Beast over Burden powered by Barbell Logic

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]

Mac McGregor and Niel Marr join Niki and Andrew to discuss strength for golf. Niel is a golf instructor, and shares how strength has improved his life and his golf game.

Strength for Golf: Longer Drive & Better Stability for Putting As Tiger Woods' career demonstrated, strength does not destroy one's swing or ruin one's golf game. It actually helps it. Too many unfounded claims or ideas like this float around, despite the contrary reality. Strength helps produce a faster golf swing, which means the ball can go farther. It also helps with stability for fine-tuned skills such as putting. Beyond this, strength helps create stronger, more resilient, healthier golfers. Ultimately, golfers must continue to practice the skills involved in golfing (e.g. putting and driving) while improving their ability to produce force. Strength for Golf: Coaching is Coaching Neil Marr, a golf instructor, also explains how as he's decided to start pursuing barbell coaching, he's been able to use the skills he's developed as a golf instructor. He has developed a coaching eye for golf, which can translate to a better coaching eye for the barbell lifts. He also has experience identifying errors and communicating so people can move correctly. Strength for golf and help is a boon.

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]

Velocity based training & autoregulation for strength sounds complex, but it's really simple - learn the secrets of this training method.

Why Try Velocity Based Training?

We like simplicity - our tagline is simple, hard, effective - so why add a seemingly complicated piece of equipment and method of autoregulation to your coaching or training?

First, this is not for novices. Novices need to add weight simply and linearly, improve technique, and experience the range of difficulties (the many flavors of heavy but doable).

Often, a lifter will finally achieve something that equates to something close to an RPE 7.5 or 8. This means, the lifter can accomplish two, maybe three more reps, and either give up on a rep or express fear that he won't be able to do another rep.

The reality is, this lifter has likely never experienced this level of intensity. If they have, it's been during a one-rep max attempt.

The middle and end of linear progression confront the lifter with hardship, and the lifter must willfully overcome the challenge. Voluntary hardship is not simply a catch phrase.

Second, velocity based autoregulation is not as complicated as it sounds. Intermediate and advanced lifters regularly use, and coaches often prescribe, programs based on percentages of their one-rep max.

The average velocity correlates linearly with percentage of one rep max, so what the lifter is doing is still using a program based on his one-rep maximum.

Third, velocity based training (VBT) is objective without requiring the lifter to complete a maximum effort set (either an AMRAP or 1RM).

Autoregulation - Subjective or Objective

Autoregulation adjust the prescribed workout based on the athlete's daily fluctuation and performance. This idea and approach comes from the reality that your athlete is not the same athlete every day, that his theoretical one-rep max changes, and that this varies and matters more and he advances as an athlete.

Subjective autoregulation methodologies exist and include rate of perceived exertion (RPE), reps in reserve (RIR), and percentage based training (where the one rep maximum is guessed, albeit in an educated way).

Conducting a daily maximum, as many reps as possible, or velocity based training are objective autoregulation approaches.

The first two approaches, however, require physically and mentally exhausting sets to accurately identify the lifter's one rep maximum that day.

Either the lifter must attempt a 1RM or the lifter has to do as many reps as possible. Only after these grueling sets does the lifter execute his prescribed work sets.

Velocity based autoregulation avoids the need for these maximum effort sets.

How Velocity Based Autoregulation Works

Velocity based training allows a lifter to accurately identify his 1RM for that day at sub-maximal (i.e. warm up) sets. How? Let's explore a bit.

Some assumptions come here, that it's important we acknowledge. The lifter's anthropometry need to remain constant, so growing lifters (children or teenagers) lose objectivity if they complete this training.

Form and technique matter, so novices or lifters consistently struggling with technique should not take on this methodology.

One important note is that this data remains the same if the lifter gets stronger. If a lifter improves his 1RM squat from 200 to 400, 50% will move at the same speed.

The device sits on the floor and connects to the bar with a wire. The athlete needs to collect five to ten data points. These lifts need to be performed with 100% effort for this data to be accurate (another reason novices should not use velocity based autoregulation).

The coach or lifter simply conducts linear regression analysis. One this is known, the lifter can come in on another day, conduct warm up lifts with 100% intention, learn his 1RM for that day, and then perform his work sets based on that knowledge.

Improve Your Coaching with VBT

Using velocity based autoregulation for your training and some of your clients provides you good feedback and data that can help you learn more about your athletes as well as your programming and coaching eye.

You can test your coaching eye. For example, what attempts should a lifter take on a 1RM attempt day or during a strengthlifting meet?

As a coach, you can make an educated guess and then, from the velocity device, actually get objective data on that athlete's 1RM for that day. This means, your athlete can take attempts based on more objective information, and you can improve your coaching eye.

You can learn both for individual athletes and your lifters aggregately t...

Join the Reynolds family to see how they finished the Take Charge 10 challenge, how they feel about it, and what changes they plan to keep. Day 8 you don't drink caffeine 6 hours before bed. This, again, helps reduce caloric beverages in the afternoon & dinner, but it also helps improve your sleep. Good sleep helps bolster healthy living. One way the Reynolds family was able to prepare for a gathering that normally might involve alcohol & food was they prepared the food and ensured it was healthy--but still tasty. They simply didn't drink alcohol for the gathering, and though it would have been nice they continued to feel good and it wasn't as big of a deal as they had expected. One thing Matt identified was that gamifying things--working to achieve macros & calories & sticking with goals using MyFitnessPal--really helped motivate him to stay on track. On day 9, you heed to balance your meals, so no all carbohydrate meals especially. For many, an all carbohydrate meal will lead to a big spike in insulin and they'll ultimately feel hangry soon thereafter and look for more food. Trying get a little bit of everything--fruit & nuts or cheese, for example--really helps. For the Reynolds, this wasn't a hard day but a day to really solidify those habits they had already developed. For the final day, you have to know everything you're eating and not eat outside the home. The Reynolds family partook in some Cox wings & BBQ sauce--Cox Sauce, get you some--and really enjoyed it. Overall, everyone was feeling better and though there were certain things they looked forward to, they largely wanted to continue the habits and success they created with the challenge. They also didn't feel deprived, so they didn't go and have a 3000 calorie meal, like they might have after a typical "diet" in the past, but rather went out to a diner and eat reasonably but some foods that they hadn't had over the past 10 days. Ultimately, this is about sustainable nutrition habits to achieve your health goals. If you follow a diet that you couldn't keep up with long-term, you need to think about why you're following that diet. While there are certain circumstances where this may make sense, most people can just follow the basics of nutrition, not feel so deprived, and reach their goals. For Rachel and their daughters, they mostly missed sugar. For Matt, he craved a bit more fat. They're glad they did it, and glad they did it together. They felt more conscious, more intentional about food, but without neuroticism or morality. Join us for the Take Charge 10 nutrition challenge. If you missed the kick off on March 22, no problem, you can do this anytime you want.

GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE!

Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh

Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/

Connect with the hosts

• Matt on Instagram
• Niki on Instagram

Connect with the show

• Barbell Logic on Instagram
• The Website
• Barbell Logic on Facebook
• [email protected]

Peaking for an online meet provides more choices and thus greater room for strategy (and mistakes) for how lifters peak and complete their attempts. Niki Sims and Andrew Jackson explore how to peak for an online meet (or simply complete PR attempts). United States Strengthlifting is putting on an online event. Whereas in an in-person meet, all lifts need to be peaked on the same day and many factors are simply out of the coaches and lifters' control (rest between attempts, equipment, etc.) for this online meet, the lifters have two weeks and three submittals for the squat, bench press, and deadlift. This allows for more control and choice, but with greater choice comes, well, more choices to make. More choices to make means more ways to increase performance but also more ways to screw up. Some lifters may mimic a powerlifting meet and attempt all their attempts at their favorite gym with friends and other lifters present to cheer them on. Others may complete their lifts by themselves, in private, with total control over the atmosphere. Some lifters may take the entirety of the time to peak, making their attempts later on in the 2 weeks. Others may make safer attempts that first weak and then reattempt 1, 2, or 3 of the lifts that second week. Many of these decisions come down to personal preference. Some lifters care more about one lift than another. Some lifters may have a poor performance on one lift tank all their other attempts. Some lifters may want to get things done with, whereas others enjoy only having to go for one lift at a time. Some lifters may have an awesome gym with great lifters who they want to compete with, while others may want to not have to deal with other people. Regardless of how you compete, or whether you even sign up for an online meet, this podcast investigates the mental and physiological aspects of attempting PRs.

GET STARTED with one-on-one online coaching FOR FREE!

Get your FIRST MONTH FREE on all strength and nutrition coaching plans. No discount code needed and includes a 10-day, no obligation trial. https://bit.ly/2MKeOoh

Special offers from BLOC and our partners: https://barbell-logic.com/offers/

Connect with the hosts

• Matt on Instagram
• Niki on Instagram
• [email protected]

Connect with the show

• Barbell Logic on Instagram
• The Website
• Barbell Logic on Facebook