Beast over Burden powered by Barbell Logic

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, i...

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, tac...

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 diffe...

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 q...

Gillian and Niki answer your nutrition questions, including hunger & recipes, small wins & gastric distress.  0:00 Introduction & Gillian is Human -what do you do if you get off the rails? -hydrate & drink lots of water -get back to your normal: don't overreact, but get back to the routine that makes you feel good -do the things you need to do to get back (shop, food prep, etc.) 9:30 Hunger Signal...

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 CrossFi...

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...

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 mic...

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 b...

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-quali...

Matt & Scott share their business books that have provided them value and insight as business owners themselves.  The E Myth Revisited (Matt) This book discusses business systems. There are owners, managers, and technicians in every business. If you're a great technician, you might not be a great manager or owner (e.g. if you're a great coach, it doesn't meat you'd be great at running a gym).  Sco...

Who are we, and how did we get here? Matt addresses these in his 2021 BLOC Party State of the Union.   This is Matt's address to the Barbell Logic coaches and staff at the 2021 BLOC Party. Matt delivers these roughly quarterly to the staff, and he initially intended to keep this internal as past state of the unions have been. Ultimately, though, at the prompting at some of his staff, he realized t...

Matt & CJ Gotcher answer your questions about the Academy and coaching, including when you should fire a client, how Matt's coaching practice has changed, the PBC process, and how to know if coaching is NOT right for you.  CJ Gotcher is a staff coach for Barbell Logic and the Academy Director.  0:00 Introduction 1:57 Firing a Client As a coach--or really anyone in the service industry--you will ev...

Enjoy the panel Q&A that ended the 2021 BLOC Party. Listen to Dr. Puder, Matt Reynolds, Gillian Ward, Niki Sims, Andrew Jackson, & CJ Gotcher answer questions from the BLOC Party attendees. Topics include nutrition post-vacation, finding clients in a new location, training to looked more jacked, and countering the effects of sitting. 0:00 Introduction 2:20 Finding Clients in New Location Deliberat...

This podcast is a recording from the 2021 BLOC Party. It was the first presentation on Saturday, August 7th that Matt & Niki gave to the staff, coaches, client, friends, and family of Barbell Logic. It comes from a emerging idea that Matt and other staff and coaches at Barbell Logic have been developing, which is that STRENGTH CANNOT COME AT ALL COSTS. We have to consider and balance all facets of...

Thomas Frank, popular YouTuber on productivity and related tips, joins Matt to discuss his journey as a Barbell Logic Online Coaching client as he just recently achieved a 1000-lb powerlifting total. You can learn more about Thomas Frank at his YouTube channel . Thomas is publishing a video on his channel documenting his journey.  Thomas & Matt met at a conference and Thomas mentioned to Matt that...

John Welbourn joins Scott & Matt to discuss his journey from skinny kid to NFL athlete to fitness figure trying to share the benefits of strength & fitness.  John Welbourn enjoyed a long career in the NFL, in part because of his dedication in the gym and in the kitchen. He ate healthy foods, being an early adopter of the paleo diet, and saw the benefits on the field from getting strong in the gym....

Jordan Stanton, the President of the United States Strengthlifting Federation (USSF) joins Matt & Scott to discuss the differences between USSF & other federations. 3 things stand out with USSF: weigh-outs vs weigh-ins, press not bench press, and no judging commands.  Immediately following your third deadlift attempt, you are escorted by someone of the same-sex to a private room where they take yo...

We understand that some people don't train strength just for general health or quality of life, but to improve their performance in a sport or physical activity. How do you both train strength and improve sports performance? Right now, hyper-specific training is in fashion. For example, throwing an extra heavy shot or doing half squats with a narrow stance because it mimicks the football player's...

Despite the fact that meets are fun and help give more purpose to our training, they can be a long, stressful day, and we recommend having a coach or handler who can worry about the administrative and logistical things (when are you up, get you food and drinks, etc.). There are many common pitfalls that people tend to do their first meet. Don't stay amped the whole day. Relax when it's time to rel...

You signed up for your first meet: what do you do now? Scott & Matt discuss what to do now. A huge part of preparing for a meet is realizing the purpose of the meet. The purpose of the meet is to set PRs, give your training a purpose, have some fun, meet some people, and leave feeling encouraged about lifting. Nobody cares who wins. You should change as little as possible leading up to the meet if...

Training while traveling presents challenges, whether your a frequent business traveler or someone who only travels to visit family or for vacation. Either way, we have to decide to train or not to train and then how to adjust training before, during, and after to best meet our goals.  If you are someone who rarely travels and NEVER misses a workout and you finally go on a vacation, it's not impor...

Noah Hayden continues his discussion with Niki & Matt, now laying out & discussing his proposed exercise selection criteria and programming criteria.  Below are his proposed exercise selection criteria.  train the most muscle mass in normal, predictable movement patterns requiring normal coordination when possible over the longest effective range of motion to lift the most weight that is structura...

Noah Hayden joins Matt & Niki to reexamine the exercise selection criteria.  Noah first pitched these ideas in episode 3 of the  Barbell Health Series  & then Noah Hayden refined them in an  article for Barbell Logic . As coaches, we likely love lifting, and this passion helped motivate us to pursue a career in helping others lift and experience the benefits of strength. Many of our clients, howev...

Time is your most valuable resource, and you don't know how much of it you have on this earth. Because of this, protecting time, being efficient, and knowing when to trade money for time is important. Its importance heightens if you find yourself in a situation where you make enough money that you can make more money on your work than completing a menial task, such as mowing the lawn or cleaning t...