Episode 59: Dr. Jason Miller on the Intricacies, Challenges, and Joys of Coaching Weightlifting

When you're an olympic weightlifting coach, you're a leader, a guide, a teacher: You're the go-to person when people around you need answers. And while this is certainly a position of honor, it also comes with its difficulties, chief among them: Knowing who you can turn to with your questions. That's precisely why we invited Dr. Jason Miller, Ph.D., onto our podcast.

If you're looking to dive down the rabbit hole of programming design and coaching methodology for olympic weightlifting, if you've got nuts-and-bolts questions concerning the application of the latest scientific research on strength, power, technique development and more, then this podcast is a must-listen.

Episode 58: Dane Miller on the Science, Business, and ART of Coaching

Dane Miller is a force. Twice-over business owner and coach of Olympic competitors, world champions, and NCAA athletes across 7 sports, he combines a deep knowledge of sports performance with business acumen and people skills you just can't teach. We admire the heck out of him, so we invited him on our podcast to find out, essentially, how he does it all.

What ensued was a highly informative, highly animated conversation about everything from coping with COVID-19 to running a business in the health/ fitness industry to what it's like to train with pioneers such as Dr. Anatoliy Bondarchuk and Charles Poliquin.

Episode 57: Dr. Lisa Lewis on the Mechanics of Motivation

"Your most effective instrument for effecting change is your report, your relationship with the client."

We'll let that sink in for a moment. This quote, so profound in its succinct expression of truth, is one of the many gems that emerged from our conversation with Dr. Lisa Lewis, Ed.D. CADC-II. As a licensed, practicing psychologist, Dr. Lewis is an expert on motivation and behavior change. And while a portion of her career is dedicated to clinical work with individuals seeking to become healthier, we invited her on Episode 57 to talk about the other portion of her career-- the part focused on helping practitioners help others get healthier.

Zachary GreenwaldApril 1, 2020Sports Psychology, Psychology, Coaching, Evidence-Based Coaching

Episode 56: The Road to Success Is Paved with Good Habits

That distance between who you are and who you want to become? It can feel staggering, daunting, even impassible at times. Especially if you’re fixating on the sheer expanse of it. However, if you focus on taking a single step across that distance, things might not seem quite so overwhelming. Because a step is small. A step is manageable. And, as James Clear discusses in our latest podcast, a step is exactly the motivation you need to take another.

James Clear is the author of Atomic Habits, a New York Times best selling book about the art and science of habit formation.

Zachary GreenwaldDecember 13, 2019Habit Formation, Psychology, Sports Psychology, Mental Health, Self Improvement

Episode 55: Pixie and Alan on Why Nutrition Is a Social Justice Issue, not a Moral Issue

On episode 55, Pixie Turner, M.Sc., and Alan Flanagan, M.Sc, joined us as we jumped into our coveralls, rolled up our sleeves, and took a look under the sputtering, stalling, overheating hood of public nutrition.

And what did we find there? Increasing rates of food anxiety and disordered eating. Widespread chronic lifestyle disease. And hunger. People are suffering from an excess of food messaging at the same time that people suffering from a lack of food choices at the same time that people are suffering from a simple lack.

Zachary GreenwaldSeptember 11, 2019Nutrition Research, nutrition, Public Health, equity, social justice

Episode 54: Evan Peikon on Advancing Concurrent Training with Limiting Systems

Common knowledge has it, you shouldn’t train for ultra marathons at the same time that you train the snatch and the clean and jerk. Common knowledge has it, if you try to build strength, you shouldn’t also try to build your endurance. But Evan Peikon of Training Think Tank has it, common knowledge is wrong.

This isn’t the first time in history that common knowledge has been off base.People used to think the body was made up of four “humors”, for example. And that lead to medical bloodletting: a wasteful, ghastly, and, by today’s measures, horrifically misguided procedure.

Episode 53: Bret Contreras on Coaching Like a Carpenter, Not a Guru

You know what great coaches are like? Carpenters. Carpenters that have a whole host of tools at their disposal-- carpenters who know how to deploy those tools at the right times, during the right projects, and for the right purposes.

You know what great coaches are not like? Cult leaders. Cult leaders who doctrinize exercise, who proclaim some movements “good” and others “bad”-- whose approach is not only anathema to science, but is also no good for their clients.

Episode 52: Gommaar D’Hulst on Why CrossFit is One Small Rep for Man, One Giant Broad Jump for Mankind

In today’s hyperspeed, digitized world, people don’t seem to have time for paradox or ambivalence. They want clearly defined, mutually exclusive sides, and they want to align with one immediately. But while this may be an expedient approach to separating friend from foe, it’s not an especially honest or judicious way of looking at things.

In fact, forming polarized opinions requires oversimplification and exaggeration-- two enemies of truth. And, unfortunately, CrossFit has fallen victim to today’s side-taking, label-sticking culture.

Kyle ClechenkoJune 12, 2019

Episode 51: Introspection over Instagram and Science over Sensationalism-- Pixie Turner’s Take on Nutrition in the Media

Nutrition can be a topsy-turvy place-- a place where misinformation parades around in six-pack suits with “fitspo” masks, where cult leaders preach food restriction dogma from social media pulpits, where marketing supplants science, and where people trap themselves in echo-chamber labyrinths of their own design.

Kyle ClechenkoMay 20, 2019Nutrition, Women in health, Women in STEM, Psychology, Diet, Dieting

Episode 50: Mel Davis on Goal Setting: A Human Approach

No matter how much you know, no matter how much experience you have, no matter how steadfast or disciplined or committed you are, you’re human. And, as Dr. Mel Davis, Ph.D. in Neurobiology and Behavior, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt, and Renaissance Periodization Coach explains, that’s a critical thing to recognize. It’s the key to reaching your aesthetic, athletic, and health goals.

Episode 49: Alan Flanagan Defends the Science of Nutrition

When it comes to nutrition, there’s an elephant in the room. Actually, a few. And Alan Flanagan, M.Sc., Ph.D. candidate studying chrono-nutrition, and former lawyer, joins us on Episode 49 to confront them.

He begins with a particularly stubborn impediment to progress: Post-Truth Anti-Intellectualism. This movement, characterized by…

Episode 48: Bryce Lewis on the Modern Coach-Athlete Relationship

As Bryce Lewis, IFP Champion, Drug-Free Powerlifting Coach, and founder of The Strength Athlete, puts it, “The whole relationship between a coach and an athlete is hinged upon success or failure in making the athlete better.” So how can we ensure this relationship will lead to success? On Episode 48 of our Podcast, Bryce Lewis helps us answer this complex question.

Episode 47: Jaime Tartar on the Brain, The Body, and Sleep For Chronic Stress Reduction & Longevity

Episode 47 of the Strength Ratio Podcast features Neuroscientist, Ph.D Jaime Tartar, Professor at Nova Southeastern University and President of the non-profit, “Society for NeuroSports”.

Jaime joins us to discuss sleep and stress in the context of general health and performance.

Kyle ClechenkoFebruary 27, 2019Sleep, Stress, Health, Recovery, Psychology, Biology, Women in STEM

Episode 46: - Eric Trexler on Metabolic Adaptation, Non-exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT), and a Cross-Comparison of Aerobic Training, Resistance Training, and HIIT for Fat Loss

Episode 46 of the Strength Ratio Podcast features Phd of Human Movement Sciences and Stronger by Science Director of Education, Eric Trexler.

Kyle ClechenkoFebruary 11, 2019Biology, Nutrition, Dieting, Bodybuilding, High Intensity Interval Training, Fatigue Management

Episode 45: Jackson Peos on Intermittent Dieting vs. Continuous Dieting for the Athlete

Episode 45 of the Strength Ratio Podcast features PhD Candidate, Jackson Peos. We welcomed Jackson to the show to discuss his latest literature review, titled “Intermittent Dieting: Theoretical Considerations for the Athlete”. Jackson conducted his review with the help of other PhDs in the field, including past guests Eric Helms and Andy Galpin.

Episode 44: John Gilliam on Abnormal Imaging in Pain-Free Populations & Client Expectations on Outcomes

Episode 44 of the Strength Ratio Podcast features John Gilliam, Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS).

John discusses two primary topics on the show. The first topic involves a literature review of abnormal images on MRI in asymptomatic subjects. Simply speaking, he talks about how someone can get a picture that looks bad, but whose function is great.

Kyle ClechenkoJanuary 28, 2019Physical Therapy, Medical Imaging, Pain Treatment, Motivational Interviewing, Health

Episode 43: Dr. Andy Galpin on the Evolution of Strength & Conditioning, Fiber Type Changes, and Concurrent Training

We’re joined by Dr. Andy Galpin in Episode 43 of the Strength Ratio Podcast. Andy, who holds a PhD in human bioenergetics, is the founder and director of the Biochemistry and Molecular Exercise Laboratory at California State University, Fullerton. He is also the author of “Unplugged”, which educates readers how to “evolve from technology to upgrade your fitness, performance, & consciousness”.

Episode 42: Alex Harrison on Concurrent Training (Part 2) and HIIT "High Intensity Interval Training"

Alex Harrison, Science Consultant of Renaissance Periodization, joins us again to discuss Concurrent Training. Alex references the graph below, from the symposium review “Concurrent exercise training: do opposites distract?” by Coffey and Hawley, to explain the interference effect for both trained, and untrained populations.

Our topic then turns to HIIT “High Intensity Interval Training” for both endurance athletes and for CrossFit athletes.

Episode 41: James Hoffmann on Volume Landmarks for Hypertrophy, Power, and Strength

James Hoffmann, consultant for Renaissance Periodization, joins us again to discuss the volume landmarks of training. In Episode 31, James discussed the volume landmarks in the context of field sports and CrossFit. In this episode, however, James focuses on recoverable abilities for hypertrophy, power, and strength.

This episode also involves volume landmark considerations for…

Episode 40: Eric Helms on Microcycle Progressions for Volume & for Strength

Episode 40 welcomes Eric Helms, PhD in Strength and Conditioning and author/coach for 3D Muscle Journey.

This episode focuses most notably on microcycle progressions for hypertrophy training, wherein Eric shares his thoughts on the weekly evolution of loading and volume for training health and longevity.

The evidence that he provides for such progression has us rethinking the rate at which we add total work to our athletes’ hypertrophy cycles…

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