The Impact Show

 Sports science has become one of the hottest topics and trends in the  world of strength & conditioning.  It seems like everyone is trying  to find the holy grail of athlete monitoring or how to utilize sports  science to find the key to athletic success.  Millions of dollars have  been poured into technology designed to enhance our understanding of  athletes so that coaches can make better decisions about training and  practice.  Unfortunately, it does look like those dollars have had much  of a return on investment for most programs yet.

This could be due to many factors:

It could also be that technology can’t tell us everything that is  going on.  It can’t account for the human factor in sport, so coaches  still need to make instinctive decisions and athletes still need to make  plays.

Director of Sports Science & Operations for the University of  Michigan Football Program, Fergus Connolly Ph.D., has a unique  perspective on the sports science trend.  While Connolly is fully  educated on the technology, he also has a deep understanding of the  human element present in sports.  In his new book, Game Changer – The  Art of Sports Science, he goes into great depth on the ways teams win  games.

At first, this seems like just another book on winning, but it’s not.   Instead, it’s an in-depth study of sports at both the macro and micro  level that makes you think about sports from a unique perspective.

In this episode of The Impact Show, Jim & Fergus discuss the  impact that sports science is having on sports and how we can use it to  truly make a difference.

 Sometimes you see a problem and you complain about it.  Other times,  you see a problem and you do something about.  But, making a change to  an existing structure or organization is not easy.  That’s why it’s so  impressive that the gang at Power Athlete – John Welbourn, Tex McQuilken  and Luke Summers – has been able to influence the way CrossFit boxes  around the world approach training.

After a very successful career in the NFL, John Welbourn was asked to  create a CrossFit program for football players.  He knew that a  traditional CrossFit program was not appropriate for football players,  but instead of saying no, he saw an opportunity to make a difference  from the inside.  He embarked on a mission to teach CrossFit trainers  the difference between traditional CrossFit and a systematic and  progressive training program for athletes.

Of course, this was met with resistance, but that did not deter John  from spreading his message.  Over time, he was able to show coaches all  over the world the light and his Power Athlete programs are now a part  of CrossFit boxes all over the world.

Along the way, Tex McQuilken and Luke Summers joined John on the  mission and helped speed up the process and create more momentum than  ever.  Together, these guys are a colorful band of characters with a  serious mission and strong educational background.

In this episode, we get to hear how these guys are making a  difference from the inside.  They discuss all of the struggles with this  approach as well as the successes and how they are making a difference.   We also talk about how difficult it can be to change peoples minds,  especially when their education is somewhat limited.

Power Athlete is about to embark on a new journey as they open a new  facility in Texas, so we also get to hear their thought process on this  move from California and what they’re doing to prepare for it.

For more information on Power Athlete programs, visit PowerAthleteHQ or listen to Power Athlete Radio on your favorite podcast platform.

Over the past few months, I’ve been spending a lot of time talking  about how to write a book or launch a product.  The reason for this is  the recent release of the new IYCA book Principles of Athletic Strength & Conditioning.  This project took months of hard work from a lot of people to make happen, and the process has been amazing.

I want to share this process with you because I know there are plenty  of people out there with a book or product stuck in their head and you  just don’t know what to do with it.  No matter what some people might  try to tell you, this is not an easy process, so why should you  re-invent the wheel when I can help shorten your learning curve?

Even if you don’t care about how to write a book or launch a product,  listening to the thought process that went into this project can help  you think about other business opportunities in a slightly different  way.  Seeing holes in the market and building relationships are things  that are valuable no matter what kind of business you’re in.  Finding  the right contributors, editors and designers may be specific to this  book, but marketing, utilizing a team, setting up your web site and  e-commerce are all applicable to just about any project these days.

I already understood the process of how to write a book from writing  them in the past, but this one was a collaboration of 17 strength &  conditioning professionals so it was a different kind of animal than  doing most of it on my own.  I hope you enjoy hearing some of the  process I used and everything that went into this.  If you are thinking  about a product or want to know more about how to write a book, I’d love  to help in any way I can.  Shoot me a message at [email protected] and I’ll try to give you what I can.

Aaron Byrd owns one of the most successful soccer  training businesses in the country.  As a former college and  professional soccer players, Aaron clearly has the skills necessary to  help improve a soccer player’s abilities, but it’s not the soccer  training that makes the biggest difference in people’s lives – it’s the  lessons he teaches through his training programs.

Aaron started his business by helping two kids of a friend who wanted  to get better at soccer.  Two turned into four, four turned into eight,  and before he knew it, Byrd had over 100 kids enrolled in camps and  training programs.  Since then, his business has expanded exponentially  and he has hired a staff of coaches that implement his programs in  multiple locations throughout southeast Michigan.

As his business grew, Aaron realized what an impact he was making on  young athletes.  That realization made him take that role more  seriously, and it has become a huge part of his business and life.

In this episode, Aaron shares real-life examples of how he makes an  impact through his business, and he talks about his journey as both a  coach and business-owner.  You can learn more about Aaron Byrd and his  Next Level Training soccer programs at http://www.next-leveltraining.com/ or follow him on Instagram at NLTsoccer

I had Brett Klika on the show a while back to talk about Youth  Training concepts, and he was fantastic.  I recently had him speak at  the IYCA Summit, and he was great!  People loved his presentation, but  they loved his hands-on work even more.  He also joined us at the Sports  Performance Business Academy, and I quickly realized that his loves  talking about business topics just as much as youth training.

After several more conversations, we decided it was time to have him  back on the show to talk about Selling Out Your Summer Program.  In the  episode, Brett delivers incredible ideas on how to grow your business,  and it’s not just about your summer programs.  The tips he gives will  help you grow all aspects of your business, and his concepts aren’t  exclusive to youth sports training.  Everything he talks about would  work in just about any business setting with minor tweaks based on your  products and customers.

Brett is like me in many ways – he loves training, he loves making a  difference and he loves business development.  He’s pretty much a living  example of everything the IYCA stands for and I think you’re going to  love this episode.  Get ready to take some notes – I have multiple  pages!