Philosophy of Strength

I talk with client Andy O'Callaghan about the progress he's made since we started working together. Andy has changed the way he looks, fixed chronic joint pain, and achieved his goal of a muscle up. Listen to get his perspective on what was required to get to this point.

1:17 Can you gain strength in a calorie deficit

3:40 Main value of hiring a coach

6:00 How to start running when you're heavy

09:56 Deadlifting in squat shoes

11:25 Dumbbell flyes from the floor

13:20 Improving shoulder mobility for overhead press

15:15 Getting older and hitting final PRs

19:20 My goals

20:05 Fascia training and 'glute dominant' athletes

23:30 Is strength training enough for cardio?

26:38 Tips for a pulled hamstring

28:44 Weight training for soccer players

31:00 When to work on asymmetries

34:10 Focus on hypertrophy and strength at the same time or separately?

37:48 What fitness assessments do I do

40:00 How often do I train to failure

Training in busy January gyms, how severe injuries happen, training with partials, advice on becoming a PT, and more.

A look back on the main changes in the industry, my training, and coaching business in 2023.

A longer Q&A than usual

So you're not hitting PRs as easy as you did when you started training? Here are the most likely reasons and how to get your lifts moving again.

Worst fitness trends, why you need to train with others, balance/proprioception training, and more.

In this episode I sit down with Iron Ian of the Iron Mindset podcast. Ian talks about how he first got into training through working in the upstart Irish pro wrestling scene, how he later transitioned into powerlifting and coaching, and other general chit chat about the fitness industry.

My take on some 'essential' albums I found disappointing, versus the ones I think are often overlooked compared to the rest of that band's catalogue.

Progressive overload is a very important principle for good training, yet trainees often misunderstand what it is and how to use it.

Hurt your back? Congratulations, diagnosis: human. The good news is it's probably not serious and you'll be able to get back to lifting much sooner than you think.

1:07 Evidence for 'explosive' reps?

05:37 My current training split

08:23 How to get a muscle-up

13:02 Breaking a running plateau

17:01 Barbell press a bad option for hypertrophy?

23:15 Why wear a belt?

25:00 How much weight loss impacted my bench

27:46 Tips for golfer's elbow

30:05 Back pain on RDL

33:19 Submax slow eccentrics vs supramax

35:50 Advice for S&C coach moving into PT

Functional training has become an industry buzzword. But rarely has its dubious claims about 'good' and 'bad' movement ever been challenged in the mainstream. Conveniently, functional training tends to be more entertaining and easier than traditional resistance training, making it a huge hit on social media. In this episode, I dismantle the common arguments used to defend this giant distraction from effective training.

0:00 Intro

1:31 My thoughts on the internal rotation craze

06:00 Periodisation of training for fat loss

11:40 The last thing I changed my opinion on

16:55 Squat U's gains

18:30 Is the smith machine for pussies?

23:35 Do I ever wish I had a different job?

28:24 Popping noises in joints

32:00 Easiest way to break a bench plateau

35:30 What RPEs do I prescribe for gaining strength?

0:00 Intro

05:25 Honourable mentions

20:25 Secret of Monkey Island

24:57 Super Mario World

28:07 Halo

31:36 Pokemon Red/Blue

37:30 Oblivion

45:19 The best game of all time

00:50 What are my favourite arm exercises?

02:00 Is the back raise safe for back rehab?

03:53 What bench grip width to use for hypertrophy?

06:10 A thank you message

07:11 What's my take on barefoot training?

10:13 What's wrong with optimising?

16:10 What's the most fun thing about being a coach?

18:17 How do you deal with the BS in the industry?

23:06 Back pain on dynamic effort deadlifts

25:30 What's my opinion on 'MoveU'?

27:28 What are my current favourite games?

Interested in attending Hellfest? Here was my experience attending what's quickly becoming one of the biggest heavy festivals in the world.

The first instalment of a segment where I provide in depth answers to questions I've gotten from Instagram.

Join me as I rip on Loudwire's best albums of the 2000's, and provide my own suggestions.

In this episode I sit down with one of my most successful clients to discuss how he went from being underweight and a complete beginner to lifting, to gaining 10kg of mass and essentially doubling his strength across the board.

Here are three albums I think are good introductions to the most upbeat and fun loving music genre out there.

Rick Nally is a coach and an accomplished runner, with years of experience and sport science education. In this pod we delve into how he went from sucking at sports to finding his talent for running, his time as an athlete on a scholarship in the states, reflection on the S&C field and the service he now offers to his online coaching clients.

Prepare for some deepery

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Here's a rundown on the discography of one of the greatest heavy metal bands of all time. Getcha pull.

The Liver King controversy is a perfect case study of why the fitness industry isn't helping anywhere near as many people as it could. 

Beginners and intermediates need to take distinctly differently approaches to improving on chins, although the basic principles remain the same! 

For a special 50th episode, myself and Ian delve into our album recommendations and the order you should listen to them for getting into the most unholy and badass of music genres. Fair warning: this one is long and involved us putting away quite a few beers. 

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Dave is a strength coach and physical therapist who takes a no BS approach to helping lifters get strong and out of pain. He's also a major nerd and strength philosophiser like me!

Fellow sh*t stirrer and training philosopher, Cian O'Brien, pops into the pod for a good old fashioned ramble 

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0:00 Who people used to think ran the page

1:45 How Mark got into training and coaching

6:40 Stuff Mark used to believe 

8:20 How Mark found evidence based fitness

17:35 The difference between being ignorant and malicious 

25:00 How the meme page grew

30:00 The power of memes

38:58 Bad physios and staying within your scope 

44:00 How to improve the industry 

56:45 The conjugate method 

1:04:30 Specificity in training 

1:08:45 When to use variations 

1:13:21 Biggest thing Mark has changed his mind on recently 

1:19:25 What he'd tell his younger self 

1:26:20 Where to contact Mark for coaching 

0:00 How Will got started in fitness 

12:40 Reflections on the Paleo Diet 

19:15 Lessons learned from CrossFit  

29:18 Balancing your goals/priorities  

34:00 Training smarter and prioritising recovery 

40:00 Biggest mistakes people make  

43:30 Marketing ethics in fitness 

49:00 Emotions and changing beliefs 

53:30 What coaches should consider before entering the industry  

1:00:00 Biggest thing Will has changed his mind on recently 

1:08:24 Advice to younger Will  

1:14:00 Will's current training  

1:17:23 Contacting Will for coaching

0:00 Ian's introduction to training 

14:05 How Ian got into academia 

23:10 Issues with S&C as a career 

36:23 How coaching education could improve 

50:20 Coaching weightlifting 

54:00 Ian's weightlifting background and current training 

59:25 Ian's PhD and research interests  

1:03:20 Biggest training lessons 

1:24:10 Ian's coaching services

0:00 What we’ve been up to

10:00 When does technique/form matter?

16:00 S&C for Sports

21:30 Why use variation?

26:30 Teaching exercise classes

31:00 Should you have strict rest periods?

40:00 Should you rely on music?

46:20 Mental routines and rituals before performing

57:00 Is RPE useful? 

1:05:30 Fitness gadgets 

1:13:50 Lockdown training lessons

1:19:20 Fitness gatekeeping as a marketing tactic 

1:24:00 How much of your physique is modifiable? 

0:00 How Emily started training and became a coach 

14:00 Weight gain for women 

20:30 Social media and body image 

27:30 Genetics role in training results 

35:00 Should women train differently, and impact of menstrual cycle

0:00 Luke's background 

8:05 What got Luke into training and his current goals 

14:00 Luke's approach training people

18:20 Importance of nutrition 

20:40 Understanding your goals, and what will make you happy 

24:30 Our views on deloading 

27:20 Biggest mistakes beginners make 

32:30 Misinformation around injury and pain 

37:10 Pain catastrophisers and the nocebo effect

41:30 Luke's experience with tearing his ACL

43:15 How can the lay person find good information and coaching? 

53:30 Outro

0:00 What are 'weakpoints' ? 

2:00 Where the idea comes from

5:00 A funny anecdote

8:00 Do you really have a weakpoint? 

12:00 Is it worth not training the exercise you want to get better at? 

16:30 Why not exploit your strong points first? 

18:30 Can we even 'fix' true weakpoints? 

20:00 When weakpoints make sense

22:10 Final thoughts

0:00 Intro

2:40 What is clickbait and where did it come from?

5:20 Pay per click advertising

7:20 Is clickbait good or bad?

13:20 Possible solutions

20:00 Summary

0:00 Rich’s background 

8:00 Main things for lifters to focus on

14:15 The most important aspect of any diet

18:00 How creatine works and who should use it

26:50 Importance of supplement testing

30:15 Beta Alanine

34:10 Caffeine

39:20 Keto for strength and muscle?

44:40 Carnivore

48:40 Intermittent fasting

53:00 Seaspiracy claims

57:00 The public’s perspective on science

1:03:30 Hydration recommendations

1:08:00 Body fat measurement

1:16:05 Dietary fat amount and types

0:00 Squat University controversy

3:15 Biomechanical reasoning

6:15  What do elite lifters do? 

10:30 Is asymmetry bad? 

15:30 The spectrum of physio beliefs

18:25 Problems with the kinesiopathological model

20:45 Problems with the biopsychosocial model

21:40 Good physios do the same thing 

25:40 Adaptability vs fragility mindset 

28:10 Is spinal flexion an issue? 

0:00 Intro
4:50 Is bodybuilding getting smarter?

10:55 Should bodybuilders get stronger?

17:15 Strength phases for bodybuilders

21:00 Muscle gain for strength? 

32:40 Has social media killed bulking? 

38:27 Body fat and bulking 

46:30 Should you bulk or cut?