Just Fly Performance Podcast

Today’s episode features speed coach and human performance expert, Chris Korfist. Chris is a multi-time guest on the podcast and is back for a solo-interview show where he gets into his recent developments in speed training, as well as a great conversation about mind-body concepts and their relationship to sport, and even life itself. Chris Korfist has been a high school coach in track and football for almost 30 years, with more than 80 All-State athletes. He owns the “Slow Guy Speed School” that helps develop athletes ranging from World Champion to middle school. He has consulted with professional sports teams all over the world, including the NFL, MLB, NBA, and Rugby League, and is an advisor for Auckland University of Technology’s SPRINZ. Chris also co-owns the Track Football Consortium, and co-founded Reflexive Performance Reset. It is always good to sit down and just have a great sprinting/speed conversation, as in so many ways, speed is a universal concept to us as human beings, regardless of our exact sport or movement practice. Sprinting represents the highest coordination demand output that the human body can do, and improvements in maximal sprint velocity are some of the hardest earned in training, but also some of the most rewarding. Chris has been on several of my podcasts in the last few years, but we haven’t had a true “speed training” talk since our first episode together around 4 years ago. In addition to some great novel concepts on speed training covered on this show (such as asymmetrical sprint training and shin-drop methods), Chris also gets into a topic that may be more powerful and relevant for many athletes than particular speed training methods (although we want to do them all well), which is the power of the mind to impact posture, power outputs, sport skill, and attitudes of the opposing team. If you get all of the speed training right, but get posture and confidence wrong, one’s highest potential will never be reached. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 13:35 Updates and new ideas in Chris’s sprint program the last several years 26:05 Foot training, and how subtle variability can make a big impact on exercise outputs and effects 32:05 Using resisted sprint training to help technical elements, such as shin drop 40:25 Why Chris changed over from straight-leg bounding/primetimes into preferring flexed-leg bounding/flexed-leg primetimes 43:45 Mind-Body Training: The story behind saying “I am the Greatest!” before doing a sprint or jump, etc. and improving performance substantially 55:05 Mirroring in athletic performance “I think in the (bent-knee primetime) position, it is going to be more appropriate to changing the lever, loading the ankle, and getting a more realistic toe-position (than a straight-leg primetime)” “Where you walk on your knees and you try to crush your calf to your hamstring… that’s a great exercise (for sprinting)… We wear the LILA calf sleeves when we do those to bring the focus on picking the shin up” “It’s a monster of a workout, when you just put weights on one (LILA) sleeve… you can put it on the same arm, same leg, and now it’s a huge core challenge” “If I’m slowing down one leg, the other leg has to go faster” “Kids would run faster fly 10’s when we put the (LILA) sleeve on one side” “Change your toe position and do the (lateral line hop) and it’s a completely different exercise. The slightest variation in your limbs completely change what the exercise is. You are changing slack, distances, recruitment patterns, fascial patterns, and all that” “I started pulling kids out of the start. So I am focusing on, do I have time to get that shin down if that’s really what I’m focusing on” “We’ve been doing diagonal runs, where you keep your shoulders square to the finish line” “You have to make the body give a damn to be perfect” “You can’t cross-over (run) when you are doing a bent-knee primetime” “There is a huge angular component to overspeed that I think everyone just blows off” “These positive affirmations constantly drive your body into doing better” “We repress everything (human aggression)” “You are standing there like you are ready to lose, and it no longer becomes a game of “I can dominate you”, but rather, a game of “Who can make the fewest mistakes and eek out a win”” “One thing that’s really helpful is team breathing, our RPR breathing. You can look at the All Blacks doing the Haka before the game, they are yelling and screaming, but they are doing that together, and all breathing together” “When you are standing in a superman pose, that’s a dominant pose” “This day with phones, you should have your own highlight reel going” “We are meant to be social animals, if we can go down to the basics and breathe together, we are all going to be in the same pl

Today’s episode features athletic performance coach, Scot Prohaska. Scot is distinguished as a nationally recognized sports and executive performance consultant. Scot runs his performance center out of Los Angeles, California, and works with a wide range of athletes, from professionals and Olympians at the highest level, to scholastic athletes. Scot has traveled across the globe studying with leading experts in exercise physiology, kinesiology, physical therapy, biomechanics, strength, conditioning, nutrition, mental and emotional focus, as well as strength. Through his years of coaching, and learning from leaders in multiple fields, Scot has developed the “Six Lanes of High Performance”, which is a holistic view at looking at all elements that go into being an athlete (not just the physical element). Scot’s athletes not only find success on the field, but are impacted by his work on a holistic level, and often achieve positions of leadership in their subsequent athletic, and life, endeavors. As I’ve gone further along in physical preparation/athletic performance, I’ve truly realized that there is much more to offer athletes than simply increasing their 1-rep maxes in lifts, or even trying to increase KPI metrics, such as sprint ability or jump height. These improvements are enjoyable to attain, but I’ve noticed that they don’t always transfer to winning on the field. Through looking to other elements of athletics, such as the mental-emotional side, perceptual and visual ability, and recovery to name a few, we can offer athletes so much more than simply the ability to increase their muscular strength, and even physical outputs. On today’s show, Scot will cover some of his key mentors and life experiences that brought him to his current view of sport performance. He’ll cover the “6 Lanes of High Performance” (Psychology, Sensory Motor, Technical, Tactical, Physical Preparation, Recovery, and Restoration) and get into these distinguishing traits of high performers, as well as how he assesses and trains those traits in his own athletes. He also gets into the 11 leadership tenets he teaches, which have powerful effects on not only the success of the individual as a part of a team, but also into life beyond sport. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. Timestamps and Main Points 4:45 Defining moments in Scot’s career as an athlete and young coach that led him to where he is today 8:15 What success in sport really means to Scot 12:15 Some major mentors in Scot’s coaching process 16:25 An overview of the “six lanes” of performance and why they are important 32:40 The importance of universal distinctions for key facets of behavioral and emotional traits in athletes 35:55 How an experience in Scot’s facility, in relation to the 6 lanes, unfolds 43:35 The results of the “six lanes” in regards to high rates of leadership and sport captain position acquisition of Scot’s former athletes 47:00 Digging into the elements of leadership in Scot’s system, particularly that of ambition in athletes 59:40 How to teach/cultivate innovation in a weight room style setting 1.04:40 How Scott cultivates optimal communication in his training groups “If you are living your dream, you are feeling fulfilled, then that is success to me. Enjoying the daily optimal experience seems to be sustainable to me.” “Where I’ve really found immense value (in behavior chance, sport psychology, leadership and team cohesion) is Special Forces training” “It starts with self-regulation in three domains: the physical (can you push through difficult physical conditions), the mental (can they stay focused), and then there’s the emotional (can they shift into the right emotion at the right time)” “When you change behaviors you see a lot of things change physically, technically as well” “(The six lanes) came from me thinking I was really good at physical preparation, and seeing athletes still fail” “You think a football coach is good at strategic planning? Compare them to a 4-star general, and then see how good they are” “Psychology and behaviors form a better team” “A special operator commander can’t afford to lose… their competition isn’t trying to score on them, it’s trying to kill them” “You are either a transactional coach, or you are a transformational coach” “Early offseason, we work on your weaknesses. When you get close to camp/season, we work on your strengths, that is what got you there” “We may teach courage each month, for 15 minutes at the end of each session. The next month we will teach responsibility, the next month we teach honor, we’ll teach respect the next month. So each month you’ll get a deep, deep respect of regulation and behaviors” “What feeling do you want to feel? What feeling do you want to avoid? That’s what invokes action, especially in younger athletes, the feeling” “In today’s climate, it’s so competitive

Today’s episode features strength and athletic movement coach Austin Jochum. Austin is the owner of Jochum Strength where he works with athletes and “washed up movers” to become the best versions of themselves. He also hosts the Jochum Strength podcast, and was a former D3 All-American football player and a hammer thrower at the University of St.Thomas, where he is now the strength coach for the football team. In training athletes, amongst many other lessons, I’ve learned two big things in my 8 years as a full-time strength coach. One is that the athlete experience supersedes the need for a traditional written training structure, and two is that better performances in the “big lifts” are often not an indicator for having better performance on the field of play. To dissect these issues and achieve multi-lateral development with more potential transfer to sport, an approach that considers emotional and environmental factors in the training process is a must. Athlete autonomy, decision making, emotional growth, and creativity are universal structures that can find transfer to other areas of life outside the weight room, including sport. I was a guest on Austin’s podcast a few months ago, and in talking to him, truly enjoyed his approach to holistic athletic development, and his digging into the total process to a much greater degree than simply building up lifts and taking athletes through canned mobility and stability progressions. Austin is a young coach with a huge passion for finding transferable performance to athletes on all levels. Through a variety of methods, he gives athletes the maximal opportunity to become the strongest version of themselves through creative methods that prioritize autonomy, emotional development, and decision making. On today’s show, Austin covers the experiences he had as an athlete that has impacted his creative approach to coaching. He goes in-depth on the emotional development of athletes, fostering autonomy, and how each session facilitates a maximal “aliveness” and intention, as it moves from creative/perceptive movement training, into the primary strength work, and then autonomy-driven auxiliary training. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 7:05 Austin’s background as an athlete, how the weight-room directed mindset hurt his ability to fully express his athleticism, and how it has formed who he is as a coach 16:05 Mental toughness as specific to various outputs and game situations, and dealing with an athlete’s weak points 34:05 How Austin encourages problem-solving and athlete autonomy in his training sessions 42:05 Creating a training environment that allows for failure and exploration 51:10 Austin’s split between structured and creative training in his athlete sessions 56:10 How to approach auxiliary work at the end of a training session in a manner that keeps energy and intention up “This is how I look at it now, 'how can I expose athletes (to their weak points)' ” “As a strength coach, if I am not competing in a sport, or experiencing the same emotional stress, then I write this perfect program up of squats, bench, output-based.. they jump higher and sprint faster, so “I did a good job as a coach”, but can they process the emotional stuff?” “Is it output that matters, or is it sport that matters, and what you need to do in the situation?” “A lot of athletes come in these days and just want to be told what to do, but that’s not what happens, you have to make decisions” “Giving the athlete the opportunity to make the drill more realistic, the energy in the room went sky high. The athlete knows that environment better than you” “When do we fail in training anymore? When do we try to do something that we are not sure that we can complete?” “The number one coaching advice that I give is, 'figure it out' ” “The disrespect to the body (the body’s problem-solving ability) is something that drives me nuts a little bit” “Sometimes with auxiliary lifts, I’ll put 'get spicy' on it, and you have to do a variation of the lift” About Austin Jochum @austinjochum Austin Jochum is the owner of Jochum Strength where he works with athletes and washed up movers to become the best versions of themselves. He also operates The Jochum Strength insider which is an online training platform for people trying to feel, look, and move better. Austin was a former D3 All-American Football player and a Hammer Thrower at the University of St.Thomas, where he is now the Strength Coach for the Football Team.

Today’s episode features biomechanics specialist and rehabilitation expert, David Grey. David runs the Grey Injury Clinic and helps athletes with injury, pain, rehab, and performance. David has learned under a great number of mentors, and is influenced greatly by the work of Gary Ward who is a 2x previous podcast guest and the creator of the “Anatomy in Motion” system. David is also influenced by systems such as PRI and the martial arts. Through his diverse studies and experience, David is able to get athletes and clients out of pain who have previously been through months of traditional therapy with limited results. He previously appeared on episode #160 of the podcast where he spoke on the link between pronation and using the glutes effectively. In training and rehab, we so often look to exercises that strengthen, before we put a priority on biomechanics and joint actions. The problem is, that in treating pain, unless we fix the biomechanics, no matter how good the strength treatment was, the problem will eventually return. We know that in performance training, we want to build a “base of technique” because the way our body forms from a myo-fascial perspective as a season of training unfolds is going to be based on our technique. Bad technique can yield the result of muscles getting active and trained that shouldn’t, and other important muscle groups getting under-developed. By training the right joint motions, and getting the feet to work properly, we take a huge step in getting athletes to reaching their highest potential. On the podcast today, David goes through a joint-based approach to working with those who have Achilles pain, and particularly, knee pain. He gets into the necessary co-contractions needed to help stabilize the knee joint, and why calcaneus mobility is important for both Achilles tendon and knee tendon injury prevention. We start out the talk with a chat on the feet, how barefoot training might not be all that it’s cracked up to be for some athletes, and the balance between pronation and supination of the foot in performance training. All this and more is in the latest podcast. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:00 The importance of supination in human movement and athletics, as well as why it is more important to think in terms of pronat-ing and supinat-ing rather than pronation and supination. 12:00 How sensation on the sole of the foot is essential for pronating properly and why simply walking around barefoot may not be truly helpful. 26:30 Supination, and its relationship between running, jumping and power in propulsion 36:00 Why joint motion should be the root of our efforts in injury prevention, rather than simply treating the tissue through strength-based exercises 45:30 Major biomechanical issues that show up with those athletes who have knee pain 50:00 The importance of stiffness, when called upon, in preventing knee pain 54:30 Using isometrics to assist co-contractions to help improve knee function 1:04.30 Thoughts on a joint based approach to knee pain “I would be much happier with you having a flat foot that can experience some pronation and supination, versus a person with a neutral foot who can experience neither” “People saying that “pronation is bad” is like saying “you shouldn’t bend your spine to the left” “A collapse and a pronation are two different things” “I don’t sell posture as a way to fix pain, I only relate to posture as a way to access movement” “(In regards to tendon pain) If we are always going to presume that the tendon is the problem, then we are always going to assume that strength is the answer… but the problem is not always the tendon” “We can understand that the body is a reflexive system, and if we can tap into that, we can make big changes very, very quickly” “(Regarding the prevention of knee pain in athletic movement) Can you get co-contractions that happen around the knee… can you get an isometric at the knee; an inability to get an isometric at the knee is a huge issue for me” “Pain messes up the timing” “If the knee extends too soon, then the glutes are not getting a chance to get an active hip extension, the quads are doing all of the pushing, and that is not a happy knee” “If I ask you to show me stiffness, you should be able to show me that” “We need that stiffness, but if you are going to change direction, you need to pronate your foot” “(In an isometric glute bridge) The weaker people will try to lift up higher” “I try to give the person what’s missing; when a traditional strength and conditioning approach has not worked, we usually see huge limitations at the pelvis, ribcage and feet, and just getting those things to start moving again, combined with strength and conditioning, but with slightly different positions than “chest up””

Today’s episode features Phoenix Suns' head strength coach, Cory Schlesinger (and myself) answering questions on athletic performance training sent in from listeners. Topics for this show ranged from programming based on athlete-autonomy, to isometrics, to foot training, as well as important questions on blending strength work into a level of high-performance play where sport skill development far super-cedes one’s physical strength development. Cory previously appeared on this show for episode #138 and is a popular speaker and podcast guest. Cory’s creative, yet practical style is an “athlete-first” method that gets results and leaves athletes with not only a first-class physical training experience but also facilitates their ownership in the process. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 4:50 The utilization of tumbling and wrestling means into athletes of various levels of development (college/amateur, up to pro) 22:40 What the “Sun Café” is, and how it deals with the power of autonomy 34:05 Cory’s favorite isometric exercises for athletes 44:10 Achilles tendon injury prevention and gait biomechanics 51:50 Using floating heel work to improve the connection from the foot to the hip 0:58 Progressing an athlete’s strength development in tandem with their skill development “You genetically gifted athletes who don’t need a lot of bar(bell) work, to be honest” “Certain people need experiences that are a new experience, or experiences that give them a lot of confidence” “Your grinders… what makes them confident? Squatting heavy weight, and you have got to give them that, but how do I expose them to things they are not good at to make their human capacities better?” “You leave breadcrumbs to where you think the athlete needs to go” “When I saw squat numbers go up, when I saw force place numbers go up… I did not see wins go up!” “I don’t care what squat pattern a kid does, I really don’t” “At Stanford, there was an environment where they got to pick the squat pattern, the extension pattern, whatever the meat and potatoes was that day” “There is nothing more intentful, than them getting to choose what they want to do… having that autonomy is going to drive more results than them getting to predict their own success” “Just because they do a between-the-legs dunk doesn’t make them a good athlete, that’s just one aspect of athleticism” “The biggest low hanging fruit to get work done for me, is isometrics” “My favorite (isometric) is a yielding isometric at the sporting angles that they create the most often” “One of my favorite movements to load up is safety bar split, with a Hatfield hold (with a floating heel)” “The one thing I do the most when identifying energy leaks, is super-heavy prowler pushes” “In isometrics, if you put them in a position for long enough, you are going to see where their energy leaks are” “The prowler was the original “floating heel squat”, if you do it right (without letting the heels mash down)” “That’s how most Achilles tears happen (in basketball), is that false step, right into that forward (drive)” About Cory Schlesinger @schlesstrength Cory Schlesinger is currently the head strength and conditioning coach at the Phoenix Suns. He has over a decade of experience as a strength and conditioning coach, having spent the previous three seasons at Stanford University. Cory also has experience working at UAB, and Santa Clara University. Schlesinger also has experience as a coach at the Olympic Training Center and as a sports nutritionist for Major League Soccer’s San Jose Earthquakes. Cory has worked with NBA and NFL players as well as Olympic Games athletes. Schlesinger served an undergraduate internship at Wake Forest in 2007 and at North Carolina during the 2008 and 2009 seasons, while Haase was an assistant coach with the Tar Heels.

Today’s episode features a special guest interviewer, Josh Hingst, head strength coach of the 2018 Superbowl Champion, Philadelphia Eagles, who interviews me on a number of questions related to training American Football. I met Josh in Barcelona, Spain back in 2005, and I’m happy that we’ve been in correspondence since that time. I originally meant to interview Josh for an episode, but Josh flipped the script on me, so to speak, asking if he could interview me for a show. Josh’s experience before working with the Eagles includes work at the Jacksonville Jaguars, the University of Nebraska, the Atlanta Falcons, and Florida State University. Josh has experience serving not only as a strength coach, but also in roles as a sports nutritionist, and he is the co-author of the book “The Athlete’s Guide to Sports Supplements” in 2013 while serving as the director of sports nutrition at the University of Nebraska. I don’t have much experience working in American football specifically, although I’ve been fortunate to be connected with, and be able to interview many experts in this realm in the past several years. In this interview, it is truly humbling to be interviewed by Josh, whose has such an incredible resume in his work with football on the college and professional level. It was good to get his feedback to my own responses as we cover many important topics to athletic development pertaining to football, although my answers cover elements that can pertain to all levels of sport development. In this show, we talk on speed development, hamstring injury prevention, training the foot, biomechanics, isometrics, and much more. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. Timestamps and Main Points 2:40 My take on sprint mechanics and running drills for athletes in team sports 18:30 How to coach the “squatty run” and how it ties in with acceleration and even top-end running mechanics 22:25 Major concepts I’ve learned from Adarian Barr and how they have impacted my coaching: Foot steering, “millimeters-to-waves”, Achilles tendon concepts, lever-class systems in the foot, and more 32:05 Concepts on the foot in athleticism and injury prevention 47:55 Thoughts on extreme isometrics and oscillatory isometrics 54:00 Hamstring injury prevention in regards to running mechanics and beyond 1:00.10 My take on yearly planning in regards to maximal strength training, as well as how to plan post-season transition periods and athlete autonomy About Josh Hingst Josh was named the Eagles strength and conditioning coach during the off-season of 2013. Since that time Hingst has helped the Eagles to pioneer an innovative Performance Science approach to training. Prior to joining the Eagles, Hingst spent the 2012 season as the assistant strength and conditioning coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. From 2009-2011 Hingst served as the Director of Sports Nutrition at the University of Nebraska and during this time he co-authored the book‚ The Athlete’s Guide to Sports Supplements, which was published in 2013. His first NFL experience came in 2008 working as the Team Nutritionist for the Atlanta Falcons. Before his stint in Atlanta, Hingst spent five years in strength and conditioning and sports nutrition capacities at Florida State, where he earned his master’s degree in clinical nutrition with an emphasis in sports nutrition. A native of Hooper, NE, Hingst received his bachelor degrees in nutritional sciences and dietetics and exercise science from Nebraska in 2001. He also served as an assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Huskers while enrolled as a student.