This week, I sat down with Dr. Lee Bell — researcher, practitioner, and senior lecturer in Sport & Exercise Science — to explore one of the most misunderstood areas in strength training: how hard we should train.

Lee has spent years studying overreaching, deloading, and the messy realities of bridging science with practice. We dive into his recent squat-overreaching study, the challenges of defining terms like “overtraining,” and why the human side of training — trust, communication, and honest feedback — matters.

We talk about why some athletes feel terrible yet hit PRs, how allostatic load shapes performance, and what coaches can learn from observing training rather than chasing perfect models.

Enjoy.

Follow Lee's work:

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lee-Bell

https://www.instagram.com/lee3ell/?hl=en

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