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What does it take to build a successful track and field program, develop athletes, and create lasting relationships that go beyond the competition?

On this episode of the Voodoo Power Podcast, Steven Thompson sits down with Coach Mike Erb to discuss his unconventional journey into coaching, from environmental science and municipal government to collegiate track and field.

Coach Erb shares his experience rebuilding a struggling program at the University of Redlands, developing athletes from different sporting backgrounds, and creating a culture built on genuine relationships, high standards, and a commitment to continuous learning.

The conversation dives into the fundamentals of track and field development, the importance of strength and force production, and why coaches should focus on building sound movement patterns before advancing to more complex technical work.

We also explore the unique challenges of coaching multi-event athletes, balancing general strength and conditioning with event-specific training, and the importance of reading social cues and building professional relationships throughout a coaching career.

In this episode:

* Mike Erb’s unconventional path into collegiate coaching
* Rebuilding a track and field program at the University of Redlands
* Recruiting athletes from other sports and identifying untapped potential
* Building a culture through relationships, accountability, and high standards
* The importance of fundamental movement patterns in track and field
* Strength, force production, and the development of collegiate athletes
* Training multi-event athletes and balancing general preparation with technical work
* Managing training loads, recovery, and injury prevention
* Lifelong learning and the evolution of coaching resources
* Networking, mentorship, and creating opportunities in the coaching profession

Whether you’re a track and field coach, strength and conditioning professional, or someone passionate about athlete development, this conversation offers valuable insight into the process of building better athletes and better programs.

🎙️ Voodoo Power Podcast
Hosted by Steven Thompson

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#VoodooPower #MikeErb #TrackAndField #StrengthAndConditioning #AthleteDevelopment

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What does it take to build an athlete who can perform under pressure, overcome adversity, and reach their full potential?

On this episode of Voodoo Power, Steven Thompson sits down with Jim Beebe, founder of Unbreakable Athletics, to discuss athlete development, strength and conditioning, mental toughness, and the principles that help athletes succeed both in sports and in life.

Jim’s journey from managing $1.2 billion in financial assets to building a successful training facility is a story of discipline, persistence, and a commitment to helping others become better. With experience coaching athletes across multiple sports, Jim shares practical lessons on developing the complete athlete—not just a stronger or faster one.

In this conversation, we cover:

* The Athlete Builder philosophy: developing the complete athlete
* Why mindset, nutrition, recovery, knowledge, and teamwork matter
* Six core values: integrity, discipline, Kaizen, teamwork, enjoyment, and Sisu
* How to identify weaknesses and turn them into opportunities for growth
* Using pressure and competition to accelerate athletic development
* Building mental toughness and overcoming the fear of injury or failure
* Helping injured athletes continue progressing beyond physical rehabilitation
* Developing trust, accountability, and stronger coach-athlete relationships
* Lessons from Jim’s visit to the Ohio State wrestling program
* How Jim built Unbreakable Athletics through challenges and adversity
* The Athlete Builder scorecard and evaluating an athlete’s strengths and weaknesses
* Developing athletes who are prepared for college sports and life beyond competition

Jim also shares lessons from his son Jack’s journey from walk-on athlete to scholarship recipient and team captain, along with his perspective on longevity, leadership, and continuous improvement.

One of the biggest takeaways: great coaching is about more than programming. It’s about understanding the person, identifying what holds them back, and helping them become capable of doing things they once believed were impossible.

Whether you’re a high school strength coach, athletic performance coach, personal trainer, athlete, or parent, this episode offers practical ideas for building stronger, more confident, and more resilient athletes.

Subscribe to Voodoo Power for conversations with strength coaches, athletes, and leaders who are working to improve athletic performance and change lives through training.

Keep showing up. Keep improving. Build something unbreakable.

#VoodooPower #StrengthAndConditioning #AthleteDevelopment

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In this episode of the Voodoo Power Podcast, Steven Thompson sits down with George Adams, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Madison-Ridgeland Academy, to discuss the differences between high school and college strength and conditioning, developing young athletes, and building programs that translate to performance on the field.

George shares his journey from college athletics to high school coaching and explains why the high school setting offers unique opportunities to build relationships, develop athletes over multiple years, and establish a lasting training culture.

Topics covered include:

• High School vs. College Strength & Conditioning: The differences in coaching environments, athlete motivation, and long-term development.
• Speed Development: Improving acceleration, top speed, sprint mechanics, and the importance of individualized coaching.
• Velocity-Based Training (VBT): Using performance data to guide training decisions and evaluate what best prepares athletes for speed and power.
• Injury Management: Practical approaches to shin splints, ankle injuries, cramping, and athlete recovery.
• In-Season Training: Balancing strength, speed, fatigue, and sport demands throughout the competitive season.
• Technology and Recruiting: GPS tracking, timing gates, 40-yard dash preparation, and collecting reliable performance data.
• Building Relationships and Buy-In: Communicating with sport coaches, earning athlete trust, and creating a successful strength and conditioning program.

This conversation is about more than sets and reps. It’s about understanding the athlete, adapting the training process, and building a program that serves athletes at every stage of development.

At Voodoo Power, we’re committed to sharing ideas and conversations that help coaches become better and give athletes more opportunities to succeed.

Subscribe to Voodoo Power for more conversations with strength coaches, athletes, and performance professionals who are making a difference.

#VoodooPower #StrengthAndConditioning #SpeedDevelopment #HighSchoolSports #AthleteDevelopment

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In this episode of Voodoo Power, Steven sits down with high school strength and conditioning coach Travis Webb to talk about his journey into coaching, building culture, developing athletes, and constantly evolving as a coach.

Travis shares how an unexpected turn in his college career eventually led him into strength and conditioning, including his internship experience at UMass and his decision to focus on high school athletes. He explains why he believes coaching is about much more than writing a program—it’s about being present, understanding athletes, asking “why,” and creating an environment where athletes want to work.

The conversation dives deep into Travis’s approach at Perkins High School, including his tiered training system, Block 0–3 progression, in-season versus off-season programming, speed development, and the balance between strength and speed for high school athletes.

Steven and Travis also spend a lot of time discussing the transition from trap bar deadlifts to sumo deadlifts for speed development. Travis explains why he made the change, what he has seen from his athletes, and how the change has affected intent, technique, strength, vertical jump performance, and speed testing.

Other topics include:

• Building athlete buy-in and team culture
• Coaching middle school athletes
• Accountability and discipline in today’s athletes
• Developing strength before chasing speed
• Tiered training systems
• Block 0–3 athlete development
• Speed development and 20-yard fly testing
• Sumo deadlifts vs. trap bar deadlifts
• Box squats and athletic performance
• Mobility, recovery, and in-season training
• The importance of internships in strength & conditioning
• The realities of compensation and career advancement
• Learning from other coaches and continually adapting

This is a conversation about coaching beyond the program—developing people, building relationships, and finding better ways to prepare athletes for competition and life.

If you enjoy conversations about high school strength and conditioning, athletic performance, strength development, speed training, and coaching, subscribe to Voodoo Power and follow along as we continue talking with coaches who are helping athletes get better.

#VoodooPower #StrengthAndConditioning #HighSchoolStrength #AthleteDevelopment

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In this episode of the Voodoo Power Podcast, Steven sits down with Mark Garrett, Head Strength & Conditioning Coach at Crown Point High School in Indiana, for a deep conversation on Olympic lifting, athlete development, and building a long-term training system.

Mark shares his journey from a powerlifting-focused approach in the 1990s to incorporating Olympic lifting after learning from coaches including Frank Exton, Mike Bergener, and Jim Schmitz. He explains how seeing the impact of Olympic lifting on athletic performance changed the way he approached strength and conditioning.

The conversation goes deep into Mark’s “Prepare to Train” system and his progression from middle school athletes through high school. He explains how he develops balance, coordination, movement quality, speed, and technique before progressing athletes into Olympic lifts.

Mark also breaks down his hybrid training philosophy, combining elements of Russian, Polish, and Bulgarian weightlifting systems. He discusses the use of lower-intensity volume work, high-intensity singles, managing fatigue, and why the training demands of elite weightlifters don’t always translate directly to high school athletes.

Other topics include:

• Teaching Olympic lifting without over-coaching
• “Trace, don’t scrape” when teaching pulls
• Proper body position and bar path
• Reverse-chain learning
• Front squats vs. back squats for athletes
• Developing foot positioning and landing mechanics
• The 2-inch, 4-inch, 6-inch drop drill
• Deadlift progressions for young athletes
• Hyperextensions, good mornings and Romanian deadlifts
• Training intensity and managing the nervous system
• Combining weightlifting with football and other sports
• Developing athletes over multiple years
• The Hoosier Barbell Club
• Strength expression within the same time windows as athletic movements

This is a conversation about much more than Olympic lifting. It’s about how coaches build systems, teach movement, manage training stress, and develop athletes over the long term.

#VoodooPower #StrengthAndConditioning #OlympicLifting #Weightlifting #HighSchoolStrength #AthleteDevelopment #Powerlifting #SportsPerformance

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In this episode of Voodoo Power, Steven Thompson sits down with Brayden Durfee, a former Division I sprinter at Boise State University and Mountain West champion as a member of Boise State’s 2019 distance medley relay team. Brayden is now the Sprint Coach at Northwest Nazarene University.

Brayden shares the story of his development as a sprinter, including the challenges he faced transitioning from high school to college and the training changes that helped him reach the championship level. He explains how strength training became an important part of his development and how he incorporated conjugate-style methods into his sprint program.

The conversation dives deep into Brayden’s approach to training sprinters, including box squats, accommodating resistance, band squats, sumo pulls, dynamic-effort work, max-effort work, sleds, and plyometrics. He explains how he used approximately 55% of his 1RM with 15–20% band tension and adjusted training across four-week phases based on running volume, recovery, and competition schedules.

Steven and Brayden also get into the technical side of sprint coaching, including:

• Training strategies for the 100m and 200m
• Why 200m training can help develop patience in the 100m
• Acceleration and top-speed mechanics
• Sled training for acceleration and recovery
• Developing posture and hip engagement
• Backside mechanics and stride development
• Teaching athletes to “grab the track”
• Using resistance bands to create better movement awareness
• Training 400m runners to maintain mechanics under fatigue
• Using assault bikes and broken reps with developing athletes
• Postural drills for maintaining structure late in races
• Adjusting lifting around competition schedules
• Using video analysis to identify mechanical breakdowns
• Integrating strength training with sprint and plyometric work

One of the most interesting parts of the conversation is the practical coaching discussion around getting athletes to actually feel the positions coaches are trying to teach. Steven introduces the band-under-the-armpits drill as a way to slow the shoulders down, allow the hips to come underneath the athlete, and create better awareness of hip engagement.

Brayden also explains how he uses hands-on drills, bands, sleds, and exaggerated movements to help athletes understand acceleration positions and improve their sprint mechanics.

This episode is packed with practical ideas for high school and college sprint coaches, strength and conditioning coaches, track athletes, and anyone interested in combining speed development with intelligent strength training.

Whether you’re coaching the 100m, 200m, or 400m, there are plenty of practical takeaways from Brayden’s experience as a Mountain West champion sprinter and his current work coaching athletes at Northwest Nazarene University.

Subscribe to Voodoo Power for more conversations with strength coaches, athletes, and coaches working to improve athletic performance.

#VoodooPower #BraydenDurfee #NorthwestNazarene #BoiseState #SprintTraining #TrackAndField #StrengthAndConditioning #SpeedTraining #ConjugateTraining #SprintMechanics #100m #200m #400m #AthleticPerformance

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This conversation is about more than lifting weights. It’s about identifying weaknesses, building physical qualities that transfer to the mat, developing trust between coach and athlete, and preparing young wrestlers for the demands of college competition.

Subscribe to Voodoo Power for more conversations with strength coaches, athletes, and coaches working to develop better athletes.

#VoodooPower #JeremyHartman #PeytonHornsby #Wrestling #WrestlingStrength #StrengthAndConditioning #HighSchoolWrestling #CollegeWrestling #WrestlingTraining #Powerlifting #AthleticDevelopment

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In this episode of Voodoo Power, Steven Thompson sits down with Chris Greene for a deep conversation about strength and conditioning, football performance, conjugate training, speed development, powerlifting, athletic development, and building better athletes.

Chris Greene shares his journey into the conjugate training system, including the influence of Westside Barbell and how he adapted conjugate principles for different sports and athletes. The conversation explores how strength coaches can take proven training concepts and apply them to the realities of high school and college athletics.

A major focus is football strength and conditioning, particularly developing offensive and defensive linemen. Chris and Steven discuss acceleration, first-step quickness, football stances, footwork, repetition, deep practice, sled pushes and drags, dynamic effort training, rate of force development, and the importance of teaching athletes to move efficiently.

They also examine the challenges of developing younger athletes who may arrive at the high school level without strong movement foundations. Chris explains his vision for a long-term athletic development model that begins in middle school and develops athletes through high school, with an emphasis on teaching positions, acceleration, hip strength, and fundamental movement skills.

The conversation also covers Chris’s experience developing a high school powerlifting program and creating opportunities for athletes who may not have traditionally participated in strength sports. They discuss athlete autonomy, deadlift and clean variations, proper technique, strength development, and the growing connection between high school powerlifting and college opportunities.

One of the most interesting sections focuses on the relationship between the adductor magnus, hip strength, sprinting, and hamstring injuries. Chris explains his research and how it has influenced his programming, including Copenhagen exercises, hip isometrics, step-ups, sled work, and other methods for developing stronger hips and adductors.

Steven and Chris also discuss velocity-based training, sprint timing systems, acceleration testing, step-up exercises and sprint mechanics, multi-sport athletes, and how coaches can use technology and data without losing sight of fundamental coaching.

Topics covered include:

• Strength and conditioning for high school athletes
• Football strength training
• Conjugate training
• Westside Barbell
• Speed and acceleration development
• Offensive line training
• Sprint mechanics
• 5–10 meter acceleration
• Rate of force development
• Sled pushes and sled drags
• Dynamic effort training
• Long-term athletic development
• Middle school athletic development
• High school powerlifting
• Athlete autonomy
• Adductor magnus training
• Hip strength
• Hamstring injury prevention
• Copenhagen planks and Copenhagen squats
• Step-ups and sprint mechanics
• Velocity-based training (VBT)
• Sprint timing systems
• Multi-sport athletes
• Football player development
• Strength coach education

This is a conversation for strength coaches, football coaches, athletic trainers, athletes, and anyone interested in developing stronger, faster, more complete athletes.

Subscribe to Voodoo Power for more conversations with strength coaches, athletes, and coaches from across the strength and performance world.

#VoodooPower #ChrisGreene #StrengthAndConditioning #FootballStrengthTraining #ConjugateTraining #SpeedTraining #AthleticDevelopment #Powerlifting #Acceleration #HipStrength #HamstringInjuryPrevention #VelocityBasedTraining

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What does it really mean to be a successful coach?

In this episode of Voodoo Power, Steven Thompson sits down with Dean Matsche to talk about coaching, athlete development, track and field, strength training, competition, and the lessons that come from years of working with athletes.

Dean shares his experience and perspective on developing athletes in shot put, discus, track and field, and strength and conditioning, while discussing the importance of building relationships, creating accountability, setting goals, and helping athletes become better both in and outside of sports.

The conversation goes beyond sets, reps, numbers, and competition. We discuss coaching philosophy, athlete motivation, work ethic, consistency, team culture, youth sports, goal setting, and the responsibility coaches have to positively influence young athletes.

Dean also shares his thoughts on the changing culture of youth sports and why coaches need to continue finding ways to make hard work, discipline, competition, and personal growth valuable to today’s athletes.

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What does it take to develop 350–400 collegiate athletes across 25 teams? In this episode of the Voodoo Power Podcast, Steven sits down with Steve Barrick, Associate Athletic Director for Sports Performance at the University of Indianapolis, to discuss strength and conditioning, athlete development, coaching philosophy, Olympic weightlifting, and velocity-based training.

Steve Barrick has spent years developing athletes and building a strength and conditioning system that combines Olympic weightlifting, traditional strength training, power development, and velocity-based training (VBT).

Steve shares his journey into coaching, including the moment he realized that pursuing a career simply for money wasn’t enough. He explains why passion for coaching, building relationships with athletes, and continually learning from other coaches have been central to his career.

The conversation dives deep into how he manages a large collegiate strength and conditioning program while still addressing the individual needs of athletes.

Topics covered in this episode include:

• Strength and conditioning at the University of Indianapolis
• Steve Barrick’s coaching philosophy and career journey
• Training 350–400 athletes across approximately 25 teams
• Velocity-Based Training (VBT)
• Using VBT for squats, bench press, and clean pulls
• Olympic weightlifting for athletic development
• Teaching the clean and developing proper technique
• High-bar Olympic back squats and front squats
• Clean pulls and clean deadlifts
• RDLs, reverse hypers, Nordics, and single-leg training
• Eccentric, isometric, and concentric training
• Periodization and adapting training to individual athletes
• Bar speed and power development
• Strength versus speed and explosiveness
• Developing a coach’s eye while using technology and performance data
• Building relationships with athletes
• Creating a strong team culture and family atmosphere
• Recruiting and retaining athletes at a private Division II university
• The impact of the transfer portal on college athletics
• Learning from other strength and conditioning coaches
• Visiting other facilities and stealing good ideas
• Adapting training systems to different athletes and sports

Steve also discusses his evolution from powerlifting toward Olympic weightlifting and how that transition influenced the way he trains athletes today.

One of the biggest themes of the conversation is adaptability. A successful strength and conditioning system isn’t about blindly copying another coach. It’s about understanding your athletes, identifying weaknesses, developing the qualities that matter for their sport, and continually improving the system.

Steven and Steve also discuss a new idea for Voodoo Power: “On the Road with Voodoo Power.” The goal is to visit strength and conditioning facilities around the country—from garage gyms to universities—and highlight the coaches and athletes doing the work every day.

If you’re interested in strength and conditioning, sports performance, Olympic lifting, velocity-based training, collegiate athletics, power development, or athlete development, this episode is for you.

Subscribe to Voodoo Power for more conversations with strength coaches, athletes, and performance professionals from across the country.

#VoodooPower #SteveBarrick #StrengthAndConditioning #UniversityOfIndianapolis #VelocityBasedTraining #VBT #OlympicWeightlifting #AthleteDevelopment #SportsPerformance #StrengthTraining #CollegeStrengthAndConditioning #D2Athletics #PowerDevelopment #StrengthCoach #OlympicLifting

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