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Traversing the 2020 Business Landscape with MicroGainz S18Ep4 - The Business Series Sep 16, 2021

Show notes

This is the episode Matt & Mike recorded the day before Thanksgiving 2020 and aired that Black Friday. Matt & Mike discuss MicroGainz and the opportunities and challenges that COVID created for their businesses.

You can follow MicroGainz on Instagram here. MicroGainz offers fractional plates (now up to 10 lbs), dumbbell fractional plates, gym pins for machines, and now Barbell Logic engraved micro plates. The equipment is made in Pennsylvania, USA. You can always use cold "LOGIC" to get 10% off.

2020 has been a hard year for many people, though good professionally and personally for Matt (and he's thankful for that). MicroGainz benefited from supply issues because he was able to produce plates when others could not.

The great part about his products is that they can be used whether you train at a gym--they fit easily and lightly in your gym bag--or at your house.

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How to Change Careers, Pay Off Debt, & Build a Successful Gym with Jordan Stanton S18Ep3 - The Business Series Sep 15, 2021

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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.

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Building a Better Belt with Dominion Strength S18Ep2 - The Business Series Sep 14, 2021

Show notes

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.

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Business Leader Books S18Ep1 - The Business Series Sep 14, 2021

Show notes

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.

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Who We Are, How We Got Here (Matt's State of the Union) #379 Sep 06, 2021

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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

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Coaching & Academy Q&A #378 Aug 30, 2021

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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? We're not doing interviews & looking at resumes anymore. If you want to work at BLOC, go through the Academy, earn your PBC, and this is your BEST way to work at BLOC. It's not a guarantee, but it gives us a good way to evaluate you and your fit for BLOC. 49:50 Coaching My Parents...AAGH! Make it fun, limit the whole "I'm the expert," and ensure you're providing value--maybe you find another option. 51:40 What is the PBC Platform Process? First, yes, you can apply for the PBC without having gone through the Academy (you are forewarned, the failure rate is much higher for those who have not gone through the Academy). The written exam is done first and you will do it on Zoom so we can see and observe you taking the exam. The exam is designed that you do not have enough time to look up the answers--if you came in and planned to look up all the answers on your phone, you will fail. If you failed, you will know which sections caused you to fail (eg you did well on 3 sections but were weak on programming & biomechanics). The next step--if you pass the written exam--is to schedule and go through an interview. Right now Andrew & Niki are doing them, but that may change. Lastly, you go through the virtual platform evaluation. You will be coaching a real person, whom YOU must find. You submit videos of yourself taking them through the teaching progressions and working sets and submit that to a current PBC. We want to see how you coach in your own space. The virtual exams allows the evaluator to provide better feedback on why you failed (if you fail). For example, the 3rd set of the squats, what error did you miss? What might you have cued? You can see what the evaluator saw and get feedback on what you need to work on. If you pass, you join the PBC registry and receive your physical PBC certificate in the mail. 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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BLOC Party Q&A #377 Aug 23, 2021

Show notes

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.

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The Whole Picture of Health (The BLOC Party 2021) - #376 Aug 16, 2021

Show notes

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

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Accountability the Key to Achievement with Thomas Frank #375 Aug 09, 2021

Show notes

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

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How to Build a Power Athlete with NFL Veteran John Welbourn S17Ep5 - The Competition Series Aug 04, 2021

Show notes

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.

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