Unlocking Athletes

Today, we are tackling one of the most important topics facing people today and one that is tremendously prevalent in the athlete community. Mental health issues are something that are becoming more and more prevalent in today’s sports world among athletes of all ages. While we are certainly not experts on the topic, we do have experience dealing with some of these issues from a personal level as...

Welcome back to “Unlocking Athletes” I am really excited to release this episode that we have titled “Coach’s Roundtable” Today, we’ve got Russ Dixon joining the podcast. Russ coaches our kids class here at Evolution Athletics as well as adult fitness classes. He’s been working with the kids program for about 6 months now and has grown it from 1 or 2 kids to over 20 and does a great job of giving...

What’s up everybody, we hope you enjoyed Episode 9 last week as we talked about goal setting and how to set SMART goals. Part of our SMART acronym was “Authentic” and making sure that your goals align with who you are and what you value.  That sparked an interesting conversation and we wanted to dive into it a little deeper. In this episode we talk about the importance of values using the framewor...

We’re Back! It’s been a few months since we put out a podcast, but I am happy to say we are back to it in 2024 with a new excitement and a new format. My best Friend and I will be co-hosting this show moving forward. If you don’t know Tyler Crump, make sure you go back and listen to Episode 8 so you can get the background. We will still have different guests as often as we can, but we are excited...

Today I am really excited to have my best friend in the world with me on the podcast. Tyler Crump has been in the fitness industry coaching since 2010 working in multiple gyms in North Carolina as well as Ohio. He is currently the Head Coach at College Hill Crossfit in Greensboro, NC. I’ve known Crump since 2005 when we were recruited and played college football together. After living on my couch...

I’ve been working with and coaching HS athletes now for almost 14 years. During that time, Almost every young athlete says they want to be D1. My response has always been....are you sure? Most kids like the idea of playing D1 without ever understanding what it actually takes. Today, we are talking with one of my best friends in the world - Coach Greg Harbaugh. Greg is the Co-Offensive Coordinator...

All athletes have a secret superpower at their disposal… Ask Elite athletes in any sport and you’ll hear about this same power. What’s ironic is it’s probably the most under-utilized tool that athletes use. We’re talking about recovery.  Today on the podcast, I am privileged to have Jen Palin. Jen is a Massage Therapist living in Richmond Hill, GA. She is the owner and operator of Headstrong Massa...

It’s hard to scroll through instagram, walk through a bookstore or go through youtube without hearing about the subject of leadership. From Jocko to David Goggins to Tony Robbins to Jordan Peterson - Leadership is definitely a buzz word right now. What does it mean? How do we get better at it?  Today we have my friend and Pastor, Keith Waller. Keith is currently the pastor of New Life Church in Ap...

Today we are privileged to hear from a friend of mine Greg Titiriga. Greg is currently a recruiting specialist with Next College Student Athlete and has helped thousands of athletes find the right fit for them to continue their sport at the college level.  Greg has been through the recruiting process as a player where he ended up at Fresno State University and as a HS and College Coach before join...

Today, I am very excited to have Carlos Collazo on the podcast. I have known Carlos since 2010 - when he was a sophomore in HS playing baseball. Over the years we have become good friends and it has been awesome to see him grow into success doing something he loves to do.  Carlos is now the lead writer for Baseball America focusing most of his attention on the Major League Baseball Draft. He watch...

Today, I’m excited to have one of my athletes, John Luke Taylor, on the Podcast. I’ve had the pleasure to work with John Luke for almost 2 years now and am extremely proud to be a part of his journey. When he first walked in having just finished his Junior football season, he was discouraged with a lack of playing time. As a defensive lineman, he was undersized and not nearly strong enough to comp...

Welcome to the “Unlocking Athletes” podcast - My name is Nate Woodruff. I’ll be hosting this podcast and interviewing athletes, coaches, parents and friends about different aspects of what it means to be an athlete in today’s world.  This podcast is designed to help athletes, parents and coaches navigate this crazy sports climate we are in. Regardless of what sport you are involved in, there is a...

Today, I am really excited to talk to my friend, Dr. Aston Dommel. Aston is a Dietician for the United States military as well as a competitive crossfit athlete. Recently, Aston competed at the East Regionals for a fitness competition called Battle Bunker where he took home the title and qualified for the Hybricon Games in October. In this episode, we dive into what nutrition should look like for...

𝕀𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦’𝕧𝕖 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕠𝕦𝕤𝕝𝕪 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕪𝕠𝕦’𝕧𝕖 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕕 𝕡𝕒𝕚𝕟. 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕚𝕤, 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕕𝕠 𝕨𝕖 𝕕𝕠 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕚𝕥? In this episode of the EAX Performance Podcast, Jeremy Kane and Chris McNamara will discuss pain and how it relates to the way that we program for our athletes to train around pain. Key talking points in this episode were: Define pain in athlete terms. Pain is the #1 limiter of perform...

In this episode, Jeremy and I  switch things up some and have a friendly debate on Group vs Individual coaching and programming.. Some of the things we discussed are: •Power of Each. •Pitfalls of Each •Pros & Cons for health & longevity •Pros & Cons of performance / competing •Pros & Cons for group coaching •Pros & Cons for Indy coaching •Programming considerations for both •Wh...

In this episode, Jeremey and I switch things up some and have a friendly debate on pacing. Some of the things we discussed are: •Power of pacing. •Pitfalls of pacing •Pros & Cons of Pacing in training. •Pros & Cons of Pacing in competition. •Pros & Cons of coach prescribed pacing. •Pros & Cons of athlete regulated pacing. •Positive Adaptations from Pacing •Negative Adaptations from...

 Some items we discussed in the podcast this week are:       𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕒 𝕕𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕝𝕚𝕞𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕒𝕥𝕙𝕝𝕖𝕥𝕖?  An athlete who has difficulty delivering oxygen to tissue because they indiscriminately contract muscle on given tasks. They end up carrying too much systemic tension - even at light weight or low wattage - and their heart and lungs cannot overpower that resistance and allow blood flow to occur optima...

Some items we discussed are - What is a tactical athlete? - A highly reliable critical thinker - On demand performance - Race Horse vs Viking - Define Limiters - Delivery - Uptake - Tension - WHY it is important to understand limiters and layers of limiters - Highly trained versus highly athletic - Tactical athletes have more constraints - less of them are controllable - Sample programming Take a...

A beginner athlete is like a baby snake, they're more dangerous because they don't know to control anything.  They also don't know any better and assume they have it all figured out!  This whole episode is dedicated to the concept of training age. Chronological age is simply how long you've been alive.   Biological age is a measure of how the biological aging process has impacted y...

In Episode 12 we go over the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT PERFORMANCE ENHANCING TOOL at your disposal - SLEEP! We cover the following questions: How important is sleep for adequate recovery? What do you recommend, device wise, for tracking sleep? How many hours are recommended per night? If the athlete didn’t get adequate sleep, should they train? Any supplements that are evidenced-based to promote sleep...

“All men can see the tactics whereby I conquer, but none can see the strategy out of which victory is evolved.” - Sun Tzu⁣ ⁣ “Strategies require thought. Tactics require observation.” - Patton⁣ ⁣ The terms tactic and strategy are often confused: tactics are the actual means used to gain an objective, while strategy is the overall campaign plan, which may involve complex operational patterns, activ...

In Episode 10, we discuss the highly polarized topic of injuries in athletes.⁣ ⁣ Anyone who has been training longer than a day knows that it is a matter of time before an injury occurs.  Whether it is a blistered hand, strained muscle, or something much more serious, it is not a matter of IF but WHEN you will deal with an injury.  ⁣ ⁣ In this episode we discuss how we use training to prevent inju...

We dedicated this entire episode to 2 questions we received on our IG story this week: - What are common things your athletes do that get under your skin? - What trends in the fitness/coaching industry do you dislike? AKA - What are our coach/athlete pet peeves?  In this episode, we cover: 'The Garage gym hero' - aka the athlete who puts their focus on the wrong thing at the wrong time and...

For this episode, we took 5 of the top questions we've received recently and answered them for you.⁣ ⁣ Well, we started with 5 questions but split one of them into a two-part answer.  Plus we added a little bonus question for you at the end.⁣ ⁣ 1 - With COVI19, what programming changes have you made for athletes?⁣ ⁣ 2a - Exercise selection & dosing - How do we prioritize? ⁣ ⁣ 2b - Neuromus...

This episode was incredibly fulfilling to record.  It was a time warp over the past decade or so where Evolution Athletics went from concept to reality and touches on multiple growth points along the way. It was amazing to sit down and jam with a great friend, insane workout partner, and all-around awesome human being.⁣ ⁣ Pop the headphones in and give it a listen!⁣ ⁣ Highlights of this episode:⁣...