On episode 56, I sat down with Coach Matt Tometz of TCBoost Training. Coach Tometz has wrote several awesome articles for simplifaster detailing many of the talking points referenced in todays episode. This episode focused on speed training and how to get the most that you can out of speed training by utilizing objective data to validate when athletes are primed to perform max effort sprint sessions. The first portion of the conversation centered heavily on data and how to integrate data into the decision making process for a coach. One of the first things that Matt offered that I really enjoyed is that data is not a standalone variable. Data is part of a 3 part equation, 1) the data, 2) the coaches eye 3) The athlete and their current feeling. Before talking about speed training, its good to define the topic to give reference to the main talking points. Matt does just that and one can see the different traits that need to be arranged to effectively build and model towards speed and power development.  We next discuss Charlie Francis and his 95% rule and how practitioners can utilize this metric to help inform program choices and examine overall athlete readiness. Again Numbers are only valid if we can calculate them under valid conditions, Matt discusses how he calculates Athletes  95% capacity and how it helps him to give meaning and an aiming point for the session. I really like how in this section Matt discusses how it is unrealistic to expect a PR on each sprint attempt, such an environment and attitude can be detrimental to development. Matt shares how the 95% rule allows for him to complete high quality speed and combat unrealistic expectations and PRitis. Data is a great metric that allows for coaches to keep their finger on the pulse of a given session, however, Matt shares how one anomaly isn't cause for an alarm. Matt shares another great rationale that moving directly from data to decision can be a mistake. The appropriate order to insure optimal training would be data, discussion, decision, this involves athletes in the training process and also allows for coaches to appear less Draconian.  Much of the second part of the conversation discusses resisted sprinting and Matt and I share the observation that much of the resisted patterns of the weight room are not in the horizontal vector. This naturally shows why I believe Resisted sprinting to be extremely valuable for the building of plane specific force in athletes. Matt offers up a guiding question that he ask himself to guide his why in programming and decisions, What is the best use of my hour that I have with an athlete? Matt rationalizes and rightfully so that he firstly will provide a high quality speed stimulus to his athletes. This is really invaluable because most of the athletes that he is dealing with do not consistently encounter a potent speed stimulus, Prep and games more often fall into the 85% zone that Francis warned about. The last part of our conversation focuses on Velocity Decrements in sprinting and Matt does a great job explaining the process and stimulus of each zone. Matt also discusses how to use sprint profiling to develop programming on an individualized scale. Make sure to check the links below for access to Matt's socials and show.  Matt Tometz Insta Matt Tometz Youtube The Talking Shop Podcast  From The Ground Up Website 

On episode 55 I sat down with Angelo Gingerelli of Seton Hall University. Angelo shares some of his personal experiences early on  and shares how an early S & C coach was formative in his introduction to the field. Angelo also shares what it means to him to be a coach at Seton Hall, its like family to him he grew up right around the corner and always followed the university closely. I really like one of the first things that Angelo shares, he voices how beneficial it is for young athletes to get involved in track and field or the pursuit of linear speed early on. Its a great start and a great place to build some of the finer elements of an efficient running model at an early age. Angelo also shares that technical works and sport specific movements or starts are important, however linear speed really is the tide that lifts all boats, you have to have a good base line of speed for anything else to be of consequence.  Angelo shared an interesting perspective on how he often  finds  in shape individuals struggle with more rudimentary patterns of movement. He includes the movements that individuals are lacking in to some degree in every warm up session, this  provides variance with the given movement pattern. The inclusion of these movements  also allow for him to access the limiting factor to proficient movement models. Angelo shares a common sticking point for most in S & C, group size and being able to tailor programming needs to subsets within the group. The rationale he presents with building an adequate expression of strength is well founded. We must master the movement and scaffold through variations that  allow for the proper expression of the quality of strength. To rush intensification through adding of load at both a youth and higher level is a mistake that will only limit future potential and perhaps end with injury. One of the biggest indicators for success of a given prep program is consistency of high level work. Angelo shares that its important for athletes and clients to find value in the exercises and joy as well.  Angelo shares the 6 foundational movements that he attempts to make athletes proficient in these are the squat, hinge, lunge, hip bridge, upper push, upper pull. Angelo feels that if individuals can show proficiency in these movements they have a great starting point to advance strength and resilience of structures. If individuals struggle to express these movements under light or body weight load, the regression and starting point is simple, firstly we must become more efficient movers. The end of the conversation shines a light on many of the topics featured in Angelo's book that is out currently. Angelo shares how resistance training can be used to help runners run more efficiently, avoid injury, and finish the race in a stronger state. Angelo shares that many in the running community completely leave resistance training out of their regiment. Those that choose to include resistance measures can start small and build upwards from there. Angelo believes that not only means a higher likelihood of success for those that are competitive but also a greater longevity as well, which is truly the end game of most forms of exercise.  Finish Strong Resistance Training for Endurance Athlete Book Link  Finish Strong Instagram  From the Ground Up Athletic Performance.com

On Episode 54 I sat down with Dominique Stasulli of Zeal Endurance Coaching located in Boulder, Colorado. I familiarized myself with Dominique and her work by reading a great article on skill acquisition called The Neuroscience of skill acquisition. Much of the first portion of our conversation centers around many of the theoretical models you see referenced in that article, as I have grown as a prep coach I've increasingly become more interested in how preparatory methods  translate in regards to retention for specific purposes. To do more and actually achieve less is not only a waste of time, it leaves you with an athlete or person who did not reach their optimal state due to the  arrangement of practice or other preparatory methods.  Dominique shares according to Fitts and Posner that skill development follows a three step model. The Cognitive stage is what we associate with novice learners and is  where thought and introspection are very involved in the process. At this stage, motor skills and the display of skills are rough and more exposure is needed to reach the next level. The associative level is where you begin to see a refinement of skills and association with other movement options, more efficient models are constructed in this portion. Lastly is the autonomous stage where motor skills are subconscious, this is the level of mastery and there appears to be an uninterrupted flow to the display of skills. We begin to talk about exposure and one of the big conundrums you discover in the building of skills is that myelination determines the motor pathways which we choose to activate to display a certain set of skills. Myelination occurs through repetition, the only problem with mind numbing repetition is that it lacks the variance of many of the dynamic settings that skills will have to displayed within. Dominique shares the difference between random order and blocked practices and how random order practices provide greater variance and opportunity for the growth and retention of a given set of skills.     Throughout the conversation Dominique shares multiple examples of different categories of constraints and you can see how it is easy to wisely construct constraints to tailor training to the needs of a given athletic or certain subset of athletes. Dominique shares how she likes to utilize variance in the task specific constraints to arrange meaningful and efficient sessions with her runners. She discusses how she switches up warmups, changes paces, changes energy system work, etc. to keep athletes on their toes. She also rationalizes why she includes sprinting with her distance runners, she states that it shows intent and also has a promotes feel for the runner to a greater degree. She shares how she utilizes hills to help build more efficient runners.  The last portion of the conversation deals with the 3 most common lower body deficits that she encounters among the athletes that she works with. They are 1) Poor Proprioception, 2) Core stability/Pelvic stability 3) Poor hip extension. Dominique shares how she helps to bring up these deficits and make her athletes less prone to injury and more resilient in the process.  Zeal Endurance Insta  Zeal Endurance Web  From The Ground Up Web 

On episode 53, I sat down with the founder of square 1 system Shawn Sherman, this is the second occasion that I’ve had Shawn on the show. On this episode Shawn reiterated the basis of square 1 systems and shared some of the major additions that he has made over the last year. Shawn also shared many of the exciting materials and concepts that he is currently preparing for release in the near future. Shawn begins by discussing the PCS, which is the postural control system which includes our visual apparatus, vestibular system, and proprioceptive system. Our sensory experience paints our experience with our surroundings and how we respond to certain stimuli. Shawn shares how movement and posture are intricately tied to the PCS, when sensory information is dysregulated one cannot hope for optimization of movement. We discuss some of the terms that are utilized to explain structural elements of the body( hardware) and the nervous system(software). Shawn shares the reciprocal nature in which hardware and software components interact, while also discussing how software interventions are different from hardware(tissue) interventions. Vision occupies a ton of neurological real estate and is at the peak of the neural hierarchy. We discuss how when software interventions clear up inhibitions within the PCS neurological resources can be allocated to other systems throughout the PCS. For instance, if we clear threat or inhibition in the visual apparatus, it may also have beneficial effects on the vestibular or proprioceptive. Shawn shares some of his own anecdotal experiences in the last year, in which he has expanded the peripheral vision of many of his clients as he has cleared intolerances and threats from his clients. Shawn discusses how this could be beneficial for athletes as it will allow for them to start with a more optimized visual field, that even under fatigue will be expanded in comparison to their counterparts. Shawn also shares interesting information on Nasal breathing and how he has been able to utilize different head positions in combination with nasal breathes to provide quick and easy interventions that optimize sensory integration. The things that Shawn currently has out are game changers and the things which he is referencing will be groundbreaking and allow for professionals working with large groups even more dynamic tools for building robust and optimized movers. Check the links below for access to Shawn’s materials, as well as my newly launched website for From the Ground Up Athletic Performance. Instagram  Square 1 Systems Webpage From The Ground Up Webpage

On this episode I sat down with Coach Travis Mash to discuss his fatigue monitoring process that he utilizes with his weightlifting team at Lenoir Rhyne University. Coach Mash has founded an exceptional weightlifting team at Lenoir Rhyne University and I routinely see insane numbers posted from his team. Coach Travis begins by sharing his realization that accounting for stresses within his system and from the outside were a major determinant of overall readiness to perform at peak levels. Coach Mash shared the unique challenges that adolescents and young adults deal with in regards to stress exposure and blue light exposure and how those factors may be affecting performance more than we realize. Coach Mash discusses how he utilizes the Velocity of the first days movement, which he typically likes to use a hang clean pull for various reasons. Velocity measures overall speed, Stress is defined by fatigue, which is a loss of ones ability to produce force. When employing this rationale it is easy to see how by having a baseline number for velocity measurements allow for us to keep a pulse on the moving target that is athlete readiness. Coach Mash also utilizes RSI measurement to validate athlete readiness, he shares how he gets a meaningful and useful RSI score. The third piece of the puzzle is a subjective questionnaire that athletes complete upon entering into training for the day. One of the metrics that stood out for me was how Coach Mash calculated the impact of a given workout he took the RPE of the athlete and multiplied it times the duration of the workout to give an impact score. In this first piece of the conversation it was great to see how Coach mash is able to bring together multiple measures to give a detailed view of an athletes overall readiness's and abilities for a given session. This is a major tool for overall athletic development and safe progression of training, athletes abilities ebb and flow based upon an almost immeasurable amount of daily stressors. The more Coaches take into account where an athlete is in the present, the more suitable to days training session will be.   As we discuss Velocity measures and Coach Mash's protocols based upon RSI or velocity measures being lower than normal we are able to see how training can easily be adjusted to salvage a days session and give athletes the appropriate dose. At 5% drop in RSI measurement or Velocity measurement both volume and intensity planned for the day are adjusted between 10-20%. If they measure 10% or greater they do low eccentric bodybuilding and go home for the day at that point the risk exceeds anything you will get out of the training session. The subjective questionnaire discussed earlier tells Coach Mash the why for the anomaly or drop in RSI or Velocity of first movement. We discuss the different ranged of velocity loss that would be employed for the development of strength, power, and hypertrophy. Coach mash shares that he seeks high quality hypertrophy due to weightlifting being a weight class competition. This definitely made me think about he individualized needs in team sport settings where lineman and those in the box may need on zone and skills and more speed based positions may need to stay away from areas that don't recruit the higher twitch fibers. We end the conversation talking about where to begin when implementing the clean with youth populations, how to find the proper set up based upon anthropometrics, and how to vary the clean for the needs of given athletic populations. Check the links below for access to my newly published website as well as Coach Travis Mash's offerings.  From the ground up athletic performance  Coach Mash Insta   Mashelite.com 

On episode 51 I sat down with Brandon Holder of FASST sports performance training. Brandon works with a wide variety of clientele, however, as you can see early on in the conversation he has a passion for working with youth clients and developing them through a sensible long term approach. Brandon shares his starting point for young clients and how isometrics provide a great starting point to provide postural references and sensible methods to advance TUT. Brandon shares that with " the population that he currently works with Load is the last progression."  Brandon shares how he likes to isolate to integrate, we discuss how he utilizes different exercises such as wall lateral load and lift. By doing exercises such as this, Brandon gives young athletes a great reference point that is stable and allows for athletes to build proficient modes of movement before entering more dynamic and chaotic agilities or competitions.  Most of the conversation centers around sleds and how they are an extremely useful and versatile tool. All training exist on a spectrum, sleds are no different. The sled spectrum places sled training on a spectrum with strength on one end and power on the other. Load and position influence Ground contacts and ground contacts are the most telling for if an exercise is more strength or power based. Sleds can be utilized for PAP effects as well as a method to contrast training. Sleds allow for users to produce force in vectors that traditional barbell based movements do not. Sleds allow for us to move in a horizontal vector, where as force production in traditional barbell based movements are more vertically based. Sleds can be utilized to build energy systems and used for lower intensity methods as well, they provide a good format for variance and a break from more traditional barbell based movements in training. Brandon shares how to utilize periodization for sled based movements and shares some of the rationales about why sled training is a timely, safe, and powerful method for in season strength development.  We end the conversation by talking about speed development and Brandon shares some of the concepts that he utilizes to gamify and involve clients in everyday processes. Brandon shares how varied starts are good to provide a robust base of movement for younger clientele. Different variations may be more applicable to team based settings and allow for athletes to interact with a variety of angles for more effective displays of speed and power. Brandon shares how showing different athletes that he understands the need of their sport helps to garner buy in to the process. Overall this is a great conversation on the rationale for including sled work, whether you chose to integrate sled training for all the methods mentioned today or you only utilize some of the options, sleds are a valuable tool that athletes can easily benefit from.  Make sure to check the links below for access to my new website as well as Brandon's social's and some of the things referenced in todays conversation.  Fromthegroundupathleticperformance.com  Coachbholder Insta  FASST Insta  Sled Training Simplifaster 

This week's episode marks my 50th episode and is my one year anniversary for the podcast. On this episode, I sat down with Dr. Pat Davidson  author of A coaches guide to optimizing movement: Rethinking the Big Patterns. Pat also runs a great seminar series where he discusses many of the ideas mentioned on this episode. We start the conversation by talking about what inspired him to develop his own categorical system.  Pat shares many of his early inspirations and how they drove him to think critically and also inspired him to synthesize the systems he encountered into an approachable and useable framework. Throughout the entire conversation Pat jumped around the 7 Pillars of movement, which is one of the foundational aspects of the approaches shared in RTBP. The 7 pillars of movement are as listed 1) Movement Quality 2) Movement Quantity 3) Movement Standardization 4) Movement Progression 5) Movement Strategy 6) Muscular Orientation 7) Muscular Action.  Within each of the pillars listed above Dr. Pat has organized a framework to help identify, adapt, and advance movement in light of the given focus or ability of an individual. We spend a good bit of time discussing Pillar 1 Quality, Pat shares the exercise taxonomy which lives under the quality pillar as 13 different motor patterns. These 13 motor patterns can be arranged under the umbrella of Control Patterns, Athletic Patterns, or Resistance patterns. Control patterns really tell us what an individual's potential is to correctly perform a given movement pattern. If individuals can't display it on the table they certainly can't display it under time constraints or in dynamic environments. Dr. Pat shares a good bit on pillar 3 which is movement standardization , which is where sensorimotor competency comes into play, what does the individual feel? What individuals feel may be a more telling example of a persons given proficiency than the coaches eye. Pillar 4 is described as an algorithm that can be used to build the desired motor patterns that are necessary and required to move. This pillar includes the 10 principles of progression, which may also be used to regress exercises to the specific requirements of a given individual. Pillar 4 also includes the propulsion arc, which we spend the last portion of the conversation devoted to. The propulsion arc encompasses  three zones of movement, which are denoted as either expansion or compression dominant and are also incorporated into the gait cycle process. This pillar doesn't tell you why someone struggles with a given movement; however, it tells you how you can fix their inadequate forms of movement. Pillar 5,6,7 allow for you to explain how pillar 4 was able to guide individuals towards more proficient models of movement. Pillar 5 is movement strategies  (Compression/Expansion) ,Pillar 6 Muscular orientation (Eccentric/Concentric) ,Pillar 7 Muscular action (Yielding/Overcoming). We spend the last part of the conversation talking about the importance of managing forces, muscular orientation, and how the last three pillars can explain why someone is able to perform in a dynamic, elastic, and explosive manner. The last portion of the conversation is  food for thought and something that has really guided my programming rationale and choices in recent times. Dr. Pat did a great job of breaking this dense topic down into something that is manageable and digestible. Check out his offerings listed below for an even more in depth dive.  Instagram  Webpage Coaches Guide to Optimizing Movement 

On this episode I sat down with David Jackson better known as Jacko to discuss all things breathing. I’ve referenced breathe practices on numerous podcast, but this is the deepest dive I’ve had on the potential benefits and necessity of proper breathe work practices within athletic programs. We start by talking about the very act of breathing, an inhale, pause, and exhale, as with athletic development we are often concerned with the output or concentric, many only focus on the inhale with breathwork. Jacko discusses how the respiratory center is in the oldest part of the brain the brain stem, meaning it is hardwired and reflexive in nature. Jacko discusses how all but one sport to his knowledge (free diving) includes breathing, therefore, we should be taking note of suboptimal or improper forms of breathing. Breathing has a globalized  effect on the human body; it influences the nervous system, blood pressure, heart rate, thoughts, emotions, sleep, and more. Jacko discusses how the bohr effect influences breathing and shares how the primary influence for breathing is not oxygen, but CO2. Carbon dioxide is tied to release of hemoglobin that is tied to red blood cells. Jacko Discusses how to get your Bolt Score, which is a baseline of a person breathing capabilities. He discusses what a good bolt score is and what we should all be aiming for as we increase our breath work practices. A higher bolt score means a calmer nervous system, more mental focus, and that you use less energy for breathing. Jacko shares different breathwork methodologies and how one can bias the inhale/exhale to elicit a parasympathetic or sympathetic response. Jacko shares how one can use breathwork to calm or excite and how teams can use breathholds to increase bolt scores, overall athletic preparedness and RSA. We close the conversation by talking about some of the callisthenic methods that Jacko employs in his training. He discusses how it frees the body and mind and causes one to be more creative than traditional barbell based movements. Jacko provides a ton of quality content in this episode and I really enjoyed this one. Make sure to check the links below for Jacko’s social, School of Calisthenics webpage, the movement, strength, and play podcast referenced in the episode. As well as the oxygen advantage program which Jacko is a master coach within. School of Calisthenics Webpage   Jacko Insta The movement, strength, and play podcast  Oxygen Advantage 

On this weeks episode I sat down with Nick Moss of Functional Neuro Health. We start our conversation by talking about how we are only aware of a limited amount of information, while the vast majority of information lies below the subconscious level. We start by discussing the performance iceberg, the only things that lie at surface level are behavior and results. Below the surface lie many subconscious mechanisms (Thoughts, emotions, feelings, physiology) that reflect the behaviors and movement choices that we often see in subjects. The nervous system is constantly scanning the environment and labeling different inputs as threat, no threat, nick shares how some of the more primitive structures examine our surroundings for threat.  We discuss the bodies response to stress, stress is neither good nor bad, in fact it's an unavoidable and essential part of life. The problem with stress is more to do with thresholds, too little you find boredom , too much and you find chronic adaptations to stress. Nick discusses how we can utilize the breathe to help build certain buffers and increase our threshold to stress. We then get into how the nervous system is a conglomeration of signals, the system perceives something to be a threat when a signal reaches too high of a threshold.  If signals consistently register as high this often manifest in patterns of weakness in the nervous system, this creates a compounding effect that we would often deem to be a symptom or perhaps a perceived injury. Nick discusses the function of noise and how the function of noise can go a long way to show where individuals may be having issues.  Muscle inhibition is a product of one of three or a combination of structural, emotional, physiological. Nick shares that the more threatened someone is based upon their prior history the more likely he would be to take a top down approach. We end the conversation by talking about the role of primitive reflexes and Nick shares that primitive reflexes are the base. If we aren't addressing retained primitive reflexes there's a great chance that the other neurological means we are attempting are not being optimized. Nick discusses some of the more common of primitive reflexes, why reflexes may be retained and some of the manners in which we can work to integrate primitive reflexes. Make sure to check out the links below for access to Nick's socials as well as website  Functional neuro health  youtube  Website 

David Bidler and Lex Clark of Physiology First discuss redefining mental health education. They emphasize intergenerational learning, community, and harnessing one's physiology. They challenge the current education system and advocate for a more inclusive approach. The podcast explores the transformative power of physical experience and the influence of mindset on metabolic response and mental fitness. They also delve into neuroplasticity, learning enhancement, and building a future through interconnected community.