LEO Training: Strength & Conditioning | Endurance | Health | Performance | Injury Prevention | Joe DeLeo

LT 098 | Alex Wolf - Training for the Complete Rower Subscribe & Review on : Apple Podcasts | Stitcher

In this week's podcast episode I had the pleasure to sit down with Alex Wolf, Head Strength & Conditioning Coach for English Institute of Sport.

Alex Wolf is the Head of Strength and Conditioning for the English Institute of Sport where he leads a team of 60 plus Strength and Conditioning Coaches working with the majority of Olympic and Paralympic sports for Team GB. Alex spent almost six years working with GB Rowing including the preparation for London 2012 where the GB Rowing Team topped the medal table with their best ever medal haul. Alex has spent over a decade working in elite and high performance sports working across Olympic, Paralympic and Professional sports in the UK and abroad. Alex is currently completing his PhD around neuromuscular physiology and biomechanics out of the Biodynamics Laboratories at Imperial College, London.

In addition, he is the co-author of the book "Training the Complete Rower" along with Coach Paul Thompson. This interview is a fantastic look into the training principles executed by one of the most successful rowing teams in the world. Alex discusses the strategies and principles of the book as well as the key lessons he learned that he feels are invaluable to rowers.

3 Things you will learn:

1. Evidence of strength training improving force development and power
2. What skills/lifts give the best return to the rowing stroke?
3. Technique vs. load - Why going heavier does not always translate to greater force production

Interview Topics:

• Training Paradigm of: fundamental skill development, conditioning training, high force and speed training, specific sports performance
• Evidence of strength training on force and power development for endurance athletes and balancing this during these types of efforts during the weekly training sessions.
• How do you evaluate/assess a brand new athlete?
• Why do you want to complete explosive strength training prior to heavy strength training and not the reverse?
• Technique vs. Load - Why going heavier does not always translate to increases in force production.
• and much more!

Show Notes:

• Alex Wolf (Twitter)
• 'What it Takes' to Work in High Performance Sport
• Training for the Complete Rower

LT 097 | Dan Garbutt - Technique vs. Style in Rowing Subscribe & Review on : Apple Podcasts | Stitcher

This week's podcast guest is my friend and Women's Head Rowing Coach of Old Dominion University, Dan Garbutt. Dan and I are both South Jersey natives so it was a ton of fun for me to sit down and reconnect with him.

Dan Garbutt is a 2001 graduate of Princeton University. He began his collegiate career in 1998, winning the Freshman Award and being named a member of the United States National Team, while the Tigers captured the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) Championship. He went on to earn three varsity letters in men's heavyweight crew as Princeton won three Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges (EARC) Championships (1998, 1999, 2001). As a senior in 2001 he received All-Ivy League and All-American honors.

Dan has been the Head Coach of Old Dominion Rowing for the past six years and has led the program to new heights and success. Some of his accomplishments include:

• In the 2015-16 season, his sixth year at the helm, Garbutt guided the Lady Monarchs to a sixth-place finish at the Big 12 Championship in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The sixth-place finish was a two-spot improvement on the 2015 conference finish. The 2015-16 season also saw the 1V8 earn Big 12 Boat of the Week honors in late March after a dominant performance at the UNC Invite, which marked the first time an ODU boat earned that accolade.
• In his fifth year as head coach and is in his first season in the Big 12 Conference, the team saw a lot of success, as the Monarchs recorded 19 top-20 finishes, including 13 in the top-5. ODU also started a new tradition by dedicating the Varsity 8 and the Second Varsity 8 boats to President John Broderick and First Lady Kate Broderick.
• In the 2012-2013 season, the Lady Monarchs received their first ever votes in the CRCA/US Rowing Coaches Top 20 Poll. The seniors from this season, which were part of Garbutt's first recruiting class, ended their careers at Old Dominion without losing a single home meet.
• During the fall 2012 season, Old Dominion's Frosh/Novice Eight boat won the Commodore Cup at the Head of Schuylkill, as well as won gold medals at the Head of the Hooch. The Frosh/Novice Eight boat concluded the fall season with a third place finish at the Rivanna Romp. At the Head of the Schuylkill, ODU's Open Four boat placed third overall out of 38 total boats. At the Head of the Hooch, the Lady Monarchs Lightweight Four boat placed second.
• Along with the success on the water, Garbutt also helped open the $2.3 million ODU Rowing Center in the spring of 2011, representing a joint partnership project between the city of Norfolk and the University. A two-story, 13,000 square foot, boathouse facility that houses the Lady Monarchs rowing program just minutes away from ODU on the Lafayette River, is a state-of-the art facility that provides first class accommodations for the program that provides training year round as Garbutt continues to build the highly competitive Lady Monarch program .

3 Key Takeaways you will learn in this interview:

• The difference between technique and style in rowing.
• Evaluations and assessments you can do with your athletes
• The importance of customizing your training program to your athletes needs'

Interview Topics:

• Dan's background and roots as an athlete and coach
• His thoughts on rowing technique and some key differences of technique vs. style
• How he evaluates his rowers movement, mobility, strength and physiological capacity
• Lifeguard rowing and racing
• Why athletes tend to gravitate towards what they are good at
• Keys to athletic development
• and much more.

Show Notes:

• Dan Garbutt's Profile (Old Dominion Rowing)
• Old Dominion University Rowing (Instagram)

LT 096 | Dr. Craig Marker - The Anti-Fragile Self Subscribe & Review on : Apple Podcasts | Stitcher

This week's podcast guest is Dr. Craig Marker. Dr. Craig Marker is an associate professor, Chair and Program Director of Clinical Medical Psychology at Mercer University. He is also the Chief Operating Officer and Team Leader with StrongFirst.

Craig is a fitness enthusiast who has spent his life trying to help people improve their lives. As a professor, he works with students on how best to understand research and place it into context. He has published over fifty articles, chapters, and textbooks on psychology and research methods.

As a researcher, he understands the cutting edge of strength, sports performance, body composition, and nutrition. As a psychologist, he has focused on research and treatment of anxiety disorders, which positions him to understand motivation and the fear of making life changes.

Craig's upcoming book, the AntiFragile Self, takes on the topic of building a stronger person in the mental and physical domains.

As a certified StrongFirst Kettlebell Instructor, Craig views kettlebells as one tool in the trade of forging a better person. He uses the Functional Movement Screen and multiple corrective movements to make sure his students are performing at their best for the rest of their lives.

Visit his intentional community in Atlanta: Armour Building.

3 Key Takeaways you will learn in this interview:

• How physical exercise can be used to treat social anxiety
• Overview of the 3 Energy Systems in the Body : Alactic, Glycolysis, and Aerobic
• Principles of StrongEndurance

Interview Topics:

• Craig's background and research on social anxiety
• Overview of the 3 Energy Systems
• StrongEndurance - What is it and the principles behind it.
• StrongEndurance example protocol
• Craig's book 'The Anti-Fragile Self"
• The importance of being able to repeat a high intensity effort each day and at anytime - the mindset and situation a military or tactical operative has to take
• and much more!

Show Notes:

• Craig Marker (Mercer University Profile)
• The Anti-Fragile Self
• StrongEndurance
• A Science Based Plan to Prepare You for the SFG I and SFG II
• How to Get the Benefit of Depth Jumps without Jumping

LT 095 | My SFGII Preparation & Experience - Joe DeLeo Subscribe & Review on : Apple Podcasts | Stitcher

In this week's podcast interview my good friend Allan Phillips takes over the reins as guest host of the LEO Training Podcast to interview me.

I share my journey and preparation for the StrongFirst Level II Kettlebell Certification that I attended in King of Prussia, PA on September 23-24, 2017. You will learn what specific training protocols I utilized to prepare for the certification. In addition to my preparation I also recorded a short 15-20 minute recap of my experience with my good friend Dr. Matt Rice. Matt and I attended the SFG II together and provided a breakdown of our thoughts, feelings, and emotions of the weekend with an improptu interview we conducted in the hotel room.

Here are 3 Key Takeaways you will learn:

• Why I made the choice to lose 30 pounds and go from 211 pounds to 181 pounds. This all started when I met Mark Allen at the Fit Soul-Fit Body Seminar April 29-30, 2017. Note: This has nothing to do with the SFG II Strength Standard and was influenced by several health and training factors.
• The impact endurance training has on strength training and balancing these 2 energy systems.
• How much the SFG II Certification enrichs and deepens your knowledge of the kettlebell.

Interview Topics:

• SFG II Prep
• My background
• Why I decided to lose 30 pounds and go from 211 pounds to sub 185 for the SFG II
• How I lost the body fat through diet and aerobic training
• How moving 1200 miles, changing cities, starting a new job, and training has a massive effect on one's stress levels.
• Rapid Fire
• SFG II Weekend with Matt Rice
  • Impact of travel
  • Thoughts/Feedback on Day 1
  • Thoughts/Feedback on Day 2
  • How our preparation fared with the demands of the weekend

Show Notes:

• LT 084 | Enhancing Athleticism in Rowers - Dr. Stuart McGill
• LT 026 | SFG II Prep & Experience - Brent Morehouse

LT 094 | Kevin Rail - Physical Education Culture Subscribe & Review : iTunes | Stitcher The LEO Training Podcast exists for coaches, athletes, and listeners like you. If you enjoy this content and it provides you with valuable information, please consider giving back to LEO Training. Click the button below to Donate!

In Episode 094 I sit down with Kevin Rail, an expert in physical education culture based out of Utah. He specializes in functional training, core training, three-dimensional movement, motivation and Restorative Arts. He has a B.S. in Sport Management/Fitness &Wellness, and is certified through ACSM, NASM and ACE. Kevin is a fitness coach featured in the upcoming documentary film The Motivation Factor by Doug Orchard Films.

Restorative Arts involves the use of classical training tools like Indian clubs, wands, meels and maces. All the movements are based off of circles, spirals and figure-eights. Kevin instructs on how to do these patterns and integrate the tools into your daily practice. Not only are they good for posture, flexibility, and injury correction and prevention, but they also help improve brain function.

Kevin and I cover some very though provoking topics from both a training perspective as well as a historical perspective. Here is what you will learn.

Interview Topics:

• Intro/Background
• Movement quality before adding volume and intensity
• The use of various modalities
• The Motivation Factor
• Kevin's thoughts on Abdominal work snf nutrition
• Barefoot Training
• and much more

Show Notes:

• Kevin Rail (Website)
• Kevin Rail (Instagram)
• The Motivation Factor
• Act of Nutrition

LT 093 | Charles Buston & Zar Horton - Training the Tactical Athlete Subscribe & Review : iTunes | Stitcher The LEO Training Podcast exists for coaches, athletes, and listeners like you. If you enjoy this content and it provides you with valuable information, please consider giving back to LEO Training. Click the button below to Donate!

My guests for Episode 093 of the LEO Training Podcast are Charles Bustos, SFGII and Master SFG Zar Horton.Charles is a husband, father of 2 boys and a firefighter/paramedic with the Albuquerque Fire Department. Charles served 6 years of active duty service in the Air Force. Zar Horton, the founder of FIREBELLZ, is a 28 year veteran of the Albuquerque Fire Department currently serving as a Battalion Chief. He currently holds position of Master Kettlebell Instructor with STRONGFIRST. He has instructed across the United States and internationally.

Charles and Zar were gracious enough to make time for a dual interview and share their experiences as full time firefighters. Together, they have over 40 years of experience and share their thoughts and expertise on training various law enforcement and tactical operatives.

Interview Topics:

• Intro/Background
• Origins of Firebellz
• Occupational demands of firefighters and how they need to be addressed
• Skills/Lifts emphasized for tactical operatives
• Zar and Charles thoughts on the Pensacola FireFighter Study
• How they set up their ranking system at Firebellz and the culture it's created
• and much more!

Show Notes:

• Firebellz (website)
• Firebellz (facebook)
• Firebellz (instagram)
• Pensacola Firefighter Study

LT 092 | Dr. Greg Rose - Evaluating Rotary Athletes

Subscribe & Review : iTunes | Stitcher The LEO Training Podcast exists for coaches, athletes, and listeners like you. If you enjoy this content and it provides you with valuable information, please consider giving back to LEO Training. Click the button below to Donate!

Dr. Greg Rose is a Co-Founder of the Titleist Performance Institute (MyTPI) and Functional Movement Systems.

Greg is a board certified Doctor of Chiropractic and holds an engineering degree from the University of Maryland. Greg specializes in assessing and treating golfers, 3-dimensional biomechanics, strength and conditioning, manual therapy, rehabilitation, nutritional supplementation and therapeutic exercises.

Combining an engineering background with an expertise on the human body, Greg helped pioneer the field of analyzing 3-dimensional motion capture models of the golf swing. That research has helped golf professionals all over the world gain a better understanding of how the body works during the golf swing.

Through the past 17 years, Greg has helped thousands of golfers of all skill levels reach peak athletic performance. His cutting edge yet research-based form of functional training combined with golf-specific motor learning drills have made Greg one of golf's top strength and conditioning professionals. Greg also helped develop the Selective Functional Movement Assessment (SFMA), a revolutionary movement assessment that helps identify altered motor control and guides medical practitioners on how to treat patients more efficiently.

Greg frequently appears on the Golf Channel. The TPI certification seminar series has made Greg one of the most requested speakers in golf health and fitness. He has lectured in over 21 countries and has been featured in many golf and news publications.

Interview Topics:

• Intro and Dr. Rose's story to becoming a chiropractor
• Education in engineering and how it influenced his thinking on movement
• 3D Motion Capture Models and what we can learn from them
• How MyTPI was born, Dr. Rose's creation of the SFMA
• Dr. Roses's lecture "Evaluating Rotary Athletes" at Perform Better Summit in Providence, Rhode Island
• Who are Rotational Athletes?
• Style vs. Biomechanics/Efficiency
• The 4 "Must Haves" for Rotational Athletes
• The difference between stability and strength
• How to measure power for rotational athletes and train it?
• And much more

Show Notes:

• Dr. Rose (MyTPI)
• Dr. Rose (Functional Movement Systems)
• MyTPI (Instagram)
• Why You Should Evaluate Movement in Junior Athletes
• The E-Myth

LT 091 | Meghan O' Leary - Novice to Olympian in Six Years Subscribe & Review : iTunes | Stitcher The LEO Training Podcast exists for coaches, athletes, and listeners like you. If you enjoy this content and it provides you with valuable information, please consider giving back to LEO Training. Click the button below to Donate!

Meghan O'Leary is a 2016 Olympian and five-time National Team member with the United States Rowing Team. She has just finished competing at the 2017 World Rowing Championships in Sarasota, Florida where she won a silver medal in the W2x. Congratulations Meghan O' Leary and Ellen Tomek! A native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, she was a two-sport student athlete (Volleyball, Softball) and Jefferson Scholar at the University of Virginia. After obtaining both her Bachelor's (CLAS '07) and Master's (M.Ed '08) from UVA, she joined ESPN as a Production Assistant, working primarily on college sports and the ESPNU network. After a year, she transitioned into the Programming and Acquisitions Department, continuing her work in the college sports division. In 2010, Meghan's career took a dramatic turn after picking up rowing for the first time and falling in love with the sport. After just one year of rowing, she was invited to join the USRowing National Training Center in Princeton, New Jersey. During her time with the National Team, Meghan continued to work part-time with ESPN through the spring of 2013, until deciding to pursue her Olympic rowing career full-time. Meghan is a three-time World Cup medalist, four-time National Selection Regatta Champion, and has competed in four world championships. She most recently represented Team USA at the Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games, placing sixth with her partner, Ellen Tomek. Outside of rowing, Meghan is a professional speaker and writer. She is the Vice President of Customer Success with InstaViser, serves on the USRowing Board of Directors, and is an Athlete Ambassador for Excelle Sports. Interview Topics:

• Meghan's journey from 26 year Old Novice to Olympian in Six Years
• Two Sport Athlete at University of Virginia and how these sports shaped her future athletic career
• Training experience leading up to Rio
• Strength & Conditioning work she and Ellen Tomek incorporate
• Sports Psychology & Biofeedback
• Breathing exercises
• Work with InstaViser
• Female Athlete Rep for US Rowing
• Make the most of your "One Day"
• Rapid Fire
• and much more!

Show Notes:

• Meghan O' Leary (Website)
• Meghan O' Leary (Instagram)
• Meghan O' Leary (US Rowing Profile)
• Meghan O' Leary (World Rowing)
• Instaviser
• TED Talk "The Power of One Day"

LT 090 | Brandon Hetzler - The New Language of Movement Subscribe & Review : iTunes | Stitcher The LEO Training Podcast exists for coaches, athletes, and listeners like you. If you enjoy this content and it provides you with valuable information, please consider giving back to LEO Training. Click the button below to Donate!

Brandon Hetzler is a Certified Athletic Trainer who serves as the Manager for Mercy Sports Medicine in Springfield, Missouri, where he oversees the Sports Medicine program as well as the Sports Performance program. He helped to develop the curriculum for and teaches in the Masters of Athletic Training degree at Missouri State University. He is a StrongFirst Senior Instructor, SFG II, SFB, and SFL and holds several additional credentials in multiple training disciplines.

Brandon is the co-creator of Movement Restoration, LLC and the Athletic Development Institute, LLC. He has written a book titled Movement Restoration, which proves anyone with enough free time and persistence can write a book. He teaches several workshops every year and when he is not traveling to teach, he spends his time trying to keep his wife, son, and dog in line and going strong.

Interview Topics:

• Introduction/Education
• Career as an Athletic Trainer
• Working at Colorado Springs and at DartFish
• Designing curriculum for ATC with his wife for Missouri State
• Neurodevelopmental Sequence and Motor Control skill acquisition
• Why you want to begin practice with the basics
• Importance of establishing ROM benchmarks
• Power Generation and power control
• and much more!

Show Notes:

• A Long Way to Press
• The New Language of Movement Volume 1: The Push/Pull Strategy
• The New Language of Movement Volume 2: The Symmetrical Stance Strategies
• Sports Medicine and ATC Program at Missouri State

LT 089 | Brad Kearns - Primal Endurance Subscribe & Review : iTunes | Stitcher

My guest this week is Brad Kearns noted speaker, author and coach in the health & fitness world for over two decades. During his nine-year career as a triathlete, he was one of the world's top ranked professionals, amassing 30 wins worldwide on the pro circuit. Career highlights include a remarkable streak of seven victories in a row, a world duathlon series championship, and two national triathlon championships and a #3 world ranking in 1991. Brad is the last American professional male in to place in the top-5 in the ITU World Championships (1992) and still holds the Hawaii Ironman 24&under age division American record at 8:57 (1989).

Brad currently works with health&fitness expert Mark Sisson on a comprehensive lifestyle movement called the Primal Blueprint. He is the President of Primal Blueprint Publishing, helped develop the Primal Health Coach certification program, has delivered nearly 30 Primal lifestyle seminars across the USA, and organized and presented at nine "PrimalCon" health and fitness retreats around the world from 2010-2014. He and Mark authored the 2016 release, Primal Endurance, a comprehensive guidebook on how to escape the carbohydrate-dependent, overly stressful conventional approach to training in favor of a healthier, stress-balanced, fat-adapted primal approach.

Interview Topics:

• Intro and Background - From Accountant to Triathlon
• Slow down to go faster - emphasize building an aerobic base and avoid chronic exercise patterns
• How dietary modification can actually improve your endurance performance, making you more efficient at burning fat
• Why the "struggle and suffer" approach to endurance training prevails despite everyone knowing better, and how to fix it
• Cultivating a pure motivation for peak performance
• Considerations for athletes as they age and transition out of professional sports to a "normal" lifestyle - this may be a good opportunity to discuss your blood work that you shared on your website.
• Work with Running School and youth athletics
• SpeedGolf

Show Notes:

• Brad Kearns
• Primal Endurance Mastery Course
• Primal Endurance The Book