No two days are the same for Will Gilmore as part of a team that oversees over 800 athletes across 200 sports at the Red Bull Athlete Performance Center. From surfers to skydivers, the facility provides an elite high-performance ecosystem for traditionally individual sport athletes. Gilmore highlights the need for remote programming and monitoring to support a constantly shifting roster. Together as a team, they navigate uncharted territory in action sports conditioning, guided by physiological demands and underlying energy systems. Gilmore and NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager Eric McMahon discuss the shift in sport science from ample to actionable data to find, change, and measure what matters most. Gilmore reflects on his “career periodization” and having free time for friends and family while working corporate hours — a stark contrast with his background in Major League Baseball (MLB). The pair also emphasize proactive networking and education for future career opportunities. Connect with Will on Instagram: @will_gilmore_ or LinkedIn: @will-gilmore | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs   Want to get involved with the NSCA? Find peers who share your passion for a specific sport or topic in Special Interest Groups (SIGs), or apply now for Volunteer Leadership Opportunities!Show Notes“What I've found is that relationships, again, are very important. You never know what's coming around the next corner. But being a good person, meeting people, forming genuine bonds over strength and conditioning or even things outside of work with people in your field are very important.” 16:05 “Whether the sport demands show that, hey, you need some high-level anaerobic conditioning for this, the mental state of the athlete demands it. So whether that's cliff diving or downhill mountain biking where there's zero pedaling or even pitching in baseball, they've shown that the heart rate gets to 90%, 95% max. Why? Because that guy is stressed out. That is a tough job out there. And so you better prepare him in the gym to handle those demands.” 23:20 “That's really what we're looking for if we're going to be hiring a strength and conditioning coach. Not necessarily, have you worked with any extreme sports, but what is your thought process in going about evaluating a sport?” 26:32

Regarded as a sport science advocate in Major League Soccer (MLS), follow David Tenney’s journey from sport coach to High Performance Director at Austin Football Club (FC). Tenney and NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager Eric McMahon begin by discussing increases in MLS staff and embracing the overlap between coaching and performance science staff. Tenney reflects on how experienced coaches often evolve toward mentorship, finding balance between “leader” and “practitioner.” The pair examine the new MLS-mandated performance scientist position, which requires the Certified Performance and Sport Scientist® (CPSS®) credential. Created to standardize the role and responsibilities, MLS performance scientists leverage data from GPS and force plates into effective and ethical takeaways. As President of the emerging Professional Soccer Performance Association (PSPA), Tenney shares his goals to create a network, gain representation, and increase credibility. Tenney and McMahon also explore the robust MLS developmental pipeline, interviewing strategy, and early career advice. Connect with David on Twitter/X: @davetenney or LinkedIn: @david-tenney | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs For a deeper look into sport science, explore career trends and how to leverage the CPSS certification into new career opportunities. Discover your next job or internship on the NSCA Job Board. This episode discusses David Tenney’s PhD dissertation, An Exploration of the Leadership Competencies Required for High-Performance Directors in North American Professional Sports Organizations, which includes interviews with NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and MLS leaders.Show Notes“It's not enough just to be a really good practitioner. You have to know how to manage, lead, and collaborate with different groups and different departments and practitioners from other areas.” 8:35 “Learning to be a good mentor. I think that most people think of themselves, if you go in a room and ask most coaches, ‘Hey, do you think you're a mentor?’ Everyone would say, ‘Oh yeah, I'm a good mentor.’ But very few of us have ever been taught [those] kind of mentorship skills and what that means, and how do you mentor young practitioners. And are you connecting with them in the way they need, not just how you want to connect with them and lead them.” 27:25 “You do always want to focus on some of the hard skills of the interview process, but I think we don't in the interview process ask enough questions around is someone stress resilient, can someone be vulnerable, can someone admit they make mistakes, can someone show that they have a growth mindset. How do they handle when they don't know the answer to something?” 30:30

What does it take to become an award-winning Director of Strength and Conditioning in the National Football League (NFL)? Justin Lovett reveals the “we over me” mentality that guides his role with the Los Angeles Rams. Lovett reflects on receiving the 2024 NSCA Professional Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year Award after being an NSCA Member for over 20 years. He draws parallels between working with high school and NFL athletes — where the desired training responses are the same and ability levels vary — making versatility key. Lovett also stresses the importance of finding clean and effective training methods to accommodate wear and tear in football athletes. He compares the Rams’ hiring philosophy to gathering “infinity stones,” emphasizing character attributes, culture alignment, and staff chemistry. Lovett and NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager Eric McMahon discuss progressing into leadership and the rise of performance director roles, as well as how to seek out career and networking opportunities. Connect with Justin on Instagram: @strcoachlovett, Twitter/X: @justin_lovett,  or LinkedIn: Justin Lovett | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs  Show Notes“Your ability to individualize is critical, and make it position or sport or athlete-specific in many cases... It's never quite a repeat one-size-fits-all cookie-cutter approach.” 7:25 “You need some juice. You need some authentic and genuine passion.” 13:45 “I think, first and foremost, the thing that resonates with me is that it's never about you. It's never about you. These players shouldn't be able to recognize who the head strength coach is when we're working the floor. Everybody — it's almost a flat hierarchy where we're here to help players, so it doesn't matter who gets the credit.” 18:45 “Your players have to be available. They have to feel like they are in a position where they're improving. And you have to be able to audit your programs and show them metrically that, yes, you are in a prime state or a ready state to compete at the highest level. So, it's never about you, ever about you. And the minute it becomes about you, you should leave. And I strongly believe that.” 19:45 “You have to provide strategies for them to grow horizontally within your organization, within your department, and vertically.” 20:30 “I think that's an empowering message for anyone listening is that no matter what you're going through, the challenge you're facing, how you're feeling about your current role or where you want to be, there's someone that's had that experience or can help you maybe relate to that experience better, going back to it's not about us. It's about our athletes, our teams, the programs that we are tasked with empowering and growing, and the people that we influence in this business.” 33:50

You can’t talk about strength and conditioning without Coach Boyd Epley. Regarded as the “Godfather of Strength and Conditioning,” Epley laid the groundwork for the profession and later founded the NSCA in 1978. His 10 Husker Power Principles, developed at the University of Nebraska, remain a cornerstone in programming and formed the basis of sport-specific training. Emphasizing strength and power, Epley implemented testing and debunked the prevailing belief that weightlifting hindered speed. He recounts his journey with co-hosts Eric McMahon and Jon Jost, chronicling how a pole vault injury and exposure to bodybuilding led him to become the first collegiate strength and conditioning coach. What began with cement bars and paint cans evolved into a fully equipped weight room and impressive lifelong career. Additionally, Epley’s open-door policy — even with his fiercest competitors — helped drive the profession forward. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in strength and conditioning history. Explore the University of Nebraska’s Husker Power Principles discussed in this episode. Reach out to Coach Epley by email at [email protected]. Get in touch with Jon Jost at [email protected]. Find Eric on Instagram @ericmcmahoncscs or LinkedIn @ericmcmahoncscs. This special episode is brought to you in part by Gatorade Performance Partner. Learn more and join their community at GatoradePerformancePartner.com. Want to get involved as an NSCA Volunteer? Discover opportunities to lead and share your expertise at NSCA.com/Volunteer. Applications for many positions open in September and October!Show Notes“We always wanted to explain to the athletes what we were trying to do and make sense out of it so that they would buy in and participate at their best effort… Our 10 principles really provided a path for not only our athletes but others across the country.” 4:10 “Over the years, I really focused on strength and power, the squat and the clean. If that's all someone did, I think they'd have a pretty successful chance to gain and improve their performance. But as a result, I got stronger than Nebraska's football players.” 11:10 “I found out real quick, depending on if the coach recruited the kid, how fast they were going to run. The coach would look at it and say 4.6. So, we had to put up with that for a while. That's why I went to the electrical department at the university and asked them to help. And we created electronic timing at the University of Nebraska.” 19:35 “My biggest problem wasn't the program working or the facility, it was raising money to pay my volunteers… But we even had them sell t-shirts on game day to raise money and created a booster club called the Husker Power Club. When I left the program, we left $300,000 in the bank that was supposed to never be used except to support the strength program.” 27:50

Autumn Lockwood knows football. As the daughter of a collegiate football coach, she’s been attending games and “breathing football” since she was born. Now, she holds a highly coveted full-time position as an Associate Performance Coach for the National Football League (NFL) Philadelphia Eagles. But this was not always her plan. Follow her unique professional path, from a criminal justice major and aspiring Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) special agent to coaching at football’s highest level. Learn how the Philadelphia Eagles cultivate a championship culture through never-ending development, strategic staffing, and sport science initiatives. She recounts how mentorship, building a village, and networking enabled her successful career switch. Lockwood and McMahon also discuss coaching challenges and ways the NSCA can push the profession forward through diverse collaboration, uncomfortable conversations, and deeper in-person connections. They conclude by breaking down the calendar training year, key performance indicators, and athlete profiling in professional football. Connect with Autumn via Instagram: @autumnlockwood, LinkedIn: @autumn-lockwood, or email: [email protected] | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs   Love football? Join your fellow professionals in the NSCA Football Special Interest Group! This episode discusses the intangible rewards of volunteering, like opening career doors and making connections. Want to get involved? Check out NSCA.com/Volunteer for opportunities.Show Notes“I would say getting in the door, it's all about that opportunity and what you do with that, and how you show up every day. The opportunity is always going to present itself once you have built those right relationships, networked, and done what you can, controlled what you can control, to get there. And then once you're there, it's really, OK, I'm going to observe everything. I'm going to be a sponge. I'm going to be so hands-on. I'm going to be an extra set of hands. I'm going to do everything that I can to help this team, this staff, all these departments that go into building a championship culture. I'm going to do what I can to help that.” 3:25 “Having that belief and that support really kind of helped, and then just building that village around you from your family, from the coworkers that you do work with, with your mentors, those are really the people that I leaned on throughout my whole entire career.” 17:40 “There are definitely ups and downs that come with this field. And it's all about how you take care of yourself and how you're able to navigate those personally, and then go from there.” 20:45

As Director of Sport Science at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), Heather Farmer spearheads comprehensive integration efforts. This includes ensuring every stakeholder, from sport performance staff to academic advisors, has a seat at the table. Farmer also outlines developing an internship and graduate assistantship program to meet staffing needs and offer opportunities for practical experience. She recounts how leveraging relationships — not data — has been her key to scalability. Additionally, Farmer recognizes that to make an impact, she must meet athletes and sport coaches where they are, which she uncovers through “highlights” and “hurdles.” She suggests that sport scientists with strength and conditioning backgrounds, like herself, are uniquely equipped to excel due to their communication skills. Farmer and McMahon also discuss avoiding “analysis paralysis” and how to incorporate data to elevate the student-athlete experience — an unignorable factor as athletes bring an element of “self” in the age of name, image and likeness (NIL). Reach out to Heather by email at: [email protected] | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs  Show Notes“I can carry 8 - 10 undergrad interns. I have graduate students, PhD students who wanted that experience. And boom, now all of a sudden, we've got a full operating department. These guys became pivotal. We live tag 6 - 8 teams every day on campus… They get to see what they're doing in action versus just that blind data collection.” 8:15 “We want to align with the coach. Whatever your vision is, we are spearheading that. We are making sure we're traveling together.” 18:20 “So, for them, I gave them, what was the internal workload score of the day? What was that intensity? What was the external workload of the day? What was that intensity? And we look at one recovery metric, and those are the only five things we look at for that team. And is that because that's the best and that's the absolute scientific principle of high performance? No, but we also have to make sure that we talked at the beginning about meeting coaches where they're at. Where can I get the buy-in and the understanding?” 23:40 “I don't want to just grow, grow, grow to meet certain thresholds. I want to grow, grow, grow and make sure those experiences are at such a high level. As sports science continues to grow throughout all of the levels and we're bringing everyone together, I think you'll see more sports scientists being hired at different schools across the country. I think it just takes time, just as the other sport performance pillars did.” 27:25

Get to know Army Lieutenant Colonel Nick Barringer, Program Director for the United States Army-Baylor University Master’s in Nutrition. Barringer shares how he originally planned to become a strength and conditioning coach before a nutrition course inspired him to pursue dietetics. However, it was his Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist® (CSCS®) credential that ultimately landed him his role as the first 75th Ranger Regiment (Army Rangers) Dietitian. He recounts drawing inspiration from the Navy SEALS to start the Ranger Athlete Warrior (RAW) program and seeing the Special Operations THOR3 program follow suit — laying the groundwork for the US Army Holistic Health and Fitness (H2F) system. Barringer and McMahon discuss the synergy between strength and conditioning coaches and dietitians, as well as cultural challenges and diverse training ages in tactical settings. The pair also stress the importance of sales and building relationships before discussing basic nutrition advice and pathways into tactical and dietetics careers. Connect with Nick on Instagram at: @nickbarringer.phd.rdn or by email: [email protected] | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs Show Notes“If I'm the dietitian at the unit or coming into a unit, I want to get on the calendar of those leaders. I want to go on a run with that regimental commander, that battalion commander, that brigade commander, and have that conversation with him or her to see what their vision is and where I can nest in it.” 11:05 “My first suggestion would be… find those strength coaches who've successfully made that transition to the military. And talk to them before going in.” 13:20 “It's more important in the tactical community that you practice what you preach… I'm not saying you got to be able to do everything that the soldier can do. But if you can put a rack on and at least go a couple miles and do those sort of things, that really carries a lot of weight.” 14:20

After almost leaving the profession entirely, Ashley Kowalewski landed her role as an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at the prestigious Louisiana State University. Listen as she recounts the strength and conditioning coach who inspired her as a high-level athlete at Oklahoma State University, diverting her path away from pursuing a physical therapy career. Explore how her early experience as an NSCA intern and working with adaptive sports under the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee expanded her network and strengthened her coaching. Discover where to tap into access points that can build mentors in your corner and the importance of being relationship-oriented in a field where collaboration is key. Kowalewski also speaks about checking her ego after a difficult career experience and the challenge of starting again at the intern level. Learn her guiding principle of providing over proving and how high-quality leadership can elevate a program’s impact and staff longevity. Connect with Ashley on Instagram at: @ashleykowalewski or by email: [email protected] | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs Show Notes“That's my big thing with a lot of the athletes that get injured. I have no sympathy for you. I've trained athletes that are wheelchair-bound. I've trained athletes without a leg. Do you think it's difficult for me to train you while you're in a boot? Absolutely not. We can adapt… anything. We can make it work.” 7:05 “I don't really care what you know about the Xs and Os. We can teach that. I think anybody — if you go to any great place, you can be taught, if you're willing, and that's one thing that I want to look for. I want to look for somebody that has a growth mindset. I want to look for somebody that is great at creating relationships and maintaining relationships.” 15:20 “It's hard to just pack up your life on a whim with all that uncertainty. We like to think we're pretty tough in this field and we can put up with a lot, but we're still human.” 19:15 “I think perspective is everything, and how do we keep perspective? For me, a lot of it is not getting caught up in the ‘next.’ It's being caught up in the where I'm at right now. Be where your feet are, we tell athletes that all the time.” 34:10

As a Strength and Conditioning Coach with the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), Jared Siegmund prepares athletes for the apex of achievement and perseverance. Siegmund shares that, contrary to public belief, the Olympic competition cycle is not every four years — Team USA athletes face fierce competition in World Series events along the way to qualify. He also speaks to the creativity required to coach Paralympic athletes, where missing limbs create unique biomechanics and hearing or visual impairments impact cueing. Siegmund touches on his principles-based programming architecture, sample adaptations, and USOPC’s interdisciplinary support team. Additionally, Siegmund and McMahon discuss the new generation of modern athletes who are more in tune with data and can control their preparation experience. The discussion concludes with the importance of a growth mindset and getting out of your comfort zone, as well as opportunities to enter elite sport. Connect with Jared on Instagram at: @jaredsiegmund_ or LinkedIn: @jared-siegmund | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs Show Notes“We have a traditional model that we see in our mind as the perfect technique – a baseball batter swings like this, a swimmer swims like this — but when you're missing a limb, it's going to be altered. The form, the biomechanics is going to be altered, and that goes into their overuse injury stuff, how they're producing force. If we can think of outside-of-the-box creativity, and curiosity, and how we innovate, that's going to drive our ideas, our programming. And it's also going to not pin us to our bias. When we do that, we're going to be more successful to give them what they need.” 9:40 “They're all humans. I think once we start to see that and we start to rip off the sense of kind of scared to do anything with them, or train them, or push them hard, […] just treat them like equals, man. It's like, training's training at the end of the day.” 13:25 “When you have a visually impaired athlete, you had to rely on a completely different skill set of coaching and cueing.” 14:22 “When we get down to crunch time this last six months before, three months before, right into the games. Like, we've done this before. We've challenged you strategically in different groups. We've challenged the coaches in certain ways. So we're all confident, so when this happens, we've already practiced it. And maybe even just having a talk about it kind of gives that anxiety or pressure, and it kind of melts away. You know, we've done it, I'm cool, I got it. I'm going to go win, or at least I'm going to give it my best that day.” 21:20

What does a typical day look like for a sports performance coach? Nicole Shattuck shares her experience working with women’s lacrosse at Duke University, where ample resources fuel athlete outcomes. Start by examining her comprehensive approach to readiness that raises awareness for both athletes and coaches. Guided by data, Nicole uses insights to adapt workouts, manage physical and mental stress, and deepen the athlete-coach relationship. New to lacrosse? Nicole breaks down a detailed needs analysis, outlining workload management for different position groups. Plus, as the Chair of the NSCA Lacrosse Special Interest Group, Nicole provides opportunities for lacrosse professionals to connect. Follow her unique path from a background in business and the private sector to finding her calling in collegiate coaching. Driven by a desire to build a Duke University sport science department, Nicole also recently earned her Certified Performance and Sport Scientist® (CPSS®) credential and reveals how it empowers her relationships with allied health professionals. Connect with Nicole on Instagram at: @nicole_lilia or by email at: [email protected] | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs   Join the NSCA Lacrosse Special Interest Group (SIG) online on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram! Plus, get together in person at the Lacrosse SIG Meeting at the 2024 NSCA National Conference in Baltimore, MD. REGISTER NOW at NSCA.com/NSCAConShow Notes“I tell my athletes all the time, I can't motivate you, but I can provide you with an environment so that you feel motivated. And ultimately, it's going to come down to what goals you have. If you want to be the best ACC player in women's lacrosse, are your actions lining up with your goals?” 7:05 “I don't just want to say, “Hey, here's the report”. This is a really good place for us to get a bird's eye view and then that's going to start a conversation. It's going to lead to me walking up to an athlete during warm up and saying, “Hey, I saw you really aren't getting enough sleep. What's going on?” Then they feel like their needs are being cared for…” 14:30 “If I sit down with a coach and they tell me, “We win games in transition”. Well, what does that mean? It means that they have to be able to catch and throw the ball and clear effectively. They also need to be able to run up and down the field. So, how is that going to adjust my conditioning philosophy for that team?” 17:10

How does a small-town boy from Mid Wales become the next NSCA President? Follow Ian Jeffreys’ inspiring journey, beginning with his introduction to the NSCA in 1989 as a professional rugby player hungry for knowledge to perform better. Listen as he recounts the thrill of his first conference and why NSCA events are so much more valuable than just what is presented on the main stage. Then, dive into Ian’s career-defining contributions to speed and agility, sparked by his reverse-engineering approach that leverages movement patterns and strong positioning to elevate game speed. Reflect on decades of evolution in our profession, including increased career paths plus the rise of technology and AI — and why they can never replace the true human heart of coaching. Lastly, learn Ian’s vision for the NSCA’s future, which involves both listening and leading to maintain the NSCA’s position as the worldwide authority in strength and conditioning. Connect with Ian by email at [email protected] | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs  Join Ian’s inauguration at NSCACon 2024 in Baltimore, MD, July 10-13! Register at NSCA.com/NSCAConShow Notes"You know, the NSCA has always been a massive source of knowledge and information for me. But it was that first conference where I realized this is what I-- I have to keep coming to these because these are just so much more than purely information [...] you're able to share the kind of little questions that wouldn't be in on-stage presentation." 5:55 "My rationale behind it is, how can we develop our speed and agility in a manner that maximizes on-the-field performance? We have to start with analyzing the game itself and that's where the concept of game speed came from [...] it's a subtly different way of looking at speed and agility than the classic, where we look at our definitions, and we look at our measures, and we develop those capacities." 11:10 "We have to thank the pioneers, the people who set us on the road because they were the ones who were going against the grain of how strength training and conditioning actually helps sports performance rather than being a hindrance." 20:30 "If we go back to the early pioneers, there were guys in the weights room delivering the strength training, delivering the warm-ups, delivering running sessions, and so on. But now that's not the only option. You can have a career in academia in strength and conditioning. You can have a career in data within the areas of strength and conditioning." 24:15

Do you fear public speaking? It may seem counterintuitive for coaches who command the weight room every day, but it’s more common than you’d think. On the floor with your athletes, you’re in your element, but shifting audiences to administrators can have you second-guessing. Honing your communication and public speaking skills shouldn’t be saved until you’re eyeing a promotion — Coaching & Presentation Skills Coach Jenny Rearick advises getting in as many early reps as possible. Combining her experience as a collegiate athlete, strength and conditioning coach, and corporate marketer, Jenny founded Fit to Speak to empower fitness professionals in the “sport” of public speaking. Discover concrete strategies like the BLUF method to make sure your key message is heard. Learn how to seek out low-risk scenarios that can transform your speaking skills from just getting by to getting ahead. Plus, don’t miss her simple mindset shift to ease pre-presentation nerves. Connect with Jenny on Instagram at: @fit_to_speak or online at: fit-to-speak.com | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs  Check out Jenny’s episodes in the new NSCA Presenter Playbook series on NSCA TV. Ready to take the big stage? Apply online to speak at a 2025 NSCA event before the May 15 deadline. BONUS: Answer Bryan Mann’s “call to arms!” Get involved locally and give back to your strength and conditioning community at NSCA.com/VolunteerShow Notes“Maybe a strength and conditioning coach is part of a recruiting visit for an athlete, and having to connect with a high school athlete, or their parents coming through the weight room. You're essentially having to sell that program in a different way than you would to your athletes on the day-to-day.” 9:35 “If people are going to see my body language and hear my voice in the way I'm delivering this information, that's going to impact how they perceive that information. Because if they perceive me as being grounded and competent and confident in what I'm saying, they're more likely to buy into the information I'm sharing.” 24:20 “Whenever I talk about nervousness or anxiety, I love this quote by Mark Twain. He said, "There are two types of speakers in this world, the ones that are nervous and the ones that are liars."” 28:15 “I think it can be really empowering to know – what's the most effective way to organize information so that it can be easily understood or acted on as an example. There is an acronym that they use in the military called BLUF, B-L-U-F. They follow it mostly in writing, but it applies to speaking as well. It stands for Bottom Line Up Front. Some of you might be familiar with it. Essentially, what it means is the very beginning of what you're writing or saying should be the bottom line. It should be, what is my main takeaway? What is the most important thing I need to say?” 31:45

NSCA Coaching Podcast – Season 8 Episode 1 – Since 1998, Bryan Mann has dominated strength and conditioning, securing positions at elite collegiate programs and defining research in strength, power, and velocity-based training (VBT). As the Academic Director of Strength and Conditioning at Texas A&M University, Bryan still gets the rewarding chance to shape students like his former athletes, but now, he’s focused on the future. He’s expanding his scope to human performance as a whole — applying his coaching expertise to advance performance across general, special, and tactical populations. Join NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager Eric McMahon as we follow Bryan’s professional path, including his recent transition to the Aggie’s powerhouse performance staff alongside Bo Sandoval and Tommy Moffit. Plus, explore pioneering research on Parkinson’s, the rise of individualization in VBT, and how to create a “forward” (not backup) plan for career longevity. Connect with Bryan on Instagram @jbryanmann or Twitter/X @jbryanmann | Find Eric on Instagram @ericmcmahoncscs or LinkedIn @ericmcmahoncscs In this episode, you’ll learn about the NSCA Presenter Application process. Apply by May 15 to be considered for 2025 local events and conferences while earning CEUs for your expertise.Show Notes“What kept me coaching on the floor for so long, even with having the PhD, was watching the athlete develop from a child to a mature adult. [...] That’s what I really enjoyed. And I just use the weight room and jumps and sprints and everything as a vehicle for that.” 2:43 “You can take plyometrics and scale that to the aging population. That's going to help to the tightened isomers. That's going to help with the stored elastic energy that they're not getting depth through the resistance training. You could do all the heavy stuff you want. You can do all the fast stuff you want. But if you are not using the stretch-shortening cycle appropriately, you're not going to be influencing gait. You're not going to be influencing mobility appropriately.” 14:10 “Find what excites you. What do you think about at night? What do you think about in the morning? What is it that’s always on your mind? That’s the area you should explore [...] because that is what’s going to make you great.” 17:20 “If you have the ability to apply your skillset in another area, you just increased your ability within the job market to go ahead and apply that towards aging, towards general population.” 23:06 “The best ability is availability. And if I have my athletes out on the field feeling good, they’re going to be playing better than if they maintain 95% of their squat max.” 34:46

In this episode with Associate Head Coach of Athletic Performance, Anna Craig, you will learn how “Annual Strategic Planning” improves the professionalism and unity of the University of Texas (UT) Olympic Strength and Conditioning Department. Craig shares her coaching philosophy and talks about the role of mentors during her tenure at UT with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon. This episode stresses the importance of building autonomy in student-athletes and having humility to effectively manage staff dynamics within collegiate strength and conditioning. Learn about how Craig’s off-campus work, coaching in the private sector, allows her to grow professionally. Tune in for some useful tips on staff and facility management. Connect with Anna on Instagram at: @annaecraig or by email at: [email protected]| Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“I want to encourage anyone who is a director of their team or anyone who is in charge of hiring or in charge of longevity—I want to emphasize just the importance of coaches being in their position for a period of time to really make an impact on the place that they are and to really make an impact on their programs and teams.” 5:47 “My philosophy, in life and in my coaching, is that I would like to—if you gave my athletes an exit interview or if you talked to somebody who knew me and you asked them, are you a better person and a better athlete having been coached by Anna than you would have been otherwise?” 11:23 “I want to intrinsically motivate my athletes to seek significant change within themselves and confidence within themselves to be someone at the end that they are proud of.” 12:32 “And part of that is just getting them comfortable with giving each other feedback too. Having hard conversations and giving feedback is uncomfortable. And if they can’t do it in an incredibly controlled situation within the weight room or within strength training, then they have no chance doing it in a heated situation on the field. They’re probably going to handle that incorrectly, not say anything. And so, I want to teach them how to be good communicators. I want to teach them how to be responsible.” 17:35

Get to know the 2024 NSCA Assistant College Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year, Kenna Smoak-Minnici. After accepting her award at the 2024 Coaches Conference, she connects with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about the unique coaching rigors at the prestigious military academy, Army West Point. The episode goes beyond the demands of sport-specific training to developing student-athletes and leaders for sustained success in the military. Smoak-Minnici highlights the role of family along her journey as an athlete and strength and conditioning coach, as well as the importance of always pushing yourself to go beyond the norm. Connect with Kenna on Instagram at: @kenna_minnici or LinkedIn: @kenna-smoak-minnici | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs    Did you enjoy the episode? Don’t forget to nominate a deserving strength and conditioning coach for an NSCA Coach of the Year Award at NSCA Awards.Show Notes“I also help out with the Athlete Monitoring Program. Everyone is probably familiar with—to get in the military, you have to have meet certain height and weight requirements, or physical abilities that might lean more towards distance running, push-ups, sit ups, whatever it may be. But when you have a 300-lb lineman, or a heavyweight wrestler, or a rugby player, or a thrower, that type of training might not—that body size isn’t conducive to their athletic career for them to stay safe and be successful. So, I work close with getting those athletes ready to commission once their sports seasons end.” 4:48 “When I got to middle school, my parents sat me down and they’re like, okay, maybe softball, or track, or some of your other sports might—and I was like, “no, I’m playing football. I like this the best. I like hitting people.” So, then my dad was, to really appease my mom, like, “don’t worry, I’m going to make her quit.” And so, then he made me get up every morning at 5:00 AM and do his whatever he knew about two hours of working out before school in middle school and I fell in love with it to where he didn’t make me quit. So, I played through junior year.” 11:30 “To me, it’s just all flowing and I can’t compartmentalize it. I’ve been at West Point a while, so I really do feel like I have a family here, to where I can bring my son around. There’s definitely been last minute schedule changes. I’ve thrown him in the hiking backpack and just coached a group. My players love him and he loves Army. It means so much to me for him to see me feel like I have a purpose in my career.” 15:15

Have you ever considered getting a K-12 teaching license, with your CSCS, to gain employment as a high school strength and conditioning coach? Coach Justin Loudon serves as the Chair of the NSCA High School Coaches Professional Development Group (PDG). He shares PDG updates with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, including highlights from the 2024 NSCA Coaches Conference and direction for the future of high school coaching. Learn about the impact of school-based strength and conditioning beyond the weight room, and important benefits for students over their lifetime.   Connect with Justin on Instagram at: @coach_loudon or by email: [email protected]| Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or X (Twitter): @ericmcmahoncscs | Here is a link to engage with NSCA Professional Development Groups.   As mentioned in the episode, check out the book: NSCA's Guide to High School Strength and ConditioningShow Notes“I think it's more about being a physically literate individual. So for me, being able to teach these kids and educate these kids on how to do this, I think it just sets them up for success later on in their life.” 6:38 “Our job is really to help mold those kids, the whole child aspect. It's not just focusing on sports. And if I can get that 93%, 94% stronger and better and more athletic, than the other 6%, 7% is going to come with it as well.” 12:48 “Being a coach is being a teacher and being a teacher is being a coach. And I think if you can get that education background, even a couple of classes on it, that's really going to help you out as a coach, whether it's in the college level, professional, or wherever, just being able to look at things maybe slightly different.” 25:10

Catch up on this presentation from the 2024 NSCA Coaches Conference with Major League Baseball (MLB) Tampa Bay Rays Strength and Conditioning Coach, Joey Greany. Greany takes NSCA Coaching Program Manager, Eric McMahon, on a deep dive into plyometrics for a wide range of athletes. He also shares the importance of professional development for strength and conditioning coaches. Tune in to learn in-season training tips and how the NSCA inspired Greany’s path to the Big Leagues. As mentioned in the episode, here is a link to learn more about the Professional Baseball Strength and Conditioning Coaches Society (PBSCCS).   Connect with Joey on Instagram at: @joeygreany | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or X (Twitter): @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“I was very interested in fitness, in sports training. So I went to school for exercise science, physical education. Upon graduation, I explained to the group that my academic advisor, at the time, printed out the NSCA, I guess, job board and the NSCA website, handed that to me. I was walking back to my dorm room, reading the material that he just printed out from the NSCA, and you know, I was completely hooked. I said, this is something that I want to do. Eventually, I want to work with the best athletes in the world.” 8:40 “The Professional Baseball Strength and Conditioning Society, is an organization that represents all the strength coaches in professional baseball. When it first started out, there was only a few coaches involved. Over the course of some years, we’ve grown to probably 300 plus coaches that are involved. That’s both Minor League coaches and Major League strength and conditioning coaches, as well as other directors and coordinators are also involved.” 12:45 “Communicating with the players on the team, developing relationships and trust with these players on your team is very important to get them to do the things necessary to improve performance.” 17:45 “It’s important that you manage strength and power levels, while also keeping in mind of fatigue and recovery throughout the whole off season. And there’s a number of different strategies, techniques, and methods to go and to utilize that. As far as sets and repetitions, I like giving a set and repetition range for my athletes.” 20:28

From tactical strength and conditioning to developing the skills to train a specialized group of football kickers, Catherine Wallace shares how growing up in a military family inspired her into coaching. In this episode, Wallace connects with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, on how to pursue a tactical coaching career in different branches of the military and public safety. She discusses how earning the Tactical Strength and Conditioning Facilitator® (TSAC-F®) certification led her to pursue the Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist® (CSCS®), and more ways that involvement with the NSCA has positioned her for career growth. There is also a discussion about “holistic programs” within strength and conditioning, an area that has been popularized, but is perhaps still misunderstood. Listen and learn about the rapidly growing tactical strength and conditioning area of the field, and the mindset needed to thrive as an impactful coach. Connect with Catherine on Instagram at: @tac.coach.cath or by email: [email protected] | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“I would say, a big piece of advice if you are making that transition is take time to be a fly on the wall and observe and soak in the community and the area that you’re working within. That’s going to be helpful to build trust within your tactical athletes that are coming through.” 7:29 “The NSCA provides so much great content, opportunities to collaborate, to communicate, to grow yourself, and then, also, to grow other coaches.” 14:55 “You can have the best program in the world, but if it doesn’t match the person, if you don’t understand the intent, the why, the purpose behind it, you’re only scratching the surface.” 20:20 “Whether you want to take your service into the fitness field or strength conditioning or you’re looking to pour into whatever it is that you’re doing in the moment—whether that’s you’re working in corporate or you’re just looking to build within yourself or your own community—we tap into the importance and what defines a successful coach.” 23:59

In this episode of the NSCA Coaching Podcast, we delve into one of the biggest topics in college sports today–Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL). Tune in to learn more about this game-changing development and its implications for college athletes. Hannah Burkhart, a graduate student in Sport Science and Coaching Education at East Tennessee State University (ETSU), shares her experience as a student-athlete and brand ambassador. Eric McMahon, the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, joins her in the discussion to unpack the details of NIL policies, learn about the impact of social media on student-athletes, and uncover potential career benefits of NIL for personal branding. The episode focuses on the journey of the student-athlete towards professional growth. Don't miss out on this crucial discussion–listen now to stay ahead of the curve! Connect with Hannah on Instagram at: @hannaahnichole or LinkedIn: Hannah Burkhart | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“The NIL is a ton of different opportunities within itself. It has greatly changed college athletics in the last few years. The opportunities arise from showcasing products or services for a brand. A brand can be either local or a major brand.” 4:55 “[The NIL is] definitely is helping. I'm learning the importance of branding yourself. Now that's getting pushed even further with social media. You are your own brand on social media. I'm realizing how important it is to have this cohesive image of yourself projected, so employers or athletes know who they're going to be working with.” 21:05 “With branding, it definitely has made me step back think about my posts specifically, or just how when someone comes on my page, what's their first glance? What is it going to tell them about me? That will help in the long run, especially when I'm out of PT school, and I'm done with my masters, going for those first jobs. How am I portraying myself? So, if someone does find my social media, what do they see? It just helps me think about going forward, how do I want to change as a person? How do I want to portray myself, and that carries over into real life not just social media” 22:20

This episode of the NSCA’s Coaching Podcast features the 2024 NSCA College Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year, Brijesh Patel. Patel shares decades of wisdom and experience with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, including valuable lessons to support a fulfilling strength and conditioning career and avoid coach burnout. Learn about the journey of the 2023 Quinnipiac University National Champions Men’s Ice Hockey Team from the strength and conditioning coach’s perspective. Patel explains how program resources and support from administration can make or break the success of a program. From lessons on mentorship to putting in the work in support of professional development, this is an episode you will not want to miss. Connect with Brijesh online at coachbpatel.com or by email: [email protected]| Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs    Also, here is the link to nominate a colleague or mentor for an NSCA Coach of the Year Award!Show Notes“In reality, I think, what makes you a really good coach is learning how to coach lots of different athletes and learning how to coach different sports. So when it comes time to earn the right to be able to specialize within one sport, you are going to know how to deal with different personalities and different athletes. And your problem solving ability is going to be that much more expensive because you've been able-- you've been exposed to so much more.” 9:25 “That’s something I brought to Quinnipiac and with my staff, too, is getting people to understand that you aren't a coach 24/7, right? You have to be able to have some family aspects of your life. You've got to have some work-life balance, to not only avoid burnout, but to help you become your best self when you're actually with the athletes that you're around.” 17:05 “Also, developing some coaching strategies where you empower the people that you're around and the people that you get to work with to do the things on their own, right? I tell recruits flat out – I am not a hand holder. I am not going to hold your hand through every single day. I will teach you and I will be a guide along your journey, but at the end of the day, it is your journey. So, if you want to get better, I'm here for you.” 24:48 “It's not just about trying to push them to the next level, but also, getting them to understand how to be an adult, how to take care of themselves in the arena, in the gym, and away. Teaching them how to go grocery shopping. Teaching them about nutrition. Teaching about stress management. Teaching about how to sleep. Teaching them all these tools so they can be healthy, not only while they're here, but also, for the rest of their lives, too.” 28:32

In today's National Football League (NFL) world, teams are always on the lookout for the best talent. That is why strength and conditioning coaches are crucial in optimizing a prospect's value.  This special episode of the NSCA Coaching Podcast features NFL Combine expert, Bryan McCall, sharing details of coaching process leading up to the event. The conversation includes co-hosts Eric McMahon, the NSCA Coaching Program Manager, and Gatorade Team Sports Manager, Jon Jost. You will hear Coach McCall credit Coach Jost as an early career mentor and emphasize the importance of mentorship for all coaches. Learn how to make a successful year-round business of strength and conditioning and advance your coaching career with an entrepreneurial mindset.  You can reach Coach McCall on Instagram: @justbmac_ or Twitter: @just_BryanM | Email Jon at: [email protected] | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs    To learn more and join the Gatorade Performance Partner Community, visit GatoradePerformancePartner.com.Show Notes"My father told me really early on, man, find something in your life that you love to do. Don't just go into a job where you just dread being there, and you don't want to do it, and you're forced to do it because you need to get a paycheck week to week. He said, find a passion." 1:55 "Physically, a lot of them are all the same. They're all really big. They're fast. They can have the same 5-10-5. The linear speed is there. But it's that "it factor", which we've kind of looked at three different areas. When we talk about mentality, what type of drive do you have? What type of attitude do you have? What's your confidence level? We feel like those three areas is sometimes what separates athletes from being just physical specimens to being, a complete sort of player." 19:52 "You've got the alphabet certification, you've got everything. But then when you're on the floor, can you do it? And so you've got to get real world, practical experience getting in front of people, coaching people. It's hard training athletes. They don't necessarily want to do squats all the time, and sprinting, and 300-yard shuttle. They need motivation. So you've got to get some practical experience and get that really quickly so you can learn if this is something you want to do or not, because it's not an easy road." 32:40 "An issue I'm seeing with the younger generation, is they just want to get to the top really quick. You've got to slow cook it a little bit. Put it in the oven on 200 and let it just bake. Slow cook your career a little bit. It's going to get there, but it takes time to build your reputation. It takes time to get results. Just be patient with it. You're not going to come out here and just start working with Combine athletes as a new graduate. You're going to have to watch for a little bit and learn. And then you'll get your chance." 33:40

This episode of the NSCA Coaching Podcast presents drug testing and anti-doping initiatives in elite sport. Team USA 2008 Olympian, Carissa Gump, discusses how her journey as an international level weightlifter led to her becoming an ambassador for fair competition. Gump shares lessons from overcoming a career-threatening injury prior to the 2008 Olympics, with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, and how a passion for supporting athletes has fueled her career as a sport business executive. Learn about opportunities that the NSCA Foundation has for aspiring strength and conditioning professionals, and how the NSCA Foundation serves to promote the philanthropy of the coaching profession.     Learn more about clean sport and anti-doping by taking the USADA Coach’s Advantage Course for 0.2 NSCA CEUs.   Check out NSCA Foundation resources to discover grants and scholarships available for strength and conditioning professionals. More episode links: USADA – U.S. Anti-Doping Agency   TrueSport – Education for Coaches, Athletes, and Parents   NSF for Sport – NSF Certified Nutritional Products Listing Global DRO – Drug Reference Online  Drug Free Sport – Anti-Doping Services and Education Email Carissa at [email protected]| Connect with Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“I am a very big advocate for anti-doping in sport. Clean sport is really, really important to me, just for a fair playing field but also integrity of the sport and integrity of the athlete and personally.” 10:05 “I was lifting, but if it weren't for having those folks in my life and helping me get there, I would never have made it. So me being an Olympian is, yes, it's me, but it is also my family, my coaches, my teammates. Everybody was really a huge part of that.” 30:16 “The Foundation is really to me the philanthropic heart of the NSCA. We support students all the way, high school students all the way on up through senior-level investigators. And it's just really special for me to be part of the NSCA and the Foundation because everything comes full circle. What we do comes back to the athletes. And so I'm not coaching. I'm not directly involved with athletes, but I know what I am doing is still-- it's helping athletes in many, many sports.” 33:55 “When I started with the Foundation, we were very heavily research-focused. Over the last seven years, we have continued to add grants and scholarships that are focused on those other areas of membership that we have.” 36:00

Hear from University of Connecticut (UCONN) Director of Football Strength and Conditioning, Matt King, as he reflects on milestones and mentors along his decade-plus coaching journey with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon. King discusses how his early exposure to strength and conditioning as a high school athlete informs the training-age and level-based training approach of UCONN’s football team. Episode highlights include a look into UCONN’s highly collaborative sports performance department, tips for navigating marriage and children in a career with long-hours, and discussion about the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Transfer Portal. Connect with Matt on Instagram: @coach_mking, Twitter: @Coach_MKing, or by email: [email protected]| Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“I would say the biggest thing that we've done during the four or five years that I've been here now is be able to have a levels-based system in terms of our training. When they come in, it's based off their training age, we assess them and evaluate them, and then we have four different levels, and each one of my assistants takes a level. So, it also creates ownership in the program with my assistants.” 12:40 “We have an environment here where we kind of police each other in terms of making sure that we cover each other, and you're spending time with your family first and foremost, because jobs come and go. Your family's always going to be there for you, and they're going to need you in good times and bad times.” 21:03 “Don't try to be like your mentors. Make sure that you have your own personality, and you're authentic with that because if you try to be somebody that you're not, your athletes will see right through it. Let's be honest, nobody wants to be coached by somebody that comes in the room and is fake. They want authenticity, and they want realness.” 25:55 “I'd rather have someone that's more of a go-getter and is going to go try and get something done on their own, than have somebody who's going to sit on their hands and wait, because they're not making my job easier if I have to go and tell you to do something every time. Those would be some of my tidbits and my gems for young coaches looking to get in the field.” 28:20

In this episode, Lilly Bernardi, Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at Hofstra University, talks to Eric McMahon, the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, about her journey from being an athlete to becoming a coach. Bernardi shares sentiments over losing her senior lacrosse season as a college athlete during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how it has fueled her motivational approach in coaching. The episode highlights the importance of building confidence as a young professional and adopting a growth mindset for career development. Additionally, the conversation delves into social media etiquette for coaches in the age of information sharing. Connect with Lilly on Instagram: @lilly_bernardi1 or by email: [email protected]| Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“That’s kind of how I found my love for strength and conditioning because the weight room, I think, was the first place for me where maybe I wasn't getting stats on the field. I saw in the weight room, myself getting stronger and that really just translated into a new level of confidence for me and really allowed for me to embrace my role as a leader and, more specifically, a leader by example in the sport of lacrosse.” 3:05 “My athletes are very aware of the fact that, on any given day, if they're doing conditioning, if they're having the hardest lift, they're getting yelled at practice, that I would do anything to take the jersey off their back and get out there one more time. I think if I have athletes who are kind of just going through the motions, I really try to explain to them, it might be hard, but you're going to look back, and you'll miss these four years. And maybe you don't want to go outside and do conditioning every day, but there's a day that you'll look back and wish you could be a part of it.” 5:20 “My best piece of advice that I received in this career is just, you're never ready for your next step. And so, while, like I said, I had no idea what I was going to present on, I knew I wanted to because I wanted to challenge myself in a different way and prove to myself that I can.” 18:10 “Another thing I love about social media is all the books that people post on their stories and adding it to my list. I think sharing information, but also showing your athletes and other coaches and sharing ideas, creating a community of encouraging each other, whether it's in professional accomplishments, and the PRs are fun too.” 25:45

In this episode, we learn from Emily Schilling, an Associate Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Illinois Fighting Illini Volleyball team. She shares her needs analysis for the growing sport of volleyball with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, including thoughts for training team sports, different positions on the court, and the progression from first-year students through graduation. Another important topic covered is the professional pathways strength and conditioning coaches take to gain meaningful early-career coaching experiences and pursue higher-level director roles. Hear about beyond the weightroom demands placed on college student-athletes today, and how National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) “Name, Image, Likeness” (NIL) policies are a topic that strength and conditioning coaches should learn about. You can connect with Emily via email at [email protected] | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“Again, getting paid a stipend, not a whole heck of a lot, living in a busy, very expensive city, but I was like, if I keep at this, if I keep my nose to the grindstone and I keep asking questions and I show up every day and I’m consistent with what I do, this is just a one-year gig, and it's going to lead me to something bigger.” 13:00 “Stay persistent about it. I think those are the best places to end up at is the places that give you coaching opportunities, and that actually take the time to mentor you. They actually take the time to sit down, answer your questions. They review you. They ask you questions. They challenge you, and as frustrating as it is and maybe scary as it is sometimes, to sit there with your mentor and have them challenge you and really get you to think. If you’re willing to be open minded and have a growth mindset, it always leads you to something better.” 13:47 “When they’re allowed to just take a step back and they understand and they know they’re not going to play, it’s almost like a weight off their shoulders. There’s no expectation for them in already a hard transition to college. In a hard transition already to a faster, more physical game, it just allows them to take a back seat and just watch, just to absorb everything, to be mentored.” 23:05 “As much as we say, embrace the grind, no days off, that’s not really how the human mind and body works. We’re not robots. We’re humans at the end of the day.” 31:40

Kevin Neeld, Head Performance Coach of the Boston Bruins National Hockey League (NHL) team, joins the NSCA Coaching Podcast to share about strength and conditioning practices in the NHL. Neeld connects with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, on his path to working in professional hockey, the involvement of strength and conditioning at the annual NHL Draft Combine, and the partnership between the Strength and Conditioning Association of Professional Hockey (SCAPH) and the NSCA. The discussion includes perspectives for aspiring coaches about working in professional hockey, on-ice and off-ice training, and the recent growth of performance staffs. Connect with Kevin on Instagram: @kevinneeld or Twitter: @KevinNeeld| Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“The shift on off-ice development and preparing for a potential combine battery takes a back seat to making sure that you’re ready to play the next game, as it should. In contrast, we have players that maybe have not played a game in three months. So there’s a lot of context that needs to be considered when interpreting the test results of the players that are at the combine.” 9:08 “What we see in some of these conversations that come up regularly is that a player might be really fast on the ice and really underdeveloped in their speed and power qualities off the ice. To me, that may be a player that you really want to take a strong look at because if they have a four-cylinder engine, and they’re beating eight-cylinder engines in races, then you increase the size of the engine. It’s likely that they’re going to continue to scale up in a positive direction.” 15:35 “It’s more of a three-pronged approach of marrying what literature and research-based evidence says along with the coach’s experience along with the values and preferences of the athlete.” 33:10

This episode of the NSCA Coaching Podcast features Nicole Fowler, the Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at Phillips Exeter Academy. Fowler connects with the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Staff, Eric McMahon and Kevin Gregory, about transitioning from collegiate coaching, at Merrimack University and the University of Denver, to now working in a high school. Learn what it means to be “unembarassable” in your coaching and how that helps your strength and conditioning program. The impact of the high school strength and conditioning coach extends far beyond weight room in this episode. Tune in to learn more about programming for high school student-athletes and training insights for youth during the pre-college formative years. Connect with Nicole on Instagram at @nicolesampson104 and @phillips_exeter_strength | Reach out to Eric and Kevin on Instagram at @ericmcmahoncscs and @coachgregorystrengthShow Notes“There's about 1,200 students that are on campus here with us. We have grades 9 through 12, but then students can come and join us as a post-graduate as well. The cool thing about Exeter is that it's an extremely diverse campus. We represent about 33 countries and the school itself offers over 450 courses.” 2:25 “I've tried to narrow it down to two things, but the athletes want to have control or elements of control, and they want to enjoy the process.” 10:20 “He said to be successful in this world you have to be unembarrassable, which is funny, because I didn't put that into perspective. And sometimes the kids are dancing and having a good time or whatever it is. And you have to kind be on board with it to a certain extent. Obviously you have your standards. But you have to enjoy it, because otherwise you're going to pull your hair out trying to get all these kids to do exactly what you want them to do.” 10:55 “But role within the community I think is something that I've really enjoyed in my two years that I've been here. I love to see the other side of whatever the campus is working on.” 23:05 “I was able to create systems at Merrimack and create systems at Denver, and I'm able to use those systems, but just figure out a creative way to make it work in my setting that I'm in. And I can honestly say that I'm having the most fun that I've ever had coaching, being in the setting that I'm in. And I feel like I'm making a really big impact.” 27:30

Legendary strength and conditioning coach Jeff “Maddog” Madden sits down with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, and Gatorade Team Sports Manager, Jon Jost, to share stories and lessons from an over four-decade collegiate coaching career. This Gatorade Performance Partner collaboration episode of the NSCA Coaching Podcast emphasizes the vital role of the strength and conditioning coach as a team builder, leadership developer, and master motivator for student-athletes. Coach Madden takes us on his journey from the early days of being a strength and conditioning coach to today, discussing some major influencers in the profession and training principles that support long-term career success in college athletics. Listen in and be better equipped to face the challenges we experience in our jobs as coaches. You can reach Coach Madden by email at [email protected]| Email Jon at: [email protected] | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs  To learn more and join the Gatorade Performance Partner Community, visit GatoradePerformancePartner.com.Show Notes“I know you’re the strength and conditioning coach. But you want to work to become an assistant athletic director, or an associate athletic director. You want to be of value to the whole department, not just the football staff. That was money in the bank.” 3:17 “That’s a pretty intense amount of time. That’s several months of training that the coaches don’t even get a chance to see them.” 10:45 “When you have communication, you can work things out. I had communication with our doctors, because I wanted to understand what the doctors were doing and how they did what they did, so I could better do my job.” 14:39 “I had a whole semester where I could go and travel and meet people; go to different clinics, go to the Gatorade clinics or whatever was out there at the given time, and spend time with people. And those people helped build my career, because they gave me solid, sound advice.” 20:20 “You see, because I wanted to let them understand it takes a lot to be a champion, but you got to do the work to be a champion. You don’t just walk out there and become a champion. You know? It’s not easy. Anybody can wear the uniform, but can you perform in that uniform? And will you defend the honor of the name on the front and the name on the back of that uniform?” 31:54

Hear from the widely-respected, Rob Glass, Assistant AD for Athletic Performance at Oklahoma State University (OSU), an influential figure in the success of the OSU and University of Florida athletics programs over his four decades in the strength and conditioning profession. Coach Glass connects with the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, on the importance of professionalism among strength and conditioning coaches, and specific qualities he looks for in strength and conditioning coaches joining the OSU staff. This episode highlights the importance of history and experience in developing effective training programs for your coaching environment, and how the student-athletes of today benefit more from our improved coaching practices. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear impactful lessons of character and leadership that can help push your career forward. You can connect with Coach Glass by email at [email protected]| Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“It's the ability to teach and communicate, effective lifting techniques, program design, and… you try to do your best.” 6:04 “The professionalism piece speaks to all that. From the time you first start as a graduate assistant or even an intern, if the professionalism piece is there, you're going to get looked at in a much favorable light with people that are decision-makers for your career moving forward.” 12:38 “Write programs backwards. What does the head coach-- where do I need to be when this training cycle ends? And then I'm going to start writing. I actually write it backwards depending on the duration of the training cycle.” 26:40 “It’s still about networking and developing relationships where you can have good dialogue, training dialogue, where you can ask some questions. But you've got to develop that network.” 28:00 “Don’t be afraid to network. Don't be afraid to reach out. Be a sponge, learn as much as you can. Don't think you have all the answers. I mean, probably the biggest turnoff for some guys is when you sit down with somebody and they act like they've got it figured out and everybody else is a ways wrong. There are so many ways to enhance an athlete's performance.” 30:05

Jessica Burke is an experienced collegiate strength and conditioning coach, most recently at Penn State University, and a personal trainer. She joins the NSCA Coaching Podcast with a unique perspective on the state of the strength and conditioning profession. Burke shares her professional path with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, including rewarding work as a personal trainer outside of her responsibilities on campus. This episode explores the value of work-life balance across the coaching profession. Should we debunk the “hustle culture” model of the strength and conditioning coach lifestyle? Listen to learn about this topic and more, including strength and conditioning coaches having a presence on social media, and training foundations for youth and female athletes.   You can follow Jessica on Instagram: @coachjburke and TikTok: @coachjburke | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“I definitely encourage people to work with the sports that they're passionate about but also keep that door open, because working with them and working with golf, it definitely has made me a more well-rounded coach and given me the ability to just connect with more athletes.” 2:40 “It takes a level of grit to get into this profession and stay with it.” 8:33 “For me, it was making that really in-depth knowledge really accessible for general population and then also providing a really positive message surrounding food, surrounding exercise, things that I really needed to hear when I was in my early 20s and just cutting through the noise of diet culture, because it is really loud.” 10:45 “I think the science and the nitty gritty is a huge part of our profession, don't get me wrong. But the ability to connect with broad groups and types of people is the thing that makes coaches effective.” 20:18

Learn about expanding developmental pathways and career opportunities within Major League Soccer (MLS) on this episode of the NSCA Coaching Podcast. The Charlotte FC Head of Performance, Adam Parr, shares his experience with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, including the key relationships between strength and conditioning coaches, sport scientists, and international influences on the growth of soccer within North America. As athletes today become more accustomed to data-feedback on their performance, Parr explains the process of effectively embedding technology in the team setting. Listen in to learn more about how you can break into a growing area of the field in professional soccer.   You can connect with Adam on Instagram: @aparrfitness or LinkedIn: @adamcparr| Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“I really enjoyed and gravitated towards understanding training loads and stimulus and recovery and how it all fit together. And we started putting together pieces of how are the coaches going to plan training based off of the training loads that we're getting from the heart rate and different drills and things like that.” 25:00 “When we're able to show them, I think, that we're individualizing as much as we can, then they understand, OK, like, they're doing it for my best interest.” 31:55 “They may be running GPS with a few teams, but not necessarily have the time to really sift through the data and make use of it and make it actionable. So is that something that you can craft out for yourself? If that's something you're interested in, can you say, hey, you know, like let me figure this out. Let me do this for you. Because you can create an opportunity for yourself to not only learn the tech and learn the procedures and kind of the best practices, but then also become a valuable part of what they're doing. And you never know what that's going to turn into, right? It could turn into an employment opportunity or a recommendation or referral to somewhere else when someone asks.” 35:05 “I think the other thing is just being adaptable, you know, like, willing to flex and adapt, not only to jobs and things like that as far as what you're doing day to day, but situations, circumstances. If you're very rigid in what you do in your approach, you're probably not going to succeed in this space.” 37:50

It is time to catch up with 2019 NSCA Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year, Ashley Jackson, on her recent career move from the University of Michigan to Texas A&M, as the Assistant Director of Olympic Strength and Conditioning. Jackson talks with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about leadership pathways for coaches, and how to gain professional opportunities, from mentorship to earning promotions, and taking the next step in your career. The episode explains the importance of the assistant strength and conditioning coach role, not only as a career stepping-stone, but as an opportunity to practice being both an effective leader and follower. Tune-in and learn more about how you can gain valuable leadership experience, regardless of your current careers stage, through involvement with the NSCA.   Use this link to look up NSCA Contributor Opportunities and get involved!  You can connect with Ashley on Twitter @txstronger| Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs Show Notes“For leadership styles and skills, I'd say make sure and surround yourself with good leaders.” 6:23 “But it was just taking that 30 seconds of being brave and introducing myself to Joe Schmo at University X, and not caring who they were, where they coached. Was it football? Was Olympic sports? Was it a junior college? Was it-- did they work in the private sector? I was able to take knowledge and guidance from any coach that would let me chew their ear.” 12:17 “I wouldn't want to be around anyone that's not an open book and doesn't want to share. So I would say definitely keep that in mind of who you're giving your time and energy to if they're not willing to share everything with you.” 15:38 “There are opportunities around us where we can continue to positively influence what our salaries could and should look like. And like I talked about, having representatives at the highest level of administration within our athletic departments will help show those that have say and those that can change salaries and salary grades, how important and integral we are to the athletic department.” 27:35

In this episode, we hear from Kerry Harbor, the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Winston-Salem State University, on his experience at the 2023 NSCA Coaches Conference. Coach Harbor shares with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, unique aspects of serving student-athletes at the NCAA Division II level. The discussion includes Coach Harbor’s early aspiration to become a physical therapist, to how a college football injury introduced him to the coaching profession. From teaching physical education classes to coaching in both high school and college, Coach Harbor reflects on recent growth and areas of opportunity in the strength and conditioning profession. As mentioned during the episode, you can learn more about the results from the 2022 NSCA Strength and Conditioning Salary Survey. Connect with Kerry on Instagram: @harborkerry or Twitter @CoachHarbor | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“The best way I can put it is, I tell people it's like Frosty the Snowman. He was just a regular snowman until he put the hat on. So once I put the whistle on, I knew this was what I should be doing.” 4:54 “I think there's tremendous value in it being able to help someone not be apprehensive when they walk into a gym or not be apprehensive about going outside and get some physical activity.” 13:50 “Even my athletes here, we always talk about, you're only as strong as the weight you can lift correctly.” 22:10 “Sometimes some mental health issues come because some people don't really know how to deal with failure. So for me, even if you aren't really comfortable speaking or delivering a presentation, I think you should do it because of the value that your story has to other people.” 27:50 “I think we should jump at that opportunity at every chance we get to speak, even if you don't feel like you're a polished public speaker, or maybe you're not sure exactly how to do the presentation or exactly what to cover. I would say jump on out there and do it. Jump out there and do it.” 29:55

Meet Tara De Leon, a former collegiate strength and conditioning coach who now works as a personal trainer in Edgewater, MD. De Leon shares insight with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, and episode co-host, NSCA Personal Training Program Manager, Blake Brightwell, on alternate routes for strength and conditioning coaches through personal training, group fitness, and private sector coaching. This episode discusses the “coaching identity” as it exists and impacts coaches’ beliefs across various stages of professional development. With the growth of the strength and conditioning field, De Leon challenges us to expand our thinking and perceptions around personal training, while holding true to our values and expertise as coaches. Regardless of your current role in the profession, learn more about how the NSCA can help you grow your career.   You can connect with Tara on Instagram: @tara_de_leon_fitness or [email protected] | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“And now as I've gotten more comfortable with who I am as a trainer, I absolutely call myself a personal trainer, and I'm proud of it.” 9:30 “I think the industry is kind of headed towards that where I think one-on-one training will be a really valuable commodity. But the majority will be semi-private and small groups type stuff. I also think there's a huge opportunity in the online space.” 14:43 “Someday, I might get married and have a husband and have a job that can't just pick up and go with me wherever I feel like it. Or if I have a kid, and I want to see them every now and then, strength coaching is not a great career for that. At least not where I was because we were there at 6:00 in the morning, 10:00 at night, weekends. It was all over the place. So I think having a little bit more open mindset for me was important. Because the private sector really offers all that other opportunity.” 19:30 “So having to have that skill set to be able to hear about all their aches and pains and have some sort of answer for how to mitigate them or fix them entirely, mentally, socially, it takes a lot.” 29:16 “So I hope that the coaches out there kind of get inspired to get more involved and maybe serve on a committee or speak at a conference or come on the podcast, try to make it better for all of us.” 33:52

As performance staffs grow and develop, professional athletes today have a broad array of services and expertise available to them in the locker room and around competition. This episode features the Vice President of Health and Performance for the National Basketball Association (NBA) Phoenix Suns, Brady Howe. Howe tells Eric McMahon, the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, how humble beginnings as an NBA Developmental League athletic trainer contributed to his current performance-first mindset for leading a multifaceted health and performance department. Topics include often misunderstood developmental factors for training elite athletes and advice for how to serve your athletes at the highest level. Connect with Brady on Instagram: @bhowe6 or Twitter: @brady_howe | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs    You can learn more about NBA strength and conditioning from the National Basketball Strength and Conditioning Association (NBSCA), an Official Sport Partner of the NSCA.Show Notes“Sports has always been my medium. I always wanted to be working with athletes, working in sports.” 3:30 “This is the thing for young strength coaches that I learned at a very early age, is you have-- you probably spent all night building this program or tomorrow's workout. This is how it's going to go to a T, to the reps. I can envision it. And they get there, and you do the eye test. And that athlete walks in, and it's just not happening today. So very quickly, can you adjust and adapt? And you changed everything on the fly to get what that athlete needs for today, because again, we've got to remind ourselves, why are we here? Why is everybody here? It's for that athlete to be able to perform at a high level on their sport, right?” 9:55 “You got to meet them. You've got to meet their energy. Meet them where they're at.” 18:10 “You got to find a way to reach these guys and get them to understand that there is value in it, no matter what it is.” 22:05

In this episode, we catch up with 2014 NSCA Assistant College Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year, Caitlin Quinn, about her current position at Toyota Racing. Quinn shares her path from working for over a decade in collegiate athletics at Florida State University to taking a leap into unfamiliar territory in National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon. Learn about her needs analysis for working with youth developmental drivers, as well as physiological, behavioral, and nutritional factors that impact racing performance. This episode shares an alternative view on strength and conditioning culture and the expectations that we place on ourselves as coaches. Quinn opens up about creating harmony between professional and personal lives, as well as seeking out the best environment to continue development as strength and conditioning professionals.   You can connect with Caitlin on Instagram: @thequinn.44 | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“I think understanding your athlete and what motivates them, what drives them, what do they get excited about is really important in designing a program that they can execute successfully no matter what your goal is.” 14:45 “I think probably year seven or eight, I realized holy moly, there's a huge benefit to having stayed somewhere so long if you continue to try to grow.” 18:47 “Part of that was being really eyes open, committed to taking care of me a little bit better so that I could take care of everybody that I was coaching I'm working with.” 21:00 “Can we do both those things together, where we're creating strong work ethic in people, but also making them feel empowered, authentic human beings that can take care of themselves also.” 21:17

Veteran Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA), Bill Foran, joins the NSCA Coaching Podcast and reflects on a more than four-decade coaching career. Foran discusses his early beginnings teaching elementary school physical education, with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager Eric McMahon, and what led him towards pursuing collegiate and professional sports strength and conditioning. Foran shares stories of resourcefulness from the early days, before the strength and conditioning field was formally defined, up to more recent years using sport science technology and foundational core principles to inform training practices for elite NBA players, such as Lebron James and Shaquille O’Neal. This episode is informative for strength and conditioning coaches at any level, emphasizing the importance of building lasting relationships with athletes and head coaches, as well as taking advantage of all that the NSCA has to offer.       Reach out to Coach Foran at by email at [email protected] | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs   Learn more about NBA strength and conditioning with the National Basketball Strength and Conditioning Association (NBSCA), an Official Sport Partner of the NSCA.Show Notes“And I learned right then I enjoyed developing athletes a lot more than the Xs and Os of the game.” 3:05 “I was trying to get across the importance of leg, hip, core strength, but we didn't have the testing, how to test for power back then. We didn't have that. So I came up with a quotient called the power quotient, and it was just the square root of their vertical jump in inches times the square root of their body weight in pounds. And basically it was just a number where I could rank people.” 9:43 “You get your degree, you get your certifications, get as much experience as possible either as a GA, an intern, or work for free, whatever it is. You need that experience, and then you need to network, network, network.” 23:15 “But the big thing is, you've got to show the athletes you care. Connect with them at the personal level, but when they know you care and you're willing to work, that's the other thing, outwork everybody. If you show them you care and outwork everybody, you're on your way.” 23:33

Coaching careers have chapters. Whether moving from one position to the next, or one area of the profession to another, veteran strength and conditioning coach, Matt Krause, understands this journey well. Krause was the 2018 NSCA Professional Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year with an over 20-year career working in Major League Baseball. He shares his path from professional sports to today, working as the Health and Performance Manager in the Pasco County Sheriff’s Department, with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon. This episode includes insights for developing effective strength and conditioning programs across sport and law enforcement. The value of engaging with and learning from multiple areas of the profession is paramount throughout this episode, highlighting the value of leadership and versatility in an expanding profession.      Connect with Matt on Instagram at @mck_inc or by email at [email protected] | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs     Follow-up on this conversation and learn more about strength and conditioning initiatives at the Florida’s Institute for Research, Security, and Tactics (F1RST) and in the Professional Baseball Strength and Conditioning Coaches Society (PBSCCS).Show NotesShow Notes Coming Soon!

Hear from strength and conditioning coach, Tim Caron, on his path from collegiate strength and conditioning into a unique private sector business model in the Los Angeles, CA area. Caron connects with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, to discuss the potential role of sport science in the private sector with general population clients. This episode is full of training insights for coaches to re-engage their thought process around working with groups and teams. In addition, Caron shares the origins of his new book, Strength Deficit, on considerations for concentric and eccentric strength training.      You can reach Tim on Instagram at @coachtimcaron or Twitter at @coachtimcaron | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow NotesShow Notes Coming Soon!

Hear from the 2023 NSCA Assistant College Coach of the Year, Gary Calcagno, from Oklahoma State University. In this episode, Calcagno shares highlights from a more than 30-year strength and conditioning career and how being resourceful as a once aspiring coach prepared him for lasting professional success with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon. Calcagno also discusses his long history with the NSCA, recent areas of progress across the profession, and the role of quality leadership in managing a successful strength and conditioning program.     You can reach Gary by email at [email protected] | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“And I said, well Coach, just judge me on what I do moving forward. I don't-- I'm not going to try to act like a wrestling aficionado, but I do know about the human body and how to make guys more explosive and more powerful. And that, to me, is what your sport's all about.” 8:30 “I really think that I would start with the professionalism piece. I mean, you've got to comport yourself in a manner to make people follow you and want to follow you, not because you've got a title, but because you carry yourself the way you should, and that you've got knowledge that can help them, or help their team, or help their organization.” 32:52 “I also think you better know how to reach all kinds of kids. Part of our job is just so much involved into you're kind of part sports psychologist. So get to know your student-athletes. And it can be a day where, if you know them, you know they're not ready for you to jump down their throat.” 36:08

Learn about a unique path into strength and conditioning from J. Aggabao, the Associate Athletic Director of Sports Performance at Santa Clara University (SCU). Aggabao shares insights on coaching pathways and hiring, with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, that includes service in the United States Navy, working in the National Football League (NFL), and progressing into a department leadership role at SCU. From networking in the strength and conditioning field to beyond the campus and athletic communities, this episode speaks to various career stages, from aspiring strength and conditioning coaches seeking their first jobs, to experienced professionals aiming to become effective leaders.       Reach out to Coach Aggabao on Instagram: @j.aggabao, or by email at [email protected] | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“The big thing with that, for me, is that in the long run, when they start going to other positions, one, they have the title, and they have a salary benchmark that they are going to be able to use as they negotiate or try to progress in their career.” 5:25 “In talking to tactical strength coaches these days, I mean, just the vast knowledge that they bring to the table and are able to present to our service members is where the value lies.” 13:55 “Be the best version of yourself wherever you're at in your current situation. People will notice, people will remember, because once again, we're in the athletic world. Coaches will move on, but if you make an impression, they're going to remember that.” 19:20 “Now I've shifted my goals to perhaps becoming an executive member of an athletic department, or becoming an AD one day. And so those are the things that now, as I progress in my career, I'm trying to take those steps.” 25:05

Hear from iconic strength and conditioning coach Tommy Moffitt as he debriefs on important lessons learned over a 34-year collegiate coaching career. Moffitt shares his perspective on the importance of training weightlifting movements, with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, and how these methods became an important element of “LSU Way” over an impressive two decades at the University. Topics include the development of young coaches, advice for landing an internship, and shared challenges we face in the strength and conditioning profession. In addition, Moffitt shares a new project he is currently working, the “Moffitt Method”, a new strength and conditioning and education service founded in 2022.     Reach out to Tommy on Instagram: @tommymoffitt, Twitter: @TommyMoffitt, or by email at [email protected] | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“That's probably the most important thing for anyone, whether you're a football coach or strength coach or baseball coach. You got to surround yourself with people that are better coaches than you, people that are smarter than you. And then put them in a position where they can do their job.” 2:50 “You’ve got to be a great communicator. You've got to be able to get down on the player's level and speak to him or her in a manner that they understand it. And then you've got to be able to motivate that young man or that young woman to do what it is that you want them to do.” 26:00 “It takes a huge commitment to be an intern. And so through that, you learn a lot of patience. And then you learn to overcome adversity, and you learn a lot about yourself and what your level of commitment is to this field.” 29:00 “The only way out of that position is to apply for every job. You're never going to get a job that you don't apply for.” 41:05

This episode features Corliss Fingers, the Director of Strength and Conditioning at Bethune-Cookman University. She talks with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about her journey in a predominantly male strength and conditioning profession. This episode speaks to the value of a strength and conditioning coach at the college level, as Fingers shares about preparing athletes in the extreme heat and humidity of Florida during pre-season football. She also recaps her presentation at the 2022 NSCA National Conference in New Orleans, LA, discussing representation around diversity, equity, and inclusion for athletes and coaches.      You can reach out to Corliss on Twitter: @CorlissFingers or by email at [email protected]| Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“We don't have the things that some of the bigger school has, but I'm fine with filling in the gap. And a lot of it is just education, just giving them things that they can remember that's not too overwhelming, knowing that they have camp in place and getting ready for classes and hitting them over the head with a bunch of ratios of how much it-- no, OK. Let's put some color on your plate.” 13:07 “This is the place where we build young men and young women, not just strength-wise, but letting them own who they are, walking to their own life, finding their strength, finding the things that make them who they're going to be. Getting to work on time, applying yourself, teamwork-- you learn all that in the weight room.” 18:24 “If you approach it with the right attitude and mentality and just go out there, that you're going to make as many positive connections as possible, you're going to get that recommendation or referral that you're looking for, that you're willing to offer when someone just shows up and puts the time in.” 33:10 “But just in general, as young coaches, aspiring coaches entering the field, knowing your blind spots, knowing what experience you have and what experience you don't have that they might be looking for. And not every job is for you in that moment, but if you can recognize that, or if someone tells you, hey, we're looking for someone a little more well-rounded, you can go seek that out.” 36:40

Marquis Johnson, Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach with the Minnesota Vikings National Football League (NFL) team, and Bryan Doo, former Head Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Boston Celtics National Basketball Association (NBA) team and owner of Optimal Fitness, join as guests with the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon. Also returning for this Gatorade Performance Partner collaboration episode is guest co-host Jon Jost, a 27-year veteran college strength and conditioning coach and the Team Sports Manager for Gatorade. Join this fun group of strength and conditioning coaches from across the industry as they discuss what it means to be successful, as well as how they are reshaping the different career paths within the field.  Connect with Marquis on Instagram: @quis_fit| Reach Bryan on Instagram: @bdoostrength or Twitter: @bdoo22 | Email Jon at: [email protected] | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs To learn more and join the Gatorade Performance Partner Community, visit GatoradePerformancePartner.com.Show Notes“Your teams have to win. But also being a good person, doing your job, being a good communicator, creating a good culture and creating a good environment where your athletes and the people people that work-- that your athletes want to thrive in and be successful in, and also being somebody that you're a person that the people you work with want to be around as well.” 3:01 “And I said, got be honest, I don't really believe in luck. I said I believe you create your own luck.” 16:22 “Any time I'm around people, I never know who I'm going to meet and when I'm going to meet them. So I try to be presentable, watch my language, stuff like that.” 24:05 “When you talk about progressive overload, and improving speed, and power, there are some principles that are embedded in science that haven't changed, which I think is really good.” 35:38 “But if you find the right network of people-- I think that's been successful for me, is just finding the right network of people. In that way, I can just get good information for everyone, because I don't know everything.” 42:30

Learn about advocacy topics for collegiate strength and conditioning coaches, and the commitment of the NSCA to provide professional development resources in support of the field. This episode features Mary Beth George, the Chair of the NSCA College Coaches Professional Development Group (PDG). She shares her story in the profession with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Manager, Eric McMahon, including key insights on the NSCA’s ongoing efforts to support athlete wellness and safety, and personal perspectives on being a strength and conditioning coach as a parent. Tune in for an early listen of areas that will be discussed at the College Coaches PDG Meeting next month as part of the 2023 Coaches Conference (Charlotte, NC, January 4-6). Connect with Mary Beth via email at [email protected] or on Instagram at mbgeorge2569| | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs and Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs     You can join the College Coaches PDG Council before the December 15th annual NSCA Volunteer Application deadline.Show Notes“I think the biggest thing that I've learned since being a part of this group has been that there is a whole network of people behind you, rooting for you to do well, and will support you-- whether it is that you're an assistant, just coming up, and it's your first full time position, or if you're someone like me trying to build a program, whatever it might be-- there are other people that have experienced something similar before and they can be a sounding board to help you succeed.” 11:07 “As we get accredited education programs, as we advance our professional communities, as we improve our research and all of our scientific areas, the way you're going to see that is by the students, and young coaches, and young professionals of today showing up at our conferences, and speaking, and being on committees.” 19:47 “When I got in the field, I didn't even think about having a family at the time. I was so devoted to this is my career, and this is what I want to do, and this is what I have to do to make my career work. But then when the kids came along, I had to adjust some of my own beliefs about the job.” 28:22 “Being able to be there and push the student athlete on the physical side, but then also being there to support them mentally. And being there, having an open ear, whatever it may be, just building that relationship with the student athlete to know that, hey, they can come to us and know that we're going to listen to them. And if we're not the right resource, we'll point them in the right direction to have whatever support they need.” 33:20

Hear from two-time Olympian, Meg Stone, the first female strength and conditioning coach to head both men’s and women’s strength programs at a major American university. Stone shares her story from being an elite discus thrower towards an unexpected coaching career, with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Manager, Eric McMahon. She discusses what she believes needs to change to further the strength and conditioning field in support of athlete health and safety. Stone also tells us about what makes the Sport Science Program at East Tennessee State University (ETSU) so unique and beneficial for students.  The episode highlights the ongoing work of the NSCA for the prevention of catastrophic injury and sudden death in sport. You can read more about this topic in a recent NSCA press release: NSCA Reaffirms Position on Appropriate Qualifications for Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches.  Connect with Meg by email at [email protected]| Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs and Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“But when I talk to them, I talk to them about two things, real important things, communication and relationships, both of which are extremely important in anything that you're going to do. You've got to build a relationship with that head coach and you've got to communicate with him regularly. And only then can what you're doing be successful or can you have an impact.” 13:10 “And then the hook. You will be the only woman in the country doing it and the first woman to do it. And I thought, I like the sound of that. So, really, I just launched myself into it.” 24:45 “Have you got the background to do it? Do you understand exactly what you're doing when you walk into the weight room? And how you are impacting that young person's career by what you're doing? It's a tremendous responsibility to coach, tremendous. And not enough people take that responsibility seriously enough.” 33:01 “I tell them at the very beginning of our orientation meeting, don't come here if you want confirmation on what you already know. Come here with an open mind, willing to learn and see things from a different perspective, or something different. You may get confirmation from that but come in with an open mind, willing to learn.” 41:15

Learn the path towards working as a National Basketball Association (NBA) strength and conditioning coach, from coaching veteran Jesse Wright. Wright is a former President of the National Basketball Strength and Conditioning Association (NBSCA), and talks about how being a part of this group with fellow NBA coaches has improved advocacy and representation for strength and conditioning coaches in the NBA. Wright also shares his research relating to sociology and cultural topics to strength and conditioning. If you missed his presentation at the 2022 NSCA Coaches Conference in San Antonio, TX, Wright recaps this topic as it connects to the coaching experience. Tune in to learn steps towards becoming a more adaptable coach.  Connect with Jesse on Instagram at:@jessekwrightand on Twitter: @wrightstrength|Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscsand Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs   To learn more about strength and conditioning in the NBA, check out the National Basketball Strength and Conditioning Association (NBSCA).   The Intent Is To Grow: A Young Coach Is Guided Along The Path To Becoming A True Professional  Show Notes“And that represented the first kind of corporate partnerships, ever, for the association, which represented some real income, some real funds coming in, in addition to the vendor show that happens at the NBA combine this year. So I say all of that because there's a very real business element to an association like that. There's business operations.” 12:17 “So we're all a product of the people that we grew up around, the geography that we grew up in, and all of the culture that we were exposed to our whole life. And the model then describes what happens when we're presented with something different. How do we react to that?” 19:49 “So maybe it's not written into your role, when you were in that interview process and you applied for G-League strength coach role, you probably never thought that a line item or a bullet on that was to be kind of a regular rebounder for guys. Or to be in an assistant coaches pocket to set screens for a screen and roll drill or something like that.” 39:18

Hear an international perspective on the strength and conditioning field from Marcus Svensson, a Swedish National, who currently works in professional soccer with the Al Arabi Sports Club in the Qatar Stars League. This episode shares insights about access to NSCA resources from outside of North America, training strategies for soccer, and the importance of developing adaptability among strength and conditioning coaches. Tune in to expand your professional horizons as part of a global strength and conditioning community.     You can also email Marcus at [email protected] | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“So I thought if I can't make it as a player, I want to maximize and learn as much as I can about the science of soccer and everything else. And there I stayed for seven years. And a great mentor to me and who sadly passed away was Professor Tom Riley. He was probably the pioneer of science and soccer in terms of match analysis, in terms of the physiology of soccer and everything.” 3:23 “I think there's no one size fits all. I think it all depends on the context you work in and again going back to the category you work with. And in some cases it's on context. You need to push a lot more. And in some context you need to hold players back to say, OK, enough is enough. So I think adaptability is the biggest word” 10:18 “So I think I'm not saying we should sprint as fast as the players or run. But if we have, I don't know, if we have a running session, I like to be involved with the players. I like to lead the way to say, OK, we we're doing this. And I think if you come to a new place, that's the one thing you can bond with the players. I'm in the trenches with you together. I would do this with you together. It's going to hurt, yes, but we do it together.” 16:44

Learn about the“Golden Age of Strength and Conditioning”from those who lived it. Former National Basketball Association (NBA) strength and conditioning coach, Chip Sigmon, joins retired longtime National Football League (NFL) strength and conditioning coach, Jerry Palmieri, on a journey back to the 1970s and 1980s. Sigmon and Palmieri share their experiences, mentors, and life influences that put them on a path towards meaningful strength and conditioning careers with the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon. Hear how the book, The Golden Age of Strength and Conditioning was written to feature powerful stories of professional growth from the many who were there. Follow the link to read The Golden Age of Strength and Conditioning. You can also email Chip at [email protected] and Jerry at [email protected] | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“There was a time 10 years ago after the Hornets where I went to work for OrthoCarolina and their strength and conditioning program, a sports performance program, but also assisted with physical therapy, which made me, in essence, a better strength and conditioning coach. It really helped me tremendously with rehab of athletes and so forth.” 16:27 “You have to let the athletes know you care about them. They're going to go to social media. Coach, why aren't we doing this? Why aren't we doing that? But if you really-- the social media doesn't care about them. And if you let the s know that you care about every little thing they do on the court, off the court, on the field, off the field, boy, you've got them.” 24:18 “I'm thinking about themes in the profession that really are timeless. And one thing we talk a lot about today is mentorship, and who we look up to, and who we learn from, and where we get our experience.” 26:35 “That’s what's great, and it’s life, overcoming adversity. And man, it just makes you stronger. It just makes you from a mental, physical, emotional standpoint spiritually.” 36:30

Connor Agnew, Director of Basketball Performance at Appalachian State University, and Scott Caulfield, Director of Strength and Conditioning at Norwich University, joins the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon on this Gatorade Performance Partner Special Episode, highlighting “The Importance of Mentorship and Mental Health” in strength and conditioning. The discussion emphasizes the need for coaches to cope with adversity and rely on trusted mentors along their professional journey. Connect with Connor on Instagram: @strengthcoachconnor or Twitter: @CoachConnorSC | Connect with Scott on Instagram: @coachcaulfield or Twitter: @scottcaulfield |  Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs | To learn more and join the Gatorade Performance Partner Community, visit GatoradePerformancePartner.com. Find additional NSCA resources in the areas of mentorship and mental health, you can stream the NSCA Coaching Podcast and select conference sessions on NSCA.tv.Show Notes“And I think the people that really helped me out the most were the coaches who show me that we're supposed to be having fun as well when this is happening. It's not everyday process where you're supposed to grind and everything's supposed to be uncomfortable. You can have fun. It's a very fun profession overall.” 13:15 “And I think the biggest thing is that athletes understand when you're being genuine and when you're not being genuine. So I think don't be influenced by what you see everybody else posting.” 22:35 “It might just be reaching out to someone that you look up to and you're trying to ask them some questions and just interview them. And maybe, who knows, those conversations can sometimes lead to mentorship. And I think that's the thing I would tell younger people too, is don't be afraid to reach out to people, especially in today's day and age of social media where it really is a good opportunity to reach out.” 27:50 “Mentorship, it's truly a calling of strength and conditioning coaches to connect with your athletes deeper than just reps and sets.” 35:53 “We see them probably more than the head coach will see them, and that's a really big piece. And so we have to make sure that when we're discussing with them any life lessons or coaching them on a daily basis that we're bringing positivity and, really, a growth mindset for them as well, too. And I think sometimes, too, recruiting visits get me a little excited because you get to meet their parents, and you get to meet their family and understand that it's not all just about athletics. It's about people growing overall throughout their own lives and understanding that these parents are trusting us to take care of their kids as much as possible and help them out as much as possible, too.” 44:40

Hear from a more than 30-year strength and conditioning coaching veteran in the sport of rugby, Ashley Jones. He talks to NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about his progression in the field, beginning in 1988 to his current roles as part of the NSCA Rugby Special Interest Group, Awards and Honors Committee, and Certification Committee. Jones provides insight on the important roles of NSCA Committees in supporting the integrity of the coaching profession. Learn more about the expanded roles of strength and conditioning coaches in non-mainstream sports, like Rugby in North America, while also helping to support skill and game development. This episode also includes great lessons on program planning within the team setting and how to emphasize the “human element” in coaching. You can contact Ashley by email at [email protected]| Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs  Show Notes"If you're not a member, join. Because it's not just about paying your dues and saying you're a member. Really, it's about the extra access you get to the education materials. When it comes to what qualifies and what doesn't, it goes back to high standards." 20:00 "One thing that will be addressed through the accreditation process is the addition of field work and just reading through the requirements that have been developed and academic programs are currently being vetted for this. It's not just, you do an internship with one program and graduate and you're done. You actually need to have separate experiences, fieldwork experiences, in distinctly different environments." 25:58 "But a new team, you have to sit down with the head coach first and foremost and say, what are you going to emphasize with the playing group that we have? What sort of game do you want to play? Do you want to play a more physical game? Do you want to play a more widespread, a more running game, which obviously will impact on how the strength existing program develops." 42:10 "I'll probably answer that with two, in that first and foremost is, don't take yourself too seriously. But take what you do very seriously." 45:01 "I think that's where I would sort of advise more and more the younger S&C coaches to look at the human elements. And even now that we're pushing more towards a metric driven life as far as strength and conditioning with sports science and all those elements, which is fantastic, don't get me wrong. But it's still making that connection to the human being who happens to be the player on your team, to develop them to be the best they can be on and off the park each and every week." 48:04

Learn about the new NSCA Strongman Special Interest Group (SIG) from strength and conditioning coach, Heidi Campo. Campo talks with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about her path in strength and conditioning that ran from bodybuilding and powerlifting to becoming a strongman competitor. Campo discusses her experiences spending the winter in Iceland at the “Nest of Giants” with four-time World’s Strongest Man, Magnus Ver Magnusson, and how camaraderie in the sport ignited an even stronger passion for her work as a coach. This episode also discusses how strongman is not just for elite competitors, and how training concepts and methods from the sport can be integrated across all levels of athleticism, multiple sports, and for clients of any age.    You can reach out to Heidi on Instagram: @muscleyogi or by email at [email protected]| Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs   Join the NSCA Strongman Special Interest Group to continue the conversation and learn more.Show Notes“It didn't matter if I was training for the Arnold, or if I was brand new. I was just the same as them. And that's something that really ignited my passion for it, was just the absolute level of camaraderie that I found in the sport.” 7:15 “Strongman is the ultimate functional training. It's going to improve longevity for life. Moving, loading, carrying. We move sideways, front and back. We move things. We're moving forward with heavy things on our back, carrying heavy things. Farmers carries at our side. It's incredibly dynamic.” 18:24 “When they feel that level of accomplishment of something so primal as just picking up a boulder, it does things for their confidence that is I don't have the words for it. It's amazing what it can do for them.” 21:20

Hear from Lacey Jahn, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the United States Marine Corps East School of Infantry. Jahn shares her unusual path into strength and conditioning with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, including stops in curriculum development and working as a lifeguard. Learn more about tactical strength and conditioning jobs, athletic qualities as they relate tactical performance in the military, and the how to approach attending strength and conditioning education events as a young coach. You can reach out to Lacey on Instagram: @laceylyrla | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“However, I've learned that programs also need to account for change. They need to account for stressful life events, poor sleep, fatigue. I have to educate the athlete beyond the program.” 14:01 “We can say broadly that they're going to have to have a base level of aerobic capacity. They're going to have to be able to carry heavy loads for long distances and they're going to have to be able to perform after they get to whatever the destination is. They're going to have to have a base level of strength and they're going need to be able to withstand the impact with load, so landing with a pack on, stepping in a hole with load on your back, things like that, being able to react in situations that are pretty unpredictable.” 16:11 “The old and faithful Super Training by Verkhoshansky and Periodization by Tudor Bompa, they will always have a special place on my bookshelf. A lot of my Xs and Os comes from peer-reviewed literature with the NSCA. I think I use podcasts to get some insight from other coaches' perspective on how they are influencing their athletes or how they're employing the soft skills with their groups.” 19:36

Learn about the emerging field of biomechanics in professional baseball from Georgia Giblin, the Director of Performance Science for the Detroit Tigers Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Giblin shares her professional journey with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, from working with Olympic athletes in Australia to educating coaches on emerging technology tools within MLB. This episode features discussion on the recent growth of athletic performance departments, the current state of sport science in the United States, and the helpful role of strength and conditioning coaches in supporting sport science initiatives. Connect with Georgia on Twitter: @GeorgiaGiblin| Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“That, for me, was probably the most influential kind of part in my career really being embedded within biomechanics and sport science within the Australian Institute of Sport.” 2:15 “Some of them might have background in statistics. Some of them might have a strength training background that have now come into coaching. And I think that's really great for the game that we have this diversity of coaches and people within the game with different backgrounds.” 27:46 “But my take on it would be as a young practitioner coming into the field or if you're starting an internship with the team or something, take the temperature of the room first. So sit back, listen, learn, be open minded, and just absorb it all in before you start to try and make any moves.” 29:50

Learn about middle school and high school strength and conditioning from 2022 NSCA Coaches Conference presenter Elton Crochran. Coach “Croc” shares his story about transitioning from collegiate strength and conditioning to his work as the Strength and Conditioning Coordinator at Randolph Field School District in San Antonio, TX. Crochran is currently the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Veterans Memorial High School. He talks about his hands-on coaching session from Coaches Conference, as well as developmental milestones across key stages of long-term athlete development.  Find “Coach Croc” on Instagram: @ecrock2 or Twitter: @TheCrocShow| Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“There has to be a certain element of education, as well as a certain level of just having fun.  Because at the end of the day, you want to help develop those middle school athletes to develop a love for the game, but more importantly, develop a love for the process.” 12:20 “Not everybody's going to play in college, not everybody's going to play professionally. But strength and conditioning from a health standpoint, there's so much value to it and you're instilling that not just at the high school level but at the middle school level.” 20:32 “When you add a tennis ball to a drill, just the kids get mind blown and they're like oh my gosh, this drill just got harder just by holding on to this tennis ball. So now, I learn a lot of these things from PE just working on hand eye coordination and things like that. So now I'm integrating things that we do in PE, crossed over to strength and conditioning, and now we're combining the two.” 30:30 “I think one of the biggest growth is I always tell people as a strength coach, you should carry yourself as an exercise scientist, because there is a science to what we do.” 34:18

Explore the applied sport science research process in college baseball, and how academic research can be optimized to benefit player programming. This episode features Dr. David Szymanski, the Director of Baseball Performance at Louisiana Tech University, and co-editor of the recently published book NSCA’s Strength Training for Baseball. Hear about Szymanski’s career path, from college baseball player to coach and sport scientist. This episode covers a wide range of relevant topics, including exercise selection, performance technology, student pathways, and the emergence of performance director roles across Major League Baseball (MLB).  Find David on Instagram: @drdavidszymanski or at his program website: LA Tech Sport Science| Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“And then I always tell them, know who your athletes are. What are your facilities? Where are your equipment? How much time do you have? Are you in the offseason, preseason, in-season? What are your injuries? What are your sport coaches may influence what you do or ask you to do some things? And then you have to put it all together and make it work.” 17:20 “There has been research that's demonstrated with force plates that the triple extension really is most powerful from the second pull. So you don't have to pull from the floor if you want to really accentuate power production.” 21:33 “Learn from those who have good experiences or evidence-based information, because, to me, that's what we really need to know. Because, inevitably, you're going to be asked by somebody-- a medical doctor, athletic trainer, the players, their parents, the coaches-- why are you doing what you do? And I think you always need to have an answer that is going to be objective and evidence-based.” 33:34

Connect with a young researcher and coach on exploring strength and power topics within elite sport, including a deep dive into velocity-based training. This episode features Dr. Jonathon Weakley, of Australian Catholic University and Leeds Beckett University, discussing his path from growing up in New Zealand, working and studying in the United Kingdom, and performing coaching-centric research with athletes in Australia. Listen in as “Jono” connects with Eric McMahon, the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, on uses of weight room technology, providing appropriate coaching feedback to support athletic performance, and the global strength and conditioning and sport science landscape.     This episode mentions the following research papers from NSCA journals:    Weakley, J, Mann, B, Banyard, H, McLaren, S, Scott, T, and Garcia-Ramos, A. Velocity-Based Training: From Theory to Application, Strength and Conditioning Journal (43)4: 31-49, 2021  Weakley, J, Wilson, K, Till, K, Banyard, H, Dyson, J, Phibbs, P, Read, D, and Jones, B. Show Me, Tell Me, Encourage Me: The Effect of Different Forms of Feedback on Resistance Training Performance, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 34(11), 3157-3163, 2020  Find Jon on Twitter: @JonathonWeakle1 | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“So the thing is you've got to make sure that they have this appeal to coaches. Because they've only got two to three minutes to look at a paper. They're not going to read an entire methodology section or results or discussion. So how can we make sure our results jump off the page, key points given to them in two to three sentences? And then that's how we make our real impact.” 7:03 “And I thought to myself, this doesn't make sense, because we're totally neglecting that athletes change over time and that fatigue profiles change over time. And I was even just seeing it in my athletes day-to-day. We might have six athletes and they all do six reps, but they'd have very, very different fatigue responses.” 10:08 “And that's when I started going, hey, we've got different athletes. They all require different types of feedback. But understanding your athletes and understanding how they respond to feedback, you can have monster adaptations and training improvements. It's just phenomenal.” 17:41 “I genuinely care about helping individuals, because our area is based on human interactions. It's not just barbell velocities and power outputs.” 36:38 “We need to make sure our coaches are not only great practitioners, but they have a solid understanding of sports science.” 37:42

Learn from a coach who took his career from working with Winter Olympic and professional sport athletes to success in the private sector. In this episode, Bret Kelly of Exos and formerly United States Ski and Snowboard, shares about his journey and the need for coaches to remain versatile in growing their professional skills in the field. Tune in as Kelly connects with Eric McMahon, the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, on seeking out opportunities to work in niche Olympic sports, the growing uses of performance technology, and the value of building a strong support staff.  Find Bret on Instagram: @bk_strengthcoach and on Twitter: @bret_kelly_ | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“Offer your services. You're not going to get paid right away. I think that's something that people need to understand. And I looked at it as just more schooling really, because I learned a lot more in my internships probably than I did during my master's program because it was so hands-on. And I'm not paying that tuition.” 10:08 “You know different ways of training. You know different cultures I guess. Like, the ski culture is very different from the football culture. So as a coach, you don't necessarily know who you're going to be working with. So being that chameleon, being able to bounce back and forth and work with different groups I think is definitely beneficial.” 14:52 “It comes back to building those relationships. If you are building those relationships and they trust you, then they're going to come in and work with you as well just like your athletes would. So it's weird at first, but I think once you kind of wrap your head around it, it's very beneficial.” 20:39 “I would say one of my biggest things I got from working with the ski team was to really dive in deep with their exercise physiologist there.” 26:01

This episode features Glenn Revell, the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Central Catholic High School in San Antonio, TX. “Coach Rev” shares insights and advice with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, from his transition to high school strength and conditioning from the college setting. This is a great episode for all coaches, teachers, and leaders to realize their value and impact within their community. Tune in to learn about important areas to develop knowledge and skills outside of the traditional strength and conditioning education.    Find Glenn on Twitter: @glennrevell | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“When you can really dig deep and develop them as people, not just as athletes. And that's something-- every coach develops their athletes as people in some form or fashion, but I think when you're in those high school years, it's really formative and that's when you can really dig deep and hopefully impact those kids in a positive way and make lasting changes.” 5:05 “So for me, it was all about making things simple and scalable and then providing that value to the program, the school, and the profession. So that's kind of what it broke down to me. And as far as X's and O's of what I do, there's nothing extremely complicated. What I've found is that high school kids, they want to lift heavy, they want to run and jump and feel athletic, and they want to compete in whatever way possible.” 21:02 “So in and of itself, I had paid for myself by reducing the injury rate. So we got healthier kids and the school, and the school district is spending less money paying for the injuries we don't have. And when you take those things, and you put what you do into language that, essentially, business people can understand, which is going to be your administrators, anyone like that, then they start to see the value. And you're portraying everything that you bring to the program, to the institution, to the profession.” 24:44 “For me, I really try to use the technology that we have to foster that competitive atmosphere, not so the kids get caught up in like, oh, Johnny is better than me. He's always running 2/10 of a second faster than me, but that's why I keep that data on them throughout all four years of their time with me because I'm like Yeah Johnny's 2/10 of a second faster than you, but you're 4/10 of a second faster than you were three years ago.” 31:05

Hear from Cristi Bartlett, Assistant Athletic Director and Director of Olympic Strength and Conditioning at North Carolina State University, about her path through the professional ranks from student to department head. Bartlett talks to NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about making moves in the field, seeking opportunities for growth, the current state of strength and conditioning coach salaries, and other areas that can be improved in the profession. Connect with Cristi on Instagram: @bartlettc42| Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“But it's something that if you can see continual progress, that is a pretty good self-check for you that you're doing some things well and making good decisions. And it's not all about salary, sometimes it is about just that quality experience. And in giving up salary for a period of time to get that.” 18:06 “If you never have a seat at the table nobody's going to know what strength coaches do for the program. And so now you get to give some input or some insight as to how we play a role in the department holistically. I think that's important because if you want the industry to grow, you have to have somebody in that seat as a strength and conditioning coach.” 19:50 “Just the overall development of the athlete, the physical piece is one thing. However, I think the mental piece is even bigger. They see that they can push to do what they're actually capable of.” 23:46 “I think it's super important that you actually have some practical experience from applied experience for your own personal stuff too. You cannot tell an athlete to do something that you've never done. I mean as an athlete, I wouldn't respect you at all if you told me to squat and you haven't lifted a bar.” 26:48

Listen in as Angelo Gingerelli, Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coordinator at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, tells the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about his journey in the strength and conditioning profession. Topics include working collaboratively as a strength and conditioning staff, positive social media practices, taking on additional staff responsibilities as an adjunct professor, and working with endurance athletes.   You can reach out to Coach Gingerelli on Instagram: @finish_strong_book| Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“I think so much our profession is based on getting an internship and making some connections, but I don't think we spend enough time teaching young coaches you have to nurture those connections. Like going up introducing somebody at a conference, that's a great thing, but what do you do next? Is there a follow-up email? What are you doing when that internship is over?” 6:41 “But I think the lesson for young coaches out there is, we argue a lot, the value of a master's degree. You have to have it, but we view it more as kind of checking a box on a resume than getting a lot from it a lot of time in the coaching profession. And I can tell you straight up and down having that master's in health promotion and MEd in education led to me teaching my first class. I was the only person that could do it, and it's led to tens of thousands of dollars in revenue over the last decade by being able to teach these classes and adjuncts.” 29:42 “So I tell young coaches, get as much experience as you can, intern under as many people as you can, read everything you can, and then start to develop your coaching philosophy or principles around that.” 35:04 “I would say the biggest thing I did as my development as a strength and conditioning coach that changed the game for me, in 2011, I ran a marathon.” 36:08

Hear from Bri Kanz, Assistant Athletic Director of Sports Performance for Santa Clara University. Kanz connects with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, on key stops along her professional path, including her most recent position at Stanford University. Learn how injury inspired Kanz to pursue strength and conditioning, about her move to the West Coast, and her enthusiasm for Olympic sport strength and conditioning. Kanz shares her insight on what it takes to be an effective strength and conditioning coach and where she sees the field going in the future.   Connect with Bri on Instagram: @brikanz| Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“And that's kind of where I started my coaching career at. And just from there, I just fell in love with it. I love the transformation process. I loved watching athletes grow. I loved being able to have an impact on the next generation. And that's kind of where I started my journey.” 3:20 “The biggest challenges that I faced, honestly, was knowing when to end the chapter and start a new one. I think saying goodbye to the athletes and the relationships that you've built along the way is always a challenge. And it's always hard to make that decision.” 8:40 “First and foremost, you have to be able to work well with others. If you're not able to work well with others and create your own team, then you're not going to be successful period.” 13:14 “If you don't have a reason why you want to be in this field, then you're not going to get very far. So just always knowing your why. And whenever you're having a hard day, just coming back to it and knowing that it's for a bigger purpose other than yourself.” 27:21

Hear from 2022 NSCA Professional Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year, Dan Dalrymple. Dalrymple shares insight, advice, and comparisons on working with players at the college and professional levels. He also mentions his special career connection with 2022 NSCA College Strength and Conditioning Coach, Liane Blyn. Tune in as Dalrymple talks to NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about professional development for coaches, and how the NSCA played a valuable role throughout his career development.  Connect with Dan on Instagram: @dan_dalrymple | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“I always liken it to like NASCAR where the assistant coaches, and strength conditioning coaches, and everyone else is kind of the pit crew. And we're keeping the product on the road. And so that's a different mentality of realizing that it's not all about you as a coach. And it's all about the athlete.” 13:05 “The beauty of being a strength coach is a lot of times the player will come down and come in and sit in my office and vent. Right? And you want them to have that ability. But you also don't want to be a sounding board for them to just complain about their coach, or complain about their contract, or complain about all these different things.” 24:40 “I also think it's important for young coaches, and I try to express this to my staff and to anyone I talk to, understand the history of your profession, and become an expert in that. And see who the giants are that we're all standing on their shoulders.” 28:38 “The best thing for me for football was starting to work with ice hockey because I never played competitive ice hockey. I had to learn the sport, and learn how to evaluate it, and learn what they're doing. And then I took that coach's eye and approached it with football, and it made my programming for football a lot better. So those kind of opportunities are just so valuable.” 32:23

In this episode, we hear from 40-year veteran strength and conditioning coach, Rock Gullickson. Rock shares his path from collegiate strength and conditioning to the National Football League (NFL), including how weight room conversations have changed over the years as well as his thoughts on growth in the field today. Listen in to hear Rock connect with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, on lessons and insights for an impactful coaching career. Connect with Rock via email at [email protected]| Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“I always liked the idea that you tell the guys, hey, we're going to help you get stronger. We are going to take you to levels that you haven't been before. We are going to push you. We are going to ask you to do things with a lot of energy and you need to bring that each day. And that you also have to have a willingness to work with us on your technique. And we'll film you. We'll watch you. We'll be right beside you. We'll motivate you. We'll encourage you.” 22:37 “More than ever, it's developing a relationship and an understanding and a trust that I'm taking it down this path. Because I want you to be bigger, faster, and stronger. I want you to be more healthy on the football field. I want you to be more explosive. I want you to run better.” 26:49 “For the young aspiring strength coach, I tell them that there's three things that go into your success. And number one is that you work hard at what you're doing and that people recognize that in you.” 38:24 “It's the it's the life lessons that you teach these young people. Because there's things that you have seen and done that, you should share it with these young people so that you teach them about life. And you teach them about their responsibilities and help them with their goals. But that's where the happiness comes.” 43:00

Take a deep dive into force plate research and trends with “Force Plate Coach”,  Dr. John McMahon from the University of Salford in England. In this episode, John discusses his path from Royal Marine Commando into strength and conditioning and biomechanics teaching and research. Listen in as John connects with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, on the past, present, and future of force plates in sport and the ways we can improve our testing and evaluation of athletes.   This episode mentions the following paper from NSCA’s Strength and Conditioning Journal:  McMahon, JJ, Suchomel, TJ; Lake, JP, and Comfort, P. Understanding the Key Phases of the Countermovement Jump Force-Time Curve, Strength and Conditioning Journal 40(4):  96-106, 2018     Find John on Instagram: @forceplatecoach, on Twitter: @ForcePlateCoach, and on YouTube: @ForcePlateCoach| Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“Some more of your fast stretch shortening cycle tests, like the drop jump and the multi-rebound jumps, as well as the countermovement jump test, just to try and map the way in which practitioners would like to use their force plates with their athletes to get more of a holistic overview of what their neuromuscular status is at any given time.” 13:55 “So those two mechanisms were raised as red flag flags and in the effect sizes they were considered moderate to large changes in countermovement depth and body weight that we saw immediately post-match. Now, if we didn't have a force plate, we wouldn't know that those changes had occurred, or we would say is that the jump height was the same post-match.” 22:21 “And because we tend to use jump height as the key outcome variable that was displayed on the screen in the scoreboards. Those athletes will see that there's no improvement to their previous period. But if they're 5 kilos heavier that means that they've applied a greater impulse in total to their body center of mass.” 24:50 “I assessed the PhD student earlier this year that's effectively been involved in the British Army, saw a different regimen that they now use the isometric mid-thigh pull to inform the job roles that they can apply for when they commence their training, believe it or not. So they've got certain key performance indicators like, in terms of peak force relative to body mass, that people must be able to pull, or push I should say.” 49:41

This episode recaps one of the sessions from the 2022 NSCA Coaches Conference in San Antonio, TX. Head Coach and Assistant Athletic Director for Athletic Performance at the University of Texas, Donnie Maib, discusses “the Golden Connection” as it relates to working with rotational athletes. Tune in as Coach Maib shares stories with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, on lessons learned from a 27-year collegiate strength and conditioning career, including paths for aspiring coaching, being a good father and husband, and areas of the field he sees on the near horizon.     Find Donnie on Instagram: @donniemaib and on Twitter: @coachdonnie | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“For the Coaches Conference, the title of my talk is The Golden Connection, and over the years of just working with overhead athletes there. I have just found there's this connection between the shoulder and the hip.” 8:12 “I think that takes a lot of listening, really listening. Then being able to ask the right questions with that coach. Then if you are put on the spot, how do you how do you respond in a way that's not knee jerk or defensive? Where you can actually walk out of that room and actually have won their trust over versus erode that trust.” 14:59 “You need to find somebody who's got the core value that values you have, because if you're a better dad or better mom, you're a better coach. You are more compassionate. You are more understanding. You are more patient. If you can lead home really well, you can lead at work really well.” 19:24 “We need more strength coaches in administrative leadership roles in big organizations.” 27:35 “It's been more evolutionary, not revolutionary. So small changes over time, educating, being patient, understanding, giving a little bit more at the first, and then just being patient with the process, the frustration of that. So it does pay off. It does make a difference. And you're just, ultimately, you just want that 1% advantage over your competition. So that's what you've got to do to get there, but that's how it's changed us big time, just quantifying practice loads. It's been huge.” 31:44

This episode unites strength and conditioning perspectives across three continents. David Joyce and Dan Lewindon, the co-editors of High-Performance Training for Sports, discuss their new book, including the high-caliber list of expert contributors from around the world. Discussion centers on the expansion of performance environments to include new perspectives, and the increased need for professional collaboration to deliver maximally effective training programs. Learn about “Zombie Killers,” as Joyce and Lewindon share with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, in an episode that provides insight into everyday coaching practices.  Find David on Twitter: @DavidGJoyce | Find Dan on Twitter: @DanLewindon | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“A lot of textbooks were, and still are, written very academically, which is great and we need that. But what we wanted was like a user's guide and operating manual.” 7:38 “It's more about how do you set the right conditions, the right environment to influence change, have the right behaviors and language to really make a difference to your athlete, have the right ability to engage and work with stakeholders, either your own type of practitioners, S and C coaches, nutritionists, or across different disciplines.” 13:02 “But I think inevitably, for example, when I'm hiring people to work for me, technical skills are a given, aren't they? It is your ability to have the right behaviors, empathy, and feel for the environments you're in, and the ability to make a difference, often in my sport with limited contact time.” 20:38 “I think the value, as you describe, is gaining a generalist knowledge across all areas. I think it's really important because it enables you to have better conversations, as you've described, across different domains, disciplines, technical experts, which I think is really important. And inevitably, there will be wisdoms, hopefully, throughout the piece that add value to what you do day to day in whatever context you work in.” 25:31

Learn about pursuing strength and conditioning roles from father and son, Joe Kenn and Peter Kenn. Joe “Big House” Kenn brings perspectives on program leadership from over 35 years in the strength and conditioning profession. Joe’s son Peter, a recent graduate in the field and Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at United States Military Academy West Point, shares his story of learning the profession from a young age with his dad coaching in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and National Football League (NFL). Tune in to hear dinner table conversation, as Joe and Peter connect with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, in an episode that bridges coaching generations.   Find Joe on Instagram: @bighousepower or Twitter: @bighousepower | Find Peter on Instagram: @peterkenn1 or Twitter: @peterkenn1 | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“If you don't start that process until you've already graduated from undergrad, well, yeah, you're probably going to be working for free until you're 24, 25, 26. If this is what you want to do, you have to get in early. And you have to get in often.” 16:50 “But I always said, want to do it your way? Go run your own program. You think you got what it takes? Go get a job. Run your own program. And then you can dictate the demands of what you think are right and wrong.” 33:08 “If we're going to run internship programs as coaches, well, if we have a job open up, we better at least be considering one of the guys that was just in our program. Because, if you're not considering one of your own interns, you probably don't have a very good program.” 36:55 “I think the communication style that you choose as a strength coach is probably going to be a culmination of all the different coaches you've heard speak. And you've pick and chose which dynamic is the best and which best matches your personality and what you're comfortable with moving forward.” 53:56 “But I would urge any new coach coming up to be around as many different coaches as you can possibly be, both in their office time and coaching time, to understand how they deal with certain situations and figure out where their voice needs to be. And if you don't have a voice, I'm not saying you can't be in this profession. But you better find one quick. Because it's going to be tough.” 55:13 “Go to practice. Meet the athlete where they're at. A lot of times, they're, oh, you just worry about us doing weights. You don't come-- the showing up at practice will do more for your weight program than how good a coach you are and how well you write a program.” 56:33

Mike Snowden, University of Alabama Men’s Basketball Strength Coach, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about having a genuine relationship with head sport coaches. Topics under discussion include building players into the program, creating buy-in, and embracing new and unique career opportunities. Find Mike on Instagram: @mike__snowden or Twitter: @Mike__Snowden | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“I think a lot of single leg work is huge for those guys. And we spend a lot of time-- iso holds, different split squat variations. I think they look better, perform a little bit better, doing those, and gain a little more confidence doing those.” 14:45 “One of those things that I constantly harp on young coaches is be yourself. Don't feel like you need to be your favorite strength coach on Twitter, or Instagram. You know saying be yourself, coach within that, and do what's best for the student athletes that you get to work with.” 21:02 “Don't say no to an opportunity. Because you never know what that may turn into down the road, or how you meet somebody there that may help you out down the road or whatever.” 23:01 “I think the sports science route is also going to open a lot of opportunities, both in college and in the private setting, as far as having kind of like you look at it now, where you have those AT's with CSCS as almost like dual purpose roles.” 26:43

Matt Frakes, Director of Sports Nutrition at Notre Dame Athletics, and Bryan Doo, former Head Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Boston Celtics National Basketball Association (NBA) team and owner of Optimal Fitness, join as guests with the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon. Also returning is guest co-host Jon Jost, a 27-year veteran college strength and conditioning coach and the Team Sports Manager for Gatorade. This Gatorade Performance Partner Special Episode highlights the value of being an inclusive leader; the current level of support for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives across the performance community; and how to foster inclusivity within your programs. Find Matt on Twitter: @SuperiorFrakes or Instagram: @superiorfrakes | Find Bryan on Twitter: @bdoo22 or Instagram: @bdoostrength | Find Jon via email: [email protected] | Find Jon on Twitter/Instagram/Facebook: | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes  “People say you have to meet them where they are but then bring them to where you want to go. As a leader, I think my vision is what needs to be seen, the responsibility of making the decisions and so forth. But also making sure that I see where they're coming from to help them, guide them, and see if they actually can get to that vision.” 2:53 “I have to get buy-in from the players. I have to get their trust. If they don't trust me, if they don't do it, we can't get anything done.” 11:19 “You've got to throw in sometimes in respect to their culture and their background those type of foods.” 19:50 “Life is really about relationships, and it doesn't matter what background someone else has. You can learn an awful lot from them. And they can enrich your life, and you can enrich their life.” 33:05 “Because it can't be seen as the elephant in the room. It has to be something that has to be seen as a standard that we address, and that we ensure that we are fitting. And it's just a normal thing that we are looking towards as far as that we have a part because we have a diverse team. So we need to have a diverse unit and diverse staff as well.” 1:06:02

Stephanie Mock, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Performance at the University of Pittsburgh, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about growing a comprehensive sports performance program. Topics under discussion include tips for interviews, graduate assistantships, staff development, and the ongoing collaboration with academics to advance sport science initiatives at University of Pittsburgh. Find Stephanie on Instagram: @_mockstephanie_ or @pitt_sportsperformance | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“I always try to tell the interns now, when you interview for a position, you never know who knows who. You may not be the right fit for that role in particular, but Susie Q could know Joe over here that needs this role, and you're the right fit for that. So never, ever go through an interview and end on bad terms.” 8:58 “I told my staff, one of our goals is, whatever sports or teams that you have, making it to one practice a week to showcase in their space and that you respect what they do.” 19:48 “And my job is to look at myself in the mirror as a head person and be like, "What are my strengths and weaknesses and how can I make my staff well-rounded based off of what I bring to the table?"” 39:12

Joe Siara, Manager of Peak Performance Programs for the New York Yankees Major League Baseball (MLB) team, joins NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, to discuss the path from Minor League Baseball Strength and Conditioning Coach to sport scientist. The discussion includes a recap of the 2021 Professional Baseball Strength and Conditioning Coaches Society (PBSCCS) Baseball Sport Science Virtual Clinic, an explanation of the Certified Performance and Sport Scientist™ (CPSS™) exam development process, and practical applications of technology across a variety of performance settings. Find Joe via Email: [email protected] | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“I think that the two big things are just the scalability of whatever you're wanting to do. So we work with the Major League team down to our Dominican League teams. And I think staff education, so making sure everyone is educated on the technology, how to use it, how we're going to give this information to the players. So we really try to put a big emphasis on building a sports science culture.” 4:36 “I think my number one thing that I've kind of realized is always stay curious. You know, you can be skeptical about stuff but always try to be learning.” 9:41 “So I think the less invasive we are with people in the future, the less invasive you can be, the simpler you can be with the athlete, the better. And I think that's kind of like where I said the biomechanics is kind of that next step. You've had all this statcast data, you see what the ball does, now as a pitcher or a hitter, what are your actual mechanics in game that's producing that result?” 14:19 “I think as schools and teams and people start to add performance science, I think getting that key leader in place first, having a true director of sports science, is going to kind of build the culture up.” 23:25

Christina Rasnake, Director of Sport Science and Analytics at the University of Delaware, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about the budding future of sport science in college athletics. Topics under discussion include the staffing of sport science initiatives, effective communication across departments, and how technology and wellness surveys can support actionable change in the coaching process.  Find Christina on Twitter: @Coach_Raz26 | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“I think having an understanding of different ways to measure power, power output through just jump mat, for instance, or a Vertec utilizing the metrics that you're collecting to use equations to give you power in watts is really easy to do. Most universities, D1 to D3 to NAIA to JUCO, they're going to have something there that you can measure jump height, even if it's a wall and a tape measure. You can make that work.” 8:30 “If I get a red flag from a student athlete and let's say their sleep is poor and their muscle soreness is really high, we can ask our athletic trainers to provide self-care information for the athlete on what they should be doing to help with their nicks and bruises.” 13:21 “I'm going to have about nine sport management majors that are going to assist me with the administration of our performance technology, assisting the strength and conditioning coaches and athletic trainers with providing self-care, as well, to our students, and to help me with dashboards. And yet again, I'm looking at it as an opportunity to help educate and build the field, grow the field, because it is young.” 15:00 “So a lot of what I took from it was understanding how to communicate to different people and different personalities. If I spoke to everybody on staff the same way, not everybody is going to hear me correctly or understand or take it the same way. So it really taught me to get to know the people around me.” 18:20

Joe Denk, Applied Sport Scientist and Strength and Conditioning Coach for Naval Special Warfare, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about immediate and actionable sports science data for tactical athletes. Topics under discussion include the dynamic of working with tactical athletes, how resiliency and recovery are connected, and how technology has enabled coaches the ability to implement training programs effectively from a distance. Find Joe via Email: [email protected]| Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“And I wanted to find a way to manage our measures, so to speak, to make data actionable in real-time. So the guys I'm coaching, how can I use the information and the analytics we're collecting to immediately help them and help me make better decisions as a coach.” 3:39 “So I came up with a system that allows us to combine some wellness data with some physiological readiness data to merge it together and to come up with the thresholds that we could deliver through an athlete management system so that they could actually get the recommendation in real-time on their application on their phone.” 4:07 “You don't have to generally tell these guys to work harder. You're often acting as a governor trying to help them preserve as much of that resiliency. Because our goal in tactical strength and conditioning is long term sustainment.” 8:38 “For us, we might be trying to get somebody to sustain high performance for 10, 15, 20, 25 years. And that's way different than what I think a lot of traditional team sport coaches are dealing with.” 8:59 “Still do something, still train, still have a meaningful training session where we can accomplish something and get the right stimulus we're looking for, but train appropriately.” 16:55 “. The end user themselves, the military member, needs to be able to have some ownership of his data so that he can make better behavioral changes. If we can show guys their own information, show guys their own data, I'm a firm believer guys will make better decisions. They'll drink less, they'll sleep more, they'll prioritize recovery to your point, or because they want to see better data trends. They're very excited about looking at their own information and their own analytics so we can create awareness around that.” 20:49

Dr. Allison Randall, Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Vanderbilt University Women’s Basketball Program, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about how her path to the 2012 London Olympic Games as an athlete led her to pursue the strength and conditioning profession. Topics include the use of appropriate cueing strategies to optimize work with young athletes, differences with team versus individual sports, and the importance of education for coaches. Find Dr. Randall on Twitter: @AllisonVRandall or Instagram: @allisonvrandall | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“When it comes to my research in instructional design, it basically went over the teaching pedagogy or teaching practices and methods surrounding coaching. So what can I do as an instructor to facilitate the learning process for my learners or my students or my athletes in a more efficient way?” 9:00 “So for me, I felt like it was important because, not only did I want to be a better coach, but I wanted to learn how to teach better.” 9:41 “I think coaching cues are important. What you say is important, how you say it, how often you say it, what's the timing of it. Am I going to say it on every single rep or I'm going to say it every other rep or every three reps?” 14:08 “So I think in the next five, 10, we're not just looking at strength conditioning coaches. We're looking at performance coaches that have degrees, that have strength conditioning, that have nutrition, that have sports science background, that have some level of-- could be counseling or some sport, like mental counseling or performance counseling, in my opinion, because I think we're trying to make sure we stay relevant to the times. And all those things are relevant and they're going to continue to be relevant moving forward.” 26:08

Mike Minnis, Director of Performance Nutrition and Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Philadelphia Eagles National Football League (NFL) team, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, and guest co-host Jon Jost, a 27-year veteran collegiate strength and conditioning coach and Gatorade’s Team Sports Manager. This Gatorade Performance Partner Special Episode, highlights “The Power of Mentorship” and the importance of building quality relationships as the foundation of meaningful mentor and mentee experiences.  Find Mike on LinkedIn: Mike Minnis, Twitter: @MMinnis89, or Instagram: @MMinnis89 |Find Jon via email: [email protected] | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“What is a mentor? What does that mean? And what does it mean to be a mentor? And I really think it's somebody that you can trust. I think that's important. I think it's somebody where there's mutual respect. And then I think someone that can provide you a vision.” 6:46 “And so when I look back at that, I think that’s such a beautiful thing because I think there’s got to be a level of comfort within yourself and within your role and your position before you can start mentoring people. Being a mentor isn’t just telling people what to do and having people work on XYZ projects and things like that. There’s a lot more to it.” 13:41 “But I would say probably to me, one of the biggest things is just to enter into the relationship or to approach the individual with the attitude of, what can I do for you? How can I help you? How can I assist? And that goes a long way, to approach a mentor or a coach with, hey, is there anything I can do for you? What ends up happening is you get an awful lot in return.” 24:12 “And I think it’s our job to give feed back. And it has to be honest feedback. And it has to be transparent. And just transparent communication all the time.” 29:17 “They’re a sponge. And they are learning all the time. And they’re looking at you as a professional and how you conduct yourself, whether that is showing up on time and being punctual or showing poise under pressure, being able to adapt to change. And I think also how you treat others. Treating others fairly. Treating others with respect, with compassion.” 31:20

Carmen Colomer, Director of Sport Science for the Philadelphia 76ers National Basketball Association (NBA) team, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about translating numbers into actions. Topics under discussion include periodizing athlete’s recovery in the NBA and how learning to code can help with data analysis and application. Find Carmen on Twitter: @CarmenColomer1 | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“So I collect a lot of the data. I analyze it and then interpret it. So there's always the terms of inferences, like am I appropriately analyzing the data instead of understanding if there has been a meaningful change there as well? So I think that's where sports science comes in. Rather than just looking at, say, a percentage change, we can actually look at a few more high level statistics and understand when a change has occurred.” 5:20 “I think broadly speaking, with my role, it's translating the numbers into the actions. So it's sort of asking yourself, OK, well, what can this coach do with this information? So I think how you can get certain messages across probably becomes one of the most important parts of the job.” 7:27 “I think the last point is that in most sports or most of the literature you'd hear them talking about having 72 hours to recover post games, but unfortunately, we don't have that luxury. So I think we just sort of capitalize on, I guess, finely tuning things. If there's any low-hanging fruit, that's where we migrate towards first.” 12:00 “And there's no point of doing that and just collecting data for the sake of collecting data. And I think, in any organization, when you first come in, you need to be careful that you're not just trying 100 things at once. It's typically an iterative process. Implement one thing and maybe fine tune that for a little while before implementing more.” 20:27 “I don't think anyone in sports science is ever right. I think you just become less wrong.” 22:42

Thadeus Jackson, Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Green Bay Packers National Football League (NFL) team, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about the importance of a support system in your career. Topics under discussion include the dynamics of working with professional athletes and how strategic data collection can make your organization better. Find Thadeus on LinkedIn: Thadeus Jackson | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“If you're going through things, call us. Ask him what do you recommend if you got a situation or problem going on. If you were trying to do some things different, what is your philosophy and your beliefs on that. So I think that, overall, everybody can help everybody in this business. And it can just only make things better. Like I said, develop those relationships, make things better, and just keep expanding.” 9:28 “So have some good foundational principles from a training perspective and from just more administrative perspective That you hold your hat on. And keep in mind those things may change. You may get a different job. You may go down a different avenue. Those things may change some time.” 11:44 “You got to have balance in life. You can't be all work, work, work, work, work, work, work. And you got to get yourself time, some rest time, recovery. We tell the players that. We all know that. You gotta get some adequate rest, recharge, and recovery. So I think that goes with the profession as well.” 15:43

Dr. Lorena Torres Ronda, co-editor of the new NSCA’s Essentials of Sport Science textbook, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about creating the textbook and how the Certified Performance and Sport Scientist® (CPSS®) certification will benefit the field. Topics under discussion include the use of technology in sport and the specific role that strength coaches play in supporting better performance and recovery decisions. Find Dr. Lorena Torres Ronda on Twitter: @lorenatorres07 | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“And I always explain innovation like technology are very related and linked. But technology is only a form of innovation. So the fact that you are using technology doesn't mean that you are doing innovating. Because it's more about how you use information and how you want to analyze information.” 11:56 “…learning is what matters, and knowledge, getting knowledge is what matters. Technology is the accelerator to that knowledge, or helping in that journey.” 12:35 “So I don't think we should drive programs, putting the emphasis, or the focus point in technology. But how we use technology in our favor to get knowledge and keep learning. That is what I try to explain when I talk about technology innovation and sport science.” 12:44 “I still amazes me how some devices are big, heavy, I wouldn't like to use it. So why we're pushing the players to do things? We should be pushing the companies to listen to us and do things more user friendly. So a lot of transparency, a lot of empathy with the athlete, a lot of education with the athlete, this can help you in this, this, and this way.” 17:40

Dr. Josh Secomb, lecturer in exercise and sport science (strength and conditioning) at the University of Newcastle, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about being a self-aware and authentic coach. Topics under discussion include finding new areas to employ different skillsets as practitioners, the value of training progressions and understanding your athletes, and his unique opportunity to research and coach surfers. Find Dr. Secomb on Twitter: @37Seco | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“We want them to be doing it in 12, 15 years time. And still doing what they need to do, making those gains along the way. And still finding it enjoyable. Then I can't hammer them too early.” 00:05 “So because essentially in surfing, the more water you displace-- the harder you push on the bottom of the board, the more water that is displaced. The judges determine that is how much power there is behind the maneuvers.” 18:03 “We know from all of our GPS, time-motion research that pretty much no matter what type of wave it is where you are in the world, so whether it's Europe, Hawaii, Australia, pretty much 50% of the time that you're in the water surfing, it's paddling. So, again, we know from that 20 to 30 hours. So it's 10 to 15 hours a week just of paddling. Again, there's a lot of issues around-- also just wear and tear and sort of fatigue around the rotator cuff.” 22:59 “I can be too talkative. So I said, I need to be aware that particularly when giving feedback, giving cues. Because whilst I try to practice and make sure that I keep my cues as minimal as possible not to confuse them.” 42:37

Ali Kershner, Director of Creative Strategy for Art of Coaching, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about overcoming adversity on the road to win the 2021 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Women’s Basketball Championship at Stanford University. Topics under discussion include the inequalities found at the NCAA tournament, being true to yourself as a coach, and working outside of the weight room to help strengthen coach-athlete relationships. Find Ali on Instagram: @kershner.ali or Twitter: @alikershner | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“But our head coach Tara VanDerveer, she has a good saying, which I now completely buy into, which is to be at the elite level and to win a national championship, what she's now done quite a few times, so I feel like she has some ability to say this, you need to be good, you need to be healthy, and you need to be really lucky.” 5:07 “I'm definitely more of a observer, I am more of a like, let's talk to the athlete at an individual level, try to figure out what they need, where they want to go, and then try to problem solve from there.” 19:12 “It was just like, had I not given them choice, had I not empowered them on the front end to have some autonomy and have some leeway, I personally would have really had a hard time dealing with this year and all of the nuance and gray area and change that occurred.” 24:53 “…it's truly all of the periphery, it's the interpersonal, it's the communication, it's knowing how to negotiate, it's knowing how to build your resume. And all of these things we don't learn until we need them. We learn them in almost like it's not a proactive approach, it's a reactive approach.” 35:52 “Coaching is storytelling. It's relating to somebody else and putting a message in terms they'll understand.” 33:45

Drew Hammond, Army Holistic Health and Fitness (H2F) Program Director at Fort Bragg, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about differences between tactical and collegiate strength and conditioning. Topics include the Army H2F Program, tactical athlete programming, and how to pursue military strength and conditioning positions. Find Drew on LinkedIn: Drew Hammond | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“But I think the most unique part about it in hindsight, and this is what I tell people getting into the field, is that I was born and raised in a non-American strength and conditioning system. So some of the decisions that I make now, some of the conversations we will probably get into here, I think are based off of not having grown up professionally in the traditional route, collegiate professional sports stateside.” 2:41 “And so the attempt of H2F is to again, replicate that model, but on a much broader scale. So instead of dealing with a group of maybe 100 athletes that at a very specialized unit, you're now dealing with hundreds, if not thousands of athletes.” 5:34 “And those are things that I think a lot of guys in this industry struggle with because we're still thinking of this problem in a traditional paradigm, where macro cycles, mesocycles, micro cycles, undulating-- all these buzzwords that we all know. But I think one thing that we haven't really thought through or been equipped to think through, is this critical thinking piece of-- if none of these things hold true that I think should fit into this model, how do I react to that? What does my training look like?” 11:14 “But what I found was that there are ways to influence the development of an athlete beyond reps and sets.” 18:20 “I mean, I was fortunate in my previous position, to have an excellent relationship with my injury prevention folks. And there were days where we would be working side by side on the floor with an athlete and you couldn't really differentiate between who is the strength coach, who is the athletic trainer. And I think that's ideal.” 22:33

Dr. Patrick Ivey, Associate Athletics Director for Student Athlete Health and Performance at the University of Louisville, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about the transition from strength coach to a director role in administration. Topics under discussion include perceptions of strength coaches, emotional intelligence, and continuing to grow where you are. Find Dr. Ivey on his website: pativey.com | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“There's almost this WWE sort of aura attached to being a strength and conditioning coach. And if you're a good strength and conditioning coach, you know how to manage that. You know how to manage those perceptions and expectations, and what's reality. And it can be really fun to be the person that is a super hero to a lot of athletes.” 9:50 “Filling that void to be able to be an advocate for our sports medicine and nutrition staff, our strength and conditioning coaches. And it's something that I'm having to learn as well. Like how do I communicate with marketing, and all of the different areas that work in the athletics department.” 12:45 “So you might have an idea of what you want to get accomplished, and you've got to work towards that, but you got to be ready to adapt and adjust every day.” 26:05 “You have to take what's right in front of you, and deal with that situation as a leader in this position. So first and foremost, we got to be a leader in this position. Someone that is willing to learn how to communicate, and improve the communication. Written, verbal, body language. You have to be willing to learn in this position.” 26:37 “Research and science should be the basis of what we're all doing in health and performance, whether it's nutrition, research and science, sports medicine, sports performance, mental health, mental performance, the medical doctors. Research and science is the foundation of everything that we're doing.” 36:09 “How is it going to become habit forming, so that when we're developing leaders, how do we become better leaders ourselves? And hold ourselves accountable to that.” 40:12

Molly Binetti, Women’s Basketball Performance Coach for the University of South Carolina, and return co-host for the 100th episode of the NSCA Coaching Podcast, Scott Caulfield, Director of Strength and Conditioning for Colorado College, talk to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about coaching philosophy. Topics under discussion include navigating strength and conditioning careers, creating value, and building a better weight room environment for athletes. Find Molly on Twitter: @CoachBinetti or Instagram: @mbinetti22 | Find Scott on Instagram: @coachcaulfield | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“And then each year my career as I progressed, I knew that I was going to take a chance, not really knowing if that was exactly the route that I wanted to take. But I knew if I didn't go after it, I wouldn't know either way.” 10:32 “Because I think one of the challenges for all of us is that we don't really learn, and we're not taught how to navigate our careers, as strength and conditioning coaches.” 11:55 “And probably the first three or four, you're so laser focused on writing the best program, making sure your athletes are as physically prepared as possible. But then you really come to the realization that that's really the 5% of what we do.” 19:28 “But we've got to do a better job of just understanding that we have a shared humanity. And we are all more alike than we are different. And we can help each other out a lot more by continuing to share our stories, and connect with each other, and help each other grow in ways that traditional resources just can't.” 42:17 “And I think the hard part is realizing that you've got to be able to adapt and shift gears. And you've got to be able to show multiple sides of your personality and know when and where to have conversations.” 47:02 “I think the approach that I've taken, and maybe it's as simple to sum up my philosophy, in general, is just human first and athlete second.” 49:33 “And the most success that you're going to have and find is when you are true to who you are, and you're not afraid to follow that, and being authentic. And that's a hard thing to do, when you're young, and you're still figuring out yourself.” 57:52

Matthew Ibrahim, Co-Owner of TD Athletes Edge, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about using setbacks as a learning opportunity. Topics under discussion include creating a holistic approach to a client’s training by collaborating with other professionals, and the importance of deceleration technique and eccentrics in his programs for skill acquisition. Find Matthew on Instagram: @matthewibrahim_ | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“But we can do a really good job at properly, physically preparing our athletes through the right demands and tasks and skill acquisition in the weight room, if we load them appropriately, to be able to withstand those rigors and demands of sport and those stressors.” 20:39 “But I do believe we cannot forget about the deceleration or forced absorption drills, which I believe go in the plyometric department, right before the actual force production.” 21:27 “I think people-- when they think plyos, Eric, they're thinking oh, wow, let me do a box jump. What about just jump and land? Like pogos. Let's do a pogo jump. But that's plyos. You have to crawl before you sprint, right? So people forget about the crawling, the walking, before we actually sprint.” 27:40 “…but eccentric is the one that I think has the most credence in terms of forcing someone to develop skill acquisition from a motor control standpoint, but also movement quality standpoint.” 34:40

Dr. Sara Erdner, author of “Dear Coach: What I Wish I Could Have Told You, Letters from Your Athletes,” talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about the coach-athlete relationship. Topics under discussion include coaching education, giving athletes a platform to be heard, and what truly builds mental toughness and resiliency. Find Dr. Erdner on Twitter: @doc_serdner | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“So really, what I was hoping with my book, Dear Coach, is to bring all this stuff that I've learned through my seven years of education and then plus some years of just doing our own research, and actually bridge that gap between what some might call the ivory towers-- us in academia-- and the people with boots on the ground.” 2:20 “And so my thing that I advocate for is, before you can even start creating your coaching philosophy, which is very values-based-- identify the values that you have-- we need to understand who we are, culturally, and how the cultural narratives surround these labels that we're made up of.” 14:07 “But if the coach them self is not emotionally healthy, then they're going to have a really hard time not only interacting with athletes' emotional health, emotional maturity, but within that relationship, helping to build it within the athlete.” 23:06 “…the four different C's that go into making a quality coach-athlete relationship-- so, closeness, the commitment of the relationship, the complementarity of the relationship, the co-orientation of it.” 37:05

NSCA Tactical Program Managers, Jason Soileau (Military) and Mandy Nice (Public Safety), talk to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about supporting those in the tactical professions over the course of their careers. Topics under discussion include the U.S. Army Holistic Health and Fitness (H2F) program and developing a new tactical strength and conditioning program tool kit for public safety agencies. Find Jason and Mandy on Facebook: NSCA Tactical Strength and Conditioning SIG | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“And H2F is an acronym for Holistic Health and Fitness. So it's a five-prong approach to wellness for the Army soldier, and that includes mental, physical, spiritual, financial, and just overall health. So really, it's an admirable program. And they're really investing a lot of dollars into their personnel, not only for effectiveness currently and in the short-term, but in the long-term over the lifespan of that member, whether they leave the Army, retire, or become a lifer in the Army.” 14:58 “So as far as strength and conditioning is concerned, they plan to contract-- or the government contracting agencies will hire-- roughly 840 strength coaches over the course of four to five years, to basically lead brigades in their physical fitness training. So it's a huge undertaking. But I feel like it's an important one, because the goal is to increase readiness and resilience of the personnel, but also decrease injury likelihood and injury occurrence.” 15:43 “The Army loses a lot of money, to the tune of millions, on reconditioning and rehab of musculoskeletal injuries every year. So this is an effort to invest in the prevention of that and save money on the back end, which inherently, I think, it's going to work.” 16:15 “And I heard one individual describe it as offering autonomy in an austere environment. And I think that's a great explanation of the overall goal of the strength and conditioning professional. You're giving that personnel and the command staff the tools to be successful in terms of physical fitness, no matter where they are on the globe. And if they're still in the Army or not, wherever they go in their life span, they'll still have those foundations that you taught them to carry them through their health and wellness journey for the lifespan.” 19:11 “And public safety specifically, sometimes we see the challenge being not so much strength and conditioning itself, but more so how to implement an agency-wide program that is, again, evidence-proven and results focused and practical and user-friendly for everyone.” 25:24

Emily Zaler, Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach for the National Football League (NFL) Denver Broncos, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about the benefits of being persistent and proactively seeking out opportunities in the field. Topics under discussion include working with professional athletes, facing adversity head on, and how no task is too small to show how you can add value to a program. Find Emily on Instagram: @ezaler or Twitter: @EZaler | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“I think that my experience as a college athlete has definitely helped shape me into the coach that I am today. Having two very different experiences at University of Oregon, and at University of Missouri, allowed me to see and develop what type of coach I wanted to become.” 4:57 “And I think that a lot of my skill set that came from working with general population, and came from managing training departments, and being able to work with different personalities, and build relationships, and build buy and with different types of people.” 22:45 “And so I think going with the mindset of no task is too small, whatever I can do to help and benefit our organization and benefit our athletes, I'm 100% willing to do.” 24:54 “I think the push towards technology is only going to continue to grow. And I feel like as far as the role of the coach in the future, I feel like if you're not well versed and you're not educated within that realm, that it's going to be a struggle.” 30:46

Alex Calder, Head of Sports Science for the Houston Dynamo Major League Soccer (MLS) team, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about sports science data driving better decisions on and off the field. Topics under discussion include the importance of traditional strength training for soccer players, as well as, the variety of strength and conditioning opportunities there are to gain experience from at the high school, college, private, and professional level of sports. Find Alex on Twitter: @calder_05 or Instagram: @calder_05 | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“…being good with the numbers and the sports science and the monitoring side, it does help drive better decisions in the gym and vice versa.” 7:55 “Now that we've gone through that, sort of, adverse situation in 2020, us, as a performance staff, probably have a better idea of how to utilize different recovery modalities or different protocols when it comes to some of those travel restrictions.” 16:38 “I think, at this level, you kind of rely on this a lot and you got to be humble enough to alter your program on the fly and be diligent about certain things and flexible about others.” 30:14

Andy Stocks, Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at Augustana University and recently named NSCA Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about persevering as a young coach in a tough career field. Topics under discussion include how his weightlifting and powerlifting background help him program for student-athletes and what he envisions his future as a head coach might look like someday. Find Andy on Instagram: @stocksthestrengthcoach or @augiestrength and Twitter: @augiestrength | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“I think it's great to know all those advanced methods and advanced principles. And it's just another tool in the toolbox. And you can use that somewhere down the road, or you can use pieces of it here and there in your training a collegiate athlete. But the-- but traditional training and simple programming, it works, and it's widely used because it works.” 14:32 “Our volleyball team, in particular, is always saying, I want to see another team's weightlifting cards. I want to see their programs and see if they're stronger than us. And I'm sure there's other teams out there that are really strong. But the fact that they think they're the strongest is really cool to see.” 25:24 “…being a young coach is hard. And so being able to stick through it, and you'll eventually land something. Something's going to pop up, and keeping in touch with people is powerful in that aspect.” 33:06

Andrea Hayden, Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Minnesota Twins Major League Baseball (MLB) team, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about being great at your craft. Topics of discussion include how to train athletes in a sport you have never played and creating great career opportunities through education and networking. Find Andrea through Email: [email protected] | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“I would even say the guys that I work with, they got there without me. And so, what can I do to really help enhance more? What else is in that tank that we can actually drain out and find? So that's really kind of a puzzle piece that excites me and makes me want to keep doing it.” 8:15 “So what are those lions that you're chasing after, and what are those things that seem risky and seem uncomfortable and unknown? And what are the things you're going to chase after that really will set you up for success later in life?” 11:51 “There's just such a broad spectrum of abilities and levels within the weight room. So I think that's a big part of trying to learn and grasp and try to get alongside of these guys.” 19:11 “And I don't want to just be secluded to the weight room. I want to be a part of everything that they will allow me to be a part of. Whether that's on the field or in the cage or in meetings, or anywhere they will have me.” 27:22

Dan Jahn, the owner of Maximum Sports Conditioning, talks to NSCA’s Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about cultural awareness for strength and conditioning coaches. Jahn discusses recent racial incidences related to coaches and athletes, and suggests ways that coaches and administrators can do better in promoting positive conversations around these difficult topics. Jahn also shares his experience as a private strength and conditioning business owner in the greater Seattle area and perspectives on being a well-rounded coach and mentor. Find Dan on Instagram: @daniel_jahn and follow the NSCA Diversity and Inclusion Committee on Facebook | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“And the first thing is, you've got to think about why you're doing this. And that can determine, and dictate, and sway the direction you go. If you're trying to choose your path, whether it be collegiate, professional, private, each element brings a bit of a different experience, different lifestyle. And so you've got to have different expectations for each.” 5:53 “So finding that balance between what we know as strength coaches and what your customer and client is actually asking for can be a little bit tough.” 10:06 “Culture awareness starts with self awareness. It's being honest, and being open, and being OK with not knowing everything, and being OK with truly internalizing that our experience is only true for us.” 26:45 “It's on us to really try to seek them out. And let them know that this is a field that they could thrive in, and this is something that they could do.” 39:44 “I've probably hired 50, maybe 55 people in the 14, 15 years I've been in business. And all of them needed to be empowered, needed to be brought up, needed to be uplifted.” 44:37

Dr. Tim Suchomel, Assistant Professor at Carroll University and Wisconsin State Director for the NSCA, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about the emerging role of sport science in strength and conditioning. Topics under discussion include Suchomel’s growing involvement with the NSCA, as well as weightlifting derivatives and their benefits for more individualized performance adaptations. Find Dr. Suchomel on Twitter: @DrTSuchomel or Instagram: @drtsuchomel  or NSCA Sport Science and Performance Technology Special Interest Group | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“I think everyone's starting to realize how important it is to be well read within the literature, to be able to implement the strategies that you're researching at the same time.” 8:55 “That's fine, but the fact of the matter is that we need to realize that strength and conditioning as a whole is grey. There's not one way to do things, and there's a time and a place, essentially, for everything.” 19:47 “The hex bar jump squat's a great exercise, but I remember, it was at NSCA clinic. Someone asked me, have you compared that with jump shrug? We have now.” 40:06 “…if you're really interested in someone's work, buy them a coffee. They'll sit down and talk to you for 20, 30 minutes. But it's making those connections, and then expanding on those connections.” 51:27 “…you're going to learn a lot just having conversations with these individuals who are doing the research, who are coaching these athletes and have good ideas. Just don't turn down those opportunities.” 55:04

Sam Melendrez, full-time strength and conditioning coach for Discovery Canyon Campus High School, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about the value of strength and conditioning coaches at the high school level. Topics include advice for those who are interested in strength training youth and high school athletes, programming fundamentals, and the value of applying classroom management skills in the weight room. Find Sam on Twitter: @sammelendrez2 | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“…we're dealing with kiddos who I think, are dealing with some of the ramifications of lack of regular PE, lack of outside play, specializing in a sport too early.” 14:33 “Keep your system simple and then also remember that in this role, or I try to always remind myself to stay grounded in the fact that I'm not really trying to develop necessarily the best program with my kids, I'm trying to develop the best kids with my program.” 16:42 “That may never happen and we may never run into the situation where I'm dealing with high level athletes or even winning state titles, the national titles, but we are developing again, better kids, healthier kids, more robust against illness and disease.” 29:14 “…to be honest with you, one of my most proud things, one of the things I'm most inspired about doing this job is we'll watching kids go study exercise science and specifically pursue careers in health and athletic performance.” 33:18

Josiah Igono, Director of Peak Performance for the Texas Rangers Major League Baseball (MLB) team, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about what defines performance. Topics under discussion include the importance of coaching mental skills, diversifying your skillsets as a coach, and leaving a legacy. Find Dr. Igono on Instagram: @josiahigono or Twitter: @JosiahIgono | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“And it's a very beautiful thing to see what an athlete is going to do at that turning point. Are they going to rise, or are they going to fall? Are they going to press forward, or are they going to fold up?” 6:41 “You have to have something that no one else quite has. You have to have an insight that no one else quite has. And whatever that is for you, you have to figure that out to diversify.” 7:22 “I don't believe in giving people fish dinners if you catch my drift. I want to teach you how to fish.” 9:40 “If you can't reach an athlete's heart, you're not going to be able to read their mind. And if you can't read your mind, you're not going to be able to reach their body.” 24:15 “But those who are afraid of failing, they will not move forward, and they will not do great things. You cannot do great things without facing failure because failure is coming for you, and it's going to be a part of your story. It's going to be a part of your legacy.” 39:45

Ryan Metzger, Senior Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach for Clemson University, talks to the NSCA Coaching Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about their internship program going virtual amidst the pandemic to provide young strength coaches the education they need to grow despite the lack of in-person training. Topics of discussion also include early sport specialization and burnout, as well as being a role model for female athletes. Find Ryan on Instagram: @clemsonolystrength or @coach_metz | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“An intern at Clemson, our program is going to be very demanding. We expect a lot out of our interns, not only time commitment on the floor, working with athletes, but what we're asking them to do outside of the weight room and outside of time with us.” 19:02 “So as a strength coach, you're not just someone barking at somebody or counting reps or whatever it is. It goes beyond that. You're often a teacher and a leader to your athletes…” 28:05 “Athletes are people, and they have real challenges, concerns, problems, good days, bad days. So are the coaches. So there's always that overlap. There's always that conversation, and you know, it's sort of that triage.” 35:20 “There's so many times that your conversations with your athletes are going to go beyond “All right, you've got another set coming up”. So like you said, just thinking holistically of the person first before the athlete.” 36:10

Kelly Dormandy, Assistant Athletics Director for Sports Performance at Loyola Marymount University and Head Strength Coach for the Los Angeles Sparks Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) team, talks to the NSCA Coaching Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about championship culture. Topics under discussion include constantly seeking new challenges, training WNBA athletes, and being proactive about networking in the field. Find Kelly on Instagram: @kdormandy | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“And you have to be somebody that wants to bring the best out in other people. And I think that's when you truly realize how gratifying this field is.” 6:49 “And at the end of the day, you've got to have an unwavering determination and drive and resiliency to make it in this field.” 19:03 “I believe it's my responsibility to put them in a position to believe in themselves and believe that they're fully capable of accomplishing whatever it is that they want in life, whether it's winning national championships, conference championships as a collegiate athlete.” 20:19 “I think the biggest key is being a lifelong learner in this field, being hungry and being willing to learn from people that are in places that you haven't been, but that you aspire to be in.” 33:06

Brice Long, Director of Human Performance Experience at O2X, talks to the NSCA Coaching Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about O2X’s holistic approach for fire, police, military, and federal agencies. Topics under discussion include the value of training as a firefighter, physical tests and assessments in the National Guard, and being diverse in your skill sets as a coach. Find Brice on Instagram: @o2xhumanperformance or Twitter: @o2xhp | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“Athletes, even athletes that have long careers don't even come close to the continued operational demands of someone in the public safety profession. Most fire departments, 25, 30 years before someone retires, so that's a lot of abuse, and a lot of changes happen to the human body through that time, and there's a lot of time to make mistakes.” 4:46 “You've got to pick up a 210-pound firefighter that's covered in soaking wet gear up to your chest to get him or her out of a window. That's a big lift that needs to happen really fast.” 8:28 “If you're going to be working with firefighters, you need to take the time to understand what the mechanics are for throwing a 24-foot extension ladder, for stretching an inch and 3/4 hose line from a fire engine, forcing a door. You need to know the lingo. You need to know how much bunker gear weighs. You need to understand the nuance of breathing with a respirator on, SCBA, which is a whole different ball game for a lot of these folks and really dive into the background of the area in which you want to focus.” 26:59 “I think you can learn a ton of the fundamentals working in a sports-specific weight room, and a lot of the concepts that make you successful there will translate to the tactical space, but the communication is going to be very different.” 29:48 “…learn your audience, be an effective communicator and an expert in the field where you're working, and two is diversify your resume and have some experience and education and at least, at a minimum, interest in being more than a coach because the tactical space requires it.” 33:06

Richard Howell, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Indianapolis Colts National Football League (NFL) team, talks to the NSCA Coaching Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about his impressive 21 years with the organization. Topics under discussion include going from pre-medical to strength coach, building relationships with athletes and staff members, and how technology provides hard numbers for sport coaches to understand stress management. Connect with Richard through email: [email protected] | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“…that's the biggest thing in our business. You got to have a relationship with the players. And you may know everything in the world. But if the players don't believe you, if they don't trust you, you know, it's not going to do any good.” 8:33 “I think what's also important as far as getting to the NFL or a job in general, what I've always told from older coaches, whether they were football coaches, strength coaches, whatever may be, was always be the best at the job you have right now.” 21:22 “That's probably the most important relationship with players where they can see the trainers and the strength coaches on the same page. Then you got total buy-in from a player for a system-- not rooms but for a system.” 29:18 “And each year, you're fighting to see that happen again and again to try to do that kind of camaraderie, you know, that team aspect, to see guys laying it on the line for the guy beside him, to see that, and to hopefully, eventually, get that ring, you know, when it's all said and done.” 35:50

Chris Morris, Director or Performance Science at the University of Kentucky, talks to the NSCA Coaching Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about the importance of capturing athlete readiness through data and technology. Topics under discussion include Dr. Morris’s time as a University of Kentucky football player turned PhD student, how sports science is critical to understanding athlete’s capacities on a much deeper view, and developing interpersonal relationships with athletes to create trust and buy-in. Find Dr. Morris on Twitter: @CMorrisPhD | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“It's a very nice pretty picture of we have a stimulus, we have fatigue, we have compensation, and then supercomp, and it all occurs within 72 hours. It's a beautiful concept. But in reality, very far from it.” 6:22 “We profile the game through our GPS technology to really understand what the demands of the game are, which aligns with NSCA's profile your sport or needs analysis of sport.” 12:14 “To be a good sport scientist, you have to understand both sides of the equation. You have to understand how your inputs and strength and conditioning are going to affect your outputs, so you can have an idea of what we're really measuring.” 16:07 “So I feel like a lot of people are going to be most valuable when they are good strength coach, and also have the ability to be a good sport scientist.” 17:07 “…if I can lower the stress outside of the training facility, identify areas in the athlete's life where we can reduce stress, then I can have a higher adaptive response in the weight room.” 25:41

Dr. Trent Lawton, Senior Strength and Conditioning Specialist with High Performance Sport New Zealand, talks to the NSCA Coaching Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about coaching the athletes of the New Zealand National Rowing Team. Topics under discussion include the balance of coaching the individual versus the team, constantly chasing knowledge in the field, and efforts to push forward through the COVID-19 pandemic. Find Trent on Twitter: @Chad_Bling | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“It's not important to have the ability to run 9.7 for 100, but to actually do that 28 times in some sports.” 7:33 “My job is to create competitive training environments where the people want to excel. So they want to compete off each other. And they need to have the desire to win.” 10:52 “And one trick I tried is, rather than me say "go deeper," they get the force or they get the distance deeper. So we change it to the length or the dip. And I say to them, make that the biggest number you can. And that's the sport of rowing. Row long. So squat deep.” 12:38 “So it's about creating learning to empower that athlete to adapt their training to the situation which they find themselves in. And my role is to help them think about that.” 22:00 “…sometimes the things that we do have to be so simple and obvious that the person connects to it, that the overload is progressed in such a predictable way that it seems too basic. So we need to go the opposite way of making the problem complex, making it so understandable that people can take action.” 32:52

Brett Bartholomew, keynote speaker, performance coach and consultant, best-selling author, and Founder of Art of Coaching™, talks to the NSCA Coaching Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about the importance of communication as a foundation of coaching, understanding the messy realities of leadership, and how reflection can help the profession grow. Find Brett on Instagram: @coach_brettb or Twitter: @Coach_BrettB | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“So that's what we focus on-- the messy realities of coaching, leadership, and the fact that it's much deeper than we've been led to believe.” 3:36 “A coach that says they can't apply communication strategies with large groups is somebody that shouldn't be a coach, because communications are the foundation of coaching.” 10:56 “Why would you periodize your athletes programs, but not periodize your career and not periodize your learning?” 21:39 “But I hope in the next five, if not less, we really embrace more on the communication science and human dynamics and sociology of coaching.” 46:35 “…the art of coaching is the science of connecting, and we very much have a lot of literature on how we build relational dynamics and influence and persuade people.” 47:12

The NSCA Long-Term Athletic Development (LTAD) Special Interest Group (SIG) Executive Council Members, Joe Eisenmann, Rick Howard, and Tony Moreno, sit down with the NSCA Coaching Program Manager, Eric McMahon, to discuss LTAD as a framework for the field of strength and conditioning, and the importance of establishing physical literacy in athletes. Find the Long-Term Athletic Development Special Interest Group on Facebook: NSCA Long-Term Athletic Development SIG | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow NotesFrom NSCA's Coaching Podcast Production Team: The NSCA Coaching Podcast strives for the utmost quality in producing each podcast episode. Due to technical difficulties, we apologize for the noticeable interference on the host audio feed in this episode. We hope you will enjoy the insight and information on Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) from our knowledgeable panel of experts. “We just want to make sure that things are not only done right, but into the right hands of the right people that are dealing with kids, whether it be in a community recreation setting, a school setting, or a club sports setting. We just want to make sure that it's good material, and it gets in the right hands.” 10:55 “But I think we really, really need to emphasize how critical physical education and community recreation are in really defining the participation pathway. Because you look at this crisis now that we're in, and I'm just looking out my window right now. And I haven't seen any kids outside doing anything. Maybe once or twice in the past week riding a scooter for 10 or 15 minutes, and they run back in the house.” 28:39 “…we have a lot of parents and youth coaches trying to microwave young athletes. And we're really skipping those early stages of fundamental movement skill acquisition…” 32:05 “And along those lines is also this tendency that we see of over competing and undertraining. Where you sign up for AAU basketball, and you're playing six to eight games in a weekend or youth baseball, and you're playing five, six, eight games in a weekend. And all you do is compete, compete, compete. But physically, you're not really ready for the demands that are going to be placed upon your body and to proficiently execute some of those sports skills.” 32:53  

Mary Kate Feit, Assistant Professor and Associate Director of Strength and Conditioning at Springfield College, and Adam Feit, Coordinator of Physical and Mental Performance at Springfield College and Assistant Director of Performance Nutrition at Precision Nutrition, talk to the NSCA Coaching Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about being a married couple in the world of strength and conditioning. Topics under discussion include the unique positions they hold at Springfield College, how becoming parents has changed their perspective on coaching, and why diversity is so important for the future of the field. Connect with Mary Kate via email: [email protected] | Find Adam on Twitter: @Adam_Feit or Instagram @aefeit | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“I was the youngest head strength and conditioning coach in Division I at the time. I took over a team that was the worst in the nation. So you talked about growth mindset and an opportunity to learn and get better.” 11:11 “Just being someone who's able to step up. If we send out a message, hey, we need someone to do this, we're looking for that person who's going to respond right away. I'm on it. Can I help?” 13:45 “However, what are they doing with that knowledge and how are they translating that into real life situations? So can you be adaptable? Can you be reliable? Can I count on you to treat everything as it should?” 14:29 “And even when I see professional athletes, I still think. I mean, they're younger than us now, most of them. And I still think of them as someone's child. And I think that changes everything. It's not about winning. It's about this individual. And I think I always kind of saw it that way.” 20:15 “Be the coach that people want to hire. Now we have technology. We need a sports science expert. We need a nutrition coach. We need a FMS corrective coach. We need a VBT coach. And I would say a coach, but a skill set. And now I look at it as be the coach that can do a lot of many things.” 38:48

Paul Comfort, program leader for the Master’s degree in Strength and Conditioning at the University of Salford, talks to the NSCA Coaching Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about his desire to continuously learn through practical application and research in the field. Topics under discussion include creating the post graduate program for the University of Salford, being a founding member of the United Kingdom Strength and Conditioning Association (UKSCA), and the complexities of technology in the weight room. Find Paul on Twitter: @PaulComfort1975 or Instagram: @PaulComfort1975 | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“Find out why certain training interventions, methods, dietary interventions, et cetera are working, and then almost build that back up to the whole body. And then keep refining that process.” 10:10 “But certainly when you're in a situation with a group of other coaches, don't just jump in and offer your opinion all the time. Listen to what people have got to say. There's a huge amount that you can learn from other people.” 22:04 “You've got to look at that in those different scenarios and the different sort of context of what they're actually discussing and why. But I think that's the biggest thing is to listen, learn, and be critical of everything you read and everything you hear.” 23:56 “Whereas if you stare at the device while they're performing the exercise and they either got a higher or lower velocity, you have no idea why they got higher or lower velocity. They might have had awful technique or they might have had really good technique. So you've still got to coach the individuals that these devices aren't a substitute for coaching.” 29:58

Adam Fletcher, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for men’s basketball at the University of Illinois, talks to the NSCA Coaching Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about the impact of the Coaches vs. COVID-19 webinars to support the service community and build the strength and conditioning community. Topics under discussion include his journey from an accounting major to strength coach, how vital it is to get to know the sport coaches, and how he seeks to be a positive role model as he works alongside his wife. Find Adam on Twitter: @Adam_Fletcher41 or Instagram: @coach_fletch | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“And in that, the aerobic capacity is really important and the movement capacity is really important. We don't just want to lose all the movement that we've went through and the pattern that we've created because we know that that's instrumental in our injury prevention.” 10:52 “And empowering those guys it creates more of an excitement around the program. I think right now, more than ever, you have to be empowering of your kids. They have to feel very positive about what they're doing.” 19:36 “I think a lot of times in strength and conditioning we push for relationships within our industry and that's important. But I think if you're not looking on the other side of the sport coaches, you're missing a huge, huge piece of what drives our jobs.” 26:50 “…it's important that, as you're on this path, that you try to positively impact everyone that you reach out to and everyone that you work with in a way that they can't forget who you are because you're true to yourself.” 28:20

Adam Ross, Chair of and an Assistant Professor within the Kinesiology Department at Dallas Baptist University, talks to the NSCA Coaching Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about his unique dual role of strength coach and professor at the university. Topics under discussion include the NSCA Special Interest Groups (SIGs), building trust with athletes and students, and how his mentors and children have shaped his perspective of the field. Find Adam on Facebook: NSCA Baseball SIG or via Email: [email protected]| Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“But in order to create a desire within that person, I think you just have to give them a little bit of the opportunity to just be themselves and to figure things out a little bit on their own, while being kind of a supporting structure around them. So giving them that autonomy to do it, not just being a suffocating autocrat and someone that just kind of strangles the passion out of them.” 13:43 “…the movement capacities of athletes kind of predict the performance a lot more than the strength. And I'd say the resiliency and the ability to resist injury is along those lines too.” 17:37 “And I think there is a blend between leadership, coaching, and emotional intelligence that has, at the center of it, just transformation of an athlete.” 29:00 “You show them your leadership skills, not by what you say, but by what you do, right, and how you engage with them, and how you develop them. And intertwined with that is the coaching aspect, to where you're bringing about awareness and then what they need to do to be a better human, to be a better athlete.” 29:12

Casey Kramer, Assistant Strength Coach for the Chicago Bears National Football League (NFL) team, talks to the NSCA Coaching Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about working with tactical, Olympic sport, and professional football athletes. Topics under discussion include advice for young coaches, scheduling strength and conditioning sessions in the NFL calendar, and different qualities coaches should seek to have outside of the weight room. Find Casey on Instagram: @caseykramer12| Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“We have, you know, total access. So the guys are eating in our complex. We have the data that we collect for practice and everything, so we're able to really see a kind of a 360-degree view of our players during that time, so we take advantage of it.” 29:04 “They have to be better next year than they were the previous year. That's an expectation from our players and from our organization. Our guys are very competitive-- very, very competitive. They want to get better. They want to improve. They want to feel, like, as a strength coach, that you're helping them to develop and change their game in some way.” 31:25 “I think just be prepared to persevere. Start at the bottom and keep working your way up.” 32:48 “You can't just walk into strength coaching and expect that you're going to be running like a Power Five program or you're not going to be the head guy of a baseball team making it to the College World Series or being in the major leagues or anything like that. So you really have to take time to grow yourself, grow your knowledge, make sure you're staying up on what's new, and educating yourself and also trying to find ways that you can better yourself as a coach.” 34:51

Brian Buck, Director of Sports at Sparta Science, talks to the NSCA Coaching Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about the new roles that data and technology are playing in the weight room. Topics under discussion include what young coaches should know getting into the field of strength and conditioning and the importance of building relationships and developing people. Find Brian on Twitter: @brianbuck6 | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“So what makes a good strength coach, and people touch on it a lot, is being able to have conversations with these guys. Do they care that you care? Are you a good person, and why should they listen to you?” 12:40 “So you've got to understand-- there's got to be an education piece, there's got to be a relationship piece. And at the end of the day, it's got to work. So it's a fun skill, it's a fun job, and I've really enjoyed my time in it.” 13:49 “I think where people really separate themselves from others is the resources they get their hands on to. How much they're willing to read daily, because that's not easy for everyone. How interested are you in research and books? And I think on top of that, the last piece that really sets people apart is your networking capability. And are you willing to go do a site visit?” 14:42 “Wherever your situation is, make it the best, learn from it, create the best where you are. And really, those other opportunities are going to pop up and you're not going to wear yourself out thinking about them.” 29:32

In this special Season 4 podcast kick-off, NSCA’s Tactical Program Manager, Nate Palin, introduces the new NSCA Coaching Program Manager, Eric McMahon. McMahon discusses how he got into strength and conditioning, transitioning into new roles and the challenges it brings, and the direction that he wants to bring the NSCA with this new position as a bridge between strength coaches and the organization. Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs | Find Nate on Instagram: @natepalinShow Notes“…the relationships and networking is a huge part of our profession, and I think the NSCA that's our role in terms of creating those communication structures and creating those conversations…” 1:43 “I wanted to pursue the field. I just wanted to make sure it was the right choice for me… it's a huge commitment in terms of, you might have to pack up and go.” 3:32 “We are people that are sought after as communicators, as presenters, as influential important people in their organizations with potential to move up the ladder in terms of athletic directors or CEOs or presidents of their organization. We're educated professionals.” 5:13 “I would have never touched the field in college if it wasn't for strength and conditioning, so I credit any success I had as an athlete to my training during those years and changing my body, getting strong, and winning that starting job. That meant a lot to me at the time and inspired me to pass it forward here.” 15:44 “I'm new to this job, but I've been with the NSCA for a long time, and I want every coach to feel like they are just as much a part of this organization as you and I are.” 24:17

Jeff Connors, who retired after a staggering 31-year collegiate coaching career, talks to the former NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about being a servant to athletes and contributing to their lives. Topics under discussion include “surviving” head coaching changes, learning from others in the field, and using his coaching experiences to write books.Show Notes“I've been always trying to learn, and I've always tried to attach myself, or fly across country and find people smarter than me, which is not real hard to do. So that's how I endeavored to become smarter, is by associating myself with the best.” 16:44 “So I try to learn year to year. I try to develop a good reputation to where I would be retained. I try to outwork people. I think there's something to be said for a work ethic.” 17:17 “I've never been real concerned with trying to please the football coach over what I believed. I was always flexible and I always listened, but I always considered myself to be the professional. And so I would try to educate football coaches.” 18:08 “I believe that you are serving people as a strength and conditioning coach, trying to improve their lives, trying to contribute to their lives, where they're successful throughout the course of their lives because of the experience they have with you and their collegiate experience.” 22:50

Antonio Squillante, a PhD candidate at the University of Southern California (USC) and the Weightlifting Special Interest Group (SIG) chair, talks to the former NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about using weightlifting, not just the sport, as a means to build strength and power in athletes from the platform to the field. Topics under discussion include being involved with the NSCA through leading the Weightlifting SIG and teaching Exam Prep classes, moving from Italy to pursue his dream of coaching, and going back to school for his PhD. Find Antonio on Facebook: NSCA CSCS Exam Prep or NSCA Weightlifting SIGShow Notes“I've always felt supported by the NSCA, itself, and I think, since that point on, all I wanted to do was growing within the community and give back to the community because they gave me a lot.” 8:28 “It’s a lot about taking the first step, once you get involved, and all you want is just, generally, giving back, opportunities will come your way. And you just have to be available and be-- I think, an open mind and embrace the challenge.” 10:20  “A certain component of absolute strength work is always important for injury prevention reasons, but also to just improve your ability to express power.” 18:53 “That kind of impact is so much more rewarding than winning anything, championship doesn't matter, if you can impact someone's life, that's the most you can do, I think.” 25:52 “Either the CSCS Prep Group on Facebook, or if you're already in the community, working, maybe the NSCA Weightlifting SIG.” 27:59

Kayleigh Fournier, now Assistant Director of Strength and Conditioning at Dartmouth College, talks to the former NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about her journey from unpaid intern to head strength coach. Topics under discussion include work ethic as a young professional getting into the field, programming for unconventional sports, and diversifying your network of support. Connect with Kayleigh through email: [email protected] Notes“So I think you have to be willing to travel and put yourself out in someplace different and diversify yourself.” 6:36 “You have to be willing to really get in there, get dirty, and put it all out the line. And if you're not really putting yourself out there, are you going to get that job? Are you going to impress your supervisors enough?” 7:48 “You need to be able to reach out and be friends with all the sports coaches, because they're going to help you.” 13:13 “Keep the door open. Don't ever turn people away, continually talk to people, see what they're doing. Reaching out has been the best thing for me.” 26:50 “Ask other people what they're doing with their programs. If you have a weird sport that you're not sure about, go and find someone who does. Find the expert in it.” 27:44

Stuart Hart, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for women’s basketball at the University of Nebraska, talks to the former NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about his journey from high school athlete to personal trainer to volunteer coach to full-time college strength and conditioning coach. Topics under discussion include a day in the life at the University of Nebraska, building relationships throughout the entire athletic staff, and the value of going to conferences for both educational and networking reasons. Find Stuart on Twitter: @No_DaysOff06 or Instagram: @strength_byhartShow Notes“I would much rather work with that population college athletes because there's a motivation behind them. They want to get better, they want to compete, they want to be successful on their field or the court or whatever.” 6:18 “So he was impressed with the fact that I was going across campus trying to figure out some creative ways to not only benefit the student population, but benefit the athletes as well.” 11:52 “So again, you're building a relationship early on in your career and that's someone that you can call back a few years later.” 14:04 “I'm very much a proponent of figuring out what the needs are, figuring out what the personality is you've got to deal with, and then manipulating what it is you need to get done to work with it in that environment.” 17:55 “So showing up and just being willing to go up and just build-- have a conversation with someone regardless of the logo on their shirt. For me, the relationships that I've built over the last 12 years of being in this business, like you never know when that relationship is going to foster something.” 25:33 “For Instagram, you find me at strength_byhart, and then on Twitter it's no_daysoff06.” 29:32

Molly Galbraith, Woman-in-Charge at Girls Gone Strong, talks to the former NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about the history of bringing Girls Gone Strong to fruition and filling the void of fitness information geared towards women. Topics under discussion include getting involved with the fitness industry and the NSCA, how to better coach women in a fitness setting, and creating educational content to support those who want to learn more. Find Molly on Instagram: @themollygalbraith or @thegirlsgonestrongShow Notes“It's time that more women rise up in the field of strength and conditioning. Now you all have each other's contact information. Do something awesome.” 8:01 “And 81% of women in the US report having experienced harassment. 35% of women globally are survivors of sexual assault.” 13:32 “So it's a tall order to change the culture of the health and fitness industry.” 17:33 “Or my favorite is asking them to explain what they mean by that. And then they get real awkward. They'll like make a joke or make a sexual reference, and you're like, I don't get it. What do you mean? And then they actually have to say out loud. They're like, I mean that I would do-- OK. And then they start to realize…how bad it was.” 21:39 “And basically we talked about how important it is to create an environment in which the women that you're working with… feel safe, that you're helping them feel strong and capable.” 22:45 “I'm a huge fan of this understanding that we're better together.” 32:47 “They can find me on Instagram @themollygalbraith, also Girls Gone Strong @thegirlsgonestrong… probably the best way is we have a free Facebook group for health and fitness professionals current and aspiring, it's called GGS Coaching and Training Women.” 46:50

Dave Terry, Associate Director of Sports Performance at Georgetown University, talks to the former NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about his time at Georgetown and the value of mentorship. Topics under discussion include building the intern program, creating relationships with the athletes, and different ways to think creatively, learn, and grow as a strength coach. Find Dave on Instagram: @daveterry16Show Notes“So we talk about at Georgetown, it's not about your program but about the PROGRAM. And the PROGRAM is in all caps.” 1:42 “…you get that sense of urgency, say in your heart. That you want to drive. Keep driving, keep driving, push your athletes just a little bit more. And those details matter a little bit more because you hold yourself to that same thing.” 13:10 “Normally, they would be like, oh, well, strength coach doesn't run. Well, I ran with the guy to make sure they see me doing it all. And that takes away their excuse.” 14:06 “So with our college-level, I want someone is very curious and is going to show up. If you're asking questions, you're very curious about the field, I would love to teach you. Or, I would love for you to have an experience where you learned a lot. So if you're very curious and you're showing up on time, if we schedule a 2 o'clock call, do you call me at 1:59, or 2:05…” 15:59 “Email is going to be dmt55@georgetown. And then, Hoya Strength Instagram is just Hoya, H-O-Y-A, Strength… And then, DaveTerry16, if they're just want to get a hold of me and come by.” 35:14

Andrea Hudy, now the Head Men’s Basketball Strength and Conditioning Coach for the University of Texas, talks to the former NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about how she got into strength and conditioning. Topics under discussion include the collaborative efforts of the sports medicine team and doctors during her time at the University of Kansas, how she was hired, writing her book and continuing her education, and the value of hosting clinics. Find Andrea on Twitter: @A_HudyShow Notes“We have to show results. We have to prove what we’re doing to people around us and doing it in the most professional way so people have buy-in.” 7:45 “You have to be able to stand up in every room that you’re in, convey a message, sell what you’re doing, but also be a great resource for those people, too.” 13:20 “So we teach. We teach movement, and we do it in a positive manner, where people enjoy it, and they get better. Again, its results, because I don’t want to waste anybody’s time. Time is precious, and time is value.” 14:45 “Those are the coaches that I want, the people that have this solid group of, or a solid base of, working with anyone.” 19:00 “Well, the grind is standing in front of 100 people, and you’re the only person leading the group, and you’ve got nobody helping you. And you need to figure out how to get these 100 people on the same page.” 19:58 “No, it’s not going to be that bad, but you feel bad about it. And then you just get better, but that’s where failure—turn it into a success and figure out how to own the room.” 20:58

Mike Hill, Associate Athletics Director of Sports Performance at Georgetown University, talks to the former NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about his journey from volunteer intern to director at Georgetown. Topics under discussion include being an integral, “off the bench” part of a team, what he looks for in new interns or new hires, and continuing education through reading and being a part of the NSCA’s Exam Development Committee. Find Mike on Instagram: @license_2_hill Show Notes“But a lot of the—it’s sports. A lot of the athletes now, they just want the outcome. They don't want to understand the cliché term of the process. But really, the process is how you weed out the ones that are worthy of the outcome, really.” 12:18 “Make sure you know their name and understand who they are as a person, understanding their sport rather than just understanding the programs that you would like to put them through.” 13:16 “Knowing the science,knowing the practicality, knowing your job, and being competent at that said job, for me, that’s the price of admission. You walk in the door, and that’s supposed to be expected of you.” 24:34 “And more and more, the adaptability aspect of it, the adaptability is huge for us. I guess, too, it’s also doing the right things when no one’s looking. Did we give you a task, or can you take tasks and do those mundane tasks daily without having someone to follow up on it, you know? I can’t remember who said the quote, but it’s like company and fish start to stink after three days. So after three days, are you going to start to stink? So, yeah, it’s kind of the small, little intangible things are what’s more important than where are you from, or what name do you have attached to you. Are you willing to work?” 25:20 “Dress for the job that you want, not the job you have.” 28:04

Annette Zapp, Lieutenant Firefighter in Chicago, talks to the Former NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about strength and conditioning in the firefighting niche. Topics under discussion include the perks of being a firefighter who is also a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist® (CSCS®) and Tactical Strength and Conditioning Facilitator® (TSAC-F®), the typical lifestyles and attitudes of firefighters in general, and common issues that they face both physically and mentally. Find Annette on Twitter: @FireSQFitness or Instagram: @FireSQFitnessShow Notes“But beyond that, I truly believe that fitness, nutrition, good sleep, good mental health and wellness as well as spirituality, I think all of those things are really important in creating resilience in firefighters.” 9:22 “Your brain is literally taking out the trash while you sleep. So if you don't sleep, you accumulate trash.” 11:42 “Because to be honest, just a general personal trainer isn't really going to be able to help out firefighters that much. We really need that sort of strength and conditioning background, the performance background.” 17:14 “I teach them I'm here to meet you where you are. I'm not interested in changing everything that you're doing or steamrolling over you. I am here to help.” 20:04 “...this is a sympathetic driven job. We are on 24/7. And there's an analogy. It's actually a pain analogy. People that are in chronic pain, their doorbell and their fire alarm sounds the same. Like they're just in a startle response.” 22:38 “The thing is, with firefighters is that we are a perpetual fixers. See a problem, fix the problem, move on to the next problem, and never really process what we saw.” 24:48 “Twitter and Instagram, @fire, F-I-R-E and then the letter S and the letter Q and then fitness, F-I-T-N-E-S-S. So when you spell it out it's firerescuefitness. And then they can always connect with me on my website. There's a chat function and an email function. And so that is www.firesqfitness.com.” 29:47

Dave Forman, Director of Strength and Conditioning at Virginia Military Institute, talks to the former NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about becoming a strength coach. Topics under discussion include communication with athletes, appreciating the growth as a coach over time, and creating lasting impressions and relationships with athletes. Find Dave on Twitter: @VMIStrengthShow Notes“So really communication is key I tell him, hey, I’m here to help you. I want to help you be the best you can be, and that’s kind of been our thing, at least as a football program. We want you to be the best you can be athletically, academically, and militarily.” 8:20 “But I think your experiences make you who you are. Makes you appreciate where you are.” 22:28 “And to see how far they’ve come and the work that they’ve put in. And sometimes hard work does payoff. I just think that’s such a cool feeling. I mean, that’s one of my most rewarding moments.” 23:54 “I think at some point, you’ve got to be fairly self-aware and understand what are your strengths and weaknesses and what can I work on and what can I do better… How you do anything is how you do everything.” 34:03 “…that’s really rewarding. But I think they see that. They see that, you know what? I didn’t have all the answers. I can be vulnerable. That’s what I’m really working on is trying to build relationships. I never thought that was important or a thing. And I mean, I was absolutely wrong about that. I mean, that’s really all that matters. That’s honestly all that matters.” 35:27 “Because nobody remembers the ‘X’s and ‘O’s. Nobody remembers if we did five sets of four or four sets of five. Who cares? They remember the experiences that you created, the shared suffering sometimes, but then also the shared overcoming and triumph.” 36:14 “They have that mentality now in life. They’ve dealt with adversity. They’ve dealt with some bad stuff, and they know, you know what? If I keep working, if I keep pushing, it’ll be okay. And later on in life, that’s going to be who knows? Get a phone call and some relative has cancer or you know what? I don’t know; you just went bankrupt or you just lost your job. And you know what? I can do with those things too because I’ve dealt with this too. I don’t know, that’s life lessons in the weight room.” 36:38 “But I try to celebrate our guys, kind of give him a platform, whatever it is. #FlexFriday or something like that. But it’s @VMIStrength. Again, if you want to shoot me a message, please do. I love connecting with people.” 37:56

Lyndie Kelley, Coordinator of Strength and Conditioning at the University of New England (UNE), talks to the former NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about her journey from athlete to strength coach at UNE. Topics under discussion include coaching and mentoring a variety of athletes and students, finding creative solutions for things and being resourceful at the Division III level, and having a fully integrated team from the athletic staff all the way to the non-athletic administration. Find Lyndie on Instagram: @noreaster_strength  | Find Scott on Instagram: @coachcaulfieldShow Notes“I think that that’s super important. There’s not enough great women in strength and conditioning. We need more.” 12:23 “I can be a chameleon on any given day. That’s another important skill, I think, is being able to jack yourself up, meet the team where they’re at, or bring them down. What do they need for the day? Set the temperature and be the thermometer.” 20:10 “I think that we have great capacity to multiply if we love something enough.” 37:27 “…be part of the solution not part of the problem. And so what can you do to make your situation better? How can you get creative about things?” 39:48 “Email: [email protected]; Instagram: @noreaster_strength” 43:51 “…and I think that’s critical for us in this field is to help the next one in line get better than you. If you’re insecure about somebody taking over your role, that’s not the way to be. Get better than me. Let’s advance this field one stair step at a time by standing on my shoulders.” 44:44

Show Notes“When coaches talk about program design,when they talk about relating to athletes, administrators overcoming some of the managerial issues, the complexities of dealing with conflict or knowing what exercises to choose, and how to vary programs, and how to move bodies through the weight room and train them, and what’s the best or optimal, and making sense of all the language in the field, sociology, to me, really helps give me an understanding, away of framing that stuff more so and make sense of it…” 10:13 “And that’s how I think of social and behavioral science stuff that I do is that, just like strength and conditioning, you’ve got a variety of tools to use. And I can use the variety of tools indifferent scenarios and also just be more of a complicated thinker, more educated…” 19:49 “Well, there’s the connection between your coaching philosophy and your training philosophy. What do you value, and what are you really doing in practice, and how are you integrating all those things? And you can say, scientifically. That’s why, I think, we have to go beyond science. Our philosophy is the science and the practice and the values. It’s all integrated together.” 23:14 “And that’s the critical thinking piece and the actual taking that knowledge out of the lab into practice, that requires education, that requires critical thinking, that requires understanding of coaching contexts and how those context matter.” 25:48 “Maybe the way that you’re approaching this doesn’t have to be like this, and you should make a tweak, and not just a little tweak that keeps the factory going, but challenged the factory, realizing, hey, people aren’t robots. The weight room isn’t a factory. You don’t have to train like this.” 31:06 “It’s about learning in those learning lessons, and one’s own experience in society and making sense of it too, so using theory and research to make sense of our experiences.” 47:54 “I do the Twitter. So it’s @drgearity, D-R-G-E-A-R-I-T-Y, Instagram, Twitter. I like a lot of LinkedIn requests, I can add you on that one. I got the Facebook.” 58:17Transcript

Duncan French, Vice President of Performance at UFC Performance Institute, and Bo Sandoval, Director of Strength and Conditioning, talk to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about how they holistically support around 570 Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) athletes and push the boundaries of the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas. Topics under discussion include staying open to new ideas and perspectives, being adaptable as a coach, and the different ways they support their athletes. Find Duncan on Twitter: @DuncanFrench or Instagram: @dr_duncan_french | Find Bo on Twitter: @olystrength or Instagram: @bo.sandoval | Find Scott on Instagram: @coachcaulfieldShow Notes“…and what we’re truly about, is trying to understand, how do you prepare and MMA fight optimally? How do you go about their health, their well-being, and their performance, and truly that’s what the [UFC] Performance Institute was put here for.” 5:40 “So, to kind of draw that to a summary of why the PI [UFC Performance Institute] is here, it’s truly to evolve the sport of MMA and that is part of our mission statement that sits on the wall right next to our front entrance as people come into the facility.” 6:44 “We purposefully didn’t want people that had massive amounts of MMA insights and experience, we wanted new eyes on a product. If we’re going to take MMA and combat sports to a new direction or new level of understanding, we wanted pollination of new ideas, new thinking, not stuck in the status quo of what is currently happening in all the different areas of combat sport training.” 13:01 “And that’s kind of what I’ve said from day one, recruiting is one of the most challenging things, getting the right people, it’s one of the toughest things out there.” 14:42 “So I need someone who’s got the hustle to be able to address those remote needs, as well as, what we say, the easy ones that are right here in our backyard.” 17:27 “And, that happens a lot, we’re integrating a lot with strength coaches, and we want to embrace the conversation for the greater good of the athlete.” 18:40 “So, we’re constantly putting stuff in front of each other, and to me that it’s a personality trait, just being willing and open to share and interact.” 26:05 “I think, that's growth mindset again; everything, every piece of information is valuable. And then, you just got to interpret it and figure out what best sits in our space which can help us.” 27:56 “It’s all about building relationships and that’s what entirely, this whole strength and conditioning thing comes back to. Yes, we have to have technical, tactical knowledge, we have to know our science, but then today it’s the relationship building and getting all those people to be to work together as a team.” 29:49 “It’s so crucial at the end of the day, it’s not in a sports industry, we’re in a people industry.” 30:37 “…at the end of the day, you need to be adaptive… you have to like people, you have to enjoy being around people, not just like-minded people, those are the easy ones, that's easy. If you're truly going to influence something, you've got to be able to interact with the ones that you despise…” 35:47 “And influence goes both ways, you can be a positive influence, or you can be a negative influence, at the end of the day, someone’s going to remember you for one or the other.” 37:15 “So, in my opinion, throughout my career, my clock started the day I took the first job, and it’s like, all right, how many bridges are you going to build?” 37:22 “…but it’s a service-driven thing, it’s oh wow, this guy’s really here for me, he’s going to provide what is best in my best interest, might take him two days for that to click, might take him 10 months for that to click, but it’s worth it 100%.” 44:26 “…Duncan French on Twitter, Dr. Duncan French on Instagram, hit me up, no problem, happy to talk.” 45:19 “I’m Olystrength on Twitter, and then Bo.Sandoval on Instagram, and yeah, likewise, we try to put the welcome mat out as much as possible.” 45:56

Kurt Hester, Head of Sports Performance at Louisiana Tech University, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about his journey from weight lifting at 12 years old to training collegiate football athletes today. Topics under discussion include starting a business, pioneering strength and conditioning, and the interview process. Find Kurt on Twitter: @thekurthester or on Instagram: @hesterkurt | Find Scott on Instagram: @coachcaulfieldShow Notes“And you have to come to a point, as a man or a woman, and say, you know what? I want to do what’s right by my athletes. Over this undying loyalty to a sport coach.” 3:52 “My staff understands the emergency protocol of assessing the athlete of high-volume O2 if we have it down on the field, then immediately submerge in the ice mass, and then calling 9-1-1. So it’s an action plan that, if a young trainer gets, basically, shell-shocked and can’t move and can’t think, that we can go into action and help out.” 8:41 “You have to look at the heat index, how hot it is on turf versus how hot is it on the grass, the humidity level, your wind, your wind direction. There’s a lot of things that you have to utilize and understand, use that information, in taking your protocol, and either taking away reps or adding reps.” 9:59 “I like to bash my head into other humans. I love the physicalness of football. But I love the middle aspect of getting ready for the game. And that’s why I got into the—more, I got into the field. Not from the lifting aspect, because I love to train, but I loved what you had to do mentally to prepare to play a warrior sport.” 16:05 “That whole people side of things, relationship-building, is kind of the ‘X’ factor in this profession, right? You can have written the greatest program, but if you can’t get athletes to believe in what you’re selling and what you’re telling them is going to help them, then it doesn’t really matter anyway.” 28:05 “And if you’re in it for yourself, if you’re in it for your social media hits, and your tweets, and your likes, you’re in it for the wrong reason. This field is not about a coach, it is about the humans you do coach.” 29:03 “And that’s where you start learning more by interacting with other coaches and throwing around a ton of ideas.” 44:26 “It’s connected either at @thekurthester on Twitter, or it’s Hester Kurt on Instagram. Email [email protected].” 47:02 “We’re always looking for free interns. Being in Ruston, Louisiana, which is in north Louisiana, it’s not very big, it’s kind of hard to get help. So if you’re willing to learn and willing to work, I’ll take you in a heartbeat. If you’re breathing and you’re ambulatory, we’re good to go.” 47:46

Courteney Benjamin and Yasuki Sekiguchi, from the Korey Stringer Institute, talk to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about preventing sudden death in the heat and how coaches can plan ahead, create, and respond with an emergency action plan. Find the Korey Stringer Institute on Twitter: @K_S_Institute | Find Scott on Instagram: @coachcaulfieldShow Notes“But I think you know, as we all know, sometimes in the high school setting or in other settings, the athletic trainers just can't physically can't be everywhere. So at least having coaches that are site that at least have the basic lifesaving skills is crucial.” 12:24 “…if someone collapses on the field, where is our closest AED? Where is the cold tub? And who's putting it on? Who's calling EMS? Do we have a way for EMS to get here?” 17:18 “Like, that should be thought about weeks before going into what is our-- what do we want our plan to look like? And then let's stick to it, you know? I think-- I know coaches don't always don't always like to do that, but I think at least having the conversation, it at least like plant a seed, you know? Like, it plants that little seed in their mind that they might be start thinking that way.” 20:36 “…the CSCCA and NSCA joint consensus guidelines for a transition period, safe return to training following an activity. That's a really awesome one. Another one that recently came out from NCAA is the inner association recommendations preventing catastrophic injury and death and collegiate athletes. And then I think the other one that still just a really, really good resource is the 2012 NATA and NSCA joint task force recommendations for preventing sudden death in collegiate conditioning sessions…” 21:28 “You mentioned before we started rolling too, the NCAA inter-association recommendations has a great checklist in it. So really super simple yes, no you know, so you can really evaluate what you're doing and how you're-- you know, if your program meets these.” 22:12 “…people are always welcome to reach out to me or Yasuki or really anyone at KSI…” 22:31

Jason Loscalzo, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Chicago Bears National Football League (NFL) team, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about his journey from a college to NFL strength and conditioning coach. Topics under discussion include networking, diversifying your portfolio, and coaching philosophy. Find Jason Loscalzo on Twitter: @jason_loscalzo| Find Scott on Instagram: @coachcaulfieldShow Notes“Because as a coach, you always have to think about your future, and you’ve got to be prepared. Because you never know in this business.” 3:00 “If you’re comfortable as a coach, you’re in some bad waters. That’s when I think you start getting complacent and things.” 3:32 “A squat is a squat. A clean is a clean. A snatch is a snatch. But it’s the delivery. It’s how you program it.” 4:18 “That was the biggest thing—the challenge, for me, of figuring out how to do it differently while doing the same thing, getting the same types of results.” 5:01 “But you buckle down, and you go to work. And you do it. You surround yourself with good people.” 18:18 “Give back, give back, give back. I think giving back is just being a good guy. Just be a good person.” 19:29 “We’re strength coaches, and we need to be diversified. And we need to figure out different ways to do things, and to reach different populations.” 21:06 “Coaching is something that’s personal. It’s a relationship. It’s how do you get people to do what you want them to do? How do you make them click? How do you make them tick? How do you make them buy in?” 22:00 “Just be you. Just be who you are. Don’t try and be something fake.” 36:42 “But at the same time, they need to know that you’re there for them. They need to know that you’re there to help them and their career.” 38:32 “They can give me a call, or drop me an email. Any time.” 39:57

Bill Parisi, Founder and CEO of the Parisi Speed School, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about his rise from being a young athlete, training people out of the back of his van, and becoming the owner of a world renowned sports performance enterprise. Topics under discussion include how to sell yourself as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and advice for long-term career development. Contact Bill through email: [email protected] Find Scott on Instagram: @coachcaulfieldShow Notes “There’s two types of experience. There’s expensive experience, when you make mistakes on your own and you waste money. Then there’s inexpensive experience, by listening to podcasts like this.” 7:34 “I mean, we know this industry is limited with jobs. There’s so many pro jobs. There’s so many college jobs. High school jobs, they’re coming, but they’re not as available as college. So how do you monetize your sports performance expertise?” 9:17 “Because it really comes down to helping athletes build injury resiliency and helping athletes improve performance to reach their goals, and giving them a dream, right, helping them accomplish their dreams.” 9:42 “And if you’re dialed into the content, and you have this commitment to excellence, and you’re not just in the field, the strength and conditioning, you’re into the field.” 10:01 “So it’s knowing how to communicate your level of expertise and show value, right, and that you have value. But at the same time, not coming across cocky or arrogant. So it’s a fine line. It’s really knowing how to deliver that.” 10:50 “…you’ve got to own the information. And it’s got to be cutting edge. It’s got to be science based. And it’s got to be research based.” 11:40 “Some of the books I read over the years, right, one of the classics, How to Win Friends and Influence People. Dale Carnegie…” 12:22 “And those two things are simply develop trust and build relationships.” 14:54 “Your net worth is directly related to your network.” 17:13 “There’s a life cycle. People get burned out. You got to manage that, where are you emotionally? This takes a lot of energy to be a strength coach and to be a sports performance specialist.” 27:46 “You’ve got to be all in. You can’t just be in it. You got to be into it.” 31:24 “But really, through, yeah, it could be through Facebook. But really through email, you know, it would be best. It's [email protected]. Through our website, I get them. I look through them. And that's best. But that will be the best.” 33:53

Eric McMahon, Assistant MLB Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Texas Rangers Major League Baseball (MLB) team, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about his path to becoming an assistant strength and conditioning coach in MLB. Topics under discussion include utilizing the NSCA in helping his career development, velocity-based training, and managing a wide range of player profiles in the MLB. Find Eric McMahon on Twitter: @EricMcMahonCSCS or @rangerstrength and on Instagram: @rangerstrength | Find Scott on Instagram: @coachcaulfieldShow Notes“I’m very thankful for the NSCA and my career.” 3:45 “Just by becoming a student member and following a career path. I feel like that’s how I got to where I’m at.” 4:08 “It doesn’t have to have a big name. You can get great experience anywhere.” 9:29 “When you’re in the minor leagues, it’s like a one man band. You got to kick the drum. You got to play the horn. You’re doing it all.” 13:38 “I remember having to ask a lot of good questions. Just learn the game more.” 22:33 “In every environment, you’re going to have guys that work really hard for you, some guys that don’t, some guys that frustrate you, and some guys you love working with on a daily basis.” 23:00 “But for me, it’s strength and conditioning. It always has been.” 23:42 “There’s just some mutual respect just like in any profession. These guys are professionals.” 24:52 “Utilizing technology in the weight room is really the logic next step for us to giving guys feedback tools to get more out of their training sessions.”    27:46 “Guys are dialed in on their technology. They’re dialed in on their phone, their Fortnite, and all their different gaming things. We can use that to our advantage as strength coaches.” 28:47 “We need to be the Jack of all trades. Guys come to us with a lot.” 33:28 “You need to continue to stay on the cutting edge” 34:09

Roger Marandino, Director of Research at Catapult, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about his experiences as a strength coach at the youth, collegiate, and National Football League (NFL) level. Topics under discussion include the struggles he faced as a young coach, his advice for making a big impact on a small budget, interviewing skills, and the new opportunities arising in the strength and conditioning profession. Find Scott on Instagram: @coachcaulfieldShow Notes “But I remember getting my first NSCA journal and I just said, you know, hey, I could really do this as a profession. This is something that I'm really into. And that spark was just lit in me to find out information.” 2:14 “So it just prolonged it and prolonged it, which ultimately, when I look back on it, was probably a good thing because-- I know this sounds a little bit bizarre because nowadays it just seems that most people are just chasing jobs.” 9:39 “…what do I want to do for the next 20 years of my life? And not to give advice, but you find out if you're a worker bee or you're not. Are you going to enjoy retirement or are you not? And I think that I don't know that I would ever want to stop working. I enjoy working. We all complain, but really, I found that out about myself.” 13:41 “And the one thing you find out really, really quickly with S&Cs is that they speak a lot of languages. You know, they speak training room, they speak parent, they speak player, they speak football coach, basketball coach.” 16:21 “You're in charge of that room. You're responsible for the safety of the players, student athletes. You start an exercise physical preparation program to get better, not worse. So you really have to understand everything that you're exposing the players to.” 19:02 “And it sounds cautious and it sounds corny, but safety leads to technique. Technique leads to success and strength, in my opinion.” 20:50 “It's fantastic. Your resume got you here. I don't want to talk about your resume anymore. What are you going to do when you have to get this person to do this and they don't want to do it? What are you going to do when you have a lot of success and you start feeling good about yourself?” 25:25 “There can be no ego in weightlifting. There can be no ego in training.” 28:24 “You're going to have to care about the people, the athletes, like you said, protecting their health. But they're going to have to know that you care about their best interests.” 28:32 “And if you don't know the answer, you have to be able to say, I don't know the answer, but I'm going to try and find it.” 28:45 “So that was such a valuable lesson that I learned from those guys, and having my house in order at home is really what's made us so much stronger as a family.” 34:48 “So I think sports science as it's viewed should be geared around safety, the protection of the players. You know, everywhere we go, especially when we get in front of ADs, they talk about welfare, student athlete welfare, return to play and how you quantify those variables.” 45:11 “[email protected]” 53:33

Mike Caro, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Emory and Henry College and chairperson of the College Coaches Special Interest Group, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about his journey from National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) athlete to head strength and conditioning coach, with limited resources, but an eagerness to succeed. Topics under discussion include internship experiences, interviewing for jobs, and special interest groups. Find Mike Caro on Twitter: @CoachMikeCaro | Find Scott on Instagram: @coachcaulfieldShow Notes“Today was good, let’s make tomorrow better.” 8:25 “I want to spend more, I want to devote more of my life to helping people improve themselves.” 15:28 “I really want to give athletes the opportunities that I was never afforded.” 16:11 “Interview like you already got the job, if you want it.” 21:19

Patrick McHenry, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Castle View High School in Castle Rock, CO, and member of the NSCA Board of Directors, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about high school strength and conditioning and his growth in the NSCA from a volunteer to an NSCA Board Member. Connect with Patrick on Twitter: @strengthcentral and Instagram: @ptmchenry | Find Scott on Instagram: @coachcaulfield and Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes“What is the need for strength in your sport?” 7:22 “I’m a part of everybody’s team.” 10:43 “Read everything. It doesn’t matter if you agree or disagree. You read it, understand it, and build from there.” 19:03 “In every other country, the most important coach is with the youngest athlete.” 21:22 “I’m the foundation. I’m the base of the house. If I build that base correctly, they can put anything they want on that base, but that’s a solid structure they’re working with.” 22:52 “NSCA long-term athletic development page on Facebook.” 38:30 “We don’t develop tactics. We don’t develop strategies. We don’t develop skills. We are the strength and conditioning. We are the movement specialists. We are developing the speed, the agility, the technique.” 40:30   “As a strength coach, I need to know how the body moves, and then how do I develop all of that. The sport coach is going to teach them how to use it.” 41:42

Tex McQuilkin, Director of Training and Education at Power Athlete, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about McQuilkin’s work at Power Athlete, his athletic background, and his start into strength and conditioning. Topics under discussion include Power Athlete’s education program, McQuilkin’s experiences working with athletes, and his graduate assistant position. Follow Tex on Instagram: @McQuilkin |Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfield Episode transcriptShow Notes “How do you start to see movement and coaching, and direct it specifically towards their sport?”      14:10 “I’m a land guy, I had to basically get into the pool and learn how to swim to help communicate with these swimmers” 14:20 “We need to know that you know what you’re doing”       17:56 “If you want to do this, you do what you need to do”        19:35 “People that love coaching don’t think about it that way”   21:28 “Don’t complain if you’re not doing anything about it”      23:11 “We are teaching the fundamentals of the fundamentals”   24:30 “You have to learn the sport … It makes you a better coach”         34:35

Caitlin Quinn, Director of Performance for Toyota Racing Development, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about her start in the field of strength and conditioning with internships, her time at Florida State University as a graduate assistant and strength and conditioning coach, and her new position at Toyota Racing Development. Topics under discussion include internships, graduate assistant positions, not letting people define you as a coach, and the athletes she works with at Toyota Racing Development. Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfield Email: [email protected] Twitter and Instagram: Thequinn44Show Notes “It was very early that I learned the value of constructive criticism” … “You need that feedback”      6:44 “If it’s not comfortable in that box… You got to find a way to figure out how to make it yours, so you can be your authentic self and not who someone else wants you to be.”  14:25 “I’m going to make mistakes, and own them and move on”           16:33

Hunter Schurrer, contracted Human Performance Specialist for Fort Lewis, Washington 1st Special Forces Group talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about Schurrer’s experience working with collegiate athletes, his mentors at the beginning of his strength and conditioning career, and his transition from Division 1 athletics to tactical strength and conditioning. Topics under discussion include coaching colligate athletes, transitioning to the tactical setting, and training special forces groups.  Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfield [email protected] Notes “They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” 7:33 “It’s much bigger than ‘Ok, we have to get ready for this game on Saturday.’” 10:46 “We are here for you, and start to just let the training speak for itself.” 17:45 “We’re going on rucks and overnight stuff with them because we want to feel and understand what they’re going through.” 18:08 “[As strength coaches] we try and be extensions without over-stepping our bounds of other people on the staff so we can give each other a heads up so we’re all working towards that one common goal.” 27:11 “It’s like anything else, you gotta get involved.” 41:34

Dr. Brian Shilling, Chair of the Kinesiology & Nutrition Sciences at UNLV and former President of NSCA Foundation, and Dr. Andy Galpin, Professor in the Center for Sport Performance in charge of the Biochemistry and Molecular Exercise Physiology Lab  at  California State University, Fullerton talk to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about the University programs that they work for, their involvement in research, and the and process of grants for strength and conditioning coaches. Follow Andy Galpin on Twitter: @DrAndyGalpin | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfield [email protected] https://www.nsca.com/about-us/nsca-foundation/ [email protected] Notes “People were very open and welcoming to the new guys.”  10:50 “The people that you meet those first couple conferences. I met Mark Stephenson as one of the first guys I met and we’re still friends to this day.”  12:54 “It’s [NSCA] a great origination to build relationships with because people are approachable.”           13:06 “You can impact those younger kids and it’s career changing.”       16:33 “You need to quantify the things you’re talking about. You can’t just say this is important show me why it’s important and how important it really is.”          22:00 “Thoughts disentangle when they pass thought the lips and the fingertips.” 22:30

Contracted Human Performance and Optimization Coach of 2nd Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regimen Jeff Carroll talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about his start in the field of strength and conditioning and his transition from professional athletes to a tactical population and setting. Topics under discussion include: Carroll’s career path, coaching professional athletes, transitioning to tactical strength and conditioning, and the future of tactical strength and conditioning. Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes Show Notes: “As an intern, you’re not owed anything; it’s the will to go above and beyond.” 14:00 “The strongest guy is not always the best player. Some athletes are just naturally talented.” 21:00 “The lifestyle is very rewarding, but very intensive.” 22:00 “You need to volunteer and get experience to really get into that world.” 45:00 “In the tactical world, you are dealing with the world’s premier soldiers, so it’s hard to break into.” 45:30 “However you can, whatever you can do, you need to understand the military world and what they have to do.” 46:00 “A military soldier’s number one factor is the guy to the right and to the left of them.” 47:00

Bert Sorin, President and Co-Owner of Sorinex Exercise Equipment, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about Bert Sorin’s upbringing and his experience being a collegiate athlete, how Sorinex is contributing to the field, and how TSAC is continuing to grow and improve. Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfield Find Bert Sorin on Instagram: @bertsorin @sorinex Or Email [email protected] & [email protected]  Show Notes “Taking the science, taking the training, taking the strength gains and making them into something.” 4:12 “I learned pretty quickly that there are genetic freaks in this world.” 13:18 “My life revolved around gaining weight, getting strong, and throwing far.” 14:23 “How you do anything is how you do everything.” 17:25 “Two things that I’ve noticed from people who have become successful: one is positivity, I’ve never seen a champion who is generally negative. They always believe there is a shot. Two is curiosity, keeps you pushing the edges and always fighting for the last inch.” 21:08 “People get into business because they like what they do, not because they like business.” 33:19 “If you only have one source of knowledge or a group of knowledge, then you only have a specific source of experiences.” 39:52“SET: struggle, eat, and talk.” 43:38

Justin Roethlingshoefer, Head Strength Coach of the San Diego Gulls of the American Hockey League and Devan McConnell, Head of Hockey Performance at University of Massachusetts Lowell, talk to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about their the idea and creation of their book, Intent, as well as their path to strength and conditioning for high performance hockey athletes. Topics under discussion include: training for hockey athletes, sports science, and Intent. Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “Diversify your experience, not everything is always the same.” 6:08 “Get your foot in the door and get as many experiences as you can get.” 9:31 “Without question, I think coaches should have experience in a lot of different aspects.” 15:34 “Never be afraid to ask for help and enjoy the journey.” 19:19 “Bringing that work ethic, openness, and willingness to do what it takes goes a long way.” 19:46 “Be genuine and someone who wants to help others.” 22:38 “It’s an obligation to give something back that we’ve taken so much from.” 31:25

Bobby Smith, owner and Director of Sports Performance at Reach Your Potential Training, talks to the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about the transition to owning his own facility and his impact on youth athletes. Topics under discussion include Smith’s education and previous athletic experience that led him to sports performance, being the owner of a sports performance facility, and his impact on youth athletes. Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfield Instagram:igotrypt Instagram: coachbobbysmith Email:[email protected] Notes “You can get into their [high school athletes’] minds and not only change their movement patterns, but the way they think.” 7:08 “I’ve got to know the why’s behind what I do.” 10:48        “Organization is key to success.” 12:10 “My leadership style was always ‘watch what I do and do what I do,’ and realizing that’s not how it works. You’ve got to communicate, you’ve got to lead, you’ve got to develop, you’ve got to help out and see them in action.” 18:40 “Drop the ego and let’s see how we can help each other.” 23:38

The Head Performance and Strength Coach for the Sacramento Kings National Basketball Association (NBA) team, Ramsey Nijem, talks to the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about his recent experience completing a doctoral degree as well as his path to his current position. Topics under discussion include Nijem’s educational track from bachelor’s to master’s to doctorate degree, his passion for basketball and how it lead him to his career, as well as his mentors and professors who helped him along the way.  Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfield Find Ramsey on Instagram: @ramsey_nijem Find Ramsey on Twitter: ramsey_m_nijemShow Notes “I want to train athletes. I want to study athletes.” 5:57 “It starts with education on the front end” 26:27 “We’ve got to do what we can to keep these athletes fresh” 29:54  “NBA players may not want to live in the weight room, but they want to compete" 33:10 “We need to be flexible and adaptable to the changes that different loads cause in our athletes” 36:08 “Nothing has to be super complex” 38:37 “Get that kind of new hire that you can learn from and grow with, but also go get a beer with” 41:08 “Before you try to fix a guy’s squat, learn his name” 44:54

Robert Panariello, Chief Clinical Officer with Professional Physical Therapy and the Professional Athletic Performance Center, talks to the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about education in the field, being a well-rounded coach to excel or compliment your career, and key things to remember in the strength and conditioning field. Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “Doing something not for the monetary value, but for the rewarding experience.” 9:24 “The exercise in relation to physical therapy really put me on the map in regards to publications or lecturing because I think we were doing things that a lot of people weren’t doing.” 9:45 “I think it’s real important to make you roll up your sleeves and get into areas that you’re into to dig deep.” 10:37 “It’s like anything else, one day you’re an intern you just learn and ten years later you’re a head strength coach.” 11:56 “I think players look for discipline, they want to be coached.” 19:18 “I think you also have to hold people accountable.” 20:18 “Coaching is an art and a wisdom to develop.” 22:38 “Key tenant is relationship building in the industry.” 28:00

Greg Haff, former President of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), current course coordinator for post graduate studies in strength and conditioning at Edith Cowan University, and Senior Associate Editor for the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, talks to the NSCA’s Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about his journey through strength and conditioning and his efforts to progress the field during his time as president of the NSCA. Topics under discussion include: his years being NSCA Board of Director President, the future of the profession, how he got involved in the NSCA, key traits of icons in the field, traits for potential incoming students, and how to get into sports science.Show Notes “To be great sport scientists, we have be great sport coaches.” 3:28 “Accreditation of schools, I think, is a game changer for the profession.” 4:25 “Blending the feeling, the coaching, the science, is what this change is designed to do.” 6:45 “That challenge will make them better.” 6:56 “Do good work and everything else falls in line.” 13:29 “I think of sports science as a relationship with coaches.” 14:06 “I’m not looking for the smartest guy or gal in the room, I’m looking for passion and work ethic.” 17:29 “For me, the weight room has always been the microcosm of life. It really reveals character.” 17:54 “Coaching is communication.” 22:18 “Choose mentors who you truly want to be the people to guide you.” 23:45 “That’s the amazing thing about the NSCA and the professionals here is that they’re so approachable.” 24:36 “We’ve got to keep evolving the training of strength coaches.” 26:38 “It’s a lot tougher now with all the noise from social media to really know which information is correct.” 27:05

Ashley Jackson, Nicole Dabbs, and Kourtney Thomas have been very influential in each of their careers in the field of strength and conditioning and are a part of the executive council of the National Strength and Conditioning Associations (NSCA) Women’s Committee. They talk with NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about their journey in the field of strength and conditioning and how to teach and influence future coaches. Topics under discussion include: internships, experience, networking, mentorship, and current/ future roles of women in strength and conditioning. Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “I’m not just supporting strength coaches, or just female strength coaches – I’m making sure that the best people are here and a part of our profession and being supported.” -          Ashley 2:56 “Reach out to people and say ‘hey here’s the reason why I think you’re amazing – I love what you do and I’d like to learn more about it.’” Kourtney 5:45 “It’s important to have someone who supports you and is leading you into your profession.” Nicole 7:15 “More importantly, you have to take control of yourself and your own future… you’ve got to show up.” Nicole 7:21 “We’re all leading student-athletes, we’re all trying to empower and cultivate a good culture with these young kids and they [sport coaches at Michigan] do a really good job of it. Why can’t I use some of the things they’re doing?” Ashley 11:20 “I make sure my students have every opportunity they’re willing to take… to better themselves and put them in a good position.” Nicole           15:40 “I think that education is first thing you need to take care of and then getting in a weight room and physically training yourself, getting comfortable with a barbell, getting comfortable with what ‘hurt’ feels like and being able to talk about it and communicate it with someone else.” Ashley 20:18 “Do the necessary requirements… put in your time, do whatever it takes to get there.”  Ashley 21:41 “Don’t give up what you want most for what you want now.” Scott 21:48 “Volunteer and apply—if you meet the minimum requirements, you never know!”  Nichole 23:42 “Open your brain to what you are passionate about and how you might want to help people and how you can do that.” Kourtney 26:16 “We [NSCA] need to build a culture that is inclusive.” Nicole 28:28 “If we want something changed, then we have to be a part of that.” Ashley 29:56

Matt Wenning a renowned power lifter and strength and conditioning coach who has over 12,000 hours of experience as a Division I college strength coach in a variety of sports, including football, track and field, swimming, baseball, as well as United States Army Rangers, firefighters, triathletes, and general populations. Matt talks to the NSCA’s Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield.  Matt’s discusses the obstacles he had to go through both academically (undergrad and grad school) and physically (powerlifting) to get where he is today. Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfield   : Instagram: @realmattwenning; Website: wenningstrength.comShow Notes “Sometimes, it’s complete strangers that you rub the right way that change the course of your entire life.” 11:22 “The jobs you have don’t make you, it’s the jobs you can turn down.” 26:28 “It’s not about optimal training, it’s about optimal training for you.” 30:20 “If you want to be a great coach, set yourself apart as many ways you can.” 35:28 “Be somebody that their opinion matters.” 39:00 “Education and experimentation are what made it get better.” 40:50

Joe Kenn, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Carolina Panthers, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about… well… a little bit of everything. Follow Coach Kenn on Twitter: @bighousepower |‏ Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “I just love being in the weight room. It’s just a good place.” 15:47 “The best readiness app you have is yourself—building a strong enough relationship with that player that they will be honest with you.” 17:35 “You have to do right by the athlete, regardless of what the model looks like.” 23:38 “You’ve got to know your role and you’ve got to manage your expectations.” 26:38 “How much simpler can I make it for this athlete so that all they have to do is get out there and go?” 33:30 “The comfortable choice isn’t necessarily the best choice.” 50:24 “I enjoy the process, I enjoy the work. It’s not a grind for me, I love being in here.” 1:04:32

Joe Kenn, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Carolina Panthers, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about… well… a little bit of everything. This is bonus audio from NSCA's Coaching Podcast Episode 40 with Joe Kenn. Enjoy!

Matt Krause, NSCA 2018 Professional Strength Coach of the Year and Director of Strength and Conditioning for the New York Yankees Major League Baseball (MLB) team, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about what he looks for in the hiring process, his path through strength and conditioning and the different jobs he had, and his involvement in the creation of the Registered Strength and Conditioning Coach (RSCC) program.Show Notes “I want to make sure I am finding strength coaches that want my job. I want someone who wants to progress through the profession, so I don’t want to hire anyone I thought couldn’t replace me.” 4:51 “I enjoy the fact that every day counts, every day matters.” 9:47 “I tell every strength coach, ‘This might not work out for you, so make sure you have something to fall back on.’” 20:06 “The technology has moved where we can create accountability and expectation with all our players and it’s evolving and we’ve been evolving with it.” 34:40

Tobias Jacobi, CSCS,*D, RSCC*D, the Strength and Conditioning Coach at Strong Rock Christian School, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about his experience transitioning from college to high school strength and conditioning. Follow Coach Jacobi on Twitter: @srcs_strength or on Instagram: tobiasjacobi1 | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfield or Contact Coach Jacobi at [email protected] Show Notes “I’m so much better as a coach now moving from the college level to the high school level because I’ve learned so much as far as time management, organization… you know it’s been such a great opportunity to kind of learn trial by error.” 7:30 “I would highly suggest if you’re going to go into coaching, you need to get a teaching degree because, again, the volatility especially in college athletes, you never know when you’re going to be without a job.” 12:50 “The thing I’ve been really amazed with as a high school strength coach is what a family community is and how just the relationships have been built so quickly, but are amazingly strong.” 25:50 “You have two ears and one mouth so you should be listening twice as much as you’re talking.” (Advice to interns) 32:48

Chip Sigmon, former strength coach for the National Basketball Association (NBA) Charlotte Hornets, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about Sigmon’s experience in the strength and conditioning field when it was first starting in the 1970s, and his journey from bodybuilder to NBA strength and conditioning coach. Find Scott Caulfield on twitter @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “There’s nothing wrong with being strong. The bigger engine doesn’t slow down the machine.” 21:43 “I don’t care if you’re a volunteer or paid, you get your rear end in that strength and conditioning program.” 23:05 “You want to intern with an NBA team to get as close as you can to that.” (Asked what advice Sigmond would give a coach wanting to work with an NBA team) 24:19

Cory Kennedy, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at the Institut National du Sport du Québec in Montreal, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about the importance of monitoring athletes and the equipment used to keep track of their well-being. Cory Kennedy, CSCS, is the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at the Institut National du Sport du Québec in Montreal, which is one of Canada’s Olympic training institutes. In his current role, he helps support a variety of teams and individual athletes on their Olympic journey through strength and conditioning, monitoring, and other testing support. Diving and women’s hockey are two teams he is heavily involved with right now. Follow Cory on Twitter and Instagram: @coryksandc | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “That number doesn’t matter if you don’t know what the [force] plate is telling you.” 11:30 “Monitoring doesn’t really matter if it’s not helping your athletes win.” 14:15 “I always try to explain to the athlete that I am responsible for the result every time. I’ve found in the past that athletes feel pressured; when a measure doesn’t go up, sometimes they get down on themselves.” 20:19 “A master’s [degree] is non-negotiable.” 31:58 “Get connected, talk to people, and try to volunteer as much as you can.” 33:04

Darnell Clark, Director of Strength and Conditioning at Charlotte Country Day School in Charlotte, NC, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about his path to becoming a high school strength and conditioning coach, the structure of his high school (Charlotte Country Day) strength and conditioning program, and giving back to the industry.Darnell Clark, CSCS,*D, RSCC*D, has been the Director of Strength and Conditioning at Charlotte Country Day School (CCDS) in Charlotte, NC since 2004. In this role, Clark and his staff are responsible for the daily development and systematic implementation for 36 junior varsity and varsity teams (24 sports). In 2014, Clark was the recipient of the NSCA’s High School Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year Award. His program at CCDS has earned the NSCA’s Strength of America Award for eight consecutive years. He has had the privilege of coaching 10 NSCA High School Strength and Conditioning All-Americans and over 150 college-bound student-athletes during his time at CCDS. From 2013 – 2016, he served as the NSCA’s North Carolina State Director and presently is the NSCA Southeast Regional Coordinator. Clark received his Bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University, where he was a member of the football team, and his Master of Physical Education degree from Arizona State University. Follow Darnell on Twitter: @coachclark44 | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “It’s an exciting time for the field of strength and conditioning with the growth of high school and tactical programs.” 4:03“I had to bring teams on team by team and convince coach by coach because it’s not mandated for them to train, and 14 years later we are training every team, including the dance team and cheerleading team.” 7:14“There are a lot more people wanting jobs than there are jobs available.” 8:25“There is a disconnect between physical education programs and exercise science programs.” 9:14“You need to have that science background, but if you cannot communicate or convey what you want the kids to do, it’s going to be pretty difficult for you to be an effective coach.” 9:52“You need to develop a repertoire of communications skills and cues and the only way to do that is by coaching and being taught to coach.” 10:59“That’s how philosophies are built is through experience.” 32:11

Megan Evans, Assistant Director of Strength and Conditioning for Olympic Sports at Virginia Tech, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about the journey from student-athlete to assistant director. Megan Evans, MEd, PhD, CSCS is in her eighth year as Assistant Director of Strength and Conditioning for Olympic Sports at Virginia Tech. Her team responsibilities are Women's Soccer, Women's Lacrosse, Softball, Women's Tennis, and Men's and Women's Diving. Prior to her hiring in 2009 she worked as a graduate assistant under Coach Mike Gentry and Terry Mitchell for four years. She earned her Master's Degree in 2007 and PhD in 2014. Megan was a softball player at Virginia Tech from 2002 - 2005 and still holds numerous season and career records. She was inducted into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in the fall of 2017.Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes "Evaluate everything that you do, have purpose for it, and if it fits your system, great, but don’t be so wrapped up in, ‘oh, I have to use this technology to use this technology.’” (Discussing Michael Gentry’s philosophy on technology) 6:05“[Student-athletes] are specializing so much younger now that we’re having to go back and teach basic fundamental movements of the body and re-teach it that we didn’t have to do before.” 13:09“The content here (Coaches Conference) is obviously far more pinpointed on what we want. We don’t have to hunt through the different speakers and say, ‘hey, this is the one I want to go to.’ It’s a little more clear.” 14:49“You’re getting a lot more conversation and intimacy within the networking end of things.” (Talking about Coaches Conference) 15:17“For me, it’s about connecting to the student-athlete and helping them not only develop as an athlete, but to develop as people. These are very moldable, young people at 18 to 22 years old.” 16:46“People don’t care what you know until they know that you care and if you’re treating these young people as people first and then athletes, that’s when you’re going to reach them.” 17:20“My goal for when [athletes] leave is, ‘did they learn something from me?’” 18:12Advice to newcomers in the field: “Don’t give up.” 22:44

Steve Rassel, Associate Athletic Director and Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Webber International University, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about how to develop staff and interns to help them be successful coaches, and about work-life balance. Stephen Rassel, CSCS,*D, RSCC has served at Webber International University since 2009, and is currently the Associate Athletic Director and Head Strength and Conditioning Coach. Prior to that, Rassel’s career began with the Boston Red Sox Major League Baseball (MLB) team, followed by a stint with the Chicago Cubs MLB team. Rassel has spoken several times for the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) on creating and developing a strength and conditioning department, and was named a finalist for the 2017 NSCA College Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year award. Rassel also serves on the NSCA College Coaches Special Interest Group (SIG) Executive Committee.Find Steve on Twitter: @StephenRassel | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “We have to have two main boxes checked off for us before we dive too deep into what they can offer, specialization-wise, even at the intern level: it’s culture and it’s growth gauge.” 5:34 “Everyone talks about culture, but you just have to keep in mind that you want to hire for culture and train for skill and that’s where the mentorship comes into play. You have to have a system that can equip them with what they need if they can bring the intangibles to the table.” 5:45 “One thing we have to make sure we keep in the forefront of our mind as coaches is that we have to take ownership right where we’re at and keep fighting, scrapping, and scratching to find ways to keep pushing and getting where we’re at." 8:17 “If you could see what hurdles we had to go through to get where we’re at, that the short-term sacrifices for the long-term gain strategies that we’ve had to implement, and the hats I’ve had to wear to get to what we’re doing.” 9:51 “Challenge yourself and reach out and connect because that brainstorming approach and us starting to link up and work together, even though we are at different places and different situations, it starts to get you in a different place mentally and these little strategies here and there can help build that momentum.” 10:27 “You look at the things in front of you and attack those as much as you can.” 13:31 “You have to maximize being great at what you currently have on your plate.” 14:30 “What if the reason I am seeing this problem is because I am the one equipped to try to get it done?” 15:00 “I challenge people to have multiple checks and balances systems when it comes to feedback.” 36:30

Bob Alejo, Director of Sports Science at Power Lift, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about how Bob got into Strength and conditioning when the field was in its early stages of development. Bob shares his experience and gives advice on how to succeed in the strength and conditioning field.Bob Alejo, CSCS, RSCC*E, has been the Director of Sports Science at Power Lift since July 2017. From 2011 – 2017 he was the Director of Strength and Conditioning for the Oakland Athletics Major League Baseball (MLB) team, a position he also held from 1993 – 2001. Prior to rejoining the Oakland Athletics, Alejo was the Director of Strength and Conditioning at the University of California, Santa Barbara from 2005 – 2008. From 1984 – 1993, Alejo served as a strength and conditioning coach at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he worked with 23 men’s and women’s teams. Follow Bob on Twitter: @Coach_Alejo | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “I couldn’t wait to get up in the morning and I hated going home because you had so much fun being around that kind of energy.” 6:57“Buy-in from athletes didn’t happen the first day, and it really didn’t happen the first few years, but as time went on the guys who were lifting kept lifting and they got better at that because there was someone really driving it.” 15:28“I feel like if I was to put my hand on…a philosophy or method that we used that no one else did was that we lifted as heavy as we could all the time.” 18:36“You have to do what suits your facility, what suits your athletes and what you can get done that’s going to create a stimulus and help them get better.” 19:55“The sets and reps are the easiest things that you’ll ever do. It’s the stuff that you do outside of it that make the sets and reps come to life.” 21:09“It’s a little bit different on how you get there, but the qualities of the coach themselves, I think are as relevant as they were [in the past]. I think you have to be able to work with people and you have to be able to work with different socioeconomic backgrounds.” 22:14“We’re all selling something. In our case we’re selling our program, we’re selling my integrity that you’re going to follow.” 22:39“Run your weight room like a business because it is … You have to have a well-structured, organized program and that doesn’t mean necessarily the weight training. It means: how’s your staff act; what kind of personality do you want to represent; what kind of image are you going to portray?” 23:14“Be careful with what you say or what you write because somebody might believe it.” 53:36“I think scholarly work is important because, first of all, it teaches you how to speak … You put your thoughts together, you order them, you learn how to present it to people and you also learn how to write and inform somebody who doesn’t know what you know.” 55:50“If it takes you 100 words to explain something that should take 20, then you probably don’t know what you’re talking about.” 56:54

Liane Blyn, Director of Olympic Sports at Appalachian State University and world record holding powerlifter, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about what she tries to impart to interns to prepare them for the field, how being a Certified Athletic Trainer (ATC) has benefitted her as a strength coach, and advice for up-and-coming strength and conditioning coaches.Liane Blyn is a highly sought-after strength and conditioning coach with over 20 years of experience as a strength coach, athletic trainer, business owner, and competitor. She is currently the Director of Athletic Performance-Olympic Sports at Appalachian State University. Previously, she coached at Franklin High School, Arizona State University, Boston College, University of Nevada-Reno, Parisi Speed School, and her own business, Athletic Based Training. She is a 14-time United States of America Powerlifting National Champion and team member, current International Powerlifting Federation (IBF) World Champion, and world record holder in the bench, deadlift, and total. Find Liane on Twitter: @lianeblyn | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “We’re trying to figure out how to take the… classroom application and bring it into… practice within the weight room.” 1:18“We want to try to put out the best interns possible.” 1:33“I don’t want to run an internship where… they get no actual practical experience out of it.” 2:17“We’re trying to set up an actual curriculum to where every single week, our student interns are learning something.” 2:27“My husband said enough is enough—he’s like ‘what do you want to do?’” 7:42“Meg Stone was my idol.” 8:32“I’m a coach—the hardest part about owning a business is all the business side of it.” 10:00On making the transition from private sector to high school: “I’m… someone who wants to be on the floor, who wants to have an impact on student-athletes.” 10:12“[I] had about 70 kids, and five years later… I had 613 kids in my [high school] summer program.” 11:09“Most head coaches don’t make great business owners.” 13:42“One of the best hires you can make as an athletic director is a strength and conditioning coach in your high school.” 14:55“[Being an ATC] has helped me say, ‘This is how we incorporate the reconditioning phase back into the weight room.’” 17:45“I think it’s an important piece of it for me, to be actually an athletic trainer, especially if you’re at a smaller school.” 18:06“On the flipside though, there’s… athletic trainers out there that take the [Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist®] CSCS® just to have the credential behind their name but they have no idea what happens in a weight room.” 18:42“They can take the test and pass the test, but can they actually coach?” 19:01“Anyone can read a book, but can you apply it?” 19:35 “It’s more than just about lifting weights… it’s can they move, can they run… are they able to stop, start, change direction?” 20:55“Some of your worst kids in the weight room are your best athletes on the field.” 22:08“I think you have to practice what you preach.” 26:50“You have to be an example to your student-athletes.” 27:00“If you… haven’t touched a weight in your life, your kids are not going to respect you.” 28:10“Go out and meet as many people as you possibly can.” 32:01“Get involved, and coach, and be around as many sports as you possibly can.” 32:28“Male or female, you’re doing yourself a disservice if you focus on one sport.” 32:33

Maura Bergan, Associate Professor of Exercise Science and Sports Studies at Springfield College, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about social media in the exercise science field, key career decisions, and qualities and values that help you as a coach.Maura Bergan, PhD, CSCS, is an Assistant Professor of Exercise Science and Sport Studies at Springfield College in Massachusetts. Bergan completed her Master’s degree in Strength and Conditioning and a PhD in Physical Education at Springfield College. During her graduate studies, she served as a Strength and Conditioning Graduate Assistant. Additionally, she has worked with athletes of all levels at AP Academy, a private facility in western Massachusetts. Her research interests include: positive youth development through sport, psychosocial aspects of sport, and coach education.Follow Maura on Twitter: @MauraB_SC | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “I developed a curriculum that integrated some life skill development through strength and conditioning.” 1:52“The biggest thing I was looking to do was create some connections and transfer to life outside the weight room.” 2:17“How can we educate our young coaches to be really good coaches in terms of being able to communicate and manage a group of student-athletes?” 3:08“Social media is like a gateway to exploring this field, connecting with others.” 4:11“If you want to develop [a social media platform] and have some depth in that one area, you really put your energy into one.” 6:33“As one of my big mentors, Adam Feit says, ‘Make the big time where you’re at.’” 7:35“I love learning, I loved who I was learning with, and the experiences I had and the opportunities I’m really grateful for.” 10:34“We have probably a 100% next step rate.” 12:55“Usually in the summer between your first and second year, that’s when the big internship happens… that’s where opportunities are endless.” 14:42“I was fortunate enough to have a high school strength and conditioning coach.” 16:45“I think maybe that’s why I have a special spot in my heart for high school and younger youth athletics.” 17:18“Make yourself known and make yourself available to those volunteer opportunities.” 18:36“You never know who knows who or you know what’s going to need to be filled.” 19:04“Introduce yourself, all you have to do is shake someone’s hand, send an email.” 19:18“Ask them about their journey, ask them about how they got started.” 20:14“The experiences I had and the values I took away from those was just being you, you as a coach, knowing and understanding who you are.” 22:27“It’s going to be obvious if you’re trying to be somebody that you’re not.” 22:51“Get comfortable, you know, with your voice, feel comfortable leading some courses, leading some classes.” 25:23“I get a lot of information actually from my students.” 29:02“I still love Coach McKeefery’s Iron Game Chalk Talk [podcast].” 31:07Books – The Switch Book, The Originals, Grit, and Conscious Coaching 32:57

Vernon Griffith, co-owner of Virginia High Performance and high school strength and conditioning coach, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about opening Virginia High Performance, transitioning from the military to strength and conditioning, and impacting youth athletics.Vernon Griffith, CSCS,*D is Co-Owner of Virginia High Performance, where he functions as the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach. He has trained hundreds of athletes, ranging from 10-year-olds to collegiate athletes. Additionally, Griffith serves as the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the nationally-ranked Bishop Sullivan Catholic High School football and basketball teams. Find Vernon on Twitter: @VernonGriffith4 | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “The whole goal was to get into youth athletics, to work with teams, to truly change kids’ lives.” 3:38“I thought the private facility would give me a better avenue to be able to still put my family first.” 5:50“All my other friends were going to college to play sports, or for education, and I was like ‘What am I going to do?’” 7:50“[The military] set me up for success, it set my family up for success.” 8:00“In four months, I lost I think it was like 30 something pounds—but I did it the wrong way.” 9:15“I felt terrible, I felt so old… and I was like ‘there’s got to be a better way to do this’ and so that’s when I started reading.” 9:50“It started to fascinate me, and I was like ‘this is kind of what I want to do.’” 10:03“The grass isn’t greener on the other side, it’s greener where you water it.” 11:31“Be the coach that you needed.” 14:13“We have these kids at such a pivotal point in their life, and we can teach them everything that we find valuable.” 14:40“We can make them stronger with a pencil in their hand… but we choose not to, we choose to just make them stronger with a bar in their hand.” 14:47“We’re missing a huge opportunity to truly change someone’s life.” 14:56“It’s not bench and squat and deadlift—it’s how we communicate.” 15:08“We don’t talk about how to communicate… and we expect young coaches to step in front of a group of 10 – 20 people and just do it.” 16:05“I’ve learned so much from the kids that I work with.” 17:30“In the private sector, I have to adapt.” 18:00“I just want to provide these kids with the best me.” 18:35“Athletes are not going to tell you what’s wrong right away.” 21:55“It’s asking questions to open up dialogue.” 22:35“If you are a good person, we can give you the tools to be a good coach.” 25:30“Honestly, I like to have individuals that don’t have much experience.” 26:00“I am a grey area coach, I don’t think things are black and white.” 26:14“I want coaches to have that mindset of being fresh, trying to be innovative.” 26:26“Most people think of training a military person or tactical athlete as just beat the heck out of them.” 29:29“The second you look at a tactical, military person… as an athlete, you just look at the picture different.” 29:48

Matthew Nein, Head Sports Performance Coach for Salisbury University, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about receiving the NSCA Collegiate Strength Coach of the Year award, personal and program values, and mental toughness. As the Coordinator of Sports Performance at Salisbury University, Matthew Nein, CSCS, RSCC*D, oversees the training programs of 21 varsity teams, three graduate assistants, and an intern and volunteer staff of about 15. During his tenure, Nein has had the opportunity to work with 12 National Championship teams, eight individual National Championship athletes, and over 300 All-Americans. He has been certified as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist® (CSCS®) by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) since 2004 and recently garnered the distinction of a Registered Strength and Conditioning Coach® with Distinction (RSCC*D). He also serves on the NSCA Advisory Board for the State of Delaware. While not training athletes, he manages all indoor recreational facilities and serves as an Adjunct Instructor in the Applied Health Physiology Department at Salisbury University. Prior to coming to Salisbury University, Nein spent one season as a strength coach in the Minor League Baseball system of the Toronto Blue Jays organization. He received his Master’s degree in Applied Health Physiology from Salisbury University in 2004 and Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education from Towson University in 2002. Find Matt on Twitter: @CoachNein | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “When I began my career fourteen – fifteen years ago, you know it was one about inspiring and impacting people… I don’t think this was ever a goal necessarily but to just go out and… impact as many people as I could.” 1:32“That was the very first thing after finding out, was reaching back in to all my former staff members, you know, and really reaching out to them and saying thank you for all the work they did.” 2:53“We’re going to hire people that want to challenge me as well, as a coach, and we want to create that environment and that scenario so that they feel comfortable to be able to challenge and question and really dive in—and I think that makes all of us better as people.” 3:25“I have a big philosophy that the better your staff, the better training your athletes are going to get, and it just becomes this cyclical concept that we bring in better staff, we get better training, our athletes are going to further grow and develop.” 5:45“My budget is zero, I don’t have one, there’s no line item anything, which makes it challenging but—so you’ve got to figure it out and got to be creative in what you do.” 9:22“When someone says no, you come back and okay, what do I need to rework and figure out to go right back at it again.” 9:38“For me, passion’s probably the biggest thing.” 10:10“[Interns] starting as a freshman as a sophomore, we’ve got two and a half, potentially three years of work that we can really see them grow and become something in the field.” 10:38“I have personal values, and then we have our program values and I think my personal values are something I need to live by every day and really it’s that impact, influence, and inspire.” 17:56“Do you set your alarm in the morning and if you do, do you hit snooze and, if you do, are you willing to attack the day then at that point or are you saying ‘hey it’s okay I’m just going to go back to sleep and delay being successful and great today.’” 18:31“We have attitude, enthusiasm, energy, and effort as our four program values.” 19:29“Quote… that Brett Ledbetter had in his book [What Drives Winning] [talks about how] it’s not what you teach, it’s what you emphasize.” 20:19“Mental toughness is one of the things that is highly talked about, but not really well understood.” 22:25“Dr. McGuire, Dr. Pat Ivey, Dr. Amber Lattner—I think her name now is Selking—so she also has the Championship Mindset Podcast, which is great… Brian Kang does a fantastic job. They’ve got a couple others: Ken Ravizza works in the baseball setting a lot, but he’s been in other settings as well. To me, that’s that core group that does an absolute fantastic job [regarding mental toughness].” 26:47“US Lacrosse has been fantastic, I mean they’re really open to it and it’s great for us, great for them, great for the NSCA.” 36:45“We want to help people grow—that’s what it’s all about, you know, and if we want to do that, we’ve got to connect to people.” 37:35“If you can’t find something that’ll help you grow as a professional, you’re not really looking very hard at that point.” 41:34“There’s always something to gain and something to grow from no matter what presentation you sit in.” 41:40

Martin Rooney, Head Coach of Training for Warriors, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about defining a coach, balancing the coaching lifestyle, and myths and misconceptions about opening a gym.Martin Rooney, MHS, PT, CSCS, is an internationally recognized coach and author. Rooney has a Master of Health Science degree and a Bachelor of Physical Therapy degree from the Medical University of South Carolina. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Exercise Science from Furman University. A former United States Olympic bobsledder, he is the creator of the Training for Warriors (TFW) system. TFW is used in over 260 locations in 25 countries and his training programs have been used by over one million athletes and adults worldwide. Rooney has trained athletes from the National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), National Basketball Association (NBA), Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), as well as consulted several professional sport teams and military organizations.Find Martin on Twitter: @martinrooney1 | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes“There’s one part about coaching it, there’s another part about doing it too.” 1:20“It’s not just the Xs and Os, it’s not just knowing exercise or science.” 3:10“Everybody’s looking for a coach that can affect their life.” 3:15“When my Olympic dream ended… that’s when I realized, “Hey it’s time to go to work.” 4:48“Now, looking back twenty years, I wish I would have gone for it earlier, and really taken a shot.” 6:03“That’s when I really found my true calling and got the opportunity to [do] all the things that you said—from the NFL teams, to the NFL draft picks, to the military, to going and consulting at major universities.” 6:52“[I] took the risk—there were so many people who said this is crazy.” 8:30“[I] became the first strength and conditioning guy for MMA [mixed marital arts] because it really didn’t exist.” 8:47“Twenty years later… half of the people doing our system are women… which everybody said would never happen.” 9:17“But who’s that coach for that house mom or weekend warrior that’s now out of sports but who wants to be something again, and that was the void I went after to fill.” 9:42“It’s this incredible feeling every day to get emails from people around the world of how their lives have been affected by the coaches that I’m getting to coach in my network.” 10:01“We proved this stuff worked—what’s interesting is I didn’t see in the beginning that hey, you didn’t have to be a fighter to do it.” 11:00“Now I’ve found my sweet spot of the ability to probably make the biggest impact I could versus working with, say, a few hundred athletes.” 11:57“You just go deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole of actual exercise, thinking that’s going to be the thing that makes you more valuable.” 13:40“Never think that I’m going to discount a degree or what you know, but what I’ve found was… that’s only half of it.” 14:32“If you’re going to call yourself a coach, then you’ve got to be constantly growing to be a great person.” 17:45“I think coaching is the most important job in the world.” 18:30“Whether you’re a teammate, coach, [or] business coach; whatever it is, you are a coach to somebody else.” 19:58“I think the job of a coach is to energize somebody so they’re better than before they met you.” 23:22“Do they genuinely want to see people get better and that’s what excites them?” 25:09“One thing I would always recommend is, hey, you should get around people you consider great coaches.” 26:28“Where I got good at coaching was putting my feet on [that] turf and coaching 1,000 sessions.” 26:41“The way I got better was by making a lot of mistakes—but learning from them.” 26:58“[Work-life balance is] about being present… when you are there be there.” 30:19“The thing that breaks my heart is watching a lot of people leave our industry because they couldn’t make it.” 39:41“Should you own a business? Because not everybody should.” 40:19“If you are not fired up, you’re not getting anyone else fired up.” 42:22“Coaching is not writing a workout on a wall, they come in and do it, and you just stand there and watch them.” 43:26“Coaching is this non-stop of just being all over everybody and really showing an individual interest in getting somebody… a little bit better than before you met them.” 43:34

Kevin Cronin, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Colorado College, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about his career path, sources of quality information on social media, and the realities of working at a college that has both Division I and Division III sports.Kevin Cronin, MS, CSCS,*D, has been the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Colorado College since 2012, where he oversees the strength and conditioning programs for all 17 varsity sports and 330 student athletes. Previously, Cronin served as the Assistant Strength Coach, Performance Center Coordinator, and Education Coordinator for the NSCA along with stints at Western Washington University, Stanford University, and the University of Texas.Find Kevin on Twitter: @KJCroni ‏ | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “My time at the NSCA was great—I think it really set me up to kind of slide into that role [at Colorado College].” 1:55“You walk into a room and you don’t know the kids, you really don’t know their training background, you don’t have any help.” 4:16“It wasn’t super hard to get the programming going right away, it was hard to get the kids in the door.” 5:29“We had a track lift at 6:30 pm, and there were nights we’d get one or two kids, and now… the groups of two or three turned into groups of twenty and thirty.” 6:10“We have five [sport] coaches in our building that are CSCS.” 8:30“We’ve done a pretty good job of saying ‘hey you’re not the University of Texas Men’s Basketball—we don’t need to be doing what they’re doing, our kids are different.’” 10:06“Everybody says ‘you don’t want to take an internship where you’re just going to clean and fill fridges,’ but for me you’ve got to be able to clean and fill fridges.” 12:18“I had a CSCS, a USAW, and a Master’s degree—and I don’t think I got a call back for a single job.” 13:38“Bryan Mann said it on Facebook the other day… ‘Don’t worry about famous… worry about being effective.’” 15:30“Even now, if kids that come in and intern with us spend the first 15 minutes in the room just kind of standing there and not helping set up… or not asking us what we need, automatically get dinged.” 15:55“I think some of the conversations you and I have had, or anybody that was here when I was at the NSCA—that’s the kind of stuff you can’t forget about.” 19:00“One of the main things we see is… kids’ inability to generate pertinent conversation about training.” 20:50“There’s so much content out there that sometimes kids are like, ‘Oh I know what that is,’ but they don’t ask questions.” 22:00“Ryan Horn always has these great little knowledge bombs he throws out [on Twitter]… I think Tim Pelot posts some pretty cool stuff every now and again.” 28:44“We test a decent amount. We look at verticals, we look at 5-10-5s, we looks at 10-meters, we look at front squat, we look at reactive strength index.” 33:12“Winning…. injuries, and if you’re actually improving performance.” 33:58“When I took my job, there was a very large disconnect… you could feel the rift between the Division I sports and the Division III sports.” 35:43“The cool part about the Division III kids is they’re not on a scholarship, so they show up because they want to show up.” 37:48“I think they all now respect each other a little bit more because they all go through the same things.” 38:27“We’ve taken that pseudo quadrennial approach and are saying, ‘Hey by the time these kids are seniors, we’re going to be doing some really fun stuff.’” 39:38“The kids are what draws me to [collegiate strength and conditioning].” 40:10“The process of being a strength and conditioning coach can be hard.” 44:40“You apply to all these internships and you get denied, or you apply to all these jobs, you get denied—you know it’s a ding to the ego.” 44:45“You apply to fifty jobs, you don’t hear back from any of them, and you’re like, ‘Do I really do this?’” 44:52“If you don’t have a network that has a connection to a job, it might not even be worth applying for.” 45:00“There’s some sacrifices that people gotta make—and if you’re not willing to make them, it can be a hard business.” 45:40“Andrew Altoff said something like… ‘If you’re going to say hello to someone at a conference and not follow up with them, don’t even say hello to them.’” 46:17“I don’t think we should really put anything down unless people are hurting kids.” 52:00

Steve Hess, Chief Performance Officer at Panorama Orthopedics and Spine Center, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about creating buy-in with sport coaches and athletes, becoming one of the first National Basketball Association (NBA) strength and conditioning coaches, and staying current in an ever-changing field.Steve Hess, MS, MATm, RTSm, CSCS, RSCC, is a 20-year professional basketball strength and conditioning coach based in Denver, CO. He is a co-owner and Chief Performance Officer at Panorama Orthopedics and Spine Center. Hess is a former co-owner of FORZA Fitness and Performance Center and is one of 12 trainers worldwide who sits on the Under Armour Performance Training Council. He is also the official spokesperson for the National Sports Center for the Disabled and is a member of National Basketball Association (NBA) Team Fit. In addition, Hess has been featured on NBA Inside Stuff, All-Access with Ahmad Rashad, NBATV, The Eating Network, Men’s Fitness, Men’s Health, Celebrity Sweat, and the Altitude Sports and Entertainment Network.  Find Steve on Twitter: @steve13hess | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “If you don’t have coaches’ buy-in, it’s hard to run a program—especially in professional sports.” 2:18“I hate to use terms like ‘greatness’ because those are unattainable goals.” 2:37“To be authentic, you have to have a knowledge base behind what you’re saying.” 3:52“Once you have more tools, you become more accountable for the things you do.” 4:30“If you‘re a true leader in your field, the buck stops with you.” 4:42“I got the job after calling Allen Bristow every day for 3 months, so I know when they looked at the phone they were like, ‘It’s this dude again, my gosh just hire him!’” 6:05“I gave stuff up, I worked 90 – 100 hours per week—not embellishing, these are facts.” 6:19“In order to achieve goals, you have to understand things are going to be hard.” 6:35“Unbelievable opportunity but took a big pay cut, but these are sacrifices, did they work out? I really think they did.” 7:00“I never ever have any regrets on anything because I’m always moving forward.” 7:15“If this is a field you choose, please understand it’s not going to look the way you think it’s going to look, but if you have a specific goal, get to that goal.” 7:25“Do what no one else is doing, stay pertinent, keep studying, and understand you’re never going to get to the top of the hill because there is no top of the hill.” 7:49“I’ve got a lot of learning to do. I’m going to peak at 70 years old, so I’ve got 20 years to peak.” 9:15“Can I go to a desert island and train an athlete with nothing? Yes, I can. Can everyone? No, they can’t…” 11:12“I don’t believe in balance and I’m not balanced, I’ve got an unbelievable family.” 12:13“It’s not what you have, it’s what excites you.” 13:08“You have one responsibility—make yourself happy. If you’re not happy, you can’t help anyone else.” 13:18“If you’re authentic in your beliefs, do as much as you can. Everything I’ve done is because I’m excited and I want to touch as many lives as I possibly can.” 15:28“I’ve absolutely unequivocally never been motivated by money.” 15:40“Everything I’ve done in my life has set me up for this point.” 16:45“Half the time I’m in a room with people so much smarter than me and I’m like, ‘This is the coolest thing!’” 17:01“But here’s the thing—no one is better than me because while I may be replaceable, I’m not repeatable.” 17:08“If you’re authentic in your approach you don’t have to pretend to be something you’re not—so you can wake up every day and be who you are.” 19:37“Everyone I hire has things that I don’t have and are way better than me in certain aspects, and I look to that so that I can grow. I don’t want to hire clones of myself.” 21:23“My selfish goal is that I want to hire you to make our program better because this program is not about me and it’s not about you, it’s about the athlete.” 21:56“Be authentic to who you are, especially with social media… just get it out there and be authentic in your approach.” 23:30“If you have truly chosen this field, it’s going to take you 15 years to become relevant.” 23:56“Instagram’s not real, Facebook’s not real, Twitter’s not real; I love posting positive stuff on there but that’s not who I am.” 25:11“If you have 24 million followers and that authenticates who you are, you may want to re-look at who you are.” 25:35“The realness comes out of a selfless action to get people better and the thing is don’t be scared to fail.” 25:45“How you affect people and how you adjust their lives and make them feel without you is really, really important.” 26:55“A lot of times you’re half dead too and you don’t want to be there but it’s not about you, so you got to find a way to platform it so they buy in.” 28:00“Sometimes we take ourselves too seriously and think ours is the only way—if you don’t interject other ways you’re going to have problems.” 28:41“You have to make a plan and you have to make it about them [the athletes].” 29:05“I learned I’ve got to integrate other people’s opinions because there are a lot of people way smarter than me and I know enough to know I know enough.” 31:15“I don’t just integrate other opinions. I listen and I assimilate it, and I make it my own.” 31:33“Be in the moment—some of the stuff you’re going to do you’re going to hate because it’s going to be challenging, but be in the moment.” 33:02“I drove to Florida with $20 and no phone.” 35:25“I’m learning new stuff every day.” 36:44“If you’re going to work as a strength and conditioning coach in professional sports, you’re going to have to have the CSCS.” 37:00“I’m not saying you have to agree with everything, but you have to learn from everything.” 37:19“People don’t see this it’s not all glamorous—we’re in Minnesota and its 23 below freezing and we just lost a game and guess whose tagging bags? We are tagging bags.” 37:50“If you have a perspective and it’s who you are and it’s what you’re made up of, then you can handle anything.” 38:28“In the professional realm, it’s wins, losses, and how you’re able to keep people on the field.” 39:58“If you don’t have a thick skin and you don’t have an ability to think through some of the tougher situations, you absolutely cannot last.” 40:10“It’s the same as life, the same people who are going to be successful in life are going to be successful in professional sports.” 40:40“If you’re not adaptive, you’re not creative, and you don’t continually evolve, you absolutely unequivocally have no shot of lasting as a professional strength coach at any professional level.” 41:18“It’s the same excitement year 1 as it is year 21 with those guys [Bill Foran and Dwight Daub].” 42:55“The one common thing we have is that we live for this field.” 43:25“The reason I write is that I hate writing… but what it does is it makes me sit down and think through the process.” 44:13“I think the NSCA does a really good job of creating a broad spectrum of views that you can incorporate.” 44:45“I think we have an obligation to give back to our younger professionals.” 45:59“Get out of your comfort realm, do stuff that scares you, that’s the stuff that makes you learn.” 48:15“A lot of times we’ve become so enamored with the fact that we’re so smart that our programming is pre-existing in our heads and we program before we even see our athletes.” 50:30

Brett Bartholomew, founder of the performance coaching and consulting company, The Bridge Human Performance, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about learning what drives people, how to interact effectively with others, adapting to change, and the value in learning from other fields.Brett Bartholomew, CSCS, RSCC, is a strength and conditioning coach, author, consultant, and Founder of the performance coaching and consulting company, The Bridge Human Performance®. His experience includes working with athletes both in the team environment and private sector along with members of the United States Special Forces and members of Fortune 500 companies. Taken together, Brett has coached a diverse range of athletes from across 23 sports world-wide, at levels ranging from youth athletes to Olympians. He’s supported numerous Super Bowl and World Series Champions, along with several professional fighters in both professional boxing as well as the UFC. Follow Brett on Instagram: @coach_brettb | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “People think the private sector is more personal training; some people think team coaches get comfortable in their roles and it’s kind of glorified, and I think there’s a lot more commonalities between the two than most realize.” 1:17“You see that a lot—people battling over who’s got the best training and who’s got the best this. I’m not trying to sit here… and say ‘My training is the best training.’” 5:21“I think it comes down to three aspects: the physiological, the psychological, and the cultural element… you need to know what drives people… these guys don’t care about getting under 85% and what that does to the nervous system the same way that we do… you need to get them to adhere to it.” 6:25Book: Conscious Coaching: The Art and Science of Building Buy-In 8:10“People are the ultimate performance variable, and if you don’t know what makes them tick, you’re gonna be a pretty poor coach.” 9:58“Somebody can be smart but not intelligent.” 11:16“I think sometimes we push principles and practices too much and not enough of just the intangibles of coaching.” 13:45“There’s this notion that unless you’ve coached ‘x’ amount of years, that you’re not skilled… you have to be able to find talent everywhere.” 14:09“Do the simple things savagely well.” 16:27“… Seek outside influences—if you’re only learning from strength and conditioning, you’re not broadening yourself to the best of your ability.” 17:21“You’re constantly trying to cater to a demand while staying true to a craft.” 17:37“We have to be the multidisciplinary learners we say that we are… learn from everybody. Don’t just learn from other strength coaches.” 18:24“The number one thing I look for… you have to have some level of consciousness of what you’re looking for and how to talk to people.” 19:12“I just look for the basics: do you have a good handshake, can you look me in the eye, can you send a thoughtful email?” 19:43Book: Robert Sapolsky’s Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst 27:37“People have agendas… you just gotta understand how to balance that.” 28:06“Our job is very important, but we’re not heart surgeons.” 29:18“You have to adapt yourself to the world or you can’t complain when the world happens to you.” 30:45

Gary Boros, Assistant Sport Performance Coach at the University of Denver, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about being flexible in your programming and with your staff, not always grinding your athletes into the ground, and the need to learn from others.Gary Boros, CSCS, is the Assistant Sport Performance Coach at the University of Denver, where he constructs performance programs for men’s basketball and women’s basketball, women’s soccer, and women’s lacrosse. Prior to coming to the University of Denver, Boros served as the Director of Strength and Conditioning at Bemidji State University for the past three years. While at Bemidji State University, Boros oversaw the strength and conditioning programming for men’s and women’s hockey, football, men’s and women’s basketball, and women’s soccer, among other teams.Follow Gary on Twitter: @GaryBoros or contact him by email: [email protected] | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes"Eliminate the ‘old school’ mentality of we need to grind our athletes into the ground.” 2:09“Not everything is set in stone; if you see something that doesn’t work, be able to change it.” 8:05“Be flexible. Just because you write something down doesn’t mean it has to stay that way.” 8:46“If you’re not educating yourself, you’re really doing your student-athletes a disservice.” 10:16“Don’t be afraid to ask questions.” 10:23Book/article recommendations:Laying a solid foundation—The Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning. 12:00The Science and Practice of Strength and Conditioning 12:14Supertraining 12:38“You don’t want to grind those kids into the ground all the time.” 17:00“There needs to be some sort of platform certification all the way across the board.” 18:14“Always take a step back to evaluate yourself… nobody knows everything.” 21:50“Go the extra mile… you’re going to have to work for free for a while.” 25:25“The common misconception is ‘Oh, you just have your kids lift weights.’” 28:14

Joel Raether, owner of Authentic Performance in Denver, CO, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about how to get started and then progress as a strength and conditioning professional. Early on, it takes plenty of long hard hours to get to a high level in this profession, but as you find your way, you must find a balance between work and life. Developing relationships is the biggest part of moving forward and being successful with high level athletes.Joel Raether, MAEd, CSCS,*D, RSCC*D, serves as the Director of Sport Performance at Authentic Performance Center in Denver, CO. He is also the Director of Sports Performance for the Colorado Mammoth Lacrosse team of the National Lacrosse League (NLL) since 2007. He served as the Education Programs Coordinator for the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) from 2009 – 2011. Raether is also the co-founder of Performance Sandbag Training Systems (PST). His coaching career includes stints as the Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach for the University of Denver from 2002 – 2009 and the University of Nebraska at Kearney from 2000 – 2002.Find Joel on Twitter: @Compete4Life ‏ | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes Three things for a new gym/facility: “open space… I’m a big fan of med ball work… and then variation of a lot of bands… not necessarily the top three, but those are the first three that come to mind.” 1:54Bruce Lee - “Resist that which is not, and use that which is useful.” 4:56“Staying in your lane a little bit I think is important.” 7:00“You have to start with understanding that you need to get in a position where there are good mentors around you.” 8:02“You’re gonna make mistakes… and learning from mistakes is the biggest thing.” 11:50“If you are going to go that route [writing/getting published], you have to be accepting of the fact that people are going to scrutinize.” 16:22“It requires getting better at the craft of writing itself.” 17:17“I think that it’s important to share with folks.” 19:40“Working on balance is a big part… I have to become better at delegating.” 24:31“Being able to retire as strength and conditioning coaches.” 28:38“It goes back to the path… starting at a place where you’re going to get good experience… you have to put in the time; I think there’s no substitute for that.” 32:12“You’re kidding yourself if you don’t think the practical experience is where the art of coaching begins.” 32:42“Unfortunately, at a young age… you’ve gotta be willing to be mobile.” 32:56“A continual growth mindset has to be your mission.” 33:55“It takes a lot of years, a lot of time, a lot of investment to become an overnight success.” 34:28“Some people assume it’s the best job in the world… you have to understand, it’s very demanding.” 34:53“Develop relationships… to me that’s the biggest challenge at that [pro] level.” 35:52“Some of those guys [professional athletes] are the best compensators in the world.” 36:36“It can be very rewarding to work with those guys, but it’s not always as glamorous as everyone sees it to be.” 36:50

Lawrence Herrera, owner and founder of LH Performance, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about how strong is strong enough, keeping the training simple, and relating to athletes and coaches.Lawrence Herrera, CSCS, has been a strength and conditioning coach since 2003 and is the co-owner and founder of The Performance Ranch in Albuquerque, NM, and he is also the NSCA State Director for New Mexico. Over the last decade, Herrera has worked with professional endurance athletes, National Football League (NFL) players, United States national team athletes, collegiate athletes, and some of the best age group athletes from the region. Over the last four years, he has also had the opportunity to work with some of the best Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighters in the world. He has even helped several to title contention.Follow Lawrence on Instagram: @laweranceherrera | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “Collaboration and communication with the other coaches.” 4:55“My passion has always been to see people excel.” 5:47“I try to minimize as much pain as possible… get them to move better… and then get them stronger.” 8:05“Getting that person strong ENOUGH [for their activity or sport].” 8:20“Being able to watch those fights with them [coaches and athletes]… and then I go ‘Okay, how am I going to fit that into how I train them?’” 15:10“… the big thing with fighting… is you’ve got to be able to do different types of movements.” 15:25“Conditioning—for these guys—it’s absolutely paramount; if they’re not conditioned to go in the ring—they can be the best fighter in the world, but if they don’t have that gas tank they’re not going to last long.” 15:53“Benchmark: we use the air bike; the assault air bike is our mainstay… I have them do a test on that, it’s usually a mile and a half… generally it takes about anywhere from four to five minutes… we use heart rate a lot and then we rest for a minute, because that’s usually the typical rest period and I see how the heart rate comes down from that effort.” 16:44“Lots of grip strength work.” 17:56“I try to make it simple.” 18:47“I’m not looking at max squat or max bench, because again, they just need to be strong enough.” 18:53“Talking a common language.” 19:44“Communicate in the same language.” 20:20“With any sport, you need to watch it, you need to talk with the sport coach.” 20:39“I don’t do a lot of sport-specific stuff.” 22:11One coaching practice to eliminate: “using exercise as punishment.” 32:04

Michael Doscher from Valdosta State University talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about how to thrive for many years at one institution and work well with those around you, as well as how strength coaches should be evaluated.Michael Doscher, CSCS, has served for 20-plus years as Speed, Strength, and Conditioning Coach at Valdosta State University. He has been honored for his work on several occasions, including in 2005, when he was named the College Strength and Conditioning Professional of the Year by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). He followed that by being named the Samson National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year by American Football Weekly in 2007.Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes "Are wins and losses down to the weight room if progress is made in the weight room?” 2:06 “Are you coaching, are you hitting the right people, are you spending too much time with the kids that are doing it right and not enough time with those that are trying to hide?” 3:58“Use informal evaluation more as a teaching tool than purely as an evaluation.” 5:25“As a head guy, you have to humble yourself.” 5:44“‘Understand what he’s trying to say’ when an athlete comes to you and tells you he would prefer you to treat him a certain way or do something a certain way.” 7:04“I can’t be status quo if I want to make that one percent difference for our athletes and make them better.” 8:49“I love what I do… but at the end of the day, it’s a great family spot.” 11:36“‘Time and honesty… fighting the battles you should fight and compromising when you need to compromise’ when educating sport coaches.” 12:55“Make them [sport coaches] always think it’s their idea… I don’t want the recognition. The kids should get the recognition.” 14:15“Everybody I meet I try to learn something from.” 15:38“When they leave you, they have to be their own person.” 16:16“If you ‘gotta’ do something that’s not good; you have to ‘want to’ go do something.” 17:00To his graduate assistants: “You’re going to learn a lot from me—you might learn some good stuff, but you’re also going to learn what not to do sometimes… and that’s more valuable sometimes than knowing what to do.” 17:57“You learn more from failure than you ever do from successes.” 18:12“Not every athlete loves to lift because he’s an athlete.” 20:20“That’s what a true champion is—they work hard at things they don’t like to do.” 21:11“People are people… at the end of the day, we’re all more similar than we are not.” 22:58“You have to be intelligent to do what we do.” 29:03“It’s not all just lifting.” 30:52“Hire people smarter than you and stronger in your weaknesses.” 31:25“You want to hire somebody for their next position.” 32:22Number one reason people fail: “Ego.” 33:30

Boyd Epley, founder of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and one of the most decorated strength coaches of all time, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about how the NSCA was founded, how Coach Epley talked Nebraska into letting him weight train all football athletes (most of whom never lifted before), and growing the profession for female strength and conditioning coaches.Boyd Epley, MEd, CSCS,*D, RSCC*E, FNSCA, is the one of the most decorated strength coaches in history and is the recipient of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition (PCFSN) Lifetime Achievement Award. Lindy’s National College Football magazine named him one of College Football’s Top 100 Most Important People of the Century after his training program helped produce five National Championships and 356 wins in 35 years of University of Nebraska Football. He is the founder of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and continues to be an advocate for strength coaches.Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “There was no way I could ever have imagined the growth of the NSCA.” 1:12“I don’t think anyone could have seen the growth.” 1:27“It used to be about strength coaches but changing the name opened the door for researchers and anyone else who has an interest.” 5:05“We coined the term strength coach.” 5:26“Ultimately, that’s what we do—we improve performance.” 6:40“My career [as an athlete] ended and they asked if I would help other injured athletes in the weight room… So I did that and it caught on.” 7:55 “I would get paid two dollars per hour, two hours per day, three days per week but instead of taking it for what it was, two hours a day, I came in and worked full days and I took it serious and it caught on like wildfire.” 8:16“The second year they went 6 – 4 it was alarming and there were rumors the head coach would be replaced.” 9:08“Then he [Tom Osbourne] says, ‘Boyd thinks we should have the whole football team all lift weights.’” 11:39“He [Bob Devaney, University of Nebraska Head Football Coach] said, ‘We’re going to give this a try because Tom thinks it’s important, but if anybody gets slower you’re fired.’” 11:59“Nebraska went from a 6 – 4 season to 9 – 2 season (after our first year lifting) and then the next year, National Championship, and then again the next year we won the National Championship.” 14:32“We were doing periodization back in the early 70s before it was formally called that.” 15:27“The way athletic programs work today are even tougher schedules than when I started as a strength coach.” 19:45“I don’t agree that athletes should be training early in the morning. They need to sleep.” 20:52“The award that means the most to me is the NSCA’s Lifetime Achievement award.” 22:56“The great ones adjust.” 25:44“We have 14 Registered Strength and Conditioning Coaches at Nebraska.” 29:45

Rugby strength and conditioning coach Ashley Jones talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about early involvement in the NSCA, working in professional sports, why it is important to write as a strength and conditioning coach, building your network, and avoiding burnout.Ashley Jones, MSc, CSCS, RSCC*E, is a rugby strength and conditioning coach who has worked with the elite of the game. He was involved with the physical preparation of the Canterbury Crusaders (Super Rugby competition), New Zealand All Blacks (New Zealand National Rugby Union), Australian Wallabies (Australian National Rugby Union), Edinburgh Rugby (Pro14) and Scotland National Rugby Union teams. He was awarded the NSCA Professional Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year for 2016 and holds the Registered Strength and Conditioning Coach® Emeritus (RSCC*E), recognizing over 20 years of professional coaching. Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes "First and foremost you’ve got to train yourself.” 6:07 “I’d like a young coach to have some competition experience in either powerlifting or weightlifting to understand the planning and processes going through it.” 6:32 “It’s also coming down to the ability to talk to people and communicate and organize them.” 7:41 “Experience, certification, and personality, that’s basically going to make a difference every day they walk in the weight room.” 7:57 “For me, writing [for websites like EliteFTS.com] is all about sharing information.” 8:48 “Developing other people makes you feel better about yourself in the process.” 9:42 “It’s extremely important to get to conferences.” 11:18 “It’s a great way of improving your network by standing around and talking to people.” 11:38 “My goals/vison for my athletes is process driven and outcome based.” 13:53 “We might have 47 different ways to squat.” 15:12 “In a contact sport like rugby, there’s always going to be people banged up, so we’ve got to find options along the way.” 15:22 “I think people who don’t train are more open to gimmicks than those who actually do train.” 20:40 Book – Legacy, about New Zealand All Blacks philosophy. 24:11 “Character will always find a way to win, lack of character will always find a way to lose and take shortcuts and cheat the system.” 24:33 “I want people that are working for the organization to be 100% there for the name on the front of the jersey, not the one on the back of it.” 24:44 “Knowledge I can teach—character is formed long before I’m ever going to meet anyone.” 25:04 “I think the art of strength and conditioning is compromise.” 26:10 “Meditation is very important [for coaches].” 30:48

Andy Galpin, Associate Professor and Co-Director of Center for Sports Performance at Cal State Fullerton, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about the roles of science and technology in sport. Andy Galpin, PhD, is a tenured Professor in the Center for Sport Performance at California State University, Fullerton. Galpin received an undergraduate degree in Exercise Science from Linfield College, a Master’s Degree in Human Movement Sciences from the University of Memphis, and a PhD in Human Bioenergetics from Ball State University. He currently teaches and runs the Biochemistry and Molecular Exercise Physiology Lab at California State University, Fullerton.Follow Andy on Twitter: @DrAndyGalpin | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “I really hate it when the scientists say, ‘It’s my job to give them the science. It’s their job to read it.’” 5:35“You need to adjust and deliver to them in a message they can deliver.” 5:47“We’ve only got a few more years, or maybe 10 more years, when information itself is no longer a commodity.” 6:26“I can find literally anything I need to know online, but what I can’t find is somebody to walk me through, somebody to show me what it even looks like. So in my mind, the value of a coach is going to explode when the robotics really start to take over.” 6:38“I thought, if I can learn those advanced skills and still bring those back to training questions… We could answer some really cool questions.” 8:35“I barely passed chemistry as an undergrad and here I am, I have a PhD in molecular biochemistry.” 9:37“I personally identify as a coach than anything else.” 9:56“You’re not going to say you took a class from Andy Galpin and don’t know the difference between powerlifting and weightlifting.” 12:32“I’m going to always, as long as I can, give back to this field as much as possible.” 17:45“There’s so much technology in the training and performance field and there’s only more coming, we want to do what we can to help people understand how technology can be helpful or it can cause harm.” 21:01“They can be helpful but they can also be problematic if you’re outsourcing your own coaching intelligence to some piece of data.” 21:28“If you think it’s bad with technology now, just wait.” 23:15“We need to have an infrastructure in both our coaching practice and our own personal health that allows us to deal with things when it becomes very bad.” 23:55“There’s a difference between using technology as a task and letting it become a task master.” 25:28

Micah Kurtz, Director of Strength and Conditioning at AC Flora High School talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about high school strength and conditioning, and how to break into the field.Micah Kurtz is in his eighth year as Director of Strength and Conditioning at AC Flora High School, which has won 14 state championships in the past five years, including the 2016 boy’s basketball and boy’s golf championships. He also serves as the Strength and Conditioning Consultant Coach to the nine-time high school basketball champion Oak Hill Academy. Kurtz was named the NSCA National High School Strength and Conditioning Coach of the year in 2016 and the South Carolina High School Strength Coach of the year in 2013 and 2014. Follow Micah on Twitter and Instagram as @KurtzM3 or visit his website at: www.TheAthleteMaker.com |Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes On breaking into a high school where there is not an existing program: “You really need to go to a school and introduce yourself to the coaches and the athletic directors. Let them know what you do.” 2:05“More and more schools are understanding the value of having a full-time certified strength coach.” 7:40“Can you live pretty comfortably being a high school strength coach? Yes, definitely.” 9:00“Your job security is much, much higher at the high school level.” 9:15“We have to meet the athlete where they are. You can’t have them all doing the exact same movements.” 10:52“We’ve been able to expand our program to where we are bringing fourth and fifth graders over a few days a week… and they are learning those fundamental movement skills at that young age.” 14:45“If you spend time cultivating a good relationship with [your athletes], and they understand everything that you’re doing is to improve them as a person and as an athlete, they’re going to buy in and do what you say.” 22:40“You’re not in it for yourself. You’re not in it to get rich. It’s all about making your athletes better and giving back to the profession.” 30:30“Kids need to understand that you’re going to have failures in life and you should not get rewarded and get an award for everything you do.” 35:22“Don’t place an overemphasis on winning, but don’t devalue the importance of having success and winning.” 35:35 

Jay DeMayo, strength and conditioning coach at the University of Richmond, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about training within a system but having flexibly, empowering athletes to make decisions in workouts, staying at one institution for 15+ years, books every coach should read, and knowing your role within the team setting.Jay DeMayo is in his 15th year as a strength and conditioning coach at the University of Richmond, and his eighth year working with the men’s basketball team. DeMayo is directly responsible for the strength training, conditioning, and flexibility development of the men and women’s basketball teams. He also educates the student-athletes on the proper nutrition to make sure their bodies are performing to their full potential. DeMayo has presented at numerous seminars and clinics in five different states and has coached and lectured for a month at Ningbo University in China. He came to Richmond from Indiana State, where he was a graduate assistant during the 2002 – 2003 academic year. Follow Jay on Instagram and Twitter: @cvasps | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “It’s kind of time to stop fighting and bickering about exercise and this and that and start talking about principles and results and performance and things that we can do to make sure we’re doing things better for the people we work for—and that’s the athlete.” 9:21“We tend to look at people (coaches) differently because they’re American.” 11:11“I have no problem with an athlete saying ‘I don’t want to deadlift, I want trap bar deadlift or sumo deadlift’ because until you can show me research that shows if you deadlift X amount of bodyweight, then you’ll go to the NBA, then who cares? It’s general exercise, keep getting strong at it until you’re stuck.” 14:55“You have to own the position… If you want your kids to hit squat depth or whatever it is but you don’t teach them how to be in that bottom position, I think you’re asking for problems.” 21:53“The principle behind everything is to get a little better each time.” 24:41Suggested reading:Conscious Coaching by Brett Bartholomew 29:241 x 20 by Michael Yessis 30:02Supertraining by Mel Siff 30:11Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe 31:50“I think if you’re starting… the one thing you have to be willing to do, and a lot of us have done wrong, is that we don’t have the ability to say no.” 32:41“Shut up and listen.” 33:39“There’s nothing like a Buddy Morris rant.” 34:46“The Rock said it best; ‘sometimes you just have to know your role and shut your mouth’”. 35:39“It’s years of work to just understand what you’re doing.” 36:57“What we do is really important but what we do does not trump what the sport coach does or what the athletes do.” 38:12“When there’s a job that’s posted that means that other people are working more because it’s open so calling and emailing isn’t probably your best bet to inquire about it.” 42:35“There’s got to be something better we can do than use exercise as punishment.” 45:46

Loren Landow, Director of Sports Performance at Landow Performance Denver, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about beginning your coaching career, having longevity at one institution, where and when to “pick your battles” (or not), and learning to listen.Loren Landow, CSCS,*D, is highly sought after for his ability to analyze and correct biomechanics. His goal is to maximize human performance, while decreasing the likelihood of injury. Landow has trained thousands of athletes of all ages and abilities, including over 500 professional athletes in the National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Baseball (MLB), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), and Olympic athletes. Landow has worked with over 30 NFL All-Pros and over 20 first-round draft selections in the NFL. He recently published “My Offseason with the Denver Broncos: Building a Championship Team (While Nobody’s Watching).”Find Loren on Twitter: @LorenLandow | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “We know our ‘why,’ but we’re trying to evolve our ‘why’ and truly grow as coaches each and every day.” 4:01“We’ve put together this team of practitioners (the Resilience Project) and everything we do is data driven.” 13:52“My ‘why’ is to be a source of direction to guide your path, help you find your way, I want to be that person to help guide a path.” 16:43“I want to show coaches that you make a living in this industry in the private sector and you can make a very nice living… you can do all those things… you just have to get up every morning and push.” 17:56 “I think I’m equivalent to a greyhound dog because if I’m not coaching, I’m going to lose my mind.” 18:41“Most of my employees have been interns for me and I don’t care about your resume, I do not care about what you’ve done… what I care about is how you interact with our team… are you a ‘me’ or a ‘we’ guy?” 19:40“During the internship I’ve got 400 – 600 hours that I can evaluate you, I can watch you. If you walk into the bathroom and there’s water all over the sink are you going to wipe it down or are you just going to leave it? If you see some paper on the ground are you going to pick it up and throw it away?” 20:22“Just watching who you are from a character standpoint and a value standpoint that tells me all I need to know.” 20:50“I can’t teach you to be a good person, I can’t teach you to be a person who has good relationships, I can’t teach you to be a good team player, but if you are those things I do believe I can teach you how to be a good coach.” 20:58“Our time is limited in everything that we do, so to me it makes no sense to do anything half-hearted.” 23:05“I want to be able to share a passion of mine and something that gives a purpose to our industry.” 25:45“We talk about putting ourselves in vulnerable positions to make ourselves grow.” 27:12“If you have a question ask it, don’t be intimidated, don’t be afraid to go up and talk to a speaker or someone you look up to.” 29:21“Mentorship is a two way street.” 29:42“Don’t just take, take, take. Provide and give.” 30:05 “Always pay homage to those ‘who have set the table for you.’” 30:36“With all the mistakes I’ve made within the industry, I would not change a single one because I’ve truly learned from them.” 33:01“Working with the middle school athletes, that’s where you really learn a lot.” 37:10“People give up way too soon… it’s not going to be easy, it’s going to be a grind (to become the best).” 38:07

Matthew Van Dyke, Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at the University of Denver, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about professional development, working as part of a comprehensive sports performance team, and developing additional knowledge in the field.Matt Van Dyke, MS, is an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at the University of Denver where he is responsible for the speed, strength, conditioning, and mobility workouts for the men’s lacrosse, alpine ski, volleyball, tennis, and swimming teams. Prior to his position with the University of Denver, Van Dyke was the Assistant Director of Strength and Conditioning for Olympic Sports at the University of Minnesota. During his tenure at the University of Minnesota, Van Dyke was responsible for performance programming for men’s and women’s hockey, baseball, track and field, and the women’s golf team. He has presented at the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCa) National Conference and has presented at the Minnesota Sports Performance Clinic. Additionally, he is a co-author of Triphasic Training: A High School Strength and Conditioning Manual and author of several articles on xlathlete.com as well as his professional website, vandykestrength.com. Find Matt on Twitter: @Matt_VanDyke | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “The idea that we are stress managers is how I’m going to focus my time with athletes.” 2:28“How the athlete is perceiving stress is always going to be a more critical piece of the puzzle than anything else.” 6:17“We’re on a quarter system at DU, so basically every 10 weeks our athletes are having finals and the likelihood of injury is increased because the body views stress as stress. So how can we vary our training program to ensure we keep our athletes performing at a high level?” 7:30“Make the most of every opportunity you have. Regardless of what school you’re at, you’re all going to be tasked with different responsibilities. Whether it’s taking out the trash or restocking the fueling station, whatever it is you have to do the absolute best you can do at that because as you progress at those, you’ll be given more responsibilities.” 13:55“As a young coach, I knew how to get guys strong, but you learn quick there are so many more variables than just that.” 16:14“For us, nothing is ever set in stone.” 18:10 “Time management and understanding how important your network is to this profession is key.” 20:30“Writing is a tremendous method to explain the methods that you’re using with your athletes.” 24:30“I think a roadblock is knowing there’s always going to be the work to personal life ratio. Going into this profession knowing this isn’t a ‘9 – 5’ is key.” 28:25“What are you doing for your continuing education?” 29:55“It never feels like work, you’re not stuck in a cubicle, you’re moving every day.” 34:40“It’s more about development in the long run, because the majority of our athletes aren’t going to play professional sports.” 35:31  

Katie Fowler, from the University of South Carolina, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about being part of a National Championship team/culture, successful intern qualities, being a female strength and conditioning coach in a male dominated profession, and the influence of data in strength and conditioning.Katie Fowler, CSCS, is in her third season as the strength and conditioning coach for the University of South Carolina women’s basketball team. Prior to joining the University of South Carolina, she spent three seasons as the assistant director for basketball performance at the University of Maryland, where she worked with women's basketball and helped them to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Sweet 16 (2013) and two NCAA Final Fours (2014 and 2015), in addition to continuing to work with Maryland alumnae playing in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). Fowler is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist® (CSCS®) through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), and holds Precision Nutrition Level-1 Certification and a Fascial Stretch Therapy Certification.Find Katie on Twitter: @_KatieFowler ‏ | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “It’s a six game win streak to win a National Championship.” - 1:30“Having the ability to ‘turn it off’ and have interests outside of [strength and conditioning] is important.” – 7:14(Regarding successful interns) “They have confidence but yet humility and they want to keep learning.” – 11:45“Have the confidence to go up to other coaches and introduce yourself, and not be afraid to go out on a limb sometimes.” – 12:46“Don’t be discouraged [at a competitive profession], there are opportunities and it is a really rewarding profession.” - 16:15“If you want to work at the college level, go work at the college level, if you want to work in the NBA, go work in the NBA. There at no limits.” – 16:40“How do we decide what data is going to be useful [to our sport coaches]?” - 20:20Books – Pete Egoscue (anything by him), Extreme Ownership, Give and Take, The Feminine Mystique - 25:00

Cal Dietz, from the University of Minnesota, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about putting new learning into application, and many aspects of professional and personal development.Cal Dietz has been the Head Olympic Strength and Conditioning Coach for numerous sports at the University of Minnesota since 2000, including men’s hockey, men’s basketball, women’s hockey, men’s golf, women’s golf, men’s swimming, track and field, baseball, and wrestling. During his tenure, Dietz has trained a Hobey Baker Award winner, two Big Ten Athletes of the Year, as well as athletes that have achieved 450 All-American honors, 31 Big Ten/Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Championships teams, and 10 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship teams. Previously, Dietz was the strength coordinator at the University of Findlay. Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “We’re all in this together, we’re trying to make people better.” - 3:37“I got into [strength and conditioning] because I think I can help kids have a great experience.” - 5:30“I've had a huge influence on kids that I didn't even know I had.” - 6:28“You can train, have a process, and get better.” - 7:41“Even if it's not a good job right away, make it the job you want it to be.” - 12:03“Don't get frustrated. Keep making the job better.” - 12:30“The most developmental times I've had are when I've had assistants who question me.” - 22:12“Adaptability in a young coach is important.” - 23:01“After a coaching change, don't rip on the other staff.” - 26:03“As a young coach, the most important thing is your networking.” - 36:50“This business is about people, and you'll win with people.” - 39:38“You can't have everything all the time.” - 52:45

Jim Davis, Director of the Good Athlete Project, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about developments in high school coaching, options for how to structure and fund a high school position, coaching for kindness, and the application of cognitive neuroscience to fitness and exercise.Jim Davis has studied at Harvard University, Northwestern University, and Knox College. He is the Founder of the Good Athlete Project, Director of the Illinois High School Powerlifting Association, and the Staff and Student Wellness Coordinator at New Trier High School. He presents internationally on human development in athletics; and his written work has appeared in The Harvard Crimson, American Football Monthly, and This is AFCA; and was recently recognized as one of the National Interscholastic Swim Coach Association’s (NISCA) Magazine’s Best of 2016.Find the Good Athlete Project on Twitter: @Coach4Kindness | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “Chase the work that you’re willing to do.” - 2:48“Under 1% of the [HS] athletic population will get money to go play... What we really try to instill in [our athletes] is that it’s not about the end game. We’re not doing this because there’s a pro contract sitting out there for you. We’re doing this because there are so many other life lessons to learn from this.” – 10:51“Promoting health and wellness in a community: that on its own is worthwhile.” – 11:23“There’s value in consistency. There’s value in showing up every day. You’ll see progress... In all of education, there’s probably no more clear demonstration of ‘you put in this much work and you’ll see something on the back end.’” – 11:49“You show up every day: you work, you improve. There are very few areas of life where you can see so cleanly how that works.” - 12:12“‘Sports gone wrong,’ that’s a headline every day. ‘Sports gone right,’ that doesn’t make headlines but it’s something we’re pretty heavily involved in.” - 15:07“We’re actually deliberately trying to coach for kindness.” – 14:21“I think exercise-induced neuro-enhancement... is what will change education for the better, once it is fully adopted and practitioners understand how to implement it. And I think it’s going to save physical education.” – 18:28On managing stress and competing demands: “When you are doing the thing that you are doing, do that thing.” – 28:52On changing culture: “If [one thing] strength and conditioning does is support people and make them more safe on the field, then we need to break down the barrier between female athletes and the weight room.” – 38:00“Open dialogue has to start from the top down. Otherwise what you do is... put the top on top and everyone else talks among themselves, and that can be a toxic environment.” – 41:23“The Good Athlete Project aims to help people realize their potential through athletics.” – 42:50“One of the biggest keys to leadership is listening.” – 46:30

Bryan Mann, from the University of Missouri, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about the future of velocity-based training, work-life balance, and getting a PhD while being a full-time strength and conditioning coach.Bryan Mann, PhD, CSCS, RSCC*D, is an Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy, Director of Performance Research for Intercollegiate Athletics, and Director of Research for the University of Missouri-Human Performance Institute. He has been involved in strength and conditioning since 1999. He has experience working with athletes at all levels, including many Olympians and professional athletes. Mann earned his Doctorate in Health Education and Promotion from the University of Missouri in 2011 with an emphasis in Sports Psychology and Fitness. Find Bryan on Twitter: @jbryanmann | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “The better you are at something, the slower you can go and the heavier loads you can lift.” - 6:59“If we go where the research is leading us, we’re going to look at special exercises.” - 8:18“The effect of the feedback from velocity is so crucial.” - 8:29NSCA College Coaches Special Interest Group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/NSCA.CollegeCoachesSIG/ - 16:40“If I heard an interview with somebody that said something I liked, or that I wanted to know more on, I called them up.” - 21:41“Shaking hands... it’s a lot different than using your thumbs on Twitter.” - 23:25“I thought I had something to contribute, so I had a responsibility to contribute.” - 30:31“I make people angry all the time, I'm good at that—that means nothing to me.” - 33:23“Sometimes people fail because they don’t really want it.” - 38:05“I’m a product of the people who have been around me.” - 40:13“If you claim yourself as an expert, you’re not. It just means you don’t know what you don’t know.” - 41:03

Ron McKeefery, Vice President of Performance and Education for PLAE, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about how he got started with the Iron Game Chalk Talk, his involvement with the NSCA, the value in attending and putting on events, the future of the profession, decision paralysis, and creating culture in the weight room.Ron McKeefery, MA, CSCS,*D is the Vice President of Performance and Education for PLAE and has been working as a strength and conditioning coach at the professional and collegiate level for over 20 years. McKeefery was named the Collegiate Strength Coach of the Year in 2008 and 2016, and has had the privilege of working with over 80 players that have gone on to play in the National Football League (NFL). In addition to a successful coaching career, McKeefery is also the best-selling author of “CEO Strength Coach.”Find Ron on Twitter: @rmckeefery | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “I’ve gotten so much more out of it than I could ever give to anybody.” 3:19“I went to [my first] conference and literally talked to one person.” 5:40“There’s a big difference between Coach Mac and Ron McKeefery. They’re two totally different people.” 6:03“You don’t have the time to build really meaningful relationships in your own life, you’re so focused on your athletes’ lives.” 8:16“Going to conferences and events and participating is a way to surround yourself with like-minded people.” 8:35“Fortunately we have lots of different people who are doing some great things, that are putting on events, that you should be able to get to something.” 12:20“I think the biggest challenge in our profession is making it so strength coaches retire being strength coaches.” 13:21“We need to find ways to grow our profession.” 15:01“We should be focused on getting a strength coach in every high school.” 16:19“We need to be creating a degree in strength and conditioning specifically.” 17:07“I want to be called ‘Coach.’ That’s something that really resonates with me.” 21:27“The biggest thing that strength coaches can bring to sports medicine is that accountability—they have the ability to hold the athlete more accountable.” 28:03“We have complex problems so we try to provide complex solutions... the challenge is to think of the simplest way to correct a problem.” 32:19“Your athletes are never going to love the weight room as much as you do. You just have to provide the framework for an accountable program and make sure you enforce that consistently.” 35:30“If we can coach coaches, I don’t think there’s any higher calling than that.” 37:44“As a leader, you need to have a giving heart.” 38:21The Power of Vulnerability: Teachings on Authenticity, Connection and Courage, by Brene Brown. https://www.amazon.com/Power-Vulnerability-Teachings-Authenticity-Connection/dp/1604078588. 47:45

Clayton Kuklick, coaching researcher at the University of Denver, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about what it truly means to be a master coach. Topics under discussion include motor learning, practice design, mentorship in coaching, and coaching standards.Clayton Kuklick, PhD, is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Master of Arts in Sport Coaching program in the Graduate School of Professional Psychology at the University of Denver. His research interests revolve around coaching development and improving athletic performance. His focus and passion is on developing ways to help coaches enrich their current coaching approaches with the intent to enhance their athlete’s performance on and off the field.Clayton can be reached at [email protected]. Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “The master coaches that I have great respect for, the diversity of their knowledge is absolutely amazing.” 6:35“Getting good mentors and connecting with coaches that possess different forms of knowledge in a diverse range of areas is really important.” 8:50“There are so many little ingredients that matter.” 12:55Strength Training and Coordination: An Integrative Approach, by Frans Bosch (https://www.amazon.com/Strength-training-coordination-integrative-2015-10-01/dp/B01N2GIXEC to find it on Amazon) 13:46“I constantly reflect on my previous experiences and where I fit in there. It’s not one person or one thing. It’s a multitude of people, a network.” 16:13“I can have this informal network... I’m still constantly calling coaches to bounce coaching ideas and problem-solve together.” 16:25“There should be a standard for where we are going.” 22:13“If this is your value system, then how do you demonstrate it? What are the behaviors that go with that?” 22:53“If you look at my teaching philosophy compared to my coaching philosophy... they are exactly the same.” 25:58“Implement strategies to help people develop.” 27:39“We’re trying to help coaches win more games and improve their athlete outcomes by connecting research to their professional practice.” 30:43“Coaches look for the magic sauce... it might be coaching education.” 30:56“We get stuck in our previous experiences sometimes, and we’re socialized to do certain things.” 31:40

Megan Young, Performance Coach at Auburn University, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about the data revolution and combining science and coaching to validate the “coaching eye.” They also discuss the importance of your professional network, building a strong performance team, and the need to unify the profession.Megan Young, PhD, CSCS, RSCC, is a Performance Coach at Auburn University and does all performance training for the women’s soccer team there. She has presented multiple times for national organizations on a variety of topics, is a reviewer for The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, and is on the Conference Committee for the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).Follow Megan on Twitter: @coachmega | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes"If you have a good relationship going into trying to create something, it's a lot smoother when everyone is communicating in the same language and is on the same page." - 3:38"I wanted to know without a doubt that when I have numbers in front of me, is the dataset I'm working with valid, is it reliable? Am I collecting good data?" - 7:07"Everything always goes back to people and relationships, whether we are talking coaching or life." - 9:30"The more you can understand people, the more you understand a situation." - 10:06"I never had a bad day in terms of what my outlook was, and that was surely because of my support circle... When you have really strong people in your circle ... you can handle stuff." - 22:19"You talk about a saturated field and market ... there are plenty of people standing in line to take that $30,000 entry-level job. Why is it still $30,000? Our value with a Master's Degree, experience, certification, whatever that may be, it has to be a higher minimum." - 25:10"You have to find value outside of your job. And don't feel ashamed for it." - 29:58"You're not winning as a strength coach by having the most hours in the weight room. You're losing." - 30:04

J. Aggabao, former Assistant Strength Coach for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL), talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about coaching in the NFL. Topics under discussion include getting a foot in the door in the NFL, what happens when your head coach gets let go, and misconceptions about being an NFL strength coach.J. Aggabao spent four seasons as the Assistant Strength Coach for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He interned as a Strength Coach at Washington State University prior to attending graduate school at Illinois State University.Show Notes~Show Notes~"My path for getting to the NFL was to reach out to several different NFL coaches. I heard back from 1 ... I was able to get my foot in the door as an intern." 2:05"Being certified through the NSCA is definitely important. Having a certification of that caliber is necessary." 2:57"Communication skills and understanding the sport psyche of these millennial athletes is very important." 3:16"When they select the head coach, that coach will be able to determine who his head strength and conditioning coach will be. Whether they have someone in mind already that they've worked with ... or if they give me a chance to interview." 5:39"Everybody thinks it's a glorified job, that you don't work the long collegiate hours -- that's one of the myths." 7:00"My first year as an intern [in the NFL], I made less than I did as a GA in college." 7:30"Be the best wherever you are ... While you are in your lane, make sure you are doing everything to the best of your ability." 11:58"You have to be open to adaptability and change, but within your core philosophy." 17:05Find J. on Twitter: @jaggabao | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfield

Lance Walker, Global Director of Performance at Michael Johnson Performance (MJP), talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about being unselfish in your work, developing your people skills in order to be a better coach, and mapping out your professional path.Lance Walker, PT, CSCS, is the Global Director of Performance at MJP in McKinney, TX. He directs global operations for the company in the United States, China, and England, and is also responsible for ensuring product development and implementation for MJP licensed facilities. Walker served three seasons as Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach with the Dallas Cowboys National Football League (NFL) team. He has an extensive background in strength and conditioning and sports medicine at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels. Prior to joining the Dallas Cowboys, Walker held performance trainer positions at the University of Oklahoma, where he worked directly with athletes across many sports.Show Notes“It's selfishness, I think, that limits us. And also maybe ego.” 2:15“Make sure you dedicate a piece of your development the rest of your life to your emotional intelligence - your people skills, your ability to be empathetic, your ability to seek first to understand.” 13:00"Know humans. Know about human interaction. Know about how to respond to people and how they respond to you." 13:30“So many folks lack a system of arranging information ... I wish I could go back and set up that arrangement system first.” 14:03“It’s starting to be multi-disciplinary where everybody is coming together, getting on the same page. The youth stuff is exciting, the physio space, they're starting to see the CSCS as a real differentiator for them in their practices, and still being able to pull the applied people into those rooms.” 18:05“The people part of this business is so important, that’s why that becomes a thing of networks. It’s because they know that the people part of this business, if you don't have that right, none of the other stuff is going to matter.” 20:59“I set up a yearly sort of professional development program to get to what I want to be someday and those stepwise things, that strategic plan we talked about ... you have to do that. You have to have a strategic plan: objectives, strategies, KPIs, tactics to use, metrics of monitoring all along the way to get there, or you're just hoping.” 22:55“It was honesty from colleagues ... but it had to me be me pulling them aside and saying, ‘Look, will you be brutally honest with me and tell me what I'm missing. Where are my blind spots?’ ... The epiphany moment was to ask the question.” 25:44“I’m on a path. I have a good idea where I want that path to go, but knowing exactly where that path is ... I don’t know.” 32:42

Show NotesTim Pelot, CSCS, has spent time in the collegiate, professional, and private settings. He is currently a Senior Strength and Conditioning Coach for the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). Pelot has been involved with the USOC for nine years in the following sports: bobsled, skeleton, luge, alpine ski, aerial ski, freestyle ski, canoe, kayak, freestyle and Greco wrestling, indoor volleyball, track cycling, judo, speed skating short track, water polo, beach volleyball, swimming, and boxing. In his tenure with the USOC, he has helped support the attainment of 20 major international gold medals, two World Cup titles, two World Championship titles, three Olympic bronze medals, one Olympic silver medal, and three Olympic gold medals.

Matt Shaw, CSCS, RSCC is in his fifth year working at the University of Denver. He was promoted to Director of Sports Performance in August 2016, where he oversees the development of men’s ice hockey, men’s soccer, and men’s and women’s golf. Additionally, he works and consults with athletes from the National Hockey League (NHL), American Hockey League (AHL), and Major League Soccer (MLS). Prior to the University of Denver, Shaw was an Assistant Coach at Boston University and completed internships at the University of South Carolina, Harvard University, Boston University, and for Mike Boyle. Shaw is the recipient of the 2016 National Strength and Conditioning Association’s (NSCA) Assistant College Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year Award.Show Notes

Brendon Huttmann, CSCS,*D, RSCC*D, the Sports Science Coordinator for the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball (MLB) team, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about the role of the Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist® (CSCS®) in MLB.The 2017 season will be Brendon Huttmann’s second as the Sports Science Coordinator for Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball (MLB) organization. Previously, he served as the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Major League Strength and Conditioning Coach for four seasons and spent four years in the same capacity with the Los Angeles Dodgers team. He worked five seasons in the Cleveland Indians organization as a Minor League Strength and Conditioning Coordinator and also worked as a Minor League Strength Coach in the Colorado Rockies organization in 2002 and with the Kansas City Royals organization in 2001. Huttmann is a graduate of the University of Kansas, where he worked with the baseball team. Find Brendon on Twitter: @09_bhuttShow Notes