Today’s guest is Rett Larson, strength coach for the German Women’s Volleyball Team and creator of the "No Zombies" training philosophy. Rett coached Olympic medalists with China and the Netherlands, blending energy, rhythm, and purposeful movement into world-class performance.

As sport expands into an increasingly more high-pressure, early specialization event that can easily suck fun and joy away, there grows a need for a "counter-culture" within athletic performance. Not only does a "physical preparation" process for athletes that is joyful and gamified lead to more fun within a training session, but it also develops important athletic qualities, within that umbrella of "fun" that may not be possible in more "traditional" sessions.

Rett Larson is spearheading an active, engaging approach to the physical preparation process for athletes with warmups designed for joy, engagement, and a comprehensive stimulation of athletic qualities along the way. On today’s episode, Rett speaks on a variety of engaging tools and gamifications in the warmup process for both thermogenic and neurological preparation. He goes into his take on partner exercises and isometrics, and the process of using a physical challenge to "sneak" strength and skill elements in the program.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Hammer Strength and LILA Wearable Resistance Gear.

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

6:12- Enhancing Athlete Performance through Innovative Training

20:06- Rope Flow in the Warmup Process

25:19- Team Bonding through Partner Exercises and Gamification

29:39- Athletic Development through Diverse Warm-Ups

31:24- Engaging Training Games for Athletic Development

38:00- Enhancing Motor Learning Through Novel Activities

48:14- Isometric and "Sneaky Strength" Exercises

54:50- Tennis Balls as a Powerful Warmup Tool

1:05:36- Animal-Inspired Safari Warmup Routine

1:14:35- Dynamic Movement Enhancement with Wearable Resistance Gear

Key Takeaways

1️⃣ Rethinking Training Norms: Breaking the Script

Let’s be honest—starting the season with FMS testing or default punishments like push-ups feels like a missed opportunity. Rett challenges that default. Why not flip the script? Start with something that actually taps into the nervous excitement athletes bring into day one. Instead of draining that spark, use it to build buy-in.

What to try:

• Kick things off with a creative team challenge instead of movement screens.

• Replace punishments with something silly but memorable (e.g., team serenade or worm dance).

• Avoid singling people out—no solo singing for introverts. The goal is laughter, not dread.

2️⃣ Rope Flow: Movement Puzzles that Stick

If you’ve ever tried rope flow, you know it’s strangely addicting. Rett uses it as a warm-up tool that hits thermogenic, rotational, and coordination qualities all in one. It’s essentially a moving puzzle—and that makes it ideal for getting athletes out of zombie mode.

What to try:

• Add rope flow sequences early in warm-ups to raise body temp and spark engagement.

• Mix in new patterns over time so it stays fresh.

• Think of it as "motor learning meets party trick"—athletes love that feeling of leveling up.

3️⃣ Partner Work and Social Pressure: The Good Kind

Warm-ups don’t have to be solo grinds. In fact, the social element is part of the magic. Whether it’s balloon volleys in a split squat or partner wall sits, Rett uses simple tools to inject teamwork, laughter, and just the right amount of peer pressure.

What to try:

• Design partner or trio-based warm-up drills to naturally boost effort and engagement.

• Add tasks or games that distract from the burn (like volleying a balloon while holding a lunge).

Today’s podcast guest is Stefan Holm—Olympic gold medalist and one of the most elite high jumpers in history. Standing just 5’11”, he cleared over 140 bars at 2.30m or higher, won the 2004 Athens Olympics, and holds an indoor best of 2.40m (co-owning the “height jumped over head world record). Now a coach for Sweden’s national team, Holm brings deep insight into jumping training and performance at the highest level.

On today’s episode, I ask Stefan about his early life as an athlete, and formative sporting experiences, along with the tree of coaching that led to his own training methods. Stefan covers his history with high jump variations, plyometrics, strength training, technique development, and much more on today’s show. As Stefan is now a coach, he also discusses his philosophy based on his time as a world-class competitor. This is not only a great show on training ideas, but also a great opportunity to study one of the best of all time in their given sport discipline.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Hammer Strength and LILA Wearable Resistance Gear.

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

4:29- Stefan’s Early Training: Genetics, Childhood Sports, and High Jumping

15:21- Rituals in High Jump Training and Athletic Mastery

26:06- Strength Training and High Jump Performance

40:12- High Jump Training Methods, "Holm Hurdles," and Plyometrics

41:04- Emphasizing the Feeling of Flying in High Jump

52:36- Approach Dynamics in High Jump

1:01:17- Strength Training and Range of Motion Concepts

1:03:32- Gradual Plyometric Progression for High Jumpers

Stefan Holm Quotes

(2:50) "My dream was to be a professional soccer player." - Stefan Holm

(3:00) "We played tennis, we played ice hockey, we tried track and field, we played football. Of course, we just played outside, trying to do everything." - Stefan Holm

(6:50) "I think you can handle a lot, all of you, but I think you have to build it up year by year. I mean, doing these sort of plyometrics that I did at the age of 28, 30, I didn't start there." - Stefan Holm

(9:23) "I started jumping for fun together with my best friend in his backyard when we were like six or seven years old. And we had to do the scissor kick because we had didn't have a mat to land on. We had to land on our feet." - Stefan Holm

(24:45) "But then I starting lifting in the fall of 1995 when I was 19, one and a half years later, I jumped 230 for the first time. So I think that I, when I get used to it, the first six, seven months, that was rough because I, I got muscles that I couldn't control. I got so much stronger and slower and just felt heavy and everything. But after, I mean, six, seven, eight months, but I could get control of everything then. I really think that it, it helped me to jump higher and also to get stable on higher heights. I could do them more often." - Stefan Holm

(27:01) "If I really, really, really wanted to jump a certain height, I jumped until I cleared it. For good and for bad." - Stefan Holm

(37:20) "Whatever everybody sees is these viral clips, me jumping over like 170 hurdles or 150 hurdles or whatever there are. But I mean I. I started off on the usual lower hurdles. That's 107 their tops. And I was doing plenty of jumps as a kid and as a youth jumper as a junior. I didn't buy these high hurdles until I was 24." - Stefan Holm

(41:10) "I had a session when I was jumping over hurdles, different kind of exercises, around 200 jumps in a session. I also did some, some bounding 60 meters. 24 times 16, 24 12. Left, right, left, right, left, right. And yeah, and then six times on your left leg, six times on your right leg. That was a very, very fun morning actually." - Stefan Holm

Today's podcast features Ty Terrell, Director of Strength and Conditioning for Oklahoma Men’s Basketball. Ty brings deep experience from the NBA, having led performance programs for the Washington Wizards and Atlanta Hawks. He specializes in athlete development, performance testing, and biomechanics-driven return-to-play protocols. Ty has been mentored by Lee Taft and Bill Hartman, and has a unique fusion of abilities and methods in human performance.

Typically, the goal of athletic performance training is based on increasing outputs, muscle size, and aerobic capacities. Less emphasis is given to athletic movement qualities, how the body creates space for motion, and the process of loading and releasing energy. In understanding both outputs and movement dynamics, a more comprehensive training experience can be provided.

On today’s podcast, Ty speaks on optimizing the phases of athletic movement, particularly the “unloading” and reversal phases of squat and jump patterns that are often missed in training. He discusses the balance and interplay of movement-oriented training with strength and output capabilities. From a practical perspective, Ty gets into the nuts and bolts of unweighting methods, opening space in squat and hinge patterns, working absorption and propulsion with cables, step-up dynamics, and much more.

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

2:45- Holistic Athlete Development in College Sports

11:06- Organic Skill Development Through Free Play

19:04- Optimizing Movement Patterns for Athletic Success

20:06- Biomechanical Efficiency in Training Practices

29:52- Optimal Force Production for Athletic Enhancement

38:04- Optimizing The Phases of Athletic Movement for Vertical Jump Outcomes

47:44- Band-Assisted Unweighting for Muscle Recovery

53:54- Optimizing Movement Quality with Training Modifications

55:27- Optimizing Movement Quality Through Unweighting Methods

1:01:43- Efficient Transition Phases in Vertical Jumping

1:09:30- Cable Unweighting for Enhanced Movement Patterns

1:13:31- Cable Lifts and Step-Up Techniques

Quotes

(18:21) "I keep things very simple. I don't get far away from like, just the traditional movements. You have to be able to squat well enough." - Ty Terrell

(22:40) "The unweighting phase creates the potential for the braking phase. The braking phase slingshots us into the propulsive or concentric phase." - Ty Terrell

(23:15) "You need output, you need to be able to produce that quickly. But there are aspects of movement quality that will negatively impact your propulsive output. So you have to have both. And I think the biggest thing is to find is to define what is good enough in your situation." - Ty Terrell

(40:12) "I think you're trying to get the most with the least. And the priority is to make them feel like they can go out and play. So it's more restorative." - Ty Terrell

(44:48) "I kind of want that inflammatory process to occur in the off-season. So, you know, the adaptations and responses that come with that as opposed to the season, it's like we're trying to dampen those inflammatory responses so we can do something the next day." - Ty Terrell

(49:00) "A big thing we do either at the beginning of the workout to learn movement or to learn how to move in a Low threshold way we do a kind of sandwich. Maybe we had a sprint day, maybe at an encore workout, then we're going to sandwich the day with, hey, like another like 10 minutes of low threshold work and unweighting, you know, so like front foot elevated split squats." - Ty Terrell

(50:31) "You have to find a way to come back into that space a little bit or else you won't be able to acces...

Today's podcast features Tony Holler. Tony Holler is a veteran high school track and field coach, renowned for his "Feed the Cats" sprint training philosophy. With over 40 years of coaching experience in both track and football, Holler has become a leading voice in athlete-centered speed development. He is the head track coach at Plainfield North High School in Illinois, where his teams have consistently produced elite sprinters and state champions. He is also the co-founder of the Track Football Consortium, a popular coaching event that bridges the gap between sprint and team sport development.

In a day where the methods are many, Tony Holler has created a training system where he keeps the simple things simple, but off-sets that simplicity with a variety filled “X-Factor” training day that runs like a power-oriented basketball practice in many ways.

On today’s podcast, Tony speaks on his formative experiences as an athlete, young coach, and teacher that have led him to his current positions in coaching. Tony speaks extensively on his X-Factor workouts, inspiration from his dad’s basketball practices, and the keys to the variability in both plyometrics and wicket variations that define the training day. He also speaks on X-Factor paving the way for a simpler, competitive speed workout on the following day. Tony also touches on how the “feed the cats” methods have influenced the successful distance program at Plainfield North, along with many other nuggets of wisdom.

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

8:37- Competitive Coaching Styles in Track and Field

16:59- Fostering Passionate Learning Environments for Success

22:06- Sports Engagement and Flow for Long-term Passion

32:04- Color-Coded X Factor Athletic Training Program

43:54- X Factor Workouts for Recovery and Performance

50:29- Transitioning from Survival to Performance Mindset

59:49- Optimizing Sprint Performance Through Varied Techniques

1:02:08-Enhancing Speed with Varied Wickets in Training

1:08:16- Focused Timed Sprints for Effective Performance

1:12:30- Optimizing Coaching Practices for Large Groups

1:15:01- Intentional Training for Optimal Athletic Performance

1:22:07- Optimizing Cross Country Runs for Peak Performance

Quotes:

(4:45) “Baseball is not a hard sport, but they made baseball hard for us” - Tony Holler

(5:50) “I grew up with this weird mix of Neil Young and General Patton” - Tony Holler

(13:00) “There is no defense in track… it’s not a zero-sum game, which I love” - Tony Holler

(20:30) “I think like and love come before excellence” - Tony Holler

(32:10) “In basketball, my father would start practice with stations, and stations were things like we jump back and forth over a balance beam, and then we go forward, back and forth. And then the next station was jump rope, and the next station was lateral slides back and forth, touching the lane lines. And we do that kind of thing in X Factor because what I have found is that basketball players seem to be the healthiest, most durable track athletes.” - Tony Holler

(35:30) “Our favorites are the extreme ISO lunge that we do not do for five minutes. We do it for more like a minute. You know, maybe we're not cooking the steak long enough. But this is very important. Always err on the side of less.” - Tony Holler

(00:44:15) “I color code our speed workouts and our X factor workouts as yellow, which to me means caution. And that caution is don't let today ruin tomorrow. Almost always the day after an X factor workout is a sprint workout for us” - Tony Holler

(47:40) “Speed is repetitive. X factor is very much flex” - Tony Holler

Today's podcast features Mike Robertson. Mike Robertson is the co-owner of IFAST in Indianapolis and host of the Physical Preparation Podcast. With over 20 years of experience training athletes from the NBA to everyday clients, Mike is known for blending biomechanics, strength, and smart programming to get real-world results. He’s a respected educator and a leader in the performance training space.

The more advanced we get in the world of functional training, human movement, and biomechanics, the more difficult it can be to manage our programming. Having a set of basic principles and foundations for movement coaching helps us to serve a wide variety of athletes throughout their seasons and careers.

On today’s episode, Mike speaks on the nature of his programming, and how he treats the primary squat, deadlift, bench, and split squat movement patterns with the needs of an athlete in mind (with particular emphasis on off-season pro athletes). Mike goes into concepts on braking and propulsion and how to use the weightroom to impact this balance of forces, hinge mechanics, lessons from coaching youth sports, and much more.

Today’s episode is brought to you by TeamBuildr’s Gym Studio.

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

4:32- "Evolution from Powerlifting to Athletic Movement Training"

17:32- Foot Support and Motion Control in Strength Training

23:37- Flywheel Training Advancements in Professional Basketball Conditioning

33:23- Center of Mass Restoration for Explosive Athletes

33:51- Optimizing Performance Through Propulsion and Braking

42:14- Enhancing Athletic Performance Through Hinge Variations

50:00- Bilateral Offset Stance Benefits in Exercises

52:46- Internal Rotation Stance for Hip Mobility

1:00:41- Maximizing Athletic Potential through Tailored Training

1:10:05- Enhancing Coaching Skills Through Immersive Soccer Experience

1:17:49- Evolving Coaching Techniques in Basketball Training

1:19:44- Innovative Techniques for Creative Thought Management

Quotes

(14:18) "I've gone away from like really like chasing outputs or trying to push outputs up to, hey, Man, I just want to restore outputs, right? Like, can we just get you back somewhere near your top end in the off-season? So we know you still got it, but we're just touching it, right? So I talk about touching intensity." - Mike Robertson

(14:34) "Some of my biggest go-to's, I still love anterior loaded squat variations. for benching variations. Very little barbell stuff. I'm talking more on like, the aging athlete side. I really love alternating work. I love floor-pressing variations. Anything where we're one is up, one is down, so we can maintain some motion through their thorax. And then as far as deadlifts go, if I'm going to deadlift somebody, I still really like Like a high-handle trap bar deadlift." - Mike Robertson

(20:21) "Depending on your situation, your environment, context, like you can make an argument for just about anything." - Mike Robertson

(22:25) "Especially as we age, I just think of three buckets. There's the mobility and movement quality bucket. There's the neurological outputs bucket so you can speed, power, strength, and then there's like the, the metabolic capacity buckets." - Mike Robertson

(26:49) "In, this is the thing that I always come back to. Right. Like, Bill and I have had this discussion so many times, like, in passing in the gym. It's like, oh, my gosh, like, just how easy was it to train in your 20s?" - Mike Robertson

(38:37) "I used to always joke around with athletes and I was kind of right. But I used to always say like weightlifting and like strength training is the only sport where it benefits being on your heels. Right.

Today's podcast features Matt Aldred. Matt is the head strength and conditioning coach for basketball at the University of Michigan. He has international expertise and a diverse background in sports he has worked with through his previous stops in NCAA strength and conditioning. In addition to his strength and conditioning experience, he is certified in fascial abrasion technique and Frederick stretch therapy, in addition to a sports massage background. Matt has also co-authored the Fascial Mechanics for Sport course alongside Danny Foley.

In building a performance program, it must ultimately be centered around the needs of the athlete. Athletes need to be as ready as possible on game day. Some athletes need more mass and physical strength. Others need more conditioning and body composition management. Others need more fluid and adaptive movement capabilities. Many athletes enjoy and benefit from providing their input into the program. These facets of performance make athletic development more dynamic than just “get them strong and I did my job”.

On today’s podcast, Matt talks about many aspects of building an athlete-centered program, highlighting training the spectrum of muscular strength and tissue quality, over to dynamic, high-velocity training with a priority on athletic qualities. He also speaks on training variability (such as “every rep different”), multi-planar training, basketball game demands, athlete autonomy, wearable resistance training, and much more. This show puts many pieces into place of a comprehensive approach to athletic development, encompassing so many facets of improvement in the field.

Today’s episode is brought to you by TeamBuildr’s GymStudio.

For a Gym Studio 14-day free trial, head to gymstudio.com

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/)

Main Points

3:41- Functional Training for Athletic Performance Enhancement

7:34- Peak Performance Training for Athletes

12:49- Position-Based Athletic Programming for Optimal Performance

18:14- Enhancing Athletic Performance Through Varied Training

22:39- Position-Specific Basketball Training Programs

25:04- Game-Specific Training for Peak Performance

27:25- Dynamic Training Approaches for Athletic Performance

37:11- Strategic Micro-Dosing for Athlete Performance Optimization

46:00- Sticking to Basic Exercises for Effective Training

47:46- Enhancing Athletes' Adaptability Through Varied Workouts

49:33- Tailored Training Zones for Athletes in Weight Room

51:13- Optimizing Player Performance Through Varied Training

55:28- Amorpho Gear Enhancing Basketball Performance Sessions

1:08:25- Functional Movement Training with Light Weights

1:14:54- Functional Movement Training for Athletic Performance

Quotes

(00:07:34) "The game is so intense and it's so movement-based. We have to replicate that in the weight room. We can't just be weight and warriors because we've all had that athlete that's super strong and looks amazing. And I'm looking at the opposition team in a warm up going, who is that!? And then they don't play." - Matt Aldred

(00:13:50) "The longer I've done this, the more I really lean into an athlete's intuition." - Matt Aldred

(00:20:40) "There are certain exercises like a chin-up we're probably going to want to go full range of motion. I want you to hold at the top with Tempo down. But if we're doing a horizontal row, man, I can be elbow wide. I can be really quick reps. I can hold at the top. I can do a split stance with an anchor on a Kaiser pull-down. We can make that horizontal roll whatever we want to do." - Matt Aldred

(00:24:29) "I don't think that we put the athlete in the box like no man, like whatever you are, I'll program towards that." - Matt Aldred

Today's podcast features Bob Thurnhoffer, Assistant Track & Field Coach at the University of Louisville. Bob brings nearly two decades of NCAA Division I coaching experience, with past stops at New Mexico, Loyola Chicago, and UIC. His athletes have earned multiple All-American honors, NCAA qualifications, and school records. Bob is also known for his deep knowledge in training for jumps and is a respected voice in the track and field coaching community.

On today’s episode, Bob speaks on the formative experience of his past work training speed and power at an NCAA DI school in the confines of a hallway. He also goes into plyometric training concepts, and acceleration development, as well as some of his key complex training methods in the weightroom. Bob also digs into the importance of general strength in his program, along with the nuts and bolts of his weekly training setups for sprint and jump athletes in this fantastic resource on speed and power development.

Today’s episode is brought to you by TeamBuildr’s Gym Studio and the Just Fly Sports Online Courses.

To learn more about the Sprint Acceleration Essentials, Elastic Essentials, or Speed ID courses, go to justflysports.thinkific.com

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

6:02- Bob’s Early Experiences as an Athlete and His Early Mentors

18:55- Innovative Training Solutions for Limited Spaces

29:38- Enhancing Athletic Performance Through General Strength Training

34:55- Individualized Workouts for Optimal Athletic Development

39:14- Foundational Elements in Athletic Performance Training

41:41- Peak Velocity Training for Jumpers

56:44- Intensive Cycle Variation for Optimal Performance

58:51- Force Plate Metrics for Athlete Performance Tracking

1:05:43- Mentorship Impact on Athlete Training Mindset

Quotes

(17:21) "I do think it's like limitations breed creativity more than freedom of possibilities. Unlimited situations don't create creativity as much as limitations do." - Bob Thurnhoffer

(18:05) “(Training in a Hallway) I can do acceleration, I could do plyometrics. I can get very strong in the weight room. And try to learn how to be truly great at these things that I can do. Because I knew that the things I could do I had to be better than everyone else at” - Bob Thurnhoffer

(29:38) “I still work general training a very, very large degree. Probably more than most coaches even. Yeah, I remember Brooke, the pole vault coach at Louisville. She said to me at the start of the year how she really liked how much general strength I do. She's like, yeah, I don't know. Coaches never do that anymore” - Bob Thurnhoffer

(41:00) “Interestingly enough, I actually, at New Mexico I almost entirely went to Monday, Tuesday neural, Wednesday, Thursday general, Friday neural. The whole two years I was there for everyone. And it worked great” - Bob Thurnhoffer

(47:30) “I almost always finish a neural lift with med ball throws; to restore proprioception after heavy lifting” - Bob Thurnhoffer

(49:13) "I think like long jump you gotta, it's all about displacement, smoothness, being a passenger, letting the natural inherent reactivity that you've developed in training and it's inherent in the human body do the jumping for you." - Bob Thurnhoffer

(1:02:01) "It's the quick ground contact time with the vertical displacement. That's what I'm looking for." - Bob Thurnhoffer

About Bob Thurnhoffer

​Bob Thurnhoffer is an accomplished track and field coach specializing in jumps, currently serving as the Assistant Coach for Jumps at the University of Louisville. He joined the Cardinals' coaching staff on July 31, 2023, bringing with him over 18 years of Division I coaching experience across multiple institu...

Today's podcast features Austin Einhorn. Austin is a movement specialist recognized for his pioneering work in athlete development and injury prevention. As the founder of APIros Performance, Austin's coaching philosophy emphasizes biomechanics, human function + evolution, and adaptability to build resilient athletes who can withstand the demands of high performance. He has worked with athletes across major sports leagues, including the NFL, MLB, NBA, and Olympic programs, and is continually pushing the boundaries of athletic performance and injury prevention systems for athletes.

There are a wide variety of systems and available philosophies on athletic performance and injury prevention. With so much information available, assembling a human-centered viewpoint of how we innately move and adapt is a critical step in forming a better lens of coaching and training.

On today’s episode, Austin discusses his first principles when it comes to athlete assessment and training intervention. He digs into aspects of athletic hip extension, pushup and overhead patterning, and foot motions, along with the variability concepts in training and performance. This was a thought-provoking podcast with one of the brightest minds in the industry and is a must-listen for anyone looking to build more robust, adaptive athletes for any discipline.

Today’s episode is brought to you by TeamBuildr’s GymStudio.

For a Gym Studio 14-day free trial, head to gymstudio.com

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

2:15- Influential Mentors in Problem-Solving Training

6:53- Optimizing Hip Extension for Athlete Performance

8:28- Optimizing Athletic Performance Through Anatomy Assessment

30:30- Muscle-Centric Approach to Musculoskeletal Health

35:10- Performance Optimization through Diverse Movement Strategies

45:56- Enhancing Tendon Resilience with Varied Loading

48:57- Enhancing Performance Through Varied Training Approaches

53:10- Enhancing Athletic Performance with Innovative Tools

57:25- Optimal Shoulder Blade Tilt for Push-Ups

1:01:15- Optimal Shoulder Blade Movement in Bench Press

1:03:25- Optimal Shoulder Blade Positioning in Movements

1:08:31- Enhancing Shoulder Strength for Overhead Athletes

1:10:00- Enhancing Shoulder Strength for Overhead Athletes

Quotes

(4:53) "A lot of the students that I teach, where they start with just imitating and imitation is such a great way to learn." - Austin Einhorn

(11:19) "It's amazing what your brain can do to accomplish a task, but it'll use structurally different elements to do so." - Austin Einhorn

(17:00) "One area that is neglected is the transverse interior arch, basically the arch that's underneath your knuckles and it's responsible for 40% of your foot stiffness. But what's more important there is where that stiffness gets created. And it's in that ground contact phase in dorsiflexion" - Austin Einhorn

(19:17) "All non-contact injuries are preventable and solvable. And that just requires a little bit more critical thinking." - Austin Einhorn

(48:57) "My maybe favorite way to get that long time under tension is put on a rucksack and go hike for three hours. Yeah, like the variable terrain is going to do a little bit more for the peroneals, the posterior tib, the in the toe flexors on the inside of the ankle than just a calf raise" - Austin Einhorn

(51:32) "When you have a big, thick, cushy shoe, it's you think of as an exoskeleton. You can export the work to the foam. And so your leg doesn't need to bend as much. It's stiffer." - Austin Einhorn

(57:25) "So push-up is a quadrupedal movement. We're gonna have to look at how quadrupedals do that. The other thing that I like to look at is break dancers.

Today's podcast features Laurent Meuwley. Laurent is the Head Coach for sprints, hurdles, and relays for the Netherlands. A former Swiss national coach and European Athletics Coach of the Year, he’s known for guiding world-class athletes like Femke Bol and Dutch relay teams, pioneering the “Flyers vs. Diesels” sprint-type analogy and his comprehensive approach to training.

Often in sprinting and speed training education, we get a small piece of the equation based on our social media algorithms or our immediate training culture. To fully understand speed training, we must look at both speed and environmental coaching concepts that span cultures.

On today’s podcast, Laurent discusses speed building on the level of the weight room, overspeed, speed endurance, and individual training factors. Laurent also talks about building a relay-based culture and a powerful training environment, along with many more nuances of building elite sprinters.

Today’s episode is brought to you by TeamBuildr’s GymStudio.

For a Gym Studio 14-day free trial, head to gymstudio.com

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

2:31- Team Dynamics and Specialties in Athletics

21:15- Enhancing Speed with Rear Leg Propulsion

24:43- Efficient Cluster Training for Hypertrophy Goals

29:54- Explosive Training with Kaiser Machines and Variations

31:59- Individualized Sprint Training for Speed Development

35:12- Speed Reserve Optimization in Sprint Training

41:44- Individualized Training Approaches for Sprinters' Profiles

52:37- Aerobic System Impact on 400m Running

54:38- Optimizing Nervous System through Training Schedule

Quotes

(4:50) "In the second phase of the preparation, athletes are working more on individual exercises. And those are based on a test they do called the tensomeography test, where we check all the muscles individually and see how fast or slow they are, how strong or weak they are, how quickly they react, they can be activated or not." - Laurent Meuwly

(13:14) "Because a lot of strength program are thought in terms of which muscles are specifically used for the movement. But we also have to think in which kind of muscle contraction, what kind of Muscle contraction is then used and for different muscle groups it's a different contraction. It might be concentric for some, eccentric for others, isometric for some muscles. So in the specific work this needs to be taken into account." - Laurent Meuwly

(16:37) "If I take a hamstring exercise, when someone has struggled to activate the hamstrings quick enough, they might have an exercise where they are standing, laying on their shoulders up, one leg on the skateboard, the other leg in the air and they have to bring the skateboard back and forth under their butt as fast as possible." - Laurent Meuwly

(22:07) "The propulsion phase is really important in running and especially in sprinting." - Laurent Meuwly

(23:43) "The individualization in the gym is more to the way athletes are reacting in terms of hypertrophy. Some athletes would go a bit quicker away from max strength exercises, hypertrophy to be more in a velocity-based training, more in power than in strength development." - Laurent Meuwly

(33:00) "I think in Europe we are using overspeed quite more than in the US at least in track and field, I would say every 10 to 14 days." - Laurent Meuwly

(42:20) "A “flyer”, an athlete who is more speed based needs to be fast. And because speed is his or her strength, they also are going to recover from speed or even strength or whatever stimulates highly the nervous system quicker than athletes who are more endurance based and who are less talented for speed." - Laurent Meuwly

Today's podcast features Anthony Cockrill. Anthony is the Director of Volleyball Sports Performance and Assistant Director of Olympic Sports Performance at SMU. Previously at the University of Houston, he’s coached athletes across multiple sports and has a strong focus on explosive strength development, getting notable vertical jump training results with volleyball athletes.

There are different layers to the strength equation, and not all types of lifting will offer equal adaptation for athletes. In understanding key differences between full and partial ranges, as well as a focus on the concentric, isometric, and eccentric adaptations to the lift, we can better design a program that allows athletes a maximal bandwidth to adapt to the demands (and chaos) of their sport.

On today’s podcast, Anthony discusses the nuts and bolts of his training program, with a specific focus on squatting methods, range of motion concepts, and building strength, particularly through the eccentric phases of a lift. He also covers yearly planning, plyometrics, gymnastics, in-season training, and the physiology concepts behind his methods. This was an informative, and incredibly practical podcast on all things vertical jump and explosive strength development for athletes.

Today’s episode is brought to you by TeamBuildr’s GymStudio.

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

Timestamps

11:30- Enhancing Squat Mechanics with Zercher Squats

17:07- Heel Elevation for Enhanced Squat Performance

19:32- Enhancing Back Squat Performance Through Torso Training

29:00- Eccentric Overload Back Squat Training for Volleyball

31:23- Deep End Range Exercises for Volleyball Performance

38:05- Optimizing Strength Through Deep Range Training

40:58- Enhancing Strength Through Deep Range Isometrics

44:33- Deep Squat Training for Enhanced Strength

46:26- Enhancing Strength Through Deep Squat Positions

55:29- Enhancing Athlete Performance Through Gymnastic Movements

1:06:05- Utilizing Muscle Spindles and Titan for Power

1:06:05- Eccentric Emphasis for Enhanced Athletic Performance

1:09:21- Enhancing Performance Through Deep Range Plyometrics

1:21:56- Optimizing Performance: Athletic Training Strategies

Quotes

(13:00) "The torso is always the limiting factor when trying to load the legs." - Anthony Cockrill

(14:30) "I've moved away from a ton of front squatting. I do do it, but only maybe for a three-week period. I used to do it like exclusively instead of Zerchers, but It's a little more technical than a Zercher as far as like getting kids into that front rack position." - Anthony Cockrill

(15:58) (For Zercher Squats) "The fat bar is obviously like the more surface area, the more you're touching it kind of dissipates that pain in the elbow from the thin bar. But if you don't have fat thick bars. Yeah, we'll just use fat grips." - Anthony Cockrill

(21:00) "Within the Zercher and you're like protracting those shoulder blades out and the amount of like stress you get within the upper back and in the rhomboids, that's probably the area most kids like feel it the most within those first three weeks. Because again most people are really underdeveloped between the shoulder blades." - Anthony Cockrill

(31:30) "We do a ton of single leg as we get in season." - Anthony Cockrill

(35:50) "The biggest range of motion movements that are probably gonna, from A structural standpoint involve the most amount of contractile tissue." - Anthony Cockrill

(40:40) "The idea is to have a massive bandwidth to handle chaos. So I think if you can get into those deep end ranges and not just produce force, but various forces, whether it's leveraging,