Logan Christopher on Critical Mental Training Concepts and Athlete Learning Styles

Our guest for today’s show is Logan Christopher. Logan is a strongman, author, owner of Legendary Strength and CEO of Lost Empire Herbs. Logan previously appeared on episode 111 and episode 187, where he discussed mental training in depth, as well as the “6 layers” of strength. Logan has also written several books including “Mental Muscle” and “Powered by Nature”, both of which I have found impactful reads. Logan is a master of using the natural machinery of the body, our mind, and our environment to help us reach our highest potential as humans. An interesting saying you hear over and over again is that “the game is all mental”, or it is “90% mental” by many elite athletes. Although there are general physical standards to be successful in many sports (think of the body type of a runner or a jumper, or the long arms that are very helpful in making it to the NBA) it is impossible to overlook the role of the mind, especially in elite performers. Perhaps one’s genetic structure can help one to “get in the door” in the sport they are most suited for, but it is always going to be the mind that allows them higher levels of success. On the show today, Logan talks about many facets of both physical and mental training. He starts with an important facet of coaching we haven’t gotten much into before, and that is on the language a coach uses to describe exercises, and training in general, and how these can impact training outcomes. He also speaks on specific learning styles that can also be used in one’s visualization routines, as well as his take on the use of analogies and imagination in athletic skill performance. Logan also goes into elements of old-school strongman training, as well as a quick take on why testosterone has dropped across the world over the last 50-100 years by a substantial margin. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:40 – Talking about managing training in context of holding back and achieving balance in order to have continual progress 11:10 – How the language a coach uses in the course of a workout can impact the outcome of the training (especially on the level of over-training) 14:25 – The four learning styles, and how to leverage these learning styles for better training results 20:40 – How to specifically optimize the auditory learning style in training 23:10 – How to approach strengths vs. weaknesses in terms of the four learning styles and physical training 32:00 – How analogies, as spoken about by Nick Winkelman, can be effective for athletes in light of Neurolinguistic programming philosophy 33:40 – How imaginatory ability impacts one’s physical and athletic abilities 39:10 – If Logan could pick only one mental training tool for himself now, and then 10 years ago, what he would utilize 43:10 – How much mental training Logan does now that he has over a decade of mental training under his belt 50:10 – Some old school strongman lift performances from the past that haven’t been touched in the last 50 years 55:25 – Speaking on the link between breathing and strongman training 59:10 – Why testosterone has dropped so much in the last 50 years “Typically I don’t even refer to my workouts as workouts, I refer to them as “training”” “I like to use the word “severety” for “effort” instead (of intensity)” “Words do matter, this is going to change the results we get” “(With language) taking a small thing and compounding it over time is going to be a big difference” “The four (learning) styles are visual, auditory, kinesthetic and digital” “Most people in sport tend to be kinesthetic learners…. The visual and kinesthetic are common in athletes” “As a coach, we are going to coach predominantly in our own style” “Very often, we find the audio component is completely missing from internal imagination, but there is tremendous power in the potential of audio to “boost the signal” (related to a physical performance)” “The quality of your audio matter, more-so than the words you are saying to yourself” “If you can’t (scream “I am the greatest”) you can imagine it, and you can feel that energy as if you are saying it out loud with that sort of tone or belief behind it” “Beliefs structure what we do” “Mental training is not a “then and there” kind of thing, but also a building thing over time” “Here’s the thing, you are mental training whether you think it or not, because you may not have the awareness, but thoughts are going through your head, visualizations are going through your head, you may have to step back and tweak it to make it work well” “If people want to get really good results, you are going to have to learn some things about mental training, and then practice” “You are doing mental training whether you think you are or not, so some people are going to by default be better at it… going under the hood and actually looking at the techniques and what kind of specific mental drills we can do is a surefire way to improve your performance” “(Why testosterone has dropped so much) the basic answer is: Pollution” “(In terms of helping support our endocrine system/testosterone) Eating organic food, drinking fresh or filtered water…. skin care products are quite horrible (more of an issue for women than men)” “When I talk about testosterone it is more of a healthy living plan” “Here’s something to keep in mind, anything you put on your skin is going into your body, it absorbs through your pores” About Logan Christopher Logan Christopher is a strongman, entrepreneur and mental training expert from Santa Cruz, CA. He is the owner of legendarystrength.com and is the CEO of Lost Empire Herbs lostempireherbs.com. Logan is the author of Mental Muscle and Powered by Nature, along with having written hundreds of articles on strength, health, herbalism, mental training and more. Logan is regarded as an expert in the mental performance field, and he has in depth expertise as an NLP Master Practitioner and certified hypnotist. As a strongman, Logan has numerous feats to his name, such as phonebook tearing, nail bending, truck pulling and kettlebell juggling. This blend of interests and abilities gives Logan a unique perspective in the strength and human performance industry.