Barbell Logic

Not all metrics are created equal. Learn about the hierarchy of metrics, including targets to improve (TTIs) & key performance indicators (KPIs) and ensure you are measuring what matters. Not All Metrics Are Created Equal: TTIs & KPIs Two main categories of metrics exist to help measure progress toward strategic goals and gauge the health of the company: targets to improve (TTIs) and key performance indicators (KPIs). TTIs are your top set of metrics, which have to directly impact your strategic priorities. Your strategic priorities need to align with your tenets and core values. If these metrics improve, you have moved closer to or met your strategic priorities. These are not monthly or quarterly (though you measure them monthly and quarterly and probably more often than that) but likely annual priorities and TTIs. KPIs are snapshots of the health of the company. If they improve, they should help your TTIs and strategic priorities (for the most part). Often times, these are metrics that lower-level employees may care about. The CEO does not need to get into the weeds of Instagram post performance, for example, but the social media manager does. Some metrics will likely not move, but if they do move you need to identify why they moved (either to understand the success or address the underperformance). For Barbell Logic this might be churn. A good example in another industry is engine temperature in an airplane. This should remain constant, but if it starts to go up you need to address it quickly. Not All Metrics Are Created Equal: Hierarchy of Metrics What you measure focuses your attention, so pick your metrics carefully. The CEO should not be looking at 100s of metrics. Improvements in your TTIs must actually move you closer toward your strategic priorities. For example, if a strategic priority for you is to earn $50k in coaching revenue this year, revenue is a TTI. KPIs that align with this may be churn, clients, cold calls, and life time value of clients. Make sure your metrics align with your priorities and your priorities align with your values and tenets. Prioritize metrics: do not measure metrics just because you can. Not all metrics are created equal. This podcast is brought to you by TurnKey Coach. Enhance your coaching effectiveness and efficiency with TurnKey Coach. You can learn more by going HERE. Check out Coaching 101 - the new Academy course designed to cover the basics of coaching. It's leaner and tighter than our other offerings (and cheaper). Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 26 July 2024

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 than the "perfect" plan followed sporadically. Fitness influencers like to argue about the perfect program, the best exercises, the proper technique, and many other things. None of these things matter if you do not train regularly. The difficult part of this is that you have to put in the effort for a long time before seeing the results you want. Consistency: Compliance & Technique This is about actions, not outcome, though the actions bring you to your desired outcome. Compliance - following the actions that bring you toward your goal - does not mean following a rigid plan perfectly without any possibility or flexibility for deviation. Rather, it means regularly performing actions that bring you toward your goal no matter what. You train whether you are motivated or not. That may mean bodyweight exercises, shorter workouts, fewer workouts, but it means you do not "go dark" for periods of time. Consistency of technique, as it relates to strength pursuits, is also undervalued. Having a repeatable way to perform an exercise helps provide a clear measuring stick, let's you know if you completed a repetition or not, helps prevent injury, and targets the muscle groups as desired. Pursue consistency, because nothing matters as much as this. Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 23 July 2024

Are you struggling to identify your core values? Use this bottom-up hack to identify your core values. Struggling to Identify Your Core Values!? Matt has heard that, despite his discuss on developing and defining your core values, and its importance, many are still struggling on how to actually get this done. Matt was working with leadership at Barbell Logic years back on a business trip, and he and the team identified that they needed to work to identify 5-year strategic priorities. They had extremely limited time, but using some simple techniques, they were able to establish Barbell Logic's tenets quickly, using a bottom-up approach and the pomodoro technique. Helpful Hack to Identify Your Core Values The team had hundreds of sticky notes and a blank wall in the AirBnB they were staying in. Separately, they each wrote down as many important tasks as they could think of. Once done, they stood back, and began to group them together. Groups became larger groups, as patterns emerged. What emerged from this process was the 4 tenets that Barbell Logic still has to this day: serve, grow, teach, steward. Another tool you can use to really identify which tasks you should stop and which you need to prioritize and protect, write down your tasks in the four quadrants of the Eisenhower matrix. These tips and tricks can help you if you are struggling to identify your core values. This podcast is brought to you by TurnKey Coach. Enhance your coaching effectiveness and efficiency with TurnKey Coach. You can learn more by going HERE. Check out Coaching 101 - the new Academy course designed to cover the basics of coaching. It's leaner and tighter than our other offerings (and cheaper). Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 19 July 2024

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 think, but suddenly you realize things are not going as you would like them to go (and as they had been before). What do you do? Because recovery is the limiting factor, it is helpful to think through different areas of your life that contribute to recovery and where you might be falling short or missing the mark: sleep (quality & quantity) eating (quality, quantity, consistency) alcohol protein routine (do you have one right now?) stress You will likely identify an area or multiple where you are not doing as well as you can. For example, maybe you've fallen out of your normal routine during the summer, partly by drinking more. The drinking has reduced your sleep quality and quantity and also your protein and fiber. Tightening things up, reducing alcohol, and reestablishing your routine can help. Minimum Effective Action: Consistency & Path of Least Resistance Identifying the path forward when you want to make changes can be hard. Really, the simple, hard, effective way is the way forward. Focus on one or two things, and do them consistently. The change needs to be something you can see yourself doing indefinitely. IT needs to become a habit, so that when you do not have discipline OR motivation, it is the easy thing to do. For example, for Andrew and Niki they feel bad when they do not work or they eat bad food. It has become easy for them to eat healthier and train because otherwise they very quickly identify they feel bad and see the negative consequences. Take the minimum effective action to reach your goals. Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 16 July 2024

Learn how to prioritize thinking. Take time to improve your approach to those most important pursuits and aspects of your life. Prioritize Thinking: The Importance of Thinking Taking time out to think matters. Why? As Matt has discussed in recent podcasts, and his his upcoming book Undoing Urgency, we need to set up habits and systems in our life that help us actually spend time with the most important things in our life. How do we spend time with these most important things? Thinking helps ideas arise, whether they be things we need to stop, do better or different, or start. How does one do this, though? How does one actually take time to think? Prioritize Thinking: When Do You Think Best? Matt has identified a few conditions that need to occur for him to think well, and then a few different environments where he tends to think well. Matt things best after: he has slept he has cleared urgent work The first may seem obvious, but it is truly critical. You cannot think well if you are tired. For Matt, this occurs after a good night of sleep or nap. Of course, Matt does not immediately wake up and start thinking, but rather after taking care of some quick tasks, making coffee, and clearing his head, he can think. Critically, he eliminates urgent work. It is difficult to think about the important when urgent tasks are pressing on your mind. Some of the best environments for him to think include the following: walking (alone or with wife) long drives manual labor vacation sauna or similar quiet times Matt tends to have an initial brain dump when an idea arises, and he makes sure to take quick bulleted notes down (don't worry about spelling, format, etc. just get the ideas down). Later, when he has more time, he fleshes the ideas out. On a long drive, following this method, he developed the idea for Barbell Logic Online Coaching. Prioritize thinking! This podcast is brought to you by TurnKey Coach. Enhance your coaching effectiveness and efficiency with TurnKey Coach. You can learn more by going HERE. Check out Coaching 101 - the new Academy course designed to cover the basics of coaching. It's leaner and tighter than our other offerings (and cheaper). Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 12 July 2024

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 changes the person wants have not really been seen; and the path forward remains unclear. This is when most people quit. They build a habit of quitting, not knowing how to get beyond this common sticking points. If approached with wisdom and perseverance, these times are actually doors to long-term success. Get Beyond the Sticking Points: Perseverance & Long-Term Success These times are great times to ask for help or dig deeper. For lifting, signing up for online coaching can be great (real online coaching where you get technique feedback and personalized programming) or go in for an in-person technique check up with a professional coach. If you cannot afford this or, for some reason, do not want to seek a coach, you have to educate yourself and become a coach. Piling more stress on in and of itself typically does not work. Pulling the stress back often does not work. The stress-recovery-adaptation period must be elongated, no longer one stress event with time afterword, but rather a period of time where you stress yourself, build up fatigue where fitness decreases, and then allow for recovery to allow fatigue to go down, fitness to come up, and ultimately cause more performance (hopefully a PR). Getting through these sticking points, however, is really the key to long-term success. You have to be able to handle unexpected bad times, keep going, but keep going intelligently so you do not burn out. Get beyond the sticking points. Learn how to build life-long health and fitness habits. Strength is for everyone. Strength is for life. Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 9 July 2024

Learn when to embrace urgency. Typically, you want to undo urgency, but, on occasion, embrace the galvanizing energy of urgency. Check out Matt's recent interview on Right About Now with Ryan Alford: Apple Spotify YouTube When to Embrace Urgency: The Occasional, Short-Term Galvanizing Power of Urgency Woah, I thought we were about Undoing Urgency!? Well, typically, yes. This is one of those rules that serves you well most of the time. You want to avoid useless or counterproductive urgency. If you fail to get out of the knife fight of the urgent, you cannot take care of the artillery battle of the important. Let's discuss some examples of when embracing urgency makes sense. impending lawsuit requires drastic changes and rebranding not able to pay the bills and overhaul of business or family expenses needed As you can see, these examples are both urgent and important. They both really come with the real prospect of impending failure. These times are crucibles. Do you live or thrive or die? Lean in and embrace the galvanizing power of the urgent. These times periods, however, burn people out. They must be short and infrequent. They can totally transform, however, relationships and organizations. These periods often come with nostalgia as we look back on them. Learn when to embrace urgency. This podcast is brought to you by TurnKey Coach. Enhance your coaching effectiveness and efficiency with TurnKey Coach. You can learn more by going HERE. Check out Coaching 101 - the new Academy course designed to cover the basics of coaching. It's leaner and tighter than our other offerings (and cheaper). Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 5 July 2024

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 wallowing in negativity and neuroticism. You may adopt a victim mentality. Clear this hurdle. Uncomfortable Truths: Move Toward Your Goals Niki and Andrew share common and personal examples. One that happens that is less obvious is coming to terms with the slowing improvement toward the end of LP or early intermediate training. You may have not reached the goals you expected or desired. You may have wrapped up your identity in the daily and weekly PRs, and now are trying to accept you have to do more work to get fewer PRs in less time. Niki struggled with the process of gaining weight. She found having structure and guidelines around the process and metrics helped her have confidence in the process and her coach. Andrew has confronted that he has accomplished much reacting to his emotions. Now, to reach further levels of professional development, he has to overcome this inclination. Learn how to confront uncomfortable truths. Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 2 July 2024

When important becomes urgent, clear your plate, and address the important (because, by definition, it's important). When Important Becomes Urgent: Faith, Family, Fitness Those things that are important but not urgent, such as family, health, and religion, can become urgent when unattended to (or minimally attended to) long enough. You find yourself bickering with your spouse or family more than normal, clothes unable to fit and feeling physically and mentally worse, and falling short of the standard your faith holds you to. Now, your family, your fitness, and your faith are urgent (and, of course, still important). It is time to clear your schedule, pull the weeds, and take care of what is most important. Life is signaling to you that you need to spend more time and effort on these things. This might be scheduling a vacation. It could be a spiritual retreat. Maybe you clear off a time to train every day and start every single day (today) training. This podcast is brought to you by TurnKey Coach. Enhance your coaching effectiveness and efficiency with TurnKey Coach. You can learn more by going HERE. Check out Coaching 101 - the new Academy course designed to cover the basics of coaching. It's leaner and tighter than our other offerings (and cheaper). Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 28 June 2024

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 not understanding the point of the accessory lifts that, because of the limited equipment and weight, have to be used for these workouts. So, what purpose do these lifts serve? The provide additional volume for muscle groups that cannot be adequately stressed by solely using the main lifts. We love the main lifts, they are fantastic tools and over time they should go up. As you advance, though, you will almost certainly need to incorporate more of these auxiliary lifts that train muscle groups like the deltoids, triceps, biceps, hamstrings, calves, and more. Adding Accessory Lifts to Your Training As always, you first need to know the why? We explained the general why, but the personal why - why do you as a lifter need them now? You have to consider your time, equipment, preference, goals, and desired muscle groups to target. The benefits of home gyms are huge, but this is one area where home gyms tend to be more limited. You may have to get creative or invest in things such as adjustable dumbbells or pulley attachments. These need to be performed strictly and for difficult sets. In fact, these can be more productively trained at higher RPEs than deadlifts and squats because they provide less systemic fatigue to the body. You want to bar speed to slow down for the last rep or two and for them to be challenging. Program them for reps below 20, typically, because you do not want to stop because "you're tired." Consider adding accessory lifts to your program if you want more training stress and hypertrophy. Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 25 June 2024

Matt shares extreme gratitude for his team, family, church, and more and invites you to do the same for you life. Extreme Gratitude Matt goes through and thanks many of the people that have helped bring him and Barbell Logic to the point it is today. Having just submitted the book to Forbes, about to go on vacation, and halfway through the year, Matt takes time to thank the people who matter to him. He recommends doing this if you have not. We want to appreciate the pursuit, not the outcome, and taking time to be thankful is a great way to enjoy the pursuit. Opportunities have arisen that, whether you call it luck, fortune, fate, or grace, you did not deserve in any real way. You found friends and colleagues, co-workers and jobs that you did not expect but mattered. Take time to be grateful. Have extreme gratitude. This podcast is brought to you by TurnKey Coach. Enhance your coaching effectiveness and efficiency with TurnKey Coach. You can learn more by going HERE. Check out Coaching 101 - the new Academy course designed to cover the basics of coaching. It's leaner and tighter than our other offerings (and cheaper). Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 21 June 2024

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 client who started to lift. Her family lifts, and so she started to lift. Niki could tell something was off, but her client was not talkative. Finally, the client told Niki her back was hurting. Niki change the training and let her know training should not hurt or be something you don't look forward to. Now, she loves training, she is into it, and you can see the different in her videos. How do you stay motivated to train consistently and what advice do you give to those struggling with motivation to train? For Niki, this has become the favorite part of her day. She has tailored the time and space to what she wants. She has removed things she does not want. If a lift is painful, she takes it out. She has her own home gym she loves. This time is a time without work (except work against gravity). You should make this as fun and enjoyable and comfortable as you can - this includes the exercises you are doing but also the space, music, and more. Questions for Niki Sims: Goals, Mentors, & the Future Niki and Andrew continue. What are your personal fitness goals and how are you working toward them? Niki is working on her chin-ups, both 1RM and AMRAP. Besides this, she wants to consistently train four days a week with fun training sessions to get more meat on her body. Additionally, she learning how to eat to support this. Who are some of your mentors in the fitness industry? Matt Reynolds has helped, but especially when it comes to learning about the business side of the industry. Niki las learned much from Andrew Jackson on how to organize work to be more effective and efficient. Gillian Ward, Niki's coach, has been a huge mentor, from whom Niki has learned a ton. Lastly, Niki loved to see how Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions infused passion into the everyday work of the team. Where do you see the industry heading in the next 5-10 years? Gyms will get better and better, especially in terms of equipment. AI programming will mean less manual input but more data. You will be able to go into a gym with your program and not have to enter anything manually. You will know exactly what is available in the gym in your App. These are questions for Niki Sims. Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 18 June 2024

Learn how to write a book: tips and tricks, developing ideas, motivation, pitfalls, and more. Matt talks to Nick Soleyn, coach and Editor-in-Chief at Barbell Logic. How to Write a Book: Tips & Tricks for the Process Matt has been writing a book for Forbes with Nick as the editor. This process has worked especially well, as it has allowed Matt to do what he does best: verbally process ideas and tell stories. Nick has been able to use his strength, of writing and editing to ensure not just correctness of grammar, syntax, and language but clarity of thought. As a lawyer, he is good at identifying issues, organizing thoughts, and finding gaps in thoughts. Matt and Nick worked on an ugly but extremely functional outline. It is not pretty, but it has enough detail to actually help describe what will be written. Matt then records what he wants a chapter to be verbally. He might also share some old podcasts that also describe the issue. Nick was able to get the transcript from the audio using this service. AI has made transcriptions inexpensive, quick, and easy. How to Write a Book: Developing an Idea Not everyone should write a book, but likely some people who should never do. Matt had burning ideas that he had been developing for years and decades, and the opportunity arose and he seized it. Before this, remember, he had been writing articles, recording podcasts, and discussing things on YouTube for years if not decades. Start getting your idea out there. Talk about it, write about it, share it with people. Get feedback. Don't expect to go from idea to book. Some ideas should just be a podcast or article. Some ideas are books. Similar to how Matt would recommend starting a business, don't go from nothing to book, but start organically developing the idea. You may eventually publish or self-publish a book. Nick recommends this needing to be important to you and your values divorced from its success. You have to want to get this idea out there and see the benefit in developing the idea. Learn more about how to write a book. This podcast is brought to you by TurnKey Coach. Enhance your coaching effectiveness and efficiency with TurnKey Coach. You can learn more by going HERE. Check out Coaching 101 - the new Academy course designed to cover the basics of coaching. It's leaner and tighter than our other offerings (and cheaper). Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 14 June 2024

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 goes into changing behaviors, even in a relatively short few day period, with no or little measurable change to metrics such as weight or waist, can cause people to quit. What can become important, not just in these first few days but in general to become someone who builds some mastery in the realm of self-control and nutrition, is observing the feelings associated with feeling bad and feeling good. How do you feel during training? Do you feel depleted, bloated, or energetic? Are you full, satisfied, or hungry? What do these actually feel like (e.g. how do you feel after eating an appropriately portioned healthy meal versus overeating versus undereating). Observing these sensations and associating them with behaviors that connect to certain outcomes can help you see that you are on the right track or need to make adjustments. Some of these feelings are longer-term feelings (e.g. tight pants, the seat belt test) others you can experience soon after a meal or after a day or a couple days of behavior changes. Really, what you are learning to do is trust in the process by knowing the sensations that come from behaviors that will lead you toward your goals. Gauging Nutrition Progress: Objective, Quantifiable Behaviors Beyond this growing self-awareness, tracking behaviors that will lead you to your goals can be helpful. For example, tracking glasses of water, servings or grams of protein, servings or grams of fiber can help you track habits that will lead you toward your goal and, importantly, that you can control. This helps provide a quantifiable metric that comes before the weight, waist, and appearance progress and is much easier to observe than the subjective feelings. Gauging nutrition progress can be hard. Learn how to observe your subjective feelings associated with moving toward or away from your goals and create quantifiable metrics with healthy behaviors so you can better track your progress. Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 11 June 2024

The transition to TurnKey Coach means better efficiency for more time, so you can get more clients or spend more time doing other things besides coaching. Learn about this very recent experience from Anthony Diehl. https://www.instagram.com/meatheadprofessor/?hl=en Transition to TurnKey Coach: In-Person to Online Anthony Diehl is a highly successful coach, who provides both strength & conditioning coaching as well as nutrition coaching for clients. As with most coaches, he began fully in-person and began to experiment with online coaching. Online coaching, however, comes with many frustrations and inefficiencies if done poorly. 2020 and the Covid lockdowns, however, forced him to take all his coaching online. He developed systems and improved his efficiencies, but still realized a limit of about 90 clients that he could not go beyond. Transition to TurnKey Coach: Software Transition Anthony recently transitioned to TKC. Despite the big change, and the fear and resistance change brings, he hammered out his programming and accomplished the transfer in two days. Initially, for both him and his clients, it was a little weird to relearn the process, but the App itself is extremely intuitive and very quickly he was saving two hours of work a day. Two hours of work a day, gone! Transition to TurnKey Coach: More Time, More Clients, More Money What could you do with two more hours a day? Well, now Anthony plans to take on more clients, which means more money. As Matt and Anthony discuss, he could also consider taking on more clients under his name and hire some coaches. Of course, if he were fine with his current income, he could have pursued a different side hustle or spent more time with him family. The point is, TKC frees you up to do more that is important to you. This could be acquiring more clients, working on your business, working on a different business, working on your hobbies, or doing something else that is important to you. Learn about the transition to TurnKey Coach from someone who went through it recently. This podcast is brought to you by TurnKey Coach. Enhance your coaching effectiveness and efficiency with TurnKey Coach. You can learn more by going HERE. Check out Coaching 101 - the new Academy course designed to cover the basics of coaching. It's leaner and tighter than our other offerings (and cheaper). Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 7 June 2024

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 over months and years. The short change bias is why so many diets fail and why many media outlets develop the "8 weeks to abs" and similar things. Seeing "normal" people perform things you think is impossible, though, is powerful. Watching people who don't look like Ronnie Coleman or Ed Coan deadlift 500 or bench press 315 makes a big impact. How did they achieve these goals? Through consistent training over years. Conquer Your Limiting Beliefs: Feeling Stuck We love what Barbell Logic offers because Barbell Logic coaches help clients get unstuck. Barbell Logic clients tend to fall into this general boat: ready to change, ready to work to change, ready to pay some money to change, but unsure of what to do. Getting unstuck is possible. Achieving a physique or strength level you thought impossible is likely possible. It won't happen in eight weeks. It might happen in eight years. See what happens with consistent training over months and years. Experience strength with Barbell Logic. Conquer your limiting beliefs and crush your goals. Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 4 June 2024

Conceptualize marketing and acquiring clients as the flywheel not the funnel. This analogy has some benefits over the more traditional funnel concept. Get updates on Matt's forthcoming book Undoing Urgency here. The Flywheel Not the Funnel for Marketing Success Matt discusses two different analogies when it comes to marketing and acquiring clients. The traditional paradigm is the funnel. This idea is not wrong, but fails to emphasize certain aspects of successful marketing. Generally, you create a funnel to capture as many leads as you can, they build trust over time with you and eventually become clients. The flywheel emphasizes certain aspects that this fails to capture. It takes awhile to get a flywheel going. Once it is going, however, it is much easier to maintain the movement. This highlights the need to continue to feed the flywheel. It points to the benefits of consistency and content over time. The Flywheel Not the Funnel: Consistency & Content are King Consistently create high value content and put it out. 90-95% of it should simply bring value to your clients. Your CTAs should generally be ways to provide more value to your clients. Some examples are below: subscribe to our weekly newsletter subscribe or follow a social media account get a free eBook by providing an email This not only solidifies the growing trust but helps these leads receive more content from you if they have decided they want to receive more content from you automatically. You put content out through output media (your own website or newsletter), rent media (on other platforms such as social media sites), and earned media (appearances on others' channels). As you become more successful, and as the flywheel builds momentum, a couple things happen. First, your clients become promoters, helping bringing you more clients. Second, you should be invited to do more earned media, such as Matt's recent appearance on Dave Tate's Table Talk podcast. Apply the flywheel not the funnel to your marketing concept by starting with people you have already provided value for and built trust with and expand from there. This podcast is brought to you by TurnKey Coach. Enhance your coaching effectiveness and efficiency with TurnKey Coach. You can learn more by going HERE. Check out Coaching 101 - the new Academy course designed to cover the basics of coaching. It's leaner and tighter than our other offerings (and cheaper). Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 31 May 2024

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 muscle and building wealth are. So many principles of success (or paths to failure) overlap. Some of the ideas that overlap include: Less ego, more wealth Humility when things are going well; compassion when going poorly Importance of planning and knowing personal preferences Avoid the extremes Don't worry about "optimum" There is a lot more there, including maybe the obvious but important idea that there is no get rich or get jacked quick scheme. You have to build behaviors consistently over time to achieve strength or a muscular physique or wealth. Also, shout out to YNAB, which is a company we appreciate that can help you on your path to your financial goals. Look more into the similarities between building wealth and muscle. Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 28 May 2024

Learn about a road trip analogy that relates to goal achievement and GAMEplans. It's ultimately about moving closer toward your desired end state. Road Trip Analogy Matt shares an analogy he picked up from Niki Sims regarding how long-term goal achievement is like a road trip. Your destination is the desired end state. You envision where you want to go first. Before you set out or plan your route, you must know where you are going. You next decide on your route. Maybe you want to get there as quickly as possible, so you plan the shortest route on the main highways because you have small children. Matt, describing a great road trip he did with his family to Telluride, CO a few years ago, took another approach. He and his family did not drive more than 5 hours a day. They planned fun stops along the way and picked more scenic ways, even if it added time. They got to their final destination and enjoyed the way there. Major stops along the way are like the goals in the GAMEplan. Those shorter stops are like the actions to get to the goal (e.g. gas station stops). We hope you enjoy and learn from the road trip analogy. This podcast is brought to you by TurnKey Coach. Enhance your coaching effectiveness and efficiency with TurnKey Coach. You can learn more by going HERE. Check out Coaching 101 - the new Academy course designed to cover the basics of coaching. It's leaner and tighter than our other offerings (and cheaper). Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 24 May 2024

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 the best stretches of training they had ever had. Commercial gym goers, however, had to use what they had at home and try to buy equipment as prices and demand skyrocketed. Beyond those black swan events, gyms can close, hours can change, new clients can come take equipment we want to use during our normal training hour. With a home gym, your equipment is available for you when you want to use it. Home Gym for Peace of Mind - Convenience & Control The reliability that brings peace of mind may be the most important aspect of this, but beyond this, convenience and control matter. Listen to the music you want to listen to. Arrange and complete obnoxious circuits with multiple pieces of equipment. Do curls in the squat rack. No one cares. Lift at 2 o'clock in the morning or go lift during your work day in jeans. Wear what you want. Chalk your hands. Home Gym for Peace of Mind - Getting Started The bare minimum to start is a barbell and plates. We recommend an Olympic barbell with 2" sleeves and 2" plates. The one thing to not skimp on is the barbell, though you can get a quality barbell from Rogue that does not cost too much. Garage Gym Reviews has great reviews of equipment at different prices and a general guide on getting started on your home gym. Don't do the strength equivalent of buying a treadmill and not using it. Get what you know you will use and continue to get more as needed. Invest in a home gym for peace of mind, convenience, reliability, and control. Invest in a home gym for the gains so you can be a lifter for life. Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 21 May 2024

Matt reads the introduction to Undoing Urgency, his book that is available for pre-sale on Amazon in August 2024. Introduction to Undoing Urgency Ryan Matt Reynolds reads the introduction to his forthcoming book Undoing Urgency, which will be available for pre-sale on Amazon in August 2024. Forbes is publishing this book. Nick Soleyn, Barbell Logic's editor-in-chief, has been critical to the writing and editing of this book, making Matt's ideas and thoughts more clear and beautiful on the written page. Undoing Urgency is, like the title suggests, about getting out from under the tyranny of urgent tasks so you can accomplish what is truly important to you. Because many of the most important aspects of our life are important but not urgent, pressure will never exist to complete these tasks (unless we fail at them so bad that they too become urgent, e.g. a failing marriage or bad relationship with our children). No matter what your goals or values, this book lays out an approach and practical tips to pulling the weeds out of your to do list. The book is not simply theoretical, though. Matt shares some of his insights learned the hard way from his biggest failures and hardest hurdles. Enjoy the introduction to Undoing Urgency. This podcast is brought to you by TurnKey Coach. Enhance your coaching effectiveness and efficiency with TurnKey Coach. You can learn more by going HERE. Check out Coaching 101 - the new Academy course designed to cover the basics of coaching. It's leaner and tighter than our other offerings (and cheaper). Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 17 May 2024

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 longevity. This is why it matters. You can't lift in your 20s and expect to benefit in your 50s and 60s. You need to build and maintain a habit that stays with you through your many phases of life, including the valleys. How to Lift Forever: Attributes Niki really see a tripartite time division with lifters who lift for the long haul and how they think about and approach the past, present, and future. Lifters who maintain the habit over years and decades plan ahead. They think about how they will train this week, month, year, and even five years. They invest time and money into their training. Looking whether there is a gym close by your travel location, for example, or incorporating hotel gym workouts or even bodyweight workouts helps maintain the habit. Looking at the past means being able to appreciate the past and be proud of the work and progress you've put in. The past, however, really becomes most important in terms of how it manifests and informs how you think about the present. You have to be okay with being where you are at. It doesn't mean you are happy with it or you don't have a goal to improve, but you do not beat yourself up. How to Lift Forever: A Mental Model Thinking about the past and the present may be the most critical element. You find yourself where you are. You have a goal for the future. You understand you have made past decisions that have brought you to your present situation. A question Niki asks is "What got me to this moment I'm not liking?" You may find you're okay with your decisions. For example, after a vacation, you might be a bit more bloated with clothes fitting more tightly. Did you enjoy the vacation? How important was the vacation? You might find you don't regret your decisions. If you do regret your decisions, think about how you can adjust travel arrangements in the future so history does not repeat itself. Don't beat yourself up or find yourself falling into dividing your expectations and reality. Then, visualize your future. Think about where you want to be at a certain point of time (e.g. at the end of the year). Decide what actions will move you to that point and then execute. Learn how to lift forever. Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 14 May 2024

Do the work. A bad to do list executed aggressively is better than the "perfect" to do list you never finish. Be a doer. Do the Work: Don't Procrastinate Don't identify as a coach, spend time creating the "perfect" to do list or checking off easy, non-important to dos. Do that thing that makes you nervous. Do the work you know is the most important thing to bring you closer to your goal. For many, it is getting your first paying client. Go and do, stop planning, preparing, or creating and completing tasks that do not actually bring you closer to your goal. You likely know the thing you need to do. Do it: today, right now. Do the Work: Be a Doer - Be a Person of Action If you are not sure what you need to do, spend some time thinking about it. Set the time aside, and execute. For Matt, he realized as a gym owner that he needed to write the standard operating procedures for simple tasks such as cleaning the bathroom so that the high standards he had for his gym would continue but, importantly, someone else could execute these tasks. The freed up time would allow Matt to work on his business, not in his business. You cannot scale if you are drowning in urgent tasks. Do the important work, eliminate the non-important, non-urgent work, and actually reach your goal. Do the work. Be a doer. Be a person of action. This podcast is brought to you by TurnKey Coach. Enhance your coaching effectiveness and efficiency with TurnKey Coach. You can learn more by going HERE. Check out Coaching 101 - the new Academy course designed to cover the basics of coaching. It's leaner and tighter than our other offerings (and cheaper). Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 10 May 2024

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 the idea of a purpose, like training versus exercise. Cardio is more something you should do to get out of breath and sweaty. There are three general reasons people do cardio. Weight loss: Cardio is not a great way to lose weight or get leaner. Rather, focus on nutrition, lift to create a signal for muscle growth, and generally be active. Performance: Conditioning helps you perform your sport or activity. For most clients, this means not feeling so out of breath when they play with their kids, go for a hike, or perform other physical activities then enjoy. Health: You may perform cardio to be generally more healthy, especially your cardiovascular system. Why and How Lifters Should Do Cardio: Energy Systems Cardio encompasses three energy systems. Aerobic: This is low-intensity, long duration. You are almost certainly primarily using your aerobic energy system now. This encompasses normal life along with low-intensity exercise, such as walking or an easy jog. You oxidize fat and carbohydrates. Glycolytic: Medium-intensity, medium duration (~10s - 2 minutes). You use this for things such as running intervals. You break down carbohydrates. Phosphagen: High-intensity, short duration (~10s or less time). You use this for short bursts, such as a 50m sprint, a jump, or a 1RM effort. This uses ATP readily available in your muscles. Conditioning for lifters will typically stress the aerobic and glycolytic energy systems, as lifting stresses the phosphagen system (and the glycolytic as well). Why and How Lifters Should Do Cardio: Conditioning for Strength Athletes Most lifters will want to incorporate some easy aerobic activity and then high-intensity interval training (HIIT). For the aerobic activity, things that simply get you active suffice. This can mean walks. If you enjoy other activities, such as swimming, running, or biking, by all means do those in Zone 2. To include intervals, you should perform low-impact, low-skill activities for relatively short durations repeatedly a few times a week. This can look like accessory circuits at the end of your workouts, hill sprints, prowler pushes, or some type of machine intervals (bike, rower, elliptical, etc.). Why and how lifters should do cardio depends, but there are some general principles and best practices that make sense for your performance and health. Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 7 May 2024

Learn when to hire out to free up time from urgent, non-important tasks so you can focus on what truly matters. When to Hire Out: The Eisenhower Matrix The Eisenhower Matrix groups tasks into 4 categories: Not urgent and not important Urgent, not important Not urgent, important Urgent and important Urgency deals with a close due date. These tend to be someone else's priority (bills, taxes, work tasks, household chores). Important tasks are important to you. Tasks can overlap in terms of urgency and importance, but often important non-urgent tasks get ignored because you have to motivate yourself to do them. You need to maximize efficiency on urgent and important tasks. Stop doing non-urgent and non-important tasks. Now we come to urgent but non-important tasks. When to Hire Out: Urgent, Non-Important Tasks These tasks have to get done, but tend to be relatively unskilled. When they are skilled, someone else can typically do them for you. Initially, as a business owner and young person, you have to perform these tasks. At some point, though, you have to be able to spend time working on the business, not in it, and you gain that time by automating and delegating these tasks. One option is to hire tasks out. Matt sometimes uses Upwork or Fiverr for tasks like artistic renderings. Not only can Matt as the CEO and founder not perform these tasks well, but even the marketing and design team within Barbell Logic needs to be focused on more important work. Their time is worth more than these relatively quick tasks. When to Hire Out: TurnKey Coach for Personal Trainers This is what TurnKey Coach offers to coaches and personal trainers. Instead of using a dozen apps, use one that delivers communication, programming, metrics-tracking, screen recording, scheduling, and payment processing. The App is build for efficiency, to maximize not only quality of life but enable you to study your craft and acquire more clients. Work on your business, not in your business. This podcast is brought to you by TurnKey Coach. Enhance your coaching effectiveness and efficiency with TurnKey Coach. You can learn more by going HERE. Check out Coaching 101 - the new Academy course designed to cover the basics of coaching. It's leaner and tighter than our other offerings (and cheaper). Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 3 May 2024

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 your goal (adaptation). The stress you apply needs to be specific, based on the specific adaptation to imposed demand (SAID) principle. If you want to improve your run time, you should run, not follow a powerlifting routine. For many people, following the workout program is relatively easy. What often becomes harder is changing habits outside the gym, which can be developed over years and decades. How much protein are you eating? Are you willing to eat consistently in a caloric surplus? What does your sleep look like each night? These and other factors limit your adaptation, and so addressing them can help you move toward your goal. Failing to deal with them means you may fail to meet your goal. Recovery as the Limiting Factor: Maximizing Recovery As you age, stressful events occur in your life (even if they're positive, like having a baby), and your priorities change, your recovery (and thus your adaptation) capacity changes. To move toward your goal and stay healthy, maximizing recovery may make sense. This area, though, often comes with harder-to-crack psychological underpinnings. On some level, you like to and are used to your habits (even if you are unhappy with where they have led you). Ensuring you get enough protein and consistently eat high quality foods matters. Prioritize sleep (which comes with a host of habits you can build around sleep). Limit alcohol. Don't pursue the unimportant and non-urgent in your life. A new approach to training, especially in more stressful times of life, may need to occur. Building in some autoregulation and not beating yourself up if you don't do what is programmed (the planned stress) matters. For example, Niki and her sister were on vacation. They went to the gym and Niki's sister did her last warm up and it was way heavier than expected. Niki decided to decrease the weight. The win was completing the workout, not beating themselves up about the weight on the bar, and not grinding out reps unnecessarily. Recovery as the limiting factor is an important topic that needs more serious consideration. Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 30 April 2024

Take a sabbath. Take a day of rest, where you refresh. This doesn't necessarily mean you do nothing, but you rest and recharge. Take a Sabbath! Rest, Recharge, Refresh If you are like Matt, someone who works long days, enjoys work, and can tend to overdo work and grind yourself away, you need to take a day off. This does not necessarily mean you do nothing. If your job involves mental work, you might do some manual labor and turn off your phone. If you read, you might read fiction. If your job primarily involves manual labor, you might enjoy boardgames, intellectual reading, or other more intellectual pursuits. Similar to how a change in training can help you enjoy training more, a major change to activity can help you recharge. Get outside. Go for a hike. Spend time with family or friends. Slow down. Turn off your phone. Pursue the truly important, not urgent. Take a sabbath. This podcast is brought to you by TurnKey Coach. Enhance your coaching effectiveness and efficiency with TurnKey Coach. You can learn more by going HERE. Check out Coaching 101 - the new Academy course designed to cover the basics of coaching. It's leaner and tighter than our other offerings (and cheaper). Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 26 April 2024

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 protein to fat is good. This tends to mean, looking for lean beef, chicken, eggs, or Greek yogurt (there are, of course, other options, but these are readily available high protein options). Seek ways to strip unnecessary fats out of your diet. Think about things that minimize suffering. Some examples include reducing cooking oils, removing or reducing cheese in salads, replacing high fat dairy with lower fat dairy, and using some egg whites with whole eggs. Eating the same foods consistently is helpful. These meals provide stability. You know how you will feel after them. Unless other big changes have occurred in life, you know how much to cook, it's easy to know your calories and macros, and you know how full you will feel and for how long. Go To Healthy Recipes Andrew and Niki both like the Made In Blue Carbon Steel frying pan. It cooks eggs well. Niki loves a high protein and veggie breakfast. She cooks some onions, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, and bok choy. Add some salt (not until the end!) and then some Boar's Head pastrami turkey (about 50 grams). Cook some eggs and back, put all of it in a low carb tortilla and you have a healthy breakfast that is under 400 calories. Andrew will often go to Starbucks. When eating out, look for options that have high protein to calories ratios. Greek yogurt with fruit (fresh or frozen), sugar free jello, and maybe grape nuts is super tasty and high in protein. Whipped cottage cheese is similar. Andrew also has a chicken breast meal with potatoes. Cut the chicken breast in half (to make it thinner). Salt ahead of time (could even salt and leave in the fridge over night). Cook some baby potatoes in the oven (don't salt until the end)! Enjoy. Lastly, a rice hack. Forget about the rice button on your instapot. Rinse the rice, add your water or chicken stock, some salt, and (optional) pat of butter or oil. Cook it for 3 minutes, do NOT have the keep warm function come on afterwards, then immediately start dishing out. These are some of your go to healthy recipes. What are yours? Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 23 April 2024

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 on this. This is when urgent and important overlap. This is when you put your sleep, family life, and other things on the backburner to aggressively pursue the opportunity. You don't get the outcome if you don't swing for the fences. You don't even get to swing for the fences if you don't swing at all - if you fail to show up. Swing for the Fences Regardless of the Outcome This does not mean you succeed. You may fail. You will fail often. Another opportunity will come. Work hard, prepare yourself for those opportunities, and be ready to show up and wing for the fences when the opportunity falls in your lap. Don't leave life with regrets about what you did not seek, what you failed to try. Swing for the fences! This podcast is brought to you by TurnKey Coach. Enhance your coaching effectiveness and efficiency with TurnKey Coach. You can learn more by going HERE. Check out Coaching 101 - the new Academy course designed to cover the basics of coaching. It's leaner and tighter than our other offerings (and cheaper). Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 19 April 2024

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 More Sets Better? Let's Dig Deeper When we look at scientific studies, it's important to avoid the seemingly easy route of reading a headline or even a news article. If you read the study itself, don't assume that the study title or abstract will match the data necessarily. News media exist to sell their product, and weak headlines don't sell. These incentives exist for scientific magazines and scientists as well - no results or another study confirming what we would expect to find do not dazzle. That being said, studies and scientific literature are not worthless. What Andrew & Niki find is that the headline overstates the findings. Remember, we all have models of how the world works. Ideally, your model has been built according to investigation and astute observation. Studies can and should inform that model, and if a piece of data disagrees with your model you should confront it. That being said, upturning your model because of one study is not recommended. Are more sets better? Maybe, it depends, as adding sets is certainly a tool to use. Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 16 April 2024

Enjoy the pursuit not the outcome. We are refine by the pursuit, by the difficult process, not the outcome or achievement. Enjoy the Pursuit Not the Outcome We find joy in the pursuit of hard things. The process of doing hard things refines us, not the outcomes. Jasen Huang shares how he would not do it again if he could do it again. He did not know how hard it would be but often asks, "How hard can it be?" Andrew Schulz discusses with Joe Rogan how Joe enjoys hard things. You have to come to love the hardship and pursuit it voluntarily. Hardship is coming for you, one way or the other. You can choose it, or it can choose you. If you pursue comfort, hardship will find you. You almost certainly know someone who seeks comfort too much. What does this lead to? Pain, things being taken from you, inability to physically or emotionally do things. Enjoy the pursuit, not the outcome. This podcast is brought to you by TurnKey Coach. Enhance your coaching effectiveness and efficiency with TurnKey Coach. You can learn more by going HERE. Check out Coaching 101 - the new Academy course designed to cover the basics of coaching. It's leaner and tighter than our other offerings (and cheaper). Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 12 April 2024

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 persistent hard work often produces results. Hard does not feel good, especially at first. But if you repeatedly expose yourself to hard things and overcome them, you will learn to associate hard with opportunity, and build a lifelong habit of pursuing challenges and the fruits of these obstacles. The Gospel of Hard: Physical & Psychological Benefits This is Barbell Logic, so clearly we love the physical benefits from strength training. That being said, the psychological changes matter and may be bigger. Completing hard tasks builds confidence. It builds a pathway that you can apply in other areas of your life. A heavy set of squats can help you become a better father or employee or friend. We obviously love barbell and strength training, but we highly encourage you to pursue something hard regularly, especially in the physical realm. See the fruits of your efforts. If you're looking to begin, but are stuck, look for a coach. Look for someone who can help you with technique and programming, but also connects well with you. Experience the gospel of hard. Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 9 April 2024

You have to undergo uniquely hard efforts for uniquely successful outcomes. Expect (and demand) nothing less from yourself. Uniquely Hard, Uniquely Successful If you set challenging goals, expect (and demand) hard efforts. Alex Hormozi said on the Modern Wisdom podcast, the following: When things get hard, this is where most people stop. And this is why they don't win. And hard feels shitty. This is what hard feels like. And this is why most people can't do it. People who succeed work hard. And, guess what, in those rare circumstances and outliers you can think of, where everything falls into someone's lap, they don't value the wealth or whatever else they received. You don't respect them either. We look up to the Michael Jordans, the Larry Birds, the Rudys. We look up to those who put in the work, day in and day out, for weeks, months, and years. Uniquely Hard: Walking Through the Valley of S#%& What are you going to do TODAY to move you toward your goal. Do it - TODAY. Don't just listen to Alex Hormozi or Jocko or me. Do. Get in the arena. Take the first step. Know that you'll have some initial motivation and the honeymoon phase. Before it becomes a habit, you'll want to quit. Don't. Persist. Walk through the valley of suckiness. Accomplish something uniquely hard. Accept your circumstances and the outcomes, but put in the work. This podcast is brought to you by TurnKey Coach. Enhance your coaching effectiveness and efficiency with TurnKey Coach. You can learn more by going HERE. Check out Coaching 101 - the new Academy course designed to cover the basics of coaching. It's leaner and tighter than our other offerings (and cheaper). Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 5 April 2024

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 more. Shred your abs with this Roadhouse routine. Andrew and Niki explore what this process might look like (really). How Can I Look Like Jake Gyllenhaal? The Process It's going to take a long time and, contrary to many people's expectations and desires, you will almost certainly have to gain weight before you cut. For many, they are unwilling to add weight. Second, the cut is going to be rough. It may begin easy enough, with sustainable nutrition practices, but you will end feeling (and being) weak and lethargic. Realize that Jake approached this like a bodybuilder for a show. This is the peaked, temporary appearance of someone who underwent a long process and was not walking around like this for a long period of time. It is inherently unsustainable. How Can I Look Like Jake Gyllenhaal? The Mindset Third, it will take a lot of consistent, hard training over a long period of time (some of which you will feel and be weak). Lastly, and not unimportantly, you will have to deal with the hunger and what comes next. You will have extremely low energy near the end, not want to train, not want to work, and think about food most of your day. You got shredded, took the picture, posted it to Instagram. Now what? It will be hard to not compare yourself unforgivingly against this temporary success. If you want to look like Jake Gyllenhaal, you need to envision the life around the body and be prepared to dedicate the sacrifice this will entail. Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 2 April 2024

We discuss applying MED to coaching beyond programming. MED principles underlie an effective, successful approach to online coaching. Applying MED to Coaching Beyond Programming (Some Principles) Matt and Scott developed the principles of MED programming, which approached programming by keeping as many variables constant as possible. Change as little as possible. This does not mean easy. Simple and hard is wildly ineffective. The approach focuses on intelligent resource allocation. For example, if you can get stronger and add muscle with 1x5 deadlift, why do 3x5 or 5x5? Keep things simple. Don't do complexity for complexity's sake. Applying MED to Coaching Beyond Programming - An Approach Toward this approach, Matt has revised the 3 principles of MED for coaching. simplicity over complexity economy over excess effort over easy The approach needs to be client-focused. It needs to be personal and flexible, simple and frictionless. The Barbell Logic & TKC approach values clients' and coaches' time and money. This system is flexible in 3 ways: does not force client into inflexible schedule does not force client into one location does not force client into limited equipment The fitness industry needs to be reformed. We aim to do that, one coach and client at a time. Applying MED to coaching beyond programming. It's simple, hard, but effective. This podcast is brought to you by TurnKey Coach. Enhance your coaching effectiveness and efficiency with TurnKey Coach. You can learn more by going HERE. Check out Coaching 101 - the new Academy course designed to cover the basics of coaching. It's leaner and tighter than our other offerings (and cheaper). Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 29 March 2024

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 to keep training for the rest of your life, though. The driving force for keeping you training cannot be PRs. You cannot expect to drive up weight on the bar consistently. Failing programmed reps is not actually failure, in the scheme of your goals to train consistently and grow and maintain strength, vitality, and health over time. If you are overly wedded to today's workout - if there is a hyper focus on today - you are, really, falling into an exercise (not training) mindset. Now, it's true that training involves following a plan. But our bodies do not always cooperate - even the best coach in the world cannot perfectly predict your performance that day. Things need to change. The Evolution of Training Expectations: Accumulate Hard Sets Accumulate heavy but doable sets over time. This is the way to build strength and muscle over time. As you progress, great flexibility will likely need to be built into your program. You will not be able to grind away RPE 9.5-10 sets. You need to enjoy training. Picking a specific exercise to drive up, as opposed to everything, may make sense. Focusing on consistency (even if it's one lift a day) can help. Play with different supplemental lifts and different rep schemes. Take the PRs when they are there, and enjoy them. You may think about maximizing recovery. It will take longer and longer to get PRs (and one day they will stop). Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 26 March 2024

When should I leave my "safe" job? Jesse Mecham, founder and CEO of YNAB and author of the book You Need a Budget, joins Matt to discuss when you should leave the supposed safe job to make your side gig your main job. When Should I Leave My "Safe" Job? - There Is No Safe Job Totally safe, secure jobs do not exist. If you're an employee, whether it be at a small or big company, you could lose your job for countless reasons outside your control. If you work in the government, a shutdown or change in law could spell the end of your job. Furthermore, even if you have a job that has a lower chance of loss, what is it costing you? Do you find satisfaction with it? Do you get to spend time with your family? If you own a company, it is true, it is all on your shoulders. But, in reality, things are on your shoulders any way. If you like the idea of being your own boss and have the temperament and ability to do so, this is worth considering. First, you need a side gig. When Should I Leave My "Safe" Job? - Go For It, Prudently If you have a side gig that is making good money and want to make it your main job, you should probably go for it if you've met the following conditions. You have paid off all debt (excepting the mortgage) You have saved up enough money to pay for at least 3 months of bills Your spouse (if applicable) supports you One critical note here is that before you come to this point, you need to ensure that you do not raise your living standards to the income from both jobs. Save the side gig money, do not raise your monthly expenses to your temporary monthly income. When should I leave my "safe" job? If you are ready, you should probably leave it. This podcast is brought to you by TurnKey Coach. Enhance your coaching effectiveness and efficiency with TurnKey Coach. You can learn more by going HERE. Check out Coaching 101 - the new Academy course designed to cover the basics of coaching. It's leaner and tighter than our other offerings (and cheaper). Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 22 March 2024

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 not feel good, especially to start, but you will feel better afterwards. You might even feel better during the workout (e.g. initial warm ups feel terrible, then the heavier warm ups and work sets move well and feel good). It also helps provide structure to your days, which on vacation can often lack structure. Additionally, it gives you some short amount of you time, and, importantly, healthy you time. Tips for Training While Traveling: Hows Incorporate your gym seeking into your travel planning. Checkout the hotel gym and nearby gyms. You can often find a serviceable gym that has a guest policy. You might need to call the gym to check the visitor policy. Pack and prioritize some equipment. Belts and other bulky items are not needed. Having a pair of shoes that you can both lift and do cardio with makes sense. You might pack some small things like liquid chalk, straps, or knee sleeves. Plan your workout ahead of time. Intend to do at least something hard - get into that "worth it" zone. Depending on the number of times you will train and decide whether you will do full body and a split. Fewer times means full body makes more sense. Besides that, Niki and Andrew have some general tips and approaches they take: Mentally let go of the weight on the bar AMRAPs supersets (antagonistic or similar) burn out sets drop sets hard exercises that don't require tons of weight (e.g. bulgarian split squats) bend these joints: knees, shoulders, elbows, hips Try out these tips for training while traveling. A couple links for helping you train while traveling can be found here & here. Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 19 March 2024

Hear a motivating online coaching success story with Adam Skillin, a BLOC coach, who works full time at BLOC. Online Coaching Success Story: Before Coaching Adam Skillin worked various jobs, including banking, but always knew he did not want to go down the typical 9-5 path. Adam lives and grew up in New Jersey. He worked in the banking industry and also did various jobs including bartending. More than once he picked a job that did not align with good macroeconomic timing. He became interested in BJJ and MMA, and thought that this would become his side hustle. He planned to open up a gym and tried to get a professional fight. In 2010 he saw someone in his weight class (he was 5'6" and weighed 130 pounds) deadlift 405 pounds and did not think that was possible. Further, he immediately saw that getting stronger would provide benefits to his strength. He began training, got stronger, it improved his BJJ game, and others grew interested. Suddenly, he was coaching other people. Online Coaching Success Story: Quality of Life Adam saw that this could become his side hustle. He got stronger, got certified, and as he started to coach people in his free time outside his 9-5 job, online coaching became a thing. He immediately saw the benefits. A few months later, Matt offered him a job at BLOC to start coaching online. Adam now coaches over 50 clients making 6 figures a year and works an average of 75-100 minutes a day. He has 100% on-time feedback and extremely high retention. This is his online coaching success story. This podcast is brought to you by TurnKey Coach. Enhance your coaching effectiveness and efficiency with TurnKey Coach. You can learn more by going HERE. Check out Coaching 101 - the new Academy course designed to cover the basics of coaching. It's leaner and tighter than our other offerings (and cheaper). Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 15 March 2024

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 difficulty trying to retain muscle mass, hot flashes, and sex drive changes. Let's face it, it does not sound all that fun. But it happens, so it makes sense to understand it, prepare for it, and undergo it in a way that matches our goals and values. Menopause: Approaching & Undergoing It Intentionally Really, what you do in the weight room and kitchen do not change. You need to eat protein and lift heavy weights. That does not change. Managing expectations is important. Adaptations cannot occur as quickly. You will not be able to handle as big of a dose of stress, and you will take longer to recover. This is why Niki recommends, for those who are in a position to do so, to put on the muscle mass while it's easier to do so before menopause. Building the habit now and understanding how to enjoy training, over years and decades, is important. This may not be the most fun time to train, but it is important to continue to train. We really need to talk about menopause. Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 12 March 2024

Reliability costs nothing but changes everything. Show up on time every time and say what you are going to do. Reliability Costs Nothing - Integrity over Time Andrew Jackson shared his value equation a couple years ago, which includes ability, integrity, and benevolence. Reliability is essentially integrity over time. Do you show up each time, on time, and do the thing you said you would do. This costs no money. It takes time and effort. It means you will show up when you're sick, tired, and for whatever reason do not feel like it. Reliability Costs Nothing but Changes Everything Reliability brings tons of value to those you interact with. You likely have been in a situation, as a parent, supervisor, or friend, where you know whom you can rely on with a difficult task and whom you cannot. As a manager, it is wonderful to know that you have an employee (or multiple employees) you can rely on to get the job done each time. You can fake benevolence for a short period time. You can probably fake integrity for a short period of time. Over months and years, however, your character reveals whether you are reliable or not. Decide to be reliable today. Consider if you are reliable. Think about how others (your spouse, friends, supervisor, etc.) perceive you. Would they say you're one of the most reliable people they know? How can you become more reliable? Reliability costs nothing but changes everything. This podcast is brought to you by TurnKey Coach. Enhance your coaching effectiveness and efficiency with TurnKey Coach. You can learn more by going HERE. Check out Coaching 101 - the new Academy course designed to cover the basics of coaching. It's leaner and tighter than our other offerings (and cheaper). Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 8 March 2024

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 to blame. Whether it is slippery bars with nearly no knurl to those bench-rack combinations that have the bar far too low or too high to slick benches that prevent you from digging into the bench and freezing your scapulae, these gear problems abound in commercial gyms. You can, typically, make a bad situation worse. You can better your bench. Wearing a bar grip shirt helps your shoulder blades stick better to the bench. You may want to bench in a squat rack, which typically has smaller jumps between holes, then in those bench-rack combos. Having a spotter so you don't have to shrug the bar 4 inches off the j-hooks can help. You may need to put plates underneath your feet so you can get a better arch. At home, getting a monolift is a good investment, especially if you tend to experience shoulder pain. Also, you may need to lower expectations. This can be a good situation for autoregulation. Better Your Bench with Correct Technique Technique matters too. You want to have the maximum amount of stability for the longest duration possible. You should not be wiggling after the bar is unracked. Don't do it! Build tension as you set up. Your legs should drive up the bench into your shoulders into an arch. You should use the weight of the bar to help pin your shoulders down into the bench. You should squeeze the bar hard. Another consideration is breathing. If you can do it efficiently, complete 2-3 reps on one breath. If not, focus on maintaining scapula position between breaths. Better your bench with proper equipment and good technique. Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 5 March 2024

We talk about defining your core values. These underpin your goals & actions, help you make decisions, & reflect your personality and aspirations. Defining Your Core Values: Brainstorming & Reflecting Matt discusses how to identify and list your core values. These should reflect your personality but also be aspirational. For example, for Matt, quite reflection would not be a core value. He verbally processes ideas, and he would be working against his natural tendencies. Rather, lean into your personality, though work on addressing your weaknesses and bolstering your strengths. Notice what attracts you on social media, literature, podcasts, movies. Which characters and actions attract you (and which repulse you)? What are your natural tendencies and preference that you have no problem with? Start listing these out, thinking about them, and you can move on to refining your list. Defining Your Core Values: Refining & Defining As you create your list, think about different aspects of your life, such as family/relationship/interpersonal, business/professional, religious/spiritual, etc. Once you feel you've taken some time and reflected, identify the top 5 core values. These help underpin your goals and actions and all your decisions. They help avoid chasing shiny objects and help you avoid the lesser, easier, more comfortable paths that clash with your values. Defining your values is useful, whether for just yourself or your business. This podcast is brought to you by TurnKey Coach. Enhance your coaching effectiveness and efficiency with TurnKey Coach. You can learn more by going HERE. Check out Coaching 101 - the new Academy course designed to cover the basics of coaching. It's leaner and tighter than our other offerings (and cheaper). Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 1 March 2024

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 drastically. This is an especially busy time for fathers, and part of it is the lack of predictability. When will the baby sleep (when will mom sleep). You might think you were going to train and then mom falls asleep and you're watching the kid. Flexibility is required in your training for these programming difficulties for new dads. Programming Solutions for New Dads If you have a coach, it's important to talk to your coach prior to the birth about what is likely realistic (this will change). Lower your expectations for how long training will be. You might also have to cut training sessions short. Both Andrew and Niki have seen many clients train with their babies in the gym. This is fine. Something like a one life a day program is probably what is called for. It helps if you have a home gym or at least some equipment at home. If you don't have a home gym, you need to make your gym as convenient as possible. Something that is on the way to work and open early so you can workout early is likely ideal. Working out before bed affects sleep. Overcoming programming difficulties for new dads also tends to involve more autoregulation and lifter control. The client might decrease the weight and volume a bit if they're exhausted. If they're feeling good, they might go for extra reps or an extra set. Aim for at least 3 workouts a week. Think about getting in a training session over a series of workouts, as opposed to one longer workout. Mindset Shift for New Dads How you define training and training sessions and how you identify that will have to change. 4 sessions of 90 minutes a week is probably over. Uninterrupted training sessions and full body training sessions are probably on hold for a bit. Productive, useful training, however, does not have to look like that. Planning, preparing, and completing something each week is massively better than taking weeks or months off. Here are some thoughts on overcoming programming difficulties for new dads. Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 27 February 2024

When one teaches two learn. Matt shares his teaching approach - from interest to refined speech or presentation. Teaching and coaching with pressure are critical to mastering anything. When One Teach Two Learn: Importance of Teaching In order to become an expert coach, or to master any subject, you have to coach, or teach, when it matters. You may have found at some point that you had read or consumed a lot of material on a subject. When you tried to explain it to someone else, the apparent coherent thoughts were not there. Technique coaching in person is important to mastering technique coaching (you can simulate that, to some degree, online). This goes for teaching as well. Taking your ideas and trying to turn them into an article, podcast, or speech helps the knowledge not only deepen but also cohere. Many times, you have unordered ideas in your head - you need to order them. When One Teach Two Learn: Matt's Teaching Process Matt has a process he has followed to go from interest to refined speech, presentation, sermon, etc. Dive deep into a topic of interest Organize major thoughts Speak it or write it Before the first action, you have to find something that interests you. It could come from a book, podcast, YouTube channel, thoughts - whatever. Something peaks your interest and you want to learn more. Matt starts at a general place, such as Wikipedia, and goes from there. Look to the sources from those initial places, dig deeper, and learn as much as you can. As you do so, take notes. As you take notes, you'll start to see certain patterns and major points or thoughts. Consider these major bullet points and how they related to each other. Try to put them in a coherent order. Next, speak it (or write it) and share with someone else. For example, if you have to talk in front of a group of 20, first talk to your spouse or a friend. This rehearsal helps you better organize your thoughts and refine your speech. It is, however, a critical step. When one teach two learn. Go learn (and teach). This podcast is brought to you by TurnKey Coach. Enhance your coaching effectiveness and efficiency with TurnKey Coach. You can learn more by going HERE. Check out Coaching 101 - the new Academy course designed to cover the basics of coaching. It's leaner and tighter than our other offerings (and cheaper). Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 23 February 2024

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 and decided to give it a try herself. Joel, her coach, tried many creative ways to help her focus on what she could do. They experimented and pushed into the pain. Pain was feedback that, in her case, was positive because it was a sensation. Joel also had to get creative for new ways to feel her body during lifting, as she did not have the normal sensations and proprioception that others have. Over time, with patience and hard work, she has regained not only the ability to complete certain lifts "normally," but has also been able to return to activities such as biking and skiing, that she never thought she would be able to do again. Listen to this heartwarming and motivating story of patience, perseverance, grit, and healing through strength training. Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 20 February 2024

Matt talks to Dave Tate about building EliteFTS. What were the struggles, successes, and untold stories that created EliteFTS? Dave Tate & EliteFTS had a huge impact on Matt Reynolds & Barbell Logic, whether it be from introducing him to the Russian programming literature, to programming tips and principles, to recommending the e-Myth. This podcast is brought to you by TurnKey Coach. Enhance your coaching effectiveness and efficiency with TurnKey Coach. You can learn more by going HERE. Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Check out Coaching 101 - the new Academy course designed to cover the basics of coaching. It's leaner and tighter than our other offerings (and cheaper). Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Building EliteFTS - Before EliteFTS Both Dave's dad and grandfather were business owners, who inculcated and demonstrated the value of hard work. Dave helped his dad as a teenager, and his dad stressed the importance of quality products (which Dave has stressed with EliteFTS' equipment). As a teenager, Dave grew sick and tired of being "beat all the time," so he trained harder and worked harder and started to see benefits. His wrestling coach saw him running stairs one day and told him that if he worked harder than everyone else, he wouldn't be beat. This, paired with the benefits of strength, started to help him build confidence. Dave also struggled in college, but ultimately decided to return, work hard, and brought up his GPA. He was deciding whether to move to Columbus or Cleveland and ultimately decided to move to Columbus (in part) because of a girlfriend, which meant that Dave would train with Louie Simmons at Westside Barbell. Dave had different jobs, including personal training, bouncing, and gym management, and describes in his story at a couple points where he did not want to continue on the track he found himself, so he made a change. Helping Louie sell equipment and deal with customer service, paired with creating a Q&A website, ultimately created EliteFTS. Building EliteFTS Elite FTS began in the late 1990s, with the internet early and shipping times for gym equipment being 16 weeks. He learned, from eMyth, that he needed to free up time to spend more time as manager and then owner of the business. Dave and Matt talk about the importance of adversity and how it has refined them both. This aligns with Matt's voluntary hardship principle. Ultimately, as a business owner, coach, and human, you will face adversity. Prepare yourself by doing so voluntarily so that when the involuntary challenges come, you can handle them better and grow from them as well. Enjoy Dave and Matt talking about building EliteFTS. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 16 February 2024

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 framework or model to conceptualizing your coaching or business really helps you think more intelligently about where to improve. Professionalism Sets You Apart When you have built yourself some expertise and are above the level of amateur, you should respect yourself, expect a high value of yourself and ask a relatively high price of your customer (the price should be less than the perceived value). Then, you need to deliver a high level of service consistently across the competence, benevolence, and integrity. Plenty of people are delivering online coaching. Personal trainers and coaches abound. Professionalism sets you apart. Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 13 February 2024

Matt discusses that, whether in life or business, you should chase value not status. This leads to a successful business and happier life. This podcast is brought to you by TurnKey Coach. Enhance your coaching effectiveness and efficiency with TurnKey Coach. You can learn more by going HERE. Chase Value not Status In a social media world, it can be easy to pursue status. In the world we inhabit, it can always be easy to chase money. Pursue something else. Chase value. Deliver value to your customers. When entrepreneurs talk about opportunities, unless they are discussing some loophole or morally questionable pursuits, they're talking about a clear area where a problem exists where business can provide value. You provide a customer a new roof, they give you money. The value you provide should be more than the price point. Chase Value not Status - Appearance Versus Reality You don't have to have thought too much about social media to know that people don't typically put mundane tasks, boring events, or things they're not proud of. People select, for their own purposes, what they present to the world via the social media site. This is illusory (and might be fake). Chase value and deliver it to others. Yes, business have to make money, but the singular pursuit of value does not lead to long-term success or happiness. Chase value not status. Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 9 February 2024

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-term, impossible solutions (e.g. 6 weeks to six-pack). Furthermore, every person is different. People have different goals, preferences, body types, and reactions to training stimulus (e.g. you cannot become faster than Usain Bolt simply by trying really hard, though you will certainly fail if you do not try). Joyful self-improvement also confronts the reality that change takes a long time. It took you a long time to reach the point where you have decided it's time to make a difference. The positive changes you desire will also take a long time. Joyful Self-Improvement: Solutions Sans Suffering Whatever solutions you (or a coach) decides on, they have to be sustainable. Can you really go the rest of your life only eating meat (or some other extreme diet). Note that many of the people who follow a strict diet have quick feedback regarding when they eat a certain food (such as celiac disease). Niki and Andrew recommend getting to a baseline before making changes. When you make changes, don't through the kitchen sink at your problems, but try one (or a couple) small changes. Consistently eating a couple hundred calories less than you have can make a BIG impact. For joyful self-improvement, lean into what you like and embrace the long path to change. Check out the Barbell Logic podcast landing page. Get Matched with a Professional Strength Coach today for FREE! No contract with us, just commitment to yourself: Start experiencing strength now: https://store.barbell-logic.com/match/ Connect with the hosts Matt on Instagram Niki on Instagram Andrew on Instagram Connect with the show Barbell Logic on Instagram Podcast Webpage Barbell Logic on Facebook Or email [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 6 February 2024