Today’s podcast features Eric Guthrie, Director of Strength and Conditioning at George Washington University. Eric has over a decade of experience in sports performance, working with a wide range of sports. He currently works directly with lacrosse and gymnastics. A graduate of the University of Iowa with a degree in Health & Human Physiology, Eric was a standout punter for the Hawkeyes, where he served as a permanent team captain and even earned an opportunity with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Play-based training is on the rise in athletic development, and for good reason. It is a primal and effective way to deliver, not only a high level of stimulation and salience (attention) to the session but also to create memorable and joyful experiences for the individual. The key with any tool is to understand how to use it in context, achieving a balanced and effective use.

On today’s episode, Eric digs into his keys in building movement challenges for athletes, using play for conditioning and movement qualities, and facilitating a program that continually scales into an athlete’s growing needs. He goes in-depth on how he chooses the degree of play and variability in a program, and how to build training with all parties in mind, sport coach, strength coach, and athlete. We also dig into some awesome mind, body, and environmental factors in training, conditioning, and performance. This was a practical and insightful podcast on one of the most powerful existing tools in athletic performance, the power of play.

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Main Points

5:26- Athlete-led Movement Challenges for Engaging Training

13:16- Enhancing Athlete Engagement Through Play-Based Training

17:39- Novelty-Driven Movement Engagement for Athletes

23:07- Enhancing Athletes' Performance Through Movement Competency

30:33- Athlete-Led Movement Challenges Enhance Training Experience

34:24- Enhancing Athlete Development Through Playful Training

37:39- Enhancing Team Cohesion with Contact Integration

40:55- Agile Conditioning through Game-Based Fitness

49:13- Fun Fitness Games Enhancing Athletic Performance

1:04:13- Motivation Through Competitive Status Systems in Training

1:09:29- Confidence Building through Weight Room Progression

Quotes

(14:40) “That's the sneaky part of it. How can you fit that in without them really realizing it? They're probably expecting a certain thing when they come in. We're gonna lift weights, we're gonna run. Toes on the line, this certain level of discipline. Quote, unquote discipline, which I think is sometimes overdone, but sometimes you need to have that starting out. And then can you build towards the more open and free”

(17:32) "If you love it, then you'll want to come. You'll become obsessed with it and you'll come back and you'll give great effort and then the results will follow."

(36:33) "We've had those discussions as a staff too. It's like what? What is our role? Is it this one to five years of performance drive that as high as you can or is it like lifelong lessons or skills."

(39:20) “Wheelbarrow walk. You're getting way better than just holding a plank for two minutes. Getting the engagement and dynamic, you know, repetition without repetition”

(44:00) “(For a more play-based conditioning approach) We had a more veteran team so I think they had a bigger base of play, sport practice, and sport play under them. So a younger team might need more of that base building for lack of a better term...