Just 5 Minutes

Are you a procrastinator like me?

I always wait until the last minute to do something. However, taking 5 minutes the night before to set up the following day makes a big difference for how the morning goes.

It’s the difference between a frantic morning, feeling overwhelmed with the tasks that need attention and a morning I can ease into, get some work done and a workout.

Making mine or Elliot’s lunch.

Laying clothes out for a workout.

Packing my bag for the gym.

Making sure the dishes are done and the kitchen is clean.

Plugging in my computer to make sure it’s charged for the day.

Writing out my to-do list.

Whenever I take 5 minutes to make sure I’m set up, the start of the day is less chaotic, smoother and easier to get going.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Weekly Podcast Recommendation

Here with another podcast recommendation for you this week.

Checkout out this episode of the Huberman Lab podcast with Andy Galpin.

It’s a (very) deep dive into all aspects of fitness. Check it out

Huberman Lab Podcast with Dr. Andy Galpin: How to Assess & Improve All Aspects of Your Fitness

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Grip Strength and Longevity

In college I was participating in a peer’s research study and they needed 20 strong college-aged people.

They determined who was strong by using a hand dynamometer. This device measures one’s grip strength by pounds of force you can create while giving it your best squeeze.

Grip strength is a well-known predictor of total body strength. This was a simple low skill way to get the right participants for their study. And it was the first time I learned how grip strength can be used as a predictor for total body strength.

Last week a couple GAIN members sent me this link, What grip strength can tell you about how well you’re aging.

“A wealth of research already tells us that strength is good for us. People who lift weights are substantially less likely to develop heart disease, high blood pressure and many other chronic illnesses than those who skip resistance exercise.”

Grip strength can tell us how strong we are, and how strong we are can be a predictor for longevity.

This gave me the push to get our own dynamometer for the gym. We’ve been having fun with it over the past few days.

We’ve started calling it the truth-o-meter. It’ll tell you if you’re strong or not, and some people even said they didn’t want to know after reading the article.

Next time you’re in the gym give it a squeeze.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

New Class Coming Soon

We’re bringing you a 5-week mobility class starting on February 12th. That’s right, on a Sunday.

Many of you are hitting the slopes, or preparing for a spring race, so we thought a Sunday class focused on improving mobility and recovery would be the perfect end to a week.

Each week will concentrate on a specific area of the body, with the final session dedicated to you having a few specific drills to take away and continue to work on.

More details later this week.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Halfway

We’re halfway through the Mobility Challenge today!

The first week is easy. The second week gets a little harder to continue making the time, and this week is where it all happens.

If you win the mental battle this third week to keep going, you’re well on your way to developing a new habit that will stick around.

If you drop off, you’re like a lot of other people who give up on something far too soon.

Get through this week and the next week will be a breeze. Better yet, you’ll start developing the discipline to keep this habit going.

If you don’t feel motivated just remember - you don’t need motivation, you need to get reps of discipline in.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Gym Lingo - AMRAP

AMRAP - As Many Rounds and/or Reps As Possible in the time limit.

This is a style of density training - how much work can you complete in the allotted time?

Let’s take the following workout as an example to understand this concept.

AMRAP 6 max reps of (excellent technique) deadlifts @ 135.

You complete 50 reps.

There are a couple ways we can measure the density of that workout. One being just counting the total reps, 50. We can also look at total pounds moved, which in this case would be 135 pounds x 50 reps = 6750 pounds moved in 7 minutes.

To then get a training effect the following week, you have a couple options on how to progress.

You could complete more than 50 reps, add load to the bar, or try to complete 50 reps in less time.

Any of those scenarios would make the workout more dense.

AMRAPS are a way to get you to cram as much work, whatever that is, in a time period. By doing this, you’ll learn about pacing and get a conditioning effect while lifting weights - the best of both worlds.

When doing an AMRAP, you need to find a sustainable pace to work at, no standing around!

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Simple not Easy

I was at my parent’s house the other day and a friend of my dad’s was there.

I hesitated when I walked in because I thought I knew who’s truck was outside, but I wasn’t totally sure once I saw them inside. It had been a year, maybe 18 months since I had seen him over their house talking shop with my dad.

My dad noticed the look of confusion my face and said, “he’s lost 100 pounds.”

I was shocked! What an accomplishment. I asked him how he did it.

He said, “I focused on eating the good stuff like getting enough protein and eventually I didn’t want the bad stuff anymore.”

Not easy, but simple.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Habits with James Clear

If you’re losing steam with any goals or resolutions you made at the beginning of the year, I can’t recommend reading Atomic Habits by James Clear enough.

A close second would be listening to this episode of The Drive Podcast where Peter Attia interviews Clear about all things habits, habit formation and how to make new habits stick.

Check it out here.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

How to Get Strong - Reps in Reserve

If you want to get stronger you’ve got to pay attention to reps in reserve or RIR.

RIR is a way to identify how many more reps could you do AFTER completing your prescribed reps.

When chasing strength, your reps in reserve should be low.

Here’s a scenario:

You’re goblet squatting 4 sets of 10 reps.

You pick the 26 pound kettlebell because that’s what you always use. You do your 10 reps concentrating on excellent form, breathing and everything else. Suddenly, I run up to you and offer you $300 for 10 more reps. You grind them out and eventually complete the 10 additional reps for a total of 20.

The last 3 reps took everything you had. You have no reps in reserve. However, if you finished that set at the preserved 10 reps, you left a lot on the table. You had 10 reps in reserve!

The sweet spot of getting strong, and not trashing your body, is leaving 2-3 quality reps in the tank. In this scenario, the kettlebell weight was too light for the rep scheme of 10. You should never be able to double the reps with the selected weight. That’s a clear indication you won’t create the stress stimulus required to make strength adaptations.

If you do push ups with your hands elevated on a box or a bar, this is another way to check and see if you’re being properly challenged. If you normally use a certain height for a set of 10, but could easily crank out 15 or more reps, it’s time to lower the bar.

The general goal with strength training is to create stress that our bodies will adapt to. Make sure you’re hitting the right stimulus by checking in and seeing how many reps you have in reserve.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

How to Get Better at Push Ups

Push ups can be frustrating. On one hand they’re a simple exercise, no equipment required and something that many people believe they should just be able to do.

You can get away with bad push ups for a long time too.

Eventually, poor technique will halt your progress.  Whether your shoulder starts to feel aggravated you’ve plateaued and can’t tack on many reps, it’s likely that both strength and technique are your issue.

Here’s a checklist to make sure you’re doing everything to build the strength and technique required for big set of perfect push ups.

They should be hard but not too hard.

Reaching failure is a sure fire way to slow progress down. We want you to use variation that is challenge to get the reps done, but not impossible leading to frequent misses. When you train your body to fail, it doesn’t adapt as well. Whatever the goal reps are, always try to leave one or two more reps ‘in the tank.’

Frequency

If push ups are really on your mind, talk to your coach and add in an additional day to get the reps in. One day should be hard, grinder reps and the other day should be an easy volume building day. Maybe on Monday you do eccentric only reps, building up some time under tension and on Friday you do hands elevated push ups to get some smooth reps in and groove your technique.

Place a premium on accessory movements.

A push up is just a plank where you bend your arms. Really lock in your plank technique, grip the ground, engage your glutes, breathe purposefully and realize that the more robust you are here, the better transfer over to push ups.

Mobilize those wrists.

If your wrists are really stiff, it can place more pressure on your shoulder while doing push ups. Stretching them out prior to your set can make a significant difference. Sometimes this is all it takes to unlock better technique.

Even if you were to never get a push up on the floor, chasing one is a worthwhile training pursuit to build total body strength, awareness and control.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Fundamental Movement Patterns

The fundamental movement patterns are basic movements that are crucial to being a human.

When creating a training program, I use the fundamental movement patterns to help guide exercise selection.

As a general framework I aim for clients to hit most movement patterns in every workout.

The movement patterns make it simple to train around an injury and customize for a goal.

Pressing aggravates your shoulder? Let’s dial that knob back, maybe once per week is enough with the right variation, or maybe we cut it all together for a period of time.

Lunging bugs your knee? We can work on more hip dominant single leg movements instead.

Want to hit a big bench press? We can turn up the pressing volume and press 4-5 times per week.

Keep in mind, theses are not exercises, but classifications of movements, and specific exercises are derived from these patterns and shapes.

Fundamental Movement Patterns:

• Squat

• Hinge

• Push (horizontal / vertical)

• Pull (horizontal / vertical)

• Single Leg (hip dominant / knee dominant)

• Core/Carry/Locomotion/Throw

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

All About the Rower

I found this podcast all about the Concept 2 rower to be a gold mine of information.

How the the rower was developed, What’s drag factor or a damper? How does it calculate pace and calories?

If you’re an aspiring rowing nerd, check it out.

Listen Here

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Interval Breakdown, 3 min/1 min

If you regularly do intervals at the GAIN, the following interval may be in your program soon. I use something like this while building my running base, and I’ve found it to be a sweet spot to get a nice training effort to improve your aerobic capacity, or endurance. I want to break down this interval, go over its intent and provide context to you so you can get the most from your workout.

4-5 sets:

3 min @ easy to moderate pace

1 min @ recovery pace

First, let’s add up the total working time.

16-20 minutes

It’s duration tells us that it’s an endurance-focus workout.

The work interval is 3 minutes long. Without also knowing the rest period, the work time doesn’t tell us much about the intent of the workout.

The rest, or specifically in this case, active recovery, is 1 minute. Active recovery means you’re going to keep moving, as slow as needed during the “off” interval.

Now we know working duration is 3 times a long as resting. Now we can contextualize our pace.

You’re not going to be able to go that fast.

We want to see you use a sustainable pace. Something you can repeat round after round, after round.

The trick here is avoiding coming out too fast in the earlier intervals, then getting slower and slower. That’s something we see often with aerobic workouts and specifically what we’re trying to avoid when training endurance. The active recovery plays into that, if you’re starting to slow down, maybe you’re not going slow enough during the recovery interval.

The goal with a sustainable pace workout is to improve your endurance by staying at the right intensity. This will elevate your heart rate, but not spike it really high. You should be able to talk, though it should be slightly labored. You’ll be able to answer a question I ask, but if you took a phone call your friend on the line would know you’re exercising.

So how fast do you go?

You should complete the same amount of meters or calories in each set. Knowing a specific pace, like per 500m splits on the rower would require having other knowledge, like from a test or other recent workout. Some of you recently did a 5 minutes for max distance finisher. If we start there, we know that was a maximum effort, not a sustainable one. So to start, it’ll be slower than that.

We can also assume your pace will be faster than if you did 16-20 minutes straight. The recovery interval, while you’re still working, makes it easier to hold a slightly faster pace compared to a straight effort. Going a bit faster lets us increase the intensity to get a better training effect by staying in that sweet spot zone of ‘easy,’ but not too easy.

TL;DR

It’s takes some practice to get into the sweet spot of an endurance interval. Each time you’re on a machine however, is an opportunity to take a look at your paces/rpms/watts to build more context and gather information. Keep in mind the goal is sustainable paces, and matching the total work (meters or calories) done in each on interval. Spending time here will build endurance and stamina, will feel good on your muscles and joints and promotes longevity and heart health. Get to work!

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Mobility Challenge

One of the first videos I ever posted on the internet was a mobility challenge way back in 2015. I posted a follow along video each day to encourage people to unwind and build a helpful habit into their day.

The video quality has improved, and my talking to the camera is drastically better but this value still holds true - taking a few minutes to get on  the floor and work on your positions has a massively positive effect on your body.

On bodies need routine maintenance, something none of us were ever taught.

Fast forward to 2023 and we’re on day 2 of GAIN’s 30 Day Mobility Challenge and if you’re not playing along yet, I hope you start today.

Each morning, the video explanation gets posted to GAIN’s Instagram and TikTok.

Watch the video, usually a couple minutes, to understand the intent for the day and what the stretches are. After that, it’s on you to make the time to do this.

I would encourage you to do it at the same time every day and create and new routine around it. For me, stretching happens at night, after Elliot goes to bed and Hannah and I are watching TV.  Keep in mind, this isn’t only a practice in mobility, but of discipline as well.

If you’re motivated now on day 2, you need to be prepared to not be motivated on day 23. What will keep your new habit going is to create structure and discipline around it.

Be sure to check today’s video and keep this new habit rolling!

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Heavy Training = Posture Training

When you use barbells, kettlebells and dumbbells in the gym, you’re using these implements to add external load. They’re a way to make things more challenging on your body to elicit change, i.e., get stronger. The name of the game is maintaining a good position, or posture, despite these external loads attempting to pull you out of position. Therefore, a fundamental part of lifting weights, especially heavy ones, is maintaining good posture. 

To improve your form, you’ve got to be aware of it. You’ll need to check and recheck and constantly adjust based on internal or external feedback. If you want your posture to improve outside the gym, while driving or on the computer, there’s no shortcut. You must be aware of what position your body is in and constantly edit it.

If this seems like a daunting task, consider this. The stronger you are, the less likely your position will degrade in stressful situations. Your posture will become more robust through training.

The goal is that over time our focus in the gym will improve our posture outside subconsciously. After enough practice you’ll reach a new default.

Regardless of how experienced you are, postural awareness always take a concentrated effort.

Justin MIner

@justinminergain

My Origin Story

I’ve been lifting since I was 15.

It started out because I wanted to get better at hockey. When I searched for more information how to get better, all I could find was bodybuilding magazines.

I started a training log, made home made tank tops and even sported some gloves. I followed  the classic bodybuilder split, training by muscle groups - chest-shoulders-tris / back and bi’s / legs and calves.

I trained like that 5-6 days a week for the rest of high school and was introduced to real strength and conditioning my senior year and started training like an athlete.

I learned the Olympic lifts, start sprinting, squatting deeper, flipping tires, pushing sleds and got on a foam roller for the first time in 2006.

I continued filling training logs through college, and had more resources at my disposal to refine my training program. I learned the word ‘functional’ and went all in on kettlebells. I read every book and blog post I could by Russian kettlebell masters. I learned about bracing and tension and started working out barefoot.

After college, like many athletes, I had a major training slump. I didn’t know what I was training for anymore without hockey.

I started powerlifting. I wore Chuck Taylor’s, and dove deep into the principles of getting really strong and moving heavy barbells. I learned more about physics than I did in my mandatory college class.

It wrecked me. I prioritized the load over form, didn’t move well or have technical proficiency and fell into a deeper training slump. I developed sciatica, my right hip always hurt which made car rides excruciating and I had a hard time sleeping because of my shoulder pain. I thought it was normal. Everyone else I knew was beat up and had bad backs too. I stopped training all together for an over a year  - even though I was making a living as a personal trainer at the time.

It wouldn’t be hyperbole to say I was having an identity crisis. Did I choose the wrong career? Did I like this any more? My personal training job at the time was in a corporate environment. I missed the gritty nature of my old gym and the community I belonged to. A friend helped me find a new gym to train at and I slowly dug myself out of the hole.

I heard the word mobility for the first time on a YouTube video while trying to figure out how to fix my back. It was like the video was made especially for me and the person was speaking to me through the camera.

I started hitting the gym 4 times a week, working on the basics and not letting my ego get in the way. Every second of the day I dedicated to moving better and working on my body. I had foam rollers, balls and bands scattered through my small apartment and every chance I got I was working on my positions and freeing up the stiffness that so many years of hockey and bad training created.  Hannah will be the first to tell it was a little obnoxious, but I was starting to feel better. Not just in the gym but out of it as well. I was on to something.

I had always wanted to do more Olympic weightlifting. Now that I could move better I dedicated myself to learning the skills of these highly technical moves. When in my corporate gym I couldn’t clang bars around and needed to be quiet. This prevented me from lifting too much and allowed me to become more and more proficient. I started feeling good.

My training experiences over the years helped shape my training philosophy and I was on to something. I started to realize I could help more people. I spent the summer of 2014 planning, touring warehouses and getting ready. I opened GAIN in January 2015.

I continued working the olympic lifts, now with a new training partner, and GAIN’s first coach, Alex. We trained hard and were determined to get better. As the business got busier I had a hard time prioritizing my training. I realized I needed to get out of the gym more and started occasionally running in 2016.

In 2017 I needed a challenge and had some unique ideas about endurance training and wanted to test the waters. I signed up for the scariest thing I could think of, an ultramarathon. I ran my first 50k that year and my first 50-miler the next year in 2018. Since then I’ve done  over 20 ultra efforts including backyard ultras and all of the classic routes in the White Mountains including the Pemi Loop and Hut Traverse.

All the running evolved my training philosophy more. I got stronger as my aerobic base got bigger - counterintuitive to everything I thought I knew about training.

Fast forward to today, I like doing a little bit of everything. I like training more than I ever and have a lot of fun with it. Strength training, olympic lifting, CrossFit, running, rowing, biking, hiking, gymnastics - you name it. I train to feel good, be strong, run fast, run far and be up for any challenge life throws at me. I want to age gracefully and be able to take care of myself. I want to move well and intimately know how my body works and responds to different stimulus. All these experiences shaped the ever-evolving philosophy we employ at GAIN with our clients.

I’m sharing this with you today so you know where I came from and how our philosophy at GAIN was created. It’s all from what I have done over the past 19 years in the gym, my formal education in college and the continuing education I’ve pursued since then.

Thanks for reading along and being a part of it all.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

c. 2011

More, More, More

Whenever I have a training slump I start thinking about all the things I need to add in to get back track. Maybe you’re feeling the same way after the holidays.

I’ll start having thoughts like… I better start a new back squat cycle to get strong since I’ve been neglecting that… And I should run 4 times a week so that doesn’t wither away… And since I’ll be running and lifting so much my diet should be dialed in… I’ll start counting my macros and building a new meal plan too…

When we’re off track we come up with so many things we need to start doing. Things we need to prioritize.

Instead, try flipping this around.

What do you need to de-prioritize?

What can you no longer focus on that will allow the big things to work? How can you simplify what you’re trying to do?

Can you cut something out instead of adding something else in?

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Goals or Wishes

I keep seeing Reels and TikTok’s portraying someone’s goals for the year. There will be 10 items on the screen. Things like:

Be more intentional with spending

Be more consistent with my eating

Less eating out

Cook more

More walks

Less phone time

4 workout classes per week

More protein

The list could go on.

These are all excellent things to try to do. Saying them doesn’t make them goals though - that’s why it’s a cultural joke no one sticks with resolutions for the new year.

These are just wishes. Stuff these people hope will happen for them.

To make lasting change, you’ve got to implement a plan, have accountability and rewards.

In other words create a system that leads to new habits.

Reframing goals to habits alone can make a huge difference.

If a goal is something you want, the habit is what will get you there AND keep you there.

Don’t just create a wish list, you need a process. Create a map of how you’ll get there.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

It's Back

I graduated college when I was 23.

That year I got a personal training job and a couple years later I opened Gain days after my 26th birthday.

I started publishing the blog in January 2015. My first post was about a protein shake recipe. I didn’t look that hard but it’s still on the internet somewhere. I had a hard time keeping up with it, and writing didn’t come easy. I also had this strange feeling, that me, this 20-something year old, was writing these blogs for people who were older and more experienced in life than me.

I didn’t know it at the time but a lot of people deal with imposter syndrome. What do I know? Who’s going to listened to me? Do I have the right the talk about this?

Fear got in the way so I stopped.

Fast forward to 2018 and I was reinvigorated to push myself to publish a blog. I wanted to get better at writing and communicating and dealing with fear. I hoped I could help people navigate their health and fitness journey. By August 2021 I posted over 500 blogs and tapped out. I had enough.

On one hand I felt like I had said what I needed to say. On the other, I knew I still needed to get the reps in.  I knew I wouldn’t get good without doing the work - until I had accrued enough time writing.

Here we are, the start of 2023 and itch to write has been building for months. The imposter syndrome is gone. I’ve owned a business for 8 years and I’m a full-fledged adult, no longer a fresh business owner barely out of college. I got married, bought a house, had some kids and my fitness has only improved during this time. An indication that what I’m doing, and what I like talking and writing about works. I can confidently say that 34 year old me would squash my younger self at, well anything.

Some of you reading this probably never knew about the old blog. Some were regular readers and some of your were initially interested in training at Gain because of the blog. Whatever the case may be, I’m happy you’re here today.

Here’s to new habits, refining routines and striving to continue getting better in 2023.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Get Back to It

Whenever we're coming off a holiday or a long weekend, we see people dragging a bit more than usual.

While it can be frustrating, this is normal.

Training has it's ebbs and flows. Some days are good, most days are right down the middle and some are bad.

The key is to not let frustration take over. To play the long game, you need to accept these peaks and valleys and keep the main objective clear in your mind - keep training.

It's okay if some days are hard to get to the gym. It's those days that feel the best to check it off your list and move on.

Just remember, you always feel better when you leave than when you walk in.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain