In this episode:

• Supersets - why are they useful and what forms do they come in?
• Which forms are broscience? Or mis-applied? 
• Why might you superset corrective exercises into a session
• During lockdown which methods would we recommend to help training?
• Do you have to do a drop set on arms to get big sleeve fillers?
• Is a Giant Set just a circuit for Bodybuilders?

In this episode we chat to our guest Robert Love who is a 93kg IPF powerlifter. Robert has competed at Europeans (4th) , Commonwealth (1st) and Worlds (13th) with 715kg raw total and 822.5kg equipped. Robert talks about his training, his approach to nutrition, and a lot of funny stories about competing, and signing up for competition when drunk.

In this episode we discuss supportive equipment for lifting

- Which equipment is commonly used in powerlifting and bodybuilding?

- Why would you use lifting shoes, knee sleeves, belt, wrist wraps, lifting straps for both strength sports?

- DO they actually help you produce more force or are they more of a psychological booster?

- How might you vary their use across a training cycle?

In this episode we we talk about the reasons behind breathing drills and cues, how to brace and why it's useful.

- How can breathing be used to alter our physiology and movement?

- What breathing drills do specifically for lifters?

- Why should you use breathing drills?

- What do we mean when we say bracing?

- The bracing dial

- How can you teach yourself to brace? ie how uncomfortable can you withstand before you get a little faint.

In the episode we discuss how to manage your nutrition over the festive period, and how disciplined and restrictive you need to be based on your goal/ competition and how far away you are from it.

- Best Christmas Dinner Food Choices / Eating accomplishments

- What strategies can you use to manipulate your diet over the festive period?

- How can you shift your mindset to not feel like you are 'cheating' or doing something bad by indulging more over Christmas and new year?

- Mitigating the aftermath of coming out of the festive period.

In this episode:

- The pros and cons of the marriage of #fitness information and social media

- Tools you can use to guard against misinformation

- Our own sources of information that we use as coaches and who they might be useful for

• Equilibrium between movement patterns, upper vs lower, high intensity vs assistance, volume split across a week, and intensity across a week
  
  
• Why is it important to write programmes that have balance?
  
  
• Movement pattern balance for powerlifters to avoid chronic injury 
  
  
• Split balance for bodybuilders to aid symmetry of muscular development
  
  
• How this fits with working on weaknesses and maintaining strengths 

In this episode to talk about our experience hosting our first powerlifting meet during the COVID-19 pandemic, when social distancing and health and safety were a big challenge.

In this episode:

- Define what we mean by cognitive strategies

- Summarise applicable findings of papers.

- Our experience using cognitive strategies or using them with athletes - particularly self talk and imagery

- Do lifters use these techniques and not realise they are?

- Handling athletes at competitions - using mind games to your advantage

- Practical guidelines for using imagery or self talk in your training and competitions

In this episode:

• What do we mean by internal cues?
• What internal cues should you expect when you diet?
• What internal cues are useful to track progress?
• Why is it important to take note of these specific cues?
• When should you listen to your internal cues or when should you accept they are part of the process?
• Practical takeaways to implement monitoring internal cues.