Episode 21

Brian Kula: Unlocking Speed

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Brian Kula: Unlocking Speed
  52 min
Brian Kula: Unlocking Speed
Keiser Human Performance Podcast
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On this episode of the Keiser Human Performance Podcast, host Gabe Derman sits down with Coach Brian Kula, a renowned expert in athletic performance with over 28 years of experience. From youth athletes to NFL stars and Olympians, Coach Kula has worked with some of the most elite talent in sports, including national champions and All-Americans.

In this conversation, Coach Kula shares his unique approach to speed training, emphasizing the balance between coaching instincts and the integration of cutting-edge technology. He breaks down his process for athlete assessments, creating personalized training prescriptions, and fostering autonomy in athletes. You’ll also get an inside look at his philosophy for building long-term success and, of course, a few rapid-fire questions to uncover the man behind the coach.

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Welcome to the Keiser Human Performance Podcast.

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The goal of this podcast. is to educate and inspire you to make the most of your

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journey in health and

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performance. Each episode will provide an in-depth discussion on a specific topic related to human performance.

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If you're a growth-minded

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individual seeking knowledge and better solutions,

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this podcast

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is for you. We're glad you're listening

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in, and we're excited to learn alongside

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you. Welcome back to another episode of the Keiser Human Performance.

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Podcast. My name is Gabe Durman, and today I am thrilled to welcome Coach Brian Kula to the show.

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With over 28 years of experience,

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Coach Kula has built an impressive career in- athletic performance,

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coaching elite athletes ranging from youth to the professional level. He's coached multiple national champions, All-Americans, and

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even NFL and Olympic

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stars. In our conversation today, we'll explore Coach Kula's unique approach to speed training.

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We'll explore the role of technology in his athlete

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assessments and how he integrates his coaching instincts with cutting-edge tools.

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We'll also dig into his process for creating effective training prescriptions and fostering athlete

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autonomy. And of course, we'll finish with some fun, rapid-fire questions to get to know him beyond the gym.

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Make sure to follow Coach Kula on social media @kulasportsperformance

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to stay updated

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on his latest

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training insights and athlete

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success stories. Let's get into

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it. Coach Kula, thank you' for taking time out of your Tuesday to be with me here on the Keiser

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Human Performance Podcast.

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How we' doing today? I'm doing wonderful, man. Thanks for having me.

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Of course. Really excited to talk

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to you. I know recently you' were able to install some new Keiser equipment, which we' can talk

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a little bit about at the end, but really just happy to have you. on- here and, and be able

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to talk with someone, um, that has the type of experience, that you have and the accolades that you have

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and, and, and the, really the passion that you have in this field of sport

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performance. So, uh, again, really appreciate your time and looking

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forward to this conversation. Yeah, me as well. Thanks for, thanks for considering. We, we, we love your guys' brand

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and equipment,

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um. Hopefully, we hopefully have a few things we can offer.

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Absolutely. So Kula Sport Performance,

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is one of the best performance facilities in the US,

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and that's not by

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any accident. Uh, it's been recognized for its outstanding work with the athletes at various levels.

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Can you walk us through what a typical day, at your facility looks

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like? Sure, yeah. We, uh, you know, we're open, we're open all day long. Um, you know, we' have some

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adult traffic in the morning, where we' work with some hybrid

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athletes. Uh, we' have some open gym ability, uh, for some

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memberships. Uh, and then we' really

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get cranking, um, with our, you know, our biggest demographic in the afternoons, like after school hours, around 4:00.

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And we see, you know, anywhere between probably 300, you know, two, 200 to 300 athletes per day,

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uh, where they come in, in, in either a small group situation or a team or a private

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setting, uh, and work with a coach, uh, where they're going through our system, uh, approach of speed development, power

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development. And, you know, so they, they flow throughout the facility. We have a very calculated, uh,

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you know, way that we go through the facility, through the

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equipment and movement patterns. And, and then they, then then they get their nutrition,

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and they're out of there. Thank you. Yeah, you mentioned speed development, and I think on your website, if anyone

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goes to it, um, y- you'll see something called a speed-based performance system. So, uh, I know

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speed is definitely one of your main areas of focus. It sounds like that's regardless of who's coming into your

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facility. Is that right? Yeah. That's right. Yeah.

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We, uh... At some level, we're kind of sport agnostic. I mean, we obviously can tailor the, the training

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to fit the athlete's

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sport, but,

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uh, by and large, we, we just prioritize the speed and movement, uh, patterns of a- athletes and feel like

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that kind of raises

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the, you know, raises the bar and moves the needle the most for athletes, no matter what sport they play.

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And

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talking about some of your adult populations, too, is that something that's actually incorporated into their training?

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It actually is, yeah. We're, uh, so, and I'm

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not r- sure if you're familiar with the HYROX, but it's a kind of a new fitness craze out there,

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a competitive, um, running and, and fitness type movements. And we kinda feel like we are gonna try to flip

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the training on its head a little bit and introduce some of the speed power,

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uh, work. Uh, again, you know, try to help, you know, raise the ceiling by, or raise the floor by

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raising the ceiling, you know, concept. Um, and those athletes still need, you know, VO2 max work and lactic

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threshold and all the things, but yeah, we are trying to introduce a level of speed and power

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into that sport as well. Yeah. Very cool. I imagine that's something that's gonna start to slowly take off, take

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off, and then you might get that parabolic, like, yep, there you go.

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Um, so that's cool. That's, that's cool. It'll be, I'm sure it'll be a

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s- you know, we're trying to be an early adopter that way, right? Like, so, you know, get in on

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it and just try to show athletes that there can be, you know, movement through, you know, through that type

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of training. It's also fun. You know,

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psychologically, it's, it's, it's a, you know, it's really fun, to run fast and that kind of stuff.

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So, um,

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I don't know. Well, it'll be an interesting experiment to

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see where we go there. Cool. I'm excited to keep tabs on that and check back in with you- Yeah

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... uh, uh, regarding that. So going back to the speed development, obviously you said this is a, a, a

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main area of your focus. Can you walk us through just, like, your general approaches or principles when it comes

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to this idea of speed training or speed-based performance

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systems? Sure. Yeah, I think at the highest level, what we're trying to do is train the central nervous system

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differently, right? And, and what that takes is a certain stimulus,

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uh, so that we get the right adaptation out of, uh, you know, uh, there's

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nothing you can do that stimulates the central nervous system more than sprinting. And so we do quite a bit

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of sprinting and testing and timing, uh, to get maximum, you know, intent, uh, when they're doing that. And then

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what we end up, end up seeing is, you know, better change of direction, better acceleration mechanics. So as we

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drive up maximum velocity, uh, we see those abilities. They even get stronger in the weight

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room, um, you know, by, by seeing some of those enhancements.

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So, uh, it's just really, for us, it's our, it's

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our North Star, you know. It's where we wanna start with an athlete of improving speed.

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Uh, obviously that has many different

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components from acceleration, max velocity, change direction, you know, all the different components

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of speed. Um, but we just prioritize that,

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you know, over

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just coming in and weightlifting, you know, or, or the other ways of approaching

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training. We still lift weights. We still prioritize, you know, the weight room. It's

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just in support of the speed

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development. Awesome. Thank you. So we'll definitely talk about how you maybe marry the weight room with some of that

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speed training. I know you kind of, it sounds like you see it all as one collective

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thing. Um, so it sounds to me like, you know, by driving up max

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velocity, uh, you are raising up all other things, right? Um, so you're driving up all our types of physical

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qualities just by addressing that

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alone. Sure. Sure. Yeah, that's it.

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I mean, I think, you know, there, there's almost a tether effect between maximum velocity and sub-maximal velocity.

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And so even if you're not a maximum velocity athlete, you're not a track sprinter, you're not a, a wide

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receiver or whatever, I mean, even like we talked about with the HYROX

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athletes, what we've done is, you know, raise the floor. And so there's a, there's an efficiency and a sustainability

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around,

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um, you know, the increase of maximum velocity.

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Plus it, it prevents injury, right? Like, if there is exposure to high speed, then, then, you know,

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we mitigate some of the

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injury risk, uh, by

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that and, you know, end up seeing a little bit better athletic development just on

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a holistic view. Absolutely, and I love what you said, we use this, you anchor it as your North Star,

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right? Yeah. Your speed training. So my question to you is,

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has this always

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been your North Star? Yeah, I think, and when I look back at my, you know, almost 30-plus year coaching

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career, I, I go, you know, I've always been passionate about speed. I was a track and field athlete. Um,

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I played skill positions in football, and I think speed, you know, was, was an important component. I happened to

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be fast myself, and so, you know, anecdotally, that's probably how I leaned into training

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athletes. And, you know, my dad,

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who was a, a longtime strength and conditioning coach, always was into

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the, the Russian Soviet Union model of, of lifting weights and, you know, moving weight fast and

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things like that, so I just think it's how I grew up. Um,

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I'm not sure if I ever knew

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any better. Um, and then as I got a little bit smarter, you know, later on in life, then

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you kind of start drawing some parallels to successful athletes and things that you've seen work well,

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and it always came back to, man, the fastest athlete is typically the best athlete, no matter

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what sport it is.

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And, you know, we can see then, you know, through training adaptation, where we get, uh, you know, a golfer

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to sprint a little faster, they, they add clubhead speed to their golf swing, you know?

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Or swimmers, uh, who improve in their Flight 10s,

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we see them swim faster and, and it's... You know, in the past, I think that would've been

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really

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hard to, to, to know those things until you just jump in and, and go full bore on it.

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And, and then here we are, you know, and we've had those kind of things

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come out of our building, so we feel pretty strongly

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about it. Awesome. I love it. Um, seems very refined and, and obviously this is not just

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a belief you have, this is part of your DNA, it

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sounds like. Yeah. Yeah. It i-

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it really is. I mean, I, I guess I just see it and, you know, I've... And then I too

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have had some great mentors and friends and colleagues come around as well that, you know, have similar thoughts,

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so it kind of supports the way I've kind of thought over all these

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years.

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Um, and, and, and that, that's helped just kind of, you know, rock solid solidify,

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you know, what we're doing. When did you realize, what age, that you were fast? Like, you just knew

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you were fast. Was this play- was this playground

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stuff? Yeah, probably. I mean, I think, you know, my, my... I got a, you know, I had successful...

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My dad was

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a, you know, a, a football player, track athlete. My grandfather was, you know, same thing, and so I, there

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was some athletic abilities in our family. And, um, you know, I just was kind of fast that way. I

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ran track and field all through

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high school, did the, you know, AAU track and field when I was a young kid, and, uh, I

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was just a, I was just put in that, um,

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in that space. Yeah. And so kind of almost like nature/nurture. I mean, was I fast because,

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you know, genetics, or was I fast because

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my dad put me in track when I was, you know, 11 and 12 years old? And, you

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know, I was maybe not the fastest kid on the team, but wanted to be, and so just by

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nurturing that, you know, became

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fast. Um,

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so yeah, I don't, I don't know if I could point to exactly why. I don't have, you know,

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world-class speed, you know, parents, but...

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So as you consider that question, though, nature versus nurture, what do you think? I mean,

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in my opinion, probably a little bit

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of both. Yeah, 100%. Yeah. I think, yeah, the truth's probably in the middle somewhere, right? I mean, there are

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people out there that just have unbelievable genetics and genetic gifting, uh, but then there's people that work really

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hard. And so, you know, the training,

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I think paired with good genetics, is where we see

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our, you know, very successful athletes.

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Um, so I think, I don't, I don't think you could point to one or the other. I think

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you gotta have a little bit of

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both. Yeah.

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And it sounds like obviously with your dad being a strength and conditioning coach, it was, and you

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being in team environments your entire

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life, you know, you're very comfortable around this field of coaching.

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For you, when did you see that shift from being an

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athlete into like, "I think I wanna

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coach," like, or, "I think,

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you know, uh, this is for me, and this is

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something I wanna do"? Um, I think I always saw myself as being a coach, right? 'Cause I just grew

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up around it. Um, but I think, you know, I, I had an injury, uh, in my kind of professional

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career as a track athlete that kind of would, you know,

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that was, I... It wasn't much of my choice anymore. It was, it was a choice of like, "I

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can't do this anymore." And I just turned, you know, kind of a 180 into coaching and put the same

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kinda, kinda relentless pursuit of excellence into coaching as I had as an athlete, and it was just a very

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natural segue. I mean, I was young. I was 23 years old, was a, you know, head, first-time head

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track coach. Um, but I didn't really ever ask too many questions or feel it out. We just

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went, pinned our ears back, and went full, you know, full

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go.

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Awesome. Well, I'd love to hear more

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about kind of your method for evaluation. So let's just say I'm an athlete that is, um, uh, let's say

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a high school athlete, uh, in the area that is excited to train, you know, I'm a baseball

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player, and I walk into your facility and I sign up, uh, you know, to start training

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with you. Yeah. Walk me through my experience as a new athlete in your, uh,

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space.

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Yeah. So our, an athlete's gonna come in, they're gonna meet with our assessment coordinator, who's gonna

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run them through a battery of tests. Um, they'll get, you know, a Hawkins Dynamics force plate

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assessment. Uh, they'll do some performance testing. We'll do a movement screen. Um-And, you know,

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w- we'll take some of that information,

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uh, w- we formulate it into a, a, we call it a SpeedTown score, so we kinda get

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a, a, a normative value for, you know, their performance testing so we can compare it to other athletes.

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And, and then we, you know, have a sit-down with them and try to figure

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out what their goals are,

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and based on what we know about the athlete and then what they're telling us their goals

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are, we can find the right

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spot for them. Uh, most the time that's just placement into a small group class, you know, that makes

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sense from their sport, to their gender, to their age group.

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Um, but then also it could lead to some private training, you know, where an athlete really

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needs some work because their movement patterns are really poor, uh, their force, force numbers are really

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weak. Um,

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and so

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we, you know, they're, they're then placed into a, a program that, that fits their

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needs. Okay, cool. So

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we have, just recapping here, I walk

00:13:27.204 --> 00:13:30.104
in, we have our assessments, which includes movement screens,

00:13:30.824 --> 00:13:31.184
Hawkins

00:13:31.264 --> 00:13:33.104
force plates, um,

00:13:33.444 --> 00:13:35.224
and then moving into our SpeedTown score,

00:13:35.584 --> 00:13:39.114
right, which is our normative data. Now, when you break down that normative data, are you looking

00:13:39.204 --> 00:13:41.544
at athletes of the same age, male, female,

00:13:41.924 --> 00:13:43.964
sport-specific? Like, how detailed do you get with

00:13:44.004 --> 00:13:48.004
that score? Yeah, I mean, it's, it's broke out by, you know, gender, by

00:13:48.184 --> 00:13:48.624
age.

00:13:49.024 --> 00:13:53.904
Um, i- it's not... I, I wouldn't go into too great of detail of, like, history of the

00:13:54.004 --> 00:13:59.724
athlete, you know, or anything like that, but we are definitely breaking it out by, you know, male, female, um,

00:13:59.784 --> 00:14:05.154
and then age demographic. And we at least then can, you know, look back. This, this particular test has over

00:14:05.344 --> 00:14:07.044
50 years of, of historical data,

00:14:07.584 --> 00:14:09.384
so we can, you know, we can kinda predict,

00:14:09.784 --> 00:14:14.064
"Hey, if you score in this, you know, category, you have a very good potential

00:14:14.104 --> 00:14:15.104
to be a, a, you know,

00:14:15.164 --> 00:14:19.084
a great athlete, um, or we got a lot of work to do." And so that kinda shows

00:14:19.144 --> 00:14:20.964
us, you know, what we, you know, what we need to do from

00:14:21.004 --> 00:14:25.524
a training perspective. Awesome, okay. So we're taking all of this information,

00:14:25.984 --> 00:14:26.074
we're

00:14:26.204 --> 00:14:32.064
dumping it in into a funnel, and that funnel is now providing you with, "Hey, here's the route we can

00:14:32.104 --> 00:14:35.764
take for you. Here are a couple different things and different kind of, uh, uh,

00:14:36.014 --> 00:14:38.044
r- roads we can go down in terms of your training."

00:14:38.544 --> 00:14:38.924
Right. Yeah,

00:14:39.004 --> 00:14:43.584
that's it. I mean, I think the biggest component of it really is just the relational piece of, like, learning

00:14:43.604 --> 00:14:48.824
what the athlete's goals are, the, the historical data. Do they have injuries that they're dealing with? Are they return

00:14:48.864 --> 00:14:54.284
to play? Are they healthy? Um, you know, are they in season, out of season? Like, there's a lot of

00:14:54.324 --> 00:14:56.984
things to learn about an athlete before you just dump them into a training

00:14:57.084 --> 00:15:02.024
program. And even though we feel like our programming lends itself to an athlete that

00:15:02.104 --> 00:15:07.804
is in season, out of season, you know, regardless of, of that, we still wanna have an idea,

00:15:08.004 --> 00:15:12.504
you know, so that we can be in good relationship with the athlete. It's a premium service, you know. We're

00:15:12.524 --> 00:15:14.084
not just dumping kids and running them through

00:15:14.184 --> 00:15:15.044
a, you know, a,

00:15:15.124 --> 00:15:20.974
a turnstile. Uh, we really wanna create s- at some level, a personal experience through it, where they're, where they

00:15:21.064 --> 00:15:23.194
know that they're getting better at, you know, what they're trying

00:15:23.204 --> 00:15:27.104
to be in there for, whether it's their power levels or their speed or, you know, whatever.

00:15:27.624 --> 00:15:27.864
Uh,

00:15:28.284 --> 00:15:28.324
you

00:15:28.364 --> 00:15:30.124
know, how do you know that unless you're testing

00:15:30.164 --> 00:15:32.004
it, you know? Right.

00:15:32.124 --> 00:15:35.804
So we t- we test on me,

00:15:36.004 --> 00:15:37.024
okay. Um,

00:15:37.344 --> 00:15:40.044
I, like I said, let's say I'm an outfield baseball player, high

00:15:40.084 --> 00:15:40.724
school age.

00:15:41.464 --> 00:15:42.104
Uh, your,

00:15:42.524 --> 00:15:42.984
your test,

00:15:43.044 --> 00:15:44.953
your assessments, uh, watching me move

00:15:45.004 --> 00:15:50.144
around a little bit would indicate that my acceleration zero to 10 sucks.

00:15:50.854 --> 00:15:50.854
Yep.

00:15:51.224 --> 00:15:52.044
It's not very good.

00:15:52.444 --> 00:15:53.984
Yeah. You know, that might not actually be the...

00:15:54.044 --> 00:15:54.064
No,

00:15:54.284 --> 00:15:58.784
it is. Um, that, that, that's, it's pretty poor, so, you know, where am I starting in terms of training?

00:15:58.824 --> 00:16:04.104
And, and I have aspirations to be a competitive Division I player and, and, you know, no previous injury history-

00:16:04.154 --> 00:16:04.154
Yep

00:16:04.154 --> 00:16:08.074
... or whatnot. Like, a- again, I, I understand it's not a cookie cutter approach, and this

00:16:08.104 --> 00:16:12.524
is not a, a, a, me trying to get that out of this experience. I understand that there's a lot

00:16:12.544 --> 00:16:15.144
more things that you probably go through in order to get somebody

00:16:15.164 --> 00:16:17.184
ready to train, but in general,

00:16:17.484 --> 00:16:17.664
right-

00:16:18.324 --> 00:16:20.084
Yeah ... where would I- In g- Where would I start?

00:16:20.524 --> 00:16:25.044
Yeah, in general, we're gonna, you know, we're gonna determine the best placement for you, like the,

00:16:25.084 --> 00:16:26.404
the, the style of coach,

00:16:26.964 --> 00:16:31.084
you know, is it the right age demographic, and all those things. And then we're gonna talk through even,

00:16:31.104 --> 00:16:32.124
like, what a schedule would look

00:16:32.164 --> 00:16:36.104
like. So- Cool ... maybe you got one day a week to, to, you know, commit to

00:16:36.124 --> 00:16:39.984
training. Well, then we need to find, you know, what day of the week does a...

00:16:40.024 --> 00:16:44.984
Maybe you're a high school, middle school athlete, so we're gonna find the day where they're focused on more accelerative,

00:16:45.224 --> 00:16:46.304
you know, abilities

00:16:46.944 --> 00:16:47.964
and, and horizontal

00:16:48.044 --> 00:16:52.034
projection, and then we're gonna place you in that class and really recommend, "Hey, we need you,

00:16:52.203 --> 00:16:55.134
if that's your deal, we're gonna get you in on Mondays with Coach Julie,

00:16:55.624 --> 00:17:01.244
because those are the days she really focuses on acceleration, you know, kind of stuff." So, um,

00:17:01.284 --> 00:17:04.104
now again, you could jump into any one of our groups, and you're still

00:17:04.124 --> 00:17:09.023
gonna get overarching speed development, you know, central nervous system stimulation, power

00:17:09.064 --> 00:17:14.223
development. Um, but if you really wanted to dial into the, you know, exact, um,

00:17:14.644 --> 00:17:19.164
you know, ability you're trying to enhance, then we can actually find that just within our training program system

00:17:19.184 --> 00:17:19.243
and

00:17:19.344 --> 00:17:23.104
schedule. Love it. Makes perfect sense. I appreciate you walking

00:17:23.124 --> 00:17:24.223
through that. Sure.

00:17:25.084 --> 00:17:27.983
So in terms of maybe some of the specific tools and tech that you rely

00:17:28.023 --> 00:17:33.764
on, I know y- you talked from, you know, about Hawkins in terms of movement screens. Yeah. How about from

00:17:33.804 --> 00:17:39.024
a speed assessment or acceleration assessment standpoint? What kind of tools or technology are you leveraging in

00:17:39.064 --> 00:17:44.914
your facility? Yeah, so we time all of our athletes on, on the Dasher system. Uh, so we use that

00:17:45.024 --> 00:17:51.054
so that we can take, um, you know, RFID information into the cloud and have, you know, leaderboards and, and

00:17:51.084 --> 00:17:57.044
whatnot, and have some data collection. Uh, so we use that for acceleration, for maximum velocity. We,

00:17:57.144 --> 00:18:02.924
we use the new Run Rockets, which have some force output, um, metrics to them. Obviously, we're using all the

00:18:02.964 --> 00:18:07.044
Keiser equipment, um, in some of our power development. You know, we're taking power numbers

00:18:07.104 --> 00:18:11.024
off of those, uh, using some of the new 400 series with the six-rep

00:18:11.064 --> 00:18:16.084
test, where we can actually find, you know, the, the, the appropriate value that they should

00:18:16.124 --> 00:18:21.204
be lifting at. Um, and so those things are all great. You know, we vertical jump test on a Skyhook.

00:18:21.864 --> 00:18:25.064
Uh, so we, we use a lot of technology in our, in our facility,

00:18:25.524 --> 00:18:29.124
which, you know, for me, an old guy who, who didn't really grow up around technology- ... had

00:18:29.184 --> 00:18:31.404
a, somewhat of a steep learning curve.

00:18:31.584 --> 00:18:37.704
Um- But we do, we do value, you know, data. We value that we're tracking things, and I, I personally

00:18:37.764 --> 00:18:39.064
value the intent of

00:18:39.124 --> 00:18:41.244
testing. So, you know, there's nothing

00:18:41.304 --> 00:18:47.056
like a good competition on a power squat to see who's got the highest, you know, power level.Um, it just

00:18:47.116 --> 00:18:51.276
creates a great environment for competition and, and, uh, you know, force output

00:18:51.936 --> 00:18:56.036
when you're competing against your buddy or the coach or, you know, whatever situation you have set

00:18:56.096 --> 00:18:59.016
up. So we value that highly. You know, the Fly10s,

00:18:59.376 --> 00:19:01.986
it gets pretty competitive. You know, we're flashing it up on the

00:19:02.076 --> 00:19:05.115
TV and, uh, you know, you're trying to run faster than your

00:19:05.156 --> 00:19:08.936
buddy. We know we're getting maximum intent, and even- Right ... whether you win or lose that

00:19:09.016 --> 00:19:13.316
race, we know that we're, you know, into that 99th, 100 percentile

00:19:13.716 --> 00:19:17.116
of output, which is the only way to really stimulate, you know, to, to move

00:19:17.126 --> 00:19:17.456
the needle.

00:19:18.276 --> 00:19:20.036
No question, right. Feedback

00:19:20.436 --> 00:19:21.136
drives intent.

00:19:21.716 --> 00:19:23.256
Intent drives adaptation.

00:19:23.616 --> 00:19:26.056
That's right. That's right. Yeah. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, I mean,

00:19:26.116 --> 00:19:31.136
it's, it... You throw any sort of number up there, especially for these younger athletes or really any competitive

00:19:31.196 --> 00:19:35.156
person, and you... All you have to do as a coach is really get out of the way. Right. That's

00:19:35.216 --> 00:19:39.856
right. Yeah, the o- the only problem we ever run into is when, you know, a, a really quality athlete

00:19:40.016 --> 00:19:45.016
stops, you know, they plateau or they kinda can't get past it, then there's a level of frustration. And, you

00:19:45.056 --> 00:19:47.056
know, it's kinda our jobs to, you know, talk to them

00:19:47.136 --> 00:19:51.056
about, "Listen, it's the intent. We're not after, like, a PR every single time

00:19:51.095 --> 00:19:54.996
you run, you know, we're just after the fact that you're running as fast as you can, and,

00:19:55.036 --> 00:19:55.126
and

00:19:55.156 --> 00:19:59.996
this is how we're, you know, this is how we ensure that you're doing that." Right. So then how are

00:20:00.056 --> 00:20:02.286
you, right, you're having athletes,

00:20:03.016 --> 00:20:07.136
like you said, they're, they're grouped together based on certain aspects, but you're, I imagine you're gonna blend

00:20:07.176 --> 00:20:11.036
someone who may be in season for one sport with someone who's- Right ... in the off-season for another sport.

00:20:11.636 --> 00:20:16.056
So I think that kinda goes back to just knowing that individual athlete to be able to tailor

00:20:16.136 --> 00:20:16.986
your conversations

00:20:17.016 --> 00:20:22.876
of like, yeah, this, this person probably right now, given their load outside of the weight room in practice, like,

00:20:23.176 --> 00:20:25.136
they're probably pretty fresh and doing pretty well. Like,

00:20:25.956 --> 00:20:26.086
this

00:20:26.156 --> 00:20:30.216
time of year, you might be a little beat up with the volumes that you might be experiencing in your

00:20:30.256 --> 00:20:34.896
sport. So is that kind of the conversations you find yourself having, just, uh- Yeah ... managing expectations with those

00:20:34.916 --> 00:20:40.966
kind of things? Yeah. I think, I mean, I think we're mitigating volume and load all the time, right? Mm-hmm.

00:20:40.976 --> 00:20:44.176
Like, we don't control the athletes when they're outside of our facility, so

00:20:44.876 --> 00:20:49.046
you never know what they're really doing unless you're having those conversations. And typically, it's too much,

00:20:49.596 --> 00:20:54.056
uh, would be our experience. And so, you know, our volume and load is usually very light

00:20:54.116 --> 00:20:56.006
anyway, but then, you know, having the

00:20:56.076 --> 00:20:58.096
relational component of, "Hey,

00:20:58.536 --> 00:21:03.586
did you, you know, are you in the playoffs? Uh, you know, are, are you just starting off-season?"

00:21:03.936 --> 00:21:07.916
And now we can monitor their volume within a training session, just even within the small

00:21:08.016 --> 00:21:09.036
group, is actually

00:21:09.076 --> 00:21:09.956
pretty easy to do.

00:21:10.376 --> 00:21:15.056
You know, "Hey, Billy, Bobby, and Susie, you guys have three reps, and John, you only have

00:21:15.096 --> 00:21:18.976
one rep, you know, because you're just coming into the program, you know, you just came off

00:21:19.016 --> 00:21:24.956
a season," things like that, where we can kinda personalize the workout or individualize it a little bit, um,

00:21:25.036 --> 00:21:25.996
just based on their current

00:21:26.056 --> 00:21:28.016
situation. Awesome.

00:21:28.096 --> 00:21:31.296
So I'm curious to know, with this technology and, and the ability

00:21:31.356 --> 00:21:36.016
to measure, uh, different performance metrics, how do you balance all that with

00:21:36.076 --> 00:21:36.996
just your natural,

00:21:37.516 --> 00:21:41.086
you know, old school, let's call it, uh- Yeah ... coaching instincts just from what

00:21:41.136 --> 00:21:45.036
you know over time? Yeah, I mean, I think the, I think you gotta have a balance

00:21:45.076 --> 00:21:47.916
in it, to be honest with you. I think you can get lost in data. I think you can get

00:21:47.956 --> 00:21:52.156
lost in, you know, all the metrics around. Sometimes you just need to run fast,

00:21:52.256 --> 00:21:55.236
lift heavy, you know, make sure they're getting enough rest and recovery.

00:21:55.836 --> 00:22:01.146
And so, you know, I, I probably fall a little bit to the old school side of, of things

00:22:01.196 --> 00:22:01.266
and

00:22:01.356 --> 00:22:03.196
keep things a little more basic

00:22:03.236 --> 00:22:08.016
and simple. Um, and that's even with the professional athletes that I work with, 'cause I just think sometimes

00:22:08.036 --> 00:22:13.306
you can just get lost in that data. Um, in other regards, I mean, I think to have validation

00:22:13.336 --> 00:22:17.986
of what you're doing, um, and have that competitiveness, leaderboard kinda s-

00:22:18.016 --> 00:22:23.996
environment, it's very important to have a level of data collection and, and monitoring. So I think we just try

00:22:24.036 --> 00:22:24.156
to

00:22:24.176 --> 00:22:29.276
blend it, you know, where it seems appropriate, and we haven't figured it out 100%. You know, we, we run

00:22:29.296 --> 00:22:31.196
approximately 1,000 athletes through our building

00:22:31.236 --> 00:22:35.706
in a month, and we're not catching all the data quite yet. You know, we're still trying to figure out

00:22:35.736 --> 00:22:42.125
how to do that efficiently, effectively, accurately. Um, and, you know, we're, we're working that, we're working

00:22:42.156 --> 00:22:47.176
in that direction. No, that's great. I appreciate the, uh, the insights there.

00:22:47.296 --> 00:22:52.556
So I wanna get a little bit more granular for a second here. With all the coaching that you're doing

00:22:52.696 --> 00:22:55.036
from the sprint side of things, the speed side

00:22:55.076 --> 00:22:58.896
of things, can you walk us through some of your cuing

00:22:59.176 --> 00:23:03.036
and, uh, how you educate athletes to perform

00:23:03.056 --> 00:23:09.056
a specific movement a certain way? Are you relying mostly on external cues? If so, like, where do you find

00:23:09.096 --> 00:23:09.496
yourself?

00:23:10.256 --> 00:23:14.096
Uh, you have the, your athletes who need a, you know, this 10% of athletes really need this

00:23:14.136 --> 00:23:18.026
higher level stuff, this 10% to 20% that needs this lower level, you have this middle. Like, where

00:23:18.056 --> 00:23:21.596
are you hanging out in the middle in terms of your cuing? What do you find yourself saying over and

00:23:21.676 --> 00:23:22.756
over again at your facility?

00:23:23.316 --> 00:23:28.056
Sure. Um, I mean, I think I agree with you at some level, and at another level, I don't

00:23:28.096 --> 00:23:29.956
know that even high-level athletes need, like,

00:23:30.036 --> 00:23:31.006
a different, you

00:23:31.076 --> 00:23:34.056
know, different, uh, vernacular when it comes to cuing.

00:23:34.736 --> 00:23:37.036
Um, I think things that make sense to athletes

00:23:37.076 --> 00:23:39.076
is what works, right? So when you can-

00:23:39.606 --> 00:23:42.536
Right ... them understand a concept through a, an analogy

00:23:42.656 --> 00:23:45.566
or, you know, some sort of, uh, comparison,

00:23:46.076 --> 00:23:46.406
then,

00:23:46.756 --> 00:23:50.036
then you, you got it, right? Well, your, your basic thing is can you get an athlete to

00:23:50.056 --> 00:23:52.016
move better? And so for us,

00:23:52.176 --> 00:23:57.825
you know, we're, we're a, we talk about pushing a lot. Pushing's one of our, our biggest cues of just,

00:23:57.876 --> 00:24:03.536
you know, not getting into bad positions and pulling, you know, down the field, down the track, versus, like, pushing

00:24:03.576 --> 00:24:06.156
and force output, and that all starts with the foot

00:24:06.196 --> 00:24:12.196
in the ground. So, um, for us, you know, sprinting starts by teaching proper foot strike

00:24:12.216 --> 00:24:18.206
mechanics, you know, with, with great dorsiflexion. You know, if, if dorsiflexion doesn't resonate with an athlete,

00:24:18.256 --> 00:24:19.116
we're gonna talk about toe

00:24:19.156 --> 00:24:20.036
to shin, you know-

00:24:20.356 --> 00:24:23.096
Mm-hmm ... or a loaded foot. So I, I tend to talk a lot about

00:24:23.156 --> 00:24:25.076
a loaded foot, and an athlete knows

00:24:25.096 --> 00:24:25.836
what that means.

00:24:26.396 --> 00:24:26.696
Um- Mm-hmm

00:24:27.076 --> 00:24:30.016
... and you know, from, from first-day 12-year-old

00:24:30.076 --> 00:24:32.096
to eight-year Pro Bowl,

00:24:32.456 --> 00:24:33.276
you know, running back,

00:24:33.636 --> 00:24:36.236
we're still talking through why it's important to have a loaded

00:24:36.336 --> 00:24:43.056
foot. You know, it's like running on concrete versus running in the sand. You know, we get maximum output there.

00:24:43.076 --> 00:24:49.076
We don't waste time. Ground contacts are, are shorter. Um, you know, all, all the different things that those equate

00:24:49.096 --> 00:24:51.246
to really doesn't change by,

00:24:51.716 --> 00:24:53.136
you know, how talented the athlete

00:24:53.216 --> 00:24:56.576
is. Uh, they still need the same to hit s- similar positions,

00:24:57.176 --> 00:25:02.132
um-You know, we, we talk a lot about... It's fun, it's funny, I just read an article today Dan

00:25:02.232 --> 00:25:08.112
Pfaff put out about lifting your knees, and just kind of the, you know, too many times we hear,

00:25:08.122 --> 00:25:11.032
"Lift your knees," and, and we don't coach that. You know, we coach push

00:25:11.052 --> 00:25:17.611
through the ground, and let the, let the reflex of a good push be the, the natural rebound to a

00:25:17.712 --> 00:25:21.152
good, um, recovery position. You know, heel under hamstring,

00:25:21.592 --> 00:25:22.232
knee up around

00:25:22.272 --> 00:25:27.712
the hip, um, because if you get a good high knee carry in that rebound, now you can produce great

00:25:27.772 --> 00:25:30.012
force into the ground, um, on the other side, kind of the

00:25:30.092 --> 00:25:30.872
hammer and the nail.

00:25:31.612 --> 00:25:31.912
Um,

00:25:32.512 --> 00:25:37.032
and, you know, but you talk about cuing, like, I mean, my analogy for that to kids often

00:25:37.092 --> 00:25:38.132
is like, "Hey, I'm gonna punch

00:25:38.172 --> 00:25:42.192
you in the face. Do you want me to do it from one inch away or from three feet away?"

00:25:42.772 --> 00:25:46.792
You know, and they're like, "Oh, I think one inch," you know. And, uh, why is that?

00:25:47.072 --> 00:25:51.192
Well, because I can only apply so much force in one inch versus in three feet I'm gonna knock

00:25:51.252 --> 00:25:54.092
you out. And so we talk about that when we talk about

00:25:54.132 --> 00:25:58.732
the, you know, the knee coming up to hip height because now I have the ability to push into the

00:25:58.812 --> 00:26:05.032
ground harder and, you know, that resonates with them. They understand that. Um, s- same thing with push versus

00:26:05.152 --> 00:26:06.852
pull, you know. Hey, why, why would

00:26:07.072 --> 00:26:08.032
I, why would

00:26:08.852 --> 00:26:10.112
I pull a car to the gas station

00:26:10.172 --> 00:26:14.012
if it breaks down, you know? I, I wouldn't because it'd be harder than pushing it to

00:26:14.052 --> 00:26:20.532
the gas station. And so then again, that resonates with them from a mechanical advantage of pushing is more efficient

00:26:20.572 --> 00:26:26.192
than pulling. Um, we know that it, you know, keeps you healthy, keeps you out of, you know, extended hamstring

00:26:26.272 --> 00:26:27.112
injuries, things like

00:26:27.172 --> 00:26:30.052
that. Um, but to them, it, it, it'll resonate

00:26:30.152 --> 00:26:34.052
just from a, you know, getting them into the very basics positions that we want them in.

00:26:35.252 --> 00:26:39.052
Awesome, thank you. That was great analogies, and I appreciate you kind of taking a deep dive on some

00:26:39.072 --> 00:26:40.352
of that cuing. So

00:26:40.492 --> 00:26:42.092
from, you know, an, an athlete

00:26:42.152 --> 00:26:45.112
coming in, again, depends on the individual, depends on

00:26:45.152 --> 00:26:51.012
needs, do you often find yourself quickly addressing both acceleration and upright, like max

00:26:51.052 --> 00:26:57.732
velocity work, uh, and, and just starting both of those together? Is it mostly acceleration, and then you start working

00:26:57.772 --> 00:26:58.322
into velocity?

00:26:58.322 --> 00:27:02.732
Where do you, where do you land on that? Yeah, I mean, if, if we're fortunate enough to get an

00:27:02.852 --> 00:27:05.012
athlete a couple of days a week, then we can kind of split

00:27:05.052 --> 00:27:06.022
that up- Mm-hmm

00:27:06.032 --> 00:27:12.362
... and have a, a, you know, a horizontal acceleration focus day, uh, where we, you know, we're working longer

00:27:12.452 --> 00:27:14.991
ground contacts, more strength, um, type

00:27:15.032 --> 00:27:21.172
movements. Um, and then we, we would pivot on the other day to maximum velocity, vertical, upright positioning,

00:27:21.652 --> 00:27:23.212
um, short ground contacts,

00:27:23.332 --> 00:27:25.072
you know, kind of a concept. But

00:27:25.672 --> 00:27:26.952
to your point, if we only get them one

00:27:27.032 --> 00:27:30.132
day, i- it's probably, yes, it's going to blend,

00:27:30.612 --> 00:27:35.472
you know. And then the beauty, I guess, about sprinting is you have to accelerate to get to maximum velocity.

00:27:36.172 --> 00:27:40.032
So, you know, what we would say is we're probably gonna default to maximum velocity

00:27:40.312 --> 00:27:44.992
for, but you have to still accelerate to get to maximum velocity, so you're gonna get a level

00:27:45.052 --> 00:27:45.912
of accelerative,

00:27:46.512 --> 00:27:49.332
you know, um, conditioning or, or stimulus

00:27:49.912 --> 00:27:51.992
if you're doing maximum velocity. It's not like you

00:27:52.032 --> 00:27:56.252
can just jump on a, you know, 20 mile an hour treadmill and just start running fast. You have to

00:27:56.312 --> 00:27:58.112
get there somehow. Hear

00:27:58.152 --> 00:28:03.172
you. And in that scenario you painted for us, you have day one, horizontal production. Day

00:28:03.232 --> 00:28:10.072
two, uh, max velocity, more upright, da- as the focus. Day three here, if I did have a third day,

00:28:10.232 --> 00:28:12.272
are we talking potentially change of direction?

00:28:12.952 --> 00:28:13.132
Yep.

00:28:13.832 --> 00:28:16.902
Yeah, and in a perfect world, we would put a day of recovery between all those,

00:28:17.012 --> 00:28:19.042
right? Right. Like Monday, Wednesday, Friday model.

00:28:19.542 --> 00:28:19.652
Right.

00:28:19.672 --> 00:28:25.482
Um, we'd like to, we'd like to maximum velocity earlier in the week, so we'd probably do that day one.

00:28:25.572 --> 00:28:31.092
Uh, day two would then be more acceleration. Um, and then, you know, o- once we get

00:28:31.152 --> 00:28:34.252
to the change of direction day where there's a lot more strength involved,

00:28:34.852 --> 00:28:37.992
um, because especially when we pair the weight room stuff with that, we're gonna hit

00:28:38.132 --> 00:28:42.072
a little bit... You know, that's where we're gonna have squat variation and maybe a little heavier external load,

00:28:42.772 --> 00:28:43.132
and

00:28:43.452 --> 00:28:47.052
might create a little bit more soreness, so then we give them the two days on the weekend off.

00:28:47.972 --> 00:28:48.172
Okay,

00:28:48.212 --> 00:28:49.012
cool. That, that

00:28:49.732 --> 00:28:49.932
leads

00:28:50.032 --> 00:28:54.032
into my next question and kind of next topic here, which is great, which is blending

00:28:54.072 --> 00:28:57.092
the weight room- Sure ... uh, and resistance training, let's

00:28:57.112 --> 00:29:03.052
say, um, with your speed training there. So you already started kind of hitting it, how, how you pair those

00:29:03.072 --> 00:29:06.952
things together, but I guess zooming out here for a second before

00:29:07.012 --> 00:29:10.852
we zoom in, general approach to marrying those two things, um- Yeah,

00:29:11.132 --> 00:29:17.352
sure. Yeah, I mean, I think zooming out, right, I mean, talking through weight room programming and, and periodization

00:29:17.432 --> 00:29:20.072
stuff is Pandora's box, right? You can go down many rabbit

00:29:20.112 --> 00:29:26.012
holes there. I think for us, the, the, the overarching theme is does the weight room support the movement

00:29:26.092 --> 00:29:30.232
pattern? So again, because we're a speed priority, you know, system,

00:29:30.652 --> 00:29:35.012
we, we values the speed and the movement, um, even above the, the weight room

00:29:35.032 --> 00:29:39.112
at some level. And so we wanna make sure that whatever we're doing in the weight room is supporting

00:29:39.132 --> 00:29:41.032
the movement and the speed work that we're doing.

00:29:41.632 --> 00:29:44.172
So the example that I gave with the, the change of direction

00:29:44.572 --> 00:29:46.032
would be we'd have a much higher, you

00:29:46.072 --> 00:29:49.072
know, strength type environment in the weight room on a change

00:29:49.092 --> 00:29:53.352
of direction day, whereas, like, in a maximum velocity day, we would have,

00:29:53.912 --> 00:29:55.312
you know, more vertical nature,

00:29:55.692 --> 00:29:57.142
unilateral exercises,

00:29:57.592 --> 00:30:01.372
more explosive movements, quick, fast, velocity based movements.

00:30:02.072 --> 00:30:02.202
Um,

00:30:02.532 --> 00:30:06.172
and so it- it's gonna pair, you know, with the movement pattern that we're teaching on the,

00:30:06.392 --> 00:30:07.112
on the movement side

00:30:07.132 --> 00:30:09.972
of things. Nailed it. Answering all my

00:30:10.012 --> 00:30:14.102
questions right away. No, it's great. I, I love to hear that kind of stuff, and I imagine

00:30:14.112 --> 00:30:18.612
with the change of direction, right, you might have some longer contact time things. Um, I don't know, throwing a

00:30:18.672 --> 00:30:21.992
guess out, potentially some isometrics, like, potentially on

00:30:22.032 --> 00:30:23.272
that day. No, um,

00:30:23.972 --> 00:30:26.252
cool, yeah. I, I'm curious to hear, now

00:30:26.292 --> 00:30:30.352
let's maybe take each day, I think that would provide a lot of value for our listeners who are probably

00:30:30.892 --> 00:30:32.012
really interested to know.

00:30:32.352 --> 00:30:34.052
Let's take each day, like day one-

00:30:34.572 --> 00:30:38.352
Yeah ... let's break down maybe a session. Like, I'm starting with, I imagine a warm-up.

00:30:38.372 --> 00:30:43.772
We can kind of get past that, but then- Sure ... I think right into my max velocity work, right?

00:30:43.852 --> 00:30:48.972
Yeah, so our, our, the way we kind of structure our sessions is we've got 30 minutes of movement, 30

00:30:49.052 --> 00:30:54.032
minutes of power development, and within that 30 minutes of movement, we're gonna have some, you know,

00:30:54.132 --> 00:30:57.992
locomotion and kind of warm up activation, mobility type,

00:30:58.212 --> 00:31:00.302
um, probably 10, 12 minutes,

00:31:00.712 --> 00:31:05.402
um, just raising core temperature, getting the move, you know, get some movement patterns going. Right. And

00:31:05.432 --> 00:31:11.524
then we, we kind of cycle then into our sprint drills.Which would be like our bounce fire series, uh, you

00:31:11.564 --> 00:31:16.804
know, dribbling, depending on, again, what the theme is, you know, it could be acceleration type drilling, it could be

00:31:16.844 --> 00:31:21.114
max velocity type drilling, or change direction type drilling. Right. Linear or lateral.

00:31:21.724 --> 00:31:26.284
And then, and then we usually, now we're fully warmed up, we've, we've gone through all the patterning,

00:31:26.304 --> 00:31:31.034
and now we're gonna rip some testing. And so it might be that that's a max velocity day, we're

00:31:31.044 --> 00:31:32.164
gonna time two or three

00:31:32.264 --> 00:31:36.184
fly 10s. Um, we're gonna give enough recovery and rest,

00:31:36.524 --> 00:31:39.064
um, for full ATP replenishment, central nervous

00:31:39.134 --> 00:31:44.404
system- Mm-hmm ... fatigue, um, and make sure that they're completely ready for the next rep. So that takes some

00:31:44.504 --> 00:31:45.024
time, right?

00:31:45.124 --> 00:31:49.124
You can't do like, you know, a, a million things during those, you know, 15

00:31:49.204 --> 00:31:53.944
minutes. And then we're gonna go into the weight room and get into our power development, and,

00:31:54.044 --> 00:31:56.004
you know, kind of the way we structure our weight room

00:31:56.624 --> 00:31:58.104
doesn't necessarily vary by

00:31:58.224 --> 00:32:03.104
day, it just varies by exercise and theme. And so, you know, we typically structure

00:32:03.144 --> 00:32:08.004
our weight room with a, you know, a hinging pattern, you know, whether it's an Olympic movement or a medicine

00:32:08.024 --> 00:32:11.284
ball throw or, you know, some, some type of explosive hinging movement.

00:32:12.024 --> 00:32:15.003
Um, then we move into a bilateral, kind of a heavier

00:32:15.044 --> 00:32:21.604
bilateral movement, uh, whether it's trap bar deadlift or a squat variation, and are typically going to pair that with

00:32:21.664 --> 00:32:24.204
a plyometric, some kind of French contrasted

00:32:24.244 --> 00:32:26.884
plyometric, again, in progression and

00:32:27.004 --> 00:32:27.564
in theme.

00:32:28.444 --> 00:32:33.084
Um- Right. And then, uh, we, we move into a kind of an upper body push-pull,

00:32:33.444 --> 00:32:34.203
uh, contrast.

00:32:34.824 --> 00:32:38.964
So whether it's vertical or horizontal in nature, just kind of depends on, you know, the coach

00:32:39.024 --> 00:32:41.164
and what, you know, the, the needs of the athletes are.

00:32:41.724 --> 00:32:46.324
Um- Yeah ... we finish with, like, a unilateral or a posterior chain exercise typically.

00:32:47.244 --> 00:32:47.524
Um,

00:32:48.004 --> 00:32:50.084
but then at least we have kind of this, this, you know,

00:32:50.444 --> 00:32:50.944
formulated

00:32:51.004 --> 00:32:54.064
approach to how we go through our s- our weight

00:32:54.104 --> 00:32:58.064
room, and now all we have to do is pick the right exercises that make sense

00:32:58.584 --> 00:33:03.004
for the theme of the day, for the type of athletes we're working with, the progressions and regressions,

00:33:03.104 --> 00:33:03.964
you know, over the course

00:33:04.064 --> 00:33:07.244
of six, eight, 10 weeks, what- however long the training cycle

00:33:07.304 --> 00:33:12.934
is. Right. And throughout that entire cycle, you're getting data the entire time, right? Which is the key. You don't

00:33:12.984 --> 00:33:15.104
need to set this up around testing. As much as you value

00:33:15.184 --> 00:33:20.914
testing, that's awesome, but you don't need to set that up to be a six-week, eight-week program then retest. You're

00:33:20.944 --> 00:33:22.064
testing every single time

00:33:22.073 --> 00:33:27.013
they walk in there. Every day. I mean, I think, you know, Vince Anderson, uh, Texas A&M, was

00:33:27.064 --> 00:33:31.344
a guy that I followed for a long time and, you know, he used to say, "Training, training should look

00:33:31.364 --> 00:33:35.764
like competition." And so really, you know, when you're in there on a daily basis, you should be, you know,

00:33:35.844 --> 00:33:37.104
letting it rip in everything

00:33:37.144 --> 00:33:37.524
you do,

00:33:38.144 --> 00:33:42.064
um, and, and having some consults with even, like, Dan Pfaff, you know,

00:33:42.264 --> 00:33:46.124
hey, you, you can lift, you know, you can do a heavy bilateral lift three times a week,

00:33:46.504 --> 00:33:50.024
you know, that doesn't have to be like a legs day or an upper day or a split

00:33:50.084 --> 00:33:56.513
routine. Um, now sometimes off-season, there's hypertrophy work that needs to take place, obviously that's, that's not what I'm talking

00:33:56.584 --> 00:34:00.964
about. Uh, we're just talking kind of about the general athletic development of youth

00:34:01.064 --> 00:34:05.144
athletes. Definitely. And are you getting some athletes in there that are there

00:34:05.844 --> 00:34:05.984
five

00:34:06.024 --> 00:34:09.063
times a week? Yeah, some of our pro athletes will come in five

00:34:09.123 --> 00:34:14.623
days a week. Um, our system doesn't change that much in the development component, so Monday, Wednesday, Friday's gonna look

00:34:14.643 --> 00:34:15.204
very similar

00:34:15.244 --> 00:34:19.072
to the youth. Uh, what changes a little bit is some of the stuff we do on a Tuesday,

00:34:19.184 --> 00:34:23.063
Thursday- Right ... where there might be some energy system development, you know, added in. There might

00:34:23.123 --> 00:34:26.284
be some, uh, mobility work, recovery work,

00:34:26.864 --> 00:34:27.244
um,

00:34:27.583 --> 00:34:28.123
you know, core

00:34:28.204 --> 00:34:30.004
strengthening, uh, you know,

00:34:30.224 --> 00:34:34.864
s- some of the elective type, you know, work that you would do that we don't really have time to

00:34:34.884 --> 00:34:34.964
do

00:34:35.004 --> 00:34:37.944
with the younger athletes. Yeah, some general strength, some med ball

00:34:38.004 --> 00:34:38.884
circuits potentially.

00:34:39.224 --> 00:34:43.132
Yeah. That, that's it. Some, yeah, form running, probably low intensity, right, you're trying

00:34:43.143 --> 00:34:46.954
to- Yeah, some tempo work ... you're, you're either trying to be low or you're trying to be high. Sure.

00:34:47.224 --> 00:34:50.224
Right. Like, I mean, I'm a total speed guy, and I, and I- Yeah ... think you should run fast

00:34:50.304 --> 00:34:54.844
often, but I also think some tempo work, you know, at some level helps iron things out,

00:34:55.043 --> 00:34:57.764
uh, you know, uh, is, at least inefficiencies.

00:34:58.084 --> 00:35:01.004
Um, and so, you know, we're gonna hit some of that with some of those pro athletes.

00:35:02.284 --> 00:35:06.014
Awesome. Yeah. I mean, you, you nailed kind of exactly what I was trying to get at in terms

00:35:06.104 --> 00:35:10.034
of the, those kind of Tuesday, Thursday days and how you fill that with maybe some

00:35:10.064 --> 00:35:10.094
of

00:35:10.124 --> 00:35:12.044
your people who are there- Right

00:35:12.064 --> 00:35:12.824
... uh, more frequently. So

00:35:13.164 --> 00:35:18.064
appreciate you quickly running through all that stuff. Uh, you did a really nice job of being really concise,

00:35:18.104 --> 00:35:21.884
so thank you. Sure. Yeah, for sure. Um, and I think people will be really excited to just kind of

00:35:21.924 --> 00:35:25.764
hear, you know, maybe some people run a similar system, maybe some people are doing things differently, and I think

00:35:25.804 --> 00:35:30.004
it's always great to hear what people are doing, so I appreciate you being transparent about that.

00:35:30.664 --> 00:35:34.324
Absolutely. Um, in terms of athlete education,

00:35:34.844 --> 00:35:34.944
um,

00:35:35.144 --> 00:35:40.884
you know, how, how big of a role does educating your athlete, you talk about those conversations that you're having,

00:35:41.024 --> 00:35:42.064
um, how big is that,

00:35:42.364 --> 00:35:44.984
uh, uh, of being able to provide education to these athletes and

00:35:45.004 --> 00:35:45.624
not just training?

00:35:46.304 --> 00:35:51.224
Yeah. Um, I think at the highest level with the pro athletes, I think it's super important that they're involved

00:35:51.244 --> 00:35:54.084
in their own career, and that, you know, what they're doing, um, and that they're bought

00:35:54.144 --> 00:35:58.084
in. I think that's a bigger piece with the high level athlete is they're bought into what you're doing.

00:35:58.504 --> 00:36:03.184
I think with the younger athletes, it's really more of an education process of what not to do.

00:36:03.304 --> 00:36:06.054
And- Mm-hmm ... you know, keep it, keep it very high level

00:36:06.054 --> 00:36:10.464
from a, you know, do they understand rest and recovery? Are they understanding,

00:36:10.864 --> 00:36:12.304
you know, nutrition and sleep,

00:36:12.624 --> 00:36:16.084
and all the other things that they do outside of our place? I mean, we get, we might get

00:36:16.104 --> 00:36:16.964
to spend one or two

00:36:17.024 --> 00:36:22.104
hours a week with an athlete, which leaves a whole lot of other hours for them to do stuff that

00:36:22.144 --> 00:36:26.974
could be, you know, positive or negative, you know, to their development. Um, I think, you know, we find a

00:36:27.024 --> 00:36:29.034
lot of athletes go and do too much,

00:36:29.684 --> 00:36:34.024
and they end up de-training, you know, the speeds, the, the, the high output, central nervous

00:36:34.084 --> 00:36:37.934
system. They're under a lot of fatigue. There's cortisol, stress hormones,

00:36:38.004 --> 00:36:38.924
you know, all the things.

00:36:39.524 --> 00:36:46.324
And, you know, so that's the education process I think that we go through with a 13 to 15-year-old.

00:36:46.724 --> 00:36:50.004
You know, we're not necessarily diving into physiology and energy systems

00:36:50.084 --> 00:36:53.124
and, you know, all the complex things that I think our coaches know

00:36:53.144 --> 00:36:55.104
and understand. It's more of,

00:36:55.444 --> 00:36:58.984
you know, "Hey, can we stay in the guardrails here in development?" You know, so

00:36:59.024 --> 00:36:59.824
that we don't, you don't go

00:37:00.004 --> 00:37:01.964
derailed and, and actually

00:37:02.024 --> 00:37:04.184
go backwards or, or set yourself

00:37:04.244 --> 00:37:07.044
up to be injured. Yeah. It sounds like with those youth

00:37:07.424 --> 00:37:11.390
athletes especially, the way you describe that training environment, like, at the end of the day, like-Whether

00:37:11.440 --> 00:37:15.019
they wanna play professionally, whether they wanna play in college competitively or, or, or just kind of be

00:37:15.060 --> 00:37:17.040
on the team for high school or, or whatever they wanna do for

00:37:17.080 --> 00:37:18.960
club, this is a fun

00:37:19.020 --> 00:37:21.120
training environment. Right. Right. Like- Yeah,

00:37:21.160 --> 00:37:25.240
I mean, joy, joy is part of it, right? You know, we, I, I preach that a lot to my

00:37:25.300 --> 00:37:30.760
coaches of, you know, what you know, and from a, from a book or a knowledge standpoint- Mm-hmm ... isn't

00:37:30.780 --> 00:37:32.880
gonna move the needle that much for a 13-year-old

00:37:33.000 --> 00:37:36.380
kid. You know, they gotta enjoy the environment, have some fun,

00:37:36.800 --> 00:37:36.939
see

00:37:37.020 --> 00:37:39.040
some success, and,

00:37:39.080 --> 00:37:43.180
you know, there, there's no question that part of our philosophy around speed development and speed

00:37:43.259 --> 00:37:43.780
priority

00:37:44.220 --> 00:37:49.260
is that it's fun. You know, it's fun to run fast, and, and kids love to get timed, and, um,

00:37:49.560 --> 00:37:54.180
they... I, I just never met yet one person walk through our doors that didn't love when it was Fly10

00:37:54.220 --> 00:37:55.100
testing day, you know?

00:37:55.260 --> 00:37:57.180
Yeah. I bet.

00:37:57.220 --> 00:38:02.700
I bet. Um, so maybe not your youth athletes in high school, but maybe some of your more professional athletes

00:38:02.780 --> 00:38:02.960
that you

00:38:03.040 --> 00:38:09.030
work with, um, how do you integrate autonomy? I mean, I imagine it depends on the individual, too, right?

00:38:09.060 --> 00:38:13.020
It's part of that buy-in process. Maybe some of them care a lot about having... being informed, and

00:38:13.060 --> 00:38:14.020
maybe some of them are just, "Tell

00:38:14.040 --> 00:38:17.450
me what to do." Yeah. You know, but for the ones that really care, maybe how do you foster,

00:38:18.220 --> 00:38:21.170
you know, an environment where they can have some autonomy over their training

00:38:21.220 --> 00:38:21.640
process?

00:38:22.360 --> 00:38:28.040
Yeah. I mean, I think relationship, right? Like, you know, being, being vulnerable and not being the big,

00:38:28.120 --> 00:38:30.020
heavy, "Hey, I know everything. Listen to me.

00:38:30.560 --> 00:38:32.860
Shut up, and, you know, run," kind of a, of a

00:38:33.080 --> 00:38:39.180
persona, but really opening and inviting them into the process of, "Hey, here's what we're doing. Here's why we're doing

00:38:39.220 --> 00:38:41.000
it," I think creates,

00:38:41.580 --> 00:38:44.980
you know, buy-in. Obviously, these athletes are very in tune with their bodies and

00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:48.560
what they're doing. It makes them a little nervous to make changes and do things- Mm-hmm ... they haven't done

00:38:48.620 --> 00:38:51.990
before. So, you know, "Hey, athlete X, we're gonna do this,

00:38:52.060 --> 00:38:56.700
and here's why." You know, not just, "We're gonna do this because I think it, it looks cool," or, "I

00:38:56.780 --> 00:38:57.020
saw it

00:38:57.060 --> 00:39:03.220
on Instagram." You know, "We're gonna add this to your regimen because it's gonna affect your triple flexion, which

00:39:03.540 --> 00:39:07.260
affects triple extension." And, you know, and then once they see that you have knowledge

00:39:07.300 --> 00:39:08.060
in it, and then they can

00:39:08.140 --> 00:39:10.060
get behind it. Now, you know,

00:39:10.440 --> 00:39:10.560
as

00:39:10.960 --> 00:39:14.950
autonomy, I don't know. I mean, we, I don't have many athletes that don't want my

00:39:15.100 --> 00:39:15.840
full guidance,

00:39:16.160 --> 00:39:17.450
um, in the- Yeah ... training process,

00:39:17.960 --> 00:39:21.020
but I think they always feel part of the process, because I'm gonna talk to

00:39:21.060 --> 00:39:24.860
them about it. You know, it's not just a, "Hey, here's a piece of paper. Here's what we're doing." It...

00:39:24.920 --> 00:39:27.180
Like, this is the thought behind why we're doing what we're doing.

00:39:28.260 --> 00:39:29.260
Awesome. Awesome.

00:39:29.880 --> 00:39:33.960
Um, I wanna get into maybe some of the other aspects of Kula Sport Performance

00:39:34.060 --> 00:39:39.360
here, and I want you to just maybe talk about some of the other programs that you have here. Like,

00:39:39.400 --> 00:39:43.000
walk us through maybe your internship and what that looks like- Yeah ... for young coaches that are

00:39:43.040 --> 00:39:46.120
looking to grow in, in this field and, and find a path for themselves.

00:39:46.860 --> 00:39:51.200
Sure, yeah. I think we, we started our internship program a few years ago. Uh, it's morphed

00:39:51.220 --> 00:39:56.080
and changed a little bit. Uh, we kinda now have, uh, uh, a gal that coaches here that oversees that

00:39:56.140 --> 00:40:00.980
for us. Um, but they come in for, uh, about 12 weeks. We ask, you know,

00:40:01.020 --> 00:40:03.049
that they come in for about 15 to 20 hours

00:40:03.100 --> 00:40:07.900
a week, um, uh, to learn our system, to, to be around, you know. Mm-hmm. So, there's a lot of

00:40:07.960 --> 00:40:13.160
observation. Uh, they have, like, educational meetings throughout, you know, the first, uh, the first

00:40:13.220 --> 00:40:16.340
couple months, and then we try to get them actually leading groups,

00:40:16.720 --> 00:40:17.060
uh,

00:40:17.380 --> 00:40:19.020
you know, where they, they get the experience.

00:40:19.060 --> 00:40:22.960
There's... I think what we struggle with, what we've seen in the industry is there's a lot of

00:40:23.020 --> 00:40:23.180
head

00:40:23.220 --> 00:40:30.040
knowledge out there, uh, somebody really smart, you know, they were A+ student, CSCS, they have all the certs and

00:40:30.080 --> 00:40:34.000
all the knowledge, but they're kinda missing the art of coaching, you know, which

00:40:34.100 --> 00:40:40.200
is, like, the heart piece, the, the relational piece, the motivational piece, the psychology behind

00:40:40.240 --> 00:40:45.960
coaching. And so they struggle, because they really haven't been in front of athletes much, you know, and seen what

00:40:45.980 --> 00:40:49.240
the dynamic looks like when a, you know, a kid comes in pissed

00:40:49.280 --> 00:40:53.480
'cause his, you know, his, his dad cut him off of his phone for the day or, you know, or

00:40:53.540 --> 00:40:54.000
what- whatever

00:40:54.040 --> 00:40:58.080
the situation is. That's just the, you know, in my opinion, that's the art of coaching

00:40:58.120 --> 00:41:02.800
that, that our internship, I hope, offers, that they get to see some of that real day in and day

00:41:02.880 --> 00:41:04.480
out, real-life experience.

00:41:05.060 --> 00:41:05.940
You know, yeah, the book

00:41:06.060 --> 00:41:06.420
says

00:41:06.760 --> 00:41:10.140
X, but man, that isn't gonna work with this group of 10-year-old

00:41:10.150 --> 00:41:14.480
hockey players, you know? So, we gotta find what, what can, what can we do that's gonna move the needle

00:41:14.520 --> 00:41:20.100
the most, um, lowest hanging fruit, you know, in the, in the most joy-filled environment so they

00:41:20.140 --> 00:41:20.940
wanna come back,

00:41:21.640 --> 00:41:23.100
um, you know, kind of a thing,

00:41:23.260 --> 00:41:23.380
so.

00:41:24.220 --> 00:41:29.079
Yeah, love that. Love that. Thank you for that. And, um- Sure ... how about this KSP Mental Performance,

00:41:29.160 --> 00:41:29.220
can

00:41:29.260 --> 00:41:32.079
you walk us through that? Yeah, that's actually my sister,

00:41:32.440 --> 00:41:32.940
um, my,

00:41:33.019 --> 00:41:36.940
my cousin- Awesome ... uh, who's a, who's an unbelievable therapist,

00:41:37.240 --> 00:41:42.920
um, a- and, uh, spun up the mental performance piece, just seeing a need for athletes that, you know, struggle

00:41:43.000 --> 00:41:49.210
with performance anxiety, you know, uh, just, just different ailments in the, in the mind that can hold back.

00:41:49.280 --> 00:41:52.800
So, regardless of how you've trained your body, you know, if your mind isn't right, you're, you know, it might

00:41:52.860 --> 00:41:54.020
be all for naught. And so

00:41:54.540 --> 00:41:56.020
it's really a nice pairing, uh,

00:41:56.080 --> 00:42:00.110
with what we do, to have an athlete kinda have the, the holistic approach to training

00:42:00.110 --> 00:42:05.940
the athlete, and, you know, her, her deal, I don't pretend to understand it very well. Um, but, you know,

00:42:05.980 --> 00:42:09.200
gives them tools to be able to, to deal with some of the things that an athlete

00:42:09.220 --> 00:42:12.099
would deal with so that they can, you know, reach their full potential.

00:42:13.520 --> 00:42:16.090
Awesome. Thanks. That's fun. Must be fun to have, uh, your sister

00:42:16.140 --> 00:42:20.000
in there- Yeah ... as well, helping out, so. Great. It's great. A family affair.

00:42:20.600 --> 00:42:21.180
Absolutely.

00:42:21.320 --> 00:42:22.200
So, um,

00:42:23.140 --> 00:42:25.980
can you hit on maybe your staff? I mean, if you look at your website, right,

00:42:26.140 --> 00:42:30.380
you have a lot of coaches in there. By the way, website looks awesome. Thank you. Uh, it look, looks

00:42:30.420 --> 00:42:34.080
really great. So, maybe hit on your staff, like the types of people you have that are coming in there,

00:42:34.160 --> 00:42:36.080
working for you, kind of what you're looking

00:42:36.160 --> 00:42:39.980
for, and just overall your approach to hiring, and, and the type of people that you're trying to

00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:42.219
bring into your facility. Sure. No, that's great.

00:42:42.760 --> 00:42:46.140
Uh, I think our number one thing is that you need to be a cultural fit with us.

00:42:46.720 --> 00:42:51.060
Um, I think we, we run a pretty, you know, a pretty cool system of, like, it's almost

00:42:51.100 --> 00:42:53.260
like family. You know, where,

00:42:53.360 --> 00:42:55.840
um, you know, I think if you came in, you were a huge

00:42:56.000 --> 00:42:58.940
ego, you know, it had to be all about you, I don't know that you'd be,

00:42:59.200 --> 00:43:03.260
you'd be great in this environment. I mean, like, we have a bunch of people that just wanna help kids.

00:43:03.380 --> 00:43:07.830
Um, they have, you know, a heart. We have, you know, many of them are, are believers. Um, you know,

00:43:07.900 --> 00:43:11.560
it's, it's a big thing in my life of, you know, I feel like God's kinda delivered all the right

00:43:11.620 --> 00:43:17.270
people. And, you know, when you come from that place, and, like, the passion is to help people, help kids,

00:43:17.300 --> 00:43:20.896
help athletes-Um, business is usually pretty good, you know,

00:43:21.076 --> 00:43:25.996
and so I think that's what we're vetting for. Obviously, we wanna have great master-level coaches that know what

00:43:26.016 --> 00:43:26.996
they're doing, that, you

00:43:27.036 --> 00:43:30.376
know, can, can really see the needle get moved in development.

00:43:30.896 --> 00:43:33.926
Um, but first and foremost, you gotta be a cultural fit, you know, where y-

00:43:34.136 --> 00:43:35.376
you- we just love on kids

00:43:35.936 --> 00:43:38.156
and, you know, love coming to work every day, and,

00:43:38.276 --> 00:43:39.136
um, passion

00:43:39.176 --> 00:43:42.116
over paychecks. Oh, absolutely.

00:43:42.136 --> 00:43:46.826
And I think, you know, that maybe answers one of the questions I had, which is, over the c- course

00:43:46.856 --> 00:43:48.106
of your coaching career, you know,

00:43:48.176 --> 00:43:52.236
y- y- you've been in athletics at a lot of different levels, obviously as a athlete, like you had mentioned,

00:43:52.296 --> 00:43:53.206
as a coach, as an athletic

00:43:53.256 --> 00:43:53.756
director.

00:43:54.416 --> 00:43:59.356
Um, so what continues to drive and motivate you? Is it that ability to just be helping

00:43:59.656 --> 00:44:04.365
people? Yeah, I mean, I... You know, w- we've got all these great things, and we're growing,

00:44:04.396 --> 00:44:08.326
and we have other opportunities to get outside our four walls and stuff, and I think the thing that excites

00:44:08.376 --> 00:44:12.316
me the most is being able to help more athletes. You know, I mean, when you're at a school or

00:44:12.356 --> 00:44:17.346
you're on a team, you're somewhat limited, you know, to, like, "Hey, I can help these 50 kids or these

00:44:17.376 --> 00:44:23.516
100 kids." Um, we have the ability to impact, you know, thousands of kids across the country, across the globe.

00:44:23.615 --> 00:44:29.076
Um, so I think that's what excites me, is just the ability to continue to grow and impact and,

00:44:29.596 --> 00:44:30.936
you know, help, help young coaches,

00:44:31.036 --> 00:44:33.016
right? I mean, this... was

00:44:33.196 --> 00:44:39.116
23. I was just punching through what I knew, my dad knew, and making- Mm-hmm ... mistakes every single day

00:44:39.196 --> 00:44:39.956
with athletes

00:44:40.016 --> 00:44:43.976
and, you know, I still try to apologize to every athlete I coached before year

00:44:44.016 --> 00:44:45.076
10. Um-

00:44:46.256 --> 00:44:46.296
You

00:44:46.336 --> 00:44:48.136
know. And, and so,

00:44:48.336 --> 00:44:53.736
you know, I, I really get a ton of joy around, like, even, I mean, I take almost every podcast

00:44:53.796 --> 00:44:54.076
I'm asked

00:44:54.116 --> 00:44:58.086
to be on, 'cause I'm like, man, if I can impact one or two, you know, coaches,

00:44:58.456 --> 00:45:00.316
then how many athletes is that gonna impact,

00:45:00.756 --> 00:45:04.156
you know? And maybe they don't make the same mistakes that I made, you know, during those

00:45:04.216 --> 00:45:04.596
years.

00:45:05.076 --> 00:45:08.056
And so, I don't know, the motivation is I, I, I got plenty of

00:45:08.096 --> 00:45:10.436
energy left. Um, I am getting older,

00:45:10.576 --> 00:45:15.036
um, but I got a bunch of great people around me that support, and it's just really fun to watch

00:45:15.096 --> 00:45:18.156
them work with athletes and, and, you know, have this, have this business

00:45:18.196 --> 00:45:22.096
have grown. Awesome. Well, if you're an athlete out there that, uh, was in the first 10 years

00:45:22.116 --> 00:45:27.016
of Coach Kula's, uh, coaching career, then let this be your official apology if you hadn't

00:45:27.036 --> 00:45:33.316
heard from him. That's it. That's it. Um, in terms of what's next for maybe you or Kula Sports Performance,

00:45:33.376 --> 00:45:36.076
any exciting projects or plans on the horizon that you would be willing to

00:45:36.096 --> 00:45:40.936
share? Yeah, I mean, I think, uh, you know, we got our headquarters opened up, so that's great. Um,

00:45:41.016 --> 00:45:43.156
you know, we're gonna roll out, we have some programming now

00:45:43.316 --> 00:45:49.256
for elite athlete experiences to be able to come and experience this, this awesome facility and our, and our coaches.

00:45:49.816 --> 00:45:54.006
Uh, but then also, you know, to be able to get outside of our four walls, we're, we're, uh,

00:45:54.076 --> 00:45:55.176
we've partnered with, uh,

00:45:55.196 --> 00:46:00.016
Firepod, um, to help, uh, you know, with some of the GPS tracking stuff with teams and

00:46:00.136 --> 00:46:05.556
athletes, and, uh, that'll come with some of our programming, you know. So people that want, you know, speed work

00:46:05.656 --> 00:46:11.036
or guidance in their programming, but then you also have a device that's, you know, able to track your data

00:46:11.085 --> 00:46:12.036
and your speed and stuff.

00:46:12.536 --> 00:46:14.996
Uh, so we just saw a real natural fit with those guys, and that's kind

00:46:15.036 --> 00:46:18.996
of our next, you know, our next big move, uh, as a, as a business, is to try

00:46:19.036 --> 00:46:22.276
to, you know, scale and grow that, that side of us, is be the remote training.

00:46:23.116 --> 00:46:25.936
Awesome. And in terms of scaling and growing your business here,

00:46:26.036 --> 00:46:28.396
I just wanna hit on, you know, some of the Keiser

00:46:29.236 --> 00:46:32.976
400 that you've been able to add recently. Obviously, you alluded to some of the value that it provided

00:46:33.016 --> 00:46:38.356
earlier, uh, in this episode. But just curious, kind of your take on the impact that that has made on,

00:46:38.396 --> 00:46:40.036
you know, the way you do things there.

00:46:40.096 --> 00:46:45.806
Yeah. I mean, we're, you know, we're, we're certainly not exclusive to any single brand, but we love the Keiser

00:46:45.876 --> 00:46:52.166
equipment. I mean, we just feel like it matches with sports performance so well. It matches with our speed priority,

00:46:52.676 --> 00:46:56.916
uh, because of the pneumatic system. Like, we can let it rip, you know, and let, you know,

00:46:57.016 --> 00:47:02.036
let it go on some of those pieces without having to worry about breaking equipment. We get power numbers off

00:47:02.096 --> 00:47:05.296
of it. It just aligns with the way that we like to train,

00:47:05.696 --> 00:47:11.556
and I think it's just, it's simplified some of the training. We get feedback from our, from our members,

00:47:11.596 --> 00:47:14.896
you know, even our adult members, that are like, "Man, this has almost cut my workout

00:47:15.016 --> 00:47:18.376
time in half because I'm not, you know, having to change weights."

00:47:18.596 --> 00:47:23.016
And I mean, I had feedback from a client the other day that says, "I can't bench press anymore, but

00:47:23.096 --> 00:47:25.216
I can do the chest press with the Keiser machine,"

00:47:25.656 --> 00:47:27.956
because of the way that it's, you know, formulated with

00:47:28.016 --> 00:47:33.296
its, uh, uh, cambered, you know... I, I don't know all the technology behind it but- Yeah, the variable resistance,

00:47:33.356 --> 00:47:38.736
yeah ... variable resistance at points of, you know, mechanical advantage and stuff, and it's just really refreshing to hear

00:47:38.816 --> 00:47:38.936
that,

00:47:39.036 --> 00:47:44.236
that, you know, w- a- any athlete, whether they're injured or healthy or, you know, otherwise, can get a workout

00:47:44.296 --> 00:47:48.096
in, um, and that's all been considered and taken. It's just an unbelievable product.

00:47:49.136 --> 00:47:50.836
Awesome, thanks. What's your favorite piece been on there,

00:47:51.076 --> 00:47:54.016
on there so far? I, I love the power squat. I mean-

00:47:54.136 --> 00:47:55.036
Yeah ... it's hard as

00:47:55.116 --> 00:47:59.976
a, as a speed coach to not, you know, wrap your arms around that thing. It's so versatile. We do,

00:48:00.096 --> 00:48:01.186
can do so many different things

00:48:01.216 --> 00:48:01.496
on it.

00:48:02.156 --> 00:48:02.816
Oh, very cool.

00:48:03.336 --> 00:48:07.756
Um, I know you got a flight to catch pretty soon here. I just have a few questions left before

00:48:07.956 --> 00:48:09.996
I, uh, rip into some rapid- fire questions

00:48:10.016 --> 00:48:13.056
to close it out. Sure. Um, anything else that you wanna

00:48:13.116 --> 00:48:16.016
share about Kula Sports Performance or anything that

00:48:16.036 --> 00:48:19.216
you're doing? Um, you know, I, I mean,

00:48:19.476 --> 00:48:24.046
I, I think we're just really excited about, you know, what we have to offer here at our

00:48:24.076 --> 00:48:29.106
headquarters. We, you know, we'd love to get athletes that wanna come out and experience it. Um, and then, and,

00:48:29.156 --> 00:48:32.336
and now our new ability to be able to kinda reach more people outside

00:48:32.396 --> 00:48:36.136
of the, the city, the state, the country even, with, you know, some remote

00:48:36.256 --> 00:48:40.986
opportunities. Um, and then the, our relationship with Firepod, we're just really excited about,

00:48:41.176 --> 00:48:45.606
you know, being able to get a kid in a chip and tracking their, you know, G- you know, all

00:48:45.616 --> 00:48:51.186
their speed metrics, uh, following our speed system, should really be able to help us, you know, reach a lot

00:48:51.196 --> 00:48:53.976
more kids. Awesome, awesome. Thank you for

00:48:54.016 --> 00:48:56.976
sharing all that. So just a couple quick hitters here and you'll be on your

00:48:57.016 --> 00:49:00.336
way. So, uh, question for you. I know you do a lot of travel,

00:49:00.776 --> 00:49:04.196
uh, over the year. You know, over the years you've traveled a lot and, and, and you're currently

00:49:04.296 --> 00:49:04.596
traveling

00:49:04.616 --> 00:49:07.116
a lot. If you could only travel to one city for the rest

00:49:07.136 --> 00:49:07.596
of your life

00:49:08.036 --> 00:49:10.076
that's outside of home, which city would it be and

00:49:10.116 --> 00:49:11.916
why? Wow.

00:49:12.076 --> 00:49:17.976
That's a... I don't know. I tell you what, um, we love some time over in Europe. I think

00:49:18.016 --> 00:49:19.946
my wife and I, I think somewhere in Italy,

00:49:20.016 --> 00:49:23.076
like Florence, uh, would, might, might be a spot to land

00:49:23.980 --> 00:49:26.840
I just got back from there last month, so I would agree with you.

00:49:27.010 --> 00:49:27.760
Yeah. No question.

00:49:28.190 --> 00:49:34.060
Good. Good. Good. Um, what is your go-to meal or favorite food spot around your facility?

00:49:35.130 --> 00:49:36.230
Mexican. Chuy's.

00:49:37.080 --> 00:49:38.010
Chuy's. Awesome.

00:49:38.610 --> 00:49:43.220
All right. I've actually had Chuy's as well. Um, what's your current workout routine

00:49:43.260 --> 00:49:45.480
like for you? Uh,

00:49:45.960 --> 00:49:48.200
man, uh, get it in where I can around

00:49:48.280 --> 00:49:53.160
business- ... uh, is my routine. I, I try to get, I try to get three to, three to five

00:49:53.240 --> 00:49:57.990
days in of general, you know, resistance training with a little bit of cardio. I have, uh,

00:49:58.060 --> 00:50:00.020
I got a metal ankle, so I have to be careful with,

00:50:00.120 --> 00:50:03.050
uh, steps. Mm. So I'm, I'm pretty good friends with a SkiErg these

00:50:03.100 --> 00:50:07.880
days. Awesome. You know, you can actually use those functional trainers kind of with a SkiErg as well. Yeah,

00:50:08.060 --> 00:50:09.900
you can. Uh, you can bring them up to the top on, on low load.

00:50:10.100 --> 00:50:10.300
Um,

00:50:11.020 --> 00:50:15.940
so wrapping up here, where can listeners find you? How can they reach you? What's the best

00:50:16.000 --> 00:50:19.380
resource for them? Sure. Yeah. You can follow us on our Instagram,

00:50:19.720 --> 00:50:20.920
@kulasportsperformance.

00:50:21.420 --> 00:50:24.060
Uh, we have a website that's very informational, um,

00:50:24.360 --> 00:50:26.040
kulasp.com.

00:50:26.720 --> 00:50:27.060
Um,

00:50:27.360 --> 00:50:31.060
you could send me a direct email, kula@kulasp.com.

00:50:31.620 --> 00:50:36.060
Um, I'm, I'm not a, uh, silent partner, uh, here. I, I still answer emails,

00:50:36.160 --> 00:50:40.060
so happy to connect with any athlete or coach out there that's looking to, looking to,

00:50:40.600 --> 00:50:40.640
you

00:50:40.680 --> 00:50:40.780
know,

00:50:41.100 --> 00:50:46.140
connect. Coach Kula, thank you so much for joining me today on the Keiser Human Performance Podcast. We really

00:50:46.180 --> 00:50:47.060
appreciate your time and

00:50:47.100 --> 00:50:47.640
your support.

00:50:48.240 --> 00:50:54.080
Um, loved talking all things speed, loved talking through your process. Can't wait to get this episode out and share

00:50:54.100 --> 00:50:58.220
it with everybody. So again, you heard, for those looking to follow Coach Kula, everything

00:50:58.260 --> 00:51:00.020
he's doing, the best place

00:51:00.100 --> 00:51:02.190
is on Instagram, @kulasportsperformance,

00:51:02.580 --> 00:51:10.880
then @briankula on Instagram. And then also please make sure to check out their website, www.kulasp.com. I appreciate you

00:51:11.140 --> 00:51:13.000
joining us today and hope you have a great rest

00:51:13.020 --> 00:51:16.060
of the day. Thanks so much. Appreciate it. Awesome. Thank

00:51:16.100 --> 00:51:22.030
you. We appreciate you tuning in to this episode of the Keiser Human Performance Podcast.

00:51:22.660 --> 00:51:24.050
To stay up to date on all things

00:51:24.060 --> 00:51:27.080
Keiser, follow us, @keiserfitness on Twitter,

00:51:27.440 --> 00:51:27.900
Instagram,

00:51:28.140 --> 00:51:32.100
and Facebook. For more content, you can visit our Keiser Fitness YouTube

00:51:32.180 --> 00:51:36.260
page and at our website, www.keiser.com.

00:51:36.860 --> 00:51:37.040
Thank

00:51:37.100 --> 00:51:38.060
you, and have a great

00:51:38.120 --> 00:51:38.420
day.

acl-rehab-guide-image

Turning Force into Speed: Master the Transfer of Rotational Power

Rotational power is the primary driver of performance in nearly every dynamic sport, from the golf course to the pitcher's mound. It is the ability to generate and control force through the transverse plane. Modern athletic research emphasizes that training the body to transfer rotational power effectively requires an integrated, movement-based approach rather than isolated exercises. 

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Using Velocity-Based Training to Manage Fatigue and Optimize Resistance Training

Although Velocity-Based Training (VBT) has been around for decades, it is increasing in popularity due to greater accessibility and a compounding amount of validating research.  VBT is an approach to strength training that focuses on how fast a lift is performed, rather than just how heavy it is. Instead of relying solely on percentages of a one-repetition maximum (1RM), VBT uses real-time feedback to measure movement speed, helping individuals adjust load and intensity based on how the body is performing that day. 

 
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