembering Your Whys to address the approach to successful sustainable nutrition with practical steps and actions meet your goals. Gillian first address her approach to nutrition coaching (and this applies if you're acting as your own coach) with Consequences, Accountability, and Trust (CAT). Consequences help dictate your motivation and aggressiveness. High consequences usually are time-bound: preparing for a bodybuilding competition, cutting weight to meet a weight class, losing weight for a military bodyweight screening. We understand that some people do react severely to consuming certain foods, whether it be because of autoimmune diseases or allergies. Who is holding you accountable? Building accountability into your plan matters. Having a coach helps, but also being public with your goals, actions, and progress. Share all your steps along the way with your loved ones and social media. You can have a diet bet. Lastly, you need to trust in the process, yourself, and your coach. Nutrition progress is not linear, and you'll have to contend with stagnant metrics, setbacks, and a desire to constantly change things up. Gillian then discusses her Seven Steps to Successful Sustainable Nutrition

Tell the Truth
Non-Negotiables
Triage
Plan Ahead
Plan Ahead
Measure and Celebrate Your Results
Mindset

Tell the truth to yourself, your coach, those around you. Don't lie. If you pour a half of a bottle of wine into a glass, that's not really "one glass of wine with dinner." If you track using a food-tracking app, don't pick something with substantially fewer calories than what the food probably has. Track everything. Don't hide things. You can't properly create and adjust actions, heck you can't even identify problems, if you're not acknowledging and recording your behaviors accurately. Identify and incorporate your non-negotiables. These change, but they are the things that matter to you, you find value from, and that need to be incorporated into your diet plan. This might be eating out, alcohol, or dessert. This doesn't mean that you get to eat as much of you want, but it means that these need to be included--and you might adjust other behaviors to include them. One you understand non-negotiables and someone's behaviors (or your own) and know the person's goals, you can identify the biggest obstacles to progress. What are the changes you can make that will result in the biggest returns on investment with the least time, effort, etc. Regardless of your plan, planning ahead matters. Bad decisions occur without planning & preparation. It gives you confidence--you know you have something waiting for you at home, so you don't go through the drive through. It helps prevent you from feeling overwhelmed. Mastery of the small changes means turning actions into habits through repetition. This means that something that at first was a big change and potentially hard goes on auto-pilot, with minimal effort to sustain. Measure your results and celebrate them. This not only includes metrics, but also all the recipes, skills, knowledge, and habits you have accumulated through the process. Lastly, master your mindset--make it positive. Trust matters here. Acknowledging that setbacks, stagnation, and challenges will occur. Be able to come back after you stray from the plan--jump back, without guilt and rumination. Following these actions can help you successfully develop and follow a sustainable approach to nutrition, where you meet your goals and then maintain at a place you are happy with. GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE! Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/ Connect with the hosts

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Knowing & Remembering Your Whys #381 Oct 19, 2021

Show notes

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

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The Myth of Maintenance - The Dos & Don'ts of Lifting Oct 14, 2021

Show notes

Matt & Scott discuss the myth of maintenance and how this doesn't really apply for people, despite what people often claim.

Sometimes life prevents strength training from being a high priority, so you do your best. Work, injuries, vacation, etc. can prevent improvement in the gym. When these things are not preventing improvements in the gym, then do your best to improve in the gym.

The day will come when you won't hit any more PRs and you will train to stave off strength and for your health.

People tend to think that they've reached a point where they're strong enough and they don't need to get any stronger. Now, if your goals change--you want to pursue some other athletic endeavors--that's fine, but you still train and training requires at least some attempt to either get stronger or stave off weakness the best you can.

There are also drawbacks and real costs to getting to elite levels of strength. This level of strength does not increase your health. It's not enjoyable. You're putting strength above everything else in your life, and we're not calling for that.

That being said, for most people, they're not even close to strong enough. They haven't put in the time, effort, energy to pursue fitness, strength, and health.

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Gym Etiquette - The Dos & Don'ts of Lifting Oct 13, 2021

Show notes

Matt & Scott discuss how to behave properly in a gym, because to many don't respect the equipment or the people around them. Don't be that guy (or gal).

Take care of the equipment and put it back where you got it. Treat the equipment with the respect it's due.

Wipe down your bench and similar equipment. Put the weights away properly (right location, and lips out on the weight tree).

If you're in a big box gym, don't give others unsolicited advice. If they ask for advice, give it--if you're a coach, this person might become a client. If you receive advice, don't act like you want it. You can be polite, but if that person gives it the second time, that person needs to know you don't want or need your advice.

Headphones can be a useful tool in gyms like this to tell people you're not interested in talking to them. If there is a chance of good coaching, however--if you're in a good gym--then don't wear the headphones. Enjoy the fact that you're in a gym where you can receive excellent coaching.

Don't break up the blocks of chalk--they should be block.

Don't use baby powder.

Act like a professional in the gym. You know what you're doing. You know why you're there. Act like it.

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Saving Time in the Gym - The Dos & Don'ts of Lifting Oct 13, 2021

Show notes

Matt and Scott discuss how you can save time in the gym, because we know (with rare exception) you lift to live not live to lift.

LP workouts shouldn't take that long. Early workouts should realistically take about 45 minutes. This will increase to 60 minutes as you rest more and the weights go up. They should NOT take more than 90 minutes.

If you're in a hurry, warm up for your next exercise between work sets. Also, start with short rest periods (2 minutes). This can increase, but upper body exercises require less rest and lower require more, but if you're pressed for time you don't need to rest more than 5 minutes. If you have the time, by all means rest longer, but WHO CARES if you're NOT DOING THE PROGRAM perfectly because you can't rest 12 minutes between squat sets.

If you're even more pressed for time, you can use the 4-day split for LP, with 2 exercises (squat & deadlift one day, press and bench press the other). This results in shorter workouts.

You can also do 1 lift a day if you're in a huge rush.

Having a home gym helps as well. This eliminates the commute time.

Lastly, lots of people are "busy" doing BS. Think about how you can reduce or eliminate some of that BS.

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Warm Ups - The Dos & Don'ts of Lifting Oct 12, 2021

Show notes

Matt and Scott discuss why we warm up and how to properly warm up.

Warm ups--like much with lifting--can come with lots of confusion and misinformation. First, why do we warm up?

We warm up to warm up the tissues, so this is the general purpose of warm up. We also warm up to practice the movement and prepare our neuromuscular system for the work sets, including the fact that as we add weight the center of mass shifts closer to the barbell, so the correct performance of the lift actually qualitatively changes.

So, how do we warm up?

Warming up should be done relatively quickly. The heavier the weight, the longer it will take to warm up. You should roughly use 5 warm ups, but if you're in a cold environment you might need more. Also, as you progress through the workout your tissue is warm, so the purpose of the warm up shifts more toward the practice and preparation. Fewer warm ups can be done for exercises later in the workout.

You also don't need to be precise with warm up weight. If some app tells you to warm up at 88 pounds, just do 95. For the most part, stick with 25lb and 45lb plates, unless your work set weights might be relatively low.

You don't need to warm up between warm ups, especially the early ones. You might rest about 1 minute between the last couple warm ups, and definitely before the work set.

You also can warm up for the next lift in between work sets.

Unless you're an exception (extremely small or extremely big and strong) start with 45lbs for the press, bench press, and squat and with 135lbs for the deadlift.

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