Beast over Burden powered by Barbell Logic

We talk about the evolution of training expectations as you move from novice to intermediate to advanced lifter. How you you manage your mindset, so you can train for life? The Evolution of Training Expectations: Managing Your Mindset PRs measure progress, encourage buy-in and consistency, and help make training fun for novice, intermediate, and early-advanced lifters. This slows or ends. You want...

Tips for Training While Traveling: Whys Why train while traveling? While, in part, it depends on how often you travel, your goals, the length of travel, and how consistent you are outside of travel. For those who are extremely consistent and rarely travel, it might make sense to take the week off. If you travel for business, you need to train. You will feel better if you train. The workout might n...

We really need to talk about menopause. What to expect, how you make changes to lifting, nutrition, expectations, and more.  Menopause: Causes & Expectations Menopause is about a 10-year period of life for women where estrogen decreases, causing other changes to a woman's biology. Some changes include the end of the menstrual cycle, decrease in energy levels and trouble sleeping, increased difficu...

Learn how to better your bench with proper technique and good equipment. Improper gear and form means less weight on the bar. Bench more. Learn the way. Better Your Bench with Good Equipment For anyone who has tried to bench heavy in a commercial gym, they typically find that the experience is frustrating. Weights are harder than expected and may even come with missed reps. Bad equipment is often...

Programming Difficulties for New Dads Having a newborn changes your life, and training has to change as well. For a dad, the change is different than for a mom. For the mom, she undergoes physical changes for 9-10 months leading up to the birth, so her training has to change prior to birth. For fathers, however, their changing (mostly) does not change before the birth. At birth it changes drastica...

Niki and Andrew interview Melissa MacGregor, wife of BLOC coach Mac and BLOC client, and her coach Joel Rasmussen. Melissa suffered a stroke but, with patience, perseverance, and strength training, was able to return to physical activities she never thought she could do again. Healing Through Strength Training: Perseverance & Experimentation Melissa saw her husband benefit from strength training a...

We explore professionalism and why it's hard to be professional. Professionalism is difficult, but deliver values and sets you apart. Professionalism: Competence, Integrity, Benevolence Andrew has delivered, through podcast and in-person talks, a deep dive on how competence, integrity, and benevolence make up a professionalism value equation . Matt also has also delved into this here . This framew...

What does joyful self-improvement look like (and is it possible)? Today, we explore solutions sans suffering. Joyful Self-Improvement: Struggling & Floundering People really struggle to make important changes in their lives (that they at least ostensibly want) such as to lose weight or gain more muscle. Reasons abound for the difficulty. People hear and see conflicting, extreme solutions or short-...

What is the goal of long-term strength training or barbell training? Muscle is the motive. It's your health & capability 401k. Niki & Andrew explore their changing mindset and training. The Motive is Muscle - Shifting the Goal The measurement that is most correlated with force production (strength) is the cross sectional area of muscle mass. Basically, more muscle means you're stronger. Strength e...

Andrew & Niki talk sleep strategies & fluff updates: how snapping back after the holidays improves sleep, health markers, appearance, how you feel, and more. Sleep Strategies & Fluff Updates It's January, post-Holiday period, and time to snap back. Andrew & Niki share their fluff updates and tips and tricks for improving sleep. Niki has had a 19-day period thus far, which has included weighing and...

Looking to 2024, we predict, hope, and share our thoughts on what you can expect from BLOC and what we are looking forward to. Looking to 2024 - Smell What BLOC is Cooking Matt, Niki, and Andrew share their predictions and goals for 2024 - fitness, fashion, and more. Fashion Predictions Matt: traditional, classic forms of clothing (feminine dresses & masculine suits and outfits) Niki: onesies & sw...

Enjoy us look back on 2023 with BLOC Wrapped - the BLOCies. We share the best of our coaches & clients, fitness trends, & more. BLOC Wrapped - Coaches & Clients Our clients and coaches are amazing. We've got the stats to prove it. Matt joins Andrew & Niki to discuss clients who lifted the most tonnage, hit the biggest lifts, and more. They also discuss which coaches has the best on-time feedback a...

What the fluff!? What do you do when you suddenly realize you feel bad, aren't happy with you look, and want to get rid of the fluff? What the Fluff!? It's January 2nd (or maybe later). You pull the belt across you on the plane, you get into your pants, you look in the mirror...what the fluff!? You may have eaten normally for most of the holiday period. For many people who find themselves gaining...

Niki and Andrew answer your lifting and lifestyle questions on BJJ, nutrition, blown-out pants, and more! Approaching BJJ as You Age Don't train as if you have to prove yourself or go RPE 10 each time. Rather, focus on picking up the basics, because that foundation of basics will result in deep, impressive skill as you potentially move to your purple, brown, and black belts. Pay attention to the d...

Do hard things. Valuable pursuits are difficult - embrace these challenges to grow, improve, and crush your goals. Do Hard Things - Valuable Pursuits are Difficult Nothing worthwhile is easy. Maybe we'll be surprised by how easy it is (maybe we built up a certain pursuit or task that we have inflated its difficulty). Building habits of sustainable nutrition is difficult. Creating a training plan y...

Niki & Andrew answer common beginner questions. Whether you're curious about equipment or protein, cardio or warming up, or wondering how long LP lasts, we give you the answers. Common Beginner Questions - Equipment You can't lift weights without weight to lift, and you need to wear appropriate clothes. Even running, while it seems the simplest of activities, comes with appropriate footwear and cl...

Learn about managing morbidity - staying active, vigorous, and capable to have as much of a human life as possible for as long as you can. You need to dance with your granddaughter, care for your chickens, and farm your fields. Managing Morbidity: Memento Mori We all die, and as lifters this means we all complete our last PRs. There is a day, and you may have reached it or may reach it soon (you w...

We share holiday training strategies so you don't lose all your gains. Learn the tips and tricks to keep training & gaining during the holidays. Holiday Training Strategies - Expectations & Mindset When it comes to holiday training, expectations need to match reality. For many people, they confront more variability which does not lend itself to normal consistency of training in more regular times....

Managing nutrition through the holidays can be tough. Follow these (or develop your own) simple, effective strategies for sustainable holiday nutrition. Managing Nutrition Through the Holidays - Big Picture It's Thanksgiving week, which for many begins the longer holiday period where they find themselves standing on a scale come January unhappy with the changes to their body over the past weeks. W...

Deadlifts: Eat Your Spine. Is this the perfect cue or the reality of a dangerous lift? Andrew & Niki delve into the depths of the deadlift. Do Deadlifts Eat Your Spine!? Do deadlifts , in fact, eat your spine? It certainly feels like it sometimes. Deadlifts train the muscles of the hamstrings, quadriceps, adductors, abs, spinal erectors, lats, and more. Because the weight of the bar is trying to r...

Mac McGregor and Niel Marr join Niki and Andrew to discuss strength for golf. Niel is a golf instructor, and shares how strength has improved his life and his golf game. Strength for Golf: Longer Drive & Better Stability for Putting As Tiger Woods' career demonstrated, strength does not destroy one's swing or ruin one's golf game. It actually helps it. Too many unfounded claims or ideas like this...

We discuss 3 lifter pathways: competing, just training (thriving), and recovering. How do these looks, who might find themselves in one of these pathways (and why)? Andrew & Niki explore this. 3 Lifter Pathways - Competing This pathway involves a state of life where life can support training. For these lifters, training is a high priority. Nutrition supports training, lifters likely give up other...

Metrics aren't your master. Don't sacrifice important pursuits to the altar of strength (unless you're specializing). Metrics Aren't Your Master - What Matters to You? Want to get strong, add some muscle, become more capable, and improve your quality of life and general health and fitness? This is where many of our clients live. Want to get fat, give up all other physical pursuits, and become less...

People build strong families through strength training. We're, of course, not simply talking about physical strength, but emotionally and spiritually strong families, who witness each other overcome hard things and help each other out through life's difficulties. Strong Families through Strength Training Mac started his fitness journey as a young lad preparing for the hurdles of the Royal Air Forc...

Lots of squat thoughts & new cues. Andrew & Niki discuss what cues they've found useful on squats and how they've improved their squats and squat coaching. Lots of Thoughts on Squats Andrew & Niki discuss some squat thoughts - things they've been noodling over, observing, and applying in their lifting and coaching. They both have been thinking more about what it means to effect and maintain a rigi...