Julien Pineau, a movement-focused strength coach and founder of StrongFit, shares his unique insights on training using sandbags and the art of instinctive movement. He emphasizes the importance of sensory engagement in exercises and how loading bones can enhance performance. The conversation delves into managing anxiety in CrossFit, exploring isometric holds for mental toughness, and the intricate mind-body connection. Julien critiques traditional training methods, advocating for a holistic approach that embraces discomfort to foster resilience and growth.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Origin Story Of Sandbag Training
Julien Pineau learned sandbag training after brutal Cuban wrestling conditioning in Brazil and made his own durable sandbags when commercial ones failed.
That experience shifted his view from isolation gym work to functional, wrestling-like conditioning that he still uses today.
insights INSIGHT
Frustration Is Productive Fuel
Frustration is a core physiological driver that motivates long-term action and learning, not just a negative emotion.
Julien argues training that removes frustration lowers adaptation and creates chronic anxiety instead of acute productive stress.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Schedule Max Effort With Built-In Frustration
Use spacing between maximal efforts to preserve frustration as motivation; e.g., deadlift only every 10–14 days to build drive.
Let a failed attempt sit as useful frustration until the next session so athletes correct and improve.
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Today’s podcast features movement-focused strength coach Julien Pineau, founder of Strongfit. With a background in sports ranging from competitive swimming to MMA and strongman, Julien started coaching in 1993 and opened his strongman-focused gym in 2008. Known for his integration of all systems of the body, along with his eye for human movement, he’s worked with athletes across various disciplines, pursuing growth both inward and outward.
It's easy to get overly accustomed to the typical training tools we are provided with. What is now the standard of physical training on the level of barbells, dumbells, machines, and heavy linear conditioning, however, is quite different than the physical demands on a human in our native environment. In so many ways, training with a sandbag is a great equalizer, as it brings online, so many of our instinctive human systems, and reminds us of our innate function.
In today’s episode, Julien explores human instinct and body intelligence in training, covering sensory aspects (myotomes) of hands and feet, the role of anxiety/frustration, isometrics, the nervous system, the heart's intelligence, bone loading, grip strength, and more. This insightful discussion touches on essential training and performance concepts.
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Main Points
2:00- The story of what led Julien to sandbag training
8:00- The role of frustration in training, and its role with awkward objects and difficult situations
13:00- The role of myotomes in using one’s hand in manual labor, squeezing, and sandbag training
17:00- Anxiety found in chronic training practice, and the role of using prolonged rest and frustration to force greater focus on the given sessions
22:30- What martial arts give a generalist from a training and psychological perspective
33:40- The value of sustained movements, such as a long isometric hold, and withholding value
38:30- Defining the somatic system of the body, along with the strength of the heart
43:00- The role of the heart’s strength and function in PTSD
49:00- Dynamics of loaded carries, isometrics, sandbags, and holistic function of the body (along with myotome function)
59:00- Isolation versus compound movements on the level of myotome function
1:01:45- Grip strength, pulling and deadlifting dynamics
1:04:00- Embodied aspects of training and the body, related to the intelligence of the heart
1:07:00- The relationship of the gut biome to one’s conscious thought
1:12:00- Bone Crushing Strength: Myotomes, foot training, grip, and overall body strength
1:21:45- Managing balance in the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the nervous system
Quotes
7:10 "All the strong men back there were wrestlers; back then it was seen as the best way to get strong. It was less 1-rep max, more being able to move with stuff”
8:50 “I think anxiety is a chronic version of frustration”
12:55 “Frustration is created by your environment; you can change your envionrment or you can deal with it”
13:30: “A 200lb sandbag and a 200lb barbell are not the same thing”
17:25 “A lot of time is just ego lifting, they turn anything that is acute into a chronic state; you will notice those people that train 6 times a week, they are on the anxious side because they are turning everything into a chronic state”
18:20 “Anxious people go to Crossift more”
27:45 “If we take frustration and try to lower it, but still try to make progress, you’ll see anxiety exploding, because you took something that is acute into chronic. That’s not how we are designed”
30:30 “I’m not just talking cognitively speaking, I’m talking physically speaking. Frustration has very specific physiological effect, that causes you to kick your own ass, and make progress”
35:30 “When you are holding an isometric, your sympathetic nervous system keeps going up”
37:30 “From a nervous system perspective, I do a lot of holds. That’s why I like the sandbag carries so much; you are walking but your upper body holds the thing”
40:20: “The strength of the heart matters more than the speed of the heart.. the #1 thing in the body for the strength of signaling is the heart.. how fast it’s pushing blood will decide so many things in your body, all the way to your brain”
41:30: “There are 8 heirarchies in the body, conscious thought is the 6th layer… there are different types of intelligence throughout your body”
45:50: “I can tell you that PTSD is related to the strength of the heart… the strength of your heart will rule so many things, including your conscious thoughts”
49:45: “When you are in the weightroom, how do you know the lift/position you are in, is correct”?
53:20: “Give me an athlete, make him do basic gymnastics, bodyweight, make him do basic wrestling, some swimming, some sprinting, tell me you don’t have a very good athlete that is mostly balanced”
56:30 “You can never lift a heavy sandbag a light way… where as the barbell is nice, it’s very structured, it’s very rule oriented. The sandbag is going to fight you”
1:02:15 “I can tell you from experience that a strong back and a strong grip are connected”
1:03:40: “Isolation work I’d rather get from gymnastics because it least it involves the hands and feet”
1:04:30: “The heart is the first heriarchy, no heart, no life. The rhythm of the heart decides what the other systems are doing, so cardiovascular health decides that the rest of the body does what it does”
1:10:50: “You can’t namaste the bear away”
1:14:00 “Load a yoke onto your shoulder, and you feel it all the way into your femur; the massive hormonal response from your body, from your bones, is going to dictate how far your sympathetic system will go; how much of a fight you will have… training through the bones, on a somatic level is what matters the most”
1:23:10 “The more you are in sympathetic your coordination goes away. The more you are in parasympathetic, your aggression goes away”
About Julien Pineau
Julien Pineau is the founder of Strongfit and a movement-focused human performance coach. Sports have been a part of Julien’s life since he was young, and he has athletic backgrounds in a variety of areas from competitive swimming, to mixed martial arts, strongman, and more.
In 1993, Julien began his coaching career as a conditioning and grappling coach for the MMA gym where he trained, and in 2008, he opened his gym that focuses on strongman training. StrongFit was born and has evolved from a single gym to a full education program.
Julien is trained to visualize and correct proper human movement patterns. He has a fascinating ability to diagnose imbalances, find the root of problems, and provide knowledge to build a stronger, more fit, and more resilient human. He is a man on a journey inward as much as he is outward.
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