The Importance of Athlete Involvement in Exercise Selection

Duncan French, Vice President of Performance at UFC Performance Institute, and Bo Sandoval, Director of Strength and Conditioning, talk to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about how they holistically support around 570 Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) athletes and push the boundaries of the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas. Topics under discussion include staying open to new ideas and perspectives, being adaptable as a coach, and the different ways they support their athletes.

Find Duncan on Twitter: @DuncanFrench or Instagram: @dr_duncan_french | Find Bo on Twitter: @olystrength or Instagram: @bo.sandoval | Find Scott on Instagram: @coachcaulfield

“…and what we’re truly about, is trying to understand, how do you prepare and MMA fight optimally? How do you go about their health, their well-being, and their performance, and truly that’s what the [UFC] Performance Institute was put here for.” 5:40

“So, to kind of draw that to a summary of why the PI [UFC Performance Institute] is here, it’s truly to evolve the sport of MMA and that is part of our mission statement that sits on the wall right next to our front entrance as people come into the facility.” 6:44

“We purposefully didn’t want people that had massive amounts of MMA insights and experience, we wanted new eyes on a product. If we’re going to take MMA and combat sports to a new direction or new level of understanding, we wanted pollination of new ideas, new thinking, not stuck in the status quo of what is currently happening in all the different areas of combat sport training.” 13:01

“And that’s kind of what I’ve said from day one, recruiting is one of the most challenging things, getting the right people, it’s one of the toughest things out there.” 14:42

“So I need someone who’s got the hustle to be able to address those remote needs, as well as, what we say, the easy ones that are right here in our backyard.” 17:27

“And, that happens a lot, we’re integrating a lot with strength coaches, and we want to embrace the conversation for the greater good of the athlete.” 18:40

“So, we’re constantly putting stuff in front of each other, and to me that it’s a personality trait, just being willing and open to share and interact.” 26:05

“I think, that's growth mindset again; everything, every piece of information is valuable. And then, you just got to interpret it and figure out what best sits in our space which can help us.” 27:56

“It’s all about building relationships and that’s what entirely, this whole strength and conditioning thing comes back to. Yes, we have to have technical, tactical knowledge, we have to know our science, but then today it’s the relationship building and getting all those people to be to work together as a team.” 29:49

“It’s so crucial at the end of the day, it’s not in a sports industry, we’re in a people industry.” 30:37

“…at the end of the day, you need to be adaptive… you have to like people, you have to enjoy being around people, not just like-minded people, those are the easy ones, that's easy. If you're truly going to influence something, you've got to be able to interact with the ones that you despise…” 35:47

“And influence goes both ways, you can be a positive influence, or you can be a negative influence, at the end of the day, someone’s going to remember you for one or the other.” 37:15

“So, in my opinion, throughout my career, my clock started the day I took the first job, and it’s like, all right, how many bridges are you going to build?” 37:22

“…but it’s a service-driven thing, it’s oh wow, this guy’s really here for me, he’s going to provide what is best in my best interest, might take him two days for that to click, might take him 10 months for that to click, but it’s worth it 100%.” 44:26

“…Duncan French on Twitter, Dr. Duncan French on Instagram, hit me up, no problem, happy to talk.” 45:19

“I’m Olystrength on Twitter, and then Bo.Sandoval on Instagram, and yeah, likewise, we try to put the welcome mat out as much as possible.” 45:56