With the flashback episodes behind us, this week I sit down with Rebel coaches Keiran Halton and Ryan L’Ecuyer to debrief last month’s training camp. The training camps are an important feature at Rebel Performance because these are the times we get to meet up with all of our athletes to lift, learn, coach, throw down, eat, vibe, and so much more.
The meat and potatoes of the episode are surrounding toxic poop (yes, you will need to tune in to understand the context), how important community is in the training and lifting world (aka being surrounded by people who actually love to lift and train like you do), get out of your own head and stop getting over-coached/over-cued (nailing your setup is the crucial step here) Listen in to hear our biggest takeaways from the weekend and why it’s a no brainer you should be at the next one.
What You’ll Learn in this Episode:
- [02:28] Being stalked by advertisements
- [05:17] The toxic poop guy
- [14:28] Biggest takeaways from the weekend
- [17:53] The difference between an emotional support system and a fitness support system
- [21:22] The variability in squat patterns and understanding where the load is
- [23:42] Finding and feeling the bench more
- [25:16] Overthinking coaching cues
- [32:18] The downfall of chasing complexity
- [34:25] The benefit of a hybrid style training
Ryan L’Ecuyer: I want to say this on air. I refuse to drink mud water because I hate the advertising system.
James Cerbie: That was not what I was referencing with that.
Ryan L’Ecuyer: And I don’t know why that pops up sometimes. Do you guys get offended by the shit that pops up for your suggested advertising? That happens to me all the time. I’m like, Why do you think I want to see this? This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen. Why did you think that I like this? Based on whatever.
Keiran Halton: I guess when Apple updated everything.
Being Stalked by Advertisements
James Cerbie: You essentially stopped having that’s like the debate here. It’s like, okay, well, either everyone is spying on you all the time and then you get like a pretty targeted ad and advertising experience where you’re seeing things you probably actually want to see. Or it’s like you just block all that entirely and then you just get blasted with ads and it’s like, well, maybe this is relevant. Maybe it’s not relevant. Who knows?
Ryan L’Ecuyer: That must be what happened because I usually say no to everything. I don’t need anyone telling me what I like, but it happens either way. It ends up being more like it’s a good filter of things I don’t like. You’re 30 years old, you’re male. Here’s all the stuff. This is all terrible stuff. This is what people like. This is why I don’t like anybody.
James Cerbie: Sorry, just super quick. I remember when I got out of College, I was probably like early out of College, like 22, 23, whatever it was. And I had not upgraded to a paid version of Spotify yet. And bro, every single ad I got was for like, wedding and engagement rings. I was like, alright, we need to pump the brakes here. One, not hating anybody. Two, I have no race at this point to try to get engaged and or married. I’m like, is there a way for me just to hit stop showing me this? Literally every like 90% of the ads I got were for engagement rings and wedding rings and stuff like, you guys have way mis-profiled me here. It is the worst too, right? Because you’re in the middle of lifting and you’re trying to listen to Spotify. My cheap ass wouldn’t upgrade for paid Spotify. I’m sitting there like getting jacked up, ready to go hit a heavy set of dead or squats or something. All of a sudden it’s like, Jared Diamonds, give her something really special. And it’s just like the biggest buzzkill moment that you could ever ask for. I’m just like, okay.
Keiran Halton: This is genius marketing because they knew you were going to start having a panic attack. You’re like, I know.
James Cerbie: I know, that’s true. Maybe that’s what it is. I’m just going to bombard you with the most annoying ads imaginable. So you’re just going to upgrade and pay us the money so we don’t do that anymore to you? Oh my God, what are you going to say you had something and then I totally cut you off.
Keiran Halton: Oh, no. So I guess we’re not getting the Mudwater sponsorship. That’s like anti-sponsorship psychology.
James Cerbie: I don’t know anything about that. Literally nothing. I’ve seen the ads. I know what you’re talking about. Yeah, bro, I’m drinking Mud and I’m like.
Keiran Halton: The best is the. Do you see the toxic poop guy?
The Toxic Poop Guy
James Cerbie: No, this is news to me. Please. I’m intrigued.
Keiran Halton: It’ll probably pop up just from us talking about it, but it’s a guy with a beard. He’s like, do you know that you have up to 20 pound of toxic poop in you right now?
Ryan L’Ecuyer: Yeah. I don’t know.
James Cerbie: Okay, you have 20 pounds of toxic poop. So is he selling a diuretic? Is he selling something that just makes you just, like, shit your brains out?
Keiran Halton: I think he just wanted to tell you that. No, I will never make it past the first time. I have no idea what it’s actually.
James Cerbie: It doesn’t tell you anything. It’s just telling you that you have toxic poop inside of you.
Keiran Halton: Yes.
James Cerbie: The only solution. The only product, I would think if that’s your intro. Hey, you’re full of toxic poop. The clear solution is getting rid of the poop, right? There are a lot of things that give you diarrhea. Unless he’s going to try to sell you something that you like, granted, people will sell anything. So it’s like he’s going to sell you something that’s going to make your poop. I hate it, dude. I can’t stay on the Internet and advertise. It’s everything, though. Do you guys remember the original Squatty Potty ads with, like, the unicorn? Have you guys watched this with the unicorn that sits there and they showed the sphincter, like the thing of being kinked and uncanny and like, the soft serve ice cream coming out. That was gold.
Ryan L’Ecuyer: Oh, good. Ice cream. Oh, my God. Minute commercial. I’m like, I’m buying whatever this is that they’re selling just because it’s the most incredible thing. I was so happy.
James Cerbie: That’s what all ads need to be. That’s the barrier to entry.
Ryan L’Ecuyer: Yeah. Speaking of exercise, do you guys want to hear a quick story about it?
James Cerbie: Absolutely.
Ryan L’Ecuyer: How terrible the middle schooler. I was friends, so we had a friend that came in with a chocolate X wax bar. And there’s this kid, you always have one kid in your group who you just kind of buck with all the time, right? This is like the designated kid, right? So we had this student, our group, we’re all sitting at the table and we’re like, let’s see if we can get this guy to eat at this x-lax bar. It literally says, like, X lax on every piece of chocolate. There’s like eight squares of chocolate. Each one say laxative on it. So we just were like, oh, we’ll scrape it off. He’s like, scraped it off with a plastic knife so you couldn’t really see the logo anymore. And we’re like, hey, I don’t really want this chocolate bar. I kind of taste like shit or something. And it was like, dude ate, like, nine servings of X ray, and we’re in 7th or 8th grade or something like that. And it’s just like a ticking time, this dude. But holes are about to explode. There’s no stopping it. I was the only one, apparently, with the conscious schedule.
And maybe it was just because I had him in every class. After that, I knew I was going to be sitting in Earth Science with him. And this is at the time you have to raise your hand to go to the bathroom, too. So it’s like, there’s no time for that. The bathrooms all the way down the hall. I’m trying to do the math. There’s no way this kid’s going to make it. And this is like a career ruining moment for someone in middle school, right? You’re not calling back because this has happened to you in school. So I finally saw it. I was like, Dude, you got to call your mom right now. She’s got to pick you up. What are you talking about? I was like, you just ate, like, nine servings last week. You have to leave immediately. And he was like, I feel fine. He actually kind of laughs. It’s not going to be funny. You gotta get out of here. He’s like, no, I think I’m fine. I think I’m going to make it. I’m like, all right, I could do it for you. But he finally did call his mom and mom.
He said he was at home just, like, playing video games, just chilling, and all of a sudden, it hit. And within, like, 15 seconds of knowing it.
James Cerbie: He just excavated all of his innards.
Ryan L’Ecuyer: Yeah, it was like it was the craziest thing I’ve ever experienced. Are you not happy that you were not sitting in Earth Science when that happened? Because that would have been an experiment.
James Cerbie: That story just makes me think of the big mouth that we watched or the trading camp. He’s like, Take it easy, brother. We’re like 200 yards in the closest bathroom. Fuck it. If you’re cool, then I’m cool with it.
Ryan L’Ecuyer: Yeah, definitely the Netflix recommendation.
James Cerbie: Do you guys see that? They came out with human resources. Kieran, maybe you were talking about this. It’s pretty much like Big Mouth meets The Office. And so it’s like all of the hormone monsters are, like, at their place of work.
Keiran Halton: Yes.
Ryan L’Ecuyer: I haven’t been able to watch much of it lately. I haven’t really been watching anything but. God.
Keiran Halton: Yeah, there is the Boot Baby episode. Not to give too much away, but, like, season three or four. That’s pretty spot on with this conversation.
James Cerbie: Perfect. No, it’s a totally fake thing. I don’t think anybody actually ever grows up, becomes mature. We get really good at faking it around everybody until we have the opportunity to then just, like, put down our guard and be like, yeah, I’m still a 13 year old child on the inside, and I’m going to laugh at Poop jokes.
Keiran Halton: Yes, dude.
James Cerbie: Speaking of poop, okay, we’re ten minutes, and we’re going to transition to talk about something useful here in a second. But in middle school, I have such a vivid memory of this. If he ever listens to this, he’s going to laugh, I hope. But I remember at the school I went to, we had those relos, like those outdoors I don’t know what you call. We call them relos. People call them whatever they want, right. It’s kind of like an outdoor classroom thing with the doors and all that other stuff, et cetera. And so we’re at the very end of this thing, right? So we’re a pretty good distance from the closest bathroom, and we’re in 6th grade. So you’re still a complete child at this point. And we’re sitting there, like, waiting to go into English class because you had, like, a break before you go into your next round of classes. I’m sitting there with my buddy. It’s me, him, and one other person. And at this age, you still think that farting is, like, the funniest thing. The funniest thing going, right? And so my buddy sits there, he looks at the guy, listens to this, and you see him, he kind of gears up, and he’s going for it.
James Cerbie: He’s like, oh, this is going to be a good one. And then all of a sudden, you don’t really hear anything, but his face just drops. It’s just like. And then all of a sudden, he’s like, oh, shit, dude. He doesn’t say a word. He doesn’t say a word. He just turns and runs away. He just runs down the thing. And I’m like, what happened? My other friend and I looked at each other, hope he’s okay. Yeah, I guess he gambled and he lost.
Keiran Halton: Yeah. You can’t trust all parts.
James Cerbie: Hey, you learned that rule early in life, 6th grade. It’s a good time to learn that. Okay, so now that we’ve successfully spent ten minutes talking about poop and other things, let’s transition, dude. So little training camp debrief here. I always enjoy doing these. So we had our training camp out here in Knoxville, Tennessee. I guess that was three weeks ago now, and things have been super crazy. Hectic busy for everybody. So we finally get a chance to sit down and kind of recap some of our biggest takeaways from that weekend. It was a blast. I’ll just read I’ve got a bunch of stuff pulled up over here from the people that came, but I’ll just read this one here. I think it’s a good synopsis. I had a really good time this past weekend, learned a lot, had fun, enjoyed meeting the coaches, and walked away with so much knowledge and excitement about my training, learning, lifting, food, fellowship, and fun. It’s like, perfect. That’s a great description. That’s kind of exactly what I want to hear from people coming out of these, but this whole new range is a little bit different than the previous.
Like, the previous ones, we kind of just did it live, if you will. This one was a lot of fun. Like, I thought that based on the feedback that we’ve gotten here, pretty much everybody’s favorite part of the weekend were the breakouts and the really just dialed in 30 minutes of coaching on the different like, on either the big three. On day one, we have squad pitch and dead stations. And then on day two, where we had more, like, athletic plyo, jump throw stuff, upper accessories and lower accessories. That was, like, the biggest feedback from people. They really enjoyed that. And then I had one person who said that the highlight of the weekend was clearly the assault bike team relay race, which wrecked some souls. Yes, team assault bike sprints, obviously. But I’ll let you guys kick this off here. What are some big takeaways for you from the weekend, Keiran? Maybe if you want to start.
Biggest Takeaways from the Weekend
Keiran Halton: Yeah, obviously the breakouts. Even selfishly, I’m always kind of, like half listening in the background, trying to pick up some of your guys’ coaching cues. But the breakouts were awesome. My favorite part is just the community aspect and getting to meet everybody and being able to unplug a little bit. We’re all hanging out at the park and, like, playing paddle and, like, all the different like, what’s the wood game that we’re playing? Yeah.
James Cerbie: I don’t even remember what that was called, but that was a fun game.
Keiran Halton: Yeah. But just, like, getting to know everybody offline, and then it’s just, like, such an even that much better of a relationship when we’re checking in on Monday, back online and things like that. So I just love getting to meet everybody in person. This was such a great group that we got. It was the biggest group that we’ve had, or at least I’ve been to. So I think the community and getting to meet people was my favorite part of this one.
Ryan L’Ecuyer: Yeah. Similar. As far as the breakouts go, that was the one thing that I was bummed about being a coach. I really just want to sit in for what you guys were doing. I’m like, let me listen to what’s going on. James put together that impromptu crash course on oxygen was amazing. And, like, trying to get to hear Kieran Ryan and James doing things, like, with coaching, I was like, I wish I could just kind of sit and listen, but, yeah, I’m similar. Like, just the community part. It’s just so fun. There’s just so many really intelligent, interesting people in these groups and so humble. Like, being in the facility that Blake owns and asking us questions and being okay to try different things and have a different perspective in his own facilities. It’s really cool. Everybody kind of approaches it that way too. How can I think about things differently and be better and everyone providing something like everyone adding to the group? I’m always impressed with the kinds of people that come to these types of things. I always learned a ton from them, even outside of training. It’s amazing going back and you see the interaction.
Ryan L’Ecuyer: It’s different when she met those people in person and you see that on the forum as well with people that have been to the camps, it’s great. I hope that everyone comes out to you.
The Difference Between an Emotional Support System and a Fitness Support System
James Cerbie: Yeah, I totally agree. I think a couple of the takeaways for me are just how hungry people are for community and for friendship and family. And a lot of it is just revolve around the fact that it’s really difficult to find people who care as much about training and nutrition and the sort of ways that we choose to live our lives and things we choose to prioritize. I was talking with somebody the other day and they said, I have a good support network in my life between my friends and my family and all this other stuff. And she said they’re an amazing emotional support network for me. She’s like, but they also just don’t really understand my love of lifting and training and wanting to be super active and this whole thing, they just don’t get that. That like that’s just not on their radar. They support me in doing it, but they don’t do it and they don’t get it. I think giving people the opportunity to actually come and be surrounded by other humans that care about the same shit as them for a whole weekend, just be able to lift and have fun.
It’s really rare. It doesn’t happen that much. And that was another light bulb for me is just how many of our people are lifting and training alone. Maybe they’re going to a gym or something or they’re in their own garage gym, but it still feels pretty isolated for them. So I think giving people that in person touch and that in person community is just so important, like you guys mentioned. So that when we do go back to our own places, we still have our team forum and we still have the ability to interact with each other. It’s just at a different level than it was previously because we actually have met in real life and face to face. The other one for me, more technical, was that I thought in the breakouts, one of the things for me that I noticed is that there’s just no replacement for that really. I think good hands on coaching and I think that a mistake I was seeing a lot of people make. I don’t know if you guys saw this in your groups as well, but we definitely have a more educated group of athletes that we coach.
A good chunk of them are trainers themselves and the ones who aren’t. I would categorize them as thinking athletes. Like, they just love this stuff. And it’s like they’re on social media, they’re watching, they’re listening, they’re consuming podcasts. They’re constantly engaged because they just enjoy it. Right. It’s their passion. I found a lot of people kind of over there pushing things too far that they had heard online. There was this over correction in the opposite direction, right. They had heard people talk about get your ribs down. This extension thing is super evil, but they took it way too far in that direction. We talk about, like, hip shifts and all this other stuff. And the people I had were way too far. Right. It’s like we’re taking this small thing of just getting into a little bit of hip shift, and we’re cranking it like, way fast where it needs to be. And so I was actually pulling people out of hip shift, and I was pulling people out of flexion because they had taken it way too far, either queuing themselves or from something they had heard online from somebody. We’ve got to get this thing down like this or it’s like we got to rotate all the way over here.
And it’s like, yeah, they’re like, man, this exercise just feels like shit. I’m like, yeah, it feels like shit. We’re going too far. We got to reel back the intent. The intent is correct. It’s just the degree to which you’re trying to execute is way too far. I don’t know if you guys saw something similar in your groups.
Keiran Halton: Yeah. Ryan, what did you see?
The Variability in Squat Patterns and Understanding Where the Load is
Ryan L’Ecuyer: Yeah, for sure. That was one thing I was going to mention on the technical side. I’m glad you brought it up, because I had the squatting group, and I think that there’s been a lot of talk about creating this verticality in the squat. And there’s a place for that for sure. But it really has to do with the variation of the squad, where the load is in a lot of ways, and you have to take that into account. That is going to be a large spectrum of different types of squats, specifically based on where the Loading is. Having access to that transformer bar makes it really obvious when you see it and you feel it when you do these different positions, essentially putting the load in a different position, and it should change the way that squat looks like a Goblet squat should not look exactly like a low bar back squat. They’re different things. So that was a big thing that I saw is people, along with wanting to post early, tilt and retract the rib cage, they’re wanting to try to stay super upright with every variation of the squad. And I don’t really think that’s appropriate.
And when you get people to just kind of like, get the bar in the right position, get their actual sales in the right position, and then just let it happen. It’ll usually just go where you should be going anyway. And I’m just as guilty of this as anyone else. I think I was pushing a lot of this stuff at one point as well, but it’s like if a deadlift is okay, they were getting into a full hinge. And why is a little bit of a hinge so bad when you have a bar on your back inherently? So I think just letting people feel that and seeing like, enough people go through it’s really cool with our groups because they are, like you said, very educated already and they usually have pretty good body awareness so they can make those adjustments and they actually have really good sensory feedback so they can kind of tell you where they’re feeling things and where they’re not feeling things. So it’s pretty cool just to run like a bunch of people through that. And for me, it was just like, we’re confirming this is a spectrum guy. I thought that was pretty cool, but kind of along the same lines as you’re talking about.
Finding and Feeling the Bench More
Keiran Halton: I think when I was running the bench station, actually getting them was almost the other side of the coin. People really did well to, like, find and feel the bench a little bit more, just to clear up a little more movement out of the shoulders and take the pressure off their little backs or whatever. But then it was interesting. A lot of the limitations or pinching that people were feeling and stuff. We cleared up with just cueing a little bit of left low back or getting a little heavier on that side. And it was great. And I think, James, you had come over and just kind of noticed a couple of people and mentioned it. But just whatever side of the spectrum you’re on, right? Like maybe you need a little you’re not going to die if you extend a little bit or like, hey, let’s just give you a little more reference just to make things feel a little bit better so we can train a little bit longer without running into those pain issues. So I think that’s always a good thing to keep in the back of your mind. We know we want to find somewhere in the middle probably, which way do I have to shift to do that?
And then day two when I was doing a lot of the sprint jumplio with people, it was kind of early, so I didn’t want to do any intensive things with people. So we went over a lot more of the extensive methods. But even that was kind of cool because just seeing how much people benefit from just learning to relax a little on that, to find a little bit of rhythm, a little bit of balance. Like you can’t muscle your way through a lot of those movements. So just getting a sense of what it’s like to actually relax and have a little bit of flow with a lot of those movements was pretty cool to see once people kind of clicked for them that they could throttle back a little bit and it will actually improve some of those movements for them.
Overthinking Coaching Cues
James Cerbie: Yeah, I think both of those points are really good. And the thing that I think both of you touched on maybe said a little bit better than I did is people kind of pushing these cues that they’ve heard from one place to another too far. There’s also way too much overthinking and over analyzing going on while training or while in the movement. It’s like you see these people here and it’s like they’ve clearly been over coached and over queued at different times or they’ve just heard so many different things on the Internet. They’re going to do this exercise, let’s say, like a wall supporting one leg RDL. Right. And I’m watching them do it. I can see the gears turning in their brain where they’re trying to think about 27 things. Okay. I can do this and this has got to come here and this has got to be here. And then I’m going to rotate over here and do this thing. And it just looks really clunky and weird and robotic. And sometimes you just have to go to them. All right, guys, just chill. Just relax. Just trust your setup. Just push this thing here.
Just feel this thing here and just do the exercise. Just go. It’s going to be okay. You have to relax and give yourself some room to play and explore here. Like, if you’re just super tense and you’re really overthinking the movement, that’s not where we really want you to be. Right? You should have maybe one or two cues. And ideally those queues are going to be external in some way. Like, I’m just trying to have you find and feel something right on that wall supporting a single leg already. I was like, cool, just push your back foot into the wall, feel your front heel, and then just fall out over your front foot. Okay, let’s go. Let’s just get some rest in and see how this feels. But a lot of it was just trying to get people out of their own way. Like they were essentially like their own hand break, and it just wasn’t going well. So once you kind of got them out of their own way and freed them up a little bit, everything was just so much smoother, so much easier, and felt way better. And so I think that’s a big one.
A lot of times it’s just some people just get way over coached, way over. Cued got way too much going on in the Dome to really be successful there. And then I think the thing that you had mentioned with the bench, that was really interesting because we had Mike there and we were doing incline bench variation with him. Right. And it was interesting because if you watched Mike do his incline bench and you just got low and actually looked at his Peck. Left versus right. It looked visibly like this dude had a massive hypertrophy left PEC and this massive after feel of the right pec.. It was like a very noticeable difference, right. And it’s not really like a difference in hypertrophy from side to side. It’s just a difference in where he could get airflow. He essentially did a really good job of getting airflow into his left chest wall. So this left chest wall looked nice and big. It looked full, right. But he couldn’t get airflow worth anything into his right chest wall. So it was a little bit more depressing. It looked empty. And as soon as you kind of just got him a queue to hey, bro, just be aware and just feel your left low back into that bench, right.
If it’s a Velcro, just give me a little bit of Velcro. Just be aware of that left low back while you bench. That’s all I want you to think about. Then all of a sudden he gets a few reps in, he starts breathing, and we get an evening out effect because we start getting air flow into both chest walls. It’s like, cool. Now this doesn’t look like you have offset boobs. I think it’s that fine balance for people to figure out where are those details that we need to focus to clean it up and where are the things that we need you just to think less, right? Do less. Just like forgetting Sir Marshall, one on one. Do less. Do more than that. We’ll figure it out while we’re out there.
Ryan L’Ecuyer: Totally. Yeah. It’s a tricky thing, like as a coach to figure out where that is. But I think that again, to me, it kind of just comes down to the set up in a lot of ways with a lot of these things. It’s interesting with something like squatting, I guess I’m going to be obsessed with squatting again for today with what’s new. But when you see these weird rotational kind of things going on or just like, it’s like, oh, man, every time I get to the bottom, I like, shift my hips to the left or something. A lot of times that stuff gets cleaned up. There’s all this stuff previously, I probably would have done like, all right, let me warranty you on that side. Like new, push into it and you push away from it. All this. Maybe I’ll have you do this single leg drill before you go into your squat. It’s usually just like they just need to set up better. And a lot of times when you do that, all of a sudden they can get their femurs into a more symmetrical position. They don’t need to be perfectly symmetrical, but most of the time it’s just something like that.
And it’s the same example that you guys were talking about there. It’s like you didn’t tell them that I want you to really think about that right pet when you press. So I want you to really try to breathe into that right side or something. It was just like if we look at the rest of the setup, for whatever reason, we can get into the mechanistic stuff of why this might be the case. But it doesn’t really matter. I just need you to feel that left low back and like, Lo and behold, that changes the exercise completely. And something that you think would have been a little bit more complicated. It’s usually just like nail the set up, nail the foundational stuff. If you don’t know how to like it if that guy can’t get his pelvis to tilt posteriorly and be able to actually get his lower back on the bench, then you go backwards. Like say, okay, I need to teach you how to do that. Like, if you haven’t learned how to do that, then you’re going to run into a bunch of problems. So I think a lot of times it is that simple.
And then if it’s not, then you can get into some of the fancy stuff or just really ask yourself, or are you just being overly critical here with some of the techniques? Because that happens quite often as well. You just kind of drive yourself crazy as a coach, like wanting everything to look perfect. And we have to realize that we’re also not perfectly symmetrical beings. So maybe give it a little bit of a break sometimes.
Keiran Halton: Yeah. I mean, obviously you guys crushed it, but the setup is key, right? Because then I’m sure everybody does this. But you think back to how you used to coach and stuff to your point of like, all right, we’re going to talk about five different things while you’re under load. And then I think you’re going to PR because I’ve just corrected everything. And you’re like, Now I’m confused. I know you’re confused. So just taking the two extra seconds at the get go to dial, maybe that one low hanging fruit queue in and it’s just a better experience for everybody to get to work hard. You feel better, everything else will come along with that.
The Downfall of Chasing Complexity
James Cerbie: I have found over time that there is usually nine points whatever times out of ten. There’s usually a very simple answer that’s going to get you a great fix. But for whatever reason, we always like to trace the most complex, complicated way of trying to do things. Maybe that’s just us being humans, but it’s like the vast majority of time, the solution is usually something incredibly simple. And it’s our job and goals coaches to try to figure out what is that really simple thing. Because as you guys mentioned, I just think the setup gets so overlooked sometimes. It’s like, well, if we just get the set up right, then just trust yourself and go, everything is going to be okay. If it looks like a total complete and utter train wreck, then we’ll make an adjustment. But I don’t know. That’s something I’ve noticed recently too, when our athletes are sending a lot of videos right now for form check and feedback stuff. And it’s like it’s usually like super. Just like simple things. It totally changes the game for them. Let’s just do this instead. Think about this one thing or like, just use this one little bit here.
Right. We don’t need to make this super hard and super complicated. There are very simple solutions to solve these problems. And if there aren’t, then we start trying more complex things. Or maybe you are a weird one and maybe you just need to get referred out because sometimes weird people, you just need a different level of detail, attention and focus. Yeah, I don’t know. Simplicity wins. It always does. And I think that we’re in a rush sometimes and we just forget that.
Keiran Halton: Yeah. You’re dealing with such a complex organism with so much other stuff going on. It’s like there’s already so many, like, cofactors that are like you have to deal with what happened before they came in the gym, what’s going on? Like all this other stuff. So it’s just like, I don’t know, it’s almost like you take the complex, like biomechanics or whatever view that you have for movement and the background of that and that being the input, like the output you want. Like this nice, simple movement. So it’s like that part in the middle is like that set up right where you can actually get the things that you want out of that.
The Benefit of a Hybrid Style Training
Ryan L’Ecuyer: Yeah. I think again, having hands on stuff is really nice. And I actually like them. I love that model of there being like these check ins in person. If you could do a check in every twelve to 16 weeks, every six months or something like that. Because a lot of times the corrections are very simple and then they have to actually go and learn it, which I think is a huge advantage to having kind of a hybrid model in a sense. We’ve all worked with people in person, week after week after week, where we just do the same exact queue every time we have to correct it and they never have to learn. Like, you’re enabling them completely. There’s no reason for them to have to really learn it. But especially the level of athletes that we have in the group, it makes it really easy to just make those minor adjustments and then let them go back and play with it and keep sending videos for minor adjustments if we need to. But it does make it that much easier where it’s like sometimes you’re giving someone this queue online for a little while and just doesn’t really click and then you can just take their pelvis and just like, that’s what it was like.
Oh, shit. Yeah. That’s that extra little piece that I needed and now I can just go and do that and really solidify it. But it’s usually not like we’re going to see them and now I have them in person. I’m going to give them this completely different queue that they’ve never even heard of. It’s like, here’s the thing that I was kind of trying to get you to do. It’s probably not going to be anything revolutionary. It’s just simple things done really well.
James Cerbie: That was an exact quote, actually. But yes, I agree. I think the model of I think our goal is if we can make it work to do a training camp every quarter. That way, you’re kind of on that every twelve weeks or so. Like, we’re able to get somebody in and kind of retouch base work on what they’re working on, get hands on, meet a bunch of people, throw down, have fun. I think it’s like a very appropriate touch point rhythm for our population of people because we’re not training beginners. If you’re with us, you have to have at least two years of training experience anyways, because I just don’t think that any beginner should really train online. Like, this is my own personal opinion. I really think that my biggest takeaway from the weekend, though, was that you got to make sure that you don’t use the wrong bar when you’re doing RDLs at the gym, because then someone is going to come over to you in the middle of your set and tell you that you have to change bars, but you have one set left and you’ve got like 455 on the bar and you have to strip all this shit off. Keiran, you missed this dude.
Keiran Halton: I was going to say, is this the Monday workout?
James Cerbie: Yeah, we went and lifted on Monday, and I’m kind of towards the tail end of my lift. I don’t remember what I was doing at that point, but I look over and Ryan’s doing pretty significantly heavy RDLs, and it’s like he’s going into his last set and this dude at the gym comes over. He’s like, hey, could you use a different bar? It says a new bar, and we don’t want this bar to get banged up. I’m like, he’s not doing fucking rack pulls. I don’t know what the issue is here. Oh, my God. I was like, this is not good luck, man.
Ryan L’Ecuyer: That was probably one of the most confusing experiences I’ve ever had in the gym. I was so confused. There were so many things. I rocked the bar and I think it was like a set of like 500 with RDLs or whatever. He’s standing there with another bar and you’re standing there. And I’m like, oh, this guy my first thought is like, this guy is on his way to another rack and he’s your friend. And I’m like, oh, cool. I don’t really want to talk to this guy, but, you know, whatever. Hi, how’s it going? I don’t really like talking while you train, but whatever. And I’m like, yeah, what’s up, man? Yeah, cool. Everybody is still staying in this bar. And I’m like, I don’t understand what’s going on. I just said Hi to you. Why are you not going to do your thing? And then he’s like, hey, do you mind changing bars? And it’s like, Why would I change bars? This one works. I just use this bar. It’s totally fine. No, why would I change the bar? I understand. It’s like, no, I really want you to change bars because this is a new bar.
This is like the craziest shit I’ve ever it’s because it’s Orange. Like, it’s like a fancy bar, and it’s like, I’m in a bodybuilding fucking gym. That’s the thing. I would understand if it was in a gym that you’re not supposed to lift weights in, because those places do exist. This looks like I’m blocking. I’m doing the thing that I’m supposed to be doing here. These bars are tested for £2000. It’s not like a Kmart bar.
James Cerbie: On the bar. Pens.
Ryan L’Ecuyer: Yeah. It’s literally not even touching anything. It should already help. There’s no chance anything bad happened.
James Cerbie: I was confused for you.
Ryan L’Ecuyer: Yeah, it was really weird. I even asked. I was like, yeah, I got Homer said, you think I can just do the last set? And he’s like, no.
Keiran Halton: I’d be like, yeah, if you strip this and then load that bar. And that’s totally fine.
James Cerbie: I haven’t been over there. I saw him standing there at the bar, and I was like, what’s going on? So I walked over. Yeah, okay.
Ryan L’Ecuyer: Yeah. Ignored him. Because that’s what I always do when people are trying to talk to me. When I work out, it’s going to take you 30 seconds at least for me to acknowledge you, because I just want to hear. There’s nothing you can tell me right now that I really care about what I’m doing. I’m sorry.
James Cerbie: I have other signals to tell me this is happening.
Ryan L’Ecuyer: If I want to get out, I will. It’s fine.
James Cerbie: But that hack squad is pretty sweet.
Ryan L’Ecuyer: Though, sort of thing.
James Cerbie: It’s like anything is there a way for me to. To take all the equipment you have, but then not let anyone else come here but who I want to have come with me.
Ryan L’Ecuyer: It’s a weird vibe. It’s like they’re trying to transition into a more general, pop friendly kind of place, but it’s like it’s a body behind the gym. The equipment is incredible. Yeah. That is unlike anything that I’ve ever used before. In terms of hack squats. You can actually get a really full range of motion on it. The platform being able to adjust is just incredible. I actually looked up. I can see how much one of these things cost. Five grand used. The guy might still buy.
James Cerbie: They make them here in Knoxville. Maybe we’ll buy one, pick it up from the warehouse and just drive it out in Austin, Texas. I have no idea how far of a drive that would be.
Ryan L’Ecuyer: It’s only a two hour flight. I got that Allegiant flight. Like I could just save the house on Monday.
James Cerbie: That south terminal. I’m really glad you’d mentioned that because that threw me for a loop when we got to Austin this last weekend off. That Allegiant flight. I’m like where in Christ are we right now? This is a little tiny. I kind of like it, though, because there’s no one there.
Ryan L’Ecuyer: It takes 2 seconds. Imagine my confusion when I went to the regular terminal and checked into the regular terminal. That’s 20 minutes away and I realize that Allegiant doesn’t fly.
James Cerbie: Up there. We go back. Maybe that was recorded. Who knows? Either way, it’s a 15 hour’s drive from Knoxville to Austin and vice versa. That’s a little far. Nice. Let’s wrap this up here. We don’t have our next training camp on the books yet but once we do, we’ll hang out and let everybody know when and where that is going to take place. But, yeah, this is like the first live podcast we’ve done in a while and run some flashbacks. So good to get it rolling again.
Keiran Halton: Yeah, perfect timing, too. My laptop is about to go bad.
James Cerbie: This works for everybody.
Keiran Halton: Thanks, guys.
James Cerbie: On point. All right, FAM everybody have a fantastic week and yeah, I’ll talk to you next Monday.
Ryan L’Ecuyer: Thanks, guys.
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