This week's Pacey Performance Podcast sees Rob speaking to Head of Performance at Perth Glory in the A-League, Carmen Colomer. Since 2017, Carmen has had quite the journey going from the Australian Institute of Sport to the Brumbies, Brisbane Broncos, Philadelphia 76'ers as Director of Sports Science and then into her current role in Perth. With all those experiences across multiple sports and countries, we wanted to chat to Carmen about what she has learnt along the way, particularly when it comes to recovery. The NBA has a notoriously gruelling schedule, so how did Carmen implement fresh ideas to the organisation and what has she took from that experience and integrated into the programme at Perth?  The first half of the conversation is all about recovery, what has worked for Carmen and her athletes and what hasn't. Then the second half is all about load monitoring. This is certainly a passion of hers but she early in the conversation gives us the cold hard facts of what load monitoring is and isn't.  If you're interested in hearing from Carmen, click play now. Main talking points - Challenges of working in a male dominated industry Recovery periodisation   Recovery methods to use during heavy fixture periods   What recovery methods have come and gone in your recovery battery in the last few years?   How do you monitor the effects of a recovery intervention?   Taking learnings from one sport to another   Athlete monitoring - what it is and isn't   External load monitoring and deciding what metrics matter across different sports   Where is this area going? Is it a matter of more information from these technologies or using what we have better?   How to maximise subjective monitoring?   Getting buy-in from athletes and coaches to subjectives   Taking learnings from one sport to another  

This week's episode of the Pacey Performance Podcast sees Rob speaking to Micheál Cahill. Micheál has been in the US for a number of years while completing his PhD and working at Athlete Training and Health in Texas. Most practitioners will know him for his work in resisted speed training with youth populations which is the exact topic of today's discussion. In the first half of the discussion, Micheál outlines his philosophy when working with youth athletes and outlines the gaps in maturation and develop where we can really focus on speed development. He also outlines why you may use sled pushes versus sled pulls with youth athletes. In the second half of the conversation we focus solely on resisted sprint trainnig for all populations. How can we prescribe load and how can we understand what an athletes needs from resisted sprints? Finally Micheál tackles some of the misconceptions and common questions that come up around resisted sprints. If you want a deep dive into resisted sprints and getting youth players fast, this one is for you. Main talking points - Developing speed across the age groups Are there any periods of time when things can be pushed or need to be pulled back? Where sled pulls can be utilised? Where sled pushes can be utilised? Time on technical vs physical development How to assess to understand what is needed when prescribing resisted sprints? Methods to prescribe load? Sled pushing vs sled pulling - Reasons for using one over the other Common questions/misconceptions/gripes around resisted sprinting

Marco featured on episode #413 of the Pacey Performance Podcast. This #bitesize episode takes a great clip from that episode where he discussed - The importance of HRV data collection timing HRV data collection protocol recommendations Other things that can affect HRV data Check out the full episode with Marco here - https://www.sportsmith.co/listen/heart-rate-variability-what-we-know-and-how-it-can-be-used-to-inform-training-prescription/ This episode is supported by RockDaisy, the only FREE AMS on the market. AMS Lite features reporting capabilities, questionnaires and forms, alerts and communication, data sharing, data visualisation and calendar views.

This week's guest on the Pacey Performance Podcast speaking to Rob is Stephen Patterson. It's actually Stephen's second time on the podcats having featured 3 years ago talking about the same topic, blood flow restriction training (BFR). Blood flow restriction training, although being around for years and years has seen an explosion in interest of the last few years. More devices on the market, an up surge in research and Stephen's podcast has all led to this boom. As interest rises and practitioners get their hands on the wearables or garments used for blood flow restriction training, new applications are spoken about. Because of this, it was essential to get Stephen back on to discuss some of those new applications and see what research (anecdotal or peer-reviewed) is behind them. In the first part of the episode we discuss BFR's more traditional applications; strength training, hypertrophy and rehab. The second part sees us discussing some of the more novel applications of this training modality; recovery and pre-training/match potentiation. If you're interested to know more about BFR and its applications, this podcast is for you. Main talking points - Physiology behind BFR What we know about BFR Why use BFR? Strength and hypertrophy protocols Benefits of using BFR in rehab What the research says on BFR for recovery Pre game/training potentiation effects Safety considerations Technology options What other novel ways coaches are using BFR Where is the research & application heading?

Nathan featured on episode #420 of the Pacey Performance Podcast. This #bitesize episode takes a great clip from that episode where he discussed - What MAS is and isn't Misconceptions about MAS and its use to programme conditioning How to use percentage of MAS to target different physical adaptations Check out the full episode with Nathan here - https://www.sportsmith.co/listen/maximal-aerobic-speed-vs-tempo-which-is-optimal-for-team-sport-aerobic-fitness/ This episode is supported by RockDaisy, the only FREE AMS on the market. AMS Lite features reporting capabilities, questionnaires and forms, alerts and communication, data sharing, data visualisation and calendar views.

This week on the Pacey Performance Podcast, Rob is speaking to Senior Director of Performance Science at the Kansas City Royals, Austin Driggers. Although often flying under the radar, Austin is highly respected in the field having come up through the US Olympic Committee system working with winter sport athletes under the tutelage of Brad DeWeese. This episode kicks off with Austin explaining how the Royals have developed a system which assesses each player throughout the year to understand their strengths and weaknesses. This then helps him and the rest of the team design programmes to keep each athlete fit and competing across the gruelling 180+ game season. We also chat about how he has tapped into and learnt from other environments such as business. This is a fascinating part of the episode as sport can often seem in a bubble with people looking in but not much going the other way. If you're aim is to reduce injuries with your athletes, check out this episode with Austin and press play on your chose podcast player. Main talking points - What assessments Austin uses Gold standards of practice What has entered and exited their assessment process Maturation of sports science in baseball Integrating sports science with data science, biomechanics etc Learning from other enviroments What Austin has learned from the world of business

This week's Pacey Performance Podcast sees Rob speaking to Senior Strength and Conditioning Coach at New South Wales Institute of Sport, Nathan Spencer. So what has Nathan got to do with NBA players? Well, prior to moving back to Australia,  Nathan spent 4 years at the Orlando Magic, firstly as a Performance and Rehab Coach before progressing to Head Strength Coach. In this episode, Nathan reflects on his time in the NBA, opening up about a difficult transition from Australian pro basketball. He dives into his preconceptions about NBA players and what they should and shouldn't be doing before detailing the assessments that formed the foundation of their programme. We discuss assessments that came and went during his 4 years in Orlando as well as the metrics that become valuable to him and the rest of the performance team. We finish off the conversation by getting into the detail about how NBA players train on the road, how they maintain such high physical capacity whilst in the midst of a packed schedule. If you want to know how to develop an NBA player, click play on this episode with Nathan. Main talking points -  Reflections on Nathan's time in the NBA - the realities Understanding what the athlete needs to improve physically Choosing the the most appropriate assessment Things to consider - prior injury, technique etc Influence of the draft Answering three important questions What physical characteristics do athletes need to possess to play in the NBA and YOUR way of playing? Expression vs capacity - what NM properties comprise these characteristics? What training methodologies impact these properties? Interventions based off these assessments How did things change across your time there as influences and philosophies changed?

Johann featured on episode #415 of the Pacey Performance Podcast. This #bitesize episode takes a great clip from that episode where he discussed - How to maximise impact with data The importance of communicating data in interesting ways Why the simple option of data visualisation is often best Check out the full episode with Johann here - https://www.sportsmith.co/listen/data-science-data-visualisation-and-evaluating-the-effectiveness-of-a-programme/ This episode is supported by RockDaisy, the only FREE AMS on the market. AMS Lite features reporting capabilities, questionnaires and forms, alerts and communication, data sharing, data visualisation and calendar views.

This week on the Pacey Performance Podcast, Rob is speaking to Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Florida Atlantic University (FAU), Joey Guarascio. Joey has previously held positions at Colorado State, and Ole Miss before landing at FAU in 2020. Deceleration testing and training is getting more and more attention both in research and in practice, and rightly so. Joey has recently written about his thoughts on deceleration and its this topic Rob chats with him about in this episode. We kick our discussion on how he integrates some of Damian Harper's deceleration assessments into his larger battery of tests at FAU. Joey emphasises the need for specific deceleration assessment versus thinking that a change of direction test will tell us what we need to know. We then chat about building the qualities needed to improve deceleration ability, firstly in the weightroom and then out on the field. Joey explains how he uses eccentric training at various different levels to build the engine and then the drill he uses on the field to refine technique. If you're looking to include deceleration assessments into your testing battery or want an insight into what exercises translate to improved deceleration ability on the field, give this a listen. Main talking points -  Why deceleration so important How to test deceleration ability The qualities underpinning better deceleration performance On-field strategies to develop a player's deceleration performance Off-field strategies to develop a player's deceleration performance The use of eccentrics Sub-max eccentric exercise prescription Supra-max eccentric prescription How to maximise eccentric training strategies in team environments

Håkan featured on episode #272 of the Pacey Performance Podcast. This #bitesize episode takes a great clip from that episode where he discussed - How to programme the load used in resisted sprint training? The impact heavy loading can have on acute and chronic sprint technique Using resisted sprint training with team sport athletes Check out the full episode with Håkan here - https://www.sportsmith.co/listen/pacey-performance-podcast-272-hakan-andersson/ This episode is supported by RockDaisy, the only FREE AMS on the market. AMS Lite features reporting capabilities, questionnaires and forms, alerts and communication, data sharing, data visualisation and calendar views.