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Gio Grassi is bringing you a wealth of knowledge from industry leaders on: networking, building cultures, strength and conditioning, nutrition, financial information, sports, and information from successful people, all in hopes of making you a better person after the episode. I am going to be bringing on guest that will literally make it hard for you to turn this podcast off.
Episodes
Monday Nov 02, 2020
Bioanalytics Framework with Kyle McMinn
Monday Nov 02, 2020
Monday Nov 02, 2020
In this episode, Coach Kyle McMinn, Director of Sports Performance with USA Women National Field Hockey, takes the reigns to talk about how he and I developed a Bioanalytics Framework model in order to track athlete wellness and fatigue.
Kyle and I coached together while at Fairleigh Dickinson University, where this model was originated. Kyle discusses in detail the process of the framework, as well as the interactions with coaches and players in order to develop the most effective recovery system for our athletes.
In this conversation, Kyle talks through the practical application of what he used to gather information, what he was looking for, and how he was able to make individual player adjustments for training. Overall, coaches and players all bought into this system as it then helped foster a championship culture of team and self accountability.
Kyle McMinn can be reached via email at: Kylesmcminn@gmail.com
Sunday Oct 18, 2020
Developing A High Performance Model with Anthony Grasso
Sunday Oct 18, 2020
Sunday Oct 18, 2020
In this episode, Coach Anthony Grasso from the University of Connecticut Football joins me to discuss his thought process on developing a High Performance Sports Model. Coach Grasso and I share a very similar last name and are both Italian. We joke around a bit about our Italian parents and some other funny Italian inside jokes.
High performance models can stem from everything done in the weight room, to practice tempo, training room rehabs, etc. Everything is accounted for in these models so that athletes can achieve peak performance without hiccups.
I hope you enjoy this fun and educational episode of Toes On The Line, and yes ... I want to apologize in advanced about my language in this episode lol. However aside from that, I believe Coach Grasso lays out a great though process on how High Performance Models should be designed and also what to take into account when drawing one up.
Sunday Sep 27, 2020
Essence of Time with Brian Johnson
Sunday Sep 27, 2020
Sunday Sep 27, 2020
Coach Brian Johnson is the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach with the University of Arizona. Brian Johnson is a former NCAA Football player and National Champion from Louisiana State University, where he played under Nick Saban. He had also spent time playing and coaching in the NFL prior to his arrival at Arizona. He comes from a very strong pedigree of coaching and comes on today to share his experiences and his utilization of athlete monitoring with and without technology and return to practice/play with his athletes.
First thing Brian talks about is how when he was at Florida State University, they were one of the first strength staff’s in the country to utilize Catapult GPS technology. At the time the technology was so new and nobody in America was using it, they were just figuring out stuff on the fly. As he moved along in his career, he learned more and more from stops at LSU and San Francisco 49ers.
Brian goes in depth with the biggest metric of them all: TIME. How to ready an athlete as per energy system; what happens when an NFL roster goes from 90 to 53; what happens when a player has not received ample amounts of practice reps and has to play a game and vice versa…Coach Johnson attacks the angle most people do not take into account, and that is TIME.
Understanding that not a lot of coaches have access to big time technology at their disposal, Brian sheds light on what other metrics can be quantified for athletic performance. Everything from RPEs, Wellness Questionnaires, body weights & body fat percentages, quantifying meal plans, Coach Johnson has damn near figured it out with or without the sexy equipment.
The biggest things that technology and data collection are good for: it
is that it is a conversation starter,
it is a great educational tool for the athlete,
it is a daily measurement,
and it can lead to an intervention if needed.
These are the main reasons Brian and I use technology, because he and I are giving out athletes the opportunity to learn more about themselves in their recovery. If athletes do not know much about their own recovery, then they will not understand what it takes to take their game to an elite level.
Brian Johnson's Instagram tag is:
@_Coachbee1
Monday Sep 14, 2020
Development Psychology (part 2) with David Kitchen
Monday Sep 14, 2020
Monday Sep 14, 2020
On this episode, Coach David Kitchen joins me today to shed light on Development Psychology. Dave is the Founder & CEO of Edge Leadership Academy, which is committed to training leaders and taking organizational culture to an elite level. Before we kick off Dave takes us through his past experiences of going through his trials and tribulations of becoming a Division I Strength and Conditioning Coach. From running out of money, to sleeping on a couch, Dave figured it out.
In this episode we cover many topics such as: Stages of Psycho-Social Development, Identity Crisis, Narcissism, Music and Psych Development, & Mental Health topics.
Dave is currently working on his PhD in Development Psychology. Basically, Development Psychology is the scientific study of how and why humans change over the course of their life. Sounds simple, however Coach Kitchens breaks down stages of Development Psychology and WHY human beings change over the course of their personal lifespan, and the influences are stemmed from different motivations at different stages of life.
We talk about the work of Erik Erikson, who was a German-American development psychologist, who developed a theory of identity crisis, Stages of Psycho-Social Development. All these points are well spoken of during the episode, as Dave gives examples of each stage crisis. How the brain begins to develop and change over time is a huge interesting mystery to me, and we speak about how we can imply development psychology theories to athletes in the weight room.
David Kitchen can be reached via email or social media at:
@coachDkitch
Monday Sep 07, 2020
Development Psychology (part 1) with David Kitchen
Monday Sep 07, 2020
Monday Sep 07, 2020
On this episode, Coach David Kitchen joins me today to shed light on Development Psychology. Dave is the Founder & CEO of Edge Leadership Academy, which is committed to training leaders and taking organizational culture to an elite level. Before we kick off Dave takes us through his past experiences of going through his trials and tribulations of becoming a Division I Strength and Conditioning Coach. From running out of money, to sleeping on a couch, Dave figured it out.
In this episode we cover many topics such as: Stages of Psycho-Social Development, Identity Crisis, Narcissism, Music and Psych Development, & Mental Health topics.
Dave is currently working on his PhD in Development Psychology. Basically, Development Psychology is the scientific study of how and why humans change over the course of their life. Sounds simple, however Coach Kitchens breaks down stages of Development Psychology and WHY human beings change over the course of their personal lifespan, and the influences are stemmed from different motivations at different stages of life.
We talk about the work of Erik Erikson, who was a German-American development psychologist, who developed a theory of identity crisis, Stages of Psycho-Social Development. All these points are well spoken of during the episode, as Dave gives examples of each stage crisis. How the brain begins to develop and change over time is a huge interesting mystery to me, and we speak about how we can imply development psychology theories to athletes in the weight room.
Dave can be reached via email or social media at:
@coachDkitch
Monday Aug 24, 2020
Dissecting True Sports Science with Ted Lambrinides
Monday Aug 24, 2020
Monday Aug 24, 2020
Ted Lambrinidis is a Sports Performance Consultant, who works with plenty of NFL, NBA, NCAA, Professional Football Athletics Trainers Society, Government bodies, and has also lectured across the USA, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, and Russia. Ted and I break down sports science on this episode as we touch on topics surrounding player gps.
Ted has been in the game for a long time and has been utilizing his approach to sports science since the 1980's. Now that technology has boomed in the S&C field, Ted talks about some metrics that serve as importance, while also keep a gauge on the athlete without losing a sense of a realistic approach.
Monday Aug 10, 2020
State of Sports Nutrition with Pratik Patel
Monday Aug 10, 2020
Monday Aug 10, 2020
On this very latest episode of Toes On The Line, I bring on my former colleague when I was an Intern Strength Coach with the New York Giants, Pratik Patel, Director of Performance Nutrition/Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach. Currently still with the New York Giants, Pratik was the first ever Dietician brought on to Big Blue, and has filled a dual capacity role as both Sports Dietician and Assistant Strength Coach.
Pratik starts us off by talking about his dual role with Big Blue, and also how he has been able to become extremely successful within the organization, surviving multiple coaching turnovers. Many of the things he utilizes in his career are lessons from previous experiences, which he has managed to optimize his for his career path.
During this episode, Pratik and I wanted to take a different approach than a typical "nutrition" conversation. We took time to focus on the state of the sport nutrition role, and how it is negatively viewed by most people. Pratik takes extreme measures in his position and lays out foundational guidelines as to what helped him become successful. He also talks about his role with the club, and how his interactions and relationships with other coaches and staff members has helped him excel in collaborative efforts between himself and the strength staff.
Pratik mentions many fallacies he personally sees in the field of sports, and how most people view dieticians and sport nutritionists in general, and speaks of the root cause of these issues. He starts by explaining how internships today are not allowing dieticians in the sports industry to fully excel and become indispensable within their organization. He talks about, education and how many people graduate with no practical experience or any idea of how to apply their knowledge.
As Pratik goes on in the episode, he mentions how one day he would hope to fill an administrative role, encouraging the importance of a sports dietician. Pratik's respectful approach is all in essence to aid the sporting industry become full circle at the collegiate level so that athletes can be better guided for greater life choices in their dietary habits.
Sunday Jul 26, 2020
Sports Training Evolution with Ted Rath
Sunday Jul 26, 2020
Sunday Jul 26, 2020
Philadelphia Eagles Director of Sports Performance, Ted Rath, joins me on this episode. Coach Rath has been coaching in the NFL most of his career working with the Detroit Lions, Miami Dolphins, and most recently with the L.A. Rams.
We start off by talking about this importance of data collection and how it has changed over time. Ted also goes into talking about how technology helps make some decisions in his programming, and how they can progress during a long 16 week season where they are looking to PEAK every Sunday, and where he can fit his super compensation effects. Coach Rath touches base on what pieces of technology he believes to be the best to use, and also what internal measures he utilizes and believes to be the best.
We chat a bit about GymAware units as well, and tracking change over time. I personally love to utilize the GymAware for all the same reason Coach Rath does, and I believe that he hits the nail on the head with quantifying “work sets” and athlete improvements based on power outputs.
DATA CONFIRMS THE COACHES EYE – IT IS NOT THE COACHES EYE
During the middle of the episode, Coach Rath and I talk about how, in the game of American Football, the old adage of “hey you’re a linebacker you need to be 'X' weight”, and talk about how certain athletes perform optimally at a certain body weight based on their frame and body composition. Athletes come out of the NFL Combine every year, Coach Rath talks about how his system of “body typing” for placing athletes in generalized categories in order to develop the most efficient player for on field performance.
Franchise players are the cornerstone to an NFL team’s success and Coach Rath has worked with many players of this stature. We get into the talk of how to keep these guys healthy and on the field all the time and what happens when a franchise player becomes a chronic injured guy, and how programming and thought process changes.
Older athletes (veterans in their 30s) versus younger athletes (rookies, guys in their mid 20’s), very different type of training for these two age groups, and Ted attacks how your thought process should shift attention to other key areas such as: joint degradation, spinal stenosis, disc degradation.
To wrap things up, Coach Rath sheds light on how the COVID pandemic could probably have made a larger impact on athlete performance and nutritional digestion. Nobody is in their “normal” routines and how a lot of things that were once at our immediate disposal are not there anymore and could have an effect on how the stomach digests and absorbs certain nutrients they have not consumed in over a couple of months.
Sunday Jul 12, 2020
Championship Basics with Barry Rubin
Sunday Jul 12, 2020
Sunday Jul 12, 2020
Coach Barry Rubin joins me on this episode of Toes On The Line and chats it up about how keeping everything basic has been his bread and butter to his athletes’ success in the NFL, helping his teams very successfully win Division Titles, Conference Titles, and Super Bowl Titles.
Coach Rubin highlights the rookie season shock experienced by incoming players and the major difference between playing in college and playing in the pros. The NFL is a very long season and Coach Rubin’s programming style shifts gears to keep his players motivated as the playoffs approach. We spend some time talking about off season, in season, and post season athlete development programs and Coach Rubin sheds some light on how he progresses his conditioning as well as continues to manipulate his strength program to keep his players motivated. However the biggest factor that motivates the players the most: WINNING.
Strong leadership can do big things for any organization, and Coach Rubin talks about some those qualities he sees in his players, which overall help drive the culture. Personally, I believe a team with strong leadership culture brings home more success. Outside of strength and conditioning, we touched on topics such as how the game has changed from when Coach Rubin first got to the NFL to now. Overall, it was a fun and interesting conversation from an NFL veteran.
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Sunday Jun 28, 2020
Assessing From The Ground Up with Jason Wooding
Sunday Jun 28, 2020
Sunday Jun 28, 2020
Jason Wooding, Associate Strength and Conditioning Coach with Texas Tech Football, joins me on this episode of Toes On The Line, as he talks about building your athlete from the ground up. Coach Wooding discusses how he assesses his athletes when they arrive and why it is important to look at the mobility of the joint prior to applying a strength program to an athlete.
Coach Wooding also talks about his TOP 6 movements that should be taught and utilized in the weight room, and explains why the Bench Press isn’t one of them. You really have to listen to the conversation to understand WHY he is making his case.
He also talks about how being a African-American Strength and Conditioning Coach in the collegiate setting has helped him become a greater mentor to his athletes, especially those who share the same life experiences, culture and background.
Coach Jason Wooding can be reached at:
@Coach_Wooding – Twitter/Instagram
Jason.Wooding@ttu.edu - email