EP51, Breathe Better

EP51, Breathe Better

Send us a question here! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2493601/fan_mail/new] Are you breathing wrong without even knowing it? You take about 20,000 breaths a day, and most of them are on autopilot. But how you breathe shapes your sleep, your stress, your workouts, and how fast you recover. This solo episode breaks down three simple shifts that change how you train and how you live. In this episode, we deep dive into: * Why your breath is the most underused tool you already own: Breathing is the only system that's both automatic and under your control. It's the bridge between your conscious brain and your nervous system, and it's how you tell your body whether you're safe or in danger. Shallow chest breathing sends a stress signal. Slow diaphragm breathing sends a safety signal. * Nose vs mouth breathing and why it matters: Your nose is built for breathing, your mouth is built for eating and talking. Nose breathing filters the air, humidifies it, and produces nitric oxide that helps oxygen move into your bloodstream more efficiently. Mouth breathing during sleep is linked to worse sleep, dry mouth, and worse cardiovascular markers. Learn when to default to nose, and when the mouth becomes your gear shift. * Box breathing, the 60 second nervous system reset: Four in, four hold, four out, four hold. Four rounds, one minute total. Used by the military, ER docs, and elite athletes because it works fast. We break down exactly when to pull it out, including before a hard workout, before a tough conversation, in the parking lot before walking into the gym, or in bed when your brain won't shut off. * How to brace under the bar: A big breath through the nose, down into the belly, then brace your core like someone's about to punch you. That intra-abdominal pressure is what protects your spine on heavy squats and deadlifts. Plus the simple rule for when to exhale on each rep, and why holding your breath through a whole set is a mistake. * Rhythmic breathing for runners: A 3-3 pattern for easy pace, 2-2 when you're pushing. Why finding your rhythm is one of the hardest skills for new runners to develop, and why it changes everything once you do. The Unstoppable Challenge: Pick ONE technique from this episode and use it once in the next week. Could be box breathing in your car before work, the brace on your next heavy lift, or rhythmic breathing on your next run. Notice what shifts and DM Matt on Instagram @juggernautmatt to share which one you tried. Support the Show & Win! 🎟️ Our next raffle draws Friday, June 6th, for a seat to the Ultimate Bootcamp Challenge, a $199 value. For as little as $3 a month you're entered to win AND you're helping us keep this podcast going. Tap "Support the Show" in your podcast app or visit the link below. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2493601/support] Follow Matt on Instagram [https://instagram.com/juggernautmatt]! Interested in joining Juggernaut Fitness, either remotely or in person? Check out our website here [https://juggernaut-fitness.com/].

EP50, RPE Explained, Why "RPE 8" Doesn't Mean What You Think It Does

Send us a question here! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2493601/fan_mail/new] Most people use RPE incorrectly, and the worst part is that they don't know it. In this episode, Matt breaks down Rate of Perceived Exertion from the ground up: what it actually means, why it beats percentage-based training, and the one misconception that could be making you train way heavier or way lighter than you think. If a coach told you to hit RPE 8 today, would you know what that feels like? Most people think RPE 8 equals 80% of their one-rep max. That's only true in one specific case. Matt explains the real math, what RPE looks like across strength, running, and Olympic lifting, and how to calibrate yourself so you actually trust the number you're writing down. Questions this episode answers: * What does RPE mean in weightlifting and fitness? * Is RPE 8 the same as 80% of my one-rep max? * How do I use RPE if I don't know my one-rep max? * What's the difference between RPE and reps in reserve (RIR)? * How do I rate effort on a run if I'm not using a heart rate monitor? * Why doesn't traditional RPE work well for snatches and clean and jerks? * What's the talk test, and how does it tie to RPE? * How do I know if I'm actually hitting my target RPE or sandbagging? * Why does the same weight feel harder some days than others? * Should I train to failure or stop short? In this episode, we deep dive into: * Why Your One-Rep Max Isn't Fixed: And how RPE solves the moving target most percentage-based programs ignore. * The 1-10 Scale, Decoded: What each number actually feels like, from "barely moving" to "everything you've got." * The 80% Myth: Why RPE 8 is 92% for a single, 80% for a set of five, and 70% for a set of ten. The chart that fixes one of the most common misconceptions in strength training. * RPE for Runners: The talk test, the 80/20 rule, and why most people run their easy days too hard and their hard days too easy. * Why Olympic Lifting Breaks Traditional RPE: What "stay snappy" actually means and why the snatch and clean and jerk need a different framework. * The Two Ego Traps: Sandbagging vs. underselling, and why honest RPE is the only RPE that works. * Daily Modifiers: How sleep, stress, and life chaos change your real RPE, and why that's a feature, not a bug. * The Calibration Test: The single best exercise to learn the scale fast, in one workout. Unstoppable Challenge: Pick one workout this week. Rate every working set or every running interval with an RPE number. Don't change anything else, just start paying attention. Then next week, run the Calibration Test on one of your lifts. Get the RPE Field Guide: Subscribed to the podcast through our email list? The RPE Field Guide is hitting your inbox this week. It includes the full scale, the percentage chart, the calibration test, and a quick reference for strength, running, and Olympic lifting. Support the Show & Win! UBC RAFFLE: Subscribe to the podcast to be entered into our next raffle, drawing on June 6th. We're giving away a full seat in the Ultimate Bootcamp Challenge ($199 value). One of our most popular programs. If the show has helped you, share it with someone who'd get something out of it. That's how we grow this thing. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2493601/support] Follow Matt on Instagram [https://instagram.com/juggernautmatt]! Interested in joining Juggernaut Fitness, either remotely or in person? Check out our website here [https://juggernaut-fitness.com/].

EP49, Most People Don't Have Goals, They Have Wishes

Send us a question here! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2493601/fan_mail/new] Most people set goals every January and quit by February. It's not a discipline problem. The goal was never really theirs to begin with. In this episode, Matt walks through how to set a goal that actually pulls you, why your role model might be the wrong person to study, and a 3-minute exercise that'll tell you whether the goal you're chasing is real or borrowed from someone else's highlight reel. This one gets personal. Role Model vs Mentor (and why you probably need both): They do different jobs. One you study from a distance, one is in your corner pushing back. Most people conflate them and end up with neither. The Accessibility Test: Why picking a role model who's twenty steps ahead of you turns into inspiration porn instead of a useful study, and the simple filter that makes it work. The Anti-Role Model: Sometimes the most powerful person to study isn't ahead of you. It's a version of yourself you refuse to go back to. Matt shares his. The Tuesday Test (a.k.a. the Perfect Day Exercise): A 3-layer guided walkthrough that turns vague goals into specific identity. Morning, midday, evening, plus the gut check that tells you if your goal is real. Goals Aren't Additions, They're Subtractions: The part of goal setting most people skip, and why it's the difference between a goal that lands and a wish that doesn't. The 5-Point Criteria: A simple checklist for the difference between a goal that'll pull you through the boring middle and a wish that won't. If you've ever set a goal that felt flat the moment you said it out loud, this episode is for you. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2493601/support] Follow Matt on Instagram [https://instagram.com/juggernautmatt]! Interested in joining Juggernaut Fitness, either remotely or in person? Check out our website here [https://juggernaut-fitness.com/].

EP48, Chase The Stimulus

Send us a question here! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2493601/fan_mail/new] Are you the person who tries Rx and grinds through a workout in 25 minutes when it was supposed to take 10? Or the one who scales so light you're done in four and barely breathing? In this solo episode of Unstoppable by Design, Matt Terry breaks down what it actually means to modify with a purpose, why "Rx" isn't the goal, and how to make scaling decisions that match the intent of every workout. > "Rx is not the goal. The stimulus is the goal. The Rx is just one of many paths to get there, and for a lot of people, on a lot of days, it's not the right path." In this episode, we deep dive into: * What "Stimulus" Actually Means: The word coaches throw around all the time, finally explained in a way you can use the next time you walk into the gym. * Why Rx Isn't a Badge: How chasing the prescribed weight can quietly steal the workout you actually needed today. * Knowing Your Own Engine: The data you should already be collecting on yourself, no notebook required, that turns scaling from a guess into a calculated decision. * The One Test for Smart Scaling: A simple question to ask before every workout that keeps your modification honest to the intent. * Modifying Around an Injury, the Right Way: A real wall ball example with three different scales, each one keeping the stimulus while protecting the limitation. * Why Scaling Is a Skill: And why getting it wrong sometimes is part of getting it right long-term. 🎙️ Support the Show & Win! For as little as $3/month, you'll be entered into our June 6th raffle to win a seat in the Ultimate Bootcamp Challenge, valued at $199. Every subscription, no matter the amount, helps us keep putting these episodes out. Tap the support link below to get in. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2493601/support] Follow Matt on Instagram [https://instagram.com/juggernautmatt]! Interested in joining Juggernaut Fitness, either remotely or in person? Check out our website here [https://juggernaut-fitness.com/].

EP47, Beyond The Barbell PRs

Send us a question here! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2493601/fan_mail/new] If you only celebrate the heavy lifts, you're missing about 90% of the actual progress happening in your body, your training, and your life. This week's solo episode came straight off our Goal Review form. A member asked their coach, "Are there other ways to measure PRs besides the heavy lifts?" Best question Matt's seen on that form in a while. So in this episode, he digs into the five categories of personal records that get overlooked, and why one of them might be the most important thing you measure all year. In this episode, we deep dive into: * Skill PRs: Why your first strict pull-up, your first stitched-together double unders, and that first real kip count just as much as a 10-pound bump on your back squat. And why these don't go away the way a 1RM might if you take three weeks off. * Conditioning PRs: Why a 90-second drop on your 800 meter run is a bigger PR than a 10-pound back squat bump in Matt's book. The engine work that shows up in the rest of your life faster than any other kind. * Consistency PRs (Matt's favorite): Why the person who shows up three times a week for ten years will outlift, outmove, and outlive the person who goes seven days a week for two months and burns out. Consistency isn't a side effect of fitness, it IS the skill. * Quality of Life PRs: Sleeping through the night without your back screaming at you. Hiking without paying for it the next day. Picking up your kid without that quiet "is this gonna hurt" thought. The PRs that don't show up in pounds or seconds, but in the moments your body just does what you asked. * Mindset PRs: Showing up on the bad day. Asking for the scale even after you went RX last week. Walking into the class scared and staying anyway. These are the PRs that make every other PR possible. Unstoppable Challenge: Before you walk into the gym this week, pick one PR from outside the barbell and pay attention to it. Just one. Track it. Notice it. Then tell your coach, or send Matt a message. He wants to hear them. 🎟️ Support the Show & Win! For as little as $3/month, you're entered into our monthly raffles AND you help keep the show going. Our next drawing is May 2nd, and we're giving away a full seat to the next Ultimate Bootcamp Challenge ($199 value). Link in the show notes. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2493601/support] Follow Matt on Instagram [https://instagram.com/juggernautmatt]! Interested in joining Juggernaut Fitness, either remotely or in person? Check out our website here [https://juggernaut-fitness.com/].