Welcome to the GAIN Blog
The blog is updated Monday-Friday. Tune in for posts and discussion about health, fitness, nutrition, training experiments and reflection. We share articles, videos and more. We post the link to our Instagram story every day, make sure to follow along there to never miss a post.
Your Brain on Exercise
Something I realized early in my exercising career, and something that I think most, if not all, long-term clients and exercisers everywhere notice as well, is that you just feel better after doing it. The studies are in too, and there’s no doubt exercise is good for your brain and mental health.
Realizing the gym makes you more focused at work, less distracted at home and generally in a better mood can be a key driver for discipline to stick to your routine.
Much more sticky than the classic idea that I need to workout to look a certain way, or weigh a certain amount.
While it isn’t a crystal clear S.M.A.R.T. goal, working out for your brain to function better is just as good as any other goal to get get you into the gym, into a new routine and a healthier lifestyle.
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Friday Thoughts 13
Every summer we have some young college kid who wants to build enough strength to bench press 225 pounds, two plates on each side. I tell all of them, it’s a great goal to strive for, but nothing is going to change afterwards. The point I try to get them to realize is that the people who actually stick with the gym long term focus on the process. If you just focus on more and more weights, it’s a direct route to burn out, frustration and injury. Hitting big PRs is great, it keeps you engaged and gives you something to strive for. I’m proud of my 405 squat the other day, but also, I know it doesn’t matter.
Taylor’s pull up numbers continue to climb, be sure to check out some of the crazy sets he’s marking off on the whiteboard near the coaches’ desk. He’s well over 1000 total reps so far.
If you want a deep dive into intermediate strength training reps protocols, find out how RPE was developed and like blogs with lots of numbers in them, check out my friend, and former GAIN Intern, Declan’s blog post HERE.
This was really funny, set it down fake outs and chalice squats are my favorite.
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Seventeen Year PR Timeline
2005: Back squat for the first time at Great Bay Athletic Club after reading about them in bodybuilder magazines I bought at the grocery store.
2006: As a senior in high school I back squat 405 with a couple of my training partners. Depth was suspect and I’ve wanted to do it again ever since.
2007-08: Keep back squatting (or front squatting) heavy once a week year round, never missing a training day.
2009-2011: I goblet squatted a lot in college, and deadlifted a lot, but there was only one squat rack in our gym so we didn’t use it often.
2012-2014: I have constant back pain, keep getting hurt and think back squats are the most dangerous, irresponsible, waste of time lift and no one should do them!
2015-2016: Maybe I thought they were so dangerous because I moved so poorly and have terrible range of motion, let me relearn how to squat and improve my mobility.
2017-2019: Discovered ultra running and rarely lift any weights.
2020: Time to start squatting heavy again. Following a training cycle and build up to 305 for the first time in over 10 years
2021: Wanted to build on last year’s squat program and spent the fall trying to get a PR. I ended up with 355, and most importantly, no pain.
2022: Planning to build on last year’s momentum and try for 405.
December 2022: Get hurt squatting, have a baby, training gets a back seat.
March 2023: Got PT, spending extra time breathing, mobilizing and warming up. Squat light once a week through May developing control and building confidence. Squat 305 easily in May and head into running season with confidence about my back.
August 2023: After a mountain ultra, I lean into kettlebells for training. I get lots of high quality reps in and enjoyed doing the same thing every day.
September 2023: Inspired by a member at the gym, I follow a program to squat every day for 40 workouts in a row.
November 2023: After the Easy Strength Program I’m feeling crazy strong and eager to give 405 a go, but know I need to be patient. I build to an easy single one day of 355. A few weeks later, I go for 365 and get it cleanly. After watching the video back, it looked easy so I made the jump to 395 and got it. I was stoked.
December 2023: The plan was for 3x1 long pause squats at 315. I was continuing my squat plan by building my confidence at 315. I thought if I can dominate 315, I could get 405.
The third single yesterday was the easiest of them all and had the longest pause, 4 or 5 seconds. I decided to go to 345 and see how it was. Stood it up easy and decided today was the day. I jumped to 375 and it was easy too. I loaded 4 plates to the bar and got it. Once again, most importantly, nothing hurts.
I’m pumped. It’s been a 17 year journey of fighting with, and trying to master the squat. There’s two points I want to make today, first, if you want to get better at something, you have to practice and commit to that thing. I’ve run only a handful times since August, and had to trade off other aspects of my fitness in order to get here. The other is that if there’s something you want to do, but don’t think you’re able, maybe you just need more time. There was more than one occasion when I thought I would never back squat again. I just needed more time, more patience and more practice.
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Underfed, Underperform
Halfway through my workout yesterday I couldn’t help but wonder why everything felt so hard despite the bar being 10 pounds lighter than the previous week.
I was resting plenty between sets, and got good and warmed up beforehand too.
It was a bit of a weird day in terms of my normal routine. Nolan had a doctor’s appointment smack in the middle of his nap time. I had gone into the day not expecting to train, and instead to be hanging with him.
So when I found myself working out in the garage, huffing and puffing between sets, feeling so weak, I realized it. I hadn’t eaten since breakfast, around 7:00, and it was nearing 1:00.
Most days I have a big bowl of oats, fruit and protein powder between 10-12, a couple hours before I train. This is my pre workout meal, and I didn’t realize its importance until yesterday.
I don’t want to give the impression that I wasn’t able to train either. It was an average workout, which many of them are. But rather, I want to bring your attention to all the other things that can affect you in the gym, and most of the are within your control. Things like sleep, nutrition, stress and daily movement will influence how you feel, and how you can perform in the gym.
When you’re having an off workout and can’t figure out why, I would start with when the last time your ate was.
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Rolling at Night
People tell me all the time they need to stretch more, or foam roll more often, or that they don’t do enough mobility work. While the gym is a great place to learn these techniques, there’s just too many other things to do. You need to lift heavy things to get stronger, do accessories to work on balance, stability and core, never mind conditioning, warming up and cooling down - there’s a lot of fit into an hour. While foam rolling is effective, I’ve found out that it is most effective as something you do before bed.
In true blogging fashion, here is a list to make my case.
Laying down on the floor is a great way for your physiology to down regulate. Maybe not the best way to awaken your body and get ready for physical activity. I spent 10 years foam rolling before workouts, and I turned many of those attempted workouts into naps on the floor using a foam roller as a pillow. Which as an aside is a terrible idea, but if you’re a coach you’ve done it.
Foam rolling at night gives you insight as to how your body is feeling. It serves as a nightly check in, like running a maintenance scan. You can ask questions like, how’s my breathing tonight? Is this spot more sensitive than normal? All these little insights can help guide your routine and give you insights to your training.
Accumulation. The problem with only rolling at the gym is that you’ll never get enough of a dose to make lasting change. But doing it daily is where the real magic happens and the little changes stack up.
You have the time. You probably get a chance to watch TV most nights. Instead of sitting on the couch, use this time as an opportunity to get on the floor. Little habits like this are where healthy lifestyles come from. We have a basket in the living room filled with all sorts of mobility tools, they’ve got to be kept close!
If I’m running or lifting heavy the next day, I use my nightly routine to prep for the workout. Running? I’ll roll my calves, feet and stretch my hip flexors. Heavy snatch day? I’ll open up my thoracic spine and give my shoulders some love.
Get to work!
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Garbage Out, Groceries In
One of the speakers at a seminar we recently attended said, in reference to recovering from tough bouts of exercise; you’ve got to move, garbage out, groceries in.
When we exercise, it’s stressful for our bodies, and that isn’t a bad thing either. We need to create that stress to in order to adapt and overcome, it’s the basic principle that makes strength training work.
When we have a tough workout, and stress the body out, our muscles and cells create waste products. Some of them, our bodies can recycle. Others get moved out of our bodies through the lymphatic system, which uses muscle contractions to pump the junk out.
The saying is in reference to getting yourself moving, to use muscle contractions to help clear the waste, and at the same time, your blood is delivering new nutrients from the food you’ve eaten and digested, your groceries.
So the next time you’re laying around feeling sore and achy from a workout, get up and get moving, it’s one of the best thing you can do to promote your recovery.
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Friday Thoughts #12
Welcome to this week’s edition of Friday thoughts where I share half formed blog posts and things I saw on this internet this week. Enjoy!
I’ve been on a mission to hydrate before I caffeinate (inspired by @megsquats) and it can be a little tricky to slam down cold water early in the morning. You know I’m a fan of electrolytes and drink LMNT. Well, fire up your kettle and try it hot! Citrus is my go to, but orange is pretty good too.
Here’s where Taylor got his pull up program idea. You can follow along with how many daily reps he’s doing each day on the whiteboard.
As we head into winter and colder months, that means boot season is coming. In just the handful of times I’ve thrown my boots on this year, my feet were feeling it. To combat getting jammed into a boot, I’m making sure to keep foot rolling in my nightly unwind rolling plan, and you should too. All you need is to grab a ball, stand up and start rolling the bottom of your feet.
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
This is Hard
It’s hard to make yourself go to the gym few times a week. You have to do it when you have no energy, no motivation, when it's freezing cold or extremely hot. You have to wake up early or come in after a long day at work.
It’s easy to get down on yourself when you aren’t making it in as much as you’d like or progress is crawling. Today, I want to remind you that this is a worthwhile cause.
Pat yourself on the back, and remember that this is a good use of your time and frustration. In fact, it being frustrating is probably a good thing, it means you’re striving to do better.
This isn’t a hall pass to skip workouts. This is a reminder that it’s hard and hard things are worth doing. Keep it up.
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Confidence Maintenance
Perhaps one of the most overlooked traits of strength training is building confidence. It slowly, quietly, builds in the background until all of a sudden one day you find yourself thinking things you never thought possible.
I’ll try skiing again this year, for the first time in 15 years.
I can handle all that walking on a family vacation.
I can get the kayak off my roof and carry it to the water by myself.
Get down on the floor to play with your kids or grandkids, no big deal.
Say yes to this hike invitation.
These small thoughts that enter your mind are actually huge wins. There’s no clear way to measure confidence, and it’s different for everyone. It’s a hard thing to boast about on a tabloid too.
Since it’s hard to measure, and can be hard to notice, it’s easy to forget it’s there. It becomes part of you when you’re training regularly, and getting an appropriate physical stimulus. The trap is that it’s finite. If you don’t keep training, your physicality will decline and your confidence with it.
Training never gets easy. But know that if you stay in the game and keep playing it, you’re unlocking benefits, obviously physically, but also in the way that you think and feel. In fact, there’s so many small benefits like that you probably don’t even realize they’re there until they’re gone.
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Pose, Fall, Pull
I used to hate running. I felt clunky. Every single step always hurt. I didn’t even know there was a technique to running, I just thought you did it. Then I heard Dr. Nicholas Romanov’s way of explaining it.
Romanov is a Russian sports scientist and creator of what’s known as the Pose Method of running.
The Pose Method breaks running into three components.
Pose: The running pose; the whole body vertically aligned, shoulders and hips over the ankle of the support leg.
Fall: Leaning forward to shift your center of mass forward. Running is controlled falling.
Pull: Pulling the support leg off the ground as you lean forward creates the gait cycle, allowing the opposite leg to come down be the support leg.
Check out this podcast with Dr. Romanov to hear more on this thinking and dive deeper into the Pose Method.
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
That Time of Year
We made it. It’s that time of year, between Thanksgiving and the New Year. It’s a busy time for family events and social calendars, it’s dark and cold, and it gets easier and easier to push things off, until next year.
It’s also a good time to get started on your goals for next year. As they say, there’s no time like the present.
If you have big goals, or even just a small habit, that you want to crush in 2024, do yourself a favor and stop thinking about what you’ll do in the new year, and instead, figure out what you can do to get started working towards that right now, in 2023.
35 days to go!
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Thanksgiving Community Workout - Thursday at 8:30am
Join us tomorrow morning (Thursday) for a group-style, all-fitness-levels Thanksgiving morning workout.
We do Community Workouts just a few times a year, usually around or on holidays as a way to break out of our normal routine, get some movement in and hang with your gym friends.
Here’s all the details for tomorrow.
Who: Anyone. Any fitness level. Newbies and fire breathers alike will get an effective and appropriate workout for themselves.
When: Thanksgiving morning 8:30-9:30.
How: Use this link to reserve a spot. You can sign up other people too.
Why: Move, sweat, have a good time, do a different workout than normal, workout with different people than normal, get out of your house for a little bit, open up the legs before a long car ride, gym friends.
See you there!
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
How Much Protein?
If you're ready to level up your nutrition, the next piece to figure out is how much protein you're eating.
Protein is important. We all know that it’s important for building muscle. But it’s also about recovering from workouts and having a well-functioning body.
Many people are surprised at how little protein they eat once they see it quantified.
If you Google how much protein you should eat, you’ll find answers like .6-1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight or desired bodyweight. The problem, is you need to know how much you’re eating to begin with, before picking a goal, there is no context for the number.
The best way to find out exactly how much protein you’re eating is to weight your food. Do a few days in a row and see what you average. From there, you’ll have more information to figure out a good target.
f you're consuming 75g of protein a day, and want to be eating 125g, don't jump straight there. Build slow and be consistent with 100g first and see how it goes before adding more.
Use these tips to make sure you're setting yourself up for protein success each day.
- Protein at every meal. No matter what.
- Find protein rich snacks
- Add a protein shake
If possible with protein powder, try a couple different kinds to see what you like and how your body reacts. You can also add it to oatmeal to to turn it into a meal of mostly carbs to a meal of protein and carbs, or even to yogurt, pancakes and muffins to up the grams of protein.
Once you figure out a good level of protein, you can use that as a way to create healthy nutrition habits and guide your food choices so you’re getting muscle building nutrients daily and consistently.
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
How Newbies Get Started
Potential members at GAIN start with a 3-session trial. This serves as an opportunity to meet the coaches and see how we do things at GAIN. Our individualized, feels like a group, but isn’t actually a group, vibe is different, and unlike any other gym you’ve been to.
On the first session, you’ll work closely with a coach doing our Intro Workout. This gives us an opportunity to go over some finer details like bracing and breathing and seeing how much range of motion and stability your body has. We talk about injuries, training history and what you want to get out of your gym time.
Regardless of your fitness level and experience, we want you leaving the gym after that first session feeling as though you could have done more. Our saying is, we can write hard workouts, but don’t need to prove that one day 1. We want you to build a new habit you can stick with, easing in is key.
You’ll learn some new movements and lingo, and it can be a bit overwhelming. Just know that we’re aware of this, and try to take it slow and not overload you with gym jargon. On the first day we primarily focus on learning and breaking down the squat pattern, body weight upper body movements, the push up and ring row and some of our core training drills.
By the second workout, we’re ready to introduce some more movements and will do some conditioning (cardio) and get introduced to some of our favorite cool-down mobility drills. This workout focuses on pressing and pulling with the upper body, along with some single leg movements.
On the last workout of the trial, you’re learning and working on the hinge pattern. This can be a tricky one, but is important for everyone to learn. We revisit some movements from the previous two workouts here if needed. This will feel like a bigger workout for most, because we usually give you more to do on the third day as your body is starting to adapt to some new movements.
All in all, the 3-Session Trial is a crash course in all things GAIN. Learn our favorite exercises, get your movement broken down by an experienced coach and learn how to move better, feel more connected and get a plan that unique to what you need and want to accomplish. GET INVOLVED.
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Friday Thoughts #11
Welcome to this week’s edition of random Friday thoughts and links. Enjoy.
Want to know where your hip flexors are, and how many other layers of muscle they’re underneath? Check out this post and see why they can be a tricky muscle group to stretch.
We’ve been on a kiwi kick here in the Miner household and I was always frustrated with my yield after cutting the skin off. I even thought I was clever using a vegetable peeler instead of a knife. Maybe I’ve been living under a rock and you already know this, but you can scoop the kiwi right out of the skin.
A lot of people have asked what shoes I’ve been wearing, especially after my squat video from last week. Those are called weightlifting shoes. Not weight lifting shoes, as in shoes for lifting weights, but weightlifting, as in the sport comprised two moves, the snatch and the clean and jerk. The primary objective is to get a barbell from the floor to over your head in an athletic, fluid motion. These shoes are stiff and rigid, perfect for transferring and absorbing force and the elevated heels give me more ankle range of motion to get my torso more upright, or in a stronger position to hoist a bar.
By the way, this was 355, a PR. the difference between 350 on 12/24/21 vs 355 now. (swipe over to see the 2021 squat).
Final thought for the week. This excellent post from Jon Goodman about being boring.
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Gain's First Thanksgiving Workout
Next week we’re hosting a community workout, where anyone can get involved for some training on Thanksgiving morning. It got me thinking about the first time we trained on Thanksgiving at GAIN.
It was 2014, and the equipment order had just arrived the day before Thanksgiving.
I spent the day unboxing and the next morning at 9am, me, Hannah and our friend Cam broke in the new space with some sumo deadlifts, rowing and push ups. It was a memorable workout, and I’m excited to bringing back the Thanksgiving workout at GAIN this year.
High Protein Snack
If you’re lifting weights trying to build strength and muscle, you know that getting enough protein is important for recovery and new muscle growth.
Getting enough protein can be tricky. Having a few go-to high-protein snacks can help get you there. Here’s one of those meals I’ve been using lately.
Greek yogurt with frozen berries. Sometimes I defrost them, some times I half heartily defrost them and mash them up in the yogurt. Depending on my macro needs, I can use full fat or non fat yogurt, and toss in a banana and/or honey when I need to up the carbs.
It’s a highly tunable, I can adjust it based on what I need that day.
While it’s simple, it helps me get to my protein goal and makes for a great dessert.
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Continuing the Streak
There have been several people who have mentioned to me that they’re still going strong with their habit from the October Habit Challenge. Now, 44 days later!
It got me thinking, how many days are left in the year? 48.
That’s only 7 weeks.
As we approach the holiday season, and a busier than usual time for most of us, it can be easy to write off your goals and aspirations and wait till next year. I urge you to reconsider. There’s still plenty of time to build positive habits, remember, tiny small ones create big wins over a long enough time period.
That being said, what are you going to do with the remaining 48 days of the year?
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Sore? Do This!
While soreness isn’t the best indicator of effectiveness or progress in the gym, it is something that all of us experience at one time or another. Whether you’re chasing PRs, learning new movements or getting into a strength training routine for the first time, you’ll experience muscle soreness eventually. And while it isn’t something we want to chase, it is something experienced gym-goers should know how to deal with.
Get moving!
Taking a walk is the best thing you can do for sore muscles. It’s going to get your joints moving, promote blood flow to the muscles, and moving around will even help your lymphatic system get to work, helping to clear the gunk from the system. If you feel stiff and achy when you start, I can almost guarantee you’ll feel better in just a few minutes.
Roll it (and breathe)
The foam roller tells you when you need it most. When your muscles feel the most sensitive is one of the best times to get on there and noodle around. Once again, you can really notice the change after just a few minutes. What seems unbearable when you first start soon gives way and you’ll be looking for ways to get more pressure.
Getting some feedback into your sore muscles can increase blood flow, and make everything cooperate better, especially when paired with some focused breathing and contract/relax techniques.
Mobility Circuit
Set a timer for 10 minutes and pick 3-5 of your favorite mobility drills. Cycle through each one, say some 90/90 hip switches, planks to downward dogs and rotational arm swings. After a few minutes your body will be thankful for the movement and feeling far less sore.
When you’re feeling sore and unsure of what to do, move! The more you sit, the stiffer you’re going to feel. Get moving!
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
Friday Thoughts #10
Welcome to this week’s edition of Friday thoughts, where I share cool things I saw on the internet and/or random thoughts that aren’t quite ready for a full blog post. Enjoy.
Read the caption to check out this excellent squat check list. Then watch his form, so smooth and no change whatsoever from the bar all the way up as the weights get heavier.
2. How to bail a back squat. If you want to squat some heavy weights, which some of you do, you’re going to be faced with the challenge of not knowing if you’ll be able to stand the bar up or not. There are a couple ways to bail, and @squat_university touches on them in this post, however, much of the video is dedicated to what all things in the gym come back to - mid foot pressure.
3. Thinking about specific muscles when training is not productive. I try to get people to think of the movement pattern they are performing, rather than, this push ups is for the pectorals and anterior deltoid. Movement patterns make you more aware that each movement is in fact a total body movement, and this illustration shows that.
4. This was an excellent article about breathing, and the bucket cue was new to me, and one I’ll be using.
Breathing on Purpose Rob Wilson
Justin Miner
@justinminergain