Beast over Burden powered by Barbell Logic

Barbell Logic has long attracted thinkers, strivers, and a fair number of Type A personalities. "Logic" is in the name, of course, and barbell training in particular demands a sort of consistency and attention to detail that is well-suited to the driven person. Yet these same people often struggle with another problem -- the problem of perfectionism -- which the barbell community doesn't exactly help.

We're barbell nerds. We love physics, programming, and the sundry little details of technique that help us optimize our training. These are the stepping stones on the path to strength, but for some they can be more of a trip hazard. The pursuit of excellence can become the pursuit of perfection, and when they inevitably fall short disappointment pervades. Perfectionism only robs us of the satisfaction of self-improvement and obscures the view of long-term progress; and, as we know, strength training is playing the long game.

Or, as Ralph Waldo Emerson put it more eloquently in his essay Self-Reliance:

"If our young men miscarry in their first enterprises, they lose all heart. If the young merchant fails, men say he is ruined. If the finest genius studies at one of our colleges, and is not installed in an office within one year afterwards in the cities or suburbs of Boston or New York, it seems to his friends and to himself that he is right in being disheartened, and in complaining the rest of his life. A sturdy lad from New Hampshire or Vermont, who in turn tries all the professions, who teams it, farms it, peddles, keeps a school, preaches, edits a newspaper, goes to Congress, buys a township, and so forth, in successive years, and always, like a cat, falls on his feet, is worth a hundred of these city dolls. He walks abreast with his days, and feels no shame in not 'studying a profession,' for he does not postpone his life, but lives already. He has not one chance, but a hundred chances."

Also, listen to Brett's recent podcast with legendary boxing trainer Teddy Atlas on his idea of what it means to be a man: https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/teddy-atlas-boxing-trainer-interview/

Have a question about training? Send a question to Matt and Scott! Email us at [email protected] and we'll answer your question on an upcoming Saturday Q&A!

Discounts

1. Use discount code LOGIC to save 10% off microplates, dumbbell microplates, and more at Microgainz.
2. Use discount code LOGIC to save $10 off belts and more at Dominion Strength.
3. Save $79 off your first month of coaching at Barbell Logic Online Coaching with the discount code LOGIC.

Connect With Matt

• Matt on Instagram
• Barbell Logic Online Coaching — Matt's website
• Matt on Facebook
• Matt on Twitter

  Connect With Scott

• Scott on Instagram
• Silver Strength – Scott's website
• Scott on Facebook
• Scott on Twitter

  Connect With the Show

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

Barbell Logic has long attracted thinkers, strivers, and a fair number of Type A personalities. "Logic" is in the name, of course, and barbell training in particular demands a sort of consistency and attention to detail that is well-suited to the driven person. Yet these same people often struggle with another problem -- the problem of perfectionism -- which the barbell community doesn't exactly help.

Matt and Scott are back with another round of Saturday Q&A. If you'd like to ask Matt and Scott a question, email [email protected] and we'll feature you on a future Q&A episode!

Discounts

1. Use discount code LOGIC to save 10% off microplates, dumbbell microplates, and more at Microgainz.
2. Use discount code LOGIC to save $10 off belts and more at Dominion Strength.

Connect With Matt

• Matt on Instagram
• Barbell Logic Online Coaching — Matt's website
• Matt on Facebook
• Matt on Twitter

  Connect With Scott

• Scott on Instagram
• Silver Strength – Scott's website
• Scott on Facebook
• Scott on Twitter

  Connect With the Show

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

Matt and Scott are back with another round of Saturday Q&A. If you'd like to ask Matt and Scott a question, email [email protected] and we'll feature you on a future Q&A episode!

Monday's episode covered programming fundamentals for the ever-popular question: what do I do after the novice LP? Today Matt and Scott expand on the topic by walking through specific examples and discussing their thought process troubleshooting each scenario.

Most people begin to fail on LP for just a couple reasons. As mentioned in episode #55 - Programming Is Secondary, consistency and technique make the biggest impact on progress in the gym. But let's assume that you consistently make your workouts, and your technique is good. The reasons you will fail on LP are:

1. You have not done enough work to adapt to the current training loads
2. You cannot recover from the work each session

That's it! The coach's challenge (or the self-coached trainee's challenge) is to determine which is the case in any given scenario. In the case of the squat, when the bar speed begins to slow significantly and things get grindy, the first programming change we make during LP is to make the mid-week workout a light day, reducing the load to ~80% of the load lifted earlier in the week (but sticking with the 3x5 set/rep scheme). For most lifters at this point in LP, a 5lbs increase each workout constitutes sufficient stress to continue driving strength, but they cannot recover from three PR workouts a week.

Now wait a minute... stress is supposed to go up if we want to continue making progress right? In the midweek deload, stress (as measured by tonnage) goes down since the load goes down and sets and reps remain the same. This is true, but only temporarily. If the midweek deload allows the lifter to drive his loads up, then in a couple weeks as the weight on the bar climbs he will indeed be doing more work (tonnage) than he was before.

This is crucial. Stress must go up over time, but it's a trendline. After novice LP, you can't measure stress from workout to workout anymore. Loads won't go up every single workout. But they will go up over time. That window of time is governed by your level of training advancement, as discussed in the many intermediate and advanced programming episodes.

Programming is pretty simple when you examine the problem at hand rather than talk in generalities. The challenge lies in the fact that there are often multiple solutions to the problem, yet some may be more optimal than others given everything else that's happening in the program. To recap from previous episodes, there are essentially four basic "moves" we can make in programming:

1. Increase work -- using the programming variables of intensity (load), volume, frequency, and exercise selection
2. Decrease work
3. Increase recovery -- with more rest time between sets, more rest between workouts
4. Decrease recovery -- with less rest time, or by doing more work within the same rest "window"

Still confused about programming? Send a question to Matt and Scott! Email us at [email protected] and we'll answer your question on an upcoming Saturday Q&A!

Discounts

1. Use discount code LOGIC to save 10% off microplates, dumbbell microplates, and more at Microgainz.
2. Use discount code LOGIC to save $10 off belts and more at Dominion Strength.

Connect With Matt

• Matt on Instagram
• Barbell Logic Online Coaching — Matt's website
• Matt on Facebook
• Matt on Twitter

  Connect With Scott

• Scott on Instagram
• Silver Strength – Scott's website
• Scott on Facebook
• Scott on Twitter

  Connect With the Show

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

Monday's episode covered programming fundamentals for the ever-popular question: what do I do after the novice LP? Today Matt and Scott expand on the topic by walking through specific examples and discussing their thought process troubleshooting each scenario.

Matt and Scott discuss the eternal programming question: what do you do when novice linear progression stops working? While they have discussed this topic in great detail in past episodes, programming is not easy to grok for some people. And that's OK! This episode covers the basic theory and practical examples you need to transition out of LP and into the wide world of intermediate programming, with minimal fussing.

Got a question for Matt and Scott? Email us at [email protected] and we'll answer your question on an upcoming Saturday Q&A!

Discounts

1. Save 50% off your first month of online coaching at Barbell Logic Online Coaching using the code TEAMBLOC
2. Use discount code LOGIC to save 10% off microplates, dumbbell microplates, and more at Microgainz.
3. Use discount code LOGIC to save $10 off belts and more at Dominion Strength.

Connect With Matt

• Matt on Instagram
• Barbell Logic Online Coaching — Matt's website
• Matt on Facebook
• Matt on Twitter

  Connect With Scott

• Scott on Instagram
• Silver Strength – Scott's website
• Scott on Facebook
• Scott on Twitter

  Connect With the Show

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

Matt and Scott discuss the eternal programming question: what do you do when novice linear progression stops working? While they have discussed this topic in great detail in past episodes, programming is not easy to grok for some people. And that's OK! This episode covers the basic theory and practical examples you need to transition out of LP and into the wide world of intermediate programming, with minimal fussing.

Matt and Scott are back with another round of Saturday Q&A. If you'd like to ask Matt and Scott a question, email [email protected] and we'll feature you on a future Q&A episode!

Discounts

1. Save 50% off your first month of online coaching at Barbell Logic Online Coaching using the code TEAMBLOC
2. Use discount code LOGIC to save 10% off microplates, dumbbell microplates, and more at Microgainz.
3. Use discount code LOGIC to save $10 off belts and more at Dominion Strength.

Connect With Matt

• Matt on Instagram
• Barbell Logic Online Coaching — Matt's website
• Matt on Facebook
• Matt on Twitter

  Connect With Scott

• Scott on Instagram
• Silver Strength – Scott's website
• Scott on Facebook
• Scott on Twitter

  Connect With the Show

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

Matt and Scott are back with another round of Saturday Q&A. If you'd like to ask Matt and Scott a question, email [email protected] and we'll feature you on a future Q&A episode!