Travis Mash is a powerlifting world champion who currently holds the all time pound for pound world record. He's been coaching athletes for over 21 years from all walks of life. He's worked with NFL players, Olympic Weightlifters, Powerlifters, and athletes across many other disciplines.

Travis is known for shifting paradigms and doing big things to grow the sport of Weightlifting that we love so much.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Some of the myths behind the popular SquatEveryday program
• Myths about training youth athletes and some advice on how to work with them
• How to make sure you're focusing on the right things when it comes to eliminating your weaknesses

Show notes:

• Proudest moments as a Powerlifter and Weightlifter (1:25)
• How Travis got into coaching (2:08)
• Coaching Weightlifters vs Powerlifters (3:23)
• How Travis started his blog (5:10)
• How Travis juggles writing with coaching, traveling, and life (7:40)
• A day in the life (10:15)
• Origins of SquatEveryday (11:35)
• How to autoregulate when doing SquatEveryday (13:15)
• Myths about injuries from SquatEveryday and how to prevent them (14:35)
• Myths behind weight training and youth athletes (16:27)
• The process of taking on a younger athlete (18:37)
• Recruiting younger athletes (22:18)
• Future generation of Weightlifters and CrossFitters (23:45)
• Thoughts on growing spectatorship and community for Weightlifting in the U.S. (25:10)
• How Travis is using the barbell to shape the world (29:25)
• Celebrating the smaller wins in Weightlifting to maintain positivity (31:42)
• Muscular Imbalances and No Weaknesses (34:05)
• Deadlift to Back Squat ratio and how it can affect performance (36:10)
• Blending accessory pieces with existing training volume (39:15)
• What Travis learned from Julien of StrongFit (40:25)
• Eccentric and Isometric work in training (41:50)
• Adding weight to your bench in 6 weeks (42:30)
• Core work and why Travis doesn’t believe in doing situps (44:50)
• Can mental toughness and grit be trained? How? (46:50)
• Importance of having a basic understanding of adaptation (50:20)
• Learning vs Education (52:35)
• Best source of education right now for producing effective coaches (54:30)
• If you only had one year to live to become the best coach you could be, what would you do? (56:00)

People mentioned:

• Elliot Hulse
• Louie Simmons
• Zach Greenwald - StrengthRatio
• Zach Long - BarbellPhysio
• Julien Pineau - StrongFit
• Charles Poliquin
• Stuart McGill
• Bret Contreras
• Greg Knuckles
• Dan John
• Mike Kent
• Eric Cressey

Resources we talked about:

• Eze Front Squat routine
• Low Back Disorders
• No Weaknesses by Travis Mash

How you can connect with Travis:

• Mashelite.com
• IG: @masheliteperformance
• Facebook

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