Kiana Elliott started her athletic journey at six years old, find gymnastics, a sport she would compete in until eventually retiring at fourteen. Later, she would find a CrossFit gym, the sport of weightlifting, and never look back. She is a world junior medalist, qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, and is months out from fulfilling a lifelong dream of competing at the biggest stage in athletics. Join us for part two of this interview with Kiana, as we sit down to discuss her introduction to weigh...
Jun 17, 2021•57 min
Kiana Elliott started her athletic journey at six years old, finding gymnastics, a sport she would compete in until eventually retiring at fourteen. Later, she would find a gym, the sport of weightlifting, and never look back. She is a world junior medalist, qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, and is months out from fulfilling a lifelong dream of competing at the biggest stage in athletics. Join us for part one of this interview with Kiana, as we sit down to discuss her journey in gymnastics, what...
Jun 09, 2021•40 min
Michael Amato is a physical therapist for Boston Physical Therapy and Wellness, where he focuses on the use of exercise and education, applying principles of strength and conditioning, neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy to help individuals of all levels reach their goals in health and fitness. Join us as we sit down to discuss his experience in PT school, the good and the bad of his education, how to treat patients in chronic pain, what exactly is pain, and why he chooses to roast his own ...
Jun 02, 2021•1 hr 16 min
Judd Kalkhoven is a researcher at the University of Technology Sydney, where he specializes in muscle-tendon structure and function. Quinn Henoch is a DPT located in southern California, specializing in the care of weightlifters and other barbell athletes. John Flagg is an athletic trainer, powerlifting coach, and the owner of Rebuild Stronger. Join us as we sit down to discuss the acute:chronic workload ratio, the monitoring of training load, what constitutes work capacity, and the variables in...
May 26, 2021•1 hr 25 min
John Flagg is a Clinical Athlete provider, an athletic trainer, and a competitive powerlifter in the USAPL Raw and Equipped and USPA Classic Raw. He’s lived a life fueled by athletics and getting stronger. Join us as we sit down to discuss the performance-rehab spectrum, treating injuries as a process and not as an event, and how to handle setbacks. Enjoy. Follow John Flagg: https://www.instagram.com/john.rebuildstronger/ https://www.rebuildstrongeronline.com/ The link to the show is in my bio a...
May 18, 2021•1 hr 3 min
Cicely Kyle has lived a life immersed in athletics and physical fitness. From gymnastics, basketball, fitness competitions, track, and now weightlifting, she’s nearly done it all. Not only has she competed in many different sports, but she’s brought home countless medals, trophies, and an American Record clean and jerk. Join us as we sit down to discuss her recent success at Pan Ams, where she swept gold, a few of the technical changes she is trying to make, and how she and coach Spencer Arnold ...
May 13, 2021•1 hr 12 min
Eric Helms has been a staple in the natural bodybuilding, powerlifting, and fitness/physique space for over a decade. He started as a personal trainer, but continued his academic pursuits, earning a Ph.D. in 2017. His work has influenced nearly every person involved in this space, either directly or indirectly. Join us as we sit down to discuss the mechanisms involved in creating a person's body composition. We then explore these concepts in the context of our evolutionary past, strength sports,...
May 05, 2021•1 hr 32 min
Eric Trexler is a poster child for bridging theory to practice. He received his PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he studied creatine, caffeine, citrulline, and the ergogenic effects of other supplements on different types of performance. He is also a pro natural bodybuilder and coach. Join us as we sit down to discuss the mechanisms behind caffeine, creatine, and citrulline, what effect sizes we often see in research on strength and power athletes, and any other pot...
Apr 27, 2021•1 hr 20 min
Fernando Reis is a world medalist, two-time Olympian (soon to be three), and multiple-time Pan Am Games/Champs gold medalist. He’s been training and competing in the sport for nearly twenty-one years and is still clawing and fighting for an Olympic medal. Join us as we sit down to discuss his prep for the Pan Am Champs, the Olympic games, and potential plans after Tokyo. We also talk about where Lasha sits in the GOAT conversation, what the IWF should do about its doping problems, and what it fe...
Apr 21, 2021•51 min
If you're like me, you were brought up on Weightlifting Talk and The Weightlifting Scoop. With the many changes that have happened over the years, Travis has kept the podcast going, along with bringing on two other coaches to help host the show. In this episode, I sit down with the coaches/hosts of The Weightlifting Scoop podcast to give you the scoop on how they met and their coaching backgrounds. Enjoy. Accounts to follow: https://www.instagram.com/theweightliftingscoop/ https://www.instagram....
Apr 14, 2021•1 hr 1 min
In this episode of the podcast Claire Zai, a coach for Barbell Medicine, and I discuss the narratives surrounding female strength training. These narratives often drive interest to train, adherence, style of programming, and the perception and interpretation of the training process. Females are specifically targeted because of previous beliefs surrounding frailty, body image, and their reproductive physiology. Claire and I attempt to address these narratives, detailing the physiology of the mens...
Apr 06, 2021•1 hr 5 min
Athlete monitoring is an area relatively unexplored in the weightlifting world. The notion of tracking session RPE or giving out a wellness questionnaire can seem a bit esoteric. While these metrics may not be tracked and utilized in a program, it doesn’t obviate their effectiveness in communicating how well an athlete is tolerating training. In this two part series Drake and I cover athlete monitoring, the what, why, and how, from both an objective and subjective standpoint. We discuss wellness...
Mar 31, 2021•1 hr 3 min
Maddison Pannell is a champion in the making. From gymnastics to CrossFit to weightlifting, she is making a splash, most recently clean and jerking a kilo over the 49kg American record. There is seemly no stopping her progress. She has the mindset, the want, and the will to realize her dream of becoming the best. Join us as we discuss: - How she found Cal Strength - Getting Dave Spitz to buy into her talent - Recent technical changes that have helped with her clean and jerk breakthrough - and so...
Mar 24, 2021•1 hr 5 min
Adam Storey was the head coach for Team New Zealand at two Olympic games and researched gene expression in response to Bulgarian-style training for his dissertation. He is the definition of science to practice. Not only has he studied high-intensity training in Weightlifting, but he’s done work on the RPE scale (with Eric Helms), hookgrip, and biomechanics of the high bar and low bar squat. Join us as we discuss: - His time learning about and implementing the Bulgarian system with team New Zelan...
Mar 17, 2021•1 hr 10 min
Rachel Leblanc-Bazinet has been an athlete her entire life. From gymnastics to rugby, and everywhere in between, she finally found weightlifting through CrossFit. She’s since competed multiple times on a World, Pan American, Common Wealth, and National stage where she’s racked up a slew of medals and Canadian records. Join us as we discuss: - Rachel’s competitive career - Her ups and downs as an athlete - What it takes to be the best - and how it feels knowing she will be competing at the Olympi...
Mar 09, 2021•1 hr 8 min
In this episode of the podcast, Dr. Mel Davis and I take a deep dive into habit formation and what it takes to become successful. There's no person better to discuss this with given her recent book, "Evidence-based Habit Building; Finally Get Shit Done", and her history of success in both academia and sport. Dr. Mel Davis is a PhD in Neurobiology and Behavior, a BJJ black belt, and a life-long athlete and scholar. Follow Mel: https://www.instagram.com/regressive_underload/?hl=en https://renaissa...
Mar 03, 2021•56 min
Sean Waxman has been a mainstay of USA Weightlifting for the last three decades. He’s competed with the best and he’s coached the best, including top-ten finishers at the WWC and a Pan Am silver medalist. There aren’t many people who can match his understanding of biomechanics and weightlifting technique. Join us as we discuss how the pandemic forced Sean’s hand, why cleaning up the sport of weightlifting isn’t as easy as it sounds, and what it takes to develop clean athletes. The link to the sh...
Feb 23, 2021•1 hr 23 min
Willpower Weightlifting is more than a brick-and-mortar gym. Willpower Weightlifting is an attitude, a mindset, a culture that’s taken Justin Holly nearly a decade to develop. Join Justin, myself, and Jordan Sakkas (Justin’s nephew and longtime athlete) as we discuss the anatomy of a coach-athlete relationship. Justin and Jordan have been working towards gold for the better part of 10 years, since the inception of Willpower, living out the wins and losses, learning from each other, investing, an...
Feb 16, 2021•1 hr 18 min
Rising to the top of any sport takes talent, grit, determination, and a sickening amount of work. Kelly has done this in multiple sports, all whilst living with the diagnosis of type one diabetes. Join us on this podcast as we discuss the highs and lows of Kelly’s life; from diagnosis at age 5, to becoming an ice hockey world champ, competing in the CrossFit Games, and winning USA weightlifting nationals. It hasn’t all been smooth sailing, as much of this was accomplished in less than ideal circ...
Feb 09, 2021•1 hr 20 min
We interrupt your regularly scheduled podcasts about programming and technique, to bring you a voice that needs a bigger reach. Jennyfer Roberts was an up and coming weightlifter. She had risen through the ranks, swiftly dominating the platform and adding kilo after kilo to her total. Her story takes a turn during her first international trip with team USA, ending with the involvement of SafeSport, USA Weightlifting, numerous legal professionals, and an excess of heartbreak and anguish. For many...
Feb 02, 2021•1 hr 35 min
This was possibly the greatest episode of a podcast that I've ever recorded. I was honored to be joined by Keith Davids, a PhD and Professor of Motor Learning at Sheffield Hallam University, and Kevin Cann (Coach of Precision Powerlifting Systems). Join us as we talk all things skill acquisition, the history and study of motor learning, bridging theory to practice, and the development and role of expertise. Ejoy. Keith's social: https://www.shu.ac.uk/about-us/our-people/staff-profiles/keith-davi...
Jan 26, 2021•1 hr 45 min
This show was a long time coming. Hayden's dissertation was focused on understanding the role and strategies for tapering to enhance maximal strength performance. Hayden is a former academic, scientist, and weightlifter, so he knows his way around a university and a weight room. In this episode, we discuss tapering from both an academic (what the research indicates) and anecdotal perspective. We suggest that these two are not mutually exclusive and when used together create strategies to enhance...
Jan 19, 2021•1 hr 4 min
In part 2 of our Westside for Weightlifting series, I am joined by The Strength Agenda's head coach Tom Sroka. Tom has spent the majority of his life around a barbell, training for throwing, weightlifting, strongman, highland games, the list goes on. During this time he spent years working with one of the best weightlifting coaches the USA has seen, Glenn Pendlay. Glenn famously populated the use of Westside concepts for weightlifting, a tradition that Tom has since carried on. In this episode, ...
Jan 13, 2021•1 hr 6 min
The Glenn Pendlay Method is a book recently authored by Seb Ostrowicz (of Weightlifting House fame). Seb spent years recording podcasts, communicating with, and handling programs from Glenn. There aren't many people who have had so much time interacting with Glenn on a personal level. Knowing this, Seb was able to write a fantastic book detailing the life and methods of The People's Coach. In this episode of the podcast, we uncover some of the hidden gems of the book, how concepts can be applied...
Jan 05, 2021•1 hr 44 min
This is a bit of a different episode, instead of discussing coaching or training we spoke about all things Uesaka Barbell. Matt and Pappas both handle the operations for Uesaka, both in North America and Internationally. Matt is a coach for Four Star Strength and a sales partner for Uesaka, helping handle operations in North America. Pappas is the Uesaka Tokyo production manager and international sales manager. Pappas has been in the sport of weightlifting for well over half of his life, competi...
Dec 29, 2020•1 hr 14 min
In part one of our "Planning Training" series, the bois from Data Driven Strength and I cover the good and bad in our respective field, long-term planning, how their training model differs from strict block periodization, and we being to talk programming for muscle size. This was a short show, due to poor time management on my end, but it just means this will end up being a multi-part series. Enjoy. Their accounts to follow: https://www.instagram.com/datadrivenstrength/ https://www.instagram.com...
Dec 22, 2020•33 min
Jeremy has been at the top of powerlifting as an athlete, winning medals at World Championships and competing at the World Games, and continues that as a coach. He now works with athletes of all ages, from young kids to masters competitors, finding success across the board. In this episode, we discuss long-term athletic development, coaching young kids, programming off-seasons for powerlifting, and what it takes to make it to the top of powerlifting and stay there. Enjoy. Jeremy's social: https:...
Dec 15, 2020•1 hr 10 min
In this episode of the podcast, Seb and I deep dive into the constraints imposed by the pandemic on USAW and all of its athletes for this year's Nationals and AO finals. We cover the major results of Nationals, who won, who lost, and who had the most to gain from their performance. Enjoy this week's thrift store version of the Weightlifting House News Show. Seb's social media: https://www.instagram.com/weightlifting_house/ https://www.instagram.com/weightlifting_house_store/ https://www.instagra...
Dec 09, 2020•1 hr 8 min
Coach Adamcheck had a very roundabout path into the sport of weightlifting. Once he found his way in, he knew he wouldn't let go. Since then he's been mentored by coaches like Bob Morris, Bud Charniga, and Ivan Rojas. He's coached athletes at all levels and continues to find ways to improve his system and its results. Join us as we discuss his time in the army, how he got into CrossFit, why he transitioned to weightlifting, and how his system ultimately developed into what it today. Enjoy. Adam'...
Dec 07, 2020•1 hr 14 min
Sean has seen it all, done it all, and now passes that on to his athletes. He started with rugby and ended up training as a professional weightlifter with team MDUSA before it dissolved. During this podcast, we discuss his time before, during, and after Muscle Driver, covering the decisions he made that ultimately changed his life and made it what it is today. Enjoy. Sean's social: https://www.instagram.com/seanmrigsby/?hl=en https://www.heavymetalbarbellclub.com/ My social: https://www.instagra...
Dec 01, 2020•1 hr 42 min
