…it didn’t go how I expected.

I’ve been a coach for over 15 years. It’s my passion, and why I was hired at Nerd Fitness back in 2018.

But my role at Nerd Fitness has grown. These days, I’m not just responsible for our coaching.

I’m also responsible for making sure the right people out in the world – the folks we were built to help – can actually find us.

As it turns out, that’s its own huge, complicated, overwhelming problem.

I had a million questions:

• How do I write a good newsletter?
• How do I make a video that someone actually wants to watch? And WHAT DO I DO WITH MY HANDS WHEN I’M FILMING?!
• Long form? Short form? SEO? AEO? Social media? I haven’t posted anything on my own social media since January 2021 (no joke). Better start figuring that whole thing out.
• What data is important to track? How do I track it? What about software, and split testing, and all of that?
• And most of all, how can I do this in a way that feels authentic to who we are: nerds who are turned off by all the rhetoric, hacks, and false promises rampant in the fitness industry?

And everywhere I looked, there were competing voices telling me what mattered most, what to focus on, and how much time to spend on what.
​
So I did what any good nerd does when they’re confronted with a new problem…

I started collecting underpants.

I read dozens of articles and how-tos. I subscribed to Youtube channels and binged their content. I went to live workshops. I bought programs. You name it.
​
And it helped. At least a little.

But I kept catching myself in a familiar loop.

I’d look at what I made and think:

I was stuck.

I could tell it wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be, and that would freeze me from taking action.
​
​I’d re-film a video 10 times before quietly canning the project.
​
I’d feel butterflies in my stomach every time before I clicked “send” on an email.

Classic “all-or-nothing” mentality.

If I couldn’t do it perfectly, why do it at all?

Then I Had a Moment of Realization

During a conversation with Coach Justin (one of our awesome team members ) – it dawned on me:

I was craving…a Coach.

Just for the marketing version of how to reach people more effectively.

Not another article. Not another 40-minute video from another expert.

I wanted a person.

Someone willing to sit down with me, learn about our situation and our history, take this whole complicated mess and say:

Someone who would check in when I hit roadblocks.

Who would keep me focused on getting actual stuff done instead of endlessly second-guessing.

Who would catch me when I started beating myself up and get me moving again.
​
​Someone who actually gave a crap, and was in it with me.

Because that is what our coaches do for fitness.

I just hadn’t connected the dots before.

I get emails like this every week:

Sound familiar?

Being a beginner again taught me something I thought I already knew: the problem isn’t lack of information.

It’s direction and support from someone you know and trust.

That’s where coaching comes in.

A coach isn’t another voice adding to the noise.

They’re the person who turns the noise down.

Who knows you, simplifies things, points you at the ONE next thing, and sticks around while you figure it out together.

Not every situation needs a coach

Sometimes all we need is that quick resource or starting point.

• The Beginner Bodyweight Workout to start exercising more.
• The Balanced Plate Guide to start prepping some meals.
• An idea of How to Try Again.

But if you’re carrying one of those big, complex, “I can’t seem to crack this” problems – one that’s got you feeling lost, stuck, and alone – that’s not a quick-answer problem.

That’s a “someone in your corner” problem.

So if you’re overloaded and you keep thinking “why can’t I figure this fitness thing out?”

You’re exactly the kind of person we were put here to help.

I’d love to have a conversation about what’s going on and what working together could look like.

Just hit reply and tell me where you’re feeling stuck.

We’ll figure this thing out together.

-Matt

The post Do You Need a Fitness Coach? How to Tell an Information Problem from a Support Problem first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

A lot of the people we work with are in a similar boat. They have packed schedules with work, taking care of their family and loved ones, and all the other responsibilities that come with “adulting.”

And they’re trying to figure out: how do I have a better relationship with exercise so this actually works for me? Both for myself, and for my family.

Faye and her coach started somewhere unusual – not with a workout plan, but with a mindset shift. (Shout out to Coach Shortis!)

Exercise didn’t have to jump from “the thing I loathe” to “thing I love” overnight. Instead, they treated it like a hygiene practice.

You don’t have to LOVE brushing your teeth. You brush them anyway, because it’s part of caring for yourself. Five to ten minutes of movement can work the same way.

Fast-forward eight months. Faye has done a 5-10 minute workout almost every single day. 

Here’s what she had to say about it, in her own words:

(Don’t worry Faye, your secret is safe with us! )

“Sneaky” is a good strategy

Faye’s story really hit home for me this week.

My son is 12, and he’s just getting into the idea of training.

As parents, we want the best for our kids. And as a coach, I’m even more aware that the way we talk about fitness with and around our kiddos has a big impact on their long-term relationship with it.

Much like Faye, I want to teach my kids how to be healthy with exercise, and also, hopefully make it something they don’t loathe doing.

Here’s what a recent session with my kiddo actually looked like:

Send the invite. Whenever I go to workout, I invite my son to join me. He doesn’t have to. I just make it casual. “Hey, I’m going to workout. Wanna come?” Sometimes he does. Sometimes he doesn’t. This time, he actually got off of Fortnite with his friends to come out into the garage with me (which is like, pretty freaking awesome!)

The warm-up is our dojo. Arm swings, leg swings, shuffling back and forth – all the classic dynamic warm up stuff. But we count our reps out loud in Japanese, one to ten, like we’re training at a dojo, which makes it feel like we’re warming up as a team. (something I picked up from my time living abroad in Japan!)

Mirror Man. We always end our warm-up with this game. We face each other. One person moves – shuffles sideways, drops down, changes direction – and the other tries to stay directly in front of them, mirroring everything. Gets him laughing every time, and he forgets it’s “exercise” (so do I!)

Strength moves, paired with play. We did our hygiene work – the strength stuff – but I paired every strength move with something dynamic:

• Balance beam walks (on a 2×4) between sets of push-ups
• Vault box jumps between sets of rows
• “Stuntman” between sets of lunges – I throw a fake kick, he flies backward onto some mats or pillows in slow motion like I just blew him away. Then he gets to do the same to me. Lots of laughing, lots of getting up and down off the floor.

Cliffhangers. We both took turns hanging from the pull-up bar, imagining we were straight out of an 80s action film cheering each other on in our best Stallone voice.

Photo Finish. My favorite way to sneak in sprints. Each person starts from a different spot, and the goal is to cross the finish line at the exact same moment. So you’re trying to perfectly balance each other while running full out.

He loved it, and asked when we could do it again.

Two things can be true

Faye’s story and that session with my son taught me the same lesson from two directions:

1. Exercise is hygiene. You never have to love it for it to be worth doing. Like brushing your teeth, it’s a small, repeatable act of taking care of yourself – and the people who count on you.
2. It also doesn’t have to be miserable. With a few sneaky changes – and a mindset shift – you may find parts of it are even enjoyable (at least some of the time .) That’s what Faye’s coach did for her, and what I got to do with my son this week.

If you’re someone who dreads the idea of fitting exercise into an already packed schedule, but you know you want to make healthier choices in your life, our coaching program is built for you.

When I asked Faye what advice she’d give to someone considering joining the program, here’s what she said:

Want a coach who’s awesome (and maybe a little bit sneaky?)

Learn more about our coaching program HERE.

-Matt

The post “I Hate Exercise”: How One Mom Learned to Work Out Every Day Anyway first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

There’s a reason why these are the foundation of any good strength program.^[1]

But if you’re goal is to be capable outside of the gym, there’s another category of movement that’s often overlooked.

These are the movements that help you build qualities other than absolute strength: power, mobility, and work capacity. So you can break into a game of tag with your kiddos or help your friend move that awkward piece of furniture without worrying you’ll end up like señor stormtrooper here.

Here are 5 fun, real-world movements and where you can slot them into your program

1) Skipping​

Skipping is something that most of us probably haven’t done since grade school, but it’s awesome physical preparation for jumping and sprinting.^[2]

It builds coordination, rhythm and lower-leg stiffness, all while getting your heart rate up.
​
Try adding a couple minutes of skipping into your warm up (or marching if your knees don’t like the impact!)

As a fun challenge – see if you can maintain a serious frowny face while doing it. (Hint: it’s impossible and you’ll end up laughing at yourself instead. )

2) Safety Vault​

The Safety Vault (AKA “The Step Vault”) is a foundational parkour movement and it deserves it’s time in the sun.

It’s essentially the safest, most efficient way to get yourself over an obstacle. Plus, it’s fun to learn!

Imagine you’re on a hike and there’s a fall tree in your path, or you need to hop a low barrier wall or fence to chase down your dog who got out…AGAIN!

Because this is skill-based work, it’s best done before your main workout or in a separate session all together.

It won’t dramatically increase your strength, but it’ll expand your movement vocabulary and boost your confidence navigating the real-world.

3) Sandbag Shoulder & Carry​

I don’t think there’s much better for building real-world capacity than having to lift an awkward object, carry it to another spot, and safely put it down.

And it doesn’t have to be a sandbag.

Have an extra bag of mulch lying around? A backpack full of books? A kid that wants to be a part of your workout? Great!

Set a timer for 5-10 minutes at the end of your workout and get to work for a great piece of conditioning.

4) Pivot Lunge^[3]

If there’s one thing most gym movements miss, it’s training outside of traditional flexion and extension movements (i.e. the sagittal plane.)

The pivot lunge gets you a bit of multi-planar movement and adds a fun new variation. I just added them for one of my clients, Diane, and she LOVED them.

This can sub right in for any unilateral lower-body lift (for example, in place of a Split Squat) in your strength routine!

5) Medicine Ball Rotational Toss​

And last but not least, I give you: the Medicine Ball Side Throw.

Not only does this introduce another rotational movement to the mix, it helps us operate at different levels along the speed/strength continuum.

Traditional lifts tend to focus on lifting things as heavy as possible (i.e. Max Strength side of the spectrum.)

Movements like the Medicine Ball Rotational Toss operate at a fraction of the strength, but help develop speed and rotational power.

We typically place Power-based exercises like this before your maximum strength exercises in your program.

Shoot for a few rounds of 6-8 reps. Go full speed with each effort.

If you don’t have access to a medicine ball or a concrete wall to throw it against, I’ve done this with basketballs I cut open and filled with sand and just tossed it around the yard a bit.

—–

And there you have it, my picks for 5 overlooked movements for real-world fitness.

One big caveat here: The goal of this list is to give you more ideas and options to explore – NOT make you feel like you’re falling behind if you can’t immediately add all these things in.

You don’t need to totally overhaul your training. Sprinkle these in as able.

Now, it’s your turn:

Are you going to give any of these movements a try?

What other exercises would you include on this list?

-Matt

P.S. Want help with a personalized workout routine that actually fits your goals, your schedule, and your level? Find which coach is right for you.

The post 5 Overlooked Movements for Real-World Fitness first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

Dale’s been working out at planet fitness for the last couple of years, but in the last 6-weeks, she’s made it her mission to start learning how to strength train. (HECK YES!!!) She’s watching Youtube videos and trying to figure the whole thing out.

Here was her question:

I know exactly how it feels to stand in the gym and see the free weights section and feel like “What am I even supposed to do over there?”

Heck, when I first started lifting weights in high school, the only guidance I got was “add more weight” and “go deeper”. (Literally, they strapped this little device around one thigh that “beeped” when it sensed it had tipped below parallel. The rep didn’t count unless we heard the beep – regardless of proper technique. )

Getting started with barbell training is something we’ve worked with on with thousands of folks over the years.

Here’s how I’d break it down so you can step up to the squat rack with confidence.

​WATCH VIDEO​

Step 1: Give yourself permission

This is going to sound counter-intuitive, but I mean it: the best way to start barbell training is by giving yourself permission that you never have to pick up a barbell if you don’t want to.

There are so. many. ways. to. get. strong. Bodyweight training. Dumbbells. Kettlebells. Sandbags. You get the idea.
​
The last thing I want is for you to feel like you HAVE to barbell train to get stronger, or that you’re missing out on some super secret technique. (Cue the FOMO!)
​
Sure, barbell training is super fun, challenging and rewarding, but if you decide it’s not for you – no sweat!

And the funny thing is, by giving yourself permission to never pick up a barbell if you don’t want to, it actually makes it easier and more fun to learn. Who knew?

Step 2: Build your confidence

A barbell typically weighs 15-20kg (or around 33-45lbs) – the most common being the 45-pound version.

Before you step up to the bar, it’s a great idea to build up confidence in bodyweight and dumbbell movements that mimic the ones you’ll do with a barbell.
​
You’ll get stronger and learn the technique at a lower weight, so when it comes time to grab the bar, it’s mainly about adjusting to the set up – not a question of whether you can safely perform the lift!

Some example progressions (level up when you can do 5 to 10 reps of the exercise with confidence)

• Bodyweight Squat -> Goblet Squat (15#) -> Goblet Squat (25#) -> Dumbbell Front Squat (40#) -> Barbell Back Squat (45#)
• Wall Push-up -> Countertop Push-up -> Dumbbell Bench Press (30#) -> Dumbbell Bench Press (40#) -> Barbell Bench Press (45#)

Step 3: One rep at a time

My third important tip: treat barbell training like practice time in the beginning.

It’s not about doing a ton of reps. Or adding weight.

It’s about mastering the technique with the bar.

So come in to the gym, get a good warm-up in, then before your main workout, practice your barbell technique.

• How to un-rack and re-rack the bar safely.
• How it feels to perform each lift well and with confidence
• What to do if you need to bail

You likely only need a couple of sessions like this, but it will go a long way to helping you feel confident under the bar. And you learn best when you are fresh (hence add it to the start of your workout.)

Once you’re feeling good moving with just the bar, you can slowly adding weight until you find your sweet spot.

Bonus: Avengers, Assemble!

One final thought I’ll leave you with. Depending on your gym, there are likely staff, trainers, or even other members there who would love to spot you so you can perform your first barbell lifts with confidence.

Especially if they are wearing a Nerd Fitness shirt or unicorn rainbow shorts (looking at you Alek) – I can guarantee they’d be ecstatic to help out.

I know not all situations are the same, so only do what you feel comfortable with.

I’d love to hear from you:

Have you tried barbell training yet?

If so, what was your experience like getting started?

If not, what other questions do you have about it?

You got this!
​
-Matt
​
P.S. Coach Drew is someone who excels at teaching barbell training and technique. Earlier this year, his client Steve hit a 200lb overhead press…for a triple!

The post “How do I start lifting with a barbell?” first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

In case you’re new to this email list, Steve is the nerd who started Nerd Fitness in 2009, and stepped back from NF to spend the last few years writing it!)

I was lucky enough to be a small part of Steve’s writing process. I got to jam with him about behavior change, provide feedback on his opening chapters, and heck, one of my stories even made it into Chapter 3!

So obviously, my opinion is COMPLETELY UNBIASED.

But the truth is, this book hits close to home.

It’s full of honest and helpful advice that mirrors what we talk about at Nerd Fitness, but that I also needed to hear.

Each time I’ve read a new version, a different part of the book jumped out to me. The stories about the Wall of Failure and treading water, in particular, really stuck with me (and I think they will for you, too.)

And the line about the caterpillar and War & Peace lives rent free in my brain. (You’ll know it when you get there.)

If you’re ready for a compassionate approach to behavior change that will have you laughing as much as you are jotting notes in the margins, please grab a copy this week.

Without further delay, here’s the Rebel Leader himself, Steve!

We did it! Holy crap we did it.

Four years ago, I took a big step back from Nerd Fitness to start work on a project that changed my life.

I lived a lifetime (and went through chaos) while writing it.

How to Try Again is FINALLY here.

Starting today, you can visit HowtoTryAgain.com and order your copy in 3 different formats – hardcover, ebook, and audio – from wherever you like in the US, Canada, and Italy today.

(If you’re in the UK, Ireland, South Africa, India, Australia and New Zealand: it hits bookstores in your country on Thursday, but you can still order today!)

I’ve been publishing a free weekly newsletter for the past 17 years, and this book is the culmination of that effort. If you’ve enjoyed my writing, chuckled at my bad jokes, and felt less alone in this world because of my writing…

I’m asking you to buy this book TODAY.

I’m giving away a lot of bonuses for people who order this week, and the details are below.

A few quick notes:

QUICK NOTE #1: Amazon currently has How to Try Again at a big launch week discount. No clue how long it’ll last, but that’s pretty fun!

• ​How to Try Again in colorful Hardcover: 30% off!
• ​How to Try Again on Kindle: only $14.99!
• ​How to Try Again Audiobook: only $17.24!

QUICK NOTE #2: The book is ALSO available literally everywhere else books are sold! How cool is that!?!

• ​Bookshop.org​
• ​Books-A-Million​
• ​Walmart (30% off!)
• ​Target (30% off!)
• ​Barnes & Noble​
• ​Indigo in Canada!

Here it is on Amazon Canada and Amazon Italy too!

You should be able to walk into any bookstore in North America and get this book.

QUICK NOTE #3: If you order your copy by the end of THIS WEEK…

You’ll get a slew of Book Bonuses:

• The 10-hour playlist I listened to on repeat while writing How to Try Again
• A secret chapter JUST for pre-order folks (coming July).
• A Nerd Fitness starter guide.
• Access to my Secret Book club where we’ll discuss this book over the coming months!
• Other bonuses are coming soon, once I catch my breath.

HOW TO GET ALL THE BONUSES:

Send your receipt from any version of the book, from any country, to 1book@stevekamb.com, to get the bonuses and be entered to win NF Coaching.

All book details are over on HowToTryAgain.com, including all the nice quotes from fellow authors, Publisher’s Weekly review, and more.

This is such a fun week for me, and I’m currently flabbergasted by the support. (A+ word, by the way, I need to say it more).

Thank you for being here with me.

I went through the most challenging years of my life while writing this book (I tell that story in the introduction).

Hell, I’m still going through it.

But I’m here. And so are you.

We can build on this!

This is the hardest I’ve ever worked on any project. It taught me way more about myself than I was expecting. I had plenty of late nights, early mornings, and really tough months to get this across the finish line…

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

This is what I am meant to be doing.

I wrote the crap out of this book.

I hope you can support my work, but no problem if you can’t! I’m so lucky I get to write for a living and share my weird thoughts with the world, and that’s all because of people like you. Thanks for being a fellow fallible human, and thank you for your support.

It means more than you realize.

Let’s have a fun launch week, deal?

-Steve

PS: How to Try Again is now out everywhere books are sold in North America (and lots of other countries on Thursday!)

If you’re able support my writing by buying a copy today!

The post It’s here! “How to Try Again” is now AVAILABLE! 🎉 🙌 first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

Maybe you’re trying to start a workout routine again. Maybe you want to take better care of yourself and finally eat in a way that feels good. Maybe it’s something else entirely.

Whatever it is – if you’ve tried before and it didn’t go how you hoped, a quiet desperation can creep in.

(All things I’ve had people share with me.)

These thoughts are completely NORMAL. But I know it doesn’t make it any less sucky to deal with.

And worse, experiences like these make you gun shy to try again.

You start looking for the perfect plan – the one that can guarantee success no matter what.

And any setback? Just more proof that we can’t hack it.

So how do we break out of this “Doom Loop” and gear up for another attempt? And how do we make it go differently than last time?

These are the fundamental questions that Steve tackles in his upcoming book, “How to Try Again” (have we mentioned the book before )

While Steve guides you step-by-step through the process, I want to highlight one section in particular that I think is really helpful for when you find yourself stuck in this mode. Here’s what Steve writes:

These same lessons apply to any change we attempt (including improving our fitness!)

The Matrix

If I had powers like in the Matrix and I could just download all the info I’ve learned in the last 15 years of coaching into your brain, this is what I would share:

Treat each workout, each nutrition strategy, as an experiment to see what works for you.
Take your best guess and go for it, even if you don’t know for sure.
A “failed” experiment isn’t a failure – it’s feedback we can use to try again, differently.

Because here’s the thing – there is no one workout, no one nutrition strategy, no one routine that works all the time, for everyone, forever.

Sure, there are fundamentals that you can continue to rely on. That’s why we built things like the Beginner Bodyweight Workout, or our 10 Nutrition Levels. To give you a really good starting point to run your first experiment and to help you avoid the overblown hype rampant on the internet.

But that’s just the first step.

From there, we learn to notice what does and doesn’t work for us, and adjust accordingly. Then we rinse and repeat until the heat death of the universe.

Heck, I’ve been training for 25 years, and I STILL make adjustments all the time. That’s not a flaw in the plan – that’s the whole game.

How this applies in day-to-day life

Here are some examples just from this past week:

• Squats are bothering my knees – I’ll try subbing in step ups today.
• I am so sick and tired of chicken. I’m going to experiment with some plant-based proteins this week.
• Life is really chaotic right now – I don’t think I’ll be able to get to the gym reliably. I’m going to pivot to a short bodyweight routine I’ll do before work to save time.

That mindset shift (from ‘perfect plan’ to ‘try and adjust’) is how Dawn stopped feeling caught in the Doom Loop and got the courage to try again.
​
Since the beginning of this year when she took part in the Nerd Fitness Challenge, she’s completed 6 rounds of experiments, learning more about herself and what’s working for her each time.

(If you want help setting up and running your own fitness ‘experiment’, here’s everything you need to get started.)

——

One thing I’ve noticed in talking with clients over the years is how good we are at recognizing how much things have changed in the past, and yet how we think everything is likely to stay as it is right now moving forward.

If there’s one thing I can guarantee you, it’s that things are going to change again.

If we can let go of trying to find the ‘perfect plan’ and start with good enough, if we can run mini ‘experiments’, if we can learn how to try again, we’re giving ourselves the best chance of navigating through the chaos.

It takes courage to try again – especially when we’ve been burned in the past. To pick yourself back up after a setback, a big life change, or a disappointment.

I’ve read a lot of books, studies, and taken courses on behavior change in my time as a coach.

How to Try Again takes all of those lessons, but delivers them in a way that’s, more than anything, human.

Thank you, Steve, for pouring yourself into this book and sharing it with the rest of us.

-Matt
​
P.S. You can grab a copy of How to Try Again here.

The post “I need it to work this time.” first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

• Fitness
• Nutrition
• Mindset

Almost everyone ranks them in exactly that order. Fitness first. Nutrition second. Mindset a distant third. (And that makes sense! They came here to move better and eat better. That’s the tangible change.)

But here’s what’s interesting:

When I look back through eight years of success stories, the physical wins are there (stronger, healthier, more energy, etc.) But almost none of them lead with that. What they talk about is the mindset shift.

It was the thing that took them from “fitness is a struggle” to “fitness is a natural part of my life now.”

And it’s not the mindset you’re probably picturing. It’s not “just do it.” It’s not white-knuckle motivation, or gritting your teeth and building an iron will like a Marine.

The real unlock comes from an unexpected place: improv comedy.

“Yes, and…”

If you’ve ever watched Whose Line Is It Anyway?, you’ve already seen this. The first rule of improv is “yes, and.”

Steve draws the comparison really well in his upcoming book, How to Try Again (which releases June 16th!):

Turns out that’s also one of the most powerful things you can do for your fitness.

In coaching, the “yes” is accepting what’s actually going on in your life right now – and stating it as neutrally and factually as we can.

The “and” is the piece that’s within your control to act on. It’s where we decide what we’ll actually do with that information.

What this sounds like in real life

I have a client, Val, going through a job transition right now. Pressure to wrap everything up at the old role, real fear about the unknown, and genuine excitement about what’s next. A lot of big emotions at once.

But the sentence I kept hearing was: “This is just going to be hard.”

That’s not a bad place to start. It’s honest. And it beats saying “everything is wonderful” when it isn’t. But it’s loaded, and it was sitting on her like a weight. So we reframed it into something more neutral and factual:

Try it this week

Run one of your own situations through “yes, and”:

• Yes: What’s the neutral, factual version of what’s actually going on right now?
• And: Given that context, what’s one realistic action step?

As Steve says:

You got this.

– Matt

The post What “Whose Line” Taught Me About Fitness first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

One of my clients (let’s call him Elliot) would go hard every three months. Aggressive diet. New workout plan. The full deal.

And it would work…for a few weeks. Then life would do what life does – motivation would fade, work would get stressful, there’d be a sick kid to take care of, a vacation – and the whole thing would unravel.

Three months later, the cycle would start all over again. Only this time, everything felt a little worse. The scale would tick up, his knees hurt more, and he felt more out of breath going up the stairs.

Determined, he’d say to himself: “I just need to try harder this time.”

When I sat down with Elliot to build out his coaching plan, we realized that even though every previous attempt felt like progress in the short-term, in the long run, the system was failing him.

As my friend and Rebel Leader Steve Kamb writes in his upcoming book How to Try Again:

So that’s what Elliot and I did – we stopped pouring energy into the thing that wasn’t working.

(By the way: Steve is hosting a live Q&A TONIGHT just for people who have pre-ordered the book! If you want to join, and read the first two chapters of the book 2 weeks early, visit HowToTryAgain.com for details and next steps!)

A lesson from the beach

If you’ve been to the beach, you’ve probably seen the signs warning about rip currents.

Here’s the counterintuitive thing about them: when one is pulling you out to sea, you’re not supposed to swim AGAINST it. You’ll exhaust yourself, and you’re not going to win.

What you’re actually supposed to do is swim sideways. Parallel to the shore.

And if you can’t escape the tide? Float or tread water.

You’re not getting closer to the beach – but you’re not exhausting yourself either. Holding steady and staying afloat is the critical first step to getting back to safety.

This is the P in the PACT framework Steve writes about in his book – Pause.

Not a one-time emergency move. It’s a skill we can use again whenever required.

And this was the exact piece that was missing from Elliot’s earlier attempts. When we rebuilt his plan, we didn’t start with what his “optimal day” would look like.

We started with “how do we stay afloat when life throws you into a rip current?”

This is the thing that most fitness plans miss, and what I’ve seen actually work hundreds and thousands of times with clients in Nerd Fitness Coaching.

Progress isn’t about operating at our peak all the time, forever. It’s about learning how to toggle between periods of maintenance and periods of focused effort.

Ultimately, that’s the strategy that gets us towards our goal.

I get it!

The allure of “continual optimization” and “just try harder” FEELS good.

As Steve says:

That feeling is the trap. It’s what sent Elliot into an unsustainable sprint every three months.

And SCIENCE is on our side, too.

We can maintain muscle and strength on one-third of our normal training volume for weeks at a time.

So, when you’re slammed at work and cut your 4-day program down to one short session – you’re not losing ground, you’re staying afloat. You might not be winning, but you’re not losing either.

That’s the difference between the yo-yo and the staircase.

How to put a Pause plan into action

When your energy is low, you’re juggling 50-kajillion things, and you’re stressed – what can you fall back on that keeps your head above water?

For Elliot, this looked like:

• A quick breakfast protein shake he actually liked that was easy to throw together
• A short bodyweight workout (~15min) 2x/week
• Push-ups while the coffee brewed.

Once we implemented that, he no longer crashed out after a few weeks.

For you, your “tread water” plan might look like:

• A shorter version of a workout you already like
• Stocking up on high-protein freezer meals you can grab in a pinch
• A brain dump before sleep to get whatever’s rattling around in your head onto a page
• Short movement breaks throughout the day – 20 squats before lunch, a 5min walk before your next meeting, etc.

There’s no right or wrong answer here. Experiment to find what works best for you.

Steve has a line that I want to leave you with:

When life has you caught in a riptide, the urge is to put your head down and swim harder. That’s what backfires. Instead, pause and tread water until you’re out of the current.

You got this.

Still floating,

-Matt

The post How to Break the Yo-Yo Cycle first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

It’s simple. You can run it on yourself. And it’ll teach you what to look for to dodge future issues.

The 3-part diagnostic

I’m looking for a recent spike in any of these three:

• Volume – how much of the thing you’re doing
• Intensity – how hard the thing is
• Novelty – how new the thing is to your body

A big jump in any ONE of these increases your injury risk. A jump in two or three at once? Bingo.

Here are some examples:

• You fall in love with a new hobby, like rock climbing (novelty), and spend hours at the climbing gym your first week (volume), but pick up a nagging wrist injury you can’t seem to shake.
  
• You decide to sign up for a half-marathon race with your friend. A few weeks out, you jump right into the later stages of a training program to catch up (volume & intensity), but get shin splints and can’t complete the race.
  
• You start a new strength training program and decide to max out on each lift to really test yourself (novelty, intensity), but partway through your shoulder does something funky and now it aches when you try to sleep on your side.

Running the diagnostic in real life

I’ve been coaching Steve (founder and Rebel Leader of Nerd Fitness) for the last couple of months, and recently his back started getting tight after a round of golf.

When we ran the diagnostic, things became clearer:

• His step count jumped from around 6,500 on a normal day to 17-20k on golf days (volume spike)
• He went from sitting at a desk straight into cranking full-power swings (intensity spike)
• Golf also asks the body for rotational power it doesn’t get much of day-to-day (novelty spike)

His back was responding as we might expect when we turn the dial up on all three variables at once.

Here’s how we use that information to build a plan.

 Raise his baseline daily walking week over week so 15k+ steps isn’t a shock to the system

Build in a real warm-up before he tees off to prep his body properly

Create a bigger buffer of strength, mobility, and stability in the areas golf demands most (rotation, hip mobility, etc.)

The bigger idea: graded exposure

This diagnostic works because it points at the same principle running underneath almost everything we do in coaching: graded exposure (AKA Progressive Overload).

Strength training? The goal is to challenge your body just the right amount. Too little, nothing happens. Too much, you put yourself at risk. It’s the Goldilocks zone we’re after.

Training for an event? Give yourself plenty of time to build up for it so you never have to spike up your intensity or volume at the same time. My client CJ just finished a half marathon and felt amazing the whole way – but only because we spent 16 weeks of consistent, gradual training getting him ready. He’d previously dealt with shin splints and other issues. This time? Injury-free. Here’s what he messaged me after the race:

Recovering from an injury or chronic ache? First, make sure you get checked out by your doc. Good physical therapy is basically graded exposure with extra steps. You’re slowly rebuilding capacity and tolerance in the area, teaching your body it can handle load again.

Heck, this even applies to habit change. Too much change at once? Hard to sustain, easy to burn out. Too little change? Progress is so slow it’s hard to evaluate what’s working. We want just enough challenge to move the needle.

Same principle. Different applications.

Run the diagnostic on yourself

Whether you’re feeling something nagging right now, OR you’re about to start something new (a class, a sport, a season, a project) – ask yourself:

1. Am I (or did I recently) make a giant jump in volume? (Amount of the thing)
2. Am I (or did I recently) make a sudden leap in intensity? (How hard the thing is)
3. Am I doing something completely new? (First Zumba class, first hike of the season, first pickup basketball game in 5 years)

If you said yes to one -> ease in. If you said yes to two or three -> really ease in.

This doesn’t mean you can’t do hard things. It means giving your body a fair chance to keep up with what you’re asking of it.

Level up one step at a time. That’s how you stay in the game for the long haul.

-Matt

The post The diagnostic I use to help prevent unnecessary injuries first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

“I hate weight lifting and no matter what strategy I tried, I just can’t make it stick. Standing or sitting, lifting dumbbells for more than a few minutes just bores me to death.

Walking truly has been easier to do because I can do it while I do other stuff I need to do that day; work meetings, reading work emails, doing my game dailies. It is the act of just standing there and lifting weight doesn’t give the dopamine my brain seeks. I swear it is like a little child and I am looking for ways to make it eat its broccoli by hiding it inside things.”

If this is you, don’t worry, I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve that may just help.

Even if you already enjoy working out, these can help make the process even smoother.

Strategy #1: Pair it with stuff you already love

Pair something you need to do with something you want to do.

• Do an enjoyable activity (i.e. your game dailies) right before you do the workout to give yourself that extra boost
• Listen to a favorite podcast you save for while you’re working out.
• Find a follow along video or a workout class so you aren’t doing it alone. Building community around exercise is one of the most surefire ways to make it a more enjoyable part of your routine!

Strategy #2: Gamify the activity itself

• Our Bodyweight Adventure series turns exercise into training for boss battles
• Roll a D20 to randomly select your next exercise – this can add a bit of chaos and fun to the mix.
• Set up your space like a mini obstacle course with themed “stations.” Crawl under the imaginary barbed wire, row the dumbbell like you’re digging into a secret compound, etc. You’re not working out, you’re on a secret mission!
• Track completed workouts on a treasure map and reward yourself with “loot” at milestones.

Strategy #3: Make progress itself the reward

This is where a smart, periodized training program is criminally underrated.

In our coaching program, we’ve found a lot of people who didn’t previously enjoy training feel way better about it when they can actually SEE that they are getting stronger week to week. If you’ve been stuck doing the same weights, sets, and reps for a while, this is worth another look!

Strategy #4: Skill-based training

Tie your in-the-gym movements to your real life:

• Pressing overhead trains you to put things away on the top shelf more easily.
• Instead of squats, you might try getting up and down off the floor a variety of ways
• Or, skip the traditional strength training entirely and learn how to crawl, jump, etc. (think beginner parkour). There’s no one right way to move.

Strategy #5: Get nerdy about the technique

This one’s more personal, but it keeps me coming back:

I treat each rep as it’s own technique puzzle.

Can I feel the stretch at the bottom?

Can I move the weight quickly but in control?

It engages my brain in a novel way and turns “boring reps” into something more like practice. Might or might not click for you, but it’s another angle.

One more thought:

A lot of people who write to me about this topic also mention things like: “I’ve just never been an exercise person” or “I’ll never like exercise.” And while I don’t think everyone will inherently love exercise, I do think these statements can become self-fulfilling prophecies in a way that isn’t all that helpful.

If you catch yourself thinking them, name them, and try reframing:

“Exercise isn’t my favorite, so I’m going to try X today.”

That small shift keeps the door open instead of closing it.

I’d love to hear from you! Are there any other ideas that I missed that have worked for you?

– Matt

P.S. Thank you for all the kind words I received from last week’s email. I’m happy to report I’m on the road to recovery! #trusttheprocess
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P.P.S. If you struggle to find enjoyment in workouts, Coach Sarah is someone on our team who immediately comes to mind as an awesome fit. I’ve had DOZENS of her clients email me to tell me how she names workouts after their favorite hobbies and how much they love that extra personal touch.

The post “I hate weight lifting, but I know I should do it. Can you help?” first appeared on Nerd Fitness.