Today’s episode features strength coach, educator and entrepreneur, Zach Even Esh.  Zach is one of the most well respected figures in the strength and conditioning industry, and has impacted over 1,000 athletes in his career as a coach.  He has founded the Underground Strength Gym, as well as creating the Underground Strength Coach Certification.

Zach appeared originally on episode 100 of the show alongside Jeremy Frisch and Jorge Carvajal speaking on the epidemic of early specialization, and even more problematic, the lack of play and physical proficiency amongst our youth today.  Zach is a guy who is truly in the trenches when it comes to the art of training young athletes.

One of the things that has always stood out to me about Zach, and has also resonated with me in life always, is the power of using “what you have “in training.   On podcast episode #96, Dan John talked about training high achieving throwers with minimal facilities and even coaching a girl shot put with a rock.   Adarian Barr has coached me in the same manner with simple tools like a 25lb plate on a grass field.

Zach has used odd and unconventional training means to achieve incredible results with his athletes and we’ll get into that on the podcast today.  We’ll also cover Zach’s mission as a coach and trends over the last two decades in terms of youth performance and decline in the physical readiness of these athletes.

Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.

View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.

Key Points:

Zach’s story and mission as a coach

Using alternative means for training athletes

The importance of partnerships and environment in enhancing creativity and work outputs

Trends in youth performance in terms of kids physical readiness

Quotes:

“The injuries of the 1990’s were not what they are of the 2000’s”

“One of the early influences to my early training setups were Rocky movies”

“Odd objects got kids tough, and gave the kids a unique element where they felt special”

“We just have different kids today compared to before”

“I’ve seen so many athletes get injured, not from training, but from overuse of sport”

“I respect how strong people got with basic equipment, limited knowledge and limited nutrition”

“Spending time on smartphones will kill your creativity, you won’t be able to create because you are only consuming”

“As a strength coach you have to find people who have an abundance mentality”

“Today, we are talking overuse and a lack of physical readiness”

About Zach Even Esh

A leading figure in the strength & conditioning industry, Zach Even – Esh has trained over 1,000 athletes ranging from the youth level to the Olympic level.

Zach founded The Underground Strength Gym and created The Underground Strength Coach Certification, both of which have inspired and educated coaches and athletes from around the world to achieve greater success in both sports and life.

Since creating The Underground Strength Gym, Zach has consulted with Division 1 athletic teams, Olympic Level athletic clubs, Spartan Race, pro teams and independent coaches and athletes from around the world.

The Underground Strength Gym began from Zach’s parents garage while he was a Health and Physical Education teacher in 2002. What started as a summer experiment training a few athletes grew into a full time obsession and now Zach and his Underground Strength methods have grown into a world wide movement, inspiring athletes and coaches all around the world in training and life.

Zach’s Underground Strength Coach Certification has attendees traveling from all around the world and range from independent Strength Coaches, active Military personnel, athletic coaches, college coaches and former Navy SEALs.

Zach lives in NJ with his wife and 2 kids and continues to inspire a...