Bill Miller is a certified strength and conditioning specialist based out of the Chicagoland area. He’s trained mostly baseball players, from the youth ages all the way to the MLB level. He’s also written three books: Swing Fast, Throw Fast, and, most recently, Testing Is Training. The books cover power development for rotational power and much more!

Freelap USA: Previously, you’ve mentioned that every pro athlete you see on TV is a product of 5–12 years of work. What’s the key to longevity in a coach-athlete training relationship in the private sector, where training isn’t mandatory, and what makes the athlete want to come back so they can achieve the results they want?

Bill Miller: Easily, the number one biggest key is having fun on a daily basis. “Fun“ might mean slightly different things to different athletes, however. For example, a very serious professional player will find training to be fun when they are consistently competing or trying to beat their numbers, etc.. In contrast, a younger athlete may find training to be much more enjoyable if they laugh or joke around once or twice per session.

Environment plays a big role in how the athlete will improve, but also being sure they want to come back; they want to hold themselves accountable and make as much progress as possible. It takes so many reps, workouts, etc., to be great—they need to really want to come back.

On the contrary, I’ve been a part of gyms where the atmosphere is just dull and lifeless. They may have been doing all the “right“ exercises straight out of the handbook, but there was no real juice that got things going. I take a lot of pride in knowing that I typically don’t lose too many athletes over the years. Maybe one or two once in a while will leave to go elsewhere, but I know their reasons are never environmental issues.

Aside from that, something else I take a lot of pride in is being able to pivot an athlete’s program toward something that we both agree will work better. If you work with an athlete long enough, you will find that the training they did three or four years ago doesn’t really produce the same results as it once did. Three or four years later, the kid who was a scrawny 150-pound junior in high school is now a 185-pound college starting shortstop. His needs have changed. No longer does he need to pack lots of bodybuilding into his program; instead, he needs to pivot toward speed, joint stability, sport-specific work, etc.

We constantly measure key performance indicators but also talk consistently about what things the athlete feels they’d like to address. After all, they are paying me to help them get the results they want to see.

A few years ago, I started training a Major League Baseball player who came to me at age 28. He was always big into lifting: Westside Barbell, conjugate method, everything you can imagine in that realm, he was all about it…but he started shifting his mind toward something else. The thought of loading 400–500 pounds onto his back started to become less and less appealing. “Why would I do that? I see my friends and teammates do that at age 30, and they constantly say they feel like crap and get hurt.”

By no means is this an indictment of those exercises, but a realization that pivoting toward dumbbell reverse lunges and sleds, etc. lowered his barrier of entry to coming in to hit an intense leg day. He still runs just as fast as he did when he was younger. He’s healthy and enjoys training legs hard, but we don’t do anything with a bar on his back. I guarantee if I was stubborn and told him to keep squatting, he would have packed up and left right away.

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Freelap USA: How do you balance training your athletes at a high level as well as experimenting and being innovative in pursuing more knowledge/refining your craft?

Bill Miller: My big thing lately has just been measuring performance with whatever exercises we choose to do in a program. (Obviously, not every single thing can be measured, but we try to do as much as we can.) I think a lot of the innovation comes from finding ways to measure and then pivoting the exercises toward a certain adaptation, depending on what the measurements show us.

[bctt tweet="A lot of the innovation comes from finding ways to measure and then pivoting the exercises toward a certain adaptation, depending on what the measurements show us, says @billmills."]

If an athlete is elite with light loads but struggles with slightly heavier loads when we measure in the exercise, then I make sure that we steadily load the exercise more over time and improve output. For example, an athlete might be elite with a very light dumbbell jump but struggle once the weight gets heavier. So we slowly and steadily progress them to be able to perform better at that heavier load as the program goes on.

On the other hand, I would also say that we might emphasize the stretch-shortening cycle more with some athletes than others. Those who really struggle from more of a dead start and are elite with the “bouncy” stretch-shortening cycle could greatly benefit from starting the movement from more of a dead start. Measuring the two different variations gives us that information.

Something I’ve fallen a little bit off the wagon with is finding new exercises all the time. A few years ago, it started to feel like I was grasping at everything and anything new to fit into the program. The reality is that every time we add a new exercise, there’s going to be that learning curve involved. So, when we get better at the new exercise, there may be some benefit, but there will also be a lot of mystery to see if improvement in that exercise will actually translate to becoming a more powerful, robust athlete on the field.

Therefore, a lot of the exercises I do now are the same ones we’ve always been doing but just with a different emphasis. I know that the improvements they make are real—not beginner gains.

Freelap USA: Having your own space is nice, but it has a huge overhead cost. In your experience, as you’ve always rented space, what’s the key to being a good tenant/renter, and what’s your thought process on renting versus owning?

Bill Miller: Sharing space is way more challenging than it sounds. In my experience, just being nice and respectful to everyone seems to be the best way to do it. If I walked around like, “Look at all the big pro athletes I train. I’m a hot shot; nobody can talk to me,” that would ruffle a lot of feathers and rub people the wrong way. So then, if I have a bunch of crazy high school and college athletes in making a lot of noise and playing loud music, those people who would get mad at me would then file a complaint to somebody else, and I would get yelled at by management.

I’ve been booted from two places now, mainly because the organizations as a whole were failing. But many times in those cases of failure, I was purely involved in myself, not involved with how they wanted to improve the company's outlook in the future as a whole. Something that I try to do more of now is be more at the forefront of where the business as a whole is headed.

[bctt tweet="Before, I’d look at training methods I disliked and shun those types of coaches. But at the end of the day, they’re human beings, too, says @billmills."]

The pro/MLB guys I train are slotted to do events here at the facility, and I’m much more comfortable talking to other trainers—even if I think the agility ladders and long distance running they do is garbage. Before, I would look at training methods I disliked and shun those types of coaches. At the end of the day, they’re human beings, too, just trying to make a living and not work a 9–5 desk job. I can get down with that. I think the biggest key to sharing space is to look past our differences and always try to be a better tenant overall. I view it as more of a privilege than a right to work in the private sector.

Freelap USA: After publishing two books and continuing to work on a third, as those are huge undertakings, can you describe the process of going from an idea to a finished product and share any advice for those thinking about writing a book?

Bill Miller: I have two big tips for anyone writing a book:

1. Keep your writing cap on. If you told me to sit down for five hours straight and crank out a paper in college, I couldn’t ever do it (or I’d just haphazardly slop something together in 45 minutes). What I did for all three books was use speech to text, the Notes app, and anything else to continue to jot down ideas throughout the day.

If you’re passionate enough about something to write a whole book on it, it’ll be on your mind all day long. You don’t want any good thoughts to go to waste! I’d say that a majority of the rough drafts were written via speech-to-text, stuck in Chicago traffic on my way home from training that day. I’d have so many ideas buzzing through my mind that it just felt right to get them “written” down somewhere as soon as possible.

2. Make sure each chapter answers a question. It might not be worth its own chapter if the one you’re working on doesn’t offer new information or clarification on something for the reader. In fact, all the chapters I wrote in my first couple of books were questions I made up or had gotten through social media. I typically get 5–10 questions from different people about training throughout the week, so it was pretty easy to see what people were most interested in, needed clarification on, etc.

Finally, if you’re going to do it…just let it rip. Don’t let perfectionism ruin your ability to create! I come across very smart people from time to time who say that they would like to write a book eventually but don’t feel ready to do so yet. There’s a lot of that “If this isn’t an A+, I don’t want my name attached to it” mentality.

[bctt tweet="You can’t live in fear of what people (many of whom you will never meet in real life) might say, says @billmills."]

For one reason or another, there’s a little bit of fear in their mind that they won’t make a product people would get something out of. I definitely had to overcome that fear and just do it. I literally had to say to myself, “If people like it, great. If not, oh well, at least I gave it my best effort.” You can’t live in fear of what people (many of whom you will never meet in real life) might say. Every comment section everywhere online has at least one jerk who goes out of their way to say something rude. If they don’t like my book, my life will go on just the same.

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Freelap USA: Technology is a big part of your training (and training in general). A unique piece of yours is the Proteus. In general, or using the Proteus as an example, what’s your vetting process for deciding whether to invest in technology?

Bill Miller: This is probably not the best advice I can give a reader—so take my words lightly! I look at training in a very unique way: “What is this athlete missing that they need to play Major League Baseball someday?”

That is my mindset with every athlete I come across. It’s a very “Pull out all the stops to get results” approach, not a “This makes sense for my bottom line” approach. Starting with that mindset—with a very unrealistically high expectation of the type of progress I hope to see with them—I’ll then hold myself to a very high standard as well.

So, if there is technology out there that I feel could be beneficial and give us incredible data and feedback, much like the Proteus does, then I will go all in and make it happen. Things like ROI and making money off the Proteus all came as an afterthought. As long as the athletes I train day in and day out—my crew—are all feasting, getting better, climbing toward that goal, that’s what drives my decisions.

All that being said, I knew that we would use the Proteus a lot on an everyday basis. It wouldn’t just be something we used once and then collected dust. As long as I know that athletes will accumulate thousands upon thousands of reps with the machine and see a benefit from doing so, I have no problem spending the money on it.

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Bob Rowbotham is a former physical education teacher who coached football and wrestling. He is the CEO of Bigger Faster Stronger, running the company with his son John, who serves as the president and director of education. For nearly a half-century, BFS has been one of the most influential forces in athletic fitness training for young athletes. Working with athletic and physical education departments, BFS coaches have given over 10,000 hands-on clinics for athletes and their coaches. It was also known for its print magazine, BFS, which was published bimonthly for nearly four decades and distributed to over 17,000 high school, college, and professional sports programs.

Freelap USA: BFS promotes the unification of athletic programs in high schools. How do you define unification, and why do you think it’s important?

Bob Rowbotham: Unification is the belief that all sports and physical education classes should teach the same weight training techniques and follow the same program design structure. Unification enhances sports performance and ensures total physical development in the general student population.

Rather than having a stretching program for football, one for wrestling, one for baseball, and one for PE classes, all students follow the same stretching program year-round. Rather than having separate weight training programs, there would be one program that focused on the same core lifts year-round. The result is that a unification program reduces the amount of coaching needed to get athletes and the general student population ready to work hard in the weight room.

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Freelap USA: How was the BFS program created?

Bob Rowbotham: The inspiration for the BFS program came from the workouts of elite track and field throwers, including George Frenn (hammer throw), Stefan Fernholm (discus), and Jon Cole (discus and shot put). Frenn squatted a world record, Fernholm could power clean 476 pounds and vertical jump over 40 inches, and Cole was the first man to squat 900 pounds officially. Brigham Young University was the first college team to use the BFS workout, and the Utah Jazz was the first professional team.

Consider that when BFS started, most athletes who lifted weights were football players. Following the workouts of these powerful track and field athletes made sense. That environment has changed, with most sports wanting to enjoy the benefits of pumping iron. However, we found that the training methods used by those elite track and field athletes could benefit all athletes, even athletes in distance events.

[caption id="attachment_14786" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Image 1. BFS magazine was published for nearly four decades and was distributed to over 17,000 athletic programs.[/caption]

Freelap USA: BFS has a reputation for turning around sports teams, frequently featuring these teams in your magazine. What advice would you give to other coaches who want to get their athletes back on the winning track?

Bob Rowbotham: One way to turn around weak sports programs is to focus on breaking personal records in the weight room. With our set/rep system, it’s common for an athlete to break a dozen personal records a week, year-round. This positive reinforcement gives athletes confidence, and good things happen when you believe in yourself.

[bctt tweet="One way to turn around weak sports programs is to focus on breaking personal records in the weight room. This positive reinforcement gives athletes confidence, which leads to good things happening."]

In team sports at the high school level, talented athletes tend to cancel each other out. Rather than focusing on turning great athletes into superstars, making good athletes better can help elevate the overall talent of a sports team. Let me give you an example. It’s a daunting task for an undersized high school football lineman to face off against a 250-pound lineman. But if that undersized athlete can parallel squat 300 pounds and deadlift 400 pounds, he will have the mentality that he can do something against that opponent.

Another way to get an edge over schools is by starting athletes in strength and conditioning in feeder middle schools with a teaching system we call the BFS Readiness Program. This program teaches the basic lifts, how to spot, and how to properly stretch, jump, and sprint—heavy lifting isn’t emphasized, just technique. When these athletes move on to high school and have the physical maturity to lift heavy, they can get going from day 1 rather than going through a long introductory period.

[caption id="attachment_14787" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Image 2. BFS has given over 10,000 clinics on athletic fitness and character education. Here is Coach Jeff Scurran, a BFS clinician who has given over 400 BFS clinics and has a reputation for turning around struggling athletic programs.[/caption]

Freelap USA: What are the physical and mental differences that coaches and PE instructors should be aware of in kids now versus when you started teaching?

Bob Rowbotham: Physically, there’s little difference. That said, in the past, with PE classes, kids had to master one fundamental skill before moving on to another—that’s not the case now in many PE programs. Also, one of the worst things happening in the country is PE being taken off the required curriculum list, so kids never find out how much potential they have in sports.

Mentally, many young athletes today display a negative work ethic. Coaches I’ve talked to agree, saying that many kids today expect to be good without paying the price of hard work, and this attitude is difficult for a coach to deal with because there is so much influence by society. This challenge inspired us to develop a character education program called “Be an 11.”

[bctt tweet="The feedback we get from school administrators is that when athletes behave like role models, there’s a positive trickle-down effect on the entire student population."]

The “Be an 11" program focuses on working with athletes rather than the general population. A coach works with a team where everyone is focused on winning and achieving the same goals. The feedback we get from school administrators is that when athletes behave like role models, there is a positive, trickle-down effect on the entire student population.

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Freelap USA: BFS believes high school athletes should play multiple sports. Wouldn’t it be better for athletes to focus on a single sport to increase their chances for a scholarship? 

Bob Rowbotham: The highest level of sports competition for more than 90% of athletes is high school. It would be a shame for the less physically gifted athletes to focus on just one sport and miss out on the total high school sports experience. Also, the risk of injury, particularly overuse injuries, is much higher in athletes who play only one sport.

Next, having athletes play only one sport affects the success of the overall athletic program and can devastate smaller schools. That starting quarterback could be a point guard for the basketball team and a pitcher for the baseball team. That star volleyball player could be a center on the basketball team and a high jumper in track. Let me finish with one more point.

For athletes seeking a scholarship in team sports, consider that the success of an athlete in a team sport is influenced by the talent surrounding them. A less-talented running back with a strong offensive line may put up more impressive numbers than a more-talented running back with a weak offensive line. Seeing how this athlete performs in other sports, particularly track and field, gives college scouts a better understanding of an athlete’s athletic potential.

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Nick Brattain serves as the owner and founder of Brattain Sports Performance (New Orleans, LA), an adjunct professor for Tulane University, and the National High School Strength Coaches Association (NHSSCA) Louisiana State Director. Nick also co-host's the Business of Speed podcast with Steve Brietenstein.

Freelap USA: In regard to Brattain Sports Performance, how do you describe where you’ve been, where you are, and where you want to go?

Nick Brattain: I’m originally from the Indianapolis area, born and raised, and I went to the University of Indianapolis. I was a track athlete—really started out as a mediocre track athlete but then graduated as a four-time All-American in the 400. I say that only because it taught me what really good training will do.

My first position out of school was at Indiana University Health, which was a hospital organization in Indianapolis. I was their sports performance director, so I oversaw all sports performance training and also school training and high schools; that included five area high schools and two college strength conditioning coaches.

The NBA and NFL both went through their lockouts during that time. We were the healthcare providers for the Colts and the Pacers, and we became their training partners—they used our facilities every day, which gave me the opportunity to work with a lot of those athletes as well as their agents. One of those relationships I developed was with Eric Gordon and his agent, Rob Polenka. Rob Polenka was also Kobe’s agent (and is now the GM for the Lakers).

In 2014, I moved down to New Orleans to be a strength and conditioning consultant for the New Orleans Pelicans, as well as the personal trainer for Eric Gordon—I did that for three years and then ultimately was just ready to get out of the NBA.

[bctt tweet="I had the goal of opening a facility that catered to the individuals who didn’t receive the attention—volleyball, baseball, basketballs, golf, tennis, swimming, track—and trying to fill those needs."]

I felt like there was a need for sports performance training here in New Orleans. I had the goal of opening up a facility that catered to the individuals who didn’t receive the attention— volleyball, baseball, basketball, golf, tennis, swimming, track—and trying to fill those needs.

We opened in 2016, and we’ve been running ever since. I was a high school strength and conditioning coach for five years (Isidore Newman School), and then, ultimately, the business grew too large for me to be away from it for 8 to 10 hours a day every day. In 2020, when we had our daughter, I stepped away from the high school and just ran the business full-time at that point.

We’ve been growing and evolving since, with athletes from 9 to 10 years of age all the way through adults in their 80s. We offer a lot. Everything we do is semi-private training; we don’t offer groups, classes, or anything like that.

Everybody has individualized programming. We do a lot of speed and agility work—obviously, with my background in track—and we’re kind of known for our speed programs. Our goal is to serve the underserved and give answers to individuals who really didn’t have those resources years ago.

We have classrooms that have sports psychology, nutrition, massage, physical therapy, yoga, etc. We have a little bit of everything, including a smoothie snack shop. Ultimately, the goal is to be able to do everything that you need to do under one roof.

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Freelap USA: What unique lens have your experiences added to your perspective on the private side of the business? There’s certainly a change of pace.

Nick Brattain: The change of pace, it’s always unique. What really took me away from high school was the monotony of it—seeing the same groups day in and day out and doing the same workouts day in and day out. I loved it for a time, especially when we got to COVID-19, and we had to start breaking up the workouts and doing smaller groups.

A perfect example of this change of pace came just this morning. At 8 a.m., I worked with three individuals in their late 70s/early 80s. Then, in the next hour, I worked with three professional baseball players. Two hours later, I had a high school softball team. Tonight, we have a bunch of volleyball players who are between matches. There’s just such a variety there. You get to know individuals on a one-on-one basis.

We’ve got a girl who’s training right now; I think we’ve been working with her for seven years. She’s a senior, and just the level of development that we’ve had…you don’t have that with everybody.

There are some individuals who come in, and after 10 weeks, they’re done. You don’t ever see them again. But there are also other individuals who come in, and they buy into what you’re doing, and you’re able to see them for so many years and do so much with them. And because it is so individualized, you can create something for them and play with different protocols and programming periodization because you have that opportunity.

I just love the freedom and how every day can be a little bit different. I’ll be honest, I work 10, 12, 14 hours a day, every single day, but it doesn’t feel like that because there are so many different things that we’re doing.

Freelap USA: Coming up on a decade, what would you say is the biggest thing that you learned in your first five years in the field and the biggest thing you’ve learned in the second stretch of five years?

Nick Brattain: In the first five years of entrepreneurship, you have to be willing to do anything: to do anything at any time for anybody. For example, there would be club coaches who would call me on a Sunday at 9 a.m. or 10 a.m. and say, “Hey, we want to run a showcase today. Can you be here in two or three hours to run the timers on the 60-yard dash?” And I’d jump at the opportunity because I got to be in front of 300 baseball players who I didn’t know. And those same club coaches try and do that to me today, and we just don’t do it—we have to have some level of preparation.

Part of it was getting used to the culture in New Orleans. I was used to being in Indianapolis, where Butler had a great program, Ball State had a phenomenal program, Indiana, Purdue. I could pull interns and coaches, and employees from anywhere. I moved down here, and there are three universities that have a kinesiology program. My first four or five employees were not from this area.

There were people who I hired from Indiana, New York, Michigan, and Iowa who had to move down here because there just wasn’t a program down here. So, the first five years were truly just scratching and clawing and trying to create every opportunity for ourselves.

In our second five years, the focus was on how we create the systems and organisms to keep this thing running. We’re at a place now where it is very easy for me to become the bottleneck and slow down our progress. Now we’re at a point where it’s how can I empower other people? How can I enlist them to take ownership of what’s going on?

If we want to continue to grow, if we want to continue to have the success that we’ve had and continue this rate of growth that we’ve had, how do I empower others to take on these roles?

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Freelap USA: How would you describe your current projects that involve community engagement, projects, outreach, and collaborations? What’s the key to creating those opportunities for yourself and your business outside the facility?

Nick Brattain: My big thing is that you have to solve problems for people. You have to solve the problems and the issues that they have, and they may not even know that they have them. When I go to meet with teams, with clubs, with high schools, it’s letting them know that we’re going to help them out.

[bctt tweet="The biggest issue with an outdoor sport is what to do when it rains. You have to call off practice. If I can step in and give you another option, then you become the hero to the parents and athletes."]

For example, there’s a soccer club we work with, and the biggest issue when you’re in an outdoor sport is, well, what do you do when it rains? You have to call off practice. If I can step in and give you another option, then you become the hero. You become the hero to those parents and those athletes who don’t want practice called off.

They want to compete. They want to continue to play. So, when I can step in and say, “Hey, we’ve got a facility for you, and here’s what we’ll do—if it rains, just give me at least a 30-minute heads-up, and I’ll have a classroom ready for you. I’ll have a coach ready for you. Half of your team can go into the classroom and do film study; the other half can do strength and agility work with us. Then, halfway through the session, we’ll flip them.”

We work in athletics. Everybody is competing. They are all trying to get a leg up on the school down the road. And so they may not have the funds. They may not have the knowledge. They may not have the space. How can we step in and give them an advantage? Again, I think the big thing is trying to find those groups, think, what are they missing? How can we be a resource to them to give them a leg up? And then be able to step in and fill that void. Because, at the end of the day, all of these other groups, they’re businesses too.

Freelap USA: BSP has been affected by some natural disasters. Can you briefly touch on what happened, as well as your advice on how to overcome these types of issues, whether actual natural disasters or basically unpredictable circumstances beyond any coach or business owner’s control?

Nick Brattain: I feel like all of BSP’s history is just one hiccup after another. We’ve dealt with several hurricanes, including Hurricane Ida. We went through a move into a new facility, where we then went up against the city and saw significant pushback from them. New Orleans is getting ready to deal with what’s called a “saltwater wedge,” where basically all the drinking water in New Orleans will be no good. Entrepreneurship is not for those with a weak stomach.

As an athlete, I learned to deal with issues. Whether it came to gaining and losing starting roles or whether it came to injuries, there’s no changing the spot you’re in. You have two choices: stop and walk away or put your head down and work through it, taking it one piece at a time.

It is extremely daunting when a Category 4 hurricane hits your city when you’re in a completely different city, and you don’t know if your house is there, if your business is there, if your clients will return, or how quickly you’ll be able to come back. The initial report for Hurricane Ida said that we wouldn’t get power and electricity back for three months—that leaves you trying to figure out, “How am I going to get back there? And when I do get back there, what am I going to do?”

I had employees who stayed in the city, so I felt a responsibility to get back and help them. I think it comes down to taking one task at a time: What is the next thing I can do?

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Freelap USA: You’ve made a recent addition to the BSP family with facility number two. What is that process like, and when do you want a facility versus when do you need one?

Nick Brattain: You only need a facility if you want a facility, and you should want a facility because you want to run it, not because of prestige. Not because you feel like it’s the next step.

So far this week, I’ve been a plumber, I’ve been a roofer, I’ve had to deal with client service issues, I’ve had to deal with the electric company. None of it has to do with coaching. There is very little that I’ve done this week that actually is coaching.

When you move in, when you step into a facility, you put on a lot of hats. And when this facility gets bigger, you just have more responsibilities.

I’ve always wanted to have a facility that I can call mine. I’ve always wanted to have a brand that we can continue to grow. I’ve done training in parks and rented other facilities, and I don’t like it. I like knowing that when I wake up in the morning, I have a spot to drive to and unlock the front door. I turn the lights on, and all my equipment is there; everything is ready to go there. There is very little that I am not in control of.

[bctt tweet="I’ve always wanted to have a facility that I can call mine. I like knowing that when I wake up in the morning, I have a spot to drive to and unlock the front door, says @nick_brattain."]

Once I start bringing in other professionals, they’re counting on me. They’re counting on me to make sure that they have a building they can go to. They’re counting on me to make sure that there are clients coming in the door. It’s a lot of weight on my shoulders.

As far as the numbers go, I always like making decisions based on my slow times. When I was in Indianapolis, we had a 25,000-square-foot facility. It was massive. Inevitably, when you’re in there coaching one person, that athlete is uncomfortable. There’s no excitement. It’s hard to bring the energy in there. But you shrink it down to a 10,000- or 8,000-square-foot facility, and you pack it out with 50 people, there’s a ton of energy and excitement. You need to make your decisions based on what your slow hours look like.

It needs to always be a comfortable environment to be in. I think that just because you have the money to move up or take another step, that’s not necessarily the best time to be making those calls.

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Many readers may associate Archbishop Hoban in Akron, Ohio, with football because of the multiple state titles they’ve won or the national schedule they play. But Hoban has been dominant across multiple sports for several years. Coincidentally, the rise of Hoban athletics coincides with the arrival of Coach Mike Winkler.

Coach Wink joined Hoban in 2014 following an eight-year journey as a strength coach in Major League Baseball. During his time at Hoban, Coach Winkler’s teams have won state titles across multiple sports, speaking to his ability to develop athletes physically and emotionally to support continued success class after class. In addition to his success in athletic preparation, Coach Winkler also serves as the regional director for the Great Lakes region of the NHSSCA.

Freelap USA: What are your program’s fundamental tenets or pillars?

Mike Winkler: At the risk of sounding corny, our program is built on love. This goes above and beyond our weight room culture and extends to our teams at practice, in the classroom, and outside the school. Our administration and sport coaches do a great job of supporting this vision, and our athletes embrace what we preach.

[bctt tweet="When I say that our athletes have embraced a culture of love, that starts with a love for what we do in our program. They love the drive for excellence and the bonds they make, says @Hoban_Strength."]

When I say that our athletes have embraced a culture of love, that starts with a love for what we do in our program. They love the drive for excellence, the bonds they make during training, and going through hard things together. They love our school and our community. That reflects on our student sections on Fridays in the fall, Tuesday nights for basketball in the winter, and baseball games in the spring. They love this school and want success for the teams here.

Our coaches do an excellent job of loving our players well and going beyond telling them by proving it through actions, having conversations about life outside of sports or school, and being there for them when needed. As this community of athletes, coaches, school staff, parents, and alumni have all grown together in love, it’s been exciting to see the way athletics has taken off.

Athletes and coaches begin working even harder because their commitment to the teams means more to them due to their connections to each other. The ability to foster these relationships has been crucial to the community we’ve built, and the impacts on the field, the court, and the weight room have all stemmed from that.

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Freelap USA: How do you keep a championship-caliber program motivated year after year?

Mike Winkler: It can be easy year over year to let the attention to detail or the effort slip. Winning is hard. It starts with never letting up on the standards. When we first set the standards, we did so for a reason. Quality standards aren’t just set to change losing behaviors. They’re set to establish winning behaviors and winning habits. So, if we set standards that target winning habits, hold ourselves and our athletes to winning standards regardless of our performance last year or last week, and focus on accomplishing our standards, winning will come.

[bctt tweet="Quality standards aren’t just set to change losing behaviors. They’re set to establish winning behaviors and winning habits, says @Hoban_Strength."]

Along those same lines, we have those standards, but how we accomplish our tasks is detail-oriented. From the way we warm up, the way we lift, and the way we spot to the way we put our equipment away at the end of each session, the details make the big things. If we establish a culture focused on taking care of the details, the big things will begin to fall in line. For instance, everyone preaches effort, “We have to have great effort today,” but if we can focus our kids on giving great effort in small segments, the effort in the overarching session will be high. We want to be perfect in the little things.

Finally, we’re never satisfied. Our goal is to break records, which becomes the new benchmark for our next class. We instill in each class that while Hoban has won x number of games and x number of championships, you haven’t. And for the ones that have, we chase records and always try to keep them hungry with short-term opportunities for success.

Freelap USA: What are the most critical pieces to developing assistants or interns at the high school level?

Mike Winkler: The first piece is developing relationships. My assistant, Maddie, does a phenomenal job building relationships with our student-athletes. Once they understand the importance of relationships with the athlete, they can foster that relationship and build respect for athletes. From there, I try to find a place to allow them to build a strong coaching voice and develop clean, direct communication skills.

One of the most crucial pieces to coaching high school athletes is the ability to hold attention and demand intent with your words. We start small, allowing our interns to take control of the warm-up; then, once they master their ability to control the warm-up, they can run a session with a small group.

Young coaches need time to coach and find out what does and doesn’t work for them. Some coaches yell and scream, which genuinely fits their personality, while others are calm and control a room differently. It’s important for each coach to know their style and not try to be someone they aren’t.

With this, we want to ensure our new coaches understand the technical coaching cues we use and our kids are hearing the same terminology from every coach. This creates continuity and consistency for the athletes, and we never accept technique that isn’t to our standard.

Another big step is conveying to a new assistant or intern the importance of a pristine weight room. This is not only for sanitation and cleanliness but also because we want this space to be a place where our kids want to train, and that includes an organized, clean, like-new weight room.

Freelap USA: How do you continue to learn and grow as an established strength coach?

Mike Winkler: I love this industry because it is constantly evolving. The way we view the role of S&C compared to 10 years ago has changed drastically and continues to do so as technology improves and our understanding of the body and the game athletes play improves. I try to approach this with a desire never to stop learning, and I can’t let the industry’s understanding of training pass me up because then my athletes suffer.

Regularly talking to other coaches and networking is a must. I take every opportunity to speak to other coaches at all levels and see what they’re doing to determine what other methods may fit into our program and improve what we do without compromising who we are.

I also try to learn from leaders in other industries, like the military, corporate leaders, and others who have succeeded. What mindsets, practices, and tactics are they using to motivate themselves and those around them? What approach can I add to my toolbox to better serve my teams? While S&C operates differently than many others, there are commonalities between successful people, and I want to know what those are.

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Freelap USA: What is one piece of advice that you wish your 25-year-old self knew?

Mike Winkler: Relationships are more important than your knowledge. This isn’t just with athletes, either. Many coaches approach situations spouting off science, and this isn’t a bad thing. Science is essential, but the most critical component to successful team training is the relationships we build.

[bctt tweet="Science is essential, but the most critical component to successful team training is the relationships we build, says @Hoban_Strength."]

Again, back to love, our ability to draw on these emotions of selflessness, team over self, and love allows us to train harder, come together, and build an environment where we can’t let each other down because we care about each other. The ability to build relationships is a skill I wish I’d had sooner in life.

Along the same lines, I wish I’d been better at taking time before responding to others, especially when my views didn’t match theirs, whether personally, professionally, in training, or philosophically. I wish I were better at taking a deep breath, thinking about my response, and maybe waiting 24 hours before I reply or comment on social media, email, or text. And, just like any other 25-year-old, I wish I knew how much I didn’t actually know!

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Over the past 41 years, Paul Gagné has coached 2005 U.S. Open Golf Champion Michael Campbell, MMA legend Georges St-Pierre, and Olympic champions in three sports. He is also one of the most sought-after “physical preparators” for hockey, having trained over 500 NHL players.

Gagné is known as the “MacGyver” of strength coaching, creating countless exercises for rehabilitation, postural correction, and superior athletic performance. He has also used “airflow restriction” techniques for the past 15 years to increase aerobic fitness and muscular endurance.

Freelap USA: How can postural training influence speed?

Paul Gagné: You can’t talk about speed without discussing foot mechanics. Valgus feet are common in the U.S.—with a valgus foot, your foot collapses inward. This causes the legs to rotate internally, the pelvis to rotate anteriorly, and the body to move forward of the gravity line so that your weight shifts toward the balls of your feet.

[bctt tweet="You can’t talk about speed without discussing foot mechanics, says @posturology."]

These postural changes reduce the elastic properties of the foot and increase the stress on your hamstrings, lower back, knees, calves, and Achilles.

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Freelap USA: Will arch supports or orthotics correct valgus feet?

Paul Gagné: First, visiting a local drugstore and buying cheap arch supports may do more harm than good. Only a podiatrist can accurately assess your feet to determine if you need orthotics.

Generally speaking, I don’t like my athletes to wear orthotics in their regular shoes. They become a crutch because the feet get accustomed to the additional support, and the arches become even weaker.

What I do like are specific exercises to strengthen the muscles that reform the foot arch. One of the most important muscles to train is the extensor hallucis longus, which lifts the big toe. Lifting the big toe creates lateral tension on the foot to lift the arch. An exercise I like for this extensor muscle is to stand on one leg barefoot, lift the big toe, and then twist your body toward your standing leg. You can use a medicine ball or weight plate to increase the resistance.

Why do valgus feet happen in the first place? There are more mechanical receptors on the sole of the foot sensitive to pressure than receptors in the eyes. In the U.S., kids are put in well-cushioned shoes that cause them to lose proprioception in their feet, which is essential to posture and movement. I worked in Jamaica for 16 years and observed their young sprinters. They often run barefoot and on the beach, which helps strengthen the foot muscles and improve proprioception. They all had good proprioception.

[caption id="attachment_14688" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Image 1. Gagné with Olympians Justine (left), Chloé, and Maxime Dufour-Lapointe. In the 2014 Olympics, Justine won the gold and Chloé the silver in mogul skiing.[/caption]
Freelap USA: Is the emphasis on functional training in the U.S. headed in the right direction? For example, having athletes stand on Bosu balls to develop stability?

Paul Gagné: First, when David Weck invented the Bosu ball, his intention wasn’t for the device to improve balance but to create compression. I use Bosu balls for compression training to improve an athlete’s ground reactive force. We found that athletes who create the most force displacement on the ground will move faster in sports such as soccer, sprinting, hockey, speed skating, and American football.

[bctt tweet="The problem with many forms of functional training is there’s not enough load to create a significant training effect, says @posturology."]

The problem with many forms of functional training is there is not enough load to create a significant training effect. David Behm from Newfoundland researched this matter, showing that these functional training exercises have little carryover to sprinting or jumping ability if you don’t load them enough.

If I train a hockey player, I will have about 10 weeks to prepare for training camp. I have to cut to the chase and use superior training methods. If you have the time and want to use these popular functional training methods as a warm-up, fine.

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Freelap USA: What is the value of powerlifting and strongman movements in athletic fitness training?

Paul Gagné: I am not a fan of powerlifting squats because they work the legs through a partial range of motion.

One of the top strength coaches in the NFL invited me to visit his facility, and I was shocked to see how little muscle there was around the knees and ankles of these athletes. They were built like horses with huge glutes but had little development of the hamstrings and the muscles around the knees and lower legs. This may explain why Achilles, ankle, knee, and hamstring injuries are prevalent in American football.

Strongman training has little carryover to speed development because they are performed too slowly, often near isometric, and many consist of partial-range movements that create muscle imbalances and tightness in the connective tissues. Also, if postural imbalances are present, exercises such as the farmer’s walk that place high compressive loads on the spine may cause injury. I’ve personally seen many SI joint issues with the farmer’s walk.

Weightlifting is great, but American strength coaches focus on partial-range movements, such as the hang power clean. All my athletes lift from the floor and have significantly fewer injuries because of the full range of motion and synchronization of the muscles.

[bctt tweet="All my athletes lift from the floor and have significantly fewer injuries because of the full range of motion and synchronization of the muscles, says @posturology."]

[caption id="attachment_14690" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Image 2. Besides working with athletes full-time, online and in-person, Gagné has made presentations in 22 countries. This photo was taken during a seminar he gave in China on postural correction.[/caption]

Freelap USA: You promote isoinertial training using flywheel devices. How does this type of training influence speed compared to conventional weight training?

Paul Gagné: One quality that sets sprinters such as Usain Bolt apart is that he spends less time on the ground with each step. When his foot touches the ground, his superior eccentric strength enables him to quickly redirect, absorb, store, and release elastic energy created to produce maximum speed and power. Sprinting will improve eccentric strength, but I believe the fastest way to improve it is with isoinertial training.

Isoinertial training uses a flywheel device that works like a yo-yo, such that the faster you push or pull, the faster the device pushes or pulls back. This “high-velocity eccentric overload” is a natural movement that improves balance and coordination at high speeds. The key is to perform the exercises at such a speed that you’re barely in control of the movement.

My three mogul skiers who competed in the Olympics have used isoinertial training throughout their athletic careers, and they generated greater force on the device than many of my NFL players. I’ve used it for over 15 years—I’m 62 and can skate about as fast as I could in my 20s!

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Mike Hurst coached Australian sprinters to qualify for five successive summer Olympic Games from 1980–1996 and one more in 2020. His most successful athletes were Seoul Olympic 400m Finalists Maree Holland (50.24s) and Darren Clark (44.38s), who set NSW State and Australian National Records. Most recently, Hurst coached Rebecca Bennett and Ian Halpin to anchor Australia’s 4x400 relay teams at the 2019 World Championships in Doha.

While pursuing his love of coaching, Hurst worked as a sportswriter for the News Ltd group of newspapers in Australia, for which he reported in-stadium at the first nine athletics world championships (Helsinki 1983 to Paris 2003), seven Commonwealth Games, and six summer Olympic Games.

Freelap USA: The role of tempo is a controversial topic among internet coaches. In order to make a case for or against its use, I think it’s important to define it clearly; so, how do you find tempo work? Is it something you use? If so, how do you integrate it into your program?

Mike Hurst: As I understand tempo from my time with Charlie Francis—who was a great advocate for it—it was anything run at 70% of maximum speed for that distance, or slower. In 1988, I had two athletes make the Olympic final over 400 meters, and we were using a lot of submaximal efforts—but by the definition I’ve just described, it wouldn’t fall into the category of tempo. We spent a lot of time training at the pace of the second half of a 400-meter race, which would normally be an athlete’s best 200-meter time, plus about three seconds. And while the number of repetitions may vary slightly, the recovery was typically a slow 200-meter jog.

We would also use a lot of 300-meter runs, and we would typically do nine repetitions—three sets of three reps—at a pace about 6–8 seconds slower than their best 300-meter time. This session would be done with a 100-meter jog between reps and a very slow 400-meter jog between sets one and two, and then a 400-meter jog AND a 400-meter walk between sets two and three.

We would also often run a session of 12 efforts, three sets of four reps, over 150 meters—these runs would be somewhere between two and three seconds slower than a best time for a one-off rep over this distance. This session would be done with a jog across the infield back to the 150-meter start between reps one and two and reps three and four, a walk across the infield between reps two and three, and a long recovery interval of perhaps 8–10 minutes or so between sets. However, this wasn’t something I was too strict on.

Now, these times are ballpark estimates based upon personal best times, but how close these reps could be completed to personal best levels would depend on things like training age, talent levels, and training surface (we did a lot of training on grass). I see value in this type of work to prevent an athlete from falling apart toward the end of a race, and so we use sessions such as those above to squeeze the envelope and encourage the athletes to become more comfortable with being uncomfortable.

While Charlie, and a lot of those whom he has influenced, stayed away from work between 70%–75% and 90%–95% intensities, in a conversation I had with Abdelkader Kada—coach to Hicham El Guerrouj, the 1500m world record holder—he told me that they did a lot of work in the rhythm of the latter part of the race. I tend to view this as intensive tempo, which we did a lot of, and it is what I prefer; this would sit in that “mid-zone.”

[bctt tweet="Every now and then, a coach comes along who uses a method that may be considered madness, but then they have an athlete break the world record, and it makes us reconsider what we thought to be true."]

There are great coaches who wouldn’t use this method, and I’ve probably not spent enough time with these coaches while they coach their athletes to understand their reasoning well enough. This is one of the reasons the sport is so fascinating: there’s such a variety of methods that can lead to success. Every now and then, a coach comes along who uses a method that may be considered madness, but then they have an athlete break the world record, and it makes us reconsider what we thought to be true.

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Freelap USA: One of the workouts that you perhaps wrote more about on internet forums than others was the 5–6x200m session you had your 400m athletes do. Are you able to please outline the parameters of this session, what led you to implement this session, and some of the things you look for from the athlete and hope to develop?

Mike Hurst: In 1968, Mel Watman put out a booklet regarding the Mexico City Olympics, including an interview with Lee Evans, the 400m gold medalist and the first man to officially break 44 seconds for the event. He said that in his time at San Jose State under Bud Winter, they would do six runs of 200 meters in 23 seconds with a jog-back recovery. As I went down this rabbit hole, I gathered data from Charles University in Prague, which covered races from various championship meets, including the 1982 European Championships. The data showed that a large proportion of 44-flat male 400m runners ran the last 200 meters of a 400-meter race in about 23 seconds, and the 50-flat females often ran the last 200 meters in about 26 seconds.

When I initially started incorporating these 200-meter repetitions into the program, a lot of the athletes were struggling after three runs—but over time, many of them progressed to being able to complete five runs. In 1988, I had Darren Clark and Maree Holland in the individual 400m at the Seoul Olympics. Prior to this, Darren had completed six 200-meter runs off a one-minute-and-forty-second jog recovery in 23 seconds, and I believe I had timed two of them in slightly under 23, and Maree had completed her runs in 26 seconds. This gave me the confidence that they were prepared to run well.

[caption id="attachment_14641" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Image 1. “When we were young”: Coach Mike Hurst (right) with Darren Clark and Maree Holland.[/caption]
Back in those days, there were four rounds, and I wonder if that played to our advantage because while I felt we had a fairly specific program, it was also based upon a substantial amount of endurance. So, with the back end of the race that I felt this session helped cultivate—and the fact that Darren had run a training PB in a 200m time trial and Maree had run a 200m competition PB in the lead-up to the Olympics by concurrently developing speed and endurance together, largely working at the rhythm of the race—we all felt pretty confident that a good 400-meter race could come together.

Beyond the 5–6 x 200-meter session, I had the athletes go a little more specific when needed by doing two sets of 2 x 200 meters, which would really address the race model. If I had an athlete with a season’s best 200-meter time of 20 flat, they were required to run the first run under 21 flat. After that, they would take two minutes’ rest before running a “rolling” second rep with the intention of it being faster than the first.

Freelap USA: To be a successful 400m sprinter, it’s important to develop the physiological capacities to have a high enough maximum velocity and to endure a speed that is at a relatively high percentage of that maximum velocity. How do you balance your programming to ensure these two aspects are developed within your athletes?

Mike Hurst: Vertically integrating a program, so that all the important qualities could be developed at all times throughout the year, is important, and some of the ideas that initiated my setting up of such a program came from Daley Thompson’s coach, Frank Dick. One thing he said that stuck out, particularly, was that if athletes train in the same rhythm for more than three weeks, they risk becoming locked into what he termed a “dynamic stereotype.” This reinforced my own experience from when I was an athlete, and I could run five or six 200-meter efforts in 22.5, but I couldn’t run under 22 seconds in a one-off effort.

[bctt tweet="Maybe running much further than 300 meters isn't essential when training for the 400m. By the last 100 meters of a 400m, you’re running so slow I wonder if you want your body used to that tempo."]

This also led me to the idea that maybe it wasn’t essential to run much further than 300 meters when training for the 400m. By the last 100 meters of a 400m, you’re running so slow that it makes me wonder if you want your body used to that kind of tempo. The challenge was balancing both speed and endurance simultaneously while factoring in the right amount of recovery so that fitness wasn’t lost, but injury risk was mitigated.

Taking all this into account, I designed five-week training blocks, which I’ll provide more detail on later. Essentially, the first two and a half weeks had strength and endurance as the primary emphasis, and the second two and a half weeks emphasized speed and power. After completing the five weeks, week six was a “rest and test” week, during which resting was certainly the emphasis! Tests were inserted based on the athlete’s recovery status, and this also dictated the tests chosen, to an extent.

[vimeo 869293170 w=800]
Video 1. Working out at the track.

Within the “speed block,” we would do a lot of things, like flying 30 runs working on entering and exiting the bend. For example, the athlete would build up for 50 or 60 meters and run hard for 20 or 30 meters, and this zone would finish at the end of the straight; they would then maintain this rhythm for another 40 meters or so throughout the first half of the bend. When approaching the exit of the bend, we spent a lot of time working on “dialing up” the intensity rather than flicking a switch to avoid any sudden or abrupt changes to the technique or the physiological demands.

As I mentioned in the previous answer, we built these qualities into a race modeling session, and I think that’s something important to help make these qualities we’re developing more functional. I like to make the analogy that we’ve built and developed the car, and then the race model work is almost like learning how to drive that car!

[caption id="attachment_14642" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Image 2. Ian Halpin with training partner and national teammate Bec Bennett. Both anchored Australia’s 4x400 relays in the 2019 Doha World Championships.[/caption]
Freelap USA: The benefits of resisted and assisted sprinting probably contribute to a smaller component of development for the 400m athlete than the 100m sprinter. Are these modalities that you use? What other technology do you find to be useful when coaching 400m athletes? 

Mike Hurst: I would love access to a 1080 Sprint, but unfortunately, that is not an option for me and my athletes. Therefore, we make use of hills and sleds for resisted sprints. While I do not implement a great deal of assisted sprinting, I would again use a hill, but I would try and keep the decline at two degrees or less and on a reasonably soft surface as a bit of injury mitigation should the athlete fall.

While this isn’t something I would do now, a funny anecdote is that when I started coaching years ago, I had an athlete, Debbie Wells, running while holding onto the bumper bar of a car! Interestingly, Debbie was a prodigy, representing Australia in the 1976 4x100m Olympic final at only 14 years old!

Another thing I would like to have access to is pacing lights, such as those used in East Germany in the mid-1980s by Wolfgang Meier, coach to 400m world record holder Marita Koch, and also Marie Jose Perec. Obviously, there were some practices taking place in that part of the world at that time that went against the rules of our sport, but they did have some very innovative and ethical practices as well, and I wish I had some pacing lights still, 40 years or so after some coaches were using them. As I mentioned, I value the need to work at the rhythm of the race, and having a tool to help guide the athlete to the correct pace in training so it can be reinforced is something that I would find very useful.

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Freelap USA: What does a typical block of training look like for 400m athletes?

Mike Hurst: I use the general preparation phase (GPP) to develop virtually everything except maximum velocity (pure speed). The six-week GPP consists of two and a half weeks of what may be termed “strength and endurance training,” followed by two and a half weeks of speed-power training. These two periods of training may be called “micro-cycles.”

The sixth week is termed “rest and test.” It provides the athlete with a chance to recover and the opportunity to run a few time trials if they feel up to it.

[vimeo 869294748 w=800]
Video 2. We often incorporate light (2kg or 3kg) medicine ball activity into our ballistic warm-up. We do five reps, in turn, of five different types of throw or pass in our activation routine.

We stay in touch with some higher-velocity running during the so-called Speed-Power micro-cycle that occupies the second half of the six-week GPP. However, there is a much greater emphasis on high-intensity training and longer recovery during the many months following the GPP.

We do the six-week GPP block twice. So this is three months of GPP training.

During GPP, I try to develop the strength to finish the last 80 meters of the race. We develop the base, then maintain and further develop a thread of that strength at even more race-specific levels during the pre-season and through the in-comp period.

[caption id="attachment_14643" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Image 3. Alex Moore in training.[/caption]
General Preparation Phase

At the end of the warm-up, five “beach” starts (on grass, prone position, starting at the command of the coach’s clap) over 10 meters are included, followed by five 10-meter bunny hops (double-foot take-offs and landings) with a walk-back recovery.

The strength and endurance micro-cycle: This is the first two and a half weeks of the GPP.

Day 1 is a Sunday.

Week 1

Day Session(s)

1. 2–3 x 4x150m. One set = sprint 150 meters and diagonal jog back to start, sprint 150 meters and diagonal walk back to start, sprint 150 meters and diagonal jog back to start, sprint 150 meters and rest. Rest = slowly walking a lap (no more than 10 minutes, if possible), then repeat. This session should be done on a grass track.
2. Long hills + weights. (Target 3x2x360 meters long hill in rhythm of 400m race). Recovery = jog down, stretch, and then run a second hill rep. Then, full recovery between sets (up to 45 minutes). This is done on a grass hill at about a 10- to 15-degree incline. This session is modified according to age and fitness, and a reduced session can be just 3 x 1 long hill with full recovery OR 1 x long hill, jog 100 meters back down and wait there, resuming sprint to the top when joined by athletes sprinting from the bottom of the hill.
3. Rest (or one-hour gymnastics).
4. 5x200m + weights. A 5x200m is done in the rhythm of your race. The ideal target time for each 200 meters is about three seconds slower than your 200m PB or close to the time you hope to run for the final 200m in your ideal 400m. Recovery = ideally a 200m jog or no longer than two minutes. However, many sprinters won’t achieve either the target time or the recovery time for the full five reps initially. I recommend going for the target rep time and then walking the recoveries. If necessary, split the set in 2 x 200 + 200 with, preferably, no more than five minutes between the two sets. (Aspiring elite males will ultimately aim to do 6x200m in 23 seconds; females 6x200m in 26 seconds.) This should be done on a synthetic track but can be done on grass.
5. Long hills (same as day 2).
6. Jog (15–30 minutes) + weights.
7. Rest.

Week 2

1. Sprints ladder 350, 300, 250, 200, 150, 100, 60, 50, 40, 30—slow walk-back recoveries. (These sprints should be done in the rhythm of your 400m race. The quality of times should improve as the distance shortens.)
2. Jog 15–30 minutes + weights.
3. Rest (or one-hour gymnastics).
4. 2x (300+150) + weights. Initially, run the 300 meters slightly slower than the final 300 meters of your ideal 400m race. Then, ideally, recovery = 30 seconds. Then, the 150m sprint is done with maximum effort. Modify the recovery to 60 seconds or as much as two minutes for younger or less fit sprinters. Recovery then between sets is full, preferably at least 15 minutes (and potentially more than 30 minutes).
5. 5x200m (same as on day 4 of week 1).
6. 2x5x100 run-throughs, walk back + weights. This session should be done on grass. The runs are to rehearse relaxation, clean mechanics, and easy rhythm.
7. Rest

Week 3

1. Long hills (as before).
2. 3x3x300m + weights (upper body only). This session should be run on a grass track. Each run is 300 meters with a 100-meter slow jog recovery to complete the lap and then run the next 300 meters, etc., with three reps to the set. Recovery = 100m jog between reps; one-lap jog between sets 1 and 2; one-lap jog followed by one-lap walk between sets 2 and 3.

The ultimate target for aspiring elite athletes is to run each 300 meters in sub-50 seconds on grass, but for most athletes, simply completing the task of 9 x 300m in any time at all will be the starting point (as a reference point, Darren Clark ran this session with times of 44 seconds or faster, occasionally dipping under 40.0 for the last rep).

3. Rest (or one-hour gymnastics).
4. Rest (or warm-up, warm-down).

The Speed-Power micro-cycle: the next 2 1/2 weeks of the GPP.

5. Track fast, relaxed 300+4x60, 250+3x60, 200+2x60, & 150+1x60. (This session starts the Speed-Power micro-cycle. All reps should be run at race-specific intensity for the distance. Recovery between the long rep and the first backup rep is ideally only 30 seconds. However, this can be modified to suit the individual athlete, but recovery should preferably not exceed two minutes. Recovery between the remainder of reps will be a leisurely walk back. The remaining reps in each set should be a rolling start (possibly with one designated leader dropping a hand as they hit the starting line).
6. Jog 15–20 minutes + weights (whole body).
7. Rest.

Week 4 (repeats for Week 5):

1. 300+60, 50, 40, 30; 200+60, 50, 40, 30; 150+60, 50, 40, 30. Ideally, 30 seconds of rest between long rep and first short rep, as on day 5 of week 3.)
2. Field circuit* (about six minutes) + NO WEIGHTS: The field circuit consists of various exercise stations positioned around a grass football field. At halfway on the far side of the field, mark out a series of grid marks, each 5 meters further infield than the previous. The first grid will be 5 meters infield from the sideline. There must be a further five grid marks, each 5 meters further infield than the previous grid mark. *See attached diagram of field layout.

The circuit starts in the bottom right corner of the football field and progresses around the sideline to finish in the same place. En route, there are tasks. The circuit starts by skipping to halfway. Then, do 10 sit-ups. Then, continue by skipping to the goal line. Then, do 10 push-ups. Then, bound along the goal line to the opposite corner. Then, do 10 jack jumps (knee to chest). Then skip along the sideline to halfway.

Here, things get interesting: Do 10 jack jumps, then 10 sit-ups, then 10 push-ups. Then, sprint toward the center of the field to the most distant mark on the grid. This should be 25 meters from the sideline. Turn on this grid and jog back to the sideline. Repeat the same three exercises (jack jumps, sit-ups, push-ups) for 10 reps each. Then, sprint to the second-most distant grid mark (20 meters away), jog back to the sideline and repeat three exercises for 10 reps each.

This process continues until all five grid marks have been run around. Upon returning to the sideline for the last (fifth) time, the athlete should do double-foot bunny hops along the sideline to the corner where the other goal line is reached. The athlete should then sprint along the goal line to the far corner, where the circuit starts. Someone must time the circuit for each athlete.

There should be a full recovery—sometimes as much as 45 minutes—before the athlete completes a second lap of the circuit. Usually, the second lap is faster than the first.

3. Rest (or one-hour gymnastics).
4. 300+150, 150+150, 100+80, 80+60, 60+60 (Ideally, all 30-second b/reps; full recovery between sets. If the wind conditions are impossible, then tempo the long rep and attack the back-up rep to be run with a tailwind) + weights.
5. Jog 15­–20 minutes.
6. 3–6 (2x60m skip, 2x80m sled pull or equivalent light resistance, 2x80m sprint buildups). This is a composite, varying resistance speed-power session. This session can be done on a grass track. Ideally, the skipping is alternate lead-leg high take-offs every third stride. The high skips (or take-offs) should be done on a grassy infield. Sled and the sprint buildups should be done on a synthetic track where possible.

Recovery between reps in each two-rep “couplet” is an easy walk back. Recovery between “couplets” is also a walk back. The session is envisioned as a continuous rotation of skip, sled, run (repeat). The sled load can be just the weight of the sled (or tire) itself, or a few kilos can be added. The resistance should not damage the athlete's running mechanics but merely make it harder for the athlete to achieve “lift,” or triple extension on the run.

7. Rest.

Week  6

Rest & Test Week

1. Rest.
2. Warm-up, warm-down.
3. Trials 300m (stand start). Full recovery, then a 150m + weights (lowest reps possible).
4. Rest.
5. Trials 80m (stand start). Full recovery, then a 200m + weights (as normal, all exercises, for volume at 80%–85% of 1RM).
6. Rest.
7. Rest.

Repeat the six-week cycle starting from week 1.

[caption id="attachment_14644" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Image 4. Oscar Pintaric over wickets.[/caption]

That’s the basic outline. You have to monitor the athlete closely. I don’t want to be prescriptive with times because every athlete will vary, depending on training years and ability and commitment. No one will go from being a 50-second runner to 44 seconds in one year (unless they have previously been close to 44 seconds).

I make zero demands during the first GPP cycle. But I use it to calculate (also based on PBs and standard 400m models) what MIGHT be appropriate target times for the reps for each individual.

[bctt tweet="I make zero demands during the first GPP cycle. But I use it to calculate (also based on PBs and standard 400m models) what MIGHT be appropriate target times for each individual’s reps."]

The second time through the GPP cycle, I ask more of the athlete within reason, based on their capacity. After the conclusion of the GPP, the athletes need to complete a transition phase before entering competition.

The transition phase usually lasts four weeks, never less. Monitor every rep, set, and session in person to make sure fatigue (for the most part) didn’t wreck the run. If so, intervene and go for more rest, change the session, or finish it.

I preferred to do the same week of training four weeks in a row during the transition phase. That way, it was like a little test each week, leading into the first low-key race of the new season.

Transition Phase

Day 1:

Warm-up, ins and outs. 2 x 2 x ins and outs (build up to around 50m, 100% effort for 12 meters, and eventually out to 20 meters, then fast turnover but best relaxation to maintain velocity through a 20m exit zone (50-20-20).

There should be good recoveries, maybe 8–10 minutes between reps. Then, there should be 10–15 minutes between the two sets. Then, a full-ish recovery of, say, 15–20 minutes before the second element of the session, which is a sequence of stand, crouch, fly runs from 30–60 meters.

(In sequence: standing, crouching, flying)

3 x 30m, 3 x 40m, 3 x 60m

Warm-down.

..........................

Day 2:

Warm-up (no ins and outs).

5 x 100m buildups on a bend.

4 x 150. (In this sequence: tempo, first 150m, diagonal jog back to start, fast second 150m, diagonal walk back to start, tempo third 150m, diagonal jog back to start, fast fourth 150m.)

+

Weights.

.........................

Day 3:

Active rest: Sometimes gymnastics, one hour of mostly proprioceptive routines, such as tumbles emerging into a vertical jump with 360-degree rotation around the vertical axis and land facing the same direction as you emerged from the tumble. Many of these combinations included horizontal rolls (performed with arms and legs outstretched; no use of arms permitted in initiating or maintaining movement).

Full body deep-tissue massage.

.........................

Day 4:

Warm-up, 2x2x ins and outs (as Day 1).

Then all flying:

300m, 250m, 180m, 150m, 120m. (Sometimes it was 260, 180, 160, 140, 120).

These are usually with partner(s), usually with about 10–12 minutes of recovery, but more if desired. The athletes at this stage of their season are told not to fight for something (speed) that isn't there yet. Equally, giving them 10 minutes or a 30-minute rest between reps won’t really improve the speed of their reps, but the longer rest does pose a risk of the athlete getting cold or tight.

The sprints are about rhythm and position (triple extension through the hip, knee, and ankle joints during track contact beneath the torso).

+

Weights.

.......................

Day 5:

Warm-up (no ins and outs).

400m Race Modeling: 4 x 100. (Wherever most needed, but at this stage of the year, it is usually down the back straight and into the turn through the 200m start area, finishing at the water jump.)

2 x 200m + 200m

First set:

First 200m at intended 400m race split. Generally speaking, the target time for the first 200m at the 400m race pace will be one second slower than the current 200m PB (mid-21 seconds for elite males, high 23 to low 24 seconds for elite females).

Two minutes of recovery.

Second 200m at 100% of whatever is left.

FULL RECOVERY between sets (often up to 45 minutes)

Second set:

First 200m tempo in about 23 seconds for elite male/26 seconds for elite female.

Two minutes of recovery.

Second 200m at 100%, aim to negative split (i.e., run the second 200m faster than the first 200m of this set).

...................

Day 6:

Warm-up.

Warm-down.

+

Weights (usually upper body and torso work only).

Chiropractor/Physiotherapist appointment: to check alignments and adjust if needed.

.....................

Day 7:

Race. (4x400m relay usually, certainly nothing shorter, and no individual races until week four of the transition block has been completed.)

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Ronnie Jankovich is the Strength and Conditioning Coach at Roswell High School in Roswell, Georgia, and the Southeast Regional Director of the NHSSCA. Coach Jankovich desires to improve our industry and support the coaches around him; he wants every coach to feel empowered to do their job to the best of their ability.

Many coaches in high school S&C claim to be “simplistic” in their approach, but Coach Janko’s ability to produce athletes ready to execute at the level Roswell performs is second to none. Coach Jankovich plays a significant role in Roswell High School’s athletic success, drawing on the natural psychological tendencies of competitors by employing a simple program focused on violent execution and competition.

Freelap USA: In the industry as a whole, what is the biggest potential area of improvement for strength and conditioning?

Ronnie Jankovich: Our industry holds both an immense opportunity and responsibility at the same time. Our decisions related to athletic and character development and also simply the expectations we set have implications for the future of the athletes we interact with daily. We can positively or negatively impact the future of every kid we see each day.

With that said, the industry is moving in the right direction regarding the quality of coaching. You see fewer coaches conducting the programs they had in their playing days and, instead, being more forward-thinking with their programming. While the quality of coaching is improving, I believe there is still work that needs to be done. Getting qualified strength and conditioning professionals in the school is a fight we are still pushing for. Groups like the NHSSCA and its new certification help support this fight, but we must stay vigilant.

I see that athletics is having a trickle-down effect on which college is now professional, with NIL deals, photoshoots, and its approach to academics. High school is now the new college. We find ourselves in the middle of an arms race: a battle for better weight rooms, indoor facilities, field houses, and technology. This isn’t a bad thing, but are we simply doing it to “keep up with the Joneses” or to give our athletes a better competitive environment and attract talent to our schools?

The evolution of our facilities can be a tremendous opportunity for our industry and high school athletics. Still, we must be confident of our motivations and ability to use our equipment.

I know a high school program that purchased multiple units of a top-notch VBT system but doesn’t use it because they don’t know how to. While this is an excellent technology for the weight room, it’s going unused. Did this program purchase the equipment simply to say they “have” it to attract kids to the program? I don’t know. I’m sure they planned on using it. Still, we must ask ourselves what motivates our decision-making process: providing the best experience in our weight room or having nice things to attract better talent?

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Freelap USA: What is one piece of advice you would give to your 25-year-old self?

Ronnie Jankovich: Strength and conditioning can be a lonely job, even though we spend most of our time with others. So much of our time is spent with youth and teens—yet, in our building, we are typically the only people who understand the struggles of motivating 14- to 17-year-olds to train. Our job description holds inevitable frustrations that our spouses, other teachers, and even other coaches don’t necessarily understand.

[bctt tweet="I wish that earlier in my career, I would’ve invested in relationships with other strength coaches rather than supporting the stereotypical approach of just doing my thing, says @RonnieJankovich."]

I wish that earlier in my career, I would have invested in relationships with other strength coaches rather than supporting the stereotypical approach of just doing my thing. Our job description is, by nature, very selfless; we want to help build success in our athletes, the moral development of the next generation, and so on. The head coach gets the recognition, which is deserved. So we get into this business not for fame or recognition but for other people. Looking back, I should have been more intentional about building relationships with other coaches.

It took me a little too long to recognize that I needed to spend more time with my family. At the literal end of every day, I have a wife and two boys—a beautiful family that I get to go home to, who will be there for me regardless of our record on the field. I can’t spend as much time developing other people’s kids physically and emotionally and not pour into my family. Luckily, I realized the value of this before it was too late, but I know many coaches who did realize it too late or held winning so high that it didn’t matter.

Freelap USA: What are some tips to improve the high school level coach-admin relationship?

Ronnie Jankovich: As coaches, we will have various administrative relationships in our careers. We have relationships with the head sport coaches, the building assistant principals and principals, athletic directors, higher-level administration, and so on. The most effective relationship builder is communication. Communication builds transparency, which builds trust.

When administrators know that you intend to provide the best possible coaching for every individual who enters your program and you have the development of each individual at heart, the door to other conversations is open. When you can show the administration responsible use of allocated resources and find ways (for instance, social media) to provide examples of responsible use publicly, administrators love this. Be a problem solver, not a problem creator. When an issue arises, approach the conversation with a possible solution or a few solutions rather than just identifying a problem.

[bctt tweet="Be a problem solver, not a problem creator. When an issue arises, approach the conversation with a possible solution or a few rather than just identifying the problem, says @RonnieJankovich."]

We love showing off the various ways we use our Dashr timing system. I’ve posted videos to Twitter—or X, whatever it’s called now—and our community sees it, and they inevitably see our admin or head coaches and always talk about what they see our kids doing. Social media can be a powerful tool to show admin and community what we do with our time.

Parents talk within communities, and word gets around about how people think we run our programs. When coaches, ADs, and principals hear how much fun and how much better athletes are getting, they will wonder why they keep hearing about our program. Communicate well, provide an excellent product, use social media appropriately, and have athlete holistic success at the heart of every decision, and the rest will take care of itself.

Freelap USA: S&C coaches often preach simplicity. What does your programming process look like when identifying what fat to trim?

Ronnie Jankovich: Every training decision we make as strength and conditioning professionals applies a stimulus to our athletes. We must be able to identify and prioritize the stimulus that athletes need at various times of the year. When I program a training block, I look back at it and ask myself, “Which of these movements or systems don’t specifically address a need at this point in their season?” If I can identify a movement or extra set that doesn’t need to be there, I cut it. I aim to meet the athletes’ needs with minimal exercises, volume, and intensity. When I meet the minimum, athletes are fresh for practices and games.

[bctt tweet="I aim to meet the athletes’ needs with minimal exercises, volume, and intensity. When I meet the minimum, athletes are fresh for practices and games, says @RonnieJankovich."]

Even in the off-season, we aim to give the athletes what they need and then move on. When we meet just the needs of the athlete, they can come back the next day feeling fresh, and we aren’t taking anything from the next training day. When we stack this day over day, week over week, training cycle over training cycle, we produce athletes prepared to handle more on-field volume and still train throughout the entire calendar year. So, to circle back to my answer, I evaluate the athlete’s needs and meet them with as minimal exercises, volume, and intensity as possible and cut any extra “fluff.”

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Freelap USA: How do you keep athletes engaged training block after training block while keeping it basic?

Ronnie Jankovich: While we remain simple in the weight room, we make everything a competition and draw on the natural psychological tendency of athletes to want to compete. We compete in everything we do, whether jumping, sprinting—anything we can measure, even something like rock, paper, scissors. Our goal is to make our training environment a competition. You’re always competing with those around you and, more importantly, with yourself.

Our athletes know their PR for every variation we test. Whether a 10-yard fly with a 5-yard lead-in, an approach vertical jump, or a roll-90 test, it doesn’t matter. They want to PR every time we set it up. This environment breeds competition for every individual, which is the most crucial aspect of raising the collective average of our athletic program. Every school has a stud athlete here and there, but the best teams have the best average; if we can find ways to compete with ourselves and each other every day, our “average” will be really good.

[bctt tweet="As we address an athlete’s weakness, another weakness will always appear. There will always be something they can work on, says @RonnieJankovich."]

We also challenge athletes in terms of mobility. I love introducing them to challenging mobility protocols and then playing on the psychological aspect of wanting to be great at everything we do. Show a competitor something they’re not good at and then watch them work to be good at it. As we address an athlete’s weakness, another weakness will always appear. There will always be something they can work on, and it’s just about efficiently finding ways to assess their needs and then address them. If we can continuously push this process over four years, our athletes will be really good.

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Steve Breitenstein has been coaching in a variety of settings for 20 years, spending the last 12 years in the private sector. He currently serves as the Director of Coaching at TCBOOST Sports Performance, while also coaching leadership development with Jeremy Boone and co-hosting “The Business of Speed” podcast.

Beyond coaching speed development at a high level, these roles require leading and developing a staff and interns, small business development—including marketing and sales—and personal brand creation.

Steve holds positions on the Illinois State Board of the National High School Strength Coaches Association (NHSSCA) and the College of Lake County and McHenry County College Boards of Health and Wellness Advisory.

Freelap USA: What’s it like to navigate the calendar year with a busy season, a slow season, the school year starting, winter break, and a preseason/off-season for all these different sports, all while trying to keep the facility full 52 weeks a year?

Steve Breitenstein: In the private space, you have a certain ebb and flow to what training is going to be. Regardless of how great you are at filling your facility, there are times in the year when you’re just going to be fuller. Obviously, the summer is when you feast because you have so many more hours in the day—no one’s going to school, and you can have people in almost all day long.

In the fall, there’s often a downside because you’re not anticipating that the fall will be slower. Now, we can utilize the fall and say, “You know what, this is going be great that it’s slower because we’re going able to double-down on all these things that we were trying to get ahead of.” Maybe it’s continuing education, coaches’ development, facility upkeep, networking, or even hosting a clinic that fits in well during that downtime window versus when you’re trying to juggle everything in that summer feasting time.

But in the past, sometimes we didn’t think about how this (summer) was going to end soon. You start thinking, “It’s just going to keep being this busy,” and don’t adjust your planning. Now, all of a sudden, you have all this downtime, revenues are down, and maybe you were kind of stretching yourself too thin with making purchases during that feasting time. You have to be more ahead of that. Now, that being said, you don’t just allow the facility to die during that down period. You have to keep people coming in. Another mistake we’ve made in the past is waiting until the summer is over to start trying to get the fall going.

I encourage every business on the private side to reflect like this—if you run a report today on how the business is doing, it is not indicative of what you did the past week; it’s more an indication of what you were doing 90 days before that point. And that’s why the report says what it says. There’s a 90-day lag, meaning when you start sending emails out, when you start sending out specific content, when you start tagging athletes in posts, when you do off-site demos, when you do workouts in the facility for teams, the results from all of those things you’re doing typically come 90 days out from when you hope there’s a payoff.

[bctt tweet="The results from all of the things you’re doing to market your business typically come 90 days out from when you hope there’s a payoff; there’s a 90-day lag, says @SteveBstein."]

Every time you shorten the window on that, the more pressure there is for it to happen and the less chance that it falls the way you’re hoping it will. You have to have patience to see the payoff, but day to day, there has to be a lot of urgency behind your actions to ensure the facility will be set up for success. If I know September is going to be slow, and I waited until the end of August to try to get September busy, it’s too late.

In the private space, there’s an ebb and flow to when business is going really, really well or it’s perceived to be slowing down. But that slowdown doesn’t mean the business is dead; it’s an opportunity to work on things you otherwise may not have had time for. And anytime you feel like you’re in that low spot, and you’re running reports saying that business is in a low spot, don’t panic and look at what happened yesterday, the day before, and the day before. Really evaluate 90 days ago: What were we doing to set ourselves up for this point? Time and again, you’re going to find out that that will be a better indicator of what 90 days from now is going to look like.

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Freelap USA: As the Director of Coaching in a high turnover field, what’s the key to keeping both yourself and the staff engaged within the private side with its unique challenges?

Steve Breitenstein: Coaching, in general, is one of the highest turnover professions on the face of the earth. You have to go in as a director, owner, or anyone in charge of staff and say, “We’re going to have turnover, period.” No one has taken a coaching job at 20 and then retired at 55 from the exact same place.

We take that as our initial lens for all the coaches we hire, and the stats now show that most coaches—millennial coaches—will be job-hopping every one to two years. That’s not always an indication that it was a terrible business or a terrible coaching job; it’s just the way that things are going as far as the trends in jobs. It’s tough to say, “I’m just going to stick this out for three to five years and then see what happens.” After a year, opportunities come up, and people take those opportunities.

In the private space, if we have anybody who lasts between two and four years, that was a pretty good amount of time that they were coaching with us. But that’s not what I go into it believing they’re going to do, and that’s what changes the environment. I want to understand and challenge anybody I hire on my staff: What are you really trying to do impact-wise in this field? Really? And how big can we talk about you going? Because when we understand how big of a space you’re trying to play in, we can better talk about the steps to help you get there.

Knowing this, when it’s time for you to leave for the right opportunity, we could have had you do so many things here along the way to help our facility because of your passion for what you’re trying to do next. Things like coaching at a high level, maybe engaging through social media, following up with clients, having referrals come because of the great coaching you’re giving your athletes and the experience you’re creating every single day.

Those things I just named don’t necessarily have anything to do with the facility you currently work at. They have to do with you developing yourself as a professional. But that’s what it will take for you to level up and play on a bigger stage, wherever you want to go.

Say you’re going from private to owning your own space, to maybe going into the college space, to intern in a professional setting, or to being an entity not having your own space but just coaching out of everywhere, traveling around coaching people. You will need to check a lot of boxes regardless of where you’re going next. We have to make sure that we understand where you’re going next for some of the specific things, even though there are so many common things that will also help the facility. But I never want to harp on those things. I want to make this as much about you and challenge you to where you want to get to next.

[bctt tweet="I’m never upset when people leave. I want to see you succeed, whether it’s in our facility or not, and that’s where I’ve shifted the way that I try to lead, says @SteveBstein."]

That’s the leadership model I’ve taken. I’m never upset when people leave. Usually, I’ve thought they should have left before they left because I could tell they either were ready to take on a new challenge or weren’t a great fit in the private space. I try to have conversations early about that as well because the last thing that we ever want to do is just fire somebody and say, “Not a good fit.” I want to understand: Where do you really need to be fitted? Where do you want to be making an impact? Where’s the right spot for you to thrive? Let’s move you toward that. I want to see you succeed, whether it’s in our facility or not, and that’s where I’ve shifted the way I try to lead.

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Freelap USA: We all have to sell the value we provide, whether it’s to athletes or parents or head coaches. What would you say to those who insist “I don’t want to sell” as an argument for not wanting to be on the private side? Correspondingly, what’s your view of social media in the coaching field and the value it can bring to coaches who utilize it?

Steve Breitenstein: If someone is opposed to selling, I would say that they’re not a particularly great coach. Because, as a coach, you are always selling the experience you’re creating for people. There are some coaches in settings where athletes have to come back, no matter what. Let’s say you train on Monday; you had to dog them out; you conditioned them. It doesn’t matter because they just have to show up on Wednesday to train again if they want to play. In the private sector, you can’t have that kind of experience because someone might choose never to train with you ever again. They’ll pay someone else to do it.

I’d flip that and say if you approached your team the same way I approach an individual client who pays me, how amazing would that experience be for the team? If I took every session in which I interacted with that team and thought, “If this doesn’t go great today, and I’m not able to make the kind of impact I know I can and should, they’re never going to train with me again,” I think that would change a bit of the lens of where I spend more of my time as a coach.

Maybe the X’s and O’s are not the ultimate thing I’m pursuing then; I need to understand a little better how to connect with people; I need to understand relationship-building even more; I need to understand experiences and how to guide experiences. But that’s always the thing that comes up when people say, “I don’t like to sell.”—Well, that means that you’re not really maximizing what you can do as a coach.

Regarding social media, it’s not an evil thing—it’s just that some coaches have taken advantage of it to promote things that maybe aren’t as valuable as they believe they are, or that we know they are as coaches, because they’ve put a ton of money into that, and they’ve spent a lot of time editing those posts.

For us as coaches, you have to think about the business side of all this constantly —it’s something we shy away from talking about at times, particularly for those of us with that old-school mindset of “Man, he’s got to grind it out and just do what you do where you’re at.” But your ability to generate revenue for yourself by utilizing social media is such an easy, easy opportunity for coaches who maybe are in a place where they love the athletes they work with and the teams they work with, but the school can’t pay them enough. Or in the high school setting, when they can’t physically pay more.

But if you can do a little bit of this on social media, it’s driven in some clientele who now want you to send them programs or want to come in and work with you, which allows a little more control over your future in your career. It doesn’t mean you have to abandon where you’re coaching to go full-time and just make videos all the time. But you’re allowed to have a little bit of control to tell the story that you want and provide the type of lifestyle you’ve always wanted, in a field where sometimes it’s tough to make the type of income that you want to make.

[bctt tweet="There are so many great coaches who I would never have known about if it wasn’t for social media, but I do now because of their willingness to take a risk and just share some of what they’re doing."]

Also, on the other side of it, by posting and engaging with other coaches, your opportunity to learn from other coaches has never been easier. There are so many great coaches out there who I would never have known about if it wasn’t for social media, but I do now because of their willingness to take a risk and just share some of what they’re doing. Sometimes, that inspired me to reach out and have conversations and learn more from them, whereas in the past, it wasn’t always that way.

If you think back to early clinics, the only people who spoke were the ones who were perceived to be the very best in the industry. Maybe that was true; maybe that wasn’t true. Maybe it was just that they happened to be in a really great organization, they had a lot of success, and they were there at the right time. Not to take anything away from the people who spoke at those events, but there are some phenomenal coaches all over the country and all over the world who, thanks to social media, are getting to be known. And the value in the creative thought processes they share pushes the industry forward and challenges people to become better as coaches.

Freelap USA: In terms of marketing, what are some things you thought would work that didn’t pan out and some simple but effective things that you keep coming back to? Additionally, can you speak on the marketing concept of touchpoints and how to accumulate more and more of those touchpoints over time?

Steve Breitenstein: For the private sector, it definitely just keeps evolving with the type of content that people really enjoy. Early in my career, I’d think that if I sent someone a well-worded email, they’d immediately just sign up for whatever I was offering. But no one ever does. And in fact, the longer and more drawn out the email, the less people want to read it and the less they want to respond to it.

For me, it’s flipped to simple messages with the idea of “I’m not trying to have anyone say yes to training with me from this message. All I’m looking for is some sort of response that can start a dialogue.” When I made that shift with why I was sending messages, the responses came way faster and at a far higher percentage. It actually led to opportunities to have conversations about what training could look like. So completely flipping that around, it’s so simple to say, “I just want to start a conversation,” versus “I want to sell you on something.”

The really simple marketing ideas utilize social media as a great way to continue relationships with people. I’ve talked about this with our staff so many times: it can simply be tagging an athlete in a post that might speak to them. Sometimes, they immediately text you and say, “Hey, I saw that you tagged me. I’ve been meaning to come back in and train; I just didn’t even think about it.”

[bctt tweet="The really simple marketing ideas utilize social media as a great way to continue relationships with people. It can simply be tagging an athlete in a post that might speak to them, says @SteveBstein."]

I didn’t have to sell them on anything, reach out to them directly, or send them an email. Legitimately, all I had to do was just tag a specific athlete because of a post that made me think about them. It could’ve been a thought as simple as “We used to do that drill. I’m going to tag them in it and see if they remember.” But now you’ve become front of mind to them, which sometimes is the biggest thing when you’re marketing.

Advertising and marketing advice frequently mentions that it’s never just one moment in time that sells someone on a product or a service when they’re getting exposed to it. And there have been numbers that fluctuate for as long as you can track this about how many marketing exposures (touchpoints) it takes before someone will actually act. Ten years ago or so, we threw around numbers like seven or maybe even nine points of contact before someone really acted on your marketing. This means that perhaps they saw a T-shirt, they saw a handout, they saw a business card, they had a demo, they had a friend who trained there, and/or they came across the website: that would be at 6–7 right there. Now, the next time they see something, they’re like, “You know what; I should train there,” but they can’t really point back to exactly why they started.

With the amount coming through social media feeds, those in the marketing space have been talking more and more about you needing even more points of contact. Nick Brattain and I have discussed this back and forth a lot, and he said it might even be up to 15 points of contact before somebody acts on it.

Social media is where we’re flooded with information and content, which is great, but if you’re in someone’s feed, you fly by, and they can barely even pause to see it. Now, you may have to do two or three posts to equal what one post would have done four or five years ago. The same thing with emails; we all get tons and tons of spam emails that we just delete or unsubscribe from regularly.

So if that’s my one point of contact, seeing that something came from me or my company, and I need to send maybe another thing that would count as two…but I can’t overload their inbox because they’re just going to get rid of me too. It’s being creative with the types of touchpoints and then just being consistent with them.

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Freelap USA: In the digital age, having a brand is a big topic. Could you elaborate on describing social media as a “living, breathing resume”?

Steve Breitenstein: It’s really difficult for someone in my position to decipher who is a good coach when I get a stack of resumes. After you’ve seen 50, 60 resumes, they all start to look the same. The names of the schools look different, the names or maybe the types of teams they worked with are a little different, but essentially, it’s the same resume over and over and over. By utilizing social media in a smart way, where you’re actually sharing quality training, some ideas on experiments perhaps, things that you’re curious about, things that you’re learning from people, ways that you’re applying it to different situations, and just sharing some insights, you’re essentially creating a living, breathing resume of who you are as a coach. And you can also show the evolution of who you are as a coach.

[bctt tweet="By utilizing social media in a smart way, sharing quality training, ideas on experiments, etc., you’re essentially creating a living, breathing resume of who you are as a coach, says @SteveBstein."]

Posting regularly shows you’re willing to commit and be consistent with things; you’re willing to go beyond just coaching in the hopes of doing something bigger and making a bigger impact. And when I think of a potential hire I’m looking to make, one of the first things I do is look for their social media. I actually prefer if they include it, so I know where to go to find exactly what I want to find.

There are so many coaches who haven’t put in any sort of work on any sort of platform. I check them all: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. I just want to see what they’ve shared and the type of content it is because that will give me some insights into who they are. But if they haven’t posted at all, and then I talk to them about, “Are you willing to create some content? Are you looking to brand?” And they’re like, “Oh yeah, for sure.” It’s hard to say, “Yeah, I believe you,” when they haven’t done anything up to this point.

When you go into a college setting, many staff value having an Instagram page for their department; a lot of colleges have that. And if you step in and say, “I can run this easily. I’ve run my own for years. I can do this and highlight our athletes and highlight some of the training we’re doing,” it’s another bonus for why you’d be a great fit on staff. And then they flip through your social media and think, “Man, the quality of this is great. It’s simple; nothing is outside of what we would approve here.” That’s such a valuable skill set, and you just bring more to the table.

Just think about where we utilize social media right now. Where do we post content right now? Where could it be five years from now? There are endless possibilities. And on the private side, I’ve seen it go bananas in the last seven years with the introduction of TikTok, the way all the other platforms pivoted to be even more interactive, creating even more of a community.

What a great way to check in with your athletes because they’re already there, and that’s where I can interact with them much easier. I always say that I’ve had several athletes who engage with me faster through social media than if I texted or called them. It’s not this weird entity; it’s just a part of who our younger generation is and what they do. And I don’t want to be too much disconnected from that.

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Gabriel Mvumvure has experienced “the road less traveled” as a sprint and hurdle coach, coaching in the SEC, the Ivy League, and the PAC-10 conference. As an athlete, Mvumvure competed in five IAAF World Championships and the 2016 Olympics, representing Zimbabwe in the 100 meters. He is the Zimbabwe National Indoor Record Holder in the 60m with 6.6, and at the time, his 9.98 best ranked him as the seventh-fastest 100m in African history.

In 2008, Mvumvure earned an NCAA title on the 4x100m relay team for Louisiana State University, the SEC college where he began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant. He graduated from LSU in 2011 with a B.A. in International Relations and Political Science and raced professionally from 2012 to 2016. In 2019, he took the head coaching position for sprints and hurdles at Brown University, where his accomplishments included two school records (held for 63 and 32 years!), 33 Top 10 performances, and 109 personal bests. In 2022, he began coaching at Washington State University. In his first year, his sprinters and hurdlers collectively broke 108 personal bests (60 men, 48 women).

(Lead photo courtesy of Chris Paige, Washington State Athletics)

Freelap USA: What are the primary differences in athletic talent you’ve seen in the conferences you coached?

Gabriel Mvumvure: First, you need to understand that NCAA Division I is so competitive that no matter how fast you are as a high school athlete, you will face tough competition in college. I was in Austin this year for the Nationals. One of my 100-meter guys ran well but couldn’t make the finals because there were seven sub-10 finishers in that event!

If I’m to be frank, the most talent you’ll see in D1 in the sprints and hurdles is in the SEC—their meets are heavily contested, like mini-nationals. However, the West Coast colleges can make up some ground in team scoring because they excel in the distance events.

It’s a totally different experience in the Ivy League because everything is based on tradition rather than performance. For example, they score six positions instead of eight. That might be a little backward, and it affects the talent you can attract because you’re limited in your accomplishments as a team. In the PAC 12, it’s hard to finish in the Top 3, so being able to score points with those two additional placements is important.

On the plus side, an athlete who was passed up by major Division I colleges because of poor times or their injury history may find opportunities at an Ivy League college. My hurdler Bretram Rogers suffered a severe hamstring injury during his senior year in high school that ripped muscle from bone and severed nerves. In his senior year at Brown, he broke the indoor 60m hurdle record that stood for 63 years and the 100m outdoor record that stood for 15 years. Maddie Frey was a high school soccer player who tore her ACL. After a lengthy recovery, Maddie switched to track—she even ran cross country. During her senior year at Brown, Maddie broke the 200m outdoor record that stood for 32 years. Both athletes are headed to medical school.

[caption id="attachment_14380" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Image 1. In 2008, Mvumvure won an NCAA National Championship title representing LSU and went on to represent Zimbabwe in the 2016 Olympics. (Photo courtesy LSU Sports Information)[/caption]

Freelap USA: What have been your challenges in recruiting for each conference?

Gabriel Mvumvure: The Ivy League doesn’t offer scholarships, and their acceptance rate is only around 8%. In my experience, it’s more complicated from an administrative standpoint to sign an athlete at Brown than at other Ivy League schools such as Princeton or Harvard. I often lost athletes who committed to Brown but ended up going to another Ivy League school because we were going after the same athletes. Plus, it was tough at Brown to recruit international athletes.

With SEC and PAC 12 schools, the hardest part is that any good athlete will be recruited by other schools in the conference. Your success in getting those athletes is influenced by the recent success of your track and field team and your facilities. On this last point, consider the weather. Do you have a proper facility to train year-round? If you’re in a hot climate like Louisiana, do you have an indoor facility where you can dodge the heat?

A lot of your success in recruiting depends on how tenacious and honest you are. I say “honest” because it’s easy for athletes to transfer, so my approach is that I make it clear to athletes that I am recruiting them for four years.

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Freelap USA: Would you explain what you mean when you say that high school athletes often make the mistake of trying to “run too fast?”

Gabriel Mvumvure: The term “too fast” is subjective because it’s obviously a good problem to have. But what creates sustainability in making progress in sprinting and hurdling is having good mechanics because no matter how strong you are, you’re going to get stronger.

Let me explain. I have a 15-month-old daughter. If I ask her to punch a wall, she’ll punch it, and it will probably sting a little because she doesn’t have enough power to punch through it. If I were to ask an 8-year-old to punch a wall as hard as they can, they might have cuts on their skin and bruises on their knuckles. But if I were to ask a 25-year-old to punch a wall as hard as they can, they’d break some bones. If a sprinter’s mechanics are not on point, they’ll struggle to stay healthy because it’s like that 25-year-old punching the wall.

[bctt tweet="One of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen with the high school athletes I’ve recruited is them thinking that the longer their stride, the faster they’ll run... That’s not sprinting, says @GabrielMvumvure."]

When I recruit athletes, I certainly watch their home videos, but I like to go to track meets as often as possible to see them complete. I also need to know as much about their training as possible, such as how much volume they have done. This background lets me know what I have to change or adjust to make them better. So, it’s more than just getting my athletes to run faster, but to run faster with fewer injuries.

One of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen with the high school athletes I’ve recruited is them thinking that the longer their stride, the faster they’ll run because they’ll cover more ground. That’s not sprinting. Sprinting is all about how much force you apply into the ground and how fast you are doing it to get to the finish line. I tell my athletes to focus on striking down hard at center mass to create a short ground contact time and apply more force into the ground to propel them forward.

[caption id="attachment_14381" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Image 2. Maddie Frey, a Brown graduate heading to medical school, tore her ACL in high school playing soccer. At Brown, she broke the 200m record that stood for 32 years. (Karim Ghonem photo)[/caption]

Freelap USA: What is your experience with velocity-based training?

Gabriel Mvumvure: My experience has been very positive. With the events I coach, the sprints and the hurdles, the lifting has to have a purpose in terms of being able to move fast. What I like about velocity-based training is that science shows you all the things in nature, and as a coach, you have to kind of “copy” those things with your training. Consider the differences between the lion and the cheetah.

A lion is way stronger than a cheetah but heavier—that’s why the cheetah is faster. With velocity-based training, you get the strength and power of a lion but maintain the size of a cheetah. It’s also good for the athlete because of the feedback it gives you. At Washington State, we have a monitor on each lifting platform that shows the athlete the bar speed for each rep. When our athletes lift a weight, if they see two red bars on the monitor, they are moving too slowly and need to reduce the weight on their next set.

Why is this important?

[bctt tweet="A lion is way stronger than a cheetah but heavier—that’s why the cheetah is faster. With velocity-based training, you get the strength and power of a lion but maintain the size of a cheetah."]

If an athlete cannot lift a weight at the speed we want, they will be training muscle fibers that will not contribute to performance and may increase body mass, which can hurt performance. At Brown, with our training, many of our athletes lost body weight while increasing their power, resulting in better times.

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Freelap USA: What is your best advice for a high school athlete seeking a scholarship?

Gabriel Mvumvure: Recruiting services can help get an athlete noticed. One benefit I found working with these agencies is that they have been good at giving me all the information I need about an athlete early, such as their progress and achievements. They also respond quickly to my questions. Recruiting services are a plus, but the nice thing about track and field is that everything is based on your personal bests, and it doesn’t matter how you did it.

I’ve recruited athletes who didn’t use those recruiting services but instead sent me detailed emails telling me about themselves. These athletes must work hard to make a good impression. What can make a difference is telling the coach their goals, why they want to attend the school, and what they like about the track and field program. Every coach wants to recruit athletes who are passionate about being on their team!

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Jermaine Olasan is Head of S&C at Fudge London Project, which includes sprinters such as Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, Desiree Henry, and Eugene Amo-Dadzie, who recently ran 9.93, in their squad. Alongside his work as a strength coach in athletics, he works in other sports, such as football, and he is the S&C coach for the endurance running team Hour7, working with athletes competing in events up to 48 hours in length. Having spent close to a decade competing in elite sport as a junior GB international long jumper and England sevens rugby player, Jermaine’s training philosophy is built from his own experience as well as a blend of core strength training principles and practices aimed at dynamic correspondence.

Freelap USA: You were a very successful track and field athlete yourself, running 10.6 and a windy 10.5 in the 100 meters and long jumping 7.75 meters. What led you toward the strength and conditioning path more than the event-specific coaching avenue?

Jermaine Olasan: If I’m honest, I had no real ambition of ever going into coaching. I’m naturally quite introverted, so I didn’t necessarily think it was something that suited my personality. I was coached by some excellent coaches, such as Jonas Tawiah-Dodoo and Ryan Freckleton. Throughout this time, Dan Pfaff and Stu McMillan were based at Lee Valley, where I trained, and Jonas was being mentored by Dan, so he had some influence on how I was training. Mark Findlay, who had also been coached by Stu, had helped me with some of my strength work as well. I think all of these influences laid a solid foundation in terms of my own understanding of what was required to improve performance.

I’d describe myself as a naturally curious person. Due to this, I liked to know why I was doing certain things in training, and these coaches were able to explain this clearly. As I became more confident in what I needed as an athlete and started to get a deeper understanding of this throughout my last couple of seasons as a long jumper, I started taking a lot more control over what I was doing in terms of strength and conditioning. These seasons coincided with the years when I probably had my most success, and I think it reinforced that some of my own ideas about what was required to run faster were along the right lines.

Once I hung up my spikes, I played sevens rugby and became my own architect in terms of my physical and athletic development. During this, I got a lot stronger and gained something like 17 kilograms throughout the first five or six months, and I found the whole process extremely interesting. From my experience in rugby, I began to pursue the NFL International Player Pathway as a wide receiver, but they wanted me to come back the following year having put some more weight on and try out as a tight end, which provided me with a further opportunity to experiment on myself.

During this period, I also wanted to work on something that would assist me in my life after being an athlete, so I did a personal training qualification. This gave me the opportunity to apply some of what I had trialed on myself with general population clients, and I enjoyed it to the extent that I decided to focus solely on this and, therefore, not go back to the American football tryouts.

As I continued in personal training, it became clear that performance goals were my passion. I liked taking people who were already good and making them even better, so I went down the strength and conditioning route. I did some more qualifications and work in rugby sevens just prior to COVID-19 striking in early 2020. Toward the end of that year, a strength and conditioning position for the Fudge London Project (FLP) under Steve Fudge became vacant. I went through the application process and was successful, which gave me the opportunity to work with some of Britain’s top sprinters, and this is something I’ve been involved in ever since.

[bctt tweet="Strength and conditioning suits my curiosity a little bit better than event-specific coaching, and I believe you often see the fruits of your labor a little sooner in S&C, which I find satisfying, says @JermaineOlasan."]

Strength and conditioning suits my curiosity a little bit better than event-specific coaching, and I believe you often see the fruits of your labor a little sooner in S&C, which is something I find satisfying. I think the process is a little quicker, and I get to see whether my intervention has worked or not a bit earlier.

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Freelap USA: One of the things you look for in sprinters is “what makes them good.” How do you go about deciding on this? Can you provide some examples of how this may influence your programming decisions?

Jermaine Olasan: When I was an athlete, some of my coaches used things like RSI testing to profile our training group, while others did less formal testing but appeared to be able to intuitively determine what made an athlete good. While I think it’s more in vogue now to have data to drive decision-making—partly because there is more access to that data—I think the eye is an essential tool, and it is probably one of the things that distinguishes an outstanding coach. Therefore, it’s the latter path that I have tried to develop in my coaching.

For example, if I see an athlete performing a multi-jump exercise, and the quality of ground contact is good and ground contact times are brief, this probably suggests that they are very much fascially driven, and it’s their tendons and elastic qualities that make them a good athlete. However, if the athlete has slightly longer ground contact times, then it is more likely that their gift is producing force over a slightly longer duration, so perhaps these athletes depend more on concentric strategies to move.

In a similar vein, I tend to think tasks that require a lot of teaching and cueing will probably not transfer as well to sports performance. For example, for sprinters, the purpose of cleans is to develop a high rate of force development, and as Boo Schexnayder has said, there’s an inverse relationship between complexity and intensity. Therefore, if the athlete isn’t able to pick up the skill of the power clean quite easily, and it always requires a high level of cognitive demand to perform that exercise, then intensity levels likely won’t be as high; therefore, RFD probably isn’t being optimally challenged. I think it’s more effective to have an athlete perform an exercise that they can do more innately to get the best transfer to their sprint performance. At the level I work at, the athletes already perform at a high level, and if they do not have the coordination to perform complex lifts in the weight room and are already high-performing athletes without them, then teaching those lifts will probably not be a big difference-maker for them.

In terms of how I let this information guide my programming, it is more a case of how much time is invested into each exercise selection as opposed to which exercises an athlete does. All the sprinters I work with will work on force development qualities, and they will all work on tasks that will develop their coordination as well, but depending on the individual, they will spend more time in one or the other of those categories.

For example, if I have an athlete who is very elastic—who floats across the ground—I won’t bog them down with lots of heavy compound lifting. Using the clean as an example again, this doesn’t play to the strengths of a more elastic athlete, so they may do 3–4 sets of two reps, whereas somebody who is more muscularly driven may do 6–10 sets of two reps. The flip side of this is that an elastic athlete may thrive on exercises such as a plated snatch to hip lock or a good morning to step-up, both of which require high levels of coordination and velocity and have movement quality as the goal more so than the magnitude of resistance.

[vimeo 844734529 w=800]
Video 1. Plated snatch to hip lock.
[vimeo 844735264 w=800]
Video 2. Good morning to step-up.

These, and a variety of plyometric exercises, will therefore make up a larger portion of the training program for these athletes. It’s worth noting that they also need to spend more mental energy and focus on the area that makes them good. Therefore, I see it as my job to help reinforce the athlete in understanding their strengths, so they can buy in and know which activities are their priorities and therefore focus their resources on them. This isn’t always that difficult, as athletes tend to enjoy what they’re good at and not enjoy tasks they’re not as good at.

[bctt tweet="I see it as my job to help reinforce the athlete in understanding their strengths, so they can buy in and know which activities are their priorities and therefore focus their resources on them, says @JermaineOlasan."]

With this in mind, playing to their strengths keeps training more enjoyable, which I believe impacts how well they buy in, how much effort they apply, and ultimately, how well they perform. Typically, as a crude estimate, I’ll bias the programming with 70% of the focus on their strengths and 30% on filling in the gaps in their weaker area. The caveat to this is if I get a young sprinter who has not done much lifting, then simply getting them stronger is more of a priority. In most cases, this should bring about some level of improvement because I think it can help make them more resilient and able to withstand a bit more high-intensity training.

Freelap USA: You appear to do a good job of blending more traditional strength exercises with some of the newer concepts that have been popularized by the likes of Frans Bosch and David Weck. What qualities are you looking to develop with exercises such as squats and cleans, and how important are these for sprinters?

Jermaine Olasan: My views on this have been influenced by conversations with Steve, but I think that climate can influence programming decisions in this regard. For example, it’s common for athletes from Northern Europe to go to training camps in warmer climates, such as Tenerife or parts of the U.S., because the sun and warmer temperatures allow the event-specific training to be intensified.

We use a training model whereby we alternate days of high-intensity training with days of low-intensity training. In the UK, we may have a string of days where the temperature does not get above freezing in the winter. On the days when we’re looking for high intensity, it’s challenging to do that on the track because the weather holds everything back a little bit. Therefore, the more secure and stable gym-based environment potentially makes it more likely that some athletes can achieve the higher neural outputs required to drive the sought-after training adaptations.

In terms of the lifts specifically, I’m not of the opinion that simply increasing your one rep max in the power clean or your squat means you will automatically run a faster 100 meters. However, the big movements that we use, like a squat, power clean, or trap bar deadlift, may offer some correlation with the start and first couple steps of a sprint, where concentric movement strategies are more appropriate. Therefore, this area may be an area of low-hanging fruit. Provided the lifts don’t bring about any harm to the athlete, they may help drive up performance by enhancing the capacity of an athlete to accelerate well early in the acceleration phase of a race. However, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of not causing harm to the athlete via any more general training modality.

[bctt tweet="Provided the lifts don’t bring about any harm to the athlete, they may help drive up performance by enhancing the capacity of an athlete to accelerate well early in the acceleration phase of a race, says @JermaineOlasan."]

Freelap USA: Can you broadly outline what you are trying to develop by using some of the methods promoted by Weck and Bosch? Can you give some examples of how you may integrate this into your programming for sprinters?

Jermaine Olasan: I think David Weck is making the spinal engine theory accessible to the masses by making the information available and digestible. This is something that others have been discussing as well, such as Dan Pfaff at Altis. For me, spinal engine theory makes sense, and if you look at double-leg amputees and the way they move, it becomes clearer that the movement is initiated around the core of the body. So I think the legs are an extension of the movement that is initiated higher up the chain.

In terms of Weck’s “head over foot” observations, I think it’s clear that sprinters will have a degree of rotation or lateral movement, so I want to try and harness that energy and utilize it to enhance performance. I want to stress that I don’t tell the athletes to intentionally move from side to side or exaggerate what they are already doing, but this happens. It’s noticeable that the lateral movements tend to be greater in early acceleration and gradually decrease until they are more subtle in maximum velocity. Therefore, I think it makes sense to strengthen the anatomical structures that are relevant to these positions so we can be more effective when we are in, and exiting, these positions.

During lockdown in 2020, I read Bosch’s book Strength Training and Coordination, and I think it’s performance locomotion in a nutshell. One of the concepts I try to consider when using the bigger, more general lifts is reducing the amount of muscle slack, which I think can enable a more effective transfer to sprint performance. Additionally, hip lock, limb-switching, and contralateral pairings working together have all been fairly helpful in terms of reinforcing what Steve is looking for on the track. It can sometimes be helpful to broadly categorize coaches who focus on the physicality of their athletes and the development of this to get results and those who are movement and skill-oriented, and Steve falls into the latter group. Therefore, he is looking for the athletes to achieve and maintain certain positions while sprinting, and some of Bosch’s concepts being used in the gym can assist with this.

Going back to the previous question, the traditional compound concentric movements are perhaps given more emphasis in some European countries, and it’s not uncommon for some of these athletes to run world-class 60-meter times that are relatively stronger than their 100-meter times. The reason for this could be due to the skill of upright running being less of an emphasis in some of their programs. So specific exercises in the gym allow us to rehearse hip lock, which is essentially the stance phase of a kinogram. The hips are co-contracted with the stance leg hip extended and a foot underneath the hips with a relatively straight knee, while the swing leg hip is flexed at close to 90 degrees.

I see this as a chance to use my role to develop some physical capabilities that allow the athletes to achieve the skill-based tasks that Steve looks for on the track. Bosch’s exercises can often be used as a teaching tool in a more controlled environment before taking an athlete outside into a more chaotic environment. When an athlete is running at 10 meters per second or faster, it’s not always easy to have the cognitive awareness of how they are moving. These exercises are performed so much more slowly, enabling the athletes to feel the positions and be more cerebral about attaining them. I explain to the athletes that if they’re unable to hit or maintain a position in a gym setting, it can mean it will be less likely that they’ll be able to achieve it on the track. The gym also offers an opportunity to develop specific strength qualities around these positions.

While Weck’s and Bosch’s work doesn’t have a lot of obvious crossover, there are similarities in how they’re applied to our training program. Both come from a coordinative perspective and therefore require many reps to teach the movements and achieve transfer. For this reason, the exercises from both these schools of thought are implemented on our low-intensity or “capacity” days. As I mentioned in my previous answer, again, I stress “do no harm” when implementing these exercises in an athlete’s training program.

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Freelap USA: You have a great relationship with Steve Fudge, sprint coach at the Fudge London Project. Can you talk about how collaborative your partnership is in terms of ensuring optimal and appropriate programming for the athlete and the relationship between the training done on the track and that done in the weight room?

Jermaine Olasan: As I mentioned earlier, I was coached by Jonas Tawiah-Dodoo, and he and Steve both started working for UK Athletics at the same time and had “rival” groups. So I didn’t know Steve before we started working together, although I knew athletes who had been successful with him, such as Ojie Edoburun and Imani Lansiquot. But since working together, we’ve gotten to know each other very well—going back to your question, we have a very collaborative approach with regard to our programming. Every Sunday, we have a call to discuss each of the athletes individually to ensure that none of their needs are missed and that our planning is complementary to one another.

[bctt tweet="It’s important that we discuss how much of each quality is being addressed each week so that the training on the track is supported by that in the gym, says @JermaineOlasan."]

Since our periodization units blend into each other, as opposed to a true block periodization style, it’s important that we discuss how much of each quality is being addressed each week so that the training on the track is supported by that in the gym. For example, toward the end of what might be considered a general preparation phase, Steve will have his athletes accelerating and sprinting quite quickly. But if I had the athletes performing slow, heavy compound movements the day before, there would be an interference.

It’s imperative that I work closely with him when placing my training components in the weekly cycles to avoid such interference. For instance, when we do some intense French Contrast training, I place that on a Friday since the athletes then have the weekend off. Therefore, it’s the better part of 72 hours before they have to train again on the track, and it’s closer to 96 hours before they do their next high-intensity sprint session, as those typically fall on Tuesdays.

In previous answers, I spoke about my integration of some of the concepts popularized by Bosch and Weck, and this all stems from conversations with Steve and building an understanding of the positions he wants to see the athletes hit and maintain on the track. Once I know what Steve wants, then it’s my job to figure out how I can use my setting to help ensure they’re in appropriate physical condition to achieve the skill outcome he is looking for; I don’t think any of this is possible without thorough communication!

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