Two sets to failure. Beat the logbook. Never skip your mobility routine. I used to buy into all of it—and coaching more people changed my mind.

This week I break down how my approach to cardio, training volume, failure and progressive overload has changed. We also get into overcomplicated warm-ups, redundant exercises, posture, supersets and nutrition advice that sounded smart but made me feel like shit. Plus: where AI actually helps coaches and why an exercise swap isn’t always the answer when something hurts.

Timestamps:
00:00 Where AI helps coaches—and where it falls short
04:19 AI courses and the business-coaching pivot
07:35 Better execution before another exercise swap
12:02 Changing my mind as a coach—and rethinking cardio
16:44 Low volume and training to failure
21:14 Progress beyond adding weight and reps
23:34 Plateaus and overcomplicated warm-ups
28:07 Exercise variety and redundant training
32:11 Posture versus movement options
33:26 Rethinking posture and supersets
35:42 Supersets, logistics and gym etiquette
37:39 Intermittent fasting and nutrition rabbit holes
40:03 No carbs before training—and listening to client feedback
42:13 Getting it right instead of defending old beliefs

https://www.instagram.com/nickridpath_/

Support the show:

Online Coaching: https://w1c6llku20e.typeform.com/to/NDrtbAgC
Join the newsletter: https://www.unbranded-performance.com/newsletter
Pre-Script Level 1 Questions: https://calendly.com/nridpath-pre-script/pre-script-advisor-call
Advisory Services for Coaches: https://w1c6llku20e.typeform.com/to/NDrtbAgC
Spoken Nutrition (15% Off): https://spokennutrition.com/NICKRIDPATH_ (Use Code: NICKRIDPATH_)

At some point, trying harder stops being the answer. Once you’re already training hard and consistently, the next jump in progress comes from getting better at directing that effort.

Nick breaks down why more advanced training requires more intentionality, using glute training as the main example—from building the skills to hinge, stabilize, and produce force to progressing toward B-stance RDLs, single-leg work, and walking lunges. Then he gets into a Q&A covering the best glute exercises, sore elbows during dumbbell RDLs, the StairMaster, programming around movement biases, coaching habits, and what he’d be doing if he weren’t a coach.

Timestamps:

0:00 — Why Nick is useless after 6 p.m.
1:56 — Hitting 1,000 YouTube subscribers and almost getting his foot crushed
6:20 — Why hard work eventually stops being enough
10:59 — Progressing clients and building higher-level training skills
14:57 — What actually drives better glute training
20:05 — How to progress someone from basic hinges to single-leg RDLs
26:09 — Q&A: Are walking lunges the GOAT glute exercise?
30:51 — Q&A: Sore elbows from heavy dumbbell RDLs
35:34 — Q&A: Why use the StairMaster?
37:42 — Q&A: Programming around movement biases
42:17 — Q&A: What works vs. what coaches do out of habit
46:55 — Why coaches need their ideas challenged
49:19 — Q&A: What Nick would do if he weren’t a coach
51:34 — Who’s taller: Brandon or Jordan?

https://www.instagram.com/nickridpath_/

Support the show:

Online Coaching: https://w1c6llku20e.typeform.com/to/NDrtbAgC
Join the newsletter: https://www.unbranded-performance.com/newsletter
Pre-Script Level 1 Questions: https://calendly.com/nridpath-pre-script/pre-script-advisor-call
Advisory Services for Coaches: https://w1c6llku20e.typeform.com/to/NDrtbAgC
Spoken Nutrition (15% Off): https://spokennutrition.com/NICKRIDPATH_ (Use Code: NICKRIDPATH_)

A good program on paper doesn’t guarantee good results.

This week I’m talking about what happens after you write the program. The exercises might fit the client’s goals, schedule, and skill level, but are they doing them the way you intended? Are they training hard enough? And when something hurts or progress stalls, do you actually know why?

A friend of mine had a client report shoulder pain during front raises. He’d specified a neutral grip, put it in the demo, and given her the instructions. When he finally got a video, she was using a pronated grip. That’s a small example of how much can change between writing a program and having someone execute it.

I get into using video and feedback before swapping exercises, building movement quality and effort together, and knowing when to push the logbook. I also talk about the Jaxson Dart injury takes, my fantasy football team falling apart, and the scooter powered wheelchair I saw in Playa del Carmen.

Timestamps

00:00 Last week’s unedited upload, becoming a sauna guy, and fantasy football
05:15 Jaxson Dart’s injury and the problem with claiming one movement habit could have prevented it
11:00 A scooter powered wheelchair in Mexico, my Spanish dubbed YouTube video, and the Elevated Coaching Systems workshop
13:45 Why a good program can still get bad results
22:30 The front raise story: why I ask for video before changing a client’s program
29:00 Movement quality, effort, and when to push the logbook
36:45 What makes a program good, and how coaching keeps it working

If you enjoy the show, subscribe wherever you listen, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who coaches.

https://www.instagram.com/nickridpath_/

Support the show:

Online Coaching: https://w1c6llku20e.typeform.com/to/NDrtbAgC

Advisory Services for Coaches: https://w1c6llku20e.typeform.com/to/NDrtbAgC

Pre-Script Level 1 Questions: https://calendly.com/nridpath-pre-script/pre-script-advisor-call

Spoken Nutrition (15% Off): https://spokennutrition.com/NICKRIDPATH_ (Use Code: NICKRIDPATH_)

A shorter workout doesn’t have to be a throwaway workout—but you need a better strategy than cramming an 80-minute program into 40 minutes.

I break down how to get more out of limited training time by cutting redundant exercises, choosing equipment that lets you train hard quickly, making your warm-up productive, and strategically using supersets, drop sets, rest-pause sets, and shorter rest periods. I also explains why the popular “you only need two sets” approach works for advanced lifters but may shortchange people who haven’t developed the movement quality or effort needed to make those sets count.

Timestamps:

00:00 Caffeine culture and why you can’t out-caffeinate bad sleep
04:13 Why “you only need two sets” doesn’t work for everyone
16:00 How to get more out of less time in the gym
18:13 Choosing exercises when time is limited
22:16 Turning isolation exercises into your warm-up
27:30 Minimum effective dose and training for maintenance
29:20 Using supersets without ruining your workout
33:20 Drop sets, rest-pause sets, and training density
36:47 How long you actually need to rest between sets
40:16 Matching your training split to your schedule

https://www.instagram.com/nickridpath_/

Support the show:

Online Coaching: https://w1c6llku20e.typeform.com/to/NDrtbAgC

Join the newsletter: https://www.unbranded-performance.com/newsletter

Pre-Script Level 1 Questions: https://calendly.com/nridpath-pre-script/pre-script-advisor-call

Advisory Services for Coaches: https://w1c6llku20e.typeform.com/to/NDrtbAgC

Spoken Nutrition (15% Off): https://spokennutrition.com/NICKRIDPATH_ (Use Code: NICKRIDPATH_)

This conversation details Nick going solo again — a podcast-numbers scare, a shout-out to the YouTube channel closing in on 1,000 subscribers, and a rant on the Instagram comment section "experts" who argue confidently about topics they don't train in. He uses that to break down why "stability" has become a buzzword — and where base of support, load, and skill actually do change how stable you are — plus where AI is genuinely useful for a coaching business (organizing your schedule, emails, and content ideas) and where it's a trap (writing your actual content for you).

From there it's a full teaching segment built around real client questions: why a client who supposedly "lacks ankle mobility" almost never actually has an ankle problem, how bar position and center of mass change what it takes to hit squat depth, and how to progress or regress a Bulgarian split squat when someone can't stabilize on one leg. He closes with shin splints — why it's a load-management problem before it's ever a mobility one.

https://www.instagram.com/nickridpath_/

Support the show:

Online Coaching: https://w1c6llku20e.typeform.com/to/NDrtbAgC

Join the newsletter: https://www.unbranded-performance.com/newsletter

Pre-Script Level 1 Questions: https://calendly.com/nridpath-pre-script/pre-script-advisor-call

Advisory Services for Coaches: https://w1c6llku20e.typeform.com/to/NDrtbAgC

Spoken Nutrition (15% Off): https://spokennutrition.com/NICKRIDPATH_ (Use Code: NICKRIDPATH_)

$85 bag of coffee beans, a bring-your-own-seatbelt gym rant, and why your posture probably isn't the problem you think it is.

He opens with a London recap (Prescript seminar, a cursed British Airways flight, and what teaching a room full of students still teaches him) and a quick AI-in-coaching update after testing the new ChatGPT model. Then it's into the meat of the episode: a physics-class analogy (scalar vs. vector) for why training quality matters more than the numbers in your logbook, how to actually calibrate proximity to failure instead of just guessing, and why novice vs. high-effort-low-quality clients need completely different approaches.

From there, Nick tears into a guy who brought his own seatbelt to strap into a seated hamstring curl — and uses it to explain why machines aren't "non-functional" and what internal stability actually means. He breaks down the torque physics behind the blood-pressure-cuff trend, calls out the "fragileista" corrective-exercise crowd that turns normal posture into a manufactured pathology, fact-checks a YouTube comment claiming you should always depress your scapula, and explains why "weak low traps / dominant upper traps" and classic upper-cross-syndrome framing oversimplify what's actually a motor-control and variability issue.

No guest this week — just Nick, unscripted, working through a physics-class analogy and a full mailbag of coaching pet peeves.

Timestamp markers

• ~00:00 — Coffee snobbery, an $85 bag of beans, and why he's not sweating AI replacing coaches (yet)
• ~07:09 — London/Prescript recap: a cursed flight and what teaching an L3 seminar still teaches him
• ~11:05 — Scalar vs. vector: the physics analogy for why training quality beats chasing numbers
• ~22:19 — The guy who brought his own seatbelt to the gym — and why isolation machines aren't the problem
• ~28:10 — The "fragileista" PT trend, debunking a YouTube comment on scapular depression, and why upper cross syndrome oversimplifies posture

https://www.instagram.com/nickridpath_/

Support the show:

Online Coaching: https://w1c6llku20e.typeform.com/to/NDrtbAgC

Pre-Script Level 1 Questions: https://calendly.com/nridpath-pre-script/pre-script-advisor-call

Advisory Services for Coaches: https://w1c6llku20e.typeform.com/to/NDrtbAgC

Spoken Nutrition (15% Off): https://spokennutrition.com/NICKRIDPATH_ (Use Code: NICKRIDPATH_)

Back solo again, this time gearing up for a trip to London for a Prescript seminar. Opening with why he still travels to learn six years into his career, even as an experienced coach. From there it's rant, then Q&A: why he doesn't overthink how he sounds on the mic, why "get rich" marketing aimed at coaches misses the point, why postural assessments and the "glute-hamstring tie-in" are mostly pseudoscience, and where AI is actually useful in a coaching business (and where it very much isn't).

Then it's into the mailbag: when to use free weights vs. cables vs. machines and why, how to fix poor lat engagement on hinge patterns, what day one with a new 50+, out-of-shape client should actually look like, the best cues and constraints for clients who struggle with rows and pulls, his favorite and least favorite parts of being a trainer, and simple, practical nutrition and meal-timing strategies for general population clients.

If you enjoy the show, please subscribe on Spotify or wherever you listen, and share it with a friend — it helps a ton.

https://www.instagram.com/nickridpath_/

Support the show:

Online Coaching: https://w1c6llku20e.typeform.com/to/NDrtbAgC

Pre-Script Level 1 Questions: https://calendly.com/nridpath-pre-script/pre-script-advisor-call

Advisory Services for Coaches: https://w1c6llku20e.typeform.com/to/NDrtbAgC

Spoken Nutrition (15% Off): https://spokennutrition.com/NICKRIDPATH_ (Use Code: NICKRIDPATH_)

Nick sits down with Dr. Dwayne Jackson, a PhD in exercise physiology, former pro motocross racer, and former bodybuilder, for a wide-ranging, no-filter conversation. They start with Dwayne's path from pro motocross and Bombardier Sea-Doo racing into bodybuilding and academia, then get into why building muscle was never really about a big caloric surplus, how bodybuilding's drug culture has shifted since the 90s, and why open-class bodybuilders are getting sick at a higher rate than classic physique guys.

From there it's a deep dive into coaching. They cover the #1 mistake trainers make with weight-loss clients (nutrient-poor, fiber-poor "macro dense" diets that wreck gut health), how driving calories too low blunts hunger and satiety hormones and triggers RED-S, and what "food noise" actually is neurologically. Dwayne breaks down what the research says about GLP-1 drugs (appetite, addiction pathways, comparisons to bariatric surgery) and the specific dietary groundwork coaches need before putting a client on one. They close on blood work most doctors don't order by default (ApoB, free T3, SHBG, hsCRP), fixing blood pressure through stress and movement rather than meds, what "good" gut health actually looks like, and why fiber and probiotic marketing hype is mostly noise.

Dr. Dwayne Jackson holds a PhD in exercise physiology, is a former pro motocross racer and Sea-Doo world championship competitor, and has competed in bodybuilding since age 17. He teaches the Pre-Script nutrition and body composition course, has formulated supplements for multiple companies, and serves as resident doc on the IFBB PRO podcast.

• 09:34 Why "surplus" is a myth: building muscle without a massive bulk
• 21:43 The #1 mistake coaches make with weight-loss clients
• 27:38 Food noise, GLP-1s, and the neuroscience of appetite
• 38:49 The blood work your doctor probably isn't ordering
• 49:51 Fixing blood pressure without meds: movement, stress, and the salt myth

Follow Dr. Dwayne Jackson: https://www.instagram.com/drdnjackson/

If you enjoy the show, please subscribe on Spotify or wherever you listen, and share it with a friend, it helps a ton.

Support the show:

Online Coaching: https://w1c6llku20e.typeform.com/to/NDrtbAgC

Pre-Script Level 1 Questions: https://calendly.com/nridpath-pre-script/pre-script-advisor-call

Advisory Services for Coaches: https://w1c6llku20e.typeform.com/to/NDrt

Spoken Nutrition (15% Off): https://spokennutrition.com/NICKRIDPATH_ (Use Code: NICKRIDPATH_)