The Breaking Muscle Podcast

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The Classical Model for Physical Literacy Oct 19, 2017

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CrossFit, SoulCycle, and many other group-class fitness brands have exploded in popularity over the last decade. Part of the success these brands have enjoyed is owed to the fact that each of them fulfill the fundamental needs people have for community and exercise.

One of the greatest fitness communities ever created came about in the 1950s, based largely on systems developed in ancient Greece. This program produced unparalleled results, with the bulk of participants mastering double-digit pull ups, extension press ups, handstand push ups, and 2-mile times under 14 minutes, among a myriad of other impressive feats. Better still, they accomplished all this with zero recorded injuries.

This is the story of a high school physical education program created by Stan LeProtti, and first implemented at La Sierra High School in California. Historian Ron Jones and director Doug Orchard have created The Motivation Factor, a documentary about how this groundbreaking program inspired President John F. Kennedy to create similar programs in 4,000 schools across the United States. This amazing story sheds light on the role of physical education throughout history, why it should form the backbone of all education, and how it represents a solution to many of our most pressing societal issues.

Endurance, Imagination, and Presence with Michael McCastle Oct 09, 2017

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There are two choices to make when faced with society's problems, or your own. You can sit and talk about how horrible and sad they are, or you can get about the business of doing something about them. Michael McCastle falls in the latter camp, and his Twelve Labors Project has allowed him to raise funds and provide services for a wide variety of philanthropic causes.

He recently completed his sixth labor, in which he ran 20 miles a day for 100 consecutive days to provide support for veterans struggling with mental health issues. Mike and Pete Hitzeman dive into the gritty details of this brutal event, along with the strategies he employed to overcome the physical and mental challenge it presented. He illustrates how he used visualization to prepare himself for each mile, and how he learned to mentally stay in the mile he was in.

The lessons Mike learned in this labor are applicable to all of us in our everyday challenges, and we all would do well to try and implement them in our lives, even outside of our pursuit of health and fitness. This is one interview that will leave you inspired and motivated to make yourself and your community better.

029 - The Endless Pursuit of Mindful Movement with Jennifer Pilotti Oct 02, 2017

Show notes

In the pursuit of mastery, most coaches and trainers choose to specialize in a particular discipline, sport, or modality. But Jenn Pilotti took a different approach, letting her natural curiosity guide her toward a uniquely holistic understanding of the human machine. After completing her formal education with a Master's Degree in Human Movement, she went on to study a variety of systems, including postural restoration, Feldenkrais, gymnastics, natural movement, and yoga, along with traditional strength training.

Along the way, she started writing about what she had learned in an effort to understand it better. When she found a job as a personal trainer, she landed in the perfect place to put all that knowledge to use in a business that she became passionate about.

Jenn and Pete Hitzeman talk about the challenges surrounding proficiency in the personal training industry, and the soft skills you should look for when finding a trainer for yourself. Jenn reveals how her own battle with chronic pain guided her exploration of human movement, and how she found that for her, running is the place where she can access a mindful state. She also gives her best advice on how people can get started on the road to improved health, regardless of background or financial resources.

If you're in the Los Angeles area and would like to hear Jenn explain some of her training principles in person, she's hosting a workshop on sensing, isolating, and integrating the spine on Saturday, October 14th.

028 - Life After Turning Left with Nick Symmonds Sep 25, 2017

Show notes

The life expectancy for the career of a top-level athlete in any sport isn't very long. In a sport as rough on the body as track and field, it can be just a few years. For an athlete who is outspoken against the establishment to flourish as a professional for over a decade is almost unheard of.

But if you follow track, you've definitely heard of Nick Symmonds. The recently retired 800m specialist sat down with Pete Hitzeman to discuss how he went out on his own terms. They cover the dispute with USA Track & Field that led to him being left off the 2015 world team, and the absurdity of professional athletes literally starving under rules built for amateur athletics.

Nick has never been shy of sharing his opinions, and this interview is no different. He minces no words about the International Olympic Committee, his thoughts on doping in international sports, and the roots of east African dominance in the middle and long distances. We also dive into why the surge in the popularity of running hasn't carried over to track and field, why professional athletes need to remember that they only get paid to entertain, and the field event he wishes he could have tried.

You can follow Nick on YouTube and Instagram, and download his entire 2012 training log at RunGum.com.

027 - Healthy Food Doesn't Have to Suck Suck with Ben Canary of HercuLean Meal Prep Sep 18, 2017

Show notes

The rules of eating well aren't complicated. We all understand the basic principles of portion control and macronutrient ratios, but for many of us, creating meals based on those principles just doesn't work with our busy schedules. After you work, train, sleep, and heaven forbid spend a little time with your friends, who has time to weigh and measure all the ingredients for a week's worth of meals? And even if you did, then you have to find the time and know-how to create meals that you don't have to hold your nose and choke down.

That's where Ben Canary comes in. He's the co-founder of HercuLean Meal Prep in Indianapolis, where he creates and prepares macro-perfect meals for anybody trying to look after their health and athletic performance.

Ben talks about how the constraints of cooking for improved body composition enabled his creativity in the kitchen, where he's built a menu that will not only help you progress toward your goals, but keep your taste buds entertained, so you won't feel the need to go out and ruin all your gains with cheat meals. He details the evolution of his business from just cooking for himself and his brother to opening their own retail location, where his clientele now includes everyone from competitive athletes to the morbidly obese, and busy professionals to hungry college kids.

We also discuss the problems with mixing dietary strategies, how he uses technology to demonstrate the effectiveness of his service to his clients, and how his strategy is to become "fit by consumption."

026 - You Don't Have to Fall Apart at 30 Sep 11, 2017

Show notes

Everybody knows that nobody moves enough anymore. From our morning commutes, to our desk jobs, to the backup cameras in our cars, we have created a world where every new piece of technology seems to conspire to make us hold perfectly still as much as possible. All that holding still comes at the cost of lost physical function, but Tim Anderson has made it his life's work to help people regain those capabilities.

Tim uses simple, approachable movements based in the fundamentals of childhood development to restore the body to its original, strong state. His system is designed so that anyone, regardless of current physical ability, can begin regaining movement proficiency and strength.

Tim chats with Shane Trotter about why movement starts with the head, how everything in the body is connected, and what makes the vestibular system a central part of that connection. He also reveals how he trained for his RKC recertification largely without kettlebells, instead relying on the movement proficiency, work capacity, and grip strength from his daily Original Strength routine. He gives some actionable advice on how controlling your breath can help your mental and physical states, discusses why and how we should start to go barefoot more often, and how the practice of daily resets can bring you and those around you a more joyful life.

025 - Statistics Don't Win Games with Dr. Fergus Connolly Sep 07, 2017

Show notes

Turn on the TV or the radio right now, and call up your favorite sports station. I guarantee that within minutes, you'll hear someone spouting off a list of statistics about a team or player that's meant to provide some sort of insight into their value, or why they won or lost last weekend. But Dr. Fergus Connolly, Performance Director for Michigan Football, is here to tell you why our obsession with the numbers game is entirely misplaced.

Dr. Connolly's new book, Game Changer, is an encyclopedic repudiation of the "big data" approach to team sports. In it, he presents a set of sophisticated and fascinating models for evaluating the game, developing the player, preparing the team, and leading as a coach. Dr. Connolly has a unique gift for finding the essential commonalities in all team sports, and using those fundamental truths to create a system by which coaching staffs can extract maximum performance from their teams on game day.

Borrowing from fields as diverse as chaos theory, psychology, high-level mathematics, anatomy and physiology, Middle Eastern philosophy, sociology and more, Game Changer represents a turning point in how coaches, athletes, and even fans should understand their sport. We dive deep into the foundations of his approach, why it's better for players and everyone else involved, why he believes that periodization is dead, and the changes he'd like to see in team sports moving forward. If you coach, play, or even like to watch from home, this is one interview and book that is essential to your experience.

024 - Deadlifts, F-Bombs, and Authentic Weirdness with Tony Gentilcore Sep 04, 2017

Show notes

The world of strength training tends to be filled with burly, bearded, serious-looking men who scowl and grunt as they quote chapter and verse about why you should lift, train, eat, and live a certain way. And then there's Tony Gentilcore. Tony was a co-founder of Cressey Sports Performance, and is known for his no-BS, irreverent approach to strength development. He now runs CORE, a strength studio in Boston, where he trains clients from all walks of life in how to walk their life better. Tony believes there's no reason to overcomplicate your training program, and he and Shane Trotter discuss why your kid needs an offseason. They also dive into the importance of choosing the best tools to reach your fitness goals, and Tony goes off on the biggest fitness myth that makes him want to slam his face into a brick wall. While the rest of the world concentrates on being as unobtrusive and inoffensive as possible, Tony expounds on the importance of authenticity, even if you're authentically weird. He discusses why training without performance goals is a one-way ticket to nowhere, and reveals the biggest key to any successful program design.

023 - The Fitness Technology Inside Your Head with Phil White Aug 31, 2017

Show notes

Do you have a closer relationship with your heart rate monitor than your actual heart rate? When's the last time you went for a ride or a run without something stuck in your ear? Are you using technology to make you a smarter, stronger athlete, or as a substitute for your own thought and instinct? Phil White is the co-author of Unplugged: Evolve From Technology to Upgrade Your Fitness, Performance, and Consciousness. He and Pete Hitzeman chat about finding the why behind your use of technology, and the problems that can arise from poor interpretation of inaccurate data in a lack of context. We also dive into the data privacy risks presented by our increasingly connected devices, and the physical and psychological benefits of exposing yourself to discomfort. Phil also offers some actionable advice on how to start combating your reliance on technology, and talks about how writing the book with Brian MacKenzie and Dr. Andy Galpin forced him to confront some of his own dependencies. Underneath it all, Phil sees an emerging mindset of self-care that can help people change their lives, one day and one rep at a time.

022 - What's Wrong with How We Run? With David Weck Aug 28, 2017

Show notes

When you grow up as an undersized kid who's determined to play football, you'd better find an advantage and find it quick, or you're going to get destroyed. For David Weck, his stature and a botched elbow surgery were exactly the right set of circumstances to teach him to use his brain to overcome his lack of brawn.

David's ability to look at the game from different angles matured into a fascination with biomechanics and movement efficiency. The root of efficiency is balance, and so he invented the BOSU ball to help develop more powerful, efficient athletes. Today, his passion is locomotion, and his work in running mechanics is breaking ground in a field that hasn't made much measurable progress in decades.

When the only thing that matters is getting to the finish line first, harnessing the entire human machine is essential for maximum performance. David's work with Cal Poly has led to remarkable breakthroughs in already well-trained athletes, and what we're witnessing now is just the beginning of how he might change the running industry as a whole.

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