Barbell Logic

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. 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 Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook podcast@barbell-logic.com     

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.  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 Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook podcast@barbell-logic.com     

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.  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 Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook podcast@barbell-logic.com     

Matt and Scott discuss the master cue, a cue developed based on a basic understanding of biomechanics that can be used for many lifters. You cannot perform a squat correctly if the center of mass of the barbell-lifter system is not directly over the center of balance (your midfoot). The midfoot really means, however, that weight is balanced between the balls of your feet and your heels.  Because it can be hard for people to think about keeping the bar over the midfoot, we tend to draw the attention to the foot. As a coach, the foot is a helpful point to focus on to determine what is going on with a squat. As a lifter, paying attention to where you feel the pressure on your foot helps tell you if you’re properly balance or too far back on your heels or forward on the balls of your feet. Because of this, the foot serves as a diagnostic tool for the squat.  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 Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook podcast@barbell-logic.com  

Matt and Scott discuss whether you should get hyped for a lift. They tend to say no, unless you’ve practiced getting hype and your form is good. If your form isn’t locked in, don’t hype.  Also, there is an importance for regularity before lifts. Because of this, you shouldn’t act completely differently for PR attempts than lighter attempts. Do the same thing.  If you’re an advanced lifter, you might have a pre-PR attempt rituatual that is slightly different than a normal attempt. For Matt, this doesn’t bring hype but rather focus. You need to be intensely focused and present for these attempts.  For many lifters, having the one cue that you should focus on can help. Your coach and you develop the one cue for you to focus your technical focus (might be KNEES OUT for the squat on the way up, for example).  Lastly, consider the differences between the meet and lifting in your garage and gym and practice for those differences (practice squatting and pressing looking into an open room as opposed to close to a wall).  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 Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook podcast@barbell-logic.com   

Matt and Scott discuss how to train older clients.  Barbell Logic’s age demographics tend to skew older, so the company and its coaches have lots of experience coaching older clients.  Depending on the age, almost everyone can deadlift. Many can squat, bench press, and press. Some lifts may have to be modified, but an exercise similar to the lifts can be executed for most older clients.  Older people can and should train hard. For older people, this means intensity. Intensity is what older clients are missing from their life. Grabbing the groceries, for example, is a low-intensity exercise, so they need to lift heavy and add muscle mass as a type of insurance.  Volume, however, wrecks older people. Use less volume than you might program for younger clients. Frequency--number of workouts in a week--might also be less. 4-day splits for the very old are not recommended. You might do a 4-day split over 3 days or even have them only train twice a week with full-body sessions.  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 Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook podcast@barbell-logic.com  

Dr. Jonathan Sullivan joins Matt and Scott to discuss the merits and drawbacks of including the power clean in someone’s program. Who should perform it, and how do we evaluate if someone should or should not perform the power clean? Sully has 3 criteria for assessing whether someone should perform the power clean: Want to do it Aptitude to do it Tolerate it For those who meet the above criteria, it can be beneficial.  Sully believes the power clean develops and trains power. It is an accessory pulling exercise. It also introduces the lifter to Olympic weightlifting, a whole other arena in the strength and barbell world that that lifter might be interested in.  The power clean also helps the lifter learn how to commit to a movement pattern. You can’t hesitate with the clean. This carries over to other lifts, like the squat, in committing to the execution of the lift.  Matt, Scott, and Sully agree that to be a good, well-rounded barbell coach a coach should be able to coach the power clean and power snatch.  One thing they also agree on is that the power clean is not appropriate for a novice’s linear progression program.  Lastly, there are the limitations and realities of the coaching session. In a 2-hour out-of-town session, there’s not enough time to coach the power clean and the other 4 lifts. Because of this, the power clean is best for clients who you see multiple times a week in-person (though it can be coached online, especially with some in-person additional coaching and the client being able to commit to filming and looking at his own lifts).  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 Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook podcast@barbell-logic.com

Scott and Matt discuss what is a cue and why good coaches give cues. You should only have to teach a lifter a lift once, but you will have to correct that person’s execution of the lift. Because we can’t as coaches lift the weight for the lifter, we have to deliver information to the lifter as they lift to get them lifting more in line with the model. We do this with a cue. Cues can be visual, tactile, or verbal.  Verbal cues need to be loud, clear, and short. The lifter has to hear the cue, understand the cue, and use the cue.  Visual is pointing or in some other way (for example, showing a lifter a relatively horizontal yet diagonal forearm to emphasize that they need to lean over in the low bar squat).  A tactile cue is touching the lifter. A coach may physically put the lifter in the right position (grab the elbows in the press to bring them up and forward) or touching the low back in the deadlift to emphasize lumbar extension.  Cues don’t need to be correct. The point of the cue is to provide the thing the lifter needs to move more correctly during or between the performance of the lift (between is necessary for online coaching).  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 Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook podcast@barbell-logic.com   

Matt and Scott discuss common pitfalls that novices make as they begin their strength journey.  First and foremost, many people lift with horrific form. You need to get your form right or pretty close. This either requires a coach or your needing to spend the time educating yourself and filming, watching, and analyzing your own lifts. Many people don’t get shoes, and proper shoes make a huge difference, especially on the squat and press.  Too many people don’t eat properly. This may be food quality (whole foods). This may be not eating enough. This may mean eating way too much crappy food. Protein needs to be higher for most people. Finally, too many people quit when it gets hard. They don’t know how to grind. You don’t have to grind every workout of every day--and you shouldn’t. But, if you can’t grind, you’re leaving LOTS of weight on the bar and holding your own development of grit back.  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 Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook podcast@barbell-logic.com

Scott & Matt discuss what you have to have, what you should have, and what is nice to have in the world of strength training. First--it’s nice to have a home gym. It provides flexibility and convenience, though it admittedly takes an initial investment of money to get a functional gym. If you’re working to create a home gym, this is what you should have: Get a 20kg or 45lb bar of relatively high quality--you can get a used one. They discuss all the details here.  Get 500+ pounds of weight, including 8x45lb, 2x25lb, 2x5lb, 2x2.5lb, 2x1.25lb plates (2” holes). Olympic bumper plates are really nice. Iron is economical. Consider what you’ll be lifting on--if you’re lifting on a well-made platform, bumper plates are not necessary if you don’t plan to do lots of Olympic lifting. A power rack is better than a squat stand. This has 4 upright, safety pins or catches, j-hooks. It often can also come with attachments (pulley attachments, dip attachments, pull up bar, etc.). You want 1” spacing around the bench press height. Regardless of if you lift in a public or home gym, you need shoes. This is the first thing you need. Don’t get a CrossFit trainer. They discuss lots of good options. A belt is the next thing. You can get really strong without a belt, but most people end up getting a belt, as it adds weight to the bar and you want to get stronger. Dominion belts are great. Chalk is necessary as your pulls (deadlift, row, clean) get heavy. You probably want blocks of chalk to paint your hand. If your gym doesn’t allow chalk, that’s a good indication that your gym stinks and you should look elsewhere. Finally, here are nice-to-haves: wrist wraps, wrist straps, knee sleeves, squat shirt. 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 Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook podcast@barbell-logic.com  

This is the NEW interview with Dominion Strength Training. Niki talks to Blake & Katie about their journey as entrepeneurs as their business has grown and they’ve expanded the products they offer. You can follow Dominion Strength Training on Instagram. Niki actually met Blake & Katie before Dominion Strength Training started, as they came to Atlanta Barbell to receive coaching. They were CrossFitters but learned to love strength training, and as they turned to purchase their belt they realized there was no high-quality belt they could get quickly. Initially, they received equipment from overseas, but production and quality issues led them to realize that they could offer a better product with less problems if they built the belts themselves, so they began to build the belts themselves.  Because they control everything that goes into the belt, they create the highest quality belt on the market. They can ship the belts to you quickly because they don’t customize but rather have belts in stock that can be yours within days.  They have grown and offer more products now, including straps, different sizes and types of belts, and dip belts.  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 Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook podcast@barbell-logic.com   

This is a new interview with Mike Reed from MicroGainz . Mike & Matt really focus on entrepreneurship and creating a successful business. Also, Mike and his wife recently attended the 2021 BLOC Party, had a blast, was able to meet many of the coaches and clients, and brought gear to sell (without shipping).  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. Mike discovered the problem of not being able to make smaller jumps when he completed LP, and realized there weren’t many options on Amazon. Plates he found were cheap and poorly made and not made in the USA.  He decided to fix this problem himself and worked to make his first fractional plates. Not only does this go to show that successful business solves a problem, but it was actually a problem Mike faced himself. He had an N of 1 that this was a real problem, and he also understood the importance of this problem and how he could help his clients.  People have lots of misconceptions about what entrepreneurs or business owners do. They think it’s glamorous and easy, but it’s really about grinding for years and maybe even decades. Mike worked 2 jobs for 4 years before he was finally able to quit his day job. Matt similarly had to work 2 jobs when he initially began coaching.  For both of them, there came a point where they realized that not only could they quit their day job but they needed to if the new business would succeed.  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 Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook podcast@barbell-logic.com   

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.  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 Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook podcast@barbell-logic.com   

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.  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 Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook podcast@barbell-logic.com   

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. 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 Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram The Website Barbell Logic on Facebook podcast@barbell-logic.com