The most requested topic from a recent round of surveys, how to train around minor injuries is a real and pertinent issue for all of us at some point or another. Whether you wake up one morning with a crick in your neck or you twist your ankle while running, learning to train with limitations is a skill that can be learned. In this episode, we dive into what constitutes a minor injury, why it's important to keep moving, and how to assess your situation and stay productive so you don't feel li...
"It's time to make the Donuts."In a few recent polls, we found that about half of you say you move on from a training program when it gets boring. Given that repetition is basically requisite to any physical training, we thought we’d tackle this topic and vouch for the grind of donut making.Boredom is part of the process. Whether you learn to get interested in the details or just accept the repetition and cruise through it, sexy results come from unsexy efforts. As do delicious donuts.Key Poi...
On any given day, we get dozens if not hundreds of questions on our YouTube videos, social posts, and via email. And we enjoy answering them because we never want you to get stuck or give up. Most of our answers have carry-over to whatever situation you find yourself in, so we thought we'd share the love.In this episode, Ryan and Andy answer a handful of commonly asked questions. Some of these are about advanced skills and others are about how or where to begin. So whether you've been s...
Nike says that "if you have a body, you're an athlete." That's BS, and it can lead to poor decisions and wasted energy that don't benefit you. Of course, you may be an athlete. We've worked with clients competing at all levels in just about any sport or activity you can name. But the vast majority of people we work with are definitely not athletes. What does that mean? Are we saying they're not good enough? Serious enough?No. Simply that their lives don't revolve around their training. This e...
Play is a topic that is often left out of the conversation in fitness.This is in spite of the fact that experimentation, exploration and going off script is at the core of many physical training disciplines—dance, martial arts, acrobatics, any sport you play. However, play is not just free form improvisation or what children do on the playground; it requires a foundation in what you are practicing.In this episode, we get into a subject that is near and dear to our hearts and some of our other...
Chances are if you like what we do at GMB, you don’t want to spend hours each day working out. Like us, you want to focus on just the essentials in order to help you better enjoy the things you love to to do like practicing your martial arts and being active with your families. In this episode, we were happy to be able to chat with Philip Chubb, otherwise known as the Mindful Mover, in which we discuss how to minimize the time you spend training while maximizing the range of gains you m...
Martial art has its history in combat, so as a company founded by three martial artists, Rule #1 (Don't Die) is fundamental to GMB. If you die, you don't get to do anything else. It's over. That's the end. It might sound dramatic but self-preservation is key to making any kind of progress. While this seems like a fairly basic and obvious fact, it is one that often falls to the wayside when we start taking on new challenges.In this episode, we talk about how everything comes with a trade...
As a company founded by three dudes, GMB might seem like a very male centric company. But about half our team is women. The three dudes are married. Two of us have daughters, so raising strong girls and women is something we actually care about deeply.So we got in touch with one of the coolest, most successful and badass women we know: Juliet Starrett. She’s the CEO of TheReadyState.com, an attorney, and a champion athlete. She’s also a mother of two teen girls and has managed not to tear out...
As a company founded by three dudes, GMB might seem like a very male centric company. But about half our team is women. The three dudes are married. Two of us have daughters, so raising strong girls and women is something we actually care about deeply.So we got in touch with one of the coolest, most successful and badass women we know: Juliet Starrett. She’s the CEO of TheReadyState.com, an attorney, and a champion athlete. She’s also a mother of two teen girls and has managed not to tear our...
We get it - you were born before the turn of the millennium, so much of your knowledge of health and fitness comes from the Jane Fonda Workout VHS and watching interviews with Arnie in junior high PE class. But you’re a grown-ass adult, and you’re still capable of learning new things.It’s time to learn how to prepare your body for a productive training session.“But I heard warming up is a waste of time!” I’m sure your buddy with the bad back who told you this helpful tidbit had your best inte...
Why buy a program when there are 50 billion free workouts on YouTube? Precisely because there are 50 billion free workouts to parse through.In this episode, we talk about the good, bad, and ugly of the free content on YouTube.We cover:what YouTube is useful for and its limitationsthe appeal of fitness videoshow we learn by mirroring what we see how that differs from training and true autonomysome of our favorite YouTube channelsLearn how to use YouTube to help you make the best decisions...
"Just squat!" "Just do intermittent fasting!" As sentient beings in the 21st century, we all have pretty solid bullshit detectors by now, but when we're facing challenges, it's still tempting to believe the easy answers. And why not? Mostly, they're offered in earnest from friends with the best of intentions. But sometimes, there's an insidious bias behind the rec.In either case, "just X" is usually masking a litany of gotchas and caveats that you should understand before jumping in.&nbs...
It's easy to get overwhelmed by all the possibilities out there. Decisions are hard, and we can't make them for you. We can, however, show you how we make a lot of our decisions.In this episode, we revisit the framework "Hell Yes or No," give examples of how to apply it in both your life and training, and explain how it can free you up from indecision, inaction, or overwhelm.Learn how to practice saying "No" so that you are spending time doing what you really want to.Support the show👉 Try a f...
You've likely heard a lot of different ideas about stretching: how it doesn't work, how it makes you weak, or how you'll hurt yourself if you do it 'cold.' In this episode, Jarlo and Rose discuss and dispel myths and seemingly conflicting information about stretching, including tips for who should stretch, when to stretch, and how to stretch.We also cover:flexibility vs. mobilitybenefits of stretching, and how to maintain flexibilityactive, passive, static, and dynamic stretchingIf you'v...
"Boredom, I think, protects the individual, makes tolerable for him the impossible experience of waiting for something without knowing what it could be."Here's the deal: you will get bored.We all love that new-car smell and sense of novelty when we start something new. The first couple of weeks on a new program or routine usually feels like you're really making progress, but then the honeymoon ends, and you find yourself knee-deep in The Grind. The Grind is the inevitably boring middle p...
"Progressive overload" is a principle in training that says you need to continually add greater stimulus to an exercise to keep seeing a training effect. And it makes sense. To get stronger, you need to continue pushing your body. But the history of popular fitness has instilled a bias here that overload can only be achieved via a handful of training variables, primarily load and repetitions. So once we get to a certain point, we naturally start looking at adding weight to our training. It wo...
We get a lot of questions about Recovery which is not surprising, given how much information there is out there. There's no easy way to cut through all the noise since Recovery is and should be subjective, but in this episode, we break down:why Recovery is not separate from your traininghow only you can decide what you needthe importance of tracking your baselinecommon recovery methods and toolsexamples of when to do whatRecovery, like any aspect of your training, cannot be cookie cutter...
We've all been there -- schedules and routines change, and we can't fit in our regular workout. Rather than trying to stick to your routine amidst a big project, the holidays, or a busy time, tailor your workouts to better serve you.In this episode, we talk about:changing your mindset when your needs changespecific adjustments you can make to your traininghow to plan in advance so your workouts help you focusexamples of how to structure short, effective sessions Learn how to use life cha...
You want to be able and ready, not just good at working out.Readiness means going beyond just capability so you can actually access and apply your skills and abilities when needed. Chances are, you don't wear sweats and trainers all day, so you really have to stop a moment and think about how your clothes limit you.That why we say that if you can't perform a skill you've practiced while wearing the things you usually wear, you can't really perform that skill completely on-demand. Andy wrote a...
DOMS. Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness.You don't like them, and they don't like you, but if you're training your body at all, you're going to have to learn to live with each other.There's tons of myths about muscle soreness. Some people think they're the surest sign of a good workout (they're wrong). Others seem to think they indicate overtraining (also way wrong). While getting sore is a stupid thing to shoot for in your workout, they're also nothing to worry about.We'll teach you how to know i...