Stereotypes of NASCAR might not bring to mind physical preparation, but motor sports have joined in the training revolution over the past decade and NASCAR is leading the way. On this week’s episode Michael Lepp of Joe Gibbs Racing joins us to talk about the role of strength and conditioning in motor sports, the mental side of preparation, and more. Read more
One of the sad realities in life is that training at age 40 is just not the same as training at age 20. The sooner we accept that, the better we can plan training for experienced athletes. On this week’s episode weightlifting coach Matt Foreman joins us to discuss training as a masters athlete, his own experiences, and the mental side of staying focused as the years go by. Read more
In some sense athletes have an easy job: what they need to do is defined by clear rules, which allows coaches to make a solid game plan and training plan. But what happens when you throw the rulebook away? On this week’s episode former world-class discus thrower Adam Kuehl talks about his transition to training soldiers in the special forces. How do you prepare for an uncertain environment? How do you got about preparing athletes mentally? Tune it to listen to these topics and more. Read more
On part one of our interview with Peak Performance
What does it take to reach peak performance in sport or in life? The new book Peak Performance
Whether they want to or not, parents play a large role in determine the success of their children. Part of this is in the genes they pass on, but a bigger part is in how they raise and nurture their children. On this episode of the podcast we take a look at the topic from the coach’s perspective: how do we see parents best helping their child’s success. Plus, we include an excerpt on the topic from an upcoming GAINcast episode with Steve Magness and Brad Stulberg. Read more
I abhor the term “mental toughness” and all the implications and baggage that comes with it. It is not part of my coaching vocabulary or practice. I want to help my athletes be mentally strong and understand why they are doing what they are doing. There are tough workouts and there are easy workouts all directed toward one goal: preparing a robust adaptable athlete who is ready to thrive in the competitive arena. That requires mindful highly focused training that is done with intent and purpose. Read more
Back in 2008, I injured my hamstring really badly. Most hamstring injuries are within the biceps femoris, which is the outer of the three muslces, and tend to occur around the musculotendinous junction; mine was much different – I injured my semi-tendinosis at the insertion. This is quite a complex injury, because the insertion of the semi-tendinosis is also very close to the insertion of a number of different structures, including sartorius and gracilus, in a structure known as the pes anserinus, as well as a bursa. It was an incredibly painful injury, and I was unable to run for nine weeks, which meant I missed all of my sprint training in February and March, as well as a bit of April. I was managing the injury fairly aggressively and progressing nicely, and opened up my competitive season at the start of June in Turin. Here, I was involved in a very tight finish, which caused me to re-injure my hamstring. Obviously, this was bad news; 2008 was Olympic year, and I had 4 weeks until the National Trials where I had to qualify for the team. Read more
