Unbreakable with Jared Maynard

The other day, my client was in a pain flare when he asked, "How much of this is my fault?" I can't remember how many times I've asked that same question when I got hurt myself. If you're a clinician or coach who knows about pain science, it can seem like an innocent enough query. But my goal for this episode is simple: to give you permission to stop asking that question,...

I made my best friend sit through a Lord of the Rings analogy. Then I asked him what it was like to watch me almost die. In 2023, a common cold turned into a hospital admission. Six days later I was on life support, and everybody was telling John I was going to die. If you've seen Lord of the Rings, you'll remember when Gondor lights the beacons to call for aid. Rohan sees them and answe...

"Hi, I'm Jared, and I'm a recovering perfectionist." Recently, I hit my heaviest squat of the day and my first thought was, "Damn, why isn't it higher?" My coach sent me a 5 minute voice note back. Only 30 seconds of it had to do with squatting. The rest of his answer was the stuff around the training. Three little girls. A business I keep overextending myself in...

My guest spent a night in an ER, just hoping for a disc herniation. Dr. Desirae Lyall has had back pain on and off since she was 13. Spondylolysis at L4, nerve symptoms down both legs now, and flares that come from squatting, stress, and the weather turning. She's also a competitive weightlifter and the Physical Therapist lifters in her area go to when nobody else knows what a snatch is. She...

This episode gave me a cue called "the vaginal elevator."  It also gave me insight on how the pelvic therapy and performance worlds don't have to be at odds. Dr. Sophia Veiras dropped more usable pelvic floor and lifting knowledge in an hour than a lot of us get in a whole con-ed weekend. She'd know. She sat through those weekends, spent her $1500, and not one of them talked ab...

Trigger warning: This episode discusses disordered eating, body image, and anxiety. My old bodybuilding coach called me a pig. I emailed him after the 4th or 5th binge. First year of PT school. The most anxiety I'd ever had in my life up to that point. I was stuck in a cycle I couldn't break and I reached out for help. That email is what came back. It's also one of the two or three...

Dr. Kate Sneddon didn't choose to be diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at age 2. But she did choose to be a college athlete, run a half marathon while coughing up blood at 19, become a PT, build a practice, and dedicate her career to helping ACLers come back better than before. Kate's one of my favorite people, and not just because she's a sharp clinician with quick wit and a Long Isla...

When you're injured as a coach or clinician, it can f*** with your head. My client - a PT himself - is going through the worst hip injury he's ever had. He can't say 'yes' to doing what he wants without wondering if he'll pay for it later. The questions he's been asking himself were very familiar, because I've been asking them myself for 11 years. This episo...

I spent years believing a lie that cost me time I'll never get back. This episode is about that lie. And if you're a coach or clinician, especially one who's dealing with pain, injury, or a body that isn't cooperating, it's probably costing you too. Dan is one of the smartest strength coaches I know. When he herniated a disc that debilitated him and wouldn't get bette...

I was kind of an asshole to Dr. Taylor Goldberg. When she and I first met, she was at rock bottom - working a job she hated, isolated from the people she loved, and questioning her career choice. I got to watch her pull herself out of the hole by building a business she loved. Then she signed on for my coaching to get stronger and healthier... Which is when I almost died. Dick move, if you ask me....

I'll be real with you: I showed up to record this one feeling like I had off-brand Flex Tape holding me together.  But I recorded this episode anyway because someone has to go first. This one is for the coach or clinician who knows they need to make a change. Who has known for a while, if they're being real about it. And keeps finding reasons why right now isn't quite the time. I&ap...

After 11 years as a Physical Therapist and coach...here's what I got wrong. In this episode I spill the tea on what I've changed my mind on after many a painful and embarrassing lesson. So let me save you the trouble. The Nihilistic Valley, manual therapy, the four questions I now ask each client at the end of every assessment, and what I actually think makes a good coach or clinician in...

Dr. Susie Spirlock kept going through the long days to build her business, and the diagnoses no one saw coming...until her body made it very clear that she couldn't anymore. Susie is a PT, DPT, strength coach, and founder of Move Your Bones — and in this conversation she held nothing back. We talked about the identity shift that comes when your body changes the rules on you. The perfectionism...

Every journey has a first step. This is mine. I share why I'm starting this show, who it's for, and what I believe about the coaches and clinicians who give everything to the people they serve and forget about themselves. I talk about what it took to get here - including waking up in an ICU in 2023 with a 50/50 shot at making it out alive - and why I believe someone has to go first and s...