This one is a treat! we go through a few disciplines that make up mixed martial arts and put our spin of a needs analysis on each one. This is valuable for the athlete to know and especially the coach to know. Rather than making athletes go through general workouts, we should be customizing each one to the sporting goal and style. This gives us a cheat sheet for that! We use a framework that I was exposed to through a podcast a while back, and have found a good summary here. Biomechanics, Biodyn...
Apr 05, 2021•1 hr 14 min
Athletes, Coaches, other bad asses: Overtraining is real! There are multiple factors that go into a training load but at the end of the day you need to know your own body. Coaches are generally well meaning, your inner-drive is well meaning but at times can be detrimental. Take charge of your training schedule, mental health, and workload. Offensive #1 against overtraining: monitoring. Monitor your schedule, your resting heart rate, sleep, general wellness, monitor your health. Chronic injuries ...
Apr 02, 2021•43 min
Its all in the hips, & he hips don’t lie! The hip/low back/pelvis is integral to every movement that mma athletes use. Training the hip is fairly straight forward as long as we know what we are looking at and how we want to orient our training. Seeing the breath, core, and mobility coming from the right areas are huge to avoiding/eliminating low back or hip pain. Abduction, adduction, internal rotation, external rotation are the unsung heros of hip mobility especially when we get to grapplin...
Mar 26, 2021•59 min
Be a coach, not a programmer, or a rehabilitator, or a machine. Human relations cannot be overstated when it comes to coaching and leading people. Get to know your athlete’s personalities, tendencies, and needs. This requires you to actually give a f*ck about the person in front of you. There are countless ways to demonstrate and apply this extra thought into your coaching practice. Account for subjective experiences, understand that people are different, listen empathetically, and have a sense ...
Mar 16, 2021•53 min
If you care about you training, then organizing your training process should be a constant topic of interest. Too many athletes and fighters get stuck in the bodybuilding approach of training isolated body parts within each workout. This is not the best approach, *in general* for athletic performance training. but… Monday is Chest day, bro! Sure there are benefits to this isolation training approach. Adding mass, gaining specific strength, and specific rehab when the isolated part is broken are ...
Mar 10, 2021•46 min
We have a guest! Christina Chu is a performance dietitian consultant based out of Chicago, IL. She works with all level athletes and elite corporate members to optimize their nutrition to fuel their lifestyle. She has developed and implemented sports nutrition programs in Chicago-area performance centers and clinics to best support high-level athletes in the Windy City. Christina earned her Bachelor's and Master's degree in Nutrition at Boston University, completed her DI at Beth Israel Deacones...
Mar 01, 2021•1 hr 14 min
“High Performance Team” this has been a goal of building a fighter since day 1. Recruiting expert coaches, dieticians, physical therapists, chiropractors, and support staff who are all working to a common goal is a mecca of sports performance. When the goal is athlete performance, health, and wellness we have a recipe for success. There seems to be “something in the water” when you walk into these environments. We dig deep into building this atmosphere within your space, and around your training...
Feb 22, 2021•43 min
Rotational training and getting into the transverse plane should be a staple in your program. Within a logical and integrated program rotation should ride right-along that curve. From building a base of anti-rotation to demonstrating power through a rotational movement we must carry this along in the training process. Correctly progressing and teaching rotational movements has traditionally been a lacking piece in most S&C programs, this cannot be a fault of mma S&C where rotation is so ...
Feb 15, 2021•52 min
The shoulder. Mobility, Stability, Power, Strength, and Range of Motion. Where should we prioritize our training around the shoulder? It depends. One thing is for sure is that we need the shoulder to move. A large active range of motion through the shoulder blade adds range to our punches, adds pop on the end of the punches, and can enhance your defenses. We get into some good anatomy, mma tactics, joint centration, and of course shoulder training methods in this one! Let us know what you think ...
Feb 08, 2021•53 min
Training at home, on the go, or just trying to optimize your training with less equipment? We got you. We compiled a list with 5 of the most universally valuable pieces of exercise equipment. We decided on this list based on a few criteria. 1. Is it versatile? 2. Is it affordable? and 3. Is it practical to train with? We love all of the pieces on this list and various exercises with them, we hope they serve as a good guide to getting you started with your at home, or personal training sessions! ...
Feb 01, 2021•41 min
The Why behind assessments. Previously we have introduced a strength and conditioning assessment, but today we aren’t talking about the what, we are talking about the why. Assessments serve a purpose in our programming, results analysis, and overall tracking of progress. People all the time get obsessed with the numbers, but we need to see the actual merit of the test and understand who and why is achieving the results. Through understanding context and each individual athlete we give our assess...
Jan 25, 2021•34 min
Let’s talk about actually benefit from your rest, rest intervals, and recovery. Optimizing your training via matching appropriate rest is the main topic within this podcast. Training hard is not always synonymous with training better, and rest intervals are a defining factor with training better. Rest intervals enables us to emphasize different conditioning qualities, or sporting skills which create a better training effect than a drenched shirt and sweat angel on the floor. Check out the podcas...
Jan 18, 2021•42 min
What is work life balance? Who knows. We think its individual to everyone and there has to be a period where you, as a self-starter, feel out your own process. What is a good pace for you? We talk a lot about defining your goal, and setting yourself up to accomplish that goal. When your goal and methods are misaligned that’s when problems arise. Perhaps you are ignoring your family and social life in order to work more, or you are not working enough to accomplish your ambitions. Finding a mix, b...
Jan 11, 2021•50 min
Busting the myths, talking about our biggest pet peeves that exist in the MMA training, and sports performance world. Strength training doesn’t make you gain weight, you don’t need to overhaul your entire diet, and not every exercise needs to look like a punch or kick. Absolutism runs rampant in strength and conditioning, but there is no one best way/methodology to train. Each program is individually specific and we as practitioners and athletes should be open to new training and new methods. If...
Jan 04, 2021•41 min
“Tis’ that time of year to change and become a better you in 2021.” Whatever. On this Podcast, we talk about realistically addressing your bad habits, and replacing them with better training through consistency. Addressing and understanding your injury, changing your mindset in training, actually warming up, and having accountability are all strategies that we touch on in order to change behavior and increase the value of your training. One of the biggest points within this podcast is how leader...
Dec 28, 2020•42 min
The Clean. A foundational power exercise in many strength and conditioning regiments. Should you do it to be better at MMA? How should you coach it? Is it absolutely necessary? We dive into the nuances of the clean exercises and what exercises can be used to mimic the same power stimulus. We talk derivatives of the clean itself, using a trap bar jump, medballs, kettlebells and straight up jump training. We come to a pretty strong conclusion concerning the clean and its application to MMA. Tune i...
Dec 21, 2020•41 min
What goes into your strength and conditioning program? We try to explain as best we can the principles that guide our program writing and other factor that affect your training plan. How do strength and conditioning professionals create out of camp/ yearlong training plans called annual plans? Where do we even start? There is more behind it that, lift heavy sh*t and get strong, we are trying to maximize performance by layering in different training qualities and exposing athletes to the optimal ...
Dec 14, 2020•1 hr 1 min
Anatomical Approach to Training – The Neck! Hugely important to combat sports the neck is a huge area to consider when planning for training. We cover the anatomy, muscle function, training approach and common injuries in relation to the neck. We also highlight different methods of training, and better approaches to protecting and strengthening what is important in this region. Defining good position, training smartly, and addressing myths of neck size are great points to highlight in this podca...
Dec 07, 2020•46 min
This week is all about ways to enhance your Jiu Jitsu practice. The goal is to enhance the efficacy of your practice, addlongevity to your Jiu Jitsu game, and spend less time away from the mat. In order to do this we touch on optimal warm ups, using passive recovery tools well, implementing strength and conditioning, and identifying injuries early. Areas to focus on within all of these maintenance strategies is to create mobility at the shoulders and hips, increasing blood flow, and stabilizing ...
Nov 30, 2020•46 min
Which is better? Micro vs. Macro approaches to coaching and training within MMA. We talk about when it is important to train with a team vs as an individual, monitor training daily or on a monthly basis, or making decisions to push forward or pull back. We agree that a mix of both approaches will work best based on contexts and athlete personalities. Coaches are there to write the plan, guide the process, and audible when necessary, but The athlete is the driver. The athlete is Luke Skywalker, a...
Nov 23, 2020•41 min
Talking transitioning from athlete to coach, but more specifically collegiate wrestling athlete to MMA coach/support staff. We talk about our own struggles in learning the multiple artforms that go into MMA, but we also see how pursuing things outside of our comfort zone, like boxing, Jiu jitsu, and muaythai helped us become better coaches. Austin provides great points about mastery, practicing what you preach and creating systems which see further than just knowing pieces of technique. This epi...
Nov 16, 2020•48 min
Podcastin’ on the road, Austin joins in from coaching at Bellator 250 & 251. This episode covers the 5 best exercises we can transfer from the weight room to MMA. Focusing in on general exercises we look for exercises that give us the biggest bang for our buck. That is, we are efficient at performing them, there is low risk, and a high return on investment. We expand on each exercise and describe why & where we employ them in our training. A final important point that we make is that all...
Nov 09, 2020•43 min
Within this episode we talk about planning, adapting, and systemizing our training and programs to train within mma. We address planning and training for skill work and technical tactical models as well as physical training and strength and conditioning. Rigid planning has a limited use within coaching, but having a plan is irreplaceable. We must meet the two in the middle, creating a plan and adapting on the daily and weekly signals. We introduce our system for this which works as a skill analy...
Nov 03, 2020•36 min
This week is all about context. Who are you working with? Why are they there to work with you? The person is paying for your ability to customize and provide a route to success, not for the program. We talk about a goal setting process, and what has worked for us in the past, and how to plan training based on these goals. We spend time conversing how we prioritize and pace any one different training program. We venture into different training modalities, equipment, and justification of why we wo...
Oct 26, 2020•58 min
The Knee: a continuation of our Anatomical Approach to Training series. Speaking on the knee today we address common methods of training, the joint itself, and how it is involved in lower body training. Austin references Tibial CARs and you can find the link here. Don’t overlook the middle-man or middle child which is the knee. Train the area isometrically, within multiple planes of movement, and from every angle (quads, adductors, hamstrings, abductors). Austin wraps up with a summary and rehab...
Oct 18, 2020•40 min
Link to Video of all tests: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwBpNpqep4s&feature=youtu.be Assessing your ability and measuring improvement gives your training meaning. We offer 5 different qualities to test and how to test them within this episode. These are qualities that we have identified to be important within high level MMA and grappling sports. Training these qualities and assessing them via these tests is instrumental to optimize performance capability. The 5 Assessments and what to lo...
Oct 11, 2020•31 min
How different should in camp vs. out of camp training look? In camp training revolves around technical and tactical skill and “becoming a better fighter.” Out of camp training takes more of an emphasis on athletic qualities and “becoming a better athlete.” Training emphasis, psychological atmosphere, and recovery statuses demand different training styles and moderation in these two different training scenarios. However you slice it, training and how training is managed during different times wit...
Oct 05, 2020•32 min
Within this episode we critically consider movement screens, and the correct placement for corrective exercise within an athlete’s training session. How valuable is “functional movement?” Which lens of movement should we use to analyze movement? and What is the overall effect of all of these interventions? We dive into how we approach and have grown through prescribing correctives for functional capacity and other reasons with our athletes. Dr. Austin Schoen gives a great overview of some of the...
Sep 28, 2020•36 min
0:20 No compliment this time… Looking at coaching development and coaching strategies with practical implications. 1:20 Jumping straight into communication and considering all of the facets of communication. Communication works for salesmen as well as effective leaders. First reference of the Ego, there will be a lot more. 5:00 Where is the marriage between science and research into this endeavor of coaching. How theory can integrate into our practice, and why every program is a mix of social an...
Sep 20, 2020•39 min
