Today’s guest is Jay DeMayo, Jay is the longtime strength coach for men’s basketball at the University of Richmond and the founder of CVASPS—the Central Virginia Sport Performance Seminar. He’s known for connecting top minds in sport science and coaching, and for his practical, athlete-first approach to physical preparation.

Where the emphasis of an athletic performance program can easily be centered from a narrow perspective, Jay considers a wide variety of inputs, from an athlete’s underlying structure and positional abilities to their perception of workout adjustments, to specialized exercises and technical training elements.

In this episode, Jay digs into the principles he uses to prepare athletes for the demands of the game. From a foundational perspective, he discusses building work capacity and progressing split squats. On the power side, he shares his take on Olympic lifts and French Contrast training, while also addressing the role of autonomy and individualization in his approach. Throughout the show, Jay unpacks practical tools and coaching strategies that drive long-term athletic development.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Hammer Strength.

Use the code "justfly25" for 25% off any Lila Exogen wearable resistance training, including the popular Exogen Calf Sleeves. For this offer, head to Lilateam.com

View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. (https://www.just-fly-sports.com/podcast-home/)

Timestamps

8:21- Tailoring Training Methods for Athlete Engagement

11:01- Unveiling Louis Simmons' Strength Training Insights

14:24- Enhancing Basketball Players' Performance Through Tailored Training

21:37- Personalized Exercise Selection for Enhanced Performance

27:55- Engaging Exercise Progressions for Effective Training

30:22- Mastery of Bottom Position for Exercise Gains

34:49- Empowering Athletes through Autonomy and Structure

40:02- Enhancing Lift Performance through Positioning Techniques

49:28- Maximal Expression Circuit Training with Olympic Lifts

59:19- Hormone Spikes in Squat Training

1:14:38- Tailored Stimuli for Optimal Physiological Response

1:17:31- Strength-Speed Emphasis in Athletic Training Program

Quotes

"If you can find a little bit more engagement with them, you get a little bit more effort. And again, if intent drives adaptation, they. Then that's what matters." - Jay DeMayo

"We probably don't want that the average for a 20 person basketball team to be what dictates the drill when one kid could run 0 meters and another kid could run a thousand meters." - Jay DeMayo

"I think, though, that the, you know, we talk about therapeutic things and all that all the time as well. And we talk about how motion is lotion. Right. Like, it helps you get things going and get things moving and this and that. So sometimes just getting out of their way and letting them kind of work their way through things is the best thing for them too." - Jay DeMayo

"We could talk about potentiation and this, that, and the third with it (with French Contrast) my favorite saying at the end of the bench is every time it works, it does. And the guys seem to love it. Yeah, I've never been yelled at about that day." - Jay DeMayo

(Speaking on the oxidative split squat method) "So we take a week to build to it. We start with two sets of 10 per leg. And it's just a two count up, two count down. So it's a 40 second set, 40 on, 40 off." - Jay DeMayo

"But I've got at least four guys that I know that when they get their plug and play for whatever that lunge strength exercise is on game day plus one are gonna pick oxidative split squats." - Jay DeMayo

About Jay DeMayo

Jay DeMayo is the founder of the Central Virginia Sport Performance Seminar (CVASPS) and a veteran strength and conditioning coach at the University of Richmond. With over two decades of collegiate coaching experience, Jay has become a respected voice in the field of physical preparation, known for his integrative and athlete-centered approach to training.

At Richmond, he works primarily with men’s basketball, guiding athletes through long-term development with a blend of performance science, coaching intuition, and practical innovation. Through CVASPS, Jay has built one of the premier sport performance events in the world, bringing together top coaches, scientists, and therapists to share cutting-edge insights and applied wisdom.

A passionate educator and connector, Jay is also the host of the CVASPS Podcast and author/editor of several eBooks on high-performance training. His work reflects a relentless pursuit of context, clarity, and continual improvement in sport preparation.