Andrew Stallings is the Founder of Athelo Group an athlete representation service that focuses on marketing and building a brand for athletes.

Having spent the past 10 years in the sports industry working for the likes of Octagon and Sirius XM, Andrew has accumulated a ton of valuable experience. Even better is that he has taken his skillset to new heights by leaving some comfortable jobs to start his own business in Athelo.

I’ve known Andrew since our time together at Sirius XM and his hustle was always evident. There are few people as talented and energetic as Andrew. On the pod he discusses how that wasn’t enough and what helped him get over the top both personally and professionally.

Andrew details his business, the risks that he took to start it and how his mindset has completely shifted over the past 10 years. He also goes in depth on what his business can provide and how valuable branding is in today’s world.

We also touch on Andrew’s Stranger Experiment that has brought so many professionals together from varying backgrounds in the sports industry. Having participated this past month, I can tell you it’s an amazing way to connect with people and learn about avenues you don’t even know exist.

Follow Andrew on Twitter to learn more about the #strangerexperiment and to connect with him: https://twitter.com/AStallings88

Also check out his website for Athelo Group: https://www.athelogroup.com/

Chuck McGee is one of the first American Wim Hof Instructors and an expert on all things breathwork.

Chuck was a bartender in the Bay Area who had a random patron at his establishment convinced him to try the Wim Hof breathing method. After trying it, Chuck was hooked and has now gone all over the world learning and teaching the power of breath.

I stumbled across Chuck from James Nestor’s excellent book, Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, and from there attended his free weekly Monday night breathwork class at 9pm PT. zoom.us/j/750599401

Chuck’s firm grasp of breathing and his joyful personality fit the mold of my recent podcast themes and he was good enough to come on and talk about the pillars of Wim Hof, his experiences traveling with Wim, the differences between nasal and mouth breathing, the basic structure of a breathing session, establishing consistent breathing practices for real change and the benefits for sick people, healthy people and athletes.

Chuck’s ability to break down some of the physiology of what happens in breath is must listen material for anyone working to develop health or performance in others. He is someone I could talked to for several hours and I am definitely going to take a trip up to SF to connect further with him.

You can find Chuck on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/icedvikingbreathworks/ and at his website: https://www.icedvikingbreathworks.com/about/

Conor is back on the pod as we chop it up live in California.

We answer your questions on speed, agility, COD, assessments, asymmetries and more! 

Follow Conor on IG https://www.instagram.com/conor_harris_/

Follow Conor on Twitter https://twitter.com/Conor_Harris_

Brenan Ghassemieh is a great friend and a damn good trainer. He played football at Idaho State University, has prepared countless athletes for the NFL Combine and is currently working at Equinox as a trainer and Tier X Manager. He has worked with kids, athletes and senior citizens, connecting with all on an extraordinary level, which is why I wanted to bring him on.

Brenan is a firm believer in living well, practicing mindfulness and the art of being present. There are few I see who walk the walk when it comes to these subjects so I wanted to hear about his daily habits and rituals that center him and this conversation didn't disappoint. We went deep down this rabbit hole of what makes people so afraid to face their inner monologue, how to memorialize our thoughts and the importance of acknowledging the realities of our lives.

Brenan can be found on IG https://www.instagram.com/brenan_ghassemieh/

Rich Clarke is a Strength and Conditioning coach and an academic who specializes change of direction and agility.  He is also a Director of the United Kingdom Strength and Conditioning Association and is completing a PhD investigating speed control and deceleration during change of direction movements.

Quite honestly, I have been underwhelmed by much of what I know and see about COD/Agility and think Rich has done a beautiful job rethinking the landscape in this realm. Among the notable things we discuss are the different COD/Agility demands from sport to sport, perception action coupling and how much we can/should train it in a general setting, the importance of speed control when learning skills and much more.

Rich has simplified the language and litany of exercises we see in COD/Agility by boiling everything down to entry/exit speed and angle change and how those factors will impact deceleration demands. In short, I think he's really on to something and this chat opened up my eyes to a lot of things. The structure that might be necessary for the weightroom does not necessarily apply to COD/agility and once we have established a base (which many athletes already have from their sport) we can mix and match using the above mentioned variables.

Rich can be found on Twitter https://twitter.com/RICH_AgilityLab and his website is http://www.athleteagilitylab.com/

Ryan Banta is the Head Track and Field Coach for Parkway Central High School in Missouri. He has coached for over 20 years, brought home numerous state titles and records and has established an incredible culture that has succeeded in developing outstanding human beings and athletes.

Ryan is also the author of The Sprinter’s Compendium and established the Critical Mass system, which we discuss on the podcast. For someone that has thought about sprint training strictly in a "Feed the Cats" style, this was very enlightening. More on this in this video here from Ryan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_V84iC_iL4

He also gives his thoughts on all things sprinting, his realization that he wants excellence in all events not just sprints, wickets, warmups and his thoughts on kids in today’s world and how to best reach them. I was thrilled to talk to Ryan about all this as he has so much experience working with kids and honing his craft. Not many coaches are as complete as Ryan is and it was very cool to hear him address such a wide range of topics.

Ryan writes for Simplifaster, Elite Track, and several other mediums. You can buy his book here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07613VRVF/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

IG: https://www.instagram.com/ryan.banta/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SprintersCompen

Justin Carey is one of my former athletes who is now an assistant soccer coach at Stetson University. Justin's leadership, ability and desire to improve in all aspects of his life is what makes him special and I am thrilled to bring him on the podcast to interview me.

While I typically interview others on the podcast, I wanted to share some thoughts of my own, but have always preferred doing so in the context of a conversation rather than just me going in on a topic solo. Considering I have been doing a lot of self-reflection of late, I thought it would be good to bring on an athlete I coached to help get a feel for how others perceive me and to practice explaining myself to those who possess an athlete's mindset.

What resulted was a terrific conversation. Justin asked some great questions pertaining to my environmental considerations for training, building culture, individualizing connections with athletes and how I have evolved in my thought process as a coach the past few years. We also talked about setting goals, unearthing passions and choosing to pursue excellence. Such a fun convo and props to Justin who may be coming for my hosting gig at some point with the job he did here.

You can find Justin on IG: https://www.instagram.com/justin_carey15/

We go off the rails a little bit in this week's episode as Adarian comes back on with Mike and Jermaine to talk all things speed. Mike is the owner and head coach at Soar Fitness in Ohio and Jermaine is a coach out of Florida, working with a variety of youth athletes. 

Some of the topics addressed:

-Injuries in sport and the RTP process

-Top speed ground contacts

-Deceleration training in isolation

-Practical applications that have been working for Mike and Jermaine

-How multidirectional speed is linear speed

-There's a timezone change in the Florida panhandle??

This was so fun and organic. Hope you enjoy this change of pace!

Mike's IG is @soarfitness. Jermaine's is @dixonsports and Adarian's is @barrunning. The Youtube version (with some video from Adarian) is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRxqsZGzuW4&t=1s

Navin Hettiarachchi is the Director of Health, Wellness and Performance for the Washington Wizards. He has been in the NBA since 2003 following a brief stint in the NFL and is one of the most decorated coaches I have had the privilege to chat with.

Navin is certified in various massage techniques, athletic training, strength coach and PRI. He has traveled all over the world to learn and share information with other. He is also a self-proclaimed learning junkie and is constantly experimenting with technology and hacks for sleep, nutrition, mindfulness and correct movement.

I couldn’t be more thrilled to have this chat with Navin who radiates positive energy, authenticity and pure joy in everything he does. So many of us are not grateful enough for our experiences and Navin is a shining example of how to maximize our ability to help others and be happy.

We discuss mindset and how to impact others to kick off the pod before diving into some performance topics such as individualizing sleep based on data and conversations, PRI and breathing as tools in the NBA. We also discuss the performance vs health model and what works the best with elite athletes, NBA Bubble life and hypnosis.

Check out Navin’s website www.navinhealth.com. He also is hosting a great Podcast titled 9’ to Thrive with Navin (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/9-to-thrive-with-navin/id1522580218) and can be found on IG @navin.het and Twitter @navin_H.