Mark McLaughlin: Organization of High School Athletic Development

With almost 30 years of experience, Mark has worked with Olympic and professional athletes all the way to the grade school athletes. Mark is the founder of Performance Training Center and currently the head strength and conditioning coach at Lake Oswego High School in Portland.

On today’s episode Mark shares insights on how he organizes and manages the training of athletes, from 7th grade up to seniors in high school. Mark is a master of combining the objective and subjective aspects of development. He discusses the important of long term athletic development, motivating young athletes, and offers some advice to coaches getting started in high school S&C.

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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

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podcast is for you. We're glad you're listening in, and we're excited to learn alongside

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you. My name is Gabe Derman, and today I'm joined by the Pacific Northwest's very own

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Mark McLaughlin.

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Mark is no stranger to athletics and human

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performance. With almost thirty

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years of experience, Mark has worked with Olympic and professional

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athletes, all the way down to grade

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school athletes. Mark is the founder of Performance.

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Training Center and currently serves as the head strength and conditioning coach at Lake Oswego High School in- Portland.

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On

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today's episode, Mark shares insights on how he organizes and manages the training of athletes from seventh grade up

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to seniors in high school.

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Mark is a true master of combining the objective and subjective aspects of development.

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He discusses the importance of long-term athletic

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development, motivating young

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athletes, and offers some advice to coaches getting started in high school strength and conditioning.

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The best place to follow Mark is on X or Twitter at results_period or on Instagram at markptc.

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We' do apologize for some of the connection interference you' may

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hear on today's episode. We' hope you. enjoy.

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Mark,

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how we doing? Great, Gabe.

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How are you doing? I'm doing great. Thank you for, uh, being here with me today. I appreciate it, and

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I understand you just got back from Europe. How were your

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travels? Oh, man. It was, uh, it was awesome. We, we started the trip in, in Belgium

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for like, like four or five days. So we ate a lot of french fries

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with, uh, mayonnaise and, uh, had some good Belgian

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beer.

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Um, celebrated my sixtieth birthday there. So, um,

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I guess you go

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to a, a country that's old when you're getting older for your

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birthdays.

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Um, and then, uh, I was in Holl-- we

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finished the trip up in Holland for, for four days. So it was, uh, it was

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a great time. Awesome. Well, happy birthday. Happy sixtieth. That's awesome. And, uh, really excited to have you on- here.

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I think one of the things that I really appreciate about you is that you're an, open book, and I'

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think whether it's through social media, through text messages

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that we share, um, site visits, obviously we were able to get over to Lake Oswego High School, which was

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awesome. You're willing to

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say, "Hey, this is what I'm doing and why I'm doing

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it," and you're not afraid to peel back the curtain, and I think that that's awesome, and I think

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a lot of people find some value in, uh, hearing you speak today. So appreciate you being here with us.

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Oh, yeah, yeah, my

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pleasure. So i-if you're someone who's listening to this episode of the Keiser Human Performance. Podcast, please

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do yourself a favor right away. Follow Mark on social media. His

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Twitter or X,

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um, and Instagram handles are in the intro and will also be

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in the episode notes section as well. You'll be happy that you followed him.

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So Mark,

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starting things off, for those who aren't so familiar with you or your background, can you please provide

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us

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some info on who Mark McLaughlin is and your path to Lake Oswego High School?

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Yeah. No,

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absolutely. So, you know, I was fortunate when I was younger to, uh, you know, play sports

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growing up, um, and actually played in college for a couple

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of years, uh, basketball and, and baseball.

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And

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then, and, you know, all my brothers, uh, were involved in sports, too. So, you know, I came

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from a sporting background within my

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family. Um, and I took a different path than, than normal, I think, for people in our industry

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is, like, you know, coaching. So I had a job selling food packaging, uh, from when I was, like, twenty-three

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all the way up till, like, when I was thirty-seven,

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um,

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and worked for some... You know, I worked for a Fortune five hundred company. I was in sales. Um,

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so,

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you know, that, that was kind of how I got involved

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in, you know, the

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everyday work. But during that time, I was still active,

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and,

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and then I read about,

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um, track and field injuries that were catastrophic in the, in the local paper here.

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And

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I thought, "Man, why is this happening in a sport

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that, you know, there, there's no collision, there's... You know, people aren't wearing helmets." Um, and so I thought, "Well,

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I was never injured. My friends were never injured like this. What's going on?" And so I went out and

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actually ran some of the track practices,

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and then I kinda saw from just, you know, visually seeing this and really not having a background in

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sport coaching at that time, that something

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was wrong. So then I just started researching it. It really got me interested in the health and well-being of,

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of athletes, and

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okay, I'm gonna learn myself. I'm gonna train myself. Can this work? Yeah, it worked with me for, like, three

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years, and then I volunteered at,

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at,

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uh, the high school I went to for three years with the, with the football

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team. So, you know, can I take what I learned on my individual self and, you know, take it

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to a, a larger

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setting? Um, and that was interesting 'cause, you know, the first meeting I, I had with the players, there was,

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like, sixty kids there,

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and I'm like, "Okay, man, what have I gotten myself

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into?" Um, and,

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uh, but those three years were great.

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I learned so much,

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uh, within that process, and

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then at that point I said, "Okay, I'm gonna quit my job,"

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uh, that I was doing full time and,

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you know, start my own training facility.Um, so for the next,

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you know, 13

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years, I ran Performance Training Center.

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And then after that I worked for Omega Wave

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for, for four years and, you know, working with professional teams and, and colleges and, and, and universities. And then

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when COVID

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hit and, uh, my job wasn't renewed at Omega Wave, then I, I was fortunate to get, uh, hired on

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at, at Lake Oswego, and that's where I've been for the last four years.

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And I work with, you know, all teams

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there from alpine skiing to football to the dance team.

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Um, so

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it's a, it's a very, um,

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interesting,

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uh, group that I get the opportunity

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to work with. Sounds like you lead with a lot of curiosity a- and you're a curious person because I-

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I- it's very rare to find somebody who gets into this field because they were watching athletes,

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get injured and all of a sudden say, "Eh, that's really weird, like, there's not really any contact happening here

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a- and what's going on?" And then finding their way in really not through sport or through just passion

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for training, but then all of a sudden just asking this question like, "Why is this happening to these people?"

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You know, I think that's the way, you know, when I was growing up, like, you know, I would watch

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some basketball games and I would go out and try this stuff, you know, so I've always been kind of,

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you know, that type of, of learner. And, you know, I had such a great experience in athletics,

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and so I, I wanted to really find a way to help the kids that I was working with have,

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you know, a, a similar

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type of experience. And so that's what... I mean, it still drives me today

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on, you know, what can I do to learn more

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to give the,

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uh, um, kids just

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a, you know, a,

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a better, a better experience.

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Um,

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'cause then when they're older, like you and I,

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like,

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you know, because you're still active, I'm still active, like,

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I want those kids to have that opportunity

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to love being

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active. So that's, that's another big driver

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in the long-term athletic development

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plan on, on my end is it's, you know, really from cradle to grave when we...

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wh- when I think about

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it. That's a great way of putting it, from cradle to grave, and I think it's really incredible to

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see high schools across the

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United States invest resources into strength and conditioning and athletic development. I know from my high

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school, uh,

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when I was there, we didn't have a strength and conditioning coach, and now athletes. ha- at that high school

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have full-time strength

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and conditioning coach. They have people helping that strength and conditioning coach, and, and there are summer programs,

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um, athletic development programs throughout the entire year. And I think it's crucial, like you said, uh, not just for

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kids that have aspirations to play sports at the next level

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and beyond, but simply setting up a foundation for healthy habits that they can take with them for

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the rest of their life. So I totally agree with you there. And, um, we've met a lot of coaches

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doing an amazing job with high school athletes, and I know that doesn't come without

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some challenges. Yeah. So I'm curious to learn more about how you do things at Lake Oswego, and I think

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our listeners can find a lot

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of value in that. So starting off, how many student athletes in total are you working

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with? At different times. It, it ranges from, say, you know, 20 athletes some days, you know, and depending on

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the season we're in, you know,

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other days it, you know, could be 100

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plus. And

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so, you know, there's a, there's a wide range

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there from, you know, because I have 7th and 8th graders that come over from the junior high that I

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work with, uh, that are part of the program as well.

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Um, so you know, I have these variations,

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these big spreads of

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abilities.

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Um,

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and then I have the constraints of the

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facilities. So, you know, we just have one turf

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field, um, you know, that multiple teams have to use.

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It rains a lot in the Pacific Northwest, so

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you have the... you know, you have the rain at certain times during the year that,

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you know, it's hard to do some stuff outside.

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Um,

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so there's a lot of things, like when I'm writing a training on the weekend for the upcoming week,

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I think I look at the weather report

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more, um,

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now than I've

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ever done based on how I'm going to,

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you know, write the training

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for the week.

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So, you know, we talk about constraints led approach with, you know, skill acquisition and, and training with athletes,

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and

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as a coach, I

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have the constraints that I have to kind

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of work around.

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Um, and so which makes it challenging, it makes it fun

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and, um,

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you know, when I'm making buying decisions on equipment

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now, that's another thing

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that I'm, you know, thinking

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about. Okay. So as you zoom out here, and knowing that you have to handle and, and, and train

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not just the high school athletes that are there, but also the 7th and 8th graders that

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you mentioned, just kind of zooming out for a second, how do you approach this organization, and

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how do you manage the training of such a large number of student athletes

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at a high school being one person and one coach?

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Yeah. So the, the first thing is technology.

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So I use

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TrueCoach, um, and I have,

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you know, buckets, I have group leaders. So with the 7th and 8th

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graders, you know, there's two or three kids within that group that

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are, you know, leaders.

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Um, you know, I spend a lot of time up front, you know, going through exercises, teaching

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them, you know, how to look at videos, how to click on videos within the TrueCoach. And these

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kids, like, they're so adept on their phones

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that, you know, that doesn't

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take that long. Um,

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so... And then I, you know, parse that out through the different teams with the different leaders.

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Um, so that's

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number one. You know, the second

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thing is, um-Space and time. So,

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you know, when are kids coming over?

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What part of the year are

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we in? So, you know, at the beginning of the season, it's a lot of body weight stuff, but it's

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raining, so then I'm kind of picking and choosing where I'm putting these groups.

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And,

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you know, some of the older kids that have been with me now, say, three or four

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years, we're not starting

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there, fortunately, so then I can put them, you know, starting them more on the, you know, strength side.

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Um,

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you know, when we're doing sprinting, trying to figure out... 'Cause I have, like, three different hills

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that I use in the

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off-season, so is the weather good enough to run those? Okay,

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it is. Here are the distances that each group is gonna run on either hill one, two, or three.

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We have the gymnastics room. And so it's kind of this, like, almost revolving,

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like, a Lazy Susan,

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you know,

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for, for

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us foodies,

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uh, Gabe.

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You know, y- you have this, and you're just trying to get those kids in these

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spaces,

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um, to then maximize the space and the time during, you know, this 90 minutes

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to 60 minutes that you may have with

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them. Um, and then they check off the workouts on the TrueCoach. I kinda know who's coming and who isn't.

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So then from week to week, I can start progressing it,

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you know, based

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off of that. Absolutely, and I, I like what you mentioned about the group leaders early

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on. Um, I mean, I think for seventh and eighth graders to have the opportunity to even

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be group leaders or even young freshmen or sophomores to be group leaders, I think that also provides them an

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opportunity to have some leadership, which again, like we talked about from cradle to grave,

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that's something that could maybe stick with them for a long period of time, or it could be just

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even the beginning of, you know, being comfortable in a leadership role, which could have some benefits for

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them, not just in sports, but in life moving forward.

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So, um, sounds like TrueCoach and, and utilizing technology, um, being able to utilize the space and time

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and, and the area- the different areas that you have around you to be creative to handle all of that.

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In ter- in terms of a,

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um, training frequency for a lot of these athletes, it may be dependent on the time of year, in season,

00:14:40.800 --> 00:14:47.230
off-season. Is there a general rule of thumb that you apply towards all student athletes? Um, is it mandatory?

00:14:47.280 --> 00:14:47.940
Is it required?

00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:51.960
Like, tell me about kind of the frequency for athletes to come in

00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:52.620
and train with you.

00:14:54.240 --> 00:14:59.120
Yeah. So I'll answer that, and I, and I wanna go back first of all to the point

00:14:59.160 --> 00:15:00.020
that you made about the

00:15:00.060 --> 00:15:07.520
leadership part of it, which I think is, you know, great question on your part and a great observation.

00:15:08.480 --> 00:15:09.200
You know, coaches

00:15:09.820 --> 00:15:12.080
that I hear, that I'm around, talk

00:15:12.160 --> 00:15:17.080
about, "Hey, man, why can't our kids be leaders? Why... You know, what's lacking

00:15:17.180 --> 00:15:22.040
here?" And I think part of it is that these kids are so

00:15:22.120 --> 00:15:24.800
over-coached from youth.

00:15:25.060 --> 00:15:31.189
Like, you see kids go to the ballpark here just to play, and a dad or a mom is with

00:15:31.300 --> 00:15:39.480
them. So they never get this freedom as kids to, like, be leaders, form a game, make their own rules.

00:15:40.500 --> 00:15:44.990
And so my thing is that it's like, it, it's a skill. They have to practice being

00:15:45.060 --> 00:15:47.080
a leader. They have to

00:15:47.140 --> 00:15:49.120
do it in a setting.

00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:53.860
And so that's why I give them a lot of autonomy to do this stuff on their

00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:56.140
own. And,

00:15:56.700 --> 00:15:56.749
you

00:15:56.800 --> 00:16:00.960
know, if they practice it a lot... 'Cause I have a group, as an example, I have a group

00:16:01.000 --> 00:16:03.120
of seven or eight freshmen

00:16:03.180 --> 00:16:08.880
now, and these kids, man, they, they come to me every day' after school, "Hey, can I get the key

00:16:08.920 --> 00:16:14.930
to the gymnastics room?" You know, so they're already taking the initiative. They're going up there, they're doing their

00:16:15.040 --> 00:16:17.030
thing, and then they're coming down and, and starting

00:16:17.060 --> 00:16:23.480
the workout. And these are, like, 13 or 14-year-old kids that I can really kinda let go

00:16:24.320 --> 00:16:24.760
to,

00:16:25.700 --> 00:16:26.960
you know, because they're doing it

00:16:27.040 --> 00:16:28.940
all on their own. And

00:16:29.020 --> 00:16:31.060
so as one person coaching,

00:16:31.140 --> 00:16:33.100
like, that frees me up

00:16:33.160 --> 00:16:34.020
for, you know,

00:16:34.160 --> 00:16:35.180
s- a big

00:16:35.260 --> 00:16:38.920
chunk of it. And so I think in order for these kids

00:16:39.020 --> 00:16:40.159
to be

00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:45.090
leaders, they have to practice it, and they have to fail at it, they have to make mistakes,

00:16:45.340 --> 00:16:49.960
and, you know, the only way you learn it is by doing it. We could stay here

00:16:50.020 --> 00:16:54.770
for a moment, because I know you're a big advocate, not just from the physical side of long-term athletic development,

00:16:54.840 --> 00:17:00.000
but also, um, you know, like we said, the soft skills an- and providing those opportunities.

00:17:00.040 --> 00:17:03.560
And I think a lot of times, you're, you're absolutely right. There is a lot of over-coaching

00:17:03.660 --> 00:17:08.660
and underestimating what kids are capable of and, and putting them in scenarios,

00:17:09.579 --> 00:17:15.030
um, to be challenged and to challenge themselves and, and give them opportunities. And, and

00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:19.380
people ask that question to you. They say, "Well, why, why don't we have better leadership?"

00:17:20.020 --> 00:17:22.430
Well, it's how many opportunities have you actually provided,

00:17:23.160 --> 00:17:29.220
you know, for those young athletes or young people to develop leadership

00:17:29.280 --> 00:17:35.050
skills? Um, so what I, what I hear from you though is that you have this system of educating,

00:17:35.120 --> 00:17:37.140
like you mentioned. On the, on the front end, you spend

00:17:37.220 --> 00:17:42.070
time taking them through, educating, "Hey, this is how we do things. Here's how you do this."

00:17:42.720 --> 00:17:44.280
And then once that is accomplished,

00:17:44.840 --> 00:17:49.160
it's providing opportunities to, "Hey, go out and do it now." Yeah. And being comfortable as a coach

00:17:49.220 --> 00:17:51.020
saying, "I'm gonna give you some power

00:17:51.040 --> 00:17:52.120
here. Like, I'm gonna step

00:17:52.180 --> 00:17:56.000
back, and I'm gonna remove my ego a little bit, and things are

00:17:56.040 --> 00:17:56.480
gonna be

00:17:57.000 --> 00:18:02.070
just fine." Yeah. And I think people get caught up in this

00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:07.080
control of, "Hey, man, if I don't control every piece of this thing, that they're gonna

00:18:07.140 --> 00:18:10.120
fail. And, you know, it looks bad

00:18:10.180 --> 00:18:14.180
on me." And it's like, what... To me, it's just the opposite. It's like,

00:18:14.860 --> 00:18:20.970
I mean, these, these kids are humans, right? And, you know, if they're in class all the time, somebody's

00:18:21.060 --> 00:18:22.280
telling them what to do,

00:18:22.660 --> 00:18:27.120
they're being coached all the time, telling them what to do, their parents are, parents are telling

00:18:27.140 --> 00:18:29.184
them what to do.I mean,

00:18:29.624 --> 00:18:29.784
it

00:18:30.244 --> 00:18:32.184
makes sense to me to give them some time

00:18:32.324 --> 00:18:35.144
to have them tell themselves and their friends

00:18:35.144 --> 00:18:36.024
,

00:18:36.024 --> 00:18:36.944
you know, what to do.

00:18:37.364 --> 00:18:40.004
Um, and, you know, coaching is messy.

00:18:40.084 --> 00:18:42.944
It's, it's, it, it's

00:18:43.004 --> 00:18:46.324
an imperfect world that you just have to,

00:18:47.044 --> 00:18:47.084
you

00:18:47.124 --> 00:18:49.184
know, be comfortable with that.

00:18:49.304 --> 00:18:54.064
And when I got put in this situation, 'cause I'd been in a training facility before

00:18:54.124 --> 00:18:54.524
where I was,

00:18:55.064 --> 00:18:59.024
you know, I think the most we'd have in a group would be, like, 10 or 15.

00:18:59.744 --> 00:19:00.984
So I mean, that's easy to

00:19:01.024 --> 00:19:03.104
manage. Now, with

00:19:03.424 --> 00:19:03.544
60,

00:19:03.884 --> 00:19:06.984
70, sometimes 100 athletes within, you know, a two-hour

00:19:07.104 --> 00:19:12.104
period, there's no way that you can do that. And so you just have to let go of that control

00:19:12.164 --> 00:19:15.064
and, you know, trust that the kids are gonna do it,

00:19:15.524 --> 00:19:16.284
and if they don't,

00:19:16.624 --> 00:19:17.764
that's okay too.

00:19:18.044 --> 00:19:20.204
Like, you, you learn from that.

00:19:22.244 --> 00:19:24.144
Yeah, I mean, I, I'd say in the grand scheme of things,

00:19:24.264 --> 00:19:24.584
these,

00:19:26.024 --> 00:19:29.264
these opportunities for leadership or for success

00:19:29.304 --> 00:19:32.124
or failure are

00:19:32.224 --> 00:19:32.584
small,

00:19:33.324 --> 00:19:38.894
you know? These things are, aren't big deals in the grand scheme of life, so I think to provide opportunities

00:19:38.904 --> 00:19:41.924
for even failure to happen, small wins or, or

00:19:42.044 --> 00:19:47.084
losses, can be a great lesson for later in life. And I like the term, and I've heard this

00:19:47.124 --> 00:19:51.334
before, failing upwards. So by the time you, you know, you're a freshman, sophomore,

00:19:51.884 --> 00:19:52.104
junior

00:19:52.124 --> 00:19:56.014
in high school, uh, uh, you're comfortable, you know, pushing the boundaries, and

00:19:56.044 --> 00:20:01.124
you're comfortable, you know, making mistakes, and you can go about things a little bit more

00:20:01.164 --> 00:20:06.754
freely. So I, I really like that, um, and I appreciate the perspective on that. So pivoting back towards maybe

00:20:06.784 --> 00:20:08.994
the operational side of things.

00:20:09.044 --> 00:20:09.244
Uh-huh.

00:20:10.164 --> 00:20:17.754
Really, I, I'm curious about how, how things operate at Lake Oswego. Like, i- if I'm an athlete and I'm,

00:20:17.784 --> 00:20:20.064
you know, men's soccer versus women's basketball or

00:20:20.144 --> 00:20:23.164
men's football, a- am I training the same frequency? Does it depend

00:20:23.184 --> 00:20:23.804
on the season?

00:20:24.124 --> 00:20:28.044
How much influence do the actual sport coaches have on that? Can you provide some insight on

00:20:28.084 --> 00:20:28.224
that?

00:20:29.344 --> 00:20:33.204
Yeah. So with every team that I work with,

00:20:35.004 --> 00:20:36.334
nothing is mandatory.

00:20:37.644 --> 00:20:39.144
So the coaches don't mandate

00:20:39.183 --> 00:20:41.004
it, I don't mandate it,

00:20:41.864 --> 00:20:42.384
and,

00:20:43.064 --> 00:20:45.084
you know, I'm there five days a week from,

00:20:45.424 --> 00:20:47.584
you know, 3:30 to 7:00.

00:20:48.504 --> 00:20:48.824
So...

00:20:49.164 --> 00:20:50.124
And I tell every

00:20:50.204 --> 00:20:52.973
athlete, you know, "If you wanna come one day a week, if you

00:20:53.024 --> 00:20:59.144
wanna come, you know, once every two weeks or five times a week, like, you know, I'm here to support

00:20:59.224 --> 00:21:01.294
you." Um, because,

00:21:02.124 --> 00:21:07.904
you know, sports to every kid that comes through there, you know, they don't wanna be professional a-

00:21:08.104 --> 00:21:13.184
athletes. You know, some of them just like to be there with their friends. Some of them, you know, have

00:21:13.264 --> 00:21:20.924
other, you know, things that they're doing. And so you need to, in my mind, provide a space that

00:21:21.224 --> 00:21:24.064
they're comfortable coming a couple days, maybe miss a day,

00:21:24.244 --> 00:21:26.244
come back, so they're always

00:21:26.304 --> 00:21:30.104
welcome. So that's how I address that, and the sport coaches

00:21:30.144 --> 00:21:32.104
the same way. Like, even

00:21:32.144 --> 00:21:38.524
with a big sport like football, the, the head football coach doesn't... You know, it's not mandatory

00:21:39.144 --> 00:21:39.274
that

00:21:39.304 --> 00:21:41.244
the guys come. Um,

00:21:41.544 --> 00:21:43.144
so then the guys that are coming,

00:21:44.124 --> 00:21:46.044
like, they're, they're there for their

00:21:46.144 --> 00:21:50.944
reasons. The other kids that are just coming in frequently, th- they're still there for

00:21:51.004 --> 00:21:53.064
their reasons. And so

00:21:53.144 --> 00:21:58.384
I, I think it... So then the communication with everything is, is much more honest, in my opinion.

00:21:59.444 --> 00:22:04.264
You know, because we're not making them be there, and, you know, they don't wanna be there, and then,

00:22:04.304 --> 00:22:10.964
you know, maybe dragging other people down for whatever reason. And that's where the culture piece to me comes

00:22:11.084 --> 00:22:16.084
in, that, um, you know, the culture is based around the kids that

00:22:16.184 --> 00:22:19.044
are there, whether it be five times or, or

00:22:19.144 --> 00:22:21.054
one time. And,

00:22:22.224 --> 00:22:27.124
'cause I, uh, 'cause I used to coach at another school. within the district, and this team actually

00:22:27.204 --> 00:22:28.444
made it mandatory,

00:22:29.404 --> 00:22:35.104
and it was really difficult to manage, 'cause you maybe had 4 or 5 kids or 10 kids that

00:22:35.204 --> 00:22:35.924
wanted to be

00:22:36.004 --> 00:22:39.144
there, and then the other 30 just did not wanna

00:22:39.184 --> 00:22:42.624
be there. And so it really made it difficult

00:22:42.724 --> 00:22:49.144
to... the team dynamics to try to get people to work together and wanna be there with the same intensity,

00:22:49.284 --> 00:22:49.464
that

00:22:49.543 --> 00:22:54.024
it was, it was a... Man, it was a real learning experience for me on, on that

00:22:54.084 --> 00:22:57.004
side of it. Yeah. I, I saw in one of your posts

00:22:57.064 --> 00:23:02.113
you had a, a comment that said, "The training athletes, undertake should be driven by their values

00:23:02.144 --> 00:23:05.984
and meaning, not by the coaches or parents." I had a question prepared for you to talk

00:23:06.024 --> 00:23:07.024
about how you kind of foster

00:23:07.064 --> 00:23:12.574
that culture, but I think you answered it just there, which is nothing is mandatory, and when we talk about

00:23:12.604 --> 00:23:17.124
building good habits for a long period of time, you know, over, over the course of a lifetime,

00:23:18.084 --> 00:23:22.984
I think you're doing that right there by providing opportunities for an athlete to decide to go do it

00:23:23.024 --> 00:23:27.384
versus being told to go do it. So I think having that culture,

00:23:27.484 --> 00:23:29.184
um, is created by just,

00:23:29.604 --> 00:23:32.204
exactly like you said, making that optional, because now athlete

00:23:32.744 --> 00:23:38.444
A is deciding, "Hey, I want to come in here. This is my choice to be here, not anybody else's."

00:23:38.524 --> 00:23:42.004
Um, so I really like that. So the conversations that you have

00:23:42.064 --> 00:23:45.304
with an athlete, provide some insight there. Like, I'm a new athlete,

00:23:47.384 --> 00:23:48.344
are you searching

00:23:48.924 --> 00:23:53.104
for, hey, what is important to you long term? What are the types of questions that you're asking

00:23:53.144 --> 00:23:56.164
to this athlete when you, when you're starting to get to know them and, and begin

00:23:56.244 --> 00:23:56.844
working with them?

00:23:58.104 --> 00:23:58.984
Yeah. Yeah, no,

00:23:59.064 --> 00:24:04.024
that's a, that's a great question, and it... Like, working in the high school space, you know, some

00:24:04.064 --> 00:24:04.884
of these kids,

00:24:05.384 --> 00:24:09.284
you know, you know, I would've started with them, say, in 7th grade,

00:24:10.104 --> 00:24:10.144
you

00:24:10.204 --> 00:24:15.304
know? So... And then, you know, I have maybe four or five years, and then, you know,

00:24:15.924 --> 00:24:18.184
then all of a sudden they're, they're 18, and,

00:24:18.844 --> 00:24:23.324
you know, through that five or six-year period, man, there's huge changes within

00:24:23.384 --> 00:24:26.244
that within that young, uh, child.

00:24:26.884 --> 00:24:27.164
Um,

00:24:27.904 --> 00:24:29.972
and so-You

00:24:30.032 --> 00:24:36.412
know, when they're 12 or 13, you're talking about now, you know, "Hey, you know, what's your favorite cartoon?"

00:24:36.492 --> 00:24:37.952
Or, you know.

00:24:38.192 --> 00:24:44.172
I mean, the, the conversations of how you engage that 13-year-old versus when they're 18

00:24:45.232 --> 00:24:48.992
is a challenge. I remember at my training facility, I had a kid I started with, he

00:24:49.012 --> 00:24:54.032
was 12. You know, then he's 22, I remember sitting there having a beer

00:24:54.072 --> 00:24:56.632
with him, you know. And we're just laughing,

00:24:57.352 --> 00:25:00.272
um, about the first time that he came in and he was wearing

00:25:00.332 --> 00:25:04.392
like, you know, SpongeBob socks or shorts, I can't remember.

00:25:04.812 --> 00:25:07.052
And then you're, you know, he's buying you a beer.

00:25:07.092 --> 00:25:07.592
And so,

00:25:09.002 --> 00:25:10.152
um, uh,

00:25:10.412 --> 00:25:12.012
so when I first start with

00:25:12.052 --> 00:25:16.512
them, you know, "Hey, you know, why are you here? What sport do you play?"

00:25:17.112 --> 00:25:21.272
Um, you know, "What are your, what are your goals?" And, you know, the kids that are serious,

00:25:21.352 --> 00:25:24.152
you know, a lot of them will say, "Hey, I wanna play D1 football,"

00:25:24.232 --> 00:25:28.092
or, you know, make pro and, and all that. And that's, you know, fine

00:25:28.112 --> 00:25:28.672
and good.

00:25:29.372 --> 00:25:34.311
Um, but then, you know, how do they work? What do they wanna do? What are their other interests,

00:25:34.451 --> 00:25:35.492
you know, outside

00:25:35.572 --> 00:25:36.972
of, you know,

00:25:37.032 --> 00:25:43.172
the weight room? And so when you're there all the time with them, you start to develop these relationships of,

00:25:43.932 --> 00:25:47.132
you know, letting them talk to you about, you know, what's important to them

00:25:47.612 --> 00:25:51.052
and what they like to do, and then you see how they kind of interact within these

00:25:51.132 --> 00:25:54.232
groups. And then you get a sense of,

00:25:55.832 --> 00:25:59.932
you know, how they're developing from a physical standpoint, but then

00:26:00.032 --> 00:26:08.142
also, you know, from a, you know, mental standpoint, and the different, you know, maturation points that they go through.

00:26:08.192 --> 00:26:10.132
And I mean, I have some kids

00:26:10.152 --> 00:26:15.032
that, you know, when they were freshman, sophomore, they didn't hardly talk at all, maybe say two words during

00:26:15.092 --> 00:26:18.442
a session. And now, for whatever reason, when they're seniors,

00:26:18.952 --> 00:26:25.112
you know, all of a sudden they're blossoming and they're more interactive within these training sessions, and they're saying

00:26:25.232 --> 00:26:29.152
hi to you all the time. And you're like, "Okay, where's the kid that, you know, didn't wanna

00:26:29.212 --> 00:26:33.932
talk to you?" So... And that kind of lends itself to

00:26:34.052 --> 00:26:37.992
how you m- might be dictating the, the training, right?

00:26:38.012 --> 00:26:40.352
Because when they're younger,

00:26:41.192 --> 00:26:44.972
you know, all these heavy training loads and everything, like they're just not ready to do

00:26:45.052 --> 00:26:45.292
it.

00:26:46.232 --> 00:26:52.422
And so then you just move them slowly along. And as you kind of go through these peaks and valleys,

00:26:52.472 --> 00:26:54.052
because it's definitely not linear,

00:26:54.812 --> 00:26:59.012
then you start seeing points where it's like, okay, now we can kind of put it

00:26:59.092 --> 00:27:04.122
up a l- a notch higher, because they're ready. And the group of seniors I have now, who I've been

00:27:04.172 --> 00:27:09.272
with for four years, I alwa- you know, I've, I've been asking them, "What do you think of this year's

00:27:09.332 --> 00:27:14.452
training?" And they're like, "Yeah, man, I, I love it. It's, you know, harder, it's a lot harder than last

00:27:14.552 --> 00:27:20.712
year and, you know, I'm making all these big improvements." And so then I think to myself, okay, I made

00:27:20.772 --> 00:27:26.592
the right decisions on, or we did collectively as a group, to get them to the point now when they're

00:27:26.652 --> 00:27:30.032
seniors where they're super hungry to get after

00:27:30.072 --> 00:27:37.162
it. I'm curious how you structure your training and how you bucket your athletes,

00:27:37.552 --> 00:27:43.012
um, taking this approach and appreciating long-term athletic development, but also being mindful of the sport that

00:27:43.052 --> 00:27:43.612
they're playing.

00:27:44.212 --> 00:27:45.132
Um, so-

00:27:45.872 --> 00:27:47.052
Mm-hmm ... so early on,

00:27:47.932 --> 00:27:50.052
you know, what would I be seeing with like a seventh and eighth

00:27:50.092 --> 00:27:53.252
grader, and I'm sure there are some commonalities

00:27:53.292 --> 00:28:00.772
along the way, versus, you know, a senior who has aspirations to, you know, and is likely going to be

00:28:00.812 --> 00:28:05.992
playing a sport in college, like from actual training- Mm-hmm ... prescription, what am I, what am I seeing?

00:28:06.052 --> 00:28:07.022
Can you provide some insight

00:28:07.092 --> 00:28:09.032
there? Yeah. So

00:28:10.412 --> 00:28:13.172
with those kids that are gonna be going to the next level,

00:28:13.252 --> 00:28:16.472
let's say, they're still...

00:28:18.632 --> 00:28:19.032
Because

00:28:19.152 --> 00:28:22.052
I s- you know, I s- I've seen it so much, these kids,

00:28:23.052 --> 00:28:26.192
you know, say it's, it's, uh, football, and that's all they played,

00:28:26.912 --> 00:28:29.432
you know, since they were eight, okay?

00:28:30.312 --> 00:28:35.232
So there are these like movement patterns and the way that they kind of think about training

00:28:35.552 --> 00:28:35.932
that is,

00:28:36.172 --> 00:28:38.992
it's like the specialization has got

00:28:39.012 --> 00:28:43.252
them into these movement patterns that that's all they know.

00:28:43.912 --> 00:28:44.052
And

00:28:44.172 --> 00:28:49.132
so, you know, that's why the gymnastics, like every group that I work with, does

00:28:49.192 --> 00:28:49.352
it.

00:28:50.041 --> 00:28:53.152
And because it gets them out of th- their

00:28:53.212 --> 00:28:55.121
comfort zone and,

00:28:55.692 --> 00:29:01.212
you know, it teaches them movements and how to get out of trouble, and how to work within space and,

00:29:01.252 --> 00:29:01.342
and

00:29:01.512 --> 00:29:01.722
out of

00:29:02.092 --> 00:29:04.112
space. Um,

00:29:04.492 --> 00:29:05.062
because a lot of

00:29:05.092 --> 00:29:11.022
these kids, because their youth programs are so winning-focused,

00:29:11.462 --> 00:29:16.412
they never have the chance to fail and to have somebody try to correct

00:29:16.452 --> 00:29:22.832
them, because it's all about winning. And so what I wanna do, even with these kids that are special, quote

00:29:22.892 --> 00:29:23.352
unquote,

00:29:24.032 --> 00:29:27.132
is to get them, you know, some, some movement

00:29:27.232 --> 00:29:35.212
literacy, because it's only gonna help them hopefully stay out of, or to, you know, try to mitigate the chances

00:29:35.312 --> 00:29:36.112
of injury.

00:29:37.752 --> 00:29:41.912
Um, and then also to me, like mentally, like, okay, what are you willing

00:29:42.032 --> 00:29:46.472
to do to make yourself better within that process?

00:29:47.072 --> 00:29:48.112
And to me, that's like,

00:29:48.532 --> 00:29:49.072
you have to be

00:29:49.132 --> 00:29:51.122
coachable. You have to wanna do some

00:29:51.172 --> 00:29:53.052
of this stuff that's maybe out

00:29:53.092 --> 00:29:55.122
of your, out of your

00:29:55.152 --> 00:30:01.172
wheelhouse. So how do you handle that? How do you work within that? Are you internally motivated

00:30:01.232 --> 00:30:01.782
or is it all

00:30:02.052 --> 00:30:08.432
external? And then from there, you know, you, you, you kind of start to develop this kind of profile

00:30:08.512 --> 00:30:10.962
on, on how these kids are, are working and how they've

00:30:11.012 --> 00:30:14.912
worked in the past. A lot of them just have very low capacity to

00:30:15.012 --> 00:30:20.012
do any work. So even with the kids that, say, get a college scholarship, it's like,

00:30:20.572 --> 00:30:24.932
man, it's a lot of basic stuff. It's a lot of the Bernie Gambetta, you know, li-

00:30:25.112 --> 00:30:26.932
you know, circuits, like those leg

00:30:27.052 --> 00:30:34.228
circuits that Bern, you know, has published in his book, which are phenomenal.Um,

00:30:34.848 --> 00:30:35.188
I mean,

00:30:35.548 --> 00:30:38.988
the group that I had this year, I mean, we did eight weeks of that. Like, this

00:30:39.048 --> 00:30:40.168
is a senior group.

00:30:41.068 --> 00:30:44.028
And I mean, there's some good athletes in there, but it's like, man, we just have to

00:30:44.848 --> 00:30:45.838
get you in shape now to

00:30:46.028 --> 00:30:52.328
train. And once you're in shape to train, then we can start kind of pushing, you know, the envelope

00:30:52.428 --> 00:30:53.088
on some of this

00:30:53.188 --> 00:30:53.568
stuff.

00:30:54.268 --> 00:31:00.258
And, you know, that's why in the four years that I've been working here, like we've had no training injuries,

00:31:00.408 --> 00:31:03.028
none. No soft tissue, no,

00:31:03.448 --> 00:31:05.388
you know, hamstring issues, hip flexor,

00:31:05.768 --> 00:31:06.208
whatever.

00:31:07.138 --> 00:31:11.108
And I think part of that is just because, you know, taking the slow approach

00:31:11.118 --> 00:31:15.028
to develop these capacities that they

00:31:15.108 --> 00:31:18.187
need to then put the, you know, work in.

00:31:18.848 --> 00:31:19.848
And at this age,

00:31:20.108 --> 00:31:21.288
they're young.

00:31:22.748 --> 00:31:28.288
I mean, there's no need to do all this special stuff because them just growing another year,

00:31:29.068 --> 00:31:29.178
they're

00:31:29.188 --> 00:31:31.128
gonna get better. Yeah.

00:31:32.708 --> 00:31:36.088
You know, if they're physically active and just doing basic stuff, they're

00:31:36.128 --> 00:31:36.868
gonna get better.

00:31:37.268 --> 00:31:39.088
Um, and then I'm,

00:31:39.188 --> 00:31:39.828
I'm testing

00:31:40.208 --> 00:31:44.268
stuff with these kids. So, you know, whether it's the... You know, I do the six-rep,

00:31:44.548 --> 00:31:46.988
uh, test on the leg

00:31:47.068 --> 00:31:50.068
press. I do the six-rep test on

00:31:50.148 --> 00:31:51.228
the, uh, calf

00:31:51.288 --> 00:31:55.308
machine. I do vertical jump, and then I do a triple

00:31:55.368 --> 00:31:57.108
jump, um,

00:31:57.248 --> 00:31:57.908
to see,

00:32:00.228 --> 00:32:07.058
okay, are those Keiser numbers improving? And then, okay, what is the carryover to these performance tests that I'm doing,

00:32:08.148 --> 00:32:09.038
and how are we moving

00:32:09.068 --> 00:32:11.028
that forward? So it's a

00:32:11.108 --> 00:32:11.548
test,

00:32:12.268 --> 00:32:17.288
train, train, retest. It's this constant movement of,

00:32:18.528 --> 00:32:20.098
you know, testing, retesting,

00:32:20.228 --> 00:32:26.048
training, and are we getting better, are we not? What's going on here? Um, so...

00:32:26.558 --> 00:32:33.088
And that's why I track everything. So every leg press session that I've had since last August, I have

00:32:33.148 --> 00:32:37.058
the top peak power for every athlete. Um,

00:32:37.948 --> 00:32:43.048
and so then I can chart it to see how it's going, and I have videos of them,

00:32:43.188 --> 00:32:46.248
so, you know, I can say, "Hey, here where we were eight months ago.

00:32:46.748 --> 00:32:48.028
Here's where you are now."

00:32:48.828 --> 00:32:49.128
Um,

00:32:49.688 --> 00:32:55.008
so there's a lot going on within the big picture that I drill down to the individual to show

00:32:55.068 --> 00:32:57.208
them, you know, how much improvement

00:32:57.248 --> 00:33:02.818
they're making. Yeah. You, you hit on so many good things there, and one of the things that we talked

00:33:02.828 --> 00:33:03.988
about before, or one of the things that

00:33:04.008 --> 00:33:09.088
you just said was, you know, is it intrinsic motivation? Is it extrinsic? And we talked about

00:33:10.188 --> 00:33:10.268
the

00:33:10.368 --> 00:33:16.508
athletes, none of it being mandatory, so they're making decisions to be there. So now you're talking about layering in

00:33:16.548 --> 00:33:22.168
objective data on top of that. So now you're showing improvement. So talk about the impact that that

00:33:22.228 --> 00:33:22.948
has with your

00:33:23.028 --> 00:33:23.388
test,

00:33:24.148 --> 00:33:26.168
train, and retest,

00:33:26.588 --> 00:33:27.048
the impact

00:33:27.088 --> 00:33:29.268
that that has on that athlete buy-in.

00:33:29.328 --> 00:33:33.538
I mean, it, it... Kids love to see that they're getting better. Anyone loves to see that they're actually getting

00:33:33.548 --> 00:33:38.328
better. What's the impact of that? Oh, it's... Man.

00:33:39.548 --> 00:33:40.088
Yeah. I mean,

00:33:40.168 --> 00:33:47.868
it's, it's priceless. Like, you can't even really put a number on it because, you know, say you have... Because

00:33:47.908 --> 00:33:51.728
our first test day was the 13th of November, 2023,

00:33:52.828 --> 00:33:55.048
and, um, so, you know, you kind of see that

00:33:55.108 --> 00:34:00.978
baseline. And then these kids start working towards the next test, and then so now it's

00:34:01.088 --> 00:34:07.028
like, "Okay, man, I'm, I'm coming in today because I wanna get better for tomorrow because in

00:34:07.068 --> 00:34:09.088
three to four weeks I know we're gonna be testing."

00:34:09.928 --> 00:34:10.188
Um,

00:34:10.388 --> 00:34:13.888
you know, the subjective feedback you get from the kids

00:34:14.007 --> 00:34:17.208
of, "Man, I've never felt like this, like,

00:34:17.588 --> 00:34:17.967
ever."

00:34:18.987 --> 00:34:21.967
You watch them on video, you show it to them, they're like,

00:34:22.228 --> 00:34:25.947
"Oh, man. Like, I actually felt athletic on that rep,"

00:34:26.047 --> 00:34:27.208
you know? And

00:34:28.368 --> 00:34:28.447
so

00:34:28.527 --> 00:34:35.628
then the, you know, the culture becomes like this internal thing that is building within this day-to-day activity

00:34:36.308 --> 00:34:40.108
that is the individual driving it themselves. It's

00:34:40.188 --> 00:34:40.648
not me,

00:34:41.108 --> 00:34:43.047
like you just said, making them be

00:34:43.128 --> 00:34:48.288
there. And then they started to work collectively as a group to kind of push each other.

00:34:49.188 --> 00:34:49.527
Um,

00:34:50.128 --> 00:34:53.188
so they're not even talking about wins and losses. It's

00:34:54.206 --> 00:34:54.967
how can we get

00:34:55.068 --> 00:34:55.788
better as a,

00:34:56.228 --> 00:34:59.148
as a unit? And that's why, like,

00:35:00.188 --> 00:35:06.328
I don't really talk a lot during the training. I never yell at them unless it's, like, a safety issue.

00:35:07.288 --> 00:35:07.528
It's,

00:35:07.688 --> 00:35:13.097
um, it's this collaboration between us to, you know, for me to help them and then for them

00:35:13.108 --> 00:35:19.088
to help me, you know, get as much out of the whole program as we, as we can.

00:35:22.048 --> 00:35:24.148
Absolutely. And I, I, I...

00:35:24.148 --> 00:35:28.048
If somebody were to watch, you know, some of the things that you share on social media, too,

00:35:28.988 --> 00:35:29.208
um,

00:35:30.668 --> 00:35:32.148
I think they would find things

00:35:32.208 --> 00:35:37.208
like crawling, like you talked about the gymnastics area, games, the incorporation

00:35:37.268 --> 00:35:45.528
of that. Mm-hmm. Um, and you talked about the impact that that had on long-term athletic development and enhancing movement

00:35:45.628 --> 00:35:53.088
literacy and increasing that movement library. Can you talk about when you started to really move towards that? Has that

00:35:53.168 --> 00:35:56.008
always been a part of, um, your training?

00:35:56.708 --> 00:35:56.968
Yeah.

00:35:57.328 --> 00:35:57.428
So

00:35:57.508 --> 00:36:01.148
the, you know, the gymnastics started early on.

00:36:02.408 --> 00:36:02.808
Yeah.

00:36:03.788 --> 00:36:07.068
Yeah. So one of my mentors, Val Nasedkin,

00:36:07.248 --> 00:36:07.868
who was,

00:36:08.248 --> 00:36:11.328
um... You know, for those that don't know Val, he started Omega

00:36:11.388 --> 00:36:13.188
Wave, um,

00:36:13.668 --> 00:36:19.278
back in the late '90s, and then prior to that, he was the Ukrainian national track and field coach. And,

00:36:19.708 --> 00:36:21.468
like, he was one of my early,

00:36:22.248 --> 00:36:29.028
you know, influences, like big time. And, you know, that's where I started learning about, you know, how the

00:36:29.088 --> 00:36:32.008
Russians incorporated, you know, gymnastics with the

00:36:32.048 --> 00:36:37.628
younger kids. So, you know, when I started my training facility in 2004,

00:36:38.188 --> 00:36:42.168
like, from day one, we started doing gymnasticsSo,

00:36:42.228 --> 00:36:49.008
and then one of my interns who came from Illinois State that, you know, Landon Evans recommended

00:36:49.108 --> 00:36:53.368
come to me was a gentleman by the name of Chris Carter,

00:36:54.368 --> 00:36:54.488
and

00:36:54.528 --> 00:36:57.128
Chris I think is still at Illinois State,

00:36:57.288 --> 00:36:59.908
I think. But, so Chris was a,

00:37:00.028 --> 00:37:00.328
um,

00:37:02.268 --> 00:37:05.388
um, he was on the cheerleading

00:37:05.508 --> 00:37:06.828
team, I think, at,

00:37:07.068 --> 00:37:10.988
uh, Illinois State, or gymnastics, and he had this

00:37:11.028 --> 00:37:15.488
background. So for two or three months as my intern,

00:37:16.048 --> 00:37:17.048
like, I had a built-in

00:37:17.168 --> 00:37:22.328
coach already that could teach these kids and show them how to do these things.

00:37:22.548 --> 00:37:28.128
And, you know, for me being curious and watching Chris work with these kids, it's like, oh, my God,

00:37:28.228 --> 00:37:32.448
like, they were engaged, they loved it, they loved the improvement.

00:37:33.148 --> 00:37:33.568
So

00:37:34.428 --> 00:37:36.188
right away I could tell that there was a huge

00:37:36.228 --> 00:37:41.028
value to it, um, from them learning these things and learning how to,

00:37:41.828 --> 00:37:43.048
you know, move their body.

00:37:44.068 --> 00:37:49.468
And then the games started when I moved to a bigger facility, like, we were playing team handball inside,

00:37:50.308 --> 00:37:53.008
uh, we were playing ultimate football inside, we were playing

00:37:53.088 --> 00:37:56.138
tag. So all these things at the beginning

00:37:56.728 --> 00:37:58.998
of the training, like, games was a big part of

00:37:59.048 --> 00:38:03.188
it. In fact, all post games on social media that we're playing now,

00:38:03.688 --> 00:38:08.268
all the old athletes say, "Oh, yeah, man, I remember when we used to play team handball,

00:38:08.308 --> 00:38:12.228
and, you know, so-and-so scored on me." And, and,

00:38:12.568 --> 00:38:15.208
you know, when we started playing the games, I knew right away,

00:38:16.028 --> 00:38:22.148
you know, and which kid doesn't want to play a game that it was gonna be successful?

00:38:22.328 --> 00:38:25.948
And I think coaches get stuck in

00:38:26.008 --> 00:38:32.088
these pre-programmed, you know, warm-ups per se that, you know, I've got to do high knees and butt

00:38:32.188 --> 00:38:35.448
kickers and all of these things to get warm.

00:38:35.808 --> 00:38:37.068
And, you know, maybe at certain

00:38:37.428 --> 00:38:39.608
times it's warranted,

00:38:40.528 --> 00:38:45.958
and maybe, you know, I don't think it's a bad thing, but I think there's other avenues that can

00:38:46.008 --> 00:38:54.988
get the kids warmed up and engaged and smiling that are far more or, or better than some of these

00:38:55.008 --> 00:38:57.088
redundant drills where

00:38:57.808 --> 00:39:01.228
you have to stay in a straight line and do 10 yards

00:39:01.288 --> 00:39:06.028
all the time. Yeah. I mean, I, I think back to some of the coaches that I had, uh,

00:39:06.048 --> 00:39:10.668
either worked for or with. We had Coach Rus at the University of Texas who was a master of the

00:39:10.728 --> 00:39:16.208
warm-up. If you were to walk into the weight room there of basketball players, you would see crouching, throwing, wheelbarrows,

00:39:16.508 --> 00:39:21.958
uh, monkey bars, um, which made it really engaging for the session. And then when I was at University of

00:39:21.958 --> 00:39:24.008
Illinois Chicago with Nick Vastatos and Eric

00:39:24.088 --> 00:39:26.968
Guthrie, you know, the amount of games- Oh ... that were being played

00:39:27.008 --> 00:39:29.208
with athletes early on,

00:39:29.628 --> 00:39:32.968
you know, prior to the training session, and, and it really opened my eyes to kind

00:39:33.008 --> 00:39:37.138
of what I could be doing and it, it made me rethink what I was doing. And I immediately went

00:39:37.168 --> 00:39:39.418
to the gymnastics room, I pulled

00:39:40.088 --> 00:39:40.508
mats

00:39:40.828 --> 00:39:42.108
into the basketball court

00:39:42.908 --> 00:39:44.108
so that those could stay

00:39:44.208 --> 00:39:47.008
there permanently. So over time,

00:39:47.568 --> 00:39:49.108
guys would just walk in from the locker

00:39:49.148 --> 00:39:54.188
room, start stretching, start tumbling, and they started to do it on their own, and it was this evolution. But

00:39:54.228 --> 00:39:58.798
it brings you back to that, like, uh, walking in from recess high that you get,

00:39:59.088 --> 00:40:00.268
you know, as a kid where- Right,

00:40:00.268 --> 00:40:04.118
right ... like, man, is it over? Or, or it was almost like they wish they could keep

00:40:04.148 --> 00:40:04.968
playing before they had to

00:40:05.008 --> 00:40:10.048
go lift. Um, so talk about, um, getting athletes engaged with

00:40:10.128 --> 00:40:11.088
training. I mean,

00:40:11.468 --> 00:40:14.168
what a, what a weapon that is in terms of the games.

00:40:14.288 --> 00:40:19.988
So, you know, appreciate you sharing with that, and I imagine kids get really, really excited. "Hey, can we..."

00:40:20.028 --> 00:40:21.018
The best part as a coach is

00:40:21.068 --> 00:40:22.098
like, "Hey, can we play that

00:40:22.488 --> 00:40:22.608
game

00:40:22.648 --> 00:40:23.988
again?" Right? "Can we do

00:40:24.048 --> 00:40:26.328
that again?" Oh, yeah. Absolutely.

00:40:26.948 --> 00:40:27.557
Absolutely.

00:40:28.648 --> 00:40:28.788
Um,

00:40:29.328 --> 00:40:33.968
and then earlier you also hit on just the lack of work capacity, I think,

00:40:34.028 --> 00:40:36.168
that you see from a lot of athletes at a young age.

00:40:36.568 --> 00:40:36.788
Um,

00:40:37.188 --> 00:40:40.138
you know, as you zoom out and you look at this spectrum of development, you understand there's

00:40:40.208 --> 00:40:44.828
a really long way for them to go, and I think it's important also to, to hit on that you

00:40:44.848 --> 00:40:48.988
understand, like, you have this seventh grade

00:40:49.048 --> 00:40:53.768
transformation to, to senior year of high school, but this is just the beginning, like you mentioned cradle to grave.

00:40:53.828 --> 00:40:58.048
Like, this is just the beginning of this long-term athletic development. But, but focusing on where you're at

00:40:58.108 --> 00:40:59.208
when you first get athletes.

00:40:59.788 --> 00:41:02.328
Uh-huh. I see you also, I see you also share videos

00:41:02.428 --> 00:41:02.608
on

00:41:04.028 --> 00:41:08.148
the less interesting stuff to some people in strength and conditioning, which is

00:41:08.208 --> 00:41:13.108
running outside, like, building work capacity. Yeah. Can you tell me the value that that has in your programming

00:41:13.168 --> 00:41:19.178
and, and your training? Yeah. So, I mean, sport, especially, like, these team sports,

00:41:19.268 --> 00:41:21.088
like, you need to

00:41:21.148 --> 00:41:21.508
have,

00:41:22.068 --> 00:41:24.028
you know, aerobic capacity

00:41:24.128 --> 00:41:24.968
to, you

00:41:25.008 --> 00:41:29.248
know, repeat, you know, speed and strength and all the way, you know, through,

00:41:30.008 --> 00:41:31.148
you know, a 60, 90-minute

00:41:31.268 --> 00:41:31.788
game.

00:41:32.168 --> 00:41:34.988
And if these kids are practicing

00:41:35.048 --> 00:41:39.108
all the time, that... where it's controlled by a coach,

00:41:39.808 --> 00:41:42.408
if you watch a baseball practice, for example,

00:41:43.368 --> 00:41:48.328
or even a football practice, like, you know, there's a lot of standing around. And if you're standing

00:41:48.388 --> 00:41:50.028
around a lot starting at eight years

00:41:50.088 --> 00:41:52.968
old, now you have limited recess

00:41:53.048 --> 00:41:59.248
time. The way neighborhoods and, and people kind of control the play of young kids,

00:42:00.108 --> 00:42:07.168
they're not out there for three or four hours a night because of heavy workloads on school

00:42:07.908 --> 00:42:08.948
plus practice.

00:42:09.068 --> 00:42:09.428
So,

00:42:10.388 --> 00:42:11.908
you know, when I was

00:42:12.128 --> 00:42:16.388
younger, say I was getting 15 hours a week of, of free play,

00:42:17.028 --> 00:42:19.248
now these kids maybe get, you know, an hour

00:42:19.288 --> 00:42:28.808
or two. So getting them outside, getting them running, getting them active with these things, I mean, I think is

00:42:28.828 --> 00:42:33.408
extremely important. It goes back to, and as they get older,

00:42:34.408 --> 00:42:36.208
like, these, you know, fixed patterns,

00:42:36.608 --> 00:42:36.828
you know,

00:42:37.068 --> 00:42:39.048
say linear, you know, running all the

00:42:39.108 --> 00:42:47.568
time. So we will do tempo runs doing karaoke for 25 yards, running backwards for 25 yards, doing, you know,

00:42:47.688 --> 00:42:48.068
snake

00:42:48.148 --> 00:42:52.288
runs. Like, all of these things to get them out of these, you know, fixed

00:42:52.588 --> 00:42:53.128
things that they're

00:42:53.188 --> 00:43:00.080
always in. COVID really shed a light with me on-You know, how restrictive that was with these

00:43:00.140 --> 00:43:02.160
young kids. Um,

00:43:02.340 --> 00:43:06.940
so, you know, our motto at the school is, you know, there's no

00:43:07.080 --> 00:43:08.920
bad weather, you only have bad

00:43:09.000 --> 00:43:13.740
clothing. So, you know, we train outside

00:43:14.720 --> 00:43:18.200
unless it's just, like, you know, lightning chance of,

00:43:18.220 --> 00:43:23.120
you know, hitting them. 'Cause I think it's important that they learn how to struggle with the elements,

00:43:23.460 --> 00:43:23.780
um,

00:43:24.680 --> 00:43:26.190
'cause, you know, lacrosse,

00:43:26.500 --> 00:43:32.600
baseball to a, a certain extent, obviously football, like, they're played in harsh environments sometimes,

00:43:33.520 --> 00:43:33.980
so you need to

00:43:34.020 --> 00:43:36.000
under- you, you need to be out there in

00:43:36.020 --> 00:43:42.920
the elements and, and learn to, you know, thrive in those, you know, situations. And the only way, like we

00:43:42.960 --> 00:43:48.120
were talking about earlier about leadership, like, the only way that you do that is to have exposure

00:43:48.180 --> 00:43:48.520
to it.

00:43:49.640 --> 00:43:51.060
So... And,

00:43:51.720 --> 00:43:55.980
you know, we had a couple years ago where it was snowing, and the kids were outside doing

00:43:56.020 --> 00:43:57.180
the tempo runs,

00:43:57.220 --> 00:44:00.980
and, you know, some were doing, you know, it, shirtless

00:44:01.220 --> 00:44:02.900
and, you know,

00:44:03.020 --> 00:44:03.980
so, you know, they were

00:44:04.000 --> 00:44:05.900
embracing, you know,

00:44:06.040 --> 00:44:08.360
these, these things. And

00:44:09.500 --> 00:44:12.020
that's what you want, 'cause when they get older, you know,

00:44:12.280 --> 00:44:15.980
"Hey, I used to do this outside when I was in high school, so I'm gonna go run

00:44:16.000 --> 00:44:23.560
in the rain" and, you know, these... There's, there's not these restrictions on, "I have to be in the perfect

00:44:23.660 --> 00:44:25.190
setting to do anything,"

00:44:25.500 --> 00:44:26.120
'cause life

00:44:26.160 --> 00:44:28.320
isn't like that. Um,

00:44:29.340 --> 00:44:33.140
and that stuff is hard from a discipline standpoint. Can they do it? Do they

00:44:33.200 --> 00:44:39.380
wanna do it? I mean, we do a lot of the Dan Pfaff, like pedestal and, and pillar general strength

00:44:39.440 --> 00:44:43.000
circuits, which, I mean, you try to do pedestal and

00:44:43.060 --> 00:44:46.100
that's, that will humble anybody,

00:44:46.860 --> 00:44:48.990
and that shows me a lot where

00:44:49.040 --> 00:44:54.880
kids are like, "Yeah, man, I, I lift weights all the time," but then they can't do, you know, basic,

00:44:54.920 --> 00:44:56.000
you know, body weight

00:44:56.060 --> 00:45:03.020
movements. So even those things show me a lot about the athlete, especially the ones

00:45:03.060 --> 00:45:05.380
that wanna go on. It's like, "Okay,

00:45:05.739 --> 00:45:06.080
you think

00:45:06.140 --> 00:45:08.239
you work hard, but

00:45:08.820 --> 00:45:10.070
to be great, man, you're gonna have

00:45:10.100 --> 00:45:12.020
to do a lot more, and here's what you're

00:45:12.040 --> 00:45:16.900
gonna have to do, and you have to do the things that you don't like sometimes. That's just the way

00:45:16.940 --> 00:45:17.400
it goes."

00:45:18.460 --> 00:45:20.020
You know, right now there's a,

00:45:21.060 --> 00:45:21.260
um...

00:45:21.580 --> 00:45:25.020
On social media, there's people downplay the aerobic

00:45:25.120 --> 00:45:29.960
system and, you know, "Hey, w- our kids don't have to run. All we're cared about

00:45:30.040 --> 00:45:30.780
is, you know,

00:45:31.020 --> 00:45:34.280
speed," and which, I mean, yeah, speed's important,

00:45:34.980 --> 00:45:38.500
but the way I look at that running stuff, those general circuits

00:45:38.560 --> 00:45:40.160
and, you know, Landon,

00:45:40.780 --> 00:45:44.960
who, you know, was a, a real mentor to me, coined a phrase like

00:45:45.180 --> 00:45:45.940
zone zero,

00:45:46.520 --> 00:45:52.360
which is, like, this really easy work to help the tissues and to, you know, build these,

00:45:52.420 --> 00:45:56.000
you know, aerobic capacities. And it helps

00:45:56.060 --> 00:45:58.050
with the a- with the autonomic nervous

00:45:58.120 --> 00:46:06.650
system, too, um, so the, you know, parasympathetic and, and, and sympathetic, and it helps the kids recover better, and

00:46:06.680 --> 00:46:11.000
it builds so if they recover and are sleeping better, then the training's gonna

00:46:11.040 --> 00:46:16.980
be better. And then, you know, looking at the athlete from a holistic point of view

00:46:17.080 --> 00:46:19.430
of if they're healthy

00:46:20.120 --> 00:46:22.980
and they have a good mental outlook on these things, they're gonna

00:46:23.000 --> 00:46:29.360
perform better. So I look at that stuff as from a physiological

00:46:29.720 --> 00:46:32.900
standpoint to help them recover better as well on

00:46:33.000 --> 00:46:36.100
top of the, you know, performance gains that you get from it.

00:46:37.140 --> 00:46:38.100
Cool. I appreciate you

00:46:38.400 --> 00:46:39.020
sharing that, and

00:46:39.080 --> 00:46:43.370
I think, as I mentioned earlier, one of the things that you do a really great job of is saying,

00:46:43.420 --> 00:46:44.029
"Hey, here's

00:46:44.080 --> 00:46:45.200
what we do. Here's

00:46:45.240 --> 00:46:46.980
why we're doing it." Um, so

00:46:47.060 --> 00:46:52.550
thank you for that. One of the things that I'm curious about is the relationship with the athletic department,

00:46:53.100 --> 00:46:55.160
other areas and support staff and,

00:46:55.540 --> 00:46:56.220
uh, you know, athletic

00:46:56.280 --> 00:46:58.100
director. Can you talk a little

00:46:58.140 --> 00:47:04.950
bit about those relationships and how that's evolved since when you first got there until now and,

00:47:05.000 --> 00:47:09.140
and how you've been able to advocate for strength and conditioning. and find s- find support?

00:47:11.420 --> 00:47:12.120
Yeah. So,

00:47:13.719 --> 00:47:15.020
and I'll kind of backtrack

00:47:15.060 --> 00:47:17.000
a little bit on how I got hired there.

00:47:17.140 --> 00:47:22.240
So when I was... I had my own training facility, I trained, um,

00:47:22.980 --> 00:47:25.320
our, our current head football coach's

00:47:25.440 --> 00:47:32.200
son, uh, Stevie Corey. And Stevie, um, got a preferred walk-on at Oregon State

00:47:32.680 --> 00:47:34.240
'cause his dad, Steve, played

00:47:34.300 --> 00:47:41.920
there, um, back in the, the mid-'70s. And so I, I got to train Stevie for about a year leading

00:47:42.000 --> 00:47:43.380
up to,

00:47:43.500 --> 00:47:49.100
um, that, um, that summer camp that he went there as a incoming freshman.

00:47:49.920 --> 00:47:59.010
Um, and so, you know, Stevie was running, like, a 4.65 when he came to me. Very athletic and

00:47:59.060 --> 00:48:00.220
a great football player.

00:48:00.440 --> 00:48:04.080
Um, and so when he went to s- summer ball,

00:48:04.840 --> 00:48:05.040
um,

00:48:05.540 --> 00:48:09.080
he ended up running the second fastest 40 there, Laser. He ran

00:48:09.120 --> 00:48:10.380
a 4.39,

00:48:11.880 --> 00:48:12.540
and

00:48:12.980 --> 00:48:18.020
the only person that was faster than him was Brandon Cooks, who was a, you know, first-round draft

00:48:18.120 --> 00:48:19.200
choice in the NFL,

00:48:19.520 --> 00:48:20.060
you know, a couple

00:48:20.120 --> 00:48:25.140
years later. Mm. And so, you know, his dad saw what, you know, what we had done,

00:48:25.300 --> 00:48:27.200
w- w- what Stevie and I had done.

00:48:27.240 --> 00:48:29.060
And s- so

00:48:29.120 --> 00:48:31.400
Steve Corey, the head football

00:48:31.500 --> 00:48:34.040
coach, is the one that hired me,

00:48:34.380 --> 00:48:35.000
and,

00:48:36.580 --> 00:48:39.290
you know, him and I's relationship is

00:48:40.000 --> 00:48:45.220
I think what every strength and conditioning coach and sport coach, like, you would wanna have.

00:48:45.920 --> 00:48:47.600
Like, it's collaborative.

00:48:47.980 --> 00:48:51.280
You know, he lets me do what I, you know, do in the weight room.

00:48:51.920 --> 00:48:54.160
I communicate, you know, what we're doing

00:48:54.260 --> 00:48:57.020
there. Um, you know, we have a meeting,

00:48:57.340 --> 00:49:01.464
you know, probably once a week or once every couple weeks.Um,

00:49:02.164 --> 00:49:06.224
you know, any new equipment that I buy, and this really relates to Keiser,

00:49:07.124 --> 00:49:12.024
like he's been involved from, you know, the step one to, you know, the purchase of it.

00:49:12.784 --> 00:49:13.144
Um,

00:49:14.084 --> 00:49:15.044
you know, when the Keiser

00:49:15.164 --> 00:49:16.044
rep, um,

00:49:16.164 --> 00:49:18.004
Rick, came out, you know, with his

00:49:18.064 --> 00:49:22.404
truck, you know, Steve was involved in the meetings. He got on the equipment.

00:49:23.184 --> 00:49:23.524
Um,

00:49:24.664 --> 00:49:25.064
and

00:49:25.184 --> 00:49:27.124
so, you know,

00:49:27.304 --> 00:49:33.004
he's like... It's a, it's just a great relationship, and that- but that's grown over

00:49:33.043 --> 00:49:37.124
time. And, you know, this is our fourth year together,

00:49:37.384 --> 00:49:38.964
and I mean,

00:49:39.084 --> 00:49:46.784
I, I... There's just no other job at this point in my career that I would want based on that

00:49:46.804 --> 00:49:48.004
relationship that I have

00:49:48.024 --> 00:49:56.564
with him. And then that also led myself to develop a relationship with the athletic director as well, uh, Chris

00:49:56.604 --> 00:50:03.094
Coleman, um, because y- you know, you need everybody to be involved in, in the decision-making process and,

00:50:03.124 --> 00:50:07.964
and what you're doing. And even though I may think it's, you know, the greatest idea

00:50:08.004 --> 00:50:11.044
in the world, it doesn't mean that they're gonna

00:50:11.084 --> 00:50:11.463
do it.

00:50:12.264 --> 00:50:16.214
And, you know, and I think that's where my business background helps

00:50:16.324 --> 00:50:17.804
me kind of,

00:50:18.024 --> 00:50:19.344
you know, having

00:50:19.924 --> 00:50:22.984
an understanding of, you know, the politics of it

00:50:23.044 --> 00:50:27.004
per se. So then I'm, I'm very upfront with them on why

00:50:27.044 --> 00:50:27.744
we're doing it,

00:50:28.184 --> 00:50:31.004
you know, provide them with a little bit of science

00:50:31.104 --> 00:50:38.664
sometimes, how it's gonna help the entire population of the school, not just the athletic population.

00:50:39.544 --> 00:50:45.104
So how can it help the PE classes and, you know, how can getting Keiser in help with our

00:50:45.204 --> 00:50:50.124
safety and compliance and, you know, the engagement with

00:50:50.164 --> 00:50:50.954
the, with the

00:50:51.044 --> 00:50:56.094
students? So it's not just an athlete, um, purchase that

00:50:56.104 --> 00:51:01.024
we're making, it's a student purchase that we're making, and here are the reasons

00:51:01.084 --> 00:51:03.164
why I think it's a good idea.

00:51:04.584 --> 00:51:04.804
Um,

00:51:05.224 --> 00:51:09.084
so, you know, and, and those relationships over time, and it's a very give and take,

00:51:09.284 --> 00:51:10.964
and, you know, you

00:51:11.043 --> 00:51:11.323
can't,

00:51:12.184 --> 00:51:19.784
um, you know, bully them into getting stuff done. You have to realize that some of your ideas just, you

00:51:19.824 --> 00:51:23.014
know, they're just not gonna happen all the time, and I'm totally fine

00:51:23.044 --> 00:51:28.773
with that. It's so important and critical to have buy-in, not just from the athletes like we discussed earlier, but

00:51:28.784 --> 00:51:33.174
from everybody that's involved. Because at the end of the day, everybody has an impact, academics,

00:51:33.704 --> 00:51:41.424
athletic department, support staff. Everybody is there at the high school level really for the development of these kids.

00:51:41.524 --> 00:51:44.204
Um, so that's big to have everybody on the same page, and I believe

00:51:45.044 --> 00:51:49.134
it's probably why it works really well and why you reflect on this and say, "There's nowhere

00:51:49.164 --> 00:51:52.084
else I really wanna be because the situation is right."

00:51:53.404 --> 00:51:56.384
Yeah. And I have a really good relationship too with our athletic

00:51:56.464 --> 00:51:56.884
trainer,

00:51:58.064 --> 00:52:00.064
um, Don Lee,

00:52:00.484 --> 00:52:01.024
and

00:52:01.804 --> 00:52:05.004
so we started tracking injuries on all sports like

00:52:05.584 --> 00:52:06.064
three years

00:52:06.124 --> 00:52:10.884
ago, you know, whether it be out of season, in the season. And

00:52:11.024 --> 00:52:17.124
so, and now we use Healthy Roster to, you know, put all, you know, injuries and return to play

00:52:17.304 --> 00:52:17.404
and

00:52:17.424 --> 00:52:21.964
all that. And I think that's another thing where strength and conditioning has really

00:52:22.044 --> 00:52:28.044
helped. Like, you know, I have the story internally on the performance side on how it's doing, but then

00:52:28.144 --> 00:52:34.524
also now, okay, here were the injuries that we had. You know, are we making... Are we trying to make

00:52:34.564 --> 00:52:38.174
an impact with the athlete? Like, okay, you got injured

00:52:38.224 --> 00:52:42.384
this year. How many training sessions were you there for?

00:52:43.504 --> 00:52:46.044
You know, again, not that it's mandatory, but hey, in the

00:52:46.124 --> 00:52:49.704
future, hey, maybe if you came more frequently,

00:52:50.584 --> 00:52:52.064
the opportunity to

00:52:52.744 --> 00:52:54.844
be better, better physically prepared

00:52:55.104 --> 00:53:02.364
might lower the risk of, you know, injury. So then you start providing the athletic department

00:53:02.444 --> 00:53:02.684
with

00:53:03.344 --> 00:53:09.684
data. You start providing the athlete and the sport coach with data, and then myself kind of understanding

00:53:11.044 --> 00:53:12.164
the injuries.

00:53:12.984 --> 00:53:18.944
And so then collectively you're, you're working again to this athlete-centered approach

00:53:19.024 --> 00:53:21.144
to help them. And,

00:53:21.784 --> 00:53:25.184
you know, it's one thing to say, "Oh yeah, man, our injuries were low last year."

00:53:25.564 --> 00:53:26.084
Okay. Well,

00:53:26.564 --> 00:53:29.024
hey, we can show that you had, you know, four ankle

00:53:29.384 --> 00:53:30.084
sprains and all

00:53:30.124 --> 00:53:32.364
this to say, "Here were our injuries.

00:53:32.724 --> 00:53:34.164
Here's where we see the risk coming

00:53:34.264 --> 00:53:36.244
up, and here's how we're gonna address

00:53:36.304 --> 00:53:38.104
it." So

00:53:39.044 --> 00:53:39.084
I

00:53:39.144 --> 00:53:42.024
think that- Yeah ... 'cause like Chris Coleman is...

00:53:42.334 --> 00:53:47.003
He, he's on the younger side. I think he... He's our athletic director. I think, you know, mid-30s.

00:53:47.144 --> 00:53:50.174
So, you know, he's, he, he, he grew up in this

00:53:50.204 --> 00:53:54.004
data culture, you know, and so,

00:53:55.164 --> 00:53:57.324
like, you have to under- It's just like athletes,

00:53:57.384 --> 00:54:03.584
like you have to understand your audience and how you're going to, you know, put the case in front of

00:54:03.684 --> 00:54:09.104
you that, "Hey, we need this piece of equipment," or, "We need to change things internally from

00:54:10.204 --> 00:54:13.424
a, from a, um, standpoint

00:54:13.504 --> 00:54:19.574
of this is what we need to do." What I'm hearing from you is you have these just kind of

00:54:19.624 --> 00:54:23.134
simple solutions, things like TrueCoach, things like Healthy

00:54:23.204 --> 00:54:26.344
Roster, simple ways to incorporate

00:54:26.404 --> 00:54:31.284
data that makes everybody's lives a little bit easier and

00:54:31.704 --> 00:54:32.164
allows

00:54:32.224 --> 00:54:38.844
you to not just say, "Yeah, we're getting better," and, "Oh yeah, we're having less injuries and, and people are

00:54:38.864 --> 00:54:42.364
getting stronger," but actually showing improvement

00:54:43.444 --> 00:54:47.384
and leveraging objective data to kind of simplify everything.

00:54:48.104 --> 00:54:48.224
So

00:54:48.604 --> 00:54:52.964
the way I started in this business, like in '03, like I was maybe the second or

00:54:53.044 --> 00:54:55.424
third person in the US to get OmegaWave.

00:54:56.104 --> 00:55:00.044
So that's how I started, like we were collecting data on all the athletes that,

00:55:00.084 --> 00:55:03.088
you know, came in our facility.Um,

00:55:03.728 --> 00:55:04.408
and then,

00:55:04.728 --> 00:55:09.327
you know, we started tracking vertical jump. And so I started tracking stuff

00:55:10.128 --> 00:55:11.148
from the get-go.

00:55:12.148 --> 00:55:14.028
And then, you know, I was fortunate to,

00:55:14.428 --> 00:55:14.488
you

00:55:14.528 --> 00:55:18.487
know, develop a relationship early on with Landon,

00:55:19.968 --> 00:55:20.728
and,

00:55:21.588 --> 00:55:26.078
you know, just kind of the way that he thought about training,

00:55:27.008 --> 00:55:28.188
collection of data,

00:55:28.888 --> 00:55:30.168
how to use it.

00:55:31.168 --> 00:55:31.318
Um,

00:55:32.288 --> 00:55:33.028
and so-

00:55:34.188 --> 00:55:38.128
Yeah ... you know, through that relationship, and then when he worked with me, and then

00:55:38.788 --> 00:55:42.288
proceedingly after when he worked at Iowa, now with Kaiser,

00:55:43.128 --> 00:55:43.428
like,

00:55:43.828 --> 00:55:47.088
he keeps evolving with how he's doing stuff.

00:55:47.788 --> 00:55:49.868
I have a background with him on where

00:55:50.068 --> 00:55:54.968
I started, and so a lot of those basic principles that

00:55:55.008 --> 00:56:00.288
he taught me continue. I use them daily. I mean, you see them on social media.

00:56:01.048 --> 00:56:01.368
Um,

00:56:02.448 --> 00:56:02.988
and it's just

00:56:03.048 --> 00:56:05.268
like that's part of the routine.

00:56:06.188 --> 00:56:06.688
Um,

00:56:06.748 --> 00:56:06.928
like

00:56:07.228 --> 00:56:13.108
I, I sent him a message the other, other day' about, you know, the new 400

00:56:13.248 --> 00:56:15.028
series, and, you

00:56:15.088 --> 00:56:21.948
know, his question to me was, "Hey, I hate to be. a broken record, but, you know, why are

00:56:22.028 --> 00:56:24.068
you... What do you want from the data?

00:56:24.868 --> 00:56:25.008
You know,

00:56:25.108 --> 00:56:27.148
what are you wanting to learn?"

00:56:27.728 --> 00:56:28.168
And so,

00:56:29.348 --> 00:56:31.268
you know, these things that I incorporate,

00:56:31.768 --> 00:56:33.168
you know, all go back to

00:56:34.128 --> 00:56:37.948
can I use it to make, you know, effective,

00:56:38.348 --> 00:56:40.988
um, decisions, you know, for, the,

00:56:41.168 --> 00:56:46.108
for the athlete. And I think, you know, having, as, a coach, having a broad base of

00:56:46.768 --> 00:56:50.098
knowledge, not just on training, like, three sets of 10, but

00:56:50.588 --> 00:56:53.358
like you said earlier, Gabe, about these soft skills,

00:56:54.268 --> 00:56:56.268
like really understanding,

00:56:56.708 --> 00:56:56.988
um,

00:56:57.568 --> 00:57:05.008
that' it takes a big knowledge base of a lot of different things to, um, you' know, manage,

00:57:05.448 --> 00:57:06.388
you know, athletes

00:57:06.508 --> 00:57:06.738
and,

00:57:07.148 --> 00:57:15.248
and help them. Yeah. I think you have this appreciation and this overarching appreciation for where you're at and who

00:57:15.328 --> 00:57:21.578
you're working with and where they're going. And then, you know, from the soft side, from the development, from what

00:57:21.608 --> 00:57:25.178
we talked about, the, the personal side of things, leadership opportunities,

00:57:25.848 --> 00:57:30.088
and then, combining all of that' with the objective side of things where you can track,

00:57:30.628 --> 00:57:31.028
measure,

00:57:31.208 --> 00:57:32.988
assess, test, train,

00:57:33.088 --> 00:57:39.138
reassess, and, having... Seeing the marriage in that, and doing all of those things concurrently and doing

00:57:39.168 --> 00:57:44.518
them really well, I think is awesome to see, and I think you've highlighted kind of how you've gone about

00:57:44.518 --> 00:57:51.308
that. As you reflect on your career and maybe look back at some of the mistakes you may have made

00:57:51.408 --> 00:57:55.068
or things that you thought, "Ugh, I can't believe I was doing that," is there anything that stands out

00:57:55.108 --> 00:57:55.328
to you?

00:58:00.188 --> 00:58:03.188
Good God. Oh, man. Where do I start?

00:58:03.288 --> 00:58:07.968
Um, yeah, I mean, at the beginning, like, when I started

00:58:08.128 --> 00:58:11.208
training, you know, athletes, it was,

00:58:12.748 --> 00:58:17.808
it was very copy and paste, and I don't know if that's how everybody starts, but... You know,

00:58:18.028 --> 00:58:22.388
so we took, uh, you know, Westside, you know, was our strength

00:58:22.448 --> 00:58:27.288
template, so, you know, bands and chains and, um,

00:58:29.608 --> 00:58:29.638
you

00:58:29.708 --> 00:58:35.168
know, a lot of the stuff that, that Louie was having, you know, the powerlifters do. Louie Simmons,

00:58:35.408 --> 00:58:40.757
you know- Mm-hmm ... for those people that don't know. Um, and, you know, on the flip side, man, Louie

00:58:40.828 --> 00:58:45.908
was such a huge influence to, I think, a lot of us early on because he was so

00:58:46.008 --> 00:58:50.418
open, and I don't know if that's where I get it, um, 'cause he shared everything.

00:58:50.908 --> 00:58:53.028
Like, he was an open book.

00:58:53.588 --> 00:58:53.958
And,

00:58:54.688 --> 00:58:54.988
you know, the

00:58:55.028 --> 00:59:01.248
Elite Fitness group that I was part of early on, where I was writing on their blog and everything, like,

00:59:01.308 --> 00:59:08.248
that's how I kind of developed this openness. So, you know, we had Westside there. You know, the speed template

00:59:08.408 --> 00:59:11.168
was, um, you know, Charlie Francis,

00:59:12.148 --> 00:59:16.208
um, you know, with the, you know, and then the endurance on the tempo runs. And,

00:59:16.248 --> 00:59:21.628
and, you know, probably at the beginning, I wasn't really thinking for myself or the athlete. I was just, you

00:59:21.668 --> 00:59:23.128
know, taking this stuff and,

00:59:23.768 --> 00:59:23.928
you know,

00:59:24.088 --> 00:59:29.108
plugging it in. And, you know, at the beginning, you know, there was... W- we probably

00:59:29.148 --> 00:59:29.527
had, uh,

00:59:30.208 --> 00:59:30.848
too much in,

00:59:31.228 --> 00:59:32.948
you know, influence on the strength

00:59:33.028 --> 00:59:33.368
side,

00:59:34.448 --> 00:59:36.228
um, I would say.

00:59:36.728 --> 00:59:36.988
Um,

00:59:37.848 --> 00:59:42.308
even though we were doing gymnastics and things like that, it was still predominantly strength,

00:59:42.888 --> 00:59:44.028
but the kids got better.

00:59:44.468 --> 00:59:44.808
Um,

00:59:45.668 --> 00:59:46.338
but then,

00:59:47.208 --> 00:59:51.308
you know, as I got older and got more exposure to people,

00:59:52.348 --> 00:59:52.728
um,

00:59:53.168 --> 00:59:54.268
you know, you kind of learn

00:59:54.278 --> 01:00:01.888
that, you know, everybody's an individual and, you know, learning that art of,

01:00:02.048 --> 01:00:04.968
um, creating training based

01:00:05.028 --> 01:00:07.058
on those now

01:00:07.388 --> 01:00:13.108
subjective or, excuse me, objective testing that you're doing to maybe build a more holistic

01:00:13.788 --> 01:00:15.108
training for the,

01:00:15.148 --> 01:00:15.888
for the athlete.

01:00:16.408 --> 01:00:22.188
You know, the, the podcast that you and Ty had with, you know, Randy Huntington,

01:00:22.308 --> 01:00:25.008
um, and just, you know, how long he's been

01:00:25.048 --> 01:00:29.048
doing it and, you know, his journey and listening to, to

01:00:29.148 --> 01:00:31.028
him. And, and so

01:00:32.048 --> 01:00:33.208
I, I also think...

01:00:33.278 --> 01:00:35.248
And that's, you know, one thing I was gonna say,

01:00:35.368 --> 01:00:38.208
like, I think having people like Randy,

01:00:38.808 --> 01:00:41.028
these, these coaches that are,

01:00:41.648 --> 01:00:46.188
have been so influential to a lot of people, but maybe a lot of people didn't know about

01:00:46.248 --> 01:00:49.078
them, you know, it's almost like that,

01:00:49.588 --> 01:00:50.948
and I'll use a food analogy

01:00:51.028 --> 01:00:55.148
here, you know, like that your, your favorite restaurant that you don't want anybody

01:00:55.188 --> 01:00:57.328
to know about. Um,

01:00:58.048 --> 01:00:58.608
and,

01:00:59.488 --> 01:00:59.528
you

01:00:59.568 --> 01:01:07.217
know, so I think the history of what we do-Whether it be from Burka Chansky through, you know, people

01:01:07.608 --> 01:01:08.388
like Randy,

01:01:08.668 --> 01:01:09.998
um, you know, other great

01:01:10.108 --> 01:01:10.908
coaches.

01:01:12.028 --> 01:01:17.008
I think the more that we can learn from what they did and the mistakes that they made, but

01:01:17.048 --> 01:01:19.008
then how they had this great success

01:01:19.068 --> 01:01:23.978
and how they thought about things, I think lends itself for us as the younger

01:01:24.088 --> 01:01:29.078
generation to, you know, just continue to learn from, from

01:01:29.128 --> 01:01:30.408
their, you know, wisdom

01:01:30.808 --> 01:01:31.118
and

01:01:31.128 --> 01:01:31.627
knowledge.

01:01:32.748 --> 01:01:32.988
Um,

01:01:33.488 --> 01:01:37.148
so that's just kind of my two cents there on, on that

01:01:37.248 --> 01:01:37.548
stuff.

01:01:39.668 --> 01:01:44.248
Totally. I have a question that kind of just popped in my head that I was curious about,

01:01:44.308 --> 01:01:46.088
and, and we're living in this age of

01:01:46.708 --> 01:01:48.048
gratification, but also

01:01:48.508 --> 01:01:48.988
an age

01:01:49.128 --> 01:01:58.148
of, uh, big changes happening in collegiate sports, in the landscape of collegiate sports with athletes. Have you felt or

01:01:58.228 --> 01:02:06.088
seen any impact at all or changes to high school athletics at all with the impact of NIL?

01:02:06.148 --> 01:02:11.198
Has that changed and had an impact on you at all or your operations or conversations that you're having with

01:02:11.228 --> 01:02:13.068
parents, student athletes and, and so

01:02:13.148 --> 01:02:13.328
on?

01:02:15.048 --> 01:02:20.108
Yeah. I mean, that's a, that's a great question, I think very relevant

01:02:20.228 --> 01:02:22.128
in, in today's

01:02:22.268 --> 01:02:26.068
age. Kind of my like, you know, big view,

01:02:26.288 --> 01:02:29.168
and I'll, and I'll narrow it down here, is that,

01:02:29.828 --> 01:02:31.928
you know, I think the NIL for, for

01:02:32.068 --> 01:02:32.688
college,

01:02:33.068 --> 01:02:37.308
to me is a great thing for those kids,

01:02:37.668 --> 01:02:44.048
um, because of the amount of money that they bring into the university. Um, I just think

01:02:44.148 --> 01:02:45.148
there's a lot of pluses

01:02:45.208 --> 01:02:47.068
there for, for the athlete

01:02:48.328 --> 01:02:52.088
just based on the economics of it and what some of those schools bring

01:02:52.228 --> 01:02:54.468
in, you know, based on their performance.

01:02:55.748 --> 01:02:56.078
Now,

01:02:56.608 --> 01:02:59.118
with that said, it's changing things

01:02:59.188 --> 01:03:03.948
with the portal, with recruiting. I mean, you see it now with high school

01:03:04.068 --> 01:03:06.058
kids, like, you know, the ones that

01:03:06.608 --> 01:03:10.208
were being recruited. Like I had a kid who was, you know, being recruited

01:03:10.248 --> 01:03:16.108
by a couple, you know, mid-major schools for football. He's kind of hemming and hawing.

01:03:16.928 --> 01:03:19.988
He goes to the school and says, "Hey, I want to sign with you." They're like,

01:03:20.008 --> 01:03:21.018
"No, man, we went to the

01:03:21.048 --> 01:03:27.728
portal." You know, so these opportunities that may have been there three or four years ago, like if you don't

01:03:27.808 --> 01:03:32.388
jump on them, they could be gone because there's nine hundred kids in the portal.

01:03:33.648 --> 01:03:34.368
And

01:03:35.248 --> 01:03:38.288
so that's one thing, and then as it starts bleeding

01:03:38.348 --> 01:03:40.227
down, down into the high school

01:03:41.488 --> 01:03:41.938
realm,

01:03:43.008 --> 01:03:43.128
now

01:03:43.288 --> 01:03:47.388
you have a lot of kids that are moving schools to get more exposure.

01:03:49.788 --> 01:03:50.268
Um,

01:03:50.988 --> 01:03:54.928
and, you know, are other schools paying them? That I don't know. I don't know that at

01:03:55.008 --> 01:03:59.608
all. But now you're seeing businesses,

01:04:01.388 --> 01:04:07.048
you know, you're seeing training facilities that are giving NIL money to freshmen

01:04:07.068 --> 01:04:11.008
in high school, sophomores in high school. They're, they're going out

01:04:11.048 --> 01:04:12.998
on social media, and

01:04:13.008 --> 01:04:17.088
promoting this. And so I don't know how

01:04:17.808 --> 01:04:18.248
you'

01:04:18.768 --> 01:04:19.288
give,

01:04:19.808 --> 01:04:23.308
uh, a high school kid who's fourteen, fifteen years old

01:04:24.208 --> 01:04:25.988
this pressure of, "Okay, now

01:04:26.028 --> 01:04:29.408
I'm gonna pay you' NIL money

01:04:29.528 --> 01:04:29.868
or

01:04:30.208 --> 01:04:33.208
whatever," but they're promoting it as that

01:04:33.928 --> 01:04:38.348
to be a spokesperson for us. You know, "We're gonna use your image to

01:04:38.888 --> 01:04:40.328
promote our facility."

01:04:41.388 --> 01:04:42.008
Mm-hmm. And I

01:04:42.048 --> 01:04:47.028
don't think we know the, the psychological impact that that's gonna have on these

01:04:47.128 --> 01:04:48.288
kids, like

01:04:48.348 --> 01:04:51.108
at all. I don't think it's gonna be good.

01:04:51.828 --> 01:04:53.788
In, fact, I don't know if there's anything good

01:04:54.028 --> 01:04:56.288
about it, um,

01:04:56.748 --> 01:05:03.258
because then there's gonna be now this rush even earlier to specialize in a sport because

01:05:04.308 --> 01:05:04.498
they're

01:05:04.528 --> 01:05:05.917
getting all this

01:05:06.008 --> 01:05:08.308
money or exposure.

01:05:09.868 --> 01:05:10.328
Um,

01:05:10.408 --> 01:05:15.998
so, you know, you have a fifteen-year-old kid who's growing, going

01:05:16.008 --> 01:05:21.028
through puberty. Now you're putting this internal or external pressure on them to

01:05:21.088 --> 01:05:24.108
perform because they've signed a contract

01:05:24.128 --> 01:05:24.668
with you.

01:05:26.068 --> 01:05:28.048
Um, I,

01:05:28.608 --> 01:05:30.008
I think it's extremely

01:05:30.048 --> 01:05:33.248
irresponsible. But

01:05:33.328 --> 01:05:34.968
y- y- you know, I don't think it's gonna get

01:05:35.008 --> 01:05:40.688
better. I mean, we've had... I mean, you, you probably see it. There's probably eighth graders that are getting offered

01:05:40.748 --> 01:05:43.008
scholarships. Like,

01:05:43.488 --> 01:05:45.228
I don't know, I don't know how that's good.

01:05:45.768 --> 01:05:46.088
So

01:05:46.868 --> 01:05:48.068
the way I communicate it

01:05:48.108 --> 01:05:53.228
with the kids, and again, we don't have anybody that's getting paid that type of money,

01:05:53.528 --> 01:05:57.118
but it's like you just have to love the process,

01:05:58.468 --> 01:05:59.158
and

01:06:00.308 --> 01:06:01.168
you have to enjoy

01:06:01.248 --> 01:06:03.188
it, and you have to also

01:06:03.248 --> 01:06:05.068
plan that maybe you get

01:06:05.128 --> 01:06:09.968
hurt in your junior or senior year in high school, and you cannot play

01:06:10.028 --> 01:06:12.078
anymore. So now

01:06:12.108 --> 01:06:16.218
what are you gonna do? So I try not to get, you know,

01:06:17.128 --> 01:06:20.048
the identity of them wrapped up in a sport

01:06:21.588 --> 01:06:24.988
which, you know, is very hard to do. You can only impact them so

01:06:25.108 --> 01:06:27.188
much. But, you know, try to,

01:06:28.468 --> 01:06:34.148
you know, keep them in a spot where it's just not constantly grinding them down on the pressures

01:06:34.188 --> 01:06:38.128
of that. 'Cause I've had a couple athletes that were

01:06:38.828 --> 01:06:39.628
phenomenal,

01:06:41.108 --> 01:06:41.468
like

01:06:42.428 --> 01:06:43.128
unreal,

01:06:43.468 --> 01:06:44.888
and unfortunately,

01:06:46.008 --> 01:06:47.948
you know, they... things happened to them

01:06:48.048 --> 01:06:50.008
that just didn't end up

01:06:50.108 --> 01:06:52.228
well for them, which is really

01:06:52.308 --> 01:06:55.048
sad because it's... at the end of the day, for me, it's just

01:06:55.128 --> 01:06:59.228
a game. So that's my thoughts

01:06:59.288 --> 01:06:59.748
on that.

01:07:01.228 --> 01:07:05.888
Well, the odds are stacked against them in terms of being able to actually turn that into a career and,

01:07:06.068 --> 01:07:10.372
you know, you see people now in-In professional sports,

01:07:10.972 --> 01:07:12.252
uh, Nikola Jokic,

01:07:12.672 --> 01:07:15.432
Scottie Scheffler, it's funny watching their interviews

01:07:16.012 --> 01:07:18.972
and listening to them- Right ... talk about their s- to listen to them talk about their

01:07:19.052 --> 01:07:23.052
sport. They say, "Oh, you just won. Like, how excited are you? What does this mean

01:07:23.092 --> 01:07:25.071
for you?" And they're both just like, "I wanna go home."

01:07:25.372 --> 01:07:25.512
Like

01:07:26.192 --> 01:07:26.222
you

01:07:26.222 --> 01:07:30.172
know? Right. Jokic is like, "Yeah, I wanna go- See my kids ... mess around with my horses." And Scottie's

01:07:30.292 --> 01:07:35.952
like, "Uh, like, golf is great. I'm competitive, and this is amazing. But I'm Scottie Scheffler, and I just happen

01:07:35.992 --> 01:07:36.012
to

01:07:36.072 --> 01:07:41.062
play golf." Like, um, you know, that they have these... You're talking about two of the highest performers at

01:07:41.092 --> 01:07:45.192
their sports, and two of probably the best right now in their sports.

01:07:45.372 --> 01:07:47.032
Not probably, but are the best in their

01:07:47.052 --> 01:07:47.412
sports.

01:07:48.032 --> 01:07:52.012
Um, yet not even their identities are tied to that sport. There is something greater out

01:07:52.052 --> 01:07:56.012
there. So, um, it's a nice example to see, I think, for athletes. And then I think

01:07:56.052 --> 01:07:57.372
with the NIL and the impact

01:07:57.412 --> 01:07:59.152
of that, you have

01:07:59.212 --> 01:08:01.052
to, you know,

01:08:01.152 --> 01:08:04.212
consider what is a reward now,

01:08:04.632 --> 01:08:05.132
what is the best

01:08:05.152 --> 01:08:07.172
opportunity for me, now versus

01:08:07.292 --> 01:08:13.802
long term, and what the maybe financial rewards or professional rewards are later if I commit to what you said,

01:08:13.871 --> 01:08:20.341
this process. Maybe the path of this process in the long term will be more rewarding. So interesting

01:08:20.372 --> 01:08:25.942
to see, um, and I appreciate your perspective on that as well. Yeah. Last question here before we finish with

01:08:25.942 --> 01:08:32.921
some quick hitters, some rapid fire. What advice would you have for someone that is beginning their new role at

01:08:32.932 --> 01:08:34.032
a high school as a head strength

01:08:34.032 --> 01:08:38.192
and conditioning coach? So

01:08:39.212 --> 01:08:39.272
I

01:08:39.312 --> 01:08:41.051
think couple things.

01:08:41.171 --> 01:08:41.952
One is,

01:08:42.452 --> 01:08:45.492
you know, look at the kids as,

01:08:47.091 --> 01:08:51.631
you know, capable. Think of them as, you know, humans that are learning

01:08:52.212 --> 01:08:54.192
like you were learning early on

01:08:54.312 --> 01:08:56.412
as a, as a coach yourself.

01:08:57.272 --> 01:08:57.921
And,

01:08:59.412 --> 01:09:05.072
you know, be inquisitive with them. Find out what they like, what they don't like. Um, you know,

01:09:05.091 --> 01:09:05.992
watch them interact

01:09:06.032 --> 01:09:11.992
with their peers. Um, you know, how do they, you know, kind of fluctuate

01:09:12.002 --> 01:09:12.932
throughout the week?

01:09:13.412 --> 01:09:18.932
Um, I think observation and asking open-ended questions to them and let

01:09:19.011 --> 01:09:22.072
them talk, it,

01:09:22.511 --> 01:09:27.121
a- as opposed to you always talking to them, I think just lends itself to you

01:09:27.232 --> 01:09:29.121
learning, listening to

01:09:29.192 --> 01:09:35.272
them, and then you start building this rapport with them, and then you understand kind of what they like

01:09:35.312 --> 01:09:40.051
and don't like. Right. So then, you know, you can come back to these things that they like

01:09:40.091 --> 01:09:40.252
and,

01:09:41.032 --> 01:09:43.392
you know, start to develop that

01:09:44.272 --> 01:09:45.091
relationship

01:09:45.152 --> 01:09:47.112
with them that is gonna grow over

01:09:47.171 --> 01:09:47.852
time. And,

01:09:48.671 --> 01:09:51.032
um, so I think, you know, that's the

01:09:51.072 --> 01:09:53.112
number one

01:09:53.192 --> 01:10:01.112
thing. And I think the second thing, like we talked about earlier, Gabe, is finding ways to allow them

01:10:01.232 --> 01:10:04.152
to act

01:10:04.212 --> 01:10:04.912
on their own.

01:10:05.652 --> 01:10:08.132
You know, lead groups.

01:10:08.892 --> 01:10:09.152
You know,

01:10:09.832 --> 01:10:15.382
say one day. you start, you, uh, say, on a Wednesday... Or actually, we have it, it's called Fun Thursday,

01:10:15.512 --> 01:10:18.102
where, you know, I'm there for safety,

01:10:18.192 --> 01:10:21.252
but they, they write their workouts. They do what they wanna

01:10:21.312 --> 01:10:23.672
do. You know, give them autonomy,

01:10:24.192 --> 01:10:26.032
and it's a collaboration

01:10:26.092 --> 01:10:30.212
with them. Um, and then, you know, lastly, I would say

01:10:30.892 --> 01:10:31.492
develop,

01:10:32.252 --> 01:10:36.012
you know, as you can, strong relationships with the administration,

01:10:36.892 --> 01:10:37.212
um,

01:10:37.772 --> 01:10:39.312
you know, collectively as a group,

01:10:39.672 --> 01:10:41.012
you know, working towards a common

01:10:41.072 --> 01:10:43.272
goal for the, for all the students

01:10:43.372 --> 01:10:43.712
there.

01:10:44.132 --> 01:10:51.212
Um, so, you know, the strength and conditioning and kind of what you're doing at the school,

01:10:51.932 --> 01:10:55.272
that there's, you know, buy-in from everywhere,

01:10:56.312 --> 01:11:02.612
and that you understand also what's going on within the school, and the pressures that, and the restraints

01:11:02.672 --> 01:11:10.252
and the constraints that the administration has. You know, so you, when you're developing strategies,

01:11:10.262 --> 01:11:13.382
say, to get new equipment or try to change things,

01:11:14.332 --> 01:11:19.472
you have a good basis to develop your, your, your thoughts based on,

01:11:19.492 --> 01:11:26.011
you know, the, the actual culture of the school that you're in versus what you perceive

01:11:26.052 --> 01:11:29.202
it to be. Yeah, that's great feedback. I think

01:11:30.792 --> 01:11:32.032
the key points you hit on there

01:11:32.432 --> 01:11:33.092
are listen and

01:11:33.112 --> 01:11:35.212
observe, give autonomy,

01:11:36.132 --> 01:11:42.132
make it collaborative, and then also don't just expect people to invest in you, but go invest in other

01:11:42.192 --> 01:11:44.092
areas of that school and that system.

01:11:45.572 --> 01:11:46.512
Yeah, absolutely.

01:11:48.132 --> 01:11:49.092
All right. So I got

01:11:49.152 --> 01:11:56.802
a couple of fun, quick questions for you to finish up here, uh, for our conversation. So you mentioned a

01:11:56.832 --> 01:11:59.092
few times here, but I know you're a big foodie. So what is

01:11:59.112 --> 01:12:04.952
your favorite food? Oh, man. That's a great question, Gabe.

01:12:05.092 --> 01:12:08.972
Um- Probably the toughest question that I've asked so

01:12:09.012 --> 01:12:12.012
far. Yeah. Exactly.

01:12:12.332 --> 01:12:12.692
Um,

01:12:13.692 --> 01:12:13.832
man,

01:12:14.012 --> 01:12:14.912
I would say,

01:12:15.232 --> 01:12:19.012
um, man, I had Belgian waffles in,

01:12:19.072 --> 01:12:21.232
in Belgium, and,

01:12:22.072 --> 01:12:22.372
like,

01:12:22.912 --> 01:12:27.132
I had to stay away. from those. I mean, I would say that would be my, my number one

01:12:27.292 --> 01:12:34.132
choice. Something sweet and, um, with a little whipped cream on it is always a fan favorite for me.

01:12:35.092 --> 01:12:35.162
All

01:12:35.212 --> 01:12:37.372
right. So staying on the topic,

01:12:37.732 --> 01:12:37.952
food

01:12:38.032 --> 01:12:42.292
recommendation for anybody coming to Portland or the surrounding

01:12:42.332 --> 01:12:45.012
area. A restaurant recommendation.

01:12:45.712 --> 01:12:48.632
Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, my number one would be Higgins Restaurant.

01:12:48.992 --> 01:12:49.252
Um,

01:12:49.772 --> 01:12:55.332
Greg Higgins is chef there. I've known... Greg was my next-door neighbor when I was 22, 23.

01:12:56.512 --> 01:12:59.032
I mean, he's gotta be one of the top five chefs in

01:12:59.052 --> 01:13:03.162
the world. Just unbelievable. So Higgins Restaurant,

01:13:03.992 --> 01:13:04.232
Greg

01:13:04.242 --> 01:13:11.162
Higgins, go for it. And they have, like, the best bar in town, too, so. Favorite activities

01:13:11.212 --> 01:13:12.172
that you' like to enjoy

01:13:12.192 --> 01:13:16.456
in the Northwest. Uh, I like to cross country ski,

01:13:16.996 --> 01:13:18.416
uh, ride my bike,

01:13:19.836 --> 01:13:22.316
uh, wine tasting out in the Willamette Valley,

01:13:23.496 --> 01:13:25.156
um, going up to Mount

01:13:25.256 --> 01:13:25.656
Hood,

01:13:26.136 --> 01:13:26.636
um,

01:13:27.416 --> 01:13:30.555
Bend. Anything outside where I'm hiking,

01:13:30.916 --> 01:13:31.536
biking,

01:13:32.616 --> 01:13:33.296
uh, walking.

01:13:33.756 --> 01:13:34.116
Um,

01:13:34.736 --> 01:13:34.956
yeah, I

01:13:35.016 --> 01:13:40.196
mean, and the beaches are, like, an hour away here, so anything outside,

01:13:41.376 --> 01:13:41.956
active,

01:13:43.336 --> 01:13:44.036
I'm into it.

01:13:45.056 --> 01:13:48.996
Well, good for you. Bike ride and then go enjoy the nice pinot noirs of the Willamette Valley, so

01:13:49.096 --> 01:13:49.276
good

01:13:49.316 --> 01:13:51.116
for you. Abso- absolutely.

01:13:52.416 --> 01:13:53.456
All right, next question:

01:13:53.916 --> 01:13:56.286
Summer Olympic event that you're most looking forward to watching.

01:13:57.796 --> 01:13:58.096
Yeah,

01:13:58.596 --> 01:13:59.536
the 100-meter,

01:13:59.876 --> 01:14:01.016
uh, sprint track and

01:14:01.136 --> 01:14:03.206
field, both, uh, men's and women's,

01:14:03.516 --> 01:14:05.176
for sure.

01:14:05.336 --> 01:14:10.716
Um, I mean, everybody wants to see who the fastest in the world is, so tha- that would be my

01:14:10.736 --> 01:14:17.016
number one. I agree with you on that one. And then last question: Tell us about your own training.

01:14:17.216 --> 01:14:18.076
What does that look like?

01:14:20.356 --> 01:14:21.036
Oh, man.

01:14:21.716 --> 01:14:26.766
When I'm healthy... I had, I had hip replacement last year on my right hip, and so th-

01:14:27.056 --> 01:14:31.956
this year has been a interesting, uh, recovery.

01:14:31.956 --> 01:14:35.016
Um, but when I'm healthy, uh...

01:14:35.416 --> 01:14:37.136
well, actually, I still lift weights,

01:14:37.296 --> 01:14:38.016
like, three

01:14:38.116 --> 01:14:40.216
times a week. Um,

01:14:41.216 --> 01:14:42.956
so I like to do that. I like to

01:14:43.016 --> 01:14:48.236
ride my bike. Um, I roller ski around here on the, uh, on the bike path,

01:14:48.336 --> 01:14:51.896
so it's, it's basically cross country skis with, uh,

01:14:52.016 --> 01:14:52.956
with wheels on them.

01:14:54.176 --> 01:14:57.136
Um, and then, you know, walking around the neighborhood with

01:14:57.176 --> 01:14:59.116
my dog. Um,

01:15:00.116 --> 01:15:00.216
so

01:15:00.276 --> 01:15:02.016
those are, that's kind of what

01:15:02.136 --> 01:15:04.116
I, what I like to do, so,

01:15:05.176 --> 01:15:05.556
um,

01:15:05.996 --> 01:15:06.216
yeah.

01:15:06.616 --> 01:15:08.096
And the Northwest during

01:15:08.416 --> 01:15:08.936
this time of

01:15:09.036 --> 01:15:13.296
year now, it's, the sun's coming out and the rain isn't so prevalent, so

01:15:13.876 --> 01:15:19.076
it only takes me about five minutes to get ready versus 15 minutes when it's raining all the time.

01:15:19.936 --> 01:15:23.675
Well, remember, there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing- That's right ... and preparation.

01:15:23.675 --> 01:15:23.870
That's

01:15:23.870 --> 01:15:25.276
right, Gabe. That is right.

01:15:26.116 --> 01:15:29.976
That's why I don't have an indoor... I never do any cycling on a trainer

01:15:30.056 --> 01:15:31.016
at all, or run on a

01:15:31.116 --> 01:15:33.096
treadmill. Yeah.

01:15:33.876 --> 01:15:38.056
Well, I'll tell you this. In Chicago, there is such thing as bad weather.

01:15:40.636 --> 01:15:40.726
Um,

01:15:41.796 --> 01:15:47.136
all right. Well, Mark, thank you so much for joining me today on the Keiser Human Performance Podcast. We appreciate

01:15:47.176 --> 01:15:50.096
you continuing to be an open book and sharing your knowledge

01:15:50.796 --> 01:15:51.976
and your expertise in

01:15:52.016 --> 01:15:57.016
athletic performance. Uh, if anyone wants to visit you at Lake Oswego High School or get in touch

01:15:57.056 --> 01:15:57.956
with you, what's the best way

01:15:58.016 --> 01:16:01.956
for them to do that? Yeah, so,

01:16:02.156 --> 01:16:07.636
um, and, you know, thanks again, Gabe, for, for having me on. I, I really appreciate

01:16:07.676 --> 01:16:12.166
it, um, and kind of letting me, you know, talk about these

01:16:12.216 --> 01:16:19.116
things. So, I mean, it's, like, the best interview that I've, I've done on a podcast. Um,

01:16:19.716 --> 01:16:21.156
and your questions were really,

01:16:21.576 --> 01:16:21.816
uh,

01:16:22.236 --> 01:16:25.036
thought-provoking for myself, so I wanna

01:16:25.736 --> 01:16:28.236
give you a kudos there. I, I, I really appreciate

01:16:28.316 --> 01:16:28.696
that.

01:16:29.696 --> 01:16:35.876
Um, so I can be reached on, uh, so I have a Instagram page, uh, markptc,

01:16:36.756 --> 01:16:37.156
and then

01:16:37.596 --> 01:16:37.996
X or

01:16:38.136 --> 01:16:39.146
Twitter, um,

01:16:39.336 --> 01:16:48.876
results_.- Awesome. Please make sure to give Mark, a follow. Uh, he's, he's a tremendous resource.

01:16:49.016 --> 01:16:52.956
I've had the pleasure of meeting him in person an- and visiting him at Lake Oswego. If you're ever in

01:16:52.996 --> 01:16:59.276
the area, please reach out and, and try to set up a visit because, uh, it's a true pleasure, um,

01:16:59.336 --> 01:17:03.016
to go visit with Mark, and learn from Mark, and learn alongside Mark. So,

01:17:03.476 --> 01:17:04.076
thank you again.

01:17:04.536 --> 01:17:06.116
We appreciate it, and hope you have a great day.

01:17:06.596 --> 01:17:06.736
Yep,

01:17:07.156 --> 01:17:08.036
and everybody's

01:17:08.096 --> 01:17:16.036
welcome. We appreciate you tuning in to this episode of the Keiser Human Performance

01:17:16.116 --> 01:17:18.096
Podcast. To stay up to date

01:17:18.136 --> 01:17:20.956
on all things Keiser, follow us @keiserfitness

01:17:21.136 --> 01:17:23.356
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01:17:24.156 --> 01:17:27.056
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01:17:27.486 --> 01:17:30.856
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01:17:31.446 --> 01:17:31.636
Thank

01:17:31.696 --> 01:17:33.015
you, and have a great day.