The Principles of Performance

Keenan Robinson is the national team high performance director for USA Swimming. Keenan has also previously worked with prominent swim programs such as The University of Michigan, North Baltimore Aquatic Club, and Arizona State University, not to mention being on the medical team for the Pan Pacific, Pan American and World University Games, World Championships and Olympic Games.

He is also the strength coach for Michael Phelps, arguably the most successful Olympic athlete of all time.

Links:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kkrirsh/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keenan-robinson-0454697/

Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/kkrirsh

In this episode we breakdown our observations of changes we have seen over our decades of experience in the fitness industry, as well forecast what we see for our future including:

-The New Generation of Trainers and Coaches Post-Covid

-Being an Influencer vs Being the BEST

-“6-24” Trainers and Trainer Struggles

-Getting Attention and Standing Out in the Noise

-“Exercise Entertainment” vs Authentic Coaching

-Overlooked Concepts and Principles

-Overlap of Disciplines and Scope of Practice

-Crystal Ball Predictions: The Future of Fitness

Steffan Jones is the CEO and Director of Pace Labs, as well as the High Performance Fast Bowling coach for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL as well as consulting for individual fast bowlers, javelin throwers and pitchers around the world.

Steffan is in a unique position having played the sport, being the last dual professional sportsman in the United Kingdom having played 3 years professional rugby and 20 years professional cricket. He is the former Director of Sport Performance at a private school in England.

Steffan is also the High-Performance Director for Gosport overseeing the Olympic preparation for various athletes across multiple sports and the brand ambassador and expert for various companies including 1080 Sprint, Lila Movement and Exsurgo Technology He is a qualified sports scientist, a UKSCA qualified strength and conditioning coach and also as a level 3 qualified technical coach.

His methods are innovative and heavily based on sports science. Steffan has developed a reputation as an ‘outside the box’ thinker in all overhead throwing sports and is the go-to man when an increase in bowling velocity is required.

Links:

https://pacelabglobal.com/about-2/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/steffanjones105/?hl=en

Twitter/X: https://x.com/steffanjones105

Joe holds an undergraduate degree in Exercise Science. While pursuing his degree, he was named Male Athlete of the Year and a member of the Sports Hall of Fame because of his contributions to the university’s baseball team. During his college career, Joe led the nation in strike-outs. He is certified in FMS, TPI Level 1 and Level 2, and as an ACE Certified Personal Trainer. He has coached high school and collegiate baseball and has both coached and developed a large number of travel baseball teams.

Joe has also worked as a collegiate baseball recruiter and motivational speaker. Joe is the owner and proprietor of the Perform Every Day training and fitness center in Champaign, Illinois. At his training facility, he mentors other trainers and works with a wide range of clients, including professional athletes in the MLB, NFL, PGA and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and numerous NCAA athletes in a variety of sports. Joe also runs strength, conditioning, speed, agility and recovery camps for high school athletes in most sports in Chicago and Central Illinois. Joe has had wide-ranging success helping high school students through the recruiting process to land scholarships at Division I schools.

Links:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/perform_every_day/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-yager-4351316/

Twitter/X: https://x.com/yager20?lang=en

Jade Teta has been described as a mix of jock, science nerd, nature boy & philosopher. He started out as a personal trainer for 25 years and he still produces video-based workouts that are used by hundreds of thousands all over the world.

Jade has a degree in biochemistry and is a practitioner of naturopathic medicine and his specialty is “integrative endocrinology”, the study of hormones & metabolism.

He is also a self-proclaimed psychology geek & student of philosophy and is currently working on his PHD in transpersonal & integral psychology, with his main area of research is focused on human connection, meaning and fulfillment.

Links:

https://www.jadeteta.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jadeteta/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jadeteta

Twitter/X: https://x.com/jadeteta

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/metaboliceffect

Phil Plisky has an incredibly diverse professional background as a clinician, researcher, teacher and consultant. He is a Professor in the University of Evansville’s Doctor of Physical Therapy Program and PhD in Health Professions Education Program, Director of Residency Programs, and performance systems consultant for collegiate and professional sports.

Phil received his Master’s of Physical Therapy degree from the University of Evansville and his Doctor of Science degree in Orthopedic Physical Therapy from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions. He is also an a NATA Board-Certified Athletic Trainer and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

Links:

https://www.philplisky.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philplisky/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrPhilPlisky

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-plisky-6564b356/

Twitter/X: https://x.com/PhilPlisky

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzxFWrhFfZi2fedw8vwvkUA

Lynne Peeples is a science journalist whose writing has appeared in The Guardian, Scientific American, Nature, and other publications. Before her move to writing, she crunched numbers as a biostatistician for HIV clinical trials and environmental health studies. Peeples was an MIT Knight Science Journalism fellow and holds master’s dergress in biostatistics from the Harvard School of Public Health and in science journalism from New York University.

Links:

https://lynnepeeples.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lynne.peeples/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lynne.peeples

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynnepeeples/

Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/lynnepeeps

Kevin Neeld is the Head Performance Coach for the Boston Bruins, where he oversees all aspects of designing and implementing the team’s performance training program, as well as monitoring the players’ performance, workload and recovery. Prior to Boston, Kevin spent 2 years as an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach for the San Jose Sharks after serving as the director of a private sports performance facility in New Jersey for 7 years, working with pro, college, junior and elite level youth hockey players. He also served as a strength and conditioning coach with the U.S. Women’s Olympic Ice Hockey Team for 5 years.

Neeld is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), Certified Performance and Sport Scientist (CPSS), and Registered Strength and Conditioning Coach (RSCC*D) through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). He serves on the executive council of the Strength and Conditioning Association of Professional Hockey (SCAPH), and the NSCA’s Ice Hockey Special Interest Group, and is a founding board member of Metabolic Elite. Neeld earned his PhD in human and sport performance from Rocky Mountain University, where his research focused on the relationship between workload and performance in elite hockey. Neeld has published several articles in peer-reviewed journals, has authored 2 books Ultimate Hockey Training and Speed Training for Hockey. He has been an invited guest speaker at events hosted by the National Hockey League (NHL), National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), and USA Hockey.

Links: https://www.kevinneeld.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevinneeld/?hl=en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NeeldPerformanceHockeyTraining

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/KevinNeeld

Twitter/X: https://x.com/KevinNeeld

On this week’s show we take questions submitted by our listeners, including:

1. What are 3 ways technology has helped coaches?

2. How has technology hurt coaches?

3. What does power training look like for older adults? How does it differ than working with athletes?

4. Some people refer to Bulgarian/Rear-Foot Elevated Split Squats as single leg training and others says it’s not truly single leg. Does this matter?

5. Do you have any conditioning assessments that are appropriate for general population clients ?

6. If you could only program three core exercises for the rest of your life, what would they be?

7. What are your thoughts on Olympic lifting for high school athletes?

8. If you could give a young coach three pieces of advice to make them successful in the future, what would they be?

Do you have a question that you would like us to answer? Drop it in the comments and we will get to it next time qe do a Q&A!

Tony is the founder, owner and head coach of Bonvec Strength, the premiere strength training gym in West Boylston, Massachusetts. Tony began competing in powerlifting in 2010 and has posted competition personal records of a 578 squat, 405 bench press and 584 deadlift. He has earned an elite total in the 198-pound weight class and a master total in the 220-pound weight class.

Previously, Tony co-owned The Strength House in Worcester, where he trained powerlifters, team sport athletes and strength enthusiasts from all walks of life. Prior to that, Tony spent three years coaching at Cressey Sports Performance in Hudson, Massachusetts, where he worked primarily with professional and amateur baseball players.

Tony is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) through the National Strength and Conditioning Association and earned his Master’s degree in exercise science from Adelphi University in 2013.

Tony is an avid writer, and his articles have appeared in various written and digital publications such as Yahoo Sports, Testosterone Nation, MyFitnessPal and Bodybuilding.com.

Prior to his coaching career, Tony played baseball at Saint Michael’s College, a small Division II school in Vermont, where he played catcher and led the team in home runs and slugging percentage as a senior

Links:

https://bonvecstrength.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bonvec_strength/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BonvecStrength

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TonyBonvechio