JVB Fit, Minneapolis, MN Videos

This is a story mixed with relentlessly hard work, sheer determination, and a little sprinkle of faith. Last weekend my client Traci Slane competed in the USAPL Master’s Brawl, a meet just for masters lifters 40 and older. Traci began working with me in 2016 and we’ve peaked her for five meets since, nudging forward her personal records and total ever since (27 pounds on her squat, 28 pounds on her bench, 61 pounds on her deadlift, and 116 pounds on her total). We work well together. She likes my programming, I love her work ethic. She laughs at my jokes, I admire how dedicated she is to her family and to her own growth as a lifter. We can road trip 26 hours total to The Arnold and back and not run out of things to talk about and have become good friends. So last weekend, when she was having one of the best meets we’ve ever had working together, and she told me to pick her third deadlift attempt and that she didn’t want to know what it was but “whatever you choose I promise I won’t come up off the platform until I stand up with it,” you can bet I took that responsibility seriously. I am not a coach who chooses attempts for her lifters without their input. I’m completely transparent about my process for guiding attempt selection and we use a mix of training history, instinct, and simple math as we work together to put a game plan in place before the event. We set them up to succeed and my lifters go into their meets with the confidence they can hit the goals we’ve outlined together. Except for this one meet, for this one lift. Traci had hit her previous deadlift PR in training for an easy double about 10 days out from the meet. She’d had a great training cycle where her body was feeling strong and her confidence in her technical skill was high. Even following my usual math, the calculation for her third attempt deadlift (102-105% of the previous best) felt a little low. She was also having a great meet that day. All white lights and a new PR on her squat, a

4RM @9RPE
Powerlifting is never easy (as like, say, naps are). But I will also tell you that my best sessions are when I keep my focus on marrying my body and how it feels that day to the movement, versus putting the lions' share of my intentions on how much weight I’m lifting, or think I should be lifting. Today wasn’t easy but I’m working very hard to make it look like it was. If there ever happened to be a day where I could make magic happen when deadlifting, today was surely that day. 💫 And if you were to ask me to share a sexy selfie, one where I felt most comfortable, expressive, and connected with my physical body, I’m sorry (not sorry) to say I would send you this video. #powerlifting #deadlift #thisisme #unapologeticallypowerful

How a Powerlifting Meet Works
As someone who has trained hundreds of lifters for their first powerlifting meet I spend a lot of time answering questions that range from what a powerlifting meet is, to how it works, what to wear, and how to best prepare. And, I love it. LOVE. IT. Training and preparing people for their first powerlifting meet is my jam. I will never, never, ever get tired of witnessing the increase in confidence and resilience you gain from tackling a physical challenge and venturing outside your comfort zone. I know powerlifting can appear intimidating from the outset but I also know that knowledge is the thief of fear and the more information you have in advance, the better you’ll be prepared to say yes when it comes to participating. And yes, I do want you to participate. There are hundreds of meets scheduled this year around the country, 6 sanctioned so far (more to come!) by the USAPL in Minnesota alone. Give this video about what to expect when you compete in a meet (composed by my talented co-coach Martin Rittenberry) a watch and if your interest is at all peaked, talk to me. I will answer all your questions and am so excited to help guide you through the — super fun and empowering — process from start to finish. Are you interested in becoming unapologetically powerful? Let's goooooo!

You know what I love? The F*CKING BENCH PRESS. I feel so powerful when I do it and so proud when I earn a PR because bench gains come smaller and are harder won for me than on squat and deadlift. So, I'm pretty obsessed with getting better at this lift and I was suuuuuper excited to get back into the gym this week—after taking a week off after my meet—to start a new training cycle and get my buns back on the bench. This vid is from yesterday, as I worked through sets of 5x5. I wanted to stick with this weight for all my working sets, instead of possibly backing off the weight as I got more fatigued. To keep the weight consistent, and to keep each rep pretty and to avoid missing a rep, I did a rest-paused set on my last set. (Not shown, but the lesson still applies. This was set two, when I was still fresh.) A rest-paused set is when you rack the bar on squats or bench, or standing up between deadlift reps, and take a short 15-20 second break between reps. It may mean taking a short break between each rep in the set or just the last couple or three, the goal being as you get stronger, you won't need to take that break(s). This is an extremely helpful way to work with heavier weight without risking failing any reps, and *that's* great for your muscle and mental gains! As you work through your own training program and are working with heavier weights, consider this as an option to help get you through. #upowerful2 #comingsoon #womenwhopowerlift

#TBT to last weekend and the USA Powerlifting Central Region Champs. 💪💪 As my first comp in two years in the Twin Cities--listen, its hard to compete when you're coaching all the time--this meet meant a lot to me. PR attempts were made and missed but I can say with confidence that I did my best with what I had that day. And the support of my husband, daughter, and The Movement Minneapolis family made the day that much sweeter (but the medal is nice, too 🥈). ❤️ #powerlifting #usapl #illbeback 📷: Martin Rittenberry

💪💪UNAPOLOGETICALLY STRONG COACHING REVIEW💪💪 I’ve never done a powerlifting-specific program so it was really cool to experience the kind of programming one would follow to prepare for a meet. I loved practicing the big three every week! I've made gains very quickly, whereas prior to the program, it took a bit longer to reach my goals. ✅ I'm feeling much stronger in my squats , both in the number and confidence in my ability to correct execute the move. I actually bench with a barbell now, too! All of this makes me feel strong, confident, and capable. I feel now more than ever like my own Wonder Woman. 👩‍🎤💫 . . . JVB’s coaching was spot on, too. ✅ Any questions I had were thoughtfully answered with astute critique that has really helped me become stronger in all my lifts. I also appreciated how when a good job was done, she was quick to also give praise for improvement and make me feel even more proud of the hard work I'd put in! There is so much to be said for someone who knows when to push on the things to fix, and when to step back and acknowledge successes. . . . And tatmosphere of the online group was so fun! I wish I could meet all the ladies in person now! Even though I was by far NOT the strongest woman in the group, or lifting the most weight, I never felt the need to give in to any thoughts of comparison because everyone was showing up with their authentic self. ✅ There was no one-upping, unsolicited advice, or snide remarks, but pure joy in seeing others succeed. I can't think of a better environment to really push through personal boundaries and hit lifts that I couldn't do in the beginning!" . . . Thank you Julie Barnum for your words! You were so fun to coach and watch as learned and grew with the big three. FYI all, check out Julie deadlifting 185# (welllll over body weight) for a clean set of two. Such pretty lifting. Such a strong human. The best. ❤️ . . . ✅ Interested in Unapologetically Strong Coaching? Apps are open NOW! Head to www.jensinkl

[[🔥🔥GREAT BUNS OF FIRE 🔥🔥]] I wrapped up deadlifts today with a hip circuit that my The Movement Minneapolis co-coach Mark Schneider says is meant to strengthen the smaller hip muscles that powerlifters--like me--tend to forget about. 💅 I've been training the big three for high volume these past few weeks and this burn-y little butt burner felt like just the ticket tonight. 🔥🔥 Join me next time? . . ✅ Mini-band side steps x20 total . . ✅ Adductor Side Plank x As Long As Pretty each side . . ✅ Mini-band Reverse Walk x 20 total . . ✅ Vertical Jump x 5 . . Perform 4 rounds for time. Tag me and let me know you do, if you decide to give it a go! #unapologeticallypowerful #unapologeticallystrong #unapologeticallysweaty

Why you wanna sit on my sled and make it so heavy, hm? (This was way more exhausting than I thought it was going to be, phew.) What fun things did *you* do today? Tell me everything.

MOBILITY MONDAY: CROOKED ARM BAR! Listen, someone could recommend this movement to me for the sole reason that it feels DAMN GOOD and that would be enough to get me to hit the deck and get rolling, but there are other reasons outside of feeling 😌😌😌 to do this move: 💡Thoracic mobility: moving from your mid-back to rotate your chest towards the floor helps bust up stiffness from sitting for long periods and doing many sagittal plane exercises like the bench press, overhead press, and pull-ups. 💡Shoulder mobility: rotating your thoracic spine while gripping the weight directly over your shoulder stretches your pecs and anterior delts. I'm looking at you, bench pressers! 👀👀 💡Shoulder stability: gripping the bell tightly with your wrist neutral fires up the muscles in your shoulder girdle. 🔥 Flexing the elbow and bringing it down behind your back will also activate your lats (bigly, so bigly) making this the perfect mobility move on your upper body pressing and pulling days. Or every day because it really does feel that nice. 💯 Key Coaching Cues! ✅ Use your non-working hand as a helper hand to support the kettlebell as you get your wrist in a neutral position. ✅ Move from your hips to roll onto your side. As long as your wrist stays stacked over your shoulder THE ENTIRE MOVEMENT, you're golden. ✅ Once you're in position with your arm extended, inhale, then exhale and pull your elbow behind your back. Keep your wrist stacked over your elbow, always. 👊 ✅ Inhale and relax your shoulder a little bit more on each exhale (you can see how my elbow moves a little lower and lower in the vid). 😌 ✅ To come up, inhale, and the exhale to press the kettlebell up. Reverse the movement and roll back to your start position. Repeat on the other side! 👏👏 Let me know how it goes, if you give this movement a try! Happy Monday, friends! #kettlebell #mobility #mobilityforpowerlifters #strongmobility #uscoaching https://www.jensinkler.com/us-coaching-application/

Another Saturday, another day coaching a powerlifting meet! 👏👏👏 I've got just one lifter today, super-strong masters lifter Traci Slane, and I'm showcasing her in my Instagram Story. Following along at jvbfit, if you wanna learn more about what goes down at a powerlifting meet and see her crush! 💪💪 Squats are done (with a nice PR under Traci's belt)--up next, BENCH!

[DO IT BETTER: KETTLEBELL WINDMILL] I prescribe kettlebell windmills to my in-person and Unapologetically Strong online clients all. The. Time. They're the perfect combo of stability and mobility and are especially great for my powerlifters who spend a lot of time squatting, benching, and deadlifting in one plane of movement. They help open up the thoracic spine and hips while firing up the core and shoulders, and are a great way to add variety into their programs while still being helpful for their goals. *If you want it as a warm-up on deadlift or bench day, grab a very light bell (or do 'em naked) for two sets of 8-10 reps each side. *If you want to treat it as a strength exercise, up the bell weight to be challenging but doable for 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps each side, and perform after your deadlift and bench sets are completed. Here's how to get great at windmills: treat it like a lateral deadlift and hinge that sassy hip. Take a video of yourself and if you're rounding your lower back, shorten your ROM. Bonus! I love windmills so much I made you a video on Instagram! (Find me at jvbfit, if you wanna.) Give the video a watch and let me know if you have any questions. By the way, I love filming demos: are there any in particular you want to see? (I mean, I have a big list but I want to make sure yours are on it.) Pssst: you can still get in on Unanapologetically Strong Coaching! Head here https://www.jensinkler.com/us-coaching-application/ and we'll get the convo started.

#1. The #UPowerful virtual powerlifting meet kicks off today, right here, right now and if you wanna join the fun (and yes, yes you do) head HERE: https://www.jensinkler.com/virtual-meet to get yo buns signed up. #2. It's Monday, man. Let's get wierd. #3. QUEEEEEEEENNNNNNNN. <3 <3 <3

I see there's some new faces around Strong Is Fun, oh, hi there! Welcome to a community who loves to talk about their love of lifting weights, how to get started lifting weights, and how to lift weights better. Also expect sprinkles of body-positivity, self-love, and equal rights because we can be more than just meatheads, right? Outside of Facebook, I can be found at jvbfit on Instagram where I've REALLY gotten into Instagram Stories because life is cool and interesting and weird and let's not pretend it's perfect all the time, OK? I mean sometimes you deadlift huge PRs, and sometimes you hide out and do work in your gym office in a hooded sleeping bag with arm holes in it because MN doesn't know it's spring yet and you just can't even. Like yesterday. Welcome to Strong Is Fun!

My road back to the powerlifting platform begins with sled pushes, courtesy of Coach Mark at The Movement Minneapolis and I am dyin' (but it's fine, I'm fine, we're all fine). #crying <----Actually, just tell me to save my drama for my mama because I really do love it. Heavy loads aren't necessary for these when you do your best to turn this into an ab exercise so the next time you do them I cordially invite you to keep your tailbone slightly tucked—like a scolded puppy—and brace your abs harrrrrd as you slowly push through one leg and then the other. You will love. No crying. You getting sweaty today? Whatcha doing?