Athlete Enhancement

Today I spoke with Francesca Dooris, a nationally competitive Olympic Weightlifter. Francesca is coached by Chelsea Dillon (Co-founder of Project Lift). Chelsea was one of the first athletes on which the DNS principles were applied not to rehab, but to training. In her coaching, Chelsea uses the DNS principles. Francesca, therefore, has been using these principles in her training for years. France...

While DNS (Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization) started as a powerful rehab approach, the very first time I took a DNS course, I saw its application to strength training immediately. In fact, at lunch, right after the introduction lecture in which we learned about stabilization and IAP (intra-abdominal pressure), I attempted to apply this to a heavy snatch workout I had scheduled. Even before I wa...

In this conversation with Mike Boyle... On December 29th, Mike Boyle put up a post that caused quite a ruckus. He said "I'm going to say it again, 5-10 reps done to failure is heavy enough. The risk of 1-5 is not worth the reward." While this statement does not seem to be all that controversial, the social media influencers of the world got riled up and stated to attack. I thought this created a t...

The conversation that we started in Part 1 was just getting rolling when we had to cut it off. Fortunately, Carl was nice enough to make time for a second podcast. In this episode, we neatly summarize the OPEX concept "Sustain" and then we dig a lot deeper into its application. Later in the episode we tease out the difference between sustain and repeatability - both important for any coach who wor...

I was lucky enough to sit down, not once, but twice with OPEX CEO Carl Hardwick. If you've not heard of OPEX, it is a phenomenal education platform for strength coaches and personal trainers. It truly is a comprehensive program for any one in the industry, no matter how much experience you have. OPEX has many foundational concepts, on which their system is based. Once such concept is "Sustain". In...

Of late, flexing the lumbar spine under load has become a surprisingly controversial topic. What was cannot not 10 years ago has become questionable. While flexing the lumbar spine under load seems like a bad idea, many social medial pundits are out there promoting the message that flexing your lumbar spine under load is totally fine. Again, while flexing the lumbar spine under load (repetitively...

Thanks to groups like the Human Health & Performance Foundation (@HHPFoundation) and books like Breath, the benefits of nasal respiration are starting to be uncovered. While most of these have focused on the effects nasal respiration has on aerobic performance and also health, I was curious how it might influence stability in both traditional strength training and also high intensity metabolic...

While these two phenomena or expressions of function are no doubt related and overlap in many settings, they are separate and distinct from each other. Understanding the difference enables the coach/therapist to better dose the exercise to elicit the desired adaptation (response).

Today’s Thoughts On is about the impact the athlete has on the overall efficacy of the program. ~ It was inspired by a great conversation I had with Henry Turaño, a fantastic coach and owner of OPEX San Juan. He is also one of the head coaches for Crafted Coaching, a remote coaching organization. ~ No matter how good the coach, programming is nothing more  than an educated guess. How the athl...

Mike Boyle has been an influential force in the strength training profession since its inception back in the 1980s. Brandishing a pragmatic sensibility, Mike has remained relevant and effective in an ever-changing profession for 4 decades. He's one of the early adopters of a "functional approach", now widely accepted in the industry. Mike is a busy fellow. He works as a strength coach in the Bosto...

This entire Thoughts On was inspired by listening to a presentation James FitzGerald did on "Core Training for Mixed Modal?" at the Training Trunk Stability course I recently taught in Scottsdale, AZ. ~ Enjoy!

The term stability is typically used quite broadly by both the medical and strength training professions. However, while they are most certainly related, they are not synonymous and understanding the difference between these two concepts is paramount for coaches to properly program and prepare their athletes for whatever task (aka sport) they must perform. In this Podcast, I discuss the difference...

In this podcast, I discuss the different types of carries and the utility of each. While carries in general are overlooked and underutilized in the strength training community, we tend to favor one style of carry and that style isn't the best one. Each type of carry has utility and purpose in a program, but one type is vastly superior to the others and does not carry with it (#PunIntended) the del...

James FitzGerald is a thought leader in the fitness industry and has been for almost a quarter century. His path started back in Calgary in 1999 when he started his former company OPT (Optimal Performance Training), which later became OPEX . This early recognition got him involved in the CrossFit movement where he was heavily influential in the early what we would call “.com days” long before Cros...

Jud Logan (4x Olympian & Head Track & Field Coach at Ashland University) Over the last 4 decades, Jud has been a force in the track and field community. First, he was dominant athlete who broke the American Record in both the hammer throw and the weight throw multiple times and represented the United States in 4 Olympic Games. In the mid 1990’s, he transitioned into coaching, where he has...

The art of developing athletes is programming the appropriate Training Load (Volume x intensity / Time). Everyone knows this, but few actually talk about the varying metrics coaches can use to more accurately "dose" (if you will) the athlete. In this episode, Dr. Ulm discusses a variety of both objective and subjective metrics coaches can use to better dose their athletes.

Creating the ideal program is no easy task. Often we fall into the trap of writing "difficult" programs. However, getting an athlete to reach maximum physical potential requires individualized programming...or as I would call it, programming with intent. Check out this episode to hear 7 different factors that every strength coach should be considering when programming for their athletes.

Athlete Enhancement is for anyone who is training for something, seeking to improve their performance, for the passionate individual who wakes up every day to maximize their performance in whatever they do. This could be a traditional "athlete" like a sprinter trying to maximize their ability to run as fast as possible over 100m or it could be a business owner who wants to be the best leader they...