Connor Schoepp returns to the podcast for round two, diving into the stories and lessons of specializing in return to play with athletes. With experience primarily as a performance coach, he brings everything full circle to help get your athletes back better than ever.

2:08 Journey to opening his own business "Rebuild Performance and Rehab"

4:38 Connor's non-negotiables and philosophies on return to play

10:56 Case study #1: learning to ask questions, no matter how simple

20:27 Case study #2: the value of the neural component and the brain in return to play

32:51 Case study #3: how data, in this case force plates, doesn't tell the full story

Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/VR15tt_Tvms

Connor's website: https://www.rebuildperformancerehab.com/

Instagram and Twitter: @Rebuildpr_ @Rebuild_p_r

A thank you to this show's sponsors:

FYTT | 1080 Motion | Samson Equipment | Isophit

Mike Young, Director of Performance & Sports Science at Athletic Lab, has coached and spoken all over the world for 20+ years in all facets of sports performance. From track and field events, to professional athletes/organizations, and even WWE Superstars, Mike takes us behind the scenes to the stories and lessons that have led him to today.

8:11 Coolest story: becoming the landlord of a coach who rudely rejected him 5 years prior

14:42 Mike's journey to open his own business completely on his own

20:25 3 staples in all of Mike's programs

33:28 One thing that has exceeded and disappointed his expectations in training

44:11 One thing that has exceeded and disappointed his expectations in sport science

50:14 Mike's top force plate counter-movement jump metrics

53:31 Biggest thing he learned from coaching with Boo Schexnayder and how that opportunity came to be

1:01:23 From his experience as a track events coach and track S&C coach, what the team sport world can learn about speed

1:08:23 The value of coach education and his process in making his Coaching Academy

Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/BhsAfdNlooY

Mike on social media (Instagram):

Mike's links: Athletic Lab | Coaching Academy | LTAD Network | YouTube

A thank you to this show's sponsors:

FYTT | 1080 Motion | Samson Equipment | Isophit

Tessa hops back on the podcast for her second appearance (previous #144) to dive into basketball-specific training topics, her experience at all levels of sports performance, and advice for coaches on increasing the longevity of their career.

1:51 Craziest story update since her first episode, sneak peek: it has to do with another private jet

7:26 A few training staples in Tessa's basketball-specific sports performance training program

12:39 Comparing football to women's basketball, thoughts on training differences for strength for male vs female athlete

22:15 Things the basketball world does well we can learn from and something it can improve on

29:18 A few things that surprisingly have stayed in her programs over time and a few things that surprisingly left quick

37:13 Comparing experiences at the mid-major, Power 4, and professional levels, what each level does good and bad

45:00 Advice to any coach looking to build more of a life outside the weight room

Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Et65nJlM7xc

Coach Tessa on Instagram: @CoachTessaGrossman

A thank you to this show's sponsors:

FYTT | 1080 Motion | Samson Equipment | Isophit

What a crazy 5 years it's been and I'm here to share some of my biggest lightbulbs along the way. Some that seem obvious and some that slowly came to me over time, these are things I could've only learned from coaching day-in and day-out. From training to being a professional and everything in between, tune in for these real-life stories and lessons to help you become the best you can be.

0:21 Recap of 4 lessons from 4 years and 3 lessons from 2023

3:00 #1 The best KPI for progress, something I never had as a college athlete

6:51 #2 The secret sauce, what would you say in an interview?

12:21 #3 How to network like friends, with real-life examples

14:33 #4 It really is about expectations

19:01 #5 Coaches can get out of touch, and how it manifests in your coaching

21:57 Connecting the dots with more examples

23:59 5 action items for you to get better starting today

Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/MmbcnhULSxc

A thank you to this show's sponsors:

FYTT | Samson Equipment | Isophit

John Grace has been in professional soccer for the last 9+ year and in the performance world even longer, seeing some crazy things like JOHN CENA. Tune in to learn more about John's takes on training high-level soccer players, how this can apply to you, and some of his coolest stories along the way.

4:13 Biggest realization of soccer-specific performance training: keep the in-season training as general as possible

18:31 Learning from the extensive (starting at age 12) pro soccer academy system, the value of some early specialization, and building relationships with the sport coach

30:32 One thing the soccer world can do better: actually addressing sprint mechanics, at least a little

37:31 Fork in the road story: stumbling into an internship with Mike Young at Athletic Lab and doing a totally *legal* internship in Vancouver with Mike

47:06 Coolest/craziest story: John Cena training at Athletic Lab and watching him crush facility records

Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/EXbgVl_ZC3c

John on Twitter: @john_r_grace

A thank you to this show's sponsors:

FYTT | 1080 Motion | Samson Equipment | Isophit

Trevor Abshire joins the pod to share the biggest stories from his strength and conditioning career and transition to sport science. What started as an internal fascination with answering his own questions turned into landing him a job in the MLB with the Cleveland Guardians. Tune in to learn about what it was like making that transition and how he made it happen.

-3:00 Fork in the road: being 30 seconds away from taking a job in the Dominican Republic and almost becoming an X-Ray tech

-10:00 Advice for those thinking about pivoting fields

-18:26 What he did to transition from S&C to sport science

-27:14 How to get into coding

-32:15 Coolest/craziest story: an athlete squatting almost 600lb and all the plates falling off the bar and what it was like walking into Spring Training for the first time

-36:49 Full circle: reflecting on his 4+ years of coaching and its impact on his current job as a sport scientist

Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/qXmDon1iBGg

Trevor on LinkedIn: Trevor Abshire

A thank you to this show's sponsors:

FYTT | Samson Equipment | Isophit

Sean Swetnam, Performance Coach for UCLA Football and PhD candidate, shares his inspiring journey in the world of collegiate athletics. From overcoming personal setbacks to witnessing major shake-ups in top football programs, Sean's story is a testament to perseverance and the power of manifestation in achieving one's dreams.

2:46 Fork in the road: having a torn labrum as a pitcher, deciding to not get it operated on and what that taught him when he had to pivot from playing

14:28 Craziest story: being at a part of 2 different power 5 head football coaches leaving

20:07 Having coached at UCLA and USC, spending time with baseball and football, and the odds of staying in California

25:17 Full circle: going from being a personal trainer getting free tickets to a USC football game, watching the staff run out on the field, to recently doing that with UCLA at Hawaii and thinking "I told you"

Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/yrpunSe2vQU

Sean on Instagram: @CoachSwet

A thank you to this show's sponsors:

FYTT | Isophit | Samson Equipment

By avoiding bodybuilding content, you're missing out on a crucial aspect of strength and hypertrophy development for sports performance. In this episode, I break down how learning from bodybuilding experts like Mike Israetel has made me a better coach. We'll dive into key truths, compare principles, and show how applying bodybuilding concepts can enhance your athletes' performance.

1:12 Analogy: consulting with someone else before giving advice

4:24 Truths of bodybuilding

6:16 Truths of sports performance

7:41 Truths of both

16:49 Comparing and contrasting the principles and variables of both

20:11 Real-life examples: proximity to failure/RIR/VBT, pump/metabolites, mechanical tension, "arm farm epiphany," rep ranges

35:56 Action items and value it provides

Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/SxjMoLFCqCM

A thank you to this show's sponsors: FYTT, Samson Equipment, Isophit

Adam Moreau is on a mission to protect UCL's in baseball players everywhere. Although the application is much wider than just reducing Tommy John surgeries, he and his team created a revolutionary product to do just that. The FlexPro Grip directly strengthens and trains the muscles and tendons from the fingertips through the elbow with real-time data feedback. Tune in to learn more about the journey of this mission and product turning into reality.

3:14 Background and thought process for the FlexPro Grip

9:56 Process of going from the idea to a real-life product

19:48 Most frustrating part of making a product

21:35 Fork in the road story: having a booth at the 2020 ABCA with no prototype and COVID being the saving grace

33:58 Coolest story: eating dinner with Trevor Hoffman, Moises Alou, and Ian Kinsler

41:00 How getting started with their first MLB team spurred from a coach from during his high school travel playing days 7 years prior

47:21 Full circle story: a pro organization asking to unsubscribe from the product/research updates, to coming back around and being a big contributor 2 years later

Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/yThhYeeaYrc

Adam on social media: @FlexProGrip @armoreau (IG) @AdamMoreauPD (Twitter)

Link to FlexPro Grip: https://www.flexprogrip.com/

A thank you to this show's sponsors:

FYTT | Samson Equipment | Isophit

In this episode, I demystify the sprint force-velocity profile and connect it to its crucial role in speed training. I break down how to interpret the data to to directly enhance your speed training programming and performance. Drawing from real-life sprint testing with D1 college and high school football teams, as well as anecdotal evidence, I provide actionable insights you can apply tomorrow.

3:10: Understanding each metric: definitions, formulas, and how it's measured

10:40: Simplifying metrics: reducing from 10 to 5 with correlation matrices and rationale

31:53: Evaluating metrics: what’s good and bad for college vs. high school levels

33:28: Navigating data: decision-making frameworks and prioritizing issues with conditional logic

42:19: Key action items for immediate application

Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/3i3Mr2o3nAg

A thank you to this show's sponsors:

FYTT

Samson Equipment

Isophit