Finding Your Training "Sweet Spot" and Checking the Ego

Is your ego standing in the way of your progress? Today on Strong Principles, Wendy, Rob, and Larry explore the "Sweet Spot" of training. We tackle the two biggest mistakes seen in the gym: not pushing hard enough and pushing too hard with terrible form. Whether you’re someone who sticks to the same light weights out of habit or someone who loads the bar for "ego reps," this episode is a wake-up call to the importance of movement quality.

We discuss why "Pristine Reps" (PRs) are the only metric that truly matters and why treating lifting as a skill—rather than just a workout—is the secret to longevity. Plus, we pull back the curtain on the "boring" habits of elite athletes, including Rob's 3:00 AM mobility routine, and explain why you might need to "regress to progress."

Stop chasing numbers and start chasing quality. Tune in to learn how to find your intensity without losing your form.

[Rob](00:00:00)Okay, guys.(00:00:00)This is Strong Principles, and (00:00:02)I'm Rob Dela Cruz.

[Wendy](00:00:03)I'm Wendy Shafranski.

[Larry](00:00:04)I'm Larry Medina.(00:00:06)Alright, guys.(00:00:06)And we are Strong Principles.

[Wendy](00:00:07)Oh.(00:00:09)Alright, guys.(00:00:10)Today, we're gonna, talk about finding the sweet spot of training.(00:00:13)So in order to make progress in the gym, build muscle, there's there's a a kind of a range you wanna be in.(00:00:19)You don't wanna just kinda go through the motions and it be not enough effort, but you don't wanna go overboard and tax yourself, lead to injury, that sort of thing.

[Wendy](00:00:29)So we're gonna find we're gonna talk about that sweet spot, and I'm gonna make some generalizations, for what we see in the gym.(00:00:35)So, typically, it's the women who don't push themselves hard enough.(00:00:39)So you have, you know, the circuit.(00:00:42)They're doing a movement, say, for eight reps.(00:00:45)And over time, you notice it looks really easy for them, and they're using the same weight time and time again.

[Wendy](00:00:51)So they're just kinda going through the motions.(00:00:54)Maybe it's fear, maybe they don't wanna get bulky and, you know, it's it's that attitude, but, it tends to be women that don't push themselves hard enough when they can move correctly.(00:01:04)On the flip side, when we're telling people to do less weight, it typically is the men.(00:01:10)And so there's a little bit of an, you know, ego lifting there.(00:01:13)And if we're asking them to lower the weight, it's because they're not doing it correctly.

[Wendy](00:01:18)So, you you know, they're not doing themselves any favors if they load the bar up with, you know, 400 pounds and they're just doing, like, a quarter squat.(00:01:27)We're not impressed by that.(00:01:28)So

[Larry](00:01:29)I've seen that reel, the guy where he's, like, squatting.(00:01:32)Is it?(00:01:32)It.(00:01:33)It's very Yeah.(00:01:34)Yeah.

[Larry](00:01:34)We I'm thinking, like, what

[Rob](00:01:35)are you doing?(00:01:35)We run into it all the time just for the load.(00:01:38)But, I mean, despite what you hear, like, some researchers or some fitness influencer that never trained people or is, like, 30 years old, Movement quality is always more effective and the better quality of movement you have, then you get a more effective outcome from the loads you use.(00:01:59)And then understanding that will make you go a lot further than trying to push yourself, but the movement quality looks terrible.

[Wendy](00:02:06)Right.(00:02:06)And I mean, when people think of weightlifting, they think of bodybuilders and they think stiffness, but actually, weightlifting creates more mobility in your body if you are using those full ranges of motion.(00:02:18)But so to the I guess, we can kind of address each each cohort.(00:02:23)So for the, you know, the people that aren't pushing themselves in the gym, a lot of times as coaches, they say, well, what weight should I use?(00:02:32)Like, they're not

[Larry](00:02:34)And and that's a great question because, like, I have you know, I do run into every now and then where, like, if somebody comes up to, like, well, what weight should I use?(00:02:40)And I'm like,

[Rob](00:02:41)I don't

[Wendy](00:02:41)know.(00:02:42)Well But, you know, but to me, I I I tell them we'll start taking warm up sets because people wanna just jump into the a working set.(00:02:52)So we're constant reminders.(00:02:53)Take, you know, at least two to three warmups sets to establish your weight.(00:02:58)And then, you know, so you're, you're going to be, if it says we're doing three sets, you're actually probably doing six, you know, but your, your, your central nervous system, your muscle, you know,

[Rob](00:03:06)making sure everything feels good, moves good.(00:03:08)Like everything feels all right.(00:03:10)So if you ever been around really strong people that compete in the strength sports and you watch them warm up or someone that has been doing it a long time that has like really good, like knowledge base, You'll see them warm up with, like, a bar and then just a few pounds and then but they can snatch clean, jerk, whatever, squat, 500 and something pounds, but you come up and you put one eighty five to start.(00:03:36)Like, what?(00:03:37)That's, like, really close to your max.

[Rob](00:03:38)I don't understand, like, the logic in that.(00:03:40)Well, I don't wanna, like, wear myself out, wear yourself out.(00:03:42)You're never gonna make, like

[Wendy](00:03:43)Yeah.(00:03:44)Yeah.(00:03:44)Well, let's go back to, like, the people That's

[Larry](00:03:46)young me, by the way.(00:03:47)Young me would

[Wendy](00:03:47)be on the Young guys.

[Larry](00:03:49)Young me, two twenty five.(00:03:51)Is what we're, like, legit.(00:03:52)I would just put two twenty five and warm up a 10.(00:03:56)Yeah.(00:03:56)Although my max is probably, like, 12.

[Larry](00:03:59)Yeah.(00:03:59)Yeah.

[Rob](00:03:59)So when he when he was right, so, like, we always explain, it's like, the more practice, the better you get.(00:04:05)And a lot of movements has to do like neurologically, you're learning.(00:04:09)Like there's a strength aspect that happens like physiologically, but a lot of it is neurological and it's like your body learning how to deal with the weight.(00:04:17)And then it's allowing you to explicitly use your strength to move it.(00:04:23)But if it's not learning or it feels comfortable, it will not let you use your strength that you even have.

[Wendy](00:04:29)Right.(00:04:29)But back to the people that don't really push themselves.(00:04:32)So take warmups sets.(00:04:34)If you're unsure of what way to do, because it could fluctuate depending on how you feel, you know, you're not, it's not always going to be an upward trajectory.(00:04:40)So warmup and you, you want to go to a weight where your last rep feels difficult, but you probably have another couple in the tank.

[Wendy](00:04:49)You know?(00:04:50)So for, you know, the the people that are just kind of, you know, just going through the motions and not feeling like they really got uncomfortable, you need to learn to get a little bit uncomfortable.(00:05:00)You know, like, oh, that was tough.(00:05:02)But if I had to, I could do another one.

[Rob](00:05:04)Yeah.(00:05:04)What what do you say when when someone says because I know when I run into it, well, I'm I saw or I read that you should always go to failure.

[Wendy](00:05:13)I mean, there is some some evidence that that's beneficial to strength gains, but, I mean, I think it it just taxes you so much that, you know, you want it you want to hit each set with the same intensity and try to keep, you know or or even maybe even increase the weight.(00:05:29)So you don't wanna just blow it all out of the water at first.

[Larry](00:05:31)I almost feel like it's it's the conversation of what's the cost of going to failure every time.(00:05:36)Right?(00:05:36)Like like, this is just from your conversations that that I'm getting of, like, okay.(00:05:41)Well, is it more of, like, if I do go to failure every time, what is my cost in the long run Mhmm.(00:05:48)Versus a prescribed go to almost failure and you still have some in the tank, but there's some, less of a cost, but, you know, the risk reward scenario.

[Wendy](00:06:00)Right.(00:06:00)Yeah.

[Rob](00:06:01)Yeah.(00:06:01)Yeah.(00:06:01)There's a there's a big difference.(00:06:02)And the thing is effort means more than going to failure.(00:06:07)Did you put a good effort into it?

[Rob](00:06:10)Going to failure, some people don't understand that.(00:06:12)And a lot of times that this more of that has to deal with a strength athlete that is focusing on, like, some kind of strength sport.(00:06:19)When it comes to the general population just getting stronger, it's their effort that they're putting into it.

[Wendy](00:06:24)Right.(00:06:25)So yeah.(00:06:25)So so if you don't feel like you're you're you're doing the correct weight or you you feel like you're going through the motions, take your warm upsets, lift a weight that you think you could probably do for a couple more reps, but it was hard and really connect to the muscle.(00:06:41)Think about the muscle groups that you're you're using when you're lift lifting, use a good tempo, don't run through it.(00:06:48)You know, just being very aware of that, will, you know, will help.

[Wendy](00:06:53)I mean, you I could make a really lightweight feel heavy by going really slow and doing isometric holds, that sort of thing.(00:06:58)But if you're just you're just jamming through it because you're used to hit classes or CrossFit or whatever, you're not gonna get the benefit of the program that we're writing.

[Rob](00:07:06)And even understand, like, how to have really good quality of movement.(00:07:11)Like, bodybuilders do a good job.(00:07:12)Like, when he was just talking about, they can make lightweights feel heavy just by the way they concentrate on it.(00:07:19)And bodybuilders a lot of times are strong too.(00:07:22)There's a time to concentrate on things and then there's a time to move quickly through something like dynamic.

[Rob](00:07:27)Now are you separate nose?(00:07:30)But they're always looking good doing it.(00:07:32)We'll move by quality is number one.

[Wendy](00:07:34)Right.(00:07:34)And then on the flip side, so the people that add too much weight in their movement quality sucks, that they need to, kind of check their ego.(00:07:44)When is this calling people out?(00:07:45)That's right.(00:07:46)They do.

[Wendy](00:07:47)They

[Larry](00:07:47)Your your movement quality sucks.

[Wendy](00:07:49)Yeah.(00:07:49)No.(00:07:49)I mean, we see it all the time and, well, they need to check their ego.(00:07:53)You know, are they worried more about what they look like or the number that's on the bar?(00:07:57)And most times it's the number that's on the bar.

[Wendy](00:07:59)And and and people kinda get in that whole mentality of they're like, they're working out with somebody and he's going heavier.(00:08:04)I'm going to go heavier, you know, whatever.(00:08:05)But this is where you need to take a step back and think of lifting as a skill.(00:08:10)So you're going lighter, but you're, you're going through proper ranges of motion.(00:08:15)Maybe you're going slower.

[Wendy](00:08:16)So you're adding intensity, but like I'll take the squat for instance, you're getting used to being at the bottom of the squat.(00:08:22)You know, not caving in, not rounded back.(00:08:25)We've done things where, all right, we notice people aren't going low enough and they're just adding weight.(00:08:30)So we'll do a couple of weeks where we do pauses at the bottom, and you can't go very heavy there.(00:08:34)So people know what the bottom feels like.

[Wendy](00:08:37)So we're we're we're lifting for skill.(00:08:41)But then it'll then a lot of times when we go to the full back squats, like, I know you know what bottom looks like, but

[Rob](00:08:47)Well, what happens is they don't they don't know they don't feel the difference.(00:08:50)So that's why you gotta spend a lot of time into it.

[Larry](00:08:52)Yeah.(00:08:53)And and to your point about the skill, like, specifically the squat.(00:08:55)Right?(00:08:55)Because there's a lot of skill in the squat itself.(00:08:58)Like, I used to always feel like you had to be like this, like, butt out.

[Larry](00:09:02)Right.

[Wendy](00:09:02)Like a well, like a low back squat.(00:09:04)Yeah.(00:09:04)Yeah.

[Larry](00:09:04)And it's low bar.

[Wendy](00:09:06)Low bar, I mean.

[Larry](00:09:06)Yeah.(00:09:06)And it's not good.(00:09:08)Right?

[Rob](00:09:08)It's it depends.(00:09:09)So it depends on what you're using.(00:09:11)Feel like.(00:09:11)Yeah.(00:09:12)So that's an that's they would consider that a, like, a weightlifting squad Olympic squad, and that's the way we mostly squat.

[Rob](00:09:17)It's super dependent on, like, what are you using it for, the difference in variation of back squats.(00:09:23)One of them has a little more, like, quad development, glutes and hamstrings when you go low.(00:09:27)The other one has, like, a lot of all of it has back.(00:09:30)Your back's involved isometrically, but has a little bit of back, a little more hamstrings, a little more.(00:09:34)Like, it looks like you're going backwards almost onto it.

[Rob](00:09:37)Once shins coming over close to the toes more and the other one's more vertical.(00:09:42)Depends on what you're using them for.(00:09:44)Right.(00:09:44)Now if someone looks like that because they can't change, then, yeah, that's not very good.(00:09:50)They look like they're on, like, a leg press.

[Larry](00:09:52)Then you

[Rob](00:09:52)need to be careful with that.(00:09:53)They need to they need to lower the weight and, like, let's work on the mobility or, like, put something behind your heels there.(00:09:58)Yeah.

[Larry](00:09:59)To your point, a lot of skill there.

[Wendy](00:10:01)Yeah.(00:10:01)Yeah.(00:10:01)And then Rob just brought up mobility.(00:10:03)I mean, that's another part of it.(00:10:04)This is the the thing that people don't like doing because it's not exciting and fun, but they don't realize that focusing on that is going to allow them to get those big numbers and, you know, and that but it's it's hard to convince people to do it.

[Wendy](00:10:19)I mean, they do it in our gym, you know, right before a session, but there's each individual should be doing something else for them.(00:10:29)Like, they they have tight shoulders.(00:10:30)We've shown everybody how to release them with a band.(00:10:32)They they have tight lats.(00:10:34)They know how to do a a lat stretch.

[Wendy](00:10:36)But unless you you know, there a lot of them don't become autonomous and just kinda do it on their own if it's not written in the program, even though they've been taught.(00:10:46)But that that would oh my gosh.(00:10:48)That would change the performance.

[Rob](00:10:49)Yeah.(00:10:50)The more you understand and the more knowledge base that you personally have, the more effective the training becomes because you you have a true understanding of it.(00:10:58)But if you're just kinda like just looking at things and just relying on, like, hey, what's on the board?(00:11:02)I don't really know what I should do weight wise.(00:11:04)What you're always gonna be in that kind of perpetual circle of that.

[Rob](00:11:08)I always like and I stole it.(00:11:10)I'm stealing this from Joe DeFranco.(00:11:11)Like, PR is like pristine reps.(00:11:14)One thing I like to do with people is you go and you like, you make the back squat.(00:11:18)We'll use, can you tell the difference in weight?

[Rob](00:11:21)And you have someone look at like five different back squats, totally different weights, but it looks the same.(00:11:29)And then you let them see.(00:11:30)And it was like, Oh, okay.(00:11:31)It's from 300 and something all the way down to one thirty five, but they all look the same and reps.(00:11:36)That's when, you know, that's gonna be really effective.

[Rob](00:11:40)All those squats look exactly the same, no matter what the weight is.

[Wendy](00:11:43)Right.(00:11:44)So, yeah, if if you're someone who wants to get to the next level with a certain weight and do it right, really, you need to lean into the the boring.(00:11:52)You know, the mobility, the lifting as a skill, and wrapping your head around the fact that if I wanna progress, I need to regress for a little while.(00:12:00)But in the I mean, when I learned the pose running technique, I got slower, but then I took off afterwards.(00:12:06)So it was frustrating for a little while, but then I wasn't injured, you know, because I wasn't, like, heel striking, and I was fine after that, you know.

[Larry](00:12:15)That's It's interesting you say about the boring.(00:12:17)Right?(00:12:17)Because I got I feel that way about people who are successful in life.(00:12:20)A lot of times, like, they're the most boring person that you'll ever meet.(00:12:25)However, they're satisfied and they're successful.

[Wendy](00:12:29)Right.(00:12:30)Well, a

[Rob](00:12:30)lot of times they'll do the small things over and over again instead of trying to jump past where they're supposed to be because they they understand that the journey.(00:12:38)Yep.(00:12:38)Yeah.(00:12:39)No.

[Larry](00:12:39)That's exactly it.

[Rob](00:12:40)Yeah.(00:12:41)More so better quality of movement makes each exercise in every rep more effective.(00:12:47)So you can have more effective reps with lower weight, or you can up the weight and have less effective reps.(00:12:53)So it's kind of

[Larry](00:12:55)So so I'm I'm intrigued by, you know, so you you actually prescribe, like, the bands and all that, like, as part of your warm up?

[Wendy](00:13:03)Yeah.(00:13:04)So we have a a group warm up that everybody goes through and they know the movements by now.(00:13:07)And a lot of it's repetition because, you know, your adductors, if we squat, your hips, you know, that sort of thing.(00:13:12)But there are some that are a little more involved that we know someone can't hold the bar in a rack position because their lats are tight.(00:13:19)So we've shown them multiple times how to do that and said, hey.

[Wendy](00:13:23)Especially on days where we're doing cleans or front squats, like, you need to come in and do that in addition to and then you see them come in early.(00:13:31)They do the group warm up and then they sit there.(00:13:33)Like, hey.(00:13:34)What about your lats?(00:13:35)You know, like, I mean, so it's constantly, you know, trying to push people to

[Larry](00:13:39)It's a good point because, like, I always think, like, you know what?(00:13:42)I'll stretch while I'm doing while we're sitting there watching.(00:13:46)I never do it.(00:13:47)Like, you know, because, like, it's not part like, it's that moment has already passed.(00:13:51)Like, I should do it when

[Rob](00:13:53)see that you'll always notice.(00:13:55)And when you're watching people, the people that have like the biggest knowledge base in training in general, warm up the best, not necessarily the best athletes, but they have the biggest knowledge base and like a lot of wisdom they'll warm up the best sometimes like really good athletes or, or someone that's just like natural flexible.(00:14:15)They just come in and just like, Oh, I'm fine.(00:14:16)It's going to that catches up to everybody.(00:14:18)So, you know, some days you come in and you're like real stiff and other days you're like, Oh man, I just feel good.

[Rob](00:14:23)Well, you'll have more days of feeling better than going in.(00:14:27)Cause you can get past that stiffness if you warm up properly.

[Wendy](00:14:31)Yeah.(00:14:31)People don't even know what Rob does.(00:14:33)So he gets on days where he has to open the gym.(00:14:35)You know, his first class is at five.(00:14:37)He gets up at three.

[Wendy](00:14:39)He goes out in the garage, puts his yoga mat down and because he knows he's gonna be moving around and demoing things.(00:14:45)He does a ton of mobility, takes a hot shower, all this before 5AM, you know.(00:14:52)And and then before his workout, he does his own series of mobility.(00:14:55)And, actually, he did a lot at home at night too.

[Rob](00:14:58)And then

[Wendy](00:14:58)we're not asking people to do that, but but, you know, they'll But that's

[Rob](00:15:01)what I do for a living.(00:15:02)Kind of

[Wendy](00:15:03)But they'll look at him too and go, wow.(00:15:05)His squad at, you know, 375 looks the same as it did at 02:25.(00:15:09)And it's like, yeah.(00:15:11)You know?(00:15:11)Because he's he's mobile.

[Wendy](00:15:13)He's warmed up appropriately.(00:15:14)He didn't take big jumps, like, you know.

[Rob](00:15:17)And so, yes, that's pretty crazy.(00:15:20)But when I walk, I know I gotta I feel like I need to defend myself for something.(00:15:23)Like,

[Wendy](00:15:23)alright.(00:15:24)Yes.(00:15:24)No.(00:15:24)Like No.

[Rob](00:15:25)No one's gonna do this.

[Larry](00:15:26)No.(00:15:26)So Again, successful people are boring.

[Rob](00:15:30)So I used to just come in, and then someone asked me to do something.(00:15:33)I go to do something.(00:15:34)Like, there were so many times, like, Oh my God, I feel like I pulled something.(00:15:37)And then I started like, all right, I need to be prepared when they come in.(00:15:40)They're going to start asking me questions early in the morning.

[Rob](00:15:42)So I need to have a routine.(00:15:43)I feel much better.(00:15:45)And then I'm able to start my day.(00:15:46)And that's just kind of what I started doing.(00:15:48)And that's what I do every time.

[Rob](00:15:50)Yeah.

[Larry](00:15:50)That's fantastic.

[Wendy](00:15:51)So just telling it kinda went a little bit off tangent, but no no worries.(00:15:56)That's the beauty of this.(00:15:57)Yeah.

[Rob](00:15:57)At 03:00 hurts in the morning.

[Wendy](00:15:59)But, in in talking about finding that sweet spot of training, if you don't feel like you're really pushing yourselves, take warm upsets, get to a weight that those last few reps are difficult.(00:16:11)But if you had to do a couple more, you, you could.(00:16:14)And this is keeping in, you know, that you have good movement patterns.(00:16:18)And then if you're one that kind of ego lifts, it looks ugly when you get to a certain weight, take a step back, approach lifting more like a skill, and and keep it in your head that you want, you know, that that almost max effort to look very similar, if not the same to, like, the really low warm upsets.(00:16:38)And you are you think am I being I'm gonna be judged by the beauty of this lift, you know, like it's gymnastics.

[Rob](00:16:44)Yeah.(00:16:44)That's what I always I always I used to say this with the CrossFit stuff.(00:16:48)You know, they always went by time how fast, but in gymnastics and Olympic lifting, the way you look when you do had a lot to do with the score you'd get.(00:16:56)So I always thought there should have been, like, a score of, like, how, like, how fast and the way you looked, and it could, like, kind of nullify.(00:17:04)But the thing is to to back Wendy up is about the movement, the movement quality on her.

[Rob](00:17:11)Always concentrate on it.(00:17:13)Think of the training as practice, and the more reps you get in, the better to practice and better you get at that skill.(00:17:19)It's like kind of like that 10,000, like rep to that.(00:17:23)That's, there's a lot of truth to that.(00:17:25)The more you do it, the better you're going to get at it.

[Rob](00:17:28)So you're not wasting reps.(00:17:30)You're practicing them.

[Wendy](00:17:32)Otherwise, we're going to put pictures of Rob's stank face all over the gym and say, what would Rob think before you lift?(00:17:37)Awesome.

[Larry](00:17:39)Awesome.(00:17:39)Yeah.(00:17:40)All right.(00:17:40)So, yeah, I'll always keep in mind if you're looking at home.(00:17:43)Think of the Rob Stank face.

[Wendy](00:17:44)Exactly.(00:17:45)I can I can get you one if you want?(00:17:46)There you

[Larry](00:17:47)go.(00:17:47)A big head.

[Wendy](00:17:47)Yeah.

[Larry](00:17:49)Awesome.(00:17:50)Thanks, everybody.(00:17:51)Strong principles.

[Wendy](00:17:52)Alright.(00:17:52)Thank you.