All About the Rower

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

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

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

Listen Here

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Interval Breakdown, 3 min/1 min

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

4-5 sets:

3 min @ easy to moderate pace

1 min @ recovery pace

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

16-20 minutes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So how fast do you go?

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

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

TL;DR

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

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Mobility Challenge

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Heavy Training = Posture Training

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

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

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

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

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

Justin MIner

@justinminergain

My Origin Story

I’ve been lifting since I was 15.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

c. 2011

More, More, More

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

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

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

Instead, try flipping this around.

What do you need to de-prioritize?

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

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

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Goals or Wishes

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

Be more intentional with spending

Be more consistent with my eating

Less eating out

Cook more

More walks

Less phone time

4 workout classes per week

More protein

The list could go on.

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

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

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

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

Reframing goals to habits alone can make a huge difference.

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

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

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

It's Back

I graduated college when I was 23.

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

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

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

Fear got in the way so I stopped.

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

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

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

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

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

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Get Back to It

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

While it can be frustrating, this is normal.

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

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

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

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

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Normalizing Failure

If you've been to Gain, surely you've noticed our Core Values painted on the chalkboard.

The first item is:

Have a growth mindset. Use failure as an opportunity to learn.

It's simple to understand, but developing this growth mindset is hard. And it will make or break your gym habit.

Having a growth mindset is seeing your ability to improve. Facing challenges head on and using mistakes as fuel and knowledge to improve.

Fixed mindset is being stuck in your ways and unable to see how you could improve with harder effort, better practice or more grit.

It's should be obvious that it pays to have a growth mindset. In doing so, you give yourself permission to slip up. You can normalize failure in our perfectionist society. Skip a couple weeks at the gym, have a bad session, get frustrated with the new snatch variation - whatever it is, the growth mindset encourages you to notice where you could improve, come back and try again.

Don't be scared to fail. Be scared to stop trying.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Keep Training

Starting a strength and conditioning program is hard. It can be intimidating.

It's also likely to inspire new and different goals for yourself, but the biggest goal should be something that we all share.

Keep showing up.

Regardless of your specific goal, showing up is hardest part. And therefore, whether you realize it or not, it should be a main goal.

You'll be tired, bored with the program, hungry and just not feel like it. The best thing you can do, keep showing up. Keep training.

You need some strategy to get to the gym when you don't want to but know you should.

Skip the pit stop home after work.

Put your clothes out the night before.

Review the workout on Truecoach.

Block the time into your work schedule.

These basic habits can be the difference maker. You'll need to remind yourself to keep going, to keep showing up and keep training. Regardless of your outcome goal, get involved with your process. It'll help everything else too.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Upgrade your Warm Up Rotation

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Context for Calories

When biking/skiing/rowing you may sometimes see calories on your board instead of meters.

To be clear, this number has literally nothing to do with how many calories you're burning, rather it is a measurement of power output - how much work you're doing. The faster and harder you're working, the calories click away faster, not because you're burning more (maybe you are, but that's not the point here). But because your power output, or wattage, has increased.

So why use calories instead of meters?

Honestly, it's just a different measurement available to us. Sometimes the numbers are more digestible and it can be easier to figure out a proper pace.

Just this morning, someone was doing a circuit and the final exercise was 16 calories on the AirBike. I gave them a goal of 2 minutes, and we were easily able to breakdown their pace.

16 calories in 2 minutes is 8 calories per minute, which is 4 calories every 30 seconds, or 2 calories every 15 seconds.

While we can breakdown meters like that, it's easier with calories.

What matters more than meters vs calories is the context of the workout. You can do a 10 calorie bike sprint in 10 seconds, or you can easily cruise for 10 calories per minute. Just like you can do 500m in 40 seconds all out, or do a repeatable pace taking 1 minute.

If you're unsure of how you should be pacing, be sure to ask what the context of the workout is. Should you be cranking hard, pacing or flirting with your limit?

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Protein

You know by now that keeping a food log is the best way to up your nutritional awareness.

If you're ready to level up again, the next piece to figure out is how much protein you're eating.

Many people are surprised at how little protein they eat once they see it quantified.

Instead of using an online calculator or doing some equation like 1g of protein for every pound of bodyweight, aim for a number slightly higher than what you're currently at. If you're only consuming 75g of protein a day, and want to be eating 125g, don't jump straight there. Hit 100g first and see how it goes.

Use these tips to make sure you're setting yourself up for protein success each day.

- Protein at every meal. No matter what.

- More eggs

- Find protein rich snacks (my go-to: grass fed beef sticks, greek yogurt and turkey+cheese roll ups)

- If you still need more, consider adding 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 something like oatmeal to to turn it into a meal of mostly carbs to a meal of protein and carbs.

Once you figure out a good level of protein, you can start using that as a way to create boundaries and guide your food choices.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Heaviest Ball in the Gym

In 2015 I learned something important about the human mind and how we create our own limitations.

Back then we had two medicine balls at the gym. An 8 pound ball and a 12 pounder.

After several months the 8 was starting to look beat up, but the 12 pounder still looked brand new. If someone was waiting for the 8 pound ball, I would suggest they try their medicine ball slams with the 12 pound ball instead.

I can't do that, they would reply, it's the heaviest ball in the gym!

So, I bought another 8 pound ball, figuring it would get used the most since our only one was already showing some wear and tear.

Fast forward and both of the 8 pound balls were wearing down and the 12 pounder was pristine.

This time, when it was time to order some new medicine balls, I bought a 20 pound and 14 pound ball.

Something funny happened.

Suddenly, the 12 pound ball was no longer the heaviest. People who wouldn't use the 12 started using the 14, since now it wasn't even close to the heaviest medicine ball in the gym.

The same thing happened with the kettlebells. No one would swing a 45 pound kettlebell when is was the heaviest one in here. But, once there were several heavier than that, more and more people started to swing the 45.

We need context for everything. Including figuring out our limitations and comfort zone.

Seeing the heaviest medicine ball in the gym can be intimidating. But it isn't intimidating when it's the second, or third heaviest.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Three Day Log

In one of my college nutrition courses we had to a log three days of eating as part of an assignment.

The requirements were log everything we consumed for three days and at least one of the days had to be a weekend.

We estimated portion sizes and used nutrition fact labels to calculate our total calories and macros for each of the three days. It's funny, just a relatively short time ago we didn't even have hundreds of apps to choose from to log our food intake and look up macros. We had to manually look up each food on a computer! Call me old fashioned, but I feel as though writing it down by hand gives you a better chance to reflect on what you've been eating.

Besides that, two points from this assignment have stuck with me.

First, you don’t really know what you’re consuming until you write it down. We all underestimate, or overestimate and forget about things that can add up. Running a tally in your head is helpful, but leaves opportunity for missed details.

You can imagine what a classroom full of college student's weekend food log looked like. That assignment showed me that one big off the rails day can deter progress - especially when it isn't one isolated day, but instead one (or two) days each and every week.

If you're spinning your nutritional wheels and starting to feel stuck, get out of the rut by collecting some data. Log at least three days, more would be better, and take a look at your food choices. You don't even need to log calories or macros to get started, just look at what you're consuming and see if you can make any obvious changes. You might be surprised at what you find.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Dead Bug Upgrade

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Reasons to go to a strength and conditioning gym

Someone makes you do the hard stuff you don’t want to do.

Make the boring wok more palatable. See above.

Accountability builds consistency.

Perspective adjustments - seeing goals and challenges differently and increasing confidence.

Belong to a community with a shared goal of improving yourself.

Sometimes an easy workout is appropriate, and sometimes, you need someone to tell you that.

Warming up.

Long term development - a strength and conditioning program constantly readjusts and builds upon it set to maximize physical capacity.

Learn new skills - squatting, olympic lifting, push ups, pull ups and swings are all movement skills. Learning new skills is good for your brain.

Because no one wants to do intervals by themselves.

Foam rolling just feels better at the gym than at home, right?

Modifications. If things aren't going as planned, an experienced coach can make adjustments on the fly to elicit the desired outcome.

Shared suffering - there's something rewarding about doing hard stuff with other people.

Stick with something. Strength training is about the long game. Belonging to a gym and having a coach in your corner is imperative to keep playing.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Easier not Easy

A client recently went skiing for the first time in years.

I was eager to ask her how it went when I saw her a couple days later.

Not good, they reported back.

They couldn't believe how sore they were, how hard skiing was and they were so bummed that all the strength and conditioning didn't make skiing easy.

This scenario plays out often. I couldn't help but laugh.

Client trains hard, goes to do something for the first time, and they end up feeling bummed because it was hard.

This is the WRONG perspective.

My laughter was met with an angry stare, so I explained.

Imagine how much harder it would have been if you WERE NOT training so much.

Imagine what the recovery process would be like then.

And perhaps the most impactful question I raised to her; would you have even bothered trying if you hadn't been training like you have for the past 12+ months?

Instead of being bummed it was harder than she wanted (something we can't even quantify anyway), we shifted her perspective.

She had the confidence to take on the slopes even though it had been so long. She was sore, but not sore enough to stay in bed and skip a workout.

She was sore and tired from trying something new... Who cares! I'm more impressed by their confidence to get out there and do something than I am of the final results.

Training will make things easier, but not easy. Don't forget that perspective as you start pushing your own limits.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain

Ring Row Tip

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