127: Chris Chase on NBA Performance Training Menu’s and Tissue Optimization | Sponsored by SimpliFaster

12/06/18 • 67 min

Today’s episode features Chris Chase, who is currently the Director of Performance for the Memphis Grizzlies. When it comes to working with professional athletes, the world of sports performance is literally a “different ballgame” compared to what happens in the training of high school or even collegiate athletes. In keeping players on the floor throughout long and grueling seasons is not a mathematical equation, and coaches must create their own menu systems to ensure that athletes are encountering minimal risk in the weight room while getting maximal benefit to their tissues for resiliency on the field of play. In learning how coaches such as Chris cater to the needs of these athletes, we can all learn more about how to cater to our own athlete’s needs, regardless of training population. Chris Chase is the epitome of a coach who has honed his menu system for the needs of his athletes. In this episode, we’ll go into Chris’s go-to training methods and means for keeping his NBA players as healthy as possible while minimizing risk. We’ll also go into some of his squatting progressions, which has gotten a big influence from the Postural Restoration Institute, and how this is centered around hitting the right muscles in the right positions without inducing risk. Finally, Chris keys us in to how he approaches speed and movement training in this extensive episode on NBA physical preparation. 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. Key Points The role of a pro strength coach versus college or developmental ranks How Chris approaches barbell training with his NBA athletes Why and how Chris uses machine training in the NBA population Chris’s trainable exercise menu for his athletes How much of Chris’s menu is dedicated to health versus performance KPI’s How Chris uses the four jump for his NBA players Chris’s use of PRI in his performance program Squatting progressions for NBA players Speed and movement development for NBA populations and common causes of movement related injury Chris Chase Quotes “My job as a strength and conditioning coach is to put you in good, trainable conditions that maximizes the good and minimizes the bad” “A lot of barbell work is not on our guys’ trainable menu’s but that’s not to say that it won’t be at some point” “The dirty little secret (to performance and injury prevention) is consistent loading of tissues in the right way” “Sport is not health and wellness” “You need to do things that are more about the person in front of you than your own program” “My S&C performance work is very much just respecting position” “I just want to do the thing I can load you the most in at the time... I’m putting my athlete on the wall (to squat) because it is the only way he is going to feel his legs” About Chris Chase Chris Chase is currently the Director of Performance for the Memphis Grizzlies. Chris has previously served as a S&C Coach for the Atlanta Hawks, University of Southern California & the University of Rhode Island, catering to a variety of Olympic sports.

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126: Q&A with Joel Smith: Neurological Training Systems, Strength and Speed |Sponsored by SimpliFaster

Today’s episode is a question and answer show where I take user questions off of social media and give my best answers. It’s always good to see what people want to know. Questions on today’s show came in clusters often focused on similar topics, many asking about patellar tendonitis prevention, weightlifting and squatting in relation to sprinting, as well as the training methods of Marv Marinovich and Jay Schroeder and what I’ve done in my own programs having that knowledge. Commonly asked as well is what I am doing with all the info I gain from the guests on this show, and what has been a big game changer for me. I covered this a lot in my last solo show, but there have been training ideas even since then that continue to spur me on towards giving my athletes the best training I can. Doing enough of these Q&A’s I’ve felt like eventually I might run out of topics but after 50+ questions, you all have given me plenty to talk about. I hope you enjoy today’s show, there is a lot of things I was really excited to cover. 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. Key Points What the biggest programming game changer in the last few years has been for me An over-rated training intervention in the world of sport performance How I address patellar tendonitis and knee issues in training, and how to prevent it Similarities and differences of the Marv Marinovich and Jay Scheoder training systems and styles (a big question!) How to make the weight room more environmentally similar to sport Lifting and its impact on sprint performance Heavy squatting and its impact on reactive strength How I approach neurological testing and training on athletes given my background in Z-health, NKT, Be Activated, and other systems The biggest change I’ve made to my resistance training programs recently About Joel Smith Joel Smith is the founder of Just Fly Sports and trains athletes and clients in partnership with Evolutionary Fitness in Cincinnati, Ohio. Joel hosts the Just Fly Performance Podcast, has authored several books on athletic performance, and trains numerous clients in the in-person and online space. In 2011, Joel began Just Fly Sports as a central platform to promote information for athletes and coaches to reach their highest potential. In 2016 the first episode of the “Just Fly Performance Podcast” was released, now a leading source of education in the sports performance field. The evolving mission of Just Fly Sports is focused on teaching athletes to realize their true, innate power, and achieve the highest joy in their training, competition, and in the community.

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128: Dr. Emily Splichal on Foot Sensitivity, Vibration and Athletic Performance | Sponsored by SimpliFaster

Today’s episode features Dr. Emily Splichal, podiatrist and human movement specialist. When it comes to the foot, many coaches and athletes realize its’ importance, but due to its’ complexity, we often don’t dig much further than realizing it is important to spend less time in socks and shoes, and more time moving around bare footed. Dr. Emily Splichal’s background in fitness and training offers a 1-2 punch that makes her an extremely valuable resource to the sport and exercise community. She is also the creator of Naboso technology, which offers textured surfaces to train on, such as exercise mats and insoles. Getting the feet to work properly is more than simply going barefoot, however, it is about understanding how the feet pick up sensory information, and then how to use that in exposing athletes to training environments that maximize the sensory capability of the feet. Too many times we will label a foot as “weak” when it really wasn’t sensing something it needed to in order for the proper muscles to fire and tense up the fascia that spirals up to the legs and trunk. In today’s podcast, Dr. Splichal will cover the ways that the foot picks up sensations, and how to manipulate training surfaces (and shoes) to maximize these sensations and improve performance. She also goes into the role of vibration in foot sensation, as well as how athletes must pick up on this vibration to deliver a proper impulse to the ground through the body. Finally she’ll give us her take on balance based work and the feet, as well as talking about Naboso technology. 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. Key Points Different types of nerves within the body, interoceptors and exteroceptors Ways the skin picks up sensation in the foot and the difference between slow and fast receptors How to utilize knowledge of the sense receptors in our footwear selection How vibration and surface type plays in to the athletes relationship with the floor Balance work in relation to foot sensation and adaptation Naboso Technology and textured insoles Dr. Emily Splichal’s Quotes “The four main mechanoceptors are broken down into two different classifications, two adapt to the stimulus slowly... the other two are fast adapting, which means that they respond to the stimulus and then they shut off... so they need a continuous on/off of a stimulus” “First slow adapting is Merkel disc and is slow adapting, sensitive to two-point discrimination (best analogy is braille)” “The second slow adapting is Ruffini ending, which is skin stretch” “Fast adapting, FA1 and FA2 are sensitive to vibration” “The vibratory mechanoreceptors are super important because they are tuned to the stimulus of impact... 70% of the receptors in the bottom of the feet are to pick up vibration” “If cushion in the shoes takes away vibration, it took away some of my athlete’s potential energy” “(On properly using elastic energy) You don’t want to be using your muscles for work, to take each step, when you do that you fatigue the muscular system and cardiovascular system” “Every surface vibrates differently” “Surfaces need to be a symbiotic relationship between the foot and the ground” “Dancing with the ground is the art and science of impact forces” “You have to have a sense of your body in space, how hard you are striking the ground, the rhythm of your movement patterns, the grace” “If you wear socks, wear as thin of a sock as possible... as much as I can I encourage people to go without a sock” “Surface hardness is really important, the softer the surface starts to become the more you disconnect the stimulus between surface, foot and brain” “Plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendonitis, IT band syndrome,