Skip to content
Sign in
Artwork for Biomechanics Academy
Education

Biomechanics Academy

Ben Yanes

For coaches, clinicians, and serious lifters who want to think deeply about biomechanics in the gym.

Play
Open in
  • 11 episodes
  • a few times a week
  • Avg 46 min
  • English

Episodes 11

NewestOldestLongest
All11Unplayed11In progress0Played0
  • Sunday · 1 hr 4 min

    The Hidden Cost of Becoming Successful

    Join the conversations inside the biomechanics academy with a 7-day free trial: https://www.skool.com/biomechanics-academy 0:00 Introduction: A Different Kind of Conversation 1:20 Why Making Fitness Content Doesn't Feel the Same Anymore 4:00 When Success Starts Killing Creativity 7:15 Why Real Conversations Feel More Meaningful 11:00 Letting Go of the Need to Have a Plan 13:00 The Problem With Trying to Control Everything 17:45 The Death of an Old Identity 21:35 Learning to Embrace the Unknown 24:00 When Discipline Becomes a Trap 27:45 You're Not the Same Person You Used to Be 32:00 Why Resisting Your Emotions Makes Things Worse 36:30 The Fear of Death and the Longevity Industry 39:30 Why Fitness Gurus Resemble Cult Leaders 42:00 Conspiracies, Seed Oils, and Oversimplified Thinking 47:00 When Being Right Becomes Your Identity 52:00 How Success Can Destroy Your Curiosity 56:30 What Children Understand That Adults Forget 60:00 Rediscovering the Joy of Not Knowing 62:30 Final Thoughts: Enjoying the Process

  • September 17 · 22 min

    9 Muscle-Building Lessons I Had to Learn the Hard Way

    If this helped you think more clearly about building muscle—and you want to learn how to solve training problems for yourself—that’s exactly what I built the Biomechanics Academy for. Try it for free: https://www.skool.com/biomechanics-academy

  • September 15 · 1 hr

    The Invisible Variable That Changes Every Exercise

    Want help putting all these concepts into practice? This is what I do inside my biomechanics academy: https://www.skool.com/biomechanics-academy Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/UfjauFeHAFk Chapters: 0:00 The Exercise Variable I Ignored 1:01 What “Intention” Actually Means 3:20 Your Intention Must Serve a Goal 6:54 Internal vs. External Cues 9:08 Why Internal Cues Are More Advanced 10:42 Why External Cues Are More Reliable 16:09 Aligning Intention With Physics 19:38 When in Doubt, Experiment 20:25 Leg Extension Cueing 30:35 Triceps Extension Cueing 35:37 Why Cues Matter More in Compound Exercises 37:07 How Intention Changes the Bench Press 43:35 The Most Important Takeaway 46:48 Shifting Quads vs. Glutes on a Leg Press 51:00 Changing a Pull-Up With Intention 53:35 Why Every Cue Is Context-Dependent 55:47 When a Helpful Cue Becomes a Problem 58:07 How to Experiment With Exercise Cues 59:12 The Biomechanics Academy

  • September 11 · 29 min

    How To Fix Your Program

    Need help fixing all your exercises and applying this? That's what I do inside my biomechanics academy: https://www.skool.com/biomechanics-academy To see video footage of what quality reps actually look like in practice, check this out: https://youtu.be/bh8HEDMaXyY

  • September 7 · 1 hr 4 min

    Compound VS Isolation (How Muscle Bias Works)

    Ready to go deeper? The Biomechanics Academy is where you’ll find my full courses, live calls, and personalized one-on-one help from me: https://www.skool.com/biomechanics-academy Chapters: 0:00 Why “Compound vs. Isolation” Is the Wrong Question 4:20 Why These Exercise Labels Can Mislead You 10:05 What Actually Determines Which Muscles Work 15:56 The First Question to Ask About Any Exercise 23:14 The Hidden Factor Behind Muscle Bias 27:10 Why Grip Changes Which Muscles Work in a Curl 36:04 Why Squats Don’t Train the Hamstrings Like You Think 42:21 Why Overhead Extensions Bias the Long Head of the Triceps 51:43 Why Any of This Actually Matters for Your Training 55:45 How Muscle Bias Changes Programming 58:20 The Biggest Misconception About Muscle Recruitment 1:00:37 The 3 Things That Determine Which Muscles an Exercise Trains 1:03:00 Final Takeaways

  • September 2 · 1 hr 15 min

    How To Fix Pain

    Need help applying all this? Inside the biomechanics academy is where I help members 1-1, in-depth. Start a free trial today: https://www.skool.com/biomechanics-academy Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Yji5goqrjAs Chapters: 0:00 - Intro — A Practical Framework to Fix Pain 3:30 - What Is Pain? 8:59 - The Problem With Assuming You Know the Cause 14:59 - Why Pain Is a Complex Problem 17:58 - What Can We Actually Know About Pain? 23:58 - You Don’t Need to Know the Exact Mechanism 31:59 - The Most Important Shift in Troubleshooting Pain 35:59 - Acute vs. Chronic Pain 41:01 - Your Relationship With Pain Matters 46:00 - Variable #1: Range of Motion 47:00 - Variable #2: Load 48:08 - Variable #3: Speed 50:19 - Variable #4: Intention 55:15 - Variable #5: Frequency 57:35 - Variable #6: Volume 58:41 - Two Real Pain Case Studies 59:05 - Case Study #1: My Elbow Pain 61:26 - Identifying the Story I Was Holding Onto 63:02 - How I Modified My Biceps Training 65:26 - Look Beyond the Painful Exercise 67:38 - Case Study #2: My Chronic Low Back Pain 69:16 - Changing Variables Outside the Gym 71:35 - “Calm Shit Down, Build Shit Up” 73:00 - The Framework: Observe, Experiment, Iterate 74:35 - Final Thoughts

  • August 30 · 42 min

    Why "Functional Training" Isn't Real (How Muscles Actually Work)

    Join a community of people as obsessed with learning biomechanics as you are (free trial): https://www.skool.com/biomechanics-academy Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/3ofbvoV94Us Time stamps: 00:00 - Why “Functional Training” Isn’t Real 02:02 - Do We Actually Control Our Muscles? 05:28 - Muscles Respond to Force 07:16 - What Is Force? 09:18 - How to Analyze Any Exercise 11:17 - Joints, Torque & Muscle Contraction 18:27 - The Problem With “Functional” Training 20:09 - Lifting vs. Yoga, Pilates & Functional Training 23:05 - Why We Turn Exercise Into Dogma 24:51 - Barbells, Dumbbells & Machines Aren’t Special 27:38 - The Range of Motion Dogma 29:42 - The Real Problem: Blame 33:05 - When You Blame Your Body Instead 34:20 - “Dysfunction” & Internet Diagnoses 37:18 - Stop Controlling. Start Listening. 40:02 - The Most Important Lesson 41:29 - Biomechanics Academy & Closing

  • August 26 · 44 min

    WTF Happened to Lengthened Partials? (A Strength Masterclass)

    Join the Biomechanics Academy (7-day free trial): https://www.skool.com/biomechanics-academy Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ZVWM5f4my0c Chapters: 0:00 — What Happened to Lengthened Partials? 2:39 — What Is a Lengthened Partial? 3:24 — What Do Muscles Actually Respond To? 6:00 — More Tension = More Potential Adaptation 8:55 — Why This Is Really a Conversation About Strength 12:04 — How Muscle Strength Changes With Length 15:01 — Stronger Ranges Allow More Tension 17:19 — Why Lengthened Partials Became So Popular 18:32 — Were We Just Underloading Lengthened Ranges? 19:39 — Cable Rows: A Clear Example 22:47 — Calf Raises & Lengthened Partials 24:00 — So What Happened to Lengthened Partials? 26:45 — The Downside of Training Where You’re Strongest 29:43 — When a Good Strategy Starts Working Against You 30:00 — Why I Prefer Training a Spectrum of Muscle Lengths 33:33 — Applying This to Athletes & Advanced Lifters 35:32 — Everything Has Its Place 36:21 — Strength Is Not a Fixed Concept 37:58 — What Actually Changes Your Strength? 42:28 — How Strength Should Actually Be Used 43:28 — Closing Thoughts & Biomechanics Academy

  • August 23 · 46 min

    Why Perfect Technique Doesn't Exist

    Join the Biomechanics Academy (7-day free trial): https://www.skool.com/biomechanics-academy Watch on my YouTube: https://youtu.be/47FVVxbP3aU Chapters: 00:00 — Why Perfect Technique Doesn’t Exist 03:20 — What Do We Even Mean by “Perfect Technique”? 05:11 — Technique Only Makes Sense Relative to a Goal 08:28 — Why the Same Goal Doesn’t Mean the Same Technique 12:14 — Biomechanics Actually Proves Individual Variation 19:05 — There Is Only What’s Appropriate for You Right Now 20:52 — What Biomechanics Can Actually Help You Do 25:32 — The Problem With Searching for Perfection 27:23 — How “Perfect Technique” Failed One of My Clients 31:00 — Experimentation Is the Path to Individualization 32:00 — When a Great Technique Becomes the Next Trap 33:30 — How Perfectionism Makes Coaching Worse 38:04 — A Practical Guide to Finding the Right Technique 42:00 — How to Troubleshoot One Variable at a Time 44:44 — The Process: Apply, Get Feedback, Iterate 45:05 — Biomechanics Academy + Closing Thoughts

  • August 19 · 47 min

    The Truth About Biomechanics

    Join the Biomechanics Academy (7-day free trial): https://www.skool.com/biomechanics-academy Link to the YouTube video if you want to comment: https://youtu.be/cNMyEPd4tAs 0:00 The Truth About Biomechanics 2:57 What Biomechanics Actually Is 6:20 The Mistake I Made With Pain & Injury 11:50 How Biomechanics Creates False Certainty 16:44 Will Biomechanics Build More Muscle? 18:37 Does Biomechanics Make You a Better Coach? 20:00 The Real Problem: Information ≠ Application 24:18 Humans Are Complex Systems 28:05 Why I Stopped Needing to “Know” 30:01 What Biomechanics Is Actually For 34:30 The Principles for Applying Biomechanics 35:30 Description Before Prescription 38:17 Goals Before Judgments 39:44 Experimentation Over Conclusions 43:04 Iteration Over Destination 44:30 What Confidence Actually Looks Like 45:30 Biomechanics Academy + Closing

Showing 1–11 of 11 episodes