Philosophical Weightlifting Podcast

Dr. Peter Giacobbi and I first met in a bar where we ended up discussing various philosophical interests and ways of understanding the world. Little did I know I was talking to one of the foremost experts in sport psychology and guided imagery. Since that fateful day, he's become a member of my dissertation committee and enlightened me to the many benefits of guided imagery and mindfulness for...

You're in the backroom with your athlete and they just smoked their opener. As they walk off the stage, you need to figure out how many kilos to bump up. Is there a science to attempt selection? Is it all based on intuition? Is it both? In this episode, Chris details his recent work examining the jumps elite weightlifters take in competition and how that relates to their probability of success...

Strength is a hot commodity in the sport of weightlifting. Every coach and athlete will claw and scratch for every kilo they can add to their squats, pulls, and presses. This is for good reason - strength underpins all forms of movement. So, the question becomes, what's the best way to develop it, and is it even that important in the first place? Listen in as we deep dive on the concept of str...

Many athletes struggle with similar aspects of the lifts. This is because snatches and cleans will always be snatches and cleans, without much external unpredictability. Pull variations are intended to emphasize phases of the lift that must be trained perfectly. How you program these movements, including high and low stress days, to your specific population of athletes SHOULD be meaningfully diffe...

The longer you write programs, the less they look like templatized, cookie-cutter 12-week blocks. Eventually, the programs morph into something more akin to something found in the Russian manuals. This is due to the critical nature of training volume, intensity, and exercise selection driving the adaptive response. Blanket prescriptions (5x5) go the way of the dinosaurs, and more responsive, finel...

Steph Mock Grubbs hails from Pennsylvania, spending the last four years as the Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Performance at the University of Pittsburgh. As of 2025, she's accepted a position as a MLB Strength Coach with the Houston Astros, taking her understanding of S&C, sport science, and leadership to H-Town.  In this episode of the podcast, we discuss the keys to great leadership...

Derek Miles, DPT, is a no silly BS rehab specialist who runs his own physical therapy clinic (Miles Rehab and Performance) in Cincinnati, Ohio, and works on the Pain and Rehab team for Barbell Medicine. In this episode, we discuss many pain and rehab-related topics, how to become more disagreeable when communicating science, training for power after an injury, and why physical activity and health...

Austin Baraki should be a household name. Aside from being a kickass Internal Medicine Physician, he's a member of the Barbell Medicine team where he puts out some of the highest quality information related to health, nutrition, physical activity, and rehab.  In this episode of the podcast, Austin and I discuss the concept of health (i.e., what is good health), the complexity of health behaviors,...

I welcome Olivia Reeves back on the podcast! She was previously on episodes 219 & 236, where we discussed her background in the sport, her thoughts on making it to the Olympics, and what it would take to reach the podium. In this episode, we relive her Olympic victory, where she took gold in the 71 kg class at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. But that wasn't it for Olivia, she went on to win gold...

2024 was one heck of a year for weightlifting. Olivia Reeves won Olympic gold, Karlos Nasar stole our hearts (thanks, Weightlifting House), China won 5 Olympic golds, and the sport doesn't seem to be slowing down. In this episode of the podcast, I was joined by the one and only Seb Ostrowicz, founder of Weightlifting House. Seb and I discuss the past year of weightlifting and anticipate many of th...

Chris Taber, PhD in Sport Physiology, joins me yet again to tackle training questions through a science-informed lens. During this episode of the podcast, we discuss flywheel training, jumps, plyometrics, and how to program power-based movements. Enjoy Follow Chris: https://www.instagram.com/drchristaber/ https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Christopher-Taber Follow me and get coaching: https://ww...

Meredith Alwine is one of the most decorated weightlifters in the USA. She's a 3x Pan American Champion, 2021 World Champion, and Junior World silver medalist. Along with being an incredible athlete, she's also an avid thinker, finding her love of philosophy at thirteen years old.  Join us as we discuss Meredith's most recent performance at Worlds, her retirement from international competition, wh...

Spencer Arnold has coached at two Olympic Games, helped produce countless D1 athletes, and continues to leave his mark in the sports performance world.  Listen in as we discuss his experience at the Paris Games, why he decided to step down from Power and Grace, and how Hebron Christian manages to produce so many elite athletes.  This is an episode you don't want to miss. Email Spencer: spencergarn...

Marcos Soriano is a PhD working in both academia and athletics. He has been conducting and publishing some of the coolest research in weightlifting, all centered around understanding performance. Listen to this episode of the podcast as we explore the split jerk and weightlifting overhead pressing derivatives. This includes the role of the press, push press, and power jerk in improving performance...

"Good coaching is thinking in patterns and not pieces." This is a quote that has stuck with me since I heard it on the On Coaching podcast. Long-term planning is a process of managing the patterns in training, attempting to produce the best competition result when it's needed. CoachLogik has really pushed a long-term planner that was part of the impetus for this podcast. Listen in as we discuss my...

Max and I were definitely in a mood when we recorded this episode of the podcast. When we started spitballing topics before the show, we couldn't come up with much. Unsurprisingly, this turned out to be one of the best episodes yet.   Listen in as we discuss Coaches College, 3 sets of 10, principles of programming, the biggest mistakes we've made, and so much more.  Enjoy. Follow Max and sign up f...

Dani Myers Glynn is a powerlifter in the USAPL. She's competed across two different weight classes, soon to be three, qualifying and placing in the top 10 for the last three years in both the 100 + and 100 kg categories. By day, she is an HR specialist, and by night, she is one of the strongest people in the country. Listen in as we discuss the Arnold, Dani's last two 5th-place showings at Raw Nat...

In this episode, Max and I dive into the fundamentals of effective coaching, breaking down our three key principles: rapid iteration, utilizing tools over rigid schools of thought, and the importance of execution. Enjoy! Follow Max and sign up for the CoachLogik beta: https://www.instagram.com/max_aita/ https://app.coachlogik.com/login Follow me and get coaching: https://www.instagram.com/josh_phi...

This was the most meaningful podcast that I've recorded to date, as I was joined by the legend Dr. David Burns.   David is a psychiatrist and author known for his contributions to cognitive behavioral therapy. His book "Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy" explores the philosophical underpinnings of how our thoughts influence our emotions and behaviors. As a professor emeritus at Stanford Universit...

I am once again joined by the magnificent Max Aita, this time to discuss remote coaching. We chat about the Xs and Os of successful remote coaching, including the importance of inter- and intrapersonal skills, thinking in patterns and not pieces, and where intuition fits in. Enjoy.  Follow Max and sign up for the CoachLogik beta: https://www.instagram.com/max_aita/ https://app.coachlogik.com/login...

The podcast is BACK and this week I am joined by the great Max Aita. We discuss programming after a competition, training too light, our favorite exercises, and the state of CoachLogik. Enjoy.  Follow Max and sign up for the CoachLogik beta: https://www.instagram.com/max_aita/ https://app.coachlogik.com/login Follow me and get coaching: https://www.instagram.com/josh_philwl/ Weightlifting House: h...

We wrote a book! You can pick up your copy here: Weightlifter's Guide to the Clean and Jerk Drake Eserhaut is a PhD student at the University of Kansas, where he studies the endocrine response to exercise and sport, specifically including blood flow restriction training for strength and power athletes.  In this episode, we discuss subject and objective athlete monitoring. This encompasses question...

We wrote a book! You can pick up your copy here: Weightlifter's Guide to the Clean and Jerk Follow Chris: https://www.instagram.com/drchristaber/ https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Christopher-Taber Follow me and get coaching: https://www.instagram.com/josh_philwl/ Weightlifting House: https://www.weightliftinghouse.com/ code PHILWL for 10% off Onyx: https://www.onyxstraps.com/ with code PHILWL...

Ambrose Serrano is currently the Lead Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Winter Olympic athletes training at the Olympic & Paralympic Training Center in Lake Placid, NY. In this episode, we discuss the OTC's S&C structure, Ambrose's day-to-day responsibilities, advice for new S&C professionals, and what Ambrose looks for when hiring new coaches.  This was an absolutely incredible...

Alex Long is a recent graduate of ETSU, earning his PhD in Sport Physiology studying the physiological adaptations following a strength endurance block performed with accentuated eccentric loading or traditional resistance training.  In this episode, we discuss Alex's research line, particularly training-induced morphological adaptations in skeletal muscle, deep diving into the available literatur...