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Mar
4

By Glenn Whitney

Running Coach: Middle Distance Legend Steve Cram

Category: Athlete-to-coach transition, Track & Field

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Mile, 1500m, Sebastian Coe rivalry

It’s an honor to have on the show this week one of the legends of middle distance running – Steve Cram, a man who set world records, in the 1,000 meter, 1,500 meter and the mile, all in 1985. He was also among the top 800 meter runners of his generation, carrying on a fascinating multi-year rivalry with his countrymen Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe.

Several of Steve’s times are still up there among the very fastest ever run.

Steve has a lot going on, including serving as primary coach for British 1,500 meter standout Laura Weightman, providing ad hoc coaching to a wide range of professional and amateur athletes and acting as lead athletics commentator for the BBC.

In this wide-ranging interview you’ll hear all about his transition from athlete to coach, preferred training methods and his view on all sorts of trends, from low-carb diets to barefoot running.

Sports Coach Radio is a series of weekly in-depth interviews with world-class sports leaders, coaches and sports scientists. It’s hosted by Glenn Whitney, a coaching adviser and leadership consultant. Follow us on Twitter, where we post coaching tips and links to interesting articles just about every day of the week. The handle is @sportscoachtalk. And we’d be grateful if you’d leave a short review of the show on the Apple iTunes page.

Topics: Running coach, The Mile, 1500m, middle distance coaching, Steve Cram, Sebastian Coe, Steve Ovett, Laura Weightman, athletics, track and field, periodization, altitude training, low carb diets, running coach, barefoot running

Feb
24

By Glenn Whitney

A Winning Mindset and Overcoming Adversity With Sports Psychologist Jim Taylor

Category: Mental toughness, Motivation Tags: psychology

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Power of Visualization and Mental Preparation

Sports psychology this week, with one of the country’s leading practitioners.

Dr. Jim Taylor has been a consultant for the United States and Japanese Ski Teams, the United States Tennis Association, and USA Triathlon, and has also worked with world-class athletes in cycling, track and field, swimming, football, golf and baseball. He has been invited to lecture by the Olympic Committees of Spain, France, Poland, and the U.S., and has consulted with the Athletic Departments at Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley.

There is tons of great information on his website: www.drjimtaylor.com and from there you can get links to the excellent articles he writes for the Huffington Post and Psychology Today.

Sports Coach Radio is a series of weekly in-depth interviews with world-class sports leaders, coaches and sports scientists. It’s hosted by Glenn Whitney, a coaching adviser and leadership consultant. Follow us on Twitter, where we post coaching tips and links to interesting articles just about every day of the week. The handle is @sportscoachtalk. And we’d be grateful if you’d leave a short review of the show on the Apple iTunes page.

Key topics: Sports psychology, visualization for sports, mental training, mind coach, winning mindset, overcoming adversity, life after competition, Jim Taylor, positive focus, mental preparation, innner game

Feb
15

By Glenn Whitney

Building Speed Endurance With Track Coach Jimson Lee

Category: Track & Field

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Track 200m and 400m, athletics, sprinting
Speed endurance. One of the most physiologically challenging of athletic pursuits. It combines explosive velocity with the ability to hold onto a high intensity when your lungs are crying out for mercy

Jimson Lee is an expert on speed endurance, particularly in track and field, including the 200 meter and 400 meter events. He heads up the highly engaging blog called – what else? speedendurance.

In this interview we discuss a wide range of topics from Usain Bolt to Michael Johnson, of course, the effect of genes on athletic performance and the difference between the various metabolic systems. Don’t forget that we have already had several top coaches in speed endurance area on the show, including Michael Johnson himself and his former coach, Clyde Hart, who currently coaches top women’s 400 meter runner Sanya Richards-Ross. Those interviews are available in the SportsCoachRadio.com archives.

Key topics: Speed endurance, track sprinting, 200 meters, 400 meters, Michael Johnson, Usain Bolt, Jeremy Wariner, David Rudisha, Sanya Richards Ross, Allyson Felix, speed endurance training

Feb
8

By Glenn Whitney

Conquer Nerves, Keep it Simple and Enjoy Yourself: Downhill Mental Toughness

Category: Uncategorized

This is what world-class self confidence sounds like: Long-shot downhill ski racer Travis Ganong of the United States. His belief in himself has been building up over time, since last year’s Olympic in Sochi, where he finished fifth. Now he’s the 2015 Silver Medallist in the downhill World Championship, at Beaver Creek, Colorado.

“Sochi was a great race for me. After that, I just kind of took off. This is a building process. You have to learn how to ski downhill. It’s such a dangerous sport and on the limit, you have to know how to ride that fine line between risk and reward and know how to get to that reward and know how to get to that reward at the end of the day.

“I knew could ski fast, I knew I had it in me to be competitive at the highest level. It was just a matter of figuring out how to conquer the nerves and conquer the over-excitement of being at these big events.”

“I woke up and I just told myself: :Hey, be relaxed. You’ve been skiing your whole life. You know how to ski. Don’t think about it, just go have fun and enjoy the day. Make some good turn and keep in simple… I love skiing. I have a passion for it.

Topics: Mental toughness, focus under pressure, self talk, self belief, conquer nerves, keep it simple & enjoy yourself: self-confidence

Feb
5

By Glenn Whitney

Brain Training to Boost Endurance Performance With Samuele Marcora

Category: Uncategorized

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Mental Fatigue; Brain Endurance Training
Can brain training make substantial improvements in endurance performance? Is self-talk really effective? The results from preliminary research are highly encouraging. This week’s guest is the man leading the studies, Professor Samuele Marcora. He is director of research at the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Kent, in England.

Prepare for a little brain pain. In this episode we’re going to dive deep into Sam’s cutting edge work integrating exercise physiology with motivation psychology and cognitive neuroscience. This psychobiological approach has generated several innovative studies including the effects of mental fatigue on endurance performance and brain training for endurance athletes (Brain Endurance Training). Sam has also been a research consultant for MAPEI Sport Service in Italy where he contributed to highly cited research on soccer and mountain biking physiology.

Sports Coach Radio is a series of weekly in-depth interviews with world-class sports leaders, coaches and sports scientists. It’s hosted by Glenn Whitney, a coaching adviser and leadership consultant. Follow us on Twitter, where we post coaching tips and links to interesting articles just about every day of the week. The handle is @sportscoachtalk. And we’d be grateful if you’d leave a short review of the show on the Apple iTunes page.

Key topics:Brain training to improve endurance performance; self-talk for athletes, mental fatigue, training to exhaustion, Central Governor Theory, Timothy Noakes, endurance training for cycling, cognitive stimulation

Jan
27

By Glenn Whitney

Getting Ready to Run With CrossFit Mobility Expert Kelly Starrett

Category: Uncategorized

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Barefoot running; CrossFit Mobility WOD, minimalist shoes

Mobility WOD, Mr CrossFit San Francisco, Mr Ready to Run is back with us this week to talk all things resilient, robust and really fast and furious.

Of course it’s Kelly Starrett one of our favourite and most popular guests. He has a doctorate in physical therapy and is a consultant to a wide range of athletes and teams, from cycling, to rugby, and skiing from to ballet. He’s the author of the highly successful and influential book Becoming a Supple Leopard and now his second work is out, the hugely practical and informative Ready to Run – Unlocking Your Potential to Run Naturally.

Sports Coach Radio is a series of weekly in-depth interviews with world-class sports leaders, coaches and sports scientists. It’s hosted by Glenn Whitney, a coaching adviser and leadership consultant. Follow us on Twitter, where we post coaching tips and links to interesting articles just about every day of the week. The handle is @sportscoachtalk. And we’d be grateful if you’d leave a short review of the show on the Apple iTunes page.

Topics: Getting Ready to Run With CrossFit Mobility WOD Expert Kelly Starrett; barefoot running, minimalist running shoes, injury prevention, San Francisco CrossFit, TJ Murphy, CrossFit mobility

Jan
17

By Glenn Whitney

Triathlon and Cycling Coach Joe Friel On Being Fast After 50

Category: Cycling, Sports nutrition, Triathlon

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Cycling, Triathlon, Fat-Adapted Nutrition, Paleo Diet

Master endurance coach Joe Friel is back, this time to talk about a subject near and dear to many coaches I know – being Fast After 50. So whether you’re coaching older athletes or you are an older coach-athlete yourself, this interview is for you. We cover a wide range of topics – cardio vascular performance, strength training, mobility and agility and, of course, nutrition.

Coach Friel is the cofounder of software company Training Peaks and the author of numerous books including The Cyclist’s Training Bible, The Triathlete’s Training Bible and co-author of the ground-breaking Paleo Diet for Athletes. He’s been a coach for nearly 35 years and is past chairman of the USA Triathlon National Coaching Commission.

Sports Coach Radio is a series of weekly in-depth interview with world-class sports coaches, leaders and scientists, hosted by Glenn Whitney, a coaching adviser and leadership consultant. Follow us on Twitter, where we post coaching tips and links to interesting articles just about every day of the week. The handle is @sportscoachtalk. And we’d be grateful if you’d leave a short review of the show on the Apple iTunes page.

Topics: Endurance expert, triathlon, cycling coach Joe Friel on cardio vascular performance, strength training, mobility and agility, and nutrition, Paleo Diet.

Jan
13

By Glenn Whitney

What Makes for World Class Coaching?

Category: Talent ID & Development

A massively important question, but not necessarily a difficult one.

Here’s my wish list. What’s yours?
– Demonstrably successful training methodology
– Personal integrity (ethical standards)
– Reliability (delivers on commitments; can be depended upon)
– Clear, pro-active day-to-day communication
– Ability to explain complex ideas in simple ways; adjusts to various audiences
– Respect for diversity; non-racist, non-sexist
– Personally well-organised; good at planning; on-time, disciplined
– Proactive communication to all key stakeholders (athlete, parents, home club, physios, S&C coaches, etc.)
– Emotional maturity
– Willingness and ability to teach and mentor junior coaches
– Adaptability, mental flexibility and open-mindedness
– Fluency and eloquence communicating with the media and with sponsors; is discreet and discplined
– Growth mindset about him/herself and towards everyone else
– Generosity in helping others
– Low ego; puts athletes’ needs before his/her own
– Able to listen as well as talk
– Capacity for empathising with others

That’s John Wooden, of course, but who else fit’s the bill? Alex Ferguson? Bill Belichick?

“If you don’t have time to do it right, will you have time to do it over?” – John Wooden

Topics: World class coaching, attributes, temperaments and standards

Jan
6

By Glenn Whitney

Stretching the Limits of Human Performance With Michael Joyner

Category: Sports nutrition, Strength & Conditioning, Triathlon

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Exercise Physiology; Blood & Breathing Expert

This week we have one of world’s leading experts on human performance and exercise physiology. Dr Michael Joyner is with us to talk about endurance training, muscle growth, recovery, you name it. He’s based at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, researching among many topics blood flow during exercise, glucose regulation and the physiology of elite athletes.

Dr. Joyner is a keen sportsman himself, particularly triathlon and can quite possibly lay claim to being the fastest ever marathoner on a height-adjusted basis. Measuring 6’4″, he posted a personal best of 2:25 hours.

You can check out his highly stimulating blog Human Limits at www.drmichaeljoyner.com.

Dec
14

By Glenn Whitney

Sport Science’s Preeminent Iconoclast: Tim Noakes

Category: Marathon, Mental toughness, Motivation, Sports nutrition, Strength & Conditioning

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Central Governor, Hydration, Endurance Athletes

Brain-Body Connections and Low-Carb Fuelling

It’s an honour to have Professor Tim Noakes back on the show. He’s one of the world’s leading sports scientists, with special expertise marathons, ultra running and other long endurance events.

Professor Noakes is as active as ever, despite retiring recently from the University of Cape Town’s Exercise Science and Sports Medicine Group, which he founded.

He’s now a particularly strong proponent of low-carb, high-fat approaches to weight loss and athletic performance. We talk about that, plus hydration and, of course, the Central Governor Model, a highly influential approach to understanding the relationship of the brain and the body in high performance sport.

He’s also co-authored a couple of books since we last spoke: The Real Meal Revolution, and Challenging Belief – Memoirs of a Career.
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Dec
2

By Glenn Whitney

Cycling’s Jonathan Vaughters: On-Road and Off-Road Innovation

Category: Athlete-to-coach transition, Cycling

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Tour de France team Cannondale Garmin

Into the world of big time professional cycling this week with one of the key leaders in the field, especially when it comes to anti doping – we have Cannondale Garmin boss Jonathan Vaughters. This is a free flowing and wide-ranging interview, covering everything from the athlete-to-coach transition, the complexities of managing a team that operates simultaneously on several continents, to talent identification and more.

The Cannondale Sharp Team is one the youngest in the peloton but includes standouts Dan Martin, Ryder Hesjedal, and Andrew Talansky, all three of whom have reached the podium in numerous major races over the past three seasons.

Jonathan hit the peak of his riding career as a lieutenant on Lance Armstrong’s U.S. Postal Service Team that won the Tour de France in 1999. He went on to ride for the Credit Agricole team from 2000 to 2002. Three years later he launched, with the help of business partners, Slipstream Sports, the management company that has had a top-tier international team ever since.

SportsCoachRadio.com is a weekly series of interviews with world-class coaches, sports scientists and sports thinkers. It’s hosted by Glenn Whitney, a mentor to coaches and a leadership advisor. You can follow us Twitter, where we post coaching news and advice just about every day of the week. The handle is @sportscoachtalk. And help us make the show increasingly popular. You can do that by posting a short review – just a sentence or two – on the Apple iTunes page.

And for anyone in the cycling world new to the show, you can also check out Sports Coach Radio interviews with a cycling flavour with Jim Miller, Andy Sparks, Joe Friel, Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle

Key Themes: Cycling, Jonathan Vaughters, Tour de France, leadership, Cannondale Garmin, Garmin Sharp, Slipstream Sports, sports marketing, athlete-to-coach transition

Nov
19

By Glenn Whitney

Speed S&C Coach Vern Gambetta on Resilience, Over-Training and Lots More

Category: Soccer, Strength & Conditioning, Swimming

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Strength & conditioning, sprinting and resilience

Our favorite speed, strength and conditioning master coach is back: Vern Gambetta. This time we talk about lessons he’s learned from training mistakes he’s made over a career that spans about a half a century.

Coach Gambetta has been coaching speed, strength and agility for a vast variety of Olympic and professional sports including stints in baseball, with the New York Mets, the Chicago White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds baseball teams, in basketball with the Chicago Bulls in basketball, in football with the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs in football, and in soccer the Tampa Bay Mutiny as well as the U.S. Men’s World Cup Team.

He’s head of the Gambetta Athletic Improvement Network or GAIN, which you can find on www.gambetta.com.
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Nov
5

By Glenn Whitney

Ironman Triathlon Psychiatrist Tamsin Lewis on Mental Health & High Performance

Category: Ironman, Mental toughness, Triathlon

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Triathlon winner, athletic brain & biochemistry expert

If you’re interested in what goes on in the mind of a world-class endurance athlete, this week’s interview is for you.

Psychiatrist Tamsin Lewis happens to be the 2014 British Ironman Champion. Over the past two years, she’s also finished on the podium in 10 elite races at shorter distances, including the half distance Ironman, known as 70.3.

Tamsin is also the co-founder of CuroSeven.com, an online blood analysis consultation service focused on serious athletes.

We talk about everything in this wide ranging interview, from peak mental states, eating disorders to sexual intercourse before major competitions. What she reveals might surprise you.
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Oct
28

By Glenn Whitney

Sports Scientist Ross Tucker: Pushing the Limits of Human Performance

Category: Cycling, Marathon, Mental toughness, Strength & Conditioning

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Central Governor, Endurance sports, Anticipatory Regulation

Serious but fun sports science geekery this week. We’re delighted to have exercise physiologist Ross Tucker joining us from the University of Cape Town and the Sports Science Institute of South Africa.

Ross is a close colleague of Professor Tim Noake’s and has been building on his research into pacing in high-intensity endurance sports, what is often referred to as anticipatory regulation and the Central Governor Model. Ross’s PhD looked at fatigue and the limits of human performance.

In addition to doing extensive research in the limits of human performance, particularly in cycling and running, Ross is a consultant to the South Africa Rugby Sevens Team and a wide range of other top international sports. You can find numerous interesting articles on his website: sportsscientists.com.
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Oct
21

By Glenn Whitney

USA Cycling Endurance Track Coach Andy Sparks Leads a Renewal for Rio

Category: Cycling

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Sarah Hammer’s coach; Endurance expert getting ready for a breakthrough in Rio

Cycling this week. Andy Sparks is back to update us on what has been an excellent season.

Since we last spoke, about two years ago, Andy has relocated to Colorado Springs and become USA Cycling’s Endurance Track Head Coach as well as the U.S. Olympic Committee’s Para-Cycling Track Head Coach. He’s also personal coach (and husband) to seven-time World Champion Sarah Hammer, whose performances just keep going from strength to strength.
Sports Coach Radio.com is a weekly series interviews with world-class coaches, sports scientists and sports thinkers. It’s hosted by me, Glenn Whitney. I’m an adviser to coaches and a leadership consultant. Follow us on Twitter – the handle @sportscoachtalk. And how about writing a short review of the show – just a sentence or two — on the Apple iTunes page and we’ll thank you at the beginning of the next episode.

Sarah Hammer’s coach; Endurance expert getting ready for a breakthrough in Rio

USA Cycling: Endurance Track Coach Andy Sparks Leads a Renewal for Rio
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Oct
11

By Glenn Whitney

S&C Strength and Power Coach Matt Jordan: Injury-Free Explosiveness

Category: Olympics, Sports nutrition, Strength & Conditioning Tags: S&C Strength and Power

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Torn ACLs, Alpine Skiing Expert

Strength and power coaching – always one of our most popular topics. This week we’ve got a world leader in the area, especially when it comes to winter sports.

Matt Jordan is head of Strength and Power Science at The Canadian Sport Institute.

Matt has been personal strength coach to more than 20 Olympic and world championship medallists, and has worked extensively in speed skating, alpine skiing, cross country skiing, snowboarding, biathlon, hockey, football, volleyball and mixed martial arts.

Matt is currently completing his doctorate in medical science at the University of Calgary, focusing on ACL injury/re-injury prevention in elite alpine ski racers.

Matt Jordan on “Relentless and Purposeful Preparation”

Athletes, coaches and supporting cast members centralize and prepare every single day as a collective to deliver performance on demand.

The support team brings expertise to help remove physical barriers for performance on demand. The coaches bring technical expertise and sport know-how to ensure the athletes have the ability to perform on demand. And the athletes engage these experts and engage in rigorous preparation to deliver performance on demand.

This needs to be executed from the smallest scale (i.e. the passing seconds) to the large scale (i.e. the passing years), and done so in a highly repetitious manner to establish the mental and physical skills to deliver performance on demand
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Oct
2

By Glenn Whitney

Ironman Legend Mark Allen: Creating the Right Mindset Before the Big Race

Category: Ironman, Mental toughness, Triathlon Tags: Ironman iron will

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Triathlon Psychology and Mental Toughness

The Ironman World Championship. Every year it happens on the second Saturday in October in Kona, Hawaii.

It’s been exactly 25 years since the most dramatic race so far took place. A duel lasting 8 hours 9 minutes and fourteen seconds between Mark Allen and Dave Scott.

We’re honored to have that day’s victor with us on the show. That’s Mark Allen. He’s now a coach, a mentor and guide in the fields of triathlon, endurance sports in general and in the art of living. He’s also recently produced an inspiring book called The Art of Competition – a series of 90 quotations illustrated with stunning scenes of nature.

Before we jump into the interview, it’s worth highlighting some of Mark’s many accomplishments: Winning the Ironman World Championships the six years in a row he competed; 10 victories in the ITU Olympic Distance World Championships. And how about this? He was named “The Greatest Endurance Athlete Of All Time” in a worldwide poll conducted by ESPN in 2012.

Mark’s website is: www.markallencoaching.com” and the website for the book is: www.art-of-competiton.com
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