EP40, From EMOM To RPE: Decoding The Language Of Strength

In this conversation, Anna and I break down the Language of Strength. If you’ve ever looked at the whiteboard and felt like it was written in a different language, this episode is your Rosetta Stone for the gym floor.

Inside the Episode: The Language of Strength

We dive deep into the specific lingo that helps you move with more intentionality and better results:

• The Big Three: We demystify EMOM (Every Minute on the Minute), AMRAP (As Many Rounds as Possible), and RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion). Learn why RPE is the ultimate tool for "Seasons of Balance", allowing you to adjust your intensity based on how you showed up today, not just what the clock says.
• Olympic Lifting Decoded: What’s the difference between a Power Clean and a Squat Clean? We break down the "Start" (Hang vs. Full) and the "Catch" (Power vs. Squat) so you can choose the right load to match your intent.
• The "Rig" & The "J-Cups": A quick tour of the equipment names so you can navigate the floor like a pro.
• Mindful Movement Cues: We explain the foundational "why" behind cues like Active Shoulders, the Tripod Foot, and the Hollow Body. These aren't just gym terms; they are the structural integrity of your body.

Big Updates & How to Support the Show

We are officially launching "Support the Show"! For as little as $3 a month, you can help us extend our reach and bring you more world-class content.

• The April 4th Raffle: Every supporter subscribed by April 4th is entered to win a FREE Ultimate Bootcamp Challenge (a $199 value).
• Remote Option: Not local to Laconia? If you win, we’ll swap the bootcamp for 4 weeks of remote programming.
• Ask Us Anything: We’ve added a new feature in the show notes! Send us your questions about fitness, life, relationship advice, or even my favorite pizza toppings, and we’ll tackle them on air.

This Week’s Unstoppable Challenge

Don’t just do the workout this week. Look at the whiteboard, pick one movement or term you’re 90% sure about, and ask a coach to explain the exact point of performance.

The Catch: You have to ask with your pinky out. Let's keep it fancy while we get better.

Enjoyed the show? Support the show, subscribe, and leave a quick review to help us reach more people. 

Transcript

The Big Pivot: Why We Need Your Support

Matt 0:16

Let's go. Welcome to Unstoppable by Design, where we talk all things fitness, mindset, and what it means to truly be unstoppable inside and outside the gym. I'm Matt Terry, and today I'm joined by my wife, Anna Terry. Anna, how are you?

Anna 0:31

Amazing.

Matt 0:32

Amazing. And today, before we get into our topic, want to announce a huge pivot. We're now shifting and putting in the show description something called support the show. So you can sign up. This is a monthly thing. It's contributions as low as $3 a month to support our show. What we're doing here trying to help us extend our reach a little bit and do cool new things. And one of the perks you get for supporting the show is every month there's going to be a raffle, and you can win cool and different things. So this very first raffle coming up is going to be on April 4th. And if you have subscribed to the show before April 4th, you're going to be entered to win in this raffle. And we're giving away a free round of an ultimate bootcamp challenge at our gym. So if you're somebody who wins this and can use it, come on in. We'll send you an email. We'll get it to you. If you're like, hey, I am already a member and I'm using a different membership, you can gift that to somebody or heck, sell it. You could sell it. Yeah. It's yours to do with as you please.

Anna 1:40

And for those of you who don't know, the value of this is $199.

Matt 1:45

Right. Yeah. So you're subscribing for as low as $3 and you get a chance to win something that's $200. So it's uh it's worth it. So we're gonna get more details as we get closer, but that drawing is gonna be on April 4th. If you have any questions, make sure you ask one of us when you see us at the gym.

Anna 2:04

If we can we talk a little bit about what the boot camp is for a minute. So if anybody hasn't heard of it, or maybe your listener doesn't come to the gym, or you do come to the gym and you haven't heard of the bootcamp, that's possible too. Our boot camp program is a six-week program and we meet two times a week, one hour each. In this program, we do a pre-test and a post-test. So day one, you come in for kickoff day, we do measurements. So your arms, your chest, your waist, your legs, we do full body measurements, and then we do three different mini workouts. And then at the end of the six weeks, we redo all of those things for you. So we can definitely track where you started and where you're ended. By the way, we guarantee results and everybody always gets them, anyways. And then we give away $200 to the person who has the best results. So there's a chance that for $3, you could be gifted a $200 program and then you could win that and get another $200. My business mind is like, hey, check out that ROI. But the program is really good. And people typically come back for a couple of rounds because it is so fun. It's so successful. We have a private Facebook group with the tons, tons of accountability in there. There's some mobility, some mental tricks. Corey leads some really great brain stuff, as I call it. So it really gets you thinking about why you're here and why you're doing what you're doing. I mean, it's so much more than just coming in and working out. It's really rebuilding yourself and it aligns so much with the things that we talk about in this podcast. And I, and I think when people come in and do the program for the first time, they don't, they don't know that. Like they don't get that it's more than just coming and working out two hours a week. Like we're we're literally redesigning your thought process in the six weeks that you're here around your body, around what working out is, around what food is, like we we change you as little as six weeks.

Matt 4:05

It's great. And and listen, if you're somebody who's remote and you end up as the winner, we can do that too. I will I will give you a four-week, two times a week remote programming in substitution for the ultimate boot camp so we'll we'll coordinate. If you get everybody who subscribes gets entered for the drawing, and that's gonna be April 4th. And it's gonna be every month from there on. We're gonna give uh different things. Hopefully, our in-body will be back by then. We'll give away in-body scans. But we've got a lot of things up our sleeve to make this worth your while.

Anna 4:37

So yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, like when you talk about being unstoppable, there's so much more that comes to that. And if we can help remove the barriers, like I think I think people are so nervous to go to a gym, they're so nervous to start a new routine, they're so nervous for whatever reasons, whether it's fear of judgment, fear of failure. But if we can do little things like this to help remove some obstacle for you, then you know, let's go. Like, let's do this. Like, keep listening, keep, you know, retraining your mindset. And then these offers, like if we can get some of these in your hands and you're trying something new that maybe you wouldn't have before without this, like that that's a win. Like you're gonna change, you're gonna grow, and you're gonna become unstoppable.

Matt 5:18

Yep. And it helps us spread education about what we're doing, which is the whole point of the program. And it's our way to say thank you for being part of the design.

Ask Us Anything: Why We Want Your "Weird" Questions

Anna 5:27

Heck yeah.

Matt 5:28

Let's go. So, all right. Another quick pivot, you're gonna also notice in our show descriptions an option that says send us your questions here, or an option somewhat similar to that. I want to hear from you. I want to I want to create content that people are actually curious about and that we're talking about. When we kicked off Unstoppable by Design, we created content for a full year. So I'm not in a content drought, but I do want to create stuff that people are curious about and answer questions and interact with with people who have questions. So please use that feature, send us stuff, even if it's like you want to put an anonymous name and you want to ask Make it fun.

Anna 6:09

Yeah, give me some weird names.

Matt 6:10

Yeah, what is Matt's favorite pizza? I don't know, but just like send us questions and and it's a good feature to use. So that's also in our show notes.

Anna 6:19

And on that note, you notice Matt gave a weird question of what's Matt's favorite pizza. We talk a lot about health and fitness, but it doesn't have to be just questions about health and fitness. Like we had an episode where we talked about like how do we juggle everything in our personal lives and still be good for each other in our relationship and still be present parents. Like it can be so much more than just fitness. It can be life, it can be relationships, it can be kids, it can be food, like you name it. Like we have a resource with the experience, if it's not one of us, to bring to the episode and make sure we get that question answered for you.

Matt 6:54

Yeah, as best we can. I mean, if you ask me about other planets, I don't, you know, I have no context there. We're gonna guess.

Anna 6:59

Yeah, but Jed Jed's good, Jed's good at science. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll get Jed on the podcast. Yeah.

Matt 7:05

All right. So diving into the topic of today's podcast is been paying attention to a lot of goal reviews with members. And there are some common themes on what people want to learn a little bit more about. And one of those specific themes was learning about like the lingo or the terms that we use or the meaning of different things. So I really want to kind of bracket this and and just call it the language of strength. Ooh. Yeah, fancy pinky L.

Anna 7:33

So bougie.

Matt 7:35

So I want to I want to break down things. I want to make it simple. I want to talk about things like an em an amrap or even RPE. So I guess let's just start there. What's what's an emom?

Anna 7:46

Every minute on the minute, baby. There's no T or B in there, but that's the full emom. So it's a it's a workout style. So every minute on the minute, there's different like variations of it. Like you might see us be like, hey, today's an emom, but the workout isn't one minute, one minute, one minute. It's four minutes, one minute, four minutes, one minute, you know. So like that would be like an every five minute thing. So there's it's not black and white one minute to one minute ratio, but the style is every minute on the minute. And how that works is let's use the sake of having it be one minute. When I say three, two, one, go, you begin a workout. If we only have one minute, maybe it's seven burpees. So you're gonna do seven burpees and you have one minute to get that done. You finish in 45 seconds, you stop and you rest. At the next minute, so minute two, you do it again. And then so the workout basically restarts every minute. So if you were to do a version of that where it's a five-minute emom style, you're probably gonna have a longer workout in there. So maybe it's 10 burpees, 10 pull-ups, 10 calories on the bike. And you have five minutes to get that done. So you're gonna start it, three, two, one, go. You got five minutes to do your 10, 10, 10, maybe times two or whatever. You finish in three and a half minutes. You have the balance of that five minutes to rest, and then back at minute five, you start all over again and you do it again.

Matt 9:20

Yeah, it's it's interval work, essentially.

Anna 9:23

Yeah, that's I guess that's an easier way to say it.

Matt 9:27

You know, depending on how long your work interval is, usually is dictated by the work. I mean, sometimes you'll see that the work is too much to fit in the interval, and that might be by design, but for the most part, designed to have you done within that window, and maybe even ideally 40 seconds in 45 seconds. So you have a quick room to breathe before you start the next emo, or part of the emom could also be a rest interval in there.

Anna 9:54

I love those ones.

Matt 9:55

Yeah, yeah, where you have a minute of rest or whatever. It may be.

Anna 10:00

Yeah.

Matt 10:01

All right. So that's EMOM. What's AMRAP?

Anna 10:05

As many rounds or reps as possible.

Matt 10:09

Yeah. So A M R A P.

Anna 10:11

Yeah. Yeah. So this one typically has like you have a set block of time. So it's usually gonna see like a five-minute AM wrap, a 10-minute am wrap. And then, so let's say for a 10-minute am wrap, then you're gonna have a series of movements. So let's go back to our 10, 10, 10 that we talked about, or 10, I already forgot it, 10 burpees, 10 pull-ups, 10 calories on the bike, 10, 10, 10. Now in an am wrap style, you're gonna have 10 minutes to do as many rounds of that as possible. So you just keep going and going and going and going until the 10 minute clock happens, and then you that's your score. How many times did I get through that 10, 10, 10, 10, 10? So in this case, where I said as many rounds or reps and/or reps as possible, you might get through five full rounds and then your 10 burpees. All that counts. So your score is five rounds plus 10 burpees. It's it's the cumulative of the rounds and the reps. But yeah, that's that's a set block of time. And then you just keep cycling through whatever your workout combination is as many times as you can. And those workouts are great because they you truly can go at your own pace there. You can choose how hard you want to go, you can choose how modified you want to be, I mean, in either direction.

Matt 11:27

Yeah. Yeah, and and when you say like your own pace, sometimes it's it's even dictated by the workout by what we're gonna talk about next, which is RPE or rate of perceived exertion. So if you go into a 12-minute AMRAP with the prescribed RPE is seven, it's a different workout than if the prescribed RPE is five or six. So, yeah, all right, let's talk about RPE then.

Anna 11:53

I like RPE because it allows you to show up and how you feel for the day, right? So, like I could come in feeling like a stack of potatoes, and someone's gonna be like, today, this 10-minute AM wrap, we want an RPE 7. Well, my RPE 7 today is like an RPE three on a really good day, but it's it's based on how you show up of the day and what you have to give. But it's it's like on a scale of one to 10. A one, you're probably taking a nap. A 10, you're throwing up in the corner. Like, you know.

Matt 12:28

So yeah, I mean, most people think that the goal, especially with like high intensity interval training or something like a CrossFit style workout, is a 10 all the time.

Anna 12:39

No.

Matt 12:40

But chances are if you're coming out at a 10 one day, your next day is probably gonna be looking like a three. Right. And so just to give some some benchmarks on what that could look like, an RPE 7, it means that you're working, but you could probably hold a choppy conversation for the most part, like maybe a few quick sentences, and then you're like, and then and then an RPE 9 is you're like in a dark place and it's one-word answers only.

Anna 13:11

Or just eyebrows that are like, Why are you talking to me? Yeah, grunts.

Matt 13:15

Did you say something?

Anna 13:16

That literally this makes me think of Jess today. She went doing burpees. Andrea goes up and she goes, You love burpees, and she goes, uh that's right. She gets back and used to it.

Matt 13:29

Yeah. I mean, this this stuff matters, kind of like what you were saying, Anna, is it meets you where you are for the day. Yeah. So if you come in and you're like, oh man, I am not feeling the best. I'm at an RPE three or two. It gives you that permission to scale for the day. And so it's like, hey, if today's an RPE seven for the day, it just means move well, be consistent, don't red line.

Anna 13:54

Yeah. Challenge yourself, but it's definitely not a walk in the park.

Matt 13:57

Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

Anna 13:59

And we don't get like super nitty-gritty with RPE. Like some people are like, oh, check your heart rate monitor. Like your heart should be from this range to this range. Like, we really trust in our athletes. Like, we give the description that you kind of did of like if you're at a seven, like it's a choppy conversation. So if I see you working out and you're having a full conversation with the person next to you, you're not at an RPE seven. Like, let's pick it up, you know? And it also allows us to coach you guys pretty well too, because like sometimes I come around and I'll ask a question while they're working out. And if you can answer me, uh-uh, I'm gonna go a little bit harder if it's a if it's a heavy RPE day.

Matt 14:33

Yeah, in general guidance.

Anna 14:35

And it applies to to weightlifting, right? So not just like from a cardio space, like weightlifting, we like to use RPE a lot as well. It's very important, again, to respond to how your body is feeling. But like if you're an RPE seven, like that's a seven out of 10 on a difficulty level. So again, not a walk in the park. You don't have 10 more reps in the tank, but you got a few.

Matt 14:57

Yeah, it's not a one rep max, that's for sure.

Power vs. Squat: Decoding the Catch Position

Anna 14:59

Your form's not breaking down. You still should have good form. It should just be a little sticky.

Matt 15:03

Yep. Yeah, and you talked about weightlifting. So actually, the next question that we had was kind of the difference in the squat and the power variations for like Olympic lifts or the catch the catch zone specifically. So, like if we're thinking a power position, it's typically something where your hips are above 90. Right. So if we're thinking power clean, power snatch.

Anna 15:29

I think everybody knows what a squat is. Nope. Like our definition of a of a RX squat is your hips are below 90. So anytime you see a squat, that is about the catch. Right. So we're squatting when we catch. A power in the name is also about the catch. So the squat and the power are around the catch. Squat is below 90, power is above 90. Yeah. So you can have a pretty deep power catch, right? You can go just above 90. It might look real close to a squat, but it's still a power in the catch. When you see the things like hang and high hang, that's where you start the movement. Yeah. When we're looking at a clean or a snatch. So squat and power is in the catch. Hang, high hang, or full, whatever you see, is in the starting position. When we're thinking, when you combine them, right? So a hang, I want you guys to think about just like hanging your body over, right? Folding over your hanging. Roughly, for most of us who aren't super flexible, where do your hands kind of land when you're just hanging over? Usually around your knees a bit, right? Depending on how far if you're totally flopping over. But if you're thinking about like hanging over or like hanging over the edge of a couch or hanging over a chair, right? Like you're hanging over, your hands are gonna land around your knees. That's something that when I was first learning that that that was a cue that helped me. I don't know if it'll resonate with others, but the hang is your knee position. So if you're hanging over something, knees. That's where your starting position is for the hang. Now, if we add the high in front of it, a high hang, you're just coming up your legs to your hip, but it's still slightly hanging over. That that is something that helped me connect the dots. The full is always from the floor.

Matt 17:27

Yeah.

Anna 17:27

So full from the floor, hang, hang over, hands by your knees. High hang is come up your body. You're still hanging over, but now the bar's at your hips, mid thigh to hips, depending on your anatomy, but usually around that area. I just want to specify though, when I say hang, we're in the sense of actually, I don't want you actually folding over. I wanted to do it with, you know, correct positioning and stuff like that, but that's for a different day. But you know, we'll put that other, don't fold over. But that's your starting position. And then when you catch, it's either above 90 or below 90, and that's the squat or the power.

Matt 17:59

Yep, and they have their different uses. For example, the squat is typically where you would be seeing your heaviest lifts coming in because you're you're you're dropping way underneath the bar.

Anna 18:12

Which means you're not pulling it as high.

Matt 18:15

Correct, yeah. And if you're pulling it higher, then it should be a little bit lighter, I would say, than your heaviest. However, sometimes, you know, there is ability tied into that. So if you just don't have a fast drop under the bar or you're you're not strong in that position, then your power snatch is probably going to be heavier than your squat snatch, just from a comfort or ability perspective.

Anna 18:37

And then like when you use a power, that's typically for speed.

Matt 18:41

Yeah.

Anna 18:41

You're trying to have minimum movement and just gripping and ripping through the bar, honestly, whether it's a clean or a snatch. And then the difference between a clean and a snatch, clean is thumbs width away from the body, and you're going up to your, you're cleaning up to your shoulders. So whether you're from the floor, from the hang, which is at your knees, or the high hang, which is around the hips, you're going from that position to your shoulders. Where a snatch is a wide grip, and it's you know the same, the same positionings, floor, hang, high hang, you're gonna go from those positions all the way overhead. So clean is narrow grip to shoulders, snatches wide grip overhead. Football field. Yeah. No, field, what is it? Field post? Snatches like a field post overhead, but lock out those arms.

Matt 19:34

Fair enough.

Anna 19:36

So within all those things, you got six different combinations, more. Three, six, nine, twelve. Right?

Matt 19:44

Cause there's there's just there's a bunch, and then you have like above the knee, below the knee variations of the hang.

Anna 19:49

Yeah, low, yeah, hang, low hang.

Matt 19:51

It gets it gets pretty crazy, but I think Anna broke it down pretty simply in the beginning. The hang position or the high hang or the from the floor is your start, and then you'll see like a power or a full or a squat, and those are how you're gonna end the position. Yeah. And then it's either snatch or clean and in between. So yeah.

Anna 20:10

And sometimes you'll see too like in warmups or like barb, like barbell warm-ups specifically, you'll see a three position clean or a three position snatch. When you see things like that, that's going through all of the positions for starting. Those are your starting positions. So three position is gonna be starting from the floor, going to the hang, going to the high hang. You're hitting all three of those primary starting positions.

Matt 20:36

All right, let's move on. Let's go over a different term that is causing a little bit of confusion, but the rig. The rig. What is the rig?

Anna 20:46

It's a big black thing we got on our wall.

Matt 20:49

Not the paint.

Anna 20:50

Not the paint. The rig is basically the the where our squat racks are. It's a squat rack and pull-up combo. So, like, it's like our indoor playground contraption. But that is the rig. When we say go to the rig, that is that whole piece of equipment, whether we have it in smaller chunks or bigger chunks, but it's that combo of the pull-up bar and the squat rack, that whole piece, that whole thing is called the rig.

Matt 21:17

Yeah, you can attach J cups to it, which hold barbells on the rig. So you can use it for squatting, pressing, that kind of thing.

Anna 21:24

J cup's a good term. I think we've been like, hey, move the J cup before.

Matt 21:27

Yep.

Anna 21:28

That's that that little J hook.

Matt 21:30

Yep. That supports the barbell while it's attached to the rig. Yes, the rig.

Anna 21:35

Wall ball targets. Sometimes we say you can use the ones on the wall or on the rig, right? Those they're the ones that are hanging off the top of the rig.

Matt 21:43

Yep. And then you have your crossbars, uh, which connect it to the wall.

Anna 21:47

Mm-hmm.

Matt 21:47

Because it's on at least this one where it's located. And then you have your actual pull-up bars themselves.

Anna 21:53

Yeah. And even if you have a free standing rig, like we used to have one in the middle of the floor, you still got crossbars that just connect the rig to the rig in the middle.

Matt 21:59

Yep. So Yeah, cool. All right. That one matters. Because I could see being like, hey, let's go go to the rig. And if somebody's never heard that, they're like, what the heck?

Anna 22:11

Where? What is the rig?

Matt 22:12

Is this like this is like a bar? Yeah. Like where where? Is this? And then the last thing we should talk about is just adding mindfulness in movement. So some people, you know, gave gave questions about like a hinge. What's a what is a hinge? You know what I mean? And for that, that's just bowing over or really, you know, sending your butt back more. Doesn't have to be super fancy, but that's like you go to bend over to pick something up off the ground. You're mostly doing it in what's called a hinge or bending at the waist. Doesn't mean you need straight legs.

Anna 22:47

No, preferably not, actually. Yeah.

Matt 22:51

We could talk about the active shoulders.

Anna 22:54

Oh. That's a tough one for people. A real tough one for people because life just has us with no thoracic mobility.

Matt 23:01

And honestly, if you've never heard that term, you could be like, well, are my shoulders passive? Like, I don't understand.

Anna 23:06

They are in most cases, actually.

Matt 23:09

What do you mean that they're not active? So I mean, you could be pressing something above your head and still not have active shoulders, even though they're being active.

Anna 23:17

Yeah. It's almost thinking like, so like, what are active shoulders, right? So like there's so many times where we press, but we don't press through, I guess is the best way I can think of it. Like, if you're not trying to like, it's it's like it's like standing on your tippy tippy toes when you want something in the top of the cupboard, right? Like you can stand up on your toes, but then you stand up on your tippy tippy toes, like you really want something. There's a difference in activation of like the calf muscle, right? There's more to give there. And this is probably not the best analogy, but I feel like that is like instead of trying to get something on the middle shelf in the cabinet, I'm on my tippy toes versus the top shelf on my tippy toes. I am maxing out. It's kind of like the same thing with active shoulders. Like I can press up, but if I press through and I'm really making sure that those things are locked in and I'm engaged, like that's an active shoulder.

Matt 24:09

Yeah, we're trying to get our shoulders pressing up towards our ears, really, because we're just fully we're pushing that bar up to the sky.

Anna 24:17

Yeah. It's like if you are holding a dumbbell overhead, you probably the best thing would be to like sit, sit on a chair, push a dumbbell overhead. If I can come by and I can push that dumbbell down, you're not an active shoulders. It's kind of like we do this with our clients sometimes in in like a hang position, right? When we pause them when they're doing a barbell in a hang position, and then we walk by and we tap the barbell and it swings away from their body. You're in the right position, but you're not actively there. Because if you were actively there, that bar would be pressed into your legs and I can't move it. That's another way of having active shoulders in a different position. You're turning those lats on, you're pressing that bar into your body. You are actively pushing that dumbbell away at all times overhead or barbell. Even if you're holding it statically there, you are punching it out.

Matt 25:06

Yeah. Yeah, like instead of holding it, you're pushing it up.

Anna 25:10

You're constantly pushing it away. There's yeah, there's no relaxing.

Matt 25:13

Yeah. Our next one's the tripod foot. Might be like, I I don't know that we say that that often, but it did make it into a previous episode. Oh. Talking about the push-up and the air squat, the mechanics behind that. But this one's just basically dealing with the connection between your big toe, your pinky toe, and your heel.

Anna 25:31

Ah. Got it. That was a new one for me. I was like, wait, what?

Matt 25:36

Makes the three. Really, like you're you're wanting to feel the floor. And if you feel your toes are lifting in some sort of squat movement or getting down low or something like that, your weight's too far back. And if your heels are up, then you're using your quads or you know, you're on your toes, which we don't want to squat like that. So making sure that both sides of our foot, you know, the front and the back, or big toe, pinky toe, and heel remain in contact with the floor and pressed into the floor is important. That's that's the tripod foot.

Anna 26:07

Okay. I think most of us we were always like full foot, like full foot down. Use your full foot. Like that's that's a more clear descriptor. At least that's the cue that I use. I'm always like full foot.

Matt 26:19

Yeah. Well, I mean, I think in talking to a few people from that episode, they think mostly just big toe. They just do a big toe and heel connection and they don't do their pinky toe. Yeah.

Anna 26:29

Yeah.

Matt 26:30

So it's it's really important to get that included and to say that. So you're like, oh, that's right, I have a pinky toe. And then you can you purposely move it and feel it engaged, and then you're like, got it. Yeah. I like that. Next one's the hollow body. Ooh. A common cue for this could be ribs to hip. So pulling in.

Anna 26:51

Banana.

Matt 26:52

Yeah, yeah, you're making like a banana if you're on the ground. Most people arch when they get tired, and so that's the opposite of the hollow. So if you ever tried to strict press something straight up while you're tired, yeah. Then then you would get a banana back, which is not what you want. You actually want your core engaged, pulled down. An arch is getting your, I would say like your chest leaning back where your chest is then facing more of the ceiling. They're trying to use their peck or their chest in that strip press up. I guess that's the best way I could say arch.

Anna 27:27

Yeah, arch of your back.

Matt 27:29

Yeah.

Anna 27:29

Yeah. An extension, you know, it's like it's like a back bend. That's an arch. Your hollow is the opposing. It's like you're laying, the best way to think about it is laying on the ground, trying to make a boat. Trying to float away on a boat. Not a kayak. Trying to float away on a boat. Not a kayak, like a like a Viking boat that has a nice curve to it. But yeah, the hollows are, gosh, man, they suck, but they're really good. Gymnasts do them all the time. You ever see a gym, like a real gymnast hop up on a bar, like a pull-up bar, their parallel bars. They are immediately in that hollow where their feet are slightly in front of their body and they're just locked in. They have a nice little curve, making that boat hanging from the parallel bars. Ribs to hips. That's a great one.

Matt 28:20

Yeah.

Anna 28:21

It's like a you're gonna like standing and it's almost like doing a sit-up while standing without your chest falling forward.

Matt 28:27

Yeah. Yep. Yeah, because any movement back, think of it like a soda can. Like you want your body to be in a soda can, like you're very, very straight up. And if you move back, it's now compromised, easy to get squished. Structural integrity is gone.

Anna 28:44

Ah, so not like a crushed soda can that makes that boat shape.

Matt 28:47

No, you don't want to be a crushed soda can. Don't be a crushed soda.

Anna 28:51

Don't be crushed.

Matt 28:53

All right. Well, we talked about mindfulness in the movement and trying to like think about that kind of stuff. What we want to do is also talk about why we do drills. So, like you talked about a three position, something earlier. But why we do drills is to really, we're gonna say, let's say, for example, we do the ready go style movement where everybody's got a PVC pipe, it's the best friend in the world during these drills. All of a sudden the PVC pipe feels like a million pounds. But we have you hold a position and we'll say a cue. Right? And then you get used to holding that position or performing that movement from that cue. So that way during class, when we're walking around and we say that cue to you, you're then able to execute with a fraction of the brain power. You're like, I know what this is, I have done this many times seatedly in a static position. Like, I know what he's talking about without having to go into a lengthy explanation. And that's where drills really come into play. So if people are like, I am so tired of holding this deadlift in the mid-chin position.

Anna 30:00

We're like butt up, butt down, knees up.

Matt 30:02

Yeah, engage your lats.

Anna 30:03

Lats, lats on.

Matt 30:05

Yeah, yeah.

Anna 30:05

Pinch your shoulders. Yeah, that too, and just familiarity. You know, it's it's all about reps. The more you do reps, the more you do reps, reps, reps, reps, reps. 10,000 reps makes you an expert or something like that. We got you through drills.

Matt 30:18

We got you.

Anna 30:19

We're gonna get you there.

Matt 30:21

Yeah. Yeah, with that, the drills and the muscle memory comes body awareness. And that's really helpful when you're working out in the gym.

Anna 30:31

Yeah, and just through life.

Matt 30:32

Yeah.

Anna 30:33

We gotta get some of that to Pia.

Matt 30:35

Yeah.

Anna 30:39

Yeah. Poor girl.

Matt 30:41

Yeah. That's that's it. Looking down at the notes, that's all I had to cover today. Did you have anything, Anna?

Anna 30:48

No, not today. We can talk about some other ones at a later time. Like who are the girls?

Matt 30:56

Yeah. Okay. We'll talk about benchmark workouts later and in another episode. So unstoppable challenge this week. Don't just do the workout. Look at the whiteboard, pick one term or movement name that you're feeling 90% sure about, and ask a coach to explain the exact point of performance for it. Close the gap between doing and knowing. Oh. Fancy. Pinky out. Fancy.

Anna 31:25

Back with the pinky out. Preferably you ask it with the pinky out.

Matt 31:29

Yes. Oh, please do. And let me know how it goes. Preferably to Mike.

Anna 31:33

Yes, Mike. And and please do it, like find some friends and go one after another or in unison.

Matt 31:39

He's not gonna know what's happening. He's like, what is going on? Just go, can you please teach me? But yeah, that's it. Just just this next week. Don't just do it. Look at the whiteboard, pick one thing, ask the coach about it, do with the pinky out, and that's it. And subscribe. And subscribe. Yeah. Don't forget, get on that supporter list by April 4th to get in on the UBC raffle. And if you like this episode, please leave us a thumbs up or a review and subscribe and follow more just to help us grow, reach more people. New episodes land every Tuesday. And until then, be well. Be unstoppable.