The Minimum Effective Dose

So you want to be prepared? Let’s talk about the key principles of athletic development.

Brett and Mike have both been coaching for over 20 years and have learned some valuable lessons about preparation, load management, blending skill, development, and strength and conditioning.

We discuss everything above and also cover topics such as:

To some, this episode may seem like common sense, but for others, it will be eye-opening. If you work with athletes, don’t miss this episode. Once you learn the key episodes of athletic development it will be much easier to be prepared for any sport.

Welcome to season 3 of the MED podcast with Mike Perry and co-host, Brett Jones.

This season, join Brett Jones, StrongFirst Director of Education and Functional Movement Systems Advisory Board member, and Mike Perry, co-owner of Skill of Strength, Lead instructor at Functional Movement Systems and Senior SFG at Strongfirst, as they share their life experiences and insight on all things health and fitness related.

Related Episodes / Articles:

Fall Sports Preparation for Youth Athletes

Youth Training – Should Kids Lift Weights?

We are Failing our Youth Athletes (and I’m part of the problem)

Connect with Mike and Skill of Strength:

Mike Perry on Instagram

Mike Perry on Facebook

Skill of Strength:

Skill of Strength Website

Skill of Strength Instagram

Skill of Strength Facebook

Skill of Strength YouTube

Connect with Brett Jones:

Brett Jones on Instagram

Brett Jones on Facebook

Please make sure to share the episodes that motivate you and move you in the right direction.

Coaching kids is challenging. If you’ve ever trained kids, I bet you agree!

Middle school and high school athletes come in all shapes and sizes. On top of that, they have varied maturity levels, experiences and skill levels.

Due to these discrepancies, pre-teens and teens can be a tough group of athletes to work with.

It probably makes sense to you that training the kids who are athletic is a much easier task than training kids who don’t have a lot of experience with sports and being active, but where is our biggest opportunity to help? 

To learn more, don’t miss this episode all about coaching kids.

Welcome to season 3 of the MED podcast with Mike Perry and co-host, Brett Jones.

This season, join Brett Jones, StrongFirst Director of Education and Functional Movement Systems Advisory Board member, and Mike Perry, co-owner of Skill of Strength, Lead instructor at Functional Movement Systems and Senior SFG at Strongfirst, as they share their life experiences and insight on all things health and fitness related.

Connect with Mike and Skill of Strength:

Mike Perry on Instagram

Mike Perry on Facebook

Skill of Strength:

Skill of Strength Website

Skill of Strength Instagram

Skill of Strength Facebook

Skill of Strength YouTube

Connect with Brett Jones:

Brett Jones on Instagram

Brett Jones on Facebook

Please make sure to share the episodes that motivate you and move you in the right direction.

This episode is a bit different from our normal Minimum Effective Dose Podcast format. Mike took this opportunity to catch up with his good friend, Evan Marcantonio, to discuss how, when and why he made a career change into the fitness industry. Becoming a coach later in life comes with some challenges and also some benefits.

Evan is a successful gym owner who owns Elevate Strength and Performance in Worcester, Massachusetts. He’s a highly talented coach who is always looking for ways to improve grow his business and improve his skill set and effectiveness as a coach.

If you’re interested in becoming a coach or you’re seeking motivation on how to successfully make a career change, don’t miss this episode!

Welcome to season 3 of the MED podcast with Mike Perry and co-host, Brett Jones.

This season, join Brett Jones, StrongFirst Director of Education and Functional Movement Systems Advisory Board member, and Mike Perry, co-owner of Skill of Strength, Lead instructor at Functional Movement Systems and Senior SFG at Strongfirst, as they share their life experiences and insight on all things health and fitness related.

Connect with Elevate Strength and Performance:

ESP on Instagram

ESP on Facebook

Connect with Mike and Skill of Strength:

Mike Perry on Instagram

Mike Perry on Facebook

Skill of Strength:

Skill of Strength Website

Skill of Strength Instagram

Skill of Strength Facebook

Skill of Strength YouTube

Connect with Brett Jones:

Brett Jones on Instagram

Brett Jones on Facebook

Please make sure to share the episodes that motivate you and move you in the right direction.

This episode is all about fall sports preparation for youth athletes. August is coming right up and fall sports are around the corner.

Brett and Mike both have experience working with youth athletes. Both are strength and conditioning coaches and Brett also worked with youth athletes as an ATC.

Over the years, the MED team has accrued valuable information on how to optimally prepare athletes for their fall sports… and all sports.

In this episode, we discuss several topics including:

If you work with (or parent) youth athletes, don’t miss this episode!

Welcome to season 3 of the MED podcast with Mike Perry and co-host, Brett Jones.

This season, join Brett Jones, StrongFirst Director of Education and Functional Movement Systems Advisory Board member, and Mike Perry, co-owner of Skill of Strength, Lead instructor at Functional Movement Systems and Senior SFG at Strongfirst, as they share their life experiences and insight on all things health and fitness related.

Connect with Mike and Skill of Strength:

Mike Perry on Instagram

Mike Perry on Facebook

Skill of Strength:

Skill of Strength Website

Skill of Strength Instagram

Skill of Strength Facebook

Skill of Strength YouTube

Connect with Brett Jones:

Brett Jones on Instagram

Brett Jones on Facebook

Please make sure to share the episodes that motivate you and move you in the right direction.

This episode of the MED Podcast is all about the cervical spine. We talk about training considerations, contraindications and scope of practice when it comes to the cervical spine.

We cover:

If you are a personal trainer and you want to learn more about how to work with clients who have a history of cervical spine issues, don’t miss this episode.

Welcome to season 3 of the MED podcast with Mike Perry and co-host, Brett Jones.

This season, join Brett Jones, StrongFirst Director of Education and Functional Movement Systems Advisory Board member, and Mike Perry, co-owner of Skill of Strength, Lead instructor at Functional Movement Systems and Senior SFG at Strongfirst, as they share their life experiences and insight on all things health and fitness related.

Connect with Mike and Skill of Strength:

Mike Perry on Instagram

Mike Perry on Facebook

Skill of Strength:

Skill of Strength Website

Skill of Strength Instagram

Skill of Strength Facebook

Skill of Strength YouTube

Connect with Brett Jones:

Brett Jones on Instagram

Brett Jones on Facebook

Please make sure to share the episodes that motivate you and move you in the right direction.

The internet is a wealth of information – some great and some really bad. We know it’s hard to decipher between fake news and fitness truths,

In this episode, Brett and Mike discuss fitness trends, research, how science impacts trends and much more.

After working in the fitness industry for several decades, we feel better equipped to navigate the world of social media, influencers, cherry-picked research and real science… and we want to share some tips with you.

If you want to learn more about how to look past fake news and seek truth in the fitness industry, especially on social media, don’t miss this episode.

Welcome to season 3 of the MED podcast with Mike Perry and co-host, Brett Jones.

This season, join Brett Jones, StrongFirst Director of Education and Functional Movement Systems Advisory Board member, and Mike Perry, co-owner of Skill of Strength, Lead instructor at Functional Movement Systems and Senior SFG at Strongfirst, as they share their life experiences and insight on all things health and fitness related.

Connect with Mike and Skill of Strength:

Mike Perry on Instagram

Mike Perry on Facebook

Skill of Strength:

Skill of Strength Website

Skill of Strength Instagram

Skill of Strength Facebook

Skill of Strength YouTube

Connect with Brett Jones:

Brett Jones on Instagram

Brett Jones on Facebook

Please make sure to share the episodes that motivate you and move you in the right direction.

You’ve probably heard someone say something along the lines of  “you should eat like an adult,” but has anyone told you that you should train like an adult as well?

What does it mean to train like an adult?

Obviously, it depends on each individual, but in this podcast we discuss the most common qualities adults need to focus on developing as they age.

In this episode, Brett and Mike discuss various topics related to working with adults such as :

If you work with an adult population and often get confused about what to program (and not program), don’t miss this episode where we lay out some guidelines to help you train like an adult.

Welcome to season 3 of the MED podcast with Mike Perry and co-host, Brett Jones.

This season, join Brett Jones, StrongFirst Director of Education and Functional Movement Systems Advisory Board member, and Mike Perry, co-owner of Skill of Strength, Lead instructor at Functional Movement Systems and Senior SFG at Strongfirst, as they share their life experiences and insight on all things health and fitness related.

Connect with Mike and Skill of Strength:

Mike Perry on Instagram

Mike Perry on Facebook

Skill of Strength:

Skill of Strength Website

Skill of Strength Instagram

Skill of Strength Facebook

Skill of Strength YouTube

Connect with Brett Jones:

Brett Jones on Instagram

Brett Jones on Facebook

Please make sure to share the episodes that motivate you and move you in the right direction.

In this episode about optimizing your practice, we go over how to better understand and implement block, serial, and random practice.

Brett and Mike talk about skill acquisition, motor learning and optimizing your practice and training sessions.

Depending on the skill(s) you are trying to learn, there are different types of practice methods that will lend themselves to skill acquisition and practical application.

Practice makes perfect, right? 

Well, maybe. It depends on the skill, situation and application.

There are optimal ways to acquire a skill, but often times, people don’t know the difference between learning styles, application, and skill acquisition.

If you truly want to understand the difference between block practice, serial practice and random practice, don’t miss this episode!

Welcome to season 3 of the MED podcast with Mike Perry and co-host, Brett Jones.

This season, join Brett Jones, StrongFirst Director of Education and Functional Movement Systems Advisory Board member, and Mike Perry, co-owner of Skill of Strength, Lead instructor at Functional Movement Systems and Senior SFG at Strongfirst, as they share their life experiences and insight on all things health and fitness related.

Connect with Mike and Skill of Strength:

Mike Perry on Instagram

Mike Perry on Facebook

Skill of Strength:

Skill of Strength Website

Skill of Strength Instagram

Skill of Strength Facebook

Skill of Strength YouTube

Connect with Brett Jones:

Brett Jones on Instagram

Brett Jones on Facebook

Please make sure to share the episodes that motivate you and move you in the right direction.

One of the most common questions we get regarding youth training is whether kids should lift weights or not.

The short answer is yes they should lift weights, but like anything, the devil is in the details.

In this episode, Brett and Mike discuss all things youth training and share our thoughts on kids lifting weights.

The MED duo covers various topics on youth training such as:

If you work with kids, don’t miss this episode on youth training.

Welcome to season 3 of the MED podcast with Mike Perry and co-host, Brett Jones.

This season, join Brett Jones, StrongFirst Director of Education and Functional Movement Systems Advisory Board member, and Mike Perry, co-owner of Skill of Strength, Lead instructor at Functional Movement Systems and Senior SFG at Strongfirst, as they share their life experiences and insight on all things health and fitness related.

Connect with Mike and Skill of Strength:

Mike Perry on Instagram

Mike Perry on Facebook

Skill of Strength:

Skill of Strength Website

Skill of Strength Instagram

Skill of Strength Facebook

Skill of Strength YouTube

Connect with Brett Jones:

Brett Jones on Instagram

Brett Jones on Facebook

Please make sure to share the episodes that motivate you and move you in the right direction.

Building the Engine is an 8-week customized conditioning program that will get you in the best shape of your life.

Over the last 10 years, Mike has been working with some of the best combat athletes in New England. His e-book, Building the Engine, is the culmination of that work.

In this episode of the Minimum Effective Dose, Mike gives you the story and science behind the e-book. He and Brett Jones also share invaluable resources to help you get into the best shape of your life.

If you want to perform at the highest level in MMA or any sport, grab this e-book, take a listen to this podcast and start Building the Engine.

Welcome to season 3 of the MED podcast with Mike Perry and co-host, Brett Jones.

This season, join Brett Jones, StrongFirst Director of Education and Functional Movement Systems Advisory Board member, and Mike Perry, co-owner of Skill of Strength, Lead instructor at Functional Movement Systems and Senior SFG at Strongfirst, as they share their life experiences and insight on all things health and fitness related.

Connect with Mike and Skill of Strength:

Mike Perry on Instagram

Mike Perry on Facebook

Skill of Strength:

Skill of Strength Website

Skill of Strength Instagram

Skill of Strength Facebook

Skill of Strength YouTube

Connect with Brett Jones:

Brett Jones on Instagram

Brett Jones on Facebook

Please make sure to share the episodes that motivate you and move you in the right direction.