Beast over Burden powered by Barbell Logic

We frequently refer to the deadlift as a "pull" or a "pull from the floor," but that's not entirely accurate. Muscles, of course, neither push nor pull, they simply contract, and even though we colloquially refer to the deadlift as a pull, it actually begins with a "push," or rather a concentric contraction of the quads, to produce knee extension and break the bar off the floor. That's where the all-important cue to "push the floor" away comes in.

Matt and Scott discuss the importance of being efficient in the gym. Most folks have other things to do besides train, and anyone who's run through the bitter end of their LP has experienced a workout that dragged on for nearly two hours. It's easy for it to happen if you don't pay attention to the clock. There's no excuse for excessively long workouts, but if you're guilty, Matt and Scott have some time-saving tips for you.

"Uncle Bob" Santana returns to the podcast to discuss the third in the Holy Trinity of supplements: creatine. Creatine is one of the most studied supplements around, and consistently demonstrates a small but measurable performance boost for high intensity activity. Barring kidney disease, everyone should take it. Even your grandma.

Matt and Scott talk to powerlifter, wrestling coach, and author Zach Even-Esh about his strength and coaching journey and how he has looked back to the lifters of yore for inspiration. Zach is the founder of The Underground Strength Gym and the author of The Encyclopedia of Underground Strength and Conditioning published by Dragon Door. He also hosts the STRONG Life Podcast.

Nutrition expert Robert Santana, RD (and soon to be PhD) joins the podcast again to talk about the Big 3 supplements: protein, BCAAs, and creatine. Today's episode covers protein and BCAA supplements. Most of us know that protein is an important macronutrient, and that we should eat some. But how much is enough? And where should it come from?

Matt and Scott have received numerous emails about finance questions, many related to Scott's philosophy on investing. While these are good questions, investing could be considered the "intermediate" phase of personal finance, and Matt and Scott would be remiss to skip over the "novice" phase: gaining freedom from debt and freeing up cash flow for other productive uses. This episode focuses on their thoughts about debt management, and why paying off debt is the first step to gaining freedom in your life.

Matt and Scott explore the reasoning and application of the "knees out" component of the Squat and Deadlift model in Starting Strength. While knees out is an important element in the teaching model, we need to understand exactly what we are trying to accomplish with its use. For those with knee slide and knee valgus issues, it's equally important to understand when to use the cue and when NOT to use it.

Following this weekend's Arnold Classic 2019 -- a panoply of strength sports, bodybuilding, and fitness industry players -- Matt and Scott sat down over coffee to shoot the breeze and discuss some of the weekend's events. After pondering the incredible size and strength of the strongmen, Matt shares some stories from his own pro strongman days.

Matt and Scott discuss the nature of learning and how it applies to effective coaching. They emphasize that teachers (and coaches) serve as guides during the process of instruction, leading the lifter (in our case) toward the correct movement pattern. However a coach can't actually perform the movement for the lifter, the lifter has to do it herself. Consequently, the actual learning takes place in the lifter's mind; in other words, they discover the correct movement. The coach merely reveals the path.

Matt and Scott take a break from programming to revisit a cherished subject -- whiskey. Frequent guest and fellow whiskey connoisseur Robert Santana returns to offer his opinions. We'll be hearing more from "Bobtana" in the future on training supplements, but today we turn to the more universal supplement of whiskey. The group discusses their current favorite whiskeys, old standbys, and which bottles have stood the test of time after years of exploration and experimentation.