“How do I start lifting with a barbell?”

“How do I start lifting with a barbell?”

  July 27, 2026    Pratik Bandagale

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I just got an awesome video question from a reader named Dale – and it got me so fired up, I had to share it with you.

Dale’s been working out at planet fitness for the last couple of years, but in the last 6-weeks, she’s made it her mission to start learning how to strength train. (HECK YES!!!) She’s watching Youtube videos and trying to figure the whole thing out.

Here was her question:

I want to know how to transition to the other things that I’m intimidated by using, like the barbells and stuff like that. I don’t know if I’m quite ready or not – how can I get ready and where do I start?

I know exactly how it feels to stand in the gym and see the free weights section and feel like “What am I even supposed to do over there?”

Heck, when I first started lifting weights in high school, the only guidance I got was “add more weight” and “go deeper”. (Literally, they strapped this little device around one thigh that “beeped” when it sensed it had tipped below parallel. The rep didn’t count unless we heard the beep – regardless of proper technique. )

Getting started with barbell training is something we’ve worked with on with thousands of folks over the years.

Here’s how I’d break it down so you can step up to the squat rack with confidence.

​WATCH VIDEO​

Step 1: Give yourself permission

This is going to sound counter-intuitive, but I mean it: the best way to start barbell training is by giving yourself permission that you never have to pick up a barbell if you don’t want to.

There are so. many. ways. to. get. strong. Bodyweight training. Dumbbells. Kettlebells. Sandbags. You get the idea.
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The last thing I want is for you to feel like you HAVE to barbell train to get stronger, or that you’re missing out on some super secret technique. (Cue the FOMO!)
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Sure, barbell training is super fun, challenging and rewarding, but if you decide it’s not for you – no sweat!

And the funny thing is, by giving yourself permission to never pick up a barbell if you don’t want to, it actually makes it easier and more fun to learn. Who knew?

Step 2: Build your confidence

A barbell typically weighs 15-20kg (or around 33-45lbs) – the most common being the 45-pound version.

Before you step up to the bar, it’s a great idea to build up confidence in bodyweight and dumbbell movements that mimic the ones you’ll do with a barbell.
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You’ll get stronger and learn the technique at a lower weight, so when it comes time to grab the bar, it’s mainly about adjusting to the set up – not a question of whether you can safely perform the lift!

Because you are only moving one item (the bar) rather than two (each dumbbell independently), barbell lifts actually feel slightly EASIER even if it’s the same total weight!

Some example progressions (level up when you can do 5 to 10 reps of the exercise with confidence)

• Bodyweight Squat -> Goblet Squat (15#) -> Goblet Squat (25#) -> Dumbbell Front Squat (40#) -> Barbell Back Squat (45#)
• Wall Push-up -> Countertop Push-up -> Dumbbell Bench Press (30#) -> Dumbbell Bench Press (40#) -> Barbell Bench Press (45#)

Step 3: One rep at a time

My third important tip: treat barbell training like practice time in the beginning.

It’s not about doing a ton of reps. Or adding weight.

It’s about mastering the technique with the bar.

So come in to the gym, get a good warm-up in, then before your main workout, practice your barbell technique.

• How to un-rack and re-rack the bar safely.
• How it feels to perform each lift well and with confidence
• What to do if you need to bail

You likely only need a couple of sessions like this, but it will go a long way to helping you feel confident under the bar. And you learn best when you are fresh (hence add it to the start of your workout.)

Once you’re feeling good moving with just the bar, you can slowly adding weight until you find your sweet spot.

Bonus: Avengers, Assemble!

One final thought I’ll leave you with. Depending on your gym, there are likely staff, trainers, or even other members there who would love to spot you so you can perform your first barbell lifts with confidence.

Especially if they are wearing a Nerd Fitness shirt or unicorn rainbow shorts (looking at you Alek) – I can guarantee they’d be ecstatic to help out.

I know not all situations are the same, so only do what you feel comfortable with.

I’d love to hear from you:

Have you tried barbell training yet?

If so, what was your experience like getting started?

If not, what other questions do you have about it?

You got this!
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-Matt
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P.S. Coach Drew is someone who excels at teaching barbell training and technique. Earlier this year, his client Steve hit a 200lb overhead press…for a triple!

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The best newsletters from the past year 🙌

The best newsletters from the past year 🙌

  May 06, 2026    Pratik Bandagale

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There’s so much noise in the fitness industry.

So many “Don’t do that” or “You’re doing it wrong if…” So much fear-mongering and finger-pointing. And honestly, it frustrates the heck out of me.

It’s overhyped, overblown, and not all that helpful. Especially for those of us who just want the strength, energy, and health to pour into everything else we’ve got going on.

One year ago today, I took over writing this newsletter from Steve with one goal: bring you practical, real-world lessons from my 15+ years of coaching that you can actually use.

I wanted to show you how fitness can be a part of your life without taking over your life. AND that we can have fun with it, too.

I’m so grateful for the response. For every note and reply telling me about your goals, your struggles, and what resonated most.

So to celebrate one year, here’s a list of my best newsletters. These are the ones worth a refresher or a second look if you missed them the first time around.

The Ones That Hit Home

​Turns Out, I Needed My Own Advice Last Week (Twice!) Sometimes we need to hear the same advice we give to others. As I often say: “Even coaches need coaches!” If you’ve been holding yourself to an impossible standard, start here.

“Thank you for helping to subtly kick me into gear. Not going to put pressure on myself, just allow myself to take each day as it is and do the best I can. And thank you for being vulnerable. I am learning that vulnerability like this is something beautiful. It is more impactful than any advice because it is real and raw.” -W

​NAWs: The Art of Getting Back on Track If you’re mid-disruption right now – illness, travel, life – this one’s for you.

“This mail came at the perfect timing! For march, I’ve had an entire fitness structure planned out and couldn’t stick to it for medical reasons…Over the past week, I attempted to show up regardless. No PRs, no new exercises. The only win was showing up and trusting the process. Ending the night with this read was such a comfort. Thank you!” -L

​Feeling Drained? Try This. For when your tank is on empty and the answer isn’t “push harder.” Sometimes the most important training decision you make is the one that protects your energy.

“This was truly helpful, a pick-me-up at a difficult time.” -J

​Start Where You Are. Use What You Have. Do What You Can. The post that prompted more “I felt like you were talking directly about me” replies than anything else I wrote. Thanks again to Charlie for sitting down to record this live coaching session with me.

“Matt, you are speaking to my soul with this email today! This is exactly what I need to hear to remind myself that I’m not alone, I haven’t completely failed and there’s still hope! Thank you!” -S

The Practical Playbook

​How to Get Stronger if You’re Feeling Stuck Another live session with a reader, Rosanne and I unpacked exactly what to do when your progress stalls. If you’ve plateaued, this one’s for you.

“I’m seeing a LOT more progress. I actually think I will need to buy some heavier weights soon to have at home as in a few movements I’m maxing out what I have, which is a great problem to have!” -R

​What Does “Enough” Fitness Look Like?(plus the 5-minute mobility routine) Answering one of the most common questions I get: “How do I know I’m doing enough?” This pair of posts gives you a real answer and a concrete example you can do today.
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​The Beginner Dumbbell Workout The most-clicked workout of the year – and an awesome partner to our Beginner Bodyweight Workout.

Most-Read of the Year

​3 Lessons from Coaching Thousands of Nerds The foundational frameworks I come back to over and over. Worth a re-read anytime you feel off track, just to check in: am I doing these 3 things?

​What if I Fail Again? One of the hardest mental hurdles I see people face. If you’ve struggled to stick with fitness habits before, it can feel almost impossible to believe you’ll succeed this time. You’re not alone in that. This post is the first step I walk people through to break that cycle.

Phew, we covered a lot of ground this past year!
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Once again, I want to say thank you.

Thank you for the questions. The kind words. The “hey Matt, this one hit different” replies. If you’ve ever written back, you know I read every single one. It genuinely makes my day to hear from you, problem-solve together, and cheer you on from afar.

That’s what this whole thing is about.

Here’s to another year of cutting through the noise together.

– Matt

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The Most Underrated Skill I Wish Everyone Would Learn

The Most Underrated Skill I Wish Everyone Would Learn

  April 23, 2026    Pratik Bandagale

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Most people go their entire lives never learning how to fall.

Everyone takes a tumble at some point.

Whether it’s a patch of ice, a trail root, a misstep off a curb, or just an unlucky moment, falls happen to all of us. And for a lot of people, especially as they age, a single fall can be genuinely life-altering. Hip fractures alone carry a staggering mortality rate in older adults. Roughly 20-30% don’t survive the following year, not from the fall itself, but from the cascade of complications that follow.

So today, I want to introduce you to something I think belongs in everyone’s physical toolkit: learning how to fall safely. Or at least, learning how to fall in a way that’s “less bad.”

Let’s bring out your inner ninja.

The Skill Progressions

The goal of these progressions is simple: teach your body to round, absorb, and redirect force.

Start on a soft surface. Carpet is OK, but if you have access to Gymnastics mats or even a soft patch of grass outside (without any hidden rocks or sticks) that’s GREAT.

First rule of thumb: always start low to the ground. The closer you are to the ground when you begin the roll, the lower the forces involved.

You earn height gradually. Just like you learn to bench with the bar first before you add a kajillion pounds, you want to learn the technique before you add more height and intensity to your rolls!

PROGRESSION #1: The Egg Roll​

Points of Performance

• Keep the knees tucked tight to the chest to create a gentle curve through your low back
• Slowly rock side to side
• Transition as smoothly across your back as possible (it’s OK to let the leg open up to lead the way so you don’t get stuck!)

The goal here is just to get you comfortable on the ground in the safest way possible and start to feel what a “smooth transfer of force” feels like.

PROGRESSION #2: The Rocking Horse Roll​

Points of Performance

• Keep knees tightly tucked to chest to help maintain a gentle curve through your low back
• Start in a seated position
• Lean back and smoothly rock along your lower back, avoiding any “skipping” or “hitches” in the movement.
• The rocks DON’T HAVE TO BE BIG. (If you feel like your “thunking” some part of your tail bone or back, you’re going too big for right now!)

Here, we learn to transfer momentum up and down the spine (rather than across it). This is our final step before we learn to transfer the force diagonally, which is actually the safest option in real world situations!

PROGRESSION #3: The Half Roll​

Points of Performance

• Start from a seated position
• Lean towards one side, then roll from that hip towards the opposite shoulder (you want the contact to stop just below the shoulder blade)
• Reach with your hands forming a triangle over that shoulder
• Roll smoothly back to the starting position

This is where we really start to see the parkour roll come into shape. You can progress from seated to a standing position, but take your time! There’s no rush, and high quality reps is how we really learn this skill.

PROGRESSION #4: The Forward Roll​

Points of Performance

• Start from a kneeling position on a soft surface. Make sure to check the area so there’s nothing you will catch yourself on, and give yourself plenty of room.
• Using the “triangle to back“ method, reach your hands forward and to the side to guide the back of your shoulder onto the ground, keeping your chin and head tucked down and to the side.
• Kick over the top to complete the roll and exit on the opposite hip.

This movement can take some time to get comfortable with. If you feel stuck, go back and practice the earlier progressions again. Back to our bench press analogy, once you learn how to bench with heavier weight, you don’t SKIP doing lighter warm up sets!

Let’s be honest about the limits:

While learning and practicing these techniques will definitely make you safer and more resilient, it’s not a silver bullet.

Getting older makes it harder to react in time. Most dangerous falls are surprises, and your window to execute technique may be a fraction of a second or less. Sometimes, you won’t be able to execute a perfect forward roll. Reaction speed decreases with age, and flexibility factors in here as well.

This is also why bone density and muscle mass matter so much and why we sing the praises of strength training for people of all ages. Rolling technique and physical resilience aren’t either/or. They stack.

Eventually, we can start to practice rolling from different angles and different entry points so the skill can be applied more broadly, too.
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You won’t always have the perfect situation to roll in, but getting more comfortable with distributing force across the ground and protecting your head and neck is something that is still really helpful to learn.

When to practice

Rolling practice fits naturally into a dynamic warm-up, or it can be its own short session. One thing worth noting: learn this when you’re fresh, not at the end of a workout. You’re acquiring a motor skill, and fatigued nervous systems don’t learn well. Give it the attention it deserves. This is one of those things that may take a few weeks or a few months of practice to get, but once you get it, it doesn’t take much to maintain it.

You got this.

– Matt

P.S. Looking for practical, real-world advice without all the B.S.? That’s exactly what our coaching program is built on.

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The 50/50 Rule (when training less is exactly the right call)

The 50/50 Rule (when training less is exactly the right call)

  April 01, 2026    Pratik Bandagale

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Ever wonder how to adjust your training when you’re sick? Or what to do if you haven’t worked out in a few weeks and are ready to get back into it? How about after you’ve just had a terrible night of sleep?

These situations come up all the time in our coaching program, so today, I want to walk you through the 50/50 Rule: my go-to strategy for helping people train safely and effectively when life throws you a curveball.

Let’s break it down.

The 50/50 Rule

Here’s the premise: do 50% of the total reps and 50% of the weight. (This nets you 1/4 of the total training load.)

Let’s say your workout calls for 2 sets of 10 reps with 20lb dumbbells. Applying the 50/50 Rule, that becomes 2 sets of 5 reps with 10lb dumbbells.

Another example – a bodyweight exercise like pushups, 4 sets of 6 reps. With the 50/50 Rule, that turns into 2 sets of 3 reps of an easier pushup variation.

Why it works

When your body’s resources are overstretched – from prolonged intense training, illness, or periods of high stress – pushing at the same intensity doesn’t produce the same results. You’re drawing water from a well that’s already depleted.

Coming off an illness or a prolonged break from training, your body is significantly more sensitive to training stimulus than normal. The threshold for “too much” is much lower than you think.

Have you ever jumped right back into your normal workout after being sick, felt great during it, and then been destroyed for days after? That’s exactly what’s happening.

The good news is you also don’t need as much, either. A reduced session still gives you real benefits – practicing technique, maintaining the habit, nudging recovery forward – without digging yourself into a deeper hole.
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Think of it less as “going easy” and more as training at the right dose for where your body actually is right now.

Practical applications

• Deload – If you’ve been training hard for 4-8 weeks without a break, take an entire week using the 50/50 rule. This gives your body extra time for rest and recovery so you come back stronger and ready to train. Note: if your training schedule is inconsistent, you’re already getting mini “breaks” built in, so you probably don’t need a dedicated deload week as much.
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• Illness – If it’s genuinely mild (no fever, no muscle aches, etc.), the 50/50 Rule can keep you moving while you recover (just don’t do it at the gym and get other people sick!). Coming off being sick, use it to ramp back in. Start at 50/50, then add 10-20% each session as long as you’re feeling good and recovering well.
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• Terrible Night of Sleep – Get in, do a 50/50 day, and go home. No need to white-knuckle your way through a full session. Hopefully you sleep better and return to full reps and weights later in the week.
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• Prolonged Time Off – Been a while since you worked out? Apply the 50/50 Rule to your first few sessions back. The goal is to get moving and feel good, not obliterate yourself.

The Takeaway

Training isn’t about going hard all the time no matter what.
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The most effective approach is working out the right amount, in the right way, at the right time – and the 50/50 Rule gives you a simple way to do exactly that across a surprising number of situations.

Simple enough to remember, easy enough to execute, and it’ll serve your training and recovery for the long haul.

You got this.

– Matt

P.S. Looking for practical, real-world advice without all the B.S.? That’s exactly what our coaching program is built on. 

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NAWs: the art of getting back on track

NAWs: the art of getting back on track

  April 01, 2026    Pratik Bandagale

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I got a message from a reader, Sabrina, this week – and she pointed out a pattern I think a lot of us know well.

“I allow myself to say sliding into bad habits is alright. After all, I’ve had a bad day. Well, my bad days have a tendency to become hard weeks and then months. It doesn’t take much for me to backpedal.”

I know I’ve been there.

Here’s how we work through it.

Know the difference between an off-day and a repeated pattern.

Missing a workout or having a meal that’s not strictly on plan? Totally fine and expected. It’s not going to hurt your progress.

The problem isn’t the slip. It’s when the slip becomes the default.

Give yourself some grace on the hard days. And stay honest with yourself: is this a one-off, or a pattern forming? If it’s a pattern, call it out and reroute.

Rethink what taking care of yourself actually looks like.

Sometimes the perfect recovery from a hard day is to Netflix and chill. Rest absolutely counts as self-care.

But so does the workout you’ve been putting off, a solid meal, or putting down your phone and getting to bed at a reasonable hour.

Sometimes the most caring thing you can do for yourself is the thing you’re avoiding.

A hard day doesn’t have to mean opting out. It might mean doubling down on the things that you know are good for you.

Don’t try to play catch-up.

This is one of the most common traps I see. Someone misses a workout and suddenly feels like they need to do that one PLUS today’s to make up for it. That’s how you end up feeling like you’re pushing a boulder uphill before you’ve even started.

Forget what you missed. Focus on the plan for today. Do that. Then build from there.

Find your NAW (your Next Available Win).

When you realize you’re off track, the instinct is to overcommit.

“I need to work out five times a week.”

“I need to do a giant meal prep and reset the whole kitchen.”

Those things aren’t wrong, but they’re not your first step.

Your first step is the next available win. One thing that interrupts the current pattern.

Maybe it’s five minutes of stretching on the floor while you watch TV tonight. Maybe it’s grabbing some fruit as a quick snack.

Here’s the key: you don’t have to wait until tomorrow, or Monday. Reset the pattern as soon as possible.

I recently had a client come back from vacation feeling completely off track. We didn’t map out an elaborate return plan. We just asked one question: “OK – when’s the next workout?”

The next day she knocked out a short workout and hit a PR on her barbell rows.

That’s all it took. The next available win. (PR not required )

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The next time you catch yourself having an off-day, start with grace. These days are normal, expected, and they don’t erase all the hard work you’ve put in.

Then check in with yourself: “Am I falling into a pattern that’s working against me?“ If so:

• Reframe what self-care looks like
• Don’t play catch-up
• Find your NAW

Save this for the next time you need it:

You got this.

– Matt

P.S. If you’re in a backslide right now, we’re here to help. Take our Coaching Quiz to find your own personal fitness Yoda.

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