With over 30 years of coaching experience, Benke Blomkvist has facilitated the success of household names such as Susanna Kallur and Andrew Pozzi. In this episode, he provides a well-articulated overview of his training philosophy. 

Benke emphasizes the various considerations he makes daily to develop the qualities to become an elite hurdler.  

It is little wonder why British athletics sourced his expertise six years ago. During this time he has drastically improved the state of the relays and hurdle events in the UK. 

There is a lot of value in this one, and I hope you enjoy it! 

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The Olympic Training Center at Chula Vista, California has been home to the best field event athletes in the US for over a decade. The host of medals and all-time best performances in the jumps has been in no short part down to the work of coach Jeremy Fischer. 

After transitioning from the collegiate system to post-collegiate coaching, he realized that this setup allowed him to do what he loved best. Jeremy shares his insights from working with the likes of Will Claye and Brittany Reese for over a decade. You don't want to miss this one!

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Furman College is widely known as one of the NCAA's dynasties for distance running. There is little wonder why that is when you have coaches as knowledgeable and passionate as Coach Chris Neal. 

In this episode, Coach Neal outlines his philosophy on how he enables his athletes to optimize their performance in the long term - in long-distance running events,

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Sport Ireland Institute's David Tobin conveys his approach to improving athlete's nutrition - for the benefit of their performance. 

There is plenty of takeaways and scope that athletes and coaches can use to address this area to a better standard. David is a firm believer in creating sustainable habits that will last well beyond the coaching process. 

Some topics include:

-Athlete to Performance Nutritionist
-Coaching Techniques
-Food/Cooking Education
-Lifestyle Traps
-Radical Diet Changes
-Supplements 
-Sleep Hygiene

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I was able to sit down with one of Britain's top triple jumpers and Managing Director of RightTracks Sports Jonathan Ilori.

The former Mizzou Graduate and NCAA All-American used his experience in the NCAA to create a service that prides itself on putting athletes - on the right track.

We discussed the reality/expectations of becoming an NCAA athlete as well as the misconceptions about the system - that too often come before the success stories.

Jonathan provided his insights on how students, coaches, and RightTrack can collaborate to ensure students have the best chance of finding the best university - for them. 

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Experienced Sports Psychologist, Professor, and Athletics coach Dr. Cliff Mallett provides a wealth of knowledge and experience regarding athletes mental preparation.

Cliff articulates his journey as a professional; emphasizing the importance of self-regulation and adopting a process-oriented approach to sports performance.

Topics:
-Belief Systems
-Neuropsychology 
-Self-Regulation
-Process vs Outcome Focus
-Mindset 

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Sprint training and coaching enthusiast David Maris leverages his unique set of experiences both as an athlete, coach, and life-long learner to explore a variety of factors in prescribing sprint training. 

I attempted to contribute what I had learned from having the luxury of being surrounded by well-educated and accomplished coaches. These discussions and observations allowed me to convey what coaches could look for when they are working with different kinds of athletes. 

This was mammoth of a conversation. We hope it provides some perspective for coaches in the realm of speed training. 

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Jumps specialist Nick Newman: jumps and multi's coach at USC provides his philosophy and considerations for the prescription of strength training. Nick discusses the role of an enlarged impulse for all athletes and how it can complement the key components to jumping performance. Outside of USC, he works with elite-level jumpers in various parts of the world. He also is working on his second book, which aims to be a comprehensive manual for coaches. 

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Arizona State's Jumps and Multi's coach John Ellis describes how he interacts and builds relationships to get the best out of his athletes. John shares his experience at Southern Mississippi; his work there brought three first-team all-Americans during the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships back to Hattiesburg. John was also awarded southern region coach of the year by USTFCCCA for his tremendous accomplishments. He is one of the fastest rising coaches in the collegiate system who already holds a strong resume and plenty of wisdom. 

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Bob outlines how he implements resisted sprints training for sprinters and jumpers at Loyola University Chicago. He describes the philosophies he has developed that allow him to cleverly organize different elements that encompass better-sprinting performance such as intensity, data feedback, and the technical model. 

Bob is an avid writer for leading athletic performance websites such as Simplifaster. His passion for track and field, wisdom gained through coaching at a high level, and aptitude for problem-solving made for an incredibly educational experience. I hope you feel the same way. 

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