Kassem Hanson, creator of N1 Education and N1 Training, discusses optimizing fitness outcomes, problem-solving within coaching constraints, the effectiveness of sumo stance exercises, isolations exercises for muscle growth, and the value of hands-on learning in training.

Strength coach and podcast host Angus Bradley discusses the impact of social media on the fitness industry, the benefits of a hybrid business model for trainers, the misconception of cardio and sprinting, the influence of Mike Boyle, the importance of like-minded individuals and meaningful conversations, exploring different approaches to periodization, and breaking down silos in the fitness industry.

Derek is an International Sport Performance Consultant that has been working with athletes all ages and abilities in speed, strength and power sports since 1988. His coaching career started in Track and Field, providing instruction to sprinters of all ages eventually working with collegiate sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers. His career evolved rapidly working closely with some of the top performers in the world as a coach and a consultant – including Olympic medalists, world record holders, Canadian National team athletes, and professional athletes from numerous sports. He worked as the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for Simon Fraser University for 14 years, the first non-US member of the NCAA. He also serves as a performance consultant to numerous professional teams in the NFL, NBA, MLS and NHL, as well as major NCAA Division 1 programs throughout North America, specializing in speed development, strategic performance planning, return-to-competition protocols and neuromuscular electrical stimulation programming. Derek is asked to speak on speed development and high performance training on a regular basis for major events around the world and has also authored a number of books, chapters and journal articles on these subjects.

Joel Smith is an athletics coach residing in the Cincinnati area. He specialize in general physical preparation, movement education (and re-education), human biomechanics, psycho-social aspects of coaching and personal development.   Niche skills include technical development of track and field athletes, aquatic strength development, and tennis physical preparation. Other interests include holistic corrective functioning of the body, psychology, writing, leadership, and youth athletic development in light of modern culture.   Specialties: Strength Training, Teaching, Writing, Creativity, Logic, Public Speaking, Leadership, Small Business, Entrepreneurship, Podcasting, Olympic Weightlifting, Biomechanics, Plyometrics, Speed Development, Athletic Performance, Nutrition, Mentoring

Kyle Dobbs is the Founder and Owner of Compound Performance.  Formally a National Director of Services and Education, Training Director, District Manager, Facility Manager, and Coach based out of NYC. I've worked with clients in all training environments, from general population to high level athletes at the professional level.  From a leadership perspective, I've overseen teams and departments ranging from ten to fifteen hundred, while also being a national education and hiring director.  More importantly, I’m a husband and Father.  I’ve been married to my best friend Sarah and we have two boys, Greyson and Hollis, and 12 puppy named Bowser.

I developed my love for athletics at four years old playing baseball. I played baseball for fourteen years, and it was my dream to play major league baseball. Along the way, our coaches made it clear that strength and conditioning would be integral to taking our performance to the next level. When I reached high school, I fell in love with the training and offseason aspect of my sport, and sought to learn as much as I could about strength training. Our team’s strength coach was my first mentor, and he quickly realized how much I gravitated toward strength training. He quickly pointed me in the direction of a world of information that would change my life forever. Fast forward to senior year of high school, during which I competed in my first powerlifting meet. I was hooked. My freshman year I began coaching powerlifters at MIT for free to practically apply the fundamentals I had learned over the years. I mentored under phenomenal coaches and amassed a sizable team during undergraduate. I quickly realized that I was really good at what I did, and my critical thinking skills developed during my academic career would lend themselves to my coaching success. I quickly began to dedicate an equal amount of time to developing as a coach as I did as a student. What started as a team of friends, grew into a team of lifters I would coach at Raw Nationals, the Arnold and even IPF Worlds. I have made it a goal to become a fully comprehensive coach, immersing myself in both the educational world and practical world. I have learned from some of the best coaches in powerlifting, movement science and pain management, as well as immersing myself in as much in-person coaching and meet day handling environments as I can. To date, I have coached over a hundred lifters, and have a team of incredible lifters that features national champions, world champions and medalists, and record holders. I have recently had the privilege of being able to hire incredible coaches, and put them through a rigorous mentorship program, to ensure they learn as much as they can, and are challenged to think critically. I truly believe we are capable of guiding lifters of all abilities, background, and personalities toward their goals. In this podcast, Sean and I discuss the historical events that led up to modern power lifting preparation. Special consideration was placed on discussing programming for the sport.   Founder of Nori Powerlifting #2 Ranked USAPL Men’s Raw Open 83kg USAPL and IPF Powerlifting Coach since 2015 B.S. Mechanical Engineering, MIT 2018 @hamstringpapi | contact: sean@teamnori.com

Bill Hartman, a problem solver in the field of physical therapy, discusses topics such as the importance of models in understanding the world, models of muscular force transmission, and the relationship between movement and gravity. He also explores the significance of sidewalk cracks in understanding the pelvis.

In this engaging conversation, Dr. Mike Israetel, co-founder of Renaissance Periodization and a sports physiology expert, shares his remarkable journey from Moscow to Detroit. He candidly discusses the impact of ADD on learning and personal growth, revealing how it shaped his identity. The dialogue also delves into strength training principles, emphasizing the need for personalized approaches to fitness. Additionally, Mike draws intriguing parallels between the systematic nature of beer production and effective training methods, showcasing his innovative mindset.

Lee Taft, known to most simply as “The Speed Guy”, is highly respected as one of the top athletic movement specialists in the world. In the last 30 years he has devoted the majority of his time training multi-directional speed to all ages and abilities. He has spent much of this time teaching his multi-directional speed methods to top performance coaches and fitness professionals all over the world. Lee has also dedicated countless hours mentoring up and coming sports performance trainers, many who have gone into the profession and made a big impact themselves. Since 1989, Lee has taught foundation movement to beginning youngsters and helped young amateur athletes to professional athletes become quicker, faster, and stronger. Lee’s entire philosophy is based on one of his most notable quotes, “Learning athletic movement correctly from the start is the foundation for athletic success.” With the release of Ground Breaking Athletic Movement in 2003, Lee revolutionized the fitness industry with his movement techniques for multi-directional speed. His innovative approach to training has impacted how athletic movement speed is taught. Lee brought to light the importance and fine points of the “Plyo Step”, “Hip Turn”, “Directional Crossover Step” and athletic stance. According to Lee, “Speed and agility done right is about making sure we marry the natural movements athletes have with effective and efficient body control to maximize speed and quickness”. Lee has been asked to speak at numerous strength and conditioning and sports performance events across the world and has produced numerous instructional videos and courses in the area of multi-directional speed and movement training. In addition, Lee has written several eBooks specifically on movement techniques and speed development. In this podcast, we talk about where Lee originated his ideas on developing speed and change of direction capabilities. We talk about his early career experiences. In addition to this, we discuss elements related to youth athletic development. Finally, we talk about his upcoming seminar in NYC for July 2022.

Christian Thibaudeau is a Canadian Olympian and strength training coach from Montreal, Canada. He gained fame in the late 1990’s as a contributor to the online bodybuilding magazine, Iron Mag. Christian has long been one of the most respected coaches and online writers in the business. He’s trained athletes in 26 sports, written hundreds of articles and has competed at the Olympic games. After a serious injury which ended his competitive lifting career, Christian began to move into personal training and online fitness writing. He also began to train for purely aesthetic reasons for the first time. Trading the Olympic platform for the competitive bodybuilding stage, Christian has become a well-respected personal trainer who’s advised a number of athlete’s on their progression.  In this podcast, we discuss Christian's background and early start in the industry. We also get very in depth with program design related science.