Matt Zirretta is a physical therapist at Engineered Per4mance in Ankeny, IA.  Matt specializes in injury prevention, injury rehab, and sports performance enhancement and recovery.  Engineered Per4mance is the most complete rehab and performance development facility in Iowa.  Matt provides great information on how they and their team can work with an athlete to support all aspects of their growth. 

Follow Engineered Per4mance:
Twitter: @EngineeredPer4m
Website: http://www.engineeredper4mance.com/

Follow Matt:
Twitter: @SoccerDocDPT
Instagram: soccerdocdpt

Follow Us:
Twitter: @LabXlr8
Instagram: xlr8performancelab
Website: www.xlr8-performancelab.com

Jerry Jorgenson is a former high school track and field standout at Treynor High School in northwest Iowa.  He is now an NCAA Div I athlete at the University of Nebraska.  Short Shorts takes him rapid-fire through his high school and start of college career.  Take a listen to this entertaining conversation with one of the best high school runners to come through Iowa in the last few years.

Follow Jerry:
Twitter: @JerryJor03
Instagram: JerryJorgenson

Follow Us:
Twitter: @LabXlr8
Instagram: xlr8performancelab
Website: www.xlr8-performancelab.com

Heather Every is the current assistant girls cross country coach at Dallas Center Grimes HS, just west of Des Moines. She was also the former head girls cross country coach at Waukee HS.  Heather joins me to talk about the power of positivity and how it relates specifically to coaching female athletes.  The culture at Dallas Center Grimes is second to none, and Heather comments on how her faith and belief system provide her with a mindset to challenge young ladies to grow stronger through hard work. 

Follow Heather:
Twitter: @heatherevery

Follow Us:
Twitter: @LabXlr8
Instagram: xlr8performancelab
Website: www.xlr8-performancelab.com

Nate Mueller is the defending Class 3A state champion in cross country and one of the top returners in the 1600 and 3200 in track.  Nate is our first guest on the new quick hitting series: Short Shorts.  Nate will answer 12 questions in only 3 minutes.  See what he has to say about running, food, rivalries, and teammates.  

Follow Nate:
Twitter: @leroymuellerr
Instagram: nathaniel.mueller

Follow Us:
Twitter: @LabXlr8
Instagram: xlr8performancelab
Website: www.xlr8-performancelab.com

Ankeny Centennial Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach, Mike Gettemy, joins me to talk about current best practices in utilizing S&C for your track and field athletes. Mike recently completed an internship at the University of Texas and is a rapid-riser in this field.

Key Timestamps:
1:45 - Mike's S&C/Coaching Background

4:45 - High Performance West Scholar Program (Steve Magness and Jonathan Marcus)

• Link to a their currently free program: https://www.highperformancewest.com/membership

8:48 - Umbrella approach to S&C (Overall athlete first, specialty training second)

10:08 - Speed training as a way to develop strength?

12:35 - Plyometrics

15:25 - Periodization

21:35 - Resources for becoming or developing as an S&C coach

Contact Info:

• Twitter: @mikegettemy
• Email: [email protected]

Iowa State University standout distance runner, Thomas Pollard, takes us through his time as a runner going all the way back to his HS days at Gilbert.  He touches on finding out about the cancellation of his track season, plans for next year, his famous 8:50 3200 at the Iowa HS state meet, and how his coach and dad (ISU AD, Jamie Pollard) guided him along his path to running success. 

Voice of the Drake Relays, Mike Jay, joins the inaugural episode of the XLR8 Performance Lab Podcast to discuss the current state of track and field in the US.  High school, college, and national caliber athletes and coaches will all want to hear what Mike has to say about the last few weeks with the cancellation of NCAA spring sports, the suspension of Iowa HS spring sports, and the moving of the Olympics to 2021.  

Listeners will get a chance to hear Mike discuss what it was like being at the NCAA championships when the cancellation order came down.  Hear his first hand account of how the coaches and athletes at the meet reacted to the news and their raw emotions in those moments.  Mike also discusses the loss that he feels for high school and college seniors who have raced their final race for their schools and how they can never get that back.  

Mike closes out the conversation with words of hope for track the track and field family in Iowa and around the United States.  You won't want to miss what he has to say about track and field in the present and what the future holds.

You can follow Mike at:

Twitter: @MikeJaytrackxc and @TrackGuyUSA

I hope you enjoy this episode!