"Hi, I'm Jared, and I'm a recovering perfectionist."

Recently, I hit my heaviest squat of the day and my first thought was, "Damn, why isn't it higher?"

My coach sent me a 5 minute voice note back. Only 30 seconds of it had to do with squatting.

The rest of his answer was the stuff around the training. Three little girls. A business I keep overextending myself in. A hamstring that's been flaring since last year.

And the one underneath it all: I'm losing my vision. There's a shot clock I'm up against and no one can tell me how much time is left on it.

He reminded me that you can be excellent at holding up the mirror for your patients, but you still need someone to hold it up for you.

In this solo episode, I get into:

• The 30 seconds of my coach's answer that had anything to do with squatting
• The shot clock I've been racing since 2024
• Why the people who care most are the last to hit the brakes
• What it felt like to have somebody hold up the mirror
• The fear underneath the sprint, of not doing enough and not being enough
• And your assignment, and what it means if you can't finish it

If you're "in your bones" tired too, this one's for you.

Pick your two this week. Hang in there, my friend.

Links:

Book a free consult call with me here.

Trying to get consistent with your own training? Get a free copy of the Consistency Catalyst guide here.

Wanna be more confident working with athletes in your practice? Get a free copy of the Confident Sports Clinician's Checklist here.

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My guest spent a night in an ER, just hoping for a disc herniation.

• Why she assumed her dad was coming home to die, and what she'd do differently now
• The shin splints that weren't shin splints, and what the top doctors in Seattle decided was really going on
• Why healthcare might be the only job where not getting a break is normal
• The night in the ER when she was hoping for a disc herniation
• Her nerve pain triggers that have nothing to do with movement
• The question Dr. Quinn Henoch asked her that changed how she thinks about lifting without PRs
• The rough Wednesday eval that had her in a pelvic health course by Saturday, six hours of driving later
• And what happens when a woman who's scared to pick up her own kid learns to do it with a barbell

Links:

Book a free consult call with me here.

Trying to get consistent with your own training? Get a free copy of the Consistency Catalyst guide here.

Wanna be more confident working with athletes in your practice? Get a free copy of the Confident Sports Clinician's Checklist here.

Follow me on Instagram

Follow me on TikTok

Follow me on YouTube

This episode gave me a cue called "the vaginal elevator."

It also gave me insight on how the pelvic therapy and performance worlds don't have to be at odds.

Dr. Sophia Veiras dropped more usable pelvic floor and lifting knowledge in an hour than a lot of us get in a whole con-ed weekend. She'd know. She sat through those weekends, spent her $1500, and not one of them talked about what happens when there's 300 pounds on your back.

Sophia is a Doctor of Physical Therapy, pelvic therapist, powerlifting coach, Barbell Rehab educator, and repeat national-champion powerlifter who came back to compete a year after having her son.

We talked belts, bracing, the fact that a little leakage while you're learning is okay, and how coaches and pelvic PTs can work together instead of past each other.

We cover:

• Why the cues for lifting belts is a time-and-place decision, and how to tell when it fits the athlete in front of you
• The Spider-Man rule of intra-abdominal pressure: more pressure means more responsibility for the pelvic floor to handle it
• Why a real brace is 360 degrees and full-body, not "abs," and the four players in the canister
• Valsalva vs. bearing down, and cues to actually feel the difference (yes, the vaginal elevator and the vending machine claw)
• Sophia's first move when a lifter leaks
• The modifiable levers most people skip with lifter pelvic floor issues
• Why "a little bit of pee" can be part of the learning process, and where the line is
• The underloading problem in rehab, on both the ortho and the pelvic side
• When to keep coaching it and when to refer out, plus the one screening question every ortho clinician should ask
• Pelvic floor issues in men, masters athletes, and post-prostatectomy
• Training and competing through pregnancy and postpartum, with a one-year-old refereeing your bench

Pop it on for the drive. You'll laugh, and you'll leave smarter.

___________

Follow Sophia: @soph.squats

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Let's work together! Book a call here.

New grad second-guessing your exercise prescription for athletic clients? Get the Confident Sports Clinician's Checklist

Struggling with your own exercise consistency? Get the Consistency Catalyst here