The Athletic Evolution Podcast

Sean is the lead S&C Coach at Eton College. He has been working in gyms since 1993, initially in the Health & Fitness sector, before discovering the joy of working with young people in schools. His number one aim is to help kids leave school with a better understanding of physical fitness and more importantly, the self-motivation to find ways to stay active long into their future. Whilst u...

Jake Tuura is a former collegiate strength and conditioning coach, now running Jacked Athlete fulltime. He has a Masters in Exercise Science and is a Certified Strength and Conditioning coach with the NSCA, as well as holding qualifications from USA Weightlifting, Titleist Performance Institute, Be Activated and Reflexive Performance Reset.  In this episode Jake discusses:  How his desir...

Erica Suter is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and has a Masters in Exercise Science and Sport Performance Enhancement. As an athlete, she pcaptained the soccer team at Johns Hopkins University and was a 2x Academic All American, 2 x Scholar All American and National Player of the Year. She holds the record of being the 2nd highest goal scorer for John Hopkins University an...

In this episode I sit down the LTAD Network founders James Baker and Mike Young.  James and Mike discuss:  Their own athletic journeys as children/adolescents.  How their initial connection on Twitter flourished into a long term business partnership.  The evolution in awareness of youth strength & conditioning.  The reason behind the rebrand from Proformance to LTAD Ne...

This episode is a slightly different to the usual. I wanted to update you, the listener on some exciting developments with the Athletic Evolution Podcast.  In this episode I cover:  The future direction that the podcast will be taking.  Being approached by James Baker about a collaborative opportunity.  Why I am excited about joining forces with the LTAD Network  What the...

Jamie Bowie is a former 400m GB and Team Scotland athlete, Jamie was part of the team that won silver at the World Indoor Championships in the 4x400m relay. Now turning his hand to coaching, the former internationalist has worked with athletes at pathway level in both athletics and rugby and now works for Scottish Gymnastics as a Performance Manager for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018&nb...

Dan Jefferson is currently working with the Sports Authority of India as the Head of Strength and Conditioning with the boxing federation, specifically supporting the Male and Female Olympic teams for Tokyo 2021. Prior to this Dan was the Senior Strength & Conditioning coach at the Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS), India, where he led the IIS Boxing programme. Prior to making the international...

Jason Avelar has been a PE teacher for the last 8 years at Prescott Junior High School, considered one of the best physical education schools in America. Prescott was featured in the popular documentary “The Motivation Factor” which stresses the importance of being physically active and explores the unique PE program founded at La Sierra High School in the 1960's. Jason holds Bachelor's in Science...

Oliver Morgan holds a BSc Sport & Exercise Sciences from University of Birmingham, an MRes in Talent Identification from Coventry University and is currently completing a Professional Doctorate at Liverpool John Moores investigating CODs match demands. He spent 8 seasons at Liverpool FC holding a variety of roles across a variety of squads. From U12s-16s squads and from General Sports Scientis...

Dan Lonsdale is an S&C coach from the UK with 9 years' experience working at university level preparing some of the country's top student performance sport athletes. In 2018 Dan Lonsdale Gymnastics Strength & Conditioning was founded with the vision of creating an encouraging environment in which young gymnasts can thrive in, whilst applying the latest research in the simplest manner in or...

Dr Andrew Pichardo is the Head Strength & Conditioning Coach at Tyler Legacy High School, located in East Texas. After coaching stops with the University of Florida, IMG Academy, the Milwaukee Brewers, and the Olympic Training Center, Andrew obtained his PhD from Auckland University of Technology, where he worked to implement and research the effects of a resistance training program into secon...

Gordon MacLelland set up ‘Working with Parents in Sport’ after 20 years as a teacher and as a coach to all age levels from 7 year olds to adults. He has a BA/Hons degree in Sports Science from University College Chester and a PGCE from Lancaster University. He is a qualified teacher and has been Director of Sport at an independent prep school in the UK for the last 13 years. He has worked in schoo...

Dr Jeff Cullen has been heavily involved in providing medical support in rugby for many years, both at club and international level.  He recently contributed to an article on Concussion management on the British Journal of Sports Medicine Blog. I was privileged to work alongside him in this previous Scotland U16 and U17 Age grade programs. In this episode Jeff discusses: How we should view co...

Ruben Nieves is the Director of Training for Positive Coaching Alliance, responsible for overseeing the training and support of PCA trainers around the US. Ruben earned his Masters Degree in Education from Stanford University in 1982. He coached collegiate volleyball for 18 years including stints as the Head Men's Coach at Stanford and the Head Women's Coach at Fresno State. Ruben was twice named...

For the past 40 years, the sport of Judo has consumed Stephen's life in one way or another; as a successful competitive player, infamous national development coach and for a number of years a key member of the Education Development Team for the Scottish Governing Body of Judo, JudoScotland. Stephen is very proud of his reputation as one of Scotland’s most innovative program developers which he dev...

VJ Stanley is the founder and President of Balanced Excellence. VJ was a 3 sport varsity athlete. He then went on to play junior hockey for the Rochester Monarchs and pursued his passion at Clarkson University. Unfortunately, he sustained two concussions in one week which ended his career after only one game. After the injury, at age 23, he became a high school coach at Fairport High School in Roc...

David Dunne is a Performance Nutritionist with an array of experience working in elite sport with Harlequins, Queens Park Rangers FC, Bradford Bulls, British Fencing, British Canoeing and Professional Golfers. He is also the CEO of Hexis Performance and is currently completing a PhD in Digital Health and Behaviour Change.  In this episode David discusses: The numerous Consultant Nutritionist...

Dr Nico Kolokythas has over 15 years experience in the athletic development of the adolescent in elite performance in a variety of sports (Judo, Netball, Basketball, Football, Taekwondo, Tennis). He is also currently the strength and conditioning coach for professional martial artists in Mixed Martial Arts. Based at Elmhurst Ballet School, U.K. he completed a PhD in injuries and the adolescent bal...

Steffan Jones is the last dual professional sportsman in the United Kingdom having played 3 years professional rugby and 20 years professional cricket. Currently, he is Director of Sport Performance at a Wellington School in England and a global fast bowling consultant. He is the fast bowling development coach for the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL as well as consulting for individual fast bowlers, j...

Jan Willem Teunissen has B. in PE and a MSc. in talent development & exercise physiology from VU University Amsterdam. In the past he worked for elite soccer club Ajax Amsterdam and implemented an all-round development program and maturity related individual training program within the youth academy. Furthermore, Jan Willem was head of the performance staff at elite soccer club FC Twente. Curr...

Tom Farrow is a Physical Performance Specialist and is the Founder & Co-Director of Areté Performance, He was the Head of Physical Performance for England & Team GB 7s Men’s teams Until August, when the programme was unfortunately cut due to losing funding during Coronavirus. Tom was also a Contact Skills Specialist with the Men’s 7s programme and has worked in this capacity with the 2016...

Andy is an Athletic Development and Physical Well-being coach at Merchant Taylors' school and leads the UKSCA Special interest group for Strength and conditioning in schools. Steven studied maths at oxford and computer science at UCL and has a background coaching and competing in long-distance triathlon. After many races, and many hours of talking (mainly nonsense), eventually they came up with an...

Lana Skeldon is a current International Rugby Player recently earning her 40th Cap for Scotland against France in the Women’s Six Nations.    In this episode Lana discusses:  Overcoming limited opportunities locally to play rugby. The psychological challenge of changing position. Being inspired by coaches and fellow players.  Her take on training with "the boys". Balancing work...

Ben Pullen is a PhD student in the Youth Physical Development Centre at Cardiff Metropolitan University. His research focuses on the impact of strength and conditioning on the athletic motor skill competencies and the psychological attributes of youths. His PhD is a joint project with the Welsh Institute of Performance Science, Sport Wales and Swansea University. In this episode Ben discusses: Tak...

Trevor Ragan is the founder of The Learner Lab - an educational website designed to unpack and share the science of learning and development. He spends his time with thought leaders and researchers from the worlds of psychology and developmental science, consumes their research, connects the dots, and shares it with anyone that will listen. He's worked with professional, college, and olympic sport...