Iron Minds

In the twenty-second episode of Iron Minds, Samuele sits down with Michael Greeno to talk about why lifters stall, what a coach can and can't change, and where the sport is heading.0:00 - Intro1:46 - Thirty years of paradigm shifts: stay pragmatic4:05 - Agatha's daily SBD: "how very Eastern European"9:56 - Coaching like code: stay open for extension13:36 - Hyper-specificity before a base19:29 - Raising a nine-year-old powerlifter22:41 - Why lifters plateau: belief and bodyweight30:01 - What sets the elite apart: genetics, psychology, racehorses35:32 - Lifestyle and his hierarchy of needs41:41 - Top-down vs bottom-up: camps on the mountain46:33 - Do people respond alike? The Novocaine answer50:13 - Feeling crushed, supercompensation, and the Ferrari55:56 - People do too much: ten-day cycles and fatigue patterns1:01:24 - Tracking metrics: effort at a fixed weight1:06:24 - Confounders, averages, and "toxic relationships"1:10:14 - Analytics in ten years and the return of in-person coaching1:17:15 - What Formula One would track1:22:16 - Can powerlifting be watched? Colleges and the youth1:32:57 - Injuries: PEDs, honesty, and being too lean1:43:23 - Technique: a coach moves the needle 5–10%1:48:34 - Have your own way of thinkingSamuele: https://www.instagram.com/giulianodontario/Michael: https://www.instagram.com/mjgreeno/

In the twenty-first episode of Iron Minds, Samuele sits down with Steve DeNovi to talk about what actually separates Sheffield-level lifters, why mindset may matter less than we think in a low-skill sport, and how he builds programs that a lifter 500 miles away can execute.0:00 - Intro1:26 - From hockey to bodybuilding to powerlifting6:41 - From percentages to RPE to integrating everything13:25 - Why more beginners should try extreme programs like Smolov17:05 - Why he's still not on the velocity tracker train20:03 - Variable percentages and the art of programming22:40 - How much programming matters at the elite level27:36 - How flexible a coach's system should be32:32 - Why intermediates plateau: lifestyle first36:28 - Ranking the six variables behind Sheffield athletes47:58 - The pressure and expectations of being elite53:52 - Why mindset matters less in a low-skill sport56:22 - Technique: dictate for beginners, self-organize for elites1:06:32 - Top-down blocks, adjusted to the body's response1:10:04 - Push into fatigue, don't sustain it1:12:56 - What to track: sets, tonnage and E1RM1:20:24 - Injury risk: it all comes back to load management1:24:35 - Powerlifting in 10 yearsSamuele: https://www.instagram.com/giulianodontario/Steve: https://www.instagram.com/prs_performance/

In the twentieth episode of Iron Minds, Samuele sits down with Joe Sullivan, multi-time world record holder and legend of the sport, to talk about what really drives progress when the program isn't the problem.0:00 - Intro1:03 - From a 310-lb 14-year-old to the powerlifting club3:29 - Wrestling, college, and switching to powerlifting5:47 - ADHD, obsession, and the first national podium7:37 - Two degrees and the first elite total11:19 - How the sport has changed — and his hot take13:37 - Why a submaximal extra bench day is dynamic effort work16:43 - How important is programming? Leave room for vibes19:58 - Advice to an 18-year-old: plant the seeds22:17 - Nick Walker and a 1,000-lb jump in total26:39 - The Jordan mentality and the tight grip / loose grip31:12 - The world record that changed nothing33:44 - Why plateaus are rarely the program39:04 - The accessories debate41:59 - Coaching as storytelling47:16 - Tracking metrics: controlled variables are the best PEDs51:36 - Intuition vs data — and ego disguised as intuition57:00 - If he could track only one variable1:03:30 - Top-down vs bottom-up: Adapt or Die1:08:37 - Technique: self-organization, cues, and Bull Durham1:14:44 - Percentages, RPE, exertion levels, and velocity1:18:48 - Injury risk: stress and sleep1:21:44 - One last recommendationSamuele: https://www.instagram.com/giulianodontario/Joe: https://www.instagram.com/joesullivan_aod/

In the nineteenth episode of Iron Minds, Samuele sits down with Carlo Alberto Bonomelli - coach of Chiara Bernardi and sub-junior Aurora Scapini, and one of the partners behind the Strong4Real powerlifting and weightlifting team - to talk about why he keeps training simple, sustainable and built on trust, and why his athletes' meet week looks just like every other week.0:00 - Intro1:01 - From soccer to coaching, and building Strong4Real5:37 - Three words: psychological, sustainable, practical10:08 - Ranking the six success factors (and taking genetics out)13:12 - 100% trust: why coach, athlete and program are one factor16:52 - Why technique comes last20:45 - Why Italy's women are world-class and its men aren't yet29:34 - Why intermediates stall — and the new-coach honeymoon36:05 - Top-down vs bottom-up programming: 4-week blocks, no percentages41:28 - Meet week looks like every other week48:47 - Smolov kids and the cost of monster volume53:43 - The Agata Sitko thought experiment: frequency and nine bench sessions59:27 - Quality over quantity1:03:21 - Velocity trackers: solidity beats speed1:07:46 - Technique: natural movement vs coach-built lifts1:12:12 - Intuition vs data: programs on paper1:16:30 - What really causes injuries1:20:26 - Powerlifting in ten yearsSamuele: https://www.instagram.com/giulianodontario/Carlo: https://www.instagram.com/carloalberto.bonomelli/Strong4Real: https://www.instagram.com/strong4real_/

In the eighteenth episode of Iron Minds, Samuele sits down with Matt Sharafinski to talk about why he'd trust bar speed over a lifter's word, what successful training blocks have in common, when a coach should follow a gut feeling, and why lifestyle, not technique, is where he sees injuries come from.0:00 - Intro1:13 - How Matt got into powerlifting in the raw era4:06 - Why powerlifting: objectivity and owning every variable6:42 - Objective, pragmatic, logical: Matt as a coach11:38 - The coach-athlete relationship, and where it should end16:47 - Ranking six variables: the Sheffield lifter vs the average lifter26:02 - What great genetics actually look like31:48 - What successful blocks have in common39:30 - Could he coach a 7x-a-week lifter? Stepping stones, not leaps45:40 - Protect the downside, then chase the upside49:28 - Can you force the rate of progress?53:41 - Tell lifters less and watch what they pick58:11 - How each week of a block should feel1:05:39 - Technique: top-down until it doesn't work1:10:22 - Deadlift grip: skill for hook, setup for mixed1:18:07 - Programming: top-down with caveats1:24:32 - Autonomy, RPE and load caps1:30:49 - Why velocity is the most useful metric1:42:16 - Intuition vs data: the duck-footed lifter who switched to sumo1:55:58 - Getting lost in the weeds as a coach1:59:37 - The biggest cause of injuries: lifestyleSamuele: https://www.instagram.com/giulianodontario/Matt: https://www.instagram.com/the_sheriff_lifts/