When Brandon Smitley returned to Terre Haute in 2012 to work on his graduate degree at Indiana State University, he realized the lack of a facility where athletes and community members could go to achieve their desired results.

Brandon, a competitive powerlifter and world-renowned strength coach, began a project to help improve the community’s health, fitness, and athletic performance.

The project soon evolved to the Terre Haute Intensity Resistance and Sports Training (THIRST), which he co-founded and co-owns with his wife, Adrian, a strength coach and personal trainer.

Brandon joins me today to discuss conjugate training methods and their application to youth athletic training.

He defines conjugate training and differentiates it from concurrent training.

He outlines the key issues he encounters whenever he trains young athletes.

And Brandon also highlights the importance of cultivating confidence in the weight room, and explains why coaches need to prioritize buy-in when training kids and young athletes.

Ensure that the program is something they enjoy and that it builds their confidence. If we can get kids to buy in first, everything else will follow. – Brandon Smitley

Are you ready to take your coaching and training career to the next level?

You need to find great mentors to guide you along your journey – to help you find the blind spots in your own training programs and improve your skills as a coach.

But… mentorship can be expensive, and unfortunately, it’s not always feasible for some budgets.

That’s why Bill Hartman and I developed IFAST University, an online curriculum and mentorship program designed exclusively for fitness trainers, coaches, and rehab professionals.

We want to help every trainer and coach in the industry improve their training techniques and write better training programs for their clients.

By becoming a member of IFAST University, you’ll receive:

This blend of content and Q&A is specifically designed to help make YOU the best fitness trainer you can be.

To learn more or to join IFAST University now, visit https://ifastuniversity.com/

Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of The Physical Preparation Podcast with Mike Robertson – your one-stop-shop for fitness trainers, coaches, and athletes.

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