390: Logan Christopher on Breath Training and Breaking Mental Barriers in Human Performance

Today’s podcast is with Logan Christopher, strongman, author, owner of Legendary Strength, and CEO of Lost Empire Herbs. He has been a prior podcast guest speaking on mental training and giving an expansive view of the components of strength in the human being. Logan has written several books, including “Mental Muscle” and “Powered by Nature,” which I have found to be impactful, alongside numerous other manuals on human movement, performance, and mental abilities. Logan is an expert in using the natural machinery of the body in connection with our environment to help us reach our highest potential as humans. Logan’s work has had a substantial impact on my own training experience, especially on the mental and herbalism ends of the equation, areas that I wouldn’t have spent much time engaging with otherwise. One of the low-hanging fruits in both athletic performance and general well-being in daily life is an awareness and understanding of one’s breathing patterns. As Logan has said in previous podcasts, “You are always mental training” whether you are aware of it or not, you are also training your breath, whether you are aware of it or not. The question then becomes, how aware of the breathing patterns that you carry are you or your athletes? In today’s episode, Logan discusses his approach to breath training for human performance and vitality. He also talks about the inspiration he has drawn from Joseph Greenstein, also known as the Mighty Atom, on the level of breath training, and the Atom’s mastery of the mental, inner game in his strongman pursuits. Within this, we discuss the regulation aspects of the body, as it pertains to feats of strength, and the process of working with those regulators in exhibiting feats of strength. We finish the show discussing integrating one’s mental and emotional states into physical training means, such as sprinting. Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs, TeamBuildr and the Plyomat. For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly. To try Pine Pollen for free (just pay for shipping), head to: justflypinepollen.com. The Plyomat is a functional, intuitive, and affordable contact mat for jump and plyometric training and testing. Check out the Plyomat at www.plyomat.net TeamBuildr is an online software for coaches and trainers. I’ve continued to hear great things about the Teambuildr platform, and whether you are looking for an in-house training portal or an online training hub, be sure to check out Teambuildr training software. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 1:18- Introduction to Logan Christopher and his training challenges 4:53- The Inspirational Journey of The Mighty Atom 7:16- The Transformative Power of Breath Work 14:26- Transformative Breathwork with Visualization 20:02- The Power of Breath in Exercise 24:11- Diaphragm-activated vacuum massage for organ health 28:33- Breath Control Demonstrations of Lung Expansion 35:29- Pressurized Exhale for Enhanced Strength Performance 40:18- Harnessing the Power of the Mind for Peak Performance 55:20- Balancing Easy and Challenging Training Methods 1:02:03- Harnessing Anger for Positive Transformation Logan Christopher Quotes “The breath is the link between the conscious and unconscious” “A good place to start is lung capacity, how long can you hold your breath?” “Breathing through the nose will support nitric oxide, which is important for endurance, while mouth breathing will not do that” “One of the exercises that I really love is box breathing. This is to do an inhale, hold, exhale, hold of the same length of time. Typically you start with a four count. So inhaling to a four count, holding for a four count, exhaling for a four count, then exhale, holding for a four count. Then from this, this is a starting point. Most people just take that and they end there. And this can be really good for relaxing anytime you need to do this.” “If you look at what people naturally do when they are exerting themselves, where strength is, the issue is it's very common to hold the breath. So why would people do this? It's because by holding the breath, you are creating stability. You are creating a container, not having the flow of air come out or in. So this helps with pressure, especially across like the abdominals, where the lungs are involved in, and then that can radiate out to however you're exerting that strength, whether it's the hands, legs, whatever” “So everything I was just saying comes from personal experience that I, like so many men in our culture, was not taught emotional intelligence." "But at the time, I started doing angry hill sprints, so what I would do is just visualizing, using breath, the different tools we've talked about, get myself in an angry state and use that as fuel to drive every step faster and repeat this a couple of different times." "Anger is the thing that drives us towards change or enforces a boundary that has been crossed. So it's a very powerful emotion. It's a very powerful motivating force, and you want to have a healthy relationship to it." Transcript About Logan Christopher Logan Christopher is a renowned strong man, mental training expert, and author with a wealth of experience in enhancing sports performance through breathing, mental training, and motivation. As the CEO of Lost Empire Herbs and the owner of Legendary Strength, Logan has dedicated his career to helping athletes reach their full potential. With a deep understanding of breath work and its impact on human performance, Logan has become a trusted authority in the field. His expertise also extends to integrating mental and emotional states in physical training, making him a valuable resource for athletes looking to optimize their performance. Through his articles and conversations on mental training and the pyramid of strength, Logan continues to inspire and empower athletes to achieve greatness.