Today’s podcast is with Alex Kanellis. Alex is the founder of Landmine University. He is a former state champion wrestler, Iowa Gatorade Player of the Year (Football), and University of Iowa football player. He has been a scholastic strength coach, wrestling and football coach, as well as having spent time as a performance coach for Weck Method. Currently, Alex’s focus is on training youth wrestlers, as well as his work with Landmine University. Strength training for athletes is fundamentally basic. The powerlift variations, as well as Olympic lifts recruit a large amount of muscle mass and are fundamentally stimulating. At the same time, with the potential to be over-used, “functional” training has emerged, offering light-weight movements with high demands for balance and coordination. Landmine oriented training movements offer a happy medium in a high potential for force application, a rotational and arc-like orientation, as well as short learning curves (unlike the longer learning curve of the Olympic lifts). On today’s podcast Alex goes into his experiences that brought him into landmine training, and how he uses the method with athletes. He also gets into the advantages and unique aspects of the method, and touches on the transfer points to a number of athletic movements and practices. Alex touches on isometric landmine variations, as well as gets into GPP methods for young athletes in general, and what we can learn from the athleticism of wrestling and combat sports. Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs, TeamBuildr and the Plyomat. TeamBuildr is an online software for coaches and trainers. Use the code “JUSTFLY” for a free 30 day trial of the TeamBuildr software at https://teambuildr.com. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 4:39- Enhancing Athletic Performance Through Rotational Core Movements 10:12- Rotational Landmine Training for Athletic Performance Gains 17:50- Rotational Landmine Exercises for Explosive Athletes 21:23- Spinal Engine Theory for Athletic Performance 32:00- The Role of Fat Grips and Unilateral Landmine Lifts 43:50- Rotational Resistance Training with Landmine Exercises 49:41- Building Athleticism Through Wrestling Movements 55:57- Focused Training for Elite Performance in Gymnastics 57:49- Enhancing Athlete Skills Through Wrestling and Free Play Alex Kanellis Quotes "Landmine lifts too is you really do feel the load go from one glute to the other glute and you can feel, and that's something that is really powerful and also just safe because they're just limited in a way that I like." - Alex Kanellis" "Your spine is the primary engine for locomotion, as opposed to bracing your spine to neutral and powering locomotion with your hips and legs." - Alex Kanellis "What if it's not an argument? What if you just started with more stuff like landmine cleans, or it's a lower bar to jump over, it's more athletic then maybe in high school or later (bring in Olympic Lifts)." - Joel Smith "If we are going to spend those skill points as a coach who's not their sport coach, it does feel really satisfying when just at least a couple of those skill points overlap with what they're working on in their sport." - Alex Kanellis" "Yeah, but it makes you play differently, and it gives you something. And so much. I think a lot of times we almost find things by accident that are because of these constraints." – Joel Smith “And you could ask Donnie Thompson or any of the guys that are into the fat grip stuff. But for me, I remember with even bench press, but deadlift,

Today’s podcast is with Mark McLaughlin. Mark is the founder of Performance Training Center, and currently works as a physical preparation/strength coach in the Lake Oswego school district. Mark has had a diverse sporting history as a youth, and has been active in the field of physical preparation since 1997. Mark has trained over 700 athletes at all competitive levels, from Olympic to grade school athletes, and has worked with organizations such as the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA universities, high schools, and youth sports. On the last podcast, Mark spoke on his creative and wide-ranging approach to athletic performance, with an emphasis on movement training and athlete learning, as well as technology and the importance of the aerobic system in athletes. For today’s show, we center on a case study of one of Mark’s high school athletes who put 2 feet on his standing long jump and 11 inches on his vertical jump in just over 2 years time. Within this framework, we get into Mark’s ideas on athlete autonomy and feedback, jump training, progression and pacing of work, hill sprints, capacity, and more. Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs, TeamBuildr and the Plyomat. TeamBuildr is an online software for coaches and trainers. Use the code “JUSTFLY” for a free 30 day trial of the TeamBuildr software at https://teambuildr.com. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 6:25- The Role of Autonomy in Athletic Development 10:37- Gradual Increase in Plyometric Training Intensity 15:58- Optimizing Performance Through Reduced Training Volume 25:30- The Benefits of Diversifying Training Methods 35:33- Strength Training Concepts for Well Rounded Development 43:19- Optimizing Performance through Feedback and Monitoring 55:26- The Impact of Intent and Constraints 1:00:26- Jump Testing Device with Reactive Strength Measurements 1:02:59- Plyometric and Jump Training 1:09:16- Hunter's Varied and Intense Training Regimen 1:20:22- Hill Sprinting, Speed and Work Capacity Mark McLaughlin Quotes “So we just basically cut the volume almost by two thirds. And within the first month, his vertical increased like five inches” “Well, as a coach, sometimes I'm kind of constraint led as well. And so, kind of some of the things that I did to facilitate fun and progress was I started a gymnastics program, per se, within the athletic development model that I have there, and all the kids love it. So, number one, and that's part of the warm up. So that's one to get them there, the other thing that we do prior to training is game based. So they could play team handball, they could play ultimate football, ultimate Frisbee. We have a rugby ball, soccer.” “And again, when you ask kids, I think this is part of coaching in this country that is just bad to me, is we're never asking the athletes what they like. How do you feel about the training? Do you like what we're doing? No, I don't. Okay, then let's figure out what you do like. To keep you coming back. I do a questionnaire with every team twice a year to find out through my program what they like, what they don't like, my coaching style. So I can then refine this thing year to year to make it truly athlete centered” “This past year, I bought an adjustable hoop for the weight room, so we were doing different dunks and different jumping activities” “Yeah. I grew up with three younger brothers. We had a dunk hoop that would raise from, like, eight and a half to nine and a half feet, and you would watch Julius Irving dunk on somebody. Then you're trying to go out and dunk on your brother the...

Today’s episode is a Q&A podcast with Joel Smith. Questions on this episode revolve around swim training, sprint training, plyometrics, and specific training means for athletic development. Much of my philosophy has gone towards motor learning and how athletes can intuitively learn explosive sport skills, that not only gets results, but is also sustainable over time. Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs, TeamBuildr and the Plyomat. TeamBuildr is an online software for coaches and trainers. Use the code “JUSTFLY” for a free 30 day trial of the TeamBuildr software at https://teambuildr.com. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 2:11- Explosive Athletic Training with Plyometrics 7:25- Retracting the Thorax for Effective Swimming 17:56- Enhancing Energy Recovery through Breathwork Techniques 24:07- Adjusting High Intensity Training for Sustainability 32:23- Exploring Foot Positions and Pressures for Single Leg Jumping 37:24- Constraints-led Approach in High Jump Training 39:50- Explosive Skills and Athletic Movement Enhancement 44:20- Optimizing Performance through Body-Mind Activation 56:39- Avoiding Impingement with Alternative Squat and Deadlift Variations 59:27- Optimizing Sports Performance through Specific Joint Angles 1:07:21- Enhancing Weightlifting Performance through Neural Activity Show Notes: Marv Marinovich Water Training https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUb1V7hBUMY Transcript  About Joel Smith Joel Smith is the founder of Just Fly Sports and is a sports performance and track coach in Cincinnati, Ohio. Joel hosts the Just Fly Performance Podcast, has authored several books and coaches in both the high school and private sector. Joel was a strength coach for 8 years at UC Berkeley, working with the Swim teams and post-graduate professional swimmers, as well as tennis, water polo, and track and field. A track coach of 17 years, Joel coached for the Diablo Valley Track and Field Club for 7 years, and also has 6 years of experience coaching on the collegiate level, working at Wilmington College, and the University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse. He is currently coaching high jump at Milford High School. Joel has coached 4 national champions, multiple All-Americans, and NCAA record holders in track and field. In the realm of strength and conditioning, his programs have assisted 5 athletes to Olympic berths that produced 9 medals and a world record performance at Rio in 2016.

Today’s podcast is with Graeme Morris. Graeme is an athletic development coach and leads the rehab program at Wests Tigers. He is the former head of strength and conditioning at AFL Field umpires, Western Suburbs Magpies and the Newtown Jets. Graeme has consulted for a variety of field based and combat athletes including world and Australian champions in Muay Thai. Graeme has experience designing and implementing strength and power in the gym, as well as speed, agility and conditioning on the field. In athletic performance, it’s easy to get trapped in one viewpoint of improved athleticism, when there are many aspects of good movement and decision making. Graeme has both a wide-ranging understanding of sport and physical training, as well as an ability to understand the role of each coach and specialist in the overall training process. On today’s podcast, Graeme speaks about his time training in the martial arts, and how that impacted his thought process in his recent return to traditional sports performance training. He also gets into thoughts on lateral and curvilinear sprint development, ideas on how to “micro-dose” athleticism in team sport athletes, ideas on staggered stance lifting, and more. Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs, TeamBuildr and the Plyomat. TeamBuildr is an online software for coaches and trainers. Use the code “JUSTFLY” for a free 30 day trial of the TeamBuildr software at https://teambuildr.com. 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 For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps 4:43- The Impact of Training Environment on Performance 13:24- The Importance of Fitness Tests in Sports 20:55- The Importance of "Grapple Strength" in Wrestling 30:43- Building a Resilient Foundation for Athletes 41:04- The Importance of Curvilinear Running in Athletics 46:20- Layered Progression for Athletic Performance Enhancement 53:02- Enhancing Athletic Performance through Variable Training 59:48- Staggered Stance Squatting for Back Relief 1:02:20- Flywheel Training in Athletic Performance Graeme Morris Quotes "But then I believe that in a soccer game that they analyzed, and I'm not saying this is necessarily true in rugby league or what the sports I work in, but 85% of sprints were curvilinear nature. Okay? So all of a sudden we know, okay, this is also preparing guys for game demands." - Graeme Morris "Are you getting taught the correct things? Are you getting taught the correct tactics? Do you have good training partners? If you get training partners is so and so important. The people around you, are they challenging you? Are they pushing you? Are they assisting you? Becoming better every single day? So when I come back to sport, I always think, are we having a training environment that can lead to success? You want to produce a culture there, but that's not only really demanding and you're upholding standards, but it's still enjoyable to come to every single day." - Graeme Morris "But every single player knows what a good time is and what not a good time is. And when they return to training or when they come back, they know what the standards are, whether they're fit enough or they're not fit enough." - Graeme Morris "But you also got to also understand with some of these types of methods when you're in a team scenario as well. It's got to fit in with the holistic nature of what all the other coaches want as well. So you don't always get exactly what you want, whereas if you're doing something individually or when you're just a private ...

Today’s podcast is with Romain Tourillon. Roman is a physiotherapist, researcher and educator carrying an emphasis on the foot-ankle complex in rehab and performance. He is engaged in a PhD thesis on the foot muscles role in sports performance, supervised by sprint research expert, JB Morin. Romain works as a clinician at the Swiss Olympic Medical Center at La Tour Hospital, and has presented at various congresses on aspects of foot and ankle performance. The foot is a massively important, and under-studied aspect of athletic performance, and considering the way the foot is trained and integrated makes an impact in the training program. For today’s show, Romain discusses the roles of the mid-foot and fore-foot in human movement, and gives training applications to optimize each foot section. He gets into the role of the toes in training, sensory input, intrinsic foot strength, and much more. Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs, TeamBuildr and the Plyomat. TeamBuildr is an online software for coaches and trainers. Use the code “JUSTFLY” for a free 30 day trial of the TeamBuildr software at https://teambuildr.com. 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 For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 7:41- The Interconnectedness of Lower Limb Function 11:48- The Impact of Forefoot Strength on Athletic Performance 16:43- Evolutionary differences in foot and hand function 19:16- Improving proprioception and foot function through barefoot training 28:02- Effective Foot Activation Exercises with Dorsiflexion 38:08- Enhancing Foot and Calf Strength and Performance 45:18- Calf Muscles: Force Absorption and Propulsion 52:23- Muscle Groups for Foot Propulsion 1:05:03- Midfoot Strengthening with Tibialis Raises Romain Tourillon Quotes "The lower limb has to absorb and produce force. You say it's not just the foot does that, not just the hip. And so that's why you have to have this holistic push and this link between both (the foot) and every joint here." - Romain Tourillon "I find for proprioception or like balance based exercises, it's a good sign when people are feeling that in the intrinsic foot muscle. I find people who do balance exercises and don't feel it in their foot. They feel like they're calf. Usually those are people with issues. There's a strong link there." - Joel Smith "When you increase the (toe) dorsi-flexion, for example, during the heel raises, you increase the mid-foot moment and mid-foot force production." - Romain Tourillon "But it's pretty good exercise in order to work on this production on the first ray on the big toe, that it's much more economic. You can produce greatest force production and it's better for everything to have this. What I say, good propulsion. I would say good propulsion picture or good propulsion function. Pushing on the first toe." - Romain Tourillon "The first thing is to say, okay, the absorbing foot is this muscle Tibialis Anterior, Tibialis Posterior. So the two biggest. And after, if you look at the calf, it's the Soleus, which are, I would say the greatest absorber in the chunk." - Romain Tourillon "With the long toes, you have an increase of the lever arm within the foot, between the ankle joint rotation and the tooth. So allowing you to have, if you have the, I would say, calf capacity to have a greatest lever arm to produce force on the ground." - Romain Tourillon Show Notes Ziani Step (Toe Dorsiflexion Strength) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbS541xZLdA

Today’s podcast is with Ian Markow. Ian is a personal trainer and movement educator based in Delray Beach, Florida, and founder of Markow Training Systems. Ian utilizes methods and philosophies from Functional Range Conditioning, the Postural Restoration Institute, and more as he works with clients from the general population to professional athletes. Ian is an internationally recognized expert in fitness, mobility, and human performance and has a number of educational programs, courses, and workshops. With the vast amount of information on corrective exercise, movement, and mobility training, knowing where to start and how to view the human moment equation can be challenging. As helpful as movement training can be, it can also easily create a training narrative that an athlete is dysfunctional, and promote a “nocebo” effect of movement limitations, as well as create an environment of high pressure on the part of the trainer to elicit particular movement and range of motion outcomes. On today’s podcast, Ian discusses taking a practical perspective that centers on what an athlete can do rather than what they cannot and the simple gateways he manages to engage with the individual's breathing, mobility, and alignment. He also gets into ideas on managing more superficial movement abilities versus more deep-seated structural elements, gives his take on assessments, and much more. 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. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 6:17- Empowering Mobility Training with Individualized Care 14:33- Dynamic Shoulder Mobility Through Break Dancing 18:10- Breath Work and Alternative Strength Movements 27:41- Engaging and Effective Dynamic Warm-ups 33:44- Prioritizing Simple Solutions for Tangible Improvements 42:17- Enhancing Performance Through Stride-Based Breathing 47:15- Balancing intensity and mobility for overweight clients 57:18- Wall-Based Assessments 1:01:20- The Impact of Rib Cage Structure 1:17:47- Yielding and Expanding for Optimal Breathing 1:23:39- Isometric Training with Horse Stance 1:28:42- Ian Markow's Training Methods and Workshops Ian Markow Quotes "But there's corners and things that you're hitting in your cars that will maintain that joint over time, that simply. I just haven't found anything that gets there." - Ian Markow "I think you can generally get stronger. So let's strength train and keep you fit while we work around some of your limitations, but also specifically for your elbow. When you go to play tennis or paddle, why don't you go ahead and do these elbow cars? Let's do a few more of these every day and just keep the thing moving." - Ian Markow "I could care less what her hip rotation is because we're obviously crushing it. She feels great. She's more confident. You know what I mean? So those are the outcomes that matter, and it all comes down to the goal." - Ian Markow "In another way of putting it, I'm kind of thinking about stumbling, thinking about what the right phrase is, but just keeping the training vibe. It's keeping the training vibe and is the main thing feeling better and not getting bogged down with other little minutiae.

Today’s podcast is with Christian Thibaudeau. Christian is a Canadian strength coach with over two decades experience, is a prolific writer, and has worked with athletes from nearly 30 sports. He is the originator of training systems such as the NeuroTyping system and Omni-contraction training. Christian is a wealth of training knowledge, and in addition to his extensive experience, he walks the talk in his training, competing in weightlifting and bodybuilding. I always enjoy having Christian on the show, as he is an absolute wealth of knowledge in multiple areas of human performance. I’ve had a significant number of revelations across my time speaking with Christian that have had a profound impact on my approach to programming and training. On the episode today, Christian talks about aspects of the nervous system and training stress, both in shorter-term cycles and waves of work, as well as year-to-year recovery concepts to restore the body and mind. Christian also covers ideas on training to failure, pre-fatigue and muscle activation work in relation to athletic skill development, loaded stretching for strength, and more. This was an awesome show, and it’s always great to have Christian on the podcast. 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. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 6:58- Optimizing Neurological Training for Maximum Gains 8:22- The Importance of Structural Abilities in Training 13:29- Neurological Factors and Performance Fatigue 24:23- The Impact of Skill Mastery on Performance 25:58- Enhancing Performance through Systemic Stress Management 31:51- The Importance of Rest and Recovery 35:20- The Impact of Mental State on Training Performance 39:22- Optimal Muscle Growth through Post-Failure Technique 45:00- Targeted Muscle Growth through Low Volume Training 53:20- Maintaining Bar Proximity for Olympic Lifts 1:02:44- Enhancing Performance with Iced Calves 1:10:07- Optimizing Health with Magnesium Supplementation Christian Thibaudeau Quotes "The reality is that when we are talking about training methods that are focused on neurological changes, which would be pretty much all power training methods, reactive training, plyometrics, pros, even the Olympic lifts, and even strength training, as far as in the very low ranges or isometric stuff like that, they all have a very short duration of what effective training can be." - Christian Thibaudeau "But if your body is not ready, what happens is you're creating lots of low grade systemic inflammation. You are causing stress on those tissues, and you don't always feel the pain, but it's still there, and it still sends signal to your brain, which will create inhibition, preventing you from performance, from performing at your best." - Christian Thibaudeau "But I'm telling you, if you do a four to six weeks period where you devote as much focus and thinking into designing a recovery program than you do programming your performance program, dude, when you come back from that, you're going to be a freaking machine." - Christian Thibaudeau "I think it's a mistake to try to do everything with the same tool.

Today’s podcast is with Dr. Keith Baar, professor at UC Davis and renowned tendon training researcher and expert. Professor Keith Baar received his PhD from the University of Illinois, and over the last 20 years, Keith has worked with elite athletes, as the scientific advisor to Chelsea Football Club, USA Track and Field, Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, British Cycling, The English Institute of Sport, Leicester Tigers Rugby, and the Denver Broncos. He also spent time as an assistant strength coach with the University of Michigan football team where he was an undergraduate. Keith first guest appearance on this podcast, was on the role of various exercise velocities and tendon health, and was an extremely popular episode. Tendon training is crucial for overall health and performance, as tendons rely on loading for adaptation. Isometrics, a potent tool, are key to a robust training program. In this episode, Keith Baar explores tendon tissue adaptation trends and how different forms of isometrics and training methods optimize tendon health and high-tension capabilities. He delves into the impact of both low-speed and high-speed loading movements, emphasizing the compounding effects achieved by combining them for enhanced performance. Dr. Baar discusses essential concepts like tendon remodeling, the body's protective mechanisms, and the optimal sequence for training to realign and remodel tendon tissue. Drawing from examples in swimming, running, and rock climbing, he highlights the integral role tendons play in shaping training and performance outcomes. 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. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:02- Benefits of Collagen Supplementation for Knee Osteoarthritis 10:03- Determining Collagen Synthesis through Exercise and Supplementation 15:47- The Power of Belief in Pain Relief 21:56- The Complexity of Pain and Tissue Healing 29:45- Optimizing Training Through Body Adaptability 31:46- Effects of Running Surfaces on Tendon Health 43:40- Tendon Health and Performance in Rock Climbing 52:27- Isometric Exercises for Scar Tissue Regeneration 59:54- Movement-Based Strategies for Inflammation and Recovery 1:09:38- Dynamic Adaptation of Muscle and Tendon Tissues 1:23:00- Optimizing Performance and Health through Tailored Training 1:23:47- The Impact of Loading Techniques on Injury Prevention and Performance Enhancement 1:24:12- Estrogen's Impact on Injury Risk and Prevention Dr. Keith Baar Quotes "These peptides, these magical elixirs. They don't really do anything at all." "The hardest part, a lot of times, is having the expert to come in and say, this is what the real underlying problem is. And if you fix this, all the other stuff goes away." "In thinking about human beings as being incredibly adaptable, it's interesting to think about how we can use that adaptability to shift out of, hey, if you mentioned even the tendon with the know, use that adaptability, like, hey, let me get away from the donut part and shift into the strong tissue." "Your movement has to be much, much faster. And that movement through being faster means that the tendons are going to be stiffer and...

Today’s podcast is with Vern Gambetta. Vern is currently is the Director of Gambetta Sports Training Systems, and a seasoned coach in athletics, coaching techniques and physical preparation methods, with a career spanning over 50 years.  Vern is recognized internationally as an expert in training and conditioning for sport having worked with world class athletes and teams in a wide variety of sports. He is a popular speaker and writer on conditioning topics having lectured and conducted clinics in Canada, Japan, Australia and Europe. There are two side of the coin in coaching, and while the maximal strength and data-based side is heavily emphasized, the more creative, adaptable and “functional” side of human performance is far less built out in programming. That base of knowledge and core process is certainly important, but it can choke out problem solving, fostering adaptability, while developing a creative, dynamic process. In this episode, Vern delves into the fundamental elements of training athletes for optimal performance. He explores the intricacies of his training system, drawing on historical references and influences. Vern articulates his perspective on maximal strength training and emphasizes the significance of rhythm, tempo, and flow in the training process as well as cultivation of movement quality and long-term athlete longevity. Additionally, Vern highlights the crucial role of creativity in coaching, underscoring the continuous refinement of coaching systems and observational skills over time. 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. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 9:27- The Influence of passionate and eclectic coaches 20:47- The rhythmic evolution of coaching through music 21:54- The artistic expression of swimming technique 24:49- The eclectic approach to coaching athletes 33:57- Developing athletes' cue systems and body connection 35:29- Building upon progress for long-term success 39:03- The impact of throwing ability on athletic performance 44:47- Real-life movement-based training for athletic performance 53:54- Training for long-term athletic success 1:03:12- Enhancing performance with split work 1:13:29- The relationship between flexibility and performance Vern Gambetta Quotes "But I'm really curious how in high school I didn't even start until I was a senior in football. But I don't know why I wanted to be a college football player. My brother was a great athlete, and he was a really good football player, that never everything came easy. I was the opposite." - Vern Gambetta "Coaching is managing complexity and harnessing chaos." - Vern Gambetta "Strength training is coordination training with appropriate resistance." - Vern Gambetta "I always just kind of weigh the Olympic lifts against a good backward shot put, or even like a good depth jump to a med ball overhead type thing, something like that." - Joel Smith "It's about curiosity. It's about deep investment in a process, creating a system, you know, your own system. And the core of that system, once you coach a few years, never really changes. But on the outside,

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. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. 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,

Today’s podcast is with David Kerin. Dave is the USATF chair of men’s development, and also chair for men’s and women’s high jump.  Dave’s coaching career began with 14 years at the HS level followed by 14 years of collegiate coaching where an athlete set a still-standing NCAA DIII championship record in women’s high jump.  A requested speaker and published author, he is perhaps best known for his work: “What is the most direct means to achieve strength gains specific to the demands of jumping events”, as well as the popular article: “Fixing the Right Problem”.  David appeared originally back on episode #58 of the podcast in its “classic” days. Curvilinear sprinting is a critical aspect of sport movement, and is also becoming more popular in training, and for good reason.  Lateral and rotational aspects of movement are not only critical for sport, but also engage a greater fullness of the body in a training environment. On today’s podcast, David goes into the defining elements of curvilinear sprinting, and what this means, not only for track and field high jump, but athletic movements in general.  He also gets into the importance of observing and coaching athletic movement from a 3D perspective, and gives ideas on how to do so, as well as the evolution that technology is making in that direction.  Today’s podcast gives us a wonderful perspective on a more complete picture of athletic movement and performance. 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. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 2:51- High jump as a transition point for analyzing curvilinear running 8:03- Transitioning from linear to curvilinear running mechanics 10:35- The challenges of turning in sports 13:06- Unique demands of running a high jump curve 18:13- The importance of running the curve correctly 22:53- Benefits of three-dimensional movement in sports 26:29- The role of coaches in developing athletes' skills 29:09- Changing perspective for better coaching results 34:10- Overreacting to foot alignment and rotation 36:52- Mechanical gestures in high jumping vs other sports 42:24- Different ways to train 3D 47:50- Common mistakes in initiating a curve 54:45- Biomechanics lab and motion analysis Dave Kerin Quotes (00:00:15) "I describe the pelvis as a bowl of Jello. And you know how Jello tends to jiggle, how calmly non vibrational, how steady state can I bring that bowl of Jello to the moment?" - Dave Kerin (00:07:44) "The analogy would be the figure skater at the big finish when they start spinning and they've extend their arms and as they draw into the center line or the long axis of the body, they accelerate. So it's not linear acceleration in the traditional sense, yet you are increasing velocity of the plant by leaning on angular momentum." - Dave Kerin (00:18:15) "If you tell the average kid or the average coach, they say you got to speed up in the curve. Well, the kid stands upright and goes to linear sprint mechanics to accelerate. But then they've lost lean, they've lost centripetal, they've lost the benefits of running the curve. So if you run the curve correctly, that's where you get that last 10% while bringing the requ...

Today’s podcast is with Devin Hayes.  Devin is the Pitching Performance Coordinator with the Detroit Tigers.  He has worked in both baseball coach and physical preparation roles at Middlebury College, and has worked in the private sector, training athletes from high school to major league All-Star level.  Devin currently plays for the Irish National Baseball Team and has included javelin throwing in his athletic repertoire. When we learn skills in one area of human performance, we can become more understanding of them all.  A key area of development in human performance is found in the realm of overhand throwing.  By understanding the rotational and linear aspects of the throwing pattern, we can not only achieve better throwing results, but we also gain awareness of an important element of athletic function in general. On today’s episode, Devin shares his experiences transitioning from baseball pitching to javelin throwing.  He gives the lessons learned from various forms and constraints of overhead throwing, and digs into the elastic and rotational aspects of pitching.  A main point of discussion is that of letting athletes find their path versus when and how to intervene in coaching, and finally Devin chats about relaxation techniques, and shaking movements to enhance throwing performance. 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. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 3:20 Transition from Baseball Pitching to Javelin Throwing and the Initial Challenges Faced 8:38 Differences between the Motion and Arm Positioning in Baseball and Javelin Throwing, and the Influence of Natural Feel and Rotation 11:39 Exploring the Concepts of Movement Transferability from Pitching to Other Sports and the Role of Track and Field Training 17:01 Application of Motor Learning Principles in Pitching and the Impact of Sprinting on Musculature 20:06 Experimentation with Linear and Rotational Movements in Training and the Progression from Coil to Clear Drills in Pitching 22:05 Exploration of Movement Transferability from Other Track and Field Events to Pitching and the Complexity of Transition Skills 29:13 Self-organization and the Role of Spine in Throwing Motion, as well as the Influence of Side Bending in Throwing Athletes 33:37 Exploration of Arm Slots and Movement Solutions in Throwing, and the Value of Trying New Approaches in Baseball Throwing 41:38 The Impact of Lever Length on Throwing Velocity and the Importance of Coaching Stages and Approaches in Athletic Development 54:12 Importance of Building a Relationship and Adapting Coaching Style, Effective Communication in Coaching, and the Use of Entertainment in Learning 59:16 Creating Levels and Containers for Learning and Development and the Expectation of Instruction in Private Sector Settings 1:02:10 Discussion on Different Types of Athletes and the Importance of Reputation and Proof in Self-Organization 1:06:08 The Ability to Switch Between Competition Mode and Normal Mode, Withholding Energy, and the Importance of Staying Low in Athletic Movements 1:08:56 Exploration of Turn and Burn in Dunk Takeoffs,

Today’s podcast is with Chris Bramah and JB Morin. Chris is a consultant Physiotherapist and Researcher at the Manchester Institute of Health & Performance, specializing in biomechanics for injury prevention, especially in running-related concerns like hamstring strains. With over a decade in elite sports and a Ph.D. in biomechanics, he collaborates with World and Olympic Medallists, providing consultancy services focused on sprint running mechanics and their connection to hamstring strain injuries for clients. JB Morin, a full professor and head of sports science at the University of Saint-Etienne, brings over 15 years of research experience. Having published 50 peer-reviewed journals since 2004, he is a world-leading researcher in sprint-related topics, collaborating with top sprinters like Christophe Lemaitre. As a two-time previous podcast guest, JB shares valuable insights applicable to team sports, including his expertise in force-velocity profiling and heavy sled training. Sprinting and sports injuries are complex. Hamstring injuries are common, yet there is not one “unicorn” of a risk factor that determines whether or not an athlete will sustain one. As the roadmap of injury risk is continually unfolding, understanding what is happening from the coaching practices and observations, sports science, and research lenses can all work together to improve our global understanding of building fast and robust athletes. On the episode today, Chris and JB go into various running factors that play into robust sport running performance. These range from force-velocity profiling elements to kinematics and sprint technique, and rotational-based factors. This was a podcast that really digs into the sprint injury equation on a detailed and informative level. 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. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 2:00 – Recent research updates from Chris and JB on mechanics and running 5:30 – Primary aspects of connecting running mechanics with on-field injury 29:55 – The importance of fatigue state in the role of injury mechanisms and running 43:45 – Nuances of force-velocity profiling and potential injury risks in athletes 52:19 – What JB and Chris are seeing and studying from a “3D” perspective in terms of running injury and performance 59:20 – Foot strength, and it’s importance in athletic performance and ability 1:04:40 – Trunk rotation as it pertains to sprinting and injury risk Chris Bramah and JB Morin Quotes “All things equal, if you have the same capacity to play your sport, and move with less mechanical strain, then maybe you are tilting the balance (in favor of reduced injury risk)” “We define that as macroscopic strain (GPS, playing hours, etc.).  I could have the same 200 meters, and have a different microscopic strain, because my body and my lever arms, put a different level of microscopic strain on my tissues, and especially my hamstrings” “Sometimes you get injuries where the macroscopic load is managed, and there is still an issue” “Because methods are more complex to assess, and to contextualize this as part of a whole system approach,

Today’s podcast is with Sam Wuest.  Sam is a licensed acupuncturist, jumps coach and teacher of internal martial arts residing in San Jose, Costa Rica.  Sam combines modern strength & conditioning with Traditional Chinese Medicine/movement arts in his movement practice, and is the creator of the “Meridians Move” system.  He is a former Division I athlete and coach of NCAA national champions and national medalists in track & field.  I first met Sam at a “Be Activated” seminar, and he has been a two time guest on the podcast in the time afterwards. In the world of movement and athletic performance, we spend a lot of time learning about muscle tension, force production and how to maximize outputs.  At the same time, we spend very little time learning about the opposite end of the spectrum, how to relax muscles, optimize resting tension, breathe and recover.  Even if we spend a smaller portion of our training time on the recovery aspect, it still is critical to understand the “soft side” of movement.  If we don’t spend time on it, we will move more poorly, take longer to recover, and impede our movement longevity. We occasionally see those athletes who are able to compete at a high level of movement skill, and even power output into their late 30’s and early 40’s, but we don’t spend much time considering the factors behind their performance.  On today’s podcast, Sam goes into the ideas of movement quality, elasticity, stress, breathing, therapy, and more that can help us achieve better movement capabilities, later into life.  This podcast is also a lens by which to observe the entire process of training, but seeing both ends of the tensioning and relaxation spectrum. 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. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 3:00 – Details of Sam’s move to Costa Rica 7:30 – Factors that contribute to athletic longevity 16:30 – Using an approach to training that offers more expansion, relative to heavy compression 22:00 – Balance and proprioception in the scope of both athletic ability, and longevity 28:45 – Teaching movement based on reflexes versus cognitive control 34:00 – Community and its role in longevity 38:00 – Movement practices to keep up good tissue quality over time 52:00 – QiGong practice that can easily be integrated into athlete populations for the sake of recovery 1:08:00 – Sam’s take on long isometric holds, and how to use them in the scope of the longevity process Sam Wuest Quotes “The things that you did, to make you super athletic, are not the same things that you need to keep doing (to maintain longevity across a sporting career)” “I don’t see the return of heavy Olympic lifts being the same for me, at a different stage of life” “The person who is perpetually injured, they have a different muscle tone, or certain adhesions in certain areas” “You find that people will restore qualities, when they can turn tissue off, instead of turning everything on all of the time, which is what our training leads us towards” “Fascial responds best to stead, slow, calm, gentle, and expanding movements” “I think sometimes in the West, we focus on one thing,

Today’s podcast is with Alex Lee.  Alex is the owner of Circadian Chiropractic & Sport in Sarasota, Florida. He grew up outside Boston and entered the health realm after recovering from several long-standing injuries through a combination of chiropractic care and neurologically-based physical training. Alex played and coached baseball in Europe and Australia for four seasons and ran two private facilities for 3 years following a D1 college baseball career. When he is not doing 5-minute hangs or helping clients achieve a higher quality of life and movement he is intently observing his cats, golfing, or bronzing at Florida Gulf beaches with his wife. If we really break it down, we have two “ends” of the human (and therefore athlete) performance spectrum.  On one, we have the ability to generate high tension and forces, and on the other, we have the ability to sustain those forces over longer periods of time.  We can liken this to short and maximal isometric holds on one end, and then long, sustained holds on the other. Where central nervous system drive and aggression fuel the former, the ability to relax the body and reach a more “flow” state of being drives the latter.  In general, we tend to spend a lot more time considering methods to improve short holds without a balancing element on the sustained side of things.  Ultimately, we need to understand both to reach our highest athletic and physical potential. On the podcast today, Alex goes into aspects of long isometric holds on a physical and mental level, and how he incorporates them in his training programs.  Alex details the factors and benefits of being able to sustain longer holds, and what that means for athletic and human populations in general. 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. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 3:10 – Nuts and bolts of hanging from a bar for time, mindset, and breathing patterns 12:35 – Breathing strategies in isometrics and performance training 19:21 – The importance of the “Strength, Feel, Play” teaching points in Alex’s system 23:34 – The relationship between maximal strength, and maximal hold duration in movement 34:07 – The “non-doing” and withholding aspect of long isometric holds 47:56 – Neurological inhibition, electrical current and the impacts of neurologically focused training 55:37 – Influence of electrical resistance on the local level, and subsequent speed and athletic performance markers 59:37 – The value of being able to take the body to a high level in a “mundane” activity, like isometric holds, relative to one’s sport 1:09:03 – Alex’s take on isometric hold duration for younger athletes 1:12:20 – Basic isometric hold standards for the general population, and then athletes Alex Lee Quotes “What I like with hangs in having sensory information from the environment when the sun is going down” “It’s one thing to meditate, and it’s another to step into what is going to be a simulated, sketchy experience” “I came up with this equation, and it was (neuromuscular efficiency = coordination x time),  From a neuromuscular standpoint, how efficient can you possibly be,

Today’s podcast is with athletic performance coaches Hunter Eisenhower and Mike Sullivan. Hunter Eisenhower is the head of men’s basketball performance at Arizona State University, previously spent time with the Sacramento Kings, and has worked in several NCAA S&C departments. Hunter played college basketball for four seasons at Seattle Pacific University. Mike Sullivan is a speed and performance coach at TCBoost Sports Performance in Chicago, IL. At TCBoost, Mike works with a wide variety of athletes, from youth to professional, and transitioned to the private sector after time in collegiate strength and conditioning. Most recently, Mike was at UC Davis and spent time at Illinois State, Notre Dame, and Texas. For a long time in sports performance, weight room strength has been considered the top priority and method of measuring strength and power outputs. At the same time, bodies in motion produce incredibly high forces in jumping, sprinting, and landing (eccentric and reactive forces). Understanding the nature of elasticity and reactivity, and how to measure and train it in greater detail is a must-know for anyone looking to improve athletic abilities. If you were to list three of my favorite sports and human performance topics, they would be: Play, Jumping, and Sprint Development. Today’s show will be getting into these topics, primarily digging into key markers that highlight usable athletic force production, centering around altitude drops onto force plates. We’ll also cover aspects of sprint training from a standpoint of observation and technique, relative to technology readouts, as well as overspeed methods. Finally, we’ll get into Hunter and Mike’s use of play, games, and “aliveness” in their warmups. This was a fun and practical episode from which a wide range of coaches and athletes can find new and valuable ideas. 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. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 2:31 – Discussing the UC Davis “Strength and Conditioning Decathlon” 6:37 – Maximal elasticity and reactivity as a function of team sport play, versus training without the athleticism that comes from well-rounded play and elastic activities 9:48 – Discussing scoring systems for power and reactivity 16:14 – Key elasticity metrics for athletes, and key reactivity and elastic metrics based on force plate rate of force development readings 29:52 – Measuring force production through the realm of single leg reactive strength values, as well as thoughts on single leg hops for speed 39:42 – Programing implications based on muscular or elastic abilities 45:49 – Overlaying sprint kinetics via technology (such as a 1080 sprint) relative to observation, and athlete feeling of the effort 53:27 – Overspeed work, and giving sprinting a sense of “ease” 1:00:41 – How Hunter and Mike have put “aliveness” and play in their programming 1:07:37 – Risk/Reward assessment in terms of using a more alive, play based warmup or training approach with a group of athletes Hunter Eisenhower and Mike Sullivan Quotes “Just that little framework of me creating a 50 (centimeter CMJ jump) club drives intent so much more.

Today’s podcast is with Mat Boulé and Jeff Moyer.  Mat Boulé is an osteopath and posturologist educated in functional neurology muscle activation techniques, and is the founder of the IP institute.  Mat combines innovative and well-known techniques such as Posturology and Functional Neurology elements to balance the body.  Jeff Moyer is the owner of DC sports training in Pittsburgh, PA.  Jeff has been a multi-time guest on the show, appearing as a solo guest in three shows and on three roundtables.  His expertise includes elements such as Soviet training systems, motor learning, skill acquisition, pain reduction and reconditioning, in addition to neurological concepts as they relate to athletic performance and human movement proficiency. Human beings are complex organisms.  Movement is a multi-faceted action, made up of muscular actions, fascial tensegrity, connective tissue transmission, pressure and fluid dynamics, and of course neuromuscular control that is also connected to one’s senses and the outside environment.  To have a complete understanding of athletic movement and performance, it is helpful to have a working knowledge of the neurological components of movement, including foot skin sensitivity, vestibular function, vision, and sided-ness to name a few. Today’s podcast digs into those neurological elements that can contribute to performance.  Mat and Jeff discuss how they assess and train clients and athletes with these principles, discussing the use of sensory tools, rolling and rocking variations, balance and foot training, as well as the role of a well-functioning neurological apparatus in skilled athletic movement. 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. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 2:30 – The Pyramid of Learning, and the main neurological pieces that help athletes and humans to move freely and without restriction in their environment 8:13 – How to determine that reflexes, vestibular, or basic neurological issues are keeping individuals for being good skillful movers 18:10 – Eye contact as it relates to psychology and neurological/visual elements 29:56 – Neurological competency generalities based on level of performance an athlete can reach 35:36 – What to look for in crawling and crawl-based work for athletes and human performance in general 44:34 – Athlete balance in light of not only foot sensation, but also one’s vestibular and overall balance abilities 55:37 – How Jeff triages his neurological training elements in a practical setting Mat Boulé and Jeff Moyer Quotes “You can see that in kids in how they crawl, how one leg works better than the other, since that is where tone is first developed” “For kids who have been labeled “motor morons” that can’t figure out where their butt and their elbow is, the Pyramid of learning has been a great guide (for helping them)” “People who struggle knowing their right from their left (is a neurological/visual red-flag); can they mirror me?” (Moyer) “Being able to take instruction… those athletes where it’s like a new session every day, but you’ve been doing the same things (may have a neurological issue)”

Today's podcast is with Tyler Yearby. Tyler is the co-founder and director of education at Emergence, a leading company in sport movement and skill development education. He is a Former NCAA strength coach who has delivered over 200 domestic & international continuing education courses, workshops, and conference presentations in 12 countries. Tyler has worked with a wide range of athletes, from youth to professional, and is currently pursuing his doctorate in sport and exercise at the University of Gloucestershire (UK). Sport (and the subset of physical training) is defined by how we build and adapt skills over time. Ultimately, both the joy of movement and its eventual mastery are rooted in motor learning and skill acquisition. The sign of coaching where these elements are applied effectively is not just "using textbook principles" but, more so, a total feeling of aliveness and joy in the process of mastery. This is where learning and skill acquisition transcends being something learned in a classroom and is a regular, interactive experience on the part of the coach and athlete. For today's podcast, Tyler goes into important topics that cross the worlds of motor learning and coaching in general. He discusses his take on learning "the fundamentals" for athletes, the significance of "prompts" over traditional "commands" during training sessions, and explores these ideas for both the weight room and sports skills alike. Tyler also delves into the concept of self-organization, examining when it's beneficial and when it could hinder performance. This fantastic conversation has implications for both strength and skill coaches or anyone who wants to understand movement and skill building on a deeper level. 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. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 3:15 – Some recent developments with Tyler in his trajectory into the motor learning and skill development aspects of athletic performance 4:37 – The “donor sport” viability of “rough-housing,” free play type activities, such as tackle-basketball 9:40 – How Tyler has learned about learning and skill development from being a father 13:59 – Tyler’s take on the “fundamentals” and what that actually means in movement mechanics and training 20:10 – Prompts and open-ended questions versus commands in a coaching and learning situation 35:29 – Exploring squat and jump-based movements, considering the principle of a base of support 39:17 – How do we know if an athlete’s self-organization strategies continue to help them or if they may be stagnating/using detrimental self-organization and need another form of coaching intervention? 52:25 – Tyler’s doctorate work and the perceived impact and value of education of ecological dynamics in coaching Tyler Yearby Quotes “A lot of times a game is co-created with (kids), and it is designed for them to fall in love with movement” “I’ve learned to be more patient (of a coach) as a father” “(On the level of teaching the 'fundamentals' to athletes) I want them to create a functional fit with an environment, which means starting from a point where they can orient their degrees of freedom,...

Today’s podcast is with biomechanics and rehab specialist, Alex Effer.  Alex is the owner of Resilient Training, and has extensive experience in strength & conditioning, exercise physiology and the biomechanical function of the body.  He also runs educational mentorships teaching biomechanics to therapists, trainers and coaches.  Alex has been a previous guest on the show speaking on many aspects of gait, and the links between common gym movements and locomotion. For the amount of talk that goes into particular exercises, or exercise variations, very little goes into looking at human biomechanics first, as a base layer by which to base exercise selection.  We also spend little time understanding how two athletes may ideally perform the same movement differently, to optimize their own leverages.  We also often hear, or see exercises or training methods designed to improve external rotation, but tend to overly generalize the roles of “knees in/out”, or “inside edge/outside edge”. By understanding more about the biomechanical basis of force production, and how structure determines our base of support, we can achieve not only a better exercise selection process, but a better understanding of athletic movement in general. On the show today, Alex gets into important concepts on how humans produce force in movement, and how the internal and external rotation of joints creates effective motion.  This leads into how various body types have different bases of support, and what this means for programming squat and lunge variations, as well as implications on the level of various kettlebell swing and catch exercises.  This was an in-depth show that will change your lens on the way you see squat and lunge setups across a breadth of athletes in training. 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. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 3:12 – How Alex became the “Thanos” of the biomechanical world 5:38 – What legs that internally, or externally rotate, means for force production strategies 13:16 – How bow-leggedness fits in with athletic movements, such as acceleration, and when varus/bow-leggedness can become an issue 22:22 – Optional squat width, and knees-in, versus knees-out tendencies 27:39 – Concepts on loading the body up in external rotation in regards to force production, considering internal and external rotation in exercise selection 39:33 – The role of swinging weights and kettlebells for the sake of improving biomechanics, such as hip extension, and how to use external loads to internally open up ranges of motion 54:16 – Lateral lunge dynamics in light of valgus, varus, and wide/narrow ISA type athletes 1:07:51 – Dynamics of kettlebell swings and internal rotation, in light of the need to create space to swing the bell between their legs 1:14:06 – Elements that you can learn from athletes by observing their lateral lunge form, and which way they tend to point their toes our knees 1:22:20 – Assessing hip extension quality in lateral lunge and 45-degree lunge situations Alex Effer Quotes “When we are looking at the knees (valgus and varus), we have to consider someone’s base of support”

Today’s podcast is with movement coach Aaron Cantor. Aaron is a bodyworker, personal trainer, yogi, and movement generalist. He grew up in Japan and Brazil, and has traveled the world, learning from a variety of teachers and movement experts. Aaron has taught in the US and internationally, and works through a variety of game-play, movement, and story-telling-based methods. He is currently a coach for Evolve Move Play, while also working on his own movement coaching and teaching practice. In training, movement, and competition, we have both an “outer game” and an “inner game” at work. The outer game is relatively straightforward and the most common way we tend to interface with movement in the modern world. This includes the game’s rules and also leads into the external methods of instructing that game, such as telling individuals where to put their limbs in space, what motions to make, and what strategies to choose. The “inner game” approaches movement from a fun, connection, feel, and exploration perspective. Training requires some sort of numerical target of improvement (outer game), but at the same time, elite performers that have the “inner-game” skills that gives them a more complete package. Human performance is a combination of both outer and inner elements. By understanding the nature of the “inner” aspects of training, how to explore movements more fully, how to connect more deeply with our own bodies and our environment, we can achieve a more integrated and dynamic training process and, even more importantly, find more joy in sport and movement, and connection with ourselves and others. On today’s podcast, Aaron and I discuss the key aspects of training the inner game of movement, through an exploratory and intuitive process. These principles can apply to any realm of movement, from strength training and general fitness, to running and sprinting, to team sport skill applications. Most of what we study in the space has to do with the “outer game,” so taking time for the inner aspects of movement helps us to paint a more complete picture of the total process of training, play, and competition. 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. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 4:32 – The “Maradona Mind” in warmups and athletic mastery 13:20 – The importance of a low-barrier to entry in movement, in terms of building a flow state of performance” 20:37 – Principle vs. Systems based approach to training and global thinking 23:04 – How bringing the inner game into training can level up basic strength and human movement training 29:23 – The difference between a formula, and a trusted path “in” to the workout, to allow for dynamic exploration and flow, while still allowing for a sense of structure to the session 37:15 – Aaron’s “to infinity” practice, to help him get more into his body while learning and performing a skill 45:05 – “Coyote Mentoring” processes, where games and tasks can “trick” an athlete or individual into achieving 50:41 – All of the layers that can go in between moving and exploring, and then competing, in building a more total aspect of athletic and competitive ability,

Today’s podcast features Clifton Harski. Cliff has been in human performance for two decades and is highly active in movement education, leading over 450 workshops and certifications since 2011. Cliff is the COO for the Pain Free Performance Specialist Certification while developing and running the Functional Kettlebell Training Certification. Cliff developed a small group training fitness franchise, Fitwall, which had 7 locations across 5 states prior to Covid. He has over 15 certifications in movement training, strength and conditioning, and a masterful and inter-connected thought process on all things human movement, strength and performance. What is interesting with the human performance, strength and conditioning model is that it hinges heavily on things that a number can be tied to. Physical strength is very easy to track through various gym maxes, and conditioning is just as simple, based on whatever key test a coach decides to use with their group. At the same time, “movement” requires a greater intuition of the entire process of athleticism. For today’s podcast, Clifton discusses how he looks at the human performance industry in light of movement + strength + conditioning, and not just the latter two. He gives his model of the 3A’s (be able, be athletic, be adaptable, talks about the role of movement variability in training, speaks on rotational kettlebell training concepts, movement coaching, and much more. This episode puts the entirety of human performance coaching into perspective from an individual who has seen a massive range of training methods and philosophies. 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. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 3:01 – Clifton’s journey to dunk on his birthday each year at 6’1”, now being 41 years old 9:27 – How to solve problems, using intuition, rather than memorizing exercise sequences 11:25 – Some of the big pillars of training that Cliff has compiled, throughout all of his movement certifications 18:55 – Approaching the “movement” aspect of training, for a general population athlete, versus a sport athlete 25:52 – Thoughts on how to technically coach “form” in exercises that are not an athlete’s actual sport movement 33:33 – The role of rhythmic and reflexive movement in training 36:00 – Cliff’s “BA” Progression: Be Able, Be Athletic, Be Adaptable 46:42 – Thoughts on working with high level athletes who are already “athletic”, in the gym, versus more general population type individuals who are getting very little, if any sort of athletic movement stimulus in their daily routine 53:34 – How Clifton approaches variability in training for clients 57:57 – How to coach movement based on variability, and working with errors, instead of a “universal perfect form” 1:01:15 – How Clifton fills gaps in training and performance in utilization of the kettlebell, particularly rotational pieces that can be adaptable to more athletic qualities 1:12:51 – How Clifton would look to approach training athletes, as opposed to general population type individuals Clifton Harski Quotes “Once a week I practiced dunking on a 9’ foot,

Today's podcast features Jarod Burton. Jarod is a performance specialist, chiropractic student, and health coach. He got his coaching start working with Brady Volmering of DAC baseball and has spent recent years coaching, consulting, and running educational courses in the private sector. Jarod focuses on engaging all aspects of an athlete's being, providing the knowledge for the individual to thrive in their domain. In Jarod's first appearance on the podcast, he spoke on work capacity development and the limits of how far athletes can push themselves on a level of training volume, with many mental concepts as a vital governor. In considering training, it is constructive to look at the complete bio-psycho-social factors before going too far into judging what an athlete can and cannot do. As Jarod said on the last show, "It's so silly to put it in this tiny box and say, 'You can only run 10 sprints.' Then the athletes start believing the fact that if I run more than 10, I'm going to break down." On today's episode, Jarod goes into a topic that he touched on in the last episode: the role of perception in building game speed and athletic ability. The level of the bio-psycho-social and perceptive elements strongly influences speed, and game-like stimuli can dramatically affect an athlete's sprint capacity. We dig further into these concepts for today's show and talk about game-specificity in speed training, impacts of environment perception on movement, variability and randomness in training, the role of play and exploration relative to outputs in training, and more. 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. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 3:37 – The origins of Jarod’s views on the importance of perception and environment, in conjunction with speed and performance training. 10:20 – What big factors exist in how Jarod looks at how an athlete is considering and framing the training session. 22:20 – Thoughts on how specific we need to be with relating all perceptual information in training to one’s specific sport. 29:25 – Rotating the pieces of play, exploration, and output within the scope of training. 43:22 – Jarod’s take on modeling the principles of nature in sprint based or gym movements where an athlete may not know how far or long they are going in a set. 50:56 – The impact of randomness on the training environment. 1:02:46 – Thoughts on athletes who may struggle in a practice vs. a game environment and how to adapt training based on these factors. Jarod Burton Quotes “When someone was nasal breathing, the neurons inside of their brain would fire faster, and if they were mouth breathing, the neurons would fire slower” “One of the things I would always look for in weight room training was a cramp, and then they had to work through the cramp” “(With perception/action) Once you know what they are afraid of, that’s the scenario you need to create” “Every time she threw a softball, her arm hurt, but if we threw a football her arm didn’t hurt.  So we basically had her throwing with a football, and we had different games, and then we would go to a baseball, then we’d go to a softball,

Today’s podcast features Irving “Boo” Schexnayder. Boo is regarded internationally as one of the leading authorities in training design. As co-founder of SAC, he brings 42 years of experience in the coaching and consulting fields to the organization. He is most noted for his 18-year term on the LSU Track and Field staff and has coached 18 Olympians and 7 Olympic/World Championship medalists. Boo has also been very active in the consulting field, working in NFL player development and combine prep and consulting for individuals, high school programs, collegiate programs, professional sports teams, and several foreign NGBs in the areas of training design, jump improvement, speed training, rehabilitations, and specialized programs. He is a routine podcast guest and a listener favorite on topics of athletic development. Boo has greatly influenced my view of training and human performance. He is one of my favorite guests and is an incredible teacher who has a skill for taking complicated ideas and putting them in perspective for coaches to use in a straightforward manner. On today’s podcast, Boo and I talk about proprioception in light of complex training, problems with obsession with drills versus high-speed, whole athletic movement teaching, reflexive leg action in jumping and sprinting, pelvic and lumbar mechanics in running, Olympic lifting thoughts, and much more. 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. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 2:41 – Where contrast works its way onto the track, and the nature of a “complicated” training stimulus 9:59 – The nature of proprioception as a key training variable 18:58 – Boo’s take on the work of Giles Cometti and Jean Pierre Egger, and coaching creativity 23:35 – Boo’s take on drills versus doing the entire skill 36:31 – What Boo considers to be the basics, or fundamentals that is taught, versus things that are up to the athlete 41:56 – Favorite setups in speed work, such as plyometric contrast 45:29 – Thoughts on reflexive action of the swing leg coming down towards the ground, versus forcing it down 54:55 – Pelvic mechanics, and the “center” of where speed is produced in athletics 1:02:07 – Heavy wave-loading and potentiation with Olympic lifts specifically 1:04:07 – Boo’s take on Olympic weightlifting in light of track and field, as well as team sports Boo Schexnayder Quotes “A lot of these contrast methods, what they do is play proprioceptive games… and as a result of that you get a complicated training environment, and a certain sharpness, and adaptation comes as a result” “Variety in practice improves transfer to the test, yet variety in practice often decreases the level of practice performance, so what I’m saying is that mixing these things up is likely to make them struggle in the practice environment, but when you put them (out in competition) it all gels and they shine” “I don’t think complexes are good or applicable at all times of the year; because sometimes they are at such a high level from a proprioceptive and complexity standpoint that they are out of reach at certain times of the year.

Today’s podcast features a question and answer series with Joel Smith.  Questions for this podcast revolved heavily around the transfer of various strength protocols and systems to speed and athletic performance, as well as many elements on speed training, jumping and footwear/fascia concepts. 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. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 3:00 – How to get strength training to transfer better to speed and sprint outputs on the track. 6:30 – My take on the “Functional Patterns” training system. 9:15 – Sprint workouts for horizontal jumping events. 13:30 – Can the weight-room make you faster? Where can it not help, or go too far? 23:49 – How “quad dominant” athletes can become better through their foot and hips. 29:30 – How to look at “fascial” training, in light of the other systems of the body in movement. 35:55 – My take on reactive, drop-catch squat type motions. 43:10 – How to sprint in a gym with less space availability. 47:10 – Thoughts on the value of moving light weights fast, versus using heavier weights and sprints and plyometric training. 51:25 – The most valuable thing I’ve learned coaching U5 and U6 kids in soccer. 58:20 – The importance of maximal velocity training for distance running athletes. 1:02:40 – Do I see value of concentric loaded jumps in sprinting. 1:04:10 – The role of minimal shoes in basketball play. About Joel Smith Joel Smith is the founder of Just Fly Sports and is a sports performance/track coach in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Joel hosts the Just Fly Performance Podcast, has authored several books on athletic performance, and in 2021, released the integrative training course, “Elastic Essentials”.  He currently trains clients in the in-person and online space. Joel was formerly a strength coach for 8 years at UC Berkeley, working with the Swim teams and professional swimmers, as well as tennis, water polo, and track and field.  A track coach of 15 years, Joel coached for the Diablo Valley Track and Field Club for 7 years, and also has 6 years of experience coaching sprints, jumps, hurdles, pole vault and multi-events on the collegiate level, working at Wilmington College, and the University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse, along with his current work with master’s, high school and collegiate individuals. Joel has had the honor of working with a number of elite athletes, but also takes great joy in helping amateur athletes and individuals reach their training goals through an integrative training approach with a heavy emphasis on biomechanics, motor learning, mental preparation, and physiological adaptation.  His mission through Just Fly Sports is: “Empowering the Evolution of Sport and Human Movement”.  As a former NAIA All-American track athlete, Joel enjoys all aspects of human movement and performance, from rock climbing, to track events and weightlifting, to throwing the frisbee with his young children and playing in nature.

Today’s podcast features sports performance coaches Rich Burnett and John Garrish. Rich Burnett is the President and Director of Athletic Development for Triple F Elite Sports Training in Knoxville, TN. He is also the Co-Founder and CEO of Athletic Assessment Technology, known more commonly as Plyomat, and has over 10 years of experience working in high school, and NCAA DI strength and conditioning.  John Garrish is the Director of Athletic Development & Performance at North Broward Preparatory School in Coconut Creek, Florida, and the school’s Head Track and Field Coach.  John was voted the 2022 National High School Strength Coach of the Year by the NHSSCA and has been a two-time guest previously on this podcast, speaking on a variety of plyometric and speed training topics. The standing vertical jump, or “countermovement” test is a very popular method of assessment for athletes and has been for some time.  What the standing vertical leap test doesn’t tell you, is how fast an athlete gets off the ground, which is generally what matters in sport, more so than how high an athlete can reach.  Reactivity is also a general coordination ability where athletes can both anticipate the ground and coordinate the proper muscle activation sequences to rebound themselves back into the air, which is critical for a variety of athletic jumping, throwing, cutting, and overall movement tasks. On today’s show, Rich and John will get into how they train reactive ability in plyometrics, with respect to ground contact times, and the function of power that being able to get off the ground quickly provides.  We also discuss the differences between double and single-leg reactive strength tests and measurements, and how they correlate to athleticism, as well as the differences between simple plyometric movements based on contact time, versus more complex and coordinated movements, such as skips and gallops. 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. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 4:39 – What “Reactive Strength” is, and how Rich and John use it in the scope of their training programs. 18:32 – Comparing Double vs. Single-leg reactive strength measurements, and how single-leg RSI is a “gold standard” of explosive athletic ability. 35:00 – How Rich and John go about coaching or referencing ground contact times in plyometric exercises. 48:56 – Links between bilateral reactive strength scores, trap bar deadlift ability, and core strength. 58:07 – Thoughts on more “compressed” and simple, intense plyometrics, relative to more long, rhythmic, and coordinated plyometric-type movements. Rich Burnett and John Garrish Quotes “RSI provided a lot of value to the sprinters, triple jumpers, and athletes that had a high level of success at the state level, go figure, had the highest RSI values” Garrish “Just because a kid is good at the bilateral (RSI), doesn’t mean they are good at the single leg (RSI) and vice versa.  One of our best pogo kids on the 5 hop is not good at the single leg one” Burnett “I have for sure noticed with the single leg RSI hop (single leg forward, onto one leg on the mat, land on two feet),

Today’s podcast features strength and parkour coach, Chris Scott.  Chris has a degree in Sports Therapy and works at “Jump” gym in the UK.  Chris is an accomplished athlete in the parkour and acrobatics realm, who also holds a high level of bodyweight strength, doing single-arm pullups, and deadlifting in the realm of 3x bodyweight. Parkour, as a sport, is one that not only highlights adaptability to one’s environment but is also remarkably “plyometric” in nature.  The leaps that parkour athletes make resemble long and triple jumps in track and field but in a highly variable fashion.  The learning that comes out of variability, makes parkour a sport whose plyometric component can be highly transferrable, or a “donor sport” to other more traditional athletic endeavors. Chris’s skill as a parkour athlete has allowed him to train and perform extremely high depth drops and depth jumps, dropping from over 8 feet in the air, into a landing.  Chris has used the recent winter to explore an emphasis on the high-intensity drop training variable, to see how it transfers into other aspects of his reactivity, athleticism, and strength.  Training drops have played a large part in the preparation of other athletes, such as Adam Archuleta, owner of one of the NFL Combine performances of all time. On today’s podcast, Chris talks about the results of his high drop training and has it has impacted his athleticism.  We also go into single-leg drop training compared to double-leg drop training, and the related implications. We also discuss the impacts of drop training in general, seasonal training aspects, experiential aspects of parkour-type training, variability in jumping, “impulse” training, and more. 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. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 4:43 – Chris’s athletic background in parkour, and how it has influenced his current perspective on movement, training, and coaching 6:43 – Chris’s experimentation with very high-depth drops, and how it impacted his dynamic jumping ability and strength levels 17:43 – Thoughts on the possibility of a high volume of altitude drops segmenting the way an athlete performs a jump dynamically 26:42 – Discussing single-leg altitude hops and hurdle hops in athletic performance 34:42 – How Chris was able to maintain his strength levels while doing a depth drop-oriented training phase with less emphasis on weightlifting (with 1x day a week doing eccentric oriented flywheel squats) 38:42 – Seasonal training aspects, featuring parkour outdoors, and larger box drops indoors in the winter 42:11 – “Combo” movements, such as a series of jumps, coupled with a precision landing in parkour, and the subsequent training effectiveness 48:41 – The experiential, play-based nature of parkour, and fun plyometric-oriented training movements 52:41 – Infusing variability into common plyometric training methods 1:01:40 – When to use time frames, vs. more standard set/rep schemes in plyometrics 1:08:40 – Impulse straps, tendinopathy, and training the bone end of the tendon Chris Scott Quotes “It felt better to rebound out of (an 8-foot drop) than to stick”...

Today’s podcast features trainer, lifter of heavy and varied objects, and philosopher of movement, DJ Murakami.  DJ has over 15 years of experience in the coaching realm with a wide history of movement practice, including training in bodybuilding, Olympic weightlifting, strongman (rock lifting), movement culture (such as Ido Portal), rock climbing, and more.  DJ has created training courses such as Chi Torque, the Predator Protocol, and others, and mentors coaches and fitness enthusiasts through his Human Strong training organization. As life, in general, becomes more disconnected from our actual reality (think of relationships via social media, decreasing amount of exposure to nature/outdoors and local community), we can also consider how this has impacted the process of physical training. Where we used to move purposefully as part of the daily routine, our “innate” physicality has now been replaced by treadmills, indoor training spaces, lines/lectures/laps, and the reduction of training to either the simplest of drills or fancy movements that try to replicate sport, without actually being sport.  The more we can regularly connect physical movement to the meaning and motivation behind it, not only will we have a better present-moment experience actually moving, but we can also find ourselves becoming stronger and better conditioned in the end result. On today’s podcast, DJ speaks importance (and oftentimes, lack of) of consequence and danger in many of our modern tasks and exercise activities, as well as the difference between play and formal training.  He also goes in-depth on how we regulate our training from a mental, emotional, and social standpoint, and how this goes into fatigue, our music selection, “mental toughness”, and DJ’s own training methods. Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs, TeamBuildr, and the Plyomat For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. 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. 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. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 2:28 – Thoughts on creating a story around the process of training and the related motivation factors 10:27 – Advantages of training athletes with higher possible levels of complexity 18:37 – The nature of physicality in DJ’s training sessions, such as manually resisted corrective training, or “human resisted” strength work 35:22 – The lack of consequence and danger in tasks, and its impact on the nature of training and coaching 40:33 – The role of music selection and training, such as how many males go towards a more angry place in training, and thoughts on the sustainability and health of that practice in the long term 51:36 – The role of emotional regulation through fatiguing movements 59:14 – DJ’s view on mental toughness, in light of a typical team sport training situation 1:05:03 – Thoughts on kid’s games, on the level of engagement, flow, and learning 1:12:04 – DJ’s primary goals in his own training routine DJ Murakami Quotes “Team sports is basically a replacement for military warfare” “The splits is something.. there is a population that really wants that.  I think it is less, “ I want a certain capacity in my hips, I want a certain mobility in this joint; no it’s an “I want that skill”.” “If you could take a group of people and work on spinal...

Today’s podcast features sports performance coaches Sheldon Dunlap and Jeff Howser. Sheldon Dunlap is currently serving as a Strength & Conditioning Specialist with MARSOC (Marine Special Operations Command). Previously, he has worked at the collegiate level coaching a wide variety of sports at UC Davis and Duke University. Jeff Howser is a speed and performance coach with strong roots in track and field.  He spent 20 seasons as Duke’s speed and conditioning coach and has trained a variety of team sports and high-level track and field athletes.  Jeff was a world bronze medalist in the 110m high hurdles and a multi-time ACC champion. When you look at all of the possible training variations out there today in strength and athletic performance, you realize that a great majority of our modern training has been done in some way, shape, or form, many decades ago.  One method out there that is more recent in nature is partial range, oscillatory repetition methods with barbells for the sake of improving athletic speed and power. Sheldon appeared way back on podcast #131 speaking on his integration of oscillating reps, into the Triphasic system pioneered by Cal Dietz.  Sheldon originally learned the oscillating method from Jeff Howser (who also learned it from Cal’s influence). On the show today, Sheldon and Jeff will be speaking extensively about the nuances of oscillatory strength training for athletics.  We’ll be covering repetition style, percentage of 1RM to utilize, integration into the rest of the program, seasonal aspects, tendon concepts, and much more. Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs, TeamBuildr, and the Sprint Acceleration Essentials Online Course. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. 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. To learn more about the Sprint Acceleration Essentials course, head to justflysports.thinkific.com 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 3:00 – How Sheldon and Jeff first met, and where their training journeys have led them since our latest podcasts 7:30 – How Jeff got started with oscillating training repetitions and his origins with the methods 12:45 – Oscillatory training definitions, and then how Sheldon and Jeff use the method in athletic performance 26:00 – How Sheldon and Jeff bring in oscillatory training throughout the training year 38:30 – Coaching and execution styles of the repetitions in oscillatory strength training 42:30 – The quality of oscillating squat execution, on their athleticism and athletic ability 44:00 – Thoughts on individual factors in oscillatory rep training 47:00 – How oscillatory rep type work differs from simply putting a timer on a lift, as per how long it takes an individual to complete their repetitions 54:45 – How to integrate oscillating rep training into an entire training system, in light of other dynamic movements in a program, such as plyometrics 1:06:45 – Powerlifting 1:10:30 – The ratio of using oscillating training, versus more “health-based” lifting applications in a program Sheldon Dunlap and Jeff Howser Quotes “The main thing for me is controlling the speed and distance of the oscillation and controlling the speed of the oscillation.  When I did it the oscillation distances were 6-9 inches, depending on the weight and how deep you were.  it’s not a controlled descent, you can take a lighter weight and make it a heavier weight by giving people time under t...

Today’s podcast features performance coach and tendon expert, Jake Tuura.  Jake currently works as a coach and educator who specializes in hypertrophy for athletes, vertical jump development, and patellar tendinopathy rehab.  Jake was a collegiate S&C coach for 7 years, with further experience in the private sector at Velocity Training Center. Performance training is, at its’ core, simple, but within it contains many factors.  The tissues involved in training include not only muscle, but bones and connective tissues.  These tissues experience loading, not just in a linear manner, but also from a torsional perspective, based on pressure.  While muscle tissue is by far the most commonly discussed of the muscle-bone-tendon triad, in understanding more about the tendonous and bony structures, and how they adapt to load, we can have a more thorough understanding of performance and rehab concepts. For today’s episode, Jake Tuura covers many aspects of tendon health and performance.  These include the connective tissue impact of training on hard surfaces, different elements of tendon tissue (collagen fascicles vs. the interfascicular matrix), the impact of variability on tendon health and performance, strength training vs plyometrics in tendon development, long-term developmental concepts of connective tissue in training, and much more. Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs, TeamBuildr, and Exogen wearable resistance gear. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. 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. 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 2:09 – Hard vs. soft surface training, horse racing, and bone adaptations for performance 17:24 – Structural tendon rehab concepts, regarding isometric versus non-specific loading 22:28 – The difference between heavy strength, and high rep plyometric work on tendon health and rehabilitation 24:33 – Key differences between collagen fascicles in the tendon, and the IFM, or interfascicular matrix, and what this means for training and rehab 39:42 – How variability factors into training impacts on the tendon, collagen, and the interfascicular matrix 53:20 – The multi-vector nature of tendon training given plyometric or strength movements 1:01:54 – Training based on the long-term adaptations of the connective tissue, in light of both strength and elasticity Jake Tuura's Quotes “That’s where the issues happen, where the tendon inserts on the bone; it makes me wonder about training on hard surfaces and hard impacts, and adapting that (bone insertion) end of the tendon” “The tendon hole was completely filled in 5 months later, and that horse didn’t do isometrics… the animal situations where the tendons fill in without the weight room stuff, that’s fascinating” “You do need movement to load the tendon, but do you have to do the isometrics and heavy strength? I am still going to do them” “When a bone breaks, it’ll heal normally, but if you injure a tendon, it’ll scar” “The tendon is stupid, it doesn’t do anything on its own; if you want to get activation, you have to activate your muscle as hard as possible, or get activation through the bone” “When you are doing lifting, the collagen is crimped and then it goes straight, and you are making that collagen stronger” “You have the collagen within the fascicles of the tendon, and then outside of those fascicles, you have the infra-fascicular matrix,

Today’s podcast features coach and educator, Jamie Smith.  Jamie is the owner of Melbourne Strength Culture, a strength and performance-based gym in Australia.  Jamie worked at high-level S+C in Australia and the US prior to starting his coaching business with Strength Culture.  Now he is heavily involved in coach development and education for strength coaches. Jamie has a truly expansive viewpoint on how we consider training in light of more global concepts.  In performance training, we must look at human beings on a complete (holistic) level.  To do that, it’s helpful to look at prominent and long-established fields of human collaboration and research, medicine to be exact.  In medicine, the “biopsychosocial” model was conceptualized in 1977 and has been prominent, particularly in pain science. On today’s podcast, Jamie talks about both the biopsychosocial and top-down/bottom-up models and how to integrate them into a training model.  Without considering the importance of mindset and culture, as well as “bottom-up” (using intuition in the training process) coaching, athletes are not going to get the possible level of result or enjoyment of the journey.  As Jamie says on the show, building awareness in the athlete or client is one of the most important things you can do, and by defining the overarching structures of the BPS and top-down vs. bottom-up training, we can better understand how our program is actually landing with those we train. Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs and Exogen wearable resistance gear. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. 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. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 4:04 – Discussing the “beer mile” and “milk mile” competitions as track and field spin-offs 7:37 – The BPS, or “Bio Psycho Social” Model, and how it applies to training 13:28 – BPS-based ideas as to why two athletes can be on the same exact training program and get a completely different training outcome 17:42 – The philosophical concept of determinism, in light of the BPS model 23:28 – “Top-Down” vs. “Bottom-Up” methods in looking at training 39:52 – Looking at “Top-Down” vs. “Bottom-Up” concepts in training, relative to global concepts, such as investing 45:28 – Practical steps to integrating balance in Top-Down and Bottom-Up elements of a program 48:27 – Client autonomy in light of training constraints, BPS model, and buy-in 51:19 – A bottom-up approach to assigning training de-loads 1:02:15 – Skillfully assigning load ranges based on BPS and bottom-up concepts in training, and helping athletes feel “wins” in a program Jamie Smith Quotes “I think there are a lot of S&C coaches who have never really trained for events” “The biology (in the BPS model) is the physical nature of the human” “The psychological is your software, your thoughts, feelings, expectations… and ultimately those psychological things shape the lens that we see the world through” “Social is the environment in which we place the human” “Our thoughts, feelings, expectations, shape the way we enter processes; I truly believe the BPS model is the most encompassing model to view how we do things or look at outcomes in life” “When you understand the BPS model, you can’t remove the mental from the physical, or the culture; when you say something, how this is going to be perceived by an individual is influenced by everything they’ve done in their whole life” “A lot of people, became physically attached as a representation of what (rolling and smashing) would allow them to become; when a coach would come along and bash that idea, they are challenging a belief system”

Today’s podcast features human performance coach, Brady Volmering. Brady is the owner of DAC Performance and Health. His focus is on increasing the capacity of the human being.  Brady continually digs into what “training the human being” actually means and how that relates to improvements that go beyond the general, into specific sports performance and even one’s daily life.  He walks the talk on a high level through his own personal workouts and regularly discusses his training philosophy on his Instagram page.  Brady was a guest on episode 291 of the podcast talking about “human” level physical preparation, and high-volume training concepts. On the podcast today, Brady talks about his single leg depth drop practice, the recent changes he made in his programming to physically transform himself across the past year, and then how he has taken those programming concepts into his training for athletic populations.  As an already well-trained athlete, Brady’s progress is incredible to see, and the methods he used are simple in nature, and also relatively non-traditional in terms of the typical “rules” we put on training.  We also touch on oscillatory reps, high-frequency training, mind-body awareness, “wins and losses” in training, and more, in this episode. Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs and Exogen wearable resistance gear, and the Sprint Acceleration Essentials Online Course. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. 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. To learn more about the Sprint Acceleration Essentials course, head to justflysports.thinkific.com View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 3:45 – What led Brady to perform a 6-foot box drop jump 11:15 – How Brady scales drops and difficulty for the individuals that he works with 16:15 – Comparing high drops, to more traditional “serial” plyometrics, such as low hurdle hops 27:45 – Processing “wins and losses” throughout the training session and season 32:45 – The mind-body connection that exists between physical exercise, and sport, particularly within the scope of being presented with a failure 43:45 – The key pieces that have led to Brady’s physical transformation in the past year, one of which was based on training advice from Jay Schroeder 1:02:45 – Keys to high frequency, or daily, integration of a potent training means as opposed to using a training stimulus in a typical 2-3x a week frequency 1:10:45 – How Brady’s training regime filtered into his training concepts for athletes 1:20:45 – Oscillatory training reps and impulse rep concepts for the upper body Brady Volmering Quotes “Really with anything we are doing, I want to set up in a game format, where an athlete has a chance to succeed, an athlete has a chance to fail because that is going to bring that engagement up” “In a (single leg) depth drop, if you don’t learn to direct that intent, you are going to fail… you can learn to direct that intent into other places as well” “Everything after (a 6-foot single leg drop) feels much easier, much less stressful” “I ask, what does it mean when your body speaks to you? When you have pain, what does that mean? When you have tightness or restriction, what does that mean?” “I know what they are feeling right now, what would I do; when I am programming I want to gain enough information about what they are feeling, what they are experiencing… what would I do?” “That’s why I like a lot of the high rep, high volume stuff we do, where if you decide to stop, through that you understand how your system is processing that stimulus, what thoughts are coming in” “When you are training and the only thing that is stopping you is yourself,

Today’s podcast features Jason Feairheller (fare-heller).  Jason is the Co-Owner and strength coach at Function and Strength in Bridgeport, Pennsylvania, and has been training athletes since 2007.   He is the host of the Speed and Power podcast and has lectured on strength and conditioning as an adjunct professor at Immaculata University.  Jason has a passion for speed and athletic movement training and is a sought-after speaker on the topic of multi-directional athleticism.  He has developed the course “Improving Game Speed Through Multi-Dimensional Plyometrics”. Humans are complex and so is in-game movement.  One topic that I’ve considered ever since the start of this podcast was the idea of actually coaching change of direction and sport-speed techniques, versus decision-making being the priority, and then letting game-play dictate how athletes choose to technically move in space. Jason’s passion has been all forms of speed and movement in athletes, and on this podcast, he goes into the fundamental principles of change of direction versus agility (perception) training, and how each method works into his athletic performance programming.  Jason will also get into his use of plyometrics, and methods that quantitatively measure change of direction outputs, his take on deceleration training mistakes and misconceptions, agility games, and much more. Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs and Exogen wearable resistance gear. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. 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. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 3:06 – What brought Jason into the game speed space as a primary focus of his training 8:49 –  Jason’s thoughts on the place of change of direction training, compared to agility/perception work 16:36 – How the interplay between planned/rehearsed change of direction, and live agility occurs in a training session 31:45 – How Jason looks to quantitatively measure improvements in change of direction ability 41:11 – Considering “deceleration” training in light of having athletes fully stop, vs. redirecting speed 49:08 – Perception/Reaction and game-oriented work Jason uses for his athletes 51:51 – What Jason’s session looks like in terms of warmup, speed/COD training, games, and strength breakdown 53:21 – Jason’s favorite simple COD games he uses in his training 57:12 – Plyometric training concepts, particularly on the level of small hops, leading into larger ones Jason Feairheller Quotes “What makes an athlete really good at (speed in training), it was the ability to link one movement into another” “When I do change of direction training, every single speed drill I do with someone is an assessment” “Ultimately, people need to redirect force, and then get the other foot down quickly” “For the most part, I don’t do a drill for more than 2 to 3 reps without changing it in some capacity” “If I have my feet close together; and I put my feet out to the side, and back, and do a straddle jump like that; what I’m looking at is, how far can an athlete actually get their feet to the isde, and what is that shin angle, where their head doesn’t go up or down; and that distance is close to what they would actually have on the field” “A 5-10-15 tells me how well someone can decelerate when speed is higher” “I watch a lot of video from all different sports, and try to relate change of direction work to some sport scenario in my head” “We have these rubber mats that are 2-3 feet wide, and we have max reps (pogo jumps) over the rubber (you can’t touch the rubber) for 8 seconds; a lot of jumps people track are vertical in nature; but a lot of what happens on the field is horizontal” ...

Today’s podcast features Bill Hartman.  Bill is a physical therapist, and in-demand educator in his approach to restoring a pain-free lifestyle, and understanding the governing principles of movement.  He has been a mentor to, or has inspired the knowledge of many previous guests on this podcast, particularly in regards to movement biomechanics, infra-sternal archetypes, and the compression-expansion model.  Bill owns IFAST Physical Therapy in Indianapolis, Indiana and Co-owns Indianapolis Fitness and Sports Training with Mike Robertson, where he works with clients ranging from very young athletes to professionals. It is very interesting to look at how we approach the nature of “muscle weakness” and compensations in training.  For example, it is common to look at all compensatory action in the body as a “bad thing”, rather than looking at how the body actually uses compensatory action to produce force, or adapt to a particular sport skill, in addition to when that compensation might actually be a problem.  The human performance field has also looked at muscle weakness in isolation, rather than digging deeper into the underlying structural alignment of the body contributes heavily to what we are seeing out of muscle strength and function. In today’s podcast, Bill goes into the adaptive nature of the body and what it really means when we are seeing compensatory actions in movement.  Within this, Bill also gets into the nature of reciprocal, or more “locking” movement of joints, depending on the task an individual needs to accomplish.  Bill spends a lot of time talking about strength training, how it can be a positive, but also the dynamics of the interference effect that can lead to undesirable adaptations for athletes over time.  Bill also covers external rotation and pigeon-toed athletes, and the nature of power training for wide and narrow ISA archetypes, and much more. Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs, Exogen wearable resistance gear, and the Just Fly Sports Online Courses. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. 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. To learn more about the Sprint Acceleration Essentials or Elastic Essentials courses, head to justflysports.thinkific.com View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:00 – Bill’s journey from working purely in the traditional therapy and training model, into one that embraces more of the complexity of nature, and universal principles of movement 15:28 – The adaptive process of the body, and how this leads into different alignments and representations 18:14 – The compensatory strategies of the body as an adaptive process 29:02 – Examples of when strength gains may end up creating an interference effect on the body 33:32 – How children are so flexible, and the role of shape change in human motion 36:50 – The role of mobility and “stiffness” in terms of speed and running efficiency 43:37 – General thoughts on stiffness and compliance for a typical field sport athlete 49:10 – Connective tissue and stiffness adaptations to heavy strength training, and the point where heavy strength can be a negative for explosive sport activities 1:04:45 – Relative motion and force production biomechanics in squatting, and knee mechanics as it relates to joint pain and injury risk 1:12:42 – The externally rotated, “bowlegged” representation of the legs, on the level of athleticism 1:23:16 – Power training with the needs of a Wide ISA type in mind Bill Hartman Quotes “When you start to look at the human as a complex adaptive organism, your perspective starts to change” “If you are made of water (fluid dynamics) is going to be one of the foundational principles”

Today’s podcast features USA Football senior manager of education and training, Andy Ryland.  Andy has been with USA Football since 2010, has consulted with programs at every level of competition, and is widely recognized as a foremost expert on developing the fundamentals necessary for a successful shoulder tackle, as well as the developmental, and skill building process for athletes. He previously appeared on episode 170 speaking on a “humans first”, “athletes second”, “specialists third” approach to athlete development. In the process of developing athletes, it is easy to compartmentalize training components, ultimately to a fault in the overall process.  If we are working in a sport or skill building capacity with athletes, we should have a basic understanding of their physical capacities and capabilities, as well as how training adaptation and specificity work.  If we are working on strength and more base level movement components with athletes, we should have a handle on their needed skills and tactics on the field.  Ultimately, the more situations we can coach in, the more ages, and sports we work with, the better our overall intuition gets on the process of teaching skills, and guiding athletes to their highest potential. Andy Ryland has a deep understanding the developmental process that players need to succeed in their sport.  On today’s episode, Andy digs into key points on the art of athletic skill building.  A primary part of this is how he runs the “whole-part-whole” system, which can be adapted to more global, or strength based skills.  Andy discussing how to integrate “prescriptive extra’s”, or “work-on’s”, as well as micro skill development in sport and S&C.  He also covers key aspects of improving agility, teaching concepts in athletics, creativity in coaching, Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs and Exogen wearable resistance gear. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. 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. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 3:54 – The original “failed” games in American Gladiators, and the evolution of “powerball” into what it eventually became 8:57 – Andy’s take on practice plans, creativity, intuition and thoughts on changing the practice plan 17:53 – Thoughts on mixing in various micro-doses of skill and movement into gym-based training 28:06 – Alternating between working the “outer game” of more external strategizing, or outputs, and the “inner game” of the subtle nuance of skill performance, in training 34:53 – The integration of roughhousing into youth football 43:29 – How to use a game-based iterations of a drill, to better prepare for the actual skill execution 48:09 – The need for constant 1 on 1s, tracking and evasion-based work in sport, and how it’s not typically trained enough in sport 52:58 – The role of the “instant activity”, or “welcome game” in a sport practice or training situation 58:10 – The maximal “line length” Andy sees being viable in sport/skill practice Andy Ryland Quotes “I’m a huge whole-part-whole guy.  I’ll be the first to tell you, the part aspect is never scripted” “If our arms are terrible, if our legs are terrible, if our strike accuracy is terrible, that’s going to be our “part” (in whole-part-whole)” “If I’m doing a good job, my coaching intervention “part” aspect is not going to be some super stereotyped, copy and paste drill that’s been done since the dawn of time.  It’s who are my athletes, what are they struggling, what is the situation where they struggle, and how can I replicate that before going back into the whole thing” “My mentor Richie Grays, worked in professional international rugby for ages,

Today’s podcast features track and S&C coach, Matt McInnes-Watson.  Matt is the owner of Plus Plyos, an online coaching platform that provides plyometric training programs, courses, and systems for coaches and athletes. His initial coaching experience was as a track coach for jumpers and multi-eventers, which led him to work as the lead S&C coach for Itchen College Basketball in the UK.  Matt teaches and delivers seminars around Europe and the US, while working with athletes from football to figure skating, using his expertise in jumping and plyometrics to enhance performance. Plyometrics, in the general sense, are as old as time.  How we have classified them and integrated them into training for sport started with track and field, and now is branching out more and more into team sport.  Within both track and team sport, we have aspects of specificity, rhythms, coordination and integration that we can consider to really hone in our plyometric efforts on the ultimate progress of the athlete. For today’s podcast, Matt covers his background as a soccer player, and the role of swing leg dynamics in kicking, and in its link to jumping.  We talk about various plyometric combinations from the perspective of direction, height and distance, and how this factors into common exercises like bounding and hurdle hops.  Extensive plyometrics in team sports, especially in season, is a debated topic we cover, and we finish with Matt talking about the origin and implementation of the “deep tier”, or full range plyometric exercises. Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs and Exogen wearable resistance gear. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. 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. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 2:36 – Matt’s background in soccer, and his introduction to jumping and track through basketball 11:42 – Single leg jumping in light of locomotion and the gait cycle 14:25 – The usage of the swing leg in a soccer kick, and how that fits with a single leg takeoff, or a bound 21:38 – How Matt looks at plyometrics for the sake of team sport development as opposed to track and field 31:52 – Matt’s take on high hurdle hops, and bounce-combos, in bilateral plyometric execution 42:00 – Thoughts on how much team sport athletes need to do extensive, high-contact volume, plyometrics, in light of their team sport demands 52:54 – Matt’s development and integration of “deep tier” plyometrics for athletes Matt McInnes-Watson Quotes “A big thing for me was speed on the ground in my takeoff, I went from .22s, to .17s when I jumped my best” “In terms of my abilities to pick up skills with my feet (a background of soccer was a huge help)” “It saddens me when you get a basketball player who cannot jump off of one leg” “One of my favorite combos is 2 forward, and 1 back, I think the real pinnacle of athletic movements is 2 hops forward 1 hop back, or 2 hops forward, 1 hop upward” “Especially for basketball players, lighter extensive work is hugely important for ankle rolls, if they have a history of ankle rolls” “I play with those (multi-lateral) rhythms with team sport guys, not so much with track guys” “You can’t hide in movements that are (inherently reflexive)” “(Deep tier) paired with the rudimentary stuff seems to be a recipe that is working really really well for us” “The deep tier is such great fun; there is a therapeutic side to achieving that full range of motion’ “There’s a safety net of providing a regular stimulus (with deep tier, stretch range plyos)” “So I play with a variation of deep tier, called a double dip, so when you drop down, you drop again quickly, and you pop out of it,

Today’s podcast features guest Mark Hoover.  Mark works for SimpliFaster in a coaching and technical consulting capacity and is the Director of Athletic Performance at Metrolina Christian Academy in Indian Trail, North Carolina. Coach Hoover started his career coaching football at both the high school and NCAA levels. After spending nearly 20 years in the dual role of sport coach/strength coach (including 11 years as a head football coach), he made the transition to full-time strength and conditioning in 2015. Mark is a growth minded coach who is continually evolving his training process.  Mark is continually evaluating his program based bettering one’s abilities on the field of play.  The qualities it takes to be a weight room warrior are not the same as the fundamental speed and decision-making elements happening in the game itself. As an individual who was better in the weight room than he was in sport, Mark has dedicated his own process in a different direction for those athletes he works with, doing what he can to ensure that they are adept movers, in addition to being strong and robust. On today’s podcast, Mark talks about his approach to building game speed, rehearsed vs. problem solving agility movements, the role of basketball in overall movement development, and we finish with a brief chat on the role of the 1x20 strength system in Mark’s program.  This show delved into some really important concepts of athlete development, and although it primarily discusses work done with high school athletes, the concepts are helpful for those on all levels of performance. Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs and Sprint Acceleration Essentials. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. 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. To learn more about the Sprint Acceleration Essentials course, head to justflysports.thinkific.com View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 2:13 – Mark’s original athletic journey, and how it has shaped the coach he is today 10:34 – What Mark would change in his own athletic journey to help himself become a better overall athlete 17:28 – Mark’s evolution in game-speed development, and how he has incorporated this into his training programs 22:44 – Training “fundamental” game speed, and agility movements, versus letting athletes purely self-organize in reactive game speed situations 37:07 – How to know when “fundamental” game speed training is linking into organic game-speed ability 41:32 – What sports the “planned” agility type work is most applicable towards, such as football on offense 53:25 – Sports that may need game-speed training more than others, and the “roll 90 test” that helps Mark find what athlete’s reactive speed deficits are 1:00:00 – Mark’s take on the edges of the feet, as it pertains to agility and game speed movement 1:03:59 – Mark’s usage of the 1x20 strength training system, and how he has used it and progressed it in his coaching Mark Hoover Quotes “As it turns out, the only time I was a star on that football field was when I was in that weight room” “If I could go back, I would convince my younger self to play every sport possible” “When people talk about mental toughness, it’s very task specific” “We don’t do a whole lot of A-skips, or things, we do a lot of where we partner up, and one person stands an arm’s length behind another one, and one person has to hop hop squat, and it has to be a variable squat, on one leg, on two legs” “This is probably blasphemy, but I would say (game speed agility/movement) is more important to master than squat, bench, deadlift” “We still, even as we progress the drills, build in those basic, “feel” cues,

Today’s podcast features track and speed coach, Chris Korfist.  Chris has been a high school coach in track and football for 3 decades with close to 100 All-State athletes.  He is currently the sprints coach at Homewood Flossmoor high school in Chicago, owns the "Slow Guy Speed School”, and has consulted with professional sports teams all over the world, including the NFL, MLB, NBA, and Rugby League.  Chris has been a favorite podcast guest on this show and is constantly evolving and innovating his methods. Sprinting is a simple, yet complex topic, and one that requires a continual analysis of mechanics, exercises and training models.  There are many ways to train athletes, and with this in mind, it’s important to understand the “first principles” of any training system.  With many first principles taken from the brilliance of the “DB Hammer” training ideals, Chris has steadily evolved his training system, year over year, to the place where it is today. This past season, Homewood Flossmoor won the Illinois state track championship, and won the 4x100m and 4x200m dashes on their way to the title.  Chris’s adjustments to his speed training models worked well, with some athletes chopping off a second or more off of their 200m times from the previous year. On the podcast today, Chris starts by talking about his mental training approach, and some unique mental training elements of this past year’s team.  He then gets into the main changes he utilized this past training year, including reducing the speed endurance component of the work, and replacing it with some potent “AN2” bracket (30-40 second) specialized training for the sprints.  Chris also goes into how he would specialize the exercises for sprinters of different archetypes (stompers vs. slicers) and much more. Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs and Exogen wearable resistance gear. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. 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. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 2:40 – How the state track meet went for Chris’s team this year, including a 41.03s 4x100m time and a state championship 7:08 – Updates on mental strategies for racing, and building mental highlight tapes for athletes prior to meets 20:49 – Some main changes that Chris made this year in his programming that proved successful in the team’s state championship performance 30:12 – Using the 1080 sprint for slow-speed iso-kinetic hamstring work to improve the injury resilience factor of the muscle group 33:53 – The specificity of the “AN2” (30-40 second) bracket of work for the special exercises that Chris’s athletes were performing 41:15 – “Stompers” vs. “Slicers” and how to train the weakness of each athlete 47:10 – Water bag training and the role of the trunk/core and arms in sprinting 49:33 – Hip flexor training and strength in speed development, and usage of the hip swing exercise 54:19 – How to use primetimes and flexed leg bounds in speed development 1:01:04 – Training frequency throughout the year, and how this was a lower frequency year for Chris’s athletes 1:06:49 – Final thoughts on working strengths vs. weaknesses, and when to stop trying to bring up weaknesses in a training year Chris Korfist Quotes “(The highlight/motivational videos for the kids) It’s just this constant feedback that you are all of that” “This year, instead of goals, I had them focus on telling their story” “Our self-talk this year became a story: This is where I came from, this is what I did, this is where I’m going; Tying in history and tying in stories to your self talk is really powerful, because as humans we all want a story”

Today’s podcast features strength coach Kevin Hollabaugh. Kevin is a strength coach working at the New York Yankees Player Development Program, and is also the owner of Pro Force Sports Performance in Cincinnati, Ohio.  He has been working in strength and conditioning since 2009. He previously served as the director of baseball player development, and also currently an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati. Pro Force SP happens to be only a few miles from my home in Cincinnati, and I’ve enjoyed spending time there to play ultimate frisbee games with pro baseball players, as well as observing the data-points and training process on the 1080 Sprint with Kevin and his staff. It's important to check your training process with some level of numbers and quantitative feedback to go with the qualitative process of coaching.  Amongst other training tools, Kevin has two unique machines that allow him to pin data to athletic movements, on the level of the Proteus motion and 1080 Sprint.  This show isn’t so much about those technologies and data points specifically as it is how Kevin has used the data to refine his speed and rotational training methods over time, how he now looks at training given those data-sets, and how it has evolved his programming. In this episode, we’ll also talk about the Ultimate frisbee game variation that ProForce athletes love so much (as well as myself), balancing force vs. elasticity in swinging/throwing and sprinting, training weaknesses vs. strengths, and more. Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs and Exogen wearable resistance gear. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. 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. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 3:12 – The makings of the “Ultimate Frisbee Soccer” game that the ProForce baseball athletes (as well as myself) enjoyed playing immensely 15:26 – How Kevin started ProForce and his background as a coach 19:41 – The data-based backing of Kevin’s training and exercise selection process 27:09 – How the Proteus rotational training machine is helping Kevin to refine his core training programming 33:19 – The balance of training an athlete based on their strengths and weak-points, as per rotational power and linear speed in particular 41:14 – How to apply medicine ball training and rotational power to an athlete who relies heavily on the stretch shortening cycle, versus “concentric” muscular contribution 46:09 – How Kevin’s approach to speed training has been impacted by working with the 1080 Sprint machine and the associated data 56:53 – Kevin’s next steps in his coaching future Kevin Hollabaugh Quotes “It’s funny the evolution a simple game has taken, and how it can define the training in an off-season, but that’s kind of what it’s morphed into” “(In frisbee) you get those (high pressure) opportunities that you don’t necessarily get in sport that are more low key” “We’re all taught, here’s the way to teach speed, here’s the way to train core, and then you get on these pieces of technology (and data-based feedback) and you realize, “that didn’t translate”” “If you are struggling with the concentric strength and are good at strength shortening, we are using a heavier load (with medicine balls), with the proteus we are using a heavier load” “One way (to build concentric-start rotational power when you are mostly elastic) would be starting with static starts on heavier loads (with medicine balls, etc.)… by keeping it at a light weight you are just going to be able to whip it which you are naturally good at” “When there are increases in their hitting load, their pitching load, we back off on the medicine ball rotations and...

Today’s podcast features David Weck and Chris Chamberlin of WeckMethod. David Weck is biomechanist, and the creator of a number of inventions that work key characteristics of human locomotion and movement, including the BOSU Balance Trainer.  David started the WeckMethod as a project to inspire and educate individuals on the importance of optimizing's human balance through locomotion as he works to make “Every Step Stronger” for everyone. Chris Chamberlin is the Head Coach and Director of Education for the WeckMethod. Chris has over 15 years of coaching experience and a lifetime of personal practice in movement efficiency that has earned him recognition as a leader in innovative thought in the fitness industry.  Chris has both a creative approach to multi-planar training, as well as impressive “raw” strength levels in the traditional lifts. If you browse the internet, you will easily see a lot of “functional” training exercises, designed to catch eyeballs, that build neither strength, nor functional ability.  The key in the effectiveness of any movement beyond a basic strength exercise is in its patterning, and closeness to the key characteristics of human locomotion, swinging and throwing.  When you find movements that allow your body to truly feel more of what it uses in these core human patterns, you can then “port” that movement into the scope of your core strength and speed training. At the end of the day, whether you like the BOSU Ball or not, David’s keen observations of the core components of human movement have played a substantial role for me in how I observe the twisting, side bending and general locomotive mechanisms of the human being.  Chris Chamberlin has taken David’s observation and creativity, and put his lens of practicality onto the total process. On the show today, David and Chris talk about how the WeckMethod helped Chris’s big-lifts to get even better, tool usage as an essential aspect of human movement, primal movement patterning in respect to training volume, bending and twisting integration into more traditional strength methods, concepts on the foot, and much more. Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs. For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly. To learn more about the Sprint Acceleration Essentials course, head to justflysports.thinkific.com View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 2:40 – The origin story of David and Chris connecting and training, and how David’s methods impacted Chris’s movement and strength 6:18 – The uniquely human element of using tools, from a training perspective 18:22 – How Chris’s background as a carpenter (as well as his family background) has impacted the say he sees human movement in light of physical work tasks 27:43 – The role of using variability in training to achieve a greater impact to the movement tissues of the body 34:41 – How the Weck Method tools and ideas can build into, not only one’s rotational movement flow and ability, but also one’s physical strength 54:22 – Thoughts on the inside edge of the foot and the outside of the foot as it pertains to athletic performance 1:21:33 – Digging into the idea of “every step as a rep” regarding the body in balance 1:36:58 – How to integrate coiling work, into linear work, through the scope of a session, and Chris’s “4:1” ratio David Weck and Chris Chamberlin Quotes “I had instantly set a 40-45lb PR in my overhead bent press, just from learning a drill from (David) in a meeting that was meant for running faster” “To the extent possible, we want the tool to be the teacher, we want to do less with words, and what we want to do is get someone to feel it so they understand it implicitly, rather than us trying to explain something, taking a lot of time” “We distilled (our method) down to sticks, stones and ropes”

Today’s podcast features strength and performance coach, Ethan Reeve. Ethan is the director of strength and performance for MondoSport USA.  He is the former president of the CSCCa, and has 44 years of experience coaching in college and high school ranks.  In addition to decades in NCAA athletic performance, Reeve was a SEC champion wrestler, and was the head coach of the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga wrestling program from 1985 to 1990, achieving 5 Southern Conference titles in 6 years. In the process of strength and conditioning/physical preparation; we can never get too far from the process of physical education and routinely observing the core qualities of athleticism An interesting element in sport performance, and sport coaching in the past decades is that, compared to the pre-2000’s era, there are less coaches now who have physical education backgrounds.  Perhaps, this is because, as the industry moves forward, physical preparation/athletic performance has swung more towards the quantitative aspects, than the “art” form of the process.  Maybe it’s that most strength and conditioning jobs are working with high school or college athletes who are “further” along in their athletic development.  Maybe it’s how the role and funding for physical education has been devalued over time.  Despite all of this, as I get older, the more and more I realize just how much physical education has to offer, not only young athletes, but also the thought process in working with more established ones, and I believe physical education, and multi-sport coaching principles (such as wrestling in the scope of today’s show) should be far more common-place in athletic development conversations. On today’s podcast, Ethan talks about his blend of the principles found in physical education and wrestling, and how these funnel into a sports performance training session.  He speaks on how he views physical training through the eyes of a wrestling coach (of which he was a very successful one) and the learning environment he looks to set up in his training sessions.  We discuss “belly up” speed training, key ground-based training movements, and other important principles of building a total athletic development program. Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs and Exogen wearable resistance gear. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. 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. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 2:57 – Ethan’s journey physical education and wrestling training, and how that blended into his strength and conditioning practices 6:10 – The importance and correlation of integrating basic physical education movements, into sport performance training 12:41 – “Belly Up” movements transitioned into sprinting, for athletic development 19:31 – Examples of blending physical education principles into track and field and sport performance training settings 23:16 – Ethan’s take on how to be a better student of learning and teaching in one’s sport coaching process 35:10 – The importance of the total environment in the learning process for athletes 41:00 – How to use the 80/20 or 90/10 principle to help determine one’s core principles and focus in practice 46:19 – The intersection of what wrestling and track and field has to offer in terms of general physical preparation 54:42 – How Ethan views the role of the weight room from middle school, up until college in training 59:12 – Calisthenic, gymnastics, and rolls that Ethan feels great athletes can do well in the movement section of training 1:03:13 – Gymnastic, tumbling type work, and its impact on athlete mobility Ethan Reeve Quotes “(In physical education) We were taught dance,

Today’s podcast features coach, writer and educator, Dan John.  Dan is a best-selling author in the field of strength training and fitness, with his most recent work being the “Easy Strength Omni-Book”.  He is known for his ability to transfer complex material into actionable wisdom, has been a many-time guest on the show, and is one of my single greatest influences in the way that I see the process of coaching and training.  As I grow older, coach more populations, and see the field evolve, I view and value Dan’s process and wisdom in new and even more meaningful ways. One of those tenants of Dan that means more in each coming year is that, at its core, our training and movements are simple… it’s just the years and years of consistent, dedicated immersion in training to fully bring out that simplicity, that “trip up” many people.  So often, we get caught up in the hacks, the shortcuts, and the “3 tips for X” within the social-media fist-fight for eyeballs. On today’s episode, Dan talks about a few important concepts that any coach or athlete needs to come back to over and over again in their process, including the power of “compression”, the power of less, and the power of withholding.  Dan speaks on this as it relates to cold track seasons (right before the 80 degree conference meet), and how it relates to the spark of coaching intuition that can happen in an environment deprived from one’s typical tools, and even how it can apply to our movement biomechanics. Dan also gets into the nuts and bolts of “snapacity” (snap + capacity) that defines the core of athletic movement (elasticity and the work capacity to sustain it), and the related key muscle actions he calls “The 3 P’s”.   Throughout the talk, Dan highlights the simple and core principles that drive training progress over time, as well tying in concepts on philosophy and personal growth that transcend training itself. Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs, and LILA Exogen Wearable Resistance Training Gear. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. 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. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 2:01 – An update on how Dan’s track season has been, speaking on the upsides of the “compressed” format of his season based on weather 7:25 – Why “compressing and expanding” is such a critical element of one’s athletic performance, as well as life itself 12:13 – The importance of effort-level in human movement, and not “over-striking” a hammer against a nail 18:11 – The “3P’s” of muscle action; on the level of “Point, Poke, and Snap” as applied to explosive sport movement 29:41 – The importance of myth, story and tragedy in sport, life, and re-inventing ourselves” 35:01 – How sport movement, such as the discus or hammer, is like a symphony in nature, and how “over-trying” and imbalance of fluid effort reduces ones results 46:38 – The application and training of the critical athletic trait Dan calls “Snapacity” 1:00:09 – The simplicity, yet patience that the sport of track and field requires in athlete development Dan John Quotes “We often say, “what you compress, expands”; that is probably one of the greatest truisms of my coaching career.  If I go into your gym and eliminate 9/10 of the equipment, then I find out how good of a strength coach you are” “Sometimes taking things away is what makes you great” “If you hit (the hammer too hard into the nail), it’s going to be worse….you’ve explained track and field, football, and every sport I’ve ever done in my life” “The 3 P’s (of muscle action), point, poke, and snap” “I teach discus throwing, javelin throwing that “you are a bag of rubber bands” and what we want to do for el...

Today’s podcast features Mark McLaughlin.  Mark is the founder of Performance Training Center, and currently works as a physical preparation/strength coach in the Lake Oswego school district. Mark has had a diverse sporting history as a youth, and has been active in the field of physical preparation since 1997. Mark has trained over 700 athletes at all competitive levels, from Olympic to grade school athletes, and has worked with organizations such as the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA universities, high schools, and youth sports. The field of sports performance makes a lot of pendulum swings.  We go from over-conditioning athletes to denouncing conditioning.  From static stretching, to not stretching, to reconsidering stretching, to name a few.  In the process of the swings, we do trend upwards (such as saving athletes from over-conditioning based practices with poor motor learning tactics).  At the same time, I don’t believe we ask ourselves often enough if we are letting the pendulum swing too far. What I’ve found is that for every rule that seems to be created, there are instantly going to be athletes, or entire training groups that break that rule.  The only way to understand it all, is to constantly be expanding your viewpoints.  We need to look at the broader mechanisms of biology, psychology, motor learning, and the long-term developmental principles of athletes to really gain wisdom in our guidance of athletes and individuals to their highest potential. On today’s podcast, Mark talks about the polarity of his physical preparation process, on one end, giving the kids a dynamic pedagogical, free play-oriented training experience, and on the other, using technology to assess biological readiness markers and preparation levels for their sport.  Mark finishes the show speaking on aerobic readiness as a recovery marker for explosive sport training.  No matter where you are on the sport training spectrum, be it sport coaching, motor learning or purely physical development, there is a lot to be learned from Mark’s broad spectrum of knowledge in this episode.  This show connects physical preparation with a depth of true sports development Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs. 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. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 2:57 – The diversity of groups that Mark works with, from football, to alpine skiing, to dance and many places in between 10:38 – Thoughts on fluidity and rhythm in the development of athleticism and even within injury prevention 17:16 – The use of gymnastics in athlete robustness and development 22:25 – Mark’s thoughts on helping to train kids in light of motor learning and a regular lack of general physical preparation 28:03 – The role of “economic constraints” in creativity and sport development 40:05 – The benefits of multi-age/multi-grade education, as well as athletic development and play possibilities, as well as a discussion of the Norwegian sport model and the success of Erling Haaland 49:16 – Mark’s system in terms of delaying intensive training stimuli in an athlete’s long term development 55:16 – The role of aerobic training in Mark’s system for team sport athletes, in capacity building and recovery 1:01:27 – “Zone 0” training in Mark’s system, inspired by the work of Landon Evans 1:05:37 – How to determine if athletes are in a resting sympathetic, or parasympathetic state for their training and workouts Mark McLaughlin Quotes “In dance, their events last two minutes, but their heart rates hit 200… there is a psychological driver of heart rates” “I actually use our dance team to teach our football players how to dance; sport and movement is rhythm” “Training with music is a big thing, gymnastics is a big thing,

Today’s podcast features podcaster, and educator, and physical preparation coach, Angus Bradley.  He coaches out of Sydney CBD, and co-hosts the Hyperformance podcast with his brother, Oscar.  Angus has a wide-spanning knowledge base from both in and outside of the strength and conditioning field, with a focus on inter-disciplinary over-arching principles.  He works with a diverse crowd from strongman to surfing and everything in between, has been a 2x previous guest on this podcast, and runs regular mentorships for strength coaches and personal trainers. Part of the fun of running a podcast, and seeking education from a wide variety of coaches is the ability to create links and connections between different fields of thought.  When we can observe multiple training camps saying similar things about the gait cycle, squatting, or breathing, we can level up our total coaching and training perspective. On today’s podcast, Angus talks about learning from fields outside of fitness, to become a better coach and overall student of life.  He also talks about links within the field of fitness, such as the positional and rhythmic relationships between Olympic lifting and sprinting.  A main talking point on today’s episode is Angus’s approach to training “early stance” in a physical development world where so much is devoted to training that ends up focusing more on “late stance” in the gym.  Angus shares his thoughts on how he approaches late stance type training, how he uses more “mid-stance” to train the knee, and also gives his thoughts on how good Crossfit boxes get a lot of trainees stronger than many strength coaches would often like to believe. Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs and the Elastic Essentials Online Course. 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. Find out more about the the online course, Elastic Essentials, by heading to justflysports.thinkific.com For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 3:20 – The importance of having hobbies outside of training, fitness and S&C 18:53 – The use of creativity and intuition in training vs. pre-planned, systemic stimuli 27:50 – Thoughts on “knees behind toes” type exercises, and their benefit in physical preparation 41:52 – The links between rhythm in weightlifting, and rhythm in sprint acceleration 51:31 – Thoughts on more dynamic versions of training early stance and associated negative shin angles 1:01:59 – Angus thoughts’ on pushing knees forwards into positive angles during training 1:11:33 – Angus’s take on some of the mechanisms by which good Crossfit boxes can elicit such substantial strength gains in their population, as well as the importance of doing larger overall GPP workloads Angus Bradley Quotes “If it’s a true principle, it’s something that applies to things outside of the fitness industry” “A lot of systems sort of have this transition from a scientific underpinning, and once we have useful heuristics, it turns into more of an art form” “That stereotypical prescription of 3x10, 4x8, I’ve been pulling back on, not going full Yessis 1x20, but doing things like 2x8, 2x12, 2x6, just two hard work sets.  One thing we take for granted is just attention span” “Pretty much every sport at some point, you are going to have a big powerful negative shin angle” “Exposing both of those contexts (knees over and behind) toes in a loaded sense (is important)” “Yes, working negative and positive shin angles, I’ve created the perfect system” “It’s a relative negative shin angle, when people can plantarflex themselves into a squatty squat… otherwise it’s just a knee bend (if you dorsiflex yourself into the squat),

Today’s podcast features Dr. John Cronin and Joe Dolcetti.  John Cronin is a sport scientist with a physical education and coaching background, who after getting his Ph.D, has spent most of the last 20 plus years at Auckland University of Technology.  He has published over 400 peer-reviewed papers on speed, power and strength, along with having the opportunity to train a variety of athletes and teams, ranging from youth development to world champion level. Joe Dolcetti has had a 35-year career in high performance sport coaching, science, and conditioning training across the globe.  As an inventor, he has developed, and launched Exogen®, the world’s most advanced wearable resistance.  All in all, Joe has worked with many of the world’s top sporting programs including the NBA, NFL, NHL, Major League Baseball, the English Premier League, UFC and many others. Sports performance training is making the shift from the classical “1RM” powerlifting mindset, into athletic speed development.  This is great, but there are still many holes to fill in the athletic equation.  We may obsess over bar velocities in the gym, but the gym is dominated by many force-oriented levers while sport is uses many speed-oriented levers (third class), such as limbs swinging in space.  At some point we must expand our training awareness beyond the what (basic force) into the where (placement), and in the process deepen our understanding on how the body produces high speed sport movement. On the show today, John and Joe get into their journey of high velocity resistance training for athletes (such as wearables including vests and ankle weights, and then sprint sleds).  We’ll talk about the differences between training “stance” phase of movement, and aerial elements, and how the latter is a missing piece of training the force-velocity curve.  Finally, we get into the development of the Exogen system of wearable resistance, and how it encapsulates principles of high speed and specific training adaptation. Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs, and LILA Exogen Wearable Resistance Training Gear For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. 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. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 3:25 – John and Joe’s journey in exploring various wearable and external resistance training methods and how it led them to where they are now in their view of wearable resistance 16:00 – John Cronin’s early research and findings using weighted vests in pursuit of improved athletic performance 20:00 – Effects of sprint sled training versus weighted vest training 23:52 – Philosophy of training “stance” versus training what is happening in the air in athletic movement, and the implications of stance-based vertical force not being the holy grail of sprinting and athletic movement 35:35 – Lever systems, angular velocity, and ankle weights 42:18 – The principles behind the Exogen wearable resistance gear, and how it trains the angular momentum aspect of loading to improve athleticism 1:04:33 – Final thoughts on training sport speed through a focus on wearable resistance and angular velocity training Dr. John Cronin and Joseph Dolcetti Quotes “That’s where we’ve gone the last 6-8 years, unpacking that limb loading” “Where you put load, in many ways, is more important than how much load you are putting” “The one thing I’m confused with is the parachute, I tried them and just thought these are better for jumping out of an airplane” “(Training with a weighted vest) the vertical ground reaction forces will stay pretty much the same) when you put that mass on, you don’t jump as high, the center of mass displacement is compromised,

Today’s podcast features coaches Dan Back and Tim Riley. Dan Back is the founder of Jump Science and is a coach at Xceleration sports performance in Austin, Texas where he trains both track and team sport athletes. Dan has been a guest on episodes 263 and 337 of the podcast, speaking on sprint and jump topics. Tim Riley is the Director of Sports Performance at Kollective in Austin, TX where he supervises all pro, collegiate, and youth athletic development.  Tim currently oversees and conducts strength and conditioning sessions for NFL, PLL & AVP athletes. In the quest for improved athletic qualities, we often look at things in isolation.  We look at the most powerful training means, right now, to help us to achieve better performance.  For the best results, however, we need to broaden our view of training, and understand the qualities at the bottom (early athletic development) and the top (maximal strength and force training) to maximize potential.  We need to understand all of the iterations of skill and strength that come before the sprint, jump, throw, agile moves, etc.  you see on the field, and how everything works together in the grand scheme of training. On today’s podcast, Dan and Tim speak on their own early athletic experiences, the critical “base level” abilities explosive athletes need for a better vertical jump (as well as general explosive movement), where and how maximal strength work fits into the long-term development equation, warmup and game-based concepts, assessments, and more. Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs, and LILA Exogen Wearable Resistance Training Gear For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. 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. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 3:30 – Dan and Tim’s early sport and training experiences 12:30 – Dan’s take on track and field speed and abilities within the scope of team sport performance and two leg jumping 18:00 – The potential of mass-amounts of calf raises to have a negative impact on speed later in life 23:30 – Core general physical preparation methods in athletic performance, such as grappling, hurdling, racing, tag, etc. 27:30 – Discussion as per the pyramid of jumping and jump preparation 37:00 – How Tim and Dan view the warmup process, considering more of a traditional warmup versus more of a game-oriented warmup 51:30 – Dan and Tim’s assessment process for athletes, and looking at macro-type assessments (performance driven) vs. more micro-level assessments (joint based or more discrete movements) 1:04:15 – Thoughts on how strength training can transfer more easily, given an appropriate base of explosive movement training and skill Daniel Back and Tim Riley Quotes “I can see (the martial arts drills) in my daughter’s ability to fall and get back up (in other sports)” TR “When I first started getting obsessed with jumping, my standard workout was 2 sets of 100 calf raises 5 days per week, and looking at myself in my 20’s I was a great jumper, but I wondered why my maximal velocity was so bad, and I really wondered about some of the negative influence of all those calf raises as a teenager, vs. what if those are all sprinting contacts instead?” DB “I saw these kids at 4 and 5 years old, 6 and 7, and the bulk of their training is broad jumps for distance, bounding for distance, jumping from one mark, and landing on one foot, climbing up wall” TR “Jump in a way that’s fun and do it consistently for years… and that should come on top of a base of more variety; and that’s where running, agility, interacting with other people and the ground that should be in the movement variety skill” DB

Today’s podcast features Adarian Barr and Jenn Pilotti.  Adarian is a former college track coach, a multi-national movement consultant and educator.  Adarian has been a huge mentor to me when it comes to the integrated workings of the body in a variety of sport and movement skills and has had many appearances on this show.  Jenn Pilotti is a movement coach, author and educator who has been studying the principles of movement for over 2 decades.  Jenn’s movement disciplines include running, dance, soft acrobatics, and aerial arts. Jenn regularly lectures and teaches workshops for movement educators and curious movers. She co-authored "Let Me Introduce You”, along with Adarian Barr. Training the feet is a lot more than going barefoot a little more often.  In sport movement, and locomotion, we have collisions of the feet into the ground that need to be managed skillfully.  There is nuance to the “force production” into the ground.  Great athletes can manage collisions extremely well, in regards to the specific sport skills they are being called on.  They also have the tissue adaptation that matches the pressure they need to output within movement. In today’s podcast, Adarian and Jenn discuss their process when it comes to the operation of the feet in locomotion, and important distinctions that need to be made on account of points of pressure within the foot.  They chat on the differences between sprinting on account of collision management, as well as vibration, talk about the balance of sensory work and outputs in movement, and much more. Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs, LILA Exogen, and the Elastic Essentials Level II Seminar, July 14-15 in Cincinnati, Ohio For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. 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. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 4:38 – How Jenn and Adarian got connected and Jenn’s early learnings from Adarian 8:05 – How Adarian’s process on the foot impacted Jenn, and how she integrated it into her running 14:04 – Looking at learning from the “hard” and “soft” side of movement, and how sensing the body fits in 17:26 – The origins of where Adarian started with his sensory approach to movement 27:46 – Principles of inputs and outputs as they relate to athletic movement 34:25 – Usage of the lateral aspect of the arch of the foot 38:19 – Pressure management and barefoot sprinting on a track 43:19 – How athletes manage shorter or longer collisions in their sport movement 50:30 – How to explore pressure as it relates to movement 58:01 – How to optimize and integrate foot pressure in the gym Quotes from Adarian Barr and Jenn Pilotti “I focused on keeping the pinkie toe long, and reaching it a little away from the foot; and it created a very different impact away from the ground… and I had like a 3 mile chunk where my mile splits were within 8 seconds of each other; and I’m not working any harder” “A lot of people just do and they don’t sense, or they just sense and they don’t do… we need both” “The body awareness you gain from the softer side just makes doing so much better” “Whenever I was drinking out of a glass (instead of a plastic cup) my hand doesn’t get tired; that started taking me down this whole feeling, sensing, imagining road” “In early track, I didn’t feel it.  I might jump well, but I didn’t know why I jumped well.  When I left Colorado I was struggling, because I was only jumping 51 feet, I left Colorado I spent a year training myself.. the first track meet I went to, boom 53 feet.  What happened? Now, I can feel this. “You want to feel the impact as you run, take time to feel the impact so you can learn what to do with it.

Today’s guest is neurology expert, consultant and personal trainer, Scott Robinson.  Scott is an Applied Movement Neurology Master practitioner and has worked successfully with all levels of neurological complexity in his time training and coaching a wide variety of clients.  Scott is a specialist in dealing with a variety of neurological issues, such as weakness, pain, range of motion and trauma to the emotional systems, amongst many others.  Scott is a former Taekwondo athlete and has more than 20 years of experience in Applied Movement Neurology. The element of training and performance that truly defines who has achieved their highest potential, is the mastery of their mental and emotional state.  The state of the mind, the way we drive attention to what we are doing, how we affirm our actions, and how we light up our neurological system all play a large role in the training results we get, how we enjoy the process, and ultimately how we grow from it on multiple levels. On today’s podcast, Scott Robinson talks about the power of self-affirmation and mental reinforcement in the roles of training and rehabilitation, as well as how novelty plays into those affirmations.  He also gets into visual training methods that link with physical training outputs, warmup methods to improve the neurological quality of the session, working with one’s subconscious mind, harnessing the placebo effect in training, and more. Today’s episode is brought to you by LILA Exogen Wearable Resistance, Lost Empire Herbs and Strength Coach Pro. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. 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. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 4:36 – Scott’s shoulder injury he sustained mountain biking, and some methods he used to dramatically accelerate his recovery 14:07 – Getting into the “infinity loop” concept of walking and focus, and how eye position drives neuromuscular activity 17:00 – Mental techniques like self-reinforcement, “Gauntlet 40’s” and the role of novelty in drawing the attention of the brain into a higher state 20:18 – Methods that can be used early in a training session to maximize learning later on 32:36 – Moving eye-based ball movements that individuals can use to improve their warmup component 38:12 – Thoughts on athletes and individuals who may need more vs. less neurological intervention and special exercises in their training program 42:49 – Scott’s take on yelling “I am the Greatest!” before an explosive effort, or similar self-affirmations 59:45 – Ideas for athletes whose subconscious mind blocks or sabotages their conscious mind in their game and athletic performance 1:09:24 – Thoughts on music’s impact on the brain in terms of its tempo and impact on emotions 1:16:50 – Considerations on self-judgment of elements within the training session Scott Robinson Quotes “The first words that came out (when I saw my son after I broke 2 ribs and separated my shoulder) were 'I am fine'” “I had a greater output of strength in 3 months than before I had the injury” “The things that I did were holding gratitude all the way through the injury… and through the process making sure I was keeping the whole system fired up and stimulated and looking to make new connections around the musculature” “My filler exercises were all of the kinds of activities that were going to drive increased attention, increased alternates, that sets the stage for neuro-plasticity, so that when you come back to whatever you are doing, the brain is ready to make new connections” “If you want to get the best out of yourself, you have to set the conditions in the mind so that you get the best result”

Today’s guest is track coach Ryan Banta.  Ryan has over two decades of experience, is the author of the Sprinter’s Compendium, and is a MTCCCA Hall of Fame Coach. He is a frequently appearing podcast guest and writer on many popular track and field, and athletic performance platforms.  His teams have achieved substantial success, including winning the 2022 girls Class 4 Missouri State Championship. One of the beautiful things about working with human beings is that there are multiple ways to train athletes towards their highest physical potential.  Different coaches achieve success with different training parameters and exercise selections, mannerisms and personal styles.  At the same time, there are also some core philosophies to the entire process of training that are foundational to progression, and can make training more understandable.  Some of the over-arching principles that are helpful to study are those of core training cycle setup, training the “ends” vs. the “center”, and principles of progression and variety in a program.  By better understanding these core ideas, we can have a better idea of where we are starting, and where we are heading in a program. On today’s show, Ryan gets into the core philosophies and principles of the Critical Mass training program in track and field, which is a broad-spanning path of development from freshman to senior that incorporates a span of abilities ranging from hurdles to the 400m.  Ryan then gets into his speed training philosophy, taking a “centrist” path to speed, and how that differs from going “ends to middle”, or taking a block-based approach to a training season.  Ryan goes extensively into concepts around his 14-day speed training cycle, how he adds variety into his program, how he utilizes resisted sprinting, and much more. Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs, Strength Coach Pro, and the Elastic Essentials Online Course. 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. Find out more about the the online course, Elastic Essentials, by heading to justflysports.thinkific.com View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 4:35 – How Ryan’s recent track seasons have been coming along, and some of the recent successes of his track and field group 14:40 – The core components of Ryan’s speed training blocks and cycles, particularly his 14-day training cycle 24:18 – How Ryan includes the hurdles early on for his freshmen athletes, to help set up their skills throughout their high school career 42:15 – Ryan’s take on a balanced an athletic approach to 400m training, and his approach as they progress through high school 46:29 – Philosophy of going “ends to middle” vs. being more of a centrist in training 54:38 – How to avoid staleness over time while using a “centrist” system that is regularly training all main athletic qualities, and how to use constraints and novelty to improve one’s sprinting technique 1:03:50 – Ryan’s take on Tony Wells training system 1:12:16 – Ryan’s take on sled training and resisted sprinting Ryan Banta Quotes “I never build my sprint program around 7 days, we need to go 14 days” “Throughout the program, I believe in resting the system, but not necessarily resting the athlete” “I like to start in the middle, so I am going to start in the 200-400m area in my training, and then play with systems below that (100-200 focused days), and above that (more 400-800m days)” “Monday we might do max velocity and acceleration, Thursday of week do I am going to have something like looks like that again, but in the meantime there are going to be other sessions where those qualities get ticked off of the box” “You are either race modeling or competing every Saturday; competitions are your best practice” “I think that hurdles,

Today’s guest is athletic performance coach and consultant, Sam Portland. Sam has had a lengthy career in professional sport, and is the creator of “Speed Gate Golf” and the Sports Speed System.  Sam provides mentorship and education to coaches, athletes and teams looking to further progress their abilities.  His combination of skills ranges from physical coaching, to sport coaching, athlete psychology and beyond. With the impending AI and technological revolution, we must ask ourselves questions regarding the nature of coaching, training and progression in athletics.  On one hand, we have numerical outputs and data points relative to an athlete’s abilities, workloads, and suggested training routes, and on the other we have the social-emotional and intuitive elements that are much more human by nature.  In a sense, what is the most human about coaching itself is the “conversation of training” that happens on multiple levels within any training session. For today’s podcast, we cover the types of intensity and mentality that go into playing various sports (such as Rugby vs. American Football), Sam’s take on sport training technology, such as force-velocity profiling, an athletes “speed age” and how athletes progress through each level, and finally, we’ll get into the 5 types of player archetypes that range from bodybuilder, to sprinter, and how coaches can identify and optimize training for each unique athlete they train.  This is a show that highlights how having experience and skin in the game, not only training, but also playing the game Today’s episode is brought to you by LILA Exogen Wearable Resistance, Lost Empire Herbs and Strength Coach Pro. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. 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. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 3:29 – Sam’s experience working with, and playing American Football in Europe 8:00 – The types of intensity that is present in different types of sports, such as continuous sports (rugby, soccer) vs. interval sports (American football) 18:12 – Sam’s thoughts on Force Velocity profiling and technology in speed and game-speed training 30:41 – What Sam values in a speed and game-speed training program as opposed to a more data-oriented, mechanistic approach to speed 37:15 – Thoughts on heavy sled training and heavy resisted training in general 44:06 – Sam’s take on “Speed Age” in athletes, and how he looks at speed training progressions over time 59:13 – The importance of complexity and psychology in the process of coaching, and the conversation that happens between coach and athlete 1:06:50 – The 5 archetypes of athletes Sam categorizes and considers through the sport and physical preparation process 1:18:18 – Approaching the “games player” archetype in particular from a physical preparation perspective Sam Portland Quotes “With American football, one of the toughest things was that the play wasn’t building in front of me (like Rugby), the play was building behind me” “How do people become successful coaches? It is intuition, and it is getting reps on the field” “Nothing’s changed in the last 30 years, it’s the experience of the coach that creates the change, and we should do that by playing, 100%” “In part, the strength and conditioning problem is that everyone wants to develop speed, but they start in the gym” “I got more guys that run over 21 miles per hour, just by doing long accelerations, and specialized developmental exercises that I stole from Verkhoshansky” “I believe we are in the tech age… you remember when the first computer came out, we are literally there” “Movement is a conversation… everyone watches a wave break,

Today’s guest is Jeremy Frisch.  Jeremy is the founder and performance director of Achieve Performance Training in Clinton, Mass.  He has been a multi-time guest on the show on the topics of youth and long-term physical development, game-play, and the integration of all these things into a greater training philosophy.  Jeremy is one of my biggest influences in how I see and connect the child to scholastic to adult continuum of sport development and performance. As much as coaching is prescriptive on the level of exercises and progressions, it is even more intuitive in nature.  So often we seek the exact exercises, drills, and cues that will help athletes to achieve more specific strength or a better technique.  These are helpful in key situations for athletes, but we must also build and understand a bigger picture (by coaching in many different sport situations and developmental stages), which helps us break into more expansive ways of seeing the picture of athleticism. On today’s show, Jeremy gets into how his work from the spectrum of youth training, up to adult fitness has improved his general ability to coach and implement creative solutions for athletes.  He’ll cover important developmental steps in early childhood that lay a foundation for improved abilities later on, and then get into games, field size and game speed elements of sport.  Finally, we’ll finish off the show with a chat on concepts of creative and engaging training, as well as a take on how the traditional strength and conditioning type mentality may serve some athletes well, where others may find more confidence in their game and sport skill abilities. Today’s episode is brought to you by LILA Exogen Wearable Resistance, Lost Empire Herbs and Strength Coach Pro. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. 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. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:33 – How Jeremy runs his adult fitness classes in comparison to his youth and scholastic training sessions – How Jeremy views game-speed, in young athletes, and as they move through maturity 28:11 – How a child’s strategy and disposition based on formative years leads to the type of athlete they become later on (i.e. offensive, defensive, hustle/grinder type) 37:42 – How to manipulate field sizes and playing spaces in sport development 47:44 – Using creativity to make training more engaging for the athlete, and how to keep the game-like nature of movement in training 53:22 – Jeremy’s thoughts on the traditional strength and conditioning mentality working better for some athletes vs. others 1:05:37 – Aerial ability and training, and how it relates to general athleticism Jeremy Frisch Quotes “We replaced box jumps for adults, with step-up jumps” “That’s what I tell younger coaches who walk through our doors, you might not love it, but realize that the group you are working with is going to make you a better coach down the line” “When a baby is born, you have an opportunity to put a baby in an environment to be a competent mover… and that’s floor time, belly time” “The floor is the child’s neurological workshop… when you put the baby on the floor, or in a playpen and you just leave them alone, they are going to figure out how to lift their head, push off the ground, reach and move” “The great thing about a crash mat is that it (gives safety) so now kids are going to try a million different ways to land” “If you set up those early years in life for them to become a competent mover, then you have a great foundation to build on later on” “Let’s say you get some kids and put them in basketball, and they are OK, but you put them in soccer in that wide open space,

Today’s guest is Cody Bidlow.  Cody is currently the head track & field coach at Arcadia High School in Phoenix, AZ, and a coach at EliteU working with NFL combine prep athletes. Cody additionally owns SprintingWorkouts.com and the ATHLETE.X brand, where he runs educational content on speed and power training to a large audience.  He was an all-conference sprinter at Grand Canyon University, and continues to train and sprint competitively. I’ve had a lot of sprint and speed training shows as part of this podcast series.  Speed training is an important aspect of both track and field and team sport.  Additionally, the principles of training speed, pushing a human being to the limit of a skill they have been using their whole life, requires an integrative and thorough process, the principles of which can carry over to any athletic pursuit. For today’s show, Cody shares insights on motor learning concepts in sprinting, the consequence of overemphasizing sprint motions or strength training, the role of longer, more metabolic sprinting on total speed development, ideas on “impulse” strength in the gym, and much more. Today’s episode is brought to you by LILA Exogen Wearable Resistance, Lost Empire Herbs and Strength Coach Pro. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, follow this link to lilateam.com or use code: jfs2023 at checkout. 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. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 3:37 – Cody’s athletic journey and how it has impacted him as a coach 9:36 – Questions Cody has asked in his own training journey that have helped him as a coach 16:47 – The type of sprinter that Cody is, and his learning about his own training response 24:41 – Why “over-projecting” in sprint acceleration can be a problem, and how that wasn’t the most successful strategy for Cody 28:09 – Experimenting at the “poles” or extremes of a sport skill, in order to find a better middle point 32:24 – Rationale and context of various sprint drills and exercises, and how to connect technical movements with a higher intensity sprint 36:03 – Using longer sprints, and “more work” in the 15-40 second bracket of training to help one’s overall speed and power abilities 47:33 – Principles on the maximal amount of longer running that Cody would put in a program 51:07 – How the mental and emotional elements of competition can enable better performance in longer sprints 59:59 – The “finisher” mentality in speed and power training and the complimentary impact of a metabolic element in a program 1:06:27 – A discussion on general and specific elements in the weight room for sprinting speed 1:15:41 – Over-pushing in sprinting, in light of the principle of “impulse” 1:17:19 – Cody’s take on the “push” type cue Cody Bidlow Quotes “Something led to that (sprint) position, that might have been a timing issue, that might have been a posture issue” “For me, if I do a bunch of deep squatting, I get super slow, for some, it might make them faster” “I’ve leaned in more to trusting intuition, and not outsourcing to other people as to the right way to do it… you have to trust in your own ability, not just rely on a famous coach that said what to do” “In learning to become better at speed endurance I’ve had to learn things like, not forcing stride frequency but letting stride frequency occur, locking in my posture” “In acceleration, one thing that disrupted me for a long period of time, was purely focusing on projection, and the big shapes idea” “By finding (movement) extremes, it opens up your abilities and gets you out of stereotyped movements, and that’s when progress stalls” “You aren’t doing a drill because it’s going to make you faster, you do a drill to work on one small feeling,

Today’s guest is Austin Jochum.  Austin is the owner of Jochum Strength where he works with athletes and washed-up movers to become the best versions of themselves. He also operates the Jochum Strength Insider which is an online training platform for people trying to feel, look, and move better.  Austin has a diverse athletic background, from being an All-American lineman and MIAC indoor weight throw champion, to regularly pushing his movement capabilities to new levels in arenas such as rock climbing, dunking and slow-pitch softball leagues. An interesting thing about the “athletic performance” field is that traditionally, it doesn’t work on things that are highly “athletic”, as strength training protocols can be some of the more controlled elements in the entirety of an athlete’s training regime.  This control and scalable nature is often reflected in the way that rudimentary plyometric, speed and agility protocols are carried out at scale, as per the same nature as a controlled and measurable strength regiment.  Having a controlled strength stimulus for an advanced athlete who is already a master of their sport skill is a helpful tool for managing tissue strength and balance, but for developing athletes going into “sports performance” programs, the ability to improve one’s skill building ability in a meaningful, athletic, problem-solving and creative manner is often lacking. In today’s podcast, Austin goes into the breakdown of finding low-hanging fruits of athletic performance in athletes and the philosophy of creating “skill-building addicts”.  We get into self-learning concepts, over-coaching, and then the nuts and bolts of his weekly flow of movement and game-speed building methods.  We also finish with a lightning round that covers a variety of topics and ideas Austin is working on right now in the training space. Today’s episode is brought to you by Strength Coach Pro and Lost Empire Herbs 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 2:53 – The processes by which Austin shifted his typical, controlled warmup process, into a more dynamic training experience 7:32 – How Austin doing athletic things himself has had a strong impact on his coaching 11:13 – How Austin assesses an athlete from a global perspective, as soon as they walk in the door of his training facility, and how he challenges athletes who can’t handle losing, or haven’t won much in their sport experience 24:31 – The role of confidence gained from the gym, vs. having confidence in one’s sport abilities 31:48 – How Austin looks at how much time he would spend on gym strength vs. play based skills vs. perception work for athletes, based on need 41:15 – How athletes perceive difficult and challenging situations in their environment, and how to break athletes out of their typical athletic, problem-solving world-view 50:23 – Cues, coaching and creating a training environment that helps athletes to self-learn 1:02:03 – Austin’s weekly training setup, including games, speed and strength work 1:09:17 – Austin’s 5 greatest tools in developing movement and agility 1:13:34 – The training topic that interests Austin the most right now 1:17:14 – What “fast” means to Austin 1:18:06 – What Austin thinks about the term “arm care” 1:19:26 – The gnarliest isometric hold Austin is doing right now Austin Jochum Quotes “What makes them athletes is destroying movement challenges” “The worst athletes in the room could A-Skip, and the best athletes in the room could A-Skip” “If it looks pretty, it’s for you, it’s not for them” “I’ll put a guy who is easily triggered by losing, on a team that he knows he is going to lose. The goal is to level the athlete up and challenge them… the athlete who has onl...

Today’s podcast is a Q&A episode with Joel Smith.  Joel is the founder of Just Fly Sports and is a sports performance/track coach in Cincinnati, Ohio.  He hosts the Just Fly Performance Podcast, has authored several books on athletic performance, and in 2021, released the integrative training course, “Elastic Essentials”. Questions for this podcast revolved around high velocity and oscillating exercise concepts, acceleration and sprint development, training arrangement, and much more. Today’s episode is brought to you by Strength Coach Pro, Lost Empire Herbs, and the Elastic Essentials Online Course. 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 Find out more about the the online course, Elastic Essentials, by heading to justflysports.thinkific.com View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Topics: 3:47 – CNS “firing rate” and trainability. 14:18 – What differences between tension release OC ISO and rhythmic ISO, and when to use one vs. the other? 20:27 – What phase of training is ideal for using overcoming isometrics? 25:47 – Can a reduction in bodyweight allow for someone to be more elastic? 28:02 – Thoughts on non-linear periodization for max sprint work. 33:23 – To what age can one sustain high level explosive athleticism, assuming one stays active? 40:45 – It is really necessary to be fully recovered for every jump training session, or is fatigue needed to induce adaptations? 53:43 – Thoughts on internal and external cues in teaching acceleration. 58:33 – Giving athletes variation from intensity in regards to MaxV work. 1:04:51 – Drills for delayed knee extension out of blocks, but with a focus on projecting the hips. 1:09:59 – 3 training books I think we should read that are often left out of typical answers. 1:15:46 – Take on mental prep/race execution for track athletes. About Joel Smith Joel Smith is the founder of Just Fly Sports and is a sports performance/track coach in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Joel hosts the Just Fly Performance Podcast, has authored several books on athletic performance, and in 2021, released the integrative training course, “Elastic Essentials”.  He currently trains clients in the in-person and online space. Joel was formerly a strength coach for 8 years at UC Berkeley, working with the Swim teams and professional swimmers, as well as tennis, water polo, and track and field.  A track coach of 15 years, Joel coached for the Diablo Valley Track and Field Club for 7 years, and also has 6 years of experience coaching sprints, jumps, hurdles, pole vault and multi-events on the collegiate level, working at Wilmington College, and the University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse, along with his current work with master’s, high school and collegiate individuals. Joel has had the honor of working with a number of elite athletes, but also takes great joy in helping amateur athletes and individuals reach their training goals through an integrative training approach with a heavy emphasis on biomechanics, motor learning, mental preparation, and physiological adaptation.  His mission through Just Fly Sports is: “Empowering the Evolution of Sport and Human Movement”.  As a former NAIA All-American track athlete, Joel enjoys all aspects of human movement and performance, from rock climbing, to track events and weightlifting, to throwing the frisbee with his young children and playing in nature.

Today’s guest is Richard Aceves.  Richard is an innovative movement specialist with a diverse athletic background.  After a mountaineering near death experience at an early age, he worked his way back to health and training capacity, eventually working towards becoming an elite powerlifter, professional GRID athlete, and has experience in a variety of strength and movement practices.  Richard is a coach, mentor, education and pioneer in the world of movement in context of the human experience. There are always going to be pendulum swings in any profession, and sport performance is no exception.  On the level of conditioning, success in sport is more about skill, tactics, speed, confidence than the adaptation acquired from grinding out tough conditioning sessions.  At the same time, there is a mental, physical and emotional gold that can be found, when the body is pushed to its limits.  Using physical exploration and stressors with purpose can provide a far fuller and more rewarding experience to each individual, allowing them to level up in new ways that go beyond sport, into life itself. On today’s podcast, Richard covers his near-death experience and injury that kickstarted his journey into the inner aspects of human performance.  Throughout the episode, Richard covers the physical, mention and emotional aspects of training, and how training can be modulated to address each of these important elements of both athletic ability, and our human experience.  Richard goes into his warmup process, and breaks down the dynamics of a “good” and “poor” conditioning session, and how to better facilitate the conditioning process.  Being able to get into the “present-minded” state is one of the most important elements in both training, and in life, and Richard goes into this concept heavily in this episode. Today’s episode is brought to you by Strength Coach Pro and Lost Empire Herbs 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 3:25 – What sparked Richard’s journey in mental and emotional states of training 12:28 – How the mental and emotional elements of coaching make it far more than regurgitating information 17:06 – The importance of specific mental emotional preparation to meet the demands of one’s sport 27:23 – Richard’s take on the survivor ability of the human body, and how he views the purpose of the warmup 35:48 – How mental state impacts one’s learning and adaptation in training 44:11 – Defining the physical, mental, and emotional elements of training 52:03 – Physical, mental and emotional components that go into the warmup process, as well as in more skilled sport movement, and Richard’s take on why pickup basketball is such a fantastic warmup process 1:02:08 – A practical example and explanation of how Richard takes his group through a training session, as well as the applications of music Richard will take on for the session based on the training type 1:14:44 – Links between muscles and related emotional states within muscles 1:24:00 – How Richard uses timers or songs to help keep pace in his training sessions 1:28:18 – What Richard considers to be good vs. excessive and poor conditioning Richard Aceves Quotes “We all understand that your best performances are when aligned emotionally” “We cannot pretend that performance at any matter, is a purely physical standpoint, it is mental, but it’s not mental only; the emotional component is the communication between the physical and the mental in order to have the emotional expression” “All training needs to have a combination of physical, mental and emotional stimulus” “You cannot perform at your top percentile, without safety and confidence” “When you put people through training sessions,

Today’s guest is Nick DiMarco.  Nick has been the director of sports performance at Elon University since 2018, and is a leader in the realms of high-performance ideology.  He is both a former professional athlete (NY Jets and Baltimore Ravens outside linebacker in 2014), and has a Ph.D in Health and Human Performance.  In addition to being well versed in the intuitive aspects of athleticism, Nick is skilled at applying logical models to a high-performance training environment.  He has been a guest on multiple episodes of this podcast, speaking on the physical preparation process with a focus on American football. In the preparation of an athlete, all roads must ultimately lead towards the specificity, chaos and decision making of the sport itself.  The days of putting outputs on a pedestal (such as a squat max or “canned” SAQ score), are still with us, but integrative coaches are seeing the higher-links within the total training equation, and the win-loss column.  Ultimately, a good sports performance program never loses sight of the ultimate goal, which is to prepare players towards their sport as well as possible.  If you caught the recent episode with strength coach, turned football coach Michael Zweifel, this message likely hits on an even deeper level. On today’s show, Nick gives an overview on the Elon football team’s performance over the last few years, and the integrative factors that contributed to their recent success and low injury rates.  He gives his evolving take on the important elements to cover in preparing players for the speed and movement demands of the game of football, including acceleration, maximal velocity and agility/change of direction.  In this episode, Nick goes in depth on his weekly speed and strength training format, talks about the metrics he measures, gives his take on deceleration training, and much more.  Nick’s ideas are both cutting-edge, and incredibly pragmatic, useful for any sports performance coach. Today’s episode is brought to you by Strength Coach Pro and Lost Empire Herbs 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 2:41 – An overview of how the last season went for Elon football 4:50 – What strength/sport coach interactions need to be prioritized for the high performance model to be maximally effective 12:47 – Nick’s updates or thoughts on the game-speed agility model that in the last several years 23:19 – Psychological aspects of perception-based game-speed training for Nick’s athletes 28:54 – Nick’s weekly offseason training format, and his balance of more traditional “tempo” running, versus more specific sprint conditioning for his players 40:18 – What metrics Nick measures and gives feedback to the players on 45:38 – How Nick looks at things like “deceleration training”, relative to chaotic change of direction 51:23 – Nick’s take on the agility categories (mirror, dodge chase, score) in context of other sports, such as court sport 53:57 – Where Nick recommends sports performance coaches to expand their knowledge base, in regards to the breadth of the field, as well as the sports they are working with 57:42 – How being a father to young children has impacted Nick’s athletic performance process 1:02:18 – If Nick had to pick between wearing a shmedium polo shirt, waving a towel, or warming up with jumping jacks on the whistle, which would he pick, and why? Nick DiMarco Quotes “We had very low injury rate for us, and I think strength coaches want to pat themselves on the back and say that was their job, but it goes hand in hand with our head coach, he does a great job with his practice design, and doing everything to maximize our weekly layout, keeping guys at healthy and fresh as possible”

Today’s podcast features Henk Kraaijenhof.  Henk has several decades of experience as a performance coach in a broad array of sports.  His coaching credentials include working track athletes such as Nelli Cooman (former 60m dash world record holder), Merlene Ottey, and Troy Douglas as well as elite team sport competitors. His specialties are physical and mental coaching, stress and stress management, technology, and the methodology or training.  In addition to world-level performance, Henk’s coaching has also bred longevity, as Ottey and Douglas ran world class times in their 40’s. In the current coaching age, it’s easy to think that because we are doing “new” looking drills, have increased our data collection, and have created various technical models of sport skill, we have a massive edge on what athletes were doing 50 years ago.  At the same time, general trends in injury rates and performance markers should have us thinking twice (for example, Bob Hayes running 9.99s in the 100m in 1964 on a chewed up cinder track).  At the end of the day, it is more “core” elements of training philosophy that stand the test of time, and help us to better understand the needs of the athlete in front of us. On today’s show, Henk digs into speed training through the decades, and how many perceived “new school” elements, are actually much older than we think they are.  He talks about how he approaches “technical models” of sport skill (sprinting specifically), coaching the current generation of athletes, and where our modern world is heading in general on the level of technology.  He talks about the skill of patience in our current coaching environment, and shares some key philosophical ideas on the nature of coaching track and team sport athletes, and what we can learn from nature itself.  Finally, Henk gives his views on his own current technology use in his coaching role. Today’s episode is brought to you by Strength Coach Pro and Lost Empire Herbs 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 3:18 – What prompted Henk’s return to coaching sprinting, and key themes he has brought from his learnings in the hiatus 16:58 – Henk’s take on coaching sprint technique, technical models, and a “no system” approach 24:31 – Where and how Henk looks to make changes in an athletes training, and mistakes he made in the past listening to other coaches and opinions 31:44 – Henk’s take on the current generation of athletes from his perspective, as well as the role of technology in modern society in general 38:08 – Philosophy of the role of sport in modern society, and what Henk really values in the process of athletic training and performance 50:16 – Autocratic vs. democratic forms of coaching, and impacts on performance 54:54 – How much technology Henk uses today in coaching a single athlete, versus coaching multiple athletes as a younger coach 1:05:42 – Henk’s view of nature in training, and both observation Henk Kraaijenhof Quotes “One difference is that you can film everything now (vs. 2004), everything has become more focused on data processing than before; the smartphone took away a bit of the human aspect of it” “You see a lot of people trying to hit the track really hard now, you see a lot of hamstring injuries, after this trend came” “You don’t have a frontside (mechanic) without a backside (mechanic)” “If you go against your natural preference (in sprinting) you might be in trouble” “We are lousy jumpers compared to the flea, the cat, the monkey” “Most coaches fall in love with their own school” “Why do you think it could be better if you change it; why is it not the most optimal way the athlete already chose?” “Patience is one thing that is readily declining”

Today’s podcast features movement focused strength and performance coach Julien Pineau.  Julien is the founder of Strongfit, which started as a gym, and is now a full educational program for coaches and fitness/movement enthusiasts.  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 own gym that focuses on strongman training. Julien has a fascinating ability to visualize and correct proper human movement patterns, and has worked with athletes from a wide variety of disciplines.  He is a man on a journey inward as much as he is outward. The current world of training seems to exist on a level of “exercise proliferation” much more than it does digging into the main principles of human performance and adaptation.  Coaches often times have their own favorite exercises and drills, and have athletes perform them to “technical perfection”, citing the ability to hit particular positions as a marker for program success. On today’s podcast, Julien Pineau goes into the fallacy of training athletes based on one’s preferred exercise selection, or technical positions, while rather viewing training on the level of the “human first”.  Julien views training on the level of the entire athlete, and has exercise principles starting with the “inner most” human mechanisms.  He gets into his ideas on internal and external torque chains extensively through this show, and describes how to fit muscle tensioning patterns to the needs of athletes in the realms of speed, strength and injury prevention. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Lost Empire Herbs, and the Elastic Essentials online course. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 3:14 – Women’s work capacity and ability to adapt to chronic stress, relative to men, with the crossfit games competitors as an example 6:36 – How strength training setups may be modulated for females versus males in terms of extending work out over a longer period of time, versus more dense packets of work 9:16 – How one’s perception and attitude in a training session is a critical aspect of adaptation 11:27 – The importance of tension over position in strength and athletic movement 17:20 – The pros and cons of social media in athletic development 21:18 – The innate movement pattern element of sandbag training and its role in facilitating hamstring activation 23:17 – The origins of Julien’s thoughts on internal and external torque chains 33:51 – Squatting patterns in light of internal and external torques, and how sandbag lifting fits into the squat and hinge pattern and muscle activation 46:34 – Links between internal torque/external torque and sprinting, and practices in the gym that can lead to issues over a long period of time 54:19 – Olympic lifting and external torque, as it relates to block starts or sprinting 1:05:32 – Types of athletes who may be external torque chain dominant 1:07:56 – How the external torque chain fits with more sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous system elements, while the internal torque chain fits with more parasympathetic elements 1:23:43 – How various body types will impact one’s squatting technique, with relation to internal and external torque 1:27:08 – Upper extremity sport (such as swimming) concepts in relation to internal and external torque production 1:32:06 – How to determine how an athlete’s body wants to squat, and how to tap into an individual’s squat technique Julien Pineau Quotes:

Today’s podcast features Seth Lintz, a pitching performance coach, based out of Scottsdale, Arizona.  Seth was a second-round pick in the 2008 MLB draft, carrying a maximal fastball speed of 104mph.  Known as the “Pitching Doctor” on his social media accounts, Seth has trained over a dozen individuals to break the 100mph barrier in the past 2 years, using a progressive training system that combines a priority on neuro-muscular efficiency with intuitive motor learning concepts. Of all the high velocity activities humans can do, throwing a ball at high speed is the “fastest”, and is a truly special skill worth studying.  Within a high-speed throw comes critical use of elasticity, explosiveness, levers, and fine-tuned coordination of one’s movement options.  Seth is a coach who has a very high-level, innate feel for all of the factors it takes for a human being to achieve extreme throwing velocities, connecting elements of physical performance with skill acquisition, while integrating the all-important role of the mind. On the podcast today, Seth shares details from his early immersion in throwing mechanics, gives his take on the mental elements and kinesthetic, feeling-based elements of throw training.  On the training end, he talks about the ability to “surge” and change speeds within a movement, the use of different training speeds, from super slow to over-speed, and developmental aspects of throwing with different weights and objects.  Within the show, many connections are made to sprinting and human locomotion, and this is an episode that coaches from baseball to track, and in the spaces in-between, can find helpful in their process. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Lost Empire Herbs, and the Elastic Essentials online course. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 3:34 – Details of Seth’s early start as an athlete, and his study of frame by frame pictures of Nolan Ryan and Pedro Martinez 11:49 – Thoughts on using visual references and positions in early athletic performance training, versus letting athletes build their technique off of instinct 20:50 – The mental element, and mental picture needed for an athlete to break velocity throwing barriers 24:26 – The critical skill of being able to feel in one’s own body, what a coach is trying to communicate visually 32:57 – Discussing the importance of different utilized speeds in high velocity training, from over-speed to extreme slow, and associating feeling with various velocities 39:22 – How athletes having too much awareness, or watching too much video of their throw, can actually present a problem in the learning process 44:42 – Tempo and “surges” of velocity in a fast throw 53:07 – Using different tools, weighted balls, and objects in nature to help an athlete connect to the feeling of intention in a throw, and the developmental boost that comes with it “Whenever I look at my throw now, I try to look for the kid in my throw” “With intent, your body will find its most efficient way to produce power at that given time” “Humans are infinitely capable at birth, and that moment is when the limitation process begins.  Everything they see from that moment forward is limiting them from what they believe to be possible” “For humans, throwing is an evolved skill for both hunting and safety (fighting)” “What your body is doing, and what you feel like it is doing are often two different things” “A mental picture is not a single faceted thing, it is your mental relationship to throwing, because when you have a mental picture, it gives you a feeling too… it should at least” “Anytime you are planning, you are slowing down… that’s the job of a coach,

Today’s podcast features strength coach, Zach Even Esh.  Zach is the founder of the Underground Strength Gym, and has been a leading figure in creative and adaptive strength training means.  He is also the host of the Strong Life podcast and the creator of many educational resources in the realm of human strength and performance. As the world moves forward, the world of training has become an interesting place, accelerated by the changing club sport scene, technological advances, social media, and more.  At the same time, the actual human being performing the training hasn’t changed, and human beings have far more nuances to them than simply being based on the same concepts that a machine, such as a car, does.  In many ways, human beings are being trained less and less like actual humans, and more as machines.  Cones and ladders have replaced playing basketball or soccer.  “Speed Training” has replaced running track, playing other sports, or racing friends on the playground.  This isn’t to say that our collective intelligence hasn’t created a substantial leap forward in understanding training frameworks, but at the same time, increased intelligence doesn’t automatically equal understanding how to create the richest possible environment for an athlete. On the show today, Zach speaks on the importance of imperfect, and chaotic elements in training.  We talk about how these elements are not just important with respect to the chaos of sport, but also in the level of how we are meant to adapt to training in general as human beings.  He talks on the power of a nature-based training system, his menu-based training days, as well as what we can learn from training that “breaks the rules” or would be thought to create “sub-optimal” adaptations.  Finally, Zach hits on the important elements of community in the world of sport, and the modern plague of business that has enveloped the schedules of kids, as well as society in general. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Lost Empire Herbs, and the Elastic Essentials online course. 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 Find out more about the the online course, Elastic Essentials, by heading to justflysports.thinkific.com View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 3:23 – The branding of “underground strength” versus “speed” when it comes to marketing, and what sports parents are familiar with in performance 8:07 – What a ideal world of play and movement would (and does) look like for a uyoung athlete 15:48 – The nature of preparation based on nature and chaos, versus things needing to be neat 28:19 – How kids are doing more now days, with more coaches, yet accomplish less 38:13 – Keeping training as “rich” and dense as possible, so athletes can spend less total time in training, yet hone human qualities to a maximal level 42:13 – Zach’s menu-based workout system for his athletes 48:01 – The power of nature based, variable training to improve an athlete’s power outputs and general adaptation 1:10:23 – The value of community in one’s training environment as well as the value of training equipment with a history behind it, and the inspiration of using that “He’s playing soccer… that is speed and agility” “Sport has no absolutes, so when they are training, I want their body to feel comfortable in awkward positions” “That’s something software hasn’t brought to the table, kids learning how to compete” “My gym is located across the street from the park, so we’ll warm up with a game of ultimate football, and how do you get to the park? We partner up and you carry kettlebells or a heavy medicine ball; then we’ll segue into jumping and hand walking and crawling then we do a 5-point game, and then carry everything back” “We carried to the park, played,

Today’s podcast features coach Michael Zweifel.  Michael is the special teams coordinator, defensive backs coach and co-defensive coordinator for the UW-La Crosse football team.  He is the former owner of the “Building Better Athletes” performance center in Dubuque, Iowa.  Michael was the all-time NCAA leading receiver with 463 receptions in his playing days at University of Dubuque.  He is also a team member of the movement education group, “Emergence”.  Michael is a multi-time appearing guest on the Just Fly Performance Podcast, speaking on elements of sport movement and skill, ecological dynamics and more. It is interesting to consider our current format of sports performance training (strength coaching sessions in the weight room, sport coaching on the field, and a substantial degree of separation between the two), and if our current model will be the same one seen in 20 or 50 years in training.  Michael has always been in both the strength and skill side of athletic performance, but has recently moved to a skill-side only element, in his move to football coaching at The University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse. For the show today, Michael talks a bit about what led him to close down his private-sector sports performance business, and move into only football-coaching.  He’ll chat on the sport movement and ecological dynamics principles that he took with him into that football coaching job, and his vision for the strength program that would fit within his sport coaching role that is quite different than the norm in college sports.  We’ll also chat on maximizing the transfer in speed work for sport, and the chaotic nature of adaptation and performance in sport, versus a more linear sequencing in traditional S&C settings.  This show is one that will stretch our thinking regarding a lot of current beliefs and practices, and makes for a great conversation in the high-performance dynamic of sport. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Lost Empire Herbs, and the Elastic Essentials online course. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 4:13 – How and why Michael moved from being a strength and physical preparation coach, to being a sport coach, coaching NCAA D3 football 7:51 – Michael’s counter-industry theory on use of the weight room for his football population 21:06 – How Michael’s motor learning background while he was working in the physical preparation field prepared him to coach football in the NCAA 24:08 – What a typical practice looks like for Michael’s training group 26:57 – Michael’s thoughts on general versus specific agility drills for athletes 35:46 – Thoughts on linear vs. variable patterns of adaptation in athletics and sport, versus a strength and conditioning setting 46:37 – Michael’s take on speed work that moves the needle the most, for team sport athletes, specifically football in this case “My issue with strength and conditioning is that we are all doing the same thing, so how can you separate yourself? To have a competitive advantage you can’t do what everyone else is doing” “You can accomplish those adaptations/results (tissue resiliency) without ever setting foot in a weight room” “The only tools (for my d-backs) I guess I would use would be a sled, a med ball, and a band, or a weighted vest” “I think coaches would be a lot better if they had to require 6 months of getting out of the weight room, and finding ways to get those similar adaptations without relying on a barbell that we are normally comfortable with” “In order to improve an athlete’s movement, they have to be put and placed in context, or an environment that retains a lot of variables they see in sport, which is live human bodies”

Today’s episode features strength and performance coach DJ Murakami.  DJ has over 15 years of experience in the coaching realm, and has a wide history of movement practice which includes work in bodybuilding, Olympic lifting, rock lifting, movement culture (such as Ido Portal), rock climbing and more.  DJ has created training courses such as Chi Torque, the Predator Protocol, and others, and mentors coaches and fitness enthusiasts through his Human Strong training organization. In today’s strength and fitness world, it’s almost easier to tell individuals the things they shouldn’t do than what they should.  Given all of the existing systems in strength and performance training, we can create excessive and robotic training programs that take us far from the core of our humanity, and therefore our potential to enjoy, connect with, and adapt to the work we are doing. DJ Murakami is a coach who has studied a massive number of systems and methods, as well as having trained, himself, in a large variety of movement and strength expressions.  Through it all, DJ has acquired knowledge on how to make training as effective as possible for each individual without over complicating and over-coaching the process. On the podcast today, he shares his athletic and coaching background, and then goes into how his coaching has evolved into what it is today: a system that prioritizes the “quest” of those he is working with, within each session. He also shares his knowledge of the internal and external muscle torque system (created by Julien Pineau) which can not only simplify the way we look at exercise selection, and the purpose of various movements, but also gives us an effective way to help athletes and individuals embody and understand muscle tensioning in the scope of their athleticism.  DJ is a wise coach who walks his talk on a high level in addition to his powerful training insights. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Lost Empire Herbs, and the Elastic Essentials online course. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 3:32 – The systems and schools of thought DJ has gone through in his career as an athlete and coach 12:51 – DJ’s athletic background, and how his movement practices have helped form his coaching intuition 15:03 – How DJ structures and runs a session now, given his evolution as a coach, and how to allow them a “win” and a positive experience in the training session 20:56 – DJ’s take on coaching and influencing technique as an athlete moves forward in training 23:22 – Making things task oriented, and putting meaning and problem solving into the movement 29:54 – Using things like sandbags as opposed to using barbells in training 32:40 – The concept of internal vs. external torque chains in human movement and strength training 43:47 – Principles behind “chi-torque” and communicating principles of tension to the individual “The best seminar I ever took as far as gains after that leveled me up, was a Jon North seminar…. it was pretty much pumping us up all day, to fear nothing.  I hit a bunch of PR’s” “Can you bias someone’s movement output without making it a cognitive task; I think that’s how we learn is stories” “I think people would be surprised at how much (changing mindset) before going into an experience will change things” “I made the mistake of over-coaching early on, no-cebo’ing people, and not building relationships… I learned the hard way of failing and figuring out that working with another human being and not fixing a car in the shop” “Create the least amount of cognitive barriers as possible (to training)” “The goal is always success, let them win at the workout” “With naming an exercise comes a baggage,

Today’s episode features Kyle Waugh.  Kyle is the owner of Waugh Personal Training and hosts the podcast “Waughfit Radio”.  He started in fitness and rehab as a track and cross-country athlete and transitioned in his early 20s to a gym rat riddled with injuries.  Kyle worked through his injuries, and after being told to never lift again and get surgery, he is now robust and pain free through the process of good training and movement.  Kyle is a holistic movement and fitness specialist focused on optimizing the human experience. He looks to bridge the worlds of physical therapy and fitness together and get people living their best life, and is certified in both strength and conditioning and as a physical therapy assistant. We live in a world that is absolutely loaded with information.  If you have an athletic performance need, or a pain/injury issue, you can instantly get hundreds of articles and many experts telling you what you should or shouldn’t do to improve.  Based on the nature of information and marketing, most of us tend to be presented with more bells, whistles, and overall complexity than what we truly need to reach our next level in training or rehab.  Wisdom is gained through personal experience, and Kyle has achieved that in spades, overcoming physical pain that would wake him up throughout the night, to becoming strong healthy and robust, while learning from some of the greatest minds and systems in the industry. On today’s podcast, Kyle goes through his athletic background, and how he got into, and out of pain in his own training.  He’ll go through his own common-sense approach to overcoming movement limitations and how we need to “earn our complexity” in training and exercise.  He’ll also cover the important idea of being “nocebo’ed”, or being told things are wrong with us may not be true, or matter in the grand scheme of our recovery, but if we believe it, can limit our progress.  Later in the show Kyle gets into his favorite progressions and exercises in the scope of getting strong, while limiting negative adaptations, and how he moves through the ranks of movement intensity without getting overly complex. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Lost Empire Herbs, and the Elastic Essentials online course. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 3:52 – Kyle’s athletic background where he competed in both cross country on a decent level, and track and field sprints and hurdles 7:45 – Unique, task-oriented workouts that Kyle’s old track coach used to have him do for his running work 16:07 – Kyle’s history of injury and pain, and being “nocebo’ed” by professionals in terms of what was wrong with him 23:29 – Kyle’s take on how he approaches exercises as perceived “silver bullets” in relation to the entire process of becoming a better athlete, or getting out of pain and being injury free 34:56 – How to take on an injury or athletic issue when the simplest solution doesn’t seem to be working for them 42:25 – How Kyle approaches heavily loading people who have a history of pain and injury, and how he sets goals for individuals in rudimentary strength exercises to set up for higher level strength exercises 51:06 – Kyle’s thoughts on heavier loading movements that have a high reward with a lower amount of risk from an injury and pain perspective “My coach would have you pick up a frisbee and throw it while running distance, time you, and have a reward for who did the best (a Gatorade)” “When you are moving, you are able to learn better” “As my (bro lifting) progressed, I thought that was going to make me faster, and as a year and a half progressed, that made me extremely slow” “I kind of had to say,

Today’s episode features Dan Back.  Dan is the founder of “Jump Science”, as well as the creator of the popular “Speed.Science0” page on Instagram.  Dan coaches at Xceleration sports performance in Austin, Texas.  He works with team sport athletes, as well as “pure output” sports, such as track and field, and dunk training.  Dan reached an elite level in his own vertical jump and dunking ability, and has been helping athletes run faster, jump higher and improve overall physical performance for well over a decade.  I first met Dan in my own time at Wisconsin, LaCrosse, where I was working on my master’s degree in applied sport sciences. One element of human outputs (sprinting, jumping, throwing, etc.) that I’ve found fundamental over the years is the idea of one’s strength/structure determining their technique they use.  I found very quickly in my early track and field, as well as team sport ventures in jump and sprint technique, that getting an athlete to exhibit the technique you were asking for to surpass their old personal best almost never happened.  Athletes would generally be using a technique that amplified their physical strengths and structure, and if you asked for a technique that took them away from that, performance would inevitably decline.  At the same time, many coaches will approach sporting skills without regard to pre-existing strengths/structure, and that sport technique is a singular factor that relies only on a mental “computer program”. On today’s show, Dan gives his perspective on how athletes strengths (or weaknesses) show up in their sprinting technique, and how sprint technique will differ from one athlete to another as such.  He’ll go in depth on building elasticity, plyometrics, building up an athlete’s vertical force capacities, give his take on sprint drills, and much more.  Dan has a practical style, where his experimentation is backed by data, and results.  This show is a deep dive, not just into important principles of performance, but also practical nuts and bolts on how to get more out of one’s athleticism on a high level. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Lost Empire Herbs, and the Elastic Essentials online course. 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 Find out more about the the online course, Elastic Essentials, by heading to justflysports.thinkific.com View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 4:13 – Dan’s journey in training, as it started more so in jumping, and moving much more into sprinting and speed training over time 11:05 – An anecdote of an athlete who took .4 seconds off of his 40 yard dash in a short period of time via power training and high-density single leg bound/hops 16:56 – Single leg hopping and ability in explosive athleticism, and how to determine single leg elasticity, as well as considerations with single leg RSI as a high-transfer test to athleticism 26:42 – Dan’s take on sprint drills, in terms of their transfer to sprinting, and their value as an extensive plyometric 35:29 – The experimental nature of training athletes to their ideal sprinting technique and ability 41:40 – Sprinters different strategies to solving the problem of sprinting as fast as possible 57:50 – Elastic vs. inelastic sprint athletes, and how looking at where athletes are strong is going to have an impact on their sprint technique 1:02:40 – Dan’s thoughts on training team sport athletes in light of sprint training technique 1:09:15 – Dan’s thoughts on how to go about the process of developing vertical force in sprinting, as well as how to integrate speed oriented gains in context of a total training program 1:21:20 – Thoughts on the use of tempo sprint training as an elastic stimulus to get an athlete “bounce”

Today’s episode features Tony Holler.  Tony is the track coach at Plainfield North High School with 39 years of coaching experience in football, basketball, and track.  He is the originator of the “Feed the Cats” training system that has not only found immense popularity in the track and field world, but the team sport coaching world as well.  Tony is the co-director of the Track Football Consortium along with Chris Korfist, and has been a two-time prior guest on the podcast.  Tony’s ideas of a speed-based culture, and rank-record-publish are making large waves in the coaching world. It's been said that “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”.  In the coaching world, the desire to be “well-prepared” for one’s sport can easily lead to an excessive amount of conditioning and overall training volume done too early in the season, creating ground for injuries to happen.  It’s extremely easy to just “do more”.  It takes wisdom and management of one’s coaching validation to start the journey of doing less. On today’s show, Tony goes in detail on his evolution in his “Feed the Cats” coaching system, from the pre-2008 period where he had no electronic timing, to some of the worst workouts he had his athletes do before that critical year-2000 split where he removed things like tempo sprinting (the t-word) from his programming, and centered his program around being the best part of an athlete’s day.  We’ll get into how Feed the Cats is working into team sport training and “conditioning”, and then go in detail on Tony’s speed-training culture built on love, joy, and recognition.  Tony will speak on the “art of surrender” in goal setting, his X-factor workouts, and much more in this conversation of almost 2 hours.  When you are speaking to someone like Tony, the two hours flies by, and you have a spring in your coaching step afterwards. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Lost Empire Herbs, and the Elastic Essentials online course. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 3:49 – The “worst” workout that Tony administered to his sprinters before the year 2000 when “Feed the Cats” started, and Tony’s thoughts on those kids who “survived” that type of training 11:38 – Thoughts on the “Feed the Cats” system as a “base” system for a college sprint program that will likely have more volume and intensive training means 18:49 – Psychological elements of Tony’s program, and the counter-intuitive elements of “not training” for things like back-to-back races at the state championship meet 24:49 – What Tony did for “feed the cats” iterations before his first timing system in 2008, and what the original “feed the cats” workouts were from 2000-2007 31:41 – The idea of being more “sensitized for speed endurance” through an off-season based on feed the cats 35:50 – Joy and love as a foundational force of speed training in the “feed the cats” system 39:36 – Some other elements of Tony’s early “feed the cats” days compared to now, and what he has cut out of the program 48:27 – How to use wrist bands with 20-24mph engravings to reinforce team culture and motivation 57:00 – Tony’s experience of moving FTC into a team sport space, and stories from team sport coaches 1:06:50 – Thoughts on using sport itself as conditioning and essentialism in sport training and conditioning 1:23:05 – Transcending older programs, thought processes in programming, and surrendering to the results 1:31:36 – The present-mindedness of training, and what it means to train like a child 1:36:11 – If Tony’s arm was twisted, would he put in one of the following: A 20’ meeting prior to practice, 6-8x200m tempo, or weightlifting, in his FTC practice 1:40:15 – Some nuts and bolts to Tony’s X-facto...

Today’s episode features Danny Foley.  Danny is a performance coach and Co-founder of Rude Rock Strength and Conditioning.  He is well known for his investigation into fascial training concepts, and is the creator of the “Fascia Chronicles”.  Danny has spent the previous six years as the head strength and conditioning coach at Virginia High Performance, where he specialized in working with Special Operations Command (Naval Special Warfare Development Group) personnel. Through his work at Virginia High Performance, Danny has become very proficient working with complex injuries and high performing athletes within an interdisciplinary setting. The complexity of the human body, and how it moves in sport, will never cease to amaze me.  Humans are “cybernetic” organisms, or “systems of systems”.  Each system is connected to the others in the body.  Perhaps the epitome of that idea of inter-connectedness, as it refers to movement, is on the level of the fascial system, which is the web of connective tissue lying below the skin.  The fascia is laid out in both linear and spiraling lines, which fit with the demands of athletic movement on the linear and rotational level. When we see the way the fascial lines form in the body, or consider the principles of tensegrity in various architectural structures, or a dinosaur’s neck, for example, there is an instant and powerful connection that forms in regards to how this system must help power our movements.  At the same time, it’s easy to take things to extremes, as the fascia clearly needs muscle to create pressure and pull. For today’s episode, performance coach and fascial training expert, Danny Foley takes us into an informative deep dive on what the role of the fascia in movement is, how to understand when relatively more muscle or fascial dynamics may be at play in powering movement, and how to train in a way that can tap into the fascial system to a greater degree (although as Danny clearly mentions, the two systems are inextricable).  This was a really informative and practical conversation that offers a lot of insight to any coach, athlete or human mover. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Lost Empire Herbs, and the Elastic Essentials online course. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 4:56 – What got Danny interested in the role of fascia in training in the first place 10:00 – To Danny, what the difference between “functional” and “fascial” training is from a terminology perspective 15:42 – How we might train differently because of the existence of fascial lines in the human body 22:47 – Danny’s thoughts on older athletes return to “functional training” after doing more intense training in their high-performance years 26:25 – Discussing some propositions regarding fascial training, and what may or may not be true in regards to what really engages that connective system 32:07 – Looking at how to adjust the “dial” between more connective tissue/fascial oriented training, and more muscle-oriented training methods 40:34 – How to actually measure improvement in regards to the quality of the fascial system 50:14 – More information on the unique connective characteristics of fascia, such as sensation and proprioceptive elements 54:12 – Thoughts on balance training in light of the fascial systems 1:01:48 – Why the absence of predictability is extremely important to the training process 1:16:34 – A summary of what defines fascial oriented training vs. more “muscular” oriented training “When you are working with (special forces) you realize that a lot of conventional stuff isn’t conducive to that personnel” “If it weren’t for (the marketing factor), I would just say connective tissue instead of the...

Today’s episode features Christian Thibaudeau.  Christian has been a strength coach for 2 decades, is a prolific writer and author, and has worked with athletes from nearly 30 sports.  Christian has been a multi-time guest on this podcast, and is the originator of educational systems such as neuro-typing, as well as the omni-contraction training.  I am unaware of another strength coach with the extensive knowledge of training methods that Christian does, and I’ve taken a small book’s worth of notes from our various podcasts together thus far. For an athlete, a strength program is only as good as it can 1.) help them to prevent injury and stay robust and 2.) help them to improve their specific speed and power in their sport (and a possible 3. Of building needed size and armor).  When we talk about strength, we need to know how specifically it can plug into helping develop power, and one of the best ways to do this is in light us using complexes. Last time on the show, Christian spoke in depth regarding power complexes and their neurological demand, versus using more “simple” strength training setups and methods.  In this episode, Christian goes into the distinct nature of power, and how to optimally use pure strength methods as potentiation tools in the scope of a training complex.  He’ll get into his own use of overcoming isometrics in the scope of complex training work, how to progress complexes over the course of training cycles, speak on the “Gunthor complex”, and much more. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Lost Empire Herbs, and the Elastic Essentials online course. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 3:28 – Concepts on training “seasonality”, and having a different emphasis on training in each season of the year for the sake of longevity in performance 6:34 – The importance of “de-sensitizing” and “re-sensitizing” athletes to a particular training stimulus for continual training gains 17:24 – The nature of over-training from a brain and body perspective 22:36 – Thoughts on the adaptations that come from a high-frequency training stimulus 26:07 – Training complexes in light of adrenaline, neurological load, and over-training 35:50 – Discussing the multi-stage “Gunthor” complex, and how to warm up for strength complexes optimally 42:18 – Strength work, as it relates to power outputs, and strength in complexes to build power 58:46 – “Descending” vs. “Ascending” complexes, and the role of each in the scope of power development “I have changed my view bit on the impact of strength work on power development; I think the role of strength in power development is over-stated.  I think it is important, but not as important as we once thought” “The one thing I hate with the current trend with the evidence based crew is that it took all of the fun out of discovery, and made it very bland” “It’s the calcium ion buildup that causes muscle damage (not “torn” muscles)… muscle damage is fixed pretty quickly” “Hardcore overtraining mostly has to do with the over-production of adrenaline and cortisol” “The more pressure you put on yourself to perform, the greater the cortisol response.  You need that high adrenaline level to get amped up.  That’s why a competition, even though there’s very little volume compared to what you are doing in training, is a lot more damaging from a muscle recovery standpoint, because the adrenaline is so high, that it de-sensitizes the beta-adrenergic receptors” “If you are the type of person who needs to psyche themselves up to train, then you will crash very easily” “The more effective the training methods are (neurologically intense), the less volume you do” “The more exercises you have in a complex,

Today’s episode features strength coaches Kyle Dobbs and Matt Domney.  Kyle Dobbs is the owner and founder of Compound Performance, has trained 15,000+ sessions, and has experienced substantial success as a coach and educator.  Kyle has an extensive biomechanics and human movement background which he integrates into his gym prescriptions to help athletes achieve their fullest movement, and transferable strength potential.  Matt Domney is the Head Coach at Compound Performance. He is a competitive powerlifter in the USPA, 275lb weight class, and in addition to powerlifting coaching, has years of experience in general population training.. High-intensity training is a fundamental component of athletic performance.  For a long time, “strength and conditioning” was (and still is) based largely off of the (very intense) powerlifts.  Training that is more athlete-friendly on the level of exercise selection and rep ranges has become more popular in the last couple of decades, and pendulums of corrective movements and exercise selection have swung back and forth in the process. Powerlifting itself is generally the most polarized expression of how we express strength, and although sport is much different than powerlifting, the pure intensity of the efforts within the sport (are) lend to a key facet of our human nature.  To understand the “middle ground” better, it helps to understand the poles well.  In this case, the poles of the powerlifts on one side, and then low-level corrective exercise on the other are helpful to consider when we are to make an efficient, effective and practice program for the athlete standing in front of us. On the show today, Kyle and Matt talk about variability within heavy strength training methods, look at the balance of high outputs in sport play vs. the gym, speak more into corrective exercise in the scope of higher intensity work, and then give their take on movement screens, warmups and more.  This was an exercise with a lot of wisdom that offers a great perspective on how to make maximal use of training time and efficiency. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Lost Empire Herbs, and the Elastic Essentials online course. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 2:24 – A discussion of the variables within a powerlifting program, versus a team sport training program 11:18 – Variability in higher rep sets, versus when to use a heavier, more “powerlifting” oriented approach to developing force in athletics 14:30 – Looking at innate force outputs in sport, and then what type of strength training would be an ideal pairing (heavier force output lifting, versus more or a 1x20 style pairing) 19:14 – Kyle and Matt’s take on the balance of “corrective” work and hard work 27:45 – The importance of facilitating changes with a greater load in the system athletically, as opposed to low-load correctives 39:29 – Corrective movements in the realm of powerlifting vs. corrective exercise for lower intensity activities such as running 46:16 – How compressive exercises can be highly “functional” for some athletes, such as narrow intra-sternal angle individuals who need to experience those ranges of motion under load 49:24 – Kyle and Matt’s take on movement screens, and the difference in screening individuals between powerlifting and athletes who require more tasks 59:45 – Thoughts on approaching the warmup given the main movements of the training day “I am probably going to use a lot of bilateral sagittal lifts if I want to improve force output (for team sport athletes), not because I want to improve the skill of the lifts (squat, bench, deadlift), so I will probably use a trap bar.  I might use a different squat variations.

Today’s episode is a Q&A with Joel Smith.  Joel Smith is the founder of Just Fly Sports and is a sports performance/track coach in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Joel hosts the Just Fly Performance Podcast, has authored several books on athletic performance, and in 2021, released the integrative training course, “Elastic Essentials”. Questions for this podcast revolved around maximal strength training needs in jumping and sprinting, testing protocols for youth athletes, speed training setups, sprint hardware vs. software, and much more. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, and Lost Empire Herbs 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 Interested in the December Seminar in Cincinnati? Visit the Applied Speed and Power Training Seminar page for more information. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 2:49 – How to approach jump training when one already has an extremely high squat to bodyweight level 15:27 – What I would use in the realm of testing for youth performance training 32:23 – How much strength is really needed in sprinting and sprint training 38:06 – What to notice and feel when in top-flight sprinting 43:47 – What my winter training would look like for sprint track season in high school 49:03 – How to balance drills and sprinting in one’s practice 53:26 – Looking at shin drop vs. shin collapse in sprinting 59:01 – Principles of how I lay out my warmups in training 1:03:36 – My experience with skateboarding and scootering to improve jump let dynamics 1:06:01 – Thoughts on Jefferson curls 1:06:37 – Thoughts on using conditioning as punishment in training 1:12:00 – The biggest thing I’ve been learning in my last few years of coaching About Joel Smith Joel Smith is the founder of Just Fly Sports and is a sports performance/track coach in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Joel hosts the Just Fly Performance Podcast, has authored several books on athletic performance, and in 2021, released the integrative training course, “Elastic Essentials”.  He currently trains clients in the in-person and online space. Joel was formerly a strength coach for 8 years at UC Berkeley, working with the Swim teams and professional swimmers, as well as tennis, water polo, and track and field.  A track coach of 15 years, Joel coached for the Diablo Valley Track and Field Club for 7 years, and also has 6 years of experience coaching sprints, jumps, hurdles, pole vault and multi-events on the collegiate level, working at Wilmington College, and the University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse, along with his current work with master’s, high school and collegiate individuals. Joel has had the honor of working with a number of elite athletes, but also takes great joy in helping amateur athletes and individuals reach their training goals through an integrative training approach with a heavy emphasis on biomechanics, motor learning, mental preparation, and physiological adaptation.  His mission through Just Fly Sports is: “Empowering the Evolution of Sport and Human Movement”.  As a former NAIA All-American track athlete, Joel enjoys all aspects of human movement and performance, from rock climbing, to track events and weightlifting, to throwing the frisbee with his young children and playing in nature.

Today’s episode features Lee Taft.  Lee is one of the most highly respected sport speed coaches in the world.  His methods come from wisdom accumulated not just in sports performance, but also in physical education, sport coaching, as well as observing changes in athletes between the 1990s, into the modern day.  Lee has been a three-time guest on the podcast, a mentor to many high-level coaches, and has incredible wisdom on the level of sport movement. In a world of specialists, athlete’s processes of mastery can start to become “atomized” (my new favorite word).  Many modern athletes have a sport coach, a skill coach, a strength coach and a speed coach.  At the end of the day, an athlete only has so much time, and all training is only as effective as it can be integrated.  Training effectiveness is also magnified by the level of which the athlete’s learning process can be leveraged.  Hand holding athletes through skill acquisition, or playing games on early levels to win, rather than to learn skills, create early ceilings of performance. What we need in the world of sport is an intuitive, interconnected model by which to better let flow the natural abilities of an athlete.  To do so, having coaches like Lee who have experience in so many facets of movement, across a wide age group, multiple sports, and multiple decades is crucial.  We need to understand movement and motor learning in sport if we are to truly understand speed in sport. On the podcast today, Lee details his process in terms of sport skills, constraints, and then when to step in and “connect the dots” on the level of external speed and strength development.  Lee talks about his use of sport itself as “the screen” for athletes, developmental principles of sport skills, and assessing “hardware” vs. “software” limitations in athletic movement.  He also detailed his own process of sport development with his own children, and finishes with an important discussion on how we can change the developmental sport system for the better through travel-ball alternatives.  Lee is a sage in the world of sport, and we all can become better through his teaching. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Lost Empire Herbs, and the Elastic Essentials online course. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 4:28 – What Lee currently does in his own sport and movement practice 12:43 – If Lee could design an optimal environment for an athlete to develop through what that development would look like 17:34 – How Lee worked natural, simple speed development into the flow of game play with his own children 24:58 – Lee’s thoughts on the training environment athletes are developing skills and speed in 36:21 – Lee’s triage of games, constraints and more focused speed drills, in athletic development 44:36 – Some key things Lee is looking for within a game that Lee uses to assess an athlete’s movement potential 52:24 – Lee’s thoughts on “hardware” vs. “software” in athletic movement, and how he integrates “roll and reaches” to help develop the ability to level change 1:02:07 – More specific instances and practical examples of the effectiveness of speeding up a skill 1:10:35 – Lee’s take on a new model of developmental sport, and how more of the pure form of community and competition can be implemented as an alternative to the travel-ball model “I like doing a lot of stuff with reaction balls and d-balls (in my own training)” “(visual/perceptive/reactive work)creates the stuff that goes beyond the athlete, the athletes who things really quickly and moves, and I don’t think we develop that now as much as we used to when kids had more free play” “I can tell you to run from this cone to that, to that,

Today’s episode features Rett Larson.  Rett is a physical preparation coach with an extensive and diverse background.  He has worked internationally with the national volleyball teams of Germany, Netherlands and China.  Rett has also worked with professionals, down to athletes of all ages, having prior experience as Velocity Sports Performance’s director of coaching in California.  Rett is a student of movement, having studied not only the top minds in sports performance, but also in general movement training such as taught by Ido Portal and in the scope of physical education. The evolution of sport is one of integration, and not separation.  Currently, the “silos” of sport coaching and then all of the “supportive” services (such as S&C) don’t tend to have much interaction with each other beyond a conversation.  The fact of the matter is, that when an athlete hits the field (or court) of play, they are operating within all facets of their humanity.  Their physical, tactical, technical, emotional, social and deep psychology all impacts their performance on the field.  The ”sport-warmup” may be the one place, in all of an athlete’s training, where the maximal amount of silos can be integrated.  Athletes can use strength, physio, games and sport-constraint oriented methods to not only prepare them for practice in an enjoyable way, but also form a “melting pot” of all aspects that make an athlete. On the show today, Rett Larson takes us through his evolution as a coach, and how his warmups and training has evolved over time.  He covers the highest transferring abilities he sees from the gym and warmup sessions, that are embodied by the best players on the team.  Rett also covers the important interaction that must take place between the physical preparation coach and sport coach, to create buy-in, and move the warmup process forward.  After listening to Rett speak on his approach to training athletes, it’s hard to think differently about our own process towards the evolution of our athletes and training programs. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Lost Empire Herbs, and the Elastic Essentials online course. 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 Find out more about the the online course, Elastic Essentials, by heading to justflysports.thinkific.com View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 4:23 – What Rett has learned from other cultures, traveling and coaching abroad, that he has been able to integrate into his coaching repertoire 17:45 – The role of maximal strength training across various countries and cultures, and how to utilize data to help coaches understand what really matters in transfer to on-field performance 24:13 – How to design weight training sessions from a perspective of being able to “level up” regularly 27:43 – How Rett’s approach to the warmup process has changed over the years, and main factors that led him to where he is at now 34:49 – Rett’s athletic background, and its influence on him as it may pertain to his coaching 45:00 – The main box that Rett is trying to check in his warmup process for team sport, the “thermogenic” box 53:06 – Scripted vs. unscripted elements of the warmup for Rett’s work 56:04 – How exercise done in more of a “game oriented” state may not register the same way as more formal training, and how play or challenges can allow for more physiological work to be done 58:42 – How Rett incorporates and considers rhythm and dance-oriented components into his work 1:03:46 – A sample pre-sport warmup session that Rett utilizes with volleyball athletes 1:15:24 – What Rett has learned from Ido Portal in the course of training and athletics 1:25:03 – How Rett communicates with sport coaches to optimize his initial warmup process for the athletes

Today’s episode features John Kiely.  John is a senior lecturer in Performance and Innovation at the University of Limerick.   In addition to his current work with doctoral and Ph.D. candidates, John is a frequent keynote speaker, and has extensive athletic performance training and consultation experience.  His coaching, consulting and advisory work includes numerous sports such as rugby, soccer/football, track and Paralympics.  In his time as an athlete, John won multiple titles in kickboxing and boxing.  John appeared years ago on episode 113 of the podcast. Training is much more than simply putting together a series of sets, reps and exercises, but invokes the “totality” of a human being.  This totality includes not only the body and mechanical forces, but also the mind and one’s environmental influence.  In other words, your training results are a factor of both your program, perceptions and environment, and the roles of the latter must not be minimized. On today’s show, John will cover training on the level of placebo and nocebo effects, the impact of an athlete’s beliefs and perception of the training session, coaching practice to engage the mind, as well as the idea of a “screen for beliefs” when starting a period of training with an athlete.  This is an awesome episode that really helps us understand the fullness of the processes involved within adapting to a training stimulus or program. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Lost Empire Herbs, and the Elastic Essentials online course. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 3:51 – What John means by the idea: “The worth of a training program is not contained in the prescription” 15:06 – Looking at training on the level of placebo and nocebo effects 25:28 – How to ethically and optimally leverage the placebo effect in coaching 33:18 – What type of intellectual participation is ideal for athletes in the course of a training day 46:23 – How perception of the training session is going to have a substantial impact on how an athlete will adapt 52:57 – Program repeatability and novelty elements in training 58:27 – John’s take on a “screen for beliefs” in athletic coaching “From a practical perspective, going back to the 40s and 50s, (the great coaches) were good communicators, inspirational, they were able to get ideas and perspectives out of their heads, into the athlete’s heads” “Some great coaches have really average programs, but the key is that the athlete buys into them” “It’s important what people’s health behaviors are, but what’s really important is how people believe their health behaviors are” “How can I screen an athlete for their beliefs” “What (removing perception of threat) allows you to do is release more resources (to training)” “So all placebo is, is I’m taking a cue from the external world, I’m believing the future is a little brighter, and I can release more resources” “Releasing resources can be thinking, thinking demands energy, it demands cerebral blood flow” “Even a coach’s facial expression, if interpreted as negative, has a negative effect on athletes… I need to be conscious that if I give negative signals, it is going to affect the training” “We have made the assumption that you can predict training outcomes, but the evidence is completely against that” “It’s what athletes are paying attention to, and how they are interpreting those signals” “If you want something to hurt more, think about it more” “The reality is, it is not the physical act that activates the stress response, the stress response is activated by your perception of what is going to happen, and how your body needs to prepare for that”

Today’s episode features Jamie Smith, founder and head sport preparation coach of The U of Strength.  Jamie is a passionate coach and learner, who strives to help athletes incorporate the fullness of perceptual, social and emotional, elements in the course of training.  Jamie has been a multi-time guest on this show, speaking on his approach to training that meets the demands of the game, and settling for nothing less. The further I get into my coaching journey, the more I understand and appreciate the massive importance of stimulating an athlete on the levels of their physiology, their emotions and social interactions, and their perception of their external environment.  Coach Jay Schroeder had his term called the “PIPES”, referring to the importance of a training session being stimulating Physiologically, Intellectually, Psychologically, Emotionally and Spiritually”.  I certainly agree with those terms, but they could also be re-ordered, as per today’s conversation “Physiologically, Individually, Perceptually, Emotionally, and Socially”.  (Individual referring to individual autonomy). On the show today, Jamie goes into how he “stacks” games, play, perception & reaction type work onto more traditional training methods, for greater “sticky-ness” to sport itself.  Through today’s conversation, he’ll get into concepts of variability in training as it relates to sport, driving intention and learning through a training program, older vs. younger athlete response to game play with potentiation, and much more. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Lost Empire Herbs, and the Elastic Essentials online course. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 3:30 – How Jamie infuses “play” into basic exercises and warmup movements 21:50 – How infusing meaning into movement improves intention, immersion and movement quality 49:00 – The role of play in helping infuse natural variability in athletic development 33:38 – How the goal of play and variability changes through a training week 43:17 – Menu systems and autonomy within the scope of games and training sessions for athletes 49:39 – How Jamie’s approach to “High CNS”, max velocity days and how layers of challenge are added on, as athletes grow and mature 1:02:53 – What gym work and warming up looks like for Jamie’s athletes when those athletes are already playing their sport a lot outside of the weightroom (and how to help use social/emotional elements to create a more restorative stimulus) 1:15:34 – “Sticky-ness” of skill in training, created by blending “training” with gameplay “Play hits those missing pieces of the strength and conditioning model” “Game play can create athlete driven approaches to movement and strength and conditioning” “We teach them for the first few weeks, just so they have a general understanding, “what is a crawl”… but once it gets to the point where they understand what it is, lets layer on challenges” “A big thing with the gameplay, is we never repeat the same thing twice in a row” “I believe in exposing them to a wide range of situations so they can see what works, and what doesn’t work” “It’s all about intent, and when you add intent, it changes everything” “(With play) I’m talking about focused variability, having a purpose” “They are trying to solve a problem while getting pushed, shoved, knocked off balance; I call that kind of “sticky strength” qualities” “On the low CNS days I am looking at the gameplay, the emotional side of things, the social emotional side of things” “The social-emotional does have an immediate impact on (performance), it does influence the strength, the speed, the power qualities” “You’re working with a 7th, 8th, 9th grader,

Today’s episode features sports performance coach and sport scientist, Joel Reinhardt.  Joel joined Stanford Football’s staff as the assistant sports performance coach and applied sports science coordinator in 2022.  Prior to Stanford, has spent time at UMass and Nicholls State working in sports performance and sports science roles. One of the great things about the sports performance/strength & conditioning field is that it is interdisciplinary in nature.  Within the field itself, we have the elements of anatomy/physiology, biomechanics, pedagogy, team culture & coaching, training arrangement, and long-term development. We also have the integration of sport science, which quantifies the complex nature of the ways players are loaded in their sport.  When the nature of this load is understood; many relationships can be noticed between a football practice week, for example, and the way a track sprints or jumps coach may set up their training week.  The more areas we see training loads and adaptive trends, the more we can understand the dynamics of the human organism, and how to facilitate the training environment. On today’s show, Joel Reinhardt goes into his role in helping to build out the work-loads of football players at Stanford through his sports science role.  He’ll talk about what specific training weeks look like, how the strength training complements those weekly micro-cycles, and then primary pitfalls that can happen in loading athletes throughout a training week.  Without good integration of sport volume, and weight-room volumes, athletes are almost always going to end up doing more total work than what they need, and that’s why conversations like these are so valuable. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Lost Empire Herbs, and the Elastic Essentials online course. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 5:16 – Recent job updates, and Joel’s role at Stanford University as a sports coach and sports science coordinator 8:01 – Joel’s role in building the workloads for sport practice at Stanford 18:01 – How Joel draws out football practice loads, and how it relates to track and field loading patterns 26:53 – Specific weekly microcycle loads Joel helps facilitate for football practice 36:14 – How Joel looks to complement football loading volumes with strength training 49:10 – “Pain points” and practice elements that could lead to a greater incidence of injury 1:00:22 – Thoughts on “conditioning finishers” at the end of a practice period “I wanted to be very intentional about not coming in and being the person who was saying “you need to do less”” “My role as sports science coordination is utilizing the data to help guide our planning on the front end to play as much football as we possibly can while still being healthy for Saturday” “You want to understand what (practice) scenarios relate to the physical outputs that you are wanting to track; and start to influence where those fall within a week, within a day, within a month” “Day 1 is more constrained by the type of drill they are in, and Day 2 is just playing ball, there is a lot of open scenarios, and it ends up being very game like; that second day is the most open” “The third day is most volume, most time on feet” “That second day is where you expect to see the highest intensities” “It’s not black and white; all this happens on this day, all of this happens on the other day” “In camp we lifted once for every 3-day cycle; we lifted on day 2, the highest intensity type day.  In season we lift Monday, Wednesday, Friday” “In terms of when they lifted, in the racks, during camp, it was only twice a week, but how often they worked with the sports performance staff,

Today’s episode features movement coach, inventor and innovator, Adarian Barr.  Adarian has been one of the absolute biggest influences on me in my coaching, as well as my own personal movement and training practices.  You will be hard pressed to find an individual who sees movement in the detail that Adarian does, while also having the experiential and coaching knowledge to back it up. One of the biggest things I’ve learned from working with Adarian is improving my understanding of how joints work in the scope of human motion.  From the first time I met Adarian, I remember him discussing the spiraling actions of movement to take the slack out of the system, and how he prefers discussing movement on the motion of joints, rather than muscles.  I remember working on what happened when my joints were in flexion, rather than trying to resist, or “punch” my way through movement, the results of which were numerous post-university sprinting bests, and a quantum leap forward in the way I coached athletes. “Stiffness” is a commonly discussed term in the world of athletic movement.  Athletes are generally instructed to “be stiffer” in their lower body to jump higher and run faster.  The truth of the matter though, is that in motion, there must be something in the body that deforms, and the ultimate stiffness is a limb in a cast. On today’s podcast, Adarian takes us through what he considers true joint “stiffness” to really be, when it comes to human motion and movement, and throughout the discussion, creates the grounds for better terminology on the level of the coach, when we speak about joint deformity, stress and strain, in the scope of sprinting, jumping, track and field, and beyond.  This is a podcast that will powerfully impact your mindset on the nature of plyometric exercises, sprinting motions and constraints, and how athletes move ideally in their sport. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Lost Empire Herbs, and the Elastic Essentials online course. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 4:50 – Adarian’s background in his college studies in the realm of music and athletic movement 10:30 – What “ankle stiffness”, or being “stiff” in the context of athletics, means to Adarian 24:20 – The dynamics of strain passing through joints in movement 26:30 – How much strain exists in various joints throughout acceleration and upright sprinting 36:00 – Horizontal and vertical forces in sprinting, in relationship to levers and friction 39:40 – Long to high bounding and hurdling dynamics 44:20 – How to train an athlete who needs to get up off the ground more quickly in regards to strain and quickness 55:40 – How stress and strain fit with the biomechanics of sprinting, using straight leg bounding as an example “Stiffness to me means you aren’t moving very well, you aren’t moving fluidly… it’s not a good term… at some point in time, it means that joint’s not moving” “If there’s movement at the ankle joint, how can it be stiff?” “You got to get things to work together in pairs” “How we operate in the air, is different than how we operate on the ground” “Any type of force is stress.  The strain is resistance to that force… that’s how I engage in these things; the stress, the strain and the amount of deformity I get” “Class 1 low strain low resistance, lots of movement at the ankle joint; class 2, very little deformity, very little movement at the ankle joint” “At the start, things have to fold up, at top-end, things don’t have to fold up as much” “At the start, the first thing I have to do is get to a class 2 lever, but it doesn’t take much strain to resist that force, since there isn’t a large amount of force yet”

Today’s episode features biomechanics specialist, David Grey.  David is the founder of David Grey Rehab, where he works with clients from all walks of life. David’s specialty is assessing his clients gait cycle in depth to develop a plan to help restore the movement or movements they struggle to perform.  David has learned under a number of great mentors in the world of human movement, athletic development, gymnastics, Chinese martial arts, and biomechanics, and is an expansive thinker, blending many elements of human movement together in a down to earth way we can all resonate with. Humans absolutely love to categorize things, and put things in boxes.  For those in their initial learning stages, this can really be helpful to the learning process, but at some point, we need to see the grey, or continuum-like nature of things, and how training interacts on its different levels.  When we put things in the box of simply being a “corrective” exercise, for example, it loses touch with many of the helpful principles of training and overload that come in more “standard” training exercises.  When we can see things from an expansive viewpoint, we can start to gather the wisdom regarding how different pieces of training work together. On today’s show David, puts many things together in regards to good functioning of the kinetic chain for not only knee health, but also better movement.  We talk about the muscles of the lower leg, where he stands (and how he has changed) on the level of more “bodybuilding” oriented training methods, keeping things simple in exercise progression (and how putting “corrective exercise” in a box is a bad idea), sensory awareness and fatigue contrasts, and finally, a ridiculously good summary on how David approaches knee rehab and health from a multi-factorial perspective. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Lost Empire Herbs, and the Elastic Essentials online course. 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 Find out more about the the online course, Elastic Essentials, by heading to justflysports.thinkific.com View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 3:48 – David’s experience in his United States tour 11:56 – Discussing the muscles of the lower leg, and their importance in movement 21:16 – Simplifying some exercise methods that improve hamstring calf interaction 25:30 – Where muscles sit on the “joints act, muscles react” end of the spectrum in the sense of simply training a muscle to alleviate joint pain or optimize the kinetic chain 36:10 – How to keep things “simple” in a rehab and “corrective exercise” space, and the “sensory to intensity” scale 41:55 – David’s use of “fatigue contrasts” in training and working with longer-ground contact plyometrics 57:27 – David’s current multi-lateral keys to knee training and rehab as he sees it and summarizes it “With movement, you can talk about it all you want, but they need a chance to experience it and feel it” “Even with slower running, the soleus has a lot of load going through it” “If you think going for a jog is easy, it’s easy for a lot of muscles, but it’s not easy on the soleus” “The gastroc has a lot of pre-activation before the foot hits the floor, the soleus has very little.  But when the foot hits the floor, the gastroc cools down and the soleus goes through the roof” “A muscle like the soleus and glute max takes time to produce force, because of the shape of the muscle, but they are way stronger… there are other muscles that can contract quicker, but they are not as strong” “Those types of (roller bridge) exercises open you up to a lot of sensation” “Before full body strength work, that’s where we start to isolate a lot of muscles (for those who have inhibited muscles)”

Today’s episode features Jared Burton.  Jared is a human performance specialist, chiropractic student, and health coach.  He got his coaching start working with Brady Volmering of DAC baseball, and has spent recent years coaching, consulting and running educational courses in the private sector.  Jared focuses on engaging all aspects of an athlete’s being, providing the knowledge for the individual to thrive in their domain. In the world of coaching and human performance, the road to success is often thought of on the level of do “A”, in “B” amount, so you can accomplish “C”.  The focus on typically on numbers, exercises, and (often) a linear cueing process for those said movements.  We are so quick to judge programs entirely based on numbers and exercises. What we don’t consider often enough is the complex factors surrounding the volume that is administered.  There are elite athletes who have won gold medals and set world records who do a lot of volume that would “crush” other athletes (think the athletes that survived the Soviet or Bulgarian training systems, or modern-day athletes, such as Karsten Warholm, the 400m hurdle world record holder).  We need to ask ourselves, “what is the difference, or elements, that allowed the athlete to tolerate that?”.  Is it that their musculo-skeletal system was somehow just “better” than the other trainees, or are there other additional elements to consider?  The more elite coaches I’ve had the opportunity to work with, the more I realize that good coaches intuitively key into the mental and emotional state of the athlete, as well as the physiological management. On today’s podcast, Jared chats on managing high training volumes, work capacity dynamics, the critical role of boredom/interest in training, athlete self-discovery, and much more.  This is a podcast that causes you to ask questions, and gives us a new and interesting perspective on the dynamics of training. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Lost Empire Herbs, and the Elastic Essentials online course. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 4:10 – The nature of Jared’s training experiment, where he only performed extreme iso holds and dunking (in his quest for a higher vertical jump) 9:45 – Thoughts on the process of assessing athletes, and drawing out physical and emotional weak-points 12:15 – How “obsessive” or “unreasonable” training, such as bounding every day, could actually be a powerful performance tool, and how we actually classify fatigue in training 28:45 – How to manage higher volume training so athletes don’t get injured or decrease their performance 42:30 – The role of self-discovery and creativity in athletic performance training 45:36 – Thoughts on mixing game like activities with specific training outputs (such as a 10m fly or dunking a basketball) 57:28 – Mental associations, boredom/interest, and training principles 1:05:55 – Jared’s thoughts on the “Easy Strength” mentality on weights and barbell training “As I was holding the isometrics, I was creating the reality of: “what would it feel like as I dunk”” “How do you meet an athlete where you are at in their current state; how do you expose them, and how do you draw out they creativity within them” “The more awareness they have, the more ability they have to create.  The goal is for them to be the captain of their own ship” “The amount of volume that kids or athletes experience in a game is 5 to 10 times the amount of actual stimulus that we even give them in the training aspect; I follow along with the idea that the training must be more intense and strenuous than the actual activity itself” “The biggest thing, regardless of how you train,

Today’s episode features performance coach and breathing specialist, Leo Ryan.  Leo is the founder of Innate-Strength.com.  Leo has studied from many elite personal training, physical therapy and breathing schools including Dip. Buteyko Method, Wim Hof, Oxygen Advantage Master Instructor, Fascial Stretch Therapist, Strength and Conditioning Specialist and Pilates.  Leo previously appeared on episode 219 speaking on many elements of breath training for athletic performance including nose vs mouth breathing in training, breath hold time as a readiness indicator, and more. The use of one’s breath for training and overall well-being has become more and more on my radar with each passing year.  From my foray into the endurance end of the competitive spectrum (Spartan Racing in 2019), to understanding the role of rib cage expansion in movement biomechanics, to breathing for energy and recovery, to the training practices of the old-school strongmen, in each year of my life, understanding and training the breath becomes more substantial. On today’s show, Leo Ryan returns to dig into the role of breath training, and its role in recovery, both within the workout itself, and in day-to-day recovery from training efforts.  We often talk about having an adequate “aerobic base”, but for some reason, the actual core of that aerobic base, which is “breathing”, is rarely considered, and Leo goes into making capacity workouts even more effective through breathing mechanics, physiology and rhythm.  Leo will also cover the role of CO2 and CO2 tolerance in human and athletic function, rhythmic aspects of breathing in athletic performance, and then some dynamics on breathing in the scope of strength training sessions. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Lost Empire Herbs, and the Elastic Essentials online course. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 4:57 – Thoughts on Irish Dancing and athletic performance, from Leo’s perspective residing in Ireland 13:00 – Getting deeper into the role of breathing and breath-work in helping athletes recover from intense workouts 27:00 – The state of world health and strength on the human level, in the scope of modern society 32:00 – How one’s breathing throughout the day can dictate one’s recovery from training 41:27 – The specifics of Leo’s breath training that helped his training group to drastically improve their recovery in a 10-day period 46:00 – The dynamics of breathing rhythm on health and performance 52:20 – Controlled exhale dynamics and the importance of CO2 tolerance in athletic development 1:05:40 – Thoughts on breathing in the scope of heavier strength training, from a recovery and pressure dynamics perspective “There is a lot of footwork, a lot of high kicks, and a lot of fast feet (in Irish dancing) so for improving your speed for sport, it’s absolutely incredible” “Paul Chek said it beautifully that “every summer has its winter” and if you don’t take your winter, winter is going to take you” “The breath is a phenomenal window into how your whole body and mind is working; and then you can use the breath to upregulate or downregulate the system as needed” “(After over-using coffee) when you have your morning coffee, you are just getting yourself up to baseline” “The breath is a beautiful guide to rebuilding your baselines, and making sense of where you are in the world” “My idea of breath training is restoring your breath back to baseline” “They ran (12 minutes max) their way first; then they trained for 10 days in nasal breathing and breath techniques, and then they ran it again; and they ran it my way.  What I found was a 1-2% performance improvement, but I found a 40% recovery improvement”

Today’s episode features strength and track coach, John Garrish.  John is the director of athletic development at North Broward Preparatory School in Coconut Creek, Florida, and the school’s head track coach.  John was recently voted the 2022 National High School Strength Coach of the Year by the National High School Strength Coach’s Association.  John appeared previously on the show discussing his speed training approach in episode 182. The symbiosis of track and football is often discussed in the process of training, and importantly so.  What is talked about less, are some of the specifics of what track has to offer, not just in the sprints, but also in events like triple jump, that can enhance an athletes speed, power, elasticity and overall movement profile, in their other sports. John was a hammer thrower in his college years, as well as a former football player.  The hammer throw is, of all the throws, the one that requires the greatest symbiosis and harmony with the implement.  The triple jump (bounding) requires a tremendous symbiosis with the ground, and how one interacts with it.  You can easily see John’s experience and intuition of track and S&C concepts emerge in his progression of bound, skip, hop and overall elastic training with his athletes. On the show today, John covers thoughts on hand position and “elastic/rigidity” vs. “muscular” sprint strategies in athletes as they move from youth to high-school levels.  This sets the stage for his talk on his galloping, skipping and bounding progressions, and how he keeps movement quality and velocity at the core of the progression.  John talks about how he keeps the training fun and intentional, and how he changes emphasis as athletes move from middle school, to high school years.  This show is a beautiful fusion of team sport S&C, and track and field concepts, and can be used to help any athlete develop more fluid, dynamic power outputs on the field of play. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Lost Empire Herbs, and the Elastic Essentials online course. 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 Find out more about the the online course, Elastic Essentials, by heading to justflysports.thinkific.com View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 3:50 – What a typical workout looks like for John, and how he does bounds, skips and gallops himself to be a better coach in those movements 8:29 – Thoughts on hand-position in young athletes vs. older athletes, the use of rigid, splayed fingers, and how that rigid-open-hand strategy might change, as athletes get older 28:36 – How John evolved skips and gallops from elementary school, into their middle and high school years 37:21 – John’s take on more traditional extensive hops, in light of his use of skips, gallops and hops 44:37 – Different constraints and emphasis of skips and bounds are that John utilizes in his scholastic and open-large group training sessions 54:07 – How to give athletes balance in their skip and gallop profile without diminishing their “superpower” 1:00:59 – John’s thoughts on when to get bounding in the mix for athletes, and how to progress it 1:15:17 – Using backwards single leg hops for athletes, its benefits, and potential link to being able to bound forward for distance “I felt that unless I at least had the comfort of the ability to demonstrate, or perform these movements (bounds, gallops, skips) myself, then I felt there was no way I could verbalize it to my athletes; or find lesser cues, or a tactile cue to get the athlete to feel it as well” “Some of the fastest girls I’ve seen at track meets do display that splayed hand position (when sprinting)… but as they progress in middle school you see less dominance of that hand position”

Today’s episode features strength coach and biomechanics educator, Katie St. Clair.  Katie been training general population and athletes for over 20 years, and is the creator of the Empowered Performance Program.  She is one of my go-to sources of knowledge for all things biomechanics, and the finer details of human movement.  She previously appeared on episode 279 of the podcast, speaking on biomechanical facets of running, lifting and athletic movement. Humans explore movement in a variety of ways as they grow from youth to adulthood.  We skip, run, sprint, throw, bend and twist with substantial variability, all through the medium of self-learning.  For some reason, as soon as weight lifting enters the picture, variation tends to go by the wayside, and a rigid bilateral (or even unilateral) method of moving that is pasted onto all athletes, is applied.  Human beings are complex, we differ from one another, not only in our builds and structures, but also in how our bodies have compensated and compressed in particular ways over time.  In this sense, our weightlifting programs should offer at least some room for each individual to learn more about the nuances of how each lift might be set up, or tweaked, in a manner the athlete could be optimally responsive to. On today’s show, Katie goes in detail on staggered-stance squatting and deadlifting, and how it can be leveraged based on the asymmetrical nature of an athlete’s body.  She also gets into detail on single leg lifting, and how turning into, or away from the leg being worked can emphasize various elements of the exercise.  She finishes by touching on hinging, posterior compression, and the link between high, rigid foot arches and what is happening upstream in the body.  Throughout the conversation, Katie highlights how each of these lifting variations can be utilized to bring the athletic body into greater balance, where needed. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Lost Empire Herbs, and the Elastic Essentials online course. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 4:22 – The ideology behind staggered stance squatting, and how it can fit with athlete’s natural asymmetry 10:35 – What types of individuals would be the best candidates to give a left leg back, staggered squat to, in training 15:35 – The role of biofeedback in exploring squat and deadlift stance 25:00 – Thoughts on doing the stagger in a squat or deadlift one way, vs. both ways with athletes 31:06 – How to set athletes up, in a high-performance training program, to help them learn more about how their bodies work in a manner that will help them for a lifetime 44:11 – Single leg squat training with a turn at the top of the bottom to bias various elements of the gait cycle 48:30 – How to improve one’s pistol squatting on the left leg if an individual lacks the ability to internally rotate their left hip 58:25 – Katie’s thoughts on narrow and wide ISA’s, and how to look at deadlifting and hinging from that perspective 1:10:49 – Where to start with someone with high arches, or “banana feet”, and how the pelvic floor plays into that 1:21:38 – Using the pigeon stretch for clients with posterior compression in wide ISA’s vs. narrow ISA’s “Because of our natural asymmetry and organ position, the pelvis starts to turn to the right” “There are so many ways that the body is clever about maintaining that forward motion” “I used to do drills where I would reset my pelvis more back to the left, to get myself in a good position, and then go squat, but it still didn’t feel right….(but instead) In adding load and pulling my left foot back and sensing the outside of my left heel and inside of my right heel; just that little tiny maneuver,

Today’s episode features performance coaches James DiBiasio and Collin (CT) Taylor.  James and CT work at T3 performance in Avon, Ohio, and have a progressive approach to athletic performance training, encapsulating strength, movement, athleticism in a holistic manner that fits with the progression of athletic skill, and leveling up one’s abilities as a human being.  James and CT were both college athletes in baseball and football respectively, and CT played arena football after his NCAA years.  In addition to their coaching, James and CT have been running the “Cutoffs and Coffee” podcast since 2020, having interviewed nearly 50 different guests. It’s been enjoyable to see more elements of chaos, risk, perception/reaction, and overall athleticism, emerge in the sports performance process in recent years.  Humans are the species on this planet with the greatest overall dexterity of skills, and yet, this dexterity is rarely leveraged in the average “training program” to a shade of its potential.  “Training” is something that is traditionally heavy on data, but low on chaos, and yet, sport, as well as the array of FLOW inducing human movement practices, are quite the opposite.  Yes, we still want to perform movements that improve the strength of muscles and tissues, while increasing capacity, but at the same time, we also want to give athletes challenges that allow them to expand their athleticism.  On the show today, James and CT get into how they have incorporated a variety of athletic skills, flips, and calisthenic movements into their training, how much their athletes enjoy it, and how it links to dynamics on the field of play.  They chat about how to leverage principles of intuition and chaos in the training day, and even week, speed training constraints, and finally, James and CT finish with an insightful view on the role of “difficult” training routines, and higher volume capacity-oriented training sets.  This was a fun podcast with a lot of take-aways, and highlights the ways that the field of athletic performance training is expanding and evolving. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Lost Empire Herbs, and the Elastic Essentials online course. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 3:58 – Who wins the “bang energy” drink quantity competition between James, CT and Will Ratelle 6:49 – How James and CT use calisthenics, flips and tricks to level up their physical abilities 13:02 – How training movement skills and a variety of abilities has inspired the linking of these various flips, tricks and skills with traditional athletic performance 26:15 – How risk becoming involved in a skill changes the dynamic nature of that movement 36:00 – How James and CT look at training in its ability to prepare an athlete for working with other coaches, or situations where the work may be unpredictable 38:36 – How James and CT’s evolved training programs are perceived by parents and other coaches, and how they have gained trust over the years 43:05 – Moving through an “intuitive warmup” into a more programmed primary strength training session, and how a powerful warmup with a lot of “human” elements can make the strength training portion much better 52:31 – Changing the environment and the drill to get an outcome vs. trying to coach and cue excessively 1:04:07 – How to put difficult/capacity training exercises in context, and how to utilize higher volume training to athlete’s advantage “We’ll play around on the bars when we are in a training session with athletes, we’ll goof around and do different warmup styles, front flips and rolls, exciting and non-normal movements that can pique curiosity, and maybe after the training session,

Today’s episode welcomes back coaches Cal Dietz, Dan Fichter and Chris Korfist in a truly epic multi-guest podcast.  The amount of coaching and learning experienced between Cal, Dan and Chris is staggering, and they have been influencing the training practices of other coaches since the early 2000’s. Speed training is always a fun topic, with a lot of resonance to many coaches, because it is the intersection of strength and function.  Training speed requires an understanding of both force and biomechanics.  It requires knowing ideas on both cueing, and athlete psychology.  Since acquiring better maximal velocity is hard, it forces us to level up on multiple levels of our coaching, and that process of improvement can filter out into other aspects of performance and injury prevention. On the show today, fresh off of their recent speed training clinic collaboration, Cal, Dan, Chris and I talk about a variety of topics on speed and athletic performance, including “muscular vs. elastic” athletes, the importance of strong feet (and toes), reflexive plyometric and speed training, as well as the best weight room exercises and alignments that have a higher transfer point to actual sport running.  This was a really enjoyable podcast to put together. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Lost Empire Herbs, and the Elastic Essentials online course. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 2:50 – Who wins the quality sleep award between Cal, Dan and Chris 5:45 – Looking back on elastic vs. muscular athletes in light of the DB Hammer era, relative to now where we are talking more about wide and narrow ISA athletes 15:42 – Thoughts on athletes who do better to train with weights above 80% of their lifting max, and then athletes who do better with less, and how to train these athletes year-round 19:12 – Dan’s take on altitude drops, and how much athletes can progress into drops, or be more responsive to it than others 22:25 – The reflexive nature of things like dropping, falling and “plyo-soidal” oriented over-speed training 33:00 – Some different strategies Chris sees in sprinting on the 1080 with elastic vs. muscular athletes in mind 40:21 – Foot and toe strength, athlete function, and the role of the nervous system 50:05 – Thoughts on foot positions in light of weight-room work, and its link to sport speed 54:38 – How stronger athletes can manage a wider step width in a sprint start, vs. weaker athletes 1:03:58 – How athletes work off of coach’s mirroring of a movement 1:07:55 – Cal, Dan and Chris’s favorite single leg training movements for speed and athletic movement, particularly the “Yuri” hip flexor training movement 1:18:10 – Moving past “barbell hip thrusts” in training into standing or 45 degree hyper type versions “I think the elastic component boils down to altitude drops” Fichter “Everyone is going to deal with that collision in a different way, sometimes it is going to have to do with tendon length, or isometric strength” Korfist “Isometrics correlated a lot closer to increasing power, after an isometric block with my throwers, than it did my sprinters” Dietz “The throwers produced a lot more force above 60%, the runners produced a lot more force below 60%” “I can give you examples where something works for my athletes, and then 16 weeks later, it might make them worse, and that’s the art of coaching” “Is the hormonal/global response (from lifting heavy weights) going to outweigh the negatives?” Korfist “We’ve trained a lot of people without jumping at all, just landings” Fichter “I tested a kid with some reflexes that were off, and as soon as we implemented some overspeed work with the 1080,

Today’s episode features Pat Davidson, Ph.D..  Pat is an independent trainer and educator in NYC.  Pat is the creator of the “Rethinking the Big Patterns” lecture series, is a former college professor, and is one of the most intelligent coaches I know in the world of fitness and human performance.  As an athlete, Pat has an extensive training background including time in strongman, mixed martial arts, and many types of weightlifting activities.  He has been a guest on multiple prior episodes of this series. The human body is quite complex, as is the potential array of training interventions we can impose on it.  To ease this process, and help us to direct our focus, it can be helpful to categorize means and methods.  We have spoken on this podcast often about compression, expansion, mid-early-late stance, and other biomechanical topics.  Outside of these ideas, training can also be, simply, considered in light of spending more, or less time on the ground and in contact with objects. On the podcast today, Pat shares his thoughts on a new idea in categorizing athletes and training means, which is based on that contact with the ground and deformable objects.  This goes beyond muscles, and into the sum total of a variety of muscle, joint and pressure system actions that deal with more, or less points of contact for an athletic movement. Within this system of “high ground” and “low ground”, Pat goes into exercise classification, as well as an explanation why more “aerial” exercise, such as movements involving a level of balance, are as popular as they are, based on the ground/aerial spectrum and links to athleticism.  Pat also gets into the role of the feet, particularly in mid-stance, on the tail end of this enlightening conversation.  This talk really helps us see a number of training means in a new and helpful light. Pat and I had a long and awesome talk here; based on some logistics with production and time, we’ll be jumping right into the meat and potatoes of our talk. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Lost Empire Herbs, and the Elastic Essentials online course. 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 Find out more about the the online course, Elastic Essentials, by heading to justflysports.thinkific.com View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 4:10 – How the number of movements and skills involved in a sport can impact the training concepts 6:17 – How sports can be “more grounded” or “less grounded” 22:32 – The links between good movers, and their ability to move when the amount of “ground” is reduced for them 30:36 – How far to take and maximize “high ground” activities, in light of other athletic activities 38:31 – The link between “low ground” athletic activities and “functional training” methods 49:00 – Single leg vs. bilateral training in terms of being “high ground” or “low ground” 1:01:04 – How being in hockey skates/rollerblades, or sprinting in track spikes make movements “higher ground” 1:05.45 – Pat’s thought’s on addressing mid-stance in light of “more ground” or “less ground” 1:16:56 – The role of mid-stance in transitioning to “forefoot rocker”, or up onto the ball of the foot “The more stuff there is outside of you that you can push against, and the less deformable that stuff is, the more “ground” (type of athlete) that is” “The low ground athletes are like half-pipe skateboarders, snowboarders, olympic divers, acrobats” “High ground individuals; a powerlifter is the highest ground I can think of, weightlifters, bodybuilders, interior linemen in football” “If you look at the characteristics of low ground and high ground athletes, they tend to be very different from each other” “The 100m is an instructive thing,

Today’s episode features track and sport performance coach, Jeff Howser.  Jeff has been coaching track and field since 1971, and was himself a 6x ACC champion, named as one of the ACC’s top 50 track athletes of all time in 2003.  Jeff was a sprints and hurdles coach at Florida, UCLA, NC State, Duke and UNC before his time as a speed and sports performance coach, back at Duke University. If you caught the classic episode on oscillatory strength training with Sheldon Dunlap you may have heard Sheldon mention Jeff as a source of his oscillatory rep training knowledge.  In addition to a number of elite track and field competitors, Jeff also trained the top high school 40-yard dash runner in history, who ran a 4.25 second effort. In the world of speed training, many folks gravitate towards the “neat, packaged” training methods that are easy to understand and copy, such as sprint skip drills (A-skips, etc.).  Unfortunately, these drills don’t transfer to speed in nearly the capacity that we would hope for.  As Jeff says “I’ve never seen anyone skip their way to being fast”.  True speed is a little more complex, as it involves horizontal velocity and rotation, but is still, simple at its core given the self-organizing ability of the body. In his decades in track and field, Jeff has seen numerous pendulum shifts in how speed is coached, and has experienced a wide variety of training methods.  As Jeff has said, we often go to clinics and seminars to be fed the same information with a different coat of paint.  The “dark side” of the moon represents what we haven’t seen in the world of performance, and this episode is an epitome of that. On today’s show, Jeff goes into how sprint training has changed in the last 50 years, what he does, and doesn’t find helpful in speed development, a variety of sprint and speed training constraints and self-governing drills, oscillatory lifting and power development principles, and much more.  This show blends several important elements of biomechanics, strength and program philosophy that are impactful for any coach or athlete. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 3:57 – Jeff’s background and story in track and field, and his transition to university speed and strength coaching 8:29 – What track and field/speed coaching was like in the 1970’s, and how it has progressed since then 16:17 – What is the same, and what is different in training team sport athletes, and track and field athletes, in regards to their sprint technique 23:55 – Mistakes Jeff seeing being made in synchronizing the strength and speed components of a program 26:25 – Discussing the role of oscillation training in power development for the athletic program 33:22 – Running a periodization model on the level of “syncing and linking”, going power first and building strength on top of it 39:56 – Jeff’s thoughts on the “canned” (mach) sprint drills that are very popular in training 43:16 – “Down-the-Line” sprinting, and how this benefits athletes and emulates aspects seen in elite sprinters 50:25 – Why Jeff uses “flat footed” running as a sprint constraint, and how this can help substantially once they go back to “normal” running 51:50 – How and why Jeff started using “groucho” runs, which are similar to “squatty runs” 1:01:33 – Details of Jeff’s training of an athlete who went from 4.45 to a 4.25 40-yard dash and ran the fastest high school clocking of all time “Back in my day (in the 1970’s) I was actually taught to stay on the ground and push as long as you can, as hard as you can… I had to change my philosophy, I used to coach the way I was coached; when the evidence is there,

Today’s episode features sports psychologist, Simon Capon.  Simon is a hypnotherapist, Master NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) practitioner, as well as the author of the book “It’s Time to Start Winning.” Since 2006 Simon has worked with professional athletes, using variety of techniques including skills from NLP and hypnotherapy.  He has inspired athletes, footballers and numerous others to achieve national, international and world titles. Simon’s philosophy is simple, create self-belief and your behaviors and actions will change and so will your results.  Simon previously appeared on episode #198 of the podcast, speaking particularly on the link between body language and mental state in athletics, as well as managing the emotional brain for performance. As Logan Christopher puts it, we are always “mentally training” whether we think we are or not.  If we do nothing dedicated to improving the processes and habits related to managing the mind well, we will simply revert to the default programming.  By focusing on the role of the mind, we can improve our motivation, consistency, clutch performance, physical abilities, as well as find a greater sense of purpose and enjoyment in each training session. In this show, Simon speaks at length on methods to stay in the present moment, how to use particular strategies to engage the sensory systems of the body, turn of the judging mind, and get into FLOW states.  He discusses the role of visual focus (peripheral vs. narrow) in sport, linking higher purposes and emotions into our movement/training, as well as a “process oriented” approach to goal setting. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 4:45 – Why spending time on a cell-phone between training sets takes one out of the present moment, and what to focus on between sets instead 13:15 – The link between modern lifestyle technology use, dopamine addiction, and the negative brain chemistry momentum generated by continually checking one’s phone 16:45 – Principles that lead to the “unconscious” flow state in sport performance 19:45 – Strategies on how to get into the FLOW state in sport 25:45 – The “Know-Nothing” state and how to use one’s senses to get into FLOW states 31:45 – How one’s visual field adjustments factor into one’s sport skill performance 35:45 – Principles of non-attachment and over-trying in sport 38:45 – “Chunking” a long and demanding task into smaller parts to improve mental focus and resilience 45:45 – Digging into purpose and higher emotions in the course of difficult training sessions 61:00 – Balancing process vs. outcome goals “Wherever you are, be there…. (if you are on your phone) we aren’t really present in the gym” “Energy flows where focus goes… wherever you are, put your heart and soul into it” “It’s not just about the gym, it’s in other areas of your life as well” “(In an athletic flow state) There’s no internal dialogue, there’s no judgements, there’s no thoughts” “We can’t always keep (the critical inner voice) quiet, but we can keep it occupied” “(Widening your field of vision, noticing your breathing, using all of your senses with your internal and external environment) allows you to play your sport freely…… it comes from a technique called the “know-nothing state”” “Mental focus follows visual focus” “Every time you go to the table, your job is to execute the strategy (not to “win the game”), it’s to be at your best, and if you are at your best, winning the tournament will most certainly happen” “Purpose is one of those things that we often under-estimate” “We all have an ego, but when you can channel it so it has a contribution to othe...

Today’s episode brings back Rick Franzblau, assistant AD for Olympic Sports Performance at Clemson University.  In his two decades in athletic performance, Rick has worked with a wide variety of sports, as well as gained an incredible amount of knowledge in both the technology, and biomechanics ends of the coaching spectrum.  Rick, as with many other biomechanics topic guests on this podcast, has been a mentee of Bill Hartman, and has appeared previously on episode 94, talking about force/velocity metrics in sprinting and lifting. There is a lot of time spent, talking about an “optimal technique” for various sport skills (such as sprinting).  We also tend to look for “optimal lifts” or exercises for athletes, as well as optimal drills athletes are supposed to perform with “perfect form” to attain an ideal technique. What the mentality described in the above paragraph doesn’t consider is that athletes come in different shapes and structures, which cause what is optimal to differ.  Wide ISA athletes, for example, are fantastic at short bursts of compression, have lower centers of mass, and can manage frontside sprint mechanics relatively easily.  On the other hand, narrow ISA individuals use longer ranges of motion to distribute force, have a higher center of mass, rotate more easily, and can use backside running mechanics better than wide-ISA’s.  Additionally, there is a spectrum of these athletic structures, and not simply 2 solid types. On today’s show, Rick goes into detail on the impact and role of compression in human movement and performance training, the strengths and weaknesses of the narrow vs. wide ISA archetypes, what differences show up in locomotion and sprint training, as well as how he approaches strength training for the spectrum of wide to narrow individuals.  Today’s show reminds us (thankfully) that there is no magic-bullet for all athletes, and helps us with the over-arching principles that can guide training for different populations to reach their highest potential. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Lost Empire Herbs, and the Elastic Essentials online course. 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 Find out more about the the online course, Elastic Essentials, by heading to justflysports.thinkific.com View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 4:00 – How the direction of Rick’s performance testing and KPI’s has changed over the last few years 8:00 – How structure and thorax build will play a strong role in what Rick is seeing from them on rate of development on the force plate 23:00 – What to give to a compressed narrow individual to help them in a vertical jump 25:00 – Narrow vs. Wide ISA acceleration mechanics 34:00 – Thoughts on how to help a narrow ISA improve their ability to get lower and achieve better compression in sprint acceleration, and why Rick has gotten away from heavy sled sprints for narrow ISA athletes on the 1080 44:00 – How a coach’s own personal body structure can create a bias for how they end up training athletes they work with 47:00 – Wide ISA athletes, and why they may have an easier time accessing front-side mechanics in running 56:00 – Narrow ISA athletes and backside sprint mechanics, as well as attaining appropriate range and sprint bandwidths for each athlete 58:00 – How force plate data and structural bandwidths determine how to train team sport athletes for the sake of injury prevention and sport specific KPI’s 1:10:00 – How Rick alters weightroom training for narrow vs. wide ISA athletes 1:17:00 – Rick’s take on oscillatory reps in the weightroom, and quick-impulse lifts, especially for narrow infra-sternal angle athletes “(Regarding infrasternal angle archetypes) It’s not to claim buckets that people fall into; it’s a spec...

Today’s episode brings back Alex Effer.  Alex is the owner of Resilient Training, and has extensive experience in strength & conditioning, exercise physiology and the biomechanical function of the body.  He also runs educational mentorships teaching biomechanics to therapists, trainers and coaches.  Alex was recently on the show talking about the mechanics of the early to late stance spectrum and it’s implications for performance training. Something that has been dramatically under-studied in running, jumping, cutting and locomotion in general is the role of the upper body.  Since the arms don’t directly “put force into the ground” and the world of sports performance and running is mostly concerned with vertical force concepts; the role of the arms gets relatively little attention in movement. This is unfortunate for a few reasons.  One is that sport movement has strong horizontal and rotational components that demand an understanding of how the upper body matches and assists with the forces that are “coming up from below”.  Two is that the joints of the upper body tend to have a lot in common with the alignment and actions of corresponding joints in the lower body.  When we understand how the upper body aligns and operates, we can optimize our training for it in the gym, as well as better understand cueing and motor learning constraints in dynamic motion. Today’s topics progress in a trend of “expansion to compression”, starting with a chat on the expansive effect of aerobic training (as well as the trendy thera-gun) and Alex’s favorite restorative and re-positioning aerobic methods.  We then get into rotational dynamics in squatting, focusing on the actions of the lower leg, and finish the chat with a comprehensive discussion on the role of the upper body in sprinting, how to train propulsive IR for the upper body in the gym, as well as touching on improving hip extension quality for athletic power. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 5:00 – Why Alex thinks that the Theragun is actually a useful tool in the scope of training 15:00 – Thoughts on the use of aerobic training, and blood flow as an “inside out” expansive stimulus to the muscle and the body in general 22:30 – The importance of tibial internal rotation, and how it fits in with the ability to squat and bend the knee 33:30 – How to restore tibial internal rotation for improved squatting and knee mechanics 38:15 – Talking about Chris Korfist’s “rocker squats”, and viability in regards to specifically improving tibial internal rotation 44:00 – Isometrics and work done at shallower knee angles for knee health in respect to the vastus lateralis and vastus medialis muscles 51:00 – The importance of hip and shoulder internal rotation in sprinting, and the role of the upper body in helping the lower body to get off the ground more quickly. 1:07:30 – Narrow vs. Wide infra-sternal angle athletes in regards to upper body dynamics , and general biomechanics in sprinting 1:13:00 – Alex’s take on hip extension in sprinting and how to improve it 1:22:00 – The role of hill sprinting in improving hip extension, as well as the benefits of walking down the hill in terms of priming the body to leverage the glutes better on the way back up 1:24:00 – Why Alex likes hip thrusts with the feet elevated, relative to hip height 1:28:00 – Some key exercises to improve shoulder internal rotation for sprinting “The vibration aspect of the Theragun I really like; if you slow the landing of running or sprinting, you will see a vibration or wave-like effect of the muscle upon impact” “Whatever my upper back or torso is going to do; I am going to ha...

Today’s episode features a question and answer session with Joel Smith. On the show today, I answer questions related to “are there any bad exercises?”, sport speed concepts, jump training, “switching” sprint drills, and much more.  I love being able to highlight and integrate information from so many of the past guests on this podcast into my own training, coaching, and ultimately, the answers I provide on this show.  In many senses of the word, this is truly an “integration” episode of the podcast series. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 3:16 –Is there any such thing as a bad exercise? 17:19 –How do we speed up soccer players? 30:25 –Do you find value in spending time on switching drills? 45:07 –Athletes who take too many steps in a start or acceleration. 53:19 –Does walking affect fast-twitch fibers? 54:45 –Setups for high jump off-season/yearly plyo program for high level jumpers? 1:01:36 –How to speed jump like elite high jumpers? About Joel Smith Joel Smith is the founder of Just Fly Sports and is a sports performance/track coach in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Joel hosts the Just Fly Performance Podcast, has authored several books on athletic performance, and in 2021, released the integrative training course, “Elastic Essentials”.  He currently trains clients in the in-person and online space. Joel was formerly a strength coach for 8 years at UC Berkeley, working with the Swim teams and professional swimmers, as well as tennis, water polo, and track and field.  A track coach of 15 years, Joel coached for the Diablo Valley Track and Field Club for 7 years, and also has 6 years of experience coaching sprints, jumps, hurdles, pole vault and multi-events on the collegiate level, working at Wilmington College, and the University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse, along with his current work with master’s, high school and collegiate individuals. Joel has had the honor of working with a number of elite athletes, but also takes great joy in helping amateur athletes and individuals reach their training goals through an integrative training approach with a heavy emphasis on biomechanics, motor learning, mental preparation, and physiological adaptation.  His mission through Just Fly Sports is: “Empowering the Evolution of Sport and Human Movement”.  As a former NAIA All-American track athlete, Joel enjoys all aspects of human movement and performance, from rock climbing, to track events and weightlifting, to throwing the frisbee with his young children and playing in nature.

Today’s episode welcomes back to the show, Rob Gray, professor at Arizona State University and host of the Perception & Action Podcast.  Rob Gray has been conducting research on, and teaching courses related to perceptual-motor skill for over 25 years.  He focuses heavily on the application of basic theory to address real-world challenges, having consulted with numerous professional and governmental entities, and has developed a VR baseball training system that has been used in over 25 published studies.  Rob is the author of the book “How We Learn to Move: A Revolution in the Way We Coach and Practice Sports Skills”. You cannot separate the world of athletic development, even pure “power” training, from concepts on motor learning.  If we look at interest in athletic performance topics by “need”, speed training will typically be first on the list.  At its core, sprinting, lifting (and every other athletic skill) has its roots in how we learn. The great thing about motor learning knowledge, is that it can both allow you to have a better training session on the day, as well as month to month, and year over year.  Training done only on the level of raw “power” as a general quality, and explicit instruction will create early ceilings for athletes in their career.  Understanding motor learning allows for more involved daily training sessions, and better flourishing of skills that grow like a tree, over time.  Whether you work in sport, in the gym, or as a parent/athlete, understanding how we learn goes a massively long way in becoming the best version of one’s self athletically and from a movement perspective. In episode 293, Rob got into the constraints-led approach to movement vs. “teaching fundamentals”, and in this episode, he goes into CLA’s counter-part: differential learning.  Rob will get into the nuances of differential learning on the novice and advanced level.  In the back end of the show, we’ll talk about “stacking constraints”, games, exploration, using the “velocity dial” as a constraint, and finally, the promising results of Rob’s research showing the effectiveness of a variable practice model. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 5:07 – How differential learning is different than the constraints led approach in athletic development 12:10 – Using differential learning as a recovery tool from intense training means 15:51 – Using constraints within the scope of differential learning and vice versa 21:28 – If and how differential learning or the CLA led approach can be too “widespread” vs. focused towards a movement goal 25:02 – Some games Rob would specifically utilize in training tennis players using constraints and differential learning 28:11 – The advantage of free flowing sports with limited rules and setups for children in the process of youth sports 36:05 – How performing exploratory movements in the weight room can fit with differential learning concepts 41:55 – Rob’s take on the innate ability of athletes to figure out movement on their own, and when to dig into constraints more deeply to help determine why they may not be solving a problem well, and the integration of analogies into the process 44:23 – Thoughts on manipulating velocity and time as a constraint, and the relationship between intensifying constraints, and the amount of movement solutions 53:30 – How using variable learning and constraint led approaches can improve players ceilings in long-term development 59:52 – The specifics of Rob’s landmark study with baseball players and long-term development “The constraints led approach is a bit more focused… you have a rough idea of where they want to be,

Today’s episode features Kyle Dobbs.  Kyle is the owner and founder of Compound Performance which offers online training, facility consulting and a personal trainer mentorship.  He has an extensive biomechanics and human movement background (having trained 15,000+ sessions), and has been a two time previous guest on this podcast. In the world of training and performance, it’s easy to get caught up in prescribing a lot of exercises that offer a relatively low training effect in the grand scheme of things.  Healthy and capable athletes are often assigned a substantial load of low-level “prehab” style and corrective exercises that they often do not need.  In doing so, both a level of boredom, fatigue and just simply wasting time, happens in the scope of a program. For my own training journey, I’ve seen my own pendulum swing from a relatively minimal approach to the number of movements, to having a great deal of training exercises, back down to a smaller and more manageable core of training movements in a session.  As I’ve learned to tweak and adjust the big lifts, and even plyometric and sprint variations, I realize that I can often check off a lot of training boxes with these movements, without needing to regress things too far. On the show today, Kyle will speak on where and when we tend to get overly complex, or overly regressive in our training and programming.  He’ll talk about what he prioritizes when it comes to assigning training for clients, as well as a “macro-to-micro” way of thinking in looking at the entirety of training.  Kyle will get into specifics on what this style of thinking and prioritization means for things like the big lifts, speed training, and core work, as well as touch how on biomechanical differences such as infra-sternal angle play a role in his programming. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 3:41 – How Kyle’s run training has been developing, since he has been getting back into his two years ago after being a high level college 400m runner 7:41 – Kyle’s thoughts on where we tend to get overly complex in the physical preparation/strength & conditioning industry 11:58 – How Kyle prioritizes exercises based on the task requirements of the athlete 16:19 – Thoughts on working macro-to-micro, versus micro-to-macro 28:50 – How Kyle will avoid trying to regress individuals to a low-level, rudimentary version of an exercise if possible, and his take on “pre-hab” work 36:50 – The usefulness of hill sprints as a “macro” exercise for glutes, lower legs, and hip extension quality 40:56 – The spectrum of perceived complexity as athletes move from a beginner to a more advanced level 48:40 – Kyle’s take on some gym movements that “check a lot of boxes” in athletic movement 56:01 – How much of Kyle’s programming ends up being different on account of being a wide vs. narrow infrasternal angle “If we can’t match the stress that an athlete is going to be encountering in their actual sport, it isn’t going to have a huge return” “I want to be able to pick the biggest return on investment from a training perspective; those are going to go into my primary buckets from a programming perspective” “If I have somebody who really needs to zoom into the micro, and we really need to get into the biomechanics weeds and decrease the training stress, those are people that we refer out to another specialist… having a good network allows you to focus on the things that you are good at and that you really like to do.  I learned early in my career that, I don’t like to be the rehab guy” “That’s my problem with the biomechanics led approach,

Today’s episode features swim coach Andrew Sheaff.  Andrew is an assistant swimming coach at the University of Virginia, winners of the last two NCAA women’s championships.  In addition to swim coaching, Sheaff has an extensive background in strength and conditioning, including an internship under Buddy Morris.  A collegiate swimmer at Pittsburgh, Sheaff was named the Senior Athlete of Distinction. He was a four-time Big East Academic All-Star and a four-time University Scholar Athlete.  He writes on numerous aspects of coaching education at his website, coachandrewsheaff.com . A quote on Andrew’s blog that made a lot of sense to me was a quote by former cricket player and ESPN writer, Ed Smith, that “Because the important things are hard to coach, it is tempting to take refuge in the small, irrelevant things because they are easy.”  I find this to be extremely relevant to many approaches to athletic development where drills are often over-emphasized and over-controlled, while the actual sporting skill is often left relatively un-changed from season to season. I have found it a common theme, in modern coaching, to attempt to overly “control” an athlete’s technique through the over-use of drills, exact positions, and discrete instructions.  This can range from cues in the weight room (butt back, chest out, through the heels!) to the track (heel up, knee up, toe up!) to exact arm positions for swimming movements. On the show today, Andrew speaks on elements of control vs. athlete empowerment in coaching.  He talks on training methods that lead to lasting change in technique and performance, with an emphasis on the constraints-led approach.  This podcast was a fun cross-pollination of ideas between the worlds of swimming, track and physical preparation, with important concepts for any coach or athlete.  Whether you are interested in speed training, technical development, or just overall coaching practice, you are sure to find this a really informative conversation. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Lost Empire Herbs, and the Elastic Essentials online course. 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 Find out more about the the online course, Elastic Essentials, by heading to justflysports.thinkific.com View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 4:51 – Why Andrew got into both physical preparation/S&C, as well as swim coaching, in his coaching career 6:35 – Why Andrew believes swim training remained so “old school” (based on large yardages and distances) for so long, compared to track and field 8:53 – Why so many coaches take refuge in the small/easy/controllable things, when more focus is needed on bigger, but more rewarding, real problems in athletics 12:10 – How coaches seeking “too much control” plays out in the world of swimming 15:36 – Basics of how Andrew uses constraints to allow swimmers problem solving opportunities, vs. trying to control smaller elements of the stroke 23:46 – Bondarchuk’s “Push the Hammer” cue, and the power of slightly ambiguous coaching instructions that don’t over-control the athlete’s movements 31:28 – How the unique situation of training in a 25 yard or 50 meter pool, can create more interesting training options for swim athletes in terms of constraints 35:13 – How Andrew uses constraints that are purely for exploratory perspective, versus constraints from a timed perspective 41:23 – How fatiguing particular body sections or muscles can offer a unique constraint in both swimming, or land activities such as plyometrics 46:04 – The spectrum of “boredom tolerance” between athletes, and how Andrew manages this in practice 51:58 – Why and how Andrew thinks more “standard volume” type training methods can be successful, and if they are sustainable or not

Today’s episode features Rob Assise.  Rob has 19 years of experience teaching mathematics and coaching track and field at Homewood-Flossmoor High School. He also has coached football and cross country, and is also the owner of the private training business, Re-evolution athletics.  Rob has appeared on multiple prior episodes of the podcast, speaking on his unique approach to jumps training that combines the practice with many sport-like elements. Track and field offers us a great insight as to the effectiveness of a variety of training methods, because each method will be ultimately judged by how fast an athlete ended up running, how far or high they jumped, or how far they threw.  In track and field, we combine power alongside technical development in the process of achieving event mastery. Rob has a creative and integrative process to his own training methods, and on today’s show, he speaks largely on some “crescendo style” adjustments to common plyometric and sprint drills that he uses to help athletes improve their technique and rhythmic ability over a period of time. On the show Rob talks about his recent sprint-jump complexes, use of asymmetrical plyometrics, and where he has gone with the “minimal effective dose” style of training.  He also shares his thoughts on tempo sprints in the role of jump training, and as we have spoken on in other podcasts, manipulating velocity in a movement in order to improve not only one’s speed, to help them clear up technical issues. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 4:17 – How Rob’s last track season turned out, and an overview of some things he changed and learned 7:15 – The purpose, and implementation of “crescendo” style plyometric training 23:05 – Specific “nuts and bolts” of “crescendo” style plyometrics in terms of sets, reps and intensities 28:20 – Thoughts on the crescendo effect, and wave-loading for fly-10 sprints, and then in the weight room 34:09 – Rob’s ideas for using basketball hoops with his track and field jumps group, and ideas for a warmup and training circuit blending basketball and track ideas 38:54 – Some of Rob’s training complexes that mix top-end speed, and controllable jump takeoffs 42:31 – How biomechanical issues in sprinting and jumping could be potentially solved via increased velocity 46:34 – How Rob has moved away, within his training group, from the “minimal effective dose” idea, especially in the volume of his long-jump approaches 50:35 – Rob’s take on tempo training and long sprints with his training group 57:34 – How Rob has been using asymmetrical skips and bounding to better replicate some jump takeoffs, and then to help teach bounding better “That skill (how to bounce) isn’t necessarily there with athletes” “We brought (the crescendo principle) into all of our regular plyos, the bounds, the gallops, the skips, the run-run-jumps” “If an athlete isn’t getting the RSI I want, I’ll make it a “speed gate golf” game, and we’ll (try exactly for a lower RSI) for a few sets, and then they’ll come back and hit a PR” “Something I need to more of that has a lot of power is the single leg bounds or hopping… with the crescendo style, that’s something I’m going to focus on more, moving forward” “If I played basketball, and I could only make layups or 3 pointers, there may be a role for me, but it would be better if I could hit a mid-range jumper, right?” “Whenever I write up a practice plan, it’s all a complex” “Now days I have no problem with having athletes take 10 long jump approaches in a session, where before, I may have capped it at 4” “I get a lot of benefits of tempo from doing jump type ...

Today’s episode features Will Ratelle.  Will is a strength coach, at the University of North Dakota, working with football, basketball, volleyball and tennis athletes. He is also the owner of “W2 Performance”.  Prior to working in the performance field, he spent time as a professional football player, spending time with the Atlanta Falcons, Kansas City Chiefs, and Saskatchewan Roughriders (CFL). In the supportive role of physical preparation/S&C, it is very easy to partition the process of weightlifting away from the actual needs and demand of explosive, chaotic sports.  It’s also easy to get carried away with excessive auxiliary work, or “atomizing” facets of power work/RFD that don’t end up transferring to actual explosive sport skills.  In this sense, it’s helpful to personally spend time in sport, in skill acquisition, and in strength development one’s self, to intuitively understand the balance, and synergy, between athletic components. Will’s athletic background, love for sport and play, and raw “horsepower” is a unique combination.  He was a semi-pro athlete, can clean and jerk 198kg, dunks a basketball with ease, and also loves to play a variety of games and sports.  Will has an analytical process to his performance programming, and asks important questions that have use really dig into the why of what we are doing in the gym (and beyond). On the show today, Will talks about his athletic, game-play and strength background, and how despite being more than physically capable, did not make the pro level of football.  Will then goes into ideas on what we should actually be looking to improve/intensity in the gym setting.  He chats on how to avoid training things that really don’t matter in the grand scheme of everything an athlete is asked to do.  Will finishes with his thoughts on the specificity of potentiation, jump and sprint variability training, and then a great take on the “Olympic lifts vs. loaded jumps” debate. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 3:40 – How many “Bang” energy drinks Will believes the typical strength coach should consume daily 4:51 – Will’s background in athletics, sport, and athletic performance 9:53 – The importance of play in fitness and boosting overall athletic qualities 16:02 – Why Will, despite being athletically physically superior to many other football players, did not make it as a pro-football player and what he has learned from that 21:35 – Will thoughts on things he would choose to intensify in the gym, such as barbell velocity 27:17 – Thoughts on “generalized” power training methods 33:39 – Will’s take on not wasting time in the gym, and how to avoid redundancy in the course of training 47:58 – Will’s thoughts on heavy strongman work, squats and deadlifts and the optimal potentiation for sport skills 55:15 – How Will approaches jump and sprint variability in his warmups for training 1:03:46 – Will’s take on loaded jumps versus Olympic lifting, and the utility of Olympic lifting in sport preparation “It’s really difficult to get people,who are my peers, on a Saturday afternoon, to go play racquetball, or go play pickleball, or something like that…. When you do get a group of people to go play a game like that, they always say, “we should do this more often”” “I think a lot of times (playing) is going to have a better training effect than going in the gym for an hour” “I didn’t have the (tactical) ability that would have been required for me to play at that level… the general perception action abilities were right up there with anybody else, I just didn’t have the specific perception action abilities”

Today’s episode features strength coach, track coach and writer, Dan John.  Dan is a legendary contributor to the world of human performance, having written numerous top-selling books in strength development, such as “Easy Strength”, as well as having coached and taught athletes for decades.  He has been a multi-time guest on this podcast, and is one of the greatest influences on the way I see the process of sport performance today. In the world of athletics, it becomes very easy to dissect elements of performance or biomechanics down to a level of minutia where things can actually lose effectiveness, efficiency, or both.  In large, fast, multi-joint movements, for example, we reap value that is often times “greater than the sum of its parts” when we are talking about the best way to achieve functional lower body development (such as using a squat or deadlift, rather than several machine based exercises to train the same muscles).  Fast sprinting is a more effective way to train the hamstrings than breaking hamstring training down into a series of strength exercises (although you can certainly do both).  In a similar vein, a game like volleyball or basketball is often times better than the sum of its parts in terms of agility and plyometric training.  Within the scope of complexity and velocity, the human body is forced to adapt to a higher level than a “broken down” versions. In his vast experience, Dan John has been able to see what “big things” in training are truly important, and how we can close the gap that so often appears between common training practices and competition.  He knows how to combine key elements in training and one’s life outside of training to create synergistic effects. On the podcast today, Dan speaks whole-part-whole teaching, and how training get actually get dissected to the point where we are creating gaps in actual competitive performance.  He will talk about the role of games (not specific to one’s primary sport) in athletic performance, in the off-season, in-season, and as a form of conditioning.  From there Dan goes into motor learning wisdom in coaching, and how he uses elements of velocity, complexity, rhythm and relaxation to help athletes adapt to better technical proficiency, as well as dealing with over-analytical athletes in this process.  Finally, Dan finishes the show with some practical wisdom on sets and reps in the grand scheme of program design, as well as some thoughts on periodization.  It’s always an honor to have Dan on, and listen to his coaching wisdom from decades in his craft. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 4:00 – Whole-Part-Whole teaching, and principles of not overly dissecting movements in the process of athletic development 9:19 – Principles on synergy, and the “sum of the parts” being greater than the individual elements, when it comes to a sport or major human movement 16:08 – The importance of games in athletic programming, and how game play can fulfill many conditioning needs of athletes without over-complicating the process 22:21 – How the “fundamentals” of free play and overall athleticism are critical in the general development of athletes 28:50 – What Dan’s throw practices look like in terms of the proportion of drills or constraints vs. traditional throws 33:45 – How giving athletes more complexity can be a cure for “monkey brain”, or over-thinking athletes 43:43 – Dan’s take on the “Rewzon study” on variable long jump training, and how it carries into his throws practice 54:23 – Advanced, or “magic” drills in track and field, or sports performance 1:04:10 – Dan’s thoughts on where to get started with “sets and reps” in ...

Today’s episode features coach and inventor, Rolf Ohman.  Rolf was born in Sweden but grew up in Brisbane, Australia. He has worked for over 40 years in international sports, as an athlete (Decathlon) and as coach at International and National level.  He was the Head Coach for the Dalian Olympic Sports Center 2016-17 and Assistant Head Coach Chinese National Team Sprints/Jumps 2018-19.  Rolf is the inventor of the 1080 Technology (such as the 1080 sprint device), and has substantial experience in both the data-based and practical aspects of coaching and training. In the recent Randy Huntingon podcasts, Randy spoke about how doing hurdle hops over too high of hurdles had the tendency to “kill elasticity”.  Rolf Ohman has worked with Randy, and has substantial experience linking the ground contact times in plyometric exercises, as well as the impulse times of various movements in the weight room, to what is observed in athletics.  Track and field athletes have faster impulse needs than team sport athletes as well, and Rolf has worked with both populations, and understands which metrics should be optimized in training for different situations. On today’s podcast, Rolf will speak on the specific drawbacks to using too high of hurdles in bilateral plyometric training, and gives his specific recommendations for which heights he feels are maximally beneficial for both track and team sport individuals.  He’ll speak on various elements of transfer in the weight room, such as the progression of the Olympic lifts, as well as thoughts on the transfer present in different elements of gym training, such as the impulse dynamics of lifting seen in elite athletes.  Rolf finishes with some thoughts on youth and long term development on the terms of speed and power.  Ultimately, this episode helps us to better understand closing the “gap” we often see between the gym, and the forces present on the field of play. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Lost Empire Herbs, and the Elastic Essentials online course. 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 Find out more about the the online course, Elastic Essentials, by heading to justflysports.thinkific.com View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 4:42 – Rolf’s take on the height in hurdle hops, and how it impacts the elasticity of the exercise, as well as drawbacks to using too high of hurdles in the movement 11:13 – What the typical hurdle heights Rolf uses for track and non-track athletes in plyometric training 17:50 – Why Rolf chooses to progress the Olympic lifts in the course of training like he does 24:37 – Rolf’s use of partial vs. full ranges of motion in strength training for athletes 38:29 – Thoughts on oscillating isometric exercises with lifts, compared to a Keiser or air-powered machine setup 52:08 – How contact times and hurdle hop heights change for team sports vs. track 58:59 – How limb speed gets “set” before the age of 15 in athletes, and if athletes miss critical speed windows of training, they will be in a limited place in future performance “There aren’t a lot of guys around who can produce any sort of RSI index from 1 meter drop jumps… when I use high hurdle hops, which I rarely do, it might be in a setting when I’m seeking some kind of force production” “If I build maximum strength for my long jumpers with contact times in the 250-300ms range, is that going to help me?” “If whatever you’re doing in training is on one end of the spectrum, and competition is on the other end of the spectrum, that is “gap-osis”… if that gap is too big, you are going to be in trouble” “In the first 100-150 milliseconds (of a lift) the athletes who are the best really shine there” “We’re coordinating the neural system (in the weight room) we are creating...

Today’s episode features Tim Anderson.  Tim is the co-owner of the Original Strength Institute, and has been a personal trainer for over 20 years.  He has written and co-written many books on human performance including The Becoming Bulletproof Project, Habitual Strength, Pressing RESET, and Original Strength Performance. When it comes down to it, his message is simple yet powerful: We were created to feel good and be strong throughout life. It is because of Tim that I’ve developed a fascination with crawling, and largely, a fascination with bodyweight training in general.  So often, our thought on bodyweight training is one that revolves around ways to produce copious amounts of muscle tension, such as in gymnastics, which is great, and do so in volumes that can produce slabs of muscle.  At the same time, bodyweight training is much more than simply looking for alternative ways to seek hypertrophy.  Training with one’s bodyweight allows for a variety of reciprocal movement actions, where energy is stored and released, transmitting itself through the hands, spine, pelvis and feet.  Training with one’s bodyweight also allows us to hone on rudimentary and reflexive movement skills, such as crawling. Tim appeared on episode #154 of the podcast, talking about the power of crawling and reflexive movement.  On the tail end of that show, Tim discussed rolling for a few minutes, but I wanted to get him back to dig more thoroughly into that topic. On today’s show, Tim goes into the benefits of rolling, and how he progresses and instructs it for his clients.  He speaks about rolling on the level of the vestibular system, joint rotation (particularly internal rotation), the gait cycle, sensation and awareness, and more.  At the end of the show, we talk about modulating speeds and rhythms in ground-work, and finally, Tim gets into how his own personal workouts and training have progressed over time, and how rolling plays an important part of his own daily strength routine. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 3:28 – The purpose of rolling for human performance, and how Tim progresses it for clients 7:09 – The possibility of rolling to improve balance, coordination and dexterity through stimulation of the vestibular system 13:46 – Tim’s description of segmental rolling and how to progress it over time 23:30 – How much rolling Tim prescribes for various clients and individuals 26:53 – The specific elements in the process of rolling that helps to “connect the X” of the torso 32:21 – Ideas on using rolling or similar connective movements between more intensive main training sets 39:17 – How Tim looks at rolling and similar movements in light of their capacity to help improve internal rotation in individuals 46:44 – Addressing various speeds or rhythms to training movements 50:27 – What Tim’s early workouts looked like, and what his training has transitioned to now that he has gotten into his Original Strength workouts 58:29 – Ideas on super-slow crawling and the benefits of controlled bodyweight movement 1:04:02 – What the head and eye position should be like in the course of rolling “Our skin is our largest tactile organ, and when we roll, we are stimulating the skin a lot” “If you could imagine that your body is a sponge, and everything out there is information; so when you are rolling on the ground, you are trying to take that sponge and soak in the information everywhere” “If we do these three things, we’ll more than likely stay healthy throughout our lives: The first one is breath properly with your diaphragm, nasal breathe, keep the tongue on the roof of your mouth.

Today’s episode features Rafe Kelly and Charles St. John.  Rafe is the owner of Evolve Move Play, and has studied and taught a multitude of movement practices spanning gymnastics, parkour, martial arts, weightlifting, Cross-fit and more for decades.  His passion to is help people build the physical practice that will help make them the strongest, most adaptable and resilient version of themselves in movement and in life.  Charles has been training parkour since 2009, and coaching it since 2012. He carries multiple parkour coaching certifications and is a certified personal trainer for general fitness, while he currently coaches at the APEX Denver Parkour (Apexdenver.com) and Circus facility in Colorado. Motor learning is the worldview by which you keep yourself from over-compartmentalizing elements of a total training program.  It’s how you discover the window, or lens by which an athlete acquires mastery in their sport, and also determines how you go about constructing a training session with the “whole” in mind.  It allows one to see the forest from the trees in the process of athletic mastery.  If we only listen to “speed”, “output” and “drill” oriented material, and leave out the actual over-arching process of motor learning in any sort of athletic performance discussion, we end up with a more over-compartmentalized, less sustainable, less effective, and less enjoyable model of training On the podcast today, Rafe and Charles speak in the first half, on games they particularly enjoy from a true “generalist” point of view; games that encapsulate the most essential elements of “human-ness” in movement.  These game principles can be plugged into either general (for the sake of better outputs for the subsequent training session), or specific warmups (for the sake of “donor” learning to the main session).  In the second half, we get into a detailed discussion on dynamic points of learning and coaching, speaking on points of drill vs. holistic approach to skills, frequency of feedback (and types of feedback), working with highly analytical athletes, checking the effectiveness of one’s cues, and much more. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 4:41 – Why Rafe and Charles love rugby as a multi-dimensional game that encapsulates a lot of human qualities and opportunities 14:12 – “Hybrid” games that coaches like to play as a generalist warmup to a strength training session, and the emergence of “king of the course” 23:21 – How to craft a “donor” activity to prepare for your primary training activity 32:49 – What the balance is, in parkour, on teaching actual technique, vs. decisions 52:08 – How to properly tell stories and frame skills to an athlete, without letting words get in the way 1:02:11 – How many efforts to let an athlete perform, before coaches should seek to intervene in the form of a cue or instruction, and how to help athletes be better self-learners 1:14:34 – Cueing and instructing athletes who may desire more structure than others 1:22:37 – Thoughts on velocity of a movement, and the transferability of drills, or slower versions of skills, versus fast movements 1:27:02 – “Feeding the Error” and principles of variable learning that can assist in skill development 1:32:38 – How to improve learning by reducing potential “fear” constraints in sports with a potential risk element “I would contest that (rugby) is the best designed ball sport… it’s the only sport I played that allowed for a range of body types” “Team sports have all of (generalist fitness) demands in them… and you have to do it in a team manner, you have to cooperate with other people”

Today’s show features biomechanist, coach and author, Rocky Snyder.  Rocky is the owner of “Rocky’s Fitness” in Santa Cruz, California.  Rocky is an accomplished personal trainer with an absolutely immense library of knowledge in multiple disciplines of human performance, such as biomechanics, exercise selection and neurology. Rocky is the author of the book “Return to Center” and has a track record on being able to restore functional movement ability to even the most difficult client cases. In the world of training, we have a “muscle-centric” approach, and then a “joint-centric” approach to performance.  I have found that while training and centering one’s efforts on muscles and their actions can definitely be helpful, an approach that can serve a greater percentage of clients in a sustainable manner is one that understands joint mechanics, and how muscles will respond to one’s joint positions.  Muscles that are long, short, weak or tight are as such, because they are responding to an individual’s joint mechanics, and therefore the related demands they are constantly placed under. Today’s episode focuses on the joint mechanics of the feet and hips.  Rocky starts by highlighting elements of proper pronation and supination (with an extra emphasis on the action of the foot’s transverse arch in movement, it’s link to glute function and how we can assess how well it is being utilized) and how we can look for a deficiency in either area.  Rocky then gets into practical exercise interventions in the world of lunge motions, standing twists, and why Rocky favors spiraling single leg training to glute-bridge oriented exercises for a functional glute training effect.  Finally, Rocky gives his take on how loaded carries fit with the gait cycle, and can “balance out” and restore athletes from compressive gym work. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. 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 Find out more about the the online course, Elastic Essentials, by heading to justflysports.thinkific.com View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 4:28 – How Rocky got started in fitness, and the different areas of the field he has layered onto his approach, such as biomechanics, neurology and breathwork (evolution from outdoor athlete, to gym rat, into functional fitness/neurology/biomechanics) 10:43 – Rocky’s experience in coaching youth sports 13:39 – What Rocky thinks on the idea of “over-pronation” and what that term means to him 22:30 – The importance of “anchoring the transverse arch” on pronation mechanics and glute utilization in gait 34:26 – How to improve pronation, and solve the issue of “over-pronation” in an athlete 40:17 – Considering barbell hip thrusts in light of knowing more about pronation and spirals in the body, to activate glutes 46:48 – What Rocky is looking for on the level of the pelvis when it comes to pronation 53:35 – The link between sprinting, anterior and posterior pelvic tilt 58:05 – What Rocky is looking at in a reverse glider lunge exercise in terms of pronation and supination 1:03:30 – The importance of a straight back leg in the isometric lunge exercise in terms of the reciprocal action of the body 1:07:52 – The importance of supination in the foot, and how to create a balance of pronation and supination in the feet in various exercises 1:16:45 – How loaded carries fit with expansion bias and functional core strength, for the human body “I couldn’t stand gyms when I was growing up, I grew up in the backwoods of New England, I grew up doing rock climbing, cross country skiing, whitewater canoeing, but I was also a gymnast and got into wrestling” “My work originally started with muscular-centric loading… but now there’s also motor neurology and b...

Today’s show features a roundtable discussion featuring Jeremy Frisch, Austin Jochum and Jake Tuura.  Jeremy is the owner of Achieve Performance Training, Austin runs Jochum Strength, and Jake is the owner of “Jacked Athlete”.  All three of these individuals were previously strength coaches of NCAA DI institutions before getting into the private sector of training. Recently Jake hosted Austin on his podcast, having a conversation about quitting their jobs as NCAA strength coaches to venture into the private sector.  I found that talk very interesting, as I’ve recently been in the same situation, and I think a lot about the way that modern sport and university “systems” are put together.  Often times, we are victims of either in-effective, or over-structuring in organizations, in a way that can leave us disconnected and/or overly-compartmentalized.  In a variety of “private sector jobs”, people tend to wear more hats.  In sports performance, this could be: strength coach, skill coach, fitness coach, and physical educator to name a few. Today’s show isn’t so much about quitting a scholastic strength coaching job, but more-so on the experience of now-private sector coaches who wear those multiple-hats.  It’s on how that helps us view the predicament of modern sports in a new way, along with engineering solutions.  Despite our coaching setting, we all should aspire to be problem solvers. On today’s episode, our panel speaks on paths away from the college training sector, and how getting into the private sector has allowed them to really focus on the pressing needs in modern sports, such as the “lost” art of physical education, play and then a greater understanding on building robustness and keeping athletes healthy.  Whether you are a scholastic or private coach, this is a great show to step back and take a more zoomed-out perspective on effectively training athletes for long-term success. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 3:22 – Jeremy, Austin and Jake’s story of transitioning into the private sector of performance 12:30 – How the extra work a college strength coach puts in can fall to the wayside when a sport coach doesn’t listen or runs a poorly designed practice plan 22:12 – What are some of the big elements of change that have come with moving from the college gig to the private sector 36:10 – “Weaponizing” what you are passionate about in training and performance 38:12 – What Jeremy Frisch has seen from 12 years of being in the private sector, how much he feels kids can get back if they miss critical movement skills early on 42:44 – Where Austin and Jake see their process moving in the next 10 years as coaches, now that they have more freedom to explore things they want 51:35 – Jeremy’s take on the importance of physical education for strength and sport coaches 58:34 – Questioning old narratives of warmups and training in sports performance 1:03:46 – Closing thoughts on the integration of sport and strength and conditioning “Why is everything so isolated in sports, why do we have so many people who specialize in one thing” “My first month (as a DI strength coach) I realized that a lot of athletes had limitations that I wasn’t going to fix, and over time that sort of got to me, and I realized I could really make a difference if I went back and worked with younger athletes” “When I was at Holy Cross I had 15 teams throughout the year” “We have to earn our jobs with new tools, with new shiny toys we present to the sport coach” “I never feel like I am dying in a game when I am going out to catch a pass, I’m pretty recovered, we don’t have to run to death….

Today’s show welcomes back track coach Randy Huntington, a track coach who has spent his recent years as the national track and field coach for the Chinese Athletics association.  Randy has coached numerous Olympians, gold medalists, and world record holders in his time as a track coach, and one of his recent successes was training Su Bingtian, Asian record holder in the 100m dash.  Bingtian, en-route to his 9.84 second run, covered 60m in 6.29 seconds and 40 yards in 4.08 seconds as per NFL combine timing. The past shows with Randy have been loaded with the wisdom of an elite coach and have been very popular.  For this episode, Randy took listener questions, and gives his answers on a variety of topics.  Some particular trends for this show included his specific speed training workouts and intensities, his thoughts on traditional strength and hypertrophy methods for speed and power, coaching relaxation and sprint technique, as well as Randy’s thoughts on the ever-debated Nordic hamstring exercise (and hamstring injury prevention training in general).  This and much more is covered on this tremendous Q&A episode. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. 4:11 – The importance of intuition in coaching and performance 7:33 – How understanding the response of animals can help coaches gain better intuition with training human athletes 11:27 – How to “rig” a seated calf machine to attempt to replicate the Keiser seated calf machine 15:23 – Randy’s thoughts on strength development for speed 22:49 – Randy’s favorite top speed and acceleration sessions 28:25 – How does Randy teach relaxation in sprinting, and his thoughts on mini-hurdles/wickets 31:03 – Why Randy doesn’t have his athletes train flying sprints at their maximal speed 37:02 – Considerations in how Randy uses “time of task” sprints, versus simply sprinting a distance for time 42:35 – A recap of how Randy uses water and general strength based recovery methods 45:17 – More thoughts on how and why Randy doesn’t train his flying sprints at maximal velocity each week 48:09 – How Randy’s training has evolved over his years as a coach 52:46 – Teaching acceleration mechanics to young athletes who don’t have much physical strength yet 54:56 – What key data points does Randy use to assess his athletic process 1:00:00 – Randy’s thoughts on overspeed “wind-shield” training such as used by Marcell Jacobs 1:06:39 – How Randy alters strength training when sprinters are in-season 1:07:51 – How Randy would train an athlete who is naturally weak, and if he plays to an athlete’s strengths, or works primarily to bring up weaknesses 1:11:38 – Randy’s thoughts on hamstring injury prevention and Nordic hamstrings “I try not to do too hard of strength training, until people can execute the technical (speed) component I want them to, unless that technical component needs strength to happen.  I don’t look at strength training as a way to create anything, because I first want them to be able to get them to move through the (skill) positions that are necessary, and then we add strength on top of that” “We still interpret power as force only… mostly because we haven’t had very effective ways to test it” “My basic pattern is heavy sled, 50% of bodyweight or higher, then 1080, using 15-20% of bodyweight, then unloaded” “We mostly use 6” mini-hurdles” “I rarely go above 95% (of max speed) (in flying sprints in training)” “I use (time of task) sprints specifically for testing” “I only test the 30m fly (max) at most every 6 weeks, and usually every 2 months” “Flying 30 is my big (“data oriented”) test” “I don’t look at the weight of the clean,

Today’s show welcomes back Bobby Whyte.  Bobby is an athletic performance and basketball skill enhancement trainer operating out of northern New Jersey.  Bobby recently appeared on episode 178 of the podcast https://www.just-fly-sports.com/podcast-178-bobby-whyte/, speaking on his integration of strength and skill training for basketball. The world of sports performance can easily suffer from isolationism in the realm of strength, speed and movement skill.  In the recent podcast with Tony Villani, the difference between 40-yard dash speed, and actual game speed in the NFL was made very clear.  We need to understand more about the nuances, and principles of movement in sport to prepare athletes for it, instead of over-focusing on linear speed mechanics. When we understand the over-arching principles of learning and movement, we can apply them to any sport or skill.  Throughout this podcast, we’ve had intelligent minds like Adarian Barr speaking on biomechanical principles, and then folks like Michael Zweifel, Tyler Yearby, and Rob Gray talking about foundational principles of learning and skill acquisition.  Bobby Whyte has been using those principles, and tying it all together in his basketball performance program. On the show today, Bobby Whyte speaks how he has taken concepts picked up from Adarian Barr and applied them to movement training and acceleration in the game of basketball.  He shares his thoughts on key physical abilities in basketball, and how he uses motor learning principles to help athletes improve their specific skill array for the game.  Bobby will speak on how he has taken motor learning principles into landing mechanics and common injury prevention themes in training, and finally Bobby will talk about how he specifically seeks to develop the all-important confidence level in his players in his training sessions. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. 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 Find out more about the the online course, Elastic Essentials, by heading to justflysports.thinkific.com View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 5:21 – What Bobby has been learning and integrating since his last time on the podcast 2 years ago 6:45 – How Bobby has integrated some of Adarian Barr concepts directly into basketball speed and movement training 18:49 – How basketball, and related movement training, has universal application into many other sports, such as football 24:44 – Key physical abilities on the basketball court that can transfer into great gameplay 28:33 – The importance of chaos in basketball qualities and carryover 35:26 – How Bobby views landing and landing mechanics for his basketball athletes, and how good general strength training can go a long way in helping prevent injury without needing to do plyometrics where athletes need to move a “certain way” 42:45 – Bobby’s take on feedback and instruction in the course of coaching his athletes, and avoiding over-coaching 51:54 – How confidence in one’s specific game and skill abilities is a key and defining factor in athletes that make it to the next level of performance 59:01 – What is a “good drill”? 1:03:14 – Bobby’s thoughts on the benefits and drawbacks of the vast amount of information available to athletes today “The best athletes can maintain (Adarian Barr’s) athletic posture until… it’s time to cut, it’s time to shoot, etc.” “When I’m falling (to drop into a basketball move), I’m almost pulling myself down” “A lot of players will go into that horizontal fall, and there will be a pause before they get moving… our goal is to smooth that out” “They players that struggle with (coming up off the knees into an acceleration) struggle to get on their arches”

Today’s show welcomes Tony Villlani, sports performance coach and owner of XPE sports in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.  Tony has coached over twenty #1 finishes in the NFL combine and is the creator of the Game Speed and Separation Movement Web.  Tony has worked with many of the top NFL players in the league, but will tell you that his learning from those athletes was a much bigger deal in Tony’s development than the fact that he “trained them”. Clearly you have to have a level of speed that’s well above average to be successful at many high level sports.  At the same time, the fastest athletes in sports where having a level of speed is important, such as at the NFL combine, are not the successful ones in pro-football. Interestingly, the fastest receivers in the history of the combine have never had truly successful careers.  This brings up the question, not only why this is, but also, how can we distribute our training efforts over time to optimize the way that athletes actually move on the field?  Clearly, we need to work to get athletes fast in a linear sense, but how much are we helping if we overly focus on linear speed (and spend lots of time hair splitting linear speed in twitter arguments) and don’t address the types of speed utilized in sport. Tony deeply understands the nuances and categories of direction change in sport, and actively trains these components in his sessions.  This isn’t to say that Tony doesn’t love traditional speed training (just look at his combine success) but he also loves building speed that gives athletes the highest chance of success in their sport. On the show today, Tony talks about how he “ratios” linear speed training to game-speed training, as well as how he frames NFL combine style training in light of game speed to those trainees.  He’ll get into why he feels that the fastest athletes in the history of the combine have never been the best actual football players, and then gets into a substantial layout of his key points in change of direction training.  Tony also lists some key aspects of offensive and defensive agility, as well as how agility can differ between sports.  This was a podcast that you’ll never forget if you train any type of athlete for speed in their sport. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. 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 View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 6:07 – How having young children has taught Tony about the process of athletic development 7:47 – Tony’s take on the balance of how linear and game-speed training should progress as an athlete develops 23:48 – Tony’s thoughts on why the very fastest NFL receivers in the combine actually never had a good playing career 29:22 – Approaching linear speed development when an athlete is truly not as fast as they need to be from that perspective 36:14 – Tony’s take on the inverse relationship between the 40 yard dash times and 3-cone/shuttle events in the NFL combine 41:29 – How Tony feels the NFL combine agility tests transfer to performance, and what he does for agility instead 54:12 – Comparing types of game speed between athletes, and the general zones of speed pro football athletes will use in competitions 59:58 – Tony’s finer-point breakdown of change of direction technique 1:07:42 – How Tony views “first chance” opportunity in change of direction (one point of attack opportunity) in football vs. basketball or soccer “Everyone should get as fast as they can possibly get with their own genetics, but after that, I turn off the (linear) speed switch” “With our combine athletes, it’s, unfortunately, how to teach them to run out of control… I always tell our combine athletes, quit thinking of football, think track and being out of control”

Today’s show welcomes back chiropractor and neurology expert, Dr. Mark Wetzel.  Mark has been on this show numerous times talking about the effectiveness of long isometric holds, as well as digging into many aspects of their performance. So often in the training and performance field, we just look at exercises, sets, and reps, but then don’t desire to dig into the nuance of those movements we are programming.  With isometrics, we can certainly get results by simply having athletes hold positions indiscriminately, but we can multiply those results by understanding the underlying mechanisms that help make isometrics more effective. One of the beautiful things about isometric holds is that the lack of movement brings one’s awareness to a high level, and one’s ability to focus on things like breathing, posture, and muscle tensioning, on a higher level.  One’s mental and emotional state has an extremely close correlation with the length of time that you can hold the movement. Holding isometrics for extended periods of time also has an impact on the fascial lines of the body, and even the meridian lines (if your belief system takes you that far).  Isometrics are truly a “total body”, functional experience. On today’s show, Mark Wetzel gives his thoughts on how a positive mental state can increase one’s ability to hold an isometric position (or increase muscle endurance in general).  He’ll speak extensively on the postural and muscle-tone aspects of holding an isometric, as well as speak on the connections made between the fascial/meridian lines, electric signals, and organ function.  Finally, Mark gives his take on what he feels “neurological” strength truly is, and how this is manifested in a program. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:24 – Mark’s thoughts on the mental and emotional aspects of fatigue (and perceived fatigue) during a difficult or taxing movement such as an isometric 14:34 – What it means to be “in position” as an athlete gets into an isometric hold 24:47 – Why some athletes have a lot of trouble “pulling down” into an isometric position and discussing the use of “constraints” such as a band around the shin, to help an athlete pull down into an isometric 34:19 – Using a one-arm bench press hold to help improve the pushing ability and breathing of individuals who struggle with isometric pushup holds 42:01 – What “good posture” means for Mark 47:05 – Mark’s take on organ health, meridian lines, and reflexes, particularly in light of utilizing isometric exercises 57:52 – What it means to have “neurological strength” from Mark’s perspective as a chiropractor with neurological training 1:05:35 – Depth jumps and drop landings as an assessment of neurological efficiency Dr. Mark Wetzel's Quotes “When I am in those moments (of fatigue) I try to bring up some sort of happiness or joyful emotion to try and take my mind off of it” “The “fear based” mentality is almost a traditional way of training” “Posture comes back to the breath; typically when people have bad posture it is because they have bad breathing mechanics” “When you do a bunch of calf rebounds in a row, your body will position you in a way that (you have to be in to keep breathing under fatigue)” “You can accomplish so much in an isometric exercise by focusing on “where is my breathing”” “I always back up (a chiropractic adjustment) with exercise” “The meridian lines are all connected to an organ” “What’s cool about an isometric is that you are creating a lot of tone throughout the whole body” “If the brain is telling a muscle to stay weak, then it is going to stay weak no matter what you do” “The more you can stay calm, breathe, smile to yourself while you are going through that d...

Today’s show is with performance coach, Kurt Hester.  Kurt is currently the Head of Football Preparation at the University of Tulane, and was previously the head strength coach at Lousiana Tech University from 2013 to 2021.  He has decades of experience coaching in both the collegiate, and private sectors, and is the author of the book: ”Rants of a Strength and Conditioning Madman”. When it comes to the results we get out of a training program (or the experience an athlete has in a sport organization), we usually think on the level of sets, reps and exercises.  What we typically don’t consider as much, is how an athlete perceives the training from an emotional and sub-conscious, perspective, and how important building the right relationship is to the holistic success of the program. Kurt Hester is the kind of strength coach I wish I had when I was a young athlete.  When we talk about what it means to be a coach, and to be a servant-leader, Kurt is one of the first individuals that comes to mind.  He not only has been studying and living the art of physical training for almost half a century, but he also has a focused sense of how to train individuals on both the athlete, and human levels. On the show today, Kurt talks about how he connects with his athletes on the “human” level, to help improve their total experience as an athlete, gain trust, and improve the quality of training sessions.  He’ll talk about how he uses games and fun activities to improve, not only the emotional content of the training sessions, but also the total effort level of the athletes.  Finally, Kurt digs into some details around the sports performance industry itself, what he considers “mental toughness” to truly be, and gives his advice on developmental practices in leadership and communication. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 5:31 – How Kurt started to survey his athletes to learn more about them, and how this helped him to connect with athletes on a stronger level 10:14 – How to command a room in a coaching setting, while still getting to know athletes on a more personal level 13:27 – How players at Kurt’s former university rated the importance of the “strength coach” so high, in regards to why they attended the school 17:432 – Why Kurt uses games as a critical portion of his physical preparation program, as well as the injury prevention benefits of using game-based agility training 29:17 – Kurt’s learnings in his training with elite track and field athletes in the 1980’s and how many “modern” training methods have been around for a long time 32:14 – How strength coaches should have good all-around GPP, and be able to play games, do dynamic warmups, and demonstrate sprinting 40:15 – What Kurt would re-brand the field of sports performance 48:53 – What Kurt considers “mental strength” and “toughness” to truly be, in light of sports performance training 58:32 – Kurt’s advice on helping coaches to be able to understand athletes and lead them on a better level “You can’t serve who you don’t know” “The athletes who trusted me, and I had the best relationship with, those were the ones who excelled the most… the closer I had a relationship with them that was not about (sports) where they trusted me at a very high level, they developed at a faster rate than an athlete I wasn’t close to” “A lot of strength and football coaches think that, if you have fun, that you are not working hard or at a proficient, high level, and I never wanted to be in this field, to not have fun” “Most athletes don’t like to train, and that’s what most strength coaches don’t get… 99% of strength coaches do not understand that fact, they are not you! So that’s always in the back of my mind,

Today’s show is with coach and educator, Dan Cleather.  Dan is a reader in strength and conditioning and the programme director of the MSc in strength and conditioning at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, UK.  Dan began coaching at Cal State Long Beach, and then worked at the English Institute of Sport.  He has coached national and international medalists across a wide range of sports, and in particular has worked with World and Olympic champions. Dan is the author of several books on the topics of science and sports performance, including “Force”: The Biomechanics of Training, and “The Little Black Book of Training Wisdom”.  Dan has published over 40 peer-reviewed and scientific articles, and is a founder member of the UK Strength and Conditioning Association. When it comes to performance training, coaches often cite a disconnect between what they are coaching, and what actually happens when an athlete competes.  We can gain a greater understanding of this issue by simply looking at how movement actually happens in sport, and how athletes actually manage forces.  Many control points in coaching tend to revolve around slow, or easily observable aspects of movement (usually the end-points), when the complex reality of movement renders coaching around these endpoints obsolete, if not counter-productive. On the show today, Dan will share with us how he views common coaching practices revolving around scientific terminology, such as “force absorption”.  He’ll go into some fallacies around force-based principles involving landing dynamics in sport, deceleration training, and how coaches go about instructing Olympic weightlifting.  Dan will speak on where science, and “evidence-based” practices fit in with one’s coaching philosophy and intuition, and will share his thoughts on the link between gardening plants and coaching athletes. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points: 4:37 – Dan’s background as an athlete and what got him into strength and conditioning 7:58 – Dan’s take on learning skills as a coach, in order to be a better learning (and coach) of skills 15:11 – Dan’s thoughts on what applying science to training actually is 22:42 – How coaches tend to frame “force-absorption” in athletics, and what it actually is 32:47 – Thoughts on the body dealing with forces from a perspective of being a “machine” or from a self-organizing perspective 41:27 – Dan’s thoughts on any sort of deceleration training for sport, and how coaches tend to spend too much time on versions of movement that are too reductionist 48:20 – The link between seeds, plants, gardening and athletic performance 52:58 – Dan’s take on traditional Olympic lifting practices in light of force development “The more skills you learn, the better you get at learning skills” “Evidence based doesn’t mean that the science is prescriptive, we see 8 parts of a 30 piece jigsaw puzzle, which are the bits of evidence we are getting from the science, and we work out the rest of what that puzzle looks like based on our experience, our discussions with the coaches, etc.” “The scientific evidence is an important part of our philosophy but it’s our philosophy that guides the decisions that we make” “If you do something because your previous coach did it, that’s the evidence of what they did” “Coaches find out what works, and 25 years later, the sport scientists come along and explain why… if you had to wait for the science before you were prepared to make a decision then you wouldn’t be able to do very much” “Absorption implies that there is something you have got that is being sucked up by something, and can be released later” “We call a softer landing with more flexion of the knees and hips “force absorption”,

Today’s show is with Boo Schexnayder.  Boo is a current strength coach and former jumps coach at Louisiana State University, and is regarded internationally as a leading authority in training design.  Boo has been a two-time previous guest on the podcast talking about speed and power training setups.  In a world of complexity, and nearly infinite ways to train athletes, Boo knows the art of managing athletic performance by using training means that are not more complex than they need to be. In my coaching (and athletic) years, I have loved looking into all of the complexities, and details of the human body, training, motor learning and biomechanics.  It’s always been a swinging pendulum in terms of digging in to understand important training nuances, but then zooming back out, to pull along the key pieces of what it really important, both in general, and for each individual athlete. When we over-complicate training, over-coach, and give out exercises that require too much distraction from actual outputs or muscular adaptations, we create a diminished experience for the athlete, and also create a program that is harder to learn from as a coach.  Knowing how and when to make the complex simple is a mark of an accomplished coach who can really transmit training to an athlete in a way that allows them to self-organize to their highest potential, both on the level of skill development, and maximal outputs. On the show today, Boo goes in detail on his own upbringing and mentorships in coaching that have led him to become the coach he is today.  He speaks particularly how his work in the rehab process gave him increased confidence in his regular coaching abilities.  Boo will speak on the process of how far he will go on the complexity rung in the gym, and how he balances coaching skill and technique with the self-organizing ability of the athlete.  Finally, Boo gives some of his thoughts on training that focuses on an athlete’s strength, and his take on heavy partial lifts in the gym in respect to the total training system. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:02 – Boo’s early development as a coach, early mentors, and his work in rehab that led him to where he is now 15:30 – Some specifics that Boo learned from the world of rehabilitation that intertwined with his performance coaching practice, and how rehab and training follow the same principles and draw from the same well 21:50 – Boo’s advice on arriving at the place where things can be made optimally simple in coaching 25:10 – Why coaches end up chasing things in athletics that aren’t that important 36:28 – Where Boo draws the line on complexity in the weightroom to the point where exercises aren’t helping to accomplish the primary goal of training 40:26 – The extent of complexity Boo would utilize for single leg movements 46:01 – How athletes must train their strengths in order to potentiate their weaknesses 52:48 – A discussion on how the Buffalo Bills didn’t squat in season and still experienced substantial success 57:20 – Boo’s take on heavy quarter squats and partial step ups in performance training (vs. full range of motion) “The earliest (change) is when I finally understood specificity and I developed a healthy non-respect for coaching culture, I realized that a lot of coaching is traditional and needs to be evaluated” “Another bright light that came on is when I got involved in the rehab field” “I think the key thing to keeping things simple is understanding what you are trying to accomplish” “So much of what we do in traditional coaching cultures is just filler work” “I feel that one thing that holds back lots of coaches is technology, there is so much technology out there that so many coaches have b...

Today’s show is with Nick Winkelman.  Nick is the head of athletic performance & science for the Irish Rugby Football Union. Prior to working for Irish Rugby, Nick was the director of education for EXOS.  Nick is an internationally recognized speaker on human performance and coaching science, and is the author of the book, “The Language of Coaching”.  Nick previously appeared on episode 193 of the podcast where he went in detail on internal and external cues, analogies, and what it takes to make cues more effective. One of the major shifts in my coaching career and personal movement/training practice has been understanding the “art” of coaching on the levels of psychology, motor learning, and how we actually go about instructing athletes in the course of the training session.  As coaches, we all tend to start out with a combination of what we did ourselves as athlete, and then whatever training frameworks we learned in our education process. When we look at any training session, whether it is sport skill or gym work, it’s par for the course to look at it on the level of tactics, sets and reps, which drills to use, or x’s and o’s.  It’s far more rare to look at the session on the level of meaning and engagement, and how we can work cohesively with athletes to better communicate with them, direct their attention, and allow them to understand, on a deeper level, what improving their sport technique feels like (and not to just intellectualize the process).  Improving one’s ability in this “soft” side of the coaching equation will help improve the long term success and sustainability of the training process. On the show today, Nick speaks on principles of attentional focus, and how factors such as motivation and novelty can direct an athlete’s attentional focus in training.  Nick will discuss cueing dynamics on a level of meaningfulness and embodiment to the athlete, moving past simply intellectualizing instruction (and how we can improve our dialogue in that process).  Finally, Nick will give his take on how coaches can become better story-tellers to their athletes in communicating ideas and instruction. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:03 – Why Nick believes that the “soft” practices in athletics (communication/cueing/motor learning/etc.) are less-traveled in the process of performance training 2:19 – Dynamics of attention, motivation and novelty in athletic performance 29:03 – “Survival” oriented coaching situations as a means to gain the attention of athletes 31:41 – How to go through the process of making coaching and cueing more meaningful to the athlete through listening to the athlete 43:14 – How the shortcoming of internal cues can teach us more about how we learn and function as humans, and how cues and attention placed external to the body can help the “one-ness” of movement fully form 52:12 – Nick’s take on the place and context of internal cueing in the process of coaching athletes 57:33 – How “noticing”/awareness of one’s body in the midst of movement fits in with the cueing eco-system 1:01:28 – Nick’s take on personal practices for coaches that can help them paint better pictures with their words when they are actually coaching “Over time, every coach who is attentive and self-aware to the journey, starts to pick up on “a weak signal”, and they start to realize, that “hold on… not everyone responds to programming the same way, so I might have to individualize… and not everyone responds to the same communication style” “What are we trying to get people to do: We are trying to get people to focus their attention on the right things, in the right way, at the right time” “Attention is like a spotlight, and we can’t actually increase the size of the spot...

Today’s show is with Rob Gray, professor at Arizona State University and Host of the Perception & Action Podcast.  Rob Gray is a professor at Arizona State University who has been conducting research on and teaching courses related to perceptual-motor skill for over 25 years.  Rob focuses heavily on the application of basic theory to address real-world challenges, having consulted with numerous professional and governmental entities, and has developed a VR baseball training system that has been used in over 25 published studies.  Rob is the author of the book “How We Learn to Move: A Revolution in the Way We Coach and Practice Sports Skills”. When it comes to anything we do athletically: playing a sport, sprinting, lifting weights, even holding an isometric position; all of these things are learned skills.  So often, the various compartments of athletics, the sport coach, the strength coach, the rehab specialist, are relatively disconnected, and there is often no common playbook when it comes to athletics and the learning process. The principles of the way we learn, and how this learning fits with our movement strategy and ability, are universal.  By understanding what it takes to be a better mover via the learning process, we have an understanding of the general process of athletic performance training from a broader frame of mind. On today’s show, Rob Gray speaks about the fallacy of training a “perfect technique” via drills or repeated cues.  He talks about why using a constraints-led approach to help shore up any key movement attractors (technique) is an ideal way to facilitate skill development.  Rob will get into his take on how to approach learning the “fundamentals” in any sport skill, and also get into important concepts of variability in sport, the differences between novice and elite in variability, and then how there can be “good” or “bad” variability in sport training.  Finally, Rob covers the role of variability in injury prevention, and talks about the sport coach/strength coach relationship in light of variability and the constraints led approach to skills. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Inside Tracker, and Lost Empire Herbs. For 25% off of an Inside Tracker order go to info.insidetracker.com/justflysports For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:05 – The story of Tim Tebow, and how he was so dominant on the NCAA level, but why his NFL career was very unsuccessful from a perspective of throwing biomechanics 9:08 – Rob’s take on the idea of “perfect technique” 13:47 – Approaching the “fundamentals” in any given skill, in the learning process 23:37 – Looking at drill-work in sport and its original intended purpose 25:33 – How much variability elite versus amateur athletes exhibit in their skills 28:59 – Variability across a spectrum of skills, such as running in football versus running on a track in sprinting 32:42 – Using variability in “basic” sports such as track and field or swimming 39:17 – How variability changes as one moves from novice, to intermediate, to expert, particularly on the level of an individual sport, like track and field 45:28 – Rob’s take on variability and injury-prevention 50:57 – The idea of donor sports and how those sports can offer helpful variability to one’s eventual sport specialization 56:35 – How strength coaches might be able to use variability in the gym that might connect to skills athletes are trying to improve on the field “There can’t be one perfect, ideal way, because the world is not staying the same around you” “Being skillful is not about repeating the same solution to the problem, it’s about repeating coming up with solutions to problems” “I like to think about giving athletes problems to solve instead of the solution”

Today’s show is with performance director Daniel Bove.  After spending several seasons with the Atlanta Hawks and Phoenix Suns, Daniel is now the Director of Performance and Sports Science for the New Orleans Pelicans, and is also the author of the book, “The Quadrant System, Navigating Stress in Team Sport”. As Michael Zweifel has said previously on the podcast, every coach should have the opportunity to work with youth athletes, and pro sports, at some point in their career.  I’ve done a lot of shows talking about youth sport concepts, as well as principles of training through the lens of a child development, but I haven’t done as many shows detailing some of the nuances of working with a pro population specifically. When it comes to that other end of the spectrum, with professional athletes, the art of strength & conditioning is largely the art of “load management” and stress consolidation, especially over the course of long competitive seasons.  This art of training athletes at the highest level is certainly interesting if you are in the small percentage of coaches who work in this group, but the concepts and ideas behind it can be helpful to understand, regardless of what population you end up working with. Daniel has come up with a unique system of load consolidation, working with an NBA population that makes a lot of sense.  Not only is “The Quadrant System” a wise method for pro athletes, but understanding the Quadrant System is also helpful from the perspective of understanding “high-low” style training in general (making high days truly “high” and low days, truly “low”), as well as the art of dealing with monotony over the course of long training periods.  On the show today, Daniel gets into his four quadrants of training (recovery, repetition, speed and of course, strength), and how he utilizes these methods of loading through different points in an in-season training schedule, as well as off-season. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Inside Tracker, and Lost Empire Herbs. For 25% off of an Inside Tracker order go to info.insidetracker.com/justflysports For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 4:23 – How Daniel categorizes load for athletes that he works with 14:48 – How the quadrants might alter as athletes get further down away from the pro-level 15:58 – How high-low training and undulation of the type of stimulus players get offers substantial benefits for players, particularly those in the course of long playing seasons 20:22 – Daniel’s take on the “speed day” in the quadrant system, and how that balances with the explosive work and speed players are doing in their practice 25:48 – How the quadrant system may change when the strength coach doesn’t have a “seat at the table” of the sport coaches and practice volumes 32:05 – Validating heavy lifting in season, on the terms of what Daniel is seeing from data and force plates, and what types of volumes athletes are doing for heavy strength work in season 37:05 – How to approach heavy lifting after game-day if players had a poor game 40:24 – Daniel’s experience with buy-in and the spectrum of players responses in regards to heavy lifting on game-days 43:01 – Nuances of the heavy strength day and how Daniel chooses to load athletes on that day 44:45 – How Daniel approaches tendon health and the repetition day/quadrant 2 47:58 – How the quadrant system changes when athletes are in the off-season or in developmental cases in-season 50:14 – Daniel’s view on a daily micro-dosing program, versus a high-low, quadrant system oriented program, and common movements that may actually be micro-dosed in the pro/NBA setting 55:04 – How Daniel uses work that creates more movement potential within the hips, as a preparation for players to use that range of motion effectively on t...

Today’s show is with coach Brady Volmering.  Brady is the owner of DAC Performance and Health. After starting out in the world of baseball skill training, he’s since moved into the human performance arena, putting the focus on increasing the capacity of the human being.  Brady looks at what “training the human being” actually means and how that relates to increases in specific sports performance. Ever since I’ve been in a formal weight room training setting for athletes, I’ve really wondered about the thought process of how the various barbell and dumbbell exercises were going to help athletes actually be better at what they do on the field.  I’ve always tried to keep a close eye on elements of gym training that could possibly link to athletes who were more successful in their actual sport. It’s important to ask the question: “what is training?”, and realize that the answer includes “how” just as much as “what”.  Weights are just one tool, or manifestation of the ability to be strong, and if we zoom out from the tool of barbells and dumbbells, we can look at the process of training and adaptation on a broader level.  Muscle tension (and relaxation) can be achieved in a wide variety of ways.  If we take a close look at the mental, emotional, and physical components can be put into the simplest of exercises, we can make then a better conduit by which to improve the whole state of the athlete’s system. On today’s podcast, Brady gives us his experiences with training athletes on a “human” level.  He goes into the tool of isometric holds, and how to modulate those to draw out different intentions, into ideas on learning the way a child does, the importance of menu systems, as well as “breaking the rules” with higher repetition training schemes (and the qualities it takes to adapt to “unreasonable” training loads).  This is an “outside the box” episode that covers a lot of important concepts in training the total human for sport and beyond. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Inside Tracker, and Lost Empire Herbs. For 25% off of an Inside Tracker order go to info.insidetracker.com/justflysports For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 4:51 – How Brady started in the specific skill training of baseball players, and how he transitioned into more “human level” training and performance 9:09 – How Brady views the transfer of training ideology in light of the “human layer”, or GPP layer of performance 15:35 – Different intentions Brady prescribes during exercises, particularly isometric type exercises 22:31 – Elements Brady notices that transfer between human-level skills and how an athlete is performing in their sport 29:22 – The mentality by which children make rapid progress in skills, and how to harness that developmental ideal 39:16 – How Brady looks at menu systems for athletes, and giving them the power of choice 47:49 – Brady’s take on “breaking the rules” with high volume training experiences 58:36 – Thoughts on the balance and handing of high volume training versus the minimal effective dose of work 1:02:32 – “Human level” principles of athletes who can absorb and adapt to training volume on a higher level 1:07:58 – What an average training session looks like for Brady in light of the principles discussed in the show 1:11:50 – How to look at sets and reps, versus the construct of time, to direct intention of the athlete 1:14:07 – Some single-joint, high rep modalities that Brady enjoys using at the end of training sessions “When I’m training a human, I’m not thinking at all about transfer to their sport” “The goal is the deep pushup is for them to direct their intent into whatever it is they are doing; the pushup is just one way to practice that” “That’s where the human aspect of things is “how can we go into the hum...

Today’s show is with coach and inventor Adarian Barr.  Adarian has spent decades coaching in the college and private sector, and currently consults with a variety of coaches in multiple sports.  Adarian has been a guest on this podcast many times, and has a unique, connected, and incredibly detailed perspective on the drivers of human movement. One piece of movement that we haven’t made a theme for this show yet is getting into rotational, “tumbling” actions of joints.  When we think of “rotational force” in movement, we often just think of “twisting in the weight room”, or training “transverse plane”.  When it comes to “front to back” movements, it is common to simply think in terms of perpendicular forces in terms of movement.  With perpendicular actions, think of a coach telling an athlete to stab or drive their shin straight down to the ground in acceleration, for example, or any coaching cue that has to do with “pushing the ground away”. In any sport movement, however, the tumbling, or “pitching” motion of body segments (such as the shins) are going to be massively important when it comes to speed.  It’s easy to load hundreds of pounds on a calf raise (a perpendicular force) but to be fast, think sprinting and throwing, rotation is inevitable, so it pays to be familiar with it to make better sense of movement coaching, and building better drills and constraints for athletes. On today’s episode, Adarian will speak on perpendicular versus rotational aspects of movement, and what it means for exercises, especially common sprint drills.  He’ll talk about the actions of the various lever systems in the body, and how to optimize the way we load these levers for a variety of movements (with sprinting as the primary example) as we use rotation to move with speed.  Adarian will talk about the ideas of “big and small wheels” as well as how not to make the wheel action of limbs a square one, as well as other interesting universal movement concepts. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Inside Tracker, and Lost Empire Herbs. For 25% off of an Inside Tracker order go to info.insidetracker.com/justflysports For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:20 – Looking at a “lever based approach” as opposed to a “force based” approach to biomechanics and movement 12:55 – The scope of true “perpendicular” movements in training, such as in-place pogo hops, in light of athletic movement that is rotational in nature 16:56 – A discussion on the hamstrings, and their role in rotational torque 22:01 – How to treat “perpendicular” oriented movements in regards to their transient, isometric nature 28:59 – The nature of the glutes and their rotational properties 30:55 – How to maximize “class 3” lever actions in the body as speed multipliers 33:30 – Squatty running and single leg bounding as rotational assessments and training paradigms 36:44 – Adarian’s take on upper body equivalents to folded running 46:13 – The principle of “big and small wheels” in movement, as well as why a circular wheel is superior to a square wheel 50:37 – How athletes will shift their “wheel size” when it comes to different athletic outcomes 55:44 – What is a “good” big wheel, and what things happening make a wheel “poor”, as well as how many sprint drills don’t actually train rotation 1:03.42 – A recap on the types of levers present in movement 1:05:20 – Looking at rotation and class 3 opportunities in the weight room 1:10:40 – What roller skating can teach us about levers and human movement “There is no way to move without a rotational component being added in there” “Everything we do is rotational, but the math is hard” “When we talk about sagittal, frontal and transverse plane, that is a location… a better term is pitch, yaw and roll”

Today’s show is with Angus Bradley.  Angus is a strength coach and podcast host from Sydney, Australia.  He coaches out of Sydney CBD, co-hosts the Hyperformance podcast with his brother, Oscar, and is also an avid surfer.  Angus appeared previously on episode 249 of the podcast, talking about compressive strategies in weightlifting, as well as the impacts of those compressive effects on narrow infra-sternal angle individuals in particular. Angus is one of the most brilliant, and practical individuals I know in the world of strength training biomechanics, and connecting it to movement and practical outcomes.  When it comes to making sense of how our body structure and pressure systems fit with different setups in the weight room, and how this might apply to dynamic movement, Angus is a top individual to learn from. So often in the weight room, we will say that it is all “general” (which technically it is) but then use that as an excuse not to understand the movements we are utilizing in detail that fit with greater concepts of the gait cycle.  Connecting strength work to the gait cycle is key in better strength training practices, as well as individualization. On the show today, Angus covers the dimensions of exercises based on center of mass position relative to the foot, and how this connects with the gait cycle, as well as how much an athlete is being “pushed forward” (and why that is important).  He’ll cover delayed knee extension in both lifting and sprinting (and how they might connect), concepts of foot shapes, and gait, as well as his take on “floating heel” work not potentially being everything it’s cracked up to be.  Angus will also give some practical ideas on giving more sensory information to athletes unable to access early stance well, how far to take wide and narrow ISA types in terms of “balancing their weaknesses”, and much more. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Inside Tracker, and Lost Empire Herbs. For 25% off of an Inside Tracker order go to info.insidetracker.com/justflysports For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 4:25 – How doing the “wrong” intervention in training can still lead to positive results 11:30 – Understanding the implications of working through the various positions of the center of mass in relation to the position of the feet, and what this means for degrees of freedom in movement 18:30 – Some performance implications of wide-vs. narrow ISA’s in regards to mid and late stance, and jump technique 23:15 – The idea of “hamstring curling” one’s self out of the hole of a squat in order to delay knee extension 28:45 – Where Angus sees the benefit in “floating heel” training, and where he finds it not very beneficial 34:45 – How to re-train athletes to “let their femurs be” in squatting when they’ve been taught to shove their knees out in the past 39:30 – Thoughts on oscillatory squatting (and split squatting) and its impact on the mid-stance phase of lifting 43:30 – A discussion on developing mid-stance, narrow ISA’s and single leg squatting 49:00 – Flat vs. high arched individuals and what this means for how this impacts athletes in early vs. late propulsion 56:50 – How Angus’s lockdown sprint work went, and lessons he learned with squatted running 1:02:00 – Thoughts on the role of the adductors in movement, why some people may feel them more (or less) in sprinting, and how to train them in the gym “You can grab (IR and ER) if you just start pulling athletes back… heavy lifting just has a tendency to shove people forward” “A sign of a good athlete to me, is they will respond to their environment” “You can simplify it by looking at where they are in the sagittal plane and looking at that map of the foot, looking at where they are in relation to that base of support… if the center of...

Today’s show is a Q&A with Joel Smith.  It’s a lot of fun to see the questions you all have, and putting together a list of answers. Some major themes in this show included the dynamics of how an athlete learns and acquires a skill, how to give athletes ideal constraints to learn a skill better (particularly on the level of the arms in sprinting and step-action in jumping), and then questions on training the spectrum of the force velocity curve. There also were a lot of questions and answers that lent to training individualization based on the individual structure of the body and if one is a “power or speed” based athlete, which relates to an athlete’s ribcage structure and ISA bias, and of course, a lot of speed oriented questions. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Inside Tracker, and Lost Empire Herbs. For 25% off of an Inside Tracker order go to info.insidetracker.com/justflysports For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 1:15 – The difference in training fascial vs. elastic athletes 7:33 – How to train a “power” sprinter with poor top end speed 13:40 – Thoughts on training at different points on the force-velocity curve 24:06 – Arm action in sprinting, and constraint-driven coaching versus “positional” coaching 34:14 – Structuring a weight training and performance program for speed and acceleration 36:32 – Why some athletes have a long vs. short penultimate step in jumping 40:45 – Thoughts on in-season programming for team sports 46:56 – Dealing with a toe-sprain and learning to feel other parts of the foot 48:30 – Frequency of training with bodyweight iso holds 49:37 – Thoughts on “inside edge” vs. “outside edge” in movement and training 54:35 – Fascial awareness in movement 55:42 – Is concentric power building in the weightroom worthwhile? 57:01 – How to use falling/slipping/stumbling reflexes to our advantage in training About Joel Smith Joel Smith is the founder of Just Fly Sports and is a sports performance coach in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Joel hosts the Just Fly Performance Podcast, has authored several books on athletic performance, and trains numerous clients in the in-person and online space.  Joel was formerly a strength coach for 8 years at UC Berkeley, working with the Swim teams and post-graduate professional swimmers, as well as tennis, water polo, and track and field.  A track coach of 11 years, Joel coached for the Diablo Valley Track and Field Club for 7 years, and also has 6 years of experience coaching sprints, jumps, hurdles, pole vault and multi-events on the collegiate level, working at Wilmington College, and the University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse. Joel has coached 2 national champions, multiple All-Americans and school record holders in his time as a track coach. In the realm of strength and conditioning, his programs have assisted 5 athletes to Olympic berths that produced 9 medals and a world record performance at Rio in 2016. In 2011, Joel began Just Fly Sports with Jake Clark as a central platform to promote information for athletes and coaches to reach their highest potential.  In 2016 the first episode of the “Just Fly Performance Podcast” was released, now a leading source of education in the sports performance field.  The evolving mission of Just Fly Sports is focused on teaching athletes to realize their true, innate power, and achieve the highest joy in their training, competition, and in the community.

Today’s show welcomes back running coach and biomechanist, Helen Hall.  Helen is the author of “Even With Your Shoes On”.  She is an endurance athlete, minimalist ultra-distance runner, 6 times Ironman and credited with being the world’s first ‘barefoot’ Iron(wo)man.  Helen is the owner of the Perpetual Forward Motion School of Efficient Running, as well as a running injury clinic, using the latest movement science and gait analysis technology to help people find solutions for their pain and injuries.  She appeared on episode 180 speaking on all things joint mechanics and technique in running. One of the most common things I hear (and have seen, especially in my club track years) about athletes is those who have a heavy heel strike when they run.  Excessive passive forces in athletic motion is never a good thing, but it’s always important to understand binary concepts (you had a heel-strike or you didn’t) in further detail.  There is a spectrum of potential foot strike positions in running, and nobody stays on their heel in gait, as we always move towards the forefoot. On the show today, Helen goes in depth on heel striking and the biomechanics of the heel in the running cycle, as well as the difference in heel striking motions in jogging versus sprinting.  One of the topics I frequently enjoy covering is how the human body can interact with nature and natural features to optimize itself (which includes optimizing running technique) and Helen speaks on how one can use uphill and downhill grades to help athletes and individuals self-organize their own optimal running technique. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Inside Tracker, and Lost Empire Herbs. For 25% off of an Inside Tracker order go to info.insidetracker.com/justflysports For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:27 – Why Helen feels individuals heel strike in the first place 11:33 – Helen’s “happy medium” when it comes to socks in running 14:28 – Helen’s view on the heel bone and pronation in the initial strike in running 21:03 – How Helen would help an athlete who heel strikes in a sprint when it is not desired 29:28 – The importance of relaxation and “letting” the body move and react, versus trying to force the body into motion 38:41 – Nuances of using uphill and downhill running, what to notice, and how to integrate that into one’s stride 45:29 – How un-even surfaces can create grounds by which individuals can self-organize their stride and foot action 48:35 – How to leverage hills to optimize the function of the glutes in running “I never change somebody’s first point of contact; their bodies change their first point of contact themselves” “There can’t be a right or wrong, since there are so many people whose first point of contact is the heel, and they are not in pain” “If you land in front of the heel, then you get the eccentric loading of the Achilles and what it attaches to” “People decide they are in “this camp” or “that camp” and thereby the camps run parallel to each other and never exchange ideas” “You want to be landing, not in a pronating foot.. in the context of running… the descent is arguably a posteriorly tilted calcaneus because you are landing in a supinating foot… unless your foot is going to go “splat” immediately” “You want to land on a foot that is relaxed enough to give” “They are reaching for the step, and by reaching on the step through hip flexion, they are ending up on their heel first, and that may be giving them more control as they go through the forefoot” “In my experience, people do not go back to the heel-strike, and all you need is a slope (to correct it)” “If you want to slow down, the most natural thing in the world is to shove your foot out, and brake with your heel” “You have to be relaxed for the response in you...

Today’s show welcomes back JB Morin.  JB Morin is currently full professor and head of sports science and the physical education department at the University of Saint-Etienne.  He has been involved in sport science research for over 15 years, and has published over 50 peer-reviewed journals since 2004.  JB is a world-leading researcher on all things sprint related, having collaborated with and analyzed some of the world’s best sprinters, such as Christophe Lemaitre. JB also does lots of sprint research that is highly applicable to team sport settings, such as information that can be gleaned from force-velocity profiling.  He has been a 2x previous guest on this podcast, speaking on elements of heavy sled training, force-velocity profiling, and much more. When it comes to sprinting from point A to point B, the time on the clock does not necessarily represent the strategy an athlete used to get there.  Athletes who can direct their sprint forces in more of a horizontal vector are going to be able to reach higher top velocities, and be more resilient towards injury. The question then becomes, how do we assess, and train athletes in respect to the direction they are producing sprint forces?  In today’s episode, JB speaks on how the specifics of an athlete’s force production (in the horizontal vs. vertical direction) will highlight elements of how fatigued that individual is, and their predisposition to injury in the short term.  JB also goes into how to measure force production in sprinting, new research on joint actions in early and late acceleration, hill training vs. sleds, hamstring research, and more. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Inside Tracker, and Lost Empire Herbs. For 25% off of an Inside Tracker order go to info.insidetracker.com/justflysports For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:00 –  Some new work that has come out in sprint research recently, showing the importance of the hip and ankle outputs in sprinting, even in the first few steps of acceleration 16:20 –  Thoughts on sprint technique, or force-velocity profiling and how that might link to potential injury in team sport situations 24:00 –  The relationship (and differences) between one’s maximal horizontal force, and their maximal sprint speed, and what it means for injury risk 30:50 –  How having a poor maximal horizontal force output can show up in the biomechanics of how an athlete is sprinting 37:15 –  How elite athletes will start to change their force-production orientation (less horizontal, over time) once fatigue starts to set in during a training session 45:00 –  How hill training compares to heavy sled training in terms of forces and velocity 50:30 –  New studies and thoughts on hamstring injury in athletics 54:20 –  Thoughts on training the feet and lower leg for the sake of sprinting 58:40 –  JB’s thoughts on how to set up good research on sprinting in athletics “75% of the energy that is generated to run is generated at the hip and calf level” “Team sport is so chaotic, it’s the worst way to assess an athlete’s acceleration capability, the game environment is not reproducible” “Our studies show that pre-season maximal force output is not related to (injury risk) but when you measure that maximal force output throughout the season, the last measurement is related to the risk of injury in that measurement period” “You need to measure (force/velocity) regularly, not only in the pre-season period… there are so many changes throughout the season” “You can have people with the same 25 meter splits, but different profiles at the beginning of the spectrum or the end of the spectrum” “If you take two athletes with the same magnitude of ground reaction force, the best in acceleration will be the most horizontally oriented vector”

Today’s show welcomes back Randy Huntington for a “part 2” of the recent episode #282 , speaking on the success of Chinese sprinter, Su Bingtian, and the third podcast with Randy in total.  Randy is a track and field coach who has spent his recent years as the national track and field coach for the Chinese athletics association and has over 45 years of coaching experience. Huntington is rated as a USATF Master Coach in the jumps, has been the coach for many world-class athletes over the years, including eight Olympians and seven World Championship Team members.  Mike Powell and Willie Banks set world records in the long jump and triple jump, respectively, while under his tutelage. In the last podcast, Randy spoke on several elements of the training methods that helped Su Bingtian to become the fastest accelerator of all time, such as sled and resisted sprint training, special strength work, and more.  There was still a lot left to cover after the last episode, so for this show, we will dive back in (literally, in regards to the water training) to Randy’s training methodology. For today’s episode, Randy speaks in depth on Su Bingtian’s weekly training setup, and how he spaces out the weekly work, with a focus on rest and recovery.  He will get into the topic of training density, and how this can be modulated with training cycles of various lengths (as opposed to only sticking with a traditional 7-day cycle).  Randy will get into elements of water training, tempo sprint training, his version of over-speed work, and much more.  This is an awesome compliment to the popular “part 1” of my recent chatting with Randy, and great material for coaches in any discipline. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Inside Tracker, and Lost Empire Herbs. For 25% off of an Inside Tracker order go to info.insidetracker.com/justflysports For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 4:39 –  Details on Su’s weekly training setup, and how “work + rest = adaptation” 11:17 – Thoughts on how much, and how often to apply tempo work to team training 15:35 – How various cultures can have an impact on the type of training that athletes in that culture will optimally respond to 18:56 – The importance of water training for recovery, and recovery training in general, in Randy’s program 36:51 – Why the biggest need in coaching is on the level of youth coaches, and not those who work with elite athletes 42:06 –  How Randy isolates the specific focus of his training sessions, not doing too much work all in one session 46:06 – Individual factors in elastic vs. muscular athletes in the construction of a training program 51:51 – The power of being able to move athletes around selectively amongst training groups in individual sports 55:21 – How Randy looks at long term training and seasonal shifts in training emphasis 59:51 – Principles on going beyond a typical 7-day weekly training cycle, into 9 and 10 day cycles. 1:04:51 – How Randy utilizes the “bigger players” in a training year (such as intense training methods, heavy lifting, intense plyos, etc.) and how he measures and manages recovery 1:12:06 – How Randy applies overspeed training with his athletes “I look at work, but I put the rest in first in the week, and then I follow it back up with what work we are going to do prior to the rest” “I like using pulse (for tempo training), I’d rather use SMO2 (when I can)… that gives me a very accurate appraisal of when to go again” “I make our strength coaches run (tempo) with the sprinters” “In China, you can’t give them a lot of time off, they fall apart very quickly if they have a lot of time off (Koreans were like the too)” “How do you increase density without (going to steroids)… that’s how I arrived at (water training)… my whole approach has been recove...

Our guest for today’s show is Dr. Edythe Heus.  Dr. Heus is a nationally known chiropractor utilizing kinesiology with 22 years of experience.  She is the founder of the RevinMo, a unique corrective exercise program and co-author of ProBodX.  Dr. Heus is a thoughtful investigator whose diagnosis and treatment is based on specialized knowledge of the body's interconnectedness. Dr. Heus has enjoyed great success, and works with many professional and Olympic athletes. When training individuals, it’s easiest to focus only on “outputs”, such as the load on the bar, or how fast an individual ran through sprint gates.  In taking a full-view at training, it’s also important to understand more subtle inputs, and how the body organizes movement from a fascial perspective. I’ve routinely noticed in the world of track and field, and swimming, a cycle where athletes experience an injury, have to do “rehab” (subtle) work (and also get a deload from the typical intense work they are doing) and come back to their sport to set personal bests within a few weeks or months.  As such, it’s worthwhile to study the full spectrum of “rehab to outputs” in human and athletic performance, and how we can organize each of these methods through a training session, or one’s career. On the show today, Dr. Heus will speak on balance and proprioceptive training methods, such as pipes and slant boards, advanced foot training concepts, and information on the fascia and how it responds to various training methods.  This is an important concept for anyone, and particularly those individuals who wish to learn more about the “softer” side of performance that can make a large impact on one’s function and resistance to injury. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Inside Tracker, and Lost Empire Herbs. For 25% off of an Inside Tracker order go to info.insidetracker.com/justflysports For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 6:00 – How Edythe got into a more “alternative” position on exercise and training in her career 19:30 – Deeper thoughts on balance training, and how it benefits the nervous system 38:30 – From a balance perspective, what athletes should be able to do from a fundamental movement perspective 56:00 – Assessing the feet and the abdominals in the course of balance-oriented training 1:02.00 – Using slant boards to train the feet 1:06:00 – Edythe’s thoughts on toe strength 1:21:15 – How Edythe can feel the fascial system working in a particular exercise, and what exactly is “fascial training” “A quality of a person’s life is directly related to the health of their feet” “I see what I do, whether it is treatment or training, because I don’t separate those, as a collaborative team effort (between myself and the client)” “(I want to know) why are we not getting the response from the nervous system or the fascia that is possible?” “Balance, for me, isn’t just standing on unstable surfaces” “Balance is a form of novelty, and the brain thrives on novelty… I also challenge them textually” “Instability just simply, makes the cerebellum work” “Balance comes in so that your inner and outer environment can better communicate with each other” “One of the components I think is critical in training is a perception of risk” “Do some of my stuff before the lift, do it after, and then your lift is going to be better, and you are going to build on what you gained from that lifting, so heavy weight stuff definitely has to be on a stable surface” “I don’t think that without an unstable surface, that you are going to get all parts of your being integrated” “We want to automate as much as possible so there is not much thinking involved, so when you do have a skill you actually want to learn, you’ve got more bandwidth for that skill,

Our guest for today’s show is Erik Huddleston.  Erik was recently on the podcast, on episode 269, speaking about important elements of squat technique based on individual frames of the athlete.  After the show, I had some other important questions left over that I wanted to discuss, and also in that time, Erik has made a career transition to working in the NBA. Erik is currently an assistant sports performance coach with the Indiana Pacers and head performance coach for their G-League affiliate, the Ft. Wayne Mad Ants. He is the former director of performance at Indianapolis Fitness & Sports Training (IFAST), along with having NCAA D1 experience. When we program training for athletes, what factors are we considering when we select exercises? Do we just pick movements that are novel and random, or do we have a greater philosophy that helps us decide what types of movements to use, and when?  What about timing, such as exercise selection in the training sessions coming off of, or leading them up to competitions or tough practice periods?  Or, do we ever ask ourselves about what an athlete’s development level (youth vs. pro) might mean for them with the types of exercises we are prescribing from a compression and expansion perspective? On the show today, Erik speaks on organizing exercise selection based on an athlete’s training schedule (such as post or pre-competition periods of the training week, or even training year), how to use weight placement to train various athlete body types, and some critical differences in training, from an expansion/compression perspective, regarding youth vs pro level athletes.  It’s so easy to fan-boy (or girl) over the workouts of “elite” athletes, but the key to good coaching is always knowing how to engage an athlete where they are at in their own development. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Inside Tracker, and Lost Empire Herbs. For 25% off of an Inside Tracker order go to info.insidetracker.com/justflysports For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:28 – How to organize training based off of periods of “expansion” and “compression” 11:42 – How Erik quantifies what players are experiencing in practice and games from a “expansion/compression” perspective, and how to give them what they don’t have then, in a gym setting 14:54 – Exercise selection principles that help athletes optimally reset in their “off” days 21:55 – How to adjust exercises to help them ramp up to a game or competition situation 24:20 – What a pre-season training load looks like compared to in-season in professional basketball 29:00 – What pre-season training looks like in high school sports where athletes have a lot more time to prepare without high volume sport loadings 34:41 – Situations where more compression will help an athlete, vs. situations where it will potentially hurt an athlete 39:25 – How to set up training for “pylon” shaped individuals to help their reversal ability in jumping and athletics 46:20 – How “flipping the pylon” of the torso, and having wide shoulders impacts squatting selection 52:06 – How the shape of one’s torso impacts the types of plyometric exercises that players should utilize 54:46 – How to prescribe jump programming to individuals who have a hard time yielding in their movement relative to the ground 59:10 – How to approach plyometrics and jump training for youth athletes vs. elite athletes who are already at a relatively high level, and playing jump oriented sports constantly “Keeping player assets on the court is the most important part of my job” “Give them some of what they don’t have that they are getting from the training and the basketball stimulus” “I have to assume that the vast things that are occurring on the court are output driven… that’s where we get into that com...

Our guest for today’s show is Randy Huntington.  Randy is a track and field coach, who has spent his recent years as the national track and field coach for the Chinese athletics association and has over 45 years of coaching experience.  Huntington is rated as a USATF Master Coach in the jumps, has been the coach for many world-class athletes over the years, including eight Olympians and seven World Championship Team members.  Mike Powell and Willie Banks set world records in the long jump and triple jump, respectively, while under his tutelage. More recently, Randy has had tremendous success coaching in Asia, a capstone of which has been Su Bingtian, who recently set the Asian 100m dash record of 9.83 seconds at age 31.  En route to his 100m record, Su broke the world record in the 60m (as a split time) with a 6.29, which converts to around a 4.07s 40 yard dash. When a teenager, or relatively untrained individual takes a few tenths off of their 40 yard dash, or drops a half second in the 100m dash over several years time, this is a normal and natural occurrence, and isn’t something that really demands digging far into.  On the other hand, when an already elite athlete, who is at, or slightly past their “prime” years, moves into their 30s and smashes sprint records, this is something that is truly worth putting a close eye on. On the show today, Randy Huntington speaks on some of the training elements that helped sprinter, Su Bingtian achieve his recent results.  Randy goes into his views on special strength training for speed, particularly on the level of the lower leg, and speaks on the use of banded and wearable resistance in speed training, as well as some nuts and bolts on resisted and sled sprint work.  On the back end of the show, Randy gets into training the elastic and fascial systems of an athlete, and how to optimize an athlete’s elastic response to training in plyometrics and beyond. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, Inside Tracker, and Lost Empire Herbs. For 25% off of an Inside Tracker order go to info.insidetracker.com/justflysports For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:02 – What’s been happening with Randy in his last 4 years of coaching, particularly with Su Bingtian and his success 12:24 – Some of the big training elements that helped Su Bingtian get down to 9.83/6.29 from 10.0/6.50 in his time working with Randy 18:37 – Using banded and wearable resistance methods for improving speed and “bridging” the gap between the weight room and the track 25:58 – Randy’s advice for using sleds/heavy sleds in training 32:59 – The “train your frame” system and the importance of body proportions and structure on optimal sporting events for athletes 37:01 – How Randy uses sleds for contrast training, as well as concepts on wave-loading and how many sets in a row to utilize 40:25 – The importance of elastic energy in athletic performance, and how under-estimated the elastic contribution to performance is, as well as how important dynamic elastic ability is for running endurance 50:44 – The nature of the advanced spikes and track surface used in the Tokyo Olympic games, and its impact on athletes 55:04 – Randy’s take on optimizing the elastic and fascial systems of an athlete, as well as a chat on ground contact times in plyometrics 1:06.28 – How improved foot strength played into Su’s improvement in the 100m dash, as well as in various portions of the race, as well as how Randy trained Su’s foot strength 1:08:26 – The role of harmonics and resonance between one’s foot/body and the running surface, especially in the course of a 100m dash race 1:19.56 – How to increase the eccentric rate of development in standard exercises, such as a partner pushing a partner down into an exercise 1:28.

Our guest for today’s show is Logan Christopher.  Logan is a strongman, author, owner of Legendary Strength and CEO of Lost Empire Herbs.  Logan previously appeared on episode 111 and episode 187, where he discussed mental training in depth, as well as the “6 layers” of strength.  Logan has also written several books including “Mental Muscle” and “Powered by Nature”, both of which I have found impactful reads.  Logan is a master of using the natural machinery of the body, our mind, and our environment to help us reach our highest potential as humans. An interesting saying you hear over and over again is that “the game is all mental”, or it is “90% mental” by many elite athletes.  Although there are general physical standards to be successful in many sports (think of the body type of a runner or a jumper, or the long arms that are very helpful in making it to the NBA) it is impossible to overlook the role of the mind, especially in elite performers.  Perhaps one’s genetic structure can help one to “get in the door” in the sport they are most suited for, but it is always going to be the mind that allows them higher levels of success. On the show today, Logan talks about many facets of both physical and mental training.  He starts with an important facet of coaching we haven’t gotten much into before, and that is on the language a coach uses to describe exercises, and training in general, and how these can impact training outcomes.  He also speaks on specific learning styles that can also be used in one’s visualization routines, as well as his take on the use of analogies and imagination in athletic skill performance.  Logan also goes into elements of old-school strongman training, as well as a quick take on why testosterone has dropped across the world over the last 50-100 years by a substantial margin. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:40 – Talking about managing training in context of holding back and achieving balance in order to have continual progress 11:10 – How the language a coach uses in the course of a workout can impact the outcome of the training (especially on the level of over-training) 14:25 – The four learning styles, and how to leverage these learning styles for better training results 20:40 – How to specifically optimize the auditory learning style in training 23:10 – How to approach strengths vs. weaknesses in terms of the four learning styles and physical training 32:00 – How analogies, as spoken about by Nick Winkelman, can be effective for athletes in light of Neurolinguistic programming philosophy 33:40 – How imaginatory ability impacts one’s physical and athletic abilities 39:10 – If Logan could pick only one mental training tool for himself now, and then 10 years ago, what he would utilize 43:10 – How much mental training Logan does now that he has over a decade of mental training under his belt 50:10 – Some old school strongman lift performances from the past that haven’t been touched in the last 50 years 55:25 – Speaking on the link between breathing and strongman training 59:10 – Why testosterone has dropped so much in the last 50 years “Typically I don’t even refer to my workouts as workouts, I refer to them as “training”” “I like to use the word “severety” for “effort” instead (of intensity)” “Words do matter, this is going to change the results we get” “(With language) taking a small thing and compounding it over time is going to be a big difference” “The four (learning) styles are visual, auditory, kinesthetic and digital” “Most people in sport tend to be kinesthetic learners…. The visual and kinesthetic are common in athletes” “As a coach, we are going to coach predominantly in our own style” “Very often,

Our guest for today’s show is Austin Jochum.  Austin is the owner of Jochum Strength where he works with athletes and “washed up movers” to become the best versions of themselves.  He is also the host of the Jochum Strength Podcast.  Austin was a former NCAA D3 All-American football player and a hammer thrower (MIAC weight throw champion) at the University of St. Thomas, where he is now the speed and strength coach for the football team.  Austin has appeared on episode 213, and also has written numerous articles for Just Fly Sports. One common theme of this podcast for so many years has been finding ways to make one’s training transfer to sport more, not just on the physical and mechanical level, but also on the mental and emotional level, and on a perception-reaction level.  At some point, the hair splitting that happens in regards to weight room exercises (arguments on what set-rep scheme to use, single leg vs. bilateral lifting, etc.), or the minutia of biomechanics, can start to take away from developing other important components of athletics. Austin Jochum is a pioneer in the blending of sport elements into the traditional gym setting for athletes.  He is a meathead, but also a die-hard athletic-mover, and passionately trains in a way that encompasses both the archetypes of strength, and performing ideally in one’s sport and movement practice. For the show today, Austin speaks on the art of developing a love for movement and play in athletes, how to build a “scorer’s” mentality, as well as how to optimize game-based scenarios in the gym to help improve transfer to the field.  He then gets into an excellent discussion on exposing athletes to their weaknesses in a gym-game setting, and finishes with how he sets up his own training programs from not only a physical, but also a mental/emotional perspective, moving from external to internal states, relating each type of training stress to the emotional state of the athlete. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:00 – A story of two different soccer coaches and their approaches to training with their groups 11:00 – The link between love of movement/sport, obsession, and subsequent greatness, 15:30 – How to preserve, and grow, love for movement in coaching athletes 18:30 – Thoughts on “leveling up” on the levels of movement, as well as mental and emotional levels, in a training session 27:30 – How to set up games in a training session that can help to build a “scorer’s mentality” in athletes 29:00 – How to modulate the space of the field, and 1v1, or 2v2 type situations that can help athletes 36:00 – How to transfer between what athletes are really good, and really bad at, in their sport in order to create more robust athletic ability 44:30 – Insecurities that are wrapped up in not being able to expose one’s self to failure 51:30 – The importance of being on the fringe, and evolving the field, and realizing that no one individual has all of the answers 59:30 – The line between order and chaos within a training session, and how a strength session looks for Austin, and how he moves from fun, to funneling the energy into outputs or skill, then taking the athletes into themselves “If you listen to really really good athletes talk, I look at my own past successes, it is because you are obsessed with it… and how do you become obsessed with something? You gotta fall in love with it” “Something we’ve been doing is saying, “if this kid scores”, it’s worth two points, so now the stud who is always scoring is going to find a way to give the ball to someone else, he is going to expand the field” “Watch when your athlete, the first time you meet your athlete, watch how they walk into the gym, because you’ll know right away,

Our guest for today’s show is Katie St. Clair.  Katie is a strength and conditioning coach out of Charleston, SC who has been training general population and athletes for over 20 years, and is the creator of the Empowered Performance Program. She is passionate about helping everyone reclaim movement and find joy and reduction of pain using sound biomechanical principles alongside proper breathing.  Katie has embarked on a journey of learning and combining that knowledge with her love of athletic movement, as well as her passion for empowering female movement professionals, with the intent to elevate the entire industry standard. In my last few years as a coach, I’ve become more and more aware of the underlying physical and structural characteristics of athletes that work to determine biomechanics that show up when they perform various sporting skills.  I’ve really enjoyed having a variety of coaches on this show who have gone in detail on the biomechanics of the human body, (the pelvis, ribcage, breathing, etc.) and then have linked that up with what we might see in athletic movement, such as sprinting and jumping to name a few. Katie is an expert in human performance, and the fine details of human movement.  On today’s show, she takes us on an approach to forward pelvic tilt, breathing mechanics, abdominal function, the feet, proper squatting, plyometrics and more that comes from a perspective of the underlying function of the human body.  Katie helps us understand the “inside” mechanisms that are so often leading to compromised movement seen on the “outside”. So often we have athletes who just can’t seem to “find” the right joint motions in their movement, and this is when we need to have the ability to go a level deeper in our coaching, or our ability to know when to “refer out” to experts better able to cater to those areas.  The more you know from “the inside out”, the greater the bandwidth of athletes you can serve in your efforts. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 4:45 – What led Katie into working in fitness and performance 10:15 – Katie’s “inside out” view, of helping athletes acquire better technique via changes on the level of the thorax, pelvis and rib-cage 15:45 – The art of coaching humans in a manner that helps them self-organize and learn to move effectively 18:45 – How being biased, or stuck, in anterior tilt impacts one’s ability to move, and how to help athletes get out of that position 25:45 – How to use inhalation and exhalation to neurologically reinforce supination/ER and pronation/IR 42:15 – General primers on how to start working with breathing and breath for clients 45:50 – Ideas on how compression can drive expansion on the opposite side of the body, and ideas on “functional” abdominal muscles 49:50 – Katie’s view on building strength at length with the abdominal wall 55:50 – Why some athletes (particularly female swimmers) often have a lot of spinal extension patterning in a pushup movement, and then what to do about it (if it is even a big deal in that group) 1:00.05 – Hypermobility as systemic laxity, versus adaptations that can lead to acquired hypermobility in the limbs via proximal stiffness 1:05.35 – The dichotomy between accessing the heels, and then moving into the forefoot in the process of squatting 1:14.50 – Dynamics of “no-toes” squatting and what it can do for athletes, and how it zeros in on the mid-foot 1:17.50 – The balance between being able to keep the heel down and pronate, and then get off the heel to make the foot a second class lever, in squatting and even in running/jumping 1:29.50 – How to help people who struggle to yield to gravity be able to do so, and achieve better glute activation in the process

Today’s show features Dr. Chris Gaviglio.  Chris is a current senior strength and conditioning coach for the Queensland Academy of Sport, working with Olympic-based sports and athletes.  Chris has been involved with elite sport for over 15 years working across multiple Olympic sports and professional football in both the northern and southern hemispheres.  Chris provides applied sports science projects for the athletes he works with, particularly in the areas of salivary hormones, passive heat maintenance, blood flow restriction training, warm-up strategies, and power/strength development. I don’t often do shows that center around a piece of training technology, and the main reason for that is simply accessibility.  If a training tool costs thousands of dollars, it isn’t something a large proportion of the athletic, and even coaching population can rationalize having in their training arsenal.  The nice thing about blood flow restriction training is that it is available at a relatively low price point, with common units starting around $300USD.  Other setups using squat wraps, for example, can be done basically for free, but I would recommend using an automated system for the safety and precision of band tightness (see show notes regarding safety considerations and contraindications to BFR, such as concussions or deep vein thrombosis). Blood Flow restriction training has been a training tool that has been on my radar for a long time.  After seeing the results that a high-level Olympic swimmer I worked with got from them, and then hearing some results from Nicolai Morris having a 1.5 second drop in the 100 freestyle of a swimmer as well, as well as several of my coaching colleagues using the method, I knew that there was absolutely something to BFR that I needed to get further into.  In using the AirBands from Vald performance myself, I continued to realize how beneficial this training stimulus is to our physiological response. For today’s show, Chris takes us into many topics of BFR, including its mechanisms and many benefits.  As opposed to methods of mechanical stress (such as plyometrics, sprinting, heavy strength training methods) which tend to dominate this shows podcasts) BFR is a physiological stressor, and through this discussion, we can gain an appreciation for the contrast of physiological stress to more mechanical means.  Chris finishes the show talking about how coaches and athletes can integrate BFR training, and gives many anecdotes and points of research, on how BFR can improve strength and speed recovery. Finally, our sponsor, Simplifaster is doing a Blood Flow Restiction cuff giveaway (Vald Airbands) so if you would like to get in on that, until November 11th, you can sign up for a chance to win a free pair of cuffs at bit.ly/freebfr . Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 6:00 – Chris’s experiment during quarantine using lighter, or minimal weights in an at-home training setting 17:00 – Discussion on using lighter implements and bodyweight in developing one’s athleticism 20:30 – What blood flow restriction training is, and where it originated from 27:00 – How the metabolic stress from BFR creates beneficial responses, similar to high-load lifting 35:25 – What BFR definitely helps with, and what elements of performance it is not as helpful for 41:25 – How BFR can help with creating “mild to moderate” doses of lactate – Using BFR style work in warming up for a training session 53:10 – If there are any similar places in sport where athletes will experience situations similar to what is created with BFR means 57:00 – How to get as close to BFR as one can in a gym without any sort of cuffs or wraps 1:00:00 – Anecdotes on how to integrate BFR in performance and re...

Today’s show features Frank Forencich.  Frank is an internationally recognized leader in health and performance education. He has over thirty years of teaching experience in martial art and health education. Frank holds black belt rankings in karate and aikido and has traveled to Africa on several occasions to study human origins and the ancestral environment. A former columnist for Paleo Magazine, Frank is the author of numerous books about health and the human predicament, including “The Exuberant Animal”, the book I read that originally led me to Frank’s work. We live in a time where early sport specialization and pressure has led to burnout and high injury rates amongst athletes, but the “rabbit hole” to a dis-satisfaction with sport and movement in general for so many, goes much deeper than that.  As much as we fall prey to the stress-laden, year-round competitive schedule that leads athletes to higher pressure situations at younger ages, we also have “forgotten” our roots as athletes, and more importantly, as human beings, in so many senses of the word.  We miss out on both training results, satisfaction and longevity by failing to study our ancestral nature. On today’s show, Frank Forencich goes into many important elements of our humanity that can help athletes not only recover and train better, but also help increase enjoyment of the training process.  These elements include human biorhythms, dance, play and exploration, getting in the dirt, benefits of training in nature, purpose driven movement, and more.  This podcast was truly important on the level of helping us use the principles of nature that define who we are, to help us in training, and far beyond. If you bring drums into your gym, or for your workout after this episode, PLEASE let me know. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:20 – Key trends seen in the animal kingdom, in physical movement that humans should pay attention to our own movement practices 11:50 – “Effortful striving” in human training versus more of a purpose-driven approach that is characteristic to non-human animals 20:30 – What the idea of “dancing being the original PE” means to athletes and all-human 28:20 – How play and exploration influences how we adapt to movement and training 33:50 – Frank’s thoughts on when to specialize in a sport, or movement practice 35:20 – The difference between the “jungle animal” and the “desert animal” and what this means for humans, training and moving in context with their environment 38:35 – The impact of bioregion on movement practice 40:40 – The impact of training in nature, versus training in an indoor gym setting, and then the “Bio-Philic” need of humans in regards to connection with nature 45:45 – Jim Thorpe’s primal and natural training methods 48:20 – The importance of getting “in the dirt” and actually connecting with dirt and the earth itself for the sake of the micro-biome 54:05 – Low hanging fruits on how to deal with stress better in context of our human biology 58:05 – The role of the athlete in modern society 1:01:55 –  How to build a total training day based on the rhythms and mechanisms of the human being “There is no emphasis on appearance (regarding movement and “exercise” as observed in the animal kingdom)” “It’s important to remember that sports are movement specialties” “In human athletics, there is constant striving all the time that is divorced from habitat; it is almost as if we are training in a bubble” “For the playful athlete, the motivation is purely intrinsic” “We’ve lost sight of the fact that the dose makes the poison, the dose makes the medicine… the wisdom lies in remembering the shape of the inverse U-curve”

Today’s show welcomes back coach Michael Zweifel.  Michael is the owner and head of sports performance for “Building Better Athletes” performance center in Dubuque, Iowa.  Building Better Athletes focuses on building the athlete from the ground up by mastering the fundamentals of movement mastery, strength/power training, recovery modalities, and promoting ownership in athletes.  Michael is also a team member of the movement education group, “Emergence”.  He has been a frequent guest on this podcast, speaking on topics of perception-reaction, exploration in the weight room, creativity and more. As I’ve grown as a coach (and a human mover/athlete) it’s been really enjoyable to experience sport, and movement in different ways.  In working in a college weight room, it was also very interesting to pay attention to the defining characteristics of the best athletes.  They weren’t always the strongest, or even the fastest, but they could move and react incredibly well in context of their sport… and they loved to play.  One of the things I’ve been enjoying doing recently, is coaching youth sports (5 year olds, to be exact) and it’s a learning experience that impacts my philosophy, all the way up the chain into high level performers. With play and exploration at the core of athleticism and sport, why is it that the culture of the gym (and in many sports performance settings) completely the opposite?  So much of modern sport acts like athletes are robots, a culture based on lines and whistles, and a perception of needing to do everything one particular way. On today’s show, Michael Zweifel goes into a deep dive on how his warmups fit with the key characteristics of elite athleticism. He speaks on how he connects his warmups to core human instincts and needs, and talks about how to develop a love for movement and play that transcends organized sport play.  Michael and I also take on a broad-scope discussion on the over-structuring that is rampant in sport (and our culture in general).  This show is truly important in light of our modern sport culture. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 4:50 – Michael’s thoughts on trail running, longer runs, and elasticity 13:20 – Michael’s biggest changes in his warmup process over the last decade 16:30 – What Michael would take back with him in terms of his warmups and training if he returned to the university sector of training 21:50 – Comparing “routine” warmups (lines, movement prep, etc.) versus a more dynamic and adaptive form of warming up for a training session 28:50 – Speaking on the different stages of the warmup defined by Emergence: Ownership, exploration and attunement 33:50 – If there are any general warmups that Michael’s athletes will actually do, and how he approaches that type of work 35:50 – A broader-scope discussion on coaching, creativity versus militaristic coaching 48:00 – What age groups and settings Michael feels sports performance coaches should work with to optimally learn the nature of training sport 52:50 – The critical nature of play for human beings, and how professional athletes are very play driven 1:05.35 – How Michael might lead up to a more output driven day in the gym from a warmup perspective 1:07:50 – Some more specific changes in the warmup process that Michael has made in the last few years: Applying “levels” in sport and human movement 1:14:50 – The sad reality of kids quitting sports early, and without preparedness for how to enjoy life from a movement practice at that point 1:20:50 – Key differences in what Michael has in the warmups of different age groups (elementary school, middle school, high school, etc.) “What transitioned my warmup was being in the private sector.

Today’s show is with Kibwé Johnson.  Kibwé is the director of track and field at SPIRE Academy, in Geneva, Ohio, and the founder of FORTIUS performance.  Prior to SPIRE, Kibwe coached throws at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida for 4 years. In his time as an athlete, Kibwé established himself as one of the USA’s best hammer throwers by being ranked first or second for over a decade, and his personal best of 80.31m/263’5” in 2011 the best mark by an American hammer thrower in over ten years.  He also owns the world’s all-time best HT/DT/WT combination of distances. Kibwé has personally worked with some of the most well regarded coaches in the US and internationally.  His coach for his final 10 years, Dr. Anatoliy Bondarchuk, greatly influenced the development of Kibwé’s own methodologies.  Kibwé’s coaching philosophy is built on communication and cites his experiences as a husband and father with learning how to become more effective as a coach. In my time as a coach, I’ve learned that technique and skill are more than a set of instructions, or a final “model” to shoot for through a series of drills and cues.  Although these instructions can certainly be helpful for lower level performers, once an athlete gets to a more advanced level of performance, drills lose their luster, and we must become more attuned to the actual interaction between the athlete and their environment (implements, the ground, gravity, etc.). On the show today, Kibwé talks about his experiences as an athlete, particularly with Dr. Bondarchuk that helped him develop as a thrower, and in his eventual career as a coach.  He talks about the unique, high velocity and cyclical elements of the hammer that demand a particular relationship to the instrument, and things we can take from this relationship that can transfer to other skills, or life itself.  Finally, Kibwe speaks extensively about drills, vs. holistic skill performance, and the many “subtle” elements, such as awareness, that go into enhancing holistic performance on the highest levels. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 6:40 – Kibwé’s evolution as an athlete, and what led him to his philosophy of “The Tao of the Hammer” 10:25 – Kibwé’s experience in working with Dr. Bondarchuk and how the communication barrier actually helped Kibwé to figure out his throw without the use of words or cues 18:20 – How the hammer throw in track and field is unique in respect to other throwing events due to its unique, very high velocity rotational dynamics 21:10 – Kibwé’s take on teaching athlete’s fundamental positions vs. letting them figure out skills in a different manner (or on their own), particularly in context of the hammer throw 26:40 – How acquiring the “feeling” of a good throw is helpful to scale to throws of all distances 32:25 – How people tend to want a “list of things” when doing something, and the battle of getting an athlete outside of a list of cues, and to facilitate them figuring things out on their own 34:40 – How to learn, from a “Tao of the Hammer” perspective, and what awareness in a hammer throw means to Kibwé 46:40 – Examples of elite athletes who have had their mechanics “fixed”, as per a “technical model” and had poor seasons or failed to improve 51:25 – How Kibwé would address a “mistake” in an athlete’s throwing, and portions of an athlete’s technique 56:40 – Where drills fall short in training a complex movement, such as the hammer throw 1:02:40 – Reactivity as needed between the hammer and the athlete, and how to “do less” in the course of a throw from a perspective of actively putting force into the implement “It really came down to trying to find the words to explain how I was feeling when I felt my best; because I wasn’...

Today’s show is with Alex Effer, owner of Resilient Training and Rehabilitation.  Alex has treated and trained a variety of clients, from professional and amateur athletes, to a wide spectrum of the general population, ranging from those with certain medical conditions, to postoperative rehabilitation and individuals with chronic and complex pain.  Alex has experience as an exercise physiologist, a strength and conditioning coach, and has consulted with a number of elite and Olympic organizations.  Alex has taken a tremendous amount of continuing education courses and is on the leading edge of modern training theory. There are loads of different continuing education courses and theories, each carrying methods to train athletes from perspectives on breathing, corrective exercise, and exercise variations, to name a few.  It is in the process of getting to the core principles that define these many training systems, that we can gain a greater level of wisdom to make better decisions in exercise selection and training organization. For today’s podcast, Alex speaks on his continuing education journey, and core principles that many current courses in human performance/assessment and biomechanics tend to have in common.  He speaks on how to dial up, or down, points of contact in a movement to help an athlete achieve better mastery over a skill or core human function. In the second half of the show, Alex gives some analysis and progressions with functional training movements, such as crab walks, and bear crawls, and then talks about how some “meathead” oriented exercises are actually more functional than we give the credit for.  Finally, Alex talks about exercises that either “push an athlete backwards in the chest” or “push them forwards” from the back, and how those ramifications can go into, not ony the way we select exercises, but aso the way that we periodize and organize our training programs. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:15 – Common trends that Alex found in his educational process, having taken “all the courses” 13:30 – How Alex looks at force vectors in training and movement, and the difference between walking and running when assessing gait and looking at these force vectors 20:15 – Where Alex has gotten most of his information in training when considering PRI versus other educational systems (such as DNS or SFMA) 22:15 – Why it may be a faulty method to try to compare babies to adults in terms of baseline movement patterning 30:00 – How to transition a client from 12 points of contact, to only 2, and how to use the extra points of contact to improve one’s movement ability when athletes may struggle with standing motions 44:30 – Assessing crab walks, and explaining (or regressing) why athletes might not be able to lift their hips up while performing the crab walk 51:15 – Why some “fitness/bodybuilding” movement can have athletic movement applications, such as a tricep kickback or arm curl coupled with head turn 56:15 – How athletes doing exercises in a manner that “feels good” often times is an optimal method of them doing that movement, versus whatever the commonly accepted technical model for that exercise might be 1:00:00 – Alex’s theory on periodizing training based on early, mid and late stance oriented movements 1:12:15 – Viewing training intervention as either “pulling someone back” or “pushing them forward” “When you take every single course, you kind of get mind-blown by them the first time… and then you hit a client that totally goes against all the algorithms and everything they say, and you have to pivot” “(all the continuing education courses) believe in some sort of respiration and how that affects the body”

Today’s show is with Lance Walker.  Lance is the Global Director of Performance at the Michael Johnson Performance Center where he designs and implements performance training programming for local and international youth, collegiate, and professional athletes in all sports. Prior to MJP, Lance served as Director of Performance Training at Integrated Athletic Development, as well as having served as an assistant strength coach with the Dallas Cowboys, as well as the University of Oklahoma.  Lance is also a current Registered Physical Therapist in the state of Texas, giving him a unique blend of skills and lenses by which to observe athletic performance. In looking at what makes athletes operate at a high level, we can’t go too far without looking at the actions of the pelvis and spine.  As both a strength coach, and physical therapist, Lance has detailed knowledge of both the anatomy and fine-tuned function of this region, as well as more global concepts, linking it to sprinting and general strength training. For today’s show, Lance takes us on a journey of hip function, and how that function ties into sprinting and athletic movement.  He goes into pelvic dynamics in the weight room (including some important points on split squatting and the hips), as well as how using horizontal resistance combined with vertical exercises can drive unique and more specific adaptations.  Finally, talks about some key strength movements to achieve better pelvic function for speed and resiliency. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:30 – How Lance looks at the action of the pelvis in sprinting and human movement 19:00 – Pelvic dynamics in bilateral sagittal plane activity (squatting and deadlifting) versus sprinting, and helping athletes determine their own individual squat depth 21:30 – How a rear foot elevated split squat can create lumbo-sacral torsion that could provoke injury in the pelvis 34:30 – How to help athletes who are not reciprocal in the pelvis improve their pelvic action in sprinting, and Lance’s view on core and trunk training for athlete 38:00 – The role of hip flexors in training for speed and athletic performance 50:30 – How adding horizontal band resistance can dynamically change strength training exercises 54:30 – The idea of hip separation in fast sprinters (front knee and back knee distance) and if this is a good idea to specifically train in practice “That pelvis motion, rotation and listing, that’s my focus now, both from a dysfunction standpoint and a speed standpoint” “The body needs to set up and list the pelvis to be fast” “Optimized motion should probably be the approach, and let’s just not stabilize the tar out of it and make everything move around this stable, fictitious pelvis” “It’s like you are setting the spring so when you throw it, it abducts, externally rotates and extends, and when it hits the ground, it’s still rotating” “There was this incredible increase in pubic symphysis issues… there was this mad rush to load this split stance stuff, because, nobody hurt their back anymore, and “it’s more functional”” “Hip flexor strength is a thing!” “Just stretching the hip flexors, and strengthening the abdominal wall doesn’t help (anterior pelvic tilt) those people” “When you are doing your leg drop series, don’t put your hands under your pelvis” “(Regarding the supine leg drop test without the low back arching up) The one’s that have a lot of issues, the bottom 10-20%, chronic hamstrings, spondy, all those things, yeah that’s a test (that failing fits with getting hurt more often)” “That’s a key concept in hamstring rehab is training the hamstring while training the hip flexor” “We worked with elite distance runners at MJP,

Today’s show is with Christian Thibaudeau.  Christian has been a strength coach for nearly 2 decades, working with athletes from nearly 30 sports.  He has written four books and has pioneered multiple educational courses, including the Neuro-typing system, which goes in-depth on how to train athletes in the weight room (and beyond) based on their own individual dispositions. I have had Christian on the podcast many times talking about neuro-typing, but more recently I’ve been digging into his knowledge of various types of training repetitions (Omni-rep) which we talked about on podcast 221.  As per any strength coach I am aware of, Christian has the greatest knowledge of set-rep schemes and combinations available for training, and, as such, I have really enjoyed the chance to speak to him on the terms of training complexes and schemes. On the show, Christian gets into power training complexes, and the possibility of utilizing sport skills in the total framework.  He also talks about how to periodize and assign the use of complexes, as the method “costs” more in terms of the adaptive resources of the athlete. Finally, Christian spends time talking about training stimulus, and how to create the “purest” possible adaptation for an athlete with the minimal amount of noise in the system, ending with a description of his double and triple progression systems. The interesting thing with this talk was that it was almost more about what not to do, than what to do.  In times like these, where coaches are armed with a massive arsenal of possibilities at their fingertips, the need for wisdom on how to actually utilize and progress the methods, without adding excess noise to the system, is at a premium. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:45 – Recent insights from Christian on watching his children grow and mature in regards to sport preference, behavior and physical abilities 13:30 – Christian’s thoughts on introducing specific sport skills into power training complexes 25:45 – Why more movements in a complex is more neurologically demanding, and how to choose how many exercises in a complex, based on the type of athlete you are working with 32:15 – Christian’s take on when to use (or not use) power complexes in a training year, based on the athlete 47:45 – How to increase training stimulus, and how to progress in training without adding volume, or even weight 59:45 – Why it is important not to give a client what you, as a coach, are currently in love with in terms of training methods 1:05:45 – How to make training the “purest” it can possibly be, reducing all un-necessary noise in a program to help athletes adapt in as direct of way that is possible 1:12.00 – Christian’s take on using bar-speed monitor units for athletes in light of adrenaline increases and intensification factors 1:22.00 – Using very simple lifts, such as a leg press, in order to put minimal stress into a training program where an athlete is doing a non-strength sport 1:28.00 – Christian’s simple-strength progression method, the “triple progression method” that offers a low level of noise and a long-term progression potential for an athlete “The simple fact that it feels lighter (doing a light set, after doing a heavy set), it will make you more confident, and you will produce more force” “The closer both movements are together, the easier the brain will connect both (for the brain to transfer to sport skill)” “That’s one of the issues with complexes is that they will raise adrenaline more than any training benefit you can find; which is a benefit in the short term… the downside of that is the more adrenaline you produce in training, the more likely you are to suffer from training burnout”

Today’s show is with Gavin MacMillan, sports performance coach and founder of Sport Science Lab. Growing up in Toronto Canada, he participated in 7 high school sports, and received a tennis scholarship from San Jose State University.  In 2001 Gavin founded Sport Science Lab where he has experienced a great deal of success training athletes and teams at every level in multiple sports. I’ve personally had a mixed relationship with barbells in the course of my own athletic career.  I’ve had positive (squatting sub-maximally 1x a week being a staple in my best athletic year), but also several negative experiences, one of which was my surprise at age 20, I had spent fall of work increasing my best clean from 225 to 245lb, yet high jumped only 6’1” the first two meets of the year (my PR from high school being 6’8”).  In my first few years as a college track coach, I learned quickly that an athlete who learns to lift barbells better is not necessarily a faster athlete. When I was 21, I stumbled across a book called “Pro-Bod-X” by Marv Marinovich and Edyth Hues.  The training methods within were like nothing I’d ever seen, incorporating a lot of unstable surfaces, and they didn’t use heavy weights.  Doing the workouts for just over a month, I was pleasantly surprised by just how easily I was moving and jumping in my pickup basketball games. Gavin MacMillan does not use barbells in his training program, and yet gets incredible results on the level of building speed, reactivity, jumping ability, and tremendous resistance to injury.  He has a strong use of balance and proprioception based movements in his training program.  Regardless of where you stand in closeness traditional weightlifting/lifting maxes as a form of progress in a program, you will be a better coach by understanding Gavin’s approach to training athletes, as well as his own experiences as an athlete that led him there. On the show today, Gavin shares his background as an athlete, his results using a non-barbell based training program, concepts on force-production training without using barbells, foot training, and the role of athletic balance training that can be merged with resistance training means for big improvements in reactive outputs. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 6:15 – Gavin’s athletic background (which included ballet and figure skating), and how he got into sports performance coaching 12:30 – Gavin’s experience with traditional barbell weight training, and how he ended up going away from these methods in his own training, and with athletes he worked with 21:15 – Taking a step away from traditional barbell training, and how Gavin was able to transform the injury-reduction factor of a professional Rugby team, setting the record for the fewest player minutes lost 29:15 – Gavin’s answer to the question on, how to train an athlete who needs to get generally bigger and stronger, without using traditional barbell methods 33:00 – Gavin’s thoughts on how to train strength and force for people who don’t have access to advanced training machines 46:30 – Talking on what one sport might be able to offer another from an explosive perspective, such as the impact of figure skating in Gavin’s upbringing 52:00 – Elements of a fast transition to the ball of the foot 54:00 – How squatting with a foot on a balance disc fundamentally changes the exercise adaptation, soreness, and athleticism 1:04.15 – The various surfaces that Gavin uses with his athletes, that optimizes their interaction between the foot and the ground 1:10.30 – How Gavin uses isometrics to produce high rates of force development, without generating large amounts of muscle soreness 1:20.30 – Ideas on the rhythm of moving a load in training

Today’s show is with athletic performance coach and long-term athletic development expert, James Baker.  James is one of the co-founders of the LTAD Network and is currently a Strength & Conditioning coach and Performance Support Lead at the Aspire Academy in Doha, Qatar.  James has a unique blend of skills and experience as an S&C coach, PE teacher, sports scientist, and researcher. So many times in sports performance, and particularly in the sub-set of speed and power training, we look to focus on the most high-intensity methods we can possibly utilize to achieve adaptations in athletes.  Or perhaps, we inquire about the optimal technical or tactical methods for the sport in front of us. Unfortunately, we don’t tend to look much at the entire, long-term process of an athlete achieving their best possible result in a sport, as well as being well-balanced outside of their sport-specific ventures.  To give athletes the best training experience, we need to have a thorough understanding of how they might respond to various training methods at different points in their athletic journey. Look at the long-term process; look at the love of movement and play outside of one’s specific sport, and better understand the entire umbrella of what it means to be both human and an athlete James Baker's Topics of Discussion On today’s show, James will discuss the difference between early specialization and early engagement, and the need for athletes to love and appreciate other forms of movement and play as their sport career unfolds.  He will also take on free-moving sports like parkour in relation to ball sports, and then deliver some great ideas on progressing plyometric and strength training means over the course of an athlete’s development. For those of you who don’t work directly with growing athletes, realize that by learning more about how young athletes develop, you can learn a lot more about the mature athlete in front of you, and the process that led him or her there. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:02 – What key changes James feels could help young athletes as they go through the levels of sport without burning out 8:49 – The importance of athletes learning to love and appreciate other forms of movement practice outside of their primary sport 14:23 – James’ thoughts on early specialization versus early engagement in a sport 22:05 – Thoughts on early specialization and mental burnout in sport 24:44 – James take on using other/alternative sports in the course of a traditional sports training program 31:01 – When to incorporate, and then intensify strength training in young athletes 34:23 – Standards to “earn the barbell” in the training of young athletes 40:00 – How an athlete’s peak-height-velocity timing will impact whether or not strength training will be helping them to benefit explosively as an athlete 46:45 – How athletes who have less muscle mass may respond less favorably to strength training to improve speed and power outputs across a full spectrum of age ranges 48:07 – How peak-height-velocity will impact an athlete’s reactivity and ground contact times 51:06 – Plyometric progression ideas for young athletes in regards to pogo hops and depth jumps James Baker's Quotes “The danger of athletics is kids wrap up their identity with being a sportsperson” “If anything needs to change, it’s the support network around those kids (that don’t make the next level) and helping them transition” “I think it’s a case of early engagement versus early specialization (especially in “high skill” sports)… getting them in front of good coaches early, but not having that be the only thing they do” “(Regarding how early success does not correlate heavily with later su...

Today’s show is with athletic performance coach, Erik Huddleston.  Erik is currently the Director of Performance at Indianapolis Fitness & Sports Training (IFAST) and a performance consultant for a number of professional baseball & basketball teams. Erik previously spent time at Indiana University & Texas Tech University with the men’s basketball teams. So often in the course of using barbell methods for athletic performance, there are often movements that are considered sacred cows of training.  There also tends to be common thoughts as to how these lifts should be performed, such as all athletes needing to squat heavy “ass to grass”.  In reality, athletes come in all shapes, sizes and structures.  Athletes of varying shapes may respond to various types of barbell lifts differently, and there are ways to optimize training for performance, and robustness when considering structural differences of athletes. Advanced and elite athletes will tend to utilize the feet, and stance in different ways as well.  Knowing how an athlete is leveraging the gait cycle, and what points they are particularly biasing to achieve their performances, is important when thinking about which lift variations we might want to utilize with them over time. For today’s episode, Erik takes us on a deep dive into squatting and how it relates to the “reversal ability” of athletes, given their individual shapes and structures.  He also relates the phases of gait (early,mid,late stance) to squatting and jumping concepts, to help us better understand how to give athletes what they need at particular points in their career.  Erik cover important elements of single leg squatting as well, in this highly detailed chat on performance training. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 4:00 – Some of the things Erik has learned from spending time in both the collegiate and private sectors of training 9:00 – Things that Erik looks at in training video that he may be addressing in the gym setting 15:00 – Managing squatting and squat training in light of the various phases of stance 25:20 – How to “bucket” athletes based on need in squatting, in terms of depth and heel-elevation, particularly those with wider hips and narrower shoulders 35:00 – How an athlete’s body shape and structure will tend to determine their functional ability and biomechanics 49:00 – Self-selection principles when it comes to strength and power exercises and coaching 52:00 – Shin angle principles in light of squatting and reversal power 55:00 – How single leg differs from double leg training in terms of pelvic-sacrum action and pressurization 1:00.30 – What Erik is looking for in the stances of the foot when an athlete is jumping or dunking 1:05.30 – Why banded work can cause athletes to “over-push” in jumping, and the impulse related nature of “point zero” in a jump 1:11.30 – More talk on jumping in regards to single leg jumping and accessing late-stance, and why advanced athletes tend to be more late-stance dominant 1:22:00 – Erik’s take on athletes who are early-stance dominant, and how to help them overcome resistance, create compression, and ideally get to mid and late stance more easily “An ability to translate through the phases of gait is something that I look at (when assessing video)” “Some kids are naturally not going to be able to get lower in that athletic stance” “Gait is a constant falling and catching yourself as you go forward” “If the tibia moves forward and your heel is on the ground, you are moving towards the middle phase of propulsion…. as soon as the calcaneus breaks the ground you are in a later phase of propulsion” “(Internal rotation) doesn’t allow for a lot of general movement qualities… or a fluid var...

Today’s show is with Ben Askren, former mixed martial artist and wrestler, who is now a wrestling coach (amongst his other ventures).  Ben is one of the most successful wrestlers, and MMA fighters of all time, known for his unique style and technical skills. Ben’s NCAA career consisted of a 157-8 overall record. His final two years were dominant with an 87-0 record capped by back-to-back national championships (2006 & 2007). Ben was a four-time all-American, and two-time recipient of the Dan Hodge Trophy (the college wrestling equivalent of the Heisman).  Askren was the former Bellator and ONE Welterweight Champion, remaining undefeated for over a decade before competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and had a final win-loss record of 19 and 2.  Ben has co-founded Askren Wrestling Academy (AWA) with his brother Max. They currently operate 5 gyms. I am perpetually fascinated by elite talent in sport.  In training athletes, so often we take for granted, the long term process, the mental process, and the creativity that makes some athletes so elite.  It is very easy to get “sucked in” to sets, reps, exercises and positions, and fail to nurture both the individual creative and mental processes that are going to help athletes succeed as the level of competition rises. On today’s podcast, Ben takes us through his early life in sport, and about when he made the transition from multi-sport athlete to specialist in wrestling.  He shares about the grounds the led to some big leaps in his creative ability as an athlete, and the balance between creativity and structure in the development of a young athlete.  Finally Ben shares lots of information on developing one’s practice of mental composition for athletic performance. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 4:53 – What inspired Ben to make the jump from wrestling to MMA fighting in his career 8:52 – Ben’s athletic background from a young age, starting from a multi-sport perspective, and how that eventually funneled into specializing in wrestling 15:52 – Prime coaches and mentors in Ben’s athletic career that impacted his formation as an athlete 18:16 – Ben discusses his practice of study in his own development into an elite wrestler and fighter 21:24 – The balance between creativity and structure in training wrestlers as they go from youth to a mature athlete 22:59 – How Ben’s wrestling academies teach children with individual facets of performance in mind 25:56 – Thoughts on teaching athletes to deal with adversity in their sporting careers, and as they advance in level of competition 33:14 – A conversation on the value of submaximal lifting versus heavy strength training in performance training 44:04 – Development of young wrestling athletes, and how early success is not a requirement for later successes 50:17 – How to educate parents to buy into the long term vision of success for their athletes, and why the youth sport system (and monetization) is not set up in favor of long term athlete success 55:40 – How to manage stress and anxiety in big competitions 58:03 – How Ben approaches mental training in practice and competition 1:03:49 – Tactics to minimize anxiety in competition “(When I made the decision to specialize in Wrestling after freshman year of high school) At that time, that was totally unheard of… all specialization was much more limited at that point in time” “I try to not let the parents push the kid into more participation, I want it to be the kid’s choice” “I know there are some people who say you should never specialize, and I strongly disagree with that… at my academy, there are certain kids who going into their freshman year are 92 pounds, what other sports can they play?”

Today’s show is a Q&A with Joel Smith.  We are back again for a series of your questions and my best answers.  Today’s show is by theme “The Speed Show” with a ton of questions on speed, acceleration, max velocity, muscle-relaxation speed, and even working with distance runners.  Sprinting is always going to be a synthesis of so many elements of human performance, and is one of the highest-reaching challenges for any coach in athletic coaching (which is why it’s also such a rewarding puzzle to solve). Outside of the common speed questions; I also had an interesting question on how to assess “swings in the pendulum” of training methods.  The awareness by which we get to our own coaching biases is important, so I’ll dig into some ideas there as well. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 1:59 – How to fix heel-striking in athletes 12:56 – A step by step process on helping athletes improve hip extension and delay knee extension 19:50 – Thoughts on flat feet being an advantage since you enter mid stance more quickly? 22:16 – The top 2-3 faults, issues I commonly coach as it pertains to start out of blocks, acceleration in those first 2-3 steps, and common drills I utilize for correcting said issues. 33:57 – How to periodize maximal velocity work. Once intensity is at the max and assisted/overspeed is touched upon sporadically, where do we go from there? 43:18 – Thoughts on setting up a weight room/jumping/sprinting program for high school XC runners. Training age with me 1-3 years. 50:44 – How do you balance your stance/beliefs when training philosophy and paradigm swings like a pendulum? 56:54 – In regards to the Soviet research on muscle relaxation times being the differentiating factor between their elite and non-elite athletes, what are some methods to train relaxation times? Show Notes Dave O’Sullivan Slouches https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYD4Jx_IXSw Usain Bolt Warming Up https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW9GxrrSDFg&t=163s About Joel Smith Joel Smith is the founder of Just Fly Sports and is a sports performance coach in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Joel hosts the Just Fly Performance Podcast, has authored several books on athletic performance, and trains numerous clients in the in-person and online space.  Joel was formerly a strength coach for 8 years at UC Berkeley, working with the Swim teams and post-graduate professional swimmers, as well as tennis, water polo, and track and field.  A track coach of 11 years, Joel coached for the Diablo Valley Track and Field Club for 7 years, and also has 6 years of experience coaching sprints, jumps, hurdles, pole vault and multi-events on the collegiate level, working at Wilmington College, and the University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse. Joel has coached 2 national champions, multiple All-Americans and school record holders in his time as a track coach. In the realm of strength and conditioning, his programs have assisted 5 athletes to Olympic berths that produced 9 medals and a world record performance at Rio in 2016. In 2011, Joel began Just Fly Sports with Jake Clark as a central platform to promote information for athletes and coaches to reach their highest potential.  In 2016 the first episode of the “Just Fly Performance Podcast” was released, now a leading source of education in the sports performance field.  The evolving mission of Just Fly Sports is focused on teaching athletes to realize their true, innate power, and achieve the highest joy in their training, competition, and in the community.

Today’s show is with Jake Tuura.  Jake currently works at Velocity Training Center as a strength and conditioning coach. Prior to Velocity, Jake was a collegiate S&C coach for 7 years.  Jake is the owner of jackedathlete.com where he teaches athletes and coaches principles on muscle gain, jumping higher, and rehab from jumper’s knee. Training for things like vertical jump and sprinting are enjoyable to discuss, but we need to always be zooming out into more global concepts of performance.  For example, you may tweak every ounce of your training to help an athlete jump 4” (10cm) higher, but what if that athlete just got into a really good community where athletes were doing various dunks, and found that simply being in that environment unlocked 4” of jumping gain, that was eventually able to filter over into their permanent results?  Or perhaps look at the formation of jumpers who are obsessed with jumping as youths, doing dozens, if not hundreds, of jumps each day? Also, understanding how to be consistent as per staying healthy is not often considered as it should be, particularly for jump-related sports. Jake Tuura has been on a journey of sport performance exploration for years, and offers grounded solutions for those seeking muscle gain, performance increase and pain reduction.  On the show today, Jake talks about what he has been learning since leaving the university sector in strength and conditioning, as well as updated knowledge in the vertical jump training space.  Jake also talks about how to use games as the ultimate warmup (and workout, when combined with sprints and jumps) for athletes, and finished with some great points on knee pain and rehab, and points where isometric exercises might not be the panacea that it is so often offered as. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 4:56 – Some of the last things Jake learned as a college strength and conditioning coach 16:31 – What Jake has learned working in the private sector of sports performance since moving beyond his university coaching job 18:44 – Thoughts on using games with pro-level players versus younger athletes 25:29 – Things that Jake has been compiling in the last few years in regards to vertical jump training 38:21 – What Jake has noticed in elite dunking athletes in regards to their training history and jumping volumes 46:22 – The importance of using sport play as either an advanced warmup or potentiation for jumps or even sprints 51:59 – Thoughts on penultimate length in a running two leg jump” 58:13 – Looking at isometric training, versus kinetic chain training and general strength conditioning when it comes to knee rehabilitation and injury prevention “When you are a college strength coach, you think that everyone really wants to be in (the weightroom)” “You are warming up their bodies, but are you thinking of how you are impacting their brains?... they are like zombies” “If you are a college strength coach, there are 1000’s of kids who will do your job for free… and you have to impress the head coach” “I think we need to start vertical jump training with the objective starting point of physics, and then you can create a good plan” “Can you get stronger by just jumping? Yes you can; but… some people are just not built for that, and they need extra training… sometimes freak athletes, they may not need the extra training, they were just born for it” “(In regards to knee pain) Jumping as high as possible for a decently high volume… would a caveman do that?” “The pro-dunkers, would jump every day (growing up) and as they get older and increase outputs, they do not jump every single day; and they always get into strength training” “Having the people to do dunk sessions with is huge; we h...

Today’s show is with Angus Ross.  Angus is a senior strength and conditioning specialist with High Performance Sport New Zealand, with a particular interest in track and field athletes.  He has worked with a number of sports at an elite level within the NZ system, including sprint cycling and skeleton in recent years. Angus has a PhD in exercise physiology from the University of Queensland, and is also a Winter Olympian in his own right having competed at the 1998 and 2002 Winter Games. Angus has been a two time previous guest within the first hundred episodes of the podcast.  In the time since we last talked, Angus has traveled the world and has spent time with some leading edge strength coaches, such as Jerome Simian.  His curiosity and angles of looking at performance training has made him a truly enjoyable guest to have on this show time and again. One topic I’ve heard in the world of training is “the spinal engine”.  I have been working extensively in the last year in the realms of getting the ribs and spine to work alongside the hips more effectively in sprinting, throwing, jumping and overall athletic movement.  When Angus told me he had been doing a lot of research into spinal engine work over the last few years, I was excited, and when Angus actually went into the details of it all, I was truly inspired.  Angus’s work connects so many dots in regards to concepts I’ve been thinking of on my own end. On the show today, Angus speaks about his take on spinal engine theory, rhythmic movement, sprint (and iso hold) asymmetry and how some athletes may need to take advantage of the movement of the spine more than others.  He also talks about long and short hold isometrics, and proprioception training.  This was a phenomenal chat with lots of immediate ideas for any athlete or coach. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:15 – Spinal engine theory vs. a leg spring model 11:26 – How the mobility of spine and ribs can benefit you as an athlete 15:42 – Resources and inspiration for exercises and drills to improve spinal mobility and range 19:09 – A discussion on asymmetry in sprinting 21:43 – Benefits of looking at data & the role of intuition and feelings in martial arts 24:58 – Rhythm in Athletes: What you can learn from trying martial arts and other rhythmic sports 32:17 – Who can benefit from spinal engine theory? 34:21 – Asymmetrical training & What Angus learned from training with Jerome Simian 48:38 – How and why to use long duration isometrics in training 54:03 – Static stretching before sprinting & Pros and cons of extreme iso holds 57:11 – Insights on short isometric holds 1:01:07 – Thoughts on proprioceptive training: Weight lifting, joint proprioception, and utilization of balance and stability “The concept (of spinal engine theory) is that if you laterally flex a lordotic spine, is that it induces an axial torque and a rotation of the pelvis” “When you look at things through the spinal engine lens, it’s really very different to the leg spring model.” “It begs the question: Should we be training lateral flexion per say and is range of motion a critical factor?” “Most of our elite runners are short trunk, long legs and that’s what we say is the normal, but if you don’t have that, can you compensate by becoming a different style of runner and using what you do have to facilitate your ability to try and relate?” “You need the hardware to be able to run that software and if you can’t get them in those positions…you’re gonna give them coaching cues all day long and it won’t do them any bloody good because they can’t get in those positions anyway.” “I’ve found the lateral drills to be fantastic with helping people eliminate crossover running.”

Today’s show is with Conor Harris.  Conor is a strength & conditioning coach specializing in biomechanics and movement quality. He is the founder of Pinnacle Performance in Portland, Oregon where he trains all levels of athletes and general population clientele. He has worked in a wide variety of environments such as D1 Collegiate Baseball, EXOS, High School, and private performance training facilities. If there is one big element that is infiltrating modern training and performance right now (at least I hope it is), it is the attention to the quality of movement, and the particular impacts that doing one type of lift (say rear foot elevated vs. front foot elevated split squat) will have on an athlete.  So often, we just move through a variety of movements in a training program, without really thinking about the experience that those training methods are actually giving to that athlete’s body. Conor Harris is a young coach who has really zeroed in on the impacts of various movements on an athlete, and how those movements fit in with what an athlete is missing (or on the flip-side, is already strong in) in their gait pattern.  At the end of the day, every training movement we utilize should come back to how an athlete moves, or intends to move, in their sport.  The training we use should have the capacity to fill in any needed “gaps” in a movement profile that may be pre-disposing an athlete to pain, or injury. On today’s show, Conor will take us through concepts of late vs. early stance dominance in athletes, and how split squat variations will preferentially engage those stance dynamics for the purposes of injury prevention, or enhanced performance.  We’ll get into how squatting with heels elevated, or hinging with the toes elevated, can benefit the athlete through rotation of the leg bones, and finish with some great ideas on how to help restore internal rotation to athletes, as well as some big rocks of athletic glute activation. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:20 – Elements that help athletes pronate in the gym with more “common” exercises 12:40 – How to differentiate between a “late stance” and “early stance” dominant individual 19:20 – Why the sport of basketball emphasizes “late” stance more than many other sports 23:00 – Ideas on when to actually intervene with an athlete if you suspect an imbalance or movement inefficiency 38:00 – How foot position in a split stance exercise impacts rotation and joint dynamics 45:30 – Thoughts on split squatting with a (hard) balance disc in the front foot 49:15 – Conor’s big rocks in helping to restore an internal rotation deficit in athletes 56:00 – How to squat for maximal glute activation, via stretch-loading the glutes “Your joint positions, your tests all reflect that you spend a lot of time in late stance; a basketball player is a perfect example, someone who is constantly on their toes to be athletic.  These people often present with a certain foot presentation where their toes are pointing away from the midline of their body” “If you strike the ground and you don’t have that nice heel reference then it is going to be more difficult to get your heel forward, if you are starting in the position where you can’t get the pronation to resupination” “Anything that drives the knee over the toe a lot is going to allow for that internal rotation of the tibia to occur, as well as pronation of the foot.  That heel elevated split squat can be a really good way to do that” “When I think of a contralateral load, I think of that as a reference to find your heel or midfoot.  An ipsilateral load is better to find mid-foot to toe-off.  If I wanted to find that earlier phase of pronation I’m a fan of using that contralateral load ...

Today’s show is with athletic performance coach, Dan Back.  Dan Back is the founder of “Jump Science” and is also a coach at Xceleration sports performance in Austin, Texas.  Dan reached an elite level in his own vertical jump and dunking ability, and has been helping athletes run faster, jump higher and improve overall physical performance for over a decade.  I first met Dan in my own time at Wisconsin, LaCrosse, where I was working on my master’s degree in applied sport sciences. When it comes to sports performance training, the two “KPI”s we are routinely searching for, are undoubtedly sprint speed and jumping ability.  Improvements here are harder to come by than simply improving a barbell strength exercise that is brand new to an individual.  On top of this, the higher velocity the movement, generally, the more difficult it is to improve. This is where there is a big difference in simply knowing information about training, and spending time talking to coaches who have been working hard on this skill themselves for years, and then have transmitted that knowledge into working with others.  Dan is a coach who really embodies what he is teaching on a regular basis. On today’s show, Dan talks about how his plyometric programs have changed over the years, where his plyometrics volume has shifted, volume in performing variations of various sport jumps, as well as in submaximal plyometrics, where big rocks like depth jumps fit in now. Key elements Dan looks at when coaching speed that fit with reactive abilities RSI, Strength/speed alternation, and knowing that you aren’t losing too much “explosive or maximal strength in the pursuit of speed Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 4:41 – Dan’s evolution as an athlete and coach & how he became interested in sports performance 9:52 – Making jump training a sport: Is low rim dunk training the most effective for young athletes? 14:10 – Sport jumps vs. “Fun” jumps & How have your views on plyometrics evolved over time? 17:24 – Filling in the gaps in athletic history 20:01 – What staple plyometrics do you use in your training besides jumping? 25:34 – Building up from small, quick, easy movements 31:05 – Are there plyometrics Dan don’t use anymore? 32:38 – How Dan utilizes sprinting, warmups, and other exercises in athletic training 39:51 – Measuring RSI in sprinting and how to “reverse engineer” RSI from a “sprint first” perspective 46:33 – Dan’s approach to elimination and reintroduction of strength training and how to ensure one is not losing their maximal or explosive strength abilities when working on speed “I love [low rim dunk training] and I do think there’s a superiority there compared to just trying to touch the rim or touch the back board. One, because it’s just more fun. Two, to have success in the training, but then also there’s just this component of it’s not like a workout.” “Having that fun and even that creative, ideas-based, like oh I’m gonna try this dunk or I’m gonna try to dunk off one leg or whatever… having that fun, creative environment definitely makes a difference for the motor learning side of things and the motivation side of things.” “Hurdle hops are good but this is like a complimentary, forced development exercise. We want to have the base be not plyometrics, but the base be fun jumping and hopefully even diverse fun jumping.” “I believe in jump technique, I don’t overdo it… Sometimes if they don’t have those key skills, it’s like you’re kinda getting strong and not realizing any of it.” “Nowadays, really I would say sprinting is the plyometric that I have gravitated the most toward trying to make sure that is included in an athlete’s overall workload.”

Today’s show is with strength coach, Graeme Morris.  Graeme is a performance coach that consults for a variety of team sport and combat athletes including world and Australian champions in Muay Thai. He is also the head strength and conditioning coach for the AFL umpires and has previously worked in rugby league for 6 seasons. Graeme has experience learning from many leading coaches, and has integrated it into a balance that he sees fit for his own training populations. There are so many topics in the world of sports performance in regards to speed and strength.  I often get a lot of questions on how I end up integrating much of it into a practical training session.  At the end of the day, seeing the art of how coaches take information, and use it practically with athletes helps tie the content in the many conversations I have together. On today’s show, Graeme takes us into his own integration of the two most common interests of performance coaches: Game-speed and strength/power development.  Graeme speaks on his usage of closed versus open agility work, and lateral speed development, linear speed, and “robust running” ideas for team sport players.  He also goes into his strength methods for athletes, how “specific” to get in the weight room, and particularly how he gets into various oscillatory strength methods to help his athletes maximize their power outputs, and finally, some ideas from training combat athletes. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 4:15 – Graeme’s mentors and influences on his sports performance philosophy 5:45 – Graeme’s take on closed vs. open agility training for his athlete populations 19:00 – Talking about linear speed drills, “switching”, mini-hurdles, and more in the development of speed for team sport athletes 27:45 – A discussion on working in small vs. open spaces and its impact on how an athlete’s muscle groups and energy systems are impacted 30:45 – How Graeme’s role as a strength coach fits into game speed, in respect to the coach’s technical/tactical plans for the team 35:15 – The story of “never go full Bosch” and Graeme’s approach to more “specific lifts” in the weightroom 40:30 – Where Graeme stands on the 1x20 lifting spectrum 43:00 – Graeme’s experience with oscillating lifting reps for a variety of athlete populations 58:00 – Working with Cal Dietz’s “reflexive trimetric” training method 1:04:00 – Core foot training movements that Graeme utilizes in his programming “If an athlete doesn’t have multiple tools to begin with; it’s hard to select the right tool… I look at shuffle positions, crossover step, basic backpedaling.  We are starting in a closed scenario, maybe resisted to slow it down a little more” “When you look on social media, you always see the best athletes…. It’s always great to see what people are doing online but they are always putting the most talented athlete; people are afraid to show the least talented” “When players reach where I am trying to get them to (from a linear speed perspective) then I will sprinkle in robust running methods… I find people will skip that initial step and go right into (robust running)” “I think you can get a lot of game speed in your technical/tactical drills” “In defense we are trying to take away space from the competition, in attack, we are trying to create space… you know these guys, you know they are not quick, but they always seem to have time on the field” “We need to have these drills that are executed at game speed, or above” “When you are working in a short space, that is going to put more stress on the calf, groin and glute area.  When you work in a more open space, that is going to put more stress on the hamstrings, and it’s often more aerobic”

Today’s show is with biomechanist Gary Ward.  Gary is the author of “What the Foot” and founder of “Anatomy in Motion” (as well as the “Wake Your Feet Up” and “Wake Your Body Up” courses).   Gary is known for solving unsolvable pain in minutes, not months, and his passion for the foot hugely influenced his interpretation of human movement. Gary’s foot wedges and training system have had a massive impact on my approach to training athletes in a single leg setting, and between Gary’s influence, and that of running coach Helen Hall (a student of Gary’s), my approach to gait, running and the foot is forever changed for the better.  Gary has been a previous 2x guest on this podcast, speaking on the topics of human movement principles, pronation, “duck feet” and much more. In my ever-running interest in the foot and lower leg, and its role in human movement, I have been very interested in the role of the rear-foot in the past few years.  Initially, I found that I was able to rid myself of plaguing Achilles tendon issues by mobilizing my calcaneus bone, which tuned me into the importance of looking beyond “foot stiffness” as a cover-all in lower leg performance.  From there, I’ve become increasingly more interested in the role of the rearfoot in not only injury prevention, but also athletic performance situations. On the show today, Gary Ward is back to take us on a deep dive into concepts of forefoot-rearfoot opposition and the role of the heel bone in pronation, supination and gait mechanics.  He’ll go into how a well-functioning rear-foot plays into the gait cycle, and how this also works with the ability to get into the ball of the foot well in athletic movements.  Gary will give some practical examples on how to check one’s rearfoot function, and we conclude the show getting into some nuts and bolts of squatting mechanics in light of 3D human movement. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 6:37 – A recap on foot opposition, and how the twisting and spiraling of the foot works into human movement 22:03 – Gary’s take on how rearfoot mobility and foot opposition plays into the ability to get to the ball of the foot well in athletic movement 37:39 – How pronation and supination changes as ground speeds increase from walking to sprinting 49:10 – How to check for limited range in the rear foot, and how to get the rearfoot moving 58:52 – How the body will compensate upstream if it is getting too much or too little movement in the foot 1:04:12 – How arch height in barbell squatting impacts the athletic result of a barbell lift, and if the arches should flatten in a barbell squat 1:10.09 – Squatting and effortlessness in human movement “The rearfoot is the calcaneus and the talus” “When the calcaneus moves down, the navicular moves up” “If there was a midfoot bone, I would say the cuboid is a midfoot bone… out of the 26 bones, we’ve got one midfoot bone.  Otherwise, what we are really looking at is the forefoot opposing the rearfoot, and it does it in all three planes” “The lowering of the arch is an opening of the joints at the base of the foot” “If you roll pressure towards the inside edge of the foot, then you will initiate an eversion in your rear foot, but if I take the 5th metatarsal head off the ground, then what you lose is the opposition” “There’s only one way to get the shin forward, and keep the heel on the ground for too long, and that’s to maintain a pronated foot position” “If your foot does not pronate at the time it is supposed to, then the body will continue to pronate the foot until it reaches the amount of pronation it needs” “You do need to get that (calcaneus) eversion to get into that toe rocker of the push-off phase”

Today’s show is with Scott Robinson, neurology expert, consultant and personal trainer.  Scott is an Applied Movement Neurology Master practitioner and has worked successfully with all levels of neurological complexity in his time training and coaching a wide variety of clients.  Scott is a specialist in dealing with a variety of neurological issues, such as weakness, pain, range of motion and trauma to the emotional systems, amongst many others.  Scott is a former Taekwondo athlete and has more than 20 years of experience in Applied Movement Neurology. Scott previously appeared on episode #188 of the podcast, and on the last show, talked about inhibitory factors of the nervous system, the importance of belief systems on training, fascia and foam rolling, and also how to optimize novel motor response in a training session. The role of the brain and nervous system in an athlete’s performance is of absolute importance in the role of training and competition.  We must regularly draw neurological links between the two, instead of living in the isolated environment of the exercises or drills we are teaching or coaching.  By understanding more about what makes elite athletes tick from a body-mind perspective, we can really dial in on how to optimally set up each and every training session and competition preparation. In this podcast, Scott gets into ideas on a “neurological checklist” in the midst of training or competition for athlete to utilize.  He also talks about dopamine and reward in athletic training and performance, “celebration” as a neurological learning tactic, the importance of intention setting in coaching and athletics, and much more. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:30 – How to get further into the “present moment” in training or competition, and how to go through a mental checklist to get in the ideal mental zone 15:30 – How celebrating one’s performance can draw the brain’s attention to desirable outputs 32:30 – How to build up dopamine and reward responses in athletes, via celebration or intermittent rewards for athletes 44:00 – How to set intentions as a coach (or athlete) to help maximize one’s effectiveness and gain new insight on a situation 1:01:50 – How celebration of performance is a characteristic of an elite athlete, and how to practically put celebration into day to day training “If you are trying to learn a new skill, the first thing the brain will do is search its’ memory-bank and look for relevant data… when it finds some relevant data and it believes it can put together a movement from memory and experience, that may not be what you are looking for” “When I changed the focus and got the brain to acknowledge the errors and correct, there was a very different result, and to me, that is your present moment awareness” “The brain hates an open loop, it hates loops that are unclosed” “What you are doing (when you celebrate) is draw the brain’s attention to a desirable output” “You can celebrate with a fist pump, but you want to make it novel, you need to create attention” “Attention, urgency and alertness are the 3 keys for neuroplastic change…. Add emotion to things and it’s like a fuel source, it supercharges the moment” “You don’t “build” strength, your nervous system grants you strength” “If you have access to 100% of the nervous system, then you can see maximal strength” “The brain also receives dopamine for a “near-win”… gamblers brains can’t tell the different between a win and a near-miss” “You can withhold the celebration, you can withhold the reward, and then the brain will look to solve that problem by giving more, by increasing the output even further” “If you are actually prepared to play with some of these (withheld ...

Today’s show is with sports performance coaches Nick DiMarco and Keir Wenham-Flatt.  Nick DiMarco is the director of sports performance at Elon University.  He is a leader in the NCAA University coaching system in the realms of high performance ideology.  As a former professional athlete (NY Jets and Baltimore Ravens outside linebacker in 2014), Nick is well versed in the intuitive aspects of what it takes to be a high achieving athlete. Keir Wenham-Flatt is a strength and conditioning coach and educator.  He has a background in American football and experience within professional rugby for nearly a decade in five different countries: the U.K., Australia, China, Japan, and Argentina. Keir is the founder of the Strength Coach Network and Rugby Strength Coach, and has been a prominent figure in coaching education.  Both coaches have been prior guests on the podcast, speaking on topics ranging from perception-reaction and training transfer, to mental resiliency. The art of preparing athletes in team sport goes far beyond strength development, and even linear speed.  Knowing which elements of physical preparation are the “lowest hanging fruit” for each athlete, and how to appropriately progress them through their careers is a trademark of an experienced and thoughtful coach.  Many athletes in college football will barely improve in speed versus their high school abilities, especially after their first year of college strength training. On the show today, Nick and Keir will get into the finer points of off-season and pre-season training for American football, and how to place players in training priority groups based on need, such as strength, speed, or body mass-composition factors.  They also speak on how to utilize auto-regulation to make the process of maintaining (or improving) performance factors as quickly as humanly possible.  Finally, topics of specific conditioning means and methods to meet the demands of the game are discussed in depth, and particularly in how collision sports differ from contact sports in this regard. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:15 – Off-season and pre-season training emphasis in American football physical preparation 16:36 – Nick’s different programs and “buckets” for various needs of his NCAA football athletes 22:11 – How to auto-regulate strength, power and speed markers once an athlete already has the pre-requisite levels of maximal strength for their sport 38:58 – Thoughts on the demands of long-drives and the extreme ends of game speed-endurance and its impacts on how coaches should go about a conditioning program 48:24 – Keir and Nick talking about the “Robustness Bucket” in working with athlete populations 56:10 – How Keir and Nick steer training into reactive game-speed oriented tasks as the pre-season nears “Why do they break in camp? It’s not from a lack of exposure to heavy weight-training” Wenham-Flatt “Ask yourself, “What do you get most tired doing, what do you do most often, what is tied most to the outcome of the game?” that is the stuff that you need to be a master of, and robust to, in context of your position” Wenham-Flatt “With regard to the developmental stuff, where-ever possible, the answer would be auto-regulation; if you are auto-regulating every set in a target ability, you are hitting the maximum productive value of that session” Wenham-Flatt “There are anthropometric barriers to entry you must clear as you if you want to thrive in your position, and they go up, as the levels go up” Wenham-Flatt “1RM barbell strength is going to transfer to explosive movement to a point, and it’s lower than people think” Wenham-Flatt “I think one of the reasons most athletes make a lot of progress early on,

Today’s show is with sports performance coach, Jeremiah Flood.  Jeremiah is the owner of Flood Sports, a sports training company in Southern California whose mission is to facilitate the development of mindful and adaptable athletes.  Jeremiah is a former NCAA D1 defensive back at FIU where he earned his B.S. and M.S. in Exercise Science. After becoming a CSCS and working with Women's Volleyball and Soccer at his Alma Mater, He found the sport of Rugby, spent some time in USA rugby academy and garnered a professional contract.  Jeremiah looks to enhance the soft skills, such as decision-making and confidence in training the speed of both the mind and body in training. Strength is a relatively easy quality to develop in athletes, while speed on the other hand, is a more complex, but in many ways, more rewarding venture.  In the realm of athletics, “speed” is multi-factorial, and just because an athlete is fast over 20,60, or 200 meters, does not mean that they will be equally as fast in the speed of a game.  Game-speed involves complex decision making processes, mixed in with emotional management and confidence under a variety of stressful conditions.  To be skilled in facilitating means to improve game speed requires a holistic and dedicated approach. On the show today, Jeremiah takes us through his unique approach to building the speed of the mind and body.  On the physical level, we talk about his approach to testing and training linear outputs, such as sprinting and jumping.  On the mental level we get into the facilitating of the development of self-awareness, confidence and specific reactivity in athletes as it pertains to sport, and how speed and power can be blended with mental elements.  Finally, Jeremiah gives us some great “nuts and bolts” talk on how a daily training session unfolds under his process. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:55 – How Jeremiah pivoted his training as a result of the covid-19 pandemic 7:30 – Training athletes when there’s no official tournaments or competition 10:08 – How to play “Gatorball” & why it’s a great game for young athletes to play 15:05 – Why blend cognitive development with physical development? & Jeremiah’s experience evolving as a college athlete 17:52 – How Jeremiah gives feedback to athletes on self-talk, self-reflection, and having a routine 22:32 – Jeremiah’s thoughts on working with an athlete who doesn’t seem motivated to formally “train” or do particular exercises or drills 27:17 – How often is pure speed the limiting factor for athletes to reach their goals? 33:06 – Basic “game speed” principles and practices 37:25 – The duties of a strength coach for high school and middle school athletes 40:48 – Jeremiah’s approach to testing athletes’ performance 49:44 – Toughness & the significance of doing things you don’t want to do 57:05 – Neural-perplexity: Challenging an athlete’s cognitive load and speeding up the brain’s reactivity 1:02:42 – What does an average training session look like for Jeremiah and his athletes “If I could go back in time, I would loved to have had a physical preparation coach who not only could’ve helped me in my physical abilities, as I loved, but also to tie that in with the mental and emotional, perceptive and reactive, all those elements that, holistically speaking, can help us maximize our outputs in the games we play.” “When I was transitioning from college football to rugby, it’s obviously a huge difference in skillsets, perception, action as far as catching, keeping your eyes ahead of you and passing… it really forced me to build that ability to scan the field. I didn’t have that when I first tried to play rugby and I thought I could just use my speed and physicality,

Today’s show is with sport movement expert Adarian Barr.  Adarian has been a many-time guest on this podcast, and has been my primary mentor in the world of sport movement and biomechanics.  Adarian has many years of coaching experience on the college, high school, club and private level of track and field, as well as in private sports training and movement analysis. There is a lot of talk in sports performance circles about “absorbing force”, as well as being able to “decelerate” in order to “accelerate”.  Although it is certainly helpful to speak outside of concentric/pushing muscle actions only in athletics, a key point is that sport movement is much more than simply accelerating and decelerating things.  Moving outwards to another layer of awareness, sport is much more about re-directing momentum than it is abruptly stopping and starting it.  Many top experts in speed training now are putting much less emphasis on deceleration, and more on change of direction. Change of direction concepts can be taken into much more than just running, however, but can be looked at in jumping, throwing, and pretty much any sport skill an athlete will undertake.  When we look at the dynamic work we are doing in training from a “collision” perspective, it helps us to appreciate athletic movement, and movement transfer to a higher degree. On today’s show, Adarian Barr talks details on setting up and managing collisions in sport movements, as well as lots of plyometric considerations.  We finish off the show with a brief chat on how this applies distinctly to the foot and sprinting from a timing and lever-based perspective. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 6:13 Adarian’s take on training landings and a criticism of “snap down” exercises to train landings 14:44 Why it takes guts to hit a big collision in sport, and Adarian’s top collisions for athletic performance ability 21:35 Discussing the “ultimate” collision in sport, the javelin-throw final step 31:13 Considerations on setting up, and managing collisions in sport 34:30 Thoughts on using small boxes to manipulate jump takeoffs in track and field 40:25 Low rim dunks in basketball, in respect to collision management 44:55 Adarian’s thoughts on if “landing training” is a good idea for athletes 46:25 What plyometrics actually transfer well to setting up and managing collisions 53:40 Squatting and folding up in context of plyometrics and sprinting 1:01:13 How we can get to the ball of the foot at an optimal rate in sport movement “There is something people don’t understand about collisions; the impact force at the feet is not the same as what is being transferred to the rest of the body” “I’m not trying to absorb (the collision) I’m trying to manage (the collision)…. We are not taught to manage the collisions, we are taught to absorb.  If you are practicing to absorb collisions, you had better be strong” “There’s very little times where you are going to come to an abrupt halt in a landing (like a snap-down)” “When I chew my food, I do a plyometric” “If you want to build up that (collision management ability) teach everyone to triple jump” “What do athletes do better than anybody else, they manage collisions better than anybody else, because they don’t have fear” “As soon as you have fear in the equation, all of a sudden, you can’t manage the collision and you have problems” “People miss, more than anything, is how you set up the collision; and snap downs don’t teach you to set up the collision” “Two things to know: 1. How do I set up the collision, and 2. How do I manage the collision” “When the (cricket bowler) takes that big leap (4 steps out from the plant), that’s where it all starts”

Today’s show is with Sam Wuest.  Sam is the head coach and manager of Intention Athletic Club based out of South Florida.  A licensed acupuncturist and former collegiate track & field coach specializing in the jumping events, Sam owes much of his unique perspective to apprenticeships with Ukrainian Olympic Hurdle Coach Olex Ponomarenko and several master acupuncturists as well as his continued education within Daoist Gate’s martial arts and meditation programs. Sam has been a writer of some of the most popular articles on Just Fly Sports, on the importance of rotation in sprinting, jumping and sport jumping movements, such as dunking a basketball.  Sam is a holistic, outside the box thinker who has been able to blend several unique worlds of thought into his own process of training integrated athleticism. So much of our modern thought on sports performance comes from “Western thought”, which focuses largely on forces, muscles, and things that can be easily quantified in training.  You’ll often hear things like “producing the most force in the least time” or “maximal stiffness” as common pursuits in athlete training.  It’s not that these ideas aren’t important, but what we don’t consider is the other “side” of training that involves things that are harder to quantify, such as timing, fluidity, connectedness of the body and mental-emotional factors. On today’s show, Sam gets into the fine points of posture and expanding joint positions, what it means to train an athlete from a “fascial” perspective, and how his influences from the martial arts have made a major impact on how he goes about training athletes.  He also closes with a bit on how to balance a training program from a philosophical perspective of “yin and yang”. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:42 - What can martial arts teach us about movement quality? 10:39 - Why we talk about fascia & What “fascia” means from a performance perspective 13:55 - Why focus on postural cues in athletes? 17:34 - The role of contractile elements in the body & The importance of timing in jumping 21:21 - Posture, the long spine, & The Alexander Technique in relation to athletic performance 31:53 - Fascial stretching & coming back from an injury 38:03 - Engaging the anterior of the body & Internal vs. External cueing 42:04 - Martial arts drills, mobility exercises, and mindfulness techniques Sam uses to expand the long spine and the tensegrity system 58:29 - The yin and yang of a training cycle: What a week of training for Sam’s athletes looks like 1:10:02 - Why you should finish your day with a parasympathetic cool-down “All these different movement styles, martial art styles… especially the ones that say they’re internal, you’ll see that they’ll use the body in a different way because they’re not trying to use them in the same way as an external martial art… because you’re using different sections of your body in a particular way and you might be mobilizing different things that I think, in strength and conditioning, we don’t often assume can or should move.” “When we talk about the fascia, it’s adjusting one area of the body to check the tissue length in the other area of the body. So when we talk about tendon strength versus maybe muscle strength, we’re talking about adjusting big muscle strength in the gym, usually if you see a body builder… their biceps are not big all the way through the upper arm.... Whereas someone who has more of a tendon or even elastic structure… you’ll often see that the muscle is almost more spread out because the tendons and the connective tissue at the joint level has also developed.” “A lot of the little postural adjustments are to adjust the tensegrity...

Today’s show is with athletic performance coach and hamstring injury research specialist, Johan Lahti.  Johan is an S&C coach (CSCS) at R5 Athletics & Health in Helsinki, Finland. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. on a multifactorial approach for hamstring injury risk reduction in professional soccer under the supervision of Professor JB Morin and Dr. Pascal Edouard via the University of Cote d’Azur.  Johan is a practitioner who truly has a hand in both the worlds of the art and the science of athletic development. Hamstring strains are not only one of the most common muscular injuries in sport, but also will be more likely to happen once an athlete has had this issue in the past.  The human body is a complex organism, and as easy as it can be to pin the cause of an injury to one source, we most always take a broad and holistic approach to these issues.  Johan recently did a fantastic explanation of his hamstring injury prevention methods for a Simplifaster interview, where multiple causes and solutions to hamstring problems were addressed, such as running technique vs. hamstring strength training, mobility and hamstring risk, pelvic tilt and more. In today’s podcast Johan and I chat about an athlete’s strength vs. their raw technique when it comes to lifting, and what resistance training exercises have the greatest impact on the hamstrings from a prevention standpoint.  We talk about running technique and hamstring injury, mobility and flexibility, and proprioception, and cognitive demand, all related to hamstring injury risk prevention. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:31 - What inspired Johan to research hamstrings & His greatest mentors 8:05 - Strength vs. Running technique in hamstring injury prevention 12:43 - Factoring in ultra-specific hamstring training, like Nordic exercises 17:57 - Efficiency in hamstring research and technique 19:59 - Running mechanics: Correlations between on-field running techniques and hamstring injury 23:25 - Factoring in sports that require holding something in your hands while running, like a field hockey stick 24:55 - Stretching and strength training in hamstring injury prevention and mobility/range of motion 32:07 - If you just do max velocity sprint work, will your hamstrings organically get better at end range? 36:48 - Fascicle testing & Sprinting vs. Isolated exercises 42:48 - The best protocol for preventing hamstring injury and keeping hamstrings healthy 44:43 - Lumbopelvic movement measurements & Sprint mechanics 50:41 - Starting at a young age: Building better postures and movement in sprint techniques 53:12 - Thoughts on posterior chain training “Looking at the hamstrings particularly, it is amazing, not only the sagittal plane or the front to back, but also the rotational component of this muscle group and how it works to help us perform as athletes is absolutely amazing.” “Let’s say if you’re doing a squat, a force plate can read a specific Newton output but they can produce that force by different strategies so… the end result is the same in terms of Newtons, but are they technically producing strength for different tasks even though it’s defined as a squat? So that is really interesting and I think that should be discussed more. That’s why I don’t like to separate strength and technique… but evidently it needs to be done in terms of research.” “It’s difficult to answer that question of ‘what is the optimal exercise?’ I think if you’re ticking those boxes, then you could argue that some exercises are doing enough if you have other exercises ticking the rest of the boxes.” “There’s so much money going into hamstring research, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone picked [time efficiency] up as a researc...

Today’s show is with James Wild.  James is a coach, an applied researcher and a performance consultant.  Currently, James leads the speed program for Harlequins rugby men’s team and is Head of Performance for England Women’s Lacrosse.  He also leads modules in skill acquisition and strength & conditioning at the University of Surrey.  James is in the final stages of completing a PhD in the biomechanics and motor control of team sport athletes during sprint acceleration and is the author of “Strength Training for Speed”. When it comes to speed, it’s always helpful to look at things from both the perspective of the coaching eye and applied biomechanics, and then on the other end, from more raw perspectives of strength and data points.  When we look at both the qualitative and the quantitative, we can get a fuller total picture of what it takes to maximize an athlete’s speed potential in a manner that sticks over time and gets results.  James is not only great with sprinting data points, but he has also been in the trenches coaching athletes for 20 years with many high level athletes, and his combination of the data, as well as in the art of coaching offers valuable insight for any coach. On the show today, James and I talk about his process of building an acceleration profile for athletes, rate vs. stride-length dominance, foot vs. hip dominant strategies in sprinting, resisted sprinting, minimal explosive strength standards for sprint performance, and more. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 4:38 - James’ main objective with his PhD work 6:30 - The results of James’ sprint acceleration polls on social media 9:53 - The effects of acute, verbal interventions on sprinting improvement 13:34 - How to analyze and experiment with athletes’ sprinting using continuums 17:45 - How to allow athletes to experience continuums 23:47 - Running with low knees vs. high knees & Variability in performance 27:11 - The importance of incorporating experiential nature into training 29:05 - Key markers and components of acceleration profiles & Cluster analysis 34:58 - 4 main strategies for sprinting & Exploring athletes’ reliance 39:36 - The quickest way James has facilitated change in sprint acceleration performance 44:46 - The role of technical changes vs. improving strength qualities 51:51 - 3 strength measures & Single leg jump in place test 55:56 - Analyzing hip and foot-dominance in athletes 1:00:12 - How does DRF help project horizontal force or convert force to a horizontal acceleration? & Using a sled to train “It’s certainly not been my experience that there is this one size fits all, classical model [of sprinting] that we can shoehorn everyone into and that they will run faster as a result.” “One of the things I do will be to longitudinally track their spatial/temporal variables and try and look at essentially what it is that they’re doing when they’re running their fastest. So, it’s this concept of finding out the athlete’s reliance.” “If I’m working with an athlete for the first time or the first few sessions… whilst I’m collecting that data, I want them to experience what it feels like to move along that continuum of greater step length or greater step rate so that by the time I’ve finished some kind of analysis and have an understanding of where their reliance is at… they’ve got prior experience now with adjusting according to that continuum, so it just makes coaching a lot easier.” “They’re never gonna sprint the same way twice in a game, really, so they need to be able to adapt to those novel situations… they’re never going to produce exactly the same step… there’s going to be variability in everything they do,

Today’s show is a Q&A with Joel Smith, answering your questions on training and human performance.  It’s great to see what’s on everyone’s minds from a training perspective, as well as be able to synthesize thoughts on each question. On the Q&A today, we have a wide range of questions, but the focal points are things like speed training for athletes new to training, coaching speed in a manner that doesn’t cause negative compensations, isometric training, weightlifting, and even swimming. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Podcast Questions/Topics What is a simple way to recover from an ACL and meniscus injury and surgery? Programming/training strategies for more strength and muscle driven athletes when limited access to weights? Still worth transitioning to more elastic training style even if they thrive with more longer GCT and joint angle strategies? Which is more spiritually demanding: 5 minute lunge or 3 minute scap hang? Your favorite workouts for speed development (mainly for athletes new to track) What’s the purpose of eccentric loading for speed and jumps? How do you like to teach hip extension? Thoughts on hang power snatches? Best cues or general approach to single leg jumping off the non-dominant foot. Vestibular training assessment, your take, valuable resources for that etc. Can we do extreme isometric lunges every day? What’s the best way to get athletes to always train with intent? What are some things you’ve found that can help your athletes give more. In terms of their efforts and intent during a workout to get the most out of every session. The balance of hypertrophy and RFD in throwing and swinging sports. In a conversation on pronation, Gary Ward mentioned he would not advise powerlifters to pronate under load, but he would for anyone else. If running and jumping causes more force than weight does most of the time, why would he recommend it for that but not for lifting? Specific foot exercises for high arches? Suggested protocol for rehabbing Achilles tendinopathy? Gary ward’s wedges, suspension drop. How to incorporate rhythm in training? How do you structure a warm-up for elastic/max-speed sprinting? Games into drills into progressive efforts? As a coach, what are you looking at in real time when an athlete is performing, say acceleration? What is the mental process in your head to make your job easier? Optimal level of stiffness and compliance in athletes. Assessments and training. Is coaching dorsiflexion a double edged sword? Does cueing it too persistently result in athletes losing that nice shin angle too early during drive phase? Some drills for jumping technique? Weight room training, plyos, etc as it pertains to high school mid distance- XC. Also, good resources. Coupling load - plyo exercises for post activation potentiation. Do you differentiate between swimming techniques the amount of heavy strength training that they do? Elastic Vs muscular athletes (a backstroker vs a breastroker for example). I found that normally, simultaneous technique athletes are more muscle driven, comparing to the others. I would like to know your thoughts on that and the effects that too much heavy barbell has on the rhythmic component of the swimming technique. About Joel Smith Joel Smith is the founder of Just Fly Sports and trains athletes and clients in partnership with Evolutionary Fitness in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Joel hosts the Just Fly Performance Podcast, has authored several books on athletic performance, and trains numerous clients in the in-person and online space.  Joel was formerly a strength coach for 8 years at UC Berkeley, working with the Swim teams and post-graduate professional swimmers, as well as tennis, water polo,

Today’s show brings on coaches Andrew Cormier and Joel Reinhardt.  Andrew Cormier is a sports performance coach at the University of Massachusetts, working with the men’s lacrosse, women’s soccer, and softball programs.  Joel Reinhardt is the Assistant Director of Sports Performance at the University of Massachusetts, working with football and women’s lacrosse.  Together, Andrew and Joel run the sprint-jump-throw.com website, as well as the Sprint Jump Throw Performance Podcast. Speed training, on the surface is a very simple venture.  High quality sprinting efforts in a fresh state is key to getting faster.  For track and field this is quite simple, but for team sports, this becomes more difficult, since it’s harder to control fatigue, as well as address the many facets of speed displayed in the course of a game, compared to a simple linear sprint race. Andrew and Joel are two young coaches with a view on speed training for sport that blends “Feed the Cats” ideologies, into their progressive system that seeks to eliminate the noise from an athlete’s regimen.  On the show today, Andrew and Joel talk about a speed-based model that they utilize in their team sport preparation, running technique and options in the course of game play, and their model of cueing and instructing athletes. Andrew and Joel have taken on an approach to “rank-record-publish” in speed-based training that gives athletes unique motivation in regards to improving this critical component of athleticism.  Throughout the podcast, we also chat about the role of visual field, perception and body language in the development of game speed, as well as diversity in running “options” that high level athletes display.  We finish this chat with Andrew and Joel’s take on the utilization of tempo in resistance training, and how much we really need to rely on the weight room for power if speed-based ranking systems are being utilized outside of it. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 6:05 Andrew and Joel’s history in working together as coaches and how their podcast came together 11:05 How Andrew and Joel are building a “feed the cats” model of speed development in the context of team sports 18:35 How to replace linear-extensive tempo and long runs with more coordination driven, locomotion-complex style running for field sport athletes 27:50 What KPI’s Andrew and Joel are looking to boost throughout the year in regards to team sport physical needs, and how maximal sprints are ranked-recorded-published 39:35 How to work with athletes who are regularly in the last places in speed-based measurements 42:20 How Andrew and Joel consider change of direction ability in their training regime 57:55 Approaching running technique in light of the needs of team sports and the various types of running that may be present in team sports 1:09.20 Ideas on approaching bar tempo in a weightroom setting “It’s prioritizing the high speed components of the game, and then filling in the cracks elsewhere” Reinhardt “If we are trying to build some sort of physical stimulus, we always go back to “how can we build this playing lacrosse” Reinhardt “Instead of (traditional tempo or a long boring run for soccer players) now we are throwing a bunch of different movements at them (such as gallops)” Cormier “In season we only supplement fly 10’s (for field sport athletes)” Reinhardt We track (fly 10’s) as soon as we are done tracking it, I rank them, send it in the group message, put it top to bottom, color code it, green to red, mark PR’s on there, and they get all excited about it… the slight shift in language even within the team, instead of girls asking “how can I get in better shape” they ask, “how can I get faster” Reinhardt

Today’s show brings on Ryan Banta and Derek Hansen. Ryan Banta is a coach with more than 19 years of experience and the author of the Sprinter’s Compendium. At the high school level, Ryan has numerous state champions and finalists, and he is a frequent contributor to many top platforms in athletic performance. Derek Hansen is an International Sport Performance Consultant that has been working with athletes all ages and abilities in speed, strength and power sports since 1988.  After a long career as a university strength coach, as well as track and field coach, Derek now serves as a performance consultant to numerous professional teams in the NFL, NBA, MLS and NHL, as well as major NCAA Division 1 programs throughout North America. Both Ryan and Derek were very early guests on this podcast, and I’m happy to have them back to discuss a subject that I think has a lot of far reaching implications into one’s total performance program, which is “tempo training”.  Tempo is an age old method of sprint training, and generally refers to repeated, submaximal sprint efforts, such as 8x200m, or 5x300m, on relatively short rests, with limited recovery.  For team sports, it could mean running a series of shorter, but more numerous sprints, on incomplete rest intervals. Pendulums swing in all fields, and the sports performance field is no exception.  As with many tools, tempo has been abused by track and team sport coaches alike to the point where athletes do not make beneficial adaptations in power or maximal speed, so a reversal (such as what we see in systems such as Tony Holler’s) was well warranted.  It’s always important view training constructs from all sides, and talking with these two wise coaches is important to gain a greater understanding of this element of training, and its proper use.  Derek and Ryan get into the usefulness of tempo running for both physiological and technical adaptations, and then get into appropriate training prescriptions for track and team sport alike. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 7:42 – A Question: “If you were running a sprint program for building absolute speed, would you pick strength training or tempo running outside of your short sprint practice?” 10:25 – The benefits and misconceptions of submaximal (60-70%) effort running 18:03 – Experimenting with volume and intensity in tempo running 24:12 – Building structure and capacity through circuits vs. submaximal running & Safe training for injured athletes 31:30 – Flooring/surface dependence for tempo running and circuits 33:47 – The significance of the type of athlete in volume in tempo running 40:51 – Implementing tempo running into team sport training 46:28 – Why coaches and trainers have moved away from tempo training in their sport preparation 50:23 – The role of specificity in tempo training 52:49 – Speed development in tennis preparation and the role of tempo sprint training 54:46 – How Derek prescribes tempo volumes in track and team sports 1:00:55 – Incorporating muscle dominance and intervals in tempo running & Making it relatable to the athlete 1:08:10 – Final advice on tempo running “Basically [tempo running] is just running with incomplete recoveries at a submaximal pace and, as we all know, this method is very frequently abused by a lot of coaches.” “Working at different velocities obviously gives you some flexibility around the effect you’re going to have in terms of energy systems and building foundations around the athlete.” “A tempo run with short recovery allows for the body to use that hydrogen ions or lactate as a fuel. It allows the body to increase its ability to buffer the waste so that you’re not necessarily using that workout to get better at your a...

Today’s show brings on Eamonn Flanagan.  Eamonn is the lead Strength & Conditioning Consultant with the Sport Ireland Institute where he manages the S&C support to Ireland's Olympic and Paralympic athletes. Amongst other areas of expertise, Eamonn is a leading coach in both the science and practice of jump training and plyometrics, has a PhD. in Sports Biomechanics and previously worked in professional rugby over a decade. Plyometrics and jump training is a common, and enjoyable training topic, one of the reasons being that leaping ability is generally a sign of superior athletic ability.  Jump training goes far beyond simply being able to dunk a basketball or reach the top-10 of a highlight series however; as it’s also a useful predictor of various athletic qualities, and if those qualities are actually being improved (often times, we see a lifting related quality improve without moving the needle on important jump related qualities).  The data-based approach to jump monitoring can come across as mundane, but Eamonn approaches it from a practical perspective that represents his coaching intuition, as well as that of his sport science abilities. On today’s show, Eamonn talks about what stiffness is, and isn’t in plyometrics, and what makes a good athlete from a plyometric and reactive perspective.  We talk about plyometric progressions, and some points of intent Eamonn looks for in plyometric activity that most coaches overlook.  Eamonn also talks about the fallacy that coaches can get into when jump testing, and how the test can no longer “be the test” when you use it too often.  He also covers what “stiffness” really is in plyometrics, single vs. double leg metrics in jump testing, and how to optimally manage jump testing history in uncovering puzzles of injury. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 05:55 – What drew Eamonn to jump testing and plyometrics in sports science? 08:50 – How Eamonn experimented and learned all aspects of plyometrics simultaneously 09:37 – What does the ideal athlete looks like from a plyometric perspective? 12:20 – How to go about training an athlete’s jump-based weaknesses and the idea of a “minimal reactive strength” 19:07 – Stiffness and reactive strength in the context of jump testing 28:12 – Determining what jump tests to use with certain athletic groups & what tests to use for an explosive short-burst acceleration athlete 40:55 – How often concentric jump testing could or should be done 44:47 – Eamonn’s four phases of plyometric for improving raw metrics & the role of finding relaxation in training 51:58 – One of the biggest mistakes strength coaches make in plyometric training 56:59 – Insights into single leg vs. double leg reactive strength testing & the importance of record-keeping in sports performance and training “When we’re talking about jump testing… I like to keep things pretty simple. So, while I might have access to tools like force plates, when I think about jump testing, I’m more thinking about incredibly simple metrics and I’m more thinking about a variety of different jumps rather than these incredibly in-depth metrics from a single jump.” “I think the beauty of looking at athletes’ plyometric ability is that, for me, there is no one way to do things, there is no ultimate because ultimately, what it’s about is performance. It’s about outcome… and there is an infinite number of ways to achieve that.” “In terms of addressing weaknesses… if you feel that there’s really some areas there where it’s not so much a weakness as a real deficiency, then I think you want to get after that.” “The device you use to measure, as well as the surface on which you perform the tests, can be quiet variable in terms of their impact on the...

Today’s show brings on Angus Bradley.  Angus is a strength coach and podcast host from Sydney, Australia.  He coaches out of Sydney CBD, and co-hosts the Hyperformance podcast with his brother, Oscar.  After focusing primarily on weightlifting for the first half of his career Angus finds himself spending as much time “outside of his lane” as possible trying to identify the principles that transcend all human movement.  Like many guests on this show, Angus has been well-educated in the compression/expansion training ideals proliferated by Bill Hartman that are pushing our industry forward.  Angus is frequently sharing next level knowledge from his social media platform and podcast, and he works with a diverse crowd from strongman to surfing and everything in between. I’ve always been trying to “figure out” weightlifting in context of athletic performance.  There are coaches with a lot of different opinions on which lifts athletes should do, and some elite sports performance professionals have athletes do little to even no traditional barbell work.  In my own journey, I found myself a much more powerful, but slightly less elastic athlete in my mid-20s after 12 years of loading my body through squats, Olympic lifts and the like.  On the flip-side, I’ve had athletes who I honestly believe would struggle to achieve their highest peak without some solid help from barbell work.  Rather than only assigning more, or less lifting to a particular athlete, I enjoy knowing the binding principles of barbell work and different body types. In my search for answers, Angus Bradley is a huge wealth of knowledge.  He is highly experienced in weightlifting methods and has a deep understanding of the principles of compression and expansion in a variety of exercises, and in determining strategies based on body type.  On the show today, Angus talks about squatting and hinging from ribcage and pelvic floor perspectives, the importance and impact of pressure management in how “strong” athletes are at various lifts, and how to train and manage various body types in light of preventing un-wanted compensations and shape changes in the body.  This is a podcast I wish I had listened to myself, 15 years ago. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 6:30 Breaking existing paradigms in the performance training industry, and how Angus thinks of the “necessary patterns” of squat, hinge, push, pull for training athletes 12:45 How a squat differs from a hinge from a pelvic floor pressure management perspective 17:00 A re-hash of “expanded” vs. “compressed” types of athletes, as well as a chat on compressive strategies in the big lifts 28:15 The compressive strategies by which athletes actually lift increasing weights in training vs. an increased activation of relative motor units and other factors that tie more readily into athletic performance 44:05 How to look at an athlete who wants to increase vertical jump in light of an athlete’s pressure management strategy 52:30 Some rules of thumb in navigating the day by day process of adding weight in strength training without piling on compressive compensations in athletes 59:15 The errors we have made in posterior chain training, and how to address the posterior chain in context of compression and expansion strategies 1:05.45 How an athlete becomes “quad dominant” and how to work with that in light of pressure systems “The S&C world has always looked to powerlifting, and said, “well you are the squat guys, can you tell us how to squat?” “But there is a certain kind of quality that we are trying to capture when we prescribe a squat or a hinge…. it’s no longer about where the bar is on your body, but what is the muscular strategy at the thorax and the pelvis”

Today’s show brings on Jamie Smith, founder of the “U of Strength”.  Jamie Smith has coached a variety of athletes from the novice to elite skill levels, including several NHL, NBA and MLS athletes.  He has been a prior guest on the podcast, as well as having done an extensive webinar for Just Fly Sports, speaking on perception-action topics and building robust athletes in a manner that transcends simply getting them “stronger”. As long as I’ve been in the sports performance profession, I’ve realized just how important it is to look at every way you can impact the performance of an athlete, on the levels of strength, speed, mentality, perception, decision-making, special-strength, and more.  Jamie is the epitome of a coach who is truly passionate about making athletes better at the sports they play through a comprehensive approach. In the modern day, a comprehensive approach is truly important, since we relate athlete response to that of a machine.  Athletes are so heavily coached, scheduled and instructed, that they rarely get the autonomy and creative license they need to reach their own optimal performance.  Coaches also tend to mis-place their actual role in the process of working with athletes, and don’t allow athletes enough ownership and say in the training process to the point where they will struggle in achieving their ideal training result, overcoming stressful competition situations, and even in life beyond sport. Last podcast, we went into the perception-action component of making a well-rounded athlete, and this episode we get info full-circle development by means of training variability, the use of nature and natural surfaces, menu systems and athlete autonomy, competition, long-term athletic development, and more.  Jamie takes the art of the coach as a guide seriously, and in the world of over-coached and robotic athletes, Jamie is a beacon of light for young athletes looking to reach high levels of not only performance, but also self-efficacy, confidence and life-preparedness. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 04:23 – The benefits of training in nature for young and older athletes 12:02 – The importance of conscious risk-taking in training 13:23 – Thinking about a child’s future in sport, and how training in nature will impact it 17:30 – Improving happiness in youth sports by incorporating fun and playfulness 24:11 – How to integrate nature into training athletes 28:37 – Thoughts on coaching as a dynamic partnership 33:51 – The role of observation in coaching and focusing on strengths instead of weaknesses + A big misconception of coaches 44:53 – What a training session looks like for Jamie’s athletes, and the art of using menu-systems 56:07 – Competition options in older athletes 57:45 – The role of athlete interest and collaboration in the results of a training program “At the beginning of every day, me and my assistant, I brief him and we go over what the objective is, what we need to improve on as coaches or as a whole, as a program, and one of the things we talk about is who can say the least amount of words.” “A lot of people, to wake up the feet, would roll with a sensory ball or spikey ball, shit we did isometrics, we did different gate patterns walking up and down, walking tall, walking in a tunnel… completely barefoot walking through the rocks.” “The big thing I tell athletes is: we want you to become comfortable in uncomfortable situations.” “[Barefoot training is] not great if you’re on a wood floor or a totally flat floor where there’s zero sensory information coming in. It’s really not a whole lot better than being in shoes, to be honest. You have to have these little sensations or irritations and you combine that with different w...

Today’s show brings on elite physiotherapist David O’Sullivan.  Dave has worked as sports physio with England Rugby Union in the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan and with England Rugby League in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup in Australia.  Dave is the founder of the ProSport Academy and now teaches his step by step pro sport approach that he uses with his own sporting and non-sporting patients in private practice to therapists all over the world. Dave’s mission is to empower people to restore control through their body and minds so they can truly live.  He has been a mentor to some well-known coaches/therapists such as previous podcast guest, David Grey. Knee pain and lower limb injury prevention are important topics.  Nearly every coach (and clearly therapist) will deal with either preventing or treating these issues with their athletes.  I enjoy learning about how to prevent knee or Achilles tendon pain, but I truly enjoy these conversations when we can take these principles of performance and scale them up to modes that can be used in late rehab or full-scale performance training. In today’s talk with Dave O’Sullivan, we’ll go into the basic muscle firing patterns that set up the baseline for performance in any bridging activity.  Dave will get into the importance of the Soleus muscle as a lower-body lynchpin, and how to optimally coordinate this muscle, along with the hamstrings in a spectrum of bridging exercises with specific cues for the feet.  We’ll take this all the way to how Dave utilizes jump training methods and drivers, along with foot cueing, to help athletes achieve a seamless and confident return to play.  Whether you are a therapist, strength coach or track coach, this is an information packed and truly relevant episode. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 6:00 Discussing the systems that have influenced Dave the most in his career as a physiotherapist, and how he has synthesized them into his current system 12:20 Dave’s thoughts on the spectrum between basic rehab, and high performance return to play methods in the actions of the foot 22:40 How Dave wants the foot, and mid-foot to engage through various squatting actions, including the “split slouch” exercise 33:10 Mid-foot supine bridging drills as a regression for athletes who cannot tolerate proper load standing on the hamstring and soleus muscles 43:30 A discussion on cueing the mid-foot and how to cue the foot in rehab exercises, versus dynamic movements such as running or sprinting 50:30 Comparing low-hip position hip bridges with standard weighted hip thrust exercises, as well as the role of heel vs. mid-foot pushing in glute bridge work 1:01:30 How to know when to move athletes past supine bridges and slouches pushing through the mid-foot, and into more advanced work 1:08:45 Using “drivers” to help athletes with various jump landings in a return to play situation 1:17:00 When you actually do want to have athletes push through the big toe, versus when to leave it alone “When they go into the real world; the stress and movement, there is so much stimulus going into the nervous system, it’s so much different than being in the physio room doing 3 sets of 10 or a breathing exercise” “I just want to put load on these tissues, and let the system self-organize” “When that foot hits the floor, the soleus (muscle) is the king…. if you had to have one muscle for knee pain, that’s it…. the soleus takes between 6 and 8 times the bodyweight” “That’s an awareness to me that a lot of athletes have skipped, the mid-foot… athletes who stay on their heels or on their toes miss that mid-foot” “The interesting thing with the mid-foot and the soleus is that the soleus has to work with every other muscle in the ...

Today’s show brings back Rafe Kelley, owner of Evolve, Move, Play.  Rafe has experience with dozens of movement styles, playing many sports, including gymnastics, learning dance, exploring parkour and studying many forms of the martial arts and MMA styles. When it comes to human movement, and the story and history behind our movement, Rafe is my go-to expert.  Rafe’s students have ranged from world-class parkour athletes, to MMA fighters, to untrained grandmothers.  He has been a two time guest on this podcast, and offers knowledge from a source that is largely un-touched by mainstream strength and athletic development. On previous shows, I have talked with Rafe about our movement roots, structured vs. unstructured training, play based training, and emotional and cognitive links between play, performance and adaptation.  Episode #174 was one of the most transformative episodes I had done in terms of how it immediately impacted my work in my own group training sessions afterwards. On this show, I wanted to tap into more of Rafe’s knowledge of human movement in terms of his experience with martial arts, fighting and modern dance.  The sports performance industry talks about force a lot, but it is critical to look at the best athletes in the world on a level comparing to them with dancers, instead of powerlifters, to get a fuller understanding of the required timings and rhythms.  Today’s podcast is a wonderful experience in discussing the deeper movement qualities that really make elite athletes and how we can consider those qualities of rhythm and fluidity in our own training designs. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs.  For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 6:20 Discussing complexity in training, and how to get more work and effectiveness in a shorter period of time 13:49 Quantifying fatigue in basketball and parkour, and concepts on how risk increases session fatigue, and extreme depth landings in parkour 23:34 Philosophy on movement quality in the martial arts, parkour, and athletic movement in general, and questions on if Rafe takes time out of parkour itself to spend time on movement quality 35:53 Rhythmic qualities of movement in athletics, and how to improve athletic performance from a rhythmic perspective 55:16 Points on the use and relationship of dance and ethnic dance styles, to athletic performance 1:00:08 Animal forms and flow in training and human movement “The neurological fatigue associated with a parkour session is not simply associated with how many approach runs did you do, or how big were the jumps.  It was more associated with how much risk, or how threatened your nervous system was by the jumps that you were taking on” “One of the master-keys for re-covering the capacity of my lower limb was tibial rotation drills” “When you are working with a novice athlete, a lot of times the answer is just that they need to do the thing more.  But when that doesn’t fix it, you have to ask, “why isn’t self-organization working”.” “If I initiate a punch, I want that punch to land, and I want my hand to be hard, and my body to be hard as the punch lands, but any time is it hard before it lands, is slowing me down, and wasting my energy…. how sensitive is the foot when it is hitting the ground” “The timing of force production is massive; it’s the harmony of the body as its hitting the ground; the ability to find that moment.  You have do (purposefully) do things, to get (timing)” “I think of it, kind of like music.  Every set of movements or a solution to a problem is like a set of beats.  You can have an optimal set of beats, or you can have noisy extra beats that aren’t contributing to the harmony of the piece” “What (Josef) talked about the first time I talked to him was: “When an athlete has ...

Today’s show brings back guests Kyle Dobbs and David Grey for an epic meeting of two biomechanical minds.  I’ve learned a lot from both Kyle and David on and off of this podcast.  Both David and Kyle’s prior episodes have been in our all-time top-listened shows, and I’m excited to get them together for a show. Kyle Dobbs is the owner and founder of Compound Performance which offers online training, facility consulting and a personal trainer mentorship.  He a leading expert in integrating complex movement principles into physical training methods for multiple human disciplines.   David Grey is a biomechanics specialist based in Waterford, Ireland.  He is the creator of the “Lower Body Basics” programs, and has learned under a number of great mentors in the world of movement, S&C, gymnastics, mobility, martial arts, and biomechanics. One element of human performance I’m always looking to become better versed in is breathing, posture, pressure dynamics and how these elements impact our movement and performance potential.  From lifting, to running, to changing direction explosively, how we “stack” and align our pressure centers and body structures makes a big impact on how well we can perform those skills and be free of injury. On today’s podcast, Kyle and David go in depth on rib cage dynamics, breathing and pressure management in context of crawling and running.  We’ll also touch on posture, training the frontal plane, and finish with some talk on the feet, plantar fasciitis, and thoughts on coaching preferential foot pressures in movement. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly for 15% off of your purchase! Timestamps and Main Points 6:05 How Kyle and David look to explain and sequence breathing work within the course of a session 15:05  Ways to observe groups in crawling and locomotion exercises, and how to observe links between those movements and rib cage and breath action 23:50 How Kyle and David address the reciprocal action of the ribs seen in locomotion in breathing and breath work 32:35 What you might see in a crawl or squat that shows that an athlete is compressed, as well as compensation patterns that lead to stiff lumbar spine actions 39:55 How a “ribs first” mentality is critical when it comes to posture and spinal alignment 45:55 Discussing the frontal plane in athletic movement and how muscular strategy switches to respiratory strategy as one moves from lifting to sprinting to distance running 55:25 Training the breath in various exercises outside of ground-based positions 1:06:25 Advice and ideas on dealing with plantar fasciitis in athletes, as well as dynamics of calcaneal motion and how it fits with the rest of the kinetic chain 1:15:25 Thoughts on preferential pressures on different portions of the foot for athletic movements “I will ask my clients to do a toe touch, squat, range of motion, and then we’ll try a positional breathing drill that makes sense in my mind, and if we re-test, it should be better… if it’s not better we are doing the wrong thing” Grey “Your body, from an autonomic position, is going to prioritize breathing over everything else” Dobbs “If you are already in an extended position, and posteriorly compressed in that position, then you don’t have any more extension to actually be able to leverage, so we talk about getting more of a neutral posture, more flexion so that you actually have a larger bandwidth to drive extension when needed” Dobbs “When you look at a 90/90 breathing position, you flip it over and put someone in a crawling position, and it’s basically a 90/90 with a reach up into the sky” Grey “If we can get the rib cage moving, and get people to feel their body and be aware of their body, the breathing can be the result of that sometimes” Grey

Today’s show features Cal Dietz.  Cal has been the Head Olympic Strength and Conditioning coach for numerous sports at the University of Minnesota since 2000, has worked with hundreds of successful athletes and team, and is the co-author of the top-selling book “Triphasic Training”.  Cal has a multi-time guest on this show, most recently appearing in episode #168 (one of our most popular episodes of all time) on single leg training methods alongside Cameron Josse and Chad Dennis. Cal’s ideas on complex training (French contrast and potentiation clusters) have made a huge impact on the formulation of my own programs and methods.   French Contrast as a training ideology and method has probably been one of the most consistent elements of my training for many years now.  Cal is never one to sit still, and has recently made further advances in his complex training sets as they relate to our neurological and technical adaptations to these movements. On today’s show, Cal talks extensively about his new methods in complex training for improving sprint speed.  As Cal has talked about on previous episodes, even bilateral hurdle hops have the potential to “mess athletes up” neurologically, and so Cal goes in detail on how his complex training sets are now adjusted to address that.  Ultimately, Cal has formulated his gym training for the primary purpose of improving sprint speed and sprint mechanics.  We will also get into Cal’s take on block periodization, and how Cal uses 5,10 and 20 yard dash markers to help determine an athlete’s primary training emphasis for the next block of work. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 05:10 – Breaking a lot of eggs to make a cake: Training Cal and Joel has utilized in that past that may not have worked out so well for the athlete in the process of growing as a coach 12:52 – Cal’s experience with various methods of training + How he trained his son during covid-19 19:56 – Using running and speed to assess athletes, and creating the required adaptations 25:53 – What led Cal to utilizing block method training and block overloads 29:51 – Interpreting and discussing maximal velocity as a training lynchpin 31:45 – Using squats + Examples of “sprint-centric” exercise sets Cal uses 41:34 – What Cal’s working on: Optimizing exercises for your athletes as individuals + Exercises that are best for your brain 43:09 – Quad-dominant vs. Posterior chain dominant athlete assessments + Cal’s 5-10-20 tool 50:45 – The 5-10-20 tool simplified 54:00 – Exercises Cal would assign for Joel, as someone who needs isometric strength? + The best single leg exercise for building leg strength “Usually I had a download (de-load) week and then I’d change the exercise. Then, I started changing the exercises in the download week so the volume was low… that matched the following week so they didn’t get sore starting with the higher volume… I found that when I implemented a new exercise, that’s when they got sore.” “I trained an agonistic muscle with an antagonistic muscle… so what happened was, it didn’t cause a compensation pattern and it kept the global neurological sequence of the nervous system in the right pattern the whole time and it optimized it.” “Running is one of the greatest assessments of any athlete.” “I call it global neurological sequence, it’s just the order and sequence your body moves.” “Max velocity is an indicator of potential in the nervous system, let’s be honest.” “I would start my first set with my quad-dominant athletes at the rear posterior chain exercise and then cycle through everything, which is actually better, Joel, for my weight room functioning.” “I was able to create a tool off a 10-20-yard dash that told me what their weakest link was in training. So, it’s an indicator of what they need for the next two to four weeks in training...

Today’s show features Jeremy Frisch and Calin Butterfield.  Jeremy is the owner and director of Achieve Performance Training in Clinton, Mass, has been a multi-time guest on the show with all-things youth and creative training, game-play and long-term development.  Jeremy is not only a strength coach, but also has skin in the game as a youth sports coach, and provides an incredible holistic perspective on the entire umbrella of athletic development.  Calin Butterfield is the high performance manager at U.S. Ski & Snowboard.  He worked for EXOS for about 8 years as a Coach across all different spaces including Phoenix, Dallas, SF at Ft. Bragg, Adidas America, and the Mayo Clinic.  Calin and Jeremy are working together now on concepts related to long term development of ski and snowboard athletes. So often, we have our “standard plyometric battery” in performance training, but we cling to these fundamentals hard when we would be served well to be observing jump training and movement in a variety of mediums to create ideas for our plyometric progression.  Studying athletes in sports that demand fast reactions, impactful landings, high risk, and rewards for creativity have a lot to offer when it comes to looking at our own training designs for the athletes we serve. Together, Jeremy and Calin will talk about their collaboration together with skiing, the use and progression of games with young athletes up to college level, plyometric progressions and advancing complexity, and how the natural warmup process in ski and snowboard (terrain park) can give us ideas that we can port over into how we can prepare athletes for sport.  There is a lot of great information in this podcast that can be useful for sport coaches, strength coaches and skiiers alike. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 05:25 – The background of Calin and Jeremy’s careers and collaboration 08:30 – How does gameplay fit into a sport like skiing? 16:42 – When people tend to peak in skiing and snowboarding and how this fits into proportion of game play at different ages 24:18 – The power in connecting to the outcome and having multiple avenues to get to that outcome 27:02 – Attrition from training + creating enjoyable training experiences for kids 36:48 – How autonomy and feedback in the warm-up process changes as athletes get older and the reality of “perfect landings” in plyometric exercise 41:52 – The relationship between landing variability and chronic sport landing overload 45:57 – Reducing training down to information + plyometrics and progressions in skiing and snowboarding 48:03 – Long-term development in skiing and supplementing with traditional land-based training 52:37 – What it looks like to build an athlete up in high-adrenaline sport training 55:22 – How the aerial nature of skiing and snowboarding have an impact on Jeremy and Calin in their training process “[Skiing is] an early engagement sport, technically, like there’s skills that you have to learn from a sliding perspective, but that oftentimes turns into really early specialization and spending too much time skiing.” “The mentality of most of the athletes that make it to a high level in ski racing or free skiing… is intense, it’s almost like dare devil, formula one… The game aspect and how it translates into sport, I think, is very much on the physical side. I think the mental side is completely unique.” “What we try to do… is really just force environments that get them to explore their bodies, their joints, how to maneuver around certain objects or other people, and really just try to get the out of their comfort zone and using games, it’s a lot more fun for them.” “We so underestimate the difference between a child and an adult and keeping people in flow states. I just think that’s such a mistake that’s proliferated.”

Today’s show welcomes back coach Bobby Stroupe.  Bobby Stroupe is the Founder and President of Athlete Performance Enhancement Center (APEC) and has directed human performance systems for nearly 20 years, working with a full range of athletes from youth to professional. In my search for higher-transfer, holistic methodology in sports performance training, I’ve met few coaches who have covered more bases than Bobby Stroupe.  On our last show, which aired just over a month ago, we talked about several of Bobby’s “unorthodox” methods in training speed, power strength and more in light of athletic needs, and I still had about half of the questions left on my own list to ask him. Bobby is back on the show to cover the rest of the questions we missed last time.  He will discuss his influences and how he got to where he is today as a coach, including some of the mentors and coaches that have influenced the way he trains. Bobby explains how he incorporates heavier strength training into his sessions and how his single set mentality is a huge impactor on performance (and a defining factor of great athletes).   Finally, Bobby shares his views on upper body training, as well as training the foot and the relationship between the two. In the middle of the show, Bobby gets into the “8 factors” by which a strength coach can impact an athlete, which was such gold! I hope you come away from this show as excited as I was about coaching my next training session. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly for 15% off of your purchase! Timestamps and Main Points 04:41 – The story behind DJ Stroupebob 06:01 – How Bobby differentiates himself and his unorthodox training system from other coaches 07:30 – Influential mentors and coaches Bobby has learned from + Lessons learned from studying animal movement and mastering gravity and space 14:49 – How much time do you spend on heavy-weight lifting versus other types of training? 19:52 – Lifting is like a drug + Metrics Bobby measures and pays attention to 23:17 – From 7-day cycles to 14 or 21-day cycles in assigning the frequency of heavy strength work 24:42 – Bobby’s thoughts on the single set mentality 29:20 – How to get improve your athletes’ single set mentality, especially for overly analytical athletes 31:19 – Applying Parkinson’s Law to athletes 34:36 – Ideas on partnering with sport coaches and incorporating sports specific movements in training 37:01 – Having a holistic influence to make our value seen: 10 ways coaches affect athletes 40:27 – Bobby’s perception of other successful coaches + How to expand your coaching capabilities 43:35 – His approach to and evolution with upper body training for athletes + The relationship between the feet and upper body 46:11 – How do you use weighted gloves, clubs, maces and other training tools? 50:25 – When you should not use weighted balls and gloves 54:12 – Complexities in training the foot + Basic foot functions to see before elevating training 1:01:43 – What is a driver? “There’s no doubt that knowing what gets your athletes going is part of your job.” “You can do high-level, max strength work and have minimal volume on that in the course of an entire training curriculum over time and still get incredible results with a little less of some of the effects of overdoing strength training that you really don’t want… strength training is more effective when it’s not overdone.” “You can see how these different animals with their physiology and their climate and their environment approach tactical movement strategies and technical movement strategies… and for me, in watching that, I think you can learn a lot about how to utilize gravity as a resource instead of relying on strength.” “If strength is what you do most,

Our guests today are Justin Moore and Michael Camporini.  Justin is a master instructor and the professional development manager at Parabolic Performance and Rehab.  Justin has been a popular guest on the podcast many times in the past, discussing advanced biomechanical principles in regards to things like breathing, positioning in strength training, and much more. Michael Camporini, "Campo", is a sports physical therapist in Phoenix, AZ, and previously worked with athletes of all different levels and ages with experience as a strength coach at Parabolic.  He has completed internships with Resilient Physical Therapy and IFAST, as well as completing a clinical rotation with Bill Hartman. You may have heard me speak on the drawbacks of doing too much strength and barbell training many times in the past.  Unless we have some ideas of the exact, negative structural changes that happen with excessive barbell lifting strain (and how to reverse them) we might potentially live in a world where heavy weightlifting is some sort of bogey-man we can’t quite define the effects of.  This is important because some athletes need heavier training, while others do not. Recently, Justin Moore (who has a long history of heavy strength training) had a significant knee injury that occurred while demonstrating a skipping exercise (he had injured his knee multiple times in the past), that led him to reach out to Mike Camporini to help him create an intervention program, which led Justin to playing flag football pain free and moving extremely well.  On the podcast today, Justin and Campo talk about the intervention, the issues Justin had from years of too much lifting strain, and how they reclaimed his range of motion and athletic ability.  This podcast goes into many concepts of human function, stretch shortening cycle dynamics, compression versus expansion, defining what “stiffness” really is in context of sport skill, and much more. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly for 15% off of your purchase! Timestamps and Main Points 6:35 Justin’s history of knee injury, and his athletic pursuits that contributed to not being an optimally functional athlete 21:35 How Justin would approach taking compressive lifting away from an individual, and what might warrant the need to avoid bilateral lifting in a program 30:35 What KPI’s in terms of range of motion are Justin and Campo looking at for field based athletes who need to run, jump and change direction 40:55 Thoughts on lifting strategies that produce excess stiffness in an athlete’s system, and how stiffness and stretch-shortening action can be specific to athletic action 52:25 Why being overly “stiff” in a standing vertical jump will negatively impact jump height and resiliency and topics on being “expanded” vs. “compressed” 1:13.45 Some of the tests and corrective strategies that Campo and Justin went through to help fix some of Justin’s faulty mechanics 1:24.35 The use of yielding and oscillating work to help improve the quality of Justin’s movement strategy “Those elements, those compressive training strategies that you do over years to build the strength, to build the muscle.  Those lead to structural changes and certain biases that you need to give time to create any adaptation in the other direction” Moore “When we look as an individual’s situation, we say, what does this person need to reach their goals, where is their endgame, and then we establish things we need to track and we don’t want to lose” Campo “There is a stretch shortening cycle in Olympic lifting or Powerlifting, it is just going to be different compared to throwing a baseball” Campo “How he is behaving and creating these motion deficits is also influencing how he is absorbing energy, or can potentially absorb energy within his elastic tissue…....

Our guest today is Steven Kotler, best-selling author and renowned Flow-State expert.  Steven is the author of 9 best-selling books (3 of which are NYT Best-Sellers), which include The Art of Impossible, Stealing Fire, The Rise of Superman (Rise of Superman was my initial introduction to Steven’s work) and others.  His work has been nominated for two Pulitzer Prizes, translated into 40 languages, and has appeared in over 100 publications. Steven is the executive director of the Flow Research Collective, and is one of the world’s leading experts on human performance.  He has been involved in a number of extreme sports, such as surfing, downhill mountain biking and skiing, and has learned (and participated with) from a number of the world’s greatest athletes in this arena. One element of athletic performance that I’m adamant about pursuing is the idea that we must get outside the known field of “athletic performance” and into other fields of human performance to maximize our service to the athletes we train.  We can only grow so much without “getting outside of the box” of our typical field education and integrating more global concepts of human performance. In this podcast with Steven Kotler, we discuss numerous elements of neuro-biology and flow as it relates to goal setting, burnout, skill progression, career progression, and much more.  This was a podcast that truly integrates many concepts coaches (hopefully) are familiar with, and helps us to understand them more fully from a biological perspective, as well as one we can also integrate into our daily lives. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly for 15% off of your purchase! Timestamps and Main Points 5:50 Steven’s favorite extreme sport memory in his years of working alongside many elite athletes 10:10 How risk of injury (or death) impacts a sport from multiple perspectives 14:35 Goal setting for athletes, with a perspective on general biological principles 25:50 Motivational factors for athletes across their career, and why some athletes may burnout 34:55 How solving multiple problems at once is a key to getting more flow out of mundane activities 41:40 Clarifying how coaches can disturb progress in regards to mastery as a motivational tool 45:30 Challenge-skill balance in sport training and optimal progression models in regards to flow states 53:25 The importance of social support networks in facilitation of flow and athletic performance 57:10 How to manage flow with strength work, and how having one big flow day can impact the next few weeks of your training 1:02.50 How to manage the “dial of flow” in regards to daily practice “I always say, “If you can’t get seriously injured, it’s not really a sport” and I know a lot of people who play tennis or golf would disagree with me, and I’m happy for the argument… I do think it’s a different game when that is the stakes” “The interesting thing about peak performance is that, it doesn’t matter if you are going after capital “I” Impossible, or you are trying to improve your tennis game, or you are trying to be a little better at work, the biology is the same, the tool-set is the same, and how you get there is the same” “(In extreme sports with potential mortal consequences) On the inside, it doesn’t feel like that, it feels like progression in any other sport” “We live in a reality that is shaped by 2 things, our fears and our goals” “For sure you need 3 levels of goals in your life… Mission levels goals (I want to be a great runner), high-hard goals (1-5 year step, run the New York Marathon), then you need clear goals, your daily to do list” “Clear goals are one of the pre-conditions that lead to flow” “Properly set high-hard goals will increase motivation by 11-25%” “The biggest driver for humans is meaningful progres...

Our guest today is Nicolai Morris, strength and conditioning specialist with High Performance Sport, New Zealand.  Nicolai is the lead S&C with the New Zealand Women’s (Field) Hockey Team (Blacksticks) as well as coaching an international elite high jumper.  From Nicolai’s athletic career origins as a swimmer, she has honed her eye for movement through a wide range of land and sea-based sports and athletic situations. Nicolai has previously worked with New Zealand Rowing in the elite and U23/Junior pathways as well as, multitude of sports in her role as strength and conditioning specialist at Sydney University including swimming, track and field, rugby, rugby 7’s, water polo and soccer. She also worked as the Head strength and conditioning coach for the Australian Beach Handball team and the NSW Women’s State of Origin team. Nicolai is a ASCA Level 2, Pro-Scheme Elite coach, and a Masters in Strength and Conditioning with over a decade of coaching experience. We talk on this podcast often about going beyond simply looking at, and emphasizing weightlifting maxes for athletic performance improvement; moving into some of the finer biomechanical details of speed, jumping and athletic technique.  At the roots of all technical ability in sport is baseline human ability to sense and coordinate ourselves in space.  Although we have had good conversation on the importance of developing body control and coordination in regards to training children, it’s not often we speak on how to integrate gymnastic and coordinative ability into training with mature athletes, despite the fact that there are so many “poor movers” on this level, whose base line functioning often leaves them pre-disposed for injury. On today’s podcast, Nicolai speaks about her transition as a swimmer to strength coach, as well as a deep-dive into the role that gymnastics and rough-housing work plays in the developmental process of her athletes.  She also speaks on building buy-in and belief from her athletes (and team management/head sports coaches) from a female perspective, and we close out the show with a brief chat on blood flow restriction training (BFR). Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly for 15% off of your purchase! Timestamps and Main Points 3:40 How Nicolai went from a swimmer to a physical preparation coach 7:45 How Nicolai incorporates gymnastic work and general work to improve movement quality across sports and age groups 21:00 Progressing gymnastic work based on their ability and sport needs 28:05 Correlations between gymnastic movement ability and some of the best athletes Nicolai has worked with 31:15 How Nicolai integrates gymnastic and movement training into her own regimen 36:10 Integrating roughhousing work into training, and differences between genders in this type of work 51:25 Buy in/attitudes of males/females vs. coaches in working as a female 1:01.40 How Nicolai made a big impact with a team by focusing on the needs of her team versus traditional coaching expectations 1:05.40 Nicolai’s experience with blood flow restriction training and the benefits for middle-distance energy system athletes “If a squat would make all athletes Olympic champions, then we would have more people who squat well performing at a higher level… we have to get that transfer and that connection” “You’d ask people to say “what’s the coolest thing you can do into the foam pit”, and they’d do backflips, and gainers…. they’d push their body to a place that it had never been before” “My main 3 gymnastics elements that I use are tumbling, hanging variations, and handstand variations, and depending on what athletes I got, it has a higher relevance… I’m in hockey right now and it has more relevance for my goalies” “The only thing that took my shoulder pain away was gymnastics,

Our guests today are Mike Guadango and Alex Brooker.  Mike and Alex (“Brooker”) met when Alex interned for Mike at DeFranco’s gym a decade ago, and they now have a podcast together, “The Mike and Brooker Show”, in addition to their coaching careers. Alex is the owner and operator of Pathfinder, a private training service focused on performance psychology and physical preparation for professional athletes.  In addition to traditional schooling, Alex is now pursuing his PhD in Self-Hypnosis at the University of Bern.  Mike is currently a Coach, Writer & Owner at Freak Strength.  He has been mentored by coaching greats such as Buddy Morris and James Smith, and started his career working at DeFranco’s gym.  Mike has coached levels of athletes from many different professional sports to Olympic medalists to pre-pubescent athletes, as well as consulting for high caliber athletes and coaches worldwide. As an ever-optimistic individual, it’s important for me to have conversations with those who have a different way of looking at what actually works in the world of sports performance.  In the coaching world, it is extremely easy to have worked with an athlete who has achieved a high result, and then rationalize the factors that led to their success.  It is very easy for us all as coaches to think of our own training as highly optimal, but a question to ask is how often and effectively we truly challenge our reasoning? In looking at training closely, it is helpful to fully understand the power of belief, as well as placebo effects in not only training, but also pain science and rehabilitation.  Understanding human adaptation to training and rehab stimulus requires, not only an understanding of the body, but also of the mind. In today’s podcast, Mike and Alex “Brooker” talk about how they have evolved themselves as coaches, moving into the realms of hypnosis/mental training, acupuncture and rehabilitation.  We spend a lot of time chatting about the power of belief and the ability of the mind to supercede a “poor” training program, and how the fundamentals of adaptation style can be seen in rudimentary rehab.  Finally, Mike, Brooker and I spend some time discussing some training points such as play, competition in training, and training transfer.  This was a fun show with speakers of 3 clearly diverse viewpoints, which always makes for great discussion. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly for 15% off of your purchase! Timestamps and Main Points 6:15 Mike and Brooker’s moves into more alternative forms of human performance, and a philosophy of when to move on from hair splitting in strength training methods 15:00 Thoughts on a system that prioritizes play and autonomy as a substantial shift in a positive direction towards the sports performance industry 32:30 Thoughts on whether or not gym training should carry mental, emotional and physical elements of what is required of a person in their sport 46:25 How and why our interventions in strength, performance or pain reduction actually work, and how much we really know about these mechanisms 55:55 How Mike and Brooker diverted from the traditional routes of strength, performance and data in athlete performance training 1:05:30 More on Mike and Brooker’s “skill stacking” in their human performance pursuits 1:13:10 Mike and Brooker’s use of high-transference exercises to athletic performance 1:15:30 In 10-15 years, where do Mike and Brooker picture themselves “Even if there is a difference between the two (exercises), and transferability, how much of a difference is it really?” “15% of who you are as an athlete, you actually have some type of control over” “The more high talented people you work with, the room to improve them in the gym gets smaller, but the room to F them up gets higher”

Our guest today is Patrick Coyne, coach and owner of Black Sheep Performance in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Pat started helping clients of all levels reach their fullest potential after his career as a 4-star high school football recruit ended in college due to injury.  Pat started Black Sheep Performance in 2018 on the side of a house in Cincinnati, OH. Within 3 years BSP organically outgrew itself, working from renting gym space, to a barn, to a state of the art 11,000 sq. foot training facility. Pat has mentored under some of the top coaches in the nation, is a progressive thinker, and gets great results with his clients in his fast-growing business.  When I moved back to Ohio in July, I connected with Pat shortly thereafter and have gotten several training sessions and conversations in with him since then.  Pat has a training style that fuses many of the elements I consider essential: A great environment, room for exploration/creativity, competition and reaction, as well as an integration of modern speed training methods, such as those taught by multi-time podcast guest, Adarian Barr. As such, it was only a matter of time until Pat and I sat down together and recorded a podcast.  Two of the big things that Pat and I are both passionate about are being life-long learners and then looking at (and experiencing) the holistic effects of things like the training environment, athlete autonomy/creativity, and the effects of music, rhythm and reactions on performance.  On this podcast, Pat and I go into his background as an athlete and coach, his thoughts on structured vs. unstructured/open training, his progressions on speed training, rhythm, timing, how he challenges athletes on a holistic level, and some deeper discussion on the evolution of the human/sports performance industry. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.   Head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly for 15% off of your purchase! Timestamps and Main Points 5:30 Pat’s medieval gear in his gym, as well as his background as a top-ranked high school quarterback, and his transition into strength and conditioning 11:15 What Pat believes held him back from being successful on the college level after being very successful (and physically fit and gifted) in high school, and what he would tell his younger self from his place now as a coach 16:00 How Pat uses games and a holistic approach to connect dots in his training programs/process 27:40 Ideas on how structured versus unstructured training, as well as the importance of being in the moment without expectations, in the training setting 46:50 How Pat’s speed training process has changed over his years as a coach 54:15 A chat on rhythm and timing in coaching speed and athletic movement, as well as using musical beats to time up various training movements 1:04.00 What Pat sees as the evolving purpose of the profession of a strength coach and the deeper purposes of training and coaching in the physical realm 1:14.15 Three things that go into Pat’s mind before each training session that tell him “this is what will make a great session” “(To my younger self) I would go and spend time doing everything that I didn’t want to do” “You have these training sessions which are comfortable and build people up, and it’s very ego driven to where you have your athletes feeling to where they crushed the day, and there is truth in that.  But.. how uncomfortable did you make your athletes in a healthy way, in a safe environment, to where they could fail, to where you could see how resilient that athlete is becoming” “I want to see the full human being first, then we can smack the weights” “I feel like you make the most progress when you are having fun… why does a kid make progress so fast.  Why do we throw that out when we are working with a pro athlete?” “They may have got their asses kicked,

Our guest today is Bobby Stroupe, founder and president of Athlete Performance Enhancement Center (APEC).  Bobby has directed human performance systems for nearly 20 years.  His coaching ranges from youth athletes to some of the top names in multiple professional sports, including first round picks, as well as Super Bowl and World Series champions.  Bobby is well-known for his work in the physical preparation realm of Patrick Mahomes, quarterback of the recent Superbowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs. After doing 235 episodes of this podcast, and opening up my eyes to more and more of the performance space, I’m always excited to find those coaches who are spearheading creative and effective training methods in athletic performance transfer.  When I recently watched Bobby Stroupe’s presentation at the recent “Track Football Consortium” regarding his methods in working with Patrick Mahomes, I was like a kid in a candy shop, viewing training methods that replicated many time and space requirements of sport play without being mechanical or contrived. Bobby is not only a holistic and open minded coach, but he is also an incredibly thorough and detailed thinker.  There are so many points of carry-over in what Bobby does, I believe that studying his work is essential if we are to reach the point of getting our training to truly transfer to the field of play.  Bobby achieves this transfer in a way that still pays homage to traditional principles of force development and human performance, but is able to add in the tri-planar and chaotic nature of what athletes will encounter in sport. On today’s podcast, Bobby gets into a variety of his “unorthodox” training methods, including locomotion complexes, tri-planar plyometrics and strength training, complex training, long-term development, and athlete autonomy.  Again, with the interest of transfer to sport in mind, any aspiring coach should be familiar with the work of Bobby Stroupe and Team APEC. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.     Head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly for 15% off of your purchase! Timestamps and Main Points 6:15 What Bobby and I have learned about coaching from being fathers of young children 11:00 Bobby’s take on working with athletes from a young age, and how his team approaches long term athletic development 21:05 Bobby’s thoughts on being able to follow elite athletes for an extended period of time, as many professional athletes have been working at APEC since they were quite young 23:25 How human locomotion is taught using “locomotion complexes”, triplanar and scalar breakdowns of basic motions such as skips, caraocas, and gallops 36:40 Multiplanar jumps and how Bobby will complex these movements in with more static strength training means 46:35 Using different body alignments in strength training movements, as well as Bobby’s work with lunge matrixes using different foot positions 56:26 Bobby’s background with therapeutic education, and how that has impacted his work as a strength/physical preparation coach 1:04:00 Bobby’s take on the efficacy of technology for training athletes “What we want kids to say is, APEC is so fun we went up there and played for an hour and I wish I could come every day” “If someone comes up and tells us what we want them to do with their kid, we tell them that generally, it’s not a good fit” “Typically, middle school, with what we do, the girls are fairly dominant by the time they are in 7th grade” “We want to educate the individual on what makes them unique, what are their gifts?” “You will not find more variance than (coaching 40 middle school kids in one session) that in any training situation” “The number one rule of locomotion is “you do not restrict an athlete in space”” “There’s no better way to (calibrate) than letting the body move through space on its...

Our guest today is Rob Assise, track coach at Homewood-Flossmoor High School.  Rob has 17 years of coaching experience, and has been a regular speaker and writer in the realms of track and field, plyometrics and speed training.  He previously appeared on episode #95 and #196 of the podcast. One of the more fascinating ideas that I’ve been working with over time, as a coach, has been the idea of using a “long-burst” training movement of around 10-30 seconds, to help improve the power output of “short-burst” movements, such as a jump or short sprint.  Dr. Mark Wetzel spoke about this in depth on a recent episode and his take on it has confirmed things that I’ve seen anecdotally for some time, as well as read up on years ago in the mysterious “Greatest Sports Training Book Ever” by “DB Hammer” with the “AN1” and “AN2” bracket systems. Rob has taken those bracket systems and has done some creative training work with them recently, where he has also infused “infinity walks” which Dan Fichter talked about on a recent episode, into the mix.  Rob talks about that today, as well as ways that this concept can be taken creatively for track and field athletes.  In the second half of this show, Rob and I talk plyometric concepts, and how to build bounding and plyometric training “from the feet up” and “from ground contact times upward”. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.     Head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly for 15% off of your purchase! Timestamps and Main Points 6:35 Catching up with the struggles of being a high school coach in this period of history 9:50 How Rob has been creating workouts with complementary energy system brackets (i.e. a speed-endurance energy system work recovering a sprint system, and vice versa) 18:50 Ideas on how to optimize track and field events based off of game play and opposing energy systems 28:35 How Rob has observed warmup preferences and tendencies based on an athlete’s neurotype 31:35 Rob’s take on teaching bounding and bound progressions, as well as ideas with bounding with different foot strike emphasis 50:05 Using power metrics in conjunction with bounding using the Muscle Lab Contact Grid, as well as contact time based bound teaching ideas 56:55 How Rob manages contact times for depth jumping, hurdle hops and traditional plyometrics 60:40 How Rob’s thoughts on speed training have evolved over the last few years, as well as “bleed” versus “blast” methods in working flying 10 sprints “A typical thing we’ll do right off the bat; we’ll do an altitude drop, something intense, then they’ll go into doing something like a speed Russian lunge for 30 seconds, and then they’ll go into doing an infinity walk, or crawl or carry, for about 90 seconds, and then they’ll do something to failure, like hanging from a bar or doing a cross-crawl superman or something like that; something that falls into one exercise recovering another” “One thing that might be overlooked the most on the infinity walk is the vision component” “I’ve thought about the idea of, do a couple of (high or long) jumps, then go to a basketball court and play 3 on 3 real quick (and then come back to do more jumps)” “We would just give athletes at the start of practice on a Friday an option to do whatever they wanted to do in the warmup.  The type 1’s would always do something where they were competing.  The Type 2’s, it would depend who they were hanging out with.  The type 3 would literally go through the same warmup they would go through every day… if you just give athletes 10 minutes and watch what they do, it tells you basically what they are” “We work heel to toe on a low intensity (to teach bounding)” “I think you have to rotate through the ball of the first metatarsal when you are doing the lateral bound; you are also getting more of the lateral sling involved with it”...

Our guest today is Dan John who is a strength coach, track coach, master’s track athlete, best-selling author, and all around sage of wisdom on all-things strength training for athletics and life itself. Dan’s work has been profoundly impactful on my coaching, and training practice.  The older and more experienced I get as a coach, the more I find his reduction to the essentials, as well as global thinking, extremely valuable.  Dan appeared on podcast episode #96 with one of my favorite conversations since the start of this podcast series. If you’ve been around elite coaches and athletes for long enough, you start to realize trends that go beyond the sets, reps and training prescriptions that work their way into the results that are being achieved in competition.  Elite athletes are strong enough for their sport, as well as being (hopefully) adequate in general physical measures, but they also tend to have elite levels of relaxation and tension management.  Many times, the best competitors carry a different outlook on competition itself. For today’s show, Dan covers ideas on the art of “letting go” and achieving better performance through superior relaxation and tension management.  He also gets into some of the creative coaching practices he utilized for his throwers, such as playing unique games, “range” throwing, constraint based turns in the circle, and super-setting kettlebell work with throwing.  Finally, other important elements, such as the importance of being “deprived” of a good training environment, and elastic athletic performance are addressed in this conversation with a strength and track legend. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.   Head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly for 15% off of your purchase! Timestamps and Main Points 6:00 Things Dan thought was under-appreciated or went under the radar in the original “Easy Strength” book, (and a discussion on the idea of what is truly important in training, and not digging too far into details until basic standards of performance are met) 13:00 The usefulness of games for track athletes in regards to their overall conditioning with a level of specificity to their sport, and examples of games that Dan would play with his track athletes 17:00 The power of not having expectations in having one’s highest performance 24:00 Thoughts on the “right amount” of effort in one’s skills and events in competition 0:36 The art of deprivation, etc. in regards to training equipment or commonly used exercises 45:00 A chat on the integration of kettlebell training into athletic movement 50:50 The art of relaxation in throwing, sprinting and even weightlifting exercises, as well as a unique coaching system for varied tensioning in the athlete’s body during lifts “I coach the hands and feet, I try to make them like mini-trampolines (a lot of bounce to the hands and feet)” “The shoulders and the hips, I use the old Chinese medicine term, the “4-knots” tight enough to stay on, loose enough that you can un-string them” “We as Americans have this love affair with these dressed up fancy programs on a spreadsheet… and it’s all crap… until they are throwing over 200,210 (feet) we don’t have to worry about the small details” “With my throwers, we do almost zero conditioning, but on Friday’s, we always play a game” “When you have no expectations, you let things happen (specifically in context of track and field throwing)… life at its highest end.. it’s effortless” “It’s the art of practicing letting go… I think that a true meditation might be as good as (that extra little bit of conditioning) because practicing letting things happen, especially in track and field (is important).’ “Track and field is nothing but “bows and arrows”. When you high jump, you turn various parts of your body into a bow and arrow,

Our guest today is athletic movement specialist Lee Taft.  Lee is one of the most highly respected game speed development coaches in the world, and has taught his methods around the world.  Lee combines an extensive knowledge of sport movement and physical education means and brings this into the physical preparation space in a meaningful way.  Lee has appeared twice prior on the Just Fly Performance podcast and has been a great source of practical ideas and knowledge on speed development for me over my years as a coach. One of the big things I find more and more coaches looking for is ideas on the long term development of an athlete.  By the time an athlete gets to high school, let alone college and the pro’s, the vast majority of the “ground-work” has been done in regards to the speed and reaction abilities of that athlete-specific to their sport.  Unfortunately, there are many pitfalls for young athletes, who miss many critical windows of early development for a variety of reasons. This podcast is all about the development of speed from a young age, how velocity rules training (even if technique is “ugly” early on) as well as some varied topics on Lee’s take on warmups for training and sport, as well as thoughts on vision training and low-box training for athletes.  Whether you work with youth, or established athletes, or are a sport parent, this is essential information. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly for 15% off of your purchase! Timestamps and Main Points 6:10 What coaching athletes in the private sector was like in the 1990’s, as well as the state of athletes in that time period, versus the 2010’s and beyond 10:40 Some of the big rocks that have caused young athletes time to get taken up, and increase pressure and strain 15:40 Fun games and warmup ideas for athletes 28:55 How Lee designs his warmups and creates a competitive situation with reactive tracking work 32:30 How Lee links his warmups to the rest of his workouts, and how he will utilize games that fit with the greater theme of the session 35:10 Key performance indicators that Lee looks at in regards to how well his game-speed training is transferring 45:40 Some things that are doing a disservice to athletes early on in their development of game-speed, etc., and the importance of maximal velocity training for young athletes, and how skill development can come along gradually 57:00 Advice for an athlete in their warmup for a sport game (versus warming up for a practice) 59:55 How Lee looks at vision training from a “raw” perspective 1:09.10 How “low-box” training works and how Lee uses it in his performance regimen “Back then, it was really common for parents to say “Lee, we need something for our kids to do, what do you got? Now days, it’s the opposite” “We talk about ACL’s now, like we talk about drinking water… it was this big news (back in the 1990’s)… mentally kids are not absorbed in any one process, because they can’t” “I could get results quicker back then (in the 1990’s), just through sound training, because (the athletes) had more to give me.  Now, you take one step forward, you take another step back” “Sometimes I don’t want then thinking… just go play, react!” “I love soccer related things for athletes that don’t play soccer, it’s tremendous for the groin and adductors, especially when they aren’t used to doing it” “Kids don’t know how to read spin (on a ball) unless they are exposed to it” “Days vary, because if I sense the athletes are fatigued, tired, bored, upset, we play a lot… I’ll sprinkle in teaching while they are playing, but that will be the bulk of the workout” “We’ve put them in situations where they have to make good decisions, and that’s how I judge (KPI’s for game-speed transfer)” “When I teach athletic movement skills,

Our guest today is Dan Fichter, owner and operator of WannaGetFast, a sports performance facility in Rochester, New York.  He is one of the leading experts in applying clinical neurology into athletic rehabilitation and sport performance applications.  Dan has been mentored by a variety of elite coaches, therapists, and neurologists, and has trained numerous professional athletes and Olympians across a variety of sports.  He has been a multi-time guest on the podcast, with one of the most popular episodes of all-time being a joint discussion with Chris Korfist on “DB Hammer” training methods (an old-school classic). It’s somewhat of a “woke” term to mention the nervous system in training, as Matt Cooper said on a recent podcast.  Although it is easy to pay homage to the nervous system as the ultimate controller of training results, it is much more complicated to actually observe and specifically train the CNS.  This is where people like Dan Fichter are awesome resources in regards to being able to take the complex inter-disciplinary work on the subject, and tie it into simple methods we can use in our own practices. On today’s show, Dan runs through a wide swath of nervous system training topics, centering on isometrics, as well as their role in light of long term athletic development, crawling and the nervous system, infinity walks, as well as his keys to a good warmup from a neurological perspective.  There was a huge amount of practical training gold in this episode. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.   Timestamps and Main Points 7:00 The top 3 things Dan learned from Jay Schroeder that have stuck with him over his years as a coach, particularly that of isometric exercise and intention 13:30 How isometrics specifically help create a condition for the body to solve a functional problem 20:30 How Dan’s exercise distributions have been altered over time (isometrics, bodyweight and traditional lifts) 27:00 Where Dan fits on the “5 minute hold” to shorter isometric hold spectrum 31:30 Questions on, “are isometrics alone enough to help an athlete overcome their injuries” 34:45 Crawling and links to neurology, as well as why it’s important to crawl in an extended posture position and the head up 39:45 How sensory stimulation precedes motor output in athletes, and the importance of stimulating athletes on a sensory level 47:00 The power of infinity walks in empowering an athlete on a neurological and sensory perspective, and how this can tie into, and be complexed with, other athletic skills 54:45 Things that Dan finds essential in the warmup process for his athletes 56:25 The electrical ramifications of tapping the heel in an athletic movement “As Jay says, “everybody is fast, and everybody is strong, they just can’t display it”” “Every step you take, the body finds the easiest and safest path, to complete the task” “When it comes to neurology, you have to hit it perfect, and when you hit it perfect, magic things happen” “Jay used to say this all the time “water will find the crack”” “One of my most favorite things I’ve learned from Jay’s was “quick style” exercises; my favorite exercise is a towel curl press, where they curl (the towel) up, they press it over their head, they pull it down, and then they extend their triceps, so there is everything about upper body movement in one exercise, and as Jay says, it’s recovering you while its training you” “When you get into studying the brain, it’s a flexion/extension synergy” “When you trace a complex movement, your cerebellum lights up like it’s nobody’s business” “For a 10 year old, I have them hold isometrics as long as they can… the younger you are the longer we’ll hold it.  The older you are,

Our guest today is Dr. Mark Wetzel, chiropractor and neurology expert based out of Nashville, Tennessee.  Mark has been a guest on the show several times before, speaking about the physiological and neurological elements of the training method of “extreme isometrics” as well as the fantastic results that he achieved from using the method with a high school baseball team. Isometric holds of all sorts have become very popular in training in recent years, and for good reason.  Where typical “up and down” lifting is a bit of a shotgun approach to performance, isometrics can isolate very specific elements of our physiology, and allow us to devote the body’s resources to these specific elements, rather than a wider array of general elements that we find in more traditional strength methods. One of the things you may remember Mark talking about on previous shows is the idea of “cycling through the energy systems” while performing a long isometric hold, and if one can make it through all of these energy systems, then a large benefit can be derived by the athlete.  In recent conversations with Mark, he has been taking this further by teaching me how training maximally in one “energy system bracket” can optimize your performance in another “energy system bracket”. For example, most people in track and field are familiar with the idea of feeling more “warmed up” to do an explosive jump after running a 100 or 200-meter dash maximally.  In the team sport world, playing a pick-up game of basketball is often a better warm-up for explosive jumping than doing basically any sort of “traditional” warmup that you might find.  On the podcast today, Mark and I dig into these concepts, as well as reinforcing many important elements of the isometric hold itself, such as breathing, intention, posture and much more. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.   Timestamps and Main Points 5:05 Why do an “extreme isometric” for 5 minutes, instead of just 2-3 minutes in length 17:40 What Mark sees in the midst of fatigue in an extreme isometric hold and how this resonates with what happens in sport and life itself in uncomfortable circumstances 26:00 The role and sequence of breathing in isometrics and exercise in general and how it contributes to one’s results and recovery from other bouts of training 33:00 Staying in a parasympathetic state, and letting the body choose when it wants to go sympathetic 35:00 The role of intention and focus in isometric lunges and beyond 43:50 Thoughts on the idea of using one energy system to recover another, and how a longer duration burst can improve a lower duration burst and vice versa “The last 2 minutes (of a 5 minute extreme isometric) is when you can really tap into that Cori cycle” “When we lose focus during (those last minutes of an extreme isometric lunge), we have to restart the (energetic) process” “It’s not so much like, I need to grunt it out and hold that 5 minutes because it’s going to make me better at what I’m doing.  It’s more about how much can I stay focused and how much can I hold the intention of what I’m doing in that 3-5’ window is going exponentially make you more successful at whatever you are trying to accomplish outside the isometric” “When you talk to yourself (positively) you release dopamine; and dopamine is going to help you hold on (to the isometric) slightly longer.  Changing how you view yourself is going to help you hold on to that isometric” “When visual people start to suffer (in an isometric) their eyes start wandering… if you are an auditory person, you are going to yell a lot, and if you are kinesthetic, those are the figety ones” “Isometrics will teach you to keep calm through real life situations”

Our guest today is cricket fast-bowling coach and overall motor learning wizard, Steffan Jones.  Stefan is the last “dual pro” between rugby and cricket, and is an ex-cricketeer turned coach.  He is one of the world leading experts in regards to not only fast-bowling training, but also topics such as training individualization, motor learning and the process of reaching the highest possible level of one’s sport skill.   Stefan has worked with many of the world’s leading organizations and athletes in his work in the sport of Cricket.  He has written much about his own training process in the many articles that he has put forth on Just Fly Sports, which essentially amounts to a medium sized book.  His synthesis of his motor-learning model he calls “The Skill-Stability Paradigm” which is applicable to any sport skill you can imagine.  On our last podcast together, we went heavily into the specific strength needed to throw a cricket ball at high speeds, and some of the specialty methods used to train that strength, such as isometric training and isometric-skill complexes.  This podcast builds on that episode by covering the means by which Stefan uses variability to further the training effect, and explore the possibilities of a sport skill to their highest potential. Topics today include: A chat on how Adarian Barr’s teachings on collisions factor into fast-bowling The role of training variability in skill building The role of fatigue in variability, “second generation” French Contrast Robustness How extreme-isometrics and stretch loading means can play a role in helping athletes to higher levels of skill on their sport, in conjunction with the necessary maximal power and elasticity needed.   This is an awesome show for any coach or athlete interested in training, and goes well beyond cricket itself.  Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.  View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.   Timestamps and Main Points 6:00 What Steffan has been busy with lately in regards to his coaching, and how he tests his ideas on himself first prior to integration with athletes 7:45 What one thing Steffan is using now as a coach that he would “train” his former self with as an athlete 17:45 Maximal rigidity in limbs in athletic movements versus a more “controlled collision in training” 24:45 The role of general strength means in Steffan’s program 31:30 How extreme isometrics and stretch-loading impacts proprioception 36:30 How Steffan measures outputs and drop-offs in fast-bowling and isometrics 40:50 How Steffan adds variability into his training and exercise sessions 50:30 The “Two-Minute Drill” invented by Jeremy Fischer and how that can utilize fatigue to help athletes increase the amount of elastic elements in the movement 57:00 Thoughts on “second generation” contrast, and some of Steffan’s samples for using this method to improve the skill of fast-bowling “Technique underpins everything, you cannot run away from poor technique” “The fascia does determine the success of a skill that does happen as fast as a skill such as quick bowling does” “Adarian said, it’s not about deceleration (on front foot contact) it’s about controlling the collision and maintaining momentum, and that to me, shifted my mindset” “For me, concentrics, there’s no purpose for training sport.  Sport happens too quickly for a concentric contraction” “For me, isometrics should be the number one exercise.  Alex Natera is doing some good work and the skill stability feeds off of that”  “I always have some sort of number when I’m doing isometrics” “Cognitive fatigue only affects submaximal work; cognitive fatigue doesn’t affect high intensity work” “Same but different, medicine ball work in my same drop and block position.

Our guest today is Adarian Barr, athletic movement coach, inventor and performance consultant.  Adarian has been a mentor to me for almost 5 years, and opened up my eyes to the movement potential of the human body, how to observe it, and coach it more optimally.  He has been on this podcast for many prior episodes, and has recorded a number of webinars for Just Fly Sports.  The best way I can describe Adarian is that he just sees things that nobody else does in human movement, and creates a wonderful groundwork for us to creatively express those principles in our own training setups. One of the biggest realizations, that I’m still regularly checking in on the implications of in my day to day coaching and athletic life, is how, when the joints and levers of the body are working optimally in “3D”, we tend to need much less barbell strength than we think we do to reach our highest speed performance potential.  Not only this, but when we only operate in “2D” and don’t use our levers well, we need more weight room strength to be better athletes in that 2D paradigm. One thing that Adarian does not post about often is weightlifting.  Part of this is because the world of coaching is very hung up on “force” as a binary entity in human movement, and we need more education on joints and movement, rather than how to split hairs on lifting sets and reps.  Adarian’s eye for movement does go well into the weightlifting world, however, and was can learn a lot from his recent observation in the area. On today’s podcast, we dive into the Olympic lifts in particular, and how they can either foster athleticism, or suppress it, based on the lever systems we use in the execution of the lift.  We get into this, and much more, such as the feet, torque, the drawbacks of hinging in the weight room, crawling, natural learning and much more in this in-depth episode. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.   Timestamps and Main Points 6:00 The redundancy of “coaching up” natural-skill-based human strength movements 16:45 Adarian’s history with weightlifting as a football player and track and field athlete 24:50 Deconstructing the Olympic lifts in regards to what transfers to athletic speed and what does not 33:40 Good and poor “class 1” levers of the foot 41:25 Thoughts on the initial stages of the pull off the ground in athleticism 45:25 Using the hands more effectively to change the emphasis of exercise to the body 50:10 Full catches in the Olympic lifts, foot pressure and internal rotation, and how these can be optimized for athletic transfer 57:10 Why Adarian is not a fan of hinging from a foot loading perspective “The feet are pointing out for a reason in (natural) squatting, because the calves are rotating them” “A lot of people equate lifting to athletic ability, that the lift makes you athletic.  The biggest thing is when I see the levers…. Some people when they (Olypmic) lift to get strong, I see them shrug, then they do a plantar-flex, which is a class 1 lever, then they catch the bar.  That’s not going to transfer over (to athleticism) they are probably just going to get stronger” “What do they say, look at the (lift) numbers he is doing that’s what made him fast.  No! He can do those (lift) numbers because he is fast!” “I used to think (Olympic lifters) were bumping the bar with their hips.  What do you actually see? When they hit the bar with class 2 (foot position) it bumps them backwards (class 2 being advantageous for athleticism)” “If the Achilles (tendon) isn’t working, you will be quad dominant or hamstring dominant” “There are two “class 1” motions, there’s inversion/eversion, and there is plantarflexion dorsiflexion.  Those ones that use inversion/eversion are going to really do someth...

Our guest today is the owner of SOAR fitness in Columbus Ohio, Mike Kozak.  Mike previously appeared on podcast #184 and has written several articles for Just Fly Sports.  Notably, Mike has mentored extensively under Adarian Barr, and frequently posts the exercise and training progressions based on Adarian’s work. Speed is always en vogue in the world of athletics, but something important to understand is that running and moving right not only will make athletes faster, but also make them more resilient and robust, reducing injury rates.  When we move as nature intended, and then amplify that in our training, we can make the most out of free-energy return systems.  When we simply “produce more force” and muscle our movements, we may gain some speed in the short term, but we can do it at the cost of higher risks of injury and a lower total athletic ceiling. Mike has experience, not only with Adarian Barr’s methods, but he also has worked closely with elite physical therapists who have extensive knowledge of advanced methods such as PRI and the work of Bill Hartman.  On today’s podcast, we are looking at the nuts and bolts of Mike’s performance program “from the ground up” starting with how he addresses the feet and an athlete’s posture, and then designs drills and tasks from that standpoint.  We also touch on elements further up the kinetic chain, and how this can impact how we look at the entire athletic system.  This was a fantastic, practical episode that features many important elements that we need to be addressing in the training of our athletes to fully integrate the feet, hips, spine and posture. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.   Timestamps and Main Points 5:30 How adjusting to outdoor workouts with no weights due to COVID restrictions created a unique and effective training environment for Mike and his athletes 16:55 How Mike does not have a formal strength and conditioning background, and how his own experience as an athlete, as well as his physical education experience, formed the base of how he now trains athletes 22:20 Staples of Mike’s program that he learned from Adarian Barr, starting from the level of the foot, and how he works his way up the kinetic chain 27:15 How Mike works on dorsiflexion (or doesn’t) and how he emphasizes the action of the foot as a second class lever in athletes 40:35 How Mike teaches the foot working as a second class lever to improve the efficiency of the Achilles tendon, as well as the preservation of kinetic energy 53:00 Ideas on the transverse arch of the foot and how this applies to athletic performance 58:00 How the feet relate to what is happening upstream in the kinetic chain (hip internal rotation, expansion, compression, etc.) “The start of our session used to be foam rolling, honestly just to take attendance (we don’t do that anymore).  Let’s use the start of our session to do something these kids never do” “To me, level 1 is, do you have any idea what your feet are doing, and most kids do not… if I can get kids to now understand the tripod, not be a toe gripper, and then can I effectively get them on the inside edge (unless you are over-pronated)” “The main thing I try to get across to my kids is, “shin’s going down, heel’s coming up”” “If they (the athlete’s) do it already, I don’t have any reason to fill their minds with information they don’t need.. they are already there!” “If the shin keeps moving forward, and the heel stays down, you are staying in first class, you are just stretching the Achilles.  If you are someone who has a lot of dorsiflexion range, then your athletic posture has to dial you into a start stance that gets that heel to pull up faster” “A person who has less dorsiflexion range may strike (in accelera...

I’m happy to welcome Dr. Pat Davidson back to the podcast.  Pat is an independent trainer, consultant, author, and lecturer in New York City.  He is the author of MASS and MASS2 and is the developer of the “Rethinking the Big Patterns” lecture series, as well as an upcoming book on the same topic.  Pat is one of the most intelligent individuals I know when it comes to human performance, and communicates his knowledge in a manner that makes it easy to understand difficult concepts.  He has been a guest on episodes #88 and #122 of this show as well speaking on topics such as an educated approach to movement screens and re-evaluating the “big lifts” in light of athletic performance. That combination of intelligence and communication is paramount for the topic we’ll be tackling today, which is pressure systems and their correspondence to our movement patterns.  That sounds kind of complicated, but in reality, it’s as simple as looking at the dynamics of a bouncing ball, or the lungs expanding with air.  Pat has extensive experience learning from leading organizations and individuals in this area, such as the Postural Restoration Institute and Bill Hartman. The ability to look at the human body as a pressure system is important because it helps us link what is happening in various gym exercises, as well as what we see in particular athletic presentations (internal vs. external rotation for example), and then look at how that fits to an elastic (tendon and static spring) based strategy of movement, and a more muscular strategy. In addition to a discussion on pressure, Pat also discusses his take on having a “strength score” for athletes in the weight room that normalizes performance metrics based on things like limb length and height.  He also gets into ideas on how to “de-compress” the athlete who is compressed in a manner that may be negative to their overall performance.  This was a really smart show with some powerful principles for any athlete or coach who wants to navigate the weight room without harming elastic power outputs. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage   Timestamps and Main Points 4:40 Pat’s history of athletics and his recent thoughts in regards to normalizing weight room outputs across a variety of athletes with different heights and levers 30:40 Implications of athletes who “over-lift” in dynamic outputs and what physiological elements are playing a role in diminished movement abilities 35:30 Expansion and compression rules in regards to the movement of the human body 44:30 From a rib-cage perspective, what happens when the body becomes too compressed from a front-to-back perspective that often happens from excessive bilateral lifting 51:00 My personal journey in barbell squatting and Pat’s analysis of my tendencies towards compressive forces that allowed me to retain my elasticity well (and how I ended up hurting that elasticity later on) 1:12.10 How to work with athletes with substantial anterio-posterior compression to get into becoming more elastic and robust “Who measures the distance (of a lift), nobody measures the distance.  It’s half of the equation of work” “You get punished in many ways, in the reward system of the weight room.  If you go full range, and have to use less weight, that’s a “punishment”.  If you have to do less reps, that’s a “punishment”.” “You are going to want to make progress so much (in the weight room) you will lie to yourself (by subtly cheating lifts)” “You can recognize people that have done a tremendous amount of strength training; it’s visually obvious.  Watch wrestlers or bodybuilders go out for a jog.  The whole body turns like a refrigerator” “Movement goes older than biology, it’s pre-biological.

Today’s podcast features speed and strength coach Brandon Byrd.  Brandon Byrd is the owner of Byrd’s Sports Performance in Orefield, Pennsylvania.  Brandon is an alumni of the University of Pittsburgh and has learned from elite coaches such as Louie Simmons, Charlie Francis, Buddy Morris and others. Brandon’s unique blend of rotating training stimuli, and his competitive, PR driven environment has elicited noteworthy speed, power and strength gains in his athletes. If you follow Brandon on social media, you’ll see the regular occurrence of sprint and jump records from his athletes.  Brandon has some of the highest-output training out there in his ability to cultivate speed and strength. I always enjoy digging into the training of elite coaches, into the nuts and bolts that drives their systems.  Some of the running themes on this show have been ideas such as the rotation of big training stimuli from week to week (such as in EP 190 with Grant Fowler), the power of resisted sprinting (EP 12 and 63 with JB Morin and Cameron Josse), overspeed sprinting (EP 51 with Chris Korfist), and then the power of competition and PR’s (EP 135 with Tony Holler). This episode with coach Brandon Byrd truly brings all of those elements together in a way that gets some of the best training results you’ll find.  On today’s podcast, Brandon goes into the core of his system, and how he rotates his sprint efforts based on the needs of the athlete, to get the most out of their system.  He also goes into his background with Westside Barbell, and the elements he learned from Louie Simmons that go into his training, as well as strength pre-requisites he carries for his athletes to optimize their readiness for the strength and speed program. (Note that when Brandon is talking about fly 10’s he is talking yards, not meters) Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage   Timestamps and Main Points 5:00 Brandon’s main influences in athletic performance and speed training 11:30 How principles of West-side Barbell training show up in Brandon’s sprint training system 22:45 How Brandon rotates uphill and downhill sprinting to blast personal bests in speed 29:30 How Brandon uses wickets in context of his speed and sprint training 39:30 Concepts in using resisted sprinting, as well as jump training in Brandon’s program 45:20 More specifics on how Brandon rotates and progresses his speed and sprint training throughout the training year, and also how he modulates this for stride length, vs. stride frequency style athletes 58:50 What Brandon’s weekly sprint setup looks like for athletes 1:07.20 The power of “PR”s in Brandon’s system and how that feeds into his entire training session “Once you can control 90% of the force-velocity curve, you can create great athletes” “I don’t think the FMS is a great thing, because when you are sitting statically and not under high forces or high loads, everyone is going to look great, but once you are high speeds in sprinting, or high loads in lifting, you are going to see some weaknesses” “I believe your technique in sprinting is determined by your weaknesses… once you fix their weaknesses, then it is easier to fix technique” “Glute, hamstring, and opposite QL, those must fire explosively and fast, and they all must be strong… when I start an athlete, the first thing I do test is that QL” “In my gym, if you can’t do so much in a 45 degree hyperextension, I can’t put a bar on your back” “The body is scared to go faster… it hates change, so you have to force change by changing modalities… regular sprinting can’t do all those things (in context of using uphill, downhill and resisted sprinting to help break barriers)” “65-75% of the kids I get are heel strikers; they have to run foref...

Today’s podcast features Grant Fowler and Kevin Foster. Kevin Foster is a former NCAA DI javelin thrower training for the 2021 Olympic trials.  He is the owner of the Javelin Anatomy Instagram page, a regular writer for Just Fly Sports, and was the guest on episode #164. of the podcast. Grant Fowler is the owner of Fowler Fitness in The Woodlands, Texas.  Grant works as a private training and online performance consultant and specializes in program design and injury prevention.  Grant is a different thinker who has a distinctive “non-linear” and adaptable style to his training program design and previously appeared on episode #190 of the podcast. In one of my recent chats with Kevin, he mentioned how his training for javelin had exploded in his time working under the GPP programming of Grant Fowler.  As we chatted about on episode #190, Grant has a rotating-PR version of training for performance, and uses a unique non-linear style in his work.  Kevin’s strength and athleticism reached new levels using this method, and so on the podcast today, we dig into some of the specifics and philosophies that went into building Kevin’s training program. In addition to Kevin’s training for javelin throwing, we also get into some great discussion on mobility training, training holism and reductionism, general strength and capacity, and much more. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage   Timestamps and Main Points 6:20 What Kevin Foster has been learning in regards to the importance and specifics of what a general foundation should look like for an athlete, and the negative aspects of skipping this type of work in favor of maximal power work too soon in a system 12:20 How much mobility do athletes really, truly need in their programs? 14:20 The possibility of looking at training “too” holistically, and never doing any specific isolated work to approach weak points 24:20 Ideas on time spent actually working on one’s maximal strength capabilities, and then how rotating those movements fits into continual progress with less effort 33:20 How Kevin’s training progress exploded while utilizing Grant’s training system in regards to lift strength and short-approach javelin throws 41:20 How Grant structured Kevin’s training program utilizing a rotation of maximal effort lifts, and any adjustments that have come in since last program 56:20 Ideas on individualizing workouts on a day in favor of athletes being able to make PR’s and create incremental progress 1:00.35 How to taper in a program where you have a non-linear progression 1:04.50 Kevin’s take on getting the needed general tools to achieve the highest specific mastery in sport, and considerations on where too much focus on maximal strength could potentially be a drawback 1:15.50 Grant’s two favorite recovery modalities for athletes “We go straight into these programs that revolve around powerlifting and Olympic lifting, max vertical jumps, velocity-based training, this that and the other, but we ignore the foundation of isolated joint mobility, getting your hips moving, spine moving, spinal segmentation” Foster “There are some people who look at training, almost too holistically.  There was a point in time when it was almost too reductionist” Fowler “I think that stretching goes hand in hand with relaxation, and too many athletes have the ability to turn off their muscles.  Relaxation is the single most under-appreciated elements of athleticism out there right now” Foster “We maximal strength train people for 20-30 minutes, maybe at the most, and in-between that we are doing a lot of other things” Fowler “When I go in the gym, it’s easy to pick an exercise, pick a rep scheme you haven’t done in a while, and that’s pretty much it” Fowler

Today’s podcast features Dr. Michelle Boland and Dr. Tim Richardt, speaking on the topic of exercise categorization and classification, as well as the process of selecting and integrating gym training movements based on the specific needs of athletes and clients. Michelle Boland is the owner of michelleboland-training.com and has several years of professional experience as an NCAA DI strength coach working with nationally ranked teams, and a wide variety of sports. Michelle is a leader in the integration of concepts rooted in the work of PRI and Bill Hartman into practical sports performance application.  Michelle has appeared previously on this podcast on episode #108 speaking on functional performance training based on PRI ideals and more. (You can grab Michelle’s “Resource Road Map”, a compilation of the best resources in the fitness industry for free at michelleboland-training.com/resource-road-map) Tim Richardt is a physical therapist and CSCS who has been a competitive runner and strength training junkie since the age of 14.  Tim has an awesome blend on knowledge on all things running, rehab, gait, and strength training principles.  Tim’s personal journey through injury and rehabilitation, including 2 hip surgeries, has given him unique insight into effective long-term resolution of overuse injuries among endurance and strength athletes. In traditional strength and conditioning and fitness models, we tend to have things like “squat”, “hinge”, “push”, “pull”, and perhaps several other movements, based on our preference, when working with athletes.  Although the “old-school” classification certainly serves to facilitate a general balance of forces and muscle groups, we can improve our process even further by understanding how the human body works in gait and dynamic movement, and then reverse-engineer our exercise selection from there.  When our movement execution processes can match gaps, or reinforce strengths in running, jumping, throwing and sport movement technique, we can eliminate guess work and give our clients, and/or ourselves, greater results. On today’s show, Michelle and Tim speak on the evolution of their training processes and how they classify movements in the gym.  We get heavily into running as a specific example, and how to reverse engineer training movements based on run technique.  We also finish with chatting on how Michelle and Tim continue to integrate the “big lifts” into their programs, and what adjustments they have made in the versions of those lifts that stick with them in their training schemes. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage   Timestamps and Main Points 5:20 Michelle and Tim’s recent modes of exercise and training and what they have learned from them 9:20 How Tim has been incorporating “one arm running” into his training and coaching routines 15:00 Tim and Michelle’s journey of evolving the lifts they utilized 20:50 What role do the big lifts still play in Michelle and Tim’s program, in light of other evolving categorizations 35:15 What starting point do Tim and Michelle go from when constructing a strength program for performance (for running specifically) 45:50 Adjusting the lifts in a program based on biomechanical running goals of the athlete 58:40 How a performance-driven session for Michelle goes in light of the big lifts and a modern idea on exercise classification “We need to get out of these gross (exercise) categorizations that have really come from other sports (powerlifting, Olympic lifting)” Boland “There is a difference between fitness and movement” Boland “I think there is a huge benefit to bilateral lifts because we can hit them as a high intensity stimulus and maintain that over time, and then use split stance,

Today’s podcast features personal trainer, massage therapist and musician, Charlie Reid. Living in the San Francisco Bay Area for 8 years of my life brought with it the opportunity to meet and learn from many wonderful and knowledgeable coaches and trainers.  One of those that I met was Charlie, who I met at Pat Davidson’s “Rethinking the Big Patterns” seminar. Charlie and I later were able to both spend time at Kezar stadium learning sprint and movement philosophy from Adarian Barr, while having plenty of conversations on training. Charlie is one of the smartest and wisest coaches that you may not know.  His base of knowledge is massive, as well as the range of those coaches and systems he has spent time learning from.  If there is a system of thought out there in the world of movement and human performance, there is a good chance Charlie has experience with it.  Charlie is not only a strength coach, but also a certified massage practitioner, and spent years as a professional musician. On the podcast today, Charlie helps us “zoom out” our views on things like stretching, corrective exercise and motor learning.  At the core of our chat today is an extended discussion on the redundancy of the term “corrective exercise” and how to look at the body in a manner that leaves us wondering what truly needs to be corrected.  We also get into a learner-centered approach, and how facilitating that approach may differ from working from novices, up to more advanced athletes. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage Timestamps and Main Points 5:50 What Charlie learned from a silent meditation retreat, and what he learned from that in regards to exercise and the body 9:50 The relationship between long isometric holds, fatigue and heart rate variability 17:00 Charlie’s experience with the Egoscue method, and what good could possibly come from holding a passive stretch for such a long period of time 23:20 Ideas on Feldenkrais and the body’s ability to heal itself, as well as teaching individuals to help themselves as the highest order priority in coaching 36:05 Charlie’s take on corrective work and rehab based on a learner-centered approach versus a structured approach 48:05 How being a massage and body-worker has helped Charlie to acquire a better understanding of the body and how to train individuals 57:20 How Charlie puts together a rehab/training program based on common principles and concepts 1:01:20 Where respiration and breathing has landed for Charlie and how he integrates it “As soon as we get the slightest bit of discomfort, we cringe up, and tighten up, instead of softening around the pain” “I wonder if you could look at someone’s HRV score, and correlate that with their ability to tolerate long isometrics” “Two of the most common reasons why bodies get better is novelty and graded exposure” “Feldenkrais never told you what to do, you got to come up with your own solutions, that is the highest level” “When you give constraints for a beginner, maybe it’s better to create more structure first” “The consumer really drives (which coach) gets the dollars, and that’s really frustrating (in light of a “position driven” versus “learner driven” approach to training)” “I’m less and less a fan of “corrective” exercise, it’s kind of a popular word, I know language is important, but I don’t know if we are correcting anything.  They are low-force, inner directed mindful exercises to generate some awareness around something” “I’m always asking the questions, say you are doing a side-clam for your glute medius, but show me where that goes, show me where that’s eventually going to lead to” “I don’t love the term “corrective exercise”, it’s all just gradations of movement”

Today’s podcast welcomes coach Ty Terrell.  Ty is currently an NBA physical preparation coach and has a wealth of experience ranging from training athletes out of a garage, to coaching high school basketball, to being mentored by some of the top professionals in the coaching industry.  Individuals such as Lee Taft, Bill Hartman, and Mike Robertson have fostered in Ty a unique and powerful perspective on blending gym-training methods with athletic biomechanics and outputs. A running theme of this show has been using gym training methods to cater to the organic manner by which athletes live and move, rather than working against it.  In a recent episode, #220, Kyle Dobbs talked about “hingy, knees-out squats” and the cascade of negative effects these brought out in the athletic population.  Personally, I had loads of elasticity in my teens and early 20’s, but I slowly started to lose the “elastic monster” by starting to train “by the book” according to current strength and conditioning methods and protocols. This show (and podcast in general) is about winning that elastic power back.  Ty Terrell starts off by sharing some of the key points he learned in his beginnings as a coach under Lee Taft in regards to training athlete speed and movement.  From there, we transition into all things squatting, and the load-unload, “expand-compress” paradigm that has come out of the work and ideas of Bill Hartman, and how this relates to athletic movement on the court or field of play.  We finish with some practical ideas on how to make trunk and core training highly transferable, and represent the movement principles we want to embody in our total-body athletic movements. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.   Timestamps and Main Points 4:00 Ty’s start with Lee Taft, and some cornerstone teachings he has learned from Lee that have kept with him in his coaching 10:45 How to use bands and resistance to create lines of force on an athlete that can help them use joints better, or get into desired athletic positions 23:45 Approaching elite athletes versus youth in regards to training their sport movement ability 34:00 Questions on general versus any sort of specific skill movement training for a professional athlete 41:45 How athletic movement works in light of the expansion and compression of the pelvic floor, and the body in general 57:30 The effect of overly “hinging” every lift, and how a state of anterior tilt reduces aerobic capacity and even muscular compliance and elasticity 1:06.30 Reflexive core training and experiences to help athletes train their trunk and pelvis in a manner that reflects load and explode paradigms “When I started, it was important that Lee made me be a coach first (before the standard “textbook” learning)” “As long as you have forward momentum, it’s OK not to be perfect today” “Those are the three things that you are looking at in a single motion in athletics: Can you achieve the position, can you produce the force you need to in the time you need to, and can you do it in the context of the situation” “If you get a 10-year old, they are pretty compliant.  They don’t have years of physical stress to let compensatory strategies come into play” “With the younger kids, you don’t necessarily have to focus on power to improve power because they are just improving everything” “It’s the simple stuff (the pro athlete) doesn’t do well (such as a basic squat pattern), because they never had to… I’ll say this, it’s the fundamentals that save pro athletes” “How many times can you do near-max efforts before your body can’t handle it, and says, “I need to cheat somehow”” “The number one thing I find (the NBA population) needs is the ability to squat.

Today’s podcast welcomes back coach Christian Thibaudeau to the podcast.  Christian has been a strength coach for nearly 2 decades, working with athletes from nearly 30 sports.  He has written four books and has pioneered multiple educational courses, including the Neuro-typing system, which goes in-depth on how to train athletes in the weight room (and beyond) based on their own individual dispositions. Christian has been a 4-time prior guest on the podcast, and is a true wealth of information.  Our recent episode, #208, had lots of great information about the topic of adrenaline as an over-training marker, as well as how to manage this hormone in the course of programming and the workout session.  One thing that I had hoped to cover on that episode, but missed out on due to time constraints, was to get into Christian’s take on using the 3-muscle phases (concentric, isometric, eccentric) in training athletes. Emphasizing various muscle phases in training is certainly nothing new.  My own training design for athletes is often based on a hybrid of 14-day squat cycles, along with elements of the “Triphasic Training” system.  Christian has been using rep-style emphasis in his programming for two decades, and has loads of practical ideas and training examples that can help us get a better understanding of these methods.  You won’t find a more comprehensive episode out there on training using various contraction types than this one, as well as how each type fits into the individual characteristics and response of each athlete. Finally, although not required, I’d recommend you check out episode 77 with Christian, which is a tremendous overview of the 5 different types of athlete according to their response and preference to training means and methods. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.   Timestamps and Main Points 7:20 Why Christian is not going to write a book on golf training 14:05 Christian’s views on “alternative” forms of training, i.e. bodyweight, gymnastics, macebells, etc. 18:05 How the emphasis of “omni-reps” change when working with athletes vs. general population, and those simply interested in increasing strength and muscle size 24:20 How to approach hypertrophy training for athletes in regards to the neural intensity of exercises 30:35 Using all three types of muscle contractions in the same training week, versus using a single-mode and changing it every 2-3 weeks 39:20 Why you don’t need to train all three types of contractions to the same degree, in advanced athletes, versus novice and intermediate athletes 49:50 Particular phase of contraction methods that are most effective in regards to the three phases of muscle contraction 58:20 Dosage of advanced lifting methods in regards to adrenaline and neuro-type of the athlete 1:22.20 How plyometrics can complement or replace other phase-training methods in the process of the training cycle “I have a lot of respect for strength coaches working with rotational athletes, it’s a very big challenge” “Sometimes we do pure isometrics, but most of the time we do stato-dynamic contractions, which means we include pauses at various positions of the rep” “With average people just wanting to look better, I moved more towards a body-part, antagonistic split (chest-biceps one day/quad-hamstring another day); the main difference is that with average people who just want to gain muscle, we train all three contractions in the same workout” “The reason (for not doing all three modes of contraction in the same workout) is that athletes do other stuff than lifting; they are going to be sprinting, doing conditioning and practicing their sport.  You want to keep neurological resources available you do not want to burn out your adregenergic recept...

Today’s podcast features coach and consultant, Kyle Dobbs.  Kyle is the owner and founder of Compound Performance which offers online training, facility consulting, and a personal trainer mentorship. Kyle has trained 15,000+ sessions and has experienced substantial success as a coach and educator.  Kyle has an extensive biomechanics and human movement background which he integrates into his gym prescriptions to help athletes achieve their fullest movement, and transferable strength potential.  He reaches thousands of coaches regularly through his Instagram account where he offers practical movement solutions in the gym to help people get stronger in context of how we are meant to move as humans. One of the topics that I am most passionate about in training is in regards to why in the world athletes can increase their strength outputs in the gym, but become slower and lose elasticity in things such as jumping in the process.  I tend to see athletic outcomes of barbell strength tools as a sliding scale of increased performance due to increased power outputs and increased tissue strength, and then potentially decreased performance due to the body adapting to the needs of moving a heavy external object, and being coached to do so in a way that works against the gait cycle.  This topic of the gait cycle and squatting/lifting is what this show is all about. In today’s episode, Kyle goes in-depth on all things squatting and the gait cycle, and offers real-world solutions to help athletes lift weights, as per the needs of one who needs to sprint, jump, cut and hit.  Kyle also lays out helpful ideas on how to restore internal rotation abilities in those athletes in need of this vital element of movement.  At the end of this show, you’ll know the crucial mechanical differences between back squatting and front squatting, powerlifting squats, and Olympic squats, that make a real difference on our biomechanics and transfer to athleticism. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.   Timestamps and Main Points 4:00 How doing manual labor and playing one’s sport through high school led Kyle to being more athletic than improving his squat and deadlift in college and becoming slower 7:00 How starting running again after spending years training primarily lifting and gym training has gone for Kyle, and what goes through Kyle’s mind in his run training 12:20 Thoracic dynamics, breathing and run performance concepts 24:15 Kyle’s evolution in the big axially loaded lifts, and their relationship to gait and reciprocal human movement 32:20 Internal and external femur rotation mechanics in squatting, and how hinging-squats have a negative effect on internal rotation capabilities for athletes 39:50 Distinguishing between “good” knees in, and “bad” knees in during a squat, based on adduction and internal rotation mechanics 46:30 Kyle’s taking on intentionally squeezing the glutes at the top of a squat 50:35 Reasons that you usually see Olympic lifters knees “clicking in” when coming up from the bottom of a squat, versus what you tend to see in a powerlifter 1:01:35 General principles in exercise selection and execution regarding squatting with athletes 1:04:50 Functional coaching points in unilateral training exercises 1:06:50 How to restore femoral internal rotation in athletes who are lacking it “I’m someone who for the last 5 or 6 years has done almost exclusively weight training, so getting back into unilateral reciprocal and trying to find femur IR, has been fun” “I think more about respiration (when running)” “As someone who has been doing a lot of bilateral, kind of more supinated based lifting, it is hard for me to get “inside edge” without consciously thinking about it”

Today’s podcast features performance coach and breathing specialist, Leo Ryan. Leo is the founder of Innate-Strength.com. He has studied athletic training, health and breathing since he healed himself of asthma in 2004. Leo has achieved a prolific amount of education in human performance and breathwork.  He has attained multiple diplomas and certificates from many elite personal training, physical therapy and breathing schools including Dip. Buteyko Method, Wim Hof Instructor, Oxygen Advantage Master Instructor, Fascial Stretch Therapist, Strength and Conditioning Specialist and Pilates teacher. Leo’s love and experience for health and physical performance has seen him research more than 70 breathing techniques, mentor with coaches to Olympians, UFC Fighters and World Champions. Breathing is truly on the top of the totem pole when it comes to our day to day health and well-being (we take around 20,000 breaths per day).  It has a massive impact on our mental state, as well as the physiology of the body, in addition to its implications for athletic performance.  We can run longer, recover faster, and gain enhanced mind-body states through simple breathing drills, as well as becoming more educated on the topic. Today’s show was longer than average, largely because the concept of performance breathing is so expansive, and we as a coaching community, generally don’t approach it in much depth.  Often times we are just told to belly breathe, or nose breathe, and leave it at that.  In this show, Leo covers all aspects of our breath, including nose breathing versus mouth breathing for performance, breathing as a readiness assessment, performance versus recovery breathing, diaphragm release techniques, and much more (including his experience in running a marathon, and recovering from it extremely well, despite ZERO run training).  This is yet another “staple” episode, as it truly covers this intersection of health, well-being, and athlete performance in the topic of the breath. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.   Timestamps and Main Points 5:30 Leo’s story of running a marathon on zero run training through optimal breath work and breathing techniques 16:30 Training repeat versus short sprint ability with nose versus mouth breathing 19:30 The importance of an aerobic base for the majority of athletes, and how breathing plays into this base 24:30 Why breathing and breath training is so under-appreciated by many coaches and individuals in training 29:30 How Leo uses breathing as a readiness assessment as opposed to HRV 43:15 Leo’s battle with asthma, and how that led him to studying breathing and breath for athletic performance enhancement 53:10 What people should be able to do with their breath, and “hardware” issues that could hold back the ability to breathe well 1:00:20 Breath training in context of a typical gym session with Leo 1:05:00 The link between breathing, adrenaline, and recovery times in training 1:15:00 Tensioning the body through breathing for improved power application 1:23:30 Methods to restore the function of the diaphragm “If I really wanted to perform in marathon, and hit a PB, and I trained for it fully, I wouldn’t mouth-tape (nose breathe)” “We know that pure mouth breathing will burn more sugar than nasal breathing” “Unless you are a pure power sport like Olympic weightlifting, a powerlifting type sport, you do want a decent aerobic base to you” “The benefits of breath training is all about recovery; for me, it is the main recovery modality, it’s where it all starts” “You don’t want oxygen just in the blood, you want it in the cell” “There are psychological aspects to breathing as well” “I only use HRV now with people who are not tuned into the...

Today’s episode features performance coach and nutritionist, Matt Cooper.  Matt has been a multi-time podcast guest and writer on Just Fly Sports, and trains athletes and individuals out of his gym in Los Angeles, California.  Matt is a bright young coach who has encapsulated many of the training concepts from top coaches, nutritionists, and human performance specialists, into his own system which keeps the athlete operating in proper neurological and fascial harmony. One of the things I’ve really enjoyed observing in the work that Matt is doing is his incorporation of the work pioneered by Marv Marinovich and Jay Schroeder, into his own training design.  The combination of proprioception, reaction, and neurological emphasis is something that creates explosive and adaptive athletes, with a priority on the function of the body, rather than a priority on lifting a barbell max at all costs (and when you respect the nervous system in training, you tend to get improved lifting numbers without the neurological cost that comes from hammering away at bilateral sagittal plane lifts). Recently, a few arenas of training that Matt has been working through that I found particularly intriguing, were his thoughts on training the fascial system, as well as a recent article of his defending proprioceptive training, when we define its role in the training process correctly.  For today’s podcast, Matt talks about the role of the fascial system in human movement, as well as its importance in regards to training in light of exercise selection.  Matt also talks about proprioceptive training, its role in light of the greater training process, and practical exercises for training both the proprioceptive and fascial systems. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 6:15 What training the fascial system means to Matt 16:15 Methods to engage the fascial system appropriately in training 24:45 Reasons that barbell squatting can cause neurological irritants to high-performance athletics over time 37:35 Training movements that can improve tensegrity in the body and fascial function 46:15 How Matt programs Olympic lifting and Keiser/Supercat machines, in respect to the feet and fascial dynamics 53:15 The value of proprioceptive and dynamic balance work in training and performance “The fascia being well-wound together is not just an injury prevention concept, but the fascia being well-woven together like a basket, that actually helps store, transfer and release elastic energy effortlessly” “(In a powerlifting squat) the athlete’s fascia has to revolve around the bar path” “If the fascia is adapting around these big compound movements, and they are the centerpiece of our training, then we are sort of adapting athletes neuro-myo-fascially to be sagittal movers, and not everything else” “You can do corrective exercises in a way that get the neuro-myo-fascial segments of the body well-orchestrated” “The main emphasis of our training is one that respects natural biomechanics” “You are setting off a completely different muscle firing pattern by having someone squat off the heel; and the heaviest load is going to happen at the joint angle that is most compromised” “The engine of the car in humans is a lot more horizontal, it’s push-pull; this is the engine that really drives the car, and if you really (axially) stack the body, chances are you are not going to see that turn into more fluid movement” “If I’m doing a little too much sagittal lifting, the movement is too much about the bar and the bar path, and the athlete has to mechanically adapt around that load” “I’ve been having my guys do Olympic lifts, pretty much all off the forefoot” “The bread and butter should not be the pure sagittal...

Today’s episode features performance coach, author, and speaker, Brett Bartholomew.  Brett is the founder of “Art of Coaching™”, which works with corporations in the financial and tech sector, medical professionals, military, as well as professional sporting organizations to enhance their leadership ability through improved communication and understanding of human behavior.  Brett is the author of the best-selling book “Conscious Coaching”, and has spoken worldwide on performance and communication topics.  Brett has served as a performance coach for a diverse range of athletes, ranging from youth to Olympians, those in nearly every professional sport, as well as those in the U.S. Special Forces and Fortune 500 companies. Coaching is a rapidly evolving field.  Strength coaches must grow in a multi-disciplinary manner on a variety of levels to stay competitive and serve athletes better.  Sport skill coaches cannot simply use the same rigid cues and drill sets and methods that their coach used on them.  Rather, a thorough understanding of human learning and psychology, a more holistic model must be found to facilitate the optimal technical and tactical development of the athlete. Brett Bartholomew has evolved greatly in his time as a coach, and his diverse coaching background has given him the means to see a large problem in the field: A lack of education, skills, and emphasis in general on communication and understanding of human behavior.  Being a better communicator means acquiring better buy-in, more effort, and more enjoyment on the part of those we are coaching, and there are a lot of means by which we can improve in this arena as coaches.  On today’s show, Brett talks about why communication has been under-emphasized in coaching (despite its importance) how improving in this area can improve athlete outputs, as well as practices and exercises that coaches can utilize to improve their own leadership and communication abilities. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 3:30 Key moments in Brett’s evolution as a coach, and his drive towards an emphasis on communication in learning 11:45 Why communication is under-emphasized in most coach education programs, and why coaches are often blind to their own coaching communication abilities 20:40 Concrete outcomes of better communication on the level of the coach and athlete 26:10 How improving one’s communication can help one’s evolution as a coach and leader 38:00 Impression management in life, as well as in the coaching profession 44:10 Types of activities that can make a coach better in a chaotic environment “Most leaders at companies at high level organizations are making decisions with less than 70% of the information that they need” “Athletes are people first… you have to show varying levels of yourself, building buy in requires you to get on the level of other people” “Why do we think we are so good at communication when so few people get evaluated (in communication)” “We think that just because we value getting information a certain way, that other people value that way as well” “When the foundation of coaching is communicating with others, and knowing how to translate literally and metaphorically what you mean to broader audience, and you can’t do that, something has gone wrong” “You need to be able to tune your message into different frequencies” “If you are a better communicator, you are going to get more out of people” “Success with high performance environments is not just about managing an athlete’s training, it’s about managing the athlete themselves, and their environment” “There’s 5-6 forms of various impression management tactics people use, and once you know them,

Today’s episode features coach Paul Cater, speaking on his holistic approach to athlete training sessions.  Paul has pioneered a way of training that makes the session a heightened experience on multiple levels, versus a scripted “to-do” list. Paul is the owner of the Alpha Project, a gym in Salinas, California.  He has worked with a wide variety of athletes, from those at the highest professional level in pro Rugby (London Wasps) and pro Baseball (Baltimore Orioles), to local youth sport athletes, as well as those in the general population in a wide variety of age ranges.  Paul has lived and trained athletes internationally and has a wide swath of cultural experience.  He has been a “partial episode” guest of the podcast on episode #197, where he discussed the art of story-telling in the training session, as well as a return to the importance of sprinting as a cornerstone movement in his years of coaching.  Paul has also written a number of impactful articles on Just Fly Sports over the years on the level of taking the “robotic” elements out of sport preparation and bringing in a holistic, thoughtful, aware, and “human” form of coaching. Of all the individuals who have had an impact on my coaching and training, I don’t think I can say anyone has had more of an impact on how I run my training sessions than Paul Cater.  Paul has taught me the art of bringing life and energy into a training session, and as well as using a combination of training methods and environment to be completely in the moment of the training itself.  Through my own observation of, and training with Paul, I have gained insight that can make a training session really come to life in the same manner that sport, or a powerful life experience, does. On the show today, Paul will talk about his philosophy on the flow of a training session, and how his unique model presents athletes the opportunity to grow on multiple levels (awareness, vulnerability, rhythm, variable work modes, etc.).  He’ll get into the “nuts and bolts” of awareness practices, music selection, rhythmic development, and much more.  This is a unique and essential episode, and one that has the potential to really transform one’s coaching practice in a positive way. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:35 How life-threatening situations can create unique mind-body physical stimuli 11:05 Looking at the rhythm and flow of a training session, and how all pieces must work together to create a more optimal session 24:20 How Paul invokes awareness with his athletes at the beginning of a session, and how he helps them turn on a switch to enter the training state 32:05 Vulnerability in a training session and how it contributes to the total development of an athlete 38:40 Rhythm development, and the creative usage of music and dance elements in a training session 58:55 Other key elements Paul works to incorporate in his training session 1:02:05 How the workout changes and filters into the primary strength training element of the training day “These kids, it’s like they are adrenaline junkies, they have to have this massive hype, or musical element (to train)… creating an experience of a deep introspective state, all the way to the collective experience of competition, there is a whole spectrum there” “You have to create a natural awareness of rhythm, and melody, tuning, so to speak, at the beginning of a session” “Are the kids going through quiet time, before the hype time.  It’s hard to sell rest time” “That’s what’s going to limit injuries going forward is knowing athletes beyond a data point or a typical analytic.  It’s a courageous path, I think, to really have a comprehensive program at any level”

Today’s episode features speed coach and human performance expert, Chris Korfist.  Chris is a multi-time guest on the podcast and is back for a solo-interview show where he gets into his recent developments in speed training, as well as a great conversation about mind-body concepts and their relationship to sport, and even life itself. Chris Korfist has been a high school coach in track and football for almost 30 years, with more than 80 All-State athletes.  He owns the “Slow Guy Speed School” that helps develop athletes ranging from World Champion to middle school. He has consulted with professional sports teams all over the world, including the NFL, MLB, NBA, and Rugby League, and is an advisor for Auckland University of Technology’s SPRINZ.  Chris also co-owns the Track Football Consortium, and co-founded Reflexive Performance Reset. It is always good to sit down and just have a great sprinting/speed conversation, as in so many ways, speed is a universal concept to us as human beings, regardless of our exact sport or movement practice.  Sprinting represents the highest coordination demand output that the human body can do, and improvements in maximal sprint velocity are some of the hardest earned in training, but also some of the most rewarding.  Chris has been on several of my podcasts in the last few years, but we haven’t had a true “speed training” talk since our first episode together around 4 years ago. In addition to some great novel concepts on speed training covered on this show (such as asymmetrical sprint training and shin-drop methods), Chris also gets into a topic that may be more powerful and relevant for many athletes than particular speed training methods (although we want to do them all well), which is the power of the mind to impact posture, power outputs, sport skill, and attitudes of the opposing team.  If you get all of the speed training right, but get posture and confidence wrong, one’s highest potential will never be reached. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 13:35 Updates and new ideas in Chris’s sprint program the last several years 26:05 Foot training, and how subtle variability can make a big impact on exercise outputs and effects 32:05 Using resisted sprint training to help technical elements, such as shin drop 40:25 Why Chris changed over from straight-leg bounding/primetimes into preferring flexed-leg bounding/flexed-leg primetimes 43:45 Mind-Body Training: The story behind saying “I am the Greatest!” before doing a sprint or jump, etc. and improving performance substantially 55:05 Mirroring in athletic performance “I think in the (bent-knee primetime) position, it is going to be more appropriate to changing the lever, loading the ankle, and getting a more realistic toe-position (than a straight-leg primetime)” “Where you walk on your knees and you try to crush your calf to your hamstring… that’s a great exercise (for sprinting)… We wear the LILA calf sleeves when we do those to bring the focus on picking the shin up” “It’s a monster of a workout, when you just put weights on one (LILA) sleeve… you can put it on the same arm, same leg, and now it’s a huge core challenge” “If I’m slowing down one leg, the other leg has to go faster” “Kids would run faster fly 10’s when we put the (LILA) sleeve on one side” “Change your toe position and do the (lateral line hop) and it’s a completely different exercise.  The slightest variation in your limbs completely change what the exercise is.  You are changing slack, distances, recruitment patterns, fascial patterns, and all that” “I started pulling kids out of the start.  So I am focusing on, do I have time to get that shin down if that’s really what I’m focusing on”

Today’s episode features athletic performance coach, Scot Prohaska.  Scot is distinguished as a nationally recognized sports and executive performance consultant.  Scot runs his performance center out of Los Angeles, California, and works with a wide range of athletes, from professionals and Olympians at the highest level, to scholastic athletes. Scot has traveled across the globe studying with leading experts in exercise physiology, kinesiology, physical therapy, biomechanics, strength, conditioning, nutrition, mental and emotional focus, as well as strength.  Through his years of coaching, and learning from leaders in multiple fields, Scot has developed the “Six Lanes of High Performance”, which is a holistic view at looking at all elements that go into being an athlete (not just the physical element).  Scot’s athletes not only find success on the field, but are impacted by his work on a holistic level, and often achieve positions of leadership in their subsequent athletic, and life, endeavors. As I’ve gone further along in physical preparation/athletic performance, I’ve truly realized that there is much more to offer athletes than simply increasing their 1-rep maxes in lifts, or even trying to increase KPI metrics, such as sprint ability or jump height.  These improvements are enjoyable to attain, but I’ve noticed that they don’t always transfer to winning on the field.  Through looking to other elements of athletics, such as the mental-emotional side, perceptual and visual ability, and recovery to name a few, we can offer athletes so much more than simply the ability to increase their muscular strength, and even physical outputs. On today’s show, Scot will cover some of his key mentors and life experiences that brought him to his current view of sport performance.  He’ll cover the “6 Lanes of High Performance” (Psychology, Sensory Motor, Technical, Tactical, Physical Preparation, Recovery, and Restoration) and get into these distinguishing traits of high performers, as well as how he assesses and trains those traits in his own athletes.  He also gets into the 11 leadership tenets he teaches, which have powerful effects on not only the success of the individual as a part of a team, but also into life beyond sport. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. Timestamps and Main Points 4:45 Defining moments in Scot’s career as an athlete and young coach that led him to where he is today 8:15 What success in sport really means to Scot 12:15 Some major mentors in Scot’s coaching process 16:25 An overview of the “six lanes” of performance and why they are important 32:40 The importance of universal distinctions for key facets of behavioral and emotional traits in athletes 35:55 How an experience in Scot’s facility, in relation to the 6 lanes, unfolds 43:35 The results of the “six lanes” in regards to high rates of leadership and sport captain position acquisition of Scot’s former athletes 47:00 Digging into the elements of leadership in Scot’s system, particularly that of ambition in athletes 59:40 How to teach/cultivate innovation in a weight room style setting 1.04:40 How Scott cultivates optimal communication in his training groups “If you are living your dream, you are feeling fulfilled, then that is success to me.  Enjoying the daily optimal experience seems to be sustainable to me.” “Where I’ve really found immense value (in behavior chance, sport psychology, leadership and team cohesion) is Special Forces training” “It starts with self-regulation in three domains: the physical (can you push through difficult physical conditions), the mental (can they stay focused), and then there’s the emotional (can they shift into the right emotion at the right time)” “When you change behaviors you see a lot of things change physically,

Today’s episode features strength and athletic movement coach Austin Jochum.  Austin is the owner of Jochum Strength where he works with athletes and “washed up movers” to become the best versions of themselves. He also hosts the Jochum Strength podcast, and was a former D3 All-American football player and a hammer thrower at the University of St.Thomas, where he is now the strength coach for the football team. In training athletes, amongst many other lessons, I’ve learned two big things in my 8 years as a full-time strength coach.  One is that the athlete experience supersedes the need for a traditional written training structure, and two is that better performances in the “big lifts” are often not an indicator for having better performance on the field of play.  To dissect these issues and achieve multi-lateral development with more potential transfer to sport, an approach that considers emotional and environmental factors in the training process is a must.  Athlete autonomy, decision making, emotional growth, and creativity are universal structures that can find transfer to other areas of life outside the weight room, including sport. I was a guest on Austin’s podcast a few months ago, and in talking to him, truly enjoyed his approach to holistic athletic development, and his digging into the total process to a much greater degree than simply building up lifts and taking athletes through canned mobility and stability progressions.  Austin is a young coach with a huge passion for finding transferable performance to athletes on all levels.  Through a variety of methods, he gives athletes the maximal opportunity to become the strongest version of themselves through creative methods that prioritize autonomy, emotional development, and decision making.  On today’s show, Austin covers the experiences he had as an athlete that has impacted his creative approach to coaching.  He goes in-depth on the emotional development of athletes, fostering autonomy, and how each session facilitates a maximal “aliveness” and intention, as it moves from creative/perceptive movement training, into the primary strength work, and then autonomy-driven auxiliary training. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.   Timestamps and Main Points 7:05 Austin’s background as an athlete, how the weight-room directed mindset hurt his ability to fully express his athleticism, and how it has formed who he is as a coach 16:05 Mental toughness as specific to various outputs and game situations, and dealing with an athlete’s weak points 34:05 How Austin encourages problem-solving and athlete autonomy in his training sessions 42:05 Creating a training environment that allows for failure and exploration 51:10 Austin’s split between structured and creative training in his athlete sessions 56:10 How to approach auxiliary work at the end of a training session in a manner that keeps energy and intention up “This is how I look at it now, 'how can I expose athletes (to their weak points)' ” “As a strength coach, if I am not competing in a sport, or experiencing the same emotional stress, then I write this perfect program up of squats, bench, output-based.. they jump higher and sprint faster, so “I did a good job as a coach”, but can they process the emotional stuff?” “Is it output that matters, or is it sport that matters, and what you need to do in the situation?” “A lot of athletes come in these days and just want to be told what to do, but that’s not what happens, you have to make decisions” “Giving the athlete the opportunity to make the drill more realistic, the energy in the room went sky high.  The athlete knows that environment better than you” “When do we fail in training anymore?

Today’s episode features biomechanics specialist and rehabilitation expert, David Grey.  David runs the Grey Injury Clinic and helps athletes with injury, pain, rehab, and performance.  David has learned under a great number of mentors, and is influenced greatly by the work of Gary Ward who is a 2x previous podcast guest and the creator of the “Anatomy in Motion” system.  David is also influenced by systems such as PRI and the martial arts. Through his diverse studies and experience, David is able to get athletes and clients out of pain who have previously been through months of traditional therapy with limited results.  He previously appeared on episode #160 of the podcast where he spoke on the link between pronation and using the glutes effectively. In training and rehab, we so often look to exercises that strengthen, before we put a priority on biomechanics and joint actions.  The problem is, that in treating pain, unless we fix the biomechanics, no matter how good the strength treatment was, the problem will eventually return.  We know that in performance training, we want to build a “base of technique” because the way our body forms from a myo-fascial perspective as a season of training unfolds is going to be based on our technique.  Bad technique can yield the result of muscles getting active and trained that shouldn’t, and other important muscle groups getting under-developed.  By training the right joint motions, and getting the feet to work properly, we take a huge step in getting athletes to reaching their highest potential. On the podcast today, David goes through a joint-based approach to working with those who have Achilles pain, and particularly, knee pain.  He gets into the necessary co-contractions needed to help stabilize the knee joint, and why calcaneus mobility is important for both Achilles tendon and knee tendon injury prevention.  We start out the talk with a chat on the feet, how barefoot training might not be all that it’s cracked up to be for some athletes, and the balance between pronation and supination of the foot in performance training.  All this and more is in the latest podcast. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.   Timestamps and Main Points 5:00 The importance of supination in human movement and athletics, as well as why it is more important to think in terms of pronat-ing and supinat-ing rather than pronation and supination. 12:00 How sensation on the sole of the foot is essential for pronating properly and why simply walking around barefoot may not be truly helpful. 26:30 Supination, and its relationship between running, jumping and power in propulsion 36:00 Why joint motion should be the root of our efforts in injury prevention, rather than simply treating the tissue through strength-based exercises 45:30 Major biomechanical issues that show up with those athletes who have knee pain 50:00 The importance of stiffness, when called upon, in preventing knee pain 54:30 Using isometrics to assist co-contractions to help improve knee function 1:04.30 Thoughts on a joint based approach to knee pain “I would be much happier with you having a flat foot that can experience some pronation and supination, versus a person with a neutral foot who can experience neither” “People saying that “pronation is bad” is like saying “you shouldn’t bend your spine to the left” “A collapse and a pronation are two different things” “I don’t sell posture as a way to fix pain, I only relate to posture as a way to access movement” “(In regards to tendon pain) If we are always going to presume that the tendon is the problem, then we are always going to assume that strength is the answer… but the problem is not always the tendon”

Today’s episode features Phoenix Suns' head strength coach, Cory Schlesinger (and myself) answering questions on athletic performance training sent in from listeners.  Topics for this show ranged from programming based on athlete-autonomy, to isometrics, to foot training, as well as important questions on blending strength work into a level of high-performance play where sport skill development far super-cedes one’s physical strength development. Cory previously appeared on this show for episode #138 and is a popular speaker and podcast guest.  Cory’s creative, yet practical style is an “athlete-first” method that gets results and leaves athletes with not only a first-class physical training experience but also facilitates their ownership in the process. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.   Timestamps and Main Points 4:50 The utilization of tumbling and wrestling means into athletes of various levels of development (college/amateur, up to pro) 22:40 What the “Sun Café” is, and how it deals with the power of autonomy 34:05 Cory’s favorite isometric exercises for athletes 44:10 Achilles tendon injury prevention and gait biomechanics 51:50 Using floating heel work to improve the connection from the foot to the hip 0:58 Progressing an athlete’s strength development in tandem with their skill development “You genetically gifted athletes who don’t need a lot of bar(bell) work, to be honest” “Certain people need experiences that are a new experience, or experiences that give them a lot of confidence” “Your grinders… what makes them confident? Squatting heavy weight, and you have got to give them that, but how do I expose them to things they are not good at to make their human capacities better?” “You leave breadcrumbs to where you think the athlete needs to go” “When I saw squat numbers go up, when I saw force place numbers go up… I did not see wins go up!” “I don’t care what squat pattern a kid does, I really don’t” “At Stanford, there was an environment where they got to pick the squat pattern, the extension pattern, whatever the meat and potatoes was that day” “There is nothing more intentful, than them getting to choose what they want to do… having that autonomy is going to drive more results than them getting to predict their own success” “Just because they do a between-the-legs dunk doesn’t make them a good athlete, that’s just one aspect of athleticism” “The biggest low hanging fruit to get work done for me, is isometrics” “My favorite (isometric) is a yielding isometric at the sporting angles that they create the most often” “One of my favorite movements to load up is safety bar split, with a Hatfield hold (with a floating heel)” “The one thing I do the most when identifying energy leaks, is super-heavy prowler pushes” “In isometrics, if you put them in a position for long enough, you are going to see where their energy leaks are” “The prowler was the original “floating heel squat”, if you do it right (without letting the heels mash down)” “That’s how most Achilles tears happen (in basketball), is that false step, right into that forward (drive)” About Cory Schlesinger @schlesstrength Cory Schlesinger is currently the head strength and conditioning coach at the Phoenix Suns.  He has over a decade of experience as a strength and conditioning coach, having spent the previous three seasons at Stanford University.  Cory also has experience working at UAB, and Santa Clara University.  Schlesinger also has experience as a coach at the Olympic Training Center and as a sports nutritionist for Major League Soccer’s San Jose Earthquakes. Cory has worked with NBA and NFL players as well as Olympic Games athletes.

Today’s episode features a special guest interviewer, Josh Hingst, head strength coach of the 2018 Superbowl Champion, Philadelphia Eagles, who interviews me on a number of questions related to training American Football.  I met Josh in Barcelona, Spain back in 2005, and I’m happy that we’ve been in correspondence since that time.  I originally meant to interview Josh for an episode, but Josh flipped the script on me, so to speak, asking if he could interview me for a show. Josh’s experience before working with the Eagles includes work at the Jacksonville Jaguars, the University of Nebraska, the Atlanta Falcons, and Florida State University.  Josh has experience serving not only as a strength coach, but also in roles as a sports nutritionist, and he is the co-author of the book “The Athlete’s Guide to Sports Supplements” in 2013 while serving as the director of sports nutrition at the University of Nebraska. I don’t have much experience working in American football specifically, although I’ve been fortunate to be connected with, and be able to interview many experts in this realm in the past several years.  In this interview, it is truly humbling to be interviewed by Josh, whose has such an incredible resume in his work with football on the college and professional level.  It was good to get his feedback to my own responses as we cover many important topics to athletic development pertaining to football, although my answers cover elements that can pertain to all levels of sport development.  In this show, we talk on speed development, hamstring injury prevention, training the foot, biomechanics, isometrics, and much more. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   Timestamps and Main Points 2:40  My take on sprint mechanics and running drills for athletes in team sports 18:30 How to coach the “squatty run” and how it ties in with acceleration and even top-end running mechanics 22:25 Major concepts I’ve learned from Adarian Barr and how they have impacted my coaching: Foot steering, “millimeters-to-waves”, Achilles tendon concepts, lever-class systems in the foot, and more 32:05 Concepts on the foot in athleticism and injury prevention 47:55 Thoughts on extreme isometrics and oscillatory isometrics 54:00 Hamstring injury prevention in regards to running mechanics and beyond 1:00.10 My take on yearly planning in regards to maximal strength training, as well as how to plan post-season transition periods and athlete autonomy About Josh Hingst Josh was named the Eagles strength and conditioning coach during the off-season of 2013. Since that time Hingst has helped the Eagles to pioneer an innovative Performance Science approach to training. Prior to joining the Eagles, Hingst spent the 2012 season as the assistant strength and conditioning coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. From 2009-2011 Hingst served as the Director of Sports Nutrition at the University of Nebraska and during this time he co-authored the book‚ The Athlete’s Guide to Sports Supplements, which was published in 2013. His first NFL experience came in 2008 working as the Team Nutritionist for the Atlanta Falcons. Before his stint in Atlanta, Hingst spent five years in strength and conditioning and sports nutrition capacities at Florida State, where he earned his master’s degree in clinical nutrition with an emphasis in sports nutrition. A native of Hooper, NE, Hingst received his bachelor degrees in nutritional sciences and dietetics and exercise science from Nebraska in 2001. He also served as an assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Huskers while enrolled as a student.

Today’s episode features personal trainer and human movement expert, Rocky Snyder.  Rocky is the owner of Rocky’s Fitness in Santa Cruz, California, and is an experienced personal trainer, as well as an accomplished surfer and snowboarder.  Rocky has taken an absolutely immense amount of continuing education in human performance and is the author of four books.  His most recent being “Return to Center” , which featured a unique integration of a joint-based model of training and movement coaching, combined with neurological assessment of effectiveness. “Return to Center” is the first training book in a very long time (outside of “Even with Your Shoes On” by Helen Hall that I read earlier this year), that I absolutely devoured (both books has heavy inspiration from Gary Ward, who has been a 2 time guest on this podcast, and developed the “Flow-Motion” model of tri-planar joint based analysis of human movement). When it comes to “functional training” we often think of things like working on balance boards, or perhaps in a more realistic world, things like single-leg training and lots of bodyweight gait-pattern style movements, like crawling and heavy carries.  Even in using these movements which are inherently more tied to human gait, they are often still performed under “manufactured” paradigms that take them outside of the scope of natural human movement and elasticity.  Rocky has an incredible command of human movement principles, and can describe how these principles are showing up (or not!) in any exercise done in the gym, which is really the core of what we might call functional training. For today’s podcast, Rocky tackles questions regarding his own joint-centered approach to training, as well as specifically how he looks at lunges and single-leg training in relation to the gait cycle, and how doing this optimally will improve joint health, VMO, and glute development, as well as athletic performance markers and injury reduction.  This was a show that is a real key-stone in being able to truly train athletes on an individual level. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 8:10 Key aspects of Rocky’s journey of movement and learning about the human body 22:40 How Rocky assesses clients using a tri-planar and joint-centered approach 29:10 How Rocky uses lunges in all three planes to assess athletes 45:40 When inward knee travel becomes a problem to Rocky in athletic movement 56:10 How to observe athletes to determine if athletes have excessive medial knee travel in their general movements 59:10 How to train squatting under load with respect to the natural movement 1:03.10 Rocky’s take on bilateral to unilateral/functional work in a training program Quotes “When getting the body to move as joints are expected to move, amazing things can happen” “If we bring the body back into a more centrated place, the brain is going to allow a greater deal of force production” “If you’re not going to explore how the (frontal and transverse planes) move then it’s going to reduce your ability to produce force in the sagittal plane” “By knowing how the joints move in any exercise, it can tell the coach exactly what you are missing… the bottom line is that you should know how the body moves” “The knee, when it pronates, should be flexing and externally rotating… the knee joint itself is rotating towards the midline faster than the tibia… am I seeing that when someone is lunging, or are they keeping it over the second toe because they have been told that it shouldn’t drive inward” “A lunge is just an exaggeration of a walk, a gait pattern, that’s what a lunge should be” “(In a lunge) Is the pelvis rotating away from the back leg and towards the front leg”

Today’s episode features strength coach Christian Thibaudeau.  Christian has been involved in the business of training for the last 18 years, having worked with athletes from 28 different sports.  He is a prolific writer and presenter, having written four books, as well as presenting to top coaches and organizations all over the world. Christian is also the creator of the Neuro-typing system, which classifies athletes according to the neurotransmitters they seek out.  This system has the categories of 1A,1B,2A,2B and 3, and Christian has covered this topic extensively on this podcast, as well as many other shows. There are many intersections of the neuro-typing system, as well as other categories of individualization.  As discussed on my recent talk with Ross Jeffs, the “concentric”, “elastic” and “metabolic” sprinter types tend to fit with the 1A,1B and 2A neuro-types in regards to their strengths and optimal training regimen. One element of training that I’ve been considering a lot is optimal training splits for sprinting and jumping athletes, and reconciling 4-day training splits (or even 6-day) where there is an intensive CNS element, versus more of a “high-low” split that Charlie Francis made so popular. This new podcast with Christian digs into understanding how to give athletes their best training split by understanding the relationship of adrenaline to overtraining.  It also looks at things like muscle tone as how one can make a better assessment of an athlete, what training they may respond best to, as well as how to assess them on a daily and weekly basis, and make the best training adjustments.  Christian covers this, nutrition, child development and creativity, and much more on this information-packed show. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   Timestamps and Main Points 6:25  Christian’s recent thoughts on child development 12:25  The importance of creativity in early age, and how to cultivate it in developmental stages 28:45 Overview and updates of the neurotyping system from a perspective of COMT, serotonin, adrenaline, and methylation 53:15 Muscle tone, neuro-types and training splits 1:17.55 The role of carbohydrates, cortisol, and adrenaline in training Quotes “Any type of blue light or screen time is the number one enemy to child development” “You will always have what I call grinders… they will never become the stars, and the stars are those that have that little extra something, and that comes from creativity” “That’s one trait of high acetylcholine individuals, they will be more creative” “Some people will break down adrenaline super-fast, and if they can do that, they can tolerate a lot more training stimulus.  That is why some people naturally can tolerate a boatload of volume” “COMT is the enzyme that breaks down adrenaline.  The one that is fast will break down adrenaline very quickly after release, on the other hand if I have someone with a slow variation of the COMT enzyme, when you release adrenaline it stays high forever” “The type 3 is very similar to the type 1a from a genetic perspective.  Both have poor methylation, both have slow COMT, they don’t clear out adrenaline fast” “Carbohydrates control adrenaline” “The 1B is only aggressive under high adrenaline… they will be super chill until it counts” “The 1B if he fails he will just try again.  The 2A, looking foolish is destructive, because what others think of him is super important” “Anxiety is nothing more than your brain firing too fast for you to control it” “That person (who has high muscle tone) always has high adrenaline.  To me that person has slow COMT, he doesn’t break down adrenaline fast” “9 times out of 10 what we call overtraining is a desensitization of the beta-adrenergic receptors”

Today’s episode features Feldenkrais practitioner and human movement specialist, Edward Yu.  Edward is a former triathlete, current martial arts enthusiast, and perennial student of Masters Li Xueyi and Ge Guoliang in the art of Bagua.  Edward has worked with members of the US Olympic Track Team as well as those in the Portuguese National Ballet.  Edward is also the author of “Slowing Down to Run Faster” the impetus of which came years after Edward quit running and discovered that conventional approaches to training are not always effective in turning people into better athletes.  Edward’s interest in how people learn and process information has led him to mix the disparate fields of sports, martial arts, dance, psychology, cognitive science, information theory, and political economy into both his teaching and writing. Learning about human movement and the acquisition of technique in sport skill has been an incredible, yet humbling journey for me.  After hearing cue after cue from coaches that never worked, I was always looking into how we actually process and acquire skills as human beings.  Two areas that I’ve dipped my toe into that I feel are vastly under-appreciated in sports performance are the martial arts, and then the world of movement through sensory awareness (such as the Feldenkrais method). Today’s podcast is all about exploring human movement and sport technique from a wider lens.  On the show, Edward and I cover many aspects that are particularly human when working on sport skills, such as over-trying, self-sabotage and motivational factors.  Edwards also gets into his ideas on our sensory and motor development has humans, how our skills as adults hinge on things we need to learn as children, and how understanding that can lead us into new territory when it comes to guiding athletes to their optimal technique. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.   Timestamps and Main Points 6:25 Why people lose the joy of running and turn the action into a shuffle 13:25 The roots of “too much effort” in training and competition and how to combat it 21:55 How adult human beings self-sabotage their movements versus the purity of movements in children 34:40 How to look at motivation in context of our own movement practice, as well as learning to be easier on ourselves 43:10 How to improve one’s technique by learning to “slow down to run faster” 55:55 Ideas on exercises that can foster better learning in regards to running 1:08.25 How to use the slowing down method to gain awareness of the feet in running “If you don’t feel powerful (running), you aren’t going to enjoy it very much” “We have a culture that’s really heavy handed with using will power and discipline and pushing to try and get results” “I think if we look at the individual without looking at culture, and political economy, we are missing a lot.  You have to look at both together” “The self-sabotage in our culture has a lot to do with habits.  If you just removed (the chair (from our culture) you gain a lot of advantages” “If something is not learned in childhood, it is going to affect all more advanced/directed movement in the future.  If we don’t go back and try to learn those fundaments, they will not be as efficient as they could be in the future” “The potential for learning is not as vast (in animals versus for humans)” “To learn to fun faster, you need to know what it means to learn” “The way we are often coached is to try to imitate the ideal, but you can’t imitate what you don’t know in your own body” “The fundaments for learning appear from the time we exit the womb, to the time we are 6,7,8, and a lot of that happens on the ground.  It is very powerful to go on the ground,

Today’s episode features track and sports performance coach, Ross Jeffs.  Ross is a sprints, jumps and hurdles coach at the Aspire Academy in Doha, Qatar.  He formerly worked in the Netherlands as a sprints and jumps coach at Atletiek Trainingscentrum Rotterdam, and has also coached under the guidance of Jonas Dodoo within the Speedworks system.   Ross has also worked with a number of athletes from a range of sports including a grand slam tennis player, professional boxers, Olympic medallists from basketball and rugby sevens, and World Cup finalists in rugby.  Ross appeared on the podcast recently in episode 145. In the training of athletes, be it in track and field or team sports, not all athletes respond to the same stimulus in the same way.  Give 20 random athletes a diet of fast sprinting and heavy weightlifting, and some will respond amazingly well to it, others average, and some poorly.  The same thing could be said of a plyometric focused program, as well as other types of setups.  I first remember this idea of individualization in reading how the late Charlie Francis had mentioned some athletes liking heavy lifting, others plyometrics and bounding, while others responded well to the use of tempo training.  Since then, I’ve been able to dig into things like Christian Thibaudeau’s neurotyping system, as well as Ross Jeff’s “trainers vs. racers” ideas on designing programs for athletes based on how far or close they can get to their competitive best in a practice environment. Ross Jeffs is one of my favorite coaches and thinkers when it comes to training setups and organization to get the most out of athletes.  He is continually asking questions and getting outside the box in order to help coaches and athletes understand training, adaptation and peaking better.  Our conversation focus today is on sprinting, and how the differences of “concentric oriented”, “elastic oriented” or “metabolic oriented” are going to impact how these athletes are best trained and coached.  This episode is also incredibly valuable for team sport coaches, where there is guaranteed to be more diversity than in a single track and field event in the process of coaching. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 3:20 An overview of Ross’s classifications of concentric, elastic and metabolic sprinters 18:15 How the different sprint types (concentric, elastic, metabolic) might fit with Christian Thibaudeau’s neurotyping system 26:00 The squatted element of how concentric runners tend to enjoy the weightroom, squatting, and are better at sprinting and accelerating with lower centers of mass 30:30 How to help concentric dominant athletes become better at their weakness, which is top-end velocity running 35:25 Unpacking the need for variety in rhythmic upright running in elastic runners 49:10 Strength training ideas in regards to elastic sprinters 53:40 Metabolic sprinters and stride length/frequency concepts 56:10 How big of a factor nature vs. nurture is in the different types of sprinters 1:00:10 Rules of thumb in training strengths versus weaknesses based on sprint type 1:03.00 Thoughts on sprint typing and working in team sports 1:06.25 If the ideas of “trainers” vs. “racers” fits into the sprint typing model at all Quotes “Concentric sprinters run fast because of their strong strength and power capabilities.  These are usually your 60m and 100m specialists.  They perform very well in countermovement jumps and have a deeper lowering phase” “Concentric sprinters prefer less lactic tempo running” “They like to do jumps which utilize long stretch shortening cycle mechanisms” “They also seem to respond well to full-range heay movement” “When we sprint and strike the ground,

Today’s episode features Boo Schexnayder, current strength coach and former jumps coach at Louisiana State University.  Boo is regarded internationally as a leading authority in training design, possessing 37 years of experience in the coaching and consulting fields. Most noted for his 12 years on the Track and Field coaching staff at LSU, he is regarded as one of the world’s premier coaches, having developed 19 NCAA Champions and 10 Olympians.  Boo is one of the world’s leading authorities on training for speed and power on a variety of levels. I get a lot of requests on the show to talk about training organization and programming, and we had a great chat with Grant Fowler for episode #190, but outside of that show, talks on programming have been a bit sparse, so I was really excited to get Boo back on the line to have a great chat on programming and organization. This show gets into it.  It’s one of the best talks I’ve had on straight-forward planning and organization for speed and power training.  Although Boo’s deepest and most well-known experience is with track and field, there is a huge gold-mine of information for working with team sport athletes as well.  For the episode Boo takes us far into his thoughts on how he builds a power development program through the year, from his “home base” power workouts, working into his more intense work and “trump cards” that he selectively plays when he wants athletes to be their best.  We also get into a lot of great information on recovery workouts, de-loading schemes, plyometric training for team sport athletes, full vs. partial range thoughts, and much more.  This is not an episode that you casually listen to, it’s one that you really study. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 6:20 How Boo approaches changing themes in year round training for speed and power athletes, as well as Boo’s take on “proprioceptive staleness” 11:00 How Boo cycles his power training means throughout the year and how he leaves himself work to build on, as well as his “home base” workouts versus his high intensity power workouts 24:20 Boo’s take on training novice versus advanced athletes from a power perspective 25:20 Boo’s favorite “trump card” workout sets to use when peaking athletes for maximal performance 30:30 Boo’s take on building work capacity and how to optimally use recovery days 39:40 How to look at training a team sport athlete from a jump training and plyometric perspective versus a track and field athlete 45:55 Loading to deloading ratios throughout the year for various athletes 51:40 Using higher frequency work in training days, and how that fits in on the periodization timeline 57:25 Thoughts on unilateral work, bilateral work and range of motion in lifting Quotes  “Mental staleness is something all good athletes have to trudge through, but physical staleness is a problem” “I think variety in training has a lot to do with proprioceptive shortness” “A lot of times I change (exercises) for the sake of change and variety” “Ultimately, my goal is to get the intensities in my power training as high as I possibly can.  I always say that the intensity you reach is the level of performance you are going to get” “There is going to come a time when athletes have seen everything you have and you have to use variety, you have to use creative set-rep loading schemes to move them along” “I save most of the things I use for variety and variance like trump cards at critical spots” “Lower ends of power development provide support for the more intense bouts of reaching that you do: Things like acceleration development, light Olympic lifts, rudimentary plyometrics, those types of things are always in my program from day 1 to ...

Today’s episode features Max Shank, fitness coach and owner of Ambition Athletics in Encinitas, California.  Max has written 3 books, taught over a hundred courses in countries around the world and is the creator of the “5-minute-flow”.  Max is an avid learner, having picked up guitar, piano, and drums as an adult, in addition to the dozens of physical movement skills he has acquired.   As a personal trainer, Max has moved his focus from basic strength training to a holistic approach of overall fitness and health. One thing that I’ve really enjoyed in observing Max’s work over the years is his passion for movement and learning.  Max is a coach who is the epitome of getting outside the box, and taking a holistic approach to coaching, training and human development.  His methods of working towards becoming an “athletic ninja” have relevance towards the goals of any trainee. On today’s show, Max gets into skill training from a practical and philosophical perspective, music’s relationship with training, using play dance in training, developing elasticity, training the foot, and much more.  This is a fantastic show that blends a lot of different elements of life itself, to get a deeper view on our training practice.  Whether you deal with only athletes, or work heavily in general fitness, there is a ton of gold in this episode. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 3:50 How music fits in with physical music in Max’s philosophy 10:50 Why doing work that is more engaging emotionally is a more sustainable practice in exercise 21:20 Why a diversity and love of movement is often lacking in a strength and conditioning environment 25:50 What an exercise program means to Max and why we should pick means of training that come from intrinsic motivation rather than looking a particular way 40:45 How Max views the relationship between play and training 50:25 The mind-body relationship when it comes to difficult work and the sustainability of difficult training protocols 58:00 Some of Max’s favorite tools for strength and movement 1:02.45  How Max views elasticity and elastic strength development  “The use of a metronome is outrageous.  Playing too slow, playing too fast.  Doing it deliberately wrong, and seeing if you can work your way back into it.  Being able to express emotional content into what you are doing, whether it’s tennis or boxing, or wrestling or something, and doing the same thing with an instrument, there are so many parallels” “There’s the part from Bruce Lee in “Enter the Dragon” where he tells the kid to put emotional content (into his physical practice)” “Music is relationships and ratios put together in time” “Dancers are savage athletes who have a huge variety of skills and ranges of motion, and fantastic body control” “You have two hearts, and one of them is your feet.  You don’t get amazing venous return from your lower extremities without movement” “That’s the point of training is for it to be intrinsically enjoyable, so the experience right now, itself should be fun, and it should be something that you would want to do if you didn’t get any results from it… if you didn’t build one muscle fiber from it, would you still do the thing.  That’s a pretty good indicator that it’s a rich experience” “If you are just doing the pushups so your arms will get bigger, then you are sort of trapped.  Pick something that you would be happy to do even if it didn’t build muscle or lose fat” “I probably do at least a few minutes of drumming before I get my training done… it’s just fun, it feels good.  All of my training is that way.” “(Regarding training and play) Ideally you would want to structure your training playfully, so you look forward to it.

Today’s episode features strength coach and gym owner, Eric Cressey.  Eric Cressey is the president and co-founder of Cressey Sports Performance (CSP), with facilities in both Hudson, MA and Jupiter, FL.  Behind Eric’s expertise, CSP has established itself as a go-to high-performance facility to both local athletes and those that come from across the country and abroad to experience CSP’s cutting-edge methods.  Eric also works with the New York Yankees as the Director of Player Health and Performance.  In the past five years, 125 CSP athletes have been selected in the Major League Baseball Draft, and CSP works with players from all 30 MLB organizations. The field of sports performance is rapidly evolving, especially in the private sector where sport skills and specific strength are becoming increasingly blended.  Compared to a decade or more ago, strength and sports performance coaches are learning more and more about the specific biomechanics and KPI’s that lead to success of their athletes on the field.  Additionally, ideas on shoulder injury prevention and rehabilitation for athletic populations are also changing fast.  Modern sport coaching is also getting better, albeit more slowly than what athletes would like, in methods to develop an optimal specific work capacity for their players rather than old school methods of slogging laps. To keep up in a fast-changing world, I was really excited to catch up with Eric Cressey and see how his process has evolved in his years as a coach and business owner.  As a man who works with many of the top athletes, coaches and therapists in the world, seeing how Eric’s process has grown over the years is an enlightening conversation.  Some of the areas we get into specifically involve the blend of sport and strength coaching, shoulder health, work capacity, maximal strength training, and more.  This was a brief, but information dense episode that coaches and athletes of any sport (but particularly over-head and throwing sports) can get a lot out of. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.   Timestamps and Main Points 5:55 How Eric got into coaching strength training and performance for baseball players 9:40 Eric’s transition into getting into the technical and biomechanical side of pitching 20:25 How getting into pitching mechanics has had an impact on Eric’s strength program 23:25 How Eric’s thoughts on strength training and powerlifting in working with athletes have changed over the years 27:55 How Eric’s thoughts on shoulder training and injury prevention have evolved over time 35:55 Pros and cons of using fixed vs. free scapular movements with athletes 36:55 Indicators from watching athletes move in the weightroom as to their chances of a acquiring a shoulder injury in sport 38:55 Building work capacity in baseball players 44:55 How Eric looks at asymmetry in baseball players  “I wrote up a weighted ball and extreme long toss program, and I got a text when he had thrown live against the hitters at Harvard, he said I was 91-94mph, then we saw some 95s and 96s, he had a life changing velocity jump” “A strength and conditioning coach is writing a throwing program, that’s never happened” “Weighted implements had been around for a long time, but they haven’t been utilized… it got me thinking about weighted balls, medicine balls (for throwing enhancement).  Training in those middle grounds seemed to have a lot of value” “There are things that are being coached mechanically that are well intentioned but they don’t take into account the limitations that an athlete has, he just can’t get into the positions they need” “Pitching mechanics are actually the most heavily debated topic out there” “We want to prepare our athletes for a chaotic world,

Today’s episode features strength coach and consultant, Dr. Matt Jordan.  Matt is a strength and conditioning coach/performance consultant for elite athletes with six Olympic cycles of experience. He holds a Master of Science in Exercise and Neuromuscular Physiology, and a PhD in Medical Science from the University of Calgary. Matt has consulted with more than 30 Olympic and World Championship medalists and provides expertise to high performance organizations in the NHL, NBA, NFL, and military. He is currently the Director of Sport Science at the Canadian Sport Institute Calgary and leads the Sport Science/Sport Medicine program for Alpine Canada. In training athletes, it’s very easy to simply get caught in the way of thinking that we were brought up into in our own time as athletes and as young coaches.  If we don’t ever get some sort of data behind the methods we are performing week in and week out, it’s hard to know what to change and why. When it comes to making meaningful decisions on key performance metrics, reducing the noise in a system, and using simple and consistent measures to help guide performance, Dr. Matt Jordan is the guy that you want to talk to.  On today’s episode, Matt gets into this subject, particularly on the topics of periodization and training organization, as well as data collection and the use of vertical jump profiling as a measure of performance fatigability.  He also gets into the job of a strength coach in context of a total high performance system with the idea of reducing noise in the system in mind. Ultimately, this show is about helping coaching learn to make their training decisions and their data collection more simple, meaningful and integrated to help improve clarity in programming, and results. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.   Timestamps and Main Points 3:15  Positives and negatives to the traditional model of periodization 12:30 How ideas on periodization might change when moving from a sport of high complexity to one of low complexity 21:00 Some thoughts on reducing the noise in a high performance system when there are multiple practitioners working with the athletes (strength coaches and team sport coaches) 36:00  How vertical jump profiling can fit into the bigger picture of an athlete’s total training for their sport 45:20  How performance fatigability differs from how well the competitive exercise is improving  “There is not a lot of good data to support periodization, but as anybody who has done this in the real world, we understand that sequencing and organization of training stimulus, and interference effects are very much real things and therefore require some thought which is the cornerstone of periodization” “In all disciplines, whether you are a teacher or a physician, there is a very big struggle to override your experience and the way you’ve always done things, rather than a data-driven approach” “Weather shaped how people trained for decades, even after they didn’t have weather to contend with” “If (as a strength coach) you can’t adapt to the culture (of a team sport) you can’t give those athletes what they need to succeed” “If you don’t have trust, you can’t have impact” “With an alpine skier, it’s really tough to pull a number out that says “this is how well you are performing today” “Performance fatigability is the effects of fatigue on performance” “In a lot of sports, the competitive exercise (CE) is just super complex” “I say to coaches, “what is your pan evaporation?”,  Find your simple metrics, repeatable over time, stick with them.  They help bring clarity to a complex world that we are trying to understand” “It’s really tough to understand things when you start noisy”

Today’s episode features Alex Natera, senior athletic performance specialist at the GWS Giants of the AFL.  Alex has over twenty years of experience in high performance sport including time spent as a professional sportsman, a technical coach, a sport science lecturer, a published scientific researcher and his primary role as strength & conditioning coach.  Prior to the Giants, Alex was the senior strength and conditioning coach at Aspire Academy. Alex’s original article on isometric training that was specific to training sprinters “broke the internet” several years ago.   In it, Alex laid out an approach to training sprinters (and speed in general) in the weightroom in a manner that was very novel to anything coaches had seen before, using isometric exercises to hone specific elements of the run cycle.   This was followed up by podcast #86 where Alex took us in the nuts and bolts of the training system for sprinters. Since our last podcast, Alex, has spent a lot of time working with, not sprinters, but team sport athletes.  As much as the specificity of Alex’s isometrics to running still ring true in the scenario of training team sport athletes, working with this population versus sprinters is really a different “beast” than sprinters, who are more or less fresh all of the time and are athletic freaks.  On today’s show, Alex gets into the fine points of how he is incorporating his system into a team sport training regime.  Other topics we will cover will be Alex’s take on hamstring training for team sport athletes vs. sprinters, as well as a fun story regarding how the run-specific isometric protocol originated in the first place. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 6:00 The history of Run-Specific isometrics, and the necessity that sparked the protocol that has now become very popular and effective in training sprint velocity 26:00 Strength norms for the knee, hip and ankle in run specific ISO’s 30:05 Some of the big differences in applying run-specific isometrics in team sport athletes, specifically Australian rules football, versus pure sprinters 42:00 How Run-Specific isometrics have a strong impact on running efficiency in team sport athletes who have long distances to navigate with each game 50:40 What Alex does when force plates are not available for Run-specific isometric training 52:30 Some of Alex’s methods in addressing hamstring injuries in team sport athletes Quotes  “I was involved in isometric training, back to when I was a little kid in the martial arts” “I attest my strength in the scrum as a player completely to isometrics” “Our guys were getting a training effect from (weekly) mid-thigh pull assessments” “(A modern pentathlete) got 25% stronger in isometric mid-thigh pull, and then things like contact time at race pace, running economy, these things had a really positive shift” “I agree, isometrics are the safest mode of lifting work” “There is this minority group that can ruin themselves doing too much maximal isometric work” “(For the modern pentathlete) We did 3 sets of 3x4 second pushes (in the single leg isometric mid-thigh pull), mostly around the 90% effort mark” “It’s about 5x bodyweight for knee ISO push, for ankle ISO push, it’s about 3.5x bodyweight, for your hip ISO push, now it’s system mass, and it’s 3.5 times the system mass” “When it comes to team sports (versus sprinting), it’s a whole new level with fatigue; they are always fatigued” “The challenge is how do you incorporate isometrics into that program in a team sport athletes where the bucket it already full? Something has to come out of the bucket to put it back in” “The easiest thing to take out of the program is the volume of traditional lifting”

Today’s episode features sports performance coach Scott Salwasser.  Scott has been a multiple time guest on this show, talking about speed training in football, force-velocity profiling, and perception/reaction work.  Scott is currently the assistant director of strength and conditioning for football at the University of South Carolina.   Scott has worked as a sports performance coach for nearly 2 decades, and has worked at a number of NCAA DI universities, as well as in the NFL, and in the private training sector. When it comes to training, Scott is one of the most practical and grounded coaches that I know, and has an incredible ability to take complex concepts, and create a simple and effective training solution.  Scott works with a variety of technologies, such as force plates, GPS, 1080 Sprint technology, and more, and is able to break things down to simple terms as to how he is utilizing them, and the tangible results he is seeing with his players. Today’s show covers a number of important topics such as going into Scott’s speed program for lineman, what tendencies they have from a force-velocity perspective, as well as giving more perspective on the nuts and bolts of his perception-action and agility program.  A highly relevant aspect of today’s show is Scott’s experience in helping athletes get back to a high level of performance in a short period of time after a layoff, which is very pertinent to many situations coaches will be finding themselves in, in the near future.  While working at Cal, Scott helped a key player who was down with a virus for the majority of spring training get back to competition shape quickly in the summer, using a variety of feedback tools, and goes in depth on his methodology in today’s episode. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 8:30  Scott’s transition from working with skill players in football to working with lineman 14:30 How the NFL combine, although limited in transfer to the game, does at least provide a level of comparison from year to year 17:30What Scott’s speed program looks like for a lineman 21:30 How Scott’s perception/action work has progressed throughout the year and his movement of closed into progressively more reactive movement scenarios 35:45 How Scott has leveraged GPS, heart-rate and force plates to help an athlete get back and ready to play fall football in a very short period of time in summer after the athlete was sick for a large portion of the spring training season 54:50 How Scott has been using force-velocity profiling, specifically with football lineman  “What I do like about (predictable agility drills) is that they are very high-speed, high-force.  It’s like exposing someone to high speed sprinting in many ways, it’s an overload” “(Perception/Action) isn’t just putting them out there and having them play tag” “Initially, you might work on closed cuts, that’s a predictable response.  Then you start layering on and adjusting the environment, adding a reactive component to that response” “You then start to integrate (agility) into more real life situations, closer to the sport, it might be adding bodies,  it might be manipulating the area, it might be manipulating the rules of the drill” “The need for (perception/action) drills are more or less necessary depending on what the coaching staff is doing.  You want to focus on what the players are not getting” “The better we can understand each other’s specialties (in a high performance system) the better we’ll all be as a whole” “(My special teams coach) was able to start at a more advanced stage in special teams education because I had already done a lot of the introductory drills that he had planned on doing”

Today’s episode features Jeff Moyer, owner of Dynamic Correspondence Sports Training in Pittsburgh, PA.  Jeff has been a multi-time guest on the show, appearing as a solo guest in two shows, and on three roundtables.  His expertise includes elements such as Soviet training systems, motor learning, skill acquisition, pain reduction and reconditioning.  Jeff is highly driven by learning and is continually on the cutting edge of the industry, yet is also highly practical and results driven in his coaching and training. ACL injury prevention, and injury prevention in general, is a massive portion of the job of a sports performance coach, yet, it is important to ask, is a good injury prevention program any different  in nature than a good performance training program? Jeff Moyer has gotten tremendous results, not only in the injury rates of his athletes, but also in the speed by which he assists athletes in their return to play.  Jeff has been known to help athletes get back on the field, 5 and a half months after ACL surgery, but the tools he uses to do so are not far removed from his primary philosophy on strength training, biomechanics and performance. In today’s show, Jeff takes us inside his methods when it comes to a deeper look at ACL injury factors, as well as how his reconditioning and rehabilitation program mirrors his performance program elements.  We also get into some essential details of some unique weightlifting elements, plyometric training, as well as his use of the “Total Motion Release” system, which harnesses the cross-over effect in the brain to help athletes move and function better Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 3:50 Jeff’s take on promoting a training program specifically as an “ACL Prevention Program” 11:50 How Jeff is developing athletes from a perceptual standpoint, that can not only improve performance but also with the potential to reduce injury 19:50 Key performance indicators in change of direction that can keep athletes healthier and performing better 25:15 Philosophy of training tempo in weightlifting, as well as utilization of the 1x20 program and other training means that are useful in a reconditioning setting 36:50 Jeff’s take on plyometric and jump training, and how it compliments his lifting program 38:50 A look inside Jeff’s rapid-reconditioning program, working reconditioning alongside, ACL rehab 47:40 Jeff’s use of the Total Motion Release System in reducing pain and improving performance, and discussing the power of the cross-over effect in the brain  “There was a perceptive aspect to the (ACL) injury, and defensive players were more likely to tear their ACL than offensive players” “I think it’s crap to say that we have a prevention program and a rehab program or whatever, I think they are all one and the same (performance and prevention).  I think a prevention program is something that doctors pitch to make money” “That’s how I do my workout, 50% of it is weights, and 50% is the perceptual side” “I want the outside leg being the leg we plant and cut off of (in change of direction)” “Our training and rehab program are similar, we both start on 1x20; exercise selection is a missing conversation I don’t hear a lot when other people talk about 1x20, they just talk about sets and reps” “I find that the kBox is more joint friendly than traditional barbells” “Not early on in a training career is eccentric training important, you should look more to general strength” “The first thing (in an injury) is I seek to fix what is being protected.  Scars can be very disruptive to fascia or meridian lines” “That is a cheap and easy tool to use (in rehab) just go lie on the grass a half hour a couple of times a day”

Today’s episode features sports psychologist, Simon Capon.  Simon is a hypnotherapist, Master NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) practitioner, as well as the author of the book "It’s Time to Start Winning." Since 2006 Simon has worked with professional athletes, using variety of techniques including skills from NLP and hypnotherapy.  He has inspired athletes, footballers and numerous others to achieve national, international and world titles. Simon’s philosophy is simple, create self-belief and your behaviors and actions will change and so will your results, this will have the effect of reinforcing your belief as a winning performer. Belief in your ability is imperative at high-level competitive sport. For all of the time we spend on learning about training our muscles and nervous system, we probably look into the impact of our mind and belief systems on our results with about 1/100th of the intensity.  This is ironic, because the linchpin for so many athletes in their sport success is one of a limiting self-belief, rather than gaining a few more inches on one’s vertical jump or tenths of a second in sprinting speed.  Not only this, but one’s belief systems have a massive impact on how we train and condition our bodies to the point where a stronger mind can create better physical training results as well. I found Simon Capon’s book after coming across his hypnosis for sprinting (his is the only one I’ve been able to find across the entire world-wide-web).  Shortly thereafter, I read Simon’s book, and found it a tremendous source of information, particularly on using our physiology in a positive way to impact our mind.   On the show today, Simon talks about his process of assessing mental training needs, the link between our body and mind (and how to “hack” into our deeper emotional brain), how to unwire limiting belief systems, and the importance of the present moment (and how to live there, rather than in the past or future).  This was an awesome show that has relevance far beyond just the field of play. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 6:00 Simon’s introduction to Sports Psychology and Neuro-linguistic Programming 14:20 Simon’s process of assessing mental skills and needs 23:50 The link between our body, our posture, and how it connects with our minds and our performance 34:20 Methods for using one’s body language and posture to create a mental and emotional response 44:15 How we can get a better handle on our emotional brain to keep our performance consistent and at a high level 55:45 How to unwire one’s thoughts caused from prior negative feedback from a coach 1:00.30 How athletes can fully engage themselves in the present moment  “I had a great fear of what people expected from me as a player” “If I was more mentally prepared, I would have fulfilled my full potential (as a player)” “We need to create a state of mind that is exactly the same as whatever we are doing.  So whether we are training or in a competitive state it makes no difference.  The reality is that we are creating habits and automatic responses, so whatever you are doing, it is the same response time after time” “Whenever there has been a poor performance, we get a piece of paper and write all the ways we can make the next performance better… We don’t ask “what went wrong”” “We have to fail to be able to improve.  Failure is a must and it must be accepted as feedback” “It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, there is always someone who will come along and take the top spot” “Whenever I come out, you either get all of me, or none of me, and my confidence comes purely from my physiology: proud, tall, shoulders back, head held high, confident in each step”

Today’s episode features segments with Paul Cater, Rachel Balkovec and Rafe Kelley in part II of our mini-series on perspectives in this time of social distancing and staying-at-home on coaching, training and becoming the strongest version of ourselves. Paul Cater is the founder of the “Alpha Project” in Salinas, California, and has over 18 years of experience as an international strength and conditioning coach.  Paul has worked with the London Wasps Premier Rugby Team, the Baltimore Orioles, USA Rugby, as well as numerous high school, college and professional athletes.  Paul has written a number of popular articles on Just Fly Sports on the topics of coaching, creativity and service, and makes his first appearance on the podcast. Rachel Balkovec is a pro baseball hitting coach, working with the New York Yankees.  She has made history in acquiring her role in her current position, as well as when she become a minor league strength and conditioning coordinator for the St. Louis Cardinals from 2011-15.  Rachel has also worked in strength and conditioning for the Houston Astros, as well as the Dutch national baseball and softball teams as well as many other successful organizations.  She recently appeared on episode 194 of this podcast talking about coaching and organizational leadership. Rafe Kelley is the owner of Evolve, Move, Play, and was a guest on episode 174 of the podcast.  Rafe’s primary specialization is parkour, and he also has experience in modern training disciplines such as sprinting, basketball, gymnastics, crossfit, FRC, modern dance and many others.  Rafe’s passion to is help people build the physical practice that will help make them the strongest, most adaptable and resilient version of themselves in movement and in life. This episode furthers our topic from last week, which is lessons learned from our “downtime” from in-person coaching, as well as how we are training and learning without our typical gym facilities.  Times where things “contract” (as opposed to the typical expansion), as well as times of necessity are always powerful learning experiences, and I’ve learned something valuable from each of the 6 coaches in this short series, and I know you will as well. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 3:00  How spending so much time running a business had taken Paul Cater away from the core of training itself 7:45  Expanding the idea of storytelling in a training session and the importance of creativity in coaching 18:00  How sprinting should be a solid root of an athlete or even coach’s movement and training practice 25:20  How Rachel Balkovec has been adjusting her training routine since being taken from her typical gym 31:20  How Rachel maintains awareness, as well as trains, her breathing in various situations 38:50  Things Rachel is learning in general in this time period 43:20  How Rafe’s personal practice hasn’t been altered due to his “atypical” training environment 53:20  How a typical play session in nature can shake out for Rafe 58:20  Comparing the physical effects of natural parkour to other barbell practices 1:03.50  How introducing obstacles and challenges into running can improve engagement and variability  “It’s been a blessing to be forced to stay home” Paul Cater “Most of the coaches I know and respect will put more of a priority on the barbell rather than the “sprint first” mentality, it’s the path of least resistance…. It’s harder to go outside and have a really in depth sprint session” Paul Cater “Every training session really, is an experience.  Within that every day is a story, an epoch, a saga of overcoming.  Hill running is a metaphor… there’s something about running up a hill” Paul Cater

Today’s episode (part I of II) is actually three talks in one show, featuring segments with Jeremy Frisch, Rob Assise, and Dr. Tommy John. In our current world situation, many have found themselves without our typical training structures.  This can be anything from not having a team, or partners, to train with anymore, a lack of gym space, and a lack of a training equipment in general.  It’s times like these that, although tough, can allow us to shave things down, to the essentials of how we are training, and perhaps more importantly, why we are training in the first place.  Each of our guests have had one or multiple appearances on the show before and were those who have a unique perspective on getting to the core essentials of training and movement. Jeremy Frisch is a former NCAA D1 strength coach who is now the owner of Achieve Performance in Clinton, Massachusetts.  He is a leader in youth training and play, as well as all-around performance coach who works with athletes of all levels.   Jeremy not only coaches physical prep methods, but is also involved in team sport coaching on the youth level. Rob Assise is a teacher and track coach at Homewood-Flossmoor high school who has written some fantastic articles (How I Deal with the Restrictions of COVID-19 and One Man’s Dive Into Extreme Isometrics) on his use of “Extreme Isometrics” in his at-home workouts, a topic of which we went into detail on for today’s show. Dr. Tommy John is a chiropractor, author and performance coach who is no stranger to this show.  Tommy has an awesome ability to blend health, training and big-picture ideas into a powerful message in our own performance.  His workout, training style, and overall message is one that brings out our true power as human beings. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 3:45 Jeremy Frisch’s take on how COVID19 is bringing children back to a more natural mode of play, albeit in context of current restrictions 8:50  The difference between movement and exercise for children, and when they are mature enough to make that distinction 13:35 Jeremy’s own workouts, and what he does to train in his basement gym setup 21:40  What Rob’s workout is looking like with his own daily schedule 29:45  How using extreme ISO’s offers good benefits for endurance of speed and strength qualities to athletes 35:00  Tommy John’s workouts and how they haven’t really changed much since quarantines 45:45  The importance of cultivating a creative practice in coaching 54:00  The inner meaning behind why we train, and the distinction between playing and training  “(kids) Riding bikes has been brought back from the ashes, which is nice to see” “I feel there is a silver lining, because of some of the things that are happening out in the world, we have to go back to what we were doing when we were kids” “While moving is great for kids, they don’t have the maturity to understand what exercise really is” “I felt like I could feel the (cycling of energy systems) in the last minute, or minute an a half of a lunge.  It’s something you have to try and see” “I hated doing the 5 minute ISO lunge while I was doing it, but afterwards I felt completely at peace.  I never regretted it afterwards” “(After doing 5 minute ISO lunges 11x a week) playing “old man basketball”, flat out, I just did not get tired.  I was able to go as hard as I could, for pretty much the whole game” “My training has not changed much, but my miles in walking have” Dr. Tommy John “We’re all artists, whether it’s programming or bringing in information in a creative way” “I love walking because it’s an ever-changing environment, it’s outside… there’s different people, there’s different flowers,

Today’s episode features Marc Bubbs, naturopathic doctor, performance nutritionist, and author of the best-selling new book "PEAK - The New Science of Athletic Performance That Is Revolutionizing Sport." An integrated and personalized approach to health, nutrition, training, recovery and mindset. Marc currently serves as the Performance Nutrition Lead for the Canadian Men's National Basketball Team and has a portfolio of elite and professional athletes in Canada, USA, UK and Europe.  He is also the host of the Dr. Bubbs Performance Podcast, bringing together insights from world-leading experts in health, nutrition, training, recovery and mindset. Having better health (things such as having good nutrition, a diverse gut-biome, strong immune system, adequate sleep and a de-stressed mind) is impactful for not only athletes, but the general population, and is therefore a distinctly “human” element of the human -> athlete -> specialist sequence.  When it comes to athletics, however, markers of health are not always put as much of a priority compared to training methods and sport skills.  As Mark mentions on the show, consistency as a result of good health is very important when it comes to achieving better training over a period of time. Topics on this episode include the essential elements of a health-centered approach to athletics and human performance, including sleep, gut-biome & nutrition, mental training and mindfulness in a “screen-time” age, and even concepts on team cohesion revolving around food and nutrition.  This is a podcast that not only helps to fill those gaps between training and the human being, but also is one that helps us to continually have a “human first”, “athlete second” perspective that is so important to the well-being of those we serve in the field. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 3:40 Marc’s background in the industry of health and athletics 6:10 The crossover between health and fitness/performance and importance of consistency 10:20 When health related decisions (e.g. sleep and nutrition) really start showing up for athletes in their performance 14:40 How cooking, food and the related community is an important part of team  culture and cohesion in sports 19:25 The “triage” list in starting to work with an athlete on prioritizing health before training modalities, and all this well before recovery modalities (Penfold’s pyramid) 24:55 Sleep debt and athletic performance 34:10 How humming and singing provides beneficial adaptations to the human body and can create more grounds for group cohesion 36:10 The importance of one’s gut microbiome in health and human performance 49:40 Mental and psychological training and relaxation methods for athletes  “When we look at some of the research around national to international competitors (in endurance sports), we see that international level competitors get sick 40% less than national level competitors, so if you can just show up every day in the gym or not miss practice, and just not miss days, at the end of that year or block of four years you are going to be that much further ahead than the competition” "If you have got a 44” vertical leap and are the fastest guy on the floor, do we really need all these other things, or is just keeping you healthy enough to show up every day the key performance lever?” “In the UK, half of the grocery bill is spent on processed foods…. If you head to Paris, only 14% is spent on processed foods” “A lot of (team culture) starts with food (sitting at the dinner table together)” “The night before a game, athletes tend not to sleep well” “If a guy is getting less than 6.5 and gets his sleep up to 7.5, he can improve his testosterone by 10-15%”

Today’s episode features Evan Peikon.  Evan is a coach, physiologist, and educator at the Training Think Tank HQ in Atlanta, GA. He has experience working with athletes on-site and remotely across the U.S. and internationally.  Evan is a former track and field athlete and has learned from world-leading experts in applied muscle physiology and performance. I’ve recently found myself thinking about the topic of lactate as a factor in training, and how we should look to manage higher repetition training sets (such as 1x20, or the Inno-sport “AN2” bracket of work), longer sprints and lactate buffering work in general, in athletes.  I’ve also recently read Pavel Tsatsouline’s book “The Quick and the Dead”, presenting an “anti-lactate” view on training, but then think about contrasting this to the results Mark Wetzel (and many others) have gotten from doing long duration extreme isometrics with their athletes in the realms of strength and work capacity. I also think about ideas from the track and field world, such as Boo Schexnayder looking for a mild to moderate dose of lactate as a result of dense power training (such as 12x30m sprint accelerations) in some training periods, as well as Andy Eggerth mentioning how some athletes need to have some longer sprints present in peaking portions of the year, where they are accumulating a little bit of lactate. Evan Peikon is a fantastic source of information in this regard, as he has had tremendous mentors in the energy system world (such as Aaron Davis) and is regularly synthesizing his wealth of knowledge in working with a population where lactate is an ever-present reality, that of cross-fit competitors. On the show today, we talk about energy systems in an applied manner, and in a holistic manner that shows oxygen saturation as a rate-limiting factor that supercedes the thought process of lactate levels in muscle in regards to training effects and how long recovery processes will take.  This show is great for learning more about training individualization, as we go in depth on all things running, strength training, fast-twitch recruitment, 1x20 method and more, in regards to muscle oxygen, lactate and how it impacts our programming and methods. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points Evan’s background as an athlete and what drew his interest in lactate and oxygen’s role in assessing training differences in athletes What it means to have good or poor respiratory versus oxygen delivery in athletes Why having high muscular tension can reduce the ability of the heart to deliver oxygen to the muscle Thoughts on training the aerobic system for a short-burst power athlete How athletes can self-regulate workouts in a manner where they avoid staying in muscle hypoxia (in order to maximize their ability to recover from the workout) Thoughts on “Anti-Glycolytic Training” or training with the distinct purpose of not training to the point where significant lactate accumulates in the muscle Ideas on a “sweet spot” of sustained muscular work and physiological response Training for the sake of preferential improvement of fast twitch fibers Using an “ends to middle” style approach where power and aerobic work are trained early, and the lactate buffer zone is trained later in training   “I think the 800m run lends itself well to being that event that sparks your curiosity (on how such a spectrum of body types and training styles can excel at it)” “What is one man’s junk (running) volume, is another man’s great training tool” “I like the term “delivery” instead of cardiac output” “A delivery limitation is kind of a battle between the heart and local muscle physiology.  The muscle could vaso-dilate more than the heart could pump against (due ...

Today’s episode features neurology expert and personal trainer, Scott Robinson.  Scott is an Applied Movement Neurology (AMN) master practitioner and the creator of AMN Neuro-Flexibility.  He has worked successfully with all levels of neurological complexity in his time training and coaching a wide variety of clients.  Scott is a specialist in dealing with a variety of neurological issues, such as weakness, pain, compensations, range of motion and trauma to the emotional systems, amongst many others.  Scott is a former athlete in Taekwondo and has more than 20 years of experience in Applied Movement Neurology.  Scott also runs the Instagram account @the.brain.guy and is a presenter and practitioner at integrated vitality retreats. The nervous system is always an important and popular topic in the world of not only athletic performance, but human performance and development in general.    Our emotions and subconscious state, as well as our bioelectric network are all substantial players in how we train and recover, as well as stay healthy in the process.  Good coaches know these elements intuitively, but we are now starting to be able to point out the science and ideas behind it all.  Today’s show takes a step back from sets, reps and exercises, and looks at these higher-order influences on athletic performance from a perspective of the brain and nervous system. On the show, Scott talks about inhibitive factors of the nervous system, as well as the important leap in looking from athletes only in a chemical perspective, and to a bioelectric perspective, which has implications running into things like fascial performance and therapeutic modalities.   He also gets into the role of emotions and beliefs and their impact on training, as well as methods that can be used to help clear these inhibiting factors.  Finally, we get into an awesome talk on the critical factors by which learning can take place in a session, and how this impacts our entry point into the workout itself, drawing a lot of parallels with my prior show with Rafe Kelley.  This show starts great, and just gets better as we go along, and has tons of gems throughout that are truly game-changing for any coach or athlete. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points Scott’s background as a distance runner and martial artist, as well as how he got into neurology and brain-science and its connection with athletics Elements that hold the nervous system back from producing the strength it is capable of (bioelectric dysfunction, nociception, etc.) How Scott looks at a client from a bioelectric perspective How foam rollers really work in regards to the body, the nervous system and performance The role of emotions in training and how emotion plays a role in adapting to exercise The use of emotional freedom technique to help clear limbic trauma that is inhibiting performance on the sporting field Why the “Haka” is so powerful for the All-Blacks, but also an unfair advantage in regards of it’s emotional impact on the other team Ways that we can allow our brain to learn better, particularly in context of physical activity The role of attention and novelty in athlete learning How to use novelty in warm-up games to stimulate and drive urgency and attention and drive better learning   “Bioelectricity underpins everything in the nervous system… I work with that bioelectricity and anywhere in the body there is dysfunction or pain or weakness, or anything that’s not quite right, you’ll find that there will be an altered bioelectric charge” “Medical science tends to look at the body almost from a chemical perspective” “The extracellular matrix is kind of like the body’s wi-fi network” “One of the biggest things I see in terms of chan...

Today’s episode features Logan Christopher, strongman, author, owner of Legendary Strength and CEO of Lost Empire Herbs.  Logan previously appeared on episode 111 where he discussed mental training in depth, including the utilization of hypnosis and mental anchors. Alongside his athletic and business pursuits, Logan has also written several books including “Mental Muscle” and “Powered by Nature”, both of which I have found impactful reads.  Logan is a master of using the natural machinery of the body and our environment to help us reach our highest potential as humans. I wanted to get Logan back on the show for a few reasons.  One was that he lives only an hour and a half away from me in Santa Cruz, and I knew that it would be a blast to train with him prior to recording the show.  Secondly, I had took some inspiration from my past show with Logan and started using his mental training hypnosis tracks prior to my training sessions, along with using his herbs, primarily his “Phoenix” formula (containing herbs such as Ant Extract and Pine Pollen) as well as an adaptogenic mushroom tincture I put in my morning coffee.  The results, were profound.  Although I don’t like to pin training gains on one thing only, I managed to jump higher that year at age 35 than I had in the last 5 years.  My training and overall strength had found rapid improvement, and I knew there was something special to this process.  Finally, I had been reading Logan’s articles around the time I started using his herbs and came across a drawing he referred to as the “Pyramid of Strength” (see show notes), and with everything I head learned about training the last few years, this made perfect sense to me, so I wanted to explore it in depth. On today’s show, we cover just that, the Pyramid of strength, and get Logan’s take on each layer (Mental, Training, Sleep, Diet,Herbs/ Supplements, Spiritual) of what makes us thrive as athletes and human beings. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.  View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points How awkward objects and kettlebells can add value to a training sessions The layout and inspiration behind Logan’s “Pyramid of Strength” How mental state in the gym and training filters over into one’s sport How Logan approaches sleep and recovery in his own training An overview of performance herbalism and how herbalism differs from chemically driven supplements The drawbacks of typical chemical pre-workouts and herbal alternatives to these The primary herbs to look at for athletic performance Logan’s coffee additives (or replacement) for a more natural energy source   “For most guys the color pink is actually going to weaken them” “Every single (training) system out there is a limited collection of movements and if we are looking at health, all around athleticism, the more different movements you’ll do, the better off you’ll be” “We are thinking and feeling beings; that involves everything we are doing.  There is often a cursory acknowledgement of mental aspects of training, but there often isn’t a dialing into that and a mental understanding” “For performance, diet is not the most important thing, because how many Olympic athletes are eating Cheetos and crap food?  Most of these athletes are younger guys, so there is a period you can do that, but if you want long term performance, that is not a sustainable thing” “I would say that everyone is visualizing before an exercise, but they may not be aware of it, period” “Often, people think of just getting to this ideal technique, but there are layers and layers of improving your internal technique and how you are talking to yourself, things that are going on inside, and that’s still all technique as well” “Music is used to control state,

Today’s episode is a question and answer session where I take a break from the typical interview format and reflect on listener questions.  I always enjoy doing these shows, since it’s great to get a pulse on what training topics are on the mind of the coaching community. For this show, the particular focus was questions on sprinting and sprint training, as well as a lot of ideas on jumping in conjunction with foot strength.  We also touched on a lot of physical preparation principles, such as correction of asymmetry and how I’ve changed my philosophy in working with team sport athletes over time. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.   Key Points Things I’ve changed in working with team sports My thoughts on the Soviet training literature Foot strength and single leg jumping ability How I would create a training program for a U20 sprint program Volumes of sprinting and bounding for dunk/jump training What I would utilize in the weightroom if I had only one exercise to perform Tempo sprints for single leg jumping Maximal speed sprinting as opposed to slightly submaximal speed work Thoughts on the POSE method in running Asymmetric in the weightroom versus dynamic performance Thoughts on movement and Ido Portal style training How a one foot jumper can get better at two foot jumping How I utilize Marinovich training methods in my own training programs How I’ve adjusted Triphasic Training means based on neuro-types and individual athlete response About Joel Smith Joel Smith is an NCAA Division I Strength Coach working in the PAC12 conference.  A track coach of 11 years, Joel is also a coach for the Diablo Valley Track and Field Club, and also has 6 years of experience coaching sprints, jumps, hurdles, pole vault and multi-events on the collegiate level. Joel has coached 2 national champions, multiple All-Americans and school record holders in his time as a track coach. In the realm of strength and conditioning, his programs have assisted 5 athletes to Olympic berths that produced 9 medals and a world record performance in Rio in 2016. In 2011, Joel began Just Fly Sports with Jake Clark as a central platform to promote information for athletes and coaches to reach their highest potential.  The first episode of the “Just Fly Performance Podcast” was released in 2016, now a leading source of education in the sports performance field. Before working in the PAC12 conference, Joel spent 6 years in the realms of coaching, college lecturing, personal training, and thesis research.  Joel’s certifications include Neurological and Physical Typing from BATI, CSCS, MAT Jumpstart, and NKT level 1, as well as USA Track and Field credentials.  Joel is also well-versed in the Be-Activated protocols as taught by Douglas Heel, and has been extensively mentored by sprint and sport movement coach Adarian Barr.

Today’s episode features András Hegyi, a final-stage Ph.D. student working at the Neuromuscular Research Center at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland.  His Ph.D. work focuses on regional and inter-muscular hamstrings EMG activity in different hamstring exercises and in running. Hegyi's recently published thesis can be found at University of Jyväskylä. Hegyi is interested in improving biomechanical methodologies to assess hamstrings to further understand hamstring muscle function and injury mechanisms. We’ve done some great episodes on hamstring injury prevention in the past, such as episode 161 with Jake Schuster and 158 with JB Morin.  This show is another fantastic addition to that series as András is a wealth of knowledge on the topic, being well versed on what the research yields in regards to many aspects of training and hamstring development, as well as what is functionally asked of the hamstrings in sprinting and sport. When it comes to hamstrings and injury prevention, a common question is: “What exercises should I do in the gym to help this process”?  An important aspect of the gym and sprinting is that the way these elements “hit the hamstrings” is quite different.  It is important to know what we can, and can’t do in the weightroom to create robust athletes. In this episode, András goes into hamstring strain mechanisms, Nordic hamstrings and variations, different gym exercises that hit different aspects of the hamstring musculature, sprinting and it’s role in injury prevention.  He also shares his thoughts on training the adductor magnus as a synergist of the hamstring.  Another important point covered is the importance of individual muscle activation differences in sprinting versus what we see in the gym, which has big implications on how we are training and assessing athletes. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points András’ background as an athlete and researcher Primary reasons for a hamstring strains from a physiological and biomechanical perspective Dynamics of isometric exercises and muscle-tendon activity Thoughts on if a Nordic hamstring is actually an eccentric exercise Nordic hamstring training and rotational elements of the hamstring The diver and glider exercises for hamstring health How doing a Nordic hamstring with flexed versus extended hips changes the training effect of the movement Anterior pelvic tilt and effect on the hamstring during a Nordic hamstring The role of sprinting in injury prevention Training for the adductor magnus and it’s role in hip extension and hamstring injury prevention   “The magnitude of fiber stretch is a good predictor of strain injury” “When we stretch a muscle to failure, highly activated muscle absorbs more energy than passive muscle” “The hamstrings must absorb a lot of energy in the late swing phase of running” “The muscle cannot tolerate the same amount of stretch when it is fatigued” “Increased hamstrings activity decreases the magnitude of fiber stretch in the late swing phase” “A big anterior pelvic tilt stretches the (hamstring more) and it typically increases with fatigue” “(In a Nordic hamstring) there is actually a shortening behavior of the fascicles first, then there it’s kind of isometric, and the eccentric only happens at the peak knee flexion torque” “Eccentrics help you to absorb more energy in the late swing phase of running” “When the hips were flexed to 90 degrees, then we reached much higher knee flexion torque; but interestingly the hamstrings activation was much lower, and what this means is that we have more inhibition in the hamstrings and the passive force was higher.  With flexed hips, we have more of an eccentric component,

Today’s episode features gym owner and sports performance coach Mike Kozak and physical therapist, Stephen Laflamme.   Mike Kozak is the Owner of SOAR Fitness in Columbus, Ohio.  He has trained hundreds of youth athletes as well as a number of current and prospective college and pro athletes. Mike has previously worked as a physical education teacher and youth basketball coach.  He frequently hosts “Rewire” clinics with Adarian Barr and is a fervent student of biomechanics and cutting edge sports performance techniques. He has written several articles for Just Fly Sports. Stephen Laflamme attained his clinical Doctorate of Physical Therapy from The Ohio State University in 2016 and graduated from the University of Maine in 2012 with a Bachelor's Degree in Exercise Science; also attaining his Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist Certification.  Stephen competed twice in the Arnold Weightlifting Championships and qualified for the 2015 National University Championship in weightlifting. Stephen has traveled the country to be a part of the nation's best educational programs and learn from the nation's best professionals. When it comes to things like bilateral and single leg squatting, everyone tends to have their own favorite variations, but how often do we think about exactly why we are performing a front, Zercher or RFE split squat?  Are we prescribing these exercises based on what other coaches are utilizing, or based on the individual characteristics and needs of our athletes? In today’s episode Mike and Stephen get into both general and specific principles in catering to athletes optimally in these basic strength movements.  We had a great recent episode with Justin Moore in episode 176 talking about “knees in” from a holistic perspective, getting into the hydraulics of the body and the pelvic floor.  In this episode we continue in that vein, and get particularly into this dynamic in squatting, landing and jumping, and the differences that exist here, as well as practical training ramifications.  Finally, Mike and Stephen talk about training the foot, as well as integrating some concepts learned from Adarian Barr.  Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.  View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points General squatting concepts that make the movement more athletic Squat method difference based on hip structure (eg. anterior vs. posterior tilted) Why you might Zercher squat an athlete vs. front squat, as well as how various positions in RFE split squat bias different elements of movement Approaching athletes who lack hip internal rotation in a sequential manner “Knees in” concepts, timing, and jump training Squatting in respect to “knees out” and hip internal rotation Generalities in ACL prevention training Working with athletes who over-pronate “On my end, higher box safety bar squats seem to be the one that works the best for the majority of my population” Kozak “We’ve been big on the heels elevated ramps (while squatting)… putting them up on that buys them some more room to sit down” Kozak “In order to squat effectively, you need to be able to posteriorly rotate the pelvis, and the hamstrings are a really important muscle to be able to do that; by squatting to a high box, the hamstrings always stay within the range of motion where they can contribute to hip extension” Laflamme  “A split squat with my left foot in front and a kettlebell in my right hand would bias internal rotation of my front leg.  A kettlebell in my left hand would bias external rotation” Laflamme “If someone is really spongy when they land and can’t get off the ground quick, those are the people you see with the sway back posture, and it looks like the hips are tipped backwards.  By bringing them forward and getting a little more tr...

Today’s episode features Dr. Nick Serio.  Nick received his doctorate of education in sport and performance psychology from the University of Western States.  He is the co-owner and general manager of the “Athlete’s Warehouse” located in Pleasantville, New York. Nick also serves as the head pitching coach at Fox Lane high school, where the baseball team has had tremendous success.   I watched Nick’s presentation on medicine ball training he did at the NISMAT symposium, which was a phenomenal and creative demonstration of special strength training for pitchers.  Nick’s work is the epitome of the full-spectrum blend of knowledge of sport specific skill needs, appropriate special strength exercises, as well as solid general strength principles.    Nick’s special strength medicine ball programming is facilitating significant increases in players throwing speeds, all while keeping their arms healthy, as they avoid throwing baseballs year round (a huge factor in getting injured or burning out early).  Despite the impressive results he gets, Nick is a very honest and transparent individual, as he also indicates the many other training modalities the players are doing (plyometrics, resistance training) as well as simply growing and maturing. Regardless, Nick’s creative solutions to training are something special to learn about, and have ramifications for all throwing athletes, and rotational sports. On the show today, Nick goes into the factors contributing to the massive injury increases in baseball, and how his medicine ball program can help combat this.  He also chats about general principles in training throwers, postural issues, and then gets into the fine points of his medicine ball training program. Nick also addresses the action of the front block leg in throwing, which is a universal principle, applicable to a great variety of rotational sports.  Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.  View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points An assessment of the factors contributing to the massive increases in injury in baseball How Nick approaches upper and lower extremity work for throwing and rotational athletes from a general weightroom perspective Addressing postural issues with throwing athletes A full description of Nick’s medicine ball training program designed to improve pitch mechanics and velocity while taking load off of the arm and elbow Training the action of the front leg, the block or brake leg in throwing and swinging actions   “There is a lot going on at younger ages that is missed because we are focusing so much on major league baseball.  The demands to get recruited and how we get recruited right now, put a tremendous amount of stress on a young pitcher’s arm” “We created a system to try and attain this velocity (needed to reach the next athletic level) without putting further stress on them (through medicine ball training)”   “In the past, it was the parents that have the answers, today, it is the kids who have the answers” “I think it’s ridiculous that we have a pitch count in baseball… how many of those pitches in that 100 pitches were maximal intent? Well that’s going to take way more of a taxation of his out than a 2 outs, no runners on situation” “When you look at most high level throwers, they are going to have retroversion in their shoulder, and that’s from throwing at that younger age; their body is doing that at those morphing times where we are going to have those improvements” “Any real rotational athlete we’re looking at a couple things: we are looking at the reverse lunge… we love the overhead squat… and then a bear crawl, we are infatuated with crawling.. and then obviously sprinting” “It’s difficult for me to differentiate the shoulder region from the hip region if I don’t account for the la...

Today’s episode features John Garrish, director of athletic development & performance at North Broward Preparatory School in Coconut Creek, Florida, and the school’s head track and field coach.  John has previously served as the Director of Athletic Performance with the Florida Rugby Union’s High-Performance Program 7’s team, and has been involved in numerous other strength and sport coaching roles. He also serves as the National High School Strength Coaches Association Regional Board Member for the Southeast. John is a passionate, creative and detail oriented coach, who distributes his methods freely through his social media outlets.  At North Broward prep, John has the challenges of teaching speed and athletic movement to large groups of athletes at a time.  In doing so, he has implemented a variety of unique mini-hurdle variations with arm position, as well as hand and finger positioning, these each having unique impacts on the athletes.  John is a tremendous compiler of data and sprint images, and it was a joy to pick his brain on his speed training implementation and discoveries. On the show today, John covers his management of the weight room at North Broward and how he manages large groups of athletes with a small support staff.  He describes his use of gallops and various skips as an important part of his warm-up process, and then gets into all of the mini-hurdle speed constraints in his program, which is a true highlight.   This was a fantastic episode on speed training for not just the high school athlete, but any athlete seeking improved speed and explosive ability. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points John’s management of the weight room at North Broward Prep John’s assessment process having a large number of athletes John’s use of gallops and skips in training his athletes Progressions as young athletes pass through John’s program Various constraints John utilizes in his flying sprint training How John has experimented with various hand positions during sprinting “Usually what I look for (in assistant high school coaches) there is I find the teachers on campus that the students love, because there’s something different about them and they bring out passion in the students” “The kids know there is going to be some sort of assessment on a daily basis” “My first 3-4 years I avoided the 40 yard dash like the plague, but I was timing 30m dashes, and kids were asking what it would be in their 40 yard dash” “I think the more we get back to skips, and gallops and hops and jumps, the better for the long term development of our kids” “Once we started (skips) going for speed, seeing some positions the athletes found themselves in was pretty cool to see” “From a standpoint of those fly’s and sprints we’re testing, there are 3 big challenges we are going to look at for our students: There is an overhead.  Rotation is big.  And then also drills that help us focus on better front-side action (but realizing what’s happening within context with the ground.” “One of the things I was seeing (running fly sprints with a stick overhead) is I was seeing an over-correction and an excessive arch in the spine, and it might look good in a kinogram, but it wasn’t what our students need was” “If we use constraints, (we) still use rotation, they’ve never over-corrected with too much rotation” “I started toying with different hand positions with pulsers or weights (during fly sprints), I don’t think that’s a thing we looked at much during the first three years” “Normal grip with the pulsers, or anything in the hands, with acceleration that was really forceful, but when we got to upright running, it wasn’t how I wanted it to be” “What you saw the hand starting to do,

Today’s episode features Tyler Yearby and Michael Zweifel. Tyler Yearby is a Former Strength & Conditioning Coach at Northeastern State University and the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities who has delivered over 200 domestic & international continuing education courses, workshops, and conference presentations in 12 countries.  Tyler has, and continues to work with athletes ranging from youth to professional.  Michael Zweifel is the owner and head of sports performance for “Building Better Athletes” performance center in Dubuque, Iowa.  Michael has been on a number of previous Just Fly Performance Podcast episodes, focusing largely on the development of reactive agility and transferable sport movement.  Tyler and Michael are both a part of “Emergence” which is a movement skill education company. When it comes to building athletes in the agility and change of direction space, attitudes are changing and coaches are realizing how important it is to teach perception and decision making in a variety of situations, to eventually transfer better to sport.  Agility done for the sake of running through cones as fast as possible is very limited in what it can do for an athlete in a chaotic sport environment, and podcast #76 was the epitome of that information. Today’s show takes those same ideas of reactivity and creative movement, and puts it into the structure of the weight room: resistance training and plyometric exercises.  Tyler and Michael try to mirror their approach to an “athlete based” model of problem solving throughout an entire program, and in this episode they share how creative means are utilized in the weight room to not only improve movement and robustness, but also stoke the fires of athlete creativity.  On the show today, we dig into what these sequences look like, and get to the core of “athlete centered” training in the weight room on the level of variability, and much more. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points What the motor learning concept of “repetition without repetition” means on a basic level How Michael and Tyler are using motor learning and “repetition without repetition” principles in the weightroom What a typical “repetition without repetition” weightroom training sequence would look like in the pre-season training period What “athlete centered” training and coaching looks like How ideas on variability affect plyometric and reactive training How to adjust training variability based on an athlete’s readiness   “Repetition without repetition is not the means to solving a given motor problem, but the process of that solution.  It is the changing and improving from rep to rep and the means of that, so everything essentially slightly changes as we perform any type of motor action”  Yearby “We view sport as a problem solving activity… we view the weightroom as assistive to this problem solving activity”  Zweifel “(In regards of variables to change from set to set) One (variation) is tempo, the other is stance” Yearby “(Regarding lifting in awkward positions) Don’t our athletes need to be able to express force, despite the compromised positions they find themselves in the field?” Zweifel “The learning centered approach doesn’t mean that you let the athlete do whatever they want” Yearby “For me personally, in my athletes, I’ll gladly take a 20% weight reduction in a compound lift to have on this repetition without repetition scheme (different types of repetitions each set or rep)” Zweifel “My athletes have given me a ton of feedback that me allowing them to explore in the weightroom, to be creative, and to own their own movements in the weightroom, have given them the confidence to do the same things out in the field” Zweifel

Today’s episode features running coach, biomechanist, and endurance athlete, Helen Hall.  Helen is the author of “Even With Your Shoes On”, a comprehensive manual on teaching running in a natural manner based on the sensory capabilities of the human body.  She is a minimalist ultra-distance runner, 6 times Ironman and credited with being the world’s first ‘barefoot’ Iron(wo)man.  Helen is the owner of the Perpetual Forward Motion School of Efficient Running, as well as a running injury clinic.  Helen uses the latest movement science and gait analysis technology to help people find solutions for their pain and injuries. Helen is a level 4 Anatomy in Motion practitioner (former podcast guest Gary Ward’s system).  Helen’s framework of building running technique based on sensory feedback, joint motion, and self-organization is unique and a breath of fresh air, given the lack of importance many coaching systems place on body awareness and natural learning.  Even if you aren’t interested in running, the principles from Helen’s system carry over to sprinting, jumping and any other human movement that involves the gait cycle. In the last five to ten years, many of my own ideas on what constitutes effective technical coaching have been reformulated, based on the sensory and self-organization capabilities of the human body.   Helen’s book has been a capstone of sorts on this period of learning in my own life, so I was excited to get her on the show to talk about her approach to coaching. On the show, we talk about how and why running shouldn’t be an injury-inducing form of exercise, as well as many points on Helen’s philosophy of improving running and human movement.  Some specifics include the importance of awareness, why moving joints is superior to manual “muscle activation”, using lunge variations to determine glute contribution to running, as well as building running technique from a sagittal to frontal to transverse plane sequence, specifically addressing the role of posture and fixing “crossover” running. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points The question of jogging and running as a natural form of exercise, and if we as humans are actually “born to run” How a person can find their own best running technique through a process of noticing one’s own body Answering the question if there is ever room for internal cues in a coaching system Why activating and moving joints is superior to concentrically activating muscles for performance Using lunge variations to see if a runner could activate their glutes while moving How to build running technique through awareness and joint mobiliziation drills from a sagittal, frontal and then transverse plane sequence How to optimize running posture using wall-based spinal alignments How to fix crossover gait using frontal plane drill work   “I passionately believe we are (born to run) because toddlers are at it before they really even can walk well” “Running is just another speed, another gear.  A whole array of different speeds is what we do well.  Going further and going long is what we do best of all.  Enduring is in our evolutionary history” “People are disconnected from the way that they are doing anything… nobody notices anything.” “When a person runs and gets injured, is it how their body wants to run, or is it what they’ve been taught or think they should be doing.  If it’s not what their body wants to do, but it’s being inflicted on the body by an opinion, then it’s quite possible that the body might not like it” “It’s not about telling people “how to”…. There’s a lot of confusion because so many of these “guidelines” contradict each other” “Let’s start by exploring, how do you walk,

Today’s episode features Erik Korem and Keir Wenham-Flatt.  Erik Korem is the associate athletic director for student athlete high-performance and Keir Wenham-Flatt is the coordinator of football performance.   Erik and Keir are a veritable all-star team of athletic development, with knowledge spanning all arenas of performance that transfers to the field. Erik brings nearly two decades of national expertise to his current position at William and Mary at the professional and collegiate levels, most recently, serving as the Director of Sports Science for the National Football League's Houston Texans, and previously, the high-performance coordination at the University of Kentucky football.  Keir has extensive experience in rugby physical preparation, and recently has expanded his repertoire to American football and University Olympic sports in his employment in the USA, in addition to his founding of rugbystrengthcoach.com. As we’ve talked about on other shows, strength, and even speed, is only a part of the equation on preparing athletes to be their best on the day of competition (albeit, an important part).  This podcast goes in depth on how Erik and Keir approach those two facets of performance from a perspective of maximal efficiency and effectiveness. The show expands to more “global” topics of high performance which includes the specificity of “mental toughness” and performance in high-pressure situations, as well as the role of emotional state in long-term sport success.  We also cover ideas regarding a global model (James Smith’s book “Governing Dynamics” is a big one here) of sport training that can help synchronize sport and strength coaches in their combined efforts.  We also get into the data provided by GPS, focusing on how team speed readings are an indicator of the flow of game play. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points Erik and Keir’s thoughts on agility and change of direction training on the field of play The use of maximal speed training for the sake of injury prevention in American football How GPS and game speed and acceleration can be a significant factor in looking at the strategy of how a football game is played How Erik and Keir utilize athlete performance logs and wellness readings The specificity of “toughness” and resilience in high pressure and over-time play situations How the “Governing Dynamics of Sport” is impacting conversations that Erik and Keir are having with the sport coaches at their university The importance of mental and emotional factors and sport success, especially at higher levels Year to year progressions in strength training for athletes for maximal long-term development   “You can have two athletes in the same position, with different physical gifts who solve a problem with two different means, and what we try and do is provide them with a guided learning environment to discover what works (for change of direction in a game like setting)”  Wenham-Flatt “How many times do you have to see an elite athlete do something that’s “wrong” before you understand that they are probably doing it the right way”  Wenham-Flatt “There are three ways to win warfare: More force, more speed, or misdirection… when everybody is different, everybody is going to be naturally geared towards solving sport problems by different means.  The less you have of one thing, the more you need of the others” Wenham-Flatt “For the most part we are getting guys to that 90% (sprinting in season) threshold or greater, our skills and our mid-skill positions” Korem “In games, it’s not always great to say “oh! We had all these players run over X amount of speed” because it could mean that they are chasing somebody” Korem

Today’s episode features Bobby Whyte, an athletic performance and basketball skill enhancement trainer operating out of Northern New Jersey. Focusing on developing the complete player athlete, Bobby practices the “Evaluate – Educate -Empower” program he experienced first hand growing up training with now world-renowned trainers and specialists.  Bobby has worked with athletes ranging from beginner to NBA/NFL/Overseas Professionals. Most recently, he spent 6 months working in China as the Head Strength Coach for the Guangxi Rhinos. Bobby’s story is inspirational, overcoming severe struggles in his early 20’s, to turning his life around and becoming a top-level basketball skills and athletic performance trainer.  His story is the epitome of the idea of going through the deepest valley in order to reach the highest mountain.  Bobby is the exact kind of coach I would have loved to have as a young athlete, he truly cares about the individual person, more than he cares about the results that they achieve (although he is excellent at getting those sporting results). Bobby is a coach who trains physical development and skills all under one roof, as he is a certified strength coach, as well as an expert developer of basketball abilities.  In today’s podcast, Bobby begins with his own inspirational story, and how it has impacted his coaching and investment in the lives of his athletes on a daily basis.  In terms of training and technical information, Bobby takes us through his program from general skill to specific skill development, and everything in between.   He also gives us his take on the over-specialization of young basketball players and his use of breathing techniques help athletes de-stress.  This episode is a chance to step inside the life of a coach who is changing the lives of those he works with. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points Bobby’s story of how he turned his life around in a positive direction and got into coaching Bobby’s philosophy of putting the athlete first, personally, before their sport performance training Ideas on the general physical skills needed to support the game of basketball A typical training day with Bobby as he covers both skill and strength work Bobby’s baselines for each player he works with from a physical perspective Thoughts on the FMS and movement screening in general Key movements Bobby wants his athletes to be good at in the sport of basketball Bobby’s thoughts on year round basketball and over-specialization Bobby’s use of breath work in his training space   “As bad as my life was, I don’t regret it, because it’s turned me into the person I am today… my ability to relate with people who struggle” “99% of my clients are basketball players, and I could care less if they become a really great basketball player if they don’t like who they see in the morning when they look in the mirror” “The more I learn about my athletes, the more I can help” “Before we get in the gym, the court, before we even get there, I just want to sit down and talk…. I ask them “what’s important to you”… the more I ask what’s important to you, the more I get from surface level stuff, to soul level stuff, the stuff that’s really driving them” “By putting it all (strength and skill work) under one roof, I’ve streamlined it, I’ve simplified it.  I’ve created a place where my basketball players can come to one spot and get to the next level on where they need to go” “I’m always focused on the movement first, can they own the position? Are they stable on one foot, do they decelerate properly, can they get to the right positions that are going to carry over to sport” “My goal is not to get a kid to a 21 (in the FMS) my goal is to get him better in his ...

Today’s episode features Dr. Michael Yessis, who appeared previously on episode #142 of this podcast, going in depth on the 1x20 strength training system and its advantages, as well as the importance of not over-developing an athlete’s general strength in favor of their sport skill.  Today’s episode builds on that last show, by going into Doc’s take on skill acquisition and how it sets up a training program. For every 10 shows and articles on strength training in athletic performance, you might get one on skill development and acquisition, if you are lucky, and these are never the popular pieces of work.  At the end of the day, a primary goal of strength training is to allow an athlete to set up the effective execution of their sport skill.  Basic skills would include running faster and jumping higher, but also spread to things like swinging, throwing and changing directions on the field, as well as the finer points of various sports. For me, it’s always been hard to think I did a “good job” in teaching an athlete to do a barbell lift properly, while knowing that their capacity to perform their sport skill was poor and I was doing nothing else to help improve it.  Even with the silos and lines that are drawn in the modern strength coach/sport coach setup, the strength coach can, at the very least, by understanding the demands of sport skill, help create the capacity for better sport skill performance, and at the most, offer special strength exercises that can significantly help the athlete in their sport skill and therefore sport gameplay, leading to a better chance of winning the game. In this show that Doc and I may not see eye to eye on absolutely everything in the change of direction space, but he really makes me think, and given his knowledge base and experience as well as the results that many coaches are getting with his training methods, this episode is a fantastic resource for anyone working with athletes.  Doc also has a book out called “Building a Better Athlete” that encapsulates many of the ideas discussed in this episode. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points Doc’s take on the evolution and relationships of strength coach versus a sport coach The Soviet’s use of other games for mental relaxation, even in “in season” play Doc’s thoughts on which mainline sport skills that all strength coaches should have a basic working biomechanical knowledge of What knowledge a coach should have on the skill of change of direction for athletes, and Doc’s take on agility training Doc’s take on the concept of a “perfect technique” in sport skill Key technical points on the skill of throwing, and improving the “front leg action” in this situation The importance of using special exercises to shore up biomechanical gaps in technique What a training year looks like for an athlete who already has the requisite general strength ability for their sport Why only playing one’s sport will yield a ceiling in performance (with no other emphasis or concentration of skills)   “Skill, in my estimation, determines your workout.  Without looking at skill, or the sill execution, your program is not the best that it can be” “The more skills athlete’s learn, the greater is their motor development, which allows them to be even better in the sport that they specialize in” “They need all the basic skills: running, jumping, throwing, kicking, hitting, to really learn them and understand them.  Right now, I have seen very few strength coaches have a handle on what constitutes effective running” “If they are missing certain athletes of their skill execution, I come up with a strength exercise that duplicates what’s missing.  That exercise duplicates the same neuromuscular pathway that’s used in ...

Today’s episode features Justin Moore.  Justin is the head performance coach at Parabolic Performance and Rehab in Montclair, New Jersey. Justin has worked with athletes of all ages and abilities, from eight-years-old to professional football players in the National Football League (NFL) and Olympic-level Ice Skaters and Ice Dancers.  He has been highly involved in the process of helping elite college football players prepare for the NFL Combine.  Justin also has advanced knowledge of the concepts of PRI as well as Bill Hartman and other elite coaches, giving him a very thorough lens by which he observes the body in training.  He has previously appeared on this podcast twice, on episodes 78 and 124. An area of biomechanics and sports performance that is (thankfully) getting more attention is the internal rotation and “knees in” phenomenon that all of the great jumpers in the world utilize (albeit to varying degrees).  If the knees don’t travel inwards in a reactive jump, then elastic energy transfer is lost and an athlete also loses the ability to create a strong triangle structure with their feet and legs. The question with the “knees in” equation is “when does it become a problem”?  A large amount of athletic performance programs will simply try to coach all athletes into a robotic motion where the knees don’t travel inwards at all in an attempt to avoid injury (and also assuming that the knees traveling inwards is the problem in all athletes) and in the process, rob them of elastic power.  As with anything, there is a bandwidth, just like the concepts of pronation.  Pronation is good, while being stuck in pronation is bad. To fully understand when the natural and effective internal rotation and “knees in” can become an issue, Justin Moore gives us a thorough explanation, as well as many case study anecdotes.  In this episode, Justin uses a lot of fluid dynamics examples, and takes a lot of work from Bill Hartman to explore deeply this corner of human performance.  This episode is quite intensive and is one of those shows that you truly can study, since the material is quite foundational to the way we observe and train athletes. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points Basic mechanics of why knees will rotate in during jumping and squatting from a perspective of pelvic mechanics and thorax hydraulics How to determine when “knees in” is potentially excessive or problematic and how to approach it Where to start: feet vs. the hips when there is knee pain in an athlete Use of the modified Ober’s test to assess adduction capability of the femur How pressurization of the trunk impacts an athlete’s ability to produce force versus having movement options How being internally or externally rotated in the femurs can impact standing versus multi-jump performance   “We see this (knees in strategy) from the best athletes in the world… when you look at the best lifters in the world, they all do it, when you look at the best jumpers in the world, they all do it” “As I begin in a standing position, and I descend into a squat, I am going to be externally rotating, and I am going to be inhaling and expanding, and my pelvic floor is going to be descending.  When I hit the sticking point, what I am going to see is a reversal of that.  I am going to see internal rotation, I am going to see exhalation, compression, and ascension of the pelvic floor” “The pelvic floor ascending is propulsion… it is shooting my guts back up into my thorax as I exhale” “When I look at somebody who is jumping, I see an individual who is utilizing an internal rotation and adduction moment of the femurs in order to allow them to open the pelvic outlet which allows me to ascend the pelvic floor….

Today’s episode features physical therapists, Ryan Foley and Kyle Paxton.  Together they run the continuing education business: “Integrated Kinetic Neurology”. Dr. Ryan Foley, co-founder of IKN has worked with a number of high level athletes, and owns Evolve Physiotherapy.  He has studied applied functional neurology methods, specifically Proprioceptive Deep Tendon Reflex, along with other applied neuroscience approaches to help get people get out of pain and improve function. Kyle Paxton’s successes and experiences with neurology based training interventions led him to the development of IKN, and Kyle has strategically shaped the techniques involved in IKN to ensure a practical and effective teaching process of neurology for performance and therapy interventions. I always enjoy learning about the role of the nervous system in training.  As Kyle mentions early in this show “when you really think about it, everything is neurology”.  The nervous system is a very complex entity, however, and personally I’ve seen loads of “neural” training ideas that can get extremely complicated and involved, leading me to wonder how much the placebo effect is in play and how sustained the results are. That’s where the practicality and dedication of Ryan and Kyle come in, and today’s show narrows neural training down to the specific sensory inputs of the body: proprioception, vestibular and ocular channels.   Without sensation, we can’t feel safe to move with power and grace, and if I’ve learned anything as a coach, it’s to value the sensory map of an athlete immensely in conjunction with their sport technique.  This valuable episode covers those points, as well as performance topics such as “dual tasking, isometric training integration, and more. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points Ryan and Kyle’s backgrounds and interest in neurology and performance The primary sensory systems that contribute to human movement and why they matter The role of the eyes and intention in human performance Why bracing the core doesn’t work with the performance principles of neurology Ways to enhance isometric training using the hands, feet or eyes “Dual Tasking” and isometric training Why athletes might place their free hand on a muscle or body region subconsciously during an exercise How to use the eyes and vestibular system to drive more tone into a body area Any potential value in balance oriented sensory work prior to heavier strength training   “When you really think about it, everything is neurology” “Sensory feedback both from an internal perspective and external perspective is what drives our ability to respond to the world around us” “The sensory systems allow you to fully utilize the actual structure that you have” “If you can start to understand that the proprioceptive system, the visual system and the vestibular system are the primary drivers of how our body can respond to the outside world, then it can really start to change the lens that you look at your programming through” “When I think of the (core) versus the limbs, there is a lot more purposeful and intentional control to control my limbs in the real world, versus my (core) which is more subcortical and reflexive in movement control” “The eyes allow us to maintain that smooth coordination through our hands and through our feet.  Whenever I’m doing any isometric work, or any kind of movement based work I typically have a lot of intention through my eyes and the target and I’m putting a lot of importance on how the hands are dissipating load through the limb and how the feet are dissipating load through the lower body” “I don’t want a lot of noise in my nervous system when I’m trying to move in a particular direction”

Today’s episode features Rafe Kelley, owner of Evolve, Move, Play, a business designed to use movement practice to develop more resilient and embodied humans.  Rafe was a basketball player and gymnast (and gymnastics coach) in his teens, and started in the martial arts at 6 years old, studying Tang Soo Do, Aikido, Kung Fu, Kick Boxing, BJJ and Muay Thai.  He has experience in modern training disciplines such as sprinting, gymnastics, crossfit, FRC, modern dance and many others. His primary specialization is in parkour, where Rafe co-founded Parkour visions at age 23, and eventually left to form Evolve, Move, Play.  Rafe’s passion to is help people build the physical practice that will help make them the strongest, most adaptable and resilient version of themselves in movement and in life. When we think of training, we think of lifting weights, growing muscles and quantified training programs.  At the end of the day, this concept of “training” is really a smaller part of the entire paradigm of human movement.  Sports performance coaches tend to think of “movement” as not really being “training”, but when we see things such as the strength to bodyweight ratios of gymnastics, the jumping abilities of basketball/volleyball players, or the dynamic power (and also jumping ability) of a parkour athlete, we realize that play and flowing movement has a critical role in maximizing one’s total development (and do so in a more embodied way). In this crucial episode, Rafe goes in depth on structured vs. unstructured training ratios, warmup concepts, variability, athleticism and lessons gained from parkour, ideas on complex vs. simple training means and much more. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points Rafe’s background in athletics and what led him to the movement practice of parkour Generalist vs. Specialist considerations in training Ratios of structured to unstructured training for better athlete engagement and success Impact of a play-based warmup on subsequent training in a session Lessons from parkour based training, and it’s impact on more traditional training for outcomes such as vertical jump training The impact of more complex training means on more simple physical qualities Rafe’s vision for the future of movement and fitness in our culture “I think the biggest problem we face in our industry is the problem of motivation” “We’ve got a 30 billion dollar fitness industry, and we have the most unhealthy population in the world” “What everybody needs to engage in a physical practice is they need some combination of feeling safe enough, feeling like they are supported properly (having social support and not feeling disapproval) and they need a balance between structure and novelty” “If you have that 80/20 rule (80% of the results with first 20% of the effort), you want to as a generalist, be in the 20% of all these different practices, but you always need room for play” “Within my own practice and working with people, I find that I weave back and forth between more structure and less structure….In life we’re always dealing with this balance between order and chaos” “The tao is the point between perfect order and chaos… the way” “(Regarding the warmup) We always work on flow, we always work on some games where we are chasing each other, and we work on some games where we are sparring, some body to body stuff” “I don’t like to start with really structured, rote stuff in the beginning because it bores me.  I like to get emotionally warmed up for a session first, and then I do the hard work” “We don’t think enough about how much the emotional and cognitive impact of training impacts the training effect” “We don’t think enough about how much the emotional and cognitive as...

Today’s episode features Chiropractor and neurology expert, Dr. Mark Wetzel. Dr. Mark is based in Nashville, TN and received his Doctorate of Chiropractic from Northwestern Health Science University in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  He has a diverse experience and is an expert in the neurology branch of chiropractic care and sports performance. Last time on the podcast, Dr. Mark went in depth on extreme isometrics, their proper execution, function and physiology (particularly in regards to energy systems), as well as why the 5 minute mark is substantial marker in carrying out the training.  Extreme isometrics and all things related have been of substantial interest on this podcast, not only due to the athletic performance aspects, but also the tendon health portion of the work. When it comes to extreme isometrics, however, it is much more common to see athletes doing them wrong than right.  Extreme iso’s, as well as much of Jay’s work has almost a mythical quality to it, so nuts and bolts shows that dissect the method are a lot of fun for me, and highly relevant. On today’s show, Dr. Mark goes further down the isometric rabbit hole, highlighting not only technique, but practical results from his integration of the method into training a baseball team.  He’ll also get into the neurology of muscle compensation patterns, extreme iso’s and extreme slow work, a chat on central nervous system fatigue, breathing, and more. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points What a “muscle compensation” is and what it means for athletic performance How extreme isometrics and extreme slows play into (correcting) compensation patterning The difference between “extreme slows” and traditional 5 to 10 second eccentric training Mark’s case study work using a series of long isometric holds with a varsity baseball team When the work of extreme isometrics/extreme slows is finished and you can move beyond them in training Concepts on tracking central nervous system fatigue The importance of the eyes in monitoring CNS fatigue How to perform correct breathing Ideas on tapering, the modern ideology versus a more progressive view “When I think of a compensation, it’s altering your movement to make your body breathe more efficiently” “A compensation: your body is altering homeostasis to make sure you survive in that given moment” “Our lifestyle is encouraging (muscle) compensations” “At a high velocity is when your compensation will come out, if we are going slow and steady, we can catch it before we injure ourselves” “When you look at an isometric, you can tell where their body is immediately faulty (what will materialize in dynamic movement such as sprints)” “You can use an extreme slow to learn exactly where their compensation is” “I’ve come to the conclusion that the “perfect position” doesn’t really exist” “The goal of an isometric is to be as centrally stabilized as possible… you can stabilize a LOT in the lunge, I think that’s what makes the lunge to beneficial you can get a whole body contraction in the lunge” “If you can hold 5 minute (isometric positions) then we can progress into the weight room” “We used wall sits, lunges, iso crunch, single leg raise, scap hang, pushup, and prone glute ham where you are laying on your s “When you do an isometric, you need to be really in tune with yourself and you need to understand what is going on with your body and why you are doing an isometric, and why you are constantly engaging and pulling yourself into position, and if you don’t understand why you are doing that, then you never really should progress out of isometrics” “An isometric, the purpose to me is that you are eliminating compensations” “Basically,

Today’s episode features Fergus Connolly, renowned expert on team performance success factors and holistic integration and welcomes back coach Cameron Josse, director of sports performance for DeFranco’s Training Systems. When it comes to athletics and sports performance, we tend to start in the world of muscles, forces, tissues and exercise physiology.  What isn’t often covered when working with athletes is the multi-factorial considerations that go into actually winning ball games such as game speed, ball speed, technical abilities, tactics and psychological considerations.  One of my favorite quotes on the industry of strength and conditioning is from Mark Watts, which basically says, “don’t take credit for your teams wins when you won’t take credit for their losses”. Most strength coaches want to be able to play a greater role in what it takes to win a ball game than just getting athletes stronger, since eventually that becomes an end unto itself.  On the flip side, sport coaches having a better knowledge of exactly how strength and fitness (and the specificity of that fitness) fit into gameplay helps the total effort of training athletes become better.  To create a better model that can help all parties working with the athlete work in better cohesion, Fergus and Cameron teamed up to write “The Process”.  which is a follow up to Fergus’s renowned book “Game Changer”, on holistic factors in sport success. Today’s podcast is all about the big picture in what it takes to win games, write great training programs from a team sport perspective, and integrate the goals of the sport coaches with strength training more optimally.  It also draws many parallels between concepts such as “short to long” in track and field and in the technical development of team sport athletes, as well other similarities in building a “base of technique” and working from “little to big”.  Other concepts discussed include the 4 Coactive Model of athletic success, the importance of a unified model of winning factors, trends in a successful training week, and more. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.  View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points Why it is important for a strength and conditioning/sports performance coach to understand a unified model of factors that lead teams to win games The role of fitness and conditioning in a unified model of sports performance, and how “lack of fitness” often takes the fault in a loss Trends in a successful sport practice training week in team sports/field sports with the goal of optimizing all four elements in the 4-Coactive model What a “Morphocycle” training template looks like for team sport training Cameron and Fergus’ take on building game speed and the role of the strength coach How to optimize sport movement and game speed training from a “small” to “big” manner “If we have this game model approach, then we can communicate that to the entire staff” ~Josse “Nobody asks you what your bench is or your squat is when you walk on the field, it’s can you play the game.  If we focus on adding 5 more pounds on a bench or squat, that’s not really solving the problem” ~Connolly “I see a lot of strength coaches nowadays that want to have too much control over the whole process (of game conditioning)” ~Josse “The game is what’s most important so we’re looking at all the layers that go into that preparation process leading into that game, and that’s got to align all four co-activates, and by four co-actives, we’re referring to tactical preparation, technical preparation, psychological preparation and physical preparation” ~Josse “They are starting to understand two key things (the importance of) the alignment and cohesiveness between all the different stakeholders in the team’s operation, and second,

Today’s episode is a special roundtable featuring all previous podcast guests, Jay DeMayo, Jeff Moyer and Michael Zweifel. Jay DeMayo is a long time strength coach at the University of Richmond, working primarily with basketball along with several other sports.  He also heads up the Central Virginia Sports Performance Seminar and Podcast. Jeff Moyer is the owner at DC Sports Training and is well versed in all things Russian sports performance, and has appeared on this show multiple times, as well as having written a large number of articles on a variety of topics involving the transfer of training to sport. Michael Zweifel has been a prior podcast guest twice and has written a large number of articles regarding the perception and reaction approach to improving in-game movement and agility. In the world of agility training there is a big shift happening in terms of moving things into the perceptual space, and for good reason.  Athletes who fail to make the right decisions in a game will be at a huge disadvantage, regardless of how good their raw ability to change direction devoid of a stimulus is.   Does this mean, however, that all traditional agility and change of direction training is dead? What should we do with all of the more traditional thoughts on agility training in terms of developing the raw physical skills associated with change of direction? This expert crew is going to dissect the answer to these questions and much more for us on the show today. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Philosophy of what good change of direction on the field of play entails Thoughts on baseline physical abilities for better change of direction Change of direction KPI’s for athletes Different approaches to the value and integration of non-perceptive change of direction work How to record or quantify the results of an agility program (if this is even possible currently) Defining pieces of agility ability and who may need work beyond perceptive and decision making training Some of the special exercises Jeff Moyer and Jay DeMayo utilize in their work Summary statement of each coach in regards to agility, perception and reaction “In field based sports, change of direction means the basics of what we are trying to teach, and agility means implementing into a situation where it is responsive to some sort of stimulus”  DeMayo “I want athletes to be able to solve problems on their own without me giving them the answers” Zweifel “In the biomechanics of change of direction, you always have to look at it in the context it is going to be asked in sport… if we are going to change technique or biomechanics, we have to do it within the context of which it is going to be asked in sport” Zweifel “I think that one thing is we would see a lot of carryover and success (into agility) with the integration of some form of extensive method jumping” Moyer “I don’t think there’s so much a biomechanical model; there’s KPI’s” Moyer “If you watch sports a lot of athletes don’t (decelerate) on two legs, they do it on one leg… one of the things I look for is how many steps does it take for an athlete to stop” Moyer “What I hope for is that it looks crisper when they are doing it (COD in sport) and they shouldn’t be thinking about it when they are doing it” DeMayo “In actual open sports, how well you perceive the information in the environment, that will directly dictate mechanics, kinematics” Zweifel “(Regarding defining the results of a COD/agility program) A lot of it’s qualitative” Moyer “It is a learned error, a perceptual error, or a physical error, those are the three things I go through”  Moyer “Know your sport more, watch practices, get Hudl and look at practice,

Today’s episode features Andy Ryland senior manager of education and training at USA Football since 2010.  Andy was a former Penn State linebacker and a member of the U.S. Men’s Rugby team and is widely recognized as a foremost expert on developing the fundamentals for successful shoulder tackling. In youth sports and beyond, cultivating skill acquisition, reactive ability and creativity are foundational in allowing athlete’s success.  In a current landscape where literally no certification or formal education is required to be a sport coach, there is a gap to be bridged in creating systems that help athletes along a great path of long-term development. Victory-centric team models shortchange multi-lateral development by specializing an athlete in a position early.  Coaches use drills and robotic systems more than they foster situational adaptivity and creative solutions.  If you listened to podcast #136 with James Smith of the “U of Strength” then you likely remember James talking about how robotic he sees sport coaching, and this being a reason why he incorporates perception and reaction work in his own training. In today’s podcast, Andy digs into a variety of topics on sport skill acquisition and long term development, including the difference between “free flow” and structured sports (and how playing one can enhance the other), bandwidth on cueing and instruction, speed training in context of USA Football, barbell training, selecting a secondary or off-season sport, and more. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points The complimentary nature of rugby to football, as well as potential drawbacks in it’s dual sport nature How “free-flow” sports are different than structured sports by nature, and what athletic skills they develop Bandwidth on how much instruction young athletes are given, and how much they should be coached as they get older Speed training development in the context of USA Football How creating and reacting to situations is more important than canned and robotic drills in building athletes How to select the best off-season sport or secondary sport for young football players Progressions on bringing barbell training into youth athletics, particularly in football, the original and pinnacle sport in regards to S&C Andrews thoughts on the credentialing process of youth sport coaches   “I think (rugby and football) compliment each other really well.  You’re gonna get a huge amount of physical training volume from the running volume within rugby, there’s some great evasive skills, plus the reading and spatial awareness is different in rugby than it is in football” “Free-flow sports, soccer, hockey, basketball, lacrosse, whatever it is; small sided games are much more common, because you are training these players in dynamic environments in decision making, that offense to deference transition that free flow” “Are we going to let someone self-organize into a tackle?” “Why on the first rep of the drill are we instantly shouting so many cues and corrections?” “Sorting it out in your own body can take 2 or 3 reps, so can I let them explore? The coaching cue I give on the first rep of a new drill more than any other is “it’s a new drill, it’s cool, first rep you’ll sort it out, here we go” and let them find it before we start nailing them with all these specific cues and details” “One of our taglines is “Humans First, Athletes Second, Football Players Third”” “When we are dealing with athletes that aren’t anywhere close to their genetic potential, everything is improving everything” “For the sake of a coach’s resume, we’re going to have a kid do one thing, and he’s going to be useful for the team because he does one thing,

Today’s episode features Miguel Aragoncillo, strength coach and skill acquisition specialist based out of Boston, MA.  Miguel has worked with athletes of all levels, and now specializes in working with baseball pitchers where he is getting serious results through integration of skill and motor learning tools.  Miguel has a significant background in PRI and worked as an assistant in multiple courses.  He also has a unique athletic backstory, as he was a break-dancer before moving into a coaching role. Miguel is one of the most intelligent and innovative coaches in the field.  He is pushing human performance forward by integrating what he has learned in the world of strength and conditioning, neuro-mechanics and skill acquisition, and is using that to get results such as tacking 5-7MPH on pitching speed in a matter of minutes. Our field is still growing at a rapid rate.  Although hard-line definitions of the scope of a strength coach definitely exist in the university and professional sectors, there is no doubt as to the inter-disciplinary nature of sports performance, as well as the impact that the wide-scope of S&C related concepts can have on the next level up on the performance pyramid, that of sport skill itself.  This is something that Mike Guadango mentioned in podcast #151, and has been resonating with me for some time. Miguel’s intelligent take on the performance industry has been on my radar for some time.  On today’s show, Miguel and I chat about guiding athletes in the process of skill acquisition, through processes on creating drills to improve sport skills, integrating biomechanical and PRI based concepts, and also setting up sport skill training through sensory contrasts. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points How Miguel got into strength and conditioning, and eventually, into coaching baseball pitchers How to guide athletes correctly in skill acquisition without over-cueing and over-coaching Miguel’s thought process on creating drills to improve sport skills Integrating biomechanics and PRI based concepts into a sport skill teaching process Setting up sport skill training through sensory contrast How Miguel sets of resistance training for young athletes outside of actual skill coaching   “If I’m trying to help individuals to throw faster, I can get them to deadlift 500lbs for reps, to have vertical jumps and bounds for so many feet, we can do RSI, etc. etc., but what happens when someone simply doesn’t know what it means to throw” “You don’t need a lot of drills in order to improve one’s relationship with one’s own body” “When we do any movement, I show them the movement, and then I ask them, “what do you feel”…. “where do you feel”, “what do you feel”, why do you feel it”” “I’m allowing the individual to self-organize on the context of building a better mental representation of what their body is doing” “Internal cueing, in my head, is a good thing… because even sometimes the experts will need an internal cue to be more aware of something that they are lacking” “The funny thing is you are always using some type of constraints, but you are not really thinking of it like that” “I will literally just say, do you want me to explain this drill, or do you just want to do it” “Pitching is both a frontal and transverse dominant plane” “When you do a non-manual technique of some sort to gain range of motion, now you need to go through a guided discovery process doing the terminal skillsets with different constraints, and that’s where it gets fun” “If you ever watch me coach, I almost never say no… I’ve read a lot of research speaking about negative feedback.  It’s something I’ve picked up and I found out it works really well”

Today’s episode features an expert roundtable on an integrative view of single and double leg (unilateral and bilateral) training.  Experts include Cal Dietz, author of Triphasic Training and University of Minnesota strength coach, Cameron Josse, director of sports performance at DeFranco’s gym (co-author of “The Process”), and Chad Dennis, veteran NCAA and professional level strength coach who is now director of performance for the XFL Seattle Dragons. Single and double leg training is hotly debated in many cases, each method with its own unique aspects, benefits and drawbacks.  In the majority of situations, single leg training is used as a warmup or auxillary while the “big lifts” dominate the landscape of exercise.  Taking a wider view of these training modalities is important when it comes to optimal integration into our own training. On the show today, myself, Cal, Cameron and Chad go over many ideas on this topic, particularly the idea of using single leg training as the primary method in earlier training phases (accumulation, GPP, etc.) and moving towards bilateral dominated training in later training phases (intensification, SPP, etc.). We also take a deep dive into the neurological aspects of barbell (and jump) training, as the ramifications of movements with many, vs. few degrees of freedom (i.e. a walking rotational lunge vs. a heavy quarter squat).   This episode is rounded out by a chat on unilateral jumping progressions and using dynamic work to prepare tissues for the rigors of high intensity training and in-season play. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points A thesis summary of building a foundation of single leg training and then filtering into double leg training Different approaches to periodization and planning in regards to single and double leg training Neurological Ramifications of unilateral vs. bilateral training via threat response Approaches to jump training periodization looking at single and double leg periodization A discussion on using unilateral work in the weightroom, and on field (jumps and sprints) to prepare tissues of the body for the season   Quotes from Cal Dietz, Cameron Josse and Chad Dennis “I’m looking at a  progression where we start with a foundation of coordination (single leg/more degrees of freedom) and we transfer that into really high outputs (bilateral training)” ~Cam Josse “Unilateral work favors the cross crawl concept” ~Dietz “I’m not a big fan of single leg squat with dumbbells, because I don’t feel there is enough stress, in my opinion” ~Dietz “In the bilateral (lifting and even plyometric), I didn’t get a good neural feedback loop” ~Dietz “I haven’t found one of my athletes that didn’t go into threat with a double leg, or get better (neurological) responses from a split squat stance” ~Dietz “How do I fix that threat? I just have them march.  If they do a hurdle hop, the next four steps are marching steps, and that takes them out of that threat as they go to the next exercise” ~Dietz “There was a great tissue resiliency built from doing (single leg rudiment hops, filtering into bounding over time, as well as a unilateral to bilateral progression in the weightroom) from the joints, especially in the lower leg” ~Dennis “It makes a lot of sense to use unilateral training in the early during these early periods in the training year, it could be 6-8 weeks, it could be 4 weeks really.  I’m thinking field first, weightroom second” ~Josse “If you are in the weightroom, it’s naturally multi-planar, just because you are on one leg more degree of freedom are involved” ~Josse “If we are concentrating speed and power on the field, how do we support that in the weightroom? Bilateral activities” ~Josse

Today’s episode features Doug Kechijian, therapist, coach and owner of Resilient Performance Systems.  Resilient’s clientele includes athletes and operators from a variety of professional and collegiate sports, as well as, federal law enforcement tactical teams, military special operations forces, and those with a history of persistent pain and extensive surgical backgrounds Before beginning his sports medicine practice, Doug was a Pararescueman in the U.S. Air force where he deployed throughout the world to help provide technical rescue capability and emergency medical care to U.S and allied forces.  Additionally, Doug is the host of the “Resilient Performance Podcast” featuring a number of thought leaders. Doug is introspective, humble, and transparent.  His diverse experience and education, as well as his own practice of learning and reading has given him an wide lens perspective on many domains of the human performance sector.  As a field (and with anything) it’s easy to make noise, or get noticed, based on extreme viewpoints, often talking about avoiding a common practice in coaching, such as “don’t squat”, “don’t lift weights”, “don’t internal cue”, “don’t do drills”, “don’t foam roll”, etc. Doug is a coach who really makes me think in his drive to find the truth in things, and avoid the tribe mentality in coaching stances.  In the spirit of that, I wanted to tackle some facets of the field that tend to be looked at in a black and white frame, but in reality are more grey, which is in the realms of rotational core training, self-organization and when to intervene in coaching versus letting athletes figure things out themselves unimpeded. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points Doug’s transition from the military to physical therapy and his approach to learning and growing in the field Concepts on core-bracing and anti-rotation versus a more fluid and dynamic view on trunk training Ideas on self-organization in athletics: when and how to intervene   “When you prepare to be good enough at a lot of different things, you recognize patterns and commonalities across these skillsets, across these diverse fields” “When it comes to learning, people love formulas… but now I realize that learning is a lot more messy” “There is always this range between being a specialist and a generalist” “I think reading outside your field is what helps you to connect dots and see the bigger picture” “Scientists and all us of want to prove certain things, and often times, just confirm our biases” “If you don’t see the bigger picture, then that’s where we get these silos between strength and conditioning, and physical therapy, and sport coaches, and all of these things exist on a continuum” “For most people, I don’t know if a palloff press is dynamic enough or challenging enough… you want to integrate that stiffness in a contextually specific way” “I don’t teach people specific bracing techniques, because people do that stuff reflexively well, with the caveat that you’re putting them in a good position” “We’ve made lifting weights way too difficult, it’s not calculus” “Every intervention has un-intended consequences” “If the key to rotational performance is to relax and get really stiff…. If that’s what we are really chasing from a rotational performance standpoint, if we are tell people when they do these activities to deliberately brace, are we inhibiting their ability to relax?” “If you only have one way to do something, then under stress, you have no options!” “I think it’s dangerous to assume that every movement that emerges organically is best for the athlete, because it might not be a choice, so you want to give people choices and at least give them the requisite foundation...

Today’s episode features Greg Potter.  Greg is a former sprint coach (he has written some fantastic Q and A pieces for Just Fly Sports in the past regarding all things sprint training) who is now a Ph.D and expert on Circadian Rhythms and their impact on our health and well-being. Greg is the former content director at HumanOS.me and now works as the chief scientific officer of a health-tech startup.  Greg’s work at the University of Leeds on sleep, diet, and metabolic health was featured by the likes of the BBC World Service, the Washington Post, and Reuters. As a sprint coach, Greg coached a sprinter to four gold medals at the European Championships. Greg has also worked with groups such as The United States Naval Special Warfare Command on health and performance optimization. Today’s show is all about our body’s “clocks” (Circadian Rhythms) impact our health, metabolism, ability to train, and our ability to recover via sleep.  It’s important to know how to train, but it’s also critical, especially in our modern digital age, to understand how to better recover and live based off of our innate wirings. Topics addressed on today’s show include the basics of circadian rhythms and impact on nutrition, sleep, training, and metabolism (fat loss).  Greg also gives plenty of tips and ideas on how to optimize our lives based off our own circadian rhythms.  The back half of the show in particular has a lot of great concepts on training optimization based on time of day. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points What circadian rhythms are and what they mean to us What the modern lifestyle (in terms of artificial light cycles and ever-abundant foot availability) means for our health and function The metabolic advantages of early day, time restricted eating Nutritional concepts in a non-training day for a speed-power athlete who wants to stay lean Greg’s take on the ketogenic diet Ideas on timing multiple workouts in a day with various emphasis Variation in VO2 max based on time of day The importance of naps for strength and power performance The importance of body temperature in speed and power performance Artificial light and its impact on our daily rhythms and clocks How to use light-based products and apps to help synchronize the body clock   “The most important time cue in resetting our biological rhythms with the 24 hour day is the light/dark cycle and the problem of course is that now we live these 24/7 life cycles where we have artificial light cycles at night, we spend too much time indoors during the day time, we have round-the-clock food access, and because of all these different factors we behave in a way that is discordant with our biological rhythms” “Our bodies are best set to digest food in the daytime” “Insulin sensitivity is higher in the daytime than the nighttime, our bodies are primed for eating during the daytime” “Skipping breakfast is associated with negative health outcomes and eating at nighttime is associated with negative health outcomes” “(For time restricted eating) I would stick to a 6-12 hour caloric period that finishes at least 2 hours before you plan to go to bed, but earlier than that is probably better.” “What we want is a nice high-amplitude rhythm in core body temperature… it’s generally highest in the late afternoon, which is the best time for strength and power exercise for that reason” “I think it’s smart to give our digestive tracts a break each 24 hours” “(Peripheral clocks) seem to be primarily set by our food intakes each day” “I would recommend that your final meal of the day is relatively small compared to others” “When people consume regular meals at scheduled times,

Today’s episode features founder of Achieve Performance, Jeremy Frisch, and guest co-host, Dr. Tommy John.  Both of these individuals are making a big difference in not only the world of youth sports, but also in teaching the importance of global human movement skills, as well as in bringing the importance of movement as a necessary and healing force to the general population. Jeremy Frisch has been a past guest on episodes 100 and 134, and Dr. Tommy John has been a guest on 101 and 139.   These two guys both have a passion for redeeming what our sports industry has become in regards to not only sky-rocketing injuries, but also restoring the core of what it means to be a kid, an athlete, and a human being, which is creativity, play, and free movement, before external parameters, competition, stress and judgment are all added through early specialization and over-coaching. We spend a lot of time zooming in on things like sets, reps, exercise modalities and training blocks.  At the end of the day, these factors are important, but the long term process by which athletes are facilitated, and the joy that happens when this is done correctly, is an area of our industry that truly demands our focus and attention.  Knowing how to progress youth athletes, and also how to integrate sport coaching with physical preparation on all levels of performance helps us all become more aware and well-rounded in our coaching process. On today’s show, Jeremy, Tommy and I discuss changes in coaching emphasis from youth through adult, the importance of a thorough warmup that covers a variety of movement skills, how Jeremy’s experience as a youth sport coach has helped his process and integration in physical preparation, the importance and relevance of free play for children vs. organized coaching, and much more. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.  View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points How perception of watching adult athletes changes when you have experience watching children learn and play How moving non-injured body parts and joints is critical in the process of injury and recovery How coaching changes from working from youth to high school, to adult trainees How to structure a warmup to provide a powerful strength and movement stimulus, as why this is the most important part of the total workout in many cases Jeremy’s experiences as a youth sport coach (e.g. football, baseball, tennis), how he incorporates physical preparation methods, and how this work has impacted his physical preparation coaching The reasons that un-structured play is superior to organized sports for athletic (and personal) development in children Why pickup basketball is crucial for creative development in basketball players, even if it seems like a “lazy” pace Is it possible to build skills later in life if a kid missed the window of development early on “When we were kids, when we got hurt, what did we do? As quick as we could we got back outside trying to play… it’s like we knew intuitively that moving around makes you heal” “When he got done squatting, when they took the cast off his arm, his arm had more muscle on it than when he started… he did 20 rep breathing squats and that… like 3x a week (being unable to train his arms in that time period)” “The majority of young athletes coming in, their feet are shot, and if their feet are shot, their hips are going to be shot” “When you start with a  kid, the change from play to more organized stuff starts when he or she is ready… I’ve had kids who are just studs physically, are they are the most immature kids in the whole world, so I pulled them back because if I tried to organized things to much, they shut down and they don’t come back.” “For ages 13,14,15 it’s more technical based,

Today’s episode features javelin coach and athlete Kevin Foster.  Kevin is a former Division I javelin thrower for the University of Connecticut. He is currently training to compete post-collegiately as an athlete for the 2020 Olympic Trials in the javelin event.  Kevin works as a private trainer and consultant, specializing in javelin. A young coaching prodigy, Kevin is one of the brightest and holistic young minds in the field.  He has been a prolific writer for Just Fly Sports in the last couple of years, and owns the popular Instagram page @javelin.anatomy.  Kevin is integrating ideas from many great minds in training, such as former podcast guests such as David Weck, Ben Patrick and Adarian Barr.  He is also familiar with ideas from DNS (Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization) and Ido Portal, alongside many others. This episode is all about getting to the core of what it means to be athletic.  Kevin clearly asks the question of what are we missing out on by just thinking about force from a quantitative perspective, and ignoring the total design and abilities of the body in respect to movement.  The more we know and understand about what makes the best athletes in the world the best, the more we can infuse this into our own coaching process. On today’s show, Kevin talks about some technical aspects of the javelin throw and throwing in general from a perspective of the feet, elbows and hands.  He gets deep into the elastic potential of the body from a perspective of waveforms and body segments, essentially, things that make an elite athlete able to transfer energy properly.  Of a particular focus on this show is Kevin’s take on the feet, hips and spine in making the ultimate elastic athlete. If you don’t care about javelin throw, or throwing concepts skills in general for that matter, you may want to skip to around 20-25 minutes into the talk. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points How coiling the body shows up in Kevin’s training for javelin How “pistol finger” works to lock the front big toe in throwing How the tongue works to direction tension to different parts of the body in athletics Examples of how Kevin trains throws from the perspective of the feet The importance of spinal segmentation in athletic performance and practical training What inspired Kevin to consider training on the level of energy and waveforms How to unlock the bodies elastic potential and why it is important to do so before optimizing other forms of training   Kevin Foster Quotes “How you conceptualize the throw matters, if you just view the throw as a series of body parts moving you are going to set yourself up for very thinking brain, very rigid movement” “With the opposite hand when you are throwing, you need to be thinking about pronation in the hand of the reaching arm” “The tongue can direct tension to different parts of the body, so if you look at pictures of Jan Zelezny on his javelin release, you’ll see his tongue pushing into different parts of his mouth” “Movement is more than muscle… focusing on (squat routines and VBT) is focusing on the 1% compared to the 99%” “The feet and the hips and the spine are all connected in a much bigger way than we normally give credit for, so getting strong arches and capsular hip internal rotation, those are two ways to take slack out of system, so that’s how become fascially dominant as an athlete, to get that slack out of the system, it’s that neurofascial remodeling that takes place” “You need spinal segmentation, you need to be able to move every vertebrae to transfer energy optimally” “In order to unlock fascia driven movement, you need to strengthen the arches, you need to develop the ability to internally rotate your hips,

Today’s episode features Dr. Ben House.  Dr. House has a Ph.D. in Nutrition from the University of Texas at Austin, is also a Nutritionist (CN), Functional Diagnostic Nutritionist (FDN), and Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner (CFMP). Functional Medicine is Ben’s life’s passion. He has studied under some of the best in the world and continues to regularly attend and present at conferences and seminars around the world.  As a strength coach, House has worked at both the high school and collegiate levels, including time under Coach Wright at the University of Texas Basketball. Besides practicing Functional Medicine, coaching, and writing articles for Functional Medicine Costa Rica, House has numerous publications in peer-reviewed, high-impact scientific journals. I first found Ben’s work on the Train Adapt Evolve website several years ago, and seeing his journey to practicing functional medicine and leading retreats in Costa Rica in the time since been nothing short of inspiring.  Ben is a versatile and exciting guest because of his experience and knowledge of multiple aspects of human beings, from nutrition, to physiology, to training concepts, to meditation, restoration and recovery.  Ben has a tremendous knowledge of the associated research, and how this fits in with many current training trends. On today’s show, Ben talks about meditation, recovery methods to calm athletes down from training, his take on the concept of training from a hormonal perspective, and also how to simplify corrective methods such as PRI into a user-friendly training session. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points Quick thoughts from Ben on the Westernization and use of meditation Means of getting athletes in recovery mode post-exercise session How to use breathing and other integrated means to get athletes calmed down post workout Sympathetic and parasympathetic states and training Types of training and effects on the anabolic and hormonal processes of the body Differences between males, females and testosterone (or lack therof) Simplifying and integrating PRI based ideals into a training program “We’ve really westernized meditation” “People who have been meditating for 25 years, they kind of rest on that default mode network, so they are more present, less reactive” “People would generally rather shock themselves then sit in silence” “You could turn (post-workout box breathing) into a repositioning exercise… there are so many different ways you could take it, you could do body scans, you could do a Feldenkrais class” “For some people who really like to train, their only stress reliever in life is another stress reliever… we have to give them other tools.  I find that a lot of people that I coach have two stress relievers, one of them is food, and another one is exercise.  Those are two coping strategies that I really don’t want people to use with stress” “Our mindset around stress is very important, if we believe we are going to break, stress is very debilitating” “I would never chase something happening in the endocrine system with my training” “Females generally can put 85% of the muscle on as men, relatively they can put on (almost) as much muscle as men and they have 1/20th of the testosterone” “Unfortunately, we’ve been looking at a good indicator of over-training or over-reaching for a really long time, and none of the hormones really pan out as far as a 2017 meta-analysis” “What is the best marker we have for over-training?  It is an increase in training volume or training intensity, met with a decrease in performance” “Just sciency enough, just bothers me so much, because a lot of people are trying to sell a simple story with science”

Today’s episode features nutrition consultant and performance coach, Matt Cooper.  Matt is a bright young mind who I’ve had many conversations with in my recent journey of human performance.  He was the guest for episode #121 where he talked about many training concepts, including the potential neurological drawbacks of excessive training under heavy barbell loads. Today’s show is a chat about holistic training integration, where Matt covers the elements of stress, recovery, nutrition and energy systems.  Being a masterful coach represents knowing not only the “big rocks” of training, but also excelling at the subtle aspects of training athletes.  I believe that success is found in a mastery of the subtleties, and today’s episode covers a great many of them.   This is definitely a show for dedicated coaches, athletes and trainees who want to cover all bases in their training process. Topics Matt will specifically get into include all things stress, light, energy systems, mitochondria, caloric restriction, ketogenic implications for athletes, nutrient intake and hormonal fluctuations, and finally, the impact of nutritionally derived inflammation on pain and injury. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points Where Matt starts with nutrition How to determine if you are oxidative or sugar burning using breathing measurements Nutritional stress and the workout window Matt’s take on nutritionally supporting the nervous system through nutrition How to have a robust mitrochondrial density How to approach fasting and calorie restriction from an athletic perspective Nutrient intake throughout the day and it’s impact on branches of the autonomic nervous system/carb backloading The impact of nutritionally derived inflammation and injuries “A big mistake is having guys load in nutrients closer to when guys are going to be more in the sympathetic state” “You might have someone take oscillating days of higher carbohydrate and lower carbohydrate temporarily, just based on what energy system they are using” “If you are mainly nasal breathing, you are more aerobic dominant for the most part, and that is going to keep you from going into an excess state of fight or flight, but if you are more of a mouth breather, that is probably going to make you transition your gears to go into more of a sympathetic state sooner, which is going to result in you utilizing more of that precious stored glycogen reserve that you have” “You are still using all of the energy pathways at once, the question is “which one are you going to be most dominant in”” “High grade Omega 3-Fish Oil can really tune parts of the nervous system” “I like getting guys on a really comprehensive either plant or ocean mineral blend to help motor neuron volley and transmission” “(In regards to having a robust mitochondrial density) Sleeping enough, getting in a nutrient dense diet, respecting your light cycles.. making sure you see morning light, making sure you see evening light, being respectful of the light cycles you see later in the day” “A lot of the basic supplements out there don’t have great bio-availablity” “(In caloric restriction) you are actually resetting some of those insulin receptors that help with some of that “gun-clip” type storage of carbohydrates” “Energy system development  needs to be looked at from a nutritional perspective, not just a training perspective” “That keto(genic) ratio that was invented… was more for medical cases” “Metabolic flexibility is the goal” “Don’t forget that most soft tissue injuries are exacerbated by nutrition, basically via inflammation of the nerves causing pain” “When you fix someone’s diet (in terms of inflammation),

Today’s episode features Jake Schuster, sports performance coach, consultant and researcher hailing from Boston, Massachusetts Jake has his MSc from renowned Loughborough University in the UK and completed work towards his doctorate in New Zealand with the national Rugby Sevens teams through the Rio Olympics. He has published in the on both rugby and force velocity profiling and has several ongoing research projects further detailing what exactly it is that makes people fast, and how they can get faster. Jake has spent that past year working as the Senior Sports Scientist for Vald Performance, traveling the world visiting elite sporting clients and getting a unique insight into global best practices. Jake previously appeared on episode #109 where he talked at length on how he was integrating cutting edge exercises and technology into a training model for track and field athletes, particularly sprinters featuring his utilization of Alex Natera’s isometrics and force plate analysis.  Jake’s knowledge and abilities are a very impressive blend of both understanding science and data trends, while also having a creative and integrative coaching mind.  This integrative ability is just one thing that makes me thrilled to have Jake back for another episode. On today’s show, Jake and I discuss the optimal relationship between sport science and coaching (if you aren’t in a high performance department you may want to skip to around the 30:00 mark in the show), speed development and hamstring injury prevention, evolving thoughts on Frans Bosch work, robust running and water bags, concepts from force plates that show up in acceleration, and more. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points International differences in sport science utilization How Jake sees the optimal relationship between sport science/data and the art of coaching Speed development and hamstring injury prevention in the context of team sports Jake’s evolving thoughts on the work of Frans Bosch and waterbag training Force plate’s transfer to other skills aside from vertical jumping and landing Aspects of force plate measurements that transfer highly to acceleration Questions and topics for this year that Jake is considering “The best and first question (in a sport science/monitoring situation) is to talk to the athlete” “(Regarding the interaction of sport science and coaching) People don’t talk to each other now, we are always on our phones, looking at numbers” “The teams that have very few injuries, especially running soft tissue injuries, they make darn sure that their athletes are exposed to maximum velocity running very often.  At least once every 5 days.  The teams that say “80%’s fine… they often have more (hamstring injuries)” “The eccentric hamstring question… if anyone thinks it’s still a question, then they are paying too much attention to twitter” “We have one identified, modifiable risk factor for hamstring injuries in the literature and that is eccentric hamstring strength, and we have a whole lot of research underneath that that shows that it is fascicle length that is one of the main morphological determinants and we can affect that with eccentric hamstring training” “One of my favorite variables on a force plate is eccentric deceleration rate of force development; how fast we can brake” “The countermovement test (on a force plate) is an idiot proof test of neuromuscular status” “Concentric rate of power development gets absolutely caned on twitter for whatever odd reason… it’s a brilliant metric… if they just named it acceleration nobody would say anything because we are looking at watts per second… when we saw that go up in sprinters their 60m improved and their coach said they were getting b...

Today’s episode features Irish biomechanics specialist, David Grey.  David is highly integrative, and has been influenced by many of the top minds in the world as he creates solutions to get clients to fix their movement, get out of pain, and in turn run and perform better. I’m not sure what got me turned onto David’s videos on Instagram (where I first found him), but as soon as I started watching them, I instantly realized that something special was happening based on these other guests I’ve had and what David was doing, and I could tell his work had many ties to previous guests such as Gary Ward and Adarian Barr.  David has been strongly influenced by Gary, as well as having learned under a number of great mentors in the world of movement, S&C, gymnastics, stretching & mobility, Chinese martial arts and biomechanics. Today’s episode is all about pronation, the feet and an integrated view of biomechanics and muscle action.   David’s specialty is restoring pronation to the foot (and the body, since pronation is a full body action).  It was actually a video of Will Claye triple jumping that he commented on regarding the pronation that was happening that was the last straw in me knowing I had to get David on the show. Once you understand pronation, it’s like you just took the red pill in the Matrix, and everything and every way you look at things like weightlifting and sprint drills all change.  On today’s show, we talk about the mechanics and restoration of pronation, toe gripping, training the hands, foot differentiation, co-contractions, and also David’s take on the “stable/mobile” joint idea. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points What’s drew David’s interest to the foot, his background, and his mentors in the field The dynamics of pronation, and how David observes this when athletes run and jump The adverse effects of toe gripping in squatting and running Methods to get pronation back in athletes How to train the hands for better upstream performance Foot differentiation and how the forefoot and rearfoot work in opposition David’s take on stable-mobile joint paradigms Co-contractions in athletic performance David Grey Quotes “Pronation is where all three arches of the foot are flattening to the floor at the same time.  Pronation is a full body movement” “(Delayed knee extension) is a big thing” “Knee extension is a supination movement” “If the knee comes back too early, you can’t pronate, everyone out there is obsessed with extension, triple extension, and all I want to do with any lower limb injury with anyone is delay knee extension as long as possible” “Your pronation is done once that knee has started to straighten” “(Early) knee extension is putting the hip to end range very early, and gives the glute no room left to work” “The glutes work from internally rotated to externally rotated; if you want (functional) glutes, stop going from neutral” “There’s a mental block with people towards pronation” “I have no problem with squatting or anything in the gym, but as soon as it messes up your biomechanics, you’re done” “If you are squatting heavy, you don’t want to be pronating very much; you don’t want the knee coming miles inside, you want the bones stacked on top of each other.  That’s not pushing the knees miles out, that’s just being neutral” “Gripping the ground with your toes it not a stable base, the head of your first metatarsal is off the floor” “Toes are just a brake…. Gary (Ward) says the toes are like the last line of defense” “People will be racing into the forefoot, and then their toes have to grip, they have no choice” “Gripping that toes is not an arch, that’s just a sagittal plane movement,

Today’s episode features myself in a question and answer episode where I discuss questions from listeners on a variety of athletic topics.  This podcast has had such incredible guests in the last several months that I hadn’t done one of these episodes in some time, but having been asked when I was going to do the next one, I decided it was time. These episodes are a great chance for me to reflect on my own training processes, synthesized with the things I’m learning from the many guests on the show as well as my own mentors in training.  Today’s Q&A has a lot of questions on extreme isometrics, training arrangement, the foot, and more.   Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points The correlation of sprint drills into full sprinting My process when I start working with a new athlete Integrating extreme isometrics into team sport training Athletic performance training coming off powerlifting training Training the arch of the foot  “Shin splints” and tendon refractory  Maintenance based strength training for dunk training Thoughts on training intense sprinting and jumping in states where the nervous system is not 100% Timing of strength and skill work in a training program Improving lift technique with 1x20 My take on foam rolling and SMR in general Getting off the ground quicker in high jump   About Joel Smith Joel Smith is a NCAA Division I Strength Coach working in the PAC12 conference.  A track coach of 11 years, Joel is also a coach for the Diablo Valley Track and Field Club, and also has 6 years of experience coaching sprints, jumps, hurdles, pole vault and multi-events on the collegiate level. Joel has coached 2 national champions, multiple All-Americans and school record holders in his time as a track coach. In the realm of strength and conditioning, his programs have assisted 5 athletes to Olympic berths that produced 9 medals and a world record performance at Rio in 2016. In 2011, Joel began Just Fly Sports with Jake Clark as a central platform to promote information for athletes and coaches to reach their highest potential.  In 2016 the first episode of the “Just Fly Performance Podcast” was released, now a leading source of education in the sports performance field. Prior to working in the PAC12 conference, Joel spent 6 years in the realms of coaching, college lecturing, personal training, and thesis research.  Joel’s certifications include Neurological and Physical Typing from BATI, CSCS, MAT Jumpstart, and NKT level 1, as well as USA Track and Field credentials.  Joel is also well-versed in the Be-Activated protocols as taught by Douglas Heel, and has been extensively mentored by sprint and sport movement coach Adarian Barr.

Today’s episode features JB Morin, who returns to the show after being guest #12, 3 years ago. JB is a world-leading researcher in the world of sprint biomechanics and forces, as well as resisted sprinting, force-velocity profiling and sprint injury factors. He is currently Full Professor at the Faculty of Sport Sciences of the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis (France). There he is a member of the Laboratory of Human Motor Function, Education Sport and Health. On our last podcast, JB went in depth into force-velocity profiling for sprinting, as well as the role of heavy sled sprint training and much more. JB is currently working to bring more clarity to the puzzle of sprint enhancement and hamstring injury prevention. As research is quickly shedding more light on various factors in human performance, especially in the sprint sector, I was excited to bring JB back for another show. On this episode, JB picks up where we left off, going over recent updates in sprint research and force velocity profiling. The main focus of this show is digging into sprint mechanics, fatigue, and hamstring injuries in sport. We’ll also get into ideas on correlation vs. causation in interpreting statistics and research, as well as recent ideas on the role of the foot and ankle in sprint performance. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points • What’s new in resisted sprint training research over the last few years • Strength training in regards to the force velocity curve in sprinting • Correlation versus causation with strength training and sprinting ability • What are we seeing with sprint technique and hamstring injuries according to recent research • Core strength/rotation and sprinting in regards to hamstring injury rates • The roles of fatigue in hamstring injuries • Recent research on the foot, ankle stiffness, injury and performance • Clarification of the causation/correlation effects in jump tests and sprinting   JB Morin Quotes “Sprinting is catching up with the velocity based training that is well known in the gym” “When you sprint only once, then you cover the entire force velocity spectrum” “There is not a lot of work published on how gym work influences sprinting force/velocity profile” “Don’t interpret transfer of training from correlations that are cross-sectional (correlation does not equal causation)” “If you train a couple of school kids and they improve their level of strength and you assess that at the gym, yes they will improve their sprint times, but at some point you are not dealing with school kids anymore” “We have some very high level rugby players tested, and there is no correlation between vertical F0 (equivalent of their 1RM in half squat) and their F0 in sprinting… there is no correlation in these trained people” “Jumping shouldn’t be the first information we collect if we are dealing with sprint people, it should be so obvious” “It’s easier to measure jumping variables in sprinters rather than sprint, and for that single reason in my opinion, we explain some of the misconception (why so many people want to use jumping as a sprint assessment or predictor)” “It is much easier to measure your hamstring strength, rather than exploring and measuring and detailing your sprint technique” “I will name two (factors with sprint technique and hamstring injury) the first one is trunk lateral motion…. Future injured players in rugby tended to have more lateral trunk flexion in swing phase…. The core muscle activity (mainly trunk, glutes, superficial muscles) is clearly lower in soccer players who sustain a hamstring injury during the season when they sprint” “One track research we have is around pelvic tilt angle, how your pelvis is tilted when you enter the swing phase of ...

Today’s episode features Jake Tuura.  Jake is a collegiate strength and conditioning coach, currently working at Youngstown State University.  Prior to YSU, Jake was an assistant S&C coach at the University of Minnesota-Duluth.  Jake runs the website jackedathlete.com which helps athletes gain copious amounts of muscle, hit PRs in the weight room, and improve athletic performance. Jake recently wrote one of the most popular articles of the year on Just Fly Sports “Jacked and Athletic: Training Wisdom for Simultaneous Muscle and Performance Gain” where he laid out a fantastic blend of ideas on muscle, strength and tendon training.   He is also well known on his Instagram where he frequently deadlifts over 600lbs, dunks basketballs, and shows means of how he integrates the work of great minds like Adarian Barr and Dr. Keith Baar.  As with many young coaches who are helping to push the field forwards, training themselves is a huge portion of the equation. Jake is actually a big reason that I got Dr. Keith Baar on the show, as the results he’s gotten from Dr. Baar’s methods have been outstanding in helping him resolve his tendon and knee pain.  He also has great practical thoughts on the fundamental differences between athletic movement and what happens in most barbell lifts as they are traditionally coached.  On today’s show Jake and I chat about hypertrophy and muscle building in the context of athletic development, Jake’s case against the “hypertrophy phase” of training, barbell cluster training for athletes, and his vertical jump training ideas. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points How to increase muscle mass while trying to stay as athletic as possible Jake’s case against the “hypertrophy phase” in sports performance programs Utilization of cluster training for performance Jake’s own experience with tendon training methods and means How Jake used squatting every day to reduce his knee pain Case studies and examples of implementing Keith Baar’s tendon health session trainings Jake’s recent experience in jump training and “meathead dunks”   Jake Tuura Quotes “(In barbell squats) If you take someone at 75% and make them do a set of 10, you are going to get some pretty ugly compensation to get all those reps” “(As an athlete) If you are going to do things that involve training to failure, try isolation type movements” “(For hypertrophy-clusters with an athletic emphasis) Instead of traditional 4x10 at a load where you are grinding it out and it feels terrible, you do double the sets and half the reps” “If you are killing yourself in the weightroom with grinding reps, you are not going to be able to go and perform high quality skill work” “For 2 months I squatted every single day, go in do few warm up sets, max out… after this, I went to the court to play basketball… no knee pain” “Load your tendon over and over… load it in the morning and load it in the evening… if you give me an excuse to lift twice a day, I’m going to use it” “I feel much more sturdy doing (long duration extreme ISO’s), by doing them I can manage my tendon pain so much… I dunked every day for 10 days with no pain” “(Regarding Jake’s tendon pain) rest did not help one bit” “Band assisted jumps are not the movement of dunking a basketball… maybe you are not going inside edge… maybe your timing is way off.  It’s not just physiology there are so many components to athleticism that you are missing if you are not going and doing it” “(2 Things to improve jumping and dunking) … getting on the court more often, and doing the tendon stuff to stay healthy” About Jake Tuura @jaketuura Jake Tuura, MS, CSCS is a collegiate strength and conditioning coach.

Today’s episode features Dr. Keith Baar, professor at UC Davis and renowned tendon training researcher and expert.  Professor Keith Baar received his PhD from the University of Illinois where he discovered the molecular signal that causes load-induced muscle hypertrophy.  Keith is currently the head of the Functional Molecular Biology Laboratory (FMBLab) at the University of California Davis. Over the last 15 years, Keith has worked with elite athletes, as the scientific advisor to Chelsea Football Club, USA Track and Field, Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, British Cycling, The English Institute of Sport, Leicester Tigers Rugby, and the Denver Broncos.  He also spent time as an assistant strength coach with the University of Michigan football team where he was an undergraduate.  Keith’s current work is focused on how loading and nutrition alter tendon/ligament/ECM health and performance. Tendon training is a vital aspect of athletics, and we’ve had several previous podcasts covering this topic, such as with Dr. Ebonie Rio that were tremendously successful.  Tendon training is one of the most important emerging topics in the athletic performance field.  To that end, Dr. Keith Baar is a leading researcher on tendon training, and his methods are getting athletes serious results.  Whether you are looking at rehabbing injured tendons, determining the best course of training for avoiding muscle strains, or getting better elastic performance in healthy athletes, this is an incredible and information dense podcast.  Topics span all ends of the spectrum on tendon action in isometric training, tendon rebuilding, nutrition and modes of loading. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. Key Points What got Dr. Baar interested in tendon health and performance research New ideas in tendon health and regeneration The dynamics of muscles and tendons in isometric training exercises Tendon stiffness and compliance, and how training impacts those factors Fast versus slow exercise and effects on tendon tissue How to balance fast and slow training for a total effect on the tendon How maximal overcoming isometric exercises work from a muscle-tendon perspective Fundamental differences between static stretching and long isometric holds Why and how loading is critical for tendon health and rehab The role of nutrition in tendon health and performance The drawbacks of a vegetarian or vegan diet on tendon health and performance   “If you load (muscle-tendon tissue) faster or slower, you are going to get different mechanics” “Tendon remodeling is actually extremely fast…. there are dramatic changes that can happen in these tissues in a very short period of time” “(The tendon) is like a tree, the first few years you are building the inner rings.  The other rings you are adding on, you make the tree bigger and stronger as it ages, that tissue is more dynamic.  The center, core part of it isn’t as dynamic unless you have an injury” “As you have more crosslinks, you have more stiff collagen” “The cross-link component is something that we change dramatically with our activity, what we eat, and how much enzyme activity we have” “The more lysyl oxidase you have, the more cross-links you have, the stiffer the tissue… what we do when we exercise, any type of exercise we do, we are going to increase the amount of lysyl oxidase we have, that is going to add in cross-links” “When we are doing activities, we have the capacity to break down our crosslinks.  When we pull on a tendon fast, it’s stiffer, and when we pull on it less fast, it’s less stiff.  If I load my tendon quickly, all the collagen in my tendon works as a sheet, and it pulls with the muscle… it’s working as one unified grouping.” “When we do really fast exercise, we don’t break cross-links,

Today’s episode features track coach and acupuncture student, Sam Wuest.  Sam is finishing his acupuncture degree at New England School of Acupuncture and is a track and field coach at Tufts University. Sam is a former NCAA DI athlete, and holds multiple certifications in strength and conditioning and track and field.  Sam has worked with a diverse array of athletes and has also studied under Ukranian Olympic coach, Alex Ponomarenko.  He coached the recent NCAA DIII high jump champion in the 2018 indoor season, Stefan Duvivier who jumped 2.20m. Sam has blended Western sport performance with Eastern practices, such as acupuncture, Chinese medicine, Zen Meditation, qi gong and tai chi.  When it comes to Sam’s coaching philosophy, as well as this podcast in general, the goal is always to find a blend of ideas from different ends of the spectrum, from the quantitative, data-based realms, to the qualitative and intuitive end.  To this end, this episode is largely about Sam’s outside the box thinking in coaching and recovery.  From his incorporation of multiple planes into basic track and field drills, to feel-based integration of Frans Bosch style stick drills, to avoiding the visual bias in athlete feedback via iPhones and iPads, Sam has a coaching style that is holistic and effective. Sam also has connected training with common concepts in Chinese medicine, including his thoughts on recovery modalities, as well as linking of the seasons and human response into our own models and thoughts on training organization (noting the similarities observed in the practices of Dr. Yuri Verkhoshansky).  Another coach who has done just this was the late Charles Poliquin, an absolute legend in this field.  We’ll get into these topics and more on a show today that is certain to expand your perspective on training athletes. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points Ways to incorporate and create awareness of rotational mechanics in sport movement The faults of a “brace” oriented core movement model in athletics Sam’s utilization of various sensory feedback drills in sprinting How Sam utilizes rhythm and timing in his programming and why we tend to be “over-visual” in how we train and coach athletes Sam’s utilization of recovery modalities Things Chinese medicine has taught Sam about training and recovery Ideas on periodization and training organization based off of seasonal effects on athletes from a holistic perspective   “If you watch the best sprinters in the world, they are not going straight forward and back, there is a rotational element” “There are a whole lot of extensions going on when you push off the ground, and one of them is that lateral plane, and if you aren’t not getting that, you are operating with shorter legs than you need to” “The same still frames that you got from USATF level whatever back in the 90’s is still true, you have to make sure that what happens in between (tri-planar actions) we really optimize” “There are only so many KPI’s that you can show statically.  There are other KPI’s that are going on that you can’t show (on a single frame) because they are dynamic, they are a motion” “If you are holding a stick on your shoulders, you know where your shoulders are, you know where their hips are” “Sometimes in order to get an athlete to change what they need to do, you need to put them in an environment where that bad habit no longer works, and they have to feel that” “I almost never do stick (on the back) drills, and (finish) on a stick drill….. I’ll have the kids drop halfway through” “If your timing is off, there is no chance you are going to hit (the position you want)” “If you are not hitting a rhythm when you jump, your position will be off”

Today’s episode features writer and personal trainer Tim Anderson. Tim has been a personal trainer for over 20 years.  He has written and co-written many books on the subject of primal bodyweight movements, including The Becoming Bulletproof Project, Habitual Strength, Pressing RESET, and Original Strength Performance. When it comes down to it, his message is simple yet powerful: We were created to feel good and be strong throughout life. Several years ago, I bought one of Tim’s books on Kindle, and was totally floored with the simple, but powerful concept of crawling as an essential athletic, and human performance tool.  As an athlete who has lost a significant amount of my innate speed and power ability through my late 20’s and early 30’s, despite lifting more weights than ever, I have always been on the search for ways to reclaim the inner power and movement ability of my youth.  One thing that I’ve found to be a cornerstone in this reflexive or innate strength has been taking on the training methods of Tim Anderson and Original Strength. Today’s podcast is about just that: helping athletes to reclaim their reflexive strength.  Tim gives his take on how he first got interested in crawling and acquiring reflexive strength, the basics of crawl-based training, guidelines on breathing and rolling, and how learning “Original Strength” has changed Tim’s view of corrective exercise and addressing movement dysfunction (and why we should shy away from those terms). Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points How Tim got into crawl training The basics of “reflexive strength” How Tim’s relationship with traditional barbell oriented training has changed as he has gone through reflexive and crawl based training methods How Tim starts his clients in their training program Tim’s take on common crawl variations and add-ons Ideas on working with athletes who have a lot of lateral “sway” while crawling Tim’s take on the learning process in athletic movement Basic guidelines in Tim’s process for getting athlete’s breathing back on track Ideas on using crawling as a preferential mode of conditioning Rolling as the foundation of our gait pattern How original strength means have changed Tim’s view of “corrective” exercise   “(Crawling) was almost like an elixir” “What I noticed that (after crawling) I was so much stronger at all the other stuff I was doing (weight training)” “Reflexive strength is the strength we are all designed to have that is supposed to be our foundation, it is both reactive strength and proactive strength; where your body is able to respond when something happens to it, but it is also able to anticipate the need to move before something happens to it… it is supposed to be extremely fast and without thought” “Crawling ties the body together in such a way, that it connects everything about you and gives you a great foundation of reflexive strength” “To me, strength is the ability to live your life the way you want to and do what you want to do, without strength you don’t have health” “There are huge gaps in traditional strength training (in terms of transfer to movement quality on the field)” “Probably 90% of what I do is original strength, pressing reset through crawling and the other resets” “So when I’m talking about looking to see if they have their reflexive strength, it is about how beautifully, and how easily and how pretty they can move” “I don’t even worry about how long they can crawl, it’s more about can they crawl pretty, does it look good? does it look like poetry?  If it looks anything less than that, we got some work to do” “The core is instinctual, and intuitive and reactive, and it knows what to do.

Today’s episode features Keegan Smith, strength coach and founder of the RealMOVEMENT Project. Keegan has worked with the Premiership winning Sydney Roosters in the Australian National Rugby League (NRL) along with 5 other professional teams. He spent 6 years sleeping on floors living in third world communities looking for solutions of how to make a difference.   He has a way of looking at human performance from a growth-oriented perspective, frequently utilizing calisthenics, juggling and other bodyweight challenges.  Keegan is an insightful, wise and experienced individual who makes a serious effort to walk the talk. For this show, we dig into life experiences and philosophy, growth-mindsets, and how this filters into training athletes to reach their highest potential.  This podcast has always tried to get outside the box, and Keegan’s work is definitely helping coaches raise their awareness of not only athletic needs, but also that of society at large when it comes to strength and physical culture. On today’s show, we discuss Keegan’s background and experiences in the sports performance field, as well as his diverse life experiences.  We get into his take on what an athlete centered performance model really looks like, and where to start when looking at the training and life environment that’ll yield best results.  He’ll get into his outside the box take on skill development, and finally chat a bit on barbell training and where he’s headed with REALMOVEMENT project. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points Keegan’s background in sports performance and strength training Keegan’s thoughts on his time away from strength and conditioning to travel and learn in disadvantaged countries, and how this changed his philosophy on training athletes Thoughts on an athlete-centered performance model in a high performance training environment How diversity and getting “outside the box” in GPP can be the key to continued athletic gains Keegan’s thoughts on barbell training and Olympic lifting The next direction Keegan is heading in his career “Everybody needs to feel like they are an important part of a social system, not feeling like you are part of a community is going to massively negatively effect (your) performance” “You are not going to train the same unless you see (athletics) as a vehicle for social change” “In strength and conditioning, thinking of someone as a human is often too zoomed in, start thinking of the requirements of a plant, and you might start to get better results with people” “This is where strength and conditioning needs to start, the level of a living organism, the level of a living organism, the level of human psychology and human psyche” “You can’t separate psychology from physiology” “If everyone is fighting for their piece of impact, then that athlete is getting pulled all over the place… having a lot of coaches can be harder in a sense… less team members is probably better” “I feel like I’m always the biggest limiting factor on the people that I work with, if I can jump a little higher, if I’m a little bit leaner, if I’m a little bit stronger, then everyone I work with will get pulled in that direction as well, by osmosis, by culture…. It’s pressure, but it’s also opportunity” “It’s a shame for days to be passing when you don’t know what you are building” “If you lose your ability to be a human, if you lose your ability to move in multiple directions, you become fragile and your peak will be lower” “I don’t think you can get to the peak of physical performance by overly specializing” “The stupider you feel about it, the more you should probably do it” “I think of Olympic lifting as throwing and catching barbells… I don’t...

Today’s episode features Nick DiMarco, director of sports performance at Elon University. With a thorough understanding of training loads, and the components behind transferable agility training, Nick has a unique array of insights he brings to the coaching table.  As a former professional athlete (NY Jets and Baltimore Ravens outside linebacker in 2014), Nick is well versed in the intuitive aspects of what it takes to be a high achieving athlete.  Nick is on track to finish his PhD in Health and Human Performance at Concordia University of Chicago by early 2020. When it comes to agility and change of direction training, there are a lot of questions on the context and integration of perception/reaction work.  At the end of the day, the more elements of sport we as coaches can engage and overload, the better, and this area of the field has exciting possibilities for transfer to athletes. This concept follows up to the last show with Mike Guadango on the evolution of the strength coach and the sports skill industry as a whole:  Where does the role of the strength coach in terms of reactive agility training fit in the grand scheme of things?  How do we intermix the different layers of the Bondarchuk pyramid in terms of training transfer?  Does “basic agility technique” outside of reactive stimuli need to be trained or considered? Nick covers many of these concepts and more in today’s show, as well as describing his system of categorization of perception and reaction work.   He also shares ideas on assessing the results of such a training system, which is a question that many coaches have when considering implementing the work and gauging their progress. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points Nick’s background in perception/reaction style work The categorization of perception/reaction elements in programming Nick’s take on the hard skill vs. soft skill argument in agility training for sport How Nick integrates the perception/reaction work into a training day and week What is Nick trying to overload in the perception reaction space that athletes are not getting in their specific sport practice How Nick’s perception reaction work fits in the grand scheme of sport coaching Assessing the results of a perception/reaction based program “We had guys who were great at a 5-10-5 or 3-cone drill, and then they would get on the field and were terrible football players” “What are you trying to do in any field sport: you are either trying to evade a defender, or stay in front of an offensive guy and try to score or not let them score” “(In regards to perception/reaction) We have a mirror category, we have a dodge category, we have a chaser category and we have a score category” “You are never going to use that exact technique (of canned agility) no matter how engrained it is in you, when you are reacting to the environment versus a drill” “(Regarding implementation of agility work in the week) With Tuesdays we’ll do a mirror category and chaser category, and then on Friday we’ll do a mirror or chaser category, and a score category.” “The options in perception/reaction are limitless” “In every sport the 1 on 1 situations are pretty critical so we’ll focus on that a lot” “For basketball with your guards and forwards playing on the perimeter, if they can get more blow-by’s and prevent more blow-by’s as a defender, then that is a huge deal for them, so for them focusing on the mirror drills, and tight spaces (is important)… “(In terms of training transfer, you are) trying to make the scenarios as close to the sport as you can, you’re not the sport coach, but at close as you can where it’s going to have some carryover” “In the grand scheme of things,

Today’s episode features Mike Guadango, coach and owner at Freak Strength in Oakland, New Jersey.  Mike has mentored under coaching legends such as Buddy Morris, James “The Thinker” Smith, and Joe DeFranco.  He has coached athletes from NFL, MLB, NBA, MLL, Rugby League, Rugby Union and Olympic medalists to pre-pubescent athletes.  including 10+ NFL Super bowl Champs, 10+ All-Pro/Pro-bowl selections, 5+ College National Champions, 10+ Division 1a All-Americans, 20+ Collegiate All-Americans & players from every Division 1 conference. Mike’s coaching success aside, he is one of the most authentic and transparent coaches in the industry.  As a field, we are always looking to push forward into more efficient and effective systems that serve athletes to a greater capacity.  Mike has been transforming himself into a “one stop shop” as a coach, and upcoming acupuncture practitioner that allows him a greater versatility in his role in the high performance spectrum. If you listen to this show often, you know that I value real and authentic conversations, and this talk is the epitome of that.  For this episode, Mike talks extensively on the role of the strength coach in context of high performance sport coaching, and the potential of the physical preparation industry to evolve into something greater. He also discusses things like his own personal journey in sports performance, and how he now views athletic development and training.  This show ties into James Smith’s global dynamics model (of which many previous podcast guests are evolving towards) and offers great insight into the future of sport training from a philosophical perspective. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. Key Points What led Mike into getting a degree in acupuncture as a sports performance coach Mike’s journey over the last decade that have changed his thoughts on the goal of sports performance How little we actually know of training in regards to the grand scheme of things How Mike’s views on barbell and maximal strength training has changed over time Mike’s view on the role of a strength coach and who should be assigning GPP exercises and work loads in a high performance program How Mike performs his movement training for his athletes to help them feel and perform at their best “The bigger a business gets, the more inefficient it becomes” “More tools in the tool box, now there are less people that need to man the tools” “If you asked me a question 6 years ago, I had an absolute answer” “It takes 10 years to start learning someone else’s techniques, then you spend another 10 years developing your own techniques, then it takes another 10 years you spend honing your techniques, and then you teach” “The whole industry is a big salesy industry, and no-one is doing anything new” “Unless you know your why, there’s no reason to be doing it” “Isn’t that the goal, use as little stimuli as possible to yield the same result” “Getting stronger is as easy as falling out of a boat and hitting water….As long as you aren’t dealing with weightlifters and powerlifters, let’s not overcomplicate it” “If you get one leg strong… aren’t you getting both legs strong? We are splitting hairs here with so much stuff.” “Because we don’t know enough, stay the f^@k out of their way and let the athlete perform” “What is the true measurement of the exercises we are doing, why are we doing them, why are we so married to them, what are they going to do?” “If an actual skills coach was able to learn and apply what we do we (strength coaches) are done; from a general standpoint I don’t think there is a need for a strength coach.” “The skills coaches should be able to acquire this information with relatively little effort, what I think is that strength coaches are going to start to become ...

Today’s episode features Mike Salemi.  Mike specializes in human performance and is a sought after international presenter in the field of health and fitness. He has a diverse background in strength and conditioning and has competed over the course of 15+ years at an elite level in Powerlifting and Kettlebell Sport. Through his own path of resolving sport-related injuries, Mike understands the importance of integrating the body, mind and spirit as a means to foster high performance for the long term.  His motivation is to help athletes, fitness professionals, and coaches discover their own potential from the inside out.  He has extensive experience learning from Paul Chek, and integrating this into a holistic method of athletic performance. For this podcast, which was recorded in-person, Mike takes us through how his injuries in his athletic experience provided a gateway for him to learn more about his body and move into another realm of movement.   One of the big things Mike shares with us is his use of “working in” (as opposed to working out), which he learned from Paul Chek, and how to use this as a means to improve athletic recovery and psychological performance in competition.  Mike and I worked out together prior to this recording, and I was able to experience first-hand his integration of breathing into various athletic movements with a HIRTS band and the Bulgarian (Suples) bag. Mike also shares with us thoughts on tonic vs. phasic muscle system balance, and how to fix it (which has striking resemblance to the performance of extreme ISOs in Jay Schroeder’s system), as well as how he incorporates ELDOA stretching into his practice. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   Key Points How Mike has utilized band work as a creative, flow based series to train the body What Mike has learned coming off of powerlifting in terms of training the body from a functional perspective Working out versus working in and the impact of working in on holistic high performance Psychological and recovery benefits of “working in” techniques How to get started with “working in” Tonic vs. Phasic system imbalances and how to assess and correct them Mike’s use of ELDOA work in his training “The link between grip and shoulder stability, I’ve seen a lot of people working with these tools (Suples Bag) increase shoulder stability in overhead movements and such, because they can irradiate the tension from the grip all the way through into the shoulder joint” “When it comes to sport specific qualities, you need to have freedom of movement, and integration with the breath” “Uncontrolled deceleration is where I see most all the injuries happen, especially in the planes we don’t train” “Rotation is probably one of the most important patterns for day to day living and sport, and we never train it” “Through every injury, is what I found is it opened to the door to understanding myself better and what I was missing in my own training" “Paul (Chek) put an emphasis on balancing the body not only structurally, but energetically” “A working out exercise is an energy expenditure activity, working in is an energy cultivating activity” “If you teach someone something but you don’t live it, I think people pick up on that” “You can pick a very familiar movement (for working in) done bodyweight, you take that movement, and then there are four criteria that show if you are working out and in a sympathetic state: Number one is if you are sweating; if you are sweating you know you are working out.  Two is digestion, if you can’t do the working in exercise on a full stomach, then you know it’s not activating the parasympathetic nervous system.  The third is the tongue should stay moist, and the fourth/fifth is the heart rate and respiratory rate should not elevate” ...

Today’s episode features Max Aita, head coach of Team Juggernaut weightlifting. Max has been involved in the sports of Weightlifting and Powerlifting as a coach and athlete for the better part of 2 decades.  Having trained under legendary coaches Ivan Abadjiev and Steve Gough for weightlifting and alongside the likes of Mark Bell for powerlifting, Max’s experience and knowledge is extensive. Max is a masterful coach who has studied Soviet training systems extensively, and has coached National Record holders in Weightlifting (such as Alyssa Ritchey who recently set the US record in the 49kg category in Olympic weightlifting) as well as All Time world record holders in Powerlifting. One of the things that I’ve always enjoyed is chatting training with coaches of various disciplines, in general physical preparation, track and field, baseball, swimming, and in this case, Olympic weightlifting.   A quote I like is “not being able to read the label while you are inside the bottle”, and by that I feel that by not talking with coaches processes outside our own particular field, we lose insights our own field may not have considered due to contextual restrictions and habituation.  By talking to expert coaches of all individual sport disciplines, we can better understand the global training process and Max is an incredible coach we can all learn from, regardless of our corner of the field. Although many coaches would look at a chat regarding Olympic lifting in terms of potential transfer to non-strength sport athletics (we do talk about this on the first 1/3 of the show), this episode is really about Max’s training process for Olympic weightlifters, his periodization, and how he approaches special and maximal strength.  For those familiar with this podcast, and/or, Soviet training methods, the Bondarchuk influence on Max’s system is significant, and concepts from Max’s training organization can be carried over to any sport process. On today’s episode, Max talks about Olympic lifting in context of training non-strength sport athletes, the use of the Olympic lifts (and any other non-primary sport movement) as a tool, what Max has learned from the Bulgarians and beyond, as well as the nuts and bolts of his own training design and sequencing. This podcast was recorded in person at Max’s Gym in Emeryville, California. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. Key Points Max’s description of the Bulgarian system The hardest training time period Max has gone through How Max would approach utilizing (or not utilizing) the Olympic lifts in a non-strength sport environment Exercise sequencing and selection for Olympic lifting and subsequent principles for training any athletes What Max has learned from training with the Bulgarians and what his training looks like currently What Max’s periodization for his Olympic lifting program looks like Max’s deconstruction and reconstruction of the Bulgarian system into his own training process The importance of rest and recovery in Max’s system Max’s thoughts on the squat-weight bias in the Western training world relative to other sport skills “Coaches biggest problems is that they construct a framework around their thinking, and then try to fit situations into their framework” “You (some elite athletes particularly) can get away with an enormous amount of unproductive work” “(In the aftermath of Bulgarian style weight training) Now my perspective is how can I do less, how can I maximize training to be the most effective it can possibly be” “Some people are trying to fix things all the time, but they are not even in the right (athletic) position” “If you just try to pull the bar as high as you can or go as heavy as possible, you might get benefits from that in the short term that seem productive,

Today’s episode features Ben Patrick ("Knees Over Toes Guy"), coach and founder of the “Athletic Truth Group,” a gym and online training service based out of Clearwater Beach, Florida. Ben overcame debilitating knee and shin pain, as well as subsequent surgeries through a personal journey taking knee and foot strength training means to their fullest potential.  Ben transformed his basketball career, going from being continually injured and under-achieving to having a successful junior college stint by improving his own knee health and performance. This culminated for Ben with a scholarship offer to Boston University for basketball, but due to NCAA eligibility rules, Ben turned it down and began training athletes. I’ve been aware of Ben’s training group for some time, but a string of friends and colleagues in the field who have been recommending Ben’s methods as completely transformative in their knee pain has pointed my eyes more closely to his work.  If you look through Ben’s social media, you can see how passionate he is about health and human performance. For today’s episode, Ben keys us into his progression in knee training and how it transformed his basketball career.  He also shares some important ideas on long-term vertical jump training and health, and how a hip-centered focus, although useful for short-term gains, can actually set an athlete backward in the long run by ignoring critical links in jumping. Ben also talks about his four pillars of performance, as well as foot training concepts.  It’s always fun to connect dots in this field, and much of Ben’s ideas resonate with things I’ve learned from Jay Schoreder’s system, such as strength through length, terminal end-range strength, in movements, fixing compensation patterns, and more. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, a supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Key Points 6:30 Ben’s athletic journey from knee pain, surgeries, and injury to pain-free performance 12:47 How Ben got started with the “knees over toes” idea with the late Charles Poliquin 18:40 How it is crucial to bulletproof the ankles and knees as part of a vertical jump training system 26:31 The four pillars of Ben’s athletic training system 31:37 How to progress knees-over-toes training for knee health, strength, and performance 46:07 How Ben approaches footwork in his training Ben Patrick, “Knees Over Toes Guy", Quotes “(Throughout performing knees over toes training) In the course of the season, everyone else lost inches on their vertical, I gained 3” “I do more exercises involving my feet than my knees…. I do the most volume for my feet, second most volume for my knees, third most volume for my hips because if it was the other way around, having an amazing deadlift is awesome, but the less proportionate now you are going down to knee and ankle strength, then when you go to plant and jump you have a higher chance of pain” “It’s (feet and knees as a priority) a long term approach, but in the scheme of things, I run into athletes all the time who aren’t jumping higher than they were 5 years ago” “I’m not a fan of only flexibility and without having strength in that range” “As I get athletes more strength through length, they become less likely to get hurt and they get more strength in the process” “At the end-ranges themselves, we get freakishly strong” “I go backwards with the sled, every single day (for knee health and strength)… it takes quicker steps for a beginner to feel a burn in the VMO and the feet, while an advanced person can take bigger steps….. when in doubt, we go slow in one direction, and then we go back quickly” “The second progression after the sled is the sissy squat” “The reverse sled work is a foundation for the foot”

Today’s episode features coach, biomechanist and inventor Adarian Barr. Adarian has had a number of appearances on this podcast, speaking on common sprint and jump training myths, athletic asymmetry, and the foot.  As long as I’ve known Adarian, it’s as if I am talking to someone coaching many years in the future where we have a more thorough and integrated understanding of movement.  I’ve never came across a coach or training equipment manufacturer that has gotten me the results I’ve found with Adarian’s methods, while at the same time alleviating my injury symptoms. Adarian is a coach of “fast”, which is fundamentally different than the process of strength development, since it requires the ability to “connect the dots” on many pieces of human machinery, many of which we know relatively little about (i.e. the foot, pressure, joint articulation, breathing, etc.). In this episode, we continue our discussion on the foot, this time specifically digging into the training of the arches, and particularly, the transverse arch of the foot.   In the world of foot training, we tend to see a lot of talk on various ways to strengthen muscles, or even see interesting devices that separate or even spread the toes, but we’ll see limited or even backwards gains by following many of these routes. To reach an ultimate level of performance, an intimate understanding of our direct link to the ground, the foot and its arch system, is needed.  In this episode, Adarian covers that, as well as concepts of angular force application and pressure regarding the foot and squatting, and also “same-side” coaching and motor learning strategy. Adarian Barr will be teaching out of Santa Clara, CA on June 22 and 23, you can sign up for that here: Rewire 2019 Registration Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. Key Points How the best athletes can create a large amount of foot pressure in a small space The importance of the transverse arch of the foot in jumping, sprinting and athletic movement How to sprint fast from an arch oriented perspective How to get all three arches of the foot to activate How the straightness or turn-out of the foot can determine the outcome of the movement “Same-side” strategy in sport movement and motor learning   Adarian Barr Quotes “A million people wear Nike shoes… one blows out, it does not make it a bad shoe” “If I have 1000lb of force, and an area of 10 square inches, that will be divided up into the area, so now I technically am putting out 100lbs per square inch.  What if I can put the whole 1000lb through 1 inch?   The return is going to be so much greater than the 10 square inches.” “When I straighten the foot out, I reduce the pressure, and I don’t go as fast” “A lot of times we look at the end product, but we have to look at how the end product came about” “If I slam my foot down, that is going to press the foot into dorsiflexion… at that point I’ll collapse the ankle, which is why I am not a fan of slamming the foot into the ground” (Regarding the shin in accelerating and sprinting) “How fast is it going to move, how far is it going to move, and once it does move, you are done with it (i.e. don’t over-extend/triple extend)” “If I stomp too hard (in sprinting), the force will come back too me too fast” “When the transverse arch hits, you have to do more work to anchor that thing to the ground (regarding squatting when accelerating and sprinting)” “There is nothing happening (in terms of pressure) from a tall position” “Based on your shin range, it is going to dictate what lifts you are going to do” “When it comes to being fast, how can I make the shin drop faster, what can I do to get the arch to anchor faster” “Your arches don’t work automatically,

Today’s episode features UW-River Falls strength coach Carmen Pata Carmen Pata, MS, CSCS*D, RSCC*D, a two-time nominee for the National Strength Coaches Association College Strength Coach of the Year, is the Director of Athletic Performance at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.  He has written two books, as well as articles for the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association, National Strength Coaches Association, Teambuildr, and the American College of Sports Medicine. Carmen is a practical coach who is well versed in the “art” of coaching, and particularly the art of doing so at a small University where the coach-athlete ratio is very small and the level of incoming athletes from a physical perspective demands creative solutions to preparation. A big reason I wanted to get Carmen on the show was the nature of his articles, being a mixture of experience intelligence and practicality.  Throughout this podcast, I enjoy talking about a diverse array of training methods.  It is always enjoyable to do episodes where we see how these training means are filtered into a training package, and in this case, 4-year training at a Division 3 school. In today’s episode, Carmen discusses the biggest things he is trying to get out of his athletes form a mental and physical perspective.  He also talks about how he instills confidence in the weightroom and how athletes need to “earn the barbell” in their first stages of the program.  Finally, we get into year-to-year training progressions and Carmen’s creative utilization of vision training for his athlete populations. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. Key Points The biggest thing that Carmen is trying to get out of the weightroom for his athletes How Carmen instills confidence in the weightroom How to “earn the barbell” in Carmen’s program Year to year strength training progressions and emphasis from Freshman to Senior years Carmen’s utilization of vision training in between his main training sets “The biggest thing I am trying to instill in the weight room is confidence, but if we are talking adaptation, it might sound trite, but… just get stronger” “One of the standing rules in the gym is that you are not allowed to say the words “I can’t” “If you can do things you never thoughts possible, that is the ultimate transfer from the gym to the playing field” “Before an athlete even touches the barbell, they have to earn the right to do that; that’s the first part of it, the second part of it is the RKC standard of 100 kettlebell snatches in 5 minutes” “Our freshman year is an intro, solving major movement issues.  Our sophomore year is getting as strong as you can.   Junior year is introduction to the true Triphasic ideas.  Going into their senior year of training, that is going to Bryan Mann’s velocity based stuff (this isn’t a hard line on year to year work as some athletes may progress through these slower or more rapidly)” “Most of the football players I work with want a big back squat, and good or bad, that’s what we do with them because it feeds into that program.  Our soccer team could care less about that 1RM back squat, they respond better to an escalating density style program” “(The use of the RKC kettlebell test for freshman) for some of these freshman, it is their first idea of what work really is” About Carmen Pata @carmenpata Carmen Pata, MS, CSCS*D, RSCC*D, a two-time nominee for the National Strength Coaches Association College Strength Coach of the Year, is the Director of Athletic Performance at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. In addition to being an international selling author, Coach Pata writes articles for the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association, National Strength Coaches Association, Teambuildr,

Today’s episode features track and physical preparation coach Ross Jeffs. Ross currently coaches at the regional training center in Rotterdam in the Netherlands.  Although having a track and field background, Ross has worked with world class athletes from a variety of sports.  He has been mentored by Jonas Dodoo within the Speedworks coaching system, and is one of the brightest coaches under age 30 that I’ve read or talked to. I first heard of Ross just a few weeks ago when his article on “Trainers vs. Racers” came out on Simplifaster.  Although this article didn’t get a lot of shares, it was one of the best works I had read in the last year, and one that resonated heavily with thoughts I’ve had on neurotyping system and athlete individualization. I’ve known through Christian Thibaudeau’s neurotyping, as well as personal practice and reflection, that some athletes just can’t handle as much CNS intensive training, and that some athletes tend to do better with longer times under tension in the weightroom or even in their event specific training.  What I hadn’t considered was how this impacted the nature of maximal velocity sprinting and jumping, and how we can practically speed train athletes based on what we are seeing in practice (you don’t even need to know neurotyping to understand how this works, since it’s simply based on practice times versus race times). For my chat with Ross today, we cover Ross’s background in classifying athletes (such as the muscular versus elastic bandwidth), who the “racer” is in practice, as well as the “trainer” and then how this can be utilized in track and field and team sport performance training. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. Key Points How Ross goes through a system of classifying athletes and what they optimally respond to (in terms of fascial, muscular, response to plyos, heavy weightlifting, etc.) How and why muscular versus fascial athletes respond differently to training Who the “racer” is vs. the “trainer” and how to train each of them for speed How Ross trains maximal velocity in context of team sport “I see it as elastic, concentric and fascial.  I see concentric at one end of the spectrum and fascial as the other and elastic sits in the middle…. the names aren’t really important, it’s just semantics” “When the athlete comes in, the first month we might spend building tissue tolerance in the weightroom, some kind of improvement in the soft tissue; that might be spending a bit more time in the weightroom, 60-70% weight plus (and full range of motion), slightly heavier maybe to get some remodeling in the tissues” “The fast-twitch guys on one type of a spectrum, they might come out of a phase like that (more weights, tissue remodeling) and they might look pretty good, but a fascial guy might look slow, and their ground contacts could look crappy” “I think as coaches, we change too many variables too quickly” “We should make our decisions on big rocks (such as heavy lifting versus plyometrics and response) before we go into minutia” “(Regarding bike sprints and muscle tension in general) The fast twitch guys have a really good ability to tune their system by just having some level of muscular tension, and they don’t need to put their feet on the ground like the fascial guys” “You have some athletes who can get very close to or even attain their competition velocity in training, as long as they are fairly fresh, while you have others who can’t get anywhere near it… in reality both athletes are giving 100% effort but their speeds are anywhere between 85 to 100% of their actual PB velocity, so the stimulus that is actually being applied from athlete to athlete is massive” “If you have a trainer who can constantly apply a very high stimulus in training,

Today’s episode features Dr. Ebonie Rio, leading researcher in tendon pain and rehabilitation at La Trobe University. Ebonie has a clinical career that has taken her to the Australian Institute of Sport, the Australian Ballet Company, Australian Ballet School, Melbourne Heart Football Club, Alphington Sports Medicine Centre, 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and much more. In approaching the full spectrum of training, the field of tendons and connective tissue represent an area that not much is known relative to others, such as muscle physiology.  Even our fascial system has been referred to as a “dark matter” of sorts since there is a lot about it we do not know. This manifests itself into tendon injuries (think knee/patella and Achilles) being very nagging and hard to rehabilitate because they do not “play by the same rules” as muscles and bones.  At the same time, when we train for performance and injury prevention, knowing how to improve the capacity of our myo-fascial system to sustain and handle loads is critical.  It is also important to look at how various training means will have an impact on not only our muscles, but how our tendons and connective tissue adapt. This episode with Ebonie Rio is fantastic for helping to build a more well-rounded knowledge of athletic tissues and subsequent training.  In this episode, Ebonie covers why tendons are different than muscle, how to optimally load them in training and rehab, as well as brain science and tendon training.   Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.    View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points Why tendon injuries are fundamentally different than injuries of other tissues in the body Optimal contraction and tempo emphasis for the sake of tendon training and rehabilitation The four types of loading on tendons How the “24 hour rule” provides guidelines for the art of tendon loading in rehabilitation How strong muscles can help mitigate tendon injuries Guidelines for range of motion when rehabilitating tendons Improvement in neuromuscular versus physical changes in the rehabilitation of tendons How to approach prevention of tendonous issues in sport performance How tempo oriented and metronome training is great for both the brain and tendon rehabilitation Ideas on maximizing tendon strength for athlete performance Dr. Ebonie Rio Quotes “Our tendon injuries provided us the biggest challenge (compared to broken bones or muscle strains)” “Tendons don’t have an inflammatory process, muscles have a 3-phase response of inflammation…. Tendons are not the same, the pain is not inflammatory” “If we say things like tendonitis (incorrectly), that really invokes an inflammatory condition, and that means people will think of a passive approach.  We use the word tendinopathy which gives the indication for a load based program” “Tendons really love load, we just have to help them with the timing and the progression of it” “When you rest, you drop (tendon loading) capacity” “There is no one recipe that people should do that completely rehabilitates a person.  It has to incorporate (all training tempos) and it needs to be progressive.” “The first type of loading on a tendon is a tensile load; it is when I ask your tendon to store and release energy like a spring” “The next load is compression, compression is where the tendon is sort of squashed against a bone, like our Achilles tendon when in dorsiflexion” “The third load is a combined load of tensile load and compression… like a fast change of direction where you drop into dorsiflexion and then switch the other way” “Our final load is a shear or friction load” “Anything that is fast and in compression is provocative for a tendon” “Isometric strategy is the first way in; it won’t provoke tendon ...

Today’s episode features Christian Thibaudeau who is back for his third appearance on the podcast. Christian is a world-renowned expert in strength training, but has gained recent attention particularly for his neurotyping system (read my review of it here), which trains athletes in accordance with their neurotransmitter levels and sensitivities. His original podcast with me on the topic is an important listen (if you haven’t listened to it already you should do that before you dive into this episode) and is also our most popular episode to date.  The neurotyping system is a true game changer, and Christian followed up his original talk with episode #99 which went in depth into competitive aspects of each neurotype, and how to approach competitive “chokers” from a neurotyping perspective. Today’s episode is a two-headed monster of awesomeness when it comes to developing athletes.  The first half of this show, Christian goes in depth regarding early childhood (even down to the 0-2 year old range) and what experiences a child needs to have to optimize their chances of being a good athlete later on.  Christian also gives his take on the over-coached, over-speciailized epidemic that is plaguing youth sports today. The second half of the show goes deep into specifically training the 2B and type 3 neurotypes (think those athletes with a “weaker” nervous system), and how to properly approach them from a speed, power and sport skill perspective.  Training athletes in the 1B and 2A categories, and even 1A are pretty straightforward, as modern power development methods such as French Contrast will easily improve abilities here. Athletes with less dopamine sensitivity have different needs, and there are other strategies that can prove useful here.   Finally, Christian gives some insight on nutrition and neurotyping, as well as thoughts on training frequency.   If you are interested in your own personal neurotype, there is a questionnaire for this now available on Thib Army. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points Child athletic development, particularly from ages 0-2 and how neurology and neurotransmitters fit into this equation Why great natural talent is often labeled as “uncoachable” Recent developments in neurotyping, including training for the type 2B “French Contrast replacements” for athletes who are not 1B and 2A Neurotypes How to use the weightroom to improve sensory feedback in athletes for sport skill How to train a team sport 2B in the weightroom who needs to gain speed The effects of proteins and carbohydrates in different neurotypes prior to and after workouts Ideas on training frequency in bodybuilding versus athletic performance Christian Thibaudeau Quotes “Modern parents castrate their child’s chance of being a great athlete before the first year of life is over” “The foundation (of athleticism) is built in the first two years of life” “(Child athletic development from age 0-2) depends on two main things, and the first one is movement skills…  that depends on the visual system, the vestibular system and the proprioceptive system, your hands and your feet.  The hardware for this system is laid out in the first 2 years of life.” “The kid needs to see many different shapes, many different colors… three dimensional stuff” “The vestibular system is where most kids are lacking because parents are lazy… it is developed when a kid has to adapt to rapidly changing positions in space” “The hands and feet are the two main sensors when it comes to being in a relationshiop with an opponent or in space, so you need to touch as many different textures and shapes as possible, the feet need to be in contact with the floor as much as possible”

Today’s episode features Dr. Michael Yessis, Soviet sport science expert, creator of the 1x20 training system, and internationally renowned expert on sports training and biomechanics. On this podcast, we’ve had plenty of coaches who have talked about the 1x20 strength training system and the results it has brought them.  Being 142 episodes into the show, I figured it would be great to go straight to the creator of the system and talk about its’ origins, intentions and implementation. The 1x20 system itself is incredibly simple to carry out, but there are a few important features that are important to understand to get maximal benefit.    As important as it is to get stronger, it’s also important to keep it all in context of what actually makes a great athlete.  Dr. Yessis has created a simple system that gets athletes strong in a hurry, but he also knows that being the strongest athlete on the team doesn’t mean you are the best!  In that sense, Dr. Yessis gives us lots of helpful insights on how to help a training program really transfer to the skills needed for sport success. On today’s show, Dr. Yessis gives us great insight on the advantages of moderate intensity efforts in the weightroom, some important details on the 1x20 system and its’ effectiveness, as well as in-season training, special strength and plyometric ideals. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points Advantages and disadvantages of heavy (80% and up) weightlifting for athletes Why speed is the number one variable in training athletes Planning of strength work and emphasis throughout the year How the 1x20 strength training system came about The advantages of the 1x20 system over other types of strength training systems Training cycle patterns in the 1x20 system Workout variation in the 1x20 system 1x20 for different types of athletes, such as track sprinters versus a field sport athlete How plyometric progression works within the 1x20 system Dr. Michael Yessis Quotes “If you look at world class performers, not one of em’ is the strongest man on the team, so how much strength do you need?” “The ultimate goal of training is to develop more speed, not strength” “(Regarding barbell training) The ideal adaptation within the body happens within  the context of a moderate intensity program” “Every coach should look at this as the criteria for any program they use “Is it improving the performance of the athlete”, this is the bottom line” “Many times (heavy) strength training for the older athlete or the adult can lead to negative gains” “The specialized strength training is the key to making a better performing athlete, but the specialized strength has criteria” “If your strength training is general, which most programs are… it has no effect on performance.  You get stronger but your performance does not get better.” “Muscular endurance must precede muscular strength… it gives you more circulatory abilities” “For the greatest gains (in strength training) you need a moderate intensity” “Too many get by with only a few strong joints and muscles… with the 1x20 you can use over 20 exercises in a session” “I don’t have athletes do deep squats, we do ½ to ¼ squats… where in sport do you see range of motion you see in a deep squat?” “In the beginning you must learn proper execution (of lifting skills)” “Forget the amount of weight, it is how you are doing the exercise with good form.  You need that good form for proper neuromuscular development” “When you use maximal weights, technique usually deteriorates” “We use the 1x20 system as a deload for higher level athletes; they are not on a 1x20 but when they need a deload week or two… or three or four… then they use ...

Today’s episode features UK physical preparation coach Sam Portland. Sam has been a strength coach on the elite level for nearly a decade, working with premiership rugby, Olympians, and international competitors ranging from hockey to track and field.  He was first introduced to me by Keir Wenham-Flatt in our podcast together, where Keir mentioned Sam’s experience with “speed gate golf”. Sam is a forward thinking coach who got started in the coaching game very early and has a knack for the intuition of developing athletes.  In speed gate golf, Sam found a method, not only to essentially eliminate injuries from his speed training program, but also get athletes faster than they have ever been in the process. I’m very interested in the ideas of getting faster and jumping higher without “trying as hard” and I think nothing speaks to that more firmly than studies like Rewzon’s famous (at least in terms of how often I use it) long jump study where jumpers who jumped to “targets” in the landing pit that were not necessarily their maximal distance, would jump further in the end than jumpers who jumped as far as they could every leap. Sam has taken this idea into speed training in a creative way that helped field sport athletes (rugby) get some tremendous results, and this method is a motor learning gem that can speak volumes to physical preparation, track and sport coaches alike. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points Sam’s background as an athlete and what got him into the physical preparation field The birth of “speed gate golf” and how it was able to get athletes very fast while minimizing injuries How Sam changed his language in the weightroom to improve the athletic development quality of it How Sam would program speed into the context of sport coaching if he were a sport coach in a “Global Dynamics” of coaching model “If you look at coaching, we are academics in a kinesthetic world” “Every time speed gates come out in professional environment people get hurt (pull hamstrings)” “(By doing sprint and technical drills through the gates) their feedback loop is always positive” “(In speed gate golf) It became a really competitive game because people wanted to run slow, instead of all wanting to run fast, the goal was to run slow, but run slow technically well” “(In speed gate golf) We used rank-record-publish” “(Using speed gate golf) We didn’t have a hamstring, calf, groin issue at all out of 28 players, and we were knocking boys down into the 10 meters into low 1.6’s” “Any time a guy ran a 2 second 10 (submaximal, accurate running), there was a picture of me and him shaking hands going on my Instagram” “From there, we just built our process of intensification, they’ve showed me that they respect it and understand it…. we just took our rhythm from our a-skip drills and bounds and put that into the gates… show me your a-skip, show me the bound, and now just speed it up a little bit” “Speed gate golf is a 2 second day in trainers… we’d go back to those extensive qualities, then we’d go to intensive qualities” “When you start looking as training as an organism in response to oxygen, then you are going to go a long way” “(In regards to relaxation) Athletes always want to be “on”… nah…. be “off”” About Sam Portland @coach_sportland Sam Portland has been a strength and conditioning coach at the elite level for nearly a decade with a vast array of experience.  Sam has worked with premiership rugby, Olympic athletes, international competitors across a plethora of sports including hockey and track and field. Aside from this Sam keeps in touch with the grass roots aspects of athlete preparation by hosting his ‘combine progr...

Today’s episode features kinesiologist Zig Zeigler.  Zig is an expert specializing in kinesiotherapy, sports performance, post rehab conditioning, and corrective exercise with over 27 years of experience.  In his career, Zig has assisted many thousands of athletes, including some of the world’s best in professional sport. Zig is currently the host of The RunRite Challenge on airing every Saturday morning 7:00 am- 8:00am MST on ESPN Radio-Denver.  He also competed collegiately in Track and Field earning All American honors in the Long Lump, 400M Hurdles and 110M Hurdles.  You can find his “non-orthotics” on barefootscienceusa.com and his personal website, fitnessfromthegroundup.com . If you haven’t guessed it by listening to this podcast thus far the feet are absolutely critical in nearly every aspect of athletic performance. When it comes to training the feet, Zig is one of the leading experts in the world, especially in connecting foot training to athletic performance.  As is a trend on this show, I enjoy steering towards this topic since it is both critical to performance, and also not talked about nearly enough.   Ever since I read an article Zig wrote on not squatting through the heels, I’ve had my own interest sparked on how the foot impacts our experience of resistance training and beyond. Today’s episode draws strong links between the foot and biomechanics, and we also dig into Zig’s favorite strength and sensory modalities to restore foot function to its optimal state.  This is an absolute must-listen for any coach, trainer and athlete, as there is so much that we just cannot make up for properly if our feet are not working correctly. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points What sparked Zig’s interest in the foot and related training concepts The most important processes in how the foot strikes and absorbs the ground What quantifies a good ground-strike in running Zig’s take on applied foot strength training for athletic performance Why just training barefoot isn’t enough to optimize your foot function and performance Coaching cues for the feet in sprinting that are well intentioned, but don’t really work Wbat good and bad proprioception training for the feet is and how to train it   Zig Ziegler Quotes “The feet are the most neglected, yet truly the most important part of the body when it comes to our training programs, because without them we have to find ways to compensate and work around them” “People are being told, “you need Orthotics, and you are going to need them for the rest of your life”” “Heel striking, excessive forefoot training, all of these issues, as you work your way up the chain, it leads to patellar tendonitis in the knee or jumpers knee, or runners knee, patella-femoral syndrome, hip pain discomfort, even IT band issues are related to weaknesses and dysfunction in the feet themselves” “The first joint that should be absorbing, storing and releasing pressure back up the entire chain is the big toe on both feet.” “The most important arch is the transverse arch… it is the arch that connects all the toes together.  All of the muscles of the feet are triggered when that arch is activated” “9.9 out of 10 individuals are not using their feet properly, their weight is back on their heels…. most people have a collapsed medial arch or tightness on top of their foot” “One way to test whether or not your foot has strength is try to curl your toes while in plantar flexion (and see if it cramps or not)” “What you do (with your feet) when you are standing still is what you are going to do when you start running” “(In single leg stance) I look for the foot pronating and with that pronation is there any internal tibial rotat...

Today’s episode welcomes back to the show Dr. Tommy John, along with neurological training adept, Alex Lee.  This episode was recorded in-person, after spending a few hours playing “around the world” in basketball and sliding down slides on a children’s playground. Dr. Tommy John is a Chiropractor/Sports Performance coach (depending on which way his hat is aligned) and is a field leader in neurological training.  He blends psychology, culture and intention into a masterful training system that helps athletes stay healthy and maximize their sport experience.   His book “Minimize Injury, Maximize Performance” is a leading edge guide for the success of young athletes in today’s regressive sport culture that does not prioritize the health and well-being of young athletes. Alex Lee is a chiropractic student at Life West who will graduate in 2020 and has years of experience in neurological training techniques.  As an athlete who experienced back pain as a result of training that didn’t prioritize human movement, he has found freedom from pain and enhanced athleticism by utilizing the techniques taught to him foremost by Dr. Tommy John, which he now utilizes in his own coaching and teaching. This episode is all about how to optimize training from a neurological an psychological perspective.  If we think about the biggest rocks of training, the absolute foundation, it all starts with an athlete’s intentions and the basic functionality of the human body (being a “better human” as Cory Schlesinger puts it).  Dr. Tommy John and Alex share lots of anecdotes and insight as to how we can optimize our own performance, and that of our athletes by incorporating neurological principles in this awesome conversation. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points Methods from a neurological perspective to “be a better human” How fatigue can be a teacher and assessment from an intention driven perspective How an athlete’s “why” impacts their results How spending time away from weights, by using maximal intention ISO’s can be incredibly effective Where the field of chiropractic and sports performance is headed Alex and Tommy’s top bodyweight, barbell and ballistic exercises if they could pick only 1 of each Early specialization and injury as a cultural sport phenomenon “One of the easiest pass/fail methods to rewire the body is standing on one leg” “We should be a good mover before we load the move” “I get still excited that, in the face of whatever we are dealing with, can stimulate and adapt at any level at what you are trying to put intention behind” “The brain doesn’t know we are training and it’s positive, it senses the system is being threatened.... it will do the gnarliest environment ever where it’s like “I am going to die if my knee hits the ground before 5 minutes is up of an ISO lunge”, the changes in the face of fatigue (are immense)” “Every single suggestion I make is going to check your “why” and if you don’t have that clear picture, usually based around something you love… whatever that is, it’s coming and if you don’t have it, you will dip out… and your expectation of your gains is not going to be there” “If there is an injury, if it senses it’s going back to that environment, it’s going to freak out, even if the environment is safe… one of the purposes of rehab is to break that PTSD” “I remember 2 years after (training hard on ISO’s) I stepped back in the weightroom and was able to move stuff around… it was like Bruce Willis in “Unbreakable”. “When you can get to a place in your head when you are training everything max effort, physiologically, the adaptation is insane” “A true chiropractor will just go in and assess the spine and see where it needs to be...

Today’s episode features the first in-person recording of the Just Fly Performance podcast with Stanford University basketball strength coach, Cory Schlesinger.   Cory’s combination of creativity and intuition makes him one of the most unique strength coaches I know, and his passion for the proper physical development of his players shines through in the many podcasts he has been on in the past.  He has a decade of experience as a strength coach, and is in his third year as the sports performance coach for the Stanford University’s Men’s Basketball team.  He also works with NBA and NFL players along with currently preparing athletes for the 2020 Olympic Games.   I’ve known Cory for a little while now, and have wanted to have him on the show for a while, but I felt it would do the most justice to be able to actually sit down in person and record a show, so this marks the first in-person recorded episode of the Just Fly Performance Podcast.   Cory’s methodology in the weightroom resembles, to me, the art of a master craftsman, who has a myriad of tools for a variety of purposes.  Where some coaches only have a hammer, Cory has the whole set of hammers and then some. The way Cory creatively and intuitively can determine what his athletes need in the gym, instead of what he himself as a coach wants to see is what sets Cory apart in this field. Today on the show Cory and I talk about how to make a true athlete driven training system, and then what it really means to be an athlete and train for it.  This episode is also packed with common sense ideas that the modern strength coach can use to better serve athletes. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points How Cory sees the creation of an athletic qualities in the weightroom How Cory structures each workout for his basketball players How the strength coach fits in a true “high performance” sport mastery system How to manage athletic performance in light of moving well/absorbing and releasing force/etc. The importance of understanding martial arts in context of coaching athletes How to “athletically” build an NBA body in context of good human movement patterns Cody’s advice on honing creativity in coaching “Our training program is athlete driven, I give the the power of choice” “I give them the category; their needs and their preferences are what drives the results” “Guys are PR’ing in all of their lifts as we go through season, because I’m not putting an emphasis on it and our frequency is so high” “Once you’ve adapted to those adaptable things (college practice schedule, introducing games, being in college for the first time) then let’s start adding volume in the weightroom" “At the end of the day, it’s about the athletes, if they got the gold, it doesn’t matter what training program they are on, they got the gold” “If you are just going to be the weightroom guy, don’t be talking about salaries…. because that doesn’t determine success… you gotta find value in other ways” “I have to give (my tall players living in a short world) their childhood development back” “If you are talking about building better athletes, make them better humans first, and then they’ll be better athletes because they’ll be able to express” “What do you think chronic, heavy lifting is going to do, it’s all braking! Just imagine how good strength coaches would be if they took what the body already came with, and just make that better!” “(Regarding muscle hypertrophy) If you take a weak athlete and you introduce them to general movement patterns and then you generally load it, mass comes” “How I sneak in a lot of volume is… chins and dips.  A lot of these guys can get great hypertrophy through bodyweight movements”

Today’s episode features your host, Joel Smith, talking on various elements of optimizing the manner by which an athlete experiences a workout.   You could have similar workouts on paper, say 5x3 cleans or 10 jumps over a high jump bar, but the subtleties and nuances by which those repetitions are executed mean everything in how well an athlete will adapt to the movement, as well as move into the next workout with maximal freshness of the central nervous system.   When you understand how to stimulate dopamine release, how to frame a workout to tap into the experiential brain, how to utilize sensory information to coach technique rather than internal cues (or even external), as well as how to make training fun and exciting when needed, you have the tools to turn an average program into an outstanding one.   This isn’t to say meat and potatoes training isn’t important, because it certainly is, but having the tool-set by which to really optimize the way the athlete experiences the training process, both the fun and the repetitive, can really improve our effectiveness as coaches. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points How to get into the experiential mode network while training, and not the default mode network and why it matters Training Gate Golf Long Jump Golf Low Rim Dunking/Playing Jump Games 5x200m Hurdles “Tricking” athletes into doing work (team sport principles) How the Easy Strength principles apply to speed and power training Ideas on making basic lifts more “experiential”, Olympic lift examples Olympic lifting Various ways to experience the bar and the second pull/sensory Some athletes just twitch different; when you do an Olympic lift well, it’s a harmony Various ways to approach the catch, etc. Keiser Jumper or anything else with a quantitative output Impulse in Keiser jumper is what matters/step up jumps Thoughts on VBT stuff How to structure a workout to maximize the manner in which the athlete processes and responds to the work Warmup/Meat and Potatoes/ISOS and super slow About Joel Smith Joel Smith, MS, CSCS is a NCAA Division I Strength Coach working in the PAC12 conference. He has been a track and field jumper and javelin thrower, track coach, strength coach, personal trainer, researcher, writer and lecturer in his 8 years in the professional field. His degrees in exercise science have been earned from Cedarville University in 2006 (BA) and Wisconsin LaCrosse (MS) in 2008. Prior to California, Joel was a track coach, strength coach and lecturer at Wilmington College of Ohio. During Joel’s coaching tenure at Wilmington, he guided 8 athletes to NCAA All-American performances including a national champion in the women’s 55m dash. In 2011, Joel started Just Fly Sports with Jake Clark in an effort to bring relevant training information to the everyday coach and athlete. Aside from the NSCA, Joel is certified through USA Track and Field and his hope is to bridge the gap between understandable theory and current coaching practice.

Today’s episode features James Smith, owner of the “U of Strength” in Tyngsboro Massachusetts.   James has coached a variety of athletes from the novice to the elite skill levels, some of which include current NHL, NBA, and MLS players and the 2011 NCAA Men’s Basketball National Champion UConn Huskies. Through adaptive, creative, and experience-based program design, Jamie assists athletes in reaching their full potential on and off the ice, court, and field.   We have had several coaches on this podcast previously in the world of perception and reaction.  At the end of the day, barbell training is nice, but it can only help an athlete improve by a particular amount in their sport, and honestly, getting athletes strong is easy to do.   What separates a great coach from a novice is the ability to see patterns in the gym (and turf warm-up) that indicate an athlete is actually going to see playing time in their sport rather than riding the pine.  How many athletes have we seen get stronger and even faster but still not make an impact in their actual sport? This quote by James says a lot. “We used to have your typical dynamic warm up and it wasn’t productive” James Smith is the epitome of a forward thinker in the field.  He realized that canned warmup drills and simply getting athletes strong wasn’t giving them their best chance of success in sport, which led him down the path of reactive training that mimicks the dynamic athlete-to-athlete decision making process.   On today’s episode, James talks all things perception and reaction, how he got to the point he is now, and how it is making a big difference for his athletes.  At the end of the day, the best athletes in sport should probably be the best at the exercises you are selecting for the brunt of your training program. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points The “skill gap” that exists in the way that many high school sports are coached James first steps in implementing perception and reaction based work How and why athletes lose creativity through over-coaching and too much robotic drill work How perception-action work can transfer globally to sport play How to make weightlifting reps more variable and “game-like” What James is seeing through the implementation of perception/reaction based work instead of canned agility training “I believe at the younger level you can have a big impact on anticipation, pattern recognition; that part of their developmental process” “At some point (regarding the closed agility drills) I just took them out” “In the off-season we run 2-3 days of “problem solving” activities (we don’t call them agility)” “I still find a ton of value in our sprint work… if you want to talk about on the turf on the basketball court before we get in the weightroom, we always start with a problem solving activity” “We design the activity based on situations, 1v1, 1v2, 2v2, basically small sided games” “When you work with a younger athlete you have to be very careful on how you say things” “We used to have your typical dynamic warm up and it wasn’t productive” “(Regarding perception/action constraints) the defense is mimicking the jumping pattern of the offense” “I’ve seen a big difference in decision making, anticipation (in using perception/reaction work)” “One of the consequences of doing all these pre-planned robotic drills is that athlete’s creativity is gone” “Your activities, drills, etc. needs to be as representative as possible, but sometimes logistics/facilities can be an issue; when I’m training these skills it’s opponent on opponent… I want them in offensive and defensive situations” “We train every quality throughout the year,

Today’s episode features track coach Tony Holler, famous for his “Feed the Cats” training system for high school sprinters.  He is also the coach of Marcellus Moore, a rising junior and one of the top sprinters in the nation with a 100m personal best of 10.31 ran as a high school sophomore.   Tony is a teacher and coach at Plainfield North High School with 35 years experience coaching football, basketball, and track.  He is a member of Illinois Track & Field Hall of Fame and appeared on episode #61 where he spoke on his essentials of the “Feed the Cats” sprint philosophy that prioritizes maximal speed training, rest and low-dosage work.   Training is much more than X’s and O’s, as the environment coaches create has a massive impact on the athlete.  The environment the “Feed the Cats”/Rank-Record-Publish model provides for Tony’s sprinters is so powerful, it has drawn the interest of not only other sports, but also interest to it’s application of life in general (especially on my end). Recently, Tony put out an article highlighting his experience implementing the “Bigger Faster Stronger” strength training program and how has related the “PR” model that BFS incorporates into his speed training this year.  Setting a practice or competition PR is powerful, and Tony has great insight on ways to harness this. We also get into topics on coaching phenoms, strength training and the nuts and bolts of a training environment that is maximally conducive to speed building.   Check out Tony's "Feed the Cats" DVD with Championship Productions. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points How “Feed the Cats” and “Rank, Record, Publish” has filtered into football and basketball coaching Recent lessons Tony has gained from training a phenom (Marcellus Moore 10.31 100m dash as a HS sophomore) How kids doing what they like (instead of what they are forced to do) is a game changer How Tony got to his position where he doesn’t utilize weight training for his sprinters and his background in Bigger Faster Stronger Bigger, faster, stronger and the concept of “constant PR’s” in training Tony’s “speed cycle” in sprint training that was inspired by BFS How to maintain dopamine levels through training structure What Tony has been doing with X-Factor training recently Tony Holler Quotes “Prioritize speed #1, prioritize rest #2, those are the two fundamental principles of feed the cats” “(Marcellus) is much smoother, much more consistent.  His top end speed hasn’t improved much, but he holds it a lot better…. He hasn’t missed a race in 2 years… he is the opposite of a flexible kid” “Most of the time, phenoms are the hardest kids to coach” “Cats have fun racing somebody, they have fun running the fastest 10m fly they’ve ever run” “Cats don’t run 3 miles, and they don’t see “now what” either.  They like to get out of practice early” “Kids are really really good at what they like; they wouldn’t cheat it they liked what they did.  They’ll read like crazy if they like what they are reading” “The further away from kids in education you get, the more money you make” “The grind is not the right religion for people; instead we need to get really good at things that we love” “My non-football players don’t lift after practice, but I tell them to do 100 pushups a day.  Looking frail is no way to live your life” “I do like strength, I just don’t see a difference in between kids who lift in their sprinting, and kids who don’t lift in their sprinting, if there was a difference, I would change my mind” “When you micro-dose, you’ll never ruin the next day, and that’s critical to “Feed the Cats” “When we micro-dose in the weight room, we would lift,

Today’s episode features sports performance coach Jeremy Frisch.  Jeremy is a leader in training young athletes, and has developed a training style revolving around play in favor of robotic or overly specific work for this population. Jeremy is the owner of Achieve Performance Training in Clinton, Massachusetts.  Prior to that he served as a strength coach for Holy Cross, working with basketball, soccer, lacrosse, baseball, softball, field hockey, tennis and track and field.  He was part of the panel of coaches on episode #100 of the podcast, talking about the injury and burnout crisis in youth sports today related to a lack of play in tandem with early sport specialization and over-coaching. For today’s podcast, Jeremy gets into the nuts and bolts of his own system with his youth athletic populations. We get into the roots of the skill acquisition and diversity that allows young athletes to become elite performers later in life, as well as concepts that can help adult athletes have more rewarding and effective training.   It’s very easy to have tunnel vision with older athletes, not considering where they have been at points in their development.  As Jeremy talks about his program, it’s easy to see that athletic development is absolutely a long-term process, and there is a lot of fun to be had along the way.  Many times, play and fun is the answer to breaking out of a rut while staying healthy. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points Child development and the role of observation of older athletes and modeling What are the key skills that young athletes should be able to perform and how Jeremy creates an environment for kids to attain them How to train athletes to play in a “deep” position Dan Pfaff’s “Alternative methods for developing strength power and mobility” article and how Jeremy has incorporated it into his work with athletes How sports played early on can give athletes skills in their bank to use later How “strength” gained from sports such as wrestling (grappling) can show up in the weightroom The importance of play in total athletic development “My youngest child learned by watching the other ones; he has done everything earlier than the other two boys.  He has watched them more, so he mimicks them” “Beng able to take what the athlete learns when they are younger, and putting it towards one specific thing in the end will yield a higher result” “The first things we are going to attack are those fundamental movement skills: simple stuff like skipping and hopping, shuffling, backpedaling, sprinting and leaping and those type of movements, we are going to figure out ways for those kids to practice it” “If you play enough sports or play with your friends enough, you’ll develop those other skills, like catching, throwing, being able to stop a ball, dodge a ball, things like that” “That’s something I look at; what drill can we do where kids can do these movements (such as squatting) and not even know they are doing it” “Those (movement quality drills) have always been there in PE, it’s sort of lost but it’s funny to see it in strength and conditioning now” “I just love the connection between PE and strength and conditioning, it’s there you just have to dig it up” “We played a game of tag, but you had to run in a lunge… really low to the ground.  I did it with them, it felt like an ISO extreme lunge… it was a great way for young children to develop strength in their legs, they are doing it without even realizing it” “Dan talks about doing duck walks and low lunge walks and things like that; and when athletes get really good at those things, it really cleans their (running form) up without practicing running”

Today’s episode features Jérome Simian, French physical preparation coach. Jérome is a coach who not only has been trained by some of the best minds in the world (Jay Schroeder and Charles Poliquin) but also works with some of the greatest athletes in the world, notably Kevin Mayer, the new decathlon world record holder who broke Ashton Eaton’s old mark with an incredible score of 9126. After Kevin Mayer broke the record, Jérome wrote a fantastic article on Strength Sensei about some of the training that allowed Kevin Mayer to overcome back and foot issues, as well as a weak start in his races to progress to a point where he is now the world record holder.   One of the big issues with physical preparation is that the higher the level the athlete is, the less weightroom and barbell lifts will transfer to that athlete’s on-field performance.  All too often forgotten is that it is not what you do but how you do it. Jérome is truly a master of the how.  This episode is a must-listen for any track and field or strength coach, as what Jérome did with Kevin Mayer is truly phenomenal.   On today’s episode, Jérome will cover his approach with Kevin Mayer, how he fixed some of Kevin’s imbalances, his approach to maximal strength training (and then eventually a lack thereof) with Kevin in his lead up to setting the world record.  There are also many tips to the nuances of exercise performance within this episode. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points Jérome’s training of Kevin Mayer, world record holder in the decathlon How Jérome approaches basic barbell strength training for athletes in terms of posture, position and muscle firing Kevin Mayer’s initial performance needs when he came to Jérome Why Jérome decided to stop doing any significant barbell lifting in Kevin’s training for a period of many months Why exact exercise selection is not nearly as important as how you do what you are doing in the weightroom or track “Strength training and resiliency are not separate qualities” “Kevin’s muscles were fighting each other in lifting… it was more a coordination problem” “There is constant control around the joint at all times; there is no time where the muscle is completely relaxed” “You want to pull (down) with your hip flexors when you squat” “For the RDL I’ll pinch the skin on the lumbar spine… and that teaches them how to get into the proper position… I don’t like telling them pull with this, think about a muscle, etc.” “Extreme ISO’s are supposed to be movement” “(When he came to me) Kevin was more a kangaroo than a racehorse” “We never get very far from ATG squats because that keeps his hips loose” “(Regarding a period of time in Kevin Mayer’s training) No (heavy) squatting no deadlifting at all from October to March” “It’s the concept of metaphors; if you are producing 300lbs one way, but resisting 75lb the other way, you are better off producing 200lb one way and zero the other way (in terms of building efficient movement)” “If you want to lift and be good for sport you have to have a healthy disregard for the amount of weight on the bar” “Do you want to be strong, or do you want to lift heavy weights, they are not necessarily the same” About Jérome Simian Jérome Simian started his coaching career in 1998. Since then, he has coached athletes to compete in seven Olympic games, to World and European medals, as well to national records and dozens of national championships. His experience ranges from track and field to professional rugby, to figure skating, to mention only a few. In a country where good athletes are helped for free and coached by the federal system,

Today’s episode features Adarian Barr, biomechanist and inventor.  Adarian is a unique coach who sees human movement in a fresh new light.  His methods and insight has highlighted the majority of my own learning on sprinting, jumping, throwing and everything in between in the past 2 years, and I’m thrilled to have him back on the show. Today, Adarian is going to take us on a deep dive into the single most fundamental element of human movement and locomotion, the impulse the body delivers to the ground (or when the ground pushes back on you).   When we coach athletes in various sporting skills, we will usually start with some sort of big, obvious external position, for example: knees up, or eliminate that backside sprint mechanic.  The problem is that giving these cues, absent from the impulse that facilitated them will throw off an athletes timing and often positioning.  This inevitably leads us on the trail of “keep doing this and eventually you’ll be faster”, but when athletes need to be fast, they’ll just do what they’ve always been doing!   To this end, understanding the dynamics of the feet, the ankle, the way the body creates impulse into the ground, and how the mechanics of sprinting, jumping and everything else is built around the impulse, we can really start to dig into the core of movement, and why athletes sprint and jump the way they do.   Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points Adarian’s history in training the foot Defining the impulse that projects athletes in sprinting or jumping How to assess an athlete’s impulse Impulse in relation to plyometrics and deceleration training Fundamental differences in athletes with athletes who depress the ankle very little or a lot in running steps How impulse impacts knee lift in sprinting Foot steering and how it impacts impulse and direction of force Adarian Barr Quotes “My question is, when does the ground push you back.  If you don’t know when the ground is pushing you back, it’s a lost conversation” “The least amount of movement and the fastest movement is the best (in regards to the impulse and unloading of Achilles)” “If you can move a joint a quarter inch, faster, you can get a lot more out of it” “You can’t get a bigger step because (the impulse) is not going to throw you that far” “When the impulse releases, that’s your max speed” “If all you do is extend, extend, extend, when it’s time to run and jump, you don’t get the fold up portion” “Deceleration is already built into the movement” “The more the heel travels in a negative action towards the ground, the longer it is going to take to be returned to you, and as it returns, you need to make sure the swing leg matches that speed” “Your block start settings should be based off of the speed and depth of your impulse” “The four things to the impulse assessment is which way the feet steer, the depth of the shin angle change, the knees track and the magnitude of the impulse… with those four things we can determine how to set you up for any sport” “If you have a slow and long impulse, you have a high knee lift.  If you have a short and fast impulse, you won’t have as high of knee lift.  The knee rises as the heel drops” “You don’t want to get rid of backside mechanics, because it’s tied to the impulse” “(In sprinting) If we are talking about a push the ground person, we do want to get rid of backside mechanics… if we are talking about an impulse person, we don’t want to get rid of backside” “If you punch the ground, the impulse comes back so fast, you aren’t ready for the next step” “If the foot is turned out, then the heel must also turn out” “(with the foot turned out in athletes) the impulse is not going to come ...

Today’s episode features strength coach Sheldon Dunlap, one of the most creative strength coaches I’ve met who is doing big things with strength training for speed enhancement.   Sheldon has been a strength coach at UC Davis 3 years, one of his primary sporting assignments being track and field.  Prior to UC Davis, Sheldon was a strength coach for the NBA D-league Erie Bayhawks and was an intern at Duke University. I first met Sheldon at  the First Annual “Bay Area Sports Performance Seminar” put on by Dr. Ramsey Nijem, as we sat at a table together while listening to presentations.  In learning of some of the things that Sheldon was doing in the weightroom with his track athletes, and the impact it was having on their performances, I discovered I was sitting next to a young pioneer in our field.   Today’s show is all about Sheldon’s strength system for track, which has unique ideas in the sequencing and integration of oscillating reps, as well as training methods for the hip flexors (TFL in particular) and the feet.  This is an awesome “nuts and bolts” episode with training ideas that anyone can instantly integrate into their own system (as I have). Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points What Sheldon is doing with his track program’s strength and conditioning How Sheldon got into tendon elasticity considerations in his program How Sheldon replaced the isometric phase of Triphasic Training with an oscillating isometric phase The types of lifts Sheldon used in his program Sheldon’s approach to hip flexor work, specifically TFL work How skateboarding impacted Sheldon’s long jump takeoff Sheldon Dunlap Quotes “Tendon elasticity is the name of the game in track and field” “I replaced the isometric phase (of Triphasic Training) with oscillating work… we had our Blue and Gold meet that year and people were getting PR’s left and right, left and right” “The first time around I did this we did two weeks of eccentric, two weeks of oscillating, and then they went home, and I used 5-3-1 for their concentric phase while they were at home” “I want a “black mini band” type of athlete (an athlete who produces more movement power respectively through the power of the fascial system” “(After a deep oscillating squat phase) I felt like lightning coming out of the bottom of the squat, but I got stuck halfway up” “After going TFL pops, the next day after bounding, my TFL had never been so sore in my life” “The stronger your TFL is the less you have to rely on your psoas” “In skateboarding you are able to produce a lot more elasticity because you are putting your foot on the ground with a great amount of force in a small amount of time” Show Notes Oscillating squats https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOZHVwKfCOM TFL Pops https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su4xw9h4pKc&feature=youtu.be   About Sheldon Dunlap Sheldon Dunlap has been a strength coach at UC Davis 3 years, one of his primary sporting assignments being track and field.  Prior to UC Davis, Sheldon was a strength coach for the NBA D-league Erie Bayhawks. Prior to the Bayhawks, he spent 2.5 years as an intern at Duke University.  Sheldon attended Appalachian State University and is certified by the NSCA.

Today’s episode features physical preparation coach Pat Trainor, who is currently the Minor League Strength and Conditioning Coordinator for the Tampa Bay Rays baseball organization.  In his current role, he oversees the physical preparation of the Rays player development system, consisting of about 175+ athletes and 8 staff members. Pat is a coach in the pro baseball ranks who is a master of context.  When it comes to training high-level athletes who already have a high degree of sport skill; enough for them to get paid for it, there is never just one solution for every athlete.   On top of this, integration of one’s training system into the grand scheme and vision of the sport coaches is critical to success, something Pat does a great job of and goes in depth into in today’s episode.  Pro sports are often a tradeoff of skills as well, if you get faster and quicker, you may lose some hitting power, so managing what to change and how to do it is important. In today’s episode Pat goes in detail into how he builds his physical preparation program around the needs of his players, and in context of their skill demands.  He also goes into the importance of the feet, his approach to maximal strength development as well as how to approach agility development in baseball. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points How Pat integrates his physical preparation work in context of what the skill coaches are wanting to accomplish The importance of the feet in training baseball athletes Maximal strength considerations in context for minor league baseball The differences in physical readiness between players of different cultural backgrounds (USA and Latin America) Building speed and agility in baseball players and lynchpins that determine an athlete’s ability to move properly “In field/court sports you don’t have this one variable you can point to and say “that’s what made this guy better” “We need to be able to train athletes to handle practice workloads” “The number one thing we can have the largest impact on is speed/acceleration (for baseball)” “We as physical preparation coaches always have goals, we want to make sure we spend some time on players weaknesses, but don’t want to spend so much time we take away from their strengths” “If we want to work on defense and speed, that’s part of the pie we are taking out of that guy’s day” “We use the 5-10-5 basic pro agility… it can be used as a measure of strength… we don’t use a 3 or 1 rep max test (outside of maybe January)” “Our outfielders may not need to do as much decelerative work as our infielders” “Agility is really weird in baseball… for me it more comes down to a mobility standpoint” “If players lack internal rotation, that’s saying something along the lines of that’s wrong from a tissue standpoint or a bony process” About Pat Trainor Patrick Trainor is currently the Minor League Strength and Conditioning Coordinator for the Tampa Bay Rays baseball organization.  In his current role, he oversees the physical preparation of the Rays player development system, consisting of about 175+ athletes and 8 staff members.  Prior to joining the Rays in his current role before the 2017 season, he has spent time with the San Diego Padres and Cleveland Indians, as well as a previous stint with the Rays as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at the Minor League affiliate level.  Outside of professional baseball, he has held positions at the collegiate level with Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, PA (2007-2009) as well as Queens College in New York (2012), overseeing the physical preparation of varsity sports.

Today’s episode features Cal Dietz and Chris Korfist, two highly regarded individuals in the world of sports performance who are no strangers to this show.   I was excited about getting Cal and Chris on the show together since they created one of my favorite sports training book on the market: Triphasic Training for Football.  In this manual, French Contrast training is used heavily throughout the entire training cycle, and the results of the program on high school football athletes were huge gains in sprinting and vertical jump abilities.   We’ll kick off today’s show chatting about how the Triphasic Football Manual came together, as well as the idea that French Contrast training is something that isn’t just for peaking situations.  From there, we get into something that Chris and Cal have been working heavily on, and that is training the foot. A good athletic foot requires more than simply doing calf raises, and Chris Korfist in particular has a variety of isometrics specially designed to train the foot in different aspects of gait.    Cal Dietz is well known for his use of oscillating repetitions and the great results he gets form them, and we also cover the use of oscillating repetitions, not just in peaking situations, but their effectiveness to bring out explosive strength in athletes to a greater degree than standard repetitions.  We’ll also touch on the Exogen weighted fusiform technology that is revolutionizing technique and special strength training for sports. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   Key Points The creation of Triphasic Training for Football Tissue change in deep squatting Importance of the foot in athletic performance/vibration pickup Elastic contribution to movement in athletes and animals Foot strength training progressions Usage of oscillatory reps in strength training in non-peaking situations Use of the Exogen gear in sprint training “If you consistently do deep squats, then the pliability of that quad tendon becomes less; and then you have altered a ton of free energy return that is a quick and explosive contraction” “The foot dissipates about 30% that comes into the body so you can properly deal with it” “When the foot hits the ground, it’s absorbing vibrations of what the ground is” “Your gait changes momentarily when you switch from one running surface to another; the best athletes can change and adapt quickly” “We wouldn’t have knee problems if we ran on air… the foot is the problem” “The basis of the foot is getting the isometric strength down first… if you don’t have the isometric strength, it’s just not going to work very well” “The true value of oscillatory reps is very specific stress” “Start using Exogen with the calf sleeves…. you are talking about rotational inertia” “The common thing you’ll see with people doing a high knee action is to throw their torso forward” About Cal Dietz Cal Dietz has been the Head Olympic Strength and Conditioning coach for numerous sports at the University of Minnesota since 2000.  He has consulted with Olympic and World Champions in various sports and professional athletes in the NHL, NFL, NBA, MLB, and Professional Boxing.  During his time at U of M, he help founded and chairs the Sport Biomechanics Interest Group with its purpose to explore the physiological and biomechanical aspects of advanced human performance encompassing the various aspects of kinesiology, biomechanics, neuro-mechanics and physics.  Dietz has also given numerous lectures around the country, as well as publish several scientific articles and dozens articles on training. Most recently, Dietz co-authored the top selling book, Triphasic Training: A systematic approach to elite speed and explosive strength performance.

Today’s episode features Dr. Emily Splichal, podiatrist and human movement specialist.  When it comes to the foot, many coaches and athletes realize its’ importance, but due to its’ complexity, we often don’t dig much further than realizing it is important to spend less time in socks and shoes, and more time moving around bare footed. Dr. Emily Splichal’s background in fitness and training offers a 1-2 punch that makes her an extremely valuable resource to the sport and exercise community.  She is also the creator of Naboso technology, which offers textured surfaces to train on, such as exercise mats and insoles. Getting the feet to work properly is more than simply going barefoot, however, it is about understanding how the feet pick up sensory information, and then how to use that in exposing athletes to training environments that maximize the sensory capability of the feet.  Too many times we will label a foot as “weak” when it really wasn’t sensing something it needed to in order for the proper muscles to fire and tense up the fascia that spirals up to the legs and trunk. In today’s podcast, Dr. Splichal will cover the ways that the foot picks up sensations, and how to manipulate training surfaces (and shoes) to maximize these sensations and improve performance.  She also goes into the role of vibration in foot sensation, as well as how athletes must pick up on this vibration to deliver a proper impulse to the ground through the body.  Finally she’ll give us her take on balance based work and the feet, as well as talking about Naboso technology. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points Different types of nerves within the body, interoceptors and exteroceptors Ways the skin picks up sensation in the foot and the difference between slow and fast receptors How to utilize knowledge of the sense receptors in our footwear selection How vibration and surface type plays in to the athletes relationship with the floor Balance work in relation to foot sensation and adaptation Naboso Technology and textured insoles “The four main mechanoceptors are broken down into two different classifications, two adapt to the stimulus slowly… the other two are fast adapting, which means that they respond to the stimulus and then they shut off… so they need a continuous on/off of a stimulus” “First slow adapting is Merkel disc and is slow adapting, sensitive to two-point discrimination (best analogy is braille)” “The second slow adapting is Ruffini ending, which is skin stretch” “Fast adapting, FA1 and FA2 are sensitive to vibration” “The vibratory mechanoreceptors are super important because they are tuned to the stimulus of impact… 70% of the receptors in the bottom of the feet are to pick up vibration” “If cushion in the shoes takes away vibration, it took away some of my athlete’s potential energy” “(On properly using elastic energy) You don’t want to be using your muscles for work, to take each step, when you do that you fatigue the muscular system and cardiovascular system” “Every surface vibrates differently” “Surfaces need to be a symbiotic relationship between the foot and the ground” “Dancing with the ground is the art and science of impact forces” “You have to have a sense of your body in space, how hard you are striking the ground, the rhythm of your movement patterns, the grace” “If you wear socks, wear as thin of a sock as possible… as much as I can I encourage people to go without a sock” “Surface hardness is really important, the softer the surface starts to become the more you disconnect the stimulus between surface, foot and brain” “Plantar fasciitis,  Achilles tendonitis, IT band syndrome, runners knee… all of those are vibration based i...

Today’s episode features Chris Chase, who is currently the Director of Performance for the Memphis Grizzlies.  When it comes to working with professional athletes, the world of sports performance is literally a “different ballgame” compared to what happens in the training of high school or even collegiate athletes. In keeping players on the floor throughout long and grueling seasons is not a mathematical equation, and coaches must create their own menu systems to ensure that athletes are encountering minimal risk in the weight room while getting maximal benefit to their tissues for resiliency on the field of play.  In learning how coaches such as Chris cater to the needs of these athletes, we can all learn more about how to cater to our own athlete’s needs, regardless of training population. Chris Chase is the epitome of a coach who has honed his menu system for the needs of his athletes.  In this episode, we’ll go into Chris’s go-to training methods and means for keeping his NBA players as healthy as possible while minimizing risk. We’ll also go into some of his squatting progressions, which has gotten a big influence from the Postural Restoration Institute, and how this is centered around hitting the right muscles in the right positions without inducing risk.  Finally, Chris keys us in to how he approaches speed and movement training in this extensive episode on NBA physical preparation. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points The role of a pro strength coach versus college or developmental ranks How Chris approaches barbell training with his NBA athletes Why and how Chris uses machine training in the NBA population Chris’s trainable exercise menu for his athletes How much of Chris’s menu is dedicated to health versus performance KPI’s How Chris uses the four jump for his NBA players Chris’s use of PRI in his performance program Squatting progressions for NBA players Speed and movement development for NBA populations and common causes of movement related injury “My job as a strength and conditioning coach is to put you in good, trainable conditions that maximizes the good and minimizes the bad” “A lot of barbell work is not on our guys’ trainable menu’s but that’s not to say that it won’t be at some point” “The dirty little secret (to performance and injury prevention) is consistent loading of tissues in the right way” “Sport is not health and wellness” “You need to do things that are more about the person in front of you than your own program” “My S&C performance work is very much just respecting position” “I just want to do the thing I can load you the most in at the time… I’m putting my athlete on the wall (to squat) because it is the only way he is going to feel his legs” About Chris Chase Chris Chase is currently the Director of Performance for the Memphis Grizzlies. Chris has previously served as a S&C Coach for the Atlanta Hawks, University of Southern California & the University of Rhode Island, catering to a variety of Olympic sports.

Today’s episode is a question and answer show where I take user questions off of social media and give my best answers.  It’s always good to see what people want to know. Questions on today’s show came in clusters often focused on similar topics, many asking about patellar tendonitis prevention, weightlifting and squatting in relation to sprinting, as well as the training methods of Marv Marinovich and Jay Schoeder and what I’ve done in my own programs having that knowledge. Commonly asked as well is what I am doing with all the info I gain from the guests on this show, and what has been a big game changer for me.  I covered this a lot in my last solo show, but there have been training ideas even since then that continue to spur me on towards giving my athletes the best training I can. Doing enough of these Q&A’s I’ve felt like eventually I might run out of topics but after 50+ questions, you all have given me plenty to talk about.  I hope you enjoy today’s show, there is a lot of things I was really excited to cover. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points What the biggest programming game changer in the last few years has been for me An over-rated training intervention in the world of sport performance How I address patellar tendonitis and knee issues in training, and how to prevent it Similarities and differences of the Marv Marinovich and Jay Scheoder training systems and styles (a big question!) How to make the weight room more environmentally similar to sport Lifting and its impact on sprint performance Heavy squatting and its impact on reactive strength How I approach neurological testing and training on athletes given my background in Z-health, NKT, Be Activated, and other systems The biggest change I’ve made to my resistance training programs recently About Joel Smith Joel Smith, MS, CSCS is a NCAA Division I Strength Coach working in the PAC12 conference.  He has been a track and field jumper and javelin thrower, track coach, strength coach, personal trainer, researcher, writer and lecturer in his 8 years in the professional field.  His degrees in exercise science have been earned from Cedarville University in 2006 (BA) and Wisconsin LaCrosse (MS) in 2008.  Prior to California, Joel was a track coach, strength coach and lecturer at Wilmington College of Ohio.  During Joel’s coaching tenure at Wilmington, he guided 8 athletes to NCAA All-American performances including a national champion in the women’s 55m dash.  In 2011, Joel started Just Fly Sports with Jake Clark in an effort to bring relevant training information to the everyday coach and athlete.  Aside from the NSCA, Joel is certified through USA Track and Field and his hope is to bridge the gap between understandable theory and current coaching practice.

Today’s episode features Keir Wenham-Flatt, physical preparation coach and founder of rugbystrengthcoach.com.  Keir is currently a strength and conditioning specialist at the College of William and Mary who has worked with professional teams on 4 different continents.  He is particularly well versed in physical preparation for rugby, but has experience with training in many different sports and schools of movement. Keir is brilliant with the dynamics of team and field sport training, and getting training to be maximally effective within the confines of the game.  A theme of this podcast is finding transfer to sport in training, and not just leaving a season at “I got the athlete stronger” so I did my job. With all the motor learning theory and ideas on training coordination specific to sport play, there is so much to learn and implement in this realm.   In today’s episode, Keir talks about the essentials of speed building, conditioning and mental toughness as it relates to team sport play, which is a totally different ballgame (literally) than running a 40 yard dash or the 200m in track.  As coaches, we are always searching for ways to make our training more effective and this episode with Keir delivers on many levels. Keir also gives his take on the health/performance spectrum in working with team sport athletes, as well as his use of grappling in training collision sport athletes. For those track coaches out there, even if you don’t work with team sport athletes, Keir's take on “stress inoculation” of timed sprints for team sport athletes, including “speed gate golf” which bears some similarity to doing variable jumps that I’ve talked about in the past, is something I’m sure you’ll find fascinating. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Keir’s idea on “coordination” training for field sports How to go about approaching speed and movement in light of the principles of coordination and being robust Using sport specific external stimuli in the speed and movement preparation of team sport athletes Keir’s use of grappling to train athletes in contact or collision sports Facets of measuring linear velocity in team sport athletes and how it is different than game speed “Stress Inoculation” of linear speed work for team sport players What mental toughness really is and how to train it Keir’s take on the health versus performance spectrum in sport performance as well as Keir’s take on utilizing Mladen Jovanovic’s agile periodization system “Things which are anti-fragile thrive in unpredictable environments… if you think about all the variables in the team based sports, they are highly volatile” “Extreme specialization is the enemy of robustness” “The four phases for us are: closed environment attractors, then we go into more of an open environment with variable conditions, flucutators.  Then we put them in strict drills where we are shaping the task where without knowing it you need to demonstrate the behavior I want to see and solve a problem, then lastly we are going to put you in a highly contextual environment, a team environment when you have to execute in the conditions of the game” “If you don’t consider the variables of team strategy, your training is general specific at best (3rd tier of the Bondarchuk System!)” “(Regarding sprint and movement drills) There has to be risk, there has to be relevance, there has to be a challenge in order to grab your attention.  If there is no learning there is no adaptation” “(Regarding sprint and movement drills)  For me, I change surfaces, I change body positions, I change start positions, I will change center of gravity” “You are never going to be running in a perfect straight line in a closed environmen...

Today’s episode features Justin Moore, performance education coordinator at Parabolic Performance and Rehab, also working with their NFL combine athletes.  Justin made his first appearance in episode 78 where he talked about how to optimize the execution of the barbell lifts according to the ideals of the postural restoration institute, making them more transferable to athletic performance, as well as hitting important muscles groups such as the abdominals and hamstring. Justin is one of the brightest young strength coaches in the field, and has a field of intelligent mentors, many of whom have also been on this podcast.  Justin is a guy who has great knowledge of two things I’m really interested in, PRI and speed.  It’s not often that I get to talk about sprinting in context of the ribs, thorax and diaphragm, but today, Justin and I will do just that.   When it comes to technique, structure dictates function, but is also not always the roadblock we might make it out to be.  Knowing PRI principles in context of sprinting is important, but it is even more important to know when to use them, and when to avoid having an athlete do corrective based work when a “workaround” is available through good coaching. For today’s episode, Justin will cover technical issues in sprinting that could be rooted within the thorax and diaphragm, asymmetry in sprinting and human movement, right and left leg differences, as well as the impingement-instability paradigm of locomotion and how that fits with what we are doing in the weightroom. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points A recap of Justin’s last NFL combine class and what he learned from it Ideas on maximal strength development and training frequency of speed and plyometric training means and methods Looking at sprint training in light of the Postural Restoration Institute ideals How to approach technical issues in sprinting that may be rooted in the thorax and diaphragm Left and right leg differences in sprinting according to PRI principles The importance of asymmetry in athletic movement Impingement based strategies in lifting versus sport movement and how to find the balance “We realized we were actively making guys slower (by over coaching or using the wrong cue set in coaching speed)” “Placing too much stress on the (combine) athletes detracted a little from our ability to utilize frequency in training on the field and in the plyometric or jumping realm of things” “Guys were changing their running strategy to improve the 10 yard dash, but that doesn’t set you up for a better 30 and 40 yard dash” “Moving air (out of the left side particularly) is critical to being able to create that see-saw action in the frontal plane in sprinting… if you have a balloon in your left chest wall full of air that you can’t get out, then I’m essentially being pushed to the right” “Arms are a big one (in sprint coaching) because arms are going to reflect what the thorax is doing” “The left chain of muscles (AIC) is your “swing phase” chain” “For a number of reasons we are biased into the right stance phase of gait” “You really see the side to side asymmetry between legs in a 4-jump” “What can I say that creates the biggest chain reaction to clean the maximal amount of issues up with me saying the least” “There’s an old adage in biology that asymmetry pays” “If we aren’t asymmetrical then we are in equilibrium and we don’t move” “When you try to do everything (corrective, main training, rehab, etc.), you end up losing a little bit” “You have to  know the bandwidth of the asymmetry the person usually presents with” “Every time we walk we are impinging on one side, and becoming unstable on the other”

Today’s episode features pro trainer David Donatucci.  David is the the owner/director of The Florida Institute of Performance in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida where he provides comprehensive sports performance training programs for professional, collegiate, high school and senior athletes.   David is well known for his work with high-level golfers, but his diverse resume includes training athletes of all levels and types.  He has been using medicine ball training for decades, and has honed in on essential biomechanical and kinetic parameters that can make this form of training optimally effective.  David is a coach who truly knows the biomechanics of swinging sports and how to use that knowledge to create better transfer in the weight room and with medicine balls. When it comes to medicine ball training, it is easy to think that picking up a ball and throwing it against the wall will automatically transfer to rotation, but in talking to David and learning about things like launch angle, power transfer and ball velocity, we can easily see that what we are doing with our medicine ball work needs to have a high level of specificity, especially as the ability levels of the athletes we are working with increase. On today’s episode, David talks about the key components that bind rotational sport actions together, as well as the differences across sports such as baseball and golf.  He talks about how to optimize the various components of medicine ball training, be specific to sport skills with medicine balls, as well as how to select proper weight and velocity (David is the inventor of the Ballistic Ball). For those fellow track coaches out there, David makes shot put and discus references which can certainly make us appreciate this smart episode even more. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: David’s background in the field Key components that bind rotational sport actions together The importance of the front leg block in swinging, and how it is particularly important in golf David’s methods to get athletes into their front leg more in swinging motions How to differentiate medicine ball training across different rotational sports for different athletic needs The importance of launch angle in medicine ball throw training A guide to medicine ball weight for building rotational proficiency How to approach the rear leg/push leg in throwing a medicine ball “The hip motion, then followed by the torso motion, then followed by the arms, then followed by the implement is always a good sequence” “In a baseball swing at the end of the rotation there is still a lot of weight on that back foot, where as for golf, almost all the weight is going to be on the front leg at that point” “I have a lot of guys who hit the (golf) ball really far, who really don’t jump very high” “A 30-40 degree medicine ball angle simulates more of what you see in a baseball swing” “For me, the shot put (medicine ball throw) from a body motion, body rotation perspective can replicate a lot of movements in rotational sports” “One kid who did a medicine ball show put throw went back to the tee and improved his bat speed 3-4 miles per hour” “(Regarding medicine ball training) Baseball is the only one from a hitting standpoint that I want to create more of an upward push through the ball… pitchers I want to work more of the downward angle” “You may have an athlete start on a 3kg ball, then they are throwing 13-14m/s, now they can throw a 4kg ball” “If you can throw a 5kg ball 10 meters per second, you are doing pretty good” “To know if the kinematic sequence is right (for medicine ball throws), you will throw a “knuckleball” without a lot of rotation”

Today’s episode features trainer, educator and consultant, Dr. Pat Davidson, back for his second appearance on the show.   I had the good fortune of meeting Pat at his “Rethinking the Big Patterns” seminar August in San Francisco, and had an awesome time taking in Pat’s training philosophy in person with lots of good discussion and hands on demonstrations.  In the aftermath of the seminar, I wanted to record a show with Pat where we hone in on “doing no harm”, particularly in the sense of how we address weaknesses and tend to over-coach pretty much everything.   One thing I love about Pat’s work is that, not only is he brilliant, but also continually brings things back to what is practical in real life situations.  Pat isn’t afraid to defer to simple, bare bones training to give clients and athletes the best possible experience. For today’s show, we get into how to approach an athlete’s weaknesses without hurting their confidence and the overall training process, and how that filters into screens, warmups, and more.   Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: How to approach bringing up an athlete’s weaknesses without hurting their natural athleticism in the process How much an athlete can improve in tri-planar function based on their rib cage dynamics Pat’s take on movement screens in general How some athletes can “fail movement screens” and have robust and resilient careers in pro sports Pat’s take on excessive warmups and traditional “muscle activation” Quotes: “They noticed the unpunished group had the same numerical improvement in performance as the punished group… it’s a tendency of individuals to come back to the mean” “It seems as there is no point in giving someone negative reinforcement” “If I really want to screw up a tennis player, I’ll ask them, “do you notice what you do with your elbow on a backhand”” “I am very hesitant to tell people about things they are not doing well” “(In regards of movement screens) The table doesn’t really lie, people can trick you when they stand up… the table to me is your potential” “A cable pull-through is the hardest (deadlift based movement) to screw up” “All models are wrong, but some models are useful… how useful can your model actually be” “It’s not like a straight leg raise test are going to yield some magic answers for you that make a difference in the way you coach things” “The FMS is reproducible inside of itself… but that information is not transferrable to tasks outside itself” “The FMS and SFMA have zero frontal plane assessments” “Just by putting you on one leg doesn’t mean its more tri-planar than anything else” “Let’s get this pelvis over the foot, and now this person’s adductor lit up like a Christmas tree” “A warmup does not need to take 20 minutes…. if you are still doing (the same warmup drills) you haven’t learned the thing” “If you are trying to mobilize your big toe in warmups, you have probably missed the big picture” “Learn how to prune your tree to a much smaller level so you lose much less time in the training process” About Pat Davidson Director of Training Methodology and Continuing Education at Peak Performance, NYC. Author of MASS and MASSII -Assistant Professor at Brooklyn College, 2009-2011 Assistant Professor, Springfield College 2011-2014 Head Coach Springfield College Team Ironsports 2011-2013 175 pound Strongman competitor. Two time qualifier for world championships at Arnold Classic Renaissance Meat Head

Today’s episode features sports performance coach Matt Cooper.  Matt is a young performance coach on the cutting edge of the field, with influences from the worlds of Jay Schroeder, Marv Marinovich, Nick Curson, Garrett Salpeter, and Soviet sport science.  He also has a holistic knowledge of the brain, nervous system, psychology and nutrition, and has a view of working with athletes in a manner that trains the “whole athlete”. I first heard Matt on “The Bledsoe Show” and as soon as Matt started to reference the neurological approach to training that he uses, I realized that we must have a lot in common.  Unbeknownst to me at the time of my listening, Matt was hosting a seminar in southern California with podcast guest, mentor and good friend of mine, Adarian Barr. With all this in mind, my conversation with Matt has been a long time coming. When we look at the future of training, we need to look further than simply muscles and the weight on the bar, and Matt’s work is the epitome of looking beyond those things, into the nervous system, and into the brain and mind of an athlete.  In this podcast with Matt, we talk quite a bit on his training influences, and how the work of Jay Schroeder (Evo-Sport) Garrett Salpeter (Neufit) and Nick Curson and Marv Marinovich (Pro-Bod-X) works from a neurological perspective, and how we can shape our own training with their concepts in mind.   Knowing the nervous system, and how it processes training is a key to continual improvement, and this is yet another installment in the Just Fly Performance Podcast universe that helps us to understand this amazing system, and its impact on training, just a little bit better. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points Matt’s background and influences How Matt is using ideals from Marv Marinovich and Jay Schoeder/Inno-Sport/Evo-Sport in his own training means The neurological pitfalls of a max barbell strength directed mentality Direct-Current neurological training and how we can understand the body from this perspective The evolution of barbell work in Matt’s system over the years Pro-Bod-X work and it’s role in Matt’s programming How a typical workout may shake out in Matt’s programming   Matt Cooper Quotes “When you go too far down that maximal strength pipeline, you often will create governors and limiters on your brain, where for survival’s sake, to protect your joints the brain will rewire the way you contract the muscle” “(Marinovich) would look at training more in terms of a tendon adaptation; you need to make sure you are training the tendon to store and release kinetic energy, and that’s something you can only train at the speed of sport” “The deep squat position is one of the positions that is going to produce the most co-contractions and limiters on the body from a survival perspective” “Someone can eat to express their nervous system” “With the (Marv Marinovich) ball work, you are training your body to activate muscles in synergy” “The ball work is more in the pre-hab and warmup, and some oscillation of it is going to be in the beginning of most workouts” About Matt Cooper Matt Cooper (Coop) is a nutrition consultant, strength & conditioning coach, and human performance coach from California. Driven by an obsession to expand human performance, Coop spends his time researching, experimenting, doing nerdy things, and building better humans in general at Stand Out Performance (Fast Twitch LA) in Compton, California. Coop works with athletes and individuals-from developmental to professional levels-remotely and in-person to optimize their health, performance, and fitness. Coop translates research, experience,

Today’s episode features world renowned speed coach, educator and author, Henk Kraaijenhof, back for his second appearance on the show. Henk is a breath of fresh air because of his practicality in regards to training.  He is a figure with not only incredible knowledge of various training means (and the science behind those means) but also the practical success to back it up in a sport defined by quantitative measures (track and field).  In a day where we tend to get distracted by “shiny” exercises and various training tools that seem as if they are the breakthrough to the next level in performance, Henk brings us all into a realistic point of view by which we can establish a proper baseline of what works, then proceed to the next level.   On today’s show, we cover the basic ideas of training transfer to athletic speed, as well as a chat on the purpose of standard “strength to bodyweight” levels, and where they even came from.   Henk also digs into some of the modern training tools we are seeing now, such as instability bags and weighted vests and shorts and if they are useful or just “fluff”.  We’ll also get into Kaatsu (blood flow occlusion) training and some applied means by which this type of work could be applied, which could be particularly useful in training conditions where athletes might not be able to get outside and sprint. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points Rules of transfer for exercises into speed Barbell velocity and transfer into athletic movement Henk’s take on instability training in athletic enhancement Wearable resistance means to improve speed Henk’s experience in training track and field sprinters with no strength training or plyometrics Kaatsu (occlusion) training in applied performance settings   Henk Kraaijenhof Quotes “It’s very hard to find a good transfer from a full squat to running 100m in my opinion” “A lot of coaches use exercises just because the exercises exist, and because they can” “Velocity based training has already been developed 30 years ago” “The moment you get to the gym, forget about specificity and transfer” “Where does 1.5x bodyweight in squat come from?” “How much can a cat squat, or a kangaroo?” “Only keep the core work (only directly event specific) and see how far you get” “For 200-400m who have to work in hypoxia, (Kaatsu) can be useful” “Combining Kaatsu with Mach drills could be a useful winter (indoor) training exercise” About Henk Kraiijenhof Henk Kraaijenhof coaching credentials include Nelli Cooman, Merlene Ottey, Troy Douglas and Tennis star Mary Pierce. His specialties are the physical and mental coaching, in particular stress and stress management and the methodology or training. When you consider both Ottey and Douglas ran world class times in their 40’s, something is working. Henk Kraaijenhof currently works for Vortx and his blog is helpingthebesttogetbetter.com. He has published work in performance, training systems and protocols for elite athletes and has also conducted research in the development and application of scientific training systems. Henk is also involved in scientific research projects in human sports performance in Norway, Estonia, Italy and the Netherlands. He is currently also working as a mentor for the Olympic coaches and Olympic talent coaches in Holland.

Today’s episode features sport scientist and biomechanist Dr. Anthony Blazevich.  Dr. Blazevich is one of the field leading researchers and observers of trends in biomechanics, muscle and tendon physiology, nervous signaling, and other important facets of athletic performance. Across the span of time I was a sport science student looking up research papers for class, to a college lecturer in strength and conditioning, to running this podcast, Dr. Blazevich’s work has popped up regularly, and is always top notch.  As is always the trend on this show, I seek out those practitioners who know not only the research, but have spent time in the trenches as either an athlete or a coach, and see the athletic equation holistically. In talking to Dr. Blazevich today, I can’t tell you there are many people out there who know highly debated topics of sport performance more holistically than him.  For our talk, I (as usual) ask Dr. Blazevich quite a few questions that the sports performance and sport science industry tends to be a bit polarized on, such as static stretching, and potentiation in warming up for a competition.  We’ll also go in depth on loaded stretching protocols and benefits, as well as muscle fascicle length concepts and ideas on eccentric training. This was a tremendous episode with plenty of punch not only in the research and science side of things, but also the realm of practical applications.   If you are interested in the mechanisms that are truly happening in the course of warmups, stretching and various training means in a manner that can steer us towards better coaching regimes, you’ll love this episode.   This episode may also set the record for the most show notes, so be sure to check those out below, there are a ton of gems. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points Dr. Blazevich’s background as an athlete, coach and sport scientist Static stretching in the role of warmup protocols Loaded stretching and PNF stretching ideas and applications Static stretching in application to recovery from training Ideas on potentiation, physiology and muscle temperature Muscle fascicle length, how it can be improved and eccentric training Muscle-tendon compliance and its impact on performance Facets of eccentric training and various ways it impacts athletes   Dr. Anthony Blazevich Quotes “Maybe there is a benefit of (static stretching) to injury risk (in running sports)” “There is no doubt that prolonged static stretching of a muscle can reduce the firing ability of the muscle” “Static stretching for 4-5 minutes turned off inward currents to the muscles… for 5-15 minutes” “Static stretching increases the amount of force we can produce at long muscle lengths” “If athletes were allowed to do any stretching at all, either static or dynamics, they felt more prepared from their sport (if athletes feel better doing it and like doing it, then they feel better prepared)” “There could be a huge number of other changes that occur in static stretching (aside from muscle length… since short duration static stretching doesn’t increase muscle length)” “Static stretching has significant effects on our nervous and adrenal systems” “When we activate a muscle and put it into a stretch, then we get better range of movement improvements than we see in static stretching” “What we do know as far as stiffness is concerned is that when we activate the muscle and then force it into a stretch over period of weeks, we get massive increases in range of motion, but they seem to occur with an increase in tendon stiffness” “Activating the muscle off stretch was as effective as activating it on stretch.  When you activate the muscle into static stretching in some...

Today’s episode features sports performance coaches Jake Jensen and Jeff Moyer.  Jake and Jeff are unique in that they are in-the-trenches coaches who are personally familiar with the work of two legendary coaches and researchers in the field, Dr. Michael Yessis and Dr. Anatoliy Bondarchuk.  Jeff is the owner of DC Sports Training while Jake works as the head strength coach for a professional hockey team in Berlin, Germany. The training methodology of Anatoliy Bondarchuk in particular has caused some waves in the field in the last few years, but the issue with his system is really the fact that Dr. Bondarchuk coached track and field throwers, where team sports have a lot more complexity in terms of the progression of different skills within that sport, let alone team tactics, strategy, and winning! If you listen to this podcast, there is a good chance that you care much more than simply getting athletes stronger in some familiar barbell lifts and saying you did your job.  As sports performance coaches, we strive to get athletes better at , well, sports! By blending the ideals of Dr. Bondarchuk in terms of training organization and adaptation, and looking at the special exercise battery of Dr. Yessis, we have some formidable weapons in helping athletes reach their highest potential.  This is where Jake and Jeff have done tremendous work in pushing the field forward (check out their recent article on the topic for Just Fly Sports)in regards to maximizing training transfer for a spectrum of athletes. On today’s episode, Jake and Jeff cover the role of general strength development within the scopes of the Bondarchuk and Yessis systems, and then go in detail on how the “SDE” category of the Bondarchuk system can be adapted for team sport performance.   This is a forward thinking episode that is setting a precedent for the impact of a sports performance coach, as well as thought provoking for coaches of any sport. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Jake and Jeff’s backgrounds The role of general strength development and 1-rep maxes in the Bondarchuk and Yessis training systems What to make of the “things in the middle” of the Bondarchuk pyramid, such as special strength, and if it could possibly be done without How to track key performance indicators (or SDE’s) for team sport performance How many workouts Jake and Jeff put in a training cycle given the Bondarchuk principles and adaptation types How to monitor when an athlete adapts to a training cycle and when to change exercises for non-throwing/track athletes Quotes: “There is a lot of technique that goes into being able to lift heavy weight for a single.  For an athlete who plays a team sport, as a strength coach, I have to ask myself, how much time do I want to spend teaching this guy how to brace through an 8 second grinder for a squat” “Dealing with Doc, we never did anything under 8 reps (in the weightroom) but those 8 reps were as heavy as you can get” “The thing people have to remember about Anatoli Bondarchuk is he’s done everything.   There are a lot of instances where he uses max effort, 110% squats” “In some applications, super heavy-ass squatting… nasty, raw strength is very important” “It’s hard to learn with max intensity lifting” “By the time we get down to the 8’s, (in the 1x20 system) we are doing some heavy isometrics as well” “What’s wrong with powerlifting today…. too many of these kids won’t lift over 10 reps” “Anything that is special developmental (in the Bondarchuk system) has to involve tactics for team sports” “We are doing some kind of jumping (to track adaptation and what type of adapter the athlete is)” “If you are going to get to know your athletes better,

Today’s episode features biomechanist and inventor David Weck.  No stranger to new ideas and insight in human locomotion and athletic movement, this episode breaks a few molds that the human body has been put into over the years. David’s original appearance on episode 107 made significant waves, as David spoke on why bracing against a transverse force doesn’t happen in athletic movement, and how training this way in the weightroom is not conducive to proper motor patterns. Now, David gets to a topic that is on the forefront of his system, which is the role of the pulsing and spiraling action of the arms (and the human body as a whole) in being as fast as possible.  Our current paradigms of movements (and coaching them) often rely on looking at endpoints, without regards for what happens “in between”, and the resultant timing and mechanisms that power those positions.  Or, many times experts look at the world’s fastest competitors, and list what they are doing right as “wrong”. As a community, we also tend to frown on frontal and transverse plane movement in things such as straight-line running, while this coiling movement is actually essential to success. Sub topics include the “pulse” action of the arms in running, principles of utilizing the fascial system in locomotion, pressurization in movement, as well as how to use asymmetry rather than destroy it.   This podcast is huge for anyone who wants a deeper look at how the body actually operates while sprinting, and common traits of the fastest athletes on earth in this regard in both team sports and track & field.  Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: How the arms impact the “jolt” action of running, and the importance of the “double down pulse” technique The impact of the fascial system on the connectedness of the human body, speed and running technique Importance of pressurization in the “jolt and pulse” system of locomotion Implications of pronation and supination in muscle length and shortening, and body rotation Asymmetry in the body and locomotion, as well as how to take advantage of that asymmetry Quotes: “(Speaking of prehistoric man) Carrying a long stick of functional capacity, you cannot swing the arms” “It’s the cascade of frontal plane first (in running) that turns the spinal engine on” “The instant before maximum ground loading, the hands stop their downward movement, not by a muscular effort, but by a fascial, connective tissue effort” “Jog across the room and pay attention to what your hands want to do” “(In regards to the jolt or pulse of the arms) We are dealing in microseconds, but the body is naturally geared to find it… this is happening faster than the speed of thought.. it is a sensation you are going to feel” “You can’t run with a neutral pelvis and expect to be fast at all” “It’s an alternating… lordotic, kyphotic, then it switches.  And the fastest people have a big lordotic” “If you apply the mechanical force to the fascia, then you don’t even need to send the signal to the spinal cord, to send back to the fascia…. so it’s faster than the electrical current that goes through your body” “If you are born with the big muscles, it’s very different than if you had to pump up to build the muscles (from a fascia perspective)” “You want to think of the muscles as a pressure system… you are a pneumatic system” “Look at the animals… it’s just a pulse of force and they’re gone” “(In running) It’s underhand figure 8’s with the shoulders, overhand with the hips” “Supination is the “short” and pronation is the “long”” “Just the very act of supinating your right hand will coil your right lat to some extent” “Asymmetry is the rule… not the exception but the rule”

Today’s episode features Dr. Mark Wetzel.   Mark is a chiropractic neurologist with expert knowledge of the nervous system, reflexes and transference to sports training.   A running theme of this show has been digging into some unconventional training methods, one of which is long duration isometric holds and other exercises used by coach Jay Schroeder.  The more I’ve heard of Jay’s methods, the more questions I tend to have. One guy I’ve met who answered those in the best detail I’ve yet heard is Dr. Mark Wetzel, who is based out of Memphis, TN.   Many of those questions relate to training ideas such as: The thought that “Velocity recovers everything” Why 5 minutes could be a viable time suggestion for isometric holds That traditional barbell lifting can carry some neurological drawbacks in terms of muscle contraction and relaxation cycles If you are curious about the Jay Schroeder training methods, or just want a thorough explanation of why extended isometric training in the proper athletic position can carry huge benefits, you’ll love this podcast.  It’s actually been one of my favorites thus far, and that’s saying a lot as we’ve had lots of tremendous guests on this show. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points Dr. Mark’s background The science of extreme isometrics Energy system cycles that isometrics done to fatigue go through Lactate as a friend or foe in training power athletes Thoughts on the idea that “velocity recovers everything”   Dr. Mark Wetzel Quotes “When you are holding an (isometric position) the muscles are turning off and on very fast” “The 5 minute approach for the isometrics is that you want to get to failure, and you want to fail in an eccentric state” “When you get out of position in isometric holds, you are putting in more effort, but getting less gain” “If you can fatigue multiple times in that 5 minutes you are getting better adaptation" “To get to the lactate cycle you need to fatigue the previous three energy cycles” “When you get into a new energy cycle, it starts the recovery process of the previous energy cycle” “If you hold out long enough (in an isometric lunge) the burning will eventually get sucked in by the muscles, used as energy, and you can keep doing what you are doing” “The more you can push into the threshold, the more it will recover your other systems and create sustainable energy (in competition)” “Velocity training is your body’s ability to relax the antagonist muscle” “The squat (max) should be a test to see if you are training correctly (as opposed to being an end of itself)” “It requires more energy to relax a muscle than contract it” “The faster you can contract a muscle, the more you can create relaxation in another muscle” “70% of muscle strength comes from your brain telling it to work, 30% comes from the gym” Show Notes Iso lunge Hold https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJYk9EeIalo About Dr. Mark Wetzel Dr. Mark Wetzel is a chiropractor based in Memphis, TN.  Mark has a diverse experience and is an expert in the neurology branch of chiropractic.    

Today’s episode features strength coach, educator and entrepreneur, Zach Even Esh.  Zach is one of the most well respected figures in the strength and conditioning industry, and has impacted over 1,000 athletes in his career as a coach.  He has founded the Underground Strength Gym, as well as creating the Underground Strength Coach Certification. Zach appeared originally on episode 100 of the show alongside Jeremy Frisch and Jorge Carvajal speaking on the epidemic of early specialization, and even more problematic, the lack of play and physical proficiency amongst our youth today.  Zach is a guy who is truly in the trenches when it comes to the art of training young athletes. One of the things that has always stood out to me about Zach, and has also resonated with me in life always, is the power of using “what you have “in training.   On podcast episode #96, Dan John talked about training high achieving throwers with minimal facilities and even coaching a girl shot put with a rock.   Adarian Barr has coached me in the same manner with simple tools like a 25lb plate on a grass field. Zach has used odd and unconventional training means to achieve incredible results with his athletes and we’ll get into that on the podcast today.  We’ll also cover Zach’s mission as a coach and trends over the last two decades in terms of youth performance and decline in the physical readiness of these athletes. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Zach’s story and mission as a coach Using alternative means for training athletes The importance of partnerships and environment in enhancing creativity and work outputs Trends in youth performance in terms of kids physical readiness Quotes: “The injuries of the 1990’s were not what they are of the 2000’s” “One of the early influences to my early training setups were Rocky movies” “Odd objects got kids tough, and gave the kids a unique element where they felt special” “We just have different kids today compared to before” “I’ve seen so many athletes get injured, not from training, but from overuse of sport” “I respect how strong people got with basic equipment, limited knowledge and limited nutrition” “Spending time on smartphones will kill your creativity, you won’t be able to create because you are only consuming” “As a strength coach you have to find people who have an abundance mentality” “Today, we are talking overuse and a lack of physical readiness” About Zach Even Esh A leading figure in the strength & conditioning industry, Zach Even – Esh has trained over 1,000 athletes ranging from the youth level to the Olympic level. Zach founded The Underground Strength Gym and created The Underground Strength Coach Certification, both of which have inspired and educated coaches and athletes from around the world to achieve greater success in both sports and life. Since creating The Underground Strength Gym, Zach has consulted with Division 1 athletic teams, Olympic Level athletic clubs, Spartan Race, pro teams and independent coaches and athletes from around the world. The Underground Strength Gym began from Zach’s parents garage while he was a Health and Physical Education teacher in 2002. What started as a summer experiment training a few athletes grew into a full time obsession and now Zach and his Underground Strength methods have grown into a world wide movement, inspiring athletes and coaches all around the world in training and life. Zach’s Underground Strength Coach Certification has attendees traveling from all around the world and range from independent Strength Coaches, active Military personnel, athletic coaches, college coaches and former Navy SEALs. Zach lives in NJ with his wife and 2 kids and continues to i...

Today’s episode features sport scientist Max Schmarzo.  Max is the director of sport science at Resilience Code and the chief science officer at Exsurgo Technologies.  Many of you may know him by his Instagram handle @strong_by_science where Max posts a variety of practical and scientific information that has garnered a large following. Max is one of the smartest young coaches I know, and I am constantly blown away by the breadth and detail of his knowledge.  If you want to get into the nuts and bolts of human performance, Max is a go-to guy to talk to. Not only is Max well versed in many facets of strength and conditioning, but he also has education as an athletic trainer, and has deep knowledge of holistic markers of human performance in fields such as functional medicine. Today our theme is the holistic adaptation of the body to stress.  When it comes to getting results, having a good grasp on things that can make or break one’s strength and performance gains, or predispose one to injury can create a broader vision of if one’s strength program is actually effective, or if lifestyle, nutrition and general stress needs to be considered.   On today’s show, Max and I are chatting about these adaptive processes, the different effects of recovery modalities, nutrition and it’s impact on training decisions, the adaptation of tendons, inflammation and its role in training, and more.  Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: How the body adapts to stress on a muscular and cellular level How the gut impacts an athletes response to training How imprecise the general term “recovery” is, and how different modalities can have very different responses How caloric deficit and nutrition can impact the type of “recovery day” an athlete should perform The “anti-virus” effect of general strength work to mitigate a large quantity of specific strength training Concepts for training tendons, and inherent differences versus training muscles Quotes: “People call desensitization to epinephrine central nervous system fatigue” “If I don’t understand my athlete’s adaptive capacity…. how could I blame myself (as a coach creating a program), if I’m not turning over other things to look at” “If an individual is susceptible to eating (bad carbs) sometimes it’s best to remove all carbs, then reintroduce good carbs to build a good base” “You don’t get to wreck your muscles and have your blood pressure not change” “If I sit in cryotherapy, I have a blunting in the inflammatory response… so I could be blunting the muscle adaptations that may occur” “Performance and longevity do not go hand in hand” “When you are doing something specific, there is only so much room to do something specific” “A tendon doesn’t look like or adapt like a muscle” About Max Schmarzo Max Schmarzo is the Director of Sport Science at Resilience Code, in Englewood, Colorado. He is the Chief Science Officer at Exsurgo Technologies and the founder of Strong by Science. He has authored two books, "Applied Principles of Power Development" and "Isometrics for Performance". He specializes in multidisciplinary care, sport science data solutions and athlete development. Acting as a consultant, he has worked with professional teams to help develop evidence based, data driven, sport science practices. Exsurgo.us StrongByScience.net MyResilienceCode.com

Today’s episode features strength coach and sport scientist, John Kiely.  John is a senior lecturer at the university of Lancashire, a strength coach with extensive rugby experience, and also a former boxing champion.  He is one of the most intelligent minds in the field, and is widely known for his ideals on periodization and planning. As much as I love talking the organization of training, John’s experience and knowledge runs much further than periodization, and some of John’s work on running and coordination have been some of the most memorable articles I’ve read in my experience as a coach.   To that end, I’m thrilled to have John Kiely talk about some significant pieces of training that I think go under-appreciated.  These are the topics of variability and its impact on the brain, how to optimally train coordination in athletes, and also how we as humans differ from the animals in our running and locomotion.  It is these concepts taken full circle that I believe can give any coach or athlete a much fuller appreciation and depth to how we as a species can be trained to our fullest potential. Coordination and variability are really the links to that zone we often refer to as the land that sits between rehab and strength and conditioning where so mamy performance gains are often made. On today’s show, we also get into the concepts of reflexes in sport, as well as internal versus external cues, given the rules of coordination in training. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Differences between humans and animals in build and performance Role of reflexes and their development in training and performance How the human brain prioritizes efficiency when it comes to repeated movements and what this means for training The widening and narrowing of the nervous system and what it means for athletic skill performance The difference between slow reflexes and fast reflexes in sport Checkmarks to hit when trying to maximize the coordinative benefit an athlete gets from exercises How internal cues impact the athlete, and the spectrum that is best to apply them on Quotes: “As humans, we are master adapters in running… in terms of tissue plasticity, we are nature’s superstars in being adaptable” “We are the only efficient runners who run on two legs (in the animal kingdom)” “The stability challenge (of running on two legs) isn’t trivial” “I think coordination is one of the last unexplored athletic frontiers in conditioning” “You keep doing the same thing over and over and over again, the edges creep in and it becomes a rut” “The more you move, the more you start to plastically change the way the neurons in your motor cortex relate to each other” “In musicians cramp… you can’t execute something that has been over-practiced” “For too long strength training has been too constrained…. (people saying) just get strong” “There is no accurate athletic movement without really well calibrated interpretation of sensory information…. how you execute is totally dependent on how your central nervous system interprets sensory feedback” “What we should have as coaches is this big box of training tools…. There are other dimensions of training that can meaningfully contribute to athlete movement proficiency” “One of the things that happens with injury is you lose the ability to interpret the sensory information coming from that injured tissue” “For me using internal cues to recalibrate the brain and spinal cord with the previously damaged tissue… internal cueing is really important if not essential.  You go into more complex sport specific movements and you don’t, you focus on the outcome” About John Kiely John Kiely is a senior lecturer at the University of Lancash...

Today’s podcast features strength coach and sport scientist John Wagle.  John is an expert in eccentric loading, periodization, muscle structure and many other aspects of athletic performance.  Today we are going to dig into the relationships between various training methods and physiological outcomes. In other words, we are talking about how various barbell exercises affect the actual structure of the muscles themselves, and how this can fit in with exercise selection, planning, and the tapering process. Dr. John P. Wagle is a fellow in the Sport Physiology and Performance program at East Tennessee State University. He serves as the Strength & Conditioning Coach and Sport Scientist for ETSU baseball. Additionally, Wagle assists Dr. Brad DeWeese in training Olympic Training Site athletes.  Previously, John was the director of sports performance at DePaul University. Ever since I started the process of training myself as an athlete, and eventually coaching others, I’ve always thought about the benefits and potential drawbacks of various exercises, as well as how to sequence these movements based on this dynamic.  For today’s episode, John will go in depth on why muscle architecture is an important factor to look at in training, and how barbell and supramaximal barbell training impact this architecture. John is an expert on eccentric loading for athletic performance training, so he goes in detail on how weight releasers impact the rest of the set when the first rep is extremely heavy.  We’ll also cover the impact of full versus partial range work, as well as some fine points of cluster training and finally touch briefly on jump testing and monitoring. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Concepts on muscle architecture: pennation angle and fascicle length How different training means impact muscle structure, such as strength training, eccentric training How ultrasound can be used to assess changes in muscle architecture throughout a training program Use of AEL (Accentuated Eccentric Loading) training in terms of percentage differential and rep ranges Full versus partial range of movement physiology Uses and advantages of cluster training for athletes Paradigms of sequencing training from straight sets to clusters How John utilizes RSI work in jump testing and analysis The difference between short and long SSC performance in sport Quotes: “Pennation is going to be associated with force production, muscle fascicle length is going to be associated with shortening velocity” “Strength training adds cross sectional area and increases the pennation angle.  Speed training “Sprinters tend to have longer fascicle lengths” “Really good coaches pair methods of physical development with aspects of motor learning” “Eccentric training tends to make muscle size changes at the distal portion of the muscle” “Overload does not need to be over 100% 1RM in accentuated eccentric loading” “With eccentric overload training you see a lot of changes at the cellular level with the myosin heavy chain” “Partial range of motion movements are not just reserved for the taper period” “A combination of both full and partial range movements is the most advantageous” “You still want (full ROM) work in the workout as a warmup if your main sets are partials… you want a blend” “Clusters have higher power outputs and increase the power generation capacity of the athlete.  Cluster sets influence the nervous system more than anything.” “If you seek potentiation, maybe a moderate-heavy-light sequence could work (in cluster training)” “Keeping cluster sets simple is important so you can determine what manipulation is causing what effect” About John Wagle Dr. John P.

Today’s podcast features Logan Christopher of Legendary Strength and Lost Empire Herbs. Logan Christopher is a strongman, entrepreneur and mental training expert from Santa Cruz, CA.  Logan is regarded as an expert in the mental performance field, and he has in depth expertise as an NLP Master Practitioner and certified hypnotist. In the last 6 months, I’ve begun to understand that an area I wanted this podcast to reach that often remains untapped and unknown is in the sports (and human) psychology fields.  We tend to turn the basic means of strength building over and over again in our heads without taking a deeper look at all the other influencers of a training program, namely the mental aspects.  Since the nervous system drives all major athletic adaptation, and the mind is the seat of the nervous system, I’ve made a commitment to getting more sport psychology specialists on the show. Like Logan says early on in this episode, we often credit winning and losing as being in the mind, but we rarely make any sort of coordinated effort to improve our mental abilities, leaving these words more hollow than anything.  In this episode with Logan, we dig into the “big three” structured mental training concepts that can be useful in any athletic pursuit (and even outside athletics), which are visualization, hypnosis and anchors.  Having a better understanding of these three mechanisms can give any coach or athlete more tools by which to improve their performance, and realize their fullest potential. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. Key Points: Logan’s background in the field Anecdotes on how effective mental training can be Why actual mental training isn’t popular, despite its effectiveness How to optimize visualization for strength, speed and power expression Why hypnosis for athleticism isn’t what comes to mind, and how effective it can be How to use mental anchors to enhance access to flow states in practice and competition Quotes: “When it comes to mental training, sometimes you have to go inside and face things you don’t want” “When it comes to hypnosis, most people think of a stage hypnotist that makes people cluck like a chicken” “Being up on a stage can accelerate your results or hinder them” “There are three main tool sets in mental training, visualization, hypnosis and anchors” “The state you need to do a deadlift is different than the state you need to swim 50 meters, or run 50 meters.   There may be some similarities between these, but there are also key differences” “If you can time the brightening of the image (in visualization) along with the lift, that works a little bit better” “Brightening the image gives more neurological juice to it” “Our subconscious mind cannot tell the difference between something that is vividly imagined and something that is real” “For athleticism, if you can just get into alpha (brain wave) state, that’s more than enough” “An anchor changes your state instantly (and can get you into flow state)” About Logan Christopher Logan Christopher is a strongman, entrepreneur and mental training expert from Santa Cruz, CA.  He is the owner of legendarystrength.com and is the CEO of Lost Empire Herbs lostempireherbs.com. Logan is regarded as an expert in the mental performance field, and he has in depth expertise as an NLP Master Practitioner and certified hypnotist.  As a strongman, Logan has numerous feats to his name, such as phonebook tearing, nail bending, truck pulling and kettlebell juggling.  This blend of interests and abilities gives Logan a unique perspective in the strength and human performance industry. Keep reading: Mental Training, Hypnosis, and Strength Development: An Interview with Logan Christopher

Today’s episode is a solo show, where unlike the question and answer shows I’ve done in the past, I wanted to speak at length on a single topic that I felt could offer value to coaches and the opportunity to sit and reflect on how each of us arrived at how we see the coaching of athletes. Today’s show is all about my own development as a coach, and the evolution of viewpoints I have on various aspects of sports performance training.  These viewpoints include ideas on cueing, maximal strength training, periodization, plyometrics, special strength, and mental training. The coaching of athletes is not a robotic venture; athletes need to optimize their own machinery in a manner that reflects with own body-type, biochemistry and environmental preferences.  In the same way as coaches, I don’t believe we should all hold the exact same slant of coaching athletes, and each of us how individual aspects of our system that can deliver a unique experience to athletes in line with our personal philosophy. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Reflections on how my own development as an athlete shaped my views as a coach My journey in terms of viewpoints on maximal strength development, periodization and planning, plyometric training, and mental training Joel Smith, MS, CSCS is a NCAA Division I Strength Coach working in the PAC12 conference.  He has been a track and field jumper and javelin thrower, track coach, strength coach, personal trainer, researcher, writer and lecturer in his 8 years in the professional field.  His degrees in exercise science have been earned from Cedarville University in 2006 (BA) and Wisconsin LaCrosse (MS) in 2008.  Prior to California, Joel was a track coach, strength coach and lecturer at Wilmington College of Ohio.  During Joel’s coaching tenure at Wilmington, he guided 8 athletes to NCAA All-American performances including a national champion in the women’s 55m dash.  In 2011, Joel started Just Fly Sports with Jake Clark in an effort to bring relevant training information to the everyday coach and athlete.  Aside from the NSCA, Joel is certified through USA Track and Field and his hope is to bridge the gap between understandable theory and current coaching practices.

Today’s episode features strength coach and sport scientist, Jake Schuster.  Jake is a coach who has brilliantly connected the dots in terms of research, technology and data collection, and transfer to athletic performance in both the team sport and individual (track and field) environment. Jake Schuster leads the physical preparation of Florida State University sprints and hurdles groups on the Track and Field team and serves as the liaison between FSU Strength and Conditioning/Sports Performance and the ISSM. He works alongside Dr. Michael Ormsbee to oversee several MSc thesis students in applied research projects. I’ve loved talking with coaches about the raw, specific qualities associated with high performance sprinting for a long time.  Although sprint derivatives are of the highest importance in getting faster, every coach I talk to is invariably interested in things seen in jumping or resistance exercise that could deliver transfer to speed and execution on the track or field of play.  After all, that’s the reason we train. In this regards, Jake Schuster is an expert in blending data from tools such as the force plate and Nordbord hamstring unit, and integrating it into what is seen in on-track performance.  He also has great wisdom in how this process works in getting field sport athletes to their highest performance. On today’s podcast, Jake delivers pragmatic information on asymmetry, force development in jump tests, isometric and hamstring training protocols for sprinters, approaching general strength means for track versus team sport athletes, and more.  As a former strength coach for track and field, this is one of my favorite podcasts on the topic to date.  Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Some recent lessons Jake has learned working as a strength and conditioning coach for track and field Some of the quantitative things that Jake looks for using KPI data in regards to speed and sprinting Asymmetries, when they are a big deal and when they aren’t Top KPI movements in transfer to speed Building performance in a individual sport athlete (such as track or swimming) versus a team sport athlete Eccentric and isometric training concepts Jake’s attitude towards maximal “general” strength work in training track speed, (squats and deadlifts) Training track and field or team sport athletes based on squat patterning dominance versus deadlift patterning dominance Jake’s thoughts on velocity based training Quotes: “We try too hard to put people into boxes in training, and it just doesn’t work that way” “We try to look at the stability of asymmetries, we aren’t trying to get someone from 15% down to 10% that might not be a productive task, but if someone is normally 10% and one day they show up at 20%, then maybe we need to go to the physio table to make sure you don’t get hurt.” “On the Nordbord our greatest asymmetry came in our horizontal jumpers… they have bigger asymmetries than our high jumpers…. their takeoff leg hamstring was stronger” “We can cause more damage and injury risk by correcting asymmetries than leaving them alone” “Supine single leg ISO push has huge transfer to 100m sprint proficiency” “We know that longer fascicles means less injury risk; eccentrics yield longer fascicles” “The most important thing we can do as practitioners is provide our athletes the ability to work on their skills as much as possible, and from a physical preparation standpoint the second best thing we can do is to bring them to the pitch healthy and ready to get maximal velocity exposure as often as possible” “Olympic lifts are not as difficult to teach as we make them out to be” “If you only have two coaches in the room and you are spending half of your t...

Today’s episode features strength coach and educator, Michelle Boland, Ph.D.   Michelle is the owner of Michelle Boland training, and earned her Ph.D. from Springfield College.  She coaches at Northeastern University where she works with women’s ice hockey, field hockey and rowing, as well as assisting with men’s basketball.  She is one of the most intelligent and forward thinking coaches in the field, and I’m thrilled to have her on the show. I’ve been interested in the work of the postural restoration institute for some time, having it first recommended to me years ago by Dr. Mike T Nelson.  Since then, I’ve taken three courses and hosted numerous experts on this podcast who are experts in both PRI practice and its integration into sports performance training as well as human movement and fitness.    The core tenants of PRI that are a game changer for training humans is that the body is fundamentally asymmetrical and that the position of our breathing cylinder is of highest priority in making lasting changes in athletic balance and function.  This being said, most coaching cues and corrections that are in response to an “imbalance” such as shifting to one side in a squat or one arm rising faster than the other in the bench press, do not deliver results that fit with the true function of the body. To that end, Michelle is a field leader in the integration of these concepts into performance training, and one of the smartest guests we’ve had (which is saying a lot given our incredible lineup).  Today I pick her brain on integrating PRI principles into core components of sport performance, including bilateral sagittal plane lifts (squat/bench), single leg training, trunk training, and frontal plane training.  Michelle’s work represents a science and practice based, practical application to getting athletes functional and strong for their sport.   Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Michelle’s background and influences in the field How postural restoration institute principles have impacted Michelle’s coaching of the sagittal plane bilateral lifts Impingement versus muscle oriented lifting strategies Single leg work in light of postural restoration ideals Trunk and core based work Percentage of training work based off of feel versus performance Specific training thoughts on the frontal plane Quotes: “It’s about understanding proximal position, and how it prevents or promotes movement” “There’s no absolute way to lift weights, but there is different strategies” “If someone is doing a movement and feeling things in their joints, you have to question what they are using to move that weight with” “Strategies are what people feel working during an exercise” “I have a continuation of health and performance, health is very sensory based, incorporating a lot of frontal plane and transverse, athletes think a lot about what they are feeling.  On the other end of the spectrum is performance… going back to the big lifts, that’s where you would find the big lifts” “If I have someone who isn’t feeling hamstring (in a position) it is pelvic position that is driving that” “Some people perceive exercise as a feeling of fatigue or tired or soreness, and that’s how I get sensory information” “Right now, we have two days of (big lifts)…. Then I have one or two days a week I call it a variability day, we are doing low threshold frontal plane and transverse plane focused activities… we are not trying to make them weightlifters or powerlifters, I don’t want to make that their only strategy… then the other two days a week are just conditioning days” “Skating is not side to side, the slideboard is not skating”   “I have to know what athletes are already getting,

Today’s episode features biomechanist and inventor David Weck.  David has devoted thousands of hours to the intensive study of human movement and locomotion, and training implications.  His inventions focus on building the rotational, pulsing and coiling abilities of the body, as well as the feet, in a manner that fits with natural locomotive abilities.  As a coach looking to integrate the field of sports performance as closely as possible with natural human function (and not creating programs fully centered around qualities needed to perform a bilateral barbell lift), this is a great addition to the Just Fly podcast lineup.   David Weck is the creator of WeckMethod and the CEO and Founder of BOSU Fitness. He is the inventor of the BOSU Balance Trainer, the new WeckMethod BOSU Elite, the RMT Club, and other products. He has worked in fitness for more than 22 years and has helped people of all fitness levels including elite athletes from multiple sports. He is a consummate student of movement who believes physical education is the foundation for a happy and healthier world. For today’s episode, we go into one of the biggest “hot-buttons” in the industry which is the action of the trunk and “core” in sport movement and related training implications.  Many coaches will put a heavy program emphasis on the ability to brace and resist (in order to transmit force) through using the core, but the reality is that actual observed sport movement, as well as a study of human evolution (Piscean locomotion theory) shows a different strategy in training integration.  This episode is fully loaded, and goes into this performance aspect in detail, in addition to many other aspects of athletic movement, including the action of the arms that carries an instant transfer to improving speed. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.   Key Points: David’s background and how he has been able to spend over a decade in intensive study and experimentation in speed and movement Aspects of the bracing core versus the coiling core Fundamentals of how the sagittal, frontal and transverse planes work in respect to rotation and bracing How David formulated the “Royal Coil” exercise Application of coil mechanics to basic exercises such as the lunge Arm mechanics in running Quotes: “If you are sprinting fast past the age of 25 you either love it so much or you get paid a lot to do it” “If you’ve never played the guitar, it’s hard to teach guitar lessons” “Locomotion is the most important thing you can do functionally feeling… upright bipedal locomotion is contingent upon one’s ability to throw stones and swing sticks” “There are two fundamental ways to brace the core.  One to brace and don’t breathe, to pick up heavy things, and other is brace and breath to create the diaphragmatic differentiation so you can breathe under stress”. “You under no circumstance want to brace your core in neutral under a transverse only force” “When you side bend in the frontal plane, the biomechanical reality is that you create an axial rotation, counter rotation of the shoulders and the hips” “In locomotion the shoulders do an underhand figure 8 and the hips do an overhand figure 8.  If you are crawling or doing the reptilian it is the opposite” “It’s the lats that lead the locomotion…. everything about them is there for you to optimize the spinal engine” “Nobody who is fast braces their core to run or jump” “The most accurate science is the results” “Pressure is how we create strength, you have to pressurize and brace.  That’s why a bodybuilder who is 4% body-fat isn’t as strong as in the off season as when they are 12%.  You need something to resist against” “Supinating is coiling to that (supination) side,

Today’s episode features strength coach and sport scientist Mladen Jovanović.  Mladen is the owner of complementarytraining.net and is a thought leader in physical preparation, particularly in the arena of building the best possible training programs for team sport athletes.  Mladen brings in the work of many of the world’s great philosophers and thinkers in his process, fielding universal principles that often supercede existing periodization theory. Mladen has worked in a variety of elite level sports in countries including Serbia, Sweden, Qatar, Turkey, Australia and the USA. A leading individual in the sport science community, Mladen’s interests include velocity based training, statistical modelling and the philosophy/management of sports programmes. I’ve been looking forward to having Mladen on the show for some time, as I’m always impressed by his work and thought process.  It’s always great to chat with those who utilize reason from a variety of other fields to lead us towards a better path in athletics.  One of the biggest things I initially wanted to chat with Mladen about was the use of mental heuristics in how we tend to view and create workout programs, but our chat led us down the paths of flow and free play in athletic performance, robust vs. “peak-performance” training, flaws of classical periodization theory and real-life experiences, as well as velocity based training ideas. In the aftermath of episodes such as with Dr. Tommy John, and then our sport play roundtable, as well as my own experiences training with intuitive minds such as Paul Cater, I’ve realized the shortcomings of strict, planned, drill and internal cue based sessions, and how “breaking out of the robot factory”, so to speak, is one of the most powerful lessons coaches can learn and use. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.   Key Points: What’s new in the life of Mladen Jovanović How much training should be planned versus spontaneous and free flowing The point of gym work with (team sport players such as soccer) is to be robust, rather than to run as fast or jump as high as possible Guidelines for velocity based work and bar speed monitoring Thoughts on delayed training effects and phase potentiation Mladen’s thoughts on planning robust training for team sport athletes Quotes: “I think we are missing the play element in training” “You need to be a snake to sneak in the hard work without it clashing with the athletes (soccer players who find lifting boring)” “You need to find a balance between giving players freedom, and having strict training” “There are multiple applications for using velocity based training” “We still need to rely on coaching intuition and traditional (stuff), you cannot just rely on velocity based training” “Using (VBT) percentages is biased based on the initial rep” “The main benefit of velocity based training is live feedback.  If your intent is maximal then you are going to get higher levels of strength.” “(Regarding periodization) let’s find the things we need to do, and do them all the time” “Every time you push an athlete, especially on the highest level of competition, they are going into the unknown, you can’t rely on the studies on student population that bench press 70 kilos (to validate what you are doing at this point).” “(With team sport athletes) we rotate things more often so that they don’t hit the (training) ceiling…. What happens after the peak? It’s the volley.  You don’t want this in team sports” “In team sports, (your periodization) is always limited by logistics.  At the end of the day, rather than having “perfect” training, you want to have “robust” training.  Robust training is training that works in several scenarios.”

Today’s episode features coach, biomechanist and inventor, Adarian Barr.  Adarian has been my primary mentor in the field of human performance over the last year and a half and has completely changed the way I view the majority of athletic movements.  Through a greater awareness of what to watch and look for in athletic movements, to equaling (or bettering) things I did as an athlete in my early 20’s, to completely rewiring my approach to sprint and jump biomechanics, coach Barr’s work has been a complete game changer. Adarian has experience coaching on a variety of levels, and has had a number of stops on the collegiate track and field circuit before his current work as a private coach and consultant.  His methods are innovative, and he has the greatest awareness of various factors that go into a movement outcome that I’ve ever seen. Coach Barr has the ability to pick apart virtually any athletic feat into its core components, and then train those components with athletes of all levels.   On today’s podcast, we talk heavily about asymmetry in athletic performance.  Not too long ago, coaches were talking about Usain Bolt’s asymmetrical stride, and then we just witnessed the longest long jump in the last 20 years, done by a 19 year old from Cuba with an asymmetrical run up and a very long last stride. Knowing the principles behind the approach and the takeoff allows understanding and subsequent individualization of our athletes to their best performances. In this regards, we’ll be chatting asymmetry in regards to jumping and sprinting, as well as how it plays into plyometrics and timing.  Adarian finishes things off with a conversation on training the foot, and how the foot is not as “weak” as we often think it to be. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Thoughts on recent developments in the track and field world The importance of the “arm flap” movement (Rotational vs. Linear Movement) “Big-Step, Little-Step” rhythm Fundamental difference between big last step vs. little last step How to improve/construct your jumping approach The “Big-Little” Rhythm from a 3-point stance/sprint start/block set-up Importance of maintaining rhythm throughout a race Asymmetry in distance runners and field/court based sports The importance of rhythm in double leg jumps and single leg jumps Importance of timing in jumping How to integrate asymmetry and plyometrics Mistakes in training the foot “The backside arm controls the impact of the front side leg” “We need to stop saying bad technique, imperfect technique, incorrect technique.” “Running is the base of every movement.” “Exceptional athletes have exceptional timing.” “Never train anyone how to stop.” “If you’re trying to take up slack, you don’t want to do plyometric training.” “Athletic posture takes up slack in the system.” “A shortened muscle is the best muscle to work with.” Show Notes: Juan Miguel Echevarria Long Jump 8.83   About Adarian Barr Adarian Barr is a track coach and inventor based out of Woodland, California.  His collegiate track and field coaching stops have included UW-Superior, Indiana State, UNC Pembroke, Yuba City Community College. He has invented 9 devices from footwear to sleds to exercise devices. Adarian is a USATF Level II coach in the sprints, jumps, hurdles and relays. He has a master’s degree in Physical Education. Adarian’s unique coaching style gets results, and his work on speed and biomechanics is being adapted by some of the top coaches in the nation. More Adarian Barr Episodes: 64: Adarian Barr on Biomechanical Truths and Coaching Myths in Sprinting 132: Adarian Barr on Ground Impulse as a Biomechan...

Today’s episode features Angus Ross, physiologist and strength coach at High Performance Sport New Zealand.  Angus is making his second appearance on the podcast, and is following up on his initial chat on aspects of eccentric strength training with lots of practical knowledge in the realms of stiffness, fascia, and performance. Angus has worked with a number of sports at an elite level within the NZ system including sprint cycling and skeleton in recent years. Angus has a PhD in exercise physiology from the University of Queensland and has also worked within the Australian institute system with stints at both the Queensland Academy of Sport and the Australian Institute of Sport. He is also a Winter Olympian in his own right having competed at the 1998 and 2002 Winter Games.  Angus is one of the most intelligent, and curious coaches I know, as well as incredibly pragmatic, seeking what works and delivers results. As with any training method, eccentric training is just one tool for the job, and learning about the means, and how it fits into the total training process also opens up the questions of usage of training such as maximal overcoming isometrics and plyometrics, as well as monitoring which athletes might respond optimally to one method or the other, or knowing which sequence these means should be presented in over the course of a training year. On today’s podcast, we will go in depth on double versus single leg stiffness, and what that means for team sport athletes versus track and field sprinters.  We’ll also cover the benefits and use of plyometrics versus overloaded eccentric training, and how to look at using these methods in the course of a training year.  Finally, Angus has some fantastic thoughts and ideas on muscular versus fascial driven athletes that resonate with many of my own thoughts and things seen in previous podcasts, such as our recent episode with Randy Huntingon. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: New happenings with Angus Ross Reactive strength and stiffness in sprinting Double versus single leg stiffness Maximal isometric or overcoming exercise versus plyometrics Ways Angus has been experimenting with a more frequent alteration of the training stimulus How fascial driven athletes can benefit from exercise that helps “fascial tightness” How muscle driven athletes can often PR after a few weeks of rest or almost complete rest Angus’ thoughts on velocity based training EMS and strength performance Quotes: “I’m sure stiffness from sprint data would show the same things as a single leg drop jump (athletes deficient in a single leg drop jump leak energy at maximal velocity)” “The plyos might really develop tendon stiffness, while the longer slower contractions (i.e. supramaximal type work) still might develop some stiffness, but may also develop compliance as well” “If I was going to periodize it, I might be doing some supramaximal eccentric work with some isometric work initially, because they marry well in addressing tendon properties, and you could do it with a small amount of plyos, and then morph until faster eccentric work, and towards plyos” “The great coaches have the intuition to change (the emphasis of the program) when needed” “When you got the motor patterns from 20 years of plyos in the system, they are there, if you makea change in the system, you will improve” “What I’ve been doing essentially is a 4 week block on repeat, with a different week each block… for some athletes it’s worked great, but other athletes don’t feel like they are getting enough time on a stimulus” “Changing the stimulus on a regular basis is a good thing…. some people it’s worked really well for” “Some people are more resilient towards maintainin...

Today’s episode features track and field master coach, Randy Huntington, who is in his 42nd year of coaching athletes to go faster, higher and further.  Huntington is currently a national track and field coach for the Chinese athletics association and is rated as a USATF Master Coach in the jumps.  In his work in China he is directly responsible for the development of their sprinters and horizontal jumpers, and is working with such elite athletes as Su Bingtian (100m and 60m Chinese record holder). Huntington has been the coach for many world-class athletes over the years, including eight Olympians and seven World Championship Team members. Mike Powell and Willie Banks set world records in the long jump and triple jump, respectively, while under his tutelage (Powell’s record still stands!). Six of his athletes have been in the U.S. all-time top ten in their respective events. Huntington has also coached Olympians Joe Greene (long jump bronze medal in 1992), Sheila Hudson (American indoor and outdoor record-holder in the triple jump), Al Joyner, Darren Plab, Tony Nai and Sharon Couch. At least one of his athletes has competed in every summer Olympic Games since 1984.  Randy also has experience with speed training for other sports, particularly American football. It’s always an amazing experience to be able to sit down with such experienced and legendary coaches in the field and gain insight into their process and wisdom.  With so many of the world records and high marks in the jumps, not only on the world level, but even American high school, coming out of the 1980’s and 1990’s, it is awesome to talk to coaches like Randy Huntington about what made those athletes successful, and which core principles we cannot forget. On today’s episode, Randy talks about his 3 and 4 day a week setups for sprinters and jumpers, and how to determine who fits into what mold.  He also talks about long term development of sprinters and jumpers, as well as an extensive talk on strength training for the sake of sprint and jump development.  This is a legendary talk for anyone who is interested in getting athletes faster and jumping higher. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Randy’s background in coaching Fundamentals of the training from the 1980’s and 90’s and potential reasons nobody has touched 29 feet in long jump for decades (until last week) Randy’s training setups for sprints and jumps Ways to determine what type to weekly training setup to do based on testing and twitch type Rebuilding lost athleticism in athletes who haven’t played enough sports in their youth and specialized early At what point should strength training be brought in within the long term athletic development model of a track and field athlete Approaches to strength training for jumpers and sprinters Randy’s use of bar speed monitoring, and then the 1080 sprint, resisted sprinting and overspeed sprinting “Just doing a mass only model doesn’t work (in regards to running)” “I’m seeing a lot more knowledge and a lot less wisdom (in track and field training)” “By basic philosophy is I train movements first, and then I strengthen movements second, so I am a short to long if you wish” “The sprinters that I have, based upon their flying 30 or 10 time, I use those to determine, essentially along with the jump test, to determine what kind of tissue this human being has.  Those athletes who are faster twitch, I’ll go to a hard-day easy day.  For those who are not, I may not, and I may look for a little more work load to get the same stimulus response” “About every 5-7 years I’d go back to coaching junior high school, because you got to remember the basics” “The goal is to do something just a little bit better each d...

Today’s episode features track and field coach, and training organization expert Derek Evely.  Derek made his original appearance on episode #43 of the podcast where he spoke extensively on the core principles of the Bondarchuk training system, and how it’s ideas it can be applied to sprint training.  Derek is back now, talking on many more facets of the system, particularly in terms of understanding and tracking adaptation and exercise variation, which are two absolutely critical training variables when dealing with advanced athletes. The Bondarchuk training system was invented, of course, by Anatoliy Bondarchuk, and has yielded the most consistent Olympic medal sweeps (in the hammer throw) by any country in history.  The core of the training system is doing the same exact workout or workouts (composed of a specific exercise, CE, a special strength exercise, SDE a strength movement using the same prime muscles, SPE, and then basic general exercises that incorporate multiple planes of movement, GPE), and repeating that until an athlete reaches their peak performance with that “exercise set”.   In this manner, many variables, such as the weight on the bar each day, are fixed, so that the effectiveness of each component of the cycle can be monitored as much as possible in terms of its contribution to the athletes' adaptation. Derek is a true master of training organization, and is considered by many to be the best in the world.   He has trained world-class athletes such as Sultana Frizell, Dylan Armstrong and Gary Reed, and has the real-world success to go alongside his knowledge gained from experience and the practices of other world-class coaches.  On the podcast today, we’ll talk about delayed transformation, the role of variation in producing overload, creating an optimal peaking cycle, and also a great discussion on the “parts” system, or complex training, in eliciting training gains out of already advanced athletes. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Derek’s recent happenings and his new Bondarchuk inspired training course Timing and sequence and interchange of maximal strength building and movement focused training Ideas on delayed transformation based on intentional overtraining The use of variation in producing overload and adaptation on the athlete How to decide emphasis on strength, etc. in each training season Going “Heavy to Light” or “Light to Heavy” in weight training How to gather information from the yearly training plan and write a championship cycle for best results” The “parts” program of the Bondarchuk system The value of keeping the barbell weight the same across a training cycle “In every microcycle, you need to be working on all four exercise classifications” “This is one of the big myths with Bondarchuk is that he is a non-beleiver in maximal strength” “To me the issue really comes down to black and white thinking (in regards to maximal strength)” “There are sports where you have no choice (in terms of utilizing delayed transformation and a large maximal strength oriented training block)” “You have to be careful making assumptions about guys hearing rumors about their training programs” “When you are doing the Bondarchuk system with a new athlete, it takes a leap of faith on their part” “Probably the most difficult part of the Bondarchuk system to get my head around, and the last part I figured out was the rest cycles, because that has a huge impact on things” “The amount of detraining that happens before you start the cycle has an impact on which of the reactions you are going to be (when you go through the developmental cycle)” “You have to appreciate the impact that variation and change has on how an athlete reacts to t...

Today’s episode features Dr. Tommy John, chiropractor, sports performance specialist and pioneer in youth sports injury prevention.   Dr. John is the son of the famous major league pitcher, Tommy John, whom the famous elbow reconstruction surgery is named after (I actually went through that surgery myself as a result of throwing the javelin, but more so due to poor technique than the typical chronic overtraining and lack of rest and movement most young athletes encounter).  He carries Master Degrees in Health and Exercise Science from Furman University and brings over 17 years of health experience to the table.   He had stints as a professional baseball player himself before a shoulder infection from a surgery ended his career. I first came across Dr. John’s work in my search for a better explanation of Jay Schroeder's methods.  As I learned more about him, I found that he is a wealth of knowledge, not just on some of the things he learned from Jay, but also on human movement and performance, training psychology and youth injury prevention.  Dr. John combines his extensive background in sports performance and chiropractic to deliver a unique training experience and insight that can push forward our coaching. On today’s episode, Dr. John will go into his time learning from Jay Schroeder, bodyweight training as a staple, how and when to utilize barbell training, movements all athletes do well, and thoughts on injury prevention in youth and general athletic performance.  Dr. John has a new book coming out on exactly that topic called “Minimize Injury, Maximize Performance, A Sport Parent’s Survival Guide” which I would highly recommend. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Dr. John’s background as an athlete, sports performance specialist and chiropractor Dr. John’s experience with Jay Schroeder and how it changed his program Primary reasons for the 10x increase in youth sports since the 1990’s Why free movement training and bodyweight training is a core facet of programming How and when to utilize barbell training in an athlete’s training regimen Ideas on injury, recovery, and training 3-4 Movements Dr. John really likes to see athletes do well Thoughts on extreme isometrics and large training volumes or durations “Jay wouldn’t just give you information… it forced you to almost challenge him, and go find out for yourself” “With Jay, there was no icing, no stretching, and no running to condition” “If you can’t hold on to the picture (of your goals), it’s not happening” “Pick any program, but if (your intention, emotion and direction) is fueling you, your results are going to be pretty amazing” “Soft tissue revenue is plugged to hit 17 billion by 2022 with the main driver being youth sports” “The movement should be very similar when you are unloaded or loaded” “Promote freeplay as much as possible, keep the smartphones out of their hands until their teenage years, and then (get them outside to play)” “The ones that function better are the ones that explored (movement) on their own” “It’s not a weight in sports that is breaking us down, it’s force (as a function of velocity)” “If I can take a bodyweight and generate a massive amount of force, with just them generating the stimulus from inside them out, instead of outside them in, the better the tie into life, the quicker the person becomes more athletic” “If we resist a poor movement, then we are locking (that movement in) under resistance (training)” “There is no difference between rehab, and performance and recovery and building and power, and training is training is training” “In America, orthopedics and medical reign supreme” “Move every joint you have a day,

Today’s episode features a special roundtable featuring experts Jorge Carvajal, Zach Even-Esh, and Jeremy Frisch.  Together, these coaches have over half a century of training expertise, and have worked with a wide sweeping range of athletes.  In addition to this, their experience is with many athletes ranging from very young to the professional level, and have also seen the changes sport culture that has come about over the last few decades (if you aren’t aware, those changes have resulted in injury rates magnitudes higher than what was seen in the 1990’s).   Today’s topic is the injury crisis in youth sports and the related deprivation of movement and physical literacy of the coming generation. I was asked a while ago if I had anything special planned for the 100th episode of the podcast (I can’t believe it’s gone so far!).  I didn’t have much in mind for it, but I’ve actually saved this recording a few episodes to be 100 since I feel that it checks a lot of boxes on what makes this podcast what it is, and that is the time and willingness of great coaches to be a voice to help other coaches, and ultimately, help athletes reach their highest potential. I think that the message today that these three coaches bring is honestly the most important one of all, more important than getting an extra tenth off your 40-yard dash, and a higher calling than tacking 2 extra inches on one’s vertical jump.  That higher calling is the physical literacy and movement crisis that so many young athletes are facing. It is one that elicits burnout and injury like never before seen, and also feeds into the nature of our educational system itself. Topics covered on the show include the age an athlete may actually be ready to specialize and when that is appropriate, how local culture impacts which sport a child plays, how depriving students of movement is harming students' educational and global experiences and how to bring physical literacy back into our culture. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Zach, Jeremy and Jorge’s backgrounds in the field The earliest age an athlete should consider specializing in a sport How local culture and lifestyle impacts which sports athletes play Ways to help bring physical literacy back into our culture How depriving children of movement and free play is destroying the educational experience of many “An athlete specializes when they are really ready, mentally and emotionally” “It seems to take a lot of years and a lot of skill work to get to a certain level” “I’ll do another sport as the warmup to build their athleticism” “I could probably take 99% of little league pitchers, and they couldn’t get themselves across the monkey bars” “The logistics of parenting make it very difficult to have multi-sport athletes these days” “Everything is coached and organized, and they are not able to think for themselves” “What I was able to do with a new athlete 5 years ago, is different than what I’m able to do today, I call it the de-evolution of the athlete” “You have to stop de-emphasizing PE in school, that’s it, that’s where it starts” “Don’t run a youth class and train those kids like they are in high school… what is the better thing for the kids? They need the play” “(Regarding the importance of not emphasizing speed training in favor of free play for children) I get more phone calls from Dad’s about first step quickness than I do about the older kids” About Jorge Carvajal Jorge Carvajal is a performance coach and consultant who has worked with elite athletes in multiple sports and the tactical world for over twenty-five years. He has trained thousands of athletes, at the University of Florida, the University of Nebraska, the U.S.

Today’s episode brings back Christian Thibaudeau, speaking further into neuro-typing, particularly on the impact of brain chemistry on athlete training individualization and coaching.  Sport psychology is generally under-appreciated, as coaching of the highest order fully appreciates and understands the impact of an athlete’s mental state on competition and important training sessions.  When one knows brain chemistry’s influence, there is less guessing, and the ability to more precisely prepare an athlete for their optimal performance. Coaching is also impacted by neurology, and in today’s episode, coach Thibaudeau goes into how each neuro-type is gifted with particular abilities to coach athletes.   Some athletes are immensely attracted to, or frustrated by, the styles of particular coaches, so knowing potential links or conflicts created by brain chemistry and neuro-typing is a must to get the most out of your own coaching and your athlete’s performance. Finally, this podcast goes full circle, as the same things that create difficulty in responding to the highest competition for athletes also create difficulty in their ability to respond to workouts of a high neural intensity.  Christian digs into the common brain chemistry behind these phenomena, and how our understanding can help us create better programming on the week to week basis, in addition to better competitive strategies. Finally, I recommend listening to my first podcast with Christian, episode #77  if you have not done so already, to get an overview of the neurotypes, since Christian hits the ground running on them in today’s show. If you are interested in becoming certified in Neurotyping, check out my review of Christian’s course. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Neuro-types more likely to choke in performance and why Optimal training activation strategies by neuro-type Environmental factors in determining neuro-type How training changes under stress in terms of neuro-type response The most difficult neuro-type to peak for competition How neuro-type effects coach-athlete relationships Why some athletes are able to recover from heavy neural training better than others “A Neurotype 3 in the 1960’s would not become a great golfer… nowadays technique is so deep that you can have someone who has less natural skills and more anxiety and compensate by becoming such a technical master” “If I am overstimulated I have too much muscle tension, and my mobility is affected” “That’s why people choke under pressure, it’s because high adrenaline situation speeds up the nervous system.  You have two neurotransmitters responsible for exciting the nervous system… dopamine and adrenaline” “Type 1A and type 1B have a higher level of serotonin… that’s why a type 1A or 1B that’s why often time, they often look lazy” “Serotonin is a neural balancer, it keeps you in the optimal state for the task at hand.  People with low serotonin have a really difficult time adjusting when they have daily activities that require either activation or relaxation” “People with low serotonin get amped up just the same (as those with high) but they cannot prevent over-activation of their nervous system” “If adrenaline becomes too high for 2A’s in competition then they will choke.  2A’s are their best in a minor competition or league game, but they will have a hard time at nationals” “Neurotype will affect how you coach athletes in a high stress situation” “The more sensitive to dopamine you are, the easier it is to get into that optimal (competition) zone…. Serotonin keeps you in that zone, so both are important” “If you are type 3 a very small inflammation might feel like tendonitis”

Today’s episode features biomechanist Gary Ward, author of “What the Foot” and founder of “Anatomy in Motion”.   Starting his interest in the foot as a ski-boot fitter, Gary is now known for solving unsolvable pain in minutes, not months.  His passion for the foot hugely influenced his interpretation of human movement. He is increasingly sought after by all types of practitioners in the fitness and therapy industry, teaching an evolution that starts with the foot and results in whole-body integrated movement solutions.    One of the things that has drawn me to Gary’s work is his holistic assessment of human biomechanics.  When it comes to becoming the best athlete one can be, it is important to have core rules of human movement by which we can define our programs and practices.  I haven’t read a work where those rules are as clearly defined as “What the Foot”, and after learning from other great resources in the field such as the Postural Restoration Institute, and then the dynamic fieldwork on Adarian Barr, Gary’s work makes good sense.   Examples of such rules are things like “Joints act and muscles react”, and “Everything orbits around the center”. On today’s episode, Gary will go into his background, and how he began interest in the foot.  He’ll talk about the big rules of movement, particularly how human position dictates muscle firing, and not the other way around.  We’ll also talk about finding an athletes center and what that means for training, as well as the importance of pronation in explosive human movement. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Gary’s background in the industry and how he gained an interest in the foot How working with the foot has such a profound impact on the rest of the body How and why to be in positions to give muscles more options in which to fire Eccentric vs. concentric muscle contractions in light of joint actions and biomechanics How to find an athletes joint center and what that means for them Methods to allow an athlete to bring themselves back to centre The importance of pronation in human movement How to determine and teach a good pronation How to add exploration work to any isometric foot training “The second big rule of motion: joints act and muscles react” “My brain doesn’t go to muscles anymore, muscles will do anything the joint asks of it” “Hip flexors, when they are problematic tend to be long and tight” “There are no bi-axial muscles that will lengthen and shorten at both ends” “You can shorten a muscle in one plane, lengthen it in another plane, and do nothing in a third plane…. each muscle has six possibilities, and muscles eventually make you mad, look at the joint” “In an eccentric movement, the fibers are contracting the same way as a concentric movement” “When we are moving away from centre, the muscles will wake up and move us back to centre, and that is a more pure way of looking at things” “Everyone’s joint centre is unique to them, if we want to find centre we need to invite the person to find it themselves” “We never get the opportunity to (enter the learning space) if we are constantly abducting knees with a band while squatting” “The foot is made of three structures, the rearfoot, the forefoot and the toes.  Each piece is super important for flowing movement all the way up the chain” “Shapes of the foot are really important” “Pronation is a foot lengthening and foot widening” “We gotta be good at pronating in order to generate a supination response” “The key to good pronation is the tripod” “What’s really important is that the rearfoot is always working in a closed chain in opposition to the forefoot” “Human movement and strength training are two different realms”...

Today’s episode features speed and athletic movement expert Lee Taft, making his second appearance on the podcast.  Lee has unique experience as an athlete, educator, sport coach and speed coach that puts him on another level in terms of dissecting movement that leads to success.  He has 3 decades of work under his belt in the speed development industry, and hearing him talk about the fine points of speed both reveals the fine-tuned complexity of an athlete in motion, as well as helping us as coaches find the best way to steer athletes towards the optimal model. One of the things that I’ve always been interested in is not coaching speed out of athletes.  Until you have a thorough understanding of how athletes move properly, it can be tough to know when to actually instruct an athlete in movement, and how to do so.  That is where Lee’s deep dives into speed become so valuable. In terms of speed, I love track and field, but movement in team sport certainly has differences from top-end sprinting.  In today’s episode, Lee talks about some of the key differences, not just between a track and team sport athlete, but also a court sport and field sport athlete.   We go into the importance of well-rounded speed development, but how this changes as an athlete matures in their sport. He also digs into the development of reactive agility through his favorite games, as well as how he uses reactive versus closed components within each speed training session.  This episode is particularly valuable for coaches working with a range of athletes Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: The difference in the way athletes move in a court sport vs. a field sport and training implications The value of teaching a court sport athlete speed of a distance that goes outside of what their sport requires The best age for athletes to start specializing in how they train speed in regard to their sport Low versus high heel recovery ramifications in a team sport environment Ways Lee builds reactive ability into athletes Proportion of closed versus reactive agility based work Lee’s favorite games for reactive agility development “Great plays are made when players can make a unique play that they can’t do traditionally” “If you do too much too soon, especially with a boy who has the potential to grow again, what they are going to do is they are going to develop a movement patter and it is going to get engrained….. it is hard to get out of later because you’ve been so specific from a young age, and that is why general training is so important” 16:30 “I’m constantly adjusting my athletes based on their sport, where they’re at, and if they’ve reached puberty yet” “If you are going to work with an athlete one day a week on sprint mechanics, how much are you going to over-ride the 10s of thousands of reps they are doing outside of that?” “Hip height is really important based on my mechanics for changing direction” “The sweet spot (of hip height) is developed by habits” “We start training sessions with reactive drills, the reactive drills tell me what we need to do next” “The foot tells the core what to do, or the arm action tells the core what to do” About Lee Taft Lee Taft, known to most simply as “The Speed Guy”, is highly respected as one of the top athletic movement specialists in the world. He has taught his multi-directional speed methods to top performance coaches and fitness professionals all over the world. Since 1989, Lee has taught foundation movement to beginning youngsters and helped young amateur athletes to professional athletes become quicker, faster and stronger. Lee’s entire philosophy is based off one of his most notable quote,

Today’s episode features legendary strength, fitness, and track coach Dan John.  Dan John may have had the single greatest impact on me than any other strength writer, and has decades of experience in education, coaching, and writing.  Dan has run an incredibly successful high school throws program, in addition to his strength training accolades. One of the things I feel Dan has to offer that many miss is his holistic teaching style.  His education in arenas outside of the sports performance field, and his ability to connect the dots and communicate it clearly is something I’ve routinely taken great value from. Getting stronger and being a better athlete, especially in the modern digital age can be highly confusing.  There are so many training programs to choose from, as well as a strong desire to collect what one likes and toss it in the weekly workload.  Dan’s work has often been a hedge against that desire, and I generally find that more minimalistic programs tend to be less stressful to create, as well as easier to monitor, implement and get focus and quality from in athletes.  In reading Dan’s work (particularly Easy Strength), one can see that a simple solution that took a lot of life experience to get to is the best practice. Today, Dan John delivers the best 70 minutes of strength and performance knowledge and wisdom you’ll get a chance to listen to for a while.  For today’s show, Dan talks about how to simplify a program and cut out the unneccesary, the “Easy Strength” philosophy, and how to take it into track coaching events, the history and effectiveness of loaded carries, ownership, and effectiveness of lousy training facilities and a lack of equipment, high rep strength training, and the effect of coaching in the digital age.   Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points Thoughts on simplicity in a program How long athletes should be in the weight room Areas of modern strength programs that could be done without The “Easy Strength” philosophy, and how that can carry into the throwing events Weightroom circuits and the mixed method for throwing How Dan John started integrating loaded carries into his program The process by which Dan learned “same but different”, and how he has simply implemented it in training Thoughts on high rep strength training How the internet has affected learning in sports performance Dan John Quotes “It’s simple, but not easy” “I rarely see a workout that can’t be simplified” “Most of the time, I agree with what we found out in the 1980’s, over 45 minutes (in the weightroom) is a waste” “You do tissue work in your dormroom, not in my weightroom” “How much money can you make on selling sleep, and water and fasting?” “I call them the four F’s, fitness, finance, food and relationships.  All the lessons you learn in any of those areas are true anywhere” “The school I was most successful at, we didn’t have a field or ring to throw on” “You don’t think it at first, but you are lucky long term when you don’t have all the bells and whistles” “I’m almost to the point where saying loaded carries should be the foundation of strength training” “I believe that 1 out of 5 workouts should be “tonic”” “If you are not born to squat, I would never suggest doing less than 10 reps in the squat”   About Dan John Dan John has spent his life with one foot in the world of lifting and throwing, and the other foot in academia. An All-American discus thrower, Dan has also competed at the highest levels of Olympic lifting, Highland Games and the Weight Pentathlon, an event in which he holds the American record. Dan spends his work life blending weekly workshops and lectures with full-time writing,

Today’s episode features Rob Assise, track and field coach at Homewood-Flossmoor High School in the greater Chicago area.  Rob has been an accomplished writer in the last year, and has been a highly successful coach on the track and field level. His progressive workouts have netted him great success, as Homewood-Flossmoor has been a force on the state track and field level in Illinois.   Specifically for Just Fly Sports, Rob has written, “10 Low-Hanging Fruits to Grab for Optimal Performance”.  He has also been a speaker for one of the mecca’s of track and field training, the Track-Football Consortium, and will be speaking at the next iteration this June.   Like Tony Holler, Rob has gone from a more volume-oriented approach that he trained under, to a more progressive, low volume approach that more and more track coaches are utilizing, not only to help athletes to new personal bests, but also to make track and field more fun and engaging for the athlete.   To me, it is both Rob’s knowledge and creativity that make him someone I love to sit down and talk about training with. One of the biggest game-changers for me that Rob mentioned was doing curvilinear sprints for his track and field jumpers, which is just the tip of the iceberg in the many cutting edge methods he employs with his athletes.   On today’s podcast, Rob talks about his background, training philosophy, speed and plyometric methods, weight room concepts, the “constraint-based” jump training system (a real gem), and more. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Rob's background as an athlete and in track and field coaching Rob’s coaching philosophy and how it has transformed over the years Nuts and bolts of Rob’s training phases and managing lots of sprinters in a group with athletes of different abilities, as well as how to do a flying 10 workout with 60 kids and one set of timing gates Peaking plans going into championship meets Rob’s ideas on the perfect world of yearly training throughout multiple sport play in a high school setting Rob’s plyometric utilization for his jumpers Weightroom concepts for Rob’s athletes A “constraints based” approach to jumps training “I really had to sell workouts to athletes (doing high volume sprint training).. only half of the athletes would be really engaged.  I was looking for ways to get everybody engaged” “When it comes to peaking, it’s all about “what makes you feel awesome”” “Every week I try to do something in the frontal plane that is ankle based (for high jumpers)” “My long and triple jumpers will do plyometrics on a curve” “If you just focus on the sagittal plane, that’s ok, but if we can incorporate the transverse and frontal plane as well that creates a more stable athlete” “I like doing resisted sprint work where the arms are free, that is the ideal” “Speed drllls are overblown… we do them, but if you’re doing more than 15 or 20 minutes of it in a warmup, you are better off using your time somewhere else” About Rob Assise Rob Assise is a mathematics teacher and track coach at Homewood-Flossmoor High School. He also has experience coaching football and cross country. He can be reached via e-mail at robertassise@gmail.com or Twitter @HFJumps.  

Today’s episode features Clemson University director of strength and conditioning for Olympic sports, Rick Franzblau.    During his time at Clemson, Franzblau has worked with 10 ACC champion track and field squads.   He has also worked with 8 individual NCAA champions, and 7 Olympians in track and field. In 2013, he worked with Brianna Rollins, who set the American record in the 100-meter hurdles.  Rick’s current role has him directly responsible for baseball and soccer. When it comes to a wide-sweeping view of athlete analysis and training, Rick’s system is unparalleled on the collegiate level.  His system utilizes force plates, Nordbord, 1080 sprint, PRI techniques, and more in gathering a complete picture of an athlete’s abilities and training needs.   Rick’s success in the world of speed and power athletes, as well as his expansive knowledge, makes him a fantastic guy to talk to when it comes to all aspects of sports performance.   On today’s show, we talk about Rick’s athlete assessment protocols, speed training progressions, velocity-based training protocols, Olympic lift protocols, and his utilization of neuro and structural optimization systems. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Rick Franzblau's background as an athlete and how he got into the field of sports performance Athlete assessment at Clemson Strength and elastic jumpers and force plate profiling Rick’s speed training progressions at Clemson Areas that separate Olympic sport athletes from track and field sprinters Rick’s system of using velocity based training combining in an RPE system Ricks’ use of FRC, PRI and RPR systems “Athletes have their most issues in frontal plane asymmetries” “Generally you are not going to have someone who is elastic and try to make them more static; you want the elastic athlete, that’s the gold standard.  If we have a static, strength athlete, can we safely move them to elastic?” “If we are going to make a shift (attacking force-velocity weakness) it is going to be in the offseason” “Competitive sprinters put out a ton of force in the first 3 hundredths of a second in groundstrike (vs Olympic sports athletes)” “Early on in the season we’ll do a lot of tempo running” “Track kids don’t need any kind of sarcoplasmic hypertrophy” “The power output from a clean off of blocks had the highest correlation with vertical jump height” “Our ultimate goal is how much weight, and how fast can we get it moving off of the blocks” “The end goal is not what is your clean from the floor max, but how powerful can we be doing work from above the knee or mid-thigh” “What I get out of a countermovement on a hang clean in a countermovement for a track athlete will do little for their elastic qualities in sprinting and jumping”   “Sprinters who are 5’3 don’t have time to generate the same velocity out of a bar as a 6’5 high jumper” “With range of motion, it is important what percent is an active range of motion” “It’s about gaining strength in end ranges of motion” “Adductors are really important for how well your femurs are going to sit in your acetabulum” “Isometric is the easiest contraction to learn from a motor learning perspective” About Rick Franzblau Rick Franzblau is in his first year as the director of Olympic sports strength and conditioning at Clemson. The previous three years he served in the capacity of assistant director of olympic sports strength and conditioning. He is responsible for the supervision of the assistant strength coaches, graduate assistants and volunteer interns. Franzblau oversees the strength and conditioning for all 14 of the Olympic Sports that train in the Jervey weight room.

Today’s episode features performance coach Dan Fichter.  Dan is the owner of WannaGetFast, a sports performance business in Rochester, NY, and is one of the most innovative and educated coaches in the field.  Dan’s knowledge of the neurological aspects of training is on another level. His work comes out of his time with many legendary mentors, such as Jay Schroder and Mel Siff, and also has been impacted heavily by the work of “DB Hammer”.   When it comes to training athletes, Dan is a coach that is absolutely driven by results and pushes himself to learn more and get better on a regular basis. Dan has been a two-time previous guest on the show, with a solo episode and a popular DB Hammer episode where he spoke alongside Chris Korfist.  Today's episode is in the neuro-dynamics vein, as Dan digs into his methodology on a number of training methods that center on the optimal function of the nervous system.   Today, Dan goes into detail on long-duration isometrics, and how he uses them to get better results out of barbell lifting.  He also goes in-depth on a training method he mentioned in episode #8, oscillatory isometrics, which is one of my personal favorite training methods.  Dan also goes into detail on harnessing the reflex system to get athletes better results, as well as sensory inputs, amongst other topics of power and performance.  This is a true coaches episode, as lots of means and methods are described that can get athletes better results immediately. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: How Dan specifically utilizes extreme iso’s Coaching points on ISO lunges and connection with squatting Extreme ISO’s are an extremely slow eccentric contraction Dan’s favorite oscillating isometrics and how they are optimally executed Using reflexes and sensory input to maximize training results Fixing common compensation patterns Dan’s take on supramaximal eccentric work (or lack thereof) “Teaching somebody how to squat through using extreme isometrics is pretty incredible” “When we recruit our hamstrings when we squat, it puts a completely different recruitment process… when we squat normally, they have their foot on the gas and the brake on the way down” “When you squat and can activate your hamstrings on the way down, it’s amazing how much deeper you can get” “The magic happens when you are pulling yourself into position” “There are not a lot of things outside or a squat, a lunge and a skater lunge that you are going to be called on in athletic movement” “Oscillating isometrics are athleticism in a nutshell” “Building up peak tension in that isometric position, and then releasing everything to get back to that again; you have to explain to athletes that it’s not how fast you do the repetitions, 1-2-3-4-5, it’s the quality of building peak tension in each rep” “You have to have a sensory input to make a motor output” “You need to be highly aware of things that develop through your training” “When I do bilateral movement and we muscle test, they are off for a period of time; then they walk and it is restored” “Being strong isometrically is really really important for locomotion” Show Notes Tendon Neuroplastic Training Research About Dan Fichter Dan Fichter owns and operates WannaGetFast Power/Speed Training, a sports performance training business in Rochester, NY that offers training to elite athletes. Fichter’s clients have included pro hockey players Chris Thorburn (Winnipeg Jets), Stanley Cup champion Brian Gionta (Buffalo Sabres), Ryan Callahan (Tampa Bay Lightning, US Olympic Team), Shane Prince (Binghamton Senators), Olympic track and field star Victoriya Rybalko from Ukraine, NY Yankee shortstop Cito Culver,

Today’s episode features French physical preparation coach Jérome Simian.   Jérome has wide-ranging knowledge in working with athletes and has one of the most holistic training philosophies in the world. He has been a physical preparation coach to athletes gaining 22 major championship medals in track and field as well as the European record in the men's heptathlon in Kevin Mayer.  He has also worked with high-level athletes in Tennis, Skeleton, Ice Dancing, and Golf amongst other sports. I first heard of Jerome through his writings on Charles Poliquin's website ( Choosing the Right Exercise, 5 Things Experts in Strength Coaching Do ) and was highly intrigued by his methods, as I could see many of them resembled what I had seen from Jay Schroeder.  The fact is that Jérome has been mentored, and uses methods largely from both Schroeder, as well as Charles Poliquin, who are respectively two masters of the industry. As such, I was truly excited to have a conversation with Jérome.  His methods work, and he gets great results where many other coaches will stagnate.  Kevin Mayer has impressed many as he has continued to get faster into his mid-20s, where many multi-eventers simply get stronger and throw things farther in these years but can’t jump any higher or run any faster.   As the industry is learning, getting stronger doesn’t mean you get faster or jump higher, especially at a particular point.  It is here that many coaches just keep pushing barbell maxes because it’s all they have. Jérome’s work is so incredible because he is always finding ways that athletes can improve and push their limits, and his work in track and field shows that he gets dynamic results.  On today’s podcast, we talk about the construction of Jérome’s training philosophy, fixing weak links in athletes, intention-based movement and problem solving, and what his training sessions look like. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Jérome’s background as an athlete and what got him into coaching Jay’s connections and mentorships from Charles Poliquin and Jay Schroeder Jérome’s take on barbell training and 1-rep maxes Fixing weak links in athletes and screening Intention based movement ability of the brain and how it related to coaching and programming What training sessions with Jérome look like Assessment and correction of stalled motor patterns for speed performance “I have an obligation to results, I don’t have an obligation to means, let’s face it, Americans are in love with weight training.” “There’s no hiding in track and field (performance), it’s cruel but it’s fair” “(With the iso-extremes) You can change the way the brain sequences contraction and relaxation of muscles, and that’s what movement is” “The term long duration isometrics, confuses everybody, that’s not what they are” “In long-duration iso’s you get out what you put in, it’s not holding 1-2-3-4-5 minutes, it’s you only have this much time to create a change” “I lost a few athletes at the beginning (when I made the switch to extreme isometrics)” “You have to look for (an athlete’s) limiting factor, always” “The brain changes the feedback loop until you hit a goal and then commits that to memory; it’s that information that gets back to the brain, I try to change it to give it everything it needs to have to hit its goal” “There is a lot more discrepancies in (running form) between distance athletes and athletes running 100m” “Local/isolated weakness doesn’t really happen; it’s more in the way people are generally organized” “There are some things all athletes must be able to know how to do no matter what your sport is.   Your hip flexors and hip extensors must know how to antagonistically contract and relax”

Today’s episode features basketball head coach and strength and conditioning specialist, Scott Thom.  Scott has experience in the high school, collegiate and professional levels in sports performance and basketball coaching.  He is the head men’s basketball coach and the Director of Strength and Conditioning at the University of Marin.  He was the former head strength coach for men’s basketball at Washington State University and the same role at the University of California-Berkeley.  Scott is the author of “Season of Strength” also happened to be the guest for the third episode of the Just Fly Performance Podcast back 2 years ago, so I’m excited to have him back. Of all the coaches I’ve worked with or alongside, I’ve had a particular respect for Scott in terms of his ability to relate to his players, build a great team culture, and send his athletes on the path to success.  This is reciprocated in the professional players that Scott has worked with in the past that still continue to work with him after their time with him in their collegiate career is over. In being a sports performance professional, or coach in general, we know that team culture and relationships are the first priority in the road to success.  The best training program, devoid of buy-in, discipline, and team cohesion will fall flat in the grand scheme of things.  In our own journey as coaches, particularly as strength coaches looking to create a culture in the weight room that will reciprocate success on the field of play, as well as life in general, Scott’s thoughts and ideas are of great value. On today’s podcast, Scott goes into his transition from college strength and conditioning to a head basketball coach at College of Marin and gives insights on how he ties the weight room to what he expects on the court as a head coach.  We’ll also chat on ideas on using the weight room as a conduit to enhancing communication, motivation, and overall culture. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Scott’s recent transition from NCAA DI Strength and Conditioning Coach for Basketball to Head Junior College Basketball Coach Ways Scott uses the weight room as a conduit to improve his athlete’s communication skills Using terminology and language that blends the weight room and the field of play Challenges in the weight room used to improve team cohesion and dynamics Methods to keep athletes being active participants in a workout Key points of a great team culture “First and foremost, the transfer from the weightroom to the basketball court is confidence and self-belief” “You are either a drain or a faucet, you are either giving to the group, or you are taking away from the group” “I try to step back once we establish our expectations and let players run a lot of it” “Responsibility + accountablity = success” “A marker of a great team culture is when you as a coach can step away and everything runs itself and the players are making everything happen” “Not getting out of your comfort zone is one of the top things that holds athletes back from reaching their potential” “Don’t mistake activity for achievement” “Your effort has to match your expectations” About Scott Thom Scott Thom is the head men’s basketball coach and the Director of Strength and Conditioning at the University of Marin.  He was the former head strength coach for men’s basketball at Washington State University and the same role at the University of California-Berkeley.  Previously he was the head basketball coach for Vintage High School (Napa, Calif.) He has over 10 years of experience working with athletes at the high school, collegiate, and professional level.  You can check out his website at ScottThom.com  

Today’s episode features sport performance coach and consultant, Walt Cline.  He is the founder of AMPS Training Systems.  Coach Cline has served as an assistant athletics coach, private coach and consultant to teams and programs at multiple levels in the USA. His athletic projects include thousands of prospective scholastic athletes, collegiate athletes and professional athletes.  Cline's work and contracts are based primarily on movement biomechanics, team Sports, throwing & striking sports, speed development, strength & conditioning and curriculum design. Our chat revolves around Walt’s arrangement of training, which features block and roll-over arrangement of three distinct training days: strength-endurance, strength and velocity.  I first learned of Walt’s work about 6 years ago, and found his approach to periodization, potentiation and cluster training unique and insightful. Walt is one of those guys you haven’t heard much about, since he is not very active on social media, but his experiences, mentors and knowledge of speed and power development is of an extremely high level.   I’ve always been a huge training organization and structure guy.  I won’t write out a whole season before I get there, but I like frameworks and ideas for arranging training that make sense.  I am always thrilled to see a system of training in place that makes complex ideas simple, and helps me to understand what is doing on with my athletes, and how to better give them what they need as a season unfolds.   In this episode, Walt gives a thorough explanation of his workout classification, which works on a color system, and matches what is happening on the track and in the weightroom.  It has resemblance to training structures such as the Cube system, as well as Dan Pfaff’s 3-day rollover, but is free-flowing and easily adaptable to any situation. Simply having an idea of how Walt does program design is sure to give any coach great ideas on how to make what they are doing even better. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Walt’s background as an athlete and coach How Walt creates and arranges workouts based on a “color” system of strength endurance, maximal strength, ballistic strength and regeneration Using isometrics for potentiation when working speed and velocity How Walt creates blocks of training out of season and in-season using a revolving or blocked periodization of his color system (strength-endurance, maximal strength, velocity) Chat on blocked training vs. undulating training models, as well as progressing weekly based on a “color” theme Integrating cluster training into Walt’s training system “I may do the same thing three weeks in a row, but it will have a very different intensity each time” “To do high repetition efforts, eccentric and isometric holds, all this stuff helps because it helps them build the stability of doing the exercise correctly, and once they start doing that, then we are ready to pick up some heavier weight” “Red zone being strength endurance, on the track a 300 example is running a 30 down and back 10 times and trying to get under a minute.  White zone approach running the 300 zone is down and back with 20 second rest, 5 times, or run 10 hills. The blue zone model would be, run a 30 as fast as you can with a walk-back“ “In the weightroom, what I try to do is match up the energy systems.  If I have a guy working strength endurance in the weightroom, I want to do that on the track” “If we are working on pushing or pulling heavier sleds, we’re picking up heavier weights in the weightroom” “A couple of ways I like to potentiate, have them do a quarter squat or a mid-thigh pull, have them take 3-5 minutes, then have them blast out and perform their first fe...

Today’s episode is a question and answer session where I take user questions from Instagram.  It’s always good to settle back and see what people are interested in, and things often tend to run in themes.  For this episode, themes revolved largely around lifting in positions of large ankle dorsiflexion and knee bend, training setups and concepts for jumps, as well as questions about Christian Thibaudeau’s neuro-typing system.  You can likely see throughout my answers that the different types of athletes in terms of nervous system strength, novelty need and the ability to utilize the stretch-shortening cycle has made a big impact in how I create workouts. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Plyometric programming either within a strength program or separate block The role of biarticular muscles in training and performance How I’m using neurotyping to improve my training and workout writing My take on split squat variations with the knee passing as far in front of the toes as possible and some aggressive angle decline squats with a load. The best training split for jumpers in track and field.   How to improve ankle mobility for better vertical jumping Training for a high-rep lifting competition Variation in vertical jump training Vertical jump training for 30+-year-old athletes Trail running and steady cardio for explosive athletes My use of the power jumper How I’m setting up my own training these days Concepts for overthinking athletes About Joel Smith Joel Smith, MS, CSCS is a NCAA Division I Strength Coach working in the PAC12 conference.  He has been a track and field jumper and javelin thrower, track coach, strength coach, personal trainer, researcher, writer, and lecturer in his 8 years in the professional field.  His degrees in exercise science have been earned from Cedarville University in 2006 (BA) and Wisconsin LaCrosse (MS) in 2008.  Prior to California, Joel was a track coach, strength coach and lecturer at Wilmington College of Ohio.  During Joel’s coaching tenure at Wilmington, he guided 8 athletes to NCAA All-American performances including a national champion in the women’s 55m dash.  In 2011, Joel started Just Fly Sports with Jake Clark in an effort to bring relevant training information to the everyday coach and athlete.  Aside from the NSCA, Joel is certified through USA Track and Field and his hope is to bridge the gap between understandable theory and current coaching practices.  

Today’s episode features Pat Davidson, Ph.D., director of training methodology and continuing education at Peak Performance NYC.  He is the author of MASS and MASSII and is a sought-out expert in the field regarding all things training and human performance.    Pat has competed as a 175-strongman competitor, and was a 2x world championships qualifier, and also has experience in competitive submission wrestling and mixed martial arts.  Prior to his current work, Pat served 5 years as an assistant University profession in exercise sciences.   Pat’s areas of expertise are many, and some of my favorite podcasts I’ve listened to had him as a guest discussing the nervous system and the brain.  If you’ve listened to earlier episodes of the Just Fly Performance Podcast, with Justin Moore or Cody Plofker, you’ve probably heard them mention Pat as a mentor to them, particularly in the universe of Postural Restoration Institute, and its relationship to strength and conditioning and athletic performance training.  In the world of writing, one of Pat’s recent articles really got my wheels turning, where he discussed the dynamics of the knees traveling inwards in a squat, and how simply cueing everyone to “shove their knees out” in squatting can set them backward. I’m always fascinated by Pat’s writing and work, and I’m delighted to have him as the next podcast guest, as his thoughts on the big lifts have an impact on everything we see in our athletes training movements. Today’s episode centers around breathing, and dissecting posture and setup in squatting and deadlifting, as well as other common bodyweight training exercises.   So often we coach and cue movements thinking that an athlete’s presentation that movement can simply be cued “in the other direction”, but there are much deeper ramifications to be aware of.  Other topics include muscular vs. impinging strategies in movement, internal rotation in squatting, neck alignment and breathing, training mindset, and more. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Discussing “butt-back chest-out” cues in squatting and benching Muscular versus impinging strategies in barbell training Pat’s thoughts on internal rotation of femurs and “knees coming in” while squatting and its relationship to the gait cycle Setting up a deadlift and its relationship to the breathing, function, and the gait cycle Neck alignment and breathing in common exercises such as deadlifts and pushups Performing loaded functional squats in the PRI methodology for maximal hamstring contraction in a squat pattern Sensory vs. training mindsets “When bones move away from each other we create instability, and when they move towards each other we create impingement, so it’s all a case of where do I want to be unstable, and where do I want to create impingement” “If I can lift weights, get strong and add muscle, while still being able to manage respiration and utilize the diaphragm for inhalation, then I am probably decreasing deleterious physical cost while building fitness” “A lot of people need to learn how to be more unstable, they need to learn how to let bony elements move away from each other” “Adduction is not valgus, valgus is not adduction.” “If you want to know what a PEC pelvis is, look at chimpanzee gait mechanics” “If I can’t abduct and internally rotate my femurs, then I’ll just go further into abduction and external rotation so I can relatively adduct and internally rotate to come back to the top (of a squat)” “I’m fine with knees coming in, as long as on a table you show me that knees can adduct and internally rotate” “When it comes to the sagittal plane I don’t really like this term “neutral spine”” “I don’t coach people on day one,

Today’s episode features the return of strength coach Mike Boyle.  Mike is one of the foremost experts in the fields of Strength and Conditioning, Functional Training and general fitness.  In 1996 Michael co-founded Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning, one of the first for-profit strength and conditioning companies in the world.   He is the author of “Functional Training for Sports”, “Advances in Functional Training for Sports”, and “New Functional Training for Sports”.   Mike made huge waves in the industry when he put down a firm stance against bilateral barbell squatting, in favor of goblet squats and single leg work, which he spoke on in his first guest appearance.  Although many doubters would arise, on last episode, Mike gave some very clear anecdotes on just how good of results you can get in standard NFL combine training  KPI’s without using the “sacred cows” of a barbell back squat. For today’s episode, we pick back up where we left off, talking about the departure of standard powerlifting means in training athletes, now focusing particularly on posterior chain development.  With the exit of the barbell deadlift, Mike has an array of exercises and movements that heavily tax the muscles of the glutes and hamstrings, and can do so to a greater degree than typical bilateral straight bar work.   For today’s episode, we’ll cover the biggest differences between the old and new functional training books, why coaches tend to be afraid of the term “functional training”, the evolution of Mike’s sprint training based on the ideas of Tony Holler, developing the posterior chain effectively and safely, and finally, Mike’s 3 “Go-to” total body lifts for developing athletes Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: The biggest differences between the old and new functional training for sports books Why coaches tend to be afraid of the term “functional training” Potential drawbacks of doing only single leg work in the weightroom Michael’s utilization of flying 10-yard sprints in a small space Velocity based training, system loads and jump squats Means of developing posterior chain without using deadlifts and good-mornings Mike’s 3 go-to lifts for athletes “I don’t think people look to learn, I think people look to be right and people look to support what they are doing” “If someone can show me a better way, I’m going to go with the better way” “I think most people are loading too heavy when they try to do their contrast stuff (heavy hex-bar jumps), and tilt the risk reward” “The less you want your athletes to get hurt, the higher you should keep the reps…. I might never go under 5 reps working with professional athletes” “If you are looking at posterior chain, then it’s really down to getting good at the one-leg straight leg deadlift” “To me heavy sled work is like a posterior chain leg press, and everybody from an athletic standpoint, should be trying to push the heaviest sled they possibly can” “The limit of posterior chain strength is way higher than what we think” “We never deadlift with a bar, ever, because it makes no sense” “I just don’t know if there is much better bang for the buck than Olympic lifts” “Athletes gravitate towards athletic things (in the weightroom)” About Mike Boyle He currently spends his time lecturing, teaching, training, and writing. In 1996 Michael co founded Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning, one of the first for-profit strength and conditioning companies in the world. Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning exists for one reason: to provide performance enhancement training for athletes of all levels. Athletes trained range from junior high school students to All-Stars in almost every major professional sport.

Today’s episode features Alex Natera, Senior Athletic Performance Specialist at the GWS Giants.  Alex has over twenty years of experience in high performance sport including time spent as a professional sportsman, a technical coach, a sport science lecturer, a published scientific researcher, and his primary role as strength & conditioning coach.   Prior to the Giants, Alex was the Senior S&C Coach of Aspire Academy Athletics specializing in the sprint events.  Alex has extensive work with the physical preparation of track and field athletes.  He also has worked as a Rugby head coach, and has done physical preparation for over a dozen Olympic and Commonwealth games sports.  Alex is currently completing his Ph.D. from Bond University where he is investigating a novel aspect of power development, high volume power training, and repeat power ability. I first heard of Alex on the Historic Performance Podcast, and was truly intrigued by Alex’s way of thinking, which centered on using a series of maximal, specific isometric holds for speed development, and whereby his athletes were having great progressions in their overall training.  I had never seen or heard of isometrics being used in such a manner for the training of track and field sprinters, and digging deeper, connected with Alex and in our correspondence, he put together one of the greatest Q&A pieces that Just Fly Sports has put out.  Many months after its debut, it still continues to get likes and shares on social media.   Not only are Alex’s isometric methods different, but they get results.  His methods also make sense.  If you have followed the training ideals of Christian Thibaudeau, Anatoliy Bondarchuk, Michael Yessis, Cal Dietz, Bret Contreras, and DB Hammer and put them together in a simple way that helped to get sprinters maximally fast, then you would have the system of Alex Natera.   Today’s podcast was designed as a follow up to his article, and we dig into Alex’s background as an athlete, coach, and how he created his system of specialized strength training for speed and its progression.  We will get into questions and ideas of supramaximal and isometric strength training, combining isometrics with plyometric training, specialized exercises for building speed, yearly progressions, and more.   Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Alex’s background as an athlete Alex’s background in experimenting with isometric training and progressing it over the years Specific case studies in isometric training and improved sprint speed Combining isometrics with plyometrics Utilizing and progressing supramaximal strength training for speed-seeking athletes Knee vs. Hip and Ankle dominant supramaximal work Alex’s top 3 exercises for improving athletic speed Yearly progressions for more advanced sprint athletes “Why, when I’m learning about muscle actions, do we only develop the concentric action?” “If we are testing in the (mid-thigh isometric pull) environment, why aren’t we training in that environment as well?” “There is not a lot of research there in regards to isometric training for running” “A great muscle action with poor tendon ability and coordination is only going to take you so far, I always combine my plyometrics and isometric together” “Integration of isometrics training in off-season and preseason periods for speed enhancement” “After the season, I’ll get into my eccentric work straightaway.  Supramaximal eccentrics, depending on the athlete, will stay in up to 12 weeks” “If you’ve got a 1RM and you put 110% and they cannot control that whatsoever, they are not ready for eccentric work, so just keep working them concentrically” “(regarding supramaximal training) We have got to remember th...

Today’s episode features track and field coach Mike Goss.  Mike is a physical education instructor of 20 years, and has been coaching track and field on the high school, club and NCAA Division I collegiate level for over 25 years.  Currently, Mike is coaching independently the club “Flying Without Wings”, and is an assistant at Parkview HS, the Georgia 7A state runner-up in 2017. I first met Mike at the Central Virginia Sports Performance Seminar back in 2015, but I knew of his work well before then by reading his track and field, jumps training articles on Speedendurance.com.  Mike is an experienced coach, has a thirst for knowledge, and has lots of success over the years, coaching numerous track and field champions in the long, high and triple jumps.   His creative and unique practice methods contain ideas that we can all utilize in our efforts to get the most out of our athletes while building a great environment for them.   Not only is Mike a great coach, but he is also one of the most generous people I know in terms of giving his time to coach those in need of assistance.  His spirit and love for the sport is something we can all aspire towards.   One article of Mike’s that stuck with me, and prompted me to purchase Tadeusz Starzynski’s book on jump training was looking at his work with speed squats, where he tracked the amount of time it took athletes to perform a particular amount of reps, and weight could only increase given only a small increase in the time needed to perform the repetitions.   For today’s episode, we’ll cover Mike’s philosophy on training track and field jumpers, coaching rhythms, approaches to plyometrics, particularly in setting up competitions for those plyometric exercises, as well as strength training for jumpers.   Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Mike’s background and introduction to coaching Mike’s philosophy in training track and field jumpers Coaching jumping and approach rhythms Approaches to plyometrics in youth, high school and collegiate jumpers Mike’s multi-jump practice competitions Strength training for the jumping events “If you are playing hopscotch and skipping rope, that is a level of plyometrics” “I’m amazed at the young people who play sports who never really learned to skip or hop athletically” “The Nordic hamstring is one of the best things we can do” “If you can do a pistol squat correctly, you are an athlete” “(In martial artists strikes) It was found that an 80% effort was a maximal power output, rather than 100%” “Track and Field is one of those few sports where you will be able to compete at a junior varsity or varsity level until the championship season, and you are not going to sit a bench, and that’s something we should consider in promoting track and field” “Our bounding competitions would all be focused around 4 contacts” “The time it takes to exert maximal force is much longer than a foot contact in track and field” Show Notes Jumps Challenge Competitions and Speed Squat Progression About Mike Goss Education: University of Montevallo, BS  Georgia State University, Masters degree, HPERD Work history: Teacher, Cobb County Public Schools, 1977-09 Physical Education instructor, 20 years; Health Education instructor, 12 years High school coach, USATF club 7 years; collegiate coach 2005-2012, Kennesaw State University, 6 years; Chattahoochee Technical College 1 year Currently coaching independently, “Flying Without Wings” Assistant Parkview HS, 7A state runner-up 2017 New Balance Nationals, triple jumper 3rd. Place; rank 19 USAHS freshman class, Malik Thompson Professional development: United States Track and Field Association - Georgia; coaches advisory chair Coach of the Yea...

Today’s episode features Michael Zweifel, owner of the “Buiding Better Athletes” performance center in Dubuque, Iowa.   Michael was a key contributor to the incredibly popular agility, perception, and sport movement roundtable with himself, Shawn Myzska, and Scott Salwasser.  Michael is a CSCS, IYCA certified practitioner, and was the all-time NCAA leading receiver with 463 receptions in his playing days at the University of Dubuque.   Michael is not only one of the most well-studied individuals on methods of improving athletic speed, jumping and overall power (you may have read his contributions to Just Fly Sports in this regard over the last few years), but he is also a field-leader in transferable training methods to on-field reactive ability.  As we’ve discussed in past episodes, great speed and strength doesn’t win games if athletes can’t react properly to their opponents. Michael is continually pushing the envelope in this area, particularly in the target of the private sector and scholastic athletes.  He is continually finding new methods to give athletes chances to improve their reactive power through a variety of creative methods, many of which you can catch on his Twitter and Instagram profiles.   Michael’s talks on our last roundtable were really intriguing and brought up a number of new questions that I was excited to follow up with for this solo episode.  Topics today will be the relation of linear speed to on-field success, transitional speed, quantifying training for sports speed, agility, learning environments, building reactive warmups, and more.   Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Michael’s background in the field as an athlete and coach Michael’s usage of long isometric holds What aspects of linear speed filter into team sport success Ideas on transitional speed in a team sport, and how to train it Quantifying team sport speed Is there a “technique” for agility How to create learning and teaching environments to help athletes perform better under pressure and fatigue Building a reactive warmup “I implemented long duration as a cool-down, because I believe it is superior to static stretching” “In team sports, transitional speed is huge” “Team sports should prioritize speed and agility and have the weightroom as an accessory” “You get guys who run a 4.3 who don’t stand out on the field… they don’t have the ability to take perceptual ability and apply it to sport” “I think one of the worst things you can do if you have a short window is to try and change everything about an athlete” “There are a lot more areas of transitions into linear speed that occur in a game, than speed from a static start” “The easiest way to screw up a golfer or a guy shooting a basketball is to make them aware of an internal technique they are using” “It is really unwise to de-couple a technique from a stimulus” “The process of learning a technique cannot interfere with the perception… here we do it backwards” “Every athlete is going to approach the same problem or stimulus, and react to it differently, based on their strengths, movement tendencies, etc.” “We can’t say there is a correct movement for every athlete (as far as agility and COD is concerned)” “I’m trying to find ways to continually add pressure and anxiety to training, and when you do that, you can find movement disfunction” Show Notes Reactive Warm Up Transitional Speed Work A post shared by Michael Zweifel (@bbaperformance) on Feb 1, 2018 at 6:31am PST About Michael Zweifel Michael Zweifel is the owner and head of sports performance for “Building Better Athletes” performance center in Dubuque, Iowa. Michael is a CSCS,

Today’s episode features Bret Contreras, returning for his second podcast appearance.  Bret is one of the world’s foremost experts on strength and performance, and is the expert on all things glute and hip extension training.  If you are interested in getting athletes faster, Bret’s knowledge is first-priority info. Last time on the podcast (ep 31), Bret talked all things hip thrust, hamstrings, squat depth and cueing.  This time, Bret is back to go in-depth on the recent research that came out regarding the hip thrust exercise and speed.  After a promising New Zealand youth study showing superior speed adaptations compared to a front squat, a couple of studies dealing with college populations showing no transfer (Study 1) (Study 2) to sprinting faster.   Bret wrote in-depth on this afterward, but in this podcast, Bret gives a vast array of ideas that coaches have thrown out there as to why those studies may have not shown transfer to sprinting faster (21 of them to be exact!).  Most of these reasons don’t hold water, but a Bret noted a few that do, and those few are actually very important guideposts when considering any strength exercise that might transfer to speed or dynamic sport movement.  This alone makes this required listening, in my opinion, for any strength coach looking to get athletes faster.   Outside of this, Bret went in-depth and unplugged on how so many well-meaning sports medicine professionals end up setting athletes up with nocebo effects by telling them how “dysfunctional” they are when Bret sees otherwise when those people end up training with him.  He also talks about the common fallacies of corrective exercise.  Between Bret’s 21 topics on the hip thrust and speed, and this bit, this podcast is a heavy hitter.  It’s always great to have Bret on the show, and this episode is another gem. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.   View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: What’s new in the world of Bret Contreras The equipment in Bret’s gym, and why he chose it Early case studies lending to the hip thrust and Skorcher’s transfer to running speed Discussing the discrepancy on studies where hip thrusts did and did not increase your speed (20 reasons) Issues with sports medicine professionals who do harm due to the nocebo effect Bend range vs. end range hip torque in athletic performance “As you start rising up (on the Skorcher) it’s not like when you are on the ground, you are actually using your hamstrings to pull you up because you get this deep stretch, and you use your hamstrings as knee flexors to pull your body up and then the hip extensors take over at the top” “I made (my 45 degree back extension) a 70 degree hyper, it’s a lot more hamstrings, it’s more like a goodmorning” “We are getting faster and I know it is because of the hip thruster…. I would feel my glutes working like they do on that machine (when athletes are running)” “One study showed a 35% boost in hip thrust strength, and a 31% boost in squat strength, from only hip thrusting, which makes the hip thrust the best accessory exercise for the squat, ever” “Every study ever looking at anything athletic, whether sprinting, jumping, running, the spine always moves…. the second you put a barbell on your back, you are not longer in neutral” “People think the hip thrust is a glute isolation movement, no it is not, quad activation is through the roof” “So X study hammered subjects for 8 straight weeks and then tested them right afterwards, of course there were no sprint improvements, the subjects were fatigued” “When you publish studies, you have to define the tempo, there were 4 seconds per hip thrust rep in one of the studies, that’s so slow!” “Insufficient hip range of motion and insufficient hamstring stretch,

Today’s episode features guest Cody Plofker, Co-Founder of Adapt Performance and Rehab in Lawrence Township, New Jersey.   Cody has worked with athletes of all levels and ranges, including those in the NFL and collegiate ranks.   He is an expert in blending PRI principles with modern athletic performance methods.  For those of you who enjoyed the lifting concepts talk with Justin Moore, this will be another incredible episode along the same lines of thought. About a year ago, I first got introduced to the Postural Restoration Institute (PRI) through a seminar put on at the US Olympic Training Center.  Since then, I’ve realized that the biggest piece missing in my coaching paradigm for my collegiate population is an intimate understanding of the spinal engine, posture, respiration, and how to optimally assess and correct athletes based on these concepts. So often as strength coaches, we get in to reductionist thinking of just rolling and stretching tight muscles, to achieve better movement patterns, but the fact of the matter is that the body is a more complex system, and the brain will increase the tone of particular muscles for a reason.  This is where Cody’s experience is such an incredible help for athletes, as well as educating coaches. Cody Plofker has been a student of not only PRI for many years, but also has experience using common assessment systems of the FMS and SFMA, as well as Functional Range Conditioning.  Since these are very common tools in the sports performance and personal training world, I’m excited to chat with someone as intelligent as Cody in regards to which aspects of which systems he finds useful, and how his athlete assessment currently plays out. On today’s podcast, we will talk about Cody’s assessment methods, blending aspects of PRI and SFMA, as well as dealing with common athlete issues such as “tight” ankles, internal rotation deficits, and extension pattern problems.  We’ll also get into optimizing hip extension and talk a great deal about squatting progressions and patterns.  One of the amazing quotes of Cody’s that I think sums things up well is: “You gotta go after the pelvic position first; I’m not going to stretch something until we get that” Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Cody’s background as an athlete and coach Schools of thought and institutions that have impacted Cody in his athlete assessment and training process Cody’s athlete assessment process using SFMA and PRI principles Assessments for tight ankles and calves, and how stretching is usually not the answer Optimal hip extension patterning, assessment and corrective ideas Addressing a lack of hip internal rotation in athletes Healthy hip extension patterns and key points when assessing athletes in this regard Squat progressions for athletic populations When getting athletes stronger is important, and when it is not needed for improved performance “For someone starting out, FMS is a great place to start” “The biggest gold that comes from the FMS and SFMA logic is “is it a mobility issue or is it a stability and motor control issue”” “With the population I see, 90-95% of the time, it is not a true mobility issue, and just stretching and cranking away is really not what you are trying to do” “Most people that come to me, on one or more sides have so little hip internal rotation that it is going to affect their squat” “Those calves aren’t actually truly short, there is just neurological tension in them because you are trying to hold yourself up against gravity and not fall forward” “I do think that there is a time and a place for stretching, banded work, or even some foam rolling, but I don’t think we should be blindly doing it”

Today’s episode features a special coaching roundtable featuring three experts in the implementation of the “1x20” training system: Jeff Moyer of DC Sports Training, Matt Thome of Michigan Tech University, and Ryan Bracius of Wisconsin Whitewater. Most folks familiar with Just Fly Sports and the podcast know of Jeff Moyer, as he has been a frequent guest and writer, and is also the first guy to really get me intrigued by the 1x20 system, and its benefits for athletes.  Since then, Jeff has been a huge contributor to Just Fly Sports, and I’ve had a number of coaches ask me about the 1x20 system since our first episode together.  I met Matt Thome and Ryan Bracius in person at the Track Football Consortium VI in Chicago this past December.  Matt is the head strength coach at Michigan Tech, working with football and basketball, and Ryan is developing some of the best football athletes in NCAA Division III at Wisconsin Whitewater.  Both are getting fantastic results with rock-bottom injury rates.  Matt had the idea of talking not just about “1x20”, but particularly about “life after 1x20”, or how to transition athletes to the next step in their training after the 1x20 system has run its course.  It’s important to realize that coaches using the 1x20 model use much more than just this singular set and rep scheme. For those unfamiliar with the 1x20 system, a simple explanation is as follows: Start athletes out with 5-8 exercises, with 1 set of 20 reps each, building up to around 18-23 exercises over time.  Instead of pushing the gas pedal down the first day with the intensity, the exercises are “slow-cooked” by gradually adding weight over time.  When athletes reach adaptation (stop improving) on the sets of 20, then the next phase is 1x14, and finally 1x8.  This system was taught to many coaches today by Yosef Johnson who was mentored by the inventor of the system, Dr. Michael Yessis. Coaches who have used the system have noted good to great gains in strength, but also in athletes' explosive KPI’s compared to other systems, as well as a reduction in injury rate. On the episode today, we go in-depth on each coach’s introduction to the 1x20 system, how they implement it, and what kind of results they are getting.  We’ll also talk about why the 1x20 works so well from a physiological and neural level.  The second half of the episode talks about the transition from the 1x20 system into other training methods, such as velocity based, and special strength training. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Jeff, Matt and Ryan’s initial experiences with the 1x20 system and results Implementation of the 1x20 system on the levels of the collegiate and private sector, and how the coaches work down to the 1x14 and 1x8 segments The thought process of when coaches funnel away from 1x20 into 1x14 and 1x8 setups The nature of velocity-based training workouts after the departure of 1x20 and 1x14 set rep setups Special exercises for use in velocity based, specific training periods Approaches to 1RM testing in the 1x20 system “(Regarding 1x20) Eventually we are covering every joint action, we have 18-23 different exercises on there” “We might start with 5-8 exercises, the fall is a lot of teaching and a lot of learning” “ My Freshmen will do 1x20 from August to Thanksgiving, my juniors and seniors who already have a very good base may only do 3-4 weeks of (1x20) to re-address it” “Generally I’d rather keep athletes in the 20’s longer and just switch exercises, rather than get them in the 14’s (Jeff Moyer)” “1x20 sets the scene for increasing connective tissue strength” “If we’re talking about the primary factors that are increasing a jump test or sprint test with just the 1 set of 20,

Today’s guest is Cal Dietz, returning for his second appearance on the Just Fly Performance Podcast.  Two of Cal’s books, Triphasic Training (the original) and then the Triphasic Training manual for Football (written with Chris Korfist) have had a huge impact on my program writing.  I’ve seen Cal speak several times, and have always walked away with great new ideas on training and performance. Cal Dietz has been the Head Olympic Strength and Conditioning coach for numerous sports at the University of Minnesota since 2000.  He has consulted with Olympic and World Champions in various sports and professional athletes in the NHL, NFL, NBA, MLB, and Professional Boxing.  He runs the website xlathlete.com, and is one of the founders of the RPR (Reflexive Performance Reset) system.  Cal has been a mentor to dozens of up-and-coming strength coaches in the field, including 2-time podcast guest, Matt Van Dyke. In this episode, we get into a lot of nuts and bolts of Cal’s views on speed training, particularly assisted and resisted methods, jumping and plyometrics, cueing in the weightroom, as well as all topics of lifting and the posterior chain.  We’ll also get into training the feet, which has been a large interest of mine in the past year. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Assisted and resisted sprinting in the context of French Contrast training Banded overspeed jumps Coaching foot contacts in jumping Lower leg strength building Specific foot cues for squatting History and application of oscillatory isometrics Benefits of advantageous vs. disadvantageous ranges in lifting New thoughts in hamstring training What it really means to have weak glutes “Squats are more for acceleration, hurdle hops are more for top end speed” “After that 3rd step there was nothing much I could do to mimic in the speed of the weight room, so that’s why I knew I had to unload the athlete by hooking the bands to the ceiling and do jumps” “We squat and we land with our knee in front of our toe, holding the arch of our foot up so it doesn’t collapse” “If that (foot) arch collapses, you go valgus, and then people blame the glute medius” “I’m not a big fan of drive squats through the heels, I think it drives the wrong pattern.  We keep the toe up on the way down, and then we squeeze the big toe into the ground and drive up which helps fire the glute and increase hip extension, and in every case, the bar moves faster” “For oscillatory isometrics, bench pressing is good, squats are OK, but I’d rather do an oscillatory heavy pitshark…. I like a single leg hex split squat” Show Notes Banded hamstring exercises for speed and power respectively. About Cal Dietz Cal Dietz has been the Head Olympic Strength and Conditioning coach for numerous sports at the University of Minnesota since 2000. He has consulted with Olympic and World Champions in various sports and professional athletes in the NHL, NFL, NBA, MLB, and Professional Boxing. During his time at U of M, he help founded and chairs the Sport Biomechanics Interest Group with its purpose to explore the physiological and biomechanical aspects of advanced human performance encompassing the various aspects of kinesiology, biomechanics, neuro-mechanics and physics. Dietz has also given numerous lectures around the country, as well as publish several scientific articles and dozens articles on training. Most recently, Dietz co-authored the top selling book, Triphasic Training: A systematic approach to elite speed and explosive strength performance. You can find Cal’s excellent book via his website: xlathlete.com. @xlathlete

Today’s guest is Håkan Andersson, elite Swedish sprint coach and consultant.  Håkan has more than 30 years of experience, has had periods of serving as the national sprint and relay coach, and is or has been the personal coach for many successful track and field sprinters.  He also involvement in speed and power in other sports, such as swimming and boxing, and has consulted with many professional organizations. Looking at how good the Swedish sprinters are, with as small of a population as the country has, and how poor the climate is for sprinting (sunlight is generally a big indicator of speed, just look at how great of percentage of the USA’s best sprinters are from Florida, Texas and California), you know that Håkan is really doing some great things.  Looking at some of the progressions of these athletes, such as Peter Karlsson going from 11.70 to 10.18 in the 100m, and you know something special is happening in his training groups. Everything I’ve heard from Håkan in the past is the “top of the line” in terms of combining knowledge of speed and power research into good practice.  With his many years of coaching experience, as well as creativity on training his athletes in the far North, to excellent results, Håkan is a guest I’ve been looking forward to having on the show for some time. On this episode, we’ll be talking about a spectrum of speed training topics, ranging from sprint mechanics and forces, to all means of strength training and their relationship to speed, and finally, breaking down actual sprint training programming. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Håkan’s background in the coaching field Ideas on vertical vs. horizontal force production in sprinting Addressing an athlete’s natural strengths vs. weaknesses over time Discussing maximal strength training, and eccentric strength for sprinting Concepts of individualization for sprinters in terms of vertical and horizontal jumps Training hip flexors and hamstrings for sprinting Håkan’s take on resisted and assisted sprinting in preparing sprinters Weekly training setups for sprinters, and how Hakan stacks speed, strength and recovery workouts Early GPP training for sprinting “It is individual based, but everyone needs horizontal force for sure” “I think maximum strength training has been overemphasized for a long period of time; there is a definitely a point of diminishing return in transfer to speed.  For beginners, it is a different story, they can gain from anything” “Too frequent, heavy lifting, it interferes with technical development and the ability to relax” “It is easy to combine maximal weights when you are working on initial acceleration, jumping development, but when you are working with higher speeds (maximal strength training) can mess technique up” “I have some guys who lift very little, but are immensely strong when I test them” “Always combine heavy lifting with jumping.  I use jumping as a potentiation for lifting, and I use lifting as potentiation for jumping” “Intra and intermuscular coordination is very different in the gym than it is in sprinting” “The most important hamstring training is upright sprinting” “We do eccentric training at the beginning of the preparation when we don’t do too much upright sprinting, to be on the safe side” “I’m a big believer in assisted sprinting, but I’m a bit more scared of supra-maximal sprinting” “When you come to the end of the SPP period, training is more of a mix, you’ll blend more qualities in one session” “On the 100m on the world level, pretty much everyone is neural-driven” “Work capacity in sprinting for me is to be able to tolerate higher and higher loads at a higher intensity” Show Notes

Today’s guest is Justin Moore, performance education coordinator at Parabolic Performance & Rehabilitation.  We’ve had some prodigious young coaches on this show, such as Matt Van Dyke, Cameron Josse, and Max Schmarzo, and Justin is no exception to that rule. I first came across Justin’s work on Darkside Strength, and it has been one of my top resources this past year in terms of applying Postural Restoration (PRI) Institute principles into my strength and conditioning practice.  For those not familiar with PRI, it is a way of looking at the body from a standpoint of respiration, and its impact on joint position. I’ve found over the years that athletes who tend to thrive more, as they gain weight room strength, in terms of their performance in track, or swimming, are those who have alignments that are closer to optimal.  Athletes who have a poor position of the thorax will generally hit glass ceilings of their sport performance, or even go backward when heavily loaded over time. In my mind, those coaches that are integrating PRI into strength and conditioning based practice are pushing the industry forward in a big way, and can help all of us give our athletes the positioning, and subsequent training they need to reach their highest level, and prevent injury in the process.  Today on the podcast, Justin shares his knowledge on PRI principles, cueing strategies, squat and deadlift sequencing, the role of the hamstrings in lifting, and much more. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Justin’s background as an athlete and coach, as well as his mentors in the field How PRI principles have had an impact on Justin’s coaching, alignment, and posture of the axial skeleton, length-tensioning of muscle, tri-planar movement, respiration, and variability Utilization of PRI and movement-based system and internal vs. external cueing Deadlift sequencing based on PRI principles Squat sequencing based on PRI principles The role of the hamstrings in an athletic squat Bands and their use in creating external rotation in squatting “PRI has given me a lens by which to view all movement with a more discerning eye” “The cranium, the ribcage, the pelvis and the spine; they set the foundation by which I can express strength through the appendicular skeleton” “A lot of times, we get caught up looking at the motion of limbs without appreciation for the foundation for them” “A muscle is going to contract and produce force optimally at its resting length” “Everything we do comes back to gait” “Variability is having options, more of it is not necessarily better, if we are talking about a powerlifter of a 100m sprinter, those people should not have a ton of variability” “If you are unable to manage the sagittal plane, your variability is going to be limited” “A deadlift should be a lower body exercise, it should be a trunk stability exercise with range of motion through the limbs and through the lower body, and strength and power being developed in the pushing muscles of our lower body” “Think of knees going forward as limbs reaching” “If my squat ends up looking exactly like the torso position of my deadlift, then I really don’t consider that a squat” “(in a squat) There is no initiation of hips first, or knees first, they both go at the same time” “If I keep active abs and I keep active, eccentriccaly lengthening hamstrings, in a squat, then I have a chance to get my pelvic floor under my rib cage, and I have a chance to drive it up with my hamstrings, glutes and quads, rather than just my back and quads” “External rotation is going to be coupled with extension and abduction” “We need internal rotation of the hip to squat’

Today’s guest is coach, writer, and speaker Christian Thibaudeau.  If you are familiar with T-Nation and don’t live under a rock in general, you are likely aware of Christian and his work on strength and human performance. Although Christian is often looked at as a bodybuilding type coach, he is very much a strength, power and athletic performance coach, and a great one at that.  If you haven’t read his book, “Theory and Application of Modern Strength and Power Methods”,  you are really missing out on some great work in the realm of explosive athletic preparation. In the last few years, one of the biggest areas of intrigue for me, and possibly the biggest “game-changer” I’ve been utilizing in coaching is that of neuro-typing athletes.  I started with the Braverman test several years ago, read the “Edge Effect”, and then recently I’ve been listening to some of the new work that Christian has come out with on the level of neuro-typing focusing on three general athlete classifications, five in total, that really make great sense when considering what has worked, or hasn’t worked, for me or athletes I coach.  I’ve been devouring everything Christian has written on the topic, and it has made true changes in my coaching for the better. The five types coach Thibaudeau will discuss are type 1A and B (neural/dopamine types), type 2A, and B (muscular/adrenaline types) and type 3 (serotonin type).  This podcast goes in-depth into individualizing training programs based on these types, and how to get the best results you possibly can for each individual. In addition to this podcast, you can learn more about Christian's training ideology and neuro-typing concepts on his site thibarmy.com. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points Christian Thibaudeau’s background as an athlete and how it has impacted his role in neuro-typing The neuro-typing system, and Christian’s evolution of that system to his athletes Neuro-types as described in coaching mannerism and types Why some explosive athletes need to be stronger in the weightroom than others (and vice versa) Different responses to various speed training setups, based on athletic type How the different neuro-types respond to training frequency, and why Neural charge circuits and how they assist athletes in restoring neurochemistry Complex training and potentiation between the neuro-types Neuro-types and single set training protocols Christian Thibaudeau Quotes “Anxiety creates tightness, especially in the flexor muscles” “The main difference in the type 1A and 1B is the strategy the use to overcome a resistance… the reason for that difference is the acetylcholine level” “The 1A’s strategy is to produce maximum tension, the 1B’s strategy is to use maximum impulse, maximum starting strength to create momentum to overcome the sticking point” “If you are sensitive to a neurotransmitter or hormone, your body does not need to maintain a high level of that neurotransmitter or hormone at rest” “Athletes instinctively do what works for them, and they push it to the extreme” “When I was training as an Olympic weightlifter; the coach was a national level coach and used to working with top level athletes, and we always started the workouts with 15 minutes of jumping” “Those who are naturally built to be explosive need less strength work” “Type 1A’s and 1B’s are best built for frequency” “If you are doing anything explosive, anything heavy, anything skill related, anything competitive, you are triggering a dopamine response” “(Regarding complex training) Higher acetylcholine levels allows one to switch their focus from one to the other” “2B’s need more assistance work to get stronger” “For type 1a,

Today’s podcast is a special roundtable episode on sport movement, featuring an expert panel of Shawn Myszka, Scott Salwasser and Michael Zweifel.  Each of these coaches has a unique area of application and insight into making athletes better at reacting to actual sport stimuli, making plays, and ultimately winning games. Shawn Myszka is a movement specialist working with many NFL athletes and has a large background in physical preparation. Scott Salwasser is the director of speed and power at Texas Tech University and is making his third appearance on the Just Fly Performance Podcast.   Scott is not only a great linear speed coach, as we’ve seen through his talks and writing on the topic, but also is constantly pioneering sport-applicable movement training through his own athletes and interaction with other movement specialists in the field. Michael Zweifel, who has written some tremendous articles for Just Fly Sports in the past, is the owner of Building Better Athletes Performance, is an NCAA record-holding wide receiver.   Michael is an industry leader in reactive training for athletes, particularly in the scholastic population, and where specialization is not possible. “Agility” is a word likely most used in marketing, and getting parents to buy in that a particular sports performance institution will make their child better at reacting in their sport, but this is rarely, if ever the case in the manner that the majority of these training interventions are implemented. For today’s podcast, we simply cover the ideas of what “agility” training really is, and best practices in creating training to allow athletes to become more reactive movers on the field of play. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Shawn, Scott and Michael’s backgrounds in the industry The value of teaching sport agility absent of sport stimuli Thoughts on non-specific agility stimuli such as colors and lights Anecdotes of what Shawn, Scott, and Michael do in their practice “Sport is nothing but a problem solving activity where movements are use to produce the necessary solution” “For football, the biggest (agility) stimulus is other bodies; the stimulus that most of them are reacting with are other human beings, so you don’t need football specific plays to give them an authentic stimuli because a lot of times they are working against someone else and that is the primary stimulus” “How can this running back that runs a 4.4 40yd a 4.0 pro agility getting tackled in the backfield by opponents, it just doesn’t make sense; so it led me Shawn and the idea that (this athlete) is not a very good decision maker” “When you de-couple a movement or an action, so you take away the perception or intention from the movement outcome, you aren’t doing any good” “Most coaches are control freaks, and we know exactly what controlled drills are going to look like; more of an open environment intimidates a lot of coaches” “One things that I’ve gravitated towards is making the agility stimuli as human as possible; humans are free” “We perceive to act and we act to perceive” “The space and time relationship is our key performance indicator” “We know that situations are going to afford and invite and constrain certain (movement) patterns” “I am always going to get to the more specific representation of what athletes are going to see on the field (at the end of the day)” “With my cat and mouse drills, it’s not tag; football players will try and tag their opponent when they get within arms length, and that’s not going to result in you making the play” “My athletes need to be very comfortable being uncomfortable at all times” “Perfect practice is constant problem solving; we try to increase pressure and an...

Today’s guest is Nick Davis, head women’s track and field coach at the University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse.  Nick Davis has been a successful track and field coach with multiple stops on the NCAA Division I and III levels, has experience in research, lecturing and course instruction, and has also published 5 original research papers. I share an affinity with Nick, as we were both competitors in very similar event classifications (track and field jumps and javelin) and are both from the great state of Wisconsin.  About a year ago, I ran across Nick’s USTFCCCA presentation on mental skills training for athletes and was blown away by the depth and content. Coach Davis’s coaching resume includes work at MIT and Marquette University.  He was named the 2015 USTFCCCA New England Region Men's Assistant Coach of the Year in 2015 and 2016.  Nick competed as an athlete at UW-Milwaukee, where he was a 10-time Horizon League individual champion in the high jump and javelin.  At UW-Milwaukee, Davis was named the 2004 Horizon League Athlete of the Year.  He was a four-time NCAA Division I Midwest Regional Qualifier in the high jump and javelin for the Panthers while setting the school record in the high jump (indoor and outdoor) and javelin. The more time I spend with great coaches, the more I realize that one of the biggest separation points that they have is their ability to understand what makes athletes tick from a mental perspective, and how to motivate and prepare an athlete accordingly.  The mind drives the body, and I feel that not enough podcasts have episodes that are dedicated to mental skills when we know through research of its effectiveness. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Key Points: Nick’s background Characteristics in an athlete that responds to competition well Ideas in preparing athletes for competitive situations How to have athletes develop their pre-competitive routine Developing the ability to get into FLOW state in practice and competition Using visualization and competition rehearsal Mental strength needed for short versus long duration events Optimal goal setting for athletic performance Different types of goals: Performance, Consistency, and Process Goals “Someone who responds to competitive situations well is motivated by opportunity to succeed versus fear of failure” “One thing that has been a common theme in my training this year has been getting individuals to focus on the present” “I want to ask athletes, what is the self-talk going on in your head right now; instead of watch the symptoms play out, let’s go to the root of the problem and fix that” “I hold athletes accountable for what they are saying to themselves… athletes don’t realize how negative they really are until they sit down and make note of the thoughts that go through their heads throughout the day” “I have a lot of athletes do a self-talk log” “Worriers are often worried about the unknown; I think it’s really important from a coaching standpoint to share what your training plan is for them, the different phases of the training year and how everything fits together” “One thing I try to be mindful of is, to what degree are we as coaches causing them to be worriers, by giving them too much to think about, or the wording that we use” “Often times we don’t analyze our best competition day as much as we should… what were you thinking the day you performed your very best.  Let’s try to get you there as frequently as possible” “A lot of times worriers have trouble visualizing themselves doing things well; start off small, visualize yourself putting on your shoes at a track meet” “Within our programs here, we’ll take pictures of where the championship sites are so that they can get a ...