This week’s podcast guest is Angus Ross. Angus is a former Winter Olympian employed by High Performance Sport New Zealand. He works with track and field and several other Olympic sports, including sprint cycling, skeleton, squash, rowing, tennis, and more. Angus has a PhD in exercise physiology from the University of Queensland and has been a multi-time guest on the podcast. He is an absolute wealth of knowledge on all things speed, power, and human performance.

There is a lot that the world of sport can learn from track and field, but perhaps the most valuable lessons can be gained by studying the decathlon and heptathlon events. Most sports performance programs will jump, sprint, and throw, but the focused, competitive aspects of those events bring out the highest level of expression for pure outputs, along with the speed-endurance aspects.

In today’s podcast, Angus discusses the relationship between the multi-events and the needs of team sports, including the dynamics of creating scoring tables in a performance program and the connective tissue development multi-event training brings about. He discusses the relationship between speedbag training and sprinting. He also gets into isometrics and elasticity, as well as plenty of case studies and examples of putting these principles into action. I always have fantastic conversations with Angus; this talk was no exception.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs, TeamBuildr and the Plyomat.

TeamBuildr is an online software for coaches and trainers. Use the code “JUSTFLY” for a free 30 day trial of the TeamBuildr software at https://teambuildr.com.

For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly.

To try Pine Pollen for free (just pay for shipping), head to: justflypinepollen.com.

The Plyomat is a functional, intuitive, and affordable contact mat for jump and plyometric training and testing.  Check out the Plyomat at www.plyomat.net

View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.

Angus Ross Main Points

3:00- Comparing “Rotational” and “Linear” Events in Track and Field

11:20- Loaded Mobility for Athletic Performance Enhancement

18:24- Enhancing Connective Tissue Quality Through Loaded Stretching

31:45- Heptathlon Training Impact on High Jump Success

35:28- Rotational Movements in Multiplanar Athletic Training

43:03- Elasticity's Role in Athletic Performance

46:26- The Role of Elasticity in Athletic Performance

54:53- Enhanced Athletic Performance through Speedball Training

58:19- Spinal Engine's Role in Speed Enhancement

1:06:03- Enhanced Performance Through Muscle Control Adaptations

1:09:23- The Role of Long Isometrics and the Nervous System

1:11:49- Enhancing Physical Strength Through Structured Workouts

Angus Ross Quotes

"I just think it's interesting how these different qualities degrade at different rates. And in terms of trying to maintain your athleticism, probably that elasticity, ability to bounce is probably something that we should be thinking about." - Angus Ross"

“I talked at a high jump mini conference we had in New Zealand a little while ago. Made the analogy that it's really interesting, too, that the high jump + heptathlon is a really good combination. There's a lot of world class heptathlon athletes (who are really good at high jump).

"With the decathlon. I kind of have this idea in my head, like the decathlon principle, in the sense of what could be applied for any event. Like almost this catalog of same but different skills to be good at if you want to be good at one thing." - Joel Smith"

“But in contrast, volume of work probably is really good for your connective tissue and your fascial stuff and your tendons. And so perhaps the multi event is. And this is one of the things I was writing a couple of notes when you had some of those ideas to talk about. It's fascinating to me that we have now, we've got decathletes on the scene that can run 10.2 in the 100 meters and they can run close to four minutes in the 1500 meters”

"When you're doing this horrible level of fatigue and discomfort, you get to, you learn stuff because you go, well, how can I hold this position? All these motor units are dying on me." - Angus Ross"

“That was the thing in Scotland, snows in the winter. They had no indoor facilities. They trained in a little shed. What can we do? We can put a speedball up and hit that and do a body weight circuit. And guess what? They got really bloody fast. Crazy”

"Extreme adaptations to extreme demands. There's something in it." - Angus Ross"

About Angus Ross

Angus is currently employed by High Performance Sport New Zealand in a power physiology and strength and conditioning role, primarily working with track and field. He has worked with a number of sports at an elite level within the NZ system including sprint cycling, skeleton, squash, rowing, tennis and more. Angus has a PhD in exercise physiology from the University of Queensland and has also worked within the Australian institute system with stints at both the Queensland Academy of Sport and the Australian Institute of Sport. He is also a Winter Olympian in his own right having competed at the 1998 and 2002 Winter Games.

Today's podcast features Paul Cater, a seasoned strength coach with extensive experience in both professional and private realms. Beginning his journey in collegiate football at UC Davis, Paul later ventured into international professional rugby with the London Wasps for seven years. Following his rugby career, he spent a decade innovating strength and conditioning systems in professional baseball with the Baltimore Orioles and Los Angeles Angels. With a research focus on performance and injury reduction in Seville, Spain, Paul now optimizes training methods for the tactical community and is designing "The Lab Monterey," a premier 'smart gym' in the USA.

While training is often regarded as both an art and a science, the majority of time and resources are allocated to the scientific aspects, leaving the artistic elements overlooked. The art of training extends beyond communication with athletes, delving into the intuitive process of session unfolding and the natural processes of learning, movement, and community engagement.

In today's podcast, Paul explores the alignment of performance with natural learning, emphasizing challenge and mimicry over verbal statements and rote recital of patterns. He details how to create an environment that breathes life into training sessions, fostering engagement, enhanced learning, and improved results. The discussion also covers the role of science in the context of "smart gyms" and how technology can liberate coach resources for more creative investments. In a rapidly evolving world, this podcast is a landmark exploration of understanding athletes and fostering a meaningful coaching process.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs, TeamBuildr and the Plyomat.

TeamBuildr is an online software for coaches and trainers. Use the code “JUSTFLY” for a free 30 day trial of the TeamBuildr software at https://teambuildr.com.

For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly.

To try Pine Pollen for free (just pay for shipping), head to: justflypinepollen.com.

The Plyomat is a functional, intuitive, and affordable contact mat for jump and plyometric training and testing.  Check out the Plyomat at www.plyomat.net

View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.

Main Points

2:30- How athletic dance movements fit with culture, and how it works into Paul’s training ideas

12:30- Priming the environment of the athlete for better results, with the influence of music selection

19:00- Key exercises and “attractors” to help drive flow states and learning via mimicry in training

27:00- How to manage structure and basic coaching guidelines, along with creating space for freedom of movement and exploration

37:00- The nature of how children play, and their background, and implications for training and performance

43:00- Paul’s process of teaching, and education for mentors and assistants

53:00- How upbeats, and downbeats fit with rhythmic movement flow and athleticism

1:07:00- What the ideal world is in training and coaching, in regards to the balance of technology and sports performance

Paul Cater Quotes

“To really understand a culture, you have to understand their dancing culture and their music integration”

“I believe right now in America, we are establishing a culture that is devoid of identify and basic movement patterns”

“Dancing is ingrained in battle, and in sport you are mirroring movements, mimicking movements”

“I want to have young athletes be more readily available to accept challenges, versus seeing things as threats”

“Music, and the opening salvo of exercises can (engage an athlete) on both levels (of challenge and innate movement patterning)”

“Birds mimic the sound, and then they vary it”

“Choosing a song, mimicing beats and rhythms, within a drill, with peers”

“I think if we teach young athletes to memorize drills, or plays, we take away that creative inhibition”

“That’s the fine line, you want to challenge (respect the session and coaches authority), but you also want to inspire freedom”

“The mountain gyn is a garage, and logs and a bar; and I want it to be that way, and then I have all the tools and tech back in Monterey

“Purposefully withholding directive, speech, is a huge part of teaching people, athletes… it’s like Yoda, withholding information for Luke, purposefully”

“Often, I let them interpret things, and they’ll change the drill to their interpretation, and I’m OK with that as long as it’s keeping with the core of the movement”

“Can kids do these two things, challenge and mimic; that’s part of where the injury prevention comes; it’s not get stronger, or concentric force, or even rates of eccentric loading; it’s how quickly can we adapt, accept, and change”

“My goal is to have a smart-gym, where I can get back to coaching, and not be a weight room monitor, or just a rah-rah guy, but really to create the creative rhetoric of challenge, and bring out the mimicry process”

“You have to understand where kids are culturally coming form; how much have they trained by themselves out in nature, by themselves, running up hills on their own willpower and motivation doing it… that’s going to become less and less”

“You need both environments, I think you need climical, efficient training environments, but you also need places where you can mimic nature, and feel danger, and can have that challenge in other ways to, and you need both”

Show Notes

Katotsky Kick Athleticism in Dance Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzk5Ir37wjM

Syncopation in Music (Upbeats and Downbeats)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Drs_uqFG-to

Paul Solo Agility Warmup Flow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzkpewfDbMY&t=194s

Transcript



About Paul Cater

Paul’s journey in human performance began through the scope of playing collegiate

football at UC Davis, yet, it was his International experience that established the

foundation of sport science, culminating with a 7-year stint in professional rugby

highlighted by multiple championships with London Wasps, 2005-2010. During that time

Paul was able to assist in world leading human performance systems and concurrently

gaining his Masters Degree Middlesex University, London. It was those relationships in

within the rugby and soccer community that has innervated innovative methodology

blending the best of Europe and the USA.

After rugby duty ended, Paul worked as a strength and conditioning coach in

professional baseball for 10 years, having helped pioneer new systems in the MLB with

the Baltimore Orioles (2012-2018). He finished his professional baseball phase with the

Los Angeles Angels in concert with finishing his doctoral research through University

Pablo de Olavide, Seville, Spain on the topic of comparing traditional gravitational

based inertia resistance versus rotary inertia flywheel resistance to increase

performance and reduce injury rates. Drawing parallels to daily readiness over long

term minor league baseball and active duty employment cycles, Paul looks to further

employ his experience in optimizing methods for the tactical community.

While coaching professional teams, he has concurrently developed The Alpha Project,

building training centers and programs for local athletes to develop physical and

leadership skillsets for the next level of competition. He has a particular passion for

developing coaching talent, helping graduates out of college navigate their

path into successful strength and conditioning careers. Through vast experience in

professional rugby and baseball, as well as within the Special Operations community,

Paul is currently designing one USA’s premier ‘smart gyms” near his hometown on the

Monterey Peninsula - aptly named “The Lab Monterey” - to solution training issues for

all demographics through leveraging of technology and advanced training theory.

Paul and his wife Stephanie maintain Monterey, California as their home base where he

was born when his parents were stationed at Fort Ord. He looks to his father’s example

in prioritizing family and being a leader in the community, while passing on the love of

the mountains and ocean to his two little girls.

Paul’s passion for Human Performance has always been within the context creating

sustainable human relationship for optimal outcomes both in competition and life. By

integrating relationship and artistic expression to physiological adaptation, longer lasting

performance outcome, but more importantly quality of life during and after service are achieved.

Today’s podcast is with Alex Kanellis. Alex is the founder of Landmine University. He is a former state champion wrestler, Iowa Gatorade Player of the Year (Football), and University of Iowa football player. He has been a scholastic strength coach, wrestling and football coach, as well as having spent time as a performance coach for Weck Method. Currently, Alex’s focus is on training youth wrestlers, as well as his work with Landmine University.

Strength training for athletes is fundamentally basic. The powerlift variations, as well as Olympic lifts recruit a large amount of muscle mass and are fundamentally stimulating. At the same time, with the potential to be over-used, “functional” training has emerged, offering light-weight movements with high demands for balance and coordination. Landmine oriented training movements offer a happy medium in a high potential for force application, a rotational and arc-like orientation, as well as short learning curves (unlike the longer learning curve of the Olympic lifts).

On today’s podcast Alex goes into his experiences that brought him into landmine training, and how he uses the method with athletes. He also gets into the advantages and unique aspects of the method, and touches on the transfer points to a number of athletic movements and practices. Alex touches on isometric landmine variations, as well as gets into GPP methods for young athletes in general, and what we can learn from the athleticism of wrestling and combat sports.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs, TeamBuildr and the Plyomat.

TeamBuildr is an online software for coaches and trainers. Use the code “JUSTFLY” for a free 30 day trial of the TeamBuildr software at https://teambuildr.com.

For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly.

To try Pine Pollen for free (just pay for shipping), head to: justflypinepollen.com.

The Plyomat is a functional, intuitive, and affordable contact mat for jump and plyometric training and testing.  Check out the Plyomat at www.plyomat.net

View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.

Timestamps and Main Points

4:39- Enhancing Athletic Performance Through Rotational Core Movements

10:12- Rotational Landmine Training for Athletic Performance Gains

17:50- Rotational Landmine Exercises for Explosive Athletes

21:23- Spinal Engine Theory for Athletic Performance

32:00- The Role of Fat Grips and Unilateral Landmine Lifts

43:50- Rotational Resistance Training with Landmine Exercises

49:41- Building Athleticism Through Wrestling Movements

55:57- Focused Training for Elite Performance in Gymnastics

57:49- Enhancing Athlete Skills Through Wrestling and Free Play

Alex Kanellis Quotes

"Landmine lifts too is you really do feel the load go from one glute to the other glute and you can feel, and that's something that is really powerful and also just safe because they're just limited in a way that I like." - Alex Kanellis"

"Your spine is the primary engine for locomotion, as opposed to bracing your spine to neutral and powering locomotion with your hips and legs." - Alex Kanellis

"What if it's not an argument? What if you just started with more stuff like landmine cleans, or it's a lower bar to jump over, it's more athletic then maybe in high school or later (bring in Olympic Lifts)." - Joel Smith

"If we are going to spend those skill points as a coach who's not their sport coach, it does feel really satisfying when just at least a couple of those skill points overlap with what they're working on in their sport." - Alex Kanellis"

"Yeah, but it makes you play differently, and it gives you something. And so much. I think a lot of times we almost find things by accident that are because of these constraints." – Joel Smith

“And you could ask Donnie Thompson or any of the guys that are into the fat grip stuff. But for me, I remember with even bench press, but deadlift, particularly when I did work with a fat grip, it sort of auto corrected my form. It just became almost impossible to do it with bad form”

"So, in the whole system, there's principles that I wrote out, sort of just as a way, a measuring stick, and make sure that these movements were as functional as possible. So it's forward intent, rotational intent, core driven movement, and then progressive overload. – Alex Kanellis

“And that also lights up your lat, lights up your oblique. I'm big on giving proximal cues and sort of letting the distal stuff take care of itself. People do come back really sore in the lower leg” – Alex Kanellis

“It's interesting because I've always thought it was a great question, like, do wrestlers need a strength coach or do gymnasts need a strength coach? Wrestlers and gymnasts are extremely strong, regardless of their weightlifting background. And they look it, too” ~ Alex Kanellis

"Play wrestle. That's all you're going to tell them to do. Let each other win once in a while, try some different stuff." - Alex Kanellis"

Show Notes

Landmine clean with Alex Kannelis

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jOgiGBmCdyM



About Alex Kanellis

Alex Kanellis, is the founder of Landmine University. He is a former state champion wrestler, Iowa Gatorade Player of the Year (Football), and University of Iowa football player.

Following a career ending football injury Alex interned in strength and conditioning with coach Chris Doyle. For a decade, Kanellis served Regina High School as a strength coach, also contributing as an assistant football coach for eight years and briefly as head wrestling coach. His impact extended to WeckMethod, where he worked as a strength coach, gaining recognition in Men's Health magazine and other media.

Currently, Kanellis focuses on training youth wrestlers, combining his athletic background with innovative strength training methods.

Today’s podcast is with Mark McLaughlin. Mark is the founder of Performance Training Center, and currently works as a physical preparation/strength coach in the Lake Oswego school district. Mark has had a diverse sporting history as a youth, and has been active in the field of physical preparation since 1997. Mark has trained over 700 athletes at all competitive levels, from Olympic to grade school athletes, and has worked with organizations such as the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA universities, high schools, and youth sports.

On the last podcast (#358), Mark spoke on his creative and wide-ranging approach to athletic performance, with an emphasis on movement training and athlete learning, as well as technology and the importance of the aerobic system in athletes.

For today’s show, we center on a case study of one of Mark’s high school athletes who put 2 feet on his standing long jump and 11 inches on his vertical jump in just over 2 years time. Within this framework, we get into Mark’s ideas on athlete autonomy and feedback, jump training, progression and pacing of work, hill sprints, capacity, and more.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs, TeamBuildr and the Plyomat.

TeamBuildr is an online software for coaches and trainers. Use the code “JUSTFLY” for a free 30 day trial of the TeamBuildr software at https://teambuildr.com.

For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly.

To try Pine Pollen for free (just pay for shipping), head to: justflypinepollen.com.

The Plyomat is a functional, intuitive, and affordable contact mat for jump and plyometric training and testing.  Check out the Plyomat at www.plyomat.net

View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.

Timestamps and Main Points

6:25- The Role of Autonomy in Athletic Development

10:37- Gradual Increase in Plyometric Training Intensity

15:58- Optimizing Performance Through Reduced Training Volume

25:30- The Benefits of Diversifying Training Methods

35:33- Strength Training Concepts for Well Rounded Development

43:19- Optimizing Performance through Feedback and Monitoring

55:26- The Impact of Intent and Constraints

1:00:26- Jump Testing Device with Reactive Strength Measurements

1:02:59- Plyometric and Jump Training

1:09:16- Hunter's Varied and Intense Training Regimen

1:20:22- Hill Sprinting, Speed and Work Capacity

Mark McLaughlin Quotes

“So we just basically cut the volume almost by two thirds. And within the first month, his vertical increased like five inches”

“Well, as a coach, sometimes I'm kind of constraint led as well. And so, kind of some of the things that I did to facilitate fun and progress was I started a gymnastics program, per se, within the athletic development model that I have there, and all the kids love it. So, number one, and that's part of the warm up. So that's one to get them there, the other thing that we do prior to training is game based. So they could play team handball, they could play ultimate football, ultimate Frisbee. We have a rugby ball, soccer.”

“And again, when you ask kids, I think this is part of coaching in this country that is just bad to me, is we're never asking the athletes what they like. How do you feel about the training? Do you like what we're doing? No, I don't. Okay, then let's figure out what you do like. To keep you coming back. I do a questionnaire with every team twice a year to find out through my program what they like, what they don't like, my coaching style. So I can then refine this thing year to year to make it truly athlete centered”

“This past year, I bought an adjustable hoop for the weight room, so we were doing different dunks and different jumping activities”

“Yeah. I grew up with three younger brothers. We had a dunk hoop that would raise from, like, eight and a half to nine and a half feet, and you would watch Julius Irving dunk on somebody. Then you're trying to go out and dunk on your brother the same way he did it”

“I have two tether balls at the school that I throw over the power racks and I pull them up and I'll have kids run and jump up and try to head those like a soccer header. So the intent on that, you have them just jump up and try to touch the top of the power rack”

“There's a hockey player from Russia, Pavel Datsuk. They call him the magic man. So Pavel liked to, when he was playing with his friends, they tried to make the game, the constraints they put on themselves to make it harder or more enjoyable. It's extremely fascinating. And so one of the things that Pavel liked to do was he liked to play ice hockey in felt boots on the ice, and he played with a bouncy puck. It was creating a totally different game that he had to start and stop differently”

“And so the method that I use is it's an all out sprint, either uphill or with a sled for less than 5 seconds. So you're recruiting as much fast fibers as you can, but because the duration is so short and you don't want to exceed your anaerobic threshold, that it's purely aerobic, and that's going to lend itself to repeatability within these team sports. And that still is kind of the basis of these hill sprint sessions that I do with the athletes. But then you also get, I think, some residuals on the speed side as well”

Show Notes

 

The Shaping Of A High School Football Athlete: My Journey With Hunter Kavanaugh



About Mark McLaughlin

Mark McLaughlin is the founder of Performance Training Center, and currently works as a physical preparation/strength coach in the Lake Oswego school district. He attended college at the College of Sante’Fe in New Mexico and is an Oregonian residing in Portland.

Mark’s love for athletics grew during his teenage years, where he participated and competed in various sports. Through his sports experience and education, he developed a strong dedication to the overall well-being of athletes. This dedication led him to continually educate himself in athletic performance enhancement, and he has been active in the field since 1997. Mark has trained over 700 athletes at all competitive levels, from Olympic to grade school athletes, and has worked with organizations such as the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA universities, high schools, and youth sports. Along with his online training and consulting services, Mark also speaks at various organizations locally, nationally, and internationally.

Today’s episode is a Q&A podcast with Joel Smith. Questions on this episode revolve around swim training, sprint training, plyometrics, and specific training means for athletic development. Much of my philosophy has gone towards motor learning and how athletes can intuitively learn explosive sport skills, that not only gets results, but is also sustainable over time.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs, TeamBuildr and the Plyomat.

TeamBuildr is an online software for coaches and trainers. Use the code “JUSTFLY” for a free 30 day trial of the TeamBuildr software at https://teambuildr.com.

For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly.

To try Pine Pollen for free (just pay for shipping), head to: justflypinepollen.com.

The Plyomat is a functional, intuitive, and affordable contact mat for jump and plyometric training and testing.  Check out the Plyomat at www.plyomat.net

View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.

Timestamps and Main Points

2:11- Explosive Athletic Training with Plyometrics

7:25- Retracting the Thorax for Effective Swimming

17:56- Enhancing Energy Recovery through Breathwork Techniques

24:07- Adjusting High Intensity Training for Sustainability

32:23- Exploring Foot Positions and Pressures for Single Leg Jumping

37:24- Constraints-led Approach in High Jump Training

39:50- Explosive Skills and Athletic Movement Enhancement

44:20- Optimizing Performance through Body-Mind Activation

56:39- Avoiding Impingement with Alternative Squat and Deadlift Variations

59:27- Optimizing Sports Performance through Specific Joint Angles

1:07:21- Enhancing Weightlifting Performance through Neural Activity

Questions

Best plyometrics to prepare for training them again after a long layoff?

What's your approach in terms of S&C for swimming?

Besides endurance, are there elements of swimming that translate to running mechanics?

Top 5 best training modalities on recovery days?

Training wisdom for training vertical jump after 40?

Has your training changed since turning 40?

Best way to organize a workout for a quad dominant athlete vs hip dominant?

How do you improve an athlete who can't bring in speed into there 1 foot dunk?

Top 3 tips to get better at high jump?

What's the one thing you would program to progress with a track athlete from 7th-12th grade?

Top 5 isometrics to do pre-court session?

Thoughts on an open palm vs closed for sprinting?

How to peak for 100m as a muscular driven sprinter in track sprint work?

Does maintaining a strength for a sprinter in season matter?

Show Notes

Marv Marinovich Water Training

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUb1V7hBUMY

Transcript



About Joel Smith

Joel Smith is the founder of Just Fly Sports and is a sports performance and track coach in Cincinnati, Ohio. Joel hosts the Just Fly Performance Podcast, has authored several books and coaches in both the high school and private sector.

Joel was a strength coach for 8 years at UC Berkeley, working with the Swim teams and post-graduate professional swimmers, as well as tennis, water polo, and track and field. A track coach of 17 years, Joel coached for the Diablo Valley Track and Field Club for 7 years, and also has 6 years of experience coaching on the collegiate level, working at Wilmington College, and the University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse. He is currently coaching high jump at Milford High School.

Joel has coached 4 national champions, multiple All-Americans, and NCAA record holders in track and field. In the realm of strength and conditioning, his programs have assisted 5 athletes to Olympic berths that produced 9 medals and a world record performance at Rio in 2016.

Today’s podcast is with Graeme Morris. Graeme is an athletic development coach and leads the rehab program at Wests Tigers. He is the former head of strength and conditioning at AFL Field umpires, Western Suburbs Magpies and the Newtown Jets. Graeme has consulted for a variety of field based and combat athletes including world and Australian champions in Muay Thai. Graeme has experience designing and implementing strength and power in the gym, as well as speed, agility and conditioning on the field.

In athletic performance, it’s easy to get trapped in one viewpoint of improved athleticism, when there are many aspects of good movement and decision making. Graeme has both a wide-ranging understanding of sport and physical training, as well as an ability to understand the role of each coach and specialist in the overall training process.

On today’s podcast, Graeme speaks about his time training in the martial arts, and how that impacted his thought process in his recent return to traditional sports performance training. He also gets into thoughts on lateral and curvilinear sprint development, ideas on how to “micro-dose” athleticism in team sport athletes, ideas on staggered stance lifting, and more.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs, TeamBuildr and the Plyomat.

TeamBuildr is an online software for coaches and trainers. Use the code “JUSTFLY” for a free 30 day trial of the TeamBuildr software at https://teambuildr.com.

For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly.

To try Pine Pollen for free (just pay for shipping), head to: justflypinepollen.com.

The Plyomat is a functional, intuitive, and affordable contact mat for jump and plyometric training and testing.  Check out the Plyomat at www.plyomat.net

View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.

Timestamps

4:43- The Impact of Training Environment on Performance

13:24- The Importance of Fitness Tests in Sports

20:55- The Importance of "Grapple Strength" in Wrestling

30:43- Building a Resilient Foundation for Athletes

41:04- The Importance of Curvilinear Running in Athletics

46:20- Layered Progression for Athletic Performance Enhancement

53:02- Enhancing Athletic Performance through Variable Training

59:48- Staggered Stance Squatting for Back Relief

1:02:20- Flywheel Training in Athletic Performance

Graeme Morris Quotes

"But then I believe that in a soccer game that they analyzed, and I'm not saying this is necessarily true in rugby league or what the sports I work in, but 85% of sprints were curvilinear nature. Okay? So all of a sudden we know, okay, this is also preparing guys for game demands." - Graeme Morris

"Are you getting taught the correct things? Are you getting taught the correct tactics? Do you have good training partners? If you get training partners is so and so important. The people around you, are they challenging you? Are they pushing you? Are they assisting you? Becoming better every single day? So when I come back to sport, I always think, are we having a training environment that can lead to success? You want to produce a culture there, but that's not only really demanding and you're upholding standards, but it's still enjoyable to come to every single day." - Graeme Morris

"But every single player knows what a good time is and what not a good time is. And when they return to training or when they come back, they know what the standards are, whether they're fit enough or they're not fit enough." - Graeme Morris

"But you also got to also understand with some of these types of methods when you're in a team scenario as well. It's got to fit in with the holistic nature of what all the other coaches want as well. So you don't always get exactly what you want, whereas if you're doing something individually or when you're just a private coach, you can explore a bit more of these things. You might have this intuitive nature that you think this works and if your athlete has trust in it, it's easy to implement. Whereas in a team scenario, like multiple coaches are going to have input and then that certain thing might not get the tick of approval, so you might not get to have the full say, if that makes sense." - Graeme Morris

"But to do that fun stuff, you have to do some of the other stuff before that, I believe." - Graeme Morris

"I find the Kbox pushing into these positions like that because it's just forcing you all over the place when you're trying to do it, especially when you're doing it properly with a lot of." - Graeme Morris

Show Notes

Rugby Contact Drills

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71beRAMIuGQ

Transcript



About Graeme Morris

Graeme Morris is an athletic development coach and leads the rehab program at Wests Tigers. He is the former head of strength and conditioning at AFL Field umpires, Western Suburbs Magpies and the Newtown Jets. He has consulted for a variety of field based and combat athletes including world and Australian champions in Muay Thai. Graeme has experience designing and implementing strength and power in the gym, as well as speed, agility and conditioning on the field. He holds a degree in Human Movement with Honours in Exercise Physiology, a Master’s degree in Strength and Conditioning and is a level 2 qualified Australian Strength and Conditioning Coach (ASCA).

Today’s podcast is with Romain Tourillon. Roman is a physiotherapist, researcher and educator carrying an emphasis on the foot-ankle complex in rehab and performance. He is engaged in a PhD thesis on the foot muscles role in sports performance, supervised by sprint research expert, JB Morin. Romain works as a clinician at the Swiss Olympic Medical Center at La Tour Hospital, and has presented at various congresses on aspects of foot and ankle performance.

The foot is a massively important, and under-studied aspect of athletic performance, and considering the way the foot is trained and integrated makes an impact in the training program.

For today’s show, Romain discusses the roles of the mid-foot and fore-foot in human movement, and gives training applications to optimize each foot section. He gets into the role of the toes in training, sensory input, intrinsic foot strength, and much more.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs, TeamBuildr and the Plyomat.

TeamBuildr is an online software for coaches and trainers. Use the code “JUSTFLY” for a free 30 day trial of the TeamBuildr software at https://teambuildr.com.

For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly.

To try Pine Pollen for free (just pay for shipping), head to: justflypinepollen.com.

The Plyomat is a functional, intuitive, and affordable contact mat for jump and plyometric training and testing.  Check out the Plyomat at www.plyomat.net

View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.

Timestamps and Main Points

7:41- The Interconnectedness of Lower Limb Function

11:48- The Impact of Forefoot Strength on Athletic Performance

16:43- Evolutionary differences in foot and hand function

19:16- Improving proprioception and foot function through barefoot training

28:02- Effective Foot Activation Exercises with Dorsiflexion

38:08- Enhancing Foot and Calf Strength and Performance

45:18- Calf Muscles: Force Absorption and Propulsion

52:23- Muscle Groups for Foot Propulsion

1:05:03- Midfoot Strengthening with Tibialis Raises

Romain Tourillon Quotes

"The lower limb has to absorb and produce force. You say it's not just the foot does that, not just the hip. And so that's why you have to have this holistic push and this link between both (the foot) and every joint here." - Romain Tourillon

"I find for proprioception or like balance based exercises, it's a good sign when people are feeling that in the intrinsic foot muscle. I find people who do balance exercises and don't feel it in their foot. They feel like they're calf. Usually those are people with issues. There's a strong link there." - Joel Smith

"When you increase the (toe) dorsi-flexion, for example, during the heel raises, you increase the mid-foot moment and mid-foot force production." - Romain Tourillon

"But it's pretty good exercise in order to work on this production on the first ray on the big toe, that it's much more economic. You can produce greatest force production and it's better for everything to have this. What I say, good propulsion. I would say good propulsion picture or good propulsion function. Pushing on the first toe." - Romain Tourillon

"The first thing is to say, okay, the absorbing foot is this muscle Tibialis Anterior, Tibialis Posterior. So the two biggest. And after, if you look at the calf, it's the Soleus, which are, I would say the greatest absorber in the chunk." - Romain Tourillon

"With the long toes, you have an increase of the lever arm within the foot, between the ankle joint rotation and the tooth. So allowing you to have, if you have the, I would say, calf capacity to have a greatest lever arm to produce force on the ground." - Romain Tourillon

Show Notes

Ziani Step (Toe Dorsiflexion Strength)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbS541xZLdA

Romain Tourillon: First Ray Calf Raise

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jKyUeMorsLs

Romain Tourillon: Midfoot Weight Transfer

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/DNoIFbFhnLU

Romain Tourillon: Seated First Ray Calf Raise

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Hbmtr0_vkt8

Little Toe Brick Alignment

Toe Brick Alignment

Transcript



About Romain Tourillon

Romain Tourillon is a versatile professional, integrating roles as a sports physiotherapist, researcher, and educator. Leading the foot-ankle service at the Swiss Olympic Medical of La Tour Hospital in Geneva, he is engaged in a PhD thesis on foot muscles' role in sports performance kinetics, supervised by Prof. JB Morin at the University of Saint-Etienne, France. Romain holds an MSc in physiotherapy and an MSc in Training and Sport Performance Optimization from France. He represents the profession internationally as an active member of the scientific organization: International Ankle Consortium.

With a Master's in Sports Science (Training & Performance Optimization) from the University of Nantes and a Master of Physical Therapy from IFM3R Institute, Romain's research centers on the foot-ankle complex in injury, sport, and performance, emphasizing foot strengthening. Currently, he works as a clinician at La Tour Hospital (Swiss Olympic Medical Center - Geneva - Switzerland) Romain has presented at various national and international congresses, including the International Ankle Symposium, French Ankle Symposium, and European Congress of Sports Science, and has peer-reviewed publications on human foot muscles' strength.

Today’s podcast is with Ian Markow. Ian is a personal trainer and movement educator based in Delray Beach, Florida, and founder of Markow Training Systems. Ian utilizes methods and philosophies from Functional Range Conditioning, the Postural Restoration Institute, and more as he works with clients from the general population to professional athletes. Ian is an internationally recognized expert in fitness, mobility, and human performance and has a number of educational programs, courses, and workshops.

With the vast amount of information on corrective exercise, movement, and mobility training, knowing where to start and how to view the human moment equation can be challenging. As helpful as movement training can be, it can also easily create a training narrative that an athlete is dysfunctional, and promote a “nocebo” effect of movement limitations, as well as create an environment of high pressure on the part of the trainer to elicit particular movement and range of motion outcomes.

On today’s podcast, Ian discusses taking a practical perspective that centers on what an athlete can do rather than what they cannot and the simple gateways he manages to engage with the individual's breathing, mobility, and alignment. He also gets into ideas on managing more superficial movement abilities versus more deep-seated structural elements, gives his take on assessments, and much more.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs, TeamBuildr and the Plyomat.

For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly.

To try Pine Pollen for free (just pay for shipping), head to: justflypinepollen.com.

The Plyomat is a functional, intuitive, and affordable contact mat for jump and plyometric training and testing.  Check out the Plyomat at www.plyomat.net

TeamBuildr is an online software for coaches and trainers.  I’ve continued to hear great things about the Teambuildr platform, and whether you are looking for an in-house training portal or an online training hub, be sure to check out Teambuildr training software.

View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.

Timestamps and Main Points

6:17- Empowering Mobility Training with Individualized Care

14:33- Dynamic Shoulder Mobility Through Break Dancing

18:10- Breath Work and Alternative Strength Movements

27:41- Engaging and Effective Dynamic Warm-ups

33:44- Prioritizing Simple Solutions for Tangible Improvements

42:17- Enhancing Performance Through Stride-Based Breathing

47:15- Balancing Intensity and Mobility for Overweight Clients

57:18- Wall-Based Assessments

1:01:20- The Impact of Rib Cage Structure

1:17:47- Yielding and Expanding for Optimal Breathing

1:23:39- Isometric Training with Horse Stance

1:28:42- Ian Markow's Training Methods and Workshops

Ian Markow Quotes

"But there's corners and things that you're hitting in your CARs that will maintain that joint over time, that simply, I just haven't found anything that gets there." - Ian Markow

"I think you can generally get stronger. So let's strength train and keep you fit while we work around some of your limitations, but also specifically for your elbow. When you go to play tennis or paddle, why don't you go ahead and do these elbow CARs? Let's do a few more of these every day and just keep the thing moving." - Ian Markow

"I could care less what her hip rotation is because we're obviously crushing it. She feels great. She's more confident. You know what I mean? So those are the outcomes that matter, and it all comes down to the goal." - Ian Markow

"In another way of putting it, I'm kind of thinking about stumbling, thinking about what the right phrase is, but just keeping the training vibe. It's keeping the training vibe and is the main thing feeling better and not getting bogged down with other little minutiae." - Joel Smith

"I think most people are so crushed in their lower back ribs that when I teach them how to round them and then how to breathe into them and get separation between those ribs, that can be absolutely a game changer." - Ian Markow

"I think effortless efficiency is a big, kind of, like, catchphrase that I've been really loving for the past few years. The idea that you use as much tension as you need, but no more than that, because that's what efficiency is." - Ian Markow

"And just like the cold plunge is like this huge phenomenon right now, it's the same thing. You're in the bottom of a split squat and your leg is violently shaking. You need to learn how to get through that wall." - Ian Markow

About Ian Markow

Ian Markow, a dedicated personal trainer and educator from Miami, FL, began his fitness journey at Crunch Gyms, and eventually Goldman Sachs, in New York City. Ian is the founder of Markow Training Systems (MTS), and has a number of courses, training programs, and is a regular workshop presenter. Ian is well versed in the Functional Range Conditioning system, and is a sought-after expert in the realms of mobility, fitness and human movement.

Today’s podcast is with Christian Thibaudeau. Christian is a Canadian strength coach with over two decades experience, is a prolific writer, and has worked with athletes from nearly 30 sports. He is the originator of training systems such as the NeuroTyping system and Omni-contraction training. Christian is a wealth of training knowledge, and in addition to his extensive experience, he walks the talk in his training, competing in weightlifting and bodybuilding.

I always enjoy having Christian on the show, as he is an absolute wealth of knowledge in multiple areas of human performance. I’ve had a significant number of revelations across my time speaking with Christian that have had a profound impact on my approach to programming and training.

On the episode today, Christian talks about aspects of the nervous system and training stress, both in shorter-term cycles and waves of work, as well as year-to-year recovery concepts to restore the body and mind. Christian also covers ideas on training to failure, pre-fatigue and muscle activation work in relation to athletic skill development, loaded stretching for strength, and more. This was an awesome show, and it’s always great to have Christian on the podcast.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs, TeamBuildr and the Plyomat.

For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly.

To try Pine Pollen for free (just pay for shipping), head to: justflypinepollen.com.

The Plyomat is a functional, intuitive, and affordable contact mat for jump and plyometric training and testing.  Check out the Plyomat at www.plyomat.net

TeamBuildr is an online software for coaches and trainers.  I’ve continued to hear great things about the Teambuildr platform, and whether you are looking for an in-house training portal or an online training hub, be sure to check out Teambuildr training software.

View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.

Timestamps and Main Points:

6:58- Optimizing Neurological Training for Maximum Gains

8:22- The Importance of Structural Abilities in Training

13:29- Neurological Factors and Performance Fatigue

24:23- The Impact of Skill Mastery on Performance

25:58- Enhancing Performance through Systemic Stress Management

31:51- The Importance of Rest and Recovery

35:20- The Impact of Mental State on Training Performance

39:22- Optimal Muscle Growth through Post-Failure Technique

45:00- Targeted Muscle Growth through Low Volume Training

53:20- Maintaining Bar Proximity for Olympic Lifts

1:02:44- Enhancing Performance with Iced Calves

1:10:07- Optimizing Health with Magnesium Supplementation

Christian Thibaudeau Quotes

"The reality is that when we are talking about training methods that are focused on neurological changes, which would be pretty much all power training methods, reactive training, plyometrics, pros, even the Olympic lifts, and even strength training, as far as in the very low ranges or isometric stuff like that, they all have a very short duration of what effective training can be." - Christian Thibaudeau

"But if your body is not ready, what happens is you're creating lots of low grade systemic inflammation. You are causing stress on those tissues, and you don't always feel the pain, but it's still there, and it still sends signal to your brain, which will create inhibition, preventing you from performance, from performing at your best." - Christian Thibaudeau

"But I'm telling you, if you do a four to six weeks period where you devote as much focus and thinking into designing a recovery program than you do programming your performance program, dude, when you come back from that, you're going to be a freaking machine." - Christian Thibaudeau

"I think it's a mistake to try to do everything with the same tool. Each tool has its purpose. Don't try to nail a nail with a saw. That just doesn't work well." - Christian Thibaudeau

"If you understand a movement really well and you understand which muscles do what in that movement, you can think, you know what that technical issue I'm seeing, maybe it's not because of poor technique, but it's because one muscle is overactive versus what it needs to be, and one is underactive versus what it needs to be. So you can try to reverse that and then practice the skill. You might not have to do any technical correction. Just changing that activation fatigue ratio in some muscles might self correct the technique." - Christian Thibaudeau

"It actually is a great way to program your brain to use the fast twitch fibers. And it's a great way of doing volume work for the fast switch fibers, because doing typical lifting, if you try to do volume, you'll get that two x to two a conversion which you don't want. With loaded stretching, I don't think that happens. And also you are strengthening that lengthened position, which makes you stronger in that weaker and more dangerous position. It's literally a training method that every single athlete should do." - Christian Thibaudeau

Transcript



About Christian Thibaudeau

Christian Thibaudeau has been involved in the business of training for over the last 19 years. During this period, he worked with athletes from 28 different sports. He has been “Head Strength Coach” for the Central Institute for Human Performance (official center of the St. Louis Blues).

His specialty: being a generalist. He assists his athletes to develop the necessary qualities to increase their performances (eg: muscle mass, power, explosiveness, coordination). His work method enabled him to lead several successful athletes in a multitude of different disciplines.

Christian is a prolific writer with three books published, each of which translated into three languages (The Black Book of Training Secrets, Theory and Application of Modern Strength and Power Methods, High Threshold Muscle Building). In addition, Christian is co-author with Paul Carter in a new book, which will soon be released. He is also the author of two DVDs (Cluster Training, Mechanical Drop Sets).

Christian is also a senior author and head writer for the E-Magazine T-Nation his articles are read by over 200,000 people every week.

He competed in weightlifting at the national level as well as bodybuilding, He was also a football coach for 8 years.

As a lecturer, he has given conferences and seminars in both the United States and Europe, to audiences ranging from amateur athletes to health professionals and coaches of all types.

Christian Thibaudeau popularized the Neurotyping system. Neural optimization supersedes hormonal optimization because the neural response affects the hormonal response. This is essentially the founding principle and inspiration behind Christian Thibaudeau’s Neurotyping System. The bottom line is simple: you are more likely to train hard, be focused, and stay motivated if you like the type of training you are doing, and a training that goes against your nature causes a greater stress response that hinders optimal progression. “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” – Albert Einstein

Today’s podcast is with Dr. Keith Baar, professor at UC Davis and renowned tendon training researcher and expert. Professor Keith Baar received his PhD from the University of Illinois, and over the last 20 years, Keith has worked with elite athletes, as the scientific advisor to Chelsea Football Club, USA Track and Field, Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, British Cycling, The English Institute of Sport, Leicester Tigers Rugby, and the Denver Broncos. He also spent time as an assistant strength coach with the University of Michigan football team where he was an undergraduate. Keith first guest appearance on this podcast, was on the role of various exercise velocities and tendon health, and was an extremely popular episode.

Tendon training is crucial for overall health and performance, as tendons rely on loading for adaptation. Isometrics, a potent tool, are key to a robust training program. In this episode, Keith Baar explores tendon tissue adaptation trends and how different forms of isometrics and training methods optimize tendon health and high-tension capabilities. He delves into the impact of both low-speed and high-speed loading movements, emphasizing the compounding effects achieved by combining them for enhanced performance. Dr. Baar discusses essential concepts like tendon remodeling, the body's protective mechanisms, and the optimal sequence for training to realign and remodel tendon tissue. Drawing from examples in swimming, running, and rock climbing, he highlights the integral role tendons play in shaping training and performance outcomes.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs, TeamBuildr and the Plyomat.

For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly.

To try Pine Pollen for free (just pay for shipping), head to: justflypinepollen.com.

The Plyomat is a functional, intuitive, and affordable contact mat for jump and plyometric training and testing.  Check out the Plyomat at www.plyomat.net

TeamBuildr is an online software for coaches and trainers.  I’ve continued to hear great things about the Teambuildr platform, and whether you are looking for an in-house training portal or an online training hub, be sure to check out Teambuildr training software.

View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.

Timestamps and Main Points

5:02- Benefits of Collagen Supplementation for Knee Osteoarthritis

10:03- Determining Collagen Synthesis through Exercise and Supplementation

15:47- The Power of Belief in Pain Relief

21:56- The Complexity of Pain and Tissue Healing

29:45- Optimizing Training Through Body Adaptability

31:46- Effects of Running Surfaces on Tendon Health

43:40- Tendon Health and Performance in Rock Climbing

52:27- Isometric Exercises for Scar Tissue Regeneration

59:54- Movement-Based Strategies for Inflammation and Recovery

1:09:38- Dynamic Adaptation of Muscle and Tendon Tissues

1:23:00- Optimizing Performance and Health through Tailored Training

1:23:47- The Impact of Loading Techniques on Injury Prevention and Performance Enhancement

1:24:12- Estrogen's Impact on Injury Risk and Prevention

Dr. Keith Baar Quotes

"These peptides, these magical elixirs. They don't really do anything at all."

"The hardest part, a lot of times, is having the expert to come in and say, this is what the real underlying problem is. And if you fix this, all the other stuff goes away."

"In thinking about human beings as being incredibly adaptable, it's interesting to think about how we can use that adaptability to shift out of, hey, if you mentioned even the tendon with the know, use that adaptability, like, hey, let me get away from the donut part and shift into the strong tissue."

"Your movement has to be much, much faster. And that movement through being faster means that the tendons are going to be stiffer and that means that the whole system is going to work very differently."

"And so what it really kind of suggests is that, look, the max hang is really going to be important. Because that's what you're testing on. You're testing on as much weight as you can. But when you're doing that again. The load is going to go through the tendon differently. And so when I do a partial hang. I can get almost the same effect. With a fraction of the load. So a fraction of the mechanical fatigue. But I'm getting the signal to the cells so that the cells get the signal to adapt and they're adapting very similar to somebody who's got a much bigger signal."

"You can fix the scar, you can fill the hole, you can do all of these things that are going to fix your connective tissue, your tendons."

"So, in our paper, where we showed the native effects of these cytokines, these immune cell messengers, we also inhibited using a drug that blocks one of the big inflammatory pathways. And what we did was we made the ligaments almost useless because inflammation is required certain types and certain amount of inflammation is required for the proper function of our tendons and ligaments. When we eliminate it, using ice, using massive anti inflammatories, using other things that are designed to decrease all inflammation we see is our ligaments and tendons become horrible."

Show Notes

Emil Abrahammson Hang Training

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBTI9qiH4UE

Transcript



About Keith Baar

Professor Keith Baar received his Bachelor’s in Kinesiology from the University of Michigan where he also served as an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach with the University of Michigan Football team. He then received a Master’s from the University of California, Berkeley and his PhD from the University of Illinois where he discovered the molecular signal that causes load-induced muscle hypertrophy.

He did his postdoctoral studies on the molecular mechanism underlying the muscular adaptation to endurance exercise under the direction of Dr. John O. Holloszy at Washington University in St. Louis. From there, Prof. Baar founded his first laboratory in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee in Scotland. Keith is currently the head of the Functional Molecular Biology Laboratory (FMBLab) at the University of California Davis.

Over the last 15 years, Keith has worked with elite athletes, as the scientific advisor to Chelsea Football Club, USA Track and Field, Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, British Cycling, The English Institute of Sport, Leicester Tigers Rugby, and the Denver Broncos, to maximize the effects of training for both endurance and strength while minimizing injury. His research is focused on determining the molecular mechanisms underlying the physiological and functional adaptations of the musculoskeletal system to nutrition and exercise. The result of this research is almost 100 peer-reviewed articles in journals from the Journal of Applied Physiology to Nature. His current work is focused on how loading and nutrition alter tendon/ligament/ECM health and performance.