Beast over Burden powered by Barbell Logic

Why participate in barbell competition, and if you decide to compete how do you approach it. Learn about this and the exciting new International Barbell Federation (IBF) . Barbell Competition Benefits Andrew interviews Jordan Stanton , owner of Next Level Barbell and the Strength Union , both in or around Portland, OR, as well as former owner of the United States Strengthlifting Federation (USSF)....

When you know you have a good product, service, or solution, you have unshakeable confidence. How do you develop this? Learn what this is and how you develop it! Unshakeable Confidence: Is It Possible & What Is It? Andrew saw a video of someone handing out bags of money and reacting to people accepting or not accepting it. Seems pretty crazy, to turn a bag of money, right!? Now, in a big city, we...

Stronger means harder to kill, more able to fulfill your work and domestic obligations, and more useful overall. Listen to Matt's talk to the Tactical Response alumni. This group of people cares about being prepared, protecting themselves and their loved ones, and more capable overall. If they are weak, however, they have a gap, and they need to be stronger. This applies to you too. Stronger Means...

We cover the good, the bad, and the ugly in the recent games in this 2024 Olympics Wrap-Up. 2024 Olympics Wrap-Up: the Impressive & the Controversial You have to admit it, Olympians' performances are impressive. The amount of work over years and decades is immense. Genetic gifts abound, but so do mindset and work ethic abilities. Olympians' RPE 10 is not the same as our RPE 10. We value voluntary...

Back pain for lifters can be scary & frustrating & varies in severity. Learn the causes, treatments, approaches, & red flags as a lifter and coach. Rebekah Krieg, Exclusive Coach & former long-time physical therapist, discusses back pain, how to approach it as a lifter and coach, and red flags contraindicate training. Back Pain for Lifters: Part of the Human Experience Back pain happens. Whether a...

Take action and train because time & strength wait for no one. Get the most out of your training, & don't spend any more time without barbell training. Take Action and Train: Time & Strength Waits for No One Time is our most valuable asset because we can never earn more of it. We can make changes to make more money. We cannot make changes to earn more time (though we can make changes to spend our...

Tackling tweaks can be terrifying. You're lifting and suddenly - OUCH - pain. We discuss how to handle these tweaks. Tackling Tweaks: Don't Catastrophize You're lifting, all is going well, then suddenly you feel pain. What do you do? How do you handle this? Why me, why now!? It can be easy to catastrophize, to immediately assume the worst. The reality is, your workout may be over, it may not be, y...

How does consistency help us reach our goals? We explore the fundamental but undervalued lynchpin to success that is consistency. Consistency: Lynchpin for Success Repeated action brings you toward your goal. Obviously, if you want to learn Latin, you need to study Latin regularly - studying Mandarin Chinese will not help. That being said, a mediocre plan that you consistently follow is better tha...

Learn how to get beyond the sticking points, where failure and quitting too often arise but opportunity and long-term success await those who intelligently persevere. Minimum Effective Action: Where is the Progress? PRs have stopped, you're not feeling as good as you had been, you'll not looking forward to your time in the gym like you had been. Sometimes it takes longer to realize than you would...

Learn how to get beyond the sticking points, where failure and quitting too often arise but opportunity and long-term success await those who intelligently persevere. Get Beyond the Sticking Points: Frustration, Failure, & Quitting There is a time around 6 weeks into an attempted habit implementation, new diet, or workout routine, where people tend to quit. The early, easy gains end; the long-term...

How do we confront uncomfortable truths about ourselves, not get bogged down in negativity, and move toward our goals. Uncomfortable Truths: Coming to Terms with Your Shortcomings You set a goal. Inherent is this is that you do not like what you are doing now. Something must change. You have probably intertwined your identity with the actions that you need to change. The potential pitfall is wallo...

We investigate accessory lifts: what's the point? Why do auxiliary lifts and how should you think about incorporating them into your training? Accessory Lifts: What's the Point? It's that time of year, where people begin to go on vacation and either take breaks from lifting or ask to do hotel workouts (which they often do not do). What may cause, in part, the low compliance with hotel training is...

We have questions for Niki Sims (and she has answers)! Learn more about Niki, her thoughts on training and life, and her goals. Questions for Niki Sims: Training, Success, & Motivation Andrew asks Niki an assortment of questions. What is a particularly memorable success story from one of your clients? A story that stands out (and there are more, but this one jump into her head) is a daughter of a...

Gauging nutrition progress can be hard, as weight & waist may fluctuate or not change quickly (or as quickly as we'd like). Learn how to better gauge progress on nutrition. Niki and Andrew discuss how you can better gauge nutrition progress and advance in the realm of nutrition. Gauging Nutrition Progress: Subjective Feelings Tracking nutrition progress can be frustrating. The amount of work that...

It's time to conquer your limiting beliefs to finally achieve that goal you've had for years or decades. Conquer Your Limiting Beliefs: What is Possible One of the biggest limiting beliefs is failing to understand what is possible, especially over a longer period of time. People tend to overestimate how much change they can make in a short period of time but underestimate how much they can change...

Learn the similarities between building wealth and muscle and how we can learn principles from both to improve both. Similarities Between Building Wealth and Muscle Andrew and Niki have been reading The Psychology of Money , a book that, as its title suggests, delves into how we approach money based on the inner workings of our mind. They really realized, reading this book, how similar building mu...

Invest in a home gym for peace of mind. Having training equipment available & close underpins training success, providing reliability, convenience, & peace of mind you can't have with a commercial gym. Home Gym for Peace of Mind - Reliability In 2020 we learned that access to gyms and restaurants (and toilet paper) was not guaranteed. For those who had home gyms, however, it may have been one of t...

We discuss how to lift forever. This is a mindset and approach to become and remain a lifelong lifter. How to Lift Forever: Why It Matters Lifting for quality of life is a habit that can last for years and decade. We hope you lift as long as you can. We've discussed the benefits of strength and voluntary hardship, and how accumulating hard sets and building muscle contributes to health and longevi...

We discuss why and how lifters should do cardio: what is most effective and why include it in your program at all? We answer these questions and more. Why and How Lifters Should Do Cardio: What is Cardio? Cardio is the term for those activities that raise your heart rate and stress your cardiovascular system. Another term - the term we prefer - is conditioning. Conditioning tends to come more with...

We discuss recovery as the limiting factor. How addressing what you do outside the gym affects what you do in the gym and your movement toward your goals. Recovery as the Limiting Factor (Toward Adaptation / Your Goals) The stress-recovery-adaptation cycle underpins the process of training. You stress yourself (the workout), spend time not stressing yourself (recovery), and hopefully move toward y...

We share our go to healthy recipes. These are tasty, healthy, and enjoyable and help you crush your goals (without suffering). Go To Healthy Recipes: Consistency, High Protein, Veggies Before we go on to discuss some of Andrew and Niki's go-to recipes, let's discuss some principles for how the find, make, or purchase these. Find ways to get as high protein as possible (from natural foods). 2:1 pro...

Swing for the fences! Don't leave anything on the table, give it your best shot, and go full bore ahead. Swing for the Fences! - Aggressively Pursue the Urgent & Important A single decision or event can change the course of your life. Regardless of life, philosophy, or religion, this is true. When presented with a big opportunity, you need to swing for the fences. Hyperfocus your life and efforts...

Are more sets better? We dive into a new study and an associated article and headline. Are More Sets Better? Evidence-Based & Nuanced We're talking about muscles and hypertrophy today. Outside Magazine recently featured an article that discussed adding more sets for building muscle, which argued that you should add more sets to build muscle. Andrew and Niki are here to be your funnel of truth. Are...

Learn about the good news - the gospel of hard. Hard things done intelligently and consistently create good results. The Gospel of Hard: Voluntary Hardship We at Barbell Logic have been spreading the good news of voluntary hardship for years. Truly, if you expose yourself to hard things, intelligently, consistently, good things will happen. Truth be told, even if you do this somewhat poorly, the p...

How can I look like Jake Gyllenhaal? If you've asked yourself or your coach this, we discuss what this looks like (really). How Can I Look Like Jake Gyllenhaal? The Goal A popular movie comes out with a young actor who takes his shirt off and shows his shredded mid-section. What comes next? The onslaught of requests and goals to look like him. Articles explaining his training routine, diet, and mo...