Barbell Logic

Matt and Scott close out the interviews recorded at StrengthCon I with returning guest Niki Sims. Niki is an SSC and a staff coach, as well as the Relationship Manager at Starting Strength Online Coaching. She joins the podcast today to talk about her unofficial title of Chin Up Queen and how to structure a successful chin up program for females.

Most people don't think about the emotional benefits of weight lifting, or how exercise can build confidence, when they step into a gym. Yet it is perhaps the most transformative benefit of strength training. Today Matt and Scott share stories of how strength training has transformed their own sense of self-confidence, as well as that of their clients.

Matt and Scott interview SSOC clients Amber and Taylor Bruseke. Taylor is a gynecologist specializing in pelvic floor issues. Amber is a former fitness instructor who discovered strength training after teaching fitness classes for years. After discovering Starting Strength, she got strong and developed the muscular yet feminine look she had been looking for. Similarly, Taylor transformed his body after medical school by gaining over 40 pounds of muscular bodyweight and getting MUCH stronger in the process.

Matt brings the programming lecture full circle by elaborating on why the Novice LP eventually must end, what factors are at play, and how to continue to drive progress in the intermediate stage and beyond.

David Kirkham joins the podcast for the second part of his interview at StrengthCon. After flying to Poland with several thousand pounds of car parts in his baggage and narrowly escaping the wrath of customs, he made contact with the manager of a MiG aircraft factory. Struggling and out of work following the fall of the Soviet Union, the factory eagerly agreed to make Kirkham's Cobra, but had a long way to go before manufacturing to the quality expected in American car shows.

Matt Reynolds presented the basic Starting Strength programming lecture to students of Dr. Nicholas Racculia (a fellow Starting Strength Coach) at St. Vincent College. The lecture begins with an overview of the SRA model - Stress, Recovery, and Adaptation - and the SAID principle.

Frank Sanders is a gifted Master's lifter who put up a great show at the USSF Nationals Meet in January 2018, squatting over 365 and deadlifting 475 at 66 years of age. Inspired by his performance and dedication to training, Matt and Scott invited Frank on the podcast at StrengthCon in April to tell his story as both a lifter and his past military career as a Navy SEAL.

Matt and Scott spoke with Bill Hannon, engineer and SSC, about his new role in developing coaching standards at SSOC, his recently launched Barbell Coaching Academy, and his athletic background as a rower. Bill is one smart dude, having worked for a decade and a half as an aerospace engineer and now serving as Operations Manager for SSOC, serving as an SSOC Team Leader, and running the Barbell Coaching Academy for aspiring strength coaches.

At StrengthCon Matt and Scott met with a number of fantastic guests, but perhaps none with so interesting a background as David Kirkham. At a young age, Mr. Kirkham taught himself to restore a 427 Shelby Cobra CSX3104, guided by a retired Rolls Royce employee who taught him a number of rare metalworking and mechanical skills.

A man of mystery and intrigue, and certainly the coach with the best tan in Starting Strength, Randy Winfrey retired from an Air Force career as an intelligence agent in the late 90's and began coaching endurance athletes. Having been a triathlete and endurance athlete during his military career, it was a natural fit, however over time he became frustrated with the overuse injuries and overall lack of strength in the endurance sports and discovered heavy barbell training in 2011.

Matt and Scott chatted with Rebekah Cygan in the luxurious presidential suite of the Baymont Inn in Wichita Falls, TX. There they discussed Rebekah's story of discovering strength training after questioning the efficacy of her traditional PT modalities.

John Petrizzo, DPT and SSC joined Matt and Scott at the Barbell Logic table at StrengthCon 2018 to talk about his strength journey which ultimately lead him to a clinical practice as a Doctor of Physical Therapy. John found Starting Strength at the very beginning, having ordered a copy of Bill Starr's The Strongest Shall Survive out of the back of Ironman Magazine as a young football player. A few years later, he found the first edition of Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training...

Matt and Scott continue their series of StrengthCon chats with the man himself, Mark Rip... ah, I mean, Brent Carter. Brent is a Starting Strength Coach and Staff member with an unusual history. He moved from Texas to New York City in 2008 to pursue a career as a professional dancer. Although his dance background may not directly inform his current strength coaching practice, his theatrical interpretations of Rip are unparalleled among SSC's.

Matt and Scott sat down with Starting Strength Coach Steve Hill during StrengthCon to discuss barbells, physics, cycling, and strength training for endurance athletes. Steve helped us parse through some of the more confusing applications of physics in barbell training, and talked about his own career as an athlete, a lifter and now a coach.

Live from StrengthCon, Matt and Scott sat down with Dr. Jonathon Sullivan. Dr. Sullivan, or Sully as he is affectionately known, was an ER doctor in Detroit for many years before transitioning out of medicine to coaching people to become strong at his gym Greysteel Strength and Conditioning. Sully specializes in training Masters athletes, and has written an exhaustive book about training and health for the aging person called The Barbell Prescription: Strength Training for Life after 40.