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education

UT Athletic Performance Clinic 2017

January 31, 2017 by Kathryn Alexander Leave a Comment


Darrell K. Royal Stadium at the University of Texas at Austin. 

Darrell K. Royal Stadium at the University of Texas at Austin. 

The University of Texas hosted their annual Athletic Performance Clinic January 14. Top strength coaches and leaders in athletics speak at this clinic every year, and I love the opportunity to learn from them. (What were you doing Friday night in Austin? I was online, doing more research about the speakers to learn about their experiences, philosophy, and athletes.)

The speakers included coaches of Olympians, collegiate, high school, and professional athletes. 

Snippets of what I learned:

Tim Pelot, Senior Strength & Conditioning Coach of the United States Olympic Committee

  • You must have systems when training groups, but remember they are individuals. 
  • Give your athletes energy and support them! They are expending physical energy, cognitive energy, attending sports medicine needs, etc. They need your support.
  • Take the temperature of the room and be adaptable.

It was really great to hear someone who has spend thousands of hours coaching, and who is so adept at thinking on his feet. 

Tanna Burge, Assistant Athletic Director, Sports Performance, Texas A&M University

Like Tim, Tanna reminds us we don’t coach just teams and groups, but rather individuals.

  • Be intentional, and be there. Ask how they are, mean it, and listen. 
  • If we skip these things, we miss opportunity to positively impact athletes.
  • Beyond the big business of athletics is life. Especially for young college athletes, this is their life!

Tanna gave us a great reminder that athletes aren’t obsessed with the process of lifting and training like some of us coaches are. They do what they have to but don’t think about it all day. Meet them where they are. 

Ron McKeefery, Vice President of Performance and Education for Plae Sports Performance Flooring

Coach McKeefery has served as a strength and conditioning coach for many organizations including The University of Tennessee, Cincinnati Bengals, and Kansas City Royals. 

I’ve heard Coach McKeefery speak, I keep up with his social media updates, and always look forward to hearing what’s in his head. He has so much accumulated knowledge and experience, I could hardly take notes fast enough. 

  • Regarding players running late who must work extra because of their tardiness: “There is a consequence. You have to be ok with that. That’s life.”
  • “Be the person in the room who can get the athlete to his goals.”
  • “When Donnie [Maib, Head Athletic Performance coach for Olympic Sports at University of Texas] and I talk, it’s more about what we’re reading than anything else.” I LOVE this!

Ron also wrote a book, CEO Strength Coach, which I read in about a day after hearing him speak this last time. You can get it here. (not an affiliate link).

Loren Landow, owner/director of Landow Performance

Coach Landow’s presentation was packed full of technical insight and coaching cues. He also has accumulated thousands of hours of coaching skills from his work with high school, collegiate, professional, and Olympic athletes. Most of what I learned from his presentation was really how to refine how I program and cue training. One of my favorite things he explained was of an athletes tool box, or how well they move. “The more coordinated they are, the better. The more skills in the toolbox,” for example. 

Al Vermeil, President of Vermeil Sports and Fitness

Al Vermeil is a legend in the strength and conditioning world. He has worked in the NFL, NBA, and MLB. He has done work with powerhouse teams such as The Denver Broncos, Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago White Sox, US Army Rangers, University of Alabama, Stanford University Sports Medicine, and too many more to name. 

I could listen to Coach Vermeil speak for days and still be beginning to learn from him. Coach Vermeil thoroughly discussed the foundation of power in sports, jump technique, speed development and much more. I will be reviewing his notes for a while. The most humorous part of his speech, when he asked, “How long do I have left? Three minutes? …oooh…”


Al Vermeil speaks at the UTAP Clinic.

Al Vermeil speaks at the UTAP Clinic.

Donnie Maib, Head Athletic Performance coach for Olympic Sports at University of Texas

Donnie took participants to the UT weight room, outfitted by Sorinex Exercise Equipment, for a mobility and recovery session. Like many of the other coaches stressed, Coach Maib reminded us we are dealing with individual athletes. We need to evaluate each athlete’s movement, identify issues, and address them. This demo of mobility exercises and tools was very useful.


Ed Cosner and I in the UT weight room.

Ed Cosner and I in the UT weight room.


Plates and belts in the UT weight room.

Plates and belts in the UT weight room.

The clinic finished with a reception in the beautiful Stark Center, a museum of physical culture and sport. If you are even remotely interested in sports, competition, bodybuilding, or athletics, you need to check this place out. Drs. Jan and Terry Todd have done an amazing job creating the Stark Center from the ground up. It is in the north end zone of the UT Stadium. 


The Sorinex barbell at the Stark Center.

The Sorinex barbell at the Stark Center.


Picture of Pudgy Stockton. She was so beautiful!

Picture of Pudgy Stockton. She was so beautiful!


Coach Cosner geeking out at the Stark Center. :)

Coach Cosner geeking out at the Stark Center. 🙂

As a bonus, I ran into Coach Ed Cosner, who runs PowerSport Strength and Conditioning. I visit his facility when I am in Houston. (You can read about my last visit to his place here). It is always great to run into friends, especially ones I learn so much from!

I am already looking forward to next year’s clinic!

Filed Under: Research, Science Tagged With: athletic performance, coaches, education, University of Texas, UT

Tactical Strength & Conditioning Annual Training

April 15, 2015 by Kathryn Alexander Leave a Comment

Last week I attended the National Strength and Conditioning Association’s Tactical Strength and Conditioning Annual Training, a meeting of leaders in the police, fire and military community. Recognizing the commonalities in their units, programs, and experience allows for faster learning and implementation of effective programs. 


NSCA_TSAC.jpg

In short, when our police, fire, and military departments are fitter, we are all safer.

So, we meet, listen, learn and talk a lot!

You might wonder why, as a personal trainer in Austin, Texas, I chose to attend the TSAC Annual Training.

Continuing education is a huge component for trainer’s integrity. The chance to meet and learn from other strength and conditioning coaches is hugely beneficial to me.  


"Members of the 37th Training Wing's Emergency Services Team at Lackland AFB" by U.S. Air Force. Photo by Robbin Cresswell.

“Members of the 37th Training Wing’s Emergency Services Team at Lackland AFB” by U.S. Air Force. Photo by Robbin Cresswell.

But, I could have attended a general fitness conference or a personal trainer specific conference. Why a tactical conference? Last year, I was employed as an exercise physiologist with the Austin Fire Department. We attended the TSAC Conference, and I was taken with the people I met and the experiences they shared.

And how does this apply to my clients? Let’s back up and minute and consider the goals of a large scale military training program. The individual soldier will be most effective when he or she is strong, conditioned, agile, and healthy. Healthy includes recovery, diet, and sleep. 

Similarly, the optimal firefighter will be able to meet unexpected physical demands, understand how to recovery properly, and generally be fit. Police officers also must be quick with their feet and their mind, and conditioned to run and wrestle if necessary. 


Firefighters during live fire drills.  Photo available at pixabay.com under CC BY 1.0.

Firefighters during live fire drills.  Photo available at pixabay.com under CC BY 1.0.

Add in the extra stresses these populations face. They do not have the luxury of knowing what specific abilities they will need, or what exact situations they will encounter. Nutrition will certainly not be planned and perfect; hello, fleeing suspect or box alarm at dinnertime.

They don’t always have the best training circumstances either. Deployments don’t necessarily lend themselves to regular and consistent training in perfectly equipped gyms.

Certainly, the rest of us can learn from these tactical athletes. If they are able to get their training in with an uncertain schedule, potentially limited equipment, and limited meal options, the rest of us civilians can do it too.

There are 6 gyms or personal training studios on the 1.2 mile “commute” from my home to my second home. That is, Hyde Park Gym for those of you who don’t know me. Granted, I live in the fitness crazed town of Austin, but the point remains: we who are lucky enough to live in a major city have every opportunity to be fit and well surrounding us.


Photo by Expert Infantry available at flickr.com under CC BY 2.0.

Photo by Expert Infantry available at flickr.com under CC BY 2.0.

Several of the talks I heard were about mental toughness, a crucial skill to develop, with wide application from soldiers to civilians. Matt Wenning, one of the strongest powerlifters of today, taught my favorite hands-on session, which was the sumo deadlift, a major foundational lift for strength. 

I got to listen to Eric Cressey, Dan John and Dr. William Kraemer, none of whom need an introduction to those familiar with the training community. 

Many more names that you would know shared their experience with us, and some you would not. All in all, it was a week of great learning, ideas, and doing. I’ll leave you with one last thought.  Mark Taysom, who is a strength and conditioning coach responsible for thousands of soldier’s training, said in his opening remarks, “A lot of people are great. They just don’t know they’re great.”

My job is to bring out the greatness in people.  Some of them are performance athletes or public servants. Others are civilians like me. If I can learn from those coaching individuals whose hurdles are higher and responsibilities are great, I can help my all my clients better.

Filed Under: Personal Training, Research, Science, Training Tagged With: education, fire, leadership, military, National Strength and Conditioning Association, NSCA, police, Tactical Strength and Conditioning, training, TSAC

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