Autonomy 🤸🍔✊ GMB Fitness

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 like you're wasting away while you heal.Key Points:How to Define ‘Minor’ – the criteria to distinguish what’s “minor”Why It’s Important to Keep Moving – what the body needs to heal correctlyKnow Thyself – the ability to assess your needs and tendencies is invaluableHow to Continue Training – the smart way to adjust your focus to continue training in a productive wayReading Your Internal Barometer – learning to track and trust your subjective experience for longevity and autonomyThe Future: Help us decide which episodes to record nextResources:Body Maintenance Guide – Our head to toe solutions for aches and painsYour Guide To Moving Better With Less Pain – Our article and episode about active recoveryEasy Self-Assessments to End the Guesswork – Our article on using a scale for ease and quality to make measurable progressDealing With Injuries – Our episode on the not-so-secret key to recovery that everyone tries to ignoreOvercoming Chronic Pain with Exercise – Our article on the science of pain and how to break the pain cycleHow To Make Progress, Even With Limitations – Our article on strategies for working with pain and injuryIt’s All in Your Head – our episode on owning your subjective experience of exerciseBronnie Lennox Thompson on Fibromyalgia and Living Well With Chronic Pain – a great episode on Todd Hargrove’s The Better Movement PodcastBronnie Lennox Thompson’s website – resource for on chronic pain self managementSupport the show👉 Try a free strength and agility workout

"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 Points:Who Gets Bored? – most of us do at many points, but learning how to continue is essential to real progressHow to Define Boredom – assess first why you think you’re boredGoals & Expectations – figure out if you are making values-based intrinsic goals vs. failing at arbitrary external goals or expectationsStaying Engaged is a Learned Skill – we can develop the capacity to notice nuance and grow our capacity for boredomProgress Is Non-Linear – we often can’t see our progress while we are in it or without an external markerKnow Yourself, Plan for What You Need – set up what you need so you have support for when you do plateauProgress Is Not the Next Step – why progress isn’t the next progression, movement, or fancy add-onThe Future: Help us decide which episodes to record nextResources:How We Keep the Basics Interesting – Our episode on the two things that’ll help you give the basics the love they deserveFighting Boredom in Your Workouts – Our other episode on working through the grindHow to Build a Training Routine – Our article on how to make an exercise plan you actually look forward toA Not-Boring Article on Walking – Our article on how “boring walking” can lend itself to integrating movement, awareness, and breathingThe GMB Method – A breakdown of why skills-based fitness is more efficient and interestingWant to Stick to Your Training? – Our article on how to tap into your long-term internal motivatorsAvoid Exercise Burnout – Our article on how to autoregulate your training so you can stay on courseSupport the show👉 Try a free strength and agility workout

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 sitting on the sofa for the last decade or are working on your Bruce Lee kip up, we've got you covered. Questions & AnswersQuestion #1: Muscle-up Transition — how to build up the strength, range of motion and control so you don’t get stuckQuestion #2: Seal Walk; Wrist Mobility & Strength — how to slow down, assess your pain or weak points, and make adjustmentsQuestion #3: Out of Shape, Where to Start — how to start if you’ve been sedentary for some time but not overdo itQuestion #4: Kip Up — how the hell Ryan does this in jeans and movement tips so that you also can skip the Lycra one dayQuestion #5: Walk to Squat — how and when to get creative, use props, and use progressions that allow you keep to working on whatever is difficult for you nowResourcesDealing With Injuries – Our episode on the not-so-secret key to recovery that everyone tries to ignoreOvercoming Chronic Pain with Exercise – Our article on the science of pain and how to break the pain cycleHow To Make Progress, Even With Limitations – Our article on strategies for working with pain and injuryHow to Get Started with Training – Our article on how to make an exercise plan for beginners (or anyone wanting to get active again)DOMS – they suck!– Our episode on Delayed Onset Muscle SorenessThe GMB Method – A breakdown of the AAA Framework to help you assess what you need to work onYour Guide To Moving Better With Less Pain – Our article and episode about active recovery8 Exercises to Fix Hand & Wrist Pain – Our article on wrist health and wrist routine videoSupport the show👉 Try a free strength and agility workout

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 episode talks about the choice to become and athlete - and the choice not to. The latter gives you freedom to make different choices and to enjoy your practice in the best way for you. Key Points: Why We’re Not Athletes: Calling yourself an athlete can be destructive and limitingHow to Differentiate: The difference between hobbies, sports and workouts; Andy gets spicy about CrossFit and CupcakesFreedom & Fun: By not being an athlete, you get make the best decisions for you and enjoy your activitiesResources:Physical Autonomy – Our favorite topic, figure out what to do to meet your own needsThe Fundamentals for Success – learn the foundational attributes necessary to be successful at any sportHow to Develop the Athleticism You Need – be prepared and train for any level of activity or sportWhat We Teach – what, why and how we teach, and how these principles can help inform any training you doHow to Make the Most of Your Time – make choices not compromises in training and everything else in your lifeTap Into Your Long-Term Motivation – make sure your training is driven by motivations that are meaningful to youSupport the show👉 Try a free strength and agility workout

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 parts: how to play with yourself. Key Points:What Play Is: It’s not just what kids do, what Play is in the context of training and skill acquisition How to Play Effectively: Play with what you already know; examples of how to explore what you are practicingSafety & the Unknown: Learn specific ways to maintain safety while doing something newOther Tips: Keeping an open mind and noticing opportunities can help you create more options The Future: Help us decide which episodes to record nextResources:The GMB Method – A breakdown of the 5 P’s including PlayBalancing Goal Oriented Training with Movement Exploration – Our article with strategies to work exploration and play into your routineWhy All Adults Should Play – Our article on why Play should be part of an exercise routinePlaying with Movement – Our video on adding movement exploration to your practiceTranscript of this EpisodeTurning Unconventional Play into Lifetime of Fitness – Our episode with Mark Smith of Asylum Fitness about Play as fitnessPlay Your Way to Any Skill – Our episode with Josh Vogel about mastery through PlayLearning to Incorporate Play – Our episode on why anyone can play and howSupport the show👉 Try a free strength and agility workout

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 make.This is not just the cliché of "less is more," but practical things everyone can apply to their training to get a life beyond the gym. Key Points: Do Fewer Exercises: We are mortal and have limited time, do exercises that have carry over to other onesDo Less Reps Less Often: Learn how to use Accommodating Resistance to maximize every movementStop Over-training: Training injuries aren’t worth it, find the minimum effective doseCardio: Sprint drop sets are miserable but you only have to do them once a weekGet a Life: Training is fun but it shouldn’t be everythingResources:The Mindful Mover – Philip and Martina’s website@the_mindful_mover – Philip on InstagramMindful Mover – Philip on YouTubeBody by Science – a book by John Little and Doug McGuff on complete fitness in 12 minutes a weekBreathing Exercises – Learn how to make your workouts better and help you recover faster3 Steps to Autoregulation Training – How to not burn outHow Many Reps, Sets, Exercises, and Workouts You Should Be Doing – Our episode on how much is enoughOur Articles on Injury Prevention – Our best posts on recovery, prevention, and building resilienceSupport the show👉 Try a free strength and agility workout

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-off and how to assess your training in order to not make irreversible decisions.Key Points:Don’t Die: It’s a metaphor, don’t do anything that has lasting or permanent negative implicationsWhat to do Instead: Reassess what you’re doing, how you’re doing it and whyChallenge Doesn’t = Pain: Don’t conflate pain with progress, there are many ways to make gainsOur Advice: Examples of avoidable mistakes + two tips to use for any movementIrreversible Decisions: Challenges are good, but don’t go past the point of no returnThe Future: Help us decide which episodes to record nextResources:3 Steps to Autoregulation Training – How to not burn outThe GMB Method – A breakdown of how to Assess, Address, Apply to make progress on anything you’re working onDOMS – They Suck! – Our episode on Delayed Onset Muscle SorenessBreathing Exercises – Learn how to make your workouts better and help you recover fasterTranscript of this EpisodeHow Many Reps, Sets, Exercises, and Workouts You Should Be Doing – Our episode on how much is enoughOur Articles on Injury Prevention – Our best posts on recovery, prevention, and building resilienceSupport the show👉 Try a free strength and agility workout

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 all her hair, so she’s got a lot to say about parenting girls in today’s world.Key Points:Body Image: You don’t have to be a size 2 to wear spandex, tactics to instill body positivityRole Models: There are many measures of success, role models can show what is possibleSex, Porn, Difficult Conversations: This conversation is going to happen when you least expect it, have it earlyLetting Go: Your children’s job as they grow is to learn how to separate from you, letting go of them and your own expectationsResources:The Ready State, formerly MobilityWODSan Francisco CrosSFit, Juliet and Kelly’s GymJuliet on InstagramDeskbound: Standing Up to a Sitting World by Juliet and KellyStandup Kids, their non-profitGirls & Sex by Peggy OrensteinBoys & Sex by Peggy OrensteinS.E.X.: The All-You-Need-To-Know Sexuality Guide by Heather CorinnaRaising Strong Girls, Part 1 Support the show👉 Try a free strength and agility workout

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 all her hair, so she’s got a lot to say about parenting girls in today’s world.Key Points:Relationships & Community: Participating in the community, modeling good relationshipsSocial Media: There’s a thousand ways to do social media as a parent, it’s possible none of us are getting it quite rightTechnology, Self-Regulation, Sleep : Phones are like heroin, how to make a constrained environmentResources:The Ready State, formerly MobilityWODSan Francisco CrosSFit, Juliet and Kelly’s GymJuliet on InstagramDeskbound: Standing Up to a Sitting World by Juliet and KellyStandup Kids, their non-profitGirls & Sex by Peggy OrensteinBoys & Sex by Peggy OrensteinS.E.X.: The All-You-Need-To-Know Sexuality Guide by Heather CorinnaSupport the show👉 Try a free strength and agility workout

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 interests in mind, and we completely agree that warming up like a recreational jogger in 1983 isn’t going to help you much. But if you spend most of your day in a low exertion environment and try to immediately transition into a high-exertion training session, you’re going to have problems.This episode is about the right way to prepare yourself for training - how to get your mind in the right place, how to prepare your body to maximize the benefits of training, and how you can organize your environment for productive training.Is it OK to skip prep and just start training? Sure, and you can also eat a frozen sausage without taking the wrapper off. But you’d be acting like an idiot, so cut it out and learn how to do things right.Support the show👉 Try a free strength and agility workout

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 for you and your own practice.Support the show👉 Try a free strength and agility workout

"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. This episode is about investigating claims without wasting time researching beyond your necessity as a layperson. If you're gonna trust someone as far as you can throw them, you better learn to throw! We'll look at veracity, context, and incentives as heuristics for casual analysis of "maybe too good to be true" claims. In other words, it's a tune-up for your bullshit detector so you can skip the crap and start using the solutions that suit you best.Support the show👉 Try a free strength and agility workout

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 free strength and agility workout

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've ever been unsure of how to increase your flexibility, you'll want to be put this one in your ear hole.Resources Mentioned:Study - Stretching Decreasing StrengthStudy - Stretching and Dynamic WorkGuide for FlexibilityGMB Mobility ProgramGMB Elements ProgramHip Mobility RoutineShoulder Mobility RoutineWrist RoutineSupport the show👉 Try a free strength and agility workout

"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 part of a training plan when things stop feeling exciting and fun, and you might even wonder whether you're making any progress at all. And that's why most people quit or program hop sometime in the third or fourth week of a program. Unfortunately, the grind is super-important. It's where you cement your learnings and really start making headway. Without the grind, you don't build to the eventual results you want. The Grind can suck, but we'll show you how you can learn to love it.Support the show👉 Try a free strength and agility workout

"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 works great for exercises like pull-ups and dips, but in others, it's a recipe for injury... or at least for poor results.When it comes to bodyweight exercise - and especially skill-based training - complexity and sophistication of movement are often neglected as pathways for progression. This episode hopes to change that. We'll explore why adding weight works and when it's the wrong choice. We'll also cover examples of sophistication instead.We know that making the right choices is tough! There's a lot of nuance involved, and this episode will provide the context you need to figure out what'll work best for your goals. Resources:Loaded Carries for Practical, Everyday StrengthSupport the show👉 Try a free strength and agility workout

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 and takes practice. Learn how you can apply recovery methods based on your own needs.Resources:Program: Regulator -- Recovery, Resistance, ResilienceArticle: How to Speed Up Recovery Time Podcast: How to Maximize RecoverySupport the show👉 Try a free strength and agility workout

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 changes to your advantage; adjust your training to help you focus on what you need to get done. Resources:Elements / Integral Strength / MobilityCreating Your Minimal Viable Routine20-Minute Locomotion Circuit for Conditioning (Follow Along Workout)Support the show👉 Try a free strength and agility workout

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 loooong article (not really) about jeans. This episode extends the premise with tips for making the most of your actual capabilities under everyday conditions. We'll tell you how to assess your wardrobe, how to learn to move as well as possible in what you already wear, and how to consider physical autonomy both seasonally and as you add to your wardrobe. No, we can't believe it either - the first GMB Show about shopping...The Scout Motto is be prepared. As lifelong martial artists, we look at situational awareness and defensive capability as basic skills. Don't get tripped up (literally) when life throws you for a curve. Support the show👉 Try a free strength and agility workout

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 if you're too sore, what to do about it, and how to stay productive in your training without getting derailed by sore muscles.Support the show👉 Try a free strength and agility workout