Before you listen to the episode make sure to check out the great line of amino acids offered by our sponsor the Amino CO. I personally use the perform blend and it helps ready me for my workouts as well as cognitive task where I need focus and energy to perform at my highest potential. Don't forget to use code FTG at checkout to save 30%.  On this weeks episode, I sat down with Jacob Tober co founder and head of research for Metric VBT. Metric VBT is a velocity based training app that uses the power of your IOS device to capture velocity metrics and provide users with immediate feedback on performance and overall readiness. Jacob does an excellent job of providing excellent content focusing on how to implement VBT into training processes. We start our conversation by sharing how Jacob has simplified the traditional velocity zones to cut through the semantics and get directly to the point. Jacob shares the characteristics of each zone and shares how exercise selection can help increase the effectiveness of athletes working around a certain zone for a given session. Jacob shares how metrics are variable between exercises and athletes, therefore, gathering data to validate an athletes outputs is important for validating and guiding exercise prescription for each athlete.  Jacob shares how to gather data to create a load/ velocity profile as well as a load/power profile. Jacob discusses the differences between these two profiles and when it's beneficial to employ each of these profiles. Jacob also again shares how different exercises may be more adaptable for the velocity or power profile. This conversation is less about what you can do and more about what you should do to get the most out of your VBT metrics within training. Jacob shares how gathering a wide spectrum of power outputs can be beneficial because it builds a broader picture of the type of athlete you are dealing with. Are they more strength based or more elastic in nature? You can then use this to help guide programming options and this can be a powerful tool to help build in methods that will help keep athletes healthy, fresh, and less likely to get injured. Many athletes are in competition for the bulk of the year, therefore, finding manners to keep athletes at peak performance is of the upmost importance. Jacob shares how to keep athletes performing at a high level and how to keep power output high within in season training. Jacob also talks about how to properly utilize VBT to help assess athlete readiness and how cutoffs may vary between different times and sessions. Overall this is a really great dive into VBT and the potential that it provides to optimize training solutions for athletes of all sporting levels. Check the links below for my weekly write up, as well as Jacob's awesome resources where he provides even more detailed breakdowns of different topics closely related to VBT.  From the Ground up.com  Metric VBT  VBT coach Insta VBT coach Twitter VBTcoach.com VBT coach Youtube

Before starting this weeks episode I'd like to take time to thank our incredible sponsor over at the Amino Co. Amino Co provides targeted amino acid supplements that can help you optimize your body for a variety of task. My favorite blend is the perform blend, which I've referenced multiple times on the show. Perform allows for you to optimize your body for workouts and cognitive task that require strenuous attention to detail. Use code FTG at checkout to save 30% off the overall price.  On this weeks episode, I sat down with Brian Kula of Kula sport performance to discuss speed development and how to get the most out of sessions by streamlining processes to align to potentiate and cultivate certain targeted adaptations and skills. The starting point of the conversation is how coach Kula's diverse experience in the realm of athletic development have helped guide the principles that he utilizes to work with a diverse set of clientele ranging from youth athletes all the way to the upper echelon in multiple sporting populations. Coach Kula starts by discussing the fact that all athletes seek adaptation and in order to get desired adaptation they must have target stimulation. The only thing that really varies at a basic level is the intensity and volume a stimulus is implemented with. Coach Kula shares how there are definitely caveats and professional athletes are already well developed, so there is a natural shift in their process to optimizing and priming them for performance at a high level.  Coach Kula shares the three pillars that he utilizes to guide his programming choices and schedule Sprint fast, lift heavy, and rest often. As you listen to the conversation you can hear how these pillars are implemented to help build healthy, strong, fast, and dynamic athletes for a variety of sporting backgrounds. Coach Kula shares how they arrange training on a weekly training plan and how they utilize certain themes to help guide their programming choices. It really helps to keep training targeted and allows for athletes to chase the desired adaptation for a given session and perhaps larger cycle of training. Coach Kula shares how they arrange max velocity sessions from the warm up, drill/skill development processes, sprints, and weight room processes. As we advance the conversation the listener will hear how he varies program prescription and exercise selection between max velocity, change of direction, and acceleration sessions.  We end the conversation by discussing mass specific force and Coach Kula shares the logic behind the system as well as how he implements it as a part of his arsenal. He shares the population that he adopted the system for and how it could be beneficial to various athletic populations when employed at the appropriate time. This is a great episode to examine the logic of how you arrange your session to get the most out of a given skill set or stimulus. It's good on occasion to step back and think about your logic for the selections you make in programming and how they help to build or potentiate the desired adaptation in the immediate and at a later time.  From The ground up.com  Kula Sports performance Insta KulaSP.com

On Episode 64, I sat down with Danny Foley head strength coach at Virginia High Performance to discuss how to better balance the development of athletes by bringing in different elements to training. Danny has spoken at great length on how to integrate fascia into training and in this conversation Danny shares many of the inventive ways to provide athletes and clients with a more well rounded approach. Danny starts out by sharing how the unique clientele that he works with on a regular basis was a catalyst for a shift in his mental model for how to effectively train individuals.  Many times individuals are very entrenched and only follow one line of logic. Danny shares that bringing fascia into the picture doesn't mean that you completely abandon more common methods individuals may be familiar with. A focus on fascia focuses on the quality of interconnected omnidirectional formats of movement. Whereas, methods that only take into account muscular develop focus on the isolation of different aspects of movement and rely heavily on progressive overload as the main driver of adaptation and growth. Throughout the conversation you'll hear how you can easily integrate a fascia based approach into warmups, auxiliary methods and more.   Danny discusses the importance of building athletes in a proximal to distal manner and how to bring this concept into auxiliary and core movement selections. One of the big positives that can be derived from bringing the methods shared in this episode is that they bringing a great level of variability into training. This variability can keep cognitive engagement and strain at a desired level and also work to build a more dynamic well prepared individual. There are many methods to vary training Danny shares how stance, tempo, load and more can be varied to more heavily bias fascia  for training selections.  If you are familiar with fascia than you have probably encountered the term sling. Danny shares the slings of the body and discusses the main activities that each sling is involved with. He also shares how to assess each of these sling patterns and shares many of the common deficiencies that he has seen with sling patterning in the populations that he works with. For a more detailed  write up head over to From the Ground Up.com and check out the weekly companion article that accompanies each episode.  Amino CO (don't forget to try out the awesome amino acid blends over at our sponsor amino co. I utilize their Perform blend each day to help optimize me for physical performance and strenuous cognitive task. Use Code FTG at check out to save 30%) Danmode_VHP insta Ruderockstrength insta Virginia high Performance Insta Ruderockstrength.com Ruderock youtube  Fascia Archive 

On this episode I sat down with Coach Ryan Ojeda. Coach Ojeda is currently the strength and conditioning coach at West Feliciana high school. In this conversation we examine building fluid and dynamic movers and ensuring transfer from agilities and field work to the actual field of play. The first question that Coach Ojeda addresses is the role of agilities within preparatory methods. Coach Ojeda shares that he views agilities as multi directional speed and multidirectional speed exist on a continuum moving from change of direction to agilities. Agility training can bolster many different variables such as spatial and kinesthetic awareness, perception action coupling, force production, deceleration, and more. Change of direction allow for individuals to build proficiency within certain movement patterns and build familiarization of those patterns.  Coach Ojeda shares that he includes some manner of perception action coupling within each of his days. The manner in which this skill is interwoven depends upon the theme for the day. For instance, on a linear day they may perform a chase variation where an athlete has to deal with the time constraints presented by another athlete's movement choices. Perception action coupling on  Lateral days may include different curvilinear elements to line up with the movement focus for the given session. By including activities in which athletes have to make real time decisions based upon variable outside stimuli athletes are given the affordances to become more robust and dynamic movers in open situations such as game play.   Deceleration is a major factor in the ability to be a dynamic mover and also to stay healthy. Coach Ojeda discusses how there is some layering and periodization of the forces that one deals with in regards to deceleration early on in the preparatory period. However, a common theme in this weeks episode is the affordances that open space and exploration can provide for finding optimal movement solutions. By allowing more exploration and open sided drills where athletes have to react, they have the opportunity to learn the different force applications that may be needed in a variety of circumstances.  One of the center pieces of the conversation focuses on transitions or rhythm changes, this is where the gallop entry is explained. Coach Ojeda shares how he began to notice the gallop as a pivotal skill. He explains how upon observing young kids move and avoid one another that the gallop seemed like a natural choice for young children to redirect and shift momentum and change direction. After this observation Coach Ojeda shares how he began to see this in a variety of sports settings. The gallop allows for a natural redistribution of weight to roll over the foot and increase impulse or force. Throughout the remainder of the conversation Coach Ojeda talks the audience through how he organizes and utilizes a variety of gallops to help increase athletes proficiency of movement. He shares how they utilize both short stride and long stride gallops and how they advance to gallop switches. With each talking point Ojeda shares how he blends activities and includes elements of open ended skill development to help allow athletes the opportunity organize to complete task optimally under a variety of circumstances.  From the ground up. com    Amino Co  Ryan Ojeda Twitter  Ryan Ojeda Instagram

This weeks episode brought to you by the science backed, research supported, and overall exceptional Amino Acids over at The Amino Co. Why wait? Who doesn’t want to perform at their Peak level? Everyone’s idea of peak performance is different, but being at your peak simply means you are performing at your highest potential. Check out their awesome Performance blend Perform, it helps reduce fatigue, fosters muscle building and reduces muscle break down. Click on Amino CO and  Use Code FTG at checkout to save 30%. On this weeks episode I sat down with Homewood- Flossmoor's jumps Coach Rob Assise. Jumping can be a game changer when we employ it in an intelligent manner. Jumping can teach one how to have a positive relationship with the ground and if we make the ground our friend we can begin to interact with it in more intense and dynamic manners. Force production is the name of the game, we discuss Impulse and the different manners in which one can increase impulse. A natural flow begins to emerge that can be beneficial for teaching athletes how to produce force and build a positive relationship with the ground. One can increase impulse by a) spending more time on the ground b)producing higher peak force c) increase in RFD. Chaining together these three different variables can help build competency, intensity, and help build towards the display of force within the unique time constraints of a given athletic competition.  Coach Assise shares his intake process and how he examines a given athletes jump profile. I really like the rationale that he presents stating that he often likes to watch how athletes sprint. This makes a lot of sense as sprinting will force the athletes body  to choose what it deems to be most desirable under shortened time constraints for force production. Some athletes may be more hinge based, while other athletes may be more squatty in their movements, coach Assise shares that he likes to build around what athletes bring to the table. A common thread throughout the conversation is the need for individualization, especially when dealing with higher intensity jumps. Coach Assise shares that in his experience jumps tend to be much more variable than sprint programming. It's important to find a level of proficiency where an athlete can exhibit the desired intensity. Coach Assise, states that by identifying an athletes capabilities at a given intensity he can build back to more rudimentary skills that will help build the athletes jump profile.  From The Ground up.com (Sign up for bi monthly newsletter and see more detailed write ups for each episode) HF Jumps Twitter  HF Jumps Insta  Reevolition Athletics  Amino Co 

On Episode 61, I sat down with Dr. Samuel Lauman. We begin our discussion by sharing some of the important ideas and terms that are heavily associated with the term posture. Posture can relate to a given position while standing, sitting, or laying down. One of the early distinctions that Dr. Lauman shares is that posture in most instances is simply a snap shot. Static posture assessment and positions are snap shots in time and positions and shapes may vary under the dynamic requirements of more fluid and chaotic situations. Gravity is unavoidable and an important factor that needs consideration when focusing on posture. Our body is naturally  influenced by gravity and more dynamic means will make this interaction with gravity an even more important consideration. When looking at a given posture, it can either make a person larger or smaller, when thinking about this we can see the clear tie to psychological ramifications of certain postural choices. Early in the conversation we also talk about how more upright postures verses hunched or smaller postures will have different ramifications for bodily systems such as the respiratory, circulatory, or digestive systems.  The two postural issues that much of the conversation centers on are  FHP and RSP.   We  discuss how Scapular issues may be tied into downstream areas such as the pelvis. As Dr. Lauman shares some of the different discrepancies that are created in reference to cervical pressure due to forward head positions, one can begin to make connections to inhibited or weakened areas of the body due to excessive differences in load bearing requirements. For example at 0 degrees of forward protrusion one can expect 10-12 lbs of pressure on the cervical spine. This varies wildly from 60 degrees of forward protrusion, which places around 60 lbs of pressure on the cervical region of an individual.  Semantics and word choice can be sticky and many times we see the terms over or under "active" or tight or slack utilized when describing the actions of different muscles or muscle groups. We discuss some of the commonalities that may fit with these expressions, research does appear to support many different tensional patterns for the above referenced head postures. Therefore, there is some format of tensional patterning that is associated with different postural positions. There are psychological and emotional components that are closely linked to posture, if our normal posture is less than optimal how will our posture hold up during times of stress and fatigue? What do you communicate with your posture?  You can see many of these nonverbal cues during games, think about when a team is on 10-0  run look at their bench compared to the team that just gave up 10 unanswered points. The environment and player involvement is completely different. We go on to discuss how posture can help inform training selections, Distal to proximal and proximal to distal actions and more to end out the conversation. Posture is important shapes determine expression. I like to think of locomotion as a puzzle, our posture can take on many different shapes under fluid and dynamic circumstances. Posture can be a big determinant of if we have the right pieces to solve the movement puzzle.  Samuel.Lauman Instagram  Amino Co Use Code FTG to save 30%  From The Ground Up.com 

Make sure to check out the great line of Amino Acids available over at our sponsor the Amino Co. Save 30% off when you use code FTG at checkout.  On this episode, I sat down with Dr. Jacob Weiss of Handeyebody to discuss many great topics. The conversation starts by featuring the idea of approaching things with a beginners mindset. A beginner expects to  encounter difficulties  along the way,  this may mean encountering failure or results that differ from our expectations. The most important thing is making sure that you are open to new experiences and willing to try different methods and avenues to arrive at a given skill set. This blends nicely to one of the main tenets of the conversation the role of creativity and how creativity is an important part of building dynamic skill sets and rich experiences. As you become more accustom to inhabiting the beginners mindset you can begin to apply the beginners mindset to larger or more important skills and begin to try and experiment with different possibilities. Weighing  the role of variance and predictability within skill development is an important consideration, how we layer these concepts into training may be a major determinant of learning and skill acquisition. I like to look at all possible options and think about when each may be plausible or optimal to utilize. We discuss the idea of linear skill development where drills can provide a certain level of mastery before building onto other levels of dynamic display or difficulty. We also discuss options that may allow for exploration and variance and the stacking or multi sensory experience to better challenge the athlete. An important consideration that we may benefit from pondering is the idea of chasing mastery and how this may actually paint a person into a corner. If you only have two sides of the coin, right or wrong, you’re most likely missing out on a lot of the experience. If we frame everything as either inherently bad or less than optimal or inherently good and sought after, we may try to protect and be unwilling to take risk, explore, and be creative. If you never deviate from what we deem to be the right solution, how will you respond when in a chaotic, dynamic, or fluid environment? Dr. Weiss shares how we can naturally stack and take away different elements to lead to higher levels of cognitive strain or make things more strenuous from a coordinative perspective. We can add in different physical elements, cognitive elements, visual elements, or rhythm based elements. We could potentially build and stack all of these things to help provide more strain or we could lessen the noise to make a focal point concise and easily discernable. Novelty is very important to keep the brain engaged, all of the options discussed above can provide countless options for variance of a simple drill. Many of the things that I latch onto within life and in training center heavily around contrast and one of our last talking points providing tempo ties well to the idea of contrast, rhythm and coordination. Most preparatory tempos are accelerated and concentrically biased only focusing on the fast and missing the full sensory experience. Dr. Weiss shares how slowing down may allow for you to feel and also take the time to learn in between experiences. I don't know if this episode discussed training or life, I think perhaps a little of both! HandEyeBody.com Handeyebody On instagram  Amino Co From The Ground Up. com 

Make Sure to Check out Amino Co's Line of Amino Acids, as referenced in the opening. I use their perform blend and it helps to power my performance and is a part of my daily supplementation protocol.  Check the link aminoco.com/FTG Use code FTG at check out to save 30%.  On this weeks episode I sat down with Tyler Anzmann of TA performance. Tyler focuses on athletic development and performance, but is definitely focused on developing the throwing capabilities of the athletes that he works with. Tyler was able to increase his own Velo as he references early in the podcast to help give him a chance to extend his playing prospects after college.  Perspectives on LTAD  flowed throughout many different portions of our discussion, and early on Tyler shares something that I whole heartedly agree with. If we can have athletes run fast, jump high, and throw in their early development, than we are on pace for a well rounded athlete. Tyler also shares that he likes to see the athletes compete and he discussed gamifying some portions of training as a natural facilitator to help drive up the competitive nature of training sessions.  Tyler shares how he balances neurological and physiological considerations within training and how these piece amplify the affects of one another. Orchestrating the intensification process is extremely important so we discuss how to use extensive to intensive means to build the physiological resilience into structures for later intensive means. Tyler shares some of the pitfalls that athletes can fall into in regards to recovery. The high/low model was discussed within many of the perspectives presented on this episode. Tyler shares that many athletes struggle to have a true low day and often fall into the trap of making a low day more of a moderate day with moderate intensity and volume.  The balancing act of stress accumulation is discussed throughout much of the conversation and we see that the off season is a time where High velocity can be developed at a premium. This is the time to chase those high outputs, it's not that we don't touch those qualities in season but the sport is where those qualities will be accessed most frequently at that time. Coaches can be  more generous with drop offs in the offseason with the understanding that they still have to be careful with max output days. Off season is quality development time and individuals can carry a bit more fatigue or stress from sessions. Drop offs for in season are extremely low 1-2% as we don’t expect increases in max v at that time and we don’t want to carry fatigue into later sessions. The training stimulus can encourage power and speed development or can inhibit. Tyler shares the research and idea behind fiber shifts. one of the reasons that coaches may choose to closely monitor fatigue and drop offs is to ensure that we are working in a manner that will not shift tissue quality towards a slower/ less explosive format. Understanding the preferences of athletes can go a long way in building a program that will productively build the strengths of athletes.  Force velocity and load velocity assessments can help to inform coaches on whether athletes are force dominant or elastic in nature, By examining these qualities coaches can more naturally build potentiation into their training processes for athletes.  From the Ground Up Athletic Performance  Amino Co  Tyler Anzmann Insta  Tyler Anzmann.com  Youtube 

Make sure to check out the great products offered by  Aminoco referenced in the opening of the Podcast. aminoco.com/FTG After clicking on the link make sure you save 30% on your order by entering my personal Code FTG at checkout!  On this weeks episode I sat down with Author James Earls to discuss many of the talking points presented within his new text Understanding the Human Foot. James does an incredible job in his book of painting how the foot has evolved overtime to a certain form that fits its function. We discuss some of the basic concepts that help influence the foots function, James defines the terms stress and strain. As we move throughout the conversation we begin to see how different stresses place certain strains on the surrounding tissues based upon the ability of given joint actions and the integrity of certain structures. Our repeated patterns or differing experiences of stress and strain helps to design our bone structure and shape. When discussing different modes of locomotion, intensity and thus energy expenditure appear to be a few of the main factors which differentiate the modes of walking verses jogging and sprinting. I believe to some extent we aim for proficiency in our modes of expression of these differing movement patterns; however, proficiency in our daily modes means lower energy consumption. High output modes of jogging and sprinting the chief concern is power production, this leads towards a model where we are driving in a many where power production as now become the chief concern, with this realization we can begin to see how the tissues have to deal with vastly different stresses and strains within the different modes of locomotion. Over time our body conforms to the repeated stresses/ strains  that it becomes accustomed to,  the tissues will optimize their form to control for more optimal and efficient movement options. The gait process and the foots as well as other units functions throughout the gait cycle are in the center of this conversation as we move along. We begin by discussing the concept of the tripod foot and James raises a great point, its not that the tripod concept is faulty, but rather that it is a static model. James shares that the concept of a static phase of control transitioning to more dynamic means of locomotion is troubling. We don’t have stability because we have three points of contact, we have stability as the result of a dynamic and intelligent foot. As we move into the later portions of the conversation James shares the arrangement of the half dome and how it seems to be a more visual/ functional representation of the foot structure. James also discusses some of the common issues that one may encounter while working in some capacity as a movement professional. James shares some of the methods to access the foot for different compensations/ issues. Check the links below for James's socials, book, webpage.  James Earls Book offerings  Amino Co Supplment line Make sure to use my personal Code FTG to save 30%  Born to move  From the ground up.com  James insta 

On episode 57, I sat down with Wendy Posillico Founder of Live your June. Wendy has a background in competitive sports and has been involved with the LPGA, Wendy currently focuses on helping individuals and groups find a high performance mindset. How we frame and rationalize things really paints our understanding of a given situation and our capacity to truly perform. The starting point as the conversation gets underway focuses on firstly identifying the things that in Wendy's experience often keep individuals from achieving great things or having a productive mindset. Wendy states that one of the biggest challenges to an optimal, healthy, or high performance mindset is the inability to know self and celebrate self. People often bring in old patterns of beliefs that will shield them from their potential or new more beneficial habits or beliefs. Language is one of our most powerful tools of expression. Language is important , Wendy states that we all have two voices in our head and how we choose to speak to ourselves and to others really frames and gives context to the situation and our capabilities.  Wendy believes that its very important to celebrate the things that make each of us unique. Models and frameworks are important, however, Wendy shares some of the dangers of projecting models onto every situation. We have to facilitate and help people realize their own vision, potential, and modes of expression. Wendy's starting point for developing a high performance mindset is firstly establishing your own ethos. This word really stood out to me as I have often discussed this term with many of my students and ethos most often equates to ones morals or credibility. For Wendy knowing self allows for us to identify and fortify our strengths in hopes that they may be projected towards a grander vision.  After establishing a sense of self and projecting ourselves towards a vision its important to reflect on the gap that exist between ones current situation and where their vision leads them. Why does this discrepancy or gap exist? We discuss the importance of short term focus and long term focus. In my own experience individuals tend to be either process and detail orientated only focusing on those things that are near, Or completely on the other end always looking towards the horizon for land all the while hitting the iceberg that's in plain sight. Wendy shares that its not natural for most to think big and by thinking big she doesn't mean ridiculous. Wendy is more or less referencing the power of disruption here, a push, a shift, a stretch that will make you do things that are out of the ordinary for you typically. Wendy also shares that its important to not miss the trees for the forest, make sure the foundation is right. what moves your needle most? You may be surprised how some of the smaller or more basic habits and choices such as sleep and am/pm bookends which is referenced later in the conversation will lead to a better mindset and greater productivity.  Mindfulness is very important, it calls attention to processes, but it can also completely freeze and inhibit the ability to perform in some instances. Wendy shares how mindfulness can be empowering and how to balance mindfulness or consciousness with detachment and seeking external feedback. As we discuss high performance in the second half of the conversation being open and curious are two different characteristics that seem to foster and build high performance cultures.  Live your June  Linked In  Instagram  From The Ground up athletic Performance.com