Talking Sports Nutrition With Sean Casey

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1. Tell us yourself and background?

First off, I’m honored to be interviewed by BBA. You have a lot of great content on this site and appreciate the opportunity to share my thoughts on it.

In terms of my background… As it relates to physical performance, my passion for physical performance was born out of countless hours spent watching Rocky IV. Growing up, I used to watch it almost daily on good ol’ VHS tape; I followed the viewing up with push-ups, sit-ups and pull-ups/arm hangs in my basement. I marveled at the physiques of Stallone & Dolph Lundgren. Besides, if training hard allowed Rocky to beat the Soviet machine Ivan Drago, as well as almost single handedly end the Cold War, surely a few pushups, pull-ups, situps, etc would surely help me start on the 5th grade basketball team, right?!

Fast forward a bit, in high school I competed in both track (as a sprinter) as well as football (fullback). Following my high school sports career, in which I earned numerous all city and regional awards (OK, you caught me. I grew up in a city of ~ 2000 people. Being named “all city” simply meant you started vs. catching slivers on the bench ;-)) I attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison and earned degrees in Kinesiology- Exercise Physiology as well as Nutritional Science – Dietetics. Following studies at UW-Madison, I completed my 1200 hr dietetic internship through UW-Green Bay.

During college, I was an intern physical preparation coach with the UW-Badgers S&C department. I also spent time interning at the International Performance Institute (IMG Academies) in Bradenton, FL, where I had the opportunity to assist with the USA U-18 National Men's Soccer team and academy students. I also interned and later worked as a physical preparation specialist at Athletes' Performance (They recently renamed themselves as EXOS). While at these locations I had the opportunity to train football, soccer, baseball, golf and tennis athletes.

As a registered dietitian (RD), I’m also active in the field of sports nutrition and have consulted with the former nutritionist for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Anita Nall-Richesson various amateur athletes as well as individuals merely looking to get into better shape.

2.  You’ve worked with a number of high-level athletes that take every measure to reach peak performance. How much of a difference can proper nutrition have on improving performance?

Proper nutrition is huge with respect to maximizing physical performance.

Outside of sleep I can’t think of any other factor that will speed up post workout recovery more so than one’s diet. It’s amazing how much better athletes feel physically, mentally as well as emotionally, when they improve the quality of their diet.

It’s interesting though, before I had the opportunity to work at the aforementioned locations, I always thought that athletes at the elite level ate ‘spot on’ diets. I mean, how could someone reach the elite level if they weren’t crossing all their T’s and dotting all their I’s, right?  Couldn’t be further from the truth; a lot of their diets prior to nutrition counseling (and well, probably some still afterwards) were garbage - candy, soda & crap galore.  It really highlighted to me how genetically freaky some of these individuals are that they can get away with it to a certain degree.

Now, don’t get me wrong; including some “junk” in your diet is fine.  In truth, it can be dang near impossible to consume >>3000-3500 kcal of without including some 1-2 star foods, but when your diet looks like it was designed by an Oompa Loompa at Willy Wonka’s Chocolate factory we have issues.

3. Walk us through the steps you take when working with a client.

Nutrition is just like training – it all starts with a thorough assessment. There are three main forms I use to assist me in this process. First is a general background form that covers things like goals, medical conditions (including medications they’re on which may interact with various foods/supplements), previous experience with dietary plans, openness to trying new foods, supplements, etc, etc.

The second form is a 1-3 day dietary record that provides a quick snapshot of one’s diet both in terms of amounts and timing of food intake. I always leave it up the client with respect to how many days they want to fill out. The only thing I ask is if they do 2 or more days, to make sure that they’re non-consecutive days and preferably a training and non-training day. If a 3rd day is included, I like to have it on a weekend.

The third form I use is a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). This form differs from a 1-3 day food record in that it provides a global overview of one’s diet. Rather than looking at timing and amounts, it examines how often a given food is eaten. This is a great tool from a dietary analysis standpoint.

Once I have all three of these forms, I put together a pretty thorough write-up for the client. I consider this write-up to be a ‘rough draft’. With this in hand, I like to sit down and discuss it with them. Based off their input, I re-draft the original write-up to create a plan that best fits them. Some individuals also like to have personalized 3 day sample menu’s written up in order to get a visual of how to incorporate the recommendations into their lives. This is also something I can do as well.


4. Hippocrates said, “Let food be thy medicine”. It often seems many are quick to disregard real food and look for magical supplements to reach their nutritional needs.   Is this approach short-sighted and do you think this can be maintained long-term?

Definitely short sighted; as exciting as it is to drink your entire diet via a straw that leads back to a never ending powdered shake and/or having your supplement pill box be more colorful than Crayola’s entire crayon inventory, I think there are much better options out there from both a health and performance standpoint. As Hippocrates alluded to, this means real food.

Think about this for a second – a given fruit or vegetable contains 100’s of phytochemicals in it, many of which science has never studied at an in-depth level. The idea that a single phytochemical or two within it are responsible for a majority of health benefits received from a given whole food compound is crazy; I believe the true magic lies within the synergism, not the isolation, of these of these phytochemicals. Heck sometimes the isolation and magnification of these individual ingredients may backfire on you. For example…

Early research indicated that consuming fruits and vegetables loaded with high concentrations of beta-carotene was protective against lung cancer. Thus, it was hypothesized that beta-carotene supplements would protect smokers from developing lung cancer. However, in a meta-analysis conducted by Druesne-Pecollo et al. researchers the opposite was found to be true; individuals who received any supplement containing beta-carotene actually had a 16% HIGHER risk of developing lung or stomach cancer than individuals receiving a placebo. If one was exposed to asbestos or smoked, this risk increased by 20%. Likewise, consuming supplements containing 20mg/day vs. placebo increased the risk of developing stomach cancer by 34%.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am a fan of supplements in both the short and long term. However, the idea that we must load up on a bazillion of supplements at the expense of real food is short sighted. As you can tell - I’m a fan of random poly-supplementation about as much as most people are of poly-pharmacy. Funny how one gets criticized while the other gets a free pass (from critical thought) and is assumed to be “healthy” & side effect free.

Bottom line – Develop a healthy relationship with food & let supplements fill in the cracks; which shouldn’t be too wide if you’re picking the right foods.



5.  Speaking of supplements, there is so much misinformation out there and very few actually having solid evidence of benefit. What supplements do you find have worth and have been shown to be worthwhile for athletes?

Despite kind of bashing supplements a bit in the last question, there is actually a fair amount that I like. I take a very individualized approach to supplement recommendations depending on the goals and needs of the individual. If I had to give a general rundown, focusing only on ergogenic based supplements…

1) Whey/Egg/Pea based protein powder.  I usually go with Whey unless someone has sensitivities to it or is vegan in which case I go with egg or pea protein respectfully. If some people are highly sensitive, rice protein is pretty hypoallergenic and I can’t say I’ve ever heard one having issues with it. BUYERS TIP – If looking at different whey proteins, go with a Whey Concentrate based one… They’re usually much cheaper than Whey Isolate and unless you’re lactose intolerant, there isn’t any significant benefit with taking the latter. ~25 grams will be enough to maximize muscle protein synthesis. The one exception is if you’re 50+ in which case higher doses (40g) may be needed to maximize the process.

2) Creatine – Tried and true through 100’s of studies & real world stories. BUYERS TIP – stick with basic creatine monohydrate (~5g). Don’t buy the more expensive forms that are promoted as being “superior”. I have yet to see any research indicating they’re superior … accept for those looking to profit off them! I use this primarily with anaerobic athletes.  (Check out our article on Creatine HERE)

3) Taurine 3-4g/day postworkout. This is a pretty cheap amino acid and although it won’t floor you, it does help with recovery as well as “behind the scenes” health benefits. I don’t believe it’s beneficial as a pre-workout/energy booster though. BUYERS TIP – go with the powder form; not the capsule form. Quite often, buying things in capsules adds expense without providing any extra benefit.

4) Caffeine in amounts of 3-6mg/kg can be effective. I use this on an acute basis.

After this are a lot of supplements (Sodium Bicarbonate/baking soda, beta-alanine, BCAA’s, etc, etc) that have some benefit. If you decide to use them or not comes down to A) How much money do you have to spend & B) What is your desired training goal? C) Are you a vegan/vegetarian where your protein sources need a “boost” w/ BCAA’s as well as a vitamin B12 supplements D) Also, how well do you tolerate it? For instance I’m a HUGE fan of consuming of sodium bicarbonate (up to 200-300mg/kg/d; usually spread over 3 doses; for reference – 1 tsp = 4.8g) but for many people, this causes GI distress. Getting enough Omega 3’s, etc in your diet is helpful as well.


6.  Tell us the different ways improving nutritional strategies/diet can improve training, recovery, energy levels, mood, and sport performance. For instance, some of the basic changes and improvements one can expect to see… ie eating more protein will help xxx or increasing fruits and veggies will help with xxx.

Wow - this is like the magnum opus of questions – I’m not for sure if it can be fully answered without a book or two of words! Haha, Let me do my best in providing some general thoughts though…

Looking at things from a global perspective, the area that nutrition impacts the most is energy levels. Now, it’s important to realize that one’s energy level is impacted by all those other things you mentioned (recovery, mood, etc, etc). Thus, the most important thing one can do for an athlete is making sure their energy intake matches the demands of what they’re trying to accomplish. 

For many, this means consuming enough kcal. As I once heard Phil Stevens say, “Nothing is more anabolic than a kcal.”  If you don’t take in enough kcal, your mood will be shot, your recovery will be garbage and you’re well on your way to developing the Athlete Syndrome (It’s usually referred to as the “female athlete triad”, but men are affected too so I prefer the term … and in all reality it’s more than a triad of issues which is why I prefer the term “Athlete Syndrome”.).

Breaking things down a bit more, of the kcal you’re consuming, I recommend distributing them over a variety of minimally processed foods and following the 85/90 rule (Eating “healthy foods” 85-90% of the time). Make sure you’re getting enough protein (0.7-1g/lb) and fat (0.3-0.5g/lb) and whatever is left over can go to carbs. Some populations can go with a more ketogenic approach (ie – low carb/high fat) depending on intensity and volume of training as well as the obvious factor – how they feel while on it.


7.  Who are some people that have influenced your nutritional and training approach?

With regards to training of athletes…. I’ve had a lot of mentors directly influence me with Luke Richesson clearly being at the top of the list. Blaine Bott also deserves a shout out. Although I’ve never worked in a direct mentor-mentee relationship with him, I really like Ian King’s work and training philosophies.

With regards to nutrition, I grew up a big fan of Dr. Lonnie Lowery’s work and to a lesser degree, Dr. John Berardi. However, I can’t say I had anyone that directly mentored me with regards to sports nutrition. My approach was formed via a lot of trial & error as well as just general reading.


8.  Give us 3 books that helped your development and believe young coaches should read or go to?

This is a super tough question. Not necessarily books but if I had to limit it to just three resources look into….

1) With respect to physical preparation of athletes - Anything by Ian King.  Also like Dan John and Christian T Thibaudeau’s Theory and Application of Modern Strength & Power Methods.

2) With respect to supplements – Examine.com; if you’re comfortable reading research, I always recommend going straight to the research itself via searches on Pubmed. Although not purely a supplement resource, SuppVersity.com has daily updates on sports nutrition, supplements or an occasional exercise article or two worth checking out.

3) With respect to sports nutrition – I grew up reading Dr Lonnie Lowery & Dr. John Berardi’s stuff with respect to aneorobic athletes. Monique Ryan’s Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes is decent as well and for ultra-athletes, I recommend checking out some of Dr. Jeff Volek’s Art & Science of Low Carb Performance

OK… I realize I listed more than 1 resource on all of those categories. In all reality I could have listed a few more too! As time allows, I like to read thoughts of others… In doing so however, I keep another quote Phil Stevens passed my way in conversation “Keep your windows and doors open to new ideas; Just make sure they have tight screens.”

Speed Round

Squats or Deadlifts?

Deadlifts

Olympic Lifts or Other Means of Power Development?

Olympic Lifts (if form is solid) … although there is a lot you can gain w/ plyo movements not obtainable by Olympic lifts alone.

Coffee, Energy Drinks, or Soda?

Coffee… unless the alternative is Powerthirst! (I encourage you to youtube that one ;-)!)

Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Lawrence, Jennifer Love-Hewitt, or Jennifer Hudson?

^ With that line-up you obviously know my affinity for brunettes!

Without question, Jennifer Aniston in her prime is pretty dang hard to beat.

Movement Mastery with Shawn Myszka

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Whooo weeeee, it's an exciting day as we have Shawn Myszka with us!  Shawn is a performance coach in Minneapolis and he works with many NFL athletes on improving their performance.

But even more cool than that sounds, he takes breath of fresh air (IMO) approach to training.  Less about weight room numbers and more about ON-FIELD performance. His approach is one of movement, efficiency, and on-field performance; not absolute strength, weight room numbers, or a meat head approach.

If you work with athletes, this approach is a must because your goal is to improve athletic performance, not solely on improving say a squat or bench.  These have a time and place, but the question has to be how do these improve or transfer to athletic performance?  This is the question Shawn asks and his answers bring light to some important aspects coaches need to take into consideration.

Let's take a look and be prepared to take notes.  So get you pen and paper out and enjoy!

1. Could you give us a little information about your background?

Though I don’t really like to talk about myself…oh wait, yes I do (everyone does at least a little right?). Haha. Anyway, I digress.

I am a former National-level bodybuilder who has always had a passion for taking others and myself to the brinks of human performance. I have a BS in Health Promotion and a MS in Sport Science & Performance Enhancement.

I have owned my own business in the Minneapolis, MN area since 2007 where my facility has overseen the physical preparation of athletes of all levels of qualification and mastery. This crop of athletes our staff trains ranges from developmental level athletes all the way up to professionals from all sports. Personally, at this point in my career, I am only responsible for exclusively working with and/or consulting for players from the National Football League and have done so now for about the last 5 years. I am humbled by some of the ‘names’ that have trusted me over the years as well as the impact that we have been able to make with each of them. Though I rarely mention those guys by that name, my present philosophy and the thoughts I hold currently regarding the optimal preparation for sport is a result of each of them and their trust in me. For that, I am forever grateful to each of them.  

 2. You talk about a movement first training approach.  Tell our readers what this means and what this means in terms of a training approach?

Well, like the name would dictate; everything, starts with the athlete’s movement behavior in-sport and stems from there. Though many in our industry have gotten sidetracked chasing different things (such as maximum strength numbers or speed, etc), I believe that as sports performance professionals our sole purpose should be the improving upon the athlete’s ability to perform within his/her respective sport. That’s why they come to us! Each and every athlete walking the planet dreams of having full realization of their sport-specific potential where it counts and this place is in the sporting arena.

I believe that the above-mentioned purpose starts with optimizing movement patterns respective of that sport in congruence with the level of mastery & trainability that the athlete resides. This movement optimization process revolves around us all (coaches and sports performance professionals) deeply understanding what I refer to as the most optimal biodynamic structure of the movement important to success in the athlete’s respective sport. This biodynamic structure is our way to knowing and understanding the athlete’s kinetics, kinematics, and the true kinesiology involved in the sport so that we are able to develop that individual’s biomechanical and neuromuscular efficiency more fully to meet the demands of the sport. Does that all sound complicated? Well good…it should…because movement in sport IS complicated!

So more simply put, the movement mastery or movement first approach is really about how to determine what is optimal for that given athlete based on who he/she is. I have found that what is perfect for one is not perfect for another though this is contrary to popular belief. However, every athlete in every sport is going to have a very specific path towards optimizing his or her movement specific to the sport as well as who they are as an individual.

 

 3. You talk a lot about preparing athletes for the actual demands they see during competition.  How do you breakdown the demands athletes see during competition?  Do you breakdown film, time work: rest periods, talk to position coaches?

Great question. Well, I ALWAYS begin with breaking down the player’s film…LOTS & LOTS of film (more than I like to admit for my own social life’s behalf). This way I can see how the athlete is performing when & where it counts. This displayed movement outcome that is witnessed, occurring in its natural & organic environment, is my true screen for that which is to come in the athlete’s individualized physical preparation/movement optimization program specific to that which I see happening on Sundays (for the NFL player at least) for that position & level of qualification. I use this to guide everything I do as I can watch an athlete perform, see his comfort level (or discomfort) with certain movement patterns, and then attempt to speculate why that given movement behavior may be happening the way I am witnessing it.

As far as applying specificity to the demands of the training environment, it all depends on the time of the training year that we are in and what type of adaptation I desire for the particular athlete. Some are ready for the control of very specific factors & demands whereas others are not…but the movement is always something I am attempting to change at the forefront. Making appreciable change to that (the movement pattern) is my litmus test.

On your final point, unfortunately, many of the position coaches out there aren’t really great resources. They comprehensively understand strategic and tactical demands very well.  However, in my experience, even with many of those at the “top” levels they don’t truly understand the technical demands of the movements that their players must perform let alone how to optimize it based on the athlete playing in that role. This is weird to think of I know but it’s the norm.

Honestly, I don’t know how the role of the Movement Specialist/Movement Coach hasn’t been founded as of yet. At the NFL-level, there is someone in charge of everything…EXCEPT optimizing movement which is likely the very thing that could make the biggest differences on-field on Sunday (this is something I prove with each one of my athletes). Now, I won’t get too much onto this tangent because we will be here for a LONG time if I would but it’s crazy to me that we don’t have anyone who is working with players to help them specialize their movement patterns based on who they are.

4. Being able to absorb and reproduce force, often in unnatural positions is very important for athletic success.  How do you train these qualities and what progressions do you like to use?

With the level of athlete that I work with, they almost always possess the ability to exert tremendous amounts of force and usually this happens in a very rapid fashion (notice I said “almost always” and “usually). In fact, this really happens with most athletes of nearly every mastery level because of our profession’s overreliance on training methods which emphasize the concentric actions and display of movement. Now, I will still try to optimize that force exertion for that particular pattern because often times athletes haven’t worked on those specific strength qualities in a specialized developmental fashion but I find it’s not usually going to pay the biggest dividends at first. Instead, I find that the key determining factor for the desired movement outcome to occur is the fashion in which that athlete is able to absorb force.

I believe that my athletes and I work on force absorption more than any other facility across the country (that’s a challenge). Here’s the rub: you can never absorb too much force. It’s like having too fast of car or too hot of girlfriend….it just doesn’t happen! However, you can exert too much force if you don’t possess the capabilities to control and stabilize it. Thus, we address it over and over and over again…in some way, on a nearly daily basis. And as you mentioned in your question, this force absorption (and of course the redirection of the force after that) usually doesn’t happen in nice & neat positions in which we can often possess a high degree of control and stability. Thus, I feel it’s necessary to train the athlete (in a controlled setting such as in training or practice), to help his/her body to become accustomed to it. This way, he/she will be much more comfortable being able to do the right things at the wrong times.

That all said, to answer last piece of the question, I have to give you something more arbitrary that is likely to piss people off when I say, ‘it depends.’ My progressions, as well as the exact training means & methods we utilize have a wide range depending on the athlete’s particular level of trainability and exactly what displayed characteristics of the movements we see occurring. Of course, I always start more basic and establish a strong foundation for general movement preparation before moving on to more focus on specialized patterns. So for one athlete, this could attempting to remove lots and lots of compensation patterns before we can even begin to work on some more of the right ones…whereas, for another athlete, it may involve doing a lot of shock-type drops off of very high heights that would make some queasy. See…it all depends!   

 5. Great coach Charlie Francis used to say he could tell when an athlete was fatigued or lost their efficiency by the sound of their feet hitting the track.  How do you evaluate an athletes’ movement efficiency and ability to absorb force?  Are there things you look for?

It’s been said that fatigue makes cowards out of all of us. In fact, I notice that when fatigue (or pain is present), the display of movement as well as subsequent learning goes down the drain and the athlete resorts back to old, well-set-in-place movement behaviors. This is a sensitive process. Of course, only perfect practice makes perfect and practice makes permanent (I am sucker of clichéd quotes)…so, I must take the reins of this animal as much as humanly possible. With whatever movement pattern we are working on, I need to have that athlete’s specific deficiencies and compensations in mind, and then keep close watch as to what is occurring (I will often use quick video analysis for this too so I don’t have to rely on my own eyes to detect these quick changes).

If I start witnessing drastic changes to the displayed characteristics of the particular movement pattern then the workload has to be modified immediately or ceased completely. These characteristics I am referring pertain to the relationships between stability & mobility like force absorption & exertion, dampening efficiency, base of support and center of gravity control, etc. If the athlete lays down a suboptimal pattern for any reason, it is entirely my fault. 

Finally, I am constantly talking to the athlete regarding what he feels. I know…what a novel concept! But I want him or her to be so cognizant of what’s going on in their environment and how they are reacting to it that they can become very self-sufficient with knowing when they ‘hit the sweet spot’ of any movement behavior they display. In addition, I want him to be so sensitive to subtle changes in his own patterns that he knows when something can or cannot be done any further.

6. Training means that once worked for an athlete will lose the effectiveness as time carries on.  What are some ways you look to make training more specific and intensive to the game so you improve the athlete’s biomechanical and neuromuscular efficiency?  How do you make sure the training means are not losing their effect?  Do you change exercises, or very sets, reps, tempos?  Do you cycle training? 

First of all, I must give credit where credit is due with your acknowledgement of a concept that most people in this field seem to forget: just because something worked at one time, doesn’t mean that it will continue to work in the same way or to the same magnitude as you subsequently use it. I believe that if more in our field realized that I think we would all see a whole lot different battery of exercise & drill activities being selected & prescribed.

In fact, that training activity that the athlete is currently adapting to will never work like that again because the athlete is not the same as he/she once was when you used it before. This seems so intuitively obvious to me but I am dumbfounded by how many in our field seem to miss the boat with this concept and continue to beat their head on the wall because the athletes are progressing as we anticipated or promised. It’s really the athlete who should be doing that (beating their head against the wall) as well because they are the ones who are putting in tremendous amounts of time, effort, and energy with the damn methods!

When I am looking at prescribing the right exercise & drill combinations to elicit the most optimal training stress response at that given time, I believe that we must first be aware of that which we are expecting & anticipating from the training stimulus. Some means/methods will induce an almost immediate response and appreciable change to the movement (usually tweaks or adjustments to movement positioning/execution and motor learning responses). Other means/methods will have a delayed adaptation only after the body has been given sufficient time to positively adjust and recover from the stimulus (usually more about the motor potential & work capacity). No matter what anyone may tell you I find that both of these are really more of an art than a science especially when we acknowledge that every human being walking the earth will react differently from a particular blend of the exercise programming that we are prescribing. Thus, you have to trust yourself to a certain degree and always pay close attention to how the athlete is reacting at all times (of course I just made the most obvious statement of the day there).

 7. You talk a lot about improving movement and making athletes better at what they are required to do on the field.  Does this mean strength work takes a back seat?  How does strength training fit into your program?

I have found that most traditional approaches focus on increasing maximum strength or other general motor abilities or what have you and then keep our fingers crossed that it is going to directly correlate to greater success in-sport when in many cases this is like playing the lottery. Instead, the movement mastery approach is about utilizing and increasing upon more specific motor abilities in the actual technical execution of particular movement patterns. When people initially hear about the movement mastery approach they think we neglect strength and the training of it. However, this is simply not true. Instead, we are attempting to develop strength in the exact same way that it is going to be used and displayed in movement so it is more functionally specific to those tasks that we wish to complete more efficiently.

At the end of the day I feel as though I have had to overcome these traditional mindsets to see something that everyone saw before but through a much different lens…this lens is one that is focused on truly investigating what is happening when an athlete moves and more importantly why this movement is occurring this way. From there, this new found understanding allowed me to get to the bottom of the athlete’s movement patterns and determine the most effective possible how-to way to make a drastic and immediate impact on the athlete’s performance because we are able to address the exact aspects of the athlete’s existing weakness that is detracting from his or her movement in the sport.

Thus, I utilize many training means & methods directed towards increasing strength but it is never at the expense of movement efficiency (like strength is so often developed by many). To combat this most of my inclusion of strength activities (at least with the level of mastery of athlete that I work with) is about teaching the athlete to more fully use their strength more closely to their potential. One of my favorite ways to do this which I often employ is the design of conjugate sequence complexes where I will have the athlete perform several (1-4) exercises of part/local motor structure which will be representative of a piece of a larger, global pattern. After the sequence of local activities is complete I then have the athlete perform the whole/global activity so he/she could put that strength to use in the technical execution of a sport movement pattern.  

HERE is a great article by Shawn talking about specific movements and example complexes he may employ for Running Backs. 

 8. Athletes are required to stop, absorb, change direction, and reaccelerate in many different body positions at many different angles.  How do you approach this during training?  Do you set athletes up in open-chained/reactive environments or how can you make the unnatural or unfamiliar, natural and familiar?

Well, this is a loaded question because the answer is quite complex. And when I said ‘it depends’ up above on the earlier question pertaining to a similar topic, it can probably apply here once again. That said though, as I attempt fully analyze and then further optimize movement, these angles and positions based on the athlete’s environment conditions are imperative to not only understand but attempt to then develop our movement around. At all times, I am we are trying to master that kinesiological pattern and display of the biomechanics based on any changes that occur in the conditions. 

We start by ‘flossing the motor pattern’ so the body can feel how it should be executed in a slower, controlled fashion before progressively overloading (through a change in the task demands in training) the execution & use of the pattern. Of course, if it then never translates to the in-sport, unconscious competence of the display of the movement then I haven’t done my job…so that is always our end result goal…where the athlete doesn’t need to think about it at all any longer and it occurs in a specialized, optimized, and efficient fashion in the sport. Because of this, it is imperative that I do progress it but not ever at the expense of the displayed outcome that we are deeming as optimal for that athlete at the respective time. Meaning; if the athlete can’t reproduce the pattern and its actions in the way we desire we must slow it down or back off on the stimuli we are requiring him/her to react to.

9. Who are some coaches that have had a big influence on your career?  What reading/books have helped shaped your career?  Can you remember an instance when BOOM, it hit you and it made you rethink training philosophy?

Like any coach or specialist in this field, there are a good number of coaches who have had a major influence on my career. And I can attribute much of my success (OK; most of it) to that influence they have had. I would be here all day if I listed each one so I will just list a few such as a few of the heavy hitters such as Verkhoshansky, Siff, & Bondarchuk. I do read anything and everything that I can get my hands on. Tried and true things that every sports performance professional should read authored by the individuals just mentioned would include Supertraining, Special Strength Training Manual for Coaches, and Transfer of Training in Sports. However, I would implore professionals to read a few other things that may appear to be outside the realm of training philosophy and prescription that can give a professional added perspective from a variety of angles. I believe we can learn way more from those in other fields that could allow us to do our jobs better…essentially; never stop learning and don’t limit who/where it is that you get information from.

If you haven't already these books are a MUST for performance coaches

Transfer of Training in Sports - Anatoliy Bondarchuk

Supertraining - Mel Siff and Yuri Verkhoshansky

Special Strength Training: Manual for Coaches - Yuri Verkhoshansky

Science and Practice of Strength Training - Vladimir Zatsiorsky

As far as that BOOM moment as you call it…yes, yes I did. My epiphany didn’t come from anything anyone said to me by someone else or something that someone sought out to teach me…instead, it occurred by accident or I should say as a by-product of my own sheer stupidity. But what I learned during this BOOM moment is what is responsible for my new focus on dissecting and training around the optimization of movement for sport. Thus, it’s important to share. Long story short…

Back in 2008, I had an NFL player come to me to direct his offseason physical preparation plan and at the time I was still utilizing what I would refer to as more traditional or conservative methods like we discussed just a bit ago. And the thing is, this athlete excelled and improved leaps and bounds.

By the end of a 12 week period this guy had made what I thought to be a total transformation. He had increased every physical quality imaginable. He gained 10lb while losing 4% body-fat. His maximum strength on his squat went up by 70lb. His 40 time went down by 0.25 seconds while he increased his vertical jump by 9 inches and his horizontal jump by 15 inches. All of these values got to the point where they easily exceeded his combine numbers that had dropped down considerably since he had been in the league.

When he left for training camp after our training was complete I thought he was going to absolutely revolutionize what was happening in the NFL and people were going to be blown away. However, I was the only one who would be blown away because when he stepped on field that preseason what everyone saw on the field did not look any different than the player that everyone saw 8 months prior when the guy had completed the previous season. And when this happened I was confused…I was shocked…I was dumb-founded…you fill in the blank. I just couldn’t believe how much I had let the guy down. 

Fortunately for me then I had my reality check which revolved around my conclusion that I MUST change my approach and truly began to investigate what it is that makes athletes tick where it counts; which is in their sport and more specifically while they are performing the actual movement tasks that are important for their success while in the sporting arena. I started to really deconstruct movement and get to the bottom of it to know how exactly I should build it back up in the most optimal fashion for the individual at hand. In the process this began to ensure that I was using methods for the athlete that was only going to equate to positive transfer on the field. 

After I had this reality check and changed my approaches towards athletic development I actually helped the athlete in the story to hone his craft and attain greater mastery in his sport demands, and ultimately reach much fuller levels of his potential and he actually still trains with me now to this day because of it. So much so that it was very noticeable the next time he stepped on the football field and continues to be every year that more mastery is solidified.

But the story is the one of the reasons that I felt that the Movement Mastery brand must be founded. I almost feel like we have all accepted the old way as the norm across all sports and at all levels. We have all at least witnessed an athlete who will make what appears to be stellar progress, and they knock it out on our cute little standardized tests, AND still then don’t seem to have it when it counts on the field…or court…or track. But this isn’t optimal in my mind.

Since then, I have helped not only NFL players perform at the heights of their potential through this approach change but really it extends much further than that. Numerous other professionals have started to learn some of these methods and ideas from me so they are impacting athletes of all sports and across all levels achieve more specific results for where their current level of mastery resides and where they want it to go. It’s because of this BOOM or ‘Ah-HA’ moment that I knew a paradigm shift was needed across our professions and why I started www.optimizemovement.com.

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Wow, that was awesome!  Be prepared to go back, as I did, and take notes and little pieces of gems!  Also check out some of Shawn's work here at Football Beyond the Stats.  This site is incredible, and being a footballer at heart, this topics discussed are especially of interest including NFL player movement breakdowns, the NFL Combine, and Play of the Week breakdowns.  Football fans take notice and check it out!

A big thanks again to Shawn and for his great analysis of our questions!

Go Get 'Em!

Blayne Steffen: Man of Many Suits

    We have a great interview for you today with an old friend of our Blayne Steffen.  Blayne interned with us at the University of Minnesota back in the day and we struck up a good friendship.  What's great about the Blayne Train is his diverse background.

    He's truly a man of many suits with all of his experiences.  He's been an athlete at elite levels, competed in Powerlifting, and is now competing in Body Building.  All of these areas emphasize different physical demands and needed knowledge, and because of these experiences Blayne knows a lot of shiznit!  Not to mention he's got his CSCS, CPT, USAW,  Master's Degree, and is pursuing his CISSN!

      Plus he's just plain jacked!

Suns Out, Guns Out!

      Enjoy!

1.     Hey Blayne, can you give a little background of yourself?

I am from a small town in Wisconsin called Ladysmith. I was a three sport athlete (Football, Basketball, and Track). Played division 2 football before transitioning to division 3 football my senior year at the university of Minnesota-Morris. I later tried out for the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans in the NFL and later tried out for the Arizona Rattlers of the AFL. None of the opportunities panned out but they lead me into coaching college football which eventually led me into strength and conditioning. 

I have been a strength coach at the high school, all 3 college levels, while also working with some professional and Olympic athletes. I also have done personal training and nutrition consultation for all populations. 

I currently am a full time wellness coordinator for a residential company where I create nutrition and wellness programs for individuals with disabilities. I also have my own business where I consult with individuals who desire to reach their performance, fitness, and nutrition goals. I still have the dream to open my own performance/Fitness Facility. I personally am a competitive NATURAL bodybuilder and am strongly pursing my Pro Card.

2.     You have a great background with the fact that you’ve been a multiple sport athlete, powerlifted, and now body build.  This is a loaded question, but tell us a little bit about the differences and similarities between the three.

 Wow, all so very different yet I have carried the same mind set and work ethic into each realm. In terms of training things  vary when looking at variables but one thing that is the same is that the main goal of training is always to have optimal transfer of what I am doing to the sport. Transfer is everything. 

When I played football is was about high velocity training, change of direction, reaction, acceleration and deceleration and so forth. Also really studying the game is what made me a good player. You can look like tarzan, train like rocky, but if you cant transfer those things onto the field, then it doesn’t matter, so watching film and getting with teammates getting reps mentally and physically was key in improving and excelling in football. Having teammates and athlete’s to train with was crucial since it’s a team game. 

Now PL and BB are different because they are individual sports so its always about being dialed into my programming and nutrition. Training also is different bc for PL the goal isn’t to be necessarily explosive but its to move a maximal load one time. This consists of  training at very high intensities daily with lower volume for the most part. 

BB on the other hand is all about physique development and is the hardest sport IMO of all 3 because of the mental toughness one must have. Training, Conditioning, Posing, and meal prep are very very very time consuming and not a detail can be missed. Many people look at this sport as a vain, meat head type hobby but in reality it is a lifestyle and maybe the most physiologically intune sport of the three. 

BB’s really need to understand nutritional science and physiology to really know how to reach their full potential. Its not about just building the body but its really about building the metabolism. I could go on and on here as there are many details I could touch on with training and nutrition. The key here is Football training focus was to be explosive and perform movements that would only transfer to the field. PL is about training for power and maximal strength. BB is about training for hypertrophy/strength. All three need to use periodization and DUP methods IMO. Compound movements are a must in all 3. Nutrition is key to optimizing performance in all 3 sports too. 

3.     What does your current training and nutrition look like?

I am a firm believer in flexible dieting or IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros). This allows one to have balance in their life while also reaching their goals. Basically I calculate Macro Nutrients (Fat, Carboydrate, and Protein). I also makes sure to hit micro nutrients too such as Fiber, Vitamins, and Minerals. 

Currently I am in the tail end of my offseason. I eat 365 g carbs, 235 g Protein, & 85 g Fat per day. This is spread out into about 5-6 meals per day. The goal is always to add small amounts of food at a time allowing the metabolism to adapt so minimal body fat is stored. At the end of my last cut phase I was down to 175 carbs and over the period of 4 months we have got them back up to almost 400. There is more to it but this is a basic explanation of where I am and how I got there. I will begin competition prep March 22. First competition will be September 13 and the last one will be November 22, unless I can EARN that pro status before then!

Training right now is currently done by the strength guys. Check them out at www.thestrengthguys.com.  Everything is periodized in a daily undulated fashion. Currently I am beginning a POWER block of training. I am trying to crack some PR’s before prep starts in about 4 weeks. I did my own programming until about last October. I wanted to think outside the box, try something new, while also being able to focus more on my client’s programming and not my own. So far so good!! Have picked up a few things I am now using with my clients. Hit up Jason Trembley or Jacob Trout sometime, very intelligent guys and as I like to call them “PRODIGIES” in the field. Currently I am standing at the leanest and strongest I have ever been at 192 and am doing ZERO cardio.

4.     There is so much garbage info out their about supplements and all these supplement companies putting out subpar products.  What do you feel are “must” supplements or supplements that actually hold up to the scrutiny of research?

Very true. First off I believe that you get what you pay for. Buying shit from the big popular companies is a waste of money and products are low quality in my opinion. Buying from smaller companies like Devovo Nutrition, Beyond Driven, and Core Nutritionals is the way to go because they are small companies ran by natural pro bodybuilders, power lifters, RD’s, and people who hold advanced degrees in Biochemistry, nutritional science, exercise physiology, etc. Their products are based on research and are not loaded with fillers.

As far as actual things to use I would recommend a preworkout containing Creatine, beta Alanine, and caffeine or you can buy these separate and mix in coffee minus the caffeine OBV and make your own, also I would recommend BCAA’s (Leucine, Iso-Leucine, Valine, L-Glutamine), Whey Protein isolate that is 80% or above protein with the first thing reading on the label saying “whey protein isolate” NOT “whey protein concenterate” J. 

Also a good way to know if your product is quality is to divide the total serving (grams in wt) by the grams of protein per serving. This will give you the Protein %. If its below 80% you have been hosed. I also recommend mult-vitamin and fishoil. Joint support if needed, Vitamin D if needed, ZMA and HMB are not a bad products out there that have recent research to support their functions.

  

However I will tell you what I tell all my clients and that is a supplement is just that a SUPPLEMENT. It is not the end to a means, it simply MAY aid and support one reach their performance with goals assuming they also are using optimal training strategies, eat a well sport performance based balanced diet, sleeping as much as possible, and not using bad lifestyle habits.

5.     Who are some of your biggest influences in this industry?

Mel Siff, Vlatimir Zatsiorsky, Grey Cook, Cal Dietz, Mike Boyle, Dan John, Mike T Nelson, Layne Norton, Cliff Wilson, Tyler Mayer, Brian Ahlstom, Brad Schonenfield, John Gorman, Alan Aragon, Mike Reinold, Jeff Cubos, Jason trembley, Jacob Trout, Alberto Nunez, Sara Wiley, Greg Lanners, so so so so so many more

6.     What are some trends you’re starting to see in your learning and where do you think it may lead?

As I get older, more mature, educated, yada, yada, the biggest thing I notice are not necessarily the mistakes I made in the past but I notice things I could have done better. The more I learn, the more I realize I could have done better but that is part of the process with everyone.

As far as trend in the field that has always been there but I think has been taken for granted is sports nutrition effect on performance. I foresee the sport nutritionists having a larger role in NCAA and professional ranks of athletics. They really should have just as important or equal a role as strength/conditioning coaches IMO. 

7.     When working with clients what are some of the most common dysfunctions (whether it be mobility, stability, strength, posture, asymmetry, et) you see and what steps do you take to correct them?

With athletes its always usually form. Usually teaching hip hinge, foot width/placement during compound movements, tempo, body control/awareness, proper depth, ect. These clients are so moldable though in that they adapt quickly and respond very well to coaching cues.

General population it usually is always tight hips, bad back, lack of overall mobility. I notice generally just getting them moving helps progress mobility. Also since moving and resistance training leads to weight loss, this also aids with increased mobility. A big part of my mobility program is dynamic stretching. Sometimes this is all my clients do at first then we progress to BW movements, dowel, then we load. Its all relative to the individual.

8.     Walk us through how you approach an athletes training in terms of program design, number of training sessions, exercise order, upper/lower body splits, core work, mobility work, and recovery (I know, another loaded question!)

Its always individual to the athlete or client. No one person has the same strength, weaknesses, or body.

I first see what their level of experience training is, what equipment they have to their exposal if online client, I ask for physical limitations, PARQ, what their availability is as far as what the MOST they can train per week. From there depending upon the goal, athlete, where we are in the season/offseason I begin program design.

Program design for me is periodized for everyone, WHY? Because periodization is a plan and in every program there needs to be a plan if the outcome is geared toward success. Just like anything in life if you don’t have a plan then the only thing you do is plan to fail IMO.

Sorry I can’t get more detailed with training variables but it really all depends on the person, sport, and goal.

9.     In your opinion, what are the best online sources for aspiring coaches to check out frequently?

Any CEU coarses OBV, scientific journals such as JSCR, SCJ, JISSN, not all but some great artciles are available on TNATION.com and ELITEFTS.com, also reading articles from guys like Layne Norton, Cliff Wilson, Alberto Nunez, Alan, Aragon, Jason trembley, Andrew Vigotsky, Mike Boyle, Dan John, among others. Always refer back to old text books, notes, and presentation slides.

10. In your opinion, what’s the biggest obstacle for someone in this industry, whether it be in the private sector or as a University S&C?

Well as you know in the NCAA its very hard to overcome politics. Many of us get “used and abused” at that level. Others may say its “paying your dues”, but that is a bunch of BS. 

If you’re the best coach there at that program then you need to be promoted, PERIOD!!! However just like nice guys finish last, well so do smart coaches sometimes. The hours at that level are hard to deal with too. 5am-7pm, 6 sometimes 7 days per week, travel with team, man sounds great but doesn’t allow balance. Not for 30,000 a year either. Do the math…1-2 dollars an hour?!?! 

I also found it very biased at times. You either had to train like this or train like that or you weren’t worthy, just a bunch of BS let me tell ya. It also was hard being a “puppet” at programs where a director would do all programing and then have us assistants only there to implement what they designed. How in the hell does a coach develop their own philosophy if they cant use trial and error and program for their own athletes?!?! It's not what you know, its all about who you know. These are all reasons why I moved out of the NCAA and moved into a balanced career within the field where I can continue to do what I love on the side while watching it grow.

Speed Round!

Squats or Deadlifts? 

Gotta love them BOTH!!

I would program them both but would add more volume with squats then with deadlifts in most programs.

Olympic Lifts or Other Means of Power Development?

Once again both have their place in periodization of a program. What I love about Olympic lifts are that there are so many pre-requisite movements and steps until a full Clean, Snatch, or Jerk is complete. So these things can always be implemented in one way or another.

 Coffee, Energy Drinks, or Soda?

Coffee…..YUCK!!! sugar free monster all day long, diet Mtn Dew here and there. Lets face it we need our stimulants in this field!!!

Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Lawrence, Jennifer Love-Hewitt, or Jennifer Hudson?

Jennifer Love-Hewitt….YES PLEASE!!!! Loved her growing up, loved her in college, love her now, probably still love her when I am old and wrinkly.

Thanks Blayne!

No Problem Brutha!!! Was my pleasure!!! Although our time at the U of M was short, it def was sweet and I will never forget it!!! Love seeing what your doing man!!! Keep working hard man and keep me posted in your endeavors if not including me in them!