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What is pain, how does it work, and why do we experience pain (what value does it provide us)? Jayson Ball explains all.

Pain in the Flesh

The process of pain begins in the flesh through sensory transduction. Information from the environment turns into an electric impulse in the nervous system, that eventually makes its way to the brain.

Proteins exist in sensory tissue to help this process occur. For example, there are touch & heat receptors. Genes determine these proteins.

This is why certain animals can experience a wider array of the electromagnetic spectrum in how they visually interpret the world.

Another example might be with a super taster. This person has an unusually large amount of taste receptors, so they have greater depths of taste. This may be trainable, to some degree, but one cannot be a super taster if the proteins lack in the tongue.

Pain - Why!?

Okay, that's nice, but why do we have to experience pain?

Jayson argues this is a warning. It signals that something is occurring that is causing damage.

Touching a hot stove, for example, creates a withdrawal reflex loop. This means, without your brain, you automatically withdraw your hand off the heat source.

Yes, this can be overridden, and that can probably be trained and influenced by motivating factors.

Another important piece of information here is the existence of people who do not experience pain. They experience severe tissue damage regularly and early death, as they simply will persist in activities that damage their flesh.

If they had experience pain, they would have stopped those activities and protected the flesh.

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Karl Schudt discusses arete in the ancient world. This concept encompasses the words in English and underlying ideas of virtue and excellence. Depending on the subject, if you are reading an English translation of an Ancient Greek book, you will see this as either excellence or virtue. He continues to lead seminars and do the podcast at Online Great Books, and is an Exclusive Coach at Barbell Logic as well as the Director of Coaching Development. Aristotle & Arete: Virtue & Excellence Excellence and virtue are divided concepts today, but in Ancient Greece the both lived under the word or concept of Arete. If you're reading Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics, you'll probably read the word virtue. If, however, someone is describing a knife or piece of pottery, you'll see the word excellence. What this concept really means is a good example of something. An excellent knife is one that serves its purpose well, so one that can cut well. This means certain things will come with it - it will be sharp and durable. It serves its end well. Aristotle has some good quotes pertaining to excellence and happiness. "Virtue then is a settled disposition of the mind as regards the choice of actions and feelings, consisting essentially in the observance of the mean relative to us, this being determined by principle, that is, as the prudent man would determine it." Another quote on excellence: "all excellence has a twofold effect on the thing to which it belongs: it not only renders the thing itself good, but it also causes it to perform its function well." Lastly, his quote on happiness: ""happiness is a certain activity of soul in conformity with perfect virtue." Arete & the Ancient World Karl stares stories and history from Ancient Greece to illustrate what this meant to the Athenians, Spartans, Trojans, and others. It was in part a reaction to the reality of man, that our lives our fleeting, and we are like leaves in the wind. What do you do when faced with your own immortality and apparent smallness and weakness? The Greeks pursued arete and glory. They did this in warfare and in the Olympic games, in philosophy and rhetoric. The excellence and virtue that individuals achieved contributed to the greatness of some of these ancient cities. Sparta did not defeat the Persians because of their love of freedom, but because the Spartans pursue greatness in warfare. If you're looking to pursue greatness in the gym or any other pursuit, this is the talk for you. 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

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Bekah Krieg joins CJ to discuss lifting with back pain: modifications, mindset, & approaches as coach or lifter to deal with/overcome back pain & get stronger. She worked as a physical therapist for 20 years, is an Exclusive Coach for Barbell Logic, and is the Barbell Academy Curriculum Director. Weightlifting with Back Pain Back pain seems to come with being human. Virtually all of us, if not all of us, experience back pain at one time or another. Some of us struggle with more severe back pain or chronic back pain. How do we confront back pain as lifters and coaches? Some important concepts should be kept in mind. There is no perfect approach. A coach or lifter can deviate by being too aggressive or too conservative. An example of erring too conservatively is stopping all lifting and exercise and trying to do as little movement as possible. To err too conservatively would be to ignore the pain, especially if the pain increases or does not diminish. Strength Training with Back Pain Properly The important question is to ask: what can I or my lifter do? Movement is typically good. It involves lots of blood flowing to the tissue. Someone will often find, the next workout after a back tweak or pain coming from elsewhere in life, that it feels better after the warm up. The lifter can perform the workout as prescribed or with a slightly reduced stress, via either intensity or volume or both. If movement, even movement at reduced weight, causes pain, this is an important piece of information. Now, the workout may have to be executed with SOME pain, and that is okay. As a coach, you may have a pain scale that you prescribe. For example, Squat 4x3x225, but reduce weight to ensure no more than 3 on the 1-10 pain scale. CJ, though, shared a story where a seemingly normal back tweak caused a 4-month issue. CJ worked up to a single at 80%, which is not a heavy single, but this hurt. He backed the weight off to 315, no dice. 225 hurt. Even 135 hurt. All tweaks are not created equally. A lifter may be able to reduce the weight and lift that day. It may take a days, weeks, or even months to heal. Healthy Mindset: Don't Catastrophize Most tweaks don't take long to deal with. You return to normal training quickly. If you run into a more serious back issue, you and your client will have to be patient. Chances are, this doesn't mean PRs are done forever or you won't return to normal. Don't catastrophize. This is where you build up the worst possible scenario in your head. This might go something like your back will never return to normal, you'll never hit another PR, you'll live with debilitating pain and waste away and have to be in a wheelchair before you know it. No, no, no! First, your expectations may contribute to your outcomes. A positive, patient mindset, where you focus on what you can do and is better to move and lift how you can then do nothing. Stronger Back through Lifting Wisely Someone with a serious disc issue might do a trap bar deadlift with nearly vertical back. This is fine. It's certainly better than not deadlifting at all. If someone lives with back pain, it's better than they strength train and live with back pain with a stronger, more capable lower back. A goal that might come with this is simply maintaining the level of back pain. As a coach, you might need to tell your client to go see a doctor, especially if your normal adjustments aren't working. That is okay. Sometimes, the issue is something serious, and you're not a doctor or physical therapist. Relatedly, you as a coach might have to fire your client if you don't feel comfortable coaching him anymore. If the client ignores your adjustments in the face of serious back pain, you might have to fire him. That's okay. That might be the kindest thing you can do, and might send a message to him. 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

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We discuss bringing order to the chaos to get important things done, improve your quality of life, and feel at ease. Bringing Order to Chaos Life can be difficult and hectic. Hardship, both voluntary and involuntary, is part of life. Certain times, though, seem especially difficult, and it's hard to keep your head above water. Everything is urgent, it's difficult to accomplish those things you consider most important, and you're constantly reacting. Even if you like a little chaos, you tend to keep a messy desk and enjoy when things less-ordered, a bit of order allows you to accomplish your goals. Even if you're only organizing the chaos into blocks. For example, you wake up, brush your teeth, and then you have a 90-minute period for a hobby, or for whatever you feel like doing. Let that time be chaotic, but organize anchor points so urgent tasks don't step on what you want to do. Anchor Points & Schedules Bringing order to the chaos doesn't mean the same thing for everyone. For some, it might mean establishing anchor points throughout your day. You might have a morning routing, a lunch routine, a training routine, and an evening routine, and in between these anchor points, it might be chaotic. For others, you might need things scheduled down to the hour, half-hour, or even more detailed. Many business executives have extremely detailed schedules. If this is you, you'll have to ensure that you block off time for the important things that are NOT related to business (family, friends, exercise). Regardless of personality type, regardless of job or age or place in life, fostering some discipline can help you accomplish your goals and improve your quality of life. 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

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Matt talks to Nate Garrison about strength training with autoimmune disease. Nate is a videographer and video editor for Barbell Logic that Matt met through Tactical Response. He discusses his journey with autoimmune disease and how barbell training helped his physical and mental health throughout the ongoing process. Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease Nate's story begin with his older sister, who struggled with and ultimately died from Crohn's disease. He had seen his sister confront Crohn's. When going through Navy EOD School, he realized that he was seeing symptoms that his older sister has had. Instead of quitting or going to the military medical personnel, he toughed it out and got private medical care as long as he could. He was first diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis (UC). Later, the doctors diagnosed him with Crohn's disease. He has undergone multiple surgeries, and struggled with excruciating stomach pain, chronic diarrhea, and resultant mental anguish. He had to constantly be aware of where the closest toilet was and bring extra clothes, just in case. He faced obstacles and pain, and could have easily used his disease as an excuse to not further himself and continue to pursue health and excellence. That's not what he did. Weight Lifting with Autoimmune Disease Nate was used to difficult military training, but had never lifted weights. Strength training provided an opportunity to build and better himself in an area he had no experience. He started squatting with 85 pounds, and began his linear progression from there. Strength training with autoimmune disease helped him, but came with voluntary and involuntary hardship. He did his bet to eat food to support his training, and sometimes had to go to the bathrooms multiple times just during the squats. But he completed his workouts and kept training. He worked with Matt as his coach to adjust the stress appropriately and dealing with the Valsalva Maneuver and wearing a belt after a surgery that require cutting through his abdomen. After every surgery he has completed, he has had to reset with a low weight, but he knows it's good for him. In fact, the surgeon asked what he had been doing, as his abdominal wall had grown noticeably thicker after he began squatting and deadlifting heavy. 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

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Matt and Scott finish their talk discussing the coach-client interaction and being coachable. If you're paying for coaching, your coach is probably erring on not enough stress, especially if you're a general client trying to get stronger for general health and quality of life reasons. You're not training for the Olympics. If you decide to do 2, 3, 4 more reps than programmed because it's there, especially if you're older, you may have wrecked yourself for a week or more, and then the coach has to completely change the programming. If you do what is prescribed and you have 3 more reps, then it's easy for the coach to increase the stress the next week. 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

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Matt & Scott developed the concept of Minimum Effective Dose programming (MED programming) through conversations on the podcast. Today, Matt and Scott discuss how to apply the principles of MED programming when PRs are behind you. Listen to Scott's podcasts: Online Great Books, Music & Ideas, or Growing Resilience. This typically occurs for older clients with high-compliance (though even younger clients who have trained consistently for a long enough time run into this problem). If you're a lifter who regularly takes vacations and misses training, you'll continue to return to linear progression, so this doesn't happen. Eventually, you can't recover from the stress it takes to hits bigger PRs. Older people tend to sleep less well and they cannot eat as many calories without adding bodyfat. Plus, the reality is simply that the body doesn't react as well to things as it ages - it's just a fact of life. This also applies to those who find themselves suddenly facing a huge amount more stress. Scott, for example, besides being a bit older, is doing manual labor on his farmstead. This stress matters when it comes to his recovery and ability to stress himself in the gym. Practically, what does this mean? It often means pulling slots - less frequent training and less volume. You may see 5s become 4s become 3s after awhile. More days of rest between training are needed. Eventually, weight will have to come off the bar, though. Scott has also found that he doesn't program cycles longer than 4 weeks for post-advanced clients. A disclaimer, though - if you're an officer worker who has never done intelligent training, you need to do this, you need to chase numbers, and you need to get big and strong. 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

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Enjoy the rest of Matt catching up with Scott for this 2-part episode. Matt & Scott discuss some of what Scott has been doing on his homestead, and just chat about things.

Listen to Scott's podcasts: Online Great Books, Music & Ideas, or Growing Resilience.

Learn how Scott's reading the book the Restoration of Christian Culture caused Scott to move his family out to the country and start a homestead operation, growing food, planting trees, raising chickens, and living more simply (simple, hard, effective?).

Training has changed for him, because he performs much more physical labor in a normal day than he ever did as the CEO of a data storage company.

Training occurs for injury prevention and bone density, mostly.

Enjoy this wide-ranging conversation.

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
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• Barbell Logic on Instagram
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Enjoy the return of Scott for this 2-part episode, where Matt & Scott catch up, discuss some of what Scott has been doing on his homestead, and just chat about things.

Listen to Scott's podcasts: Online Great Books, Music & Ideas, or Growing Resilience.

Learn how Scott's reading the book the Restoration of Christian Culture caused Scott to move his family out to the country and start a homestead operation, growing food, planting trees, raising chickens, and living more simply (simple, hard, effective?).

Training has changed for him, because he performs much more physical labor in a normal day than he ever did as the CEO of a data storage company.

Training occurs for injury prevention and bone density, mostly.

Enjoy this wide-ranging conversation.

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

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Are fitness certifications worth it, worthless, or does it depend? Niki & CJ walk you through how to consider the value of a fitness certifications as a barbell coach or personal trainer. Are Fitness Certifications Worth It? Personal trainers and barbell coaches have proliferated as the health and fitness industry grows. Fitness certifications also abound, and you can probably find a personal training certification for any niche or skill you would want to learn. Are they worth it? It depends. Thinking about certifications practically and personally, ask yourself "Do I need this certification?" This shifts the focus to YOU, your needs, and your situation. This question also tends to relate to two other questions that new coaches tend to think (even in subconsciously). Am I ready to coach, and do I have permission to coach? If you can provide value to a lifter, you can coach, and we've talked and written about coaching spouses and friends first, what that might look like, and how to not suck as a coach. Regarding permission, the personal training industry does not require a legal certification. You may coach our of your garage. If you're looking to coach at a gym, you may need a certain certification. Many fall into the trap of trying to collect certifications but failing to coach. We love and encourage academic study and are not anti-certification, but if you want to coach you must coach. Furthermore, your appreciate and the value of the certification becomes clear when you begin to coach (do I need to know this? does this help me)? As you learn the academic side, you have more to bring to the platform. Which Personal Training Certification Should I Get? We return to "Do I need this certification," with stress on the word need. Will this certification get you clients? Will this certification improve your coaching? Is an employer or potential employers requiring this certification? You might not know the answers to this. Consider getting one of the study guides or books meant to help prepare you for one of the more common certifications. Start reading it as you coach people. Does the information provide you useful information? Examine what type of information you're finding valuable - maybe there is a certification that focuses more on those areas. Are Fitness Certifications Worthless? The incentive of a credential can help motivate one to study and learn. Furthermore, a certification can provide a standard from which employers - gyms and online coaching companies - can evaluate coaches. Similar to the personal training industry in general, you have to sort through much chafe to get to the wheat. Fitness certifications signal to employers and potential clients you have a baseline level of knowledge. They may be required to get personal training insurance. Lastly, some may get you clients (or prevent you from getting clients). This is rare in either case, but if a certain brand is well-known and that certification is considered valuable and hard-to-get, you may get clients looking for a coach with that certification. Oppositely, if a brand gets associated with something such as getting clients injured, you may find yourself having to defend that brand or dealing with similar questions about the brand's approach. Are fitness certifications worth it? It depends, and this episode helps you weigh the costs and value of certifications to decide which fitness certification is right for you. 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

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