
469: Hunter Eisenhower on Building “Human Strength” and Athletic Movement Capacity
Just Fly Performance Podcast
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Exploring Blood Oxygen Saturation and Training Variability
This chapter explores the significance of blood oxygen saturation monitors in athletic training, highlighting personal experiences of tracking oxygen levels during intense workouts. It emphasizes the need for variability in training regimens to promote better athletic performance and a deeper understanding of the mind-body connection.
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Today’s guest is Hunter Eisenhower, Associate Head Coach for Sports Performance at Arizona State Men’s Basketball. With experience in the NBA and NCAA, Hunter blends force production qualities, data analysis, and variability-driven human training methods to build explosive, adaptable athletes. He’s the creator of the “Force System” and a thought leader in modern athletic performance concepts.
Most athletic performance training is centered around outputs. Movement abilities and qualities are discussed, but there isn’t much quantification process that goes towards an athlete’s raw abilities, such as variable jump strategies alongside stiffness and compliance competencies.
On today’s episode, Hunter shares his approach to offseason prep using general physical means that build that “human strength”—developing capacity alongside movement variability. Hunter also breaks down how he quantifies an athlete’s movement capacities and library, their ability to, balance rigidity and compliance in line with force plate data. We wrap with ideas on foot training and using variable surfaces to meet the demands of dynamic sport. This is a great look at training beyond just big lifts—into the true movement needs of the game.
Today’s episode is brought to you by Hammer Strength and the Just Fly Sports Online Courses
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View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. (https://www.just-fly-sports.com/podcast-home/)
Main Points
2:00- Sandbags, Suffering, and the Mental Edge
6:00- Let Hard and Fun Coexist in Your Program
10:19- The Importance of Variability in Program Design
12:53- Early Off-Season Program Design
19:27- Rewild Your Program: Crawl, Climb, Wrestle, Hang
23:28- Rethink GPP: Don’t Just Prep to Lift—Prep to Move
30:20- Break Barbell Monotony with Sandbags
34:49- Sleds Are a Movement Tool—Not Just a Finisher
41:03- Measure Movement Options—Not Just Output
48:39- Don’t Confuse Explosive with Efficient
54:31- Train Variability by Changing the Rules
58:05- Cue for Change: Let the Jump Reveal the Strategy
59:50- Start with the Foot—It Tells the Whole Story
1:05:07- Polish Boxes, Stall Bars, and DIY Creativity
Quotes
"The polarity in a training program I think is just like so powerful and so important." - Hunter Eisenhower
"You, like, learn to appreciate the fun whenever you have to do the suck." - Hunter Eisenhower
"And the way I structure (early off-season) is we go, we go a human force day, a slow force day, a human force day and a slow force day. And we just do that throughout a four day training schedule." - Hunter Eisenhower
"A lot of people consider GPP like high volume, squat, hinge, push pull; to me, I think GPP is like going back to the absolute ground level, like basics of just like children, what they would do, they're crawling, they're climbing, they're doing gymnastics and flips, they're, they're roughhousing." - Hunter Eisenhower
"It's like bigger, faster, stronger. It's like the, the old adage. Then I was thinking like, is that really the goal with elite athletes? Like, is the goal to increase outputs?." - Hunter Eisenhower
"If their only strategy that they can rely on is rigidity, maybe I can begin to infuse some of this compliance." - Hunter Eisenhower
"If your foot can't get into a position, the rest of your body won't be able to get into a variable position."- Hunter Eisenhower
"I love that with like lunge variations because it's like, no, don't just step in a different way. Like contort your body in a different position. And I think that that exposed them to positions they've probably never been in before." - Hunter Eisenhower
About Hunter Eisenhower
Hunter Eisenhower is the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for Arizona State Men’s Basketball, bringing a dynamic, force-based approach to athlete development. With experience in the NBA (Sacramento Kings), G League (Stockton Kings), and several NCAA programs, Hunter blends science, intent, and creativity to enhance performance. He played college basketball at Seattle Pacific University.
At ASU, Hunter applies his “Force System” methodology—a framework combining data analytics, plyometrics, strength training, and play-based movement to build powerful, adaptable athletes. His work emphasizes not just raw output, but how athletes express force in real-game contexts. A frequent podcast guest and educator, Hunter continues to push the field forward while living in Tempe with his wife Leah, and daughter Elsie.
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