Brandon Smitley on Developing the Young Athlete

When Brandon Smitley returned to Terre Haute in 2012 to work on his graduate degree at Indiana State University, he realized the lack of a facility where athletes and community members could go to achieve their desired results.

Brandon, a competitive powerlifter and world-renowned strength coach, began a project to help improve the community’s health, fitness, and athletic performance.

The project soon evolved to the Terre Haute Intensity Resistance and Sports Training (THIRST), which he co-founded and co-owns with his wife, Adrian, a strength coach and personal trainer.

Brandon joins me today to discuss conjugate training methods and their application to youth athletic training.

He defines conjugate training and differentiates it from concurrent training.

He outlines the key issues he encounters whenever he trains young athletes.

And Brandon also highlights the importance of cultivating confidence in the weight room, and explains why coaches need to prioritize buy-in when training kids and young athletes.

 

Ensure that the program is something they enjoy and that it builds their confidence. If we can get kids to buy in first, everything else will follow. – Brandon Smitley

 

This week on the Physical Preparation Podcast:

• Dominating life and what led Brandon to the world of physical preparation
• Brandon’s career path and why he decided to work with clients in the private sector
• Defining and demystifying conjugate training
• The history and popularization of conjugate training
• Applying the conjugate training method to youth athletes in the private sector
• The difference between conjugate and concurrent training
• Brandon’s philosophy on training youth athletes
• Keeping kids physically active amid COVID-19 and e-learning
• General body awareness and other key issues Brandon deals with when training young athletes
• The importance of networking in the world of physical preparation
• The ups and downs of gym ownership

 

Resources Mentioned:

• Book: Conjugate U: The Ultimate Cheat Code for Athletic Development & Injury Reduction by Nate Harvey

 

Connect with Brandon:

• THIRST
• THIRST on Instagram
• THIRST on Facebook
• Brandon Smitley on LinkedIn
• Brandon Smitley on Instagram
• Email: thirst.training@gmail.com

 

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Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of The Physical Preparation Podcast with Mike Robertson – your one-stop-shop for fitness trainers, coaches, and athletes.

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