Today’s episode features Pat Davidson, Ph.D., director of training methodology and continuing education at Peak Performance NYC.  He is the author of MASS and MASSII and is a sought out expert in the field regarding all things training and human performance.    Pat has competed as a 175-strongman competitor, and was a 2x world championships qualifier, and also has experience in competitive submission wrestling and mixed martial arts.  Prior to his current work, Pat served 5 years as an assistant University profession in exercise sciences.  

Pat’s areas of expertise are many, and some of my favorite podcasts I’ve listened to had him as a guest discussing the nervous system and the brain.  If you’ve listened to earlier episodes of the Just Fly Performance Podcast, with Justin Moore or Cody Plofker, you’ve probably heard them mention Pat as a mentor to them, particularly in the universe of Postural Restoration Institute, and its relationship to strength and conditioning and athletic performance training.  In the world of writing, one of Pat’s recent articles really got my wheels turning, where he discussed the dynamics of the knees traveling inwards in a squat, and how simply cueing everyone to “shove their knees out” in squatting can set them backwards.

I’m always fascinated by Pat’s writing and work, and I’m delighted to have him as the next podcast guest, as his thoughts on the big lifts have an impact on everything we see in our athletes training movements. Today’s episode centers around breathing, and dissecting posture and setup in squatting and deadlifting, as well as other common bodyweight training exercises.   So often we coach and cue movements thinking that an athlete’s presentation that movement can simply be cued “in the other direction”, but there are much deeper ramifications to be aware of.  Other topics include muscular vs. impinging strategies in movement, internal rotation in squatting, neck alignment and breathing, training mindset, and more.

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

View more show notes at Just-fly-sports.com/podcast-88-pat-davidson/