From the Ground Up Athletic Performance Podcast

On this episode I was lucky enough to sit down with David Weck creator of the Weck method and many innovative and awesome inventions and methods. We start by discussing what traditional strength methods miss in preparation. David shares that it is important to have a base line of strength, especially within the context of contact sports. One of the areas that is often overlooked is how to effectively transfer strength, Mr. Weck begins to discuss the importance of being able to coil or use the end ranges of movement to produce dynamic and powerful movement. We also discuss how the natural evolution of the human brain has led to many subconscious systems that may not be optimized in more traditional preparatory settings. There are many different factors that may led to less then optimal brain states, that govern or drive us away from optimal movement solutions and overall health and happiness.  As we discussed the brains involvement in training, Mr. Weck shares how increasing neural drive and coordinative means will lend to a greater understanding and confidence in a given movement or situation. This leads to me asking about the role of variability, David discusses how all modalities eventually reach a point of diminishing returns. By keeping it fresh athletes are more likely to stay engaged and also creative which is what will be required in many sporting situations. Weck rationalizes the 80/20 rationale, that by attaining 80 % of one given area and leaving the 20 % for a later time will drive more optimal adaptations. Weck shares how he utilizes non dominant side training to help contextualize and bring the non dominant side to a more proficient state, and again takes into account whole body concepts or both sides utilized (BOSU).  I couldn't pass up the opportunity to discuss the role of the core and coiling as that is one of the major considerations of the Weck Method. Weck discusses the concept of coiling and figure 8's, this leads to discussion on rope flow training and also how Weck utilizes Isometrics to help effectively prepare the body for rotational considerations and coiling. Weck also discusses the concepts of uphill and down hill training and shares instances in which both formats would be useful. The Sole steps are a great tool and the easiest way to facilitate proper foot mechanics within training. Weck also shares how his product the propulse is a natural tool to increase efficient locomotion and to teach coiling. We end out the show discussing all the great offerings that David has over that the Weck method, make sure to check out David's socials and website listed below.  thedavidweck Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thedavidweck/?hl=en Theweckmethod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/weckmethod/?hl=en WeckMethod Website https://www.weckmethod.com/

On episode 35 I sat down with Chris Korfist, Co founder of track football consortium and RPR. Chris is well known for speed training and sprints and that's exactly what a good portion of todays conversation centers around. We begin the conversation by discussing how Coach Korfist can best identify drivers in his athletes and how he utilizes that to examine and justify the implementation of training. Chris first discusses how he can utilize RPR to help inform him about movement competencies and potential compensatory patterns. We also discuss how video analysis can help to inform about the drivers and movement preferences of athletes. Coach Korfist discusses some of the more common movement flaws that he encounters with athletes and the negative ramifications for less than optimal movement choices. Coach korfist shares that many times he encounters runners that are pushers or quad dominant. He shares how stiff legged runs or prime times are a good option to teach athletes how to properly utilize their hamstrings and find proper foot placement. We also discuss the proper posture for stiff legged runs and why we may encounter athletes with excessive lean.  Coach Korfist shares programming considerations based on profile are they muscle bound or are they more elastic in nature. If athletes are more muscle bound one of the things that stands out immediately is that they will need training that helps provide stiffness in order to get the system primed and ready to go. Indicators such as vertical jump, ankle rocker capabilities or ankle rocker hops help to inform programming needs for elastic athletes. We turn our conversation to weight room practices and discuss the best manner to progress athletes to keep speed the primary consideration. Coach Korfist shares some of his general strength methods and his rationale with Triphasic. He also shares how to keep athletes reflexive and springy when training strength movements. Coach Korfist shares a good point that athletic movement do not fit the generally profile of powerlifting or oly lifting. Greasing the groove is to the detriment of athletic development for those that wish to move in an athletic and dynamic manner.  We turn our attention to the 1080 and coach Korfist shares how he starts his athletes on overspeed training. He discusses some of his rationale for starting athletes on overspeed early, it helps examine how they respond to moving fast, is there fear? Can they turn over properly. Coach Korfist also likes to use mini hurdles to encourage certain turn over patterns. Coach Korfist utilizes a variety of methods depending on the desired adaptation. Coach Korfist discusses how he utilizes the power of competition and has a leader board to help gamify and push athletes when doing resisted sprints. We also discuss some of the possible benefits of utilizing the 1080 for agilities as well as sporting practices.  We end the conversation by discussing the ideas behind his article Too many notes that coach Korfist published a while back on Simplifaster. This article stood out in stark contrast to how I typically view Coach Korfist. I see coach Korfist as being an experimenter as well as a trainer that is able to provide individualized training means. Coach Korfist is all of the things mentioned earlier, however, he also likes to keep it simple and realizes like his article states" sometimes its what you don't play. We discuss the absolute stacked line up for TFC 2021 as well as the new RPR courses that are being offered both virtually and in person. Make sure to check out the links for TFC 2021, RPR, and Coach Korfist social media accounts.  TFC 2021 https://trackfootballconsortium.com/ RPR Website https://www.reflexiveperformance.com/ Korfist Twitter

On this weeks episode, I sat down with Clayton Thompson of RS3 ( Redefining Sports Specific Strength).  The conversation begins with the examination of the how inefficient throwers appear typically (4:00). We are all bound to many of the same constraints gravity and other environmental factors, however, there is also a great amount of individualization that occurs within sporting actions. There are many movement patterns that can be utilized to elicit the same coordinative efforts or movement outcome. Clayton states that regardless of strategies individuals are attempting to move as optimally as possible, can they be made better? The answer is yes, but in order to do so we must identify methods they can integrate seamlessly and that seem reliable and reasonable quickly.  Previous ideas about mind numbing repetition may be misguided, we need to identify and steer athletes towards more optimal means in a more natural manner. Clayton discuses levers and how they do matter, and why the coordination of levers from short ( acceleratory) to long( force application) is extremely important in being able to throw hard. Clayton identifies trunk angular velocity as one of the biggest indicators needed to throw hard. We discuss the different characteristics that may lend themselves to more efficient mechanics and we begin to talk about fascial driven athletes(9:00). Clayton discusses arm slot and how it matches the plane of trunk rotation if  individuals really want to throw hard and efficiently. Rotation along the same plane (trunk and arm) allow for the creation of a geodesic path which is the shortest pathway between two points.  We discuss how they take into account contralateral considerations and sling within training(15:00). Clayton begins to discuss his love of sprinting, sprinting is the most taxing of the oblique slings and really makes the body work in an effective manner contralaterally if one wants to move rapidly. Clayton also shares how they bias ipsilateral and contralateral loads and how that can lead to more specific joint angles and actions(16:00).We discuss the importance of proper breathing mechanics and how it could influence throwing mechanics and our overall health. Clayton discusses the breathing mechanic of wide verses narrow infrasternal angles. Clayton discusses how they utilize different breathing drills to increase aerobic capacity and also get athletes breathing in a proper manner to help balance their Co2 levels.  We discuss some of the most common misconceptions how to properly prepare for the sport of baseball(26:00). Clayton adds that he feels most people feel they train maximally, but they have a misunderstanding about what maximal training is, or it is misapplied to methods that do not correlate to the sport. Clayton also shares that the weight room is great, but everyone is focused on concentric means, very few deal with isometric requirements or eccentric needs for a given population. We discuss the role of specificity in properly preparing athletes (31:00), Clayton shares how they got their start at RS3 and also how his idea of specificity has changed over time. A major shift or realization that Clayton has had is that specificity doesn't mean all actions have to mimic the sport.  We end out conversation by discussing considerations for volume of throws over a weeks time, though this is a highly variable thing clayton shares how to best arrange the weeks training following a high,low and moderate template. Clayton also shares the guiding principles for arm care and upkeep during competition. Movement is at the center, follow by increased intensity(ROM, load,etc,), followed by ability to absorb large amounts of force similar to profile of the sport. https://www.instagram.com/rs3_sports/?hl=en https://rs3sports.org/

On Episode 33 I Sat down with Andrew Bolter of Vital Pursuit athletics. Andrew's preferred training methodologies tend to be heavily focused on movement competency and building effective movers. Throughout the conversation we make several stops to talk about different manners, in which Andrew attempts to build effective movers ranging from foot considerations to other Isometric means or perhaps building different areas of a given sprint profile ( accel, max V, Decel). Andrew starts by discussing why he prefers a more holistic approach to movement rather than exercises that target isolated areas of the body. Andrew also discusses how Gait informs  much of his decision making as walking and running are central tenets of life and our survival. We discuss some of his baseline metrics and Andrew shares how breathing, resting posture, and myofascial efficiency are things that he prizes. Andrew shares how he would go about regressing someone with major limitations or compensations and how he would attempt to advance them overtime. A major talking point that we discussed multiple times throughout the conversation is how Andrew attempts to avoid an overreliance on Cues. Self organization and allowing the constraints of given activities seem to be a guiding principle in Andrew's training philosophy.  We Discuss Isometrics and how Andrew attempts to build and potentiate movements based upon a given sessions or cycle's goal. We discuss the different variations of Isometrics and the different benefits that can be derived from utilizing Isometrics in training. Andrew shares how he analyzes running patterns for any issues or compensations. Andrew likes to use the support of slow motion video and Kinegrams to help with his video analysis. He discusses some of the things he is looking for in each phase of the run. We discuss how over cuing really simply leads to the over loading of athletes and drives them further away from natural solutions. We discuss some of the methods that can be utilized to build more effective movers and sprinters. We discuss the importance of understanding intent and intensity for a given exercise, which I believe to be of pivotal importance in completing proper repetitions for a given activity.  I've noted that Andrew utilizes the Arion Insoles and couldn't pass up the opportunity to ask about the different metrics he is able to get from utilizing them. We discuss how they have the potential to display foot strike patterns as well as many other metrics and how these may very well inform programming considerations. I've noted that Andrew programs a lot of  decelerations and wanted to make sure that I took the time to discuss the importance of building the breaks in athletes and clients. Reflexive training is another thing that I have noted while following Vital pursuit athletics, he employs a lot of creative means for weight room exercises, plyometrics, and agilities. We discuss the switch based movements I've seen him utilize often and his rationale for including them. Variance is key to drive adaptations and build a greater movement profile in clients, it makes athletes or clients solve different problems and keeps the brain engaged. We end the show by discussing when to keep things general and what are some of the tell tell signs that its time to get more specific with individuals. I really enjoyed this weeks show please check out the links below for Andrew's Instagram as well as website! Vital Pursuit Webpage https://www.vitalpursuit.co/ Vital Pursuit Instagram  https://www.instagram.com/vital_pursuit_athletics/

On Episode 30 I Sat down with Tom Broback, Tom is a PT in  Twin cities, Minnesota as well as a fellow podcaster. Tom begins by discussing some of the most common issues that he encounters in his practice. We discuss how taping and bracing may not have the desired effect hoped for and perhaps some of the negative consequences of repeated taping and bracing. Tom offers some other methods that may work in unison if a brace or taping is required or may be able to take the place of repeated taping and bracing. The Ankle is an area that is often taped or braced so our discussion jumps to that area of the body and some of the things that can be done to help return players that experience an ankle sprain or ankle issues. The hamstrings are another area that can often be strained or pulled, Tom discusses some of the other areas of the body that may drive compensation leading to hamstring issues and how to perhaps correct these issues. We discuss some of the common issues that are seen in adolescent populations in the hips and what may be driving mobility issues that are detrimental to sport and an overall healthy lifestyle. We end our conversation by discussing the role of breathing and how it can have a global effect on the body. We also discuss the danger of sharp decreases in activity especially following an injury and how it is important to facilitate a timely return by finding ways to keep those with limitations involved in a safe and meaningful manner. Make sure to check out the links below for Tom's social media as well as podcast, writings, and course offerings.  @TomBroback https://twitter.com/TomBroback The Tom Broback Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tom-broback-podcast/id1464471041 CoachTube Offerings https://coachtube.com/users/tombroback Simplifaster Writings https://simplifaster.com/articles/author/tombroback/

On this Episode I sit down with Elisabeth Oehler to discuss long term athletic development. We cover a lot of territory in our hour discussion and we start with the idea of early specialization. Early on in the conversation Elisabeth discusses the importance of context and taking into account all the factors of a given situation. Elisabeth does a great job outlining the youth sports environment in Germany and talking about how they attempt to develop well rounded athletes, while specializing in a given focus. The countries population is small in comparison to that of the United States, so this naturally leads to a shrunken talent pool, thus necessitating specialization. Elisabeth does a great job explaining how within many different sports they help to build a well rounded holistic approach in early formative years. For instance, in weight lifting competitions up until mid adolescence, they give more credit for the technical aspects of the lift and do not go for 1 RM. They also include sprints, change of direction activities, jumps, and pull ups to help encourage sports prep coaches to build a more well rounded and sustainable model for LTAD. Elisabeth discusses how loading naturally shifts later in the training cycle and some of the differing measures that are utilized to ensure that stimuluses are being stacked appropriately. Elisabeth discusses some of the technical issues often found in teens when cleaning and how she attempts to simplify cues and means to facilitate proper form. Our last talking point is on talent Identification and she provides a really good analysis of how Germany does an outstanding job of the collection of data to facilitate and offer a profile that can be studied for future athletes. Make sure to check out Elisabeth's Social Media and Website linked underneath!  @eo_performance https://twitter.com/eo_performance EOperformance.com https://www.eo-performance.com/ Link to Weightlifting course https://www.eo-performance.com/courses Youth Strength and Conditioning Concepts with Elisabeth Oehler https://simplifaster.com/articles/youth-strength-and-conditioning-concepts-with-elisabeth-oehler/ Can Lifting Weights Actually Be Fun for Kids? https://simplifaster.com/articles/kids-lifting-weights-fun-ltad/

On Episode 28 I sat down with Coach Kyle Edwards Defensive Backs and Sprints coach at Mishawaka High School. Coach Edwards has a course on Coach tube with Coach Tony Holler, where Kyle details different variations of X factor workouts. A lot of the conversation today centers on how to facilitate X factor workouts. Coach Edwards shares that he has three criteria for all his X Factor work 1) force absorption 2) Force Output 3) Sprint Technique. Coach Edwards shares how he likes to facilitate these three criteria simultaneously in a training session by setting up different stations that address the differing criteria. Variance from both a daily perspective and an extended block is one of the major points that Coach Edwards shared on his views about drill work within a given time. He seeks to provide many different stimuluses to keep things fresh and to build dynamic movers that are problem solvers. Coach Edwards shares that he likes to utilize X factor work two days out of meets to properly stimulate sprinters in an effective manner. Coach Edwards shares how he stacks his training week in season for track and field and discusses his rationale behind distances and volume. We talk about the ratio between bilateral and unilateral plyometrics within his training regimen and Coach Edwards provides good logic for the inclusion of more single leg work then double. Coach Edwards alluded to Sprinting as being a series of single leg jumps and that makes a lot of sense when you look at the biomechanical factors of sprinting. Coach Edwards shares how he facilitates warm ups or what he refers to as the wake up. He includes a lot of the plyometric and technical means from previous X factor sessions in his warm up series. Coach Edwards is also involved with speed development at his highschool, so we spend sometime going through how he attempts to develop speed, power, and explosion in his field sport athletes. Overall, A great episode shedding light on a major consideration in the Feed the Cats system the X Factor day. Make sure to check out the links below for access to Coach Edwards Coachtube offering as well as his social media accounts.  Feed the Cats:Rocketfuel for Sprinters https://coachtube.com/course/track-and-field/feed-the-cats-rocket-fuel-for-sprinters-ft-coach-kyle-edwards/12671226 @Kyle_Edwards32 https://twitter.com/kyle_edwards32 Coachkyle_Edwards https://www.instagram.com/coachkyle_edwards/?hl=en

On episode 27 I sat down with Tyler Germain, the head of track and field at Kalamazoo Central High School. Tyler is only 35 years old but he's already got 17 years of experience on the track. Tyler talks about some of the various roles that he has held at different times as well as some of the different locations where he's coached. This naturally turns the conversation to how his perspective has shifted as he has spent more time on the track. This last year was Tyler's first year as the head track and field coach at his school, Tyler implemented the Feed the Cats system popularized by coach Tony Holler. Tyler shares that this varied from the approach in previous years. With Feed the cats naturally the focus of prep is to develop max velocity sprint metrics in a sensible manner. Tyler discusses how he stacks his week with max speed Mondays, followed by a more technical/ plyometric Tuesday, Followed by short accelerations on Wednesdays, Thursdays tend to be on the lower end of volume and the end of the week is where volume will be slightly higher and perhaps lactate work will occur. Tyler talks the distances and volumes that he typically facilitates on each day and why he likes particular distances for certain metrics and adaptations. At Kalamazoo Tyler is attempting to develop what he refers to as a culture of speed, we spend some time talking about how he is growing that very concept through his Summer speed camps. Tyler hopes to not only develop a love of sprinting and speed in his program but in all programs. We discuss some of the metrics that he utilizes to keep check on development and Tyler discusses his first years data and his average increase in speed. The numbers are pretty impressive especially considering all of the obstacles that he encountered during this Covid year. We talk some of his considerations for hurdles and the first rationale that he has for hurdlers regardless of distance, is that Hurdlers are sprinters first. Slow hurdlers no matter how good their form will not win; therefore, Coach Germain trains his hurdlers like sprinters first and foremost. Coach Germain also shares that he much prefers more dynamic methods to work on the rigors and technical aspects of hurdling. We end our conversation by discussing one of his articles that he published with simplifaster discussing how to facilitate a natural love for athletic process in child hood. We discuss how to naturally facilitate a love for jumping, running, skipping, throwing, hurdling, and being what coach Germain referred to as a "chaos Muppet". Overall this is a great conversation, I loved listening to Coach Germain's rationale and vision for the future, and I can't wait to see how he continues to implement many of the things we talked about today under more ideal circumstances. Check out links below to Coach Germain's twitter as well as previously published simplifaster articles.  @TrackCoachTG https://twitter.com/TrackCoachTG Simplifaster Articles by Coach Germain https://simplifaster.com/articles/author/tylergermain/

On episode 26 I sat down with Brad Dixon, Head coach of football at Camp Point Central High school in Illinois. Coach Dixon first shares what led him down the pathway to sprint based football, in this portion of the conversation Coach Dixon shares some of the ideas from his article They Just Want the damn Recipe. He talks about conversations that he had with coach Tony Holler and how that facilitated his realization that in order to build anything useable and substantial you must first learn how to cook for yourself. Coach Dixon highlights how through trial and error he was able to build a regimen that works best for him. This is a concept that Coach Dixon alludes to multiple times, there is not a one size fits all approach. Sprint based football takes a different approach to more traditional methods, Coach Dixon discusses how his paradigm shifted from trying to throw as much as you can in practice, to trying to facilitate and grow through the week and letting the real performance happen on Friday's beneath the lights. Coach Dixon highlights how a typical sprint based week looks at his high school, that all starts by giving the kids the weekend off to recover. Mondays start with the focus which is sprinting, with some film and board work to prep for the week. Tuesday is what Coach Dixon refers to as a fundamental day, where athletes will be in helmets going over fundamentals and game situations. Wednesday is the only day of the week where athletes will go full gear in their preparation. Thursday is a more traditional walk through as they finalize their prep for the week. Friday is game day and in Coach Dixon's lens it is a sprint day. Coach Dixon really speaks to not wasting time in practice and getting what needs to be done accomplished while leaving the needless volume and fluff on the table. The sprint based model mirrors that of feed the cats; therefore, we discuss the minimum effective dose and how he justifies the correct dosage for his team to be competitive. We discuss some of the common misconceptions based around sprint based football. Coach Dixon throws out a wonderful line of logic that toughness is task specific and that he wants athletes that are precise. We end our conversation by discussing how he facilitates speed work away from the competitive season. Coach Dixon discusses how he likes to utilize variance in his speed drill work to show athletes different mechanical issues that they need to work on. A lot of this work is built into the warm up section of a work out and can be facilitated year around to work on important running mechanics. Coach Dixon shares how his athletic enhancement PE allows for him to make the weight room a constant for not only his athletes in football but all athletes at his school. Check out the links below for some of Coach Dixon's writings at Track Football Consortium based on many of the topics discussed today.  http://trackfootballconsortium.com/they-just-want-the-damn-recipe/ https://trackfootballconsortium.com/how-to-cook/ https://tfc.coachesclinic.com/speakers/brad-dixon/

On Episode 27 I sat down with JT Ayers Head Track and Field Coach at Trabuco Hills High School. We start our conversation by talking about the importance of growth and how mentors and networking naturally facilitate growth. Coach Ayers is a big believer in talking with individuals and giving and learning from one another. Our first major talking point highlights one of the systems that coach Ayers utilizes known as Mass Specific Force. It is a lifting system where athletes will only lift %'s 85 and up for low repetitions while excluding the eccentric loading portion of the lift. The hex bar deadlift is a staple of the system and makes it easy to facilitate the desired workout for a large group of athletes. The rationale is that it increases force production into the ground while also keeping the athletes body weight low due to the exclusion of hypertrophic means within the system. Coach Ayers shares why rest is important between sets and how he also stacks plyometrics to get the optimum adaptation. One of the main things that has always stood out to me about JT Ayers and his program at Trabuco Hills is the culture that his track and field teams exude. Coach Ayers shares how he records, ranks, and publishes 40s for not only his track team but for all competitive teams on campus and anyone that wishes to attempt. This is a great way to gain support and peak interest in the program. Coach Ayers shares some of his considerations for preparation for competition and he really drives home the importance of developing an understanding of the event that individuals athletes participate in. Coach Ayers also shares why he feels Dual meets are a perfect speed training day while also getting in important competition time. Coach Ayers discussed earlier how he records, ranks and publishes 40s so we spend some time looking at some of the metrics particularly in off season that he will use to assess athlete readiness's and development. Coach Ayers shares his philosophy on off season development and if I had to boil it down it would be steady incremental development, don't over shoot, leave some for tomorrow. We close out by talking about how we as coaches and preparatory professionals can keep and foster a love of sprinting and athletic pursuits. Overall this is a great episode, packed with useful information on preparation and the facilitation of a sustainable culture within in a program. Check out the links below for links to JT Ayers Twitter, Website, and Podcast.  @CoachJTAyers  Coach Ayers Performance https://www.coachayers.com/ Coach Tube Mass Specific Force Course https://coachtube.com/course/track-and-field/lifting-for-speed/12762446 Simplifaster Mass Specific Force Article https://simplifaster.com/articles/mass-specific-force-lifting-sprinters/ The On Track and Field Podcast! https://podcasts.apple.com/no/podcast/the-on-track-field-podcast/id1566553650