Episode #16 - Kendrique Coats: Youth Athletes and Athletes With Special Needs

Kendrique is a Strength and Conditioning Coach and Track Coach in Pontiac, IL.  He does great work with many with youth athletes in his community and has a really refreshing look at how he approaches training young athletes.
A really special program Kendrique runs is his work with youngsters with special needs.  Kendrique started this program 2-years ago, and it's had a huge impact on him as a coach and person.  I think it's just a wonderful program he runs and very cool to see the impact Kendrique has on these young kids and the impact this fitness program has on these youngsters. 

Favorite Quotes

• "Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our own lives, that we forget how we can impact our athletes lives"
• "Parents get bent out of shape trying to pursue an athletic scholarship, when they'd be better off trying to pursue an academic scholarship."
• "Do you know if your athlete has sibling?  What their favorite music is?  When there birthday is?  What their favorite sport team is?  These things all play into athletic performance but often forgotten because X's and O's are more popular."
• "Coach I bench pressed X-Amount of weight!  Well how does that improve your sport and overall movement quality?"
• "Coaches need to be better interviewers."
• "Our services include educating athletes and parents - Educating is the #1 thing I do with parents and athletes"
• "How does getting little Johnny or little Suzy puking and beat tired making them a better athlete?"

Social Media

• Twitter - @KendriqueCoats
• Instagram - @CoatsPerformance
• Facebook - Coats Performance
• Website - https://coatsperformance.wordpress.com/

Episode #15 - Shawn Myszka: Movement Mastery

Shawn is the owner and founder of Movement Mastery: The Art of Optimizing Movement.  He's a movement coach for a dozen NFL athletes and continually looks to push the envelop on what makes great athletes - great!  To him, and I agree, this means movement - not necessarily strength, or weight room numbers, or power, or motor performance - rather great movement qualities, attuned perception and action coupling, free and creative thinkers/movers, and refined motor learning processes.
In this episode we discuss everything from…

• What a movement first approach means
• How coaches can tweak agility training for better outcomes
• What reactive agility really is
• How warm-ups could be better structured for the subsequent tasks of sport
• Mistakes coaches make during practices in terms of removing messiness, mistakes, and creativity
• Where he found his roots in dynamic systems theory, a constraints led approach, and ecological psychology
• We talk about the greatest mover of all-time - Barry Sanders
• Much More

Favorite Quotes:

• "My only goal with athletes is getting them better when and where it counts, which is in the arena of sport"
• "Sport is a problem solving activity"
• "If the perception is inaccurate or wrong - the action won't be appropriate"
• "I don't refer to it as a warm-up, but a movement preparation scheme.  Warming-up is general; I'm trying to prepare behaviors"
• "A major mistake I see is the training environment is not truly representative that of which happens in the sporting environment"
• "An offensive player and a defensive player have much different requirements in sport - so should their warm-up, training, and patterns"
• "I try and learn from different fields - I've gone to watch dance instructors, martial arts instructors, teachers - it should come as no surpass that we can learn from various disciplines" 
• "Often we gets athletes so restricted on reproducing what we deem an ideal movement pattern, that we don't even know if it's ideal or optimal for that respective athlete.  Instead we should help guide and be a facilitator rather than an instructor"

Books:

• The Coordination and Regulation of Movements - Nikolai Bernstein
• Non-Linear Pedagogy in Skill Acquisition - Keith David 
• Perception - Cognition - Decision: Training the Quiet Eye - Joan Vickers

Social Media:

• Twitter - @MovementMiyagi
• https://footballbeyondthestats.wordpress.com/
• http://www.optimizemovement.com/sq/35323-movement-mastery-intro

Episode #14 - Coaching In The Public vs Private Sector

In this episode, we have a special roundtable discussion with fellow coaches to discuss the various aspects of S&C coaching in the public and private sectors.  In this great podcast we have the following coaches

• Steve Brown - UW-Oshkosh
  • Twitter - @CoachBrown19
• Zach Cahill - Northern Illinois University
  • Twitter - @CoachZCahill
• Matt Gifford - NXLevel Performance
  • Twitter - @GiffUsStrength
• Korey Van Wyk - Northwestern College
  • Twitter - @KoreyVanWyk

Topics Covered

• Caliber of Athlete
• Freedom Allowed - Freedom of programming, freedom from sport coaches, freedom of the facility, freedom of equipment, freedom of space, freedom of time/hours
• Job Stability/Security
• Typical Schedule/Hours
• Salary/'Compensation

Favorite Quotes

• "Much of my day is running around like a chicken with my head cut off, working with athletes of every make and model"
• "As a strength coach, I'm support staff, but I've found that the better my relationship with the sport coach - the more freedom and trust they give me in the weight room"
• "Much of my job was educating the parents - they often just wanted to see Jimmy and Johnny sweating, but if we're doing pure speed work, the athletes might not be sweating"
• "I have many friends, who I know are good, quality coaches who are out of jobs because their team didn't have the wins.  The higher the level, the less job security"
• "Being a good Strength coach isn't enough anymore - you have to branch out and find 1-2 other areas of speciality like speed & agility, technology, nutrition, rehab, etc"
• "Definitely a benefit of most public sector positions is the benefits like health insurance, retirement, life insurance, etc.  When I worked in the private sector, my salary was basically the same as it is now, but the benefits I now receive make my current job more worth while"
• "A hidden part of being at my University longer and longer is I always seem to be roped into more and more committees - whether it be a hiring committee or leadership committee or coaching committee - these add to additional meetings/hidden hours"
• "When I was in college, I didn't know until my senior year, that our Strength coach did summer training for free.  His contract didn't include the summer and wasn't paid to be there - I'm now in that situation with maybe a small stipend"
• "Do an internship in the college setting, do an internship in the private setting - every situation is different and you won't know what you'll like unless you spend valuable time in each setting"
• "You better love it, you better have a why to what you're doing"
• "We do such a good job in our own weight rooms of building people up, but we could do a better job building up people in our S&C community"
• "How many athletes are totally healthy?  In my experience, not very many, so spending time to figure how to work with injured people because it's a huge part of the job"

Elite Performance Podcast #12 - Dr. Ken Clark:Speed Science

Dr. Clark is a professor at West Chester University in Pennsylvania and is a foremost expert in speed research and we talked all about speed on the podcast.
Everything from his research with Dr. Peter Weyand, difference in mechanics between Elte vs Non-Elite athletes, what makes a great accelerator, what makes a great top-end sprinter, what the research has to say on sleds/resisted sprinting, where the role of strength applies in speed development, and much more.

Favorite Quotes

• "Great acceleration is marked by posture, piston like leg action, stiff contact, and front side dominant mechanics.
• "There is still a lot we don't know with sled or resisted sprinting - but heavier may be better for acceleration"
• "Assisted or over-speed sprinting may be the new frontier in sprint performance, especially with tools like the Sprint 1080"
• "No plyo or lift in the weight room can simulate the GCT and forces seen in top-end sprinting"
• "Once you hit a certain strength standard, you see dimishing returns on continuing to push max strength development"
• "We've started to use a compete-technique-compete format in our speed and agility training"

Books

• Weyand, P. G., Sternlight, D. B., Bellizzi, M. J., & Wright, S. (2000). Faster top running speeds are achieved with greater ground forces not more rapid leg movements. Journal of applied physiology, 89(5), 1991-1999.
• ​Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning - NSCA
• The Mechanics of Sprinting and Hurdling - Ralph Mann

​
Social Media

• Twitter - @KenClarkSpeed
• Facebook - Ken Clark

Elite Performance Podcast #10: Jeremy Frisch - Youth Speed Demons

Jeremy Frisch is the owner of Achieve Performance in Clinton, Mass. Achieve Performance caters to athletes ranging from young athletes (6-7 y.o.) to college athletes to adult athletes. Before opening Achieve Performance, Jeremy spent time as a Strength and Conditioning Coach at Holy Cross working primarily with the basketball team. 

Jeremy's youth program - Speed Demons - is a wonderful youth training program and the things he does with his youth athletes are amazing and very important given the nature of our youth/adolscent population. So we talked about his goals when working with youth athletes and where he derives many of his philosophies for working with young athletes. We also discuss some of the fun tools he uses with his young athletes such as mini trampolines, obstacles, gymnastic mats, balance beams, rings, etc.
Since Jeremy is a business owner, we also discuss life of a gym owner and the pros and cons of owning a gym. He talked about some of the hidden things that go into owning a business and some traps young gym owners probably fall trap to.

Finally we talked about a topic close to both of our hearts - Division III athletics and some of the misconceptions about playing sports at the DIII level.


This was one of my favorite talks and Jeremy keeps it real and puts things into perspective during this great episode.


Books

• Smart Moves - Carla Hannaford
• Dinosaur Training - Brooks Kubik
• Supertraining - Mel Siff & Yuri Verkhoshansky
• Easy Strength - Dan John & Pavel Tsatsouline
• Children and Sports Training - Jozef Drabik

Social Media

• Facebook - Jeremy Frisch
• Instagram - @Achieve_Performance
• Twitter - @JeremyFrisch

Elite Performance Podcast 9b - Sean Casey: Addressing Athlete Nutrition

This is Part 2 of a 2 Part Series

​Sean is the co-owner of Dietetic Advantage, owner of CasePerformance, and a physical preparation coach at UW-Health in Madison, WI.
Sean is a CSCS and also an RD, and in this episode Sean and I discuss all things nutrition.  We talked about how he approaches nutritional interventions with athletes, 3 of the biggest mistakes athletes make in their diet, and why he decided to start his own supplement company and what he hopes to achieve with his supplement line.
All in all, this is a wonderful podcast for coaches to get great in-sight on all things nutrition and supplementation. 

Books

• ​Speed Trap - Charlie Francis
• The Sports Gene - David Epstein
• Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift
• Lessons on Winning and Losing - Ian King

Social Media

• Website - www.dieteticadvantage.com
• Facebook - Sean Casey or Dietetic Advantage
• Twitter - @dieteticadv
• Instagram - @dieteticadvantage

Dietetic Advantage Products

• Creatine Monohydrate
• Post Workout Recovery - Whey Protein
• Energized Intelligence - Brain, Cognitive, and Focus

Elite Performance Podcast Episode 9a - Sean Casey: Supplementation

This is Part 1 of a 2 Part Series

​Sean is the co-owner of Dietetic Advantage, owner of CasePerformance, and a physical preparation coach at UW-Health in Madison, WI.
Sean is a CSCS and also an RD, and in this episode Sean and I discuss all things nutrition.  I ask him about 10 popular supplements and he gives his thoughts about the effectiveness and efficacy of each.  We then talk about how he approaches nutritional interventions with athletes, 3 of the biggest mistakes athletes make in their diet, and why he decided to start his own supplement company and what he hopes to achieve with his supplement line.
All in all, this is a wonderful podcast for coaches to get great in-sight on all things nutrition and supplementation. 

Books

• Speed Trap - Charlie Francis
• The Sports Gene - David Epstein
• Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift
• Lessons on Winning and Losing - Ian King

Social Media

• Website - www.dieteticadvantage.com
• Facebook - Sean Casey or Dietetic Advantage
• Twitter - @dieteticadv
• Instagram - @dieteticadvantage

Dietetic Advantage Products

• Creatine Monohydrate
• Post Workout Recovery - Whey Protein
• Energized Intelligence - Brain, Cognitive, and Focus

Episode #8 - Matt Gifford: Speed Mafia

Matt is a Performance Coach at NXLevel Athletics (Home of JJ Watt) in Waukesha, WI.  Matt is known for his knowledge and ability to develop speed, and in this episode we discuss all things speed - from what he see's as the biggest mistakes in acceleration, max velocity, some of his favorite speed progressions, and how to use cueing and imagery through external cueing.
Matt also discusses how he uses his assessment/evaluation as a starting point with his athletes, and some of the aspects he pulls away from this assessment to transfer to a smarter, more specific training program. Finally, Matt discusses some of the biggest influences in his coaching career and who he follows to continue to sharpen his coaching sword.
Matt brings a unique ability to transfer many principles from track and field and make them applicable for team sport athletes.  Come learn many of the technical and mechanical needs to develop and harness speed in your athletes!

​Books

• Networking Is A Contact Sport - Joe Sweeney
• You'll See It When You Believe It - Wayne Dyer
• High Performance Training For Sport - David Joyce
• Sports Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation - David Joyce
• What We Need Is Speed - Henk Kraaijenof
• First, Break All The Rules - Gallup Press 

Social Media

• ​www.altis.world
• www.mcmillianspeed.com
• www.coachgiff.com
• Twitter - @GiffUsStrength
• Instagram - @GiffUsStrength
• Facebook - Matt Gifford

Donate

Bronze Level $1.00 USD Silver Level $5.00 USD Gold Level $10.00 USD

Elite Performance Podcast #7: John Garrish - The High School S&C Coach

John Garrish is the Strength and Conditioning Coach at North Broward Preparatory School in Coconut Creek, Florida. We talked about his path to becoming a HS S&C Coach and why he's so passionate about coaching at this level. John also discussed what his movement and strength programs look like and how he organizes his training for 8th-12th graders.

John also discusses things such as his squat progression, how young coaches should do to make them more hirable for HS S&C jobs, how he implements APRE, what he wants his athletes to gain from his presence, and much more.
Coach Garrish gives an honest and open look into program and his passion for the field of S&C is clear. He's a tremendous resource for coaches and this episode is full of great coaching nuggets.

Books

• The APRE Method - Bryan Mann

Social Media

• Twitter - @John_Garrish
• Instagram - @Coach_Garrish
• Recommended Websites
• Simplifaster.com
• ExcelTrainingDesigns.com
• EricCressey.com
• StrengthCoachBlog.com

Elite Performance Podcast #6 - Collin Kilburg: Invest Now

Collin Kilburg is the head Strength and Conditioning coach at Upper Iowa University. He has spent time at Iowa State University, William Penn, Eastern Illinois, and Maine University. Collin stopped by BBA to talk shop and observe our sessions, so we put on our mic and recorded an interview with Collin.

In this podcast, Collin covers his unique path to Upper Iowa, suggestions for young coaches and how they should invest time and resources now, how he structures training sessions, resources he draws inspiration from, and what he see's as the future of S&C coaches.

Books

• Functional Training For Sports - Mike Boyle 
• Starting Strength - Mark Rippetoe 
• Special Strength for All Sport - Louie Simmons 
• Charlie Francis Training Systems 
• Science and Practice of Strength Training - Vladimir Zatsiorsky 
• Transfer of Training - Bondarchuk 
• Running - Frans Bosch 
• Block Periodization - Vladimir Issurin 

Reach out to Collin

• Twitter - @collinkilburg 
• Instagram - @uiustrength

Elite Performance Podcast Episode #5 - Jake Marshall: Pulling From Other Fields

Jake Marshall is a S&C Coach at Prototype Fitness in Naperville, Illinois.  Jake specializes in Sports Performance and training youth athletes!
Jake has a non-traditional path into the S&C field and this background has led him to pull from many different fields to draw inspiration to his training.

Books

• Strong Curves - Bret Contreras
• Iron John - Robert Bly
• The Stranger - Albert Camus

Connect with Jake

• Instagram - @Lifeofmalanga
• Facebook - Jake Marshall 

Elite Performance Podcast #4 - Korey Van Wyk: Dual Roles

Korey is a S&C coach at Northwestern College in Orange City, IA. He is also a professor in the Kinesiology department at Northwestern and one of the brightest young coaches in the field.  

Korey shares how he handles these duel roles as well as some of his influences in the S&C world.   We also discuss quality supplements for athletes and his most received nutritional question from athletes.  
 
You'll want to listen to Korey as he's one of the best young coaches in the country and he shares some great info on how he's constantly looking to improve his coaching!

Books

• Extreme Ownership - Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
• Make the Big Time Where You Are At - Frosty Westering 
• So Good They Can't Ignore You - Cal Newport

Connect With Korey

• Twitter - @ KoreyVanWyk

                        @ NWCPerformance

• Facebook - Korey Van Wyk
• Instagram - @ Korey.VanWyk

Elite Performance Podcast - Stephen Vassalotti: All Levels

Stephen is the current S&C at Marshalltown HS and Director of Peak Performance at SportsPlus Physical Therapy and Strength.  He was previously at the University of Northern Iowa as the head S&C coach for the Men's Basketball team.  He helped contribute to the Panthers winning the MVC tournament championship and just missed a birth to the Sweet 16. 

Stephen talks about his experience at the University Level (Division I and III), HS, and private sector. We also discuss Olympic lift progressions and DIY for small gyms.

Our audio get broken up during a few stretches, but hang in there as Stephen shared some great info. 

Books

• Westside Barbell Book of Methods - Louie Simmons
• 5/3/1 - Jim Wendler
• Elite Warriors - Dick Couch

Connect with Stephen

• Twitter - @CoachVass_71
• Instagram - @CoachVass_71
• Facebook - Stephen J. Vassalotti 

Elite Performance Podcast Episode #1 - Intro, Assessment, Supplementation

Welcome to our opening episode of our Elite Performance Podcast.
We cover the goals and outline for future shows.  Next we cover our assessment/evaluation process and how we use this information to program for our athletes.  Finally, we discuss supplements we recommend to athletes, and let's just say the list is SHORT.  Put simply, we would rather see money well spent on improving one's diet instead of dropping hundreds of dollars on mostly useless supplements.

Show Notes:
Apps

• My Jump
• My Sprint

Nutrition

• Creatine
• Whey Protein
• Vitamin D