PA CHALK UP

Michael “Coach Steg” Stegemoeller is the strength & conditioning coach at the University of Pittsburgh, leading Women’s Lacrosse and Swim & Dive. A former undersized soccer kid turned performance nerd, he built his chops at MJP, Houston, Texas A&M, and Cincinnati—and now engineers teams that hit harder, move faster, and don’t fade. Steal-this-playbook: •  Periodize under constraints. V...

Rett Larson is an Olympic and pro volleyball S&C coach who turns warm-ups into real training and intent into horsepower. He gamifies everything—measured jumps, landmine throws, reverse treadmill sprints, and sneaky isometrics—so athletes get explosive, durable, and hooked. Creator of No Zombies , he thrives under constraints and builds teams that leave the gym sweaty, smiling, and better. stea...

Christina Bernal (Penn S&C) sits down for a raw, no-BS deep dive on building buy-in in the Ivy League, coaching rowers and jumpers in the same room, and why the team-around-the-team matters most when athletes get hurt. We get into contrast training you’re probably not using yet, the micro calls she makes between practice and lift , and coaching the human first—data, nuance, and a little Nickel...

Steph Grubbs (formerly Steph Mock) is a performance coach with the Houston Astros . In this one, we go line-by-line through her MLB program and unpack microdosing —how tiny, high-quality hits of strength, speed, and arm care keep players explosive across 162. Real templates, real constraints, and exactly how she makes it work on game days, travel days, and everything in between. Long-form, unfilte...

Alex Borg is a German-born performance coach and sport scientist now working stateside, building fast, durable athletes with a clean blend of research and real coaching. We get into what actually transfers from lab to weight room to field—stripping out buzzwords and keeping what moves the needle. Long-form, unfiltered, stupid practical. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TeamBuildr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ : Coaches,...

Glen Castro is a performance nutritionist at the UFC Performance Institute , helping fighters make weight the right way—and show up with pop on fight night. We get into the real playbook from camp to cage: no bro-science, no starvation contests—just clear systems that protect health and boost performance. Long-form, unfiltered, stupid practical. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TeamBuildr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ : C...

Ariel Paul and Evy Lyons are the co-founders of Apex Cool Labs , makers of a palm-cooling device built around a simple idea: cool the right tissue, at the right time, and you can train harder, recover faster, and keep your quality high when heat would normally shut you down. We get into the science, the myths, and the real-world use cases—from weight rooms and tracks to fight camps and team sport...

Heather Linden is a physical therapist and rehab lead at the UFC Performance Institute , where she helps build durable fighters and get them back in the Octagon smarter, faster, and safer. We get into the nuts and bolts of fight prep—what really matters from camp to fight week to the morning after—and how world-class rehab meets coaching, S&C, and nutrition under one roof. Long-form, unfiltere...

Dr. Mike Stone & Coach Meg Stone are legends in strength & conditioning. Mike is a world-leading researcher/coach in weightlifting and sport science; Meg is a former Olympic/Commonwealth Games thrower who became one of the first women to lead a full collegiate S&C department. Together they’ve spent decades blending hard science with real coaching, from LSU and Arizona to their long run...

Tom Blaney is a performance coach from Salve University , building fast, durable athletes in a tight-knit, high-accountability environment. We get into simple systems that punch above their weight—clear standards, clean programming, and numbers that actually drive decisions. Long-form, unfiltered, stupid practical. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TeamBuildr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ : Coaches, revolutionise your traini...

Peter Kenn is an Olympic-side strength & conditioning coach at SMU. Peter blends old-school intent with modern sport science across men’s & women’s soccer, men’s swim, and track jumpers/sprinters. Year 4 in, he’s built a collaborative, athlete-first room where standards are clear, the tier system gets real-world, and KPIs actually drive decisions (without worshipping them). Long-form, unfi...

Filippo Nason, a leading strength and conditioning coach for the senior team at Harlequins and most recently, England u20's. Discover Filippo's journey from playing rugby to shaping the future of athletes, and his innovative approach to performance and injury prevention. Tune in for insights that blend science, passion, and a touch of Italian flair! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TeamBuildr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Donnie Maib is the Director of Olympic Sports / Head Coach for Athletic Performance at the University of Texas—a culture-builder who’s spent nearly three decades shaping All-Americans and Olympians across multiple sports. He runs the performance side for Texas’ Olympic programs, leading staff, systems, and athlete development from the weight room to the field.  This episode is Sponsored by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Kerry Thompson is a performance coach with the University of Southern California football program. We talk building fast, resilient athletes in a pressure-cooker environment—where culture, standards, and smart training matter more than fancy toys. Real stories, zero fluff, lots of takeaways. This episode is Sponsored by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TeamBuildr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ : Coaches, revolutionise your trainin...

Bryan Mann is a strength & conditioning coach, researcher, and one of the leading voices behind velocity-based training. We go deep on being a mad scientist, using speed to drive adaptation, auto-regulating without overthinking it, turning numbers into decisions, and the messy truth of building durable, fast athletes. Long-form, unfiltered, and stupid practical. This episode is Sponsored by ⁠⁠...

We are joined again by Curtis Clay Training who is a premier athletic performance coach in Seattle, Washington. Known for his holistic approach, Curtis helps athletes overcome imbalances and unlock their full potential. This episode is Sponsored by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TeamBuildr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ : Coaches, revolutionise your training programs with their cutting-edge platform. Create and customised workouts,...

Michael Fahey is a filmmaker and strength coach behind the "Westside Barbell vs The World" documentary. We get into Westside myth vs reality, his coaching biz and OVR, and the ruthless mindset that actually builds a winning training culture—no fluff, just what works. This episode is Sponsored by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TeamBuildr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ : Coaches, revolutionise your training programs with their...

Thomas Newman is back on the podcast — and this time, he’s doing it all under his own banner. Now working independently through Newman HP , Thomas brings even more clarity, edge, and impact to the performance world. In this episode, we dive into what’s changed, what’s stayed true, and what it really means to coach athletes at the highest level. From elite-level programming decisions to managing at...

Episode 100 – The Best of PA Chalk Up (100 Episodes Strong) 100 episodes. A hundred conversations that have shaped how we look at strength & conditioning, sport science, and what it actually means to coach athletes. To celebrate, we’ve pulled together 10 of the most powerful moments from past guests—raw, unfiltered insights that stick with you long after the mic is off: ​ Ron McKeefery – Build...

Blair Lloyd, Strength and Conditioning Coach and Director of Training at Pure Performance, works with athletes across various disciplines, bringing a data-driven approach to her programs. Blair places a strong emphasis on athlete metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) to guide her training. This episode is Sponsored by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TeamBuildr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ : Coaches, revolutionise your training prog...

Renowned strength and conditioning coach Aaron Uzzell , this podcast dives deep into the world of athletic development, human performance, and the mindset required to push beyond limits. Whether you're an athlete, coach, or fitness enthusiast, each episode delivers practical insights, training philosophies, and real-world experiences designed to help you train smarter, move better, and perform at...

AJ Middleton is the Head Strength & Conditioning Coach at Seattle Prep High School, but to me, he’s much more than just a title. I first met AJ during our time at the University of Washington, where he was not only a coach but also the driving force behind the internship program. It was in that setting that I had the privilege to learn directly under his guidance. AJ shaped a huge part of my c...

Today we are joined by Sven Herzog who is a German performance coach currently working with FSV Mainz 05, a club in the Bundesliga, Germany's top football league. Sven has also engaged in innovative collaborations with technologies such as Moxy, which involves Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) to measure muscle oxygenation during training. This approach provides real-time insights into player...

Olivia Abdoo, sports medicine expert at the UFC Performance Institute, joins us to break down the brand new concussion protocol created to help UFC fighters return to sport both safely and efficiently. We explore: ✅ How the UFC PI built a system rooted in athlete safety and performance ✅ The blend of neuroscience, cognitive return-to-play benchmarks, and fight-specific demands ✅ How Olivia's ex...

In this episode, I sit down with Alex Beljic, a strength and conditioning coach at the University of Southern California working with women’s soccer, swimming, and diving. We dive into: ​His core coaching principles and adaptive learning strategies ​Key programming considerations across multiple sports ​The internship process and lessons for emerging coaches A valuable conversation for anyone look...