The other day, my client was in a pain flare when he asked, "How much of this is my fault?"

I can't remember how many times I've asked that same question when I got hurt myself.

If you're a clinician or coach who knows about pain science, it can seem like an innocent enough query.

But my goal for this episode is simple: to give you permission to stop asking that question, and give you better ones instead.

To get there, I'm sharing my own screw ups with the injuries I've had since 2015, and what broke, what I believed and what had to change each time.

As an executive member of the Imposter Syndrome Support Club, I'm here to tell you you're not alone...and we have cookies in the back, so help yourself.

In this solo episode, I get into:

• The 2015 deadlift session that became a literal pain in the ass
• What another PT saw in my program that I couldn't
• Batman's "detective mode" for reading a training program
• The pin squat session where I should have stopped
• The question my coach asked me that I didn't want to hear
• The storm, and your pain lightning rod
• If you won the lottery and became a fitfluencer tomorrow, would your pain be gone?
• And the 5 questions to ask yourself instead

If your pain feels like a perpetual game of snakes and ladders, this one's for you.

You're not done yet, my friend.

Links:

Book a free consult call with me: https://calendly.com/unbreakablestrengthonline/firestarter-call-1

Trying to get consistent with your own training? Get a free copy of the Consistency Catalyst guide: https://unbreakablestrength.kit.com/cac1abf5af

Wanna be more confident working with athletes in your practice? Get a free copy of the Confident Sports Clinician's Checklist: https://unbreakablestrength.kit.com/35c376acac

Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jared.unbreakable/

Follow me on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jared.unbreakable

Follow me on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@unbreakablestrength1

I made my best friend sit through a Lord of the Rings analogy. Then I asked him what it was like to watch me almost die.

In 2023, a common cold turned into a hospital admission. Six days later I was on life support, and everybody was telling John I was going to die.

If you've seen Lord of the Rings, you'll remember when Gondor lights the beacons to call for aid. Rohan sees them and answers.

John is the Rohan to my Gondor.

John Flagg is a licensed athletic trainer, an elite powerlifter with a 904 pound squat, creator of the ClinicalAthlete Powerlifting Certification, managing director of the Honey Badger Project, and as of this year a published author with Human Kinetics. He's also been my co-host, my coach, my boss, my business partner and, for the last decade, my best friend.

We talk about:

• How a distance runner ends up squatting 904 lbs
• The $10,000 pay cut he got a week before closing on his first house
• The night he snapped a mop in half in an empty clinic
• Why "it depends" isn't good enough as a clinician, and the decision tree he wants you running instead
• The 2 words that get you instant buy-in from a lifter when you treat them
• The 4 triggers to check when a lifter's training starts to hurt
• What it was like on his end when my wife texted him "he's yellow"
• The 3 books you need to read to improve your communication skills as a clinician
• And the question his mom texted him last week about the year he failed out of school

If you're the one everybody leans on and you've never once let somebody carry you, this one's for you.

Go find your people before you need them, my friend.

LINKS

Follow John: @john.rebuild_stronger - https://www.instagram.com/john.rebuild_stronger/

Links:

Book a free consult call with me: https://calendly.com/unbreakablestrengthonline/firestarter-call-1

Trying to get consistent with your own training? Get a free copy of the Consistency Catalyst guide: https://unbreakablestrength.kit.com/cac1abf5af

Wanna be more confident working with athletes in your practice? Get a free copy of the Confident Sports Clinician's Checklist: https://unbreakablestrength.kit.com/35c376acac

Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jared.unbreakable/

Follow me on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jared.unbreakable

Follow me on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@unbreakablestrength1

"Hi, I'm Jared, and I'm a recovering perfectionist."

Recently, I hit my heaviest squat of the day and my first thought was, "Damn, why isn't it higher?"

My coach sent me a 5 minute voice note back. Only 30 seconds of it had to do with squatting.

The rest of his answer was the stuff around the training. Three little girls. A business I keep overextending myself in. A hamstring that's been flaring since last year.

And the one underneath it all: I'm losing my vision. There's a shot clock I'm up against and no one can tell me how much time is left on it.

He reminded me that you can be excellent at holding up the mirror for your patients, but you still need someone to hold it up for you.

In this solo episode, I get into:

• The 30 seconds of my coach's answer that had anything to do with squatting
• The shot clock I've been racing since 2024
• Why the people who care most are the last to hit the brakes
• What it felt like to have somebody hold up the mirror
• The fear underneath the sprint, of not doing enough and not being enough
• And your assignment, and what it means if you can't finish it

If you're "in your bones" tired too, this one's for you.

Pick your two this week. Hang in there, my friend.

Links:

Book a free consult call with me here.

Trying to get consistent with your own training? Get a free copy of the Consistency Catalyst guide here.

Wanna be more confident working with athletes in your practice? Get a free copy of the Confident Sports Clinician's Checklist here.

Follow me on Instagram

Follow me on TikTok

Follow me on YouTube

My guest spent a night in an ER, just hoping for a disc herniation.

• Why she assumed her dad was coming home to die, and what she'd do differently now
• The shin splints that weren't shin splints, and what the top doctors in Seattle decided was really going on
• Why healthcare might be the only job where not getting a break is normal
• The night in the ER when she was hoping for a disc herniation
•  Her nerve pain triggers that have nothing to do with movement
•  The question Dr. Quinn Henoch asked her that changed how she thinks about lifting without PRs
• The rough Wednesday eval that had her in a pelvic health course by Saturday, six hours of driving later
• And what happens when a woman who's scared to pick up her own kid learns to do it with a barbell

Links:

Book a free consult call with me here.

Trying to get consistent with your own training? Get a free copy of the Consistency Catalyst guide here.

Wanna be more confident working with athletes in your practice? Get a free copy of the Confident Sports Clinician's Checklist here.

Follow me on Instagram

Follow me on TikTok

Follow me on YouTube

This episode gave me a cue called "the vaginal elevator." 

It also gave me insight on how the pelvic therapy and performance worlds don't have to be at odds.

Dr. Sophia Veiras dropped more usable pelvic floor and lifting knowledge in an hour than a lot of us get in a whole con-ed weekend. She'd know. She sat through those weekends, spent her $1500, and not one of them talked about what happens when there's 300 pounds on your back.

Sophia is a Doctor of Physical Therapy, pelvic therapist, powerlifting coach, Barbell Rehab educator, and repeat national-champion powerlifter who came back to compete a year after having her son.

We talked belts, bracing, the fact that a little leakage while you're learning is okay, and how coaches and pelvic PTs can work together instead of past each other.

We cover:

• Why the cues for lifting belts is a time-and-place decision, and how to tell when it fits the athlete in front of you
• The Spider-Man rule of intra-abdominal pressure: more pressure means more responsibility for the pelvic floor to handle it
• Why a real brace is 360 degrees and full-body, not "abs," and the four players in the canister
• Valsalva vs. bearing down, and cues to actually feel the difference (yes, the vaginal elevator and the vending machine claw)
• Sophia's first move when a lifter leaks
• The modifiable levers most people skip with lifter pelvic floor issues
• Why "a little bit of pee" can be part of the learning process, and where the line is
• The underloading problem in rehab, on both the ortho and the pelvic side
• When to keep coaching it and when to refer out, plus the one screening question every ortho clinician should ask
• Pelvic floor issues in men, masters athletes, and post-prostatectomy
• Training and competing through pregnancy and postpartum, with a one-year-old refereeing your bench

Pop it on for the drive. You'll laugh, and you'll leave smarter.

___________

Follow Sophia: @soph.squats

Follow me on Instagram

Let's work together! Book a call here.

New grad second-guessing your exercise prescription for athletic clients? Get the Confident Sports Clinician's Checklist

Struggling with your own exercise consistency? Get the Consistency Catalyst here

Trigger warning: This episode discusses disordered eating, body image, and anxiety.

My old bodybuilding coach called me a pig.

I emailed him after the 4th or 5th binge. First year of PT school. The most anxiety I'd ever had in my life up to that point. I was stuck in a cycle I couldn't break and I reached out for help.

That email is what came back.

It's also one of the two or three reasons I became the coach I am today.

Nobody asked me why I wanted to bodybuild in the first place. They probably should have. Instead, what I got was blame and shame piled onto someone who was already flagellating himself daily.

This episode is about that email, what it cost me, and what I've come to believe any good coaching relationship is built on.

In this solo episode, I get into:

• Why shame fails every single time to create lasting change, and why that's especially true for high-achieving perfectionists
• What my coach should have asked when we started working together, and what it cost when he never did
• What a year's worth of client responses says about what changes people most, and why constant communication ranked above everything else
• What trust, relationship, and communication look like when they're done right
• What I need you to know if you've had a toxic or damaging coaching relationship and you're still carrying it

You didn't fail your coach. Your coach failed you.

And that's not a reason to stop yourself from having hope and reaching out for help again, my friend.

Links:

Book a free consult call with me: https://calendly.com/unbreakablestrengthonline/firestarter-call-1

Trying to get consistent with your own training? Get a free copy of the Consistency Catalyst guide: https://unbreakablestrength.kit.com/cac1abf5af

Wanna be more confident working with athletes in your practice? Get a free copy of the Confident Sports Clinician's Checklist: https://unbreakablestrength.kit.com/35c376acac

Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jared.unbreakable/

Follow me on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jared.unbreakable

Follow me on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@unbreakablestrength1

Dr. Kate Sneddon didn't choose to be diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at age 2.

But she did choose to be a college athlete, run a half marathon while coughing up blood at 19, become a PT, build a practice, and dedicate her career to helping ACLers come back better than before.

Kate's one of my favorite people, and not just because she's a sharp clinician with quick wit and a Long Island accent. There's something you notice when someone's been through the wringer and uses it as fuel to help others. Kate's that kind of person.

In this episode we get into:

• What it actually looks like to grow up with a chronic illness that nobody talks about, and what that taught her about showing up when your body isn't cooperating
• Why she chose ACLers, and the parallel between her CF journey and what her athletes go through
• Why criteria beats the calendar every time in ACL rehab
• The 55% stat we don't talk about enough for ACLers, and what's actually behind it
• The emotional toll of your ACL patient getting reinjured
• The dope-ass testing network she's building so no other ACLer gets failed by a clinic that doesn't know how to test them
• And what to say to yourself when you're in the worst season of your life

If you work with ACLers, make this your next listen or Kate and I won't be mad...we'll just be disappointed.

If you're going through something that's rocking your sense of who you are, Kate's got a word for you too.

Find Kate:
Instagram: @heliosaclproject | TikTok: @heliosaclproject | YouTube: Helios ACL Project

Links:

Book a free consult call with me: https://calendly.com/unbreakablestrengthonline/firestarter-call-1

Trying to get consistent with your own training? Get a free copy of the Consistency Catalyst guide: https://unbreakablestrength.kit.com/cac1abf5af

Wanna be more confident working with athletes in your practice? Get a free copy of the Confident Sports Clinician's Checklist: https://unbreakablestrength.kit.com/35c376acac

Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jared.unbreakable/

Follow me on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jared.unbreakable

Follow me on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@unbreakablestrength1

When you're injured as a coach or clinician, it can f*** with your head.

My client - a PT himself - is going through the worst hip injury he's ever had. He can't say 'yes' to doing what he wants without wondering if he'll pay for it later.

The questions he's been asking himself were very familiar, because I've been asking them myself for 11 years.

This episode is about the part of injury we don't talk about enough: the grief, anger and wondering how the hell you're supposed to help others when you can't even help yourself.

In this solo episode, I get into

• Why injury hits different when being strong is part of who you are
• Why your injury isn't your fault, but it is your responsibility to own
• My actual process for working with clients at the start of our journey, and when things change along the way

If you walk away from this episode with a new question or approach that helps your patients feel seen and heard, I'll have done my job.

Same if you're in pain right now and this makes you feel less alone.

Keep going, my friend

Links:

Book a free consult call with me: https://calendly.com/unbreakablestrengthonline/firestarter-call-1

Trying to get consistent with your own training? Get a free copy of the Consistency Catalyst guide: https://unbreakablestrength.kit.com/cac1abf5af

Wanna be more confident working with athletes in your practice? Get a free copy of the Confident Sports Clinician's Checklist: https://unbreakablestrength.kit.com/35c376acac

Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jared.unbreakable/

Follow me on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jared.unbreakable

Follow me on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@unbreakablestrength1

I spent years believing a lie that cost me time I'll never get back.

This episode is about that lie. And if you're a coach or clinician, especially one who's dealing with pain, injury, or a body that isn't cooperating, it's probably costing you too.

Dan is one of the smartest strength coaches I know. When he herniated a disc that debilitated him and wouldn't get better, knowing stuff wasn't enough.

Later, once we helped him recover, he told me what made the difference:

You can't be objective with yourself when it's your body, your pain, your livelihood or your identity in jeopardy. You need someone else to do that for you.

It's always different when it's you.

We get into this work because we care. We spend years learning how to help people through exactly this kind of thing. So when it happens to us, the conclusion feels logical: I should be able to handle this myself.

Nah, bruh.

If you listen to this episode and wonder "Will I ever start feeling better?" then this is your neon, flashing sign to do something about it.

I'm here. Reach out and let's party

Links:

Book a free consult call with me: https://calendly.com/unbreakablestrengthonline/firestarter-call-1

Trying to get consistent with your own training? Get a free copy of the Consistency Catalyst guide: https://unbreakablestrength.kit.com/cac1abf5af

Wanna be more confident working with athletes in your practice? Get a free copy of the Confident Sports Clinician's Checklist: https://unbreakablestrength.kit.com/35c376acac

Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jared.unbreakable/

Follow me on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jared.unbreakable

Follow me on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@unbreakablestrength1

I was kind of an asshole to Dr. Taylor Goldberg.

When she and I first met, she was at rock bottom - working a job she hated, isolated from the people she loved, and questioning her career choice.

I got to watch her pull herself out of the hole by building a business she loved. Then she signed on for my coaching to get stronger and healthier...

Which is when I almost died. Dick move, if you ask me.

But Taylor came along for the ride. She's one of my favorite people, and an example of the hope and direction that's needed in healthcare.

Taylor is a chiropractor, a virtual hypermobility coach, and someone who lives with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome herself. She now works exclusively with that population and is one of the best in the world at it. 

If you're struggling with a chronic illness, chronic pain or questioning your path in life, she's got a good word for you today.

We hit:

• What her rock bottom looked like, and the only things that helped her pull through
• How she never expected to build a business serving hypermobile humans and is now a leading expert in it
• Why people with HEDS are told to protect themselves when what they actually need is to get strong
• What good coaching and rehab looks like, especially if you have hypermobility
• The stigmas surrounding chronic illness and disability, and how you can be a victim while rejecting a victim mindset
• The surprising impact that strength coaching had on her
• And why coaches need coaches too, especially ones with chronic illness

If this episode served you, leave a 5-star review. Kthxbye ❤️ 

Find Taylor: Instagram: @thehypermobilechiro | www.thehypermobilechiro.com

Links:

Book a free consult call with me: https://calendly.com/unbreakablestrengthonline/firestarter-call-1

Trying to get consistent with your own training? Get a free copy of the Consistency Catalyst guide: https://unbreakablestrength.kit.com/cac1abf5af

Wanna be more confident working with athletes in your practice? Get a free copy of the Confident Sports Clinician's Checklist: https://unbreakablestrength.kit.com/35c376acac

Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jared.unbreakable/

Follow me on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jared.unbreakable

Follow me on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@unbreakablestrength1