The Paul Weber Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Common Conditioning Mistake: Too frequent high intensity training Intensity limiting total training load Only practicing race pace at high RPEs All-out effort in hard sessions Excessive training variety Starting workouts too hot "Always ready" approach to training Best Practice: High-low model Large training loads with more low intensity training Practice race pace at su...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I discuss: The confusion among health and wellness leaders and coaches about the utility of Zone 2 Zone 2 for living long and healthy Zone 2 for performance Why your time is the most important factor in how much Zone 2 you should do The energy intake-training load relationship Comparing low intensity training to high intensity training Exceptions for people at phy...

Send us Fan Mail Join us for the live training: Conditioning for Fitness Athletes. Thursday, October 23rd, 3pm MT Tap the link to save your spot: https://www.paulbweber.com/conditioning-for-fitness-athletes If you can't make it live, all good, you'll get permanent access to the recording. --- When I start working with a new athlete, the first question we ask is: "What are our traini...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we cover: Evaluation of the Sport Movement Analysis - which parts of the race create the most separation? Physiological Analysis - what does Hyrox ask of the body? Assessment of the Athlete Physical Characteristics of Elite 15 Hyrox Athletes Height Weight Performance Characteristics of Elite 15 Hyrox Athletes 5k Run 10k Run Half Marathon 2k Row 2k Ski 3RM Squat 3R...

Send us Fan Mail Thank you for sending questions! In this week's podcast, I cover: How much can I condition and still get stronger/build muscle/maintain muscle? How much Zone 2 should I do? When should I do "classic CrossFit"?

Send us Fan Mail In the early 2000s, perhaps similar to today, there was plenty of gatekeeping in an attempt to professionalize the fitness industry. The gym culture in many places lacked effort and was full of unnecessary complexity. Greg Glassman (founder of CrossFit®) came in and said, "get rid of all the equipment." Just keep the rower, box, barbell, pull up bar. That’s all you need....

Send us Fan Mail The goal for the conditioning-biased athlete is to chronically increase training load while maintaining the load-recovery balance. More simply, conditioning is about learning to do more work. Fitness athletes have no problem with more training.  We are often eager to prove we can work the hardest.  As a result, we increase training load on too short of a timeline. I remember compr...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we discuss how metcons are characterized by severe and extreme intensity exercise that is often intermittent in the context of each task, but continuous in the context of the workout. We cover: the fatigue mechanisms of severe intensity exercise the fatigue mechanisms of extreme intensity exercise why severe vs. extreme intensity matters which movements are severe...

Send us Fan Mail For all that we have to learn from other sports, fitness competition is unique.  Few other events last multiple days, or require both strength and conditioning.  There's the decathlon, which emphasizes strength and power.  Then there are military selections, which emphasize conditioning.  Fitness competitions fall somewhere in between.  Fitness sport combines many disciplines...

Send us Fan Mail Key Takeaways Frequency of higher intensity training - 2-3 days/week/modality, 3-5 quality sessions per week per modality Periodize - lower overall training volume and more competition-specific training as you get closer to the competition Control the "load-recovery balance" - watch for signs of overtraining/underrecovery: joint pain weakened immunity GI distress low lib...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we discuss: The four intensity domains and their effect on physiology Intensity distributions of elite endurance athletes and fitness athletes Best practices from elite endurance sport frequency of quality sessions periodization The intensity-HPA Axis dysfunction-health degradation cascade A three-phase approach to training and peaking for severe intensity conditi...

Send us Fan Mail Depending on the movements, gymnastics may demand: strength (as in legless rope climbs or strict deficit handstand pushups) movement efficiency (as in ring muscle ups and handstand walking) muscle endurance (as in high rep pullups or toes to bar) and/or cardiorespiratory conditioning (as in burpees and box jump overs) The burpee and box jump over are unique in that: Most athletes...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we cover: examples of pure weightlifting workouts how the work rates in weightlifting modalities compare to traditional endurance modalities the physiology of weightlifting workouts the biomechanics of weightlifting workouts the 3 step process I use for improving weightlifting capacity: Strength + Raw Capacity Barbell Cycling Skill Barbell Cycling Capacity In fitn...

Send us Fan Mail Conditioning intensity can be divided into four domains: moderate, heavy, severe, and extreme.  Moderate Intensity Personal anecdote: walking to New York City In athlete language: "easy", "Zone 2" What it feels like: you can speak in complete sentences Typical duration: 2+ hours Moderate intensity is below the first Lactate Threshold (LT1), which is the pace at...

Send us Fan Mail Thanks for being here! In this episode, I respond to the questions: If I don't train for a while am I going to lose all of my gains? Does psychological stress affect my performance? Do I need an intra workout? Is competitive fitness good for physique?

Send us Fan Mail Key Takeaways For beginners , the primary limitation is motor control. Program design should facilitate skill acquisition by providing lots of reps. Intermediates with lots of muscle to gain should optimize for mechanical tension. Train in the 3-10RM range with approaches to failure.  Advanced athletes who have already tapped most of their muscle growth potential should utilize bo...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I reflect on some of the mistakes I made in my mindset as a competitor - and how I would coach that version of myself.  I also share my experience toward the end of my competitive career, the health issues I ran into, and what I've learned so far in navigating them. 

Send us Fan Mail Tap the link to save your spot at the live training this week. https://www.paulbweber.com/mastering-gymnastics-for-fitness-athletes --- We only get one body. Those who have gone through serious injuries know this. Many athletes have injuries that change their bodies for the rest of their lives. On one hand, we accept this as part of pushing our bodies to the limit. But in the adre...

Send us Fan Mail Join me live next week for: "Mastering Gymnastics for Fitness Athletes" Thursday, June 19th at 2pm MT **Everyone who signs up will get permanent access to the recording** Tap for more info: https://www.paulbweber.com/mastering-gymnastics-for-fitness-athletes Not training gymnastic strength It's common to have "just enough" strength to do the Rx movements....

Send us Fan Mail Mastering Gymnastics for Fitness Athletes Live training on Thursday, June 19th at 2pm MT For more information, visit: https://www.paulbweber.com/mastering-gymnastics-for-fitness-athletes In this live training, you will learn:  Gymnastic Strength Why gymnastic strength is specific for fitness athletes Movement patterns of gymnastic strength and progressions for each How I program g...

Send us Fan Mail Accessories help develop muscles other than the prime movers in core movements, providing structural balance and resilience.  They can also be used to address specific weak points in a core movement that would go undertrained if the athlete only trained the core movement.  For example, if a lifter is limited in the front squat by their upper back, then only training the front squa...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode I share the exercises I use most often for mobility.  Handstand Walk I discuss the handstand walk and the exercises I use to improve thoracic extension and shoulder flexion: PVC Pass Through Cross Bench Dumbbell Pullover Pistol I discuss the progression I use to develop the pistol: ​Front Foot Elevated Poliquin Split Squat​ ​Barbell Poliquin Split Squat​ ​Counterba...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I go over the gymnastics events from World Fitness Project Indianapolis and the TFX Invitational. I cover how I prepare athletes for success in these workouts with a 5 Step Process: Gymnastic Strength Movement Economy Volume Density Intensity I use this process for my athletes’ seasons, often starting the offseason on step 1, 2 or 3, before progressing them to the...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I share my clinical experiences with manipulating body composition for fitness athletes. We discuss: Food Quality Food Quantity Meal Frequency Rate of Gain and Loss The Importance of Training Performance Weigh Ins and Body Scans Preserving Blood Sugar Balance and Insulin Sensitivity Gut Health Food Variety Fiber Guidelines Common Allergens Digestion and Upper GI S...

Send us Fan Mail The first step in injury recovery is to rest so that the pain can dissipate.  Once my clients are pain free with daily activities, then I start rehab exercises. Here are the key variables I keep in mind: Force Range of Motion Speed Keep in mind that what causes pain sensation for one person may not cause pain for another even if they have a very similar injury.  Choose exercises t...