Jochum Strength Podcast

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Scott Leech joins the podcast to talk about contact prep, small-sided games, football strength and conditioning, and why training has to actually transfer to the field.

We start by squashing the old snapdown beef, then dive into where Scott’s ideas came from and why traditional football S&C can miss the mark when everything is built for the whiteboard instead of the field.

Scott breaks down how contact prep started for him, why linemen need more than tempo runs and weight room numbers, and how moving another human is its own skill. We also cover his controlled, combative, and competitive progression for contact prep, how he programs rolling, crawling, wrestling, short-sided games, and how to expose athletes to contact without just throwing them into chaos.

This episode gets into the real coaching questions: how to program contact prep, how to split drills between bigs, mids, and skill players, how to use coach’s eye as a KPI, how to build better decision makers, and how to create football practices that give athletes more realistic reps.

We also talk about after-action reviews, why coaches should ask if drills actually show up on game day, and how to tie field work, contact prep, small-sided games, speed days, and the weight room together with a high-low model.

00:00 Squashing the snapdown beef

02:00 Questioning traditional football S&C

06:30 Why contact prep started

10:30 Controlled, combative, competitive

15:00 Soft tissue prep and impact soreness

18:00 Programming contact prep year-round

21:00 Bigs, mids, skills, and station logistics

24:00 Drill selection and small-sided games

27:00 KPIs and coach’s eye

35:00 Better football practice and high-low integration

Extras:

Stop building weight room warriors. Build athletes who can move, think, collide, compete, and actually play the game.

Insider Program: https://www.jochumstrength.com

Jochum Strength Gear: https://www.bonfire.com/store/jochum-strength/

1:1 Consults: https://calendly.com/jochumstrength/consult

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/austinjochum/

Rival Nutrition: Use code JST20 for 20% off at https://rstr.co/rivalnutrition/jst

Jon Heck joins the podcast to talk nutrition, getting jacked, building muscle, football athletes, and why food needs to be viewed as a weapon for performance.

We start with Jon’s background in football, training, nutrition, and how he found the middle ground between the pure academic nutrition crowd and the extreme bodybuilding world. Jon breaks down how he went from being a 315-pound offensive lineman to dieting down, getting lean, rebuilding his body, and realizing that nutrition could drive both physique and performance.

From there, we get into why most athletes tune out nutrition talks, how to make food simple for college football players, why linemen should not chase arbitrary scale numbers, and how to think about gaining weight without just dirty bulking and getting slower.

Jon also covers “kill it, pick it, grow it” foods, quality versus quantity, meal frequency, food journaling, cafeteria eating, cooking basics, hunger management, cravings, and why getting lean before getting big can unlock a much better long-term body composition plan.

00:00 Welcome to the podcast

01:00 Jon Heck and Will Rattel training together

04:30 Making nutrition cool again

06:30 Jon’s nutrition origin story

11:30 Learning from bodybuilding-style nutrition

16:00 Nutrition is 20% plan and 80% psychology

21:00 Stacking diet wins and staying consistent

26:00 Football linemen and arbitrary scale weight

33:00 Cafeteria eating and kill-it-pick-it-grow-it foods

53:30 Hunger management and cravings

Extras:

Nutrition is not just about looking better. Done right, it is a weapon for getting bigger, leaner, stronger, and harder to kill.

Insider Program: https://www.jochumstrength.com

Jochum Strength Gear: https://www.bonfire.com/store/jochum-strength/

1:1 Consults: https://calendly.com/jochumstrength/consult

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/austinjochum/

Rival Nutrition: Use code JST20 for 20% off at https://rstr.co/rivalnutrition/jst

Stuart Locke from Kodiak Barbell joins the podcast to talk powerlifting, coaching, online business, movement variety, and what it actually takes to build a product people stay with.

We start with Stuart’s path from college football and rugby into personal training, coaching coaches, building the Barbell Course with Prescript, and eventually turning online coaching into a real business.

From there, we get into programming for powerlifters versus athletes, why big powerlifters need movement variety, how to use frontal and transverse work without turning the program into circus training, and why dynamic effort days need actual caps instead of slowly becoming another max effort day.

Stuart also breaks down conditioning for powerlifting, stopwatch workouts, redefining wins for long-term athletes, the psychology of high-level lifters, how to build client retention, why young coaches need more reps before rushing to be thought leaders, and how to develop original ideas without abandoning the basic principles that actually work.

00:00 Welcome to the podcast

02:00 Building a coaching business through social media

05:00 From football and rugby to personal training

10:00 Coaching athletes versus powerlifters

16:00 Movement variety for big powerlifters

22:30 Dynamic effort days and time restrictions

26:45 Conditioning for powerlifting

30:30 Redefining wins for long-term progress

36:00 The mental side of elite powerlifting

45:30 Business, retention, and building real value

Extras:

Do not compete on being cheaper. Get better, solve problems faster, and build a product worth staying for.

Insider Program: https://www.jochumstrength.com

Jochum Strength Gear: https://www.bonfire.com/store/jochum-strength/

1:1 Consults: https://calendly.com/jochumstrength/consult

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/austinjochum/

Rival Nutrition: Use code JST20 for 20% off at https://rstr.co/rivalnutrition/jst

Sam Crain joins the podcast to talk small-sided games, contact prep, football performance, and building a training environment that actually looks and feels like sport.

Sam breaks down how his time at Rhode Island with Coach Leach changed the way he viewed agility, contact prep, and offseason football training. Instead of running dead 5-10-5s and L-drills forever, he started using competitive, alive, game-based drills that force athletes to react, solve problems, and compete.

We get into how to progress small-sided games, when to add more people or more decisions, how to use the OODA loop in training, why tracking wins and losses changes intensity, and how these drills build confidence in second- and third-string players.

Sam also explains JMU’s contact prep progressions, how they use Catapult data, fly 10s, approach jumps, VBT, Perch, Zurcher competitions, quarterback training, system-specific football prep, and how to think about Devo athletes in season.

00:00 Sam Crain joins the podcast

03:00 The red-pill moment with small-sided games

09:00 Progressing football movement drills

12:30 OODA loop and decision-making

16:00 Tracking wins and publishing matchups

20:00 Catapult data and weekly running demands

22:30 Contact prep progressions

32:00 Blending traditional lifting with creative training

39:00 KPIs, fly 10s, jumps, and sprint work

54:30 In-season training and Devo athletes

Extras:

Make training competitive, make it alive, and give athletes problems worth solving.

Insider Program: https://www.jochumstrength.com

Jochum Strength Gear: https://www.bonfire.com/store/jochum-strength/

1:1 Consults: https://calendly.com/jochumstrength/consult

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/austinjochum/

Rival Nutrition: Use code JST20 for 20% off at https://rstr.co/rivalnutrition/jst

Ivan Escott joins the podcast to talk Olympic weightlifting, Garage Strength, skill acquisition, athleticism, and the long-term game of actually loving training.

Ivan breaks down his journey from Division I swimming to building a garage gym during COVID, learning Olympic lifts from Garage Strength YouTube videos, moving close to the gym, investing in coaching, and eventually becoming part of the Garage Strength team.

We get into the quest to clean and jerk 405, why Olympic lifts can transfer so well to sprint swimming, how to use Olympic lifts for athletes versus Olympic lifters, VBT for pulls and strength work, and why variation keeps training fun and productive.

Ivan also talks about late-start Olympic lifters, building realistic goals, finding limiting factors, choosing the right variations, and what it is actually like training inside the Garage Strength culture.

00:00 Welcome to the podcast

02:00 Quest to clean and jerk 405

03:15 From Division I swimming to Olympic lifting

09:00 Going all in at Garage Strength

13:30 Olympic lifting for sprint swimming

17:45 Olympic lifts for athletes vs Olympic lifters

22:30 VBT, pulls, and minimum velocity

28:00 Building technique through variation

34:00 Athlete days, jumps, and athleticism

40:30 Coaching late-start Olympic lifters

55:30 Garage Strength culture

Extras:

Keep the training fun, chase new variations, and stay a student of the game.

This week we had the opportunity to bring on Coach Stephanie Grubbs a strength and conditioning coach for the Houston Astros. Coach Grubbs has years of experience working in the collegiate setting at multiple Division One Universities and is now at the professional level. Throughout the episode we talked about the chaos that is professional sports, the importance of consistent language within an organization, and how at the end of the day winning is what matters. This is a great episode that provides insights into just how demanding, and rewarding, life can be in professional sports. As always thanks for listening and enjoy the episode. 

Dr. Xingchun “Hector” Wang is a sports physical therapist, strength and conditioning coach, and former fighter specializing in rehabilitation and performance for combat-sport and explosive athletes. His physics-informed approach combines biomechanics, objective testing, and practical strength programming to help athletes return from injury, develop power, and build long-term resilience. Hector has worked with athletes ranging from the high school and Division I levels to professional fighters competing in Thailand. You can follow him on Instagram at @hector.wangphysio.

This week on the Jochum Strength Podcast we had the pleasure of speaking with one my previous mentors Aaron DuVall. Aaron is the assistant Athletic Director for Sports Performance at the University of Pittsburgh. Throughout the episode we talked about relationship building with sport coaches, using sports science to highlight positives, and why one year is a still a long time to help develop an athlete in the NIL landscape. This was an awesome episode that showcased a lot of positivity and experience. As always thank you for listening and enjoy the episode. 

This week on the Jochum Strength Podcast we have on Dr. Nick Goode who works as the Athlete Safety and Performance Physiologist for the Enhanced Games. Throughout the Episode he talks about safety versus absolute performance, the stringent process of conducting a clinical trial, and the battery of testing and monitoring that the athletes went through. This was a super interesting conversation that looked at the Enhanced Games from an angle I have not seen discussed. As always thanks for listening and enjoy the episode. 

This week on the Jochum Strength Podcast we get the chance to talk with Jake Oliger a coach who specializes in helping baseball athletes. Throughout the episode he talks about taking steps back to rebuild and move forward, building muscle versus the technical side of the sport, and the art of learning. This was an awesome conversation that not just covers baseball but all things training and coaching. As always thank you for listening and enjoy the episode.