Uplift Boulder

🎥 UPLIFT UNFILTERED 🎥

This week we asked some of our coaches a very important question:
What's your most useless talent?

🎳 Julia is apparently weirdly good at bowling

🚪 Cassidy casually informed us that she's really good at getting into places when she's locked out. We *think* she meant her house, but we chose not to ask follow-up questions

🍊 Coach Cam can catch things in his mouth. Kind of cool, pretty useless

🎬 Devin's useless talent is remembering completely unnecessary pop culture facts (if you know Devin, you know how accurate this is)

🎥 Ross's talent? Knowing all of Devin's movie quotes. Which is impressive considering Devin has about 47,000 of them

Strong and capable? Absolutely

Normal? Debatable

A quick tip for the Turkish Get-Up Sit-Up 👇

If you're trying to figure out what weight to use, a good rule of thumb is this:
👉 It should probably be heavier than what you'd use for a strict overhead press

"How is that possible?" you may ask. "It's already such a difficult exercise, and you want me to go HEAVIER?"

Well, the TGU Sit Up isn't really an upper body exercise

Yes, you're holding a kettlebell overhead, but your arm isn't actively pressing it. The elbow stays locked, the shoulder stays stacked underneath the weight, and your job is to maintain that stable position throughout the movement

The actual work is coming from:
✔️ Your torso
✔️ Your obliques
✔️ Your hips
✔️ Your ability to transfer force through your body while keeping the kettlebell overhead

If you're choosing your weight based on what you can press (or going even lighter), you may be undershooting

Find a weight that challenges your ability to stay stacked, stable, and controlled throughout the movement, and remember, don't throw the weight forward in an effort to sit up. That'll just make things harder than need-be

Why are we only doing sets of 3 and 4 on Barbell Bench Press and Back Squat right now? 🤔

Because sometimes the best way to get stronger at one thing is to get stronger at something closely related!

Our benchmark lifts this cycle are:
✅ 5RM Pushup
✅ 5RM Zercher Squat

And while we'll absolutely be practicing those movements directly, some of the biggest strength gains often come from improving the foundational patterns underneath them

For the Pushup, that's pressing strength (i.e. Barbell Bench Press)

For the Zercher Squat, that's lower body strength, trunk strength, and confidence under load (i.e. Barbell Back Squat)

By keeping the reps low and the loads heavier, we're prioritizing pure strength development — giving ourselves the best opportunity to improve the qualities that drive those benchmark lifts

Plus, let's be honest...

Nobody wants to spend THAT much time doing Zercher Squats

Most people finish a workout and call it a day⁠
⁠
Rory finishes a workout, walks over to a coach nearly 40 years younger than him, challenges him to a Pull Up ladder, and wins⁠
⁠
Rory had already completed his workout⁠
⁠
Coach Cam was completely fresh⁠
⁠
The challenge:⁠
1 Pull Up each⁠
2 Pull Ups each⁠
3 Pull Ups each⁠
4 Pull Ups each⁠
5 Pull Ups each...⁠
⁠
Rory made it all the way through 5⁠
⁠
Cam did not⁠
⁠
To be fair, hanging from a Pull Up bar while accumulating that many reps gets surprisingly spicy⁠
⁠
To ALSO be fair, Rory doesn't care about things like fatigue, age, or what should theoretically be possible⁠
⁠
At this point, none of us are really surprised anymore. And you shouldn't be either⁠
⁠
The man simply refuses to act his age⁠
⁠
And honestly, we will continue to both applaud and encourage it ⁠
⁠
***OnlyRoryDoes

The Offset Landmine Goblet Squat is a simple way to make a familiar movement a bit more demanding

Mechanically, it’s still a Goblet Squat:
• Sit down between the hips
• Stay stacked through the torso
• Drive through the feet
• Own the bottom position

But because the load is offset, your body now has to resist twisting and turning away from the load

That means:
🔥 More oblique involvement
🔥 More trunk stability demand
🔥 More awareness/control through the squat
🔥 Better ability to create and maintain position under asymmetrical load

Instead of just moving weight, you’re learning to control force and stay organized while the squat tries to pull you out of position

In Elevated Strength this month, we'll be incorporating heavy Bench Press iso holds using 100–120% of someone’s working weight 👀

The goal?
👉 Build confidence handling heavier loads
👉 Improve positional stability and tension
👉 Potentially break through plateaus by exposing the nervous system to heavier weights *without* actually pressing them

Sometimes getting stronger isn’t just about your muscles — it’s about teaching your body what it’s capable of handling

Big shoutout to Kit 💛

As part of our Longevity series, we asked some of the incredible women in these classes about their experience at Uplift — and Kit had a lot to say (check out our website in the near future for more) 😊

She spoke about the camaraderie, the laughter, and the sense of community that keeps her coming back week after week

She also shared how strength training has completely changed what she feels capable of doing — including things she never thought she’d be able to do again, like push ups and hanging from a bar without shoulder pain

More than anything, Kit talked about how much fun she’s had this past year and how meaningful these classes have been for her

We’re really proud of the environment these women have helped create, and we’re even more grateful to have people like Kit as part of it 💪

Stay tuned for more testimonials in the near future — we have several other women we’re planing to highlight as well 😁

We’re back with what is everyone’s new favorite series:

Teaching Devin Gen Z slang 🤝

In today’s episode:
👉 Devin becomes significantly more confident
👉 An actual Gen Z’er quietly informs him he’s wrong
👉 Alissa laughs the entire time

Let us know if you want to see a third installment!