Coach Em Up Podcast

Check out Nick on socials! @thefitover40man

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Nick Conaway joins Tim Riley to talk strength training for older adults, how to build muscle after 40, and why most men are overcomplicating everything. Nick went from running nuclear power plants for 20 years to building a men's health platform with hundreds of thousands of followers, and this podcast looks at the road he took to getting there.

Nick Conaway built Fit Over 40 Man for guys aged 40 to late 50s who are drowning in social media noise and paralyzed by conflicting fitness advice. His approach strips it down: sleep, a three-day full body workout split, single-ingredient foods, and consistent daily non-negotiables. No extreme protocols. No peptide stacking. No lone-wolf nonsense.

This conversation covers the full picture: how golden handcuffs kept him stuck in nuclear energy, what Carol Dweck's Mindset and Atomic Habits did for his identity after a career-ending CrossFit injury, why men's health has to include blood work, and why male loneliness midlife is a bigger performance killer than bad programming.

They also get into quitting alcohol for fat loss, fitness and longevity as a long game, and why the best thing you can do for an aging parent is get them lifting weights.

Produced by
Q6 Media
https://q6.media

00:00:00 - Introduction
00:01:11 - First annual client meetup in Dallas
00:03:50 - Who is Nick Conaway
00:05:33 - 20 years in nuclear power and golden handcuffs
00:11:23 - Leaving corporate life and betting on himself
00:17:10 - Childhood roots and the fear of career transitions
00:24:05 - CrossFit obsession, overtraining, and emergency rib surgery
00:32:00 - Shifting from outcome-driven to process-driven identity
00:36:00 - Simplifying nutrition and managing midlife stress
00:42:00 - Male community and midlife isolation
00:46:05 - Showing up daily and navigating grief while building a business
00:52:16 - Social media growth, blood work, and training for older adults
01:05:49 - Peptide overuse vs. the alcohol-free generation
01:11:21 - Alternative career and actionable steps for men over 40
01:15:15 - Unsolicited advice

#FitnessOver40 #NickConaway #StrengthTrainingForOlderAdults #CoachEmUpPodcast #FitOver40Man #MensHealthOver40 #HowToBuildMuscleAfter40 #HealthyHabitsForMen #FitnessAndLongevity #FitnessPodcast

Check out Lance on socials! @LanceBrooks_PhD

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Dr. Lance Brooks breaks down sprint mechanics and biomechanics of sprinting at a level most coaches never reach. Tim Riley sits down with the coach, researcher, and founder of Brooks Performance Methods to dig into first principles of sprinting, sarcomere function, quasi isometric contractions, and why the elastic vs force dominant sprinters debate is built on a false premise.

Lance's path is wild: bodybuilding forums to personal training at 24 Hour Fitness and Gold's Gym, then D1 strength and conditioning internships, a master's under Dr. Ken Clark, a doctorate, and postdoctoral work in a Harvard comparative biology lab implanting crystals into rats and running guinea fowl on treadmills. All of it in service of understanding how muscles actually produce force during locomotion.

The conversation covers acceleration vs max velocity mechanics, impulse momentum sprinting, vertical impulse top speed sprinting, horizontal impulse acceleration sprinting, and what Newton's Second Law actually demands from a coach's programming. Lance also dismantles the lazy "science lags behind practice" talking point and explains why mastering basic first principles of sprinting will always outperform chasing hyper-specific applied studies.

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Produced by
Q6 Media
https://q6.media

00:00:00 - Introduction
00:04:09 - Lance's Background and Career Path
00:15:30 - Early Coaching Lessons and Internship Blunders
00:22:34 - Bridging Research and the Field
00:32:14 - Comparative Biology, Animal Models, and Muscle Testing
01:04:30 - First Principles of Sprinting and Biomechanics
01:21:40 - Quasi-Isometric Muscle Mechanics and the Elastic vs Force Myth
01:36:00 - Sprinting/Research Q&A

#SprintMechanics #Biomechanics #CoachEmUpPodcast #LanceBrooks #SpeedDevelopment #StrengthAndConditioning #ForcePlate,#SprintTraining #ExercisePhysiology #Podcast

Check out Ashley on socials! @dr.dwyer

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Dr. Ashley Dwyer joins Tim Riley to break down how chronic underfueling and overtraining wreck your hormones, what the polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS) diagnosis changes about previous PCOS treatment, and what creatine benefits for women actually look like in practice.

Ashley Dwyer went from retail pharmacy to NPC bodybuilding to complete hormonal burnout before she hit 30. Every specialist she saw handed her a prescription instead of asking one question about how she was training or eating. Sound familiar?

Tim and Ashley dig into the real mechanics behind HPA axis dysfunction and thyroid suppression, signs of endocrine burnout that most athletes brush off as just being tired, and why your labs can say "normal" while your body is running on fumes. They cover the four distinct subtypes of PMOS, why carbs and cortisol have a direct relationship your coach probably never explained, and what a legitimate reverse dieting after bodybuilding show protocol actually looks like when it is done right.

If you or someone you coach is under-eating, overtrained, and wondering why nothing is working, this episode has the answers. Subscribe to never miss another episode!

Produced by
Q6 Media
https://q6.media

00:00:00 - Introduction
00:01:55 - College Football and Weight Room Culture
00:07:55 - Retail Pharmacy Life
00:11:15 - NPC Bodybuilding, Orthorexia, and Undereating
00:15:40 - Endocrine Collapse and Conventional Medicine Failures
00:23:00 - Underfueling in Athletes and the Female Athlete Triad
00:28:53 - HPA, HPT, and HPG Axes
00:34:30 - Down-Regulation and Intuitive Eating
00:40:00 - Clinical Intake Process and Reverse Dieting Protocol
00:46:40 - PCOS Reclassified as PMOS and Western Medicine Shortcomings
00:52:15 - The Three Root Drivers of PMOS
00:58:30 - Supplements vs. Foundations
01:04:22 - Three Things, Rant and Rave, and Alternate Careers
01:10:10 - Overrated vs. Underrated and Unsolicited Advice

#CoachEmUpPodcast #DrAshleyDwyer #PCOS #PMOS #HormoneHealth #FemaleAthlete #MetabolicHealth #FunctionalHealth #Podcast #WomensHealth

Check out Zack on socials! @zack_zillner

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Tim Riley and Zack Zillner are back in the Austin studio for a full Q&A episode covering strength and conditioning coach salary debates, NCAA 20-hour rule logistics, shin splints, eccentric quasi-isometrics, AI in programming, NIL culture, and whether Tim could survive a bear fight.

Zack breaks down the operational reality of the NCAA 8-hour off-season rule and the full 20-hour in-season window, and explains why sport skill execution will always beat weight room numbers when practice time is limited. Tim reflects on private sector coaching ethics: when an athlete is already buried under school practices, an extra meal often does more than another squat session.

Q&A covers how to build work capacity, why eccentric quasi-isometrics are mostly social media noise, meathead hypertrophy as connective tissue insurance, sleep tracking anxiety and its effect on athletic performance, in-person coaching requirements before going online, AI tools like Relay for programming templates, NIL and transfer portal impact on athlete work ethic, low-tech athlete monitoring tools, and bucket list podcast guests.

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Produced by
Q6 Media
https://q6.media

00:00:00 - Bear Fight Cold Open
00:00:32 - Happy Birthday Zack!
00:03:14 - NCAA 20-Hour Rule Breakdown
00:07:29 - Weight Room vs. Court Time Tug-of-War
00:14:05 - Private Sector Coaching
00:18:05 - Strength and Conditioning Coach Salary Debate
00:37:52 - In-Person Coaching Before Online Coaching
00:44:30 - Managing Shin Splints in Sprint Training
00:47:16 - Debunking Eccentric Quasi-Isometrics
00:51:10 - Meathead Hypertrophy vs. Sport-Specific Training
00:53:37 - How to Find Your Coaching Style
00:57:00 - How to Build Work Capacity
00:58:19 - Sleep Tracking Anxiety and Athletic Performance
01:02:20 - Bucket List Podcast Guests
01:08:04 - Advice for International Coaches Interning in the U.S.
01:09:42 - Biggest Challenges in Basketball Strength and Conditioning
01:12:43 - AI for Strength and Conditioning Programming
01:17:36 - NIL and Transfer Portal Impact on Athlete Work Ethic
01:23:08 - Low-Tech Athlete Monitoring Tools
01:27:07 - Bear Fight Simulation

#CoachEmUp #StrengthAndConditioningCoach #StrengthCoachPodcast #AthleticPerformance #CollegiateStrengthCoach #NILAthletes #SportScience #StrengthCoaching #Podcast #ZachEvenEsh

Check out Tim on socials! @timrileytraining

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Tim Riley goes solo on the Coach Em Up Podcast for a Q&A covering apex competition rules, sprint training for beginners, OCD diagnosis, sobriety, and much more. He shares combine stories, his biggest coaching blunders, and why carbs are still the OG performance enhancer.

He breaks down the viral Hyrox biohazard incident in Beijing and uses it to set the record straight on Apex competition health policy. Then he rewinds to age 26, no car, no phone, no money, walking to his first training job out of a Florida halfway house, and explains how he became the person he is today.

On the business side, Tim talks about how watching physical therapist David Gray build ethical, high-value content convinced him to post consistently and eventually launch Cheat Code, open his own gym, and build Apex from the ground up. He shares his rules for hiring new coaches, the real reason Apex does not use weight classes, and his 2026-2027 expansion targets.

Tim walks through how to improve broad jump mechanics with the Blaine Broad progression, covers sprint training for beginners with a slow-to-fast, low-impact-first framework, and shares his experience training Xavier Worthy. He also recounts two genuinely catastrophic coaching mistakes involving a plyo box and a Swiss ball on a treadmill.

The back half of the episode goes personal. Tim opens up about his OCD diagnosis and how Exposure and Response Prevention therapy finally gave him tools that worked. He also reflects on fatherhood, egocentric bias, and what it actually means to live instead of just survive.

This is a strength and conditioning podcast that does not stay in its lane. That is the point.

Produced by
Q6 Media
https://q6.media

00:00:00 - Introduction
00:01:28 - The Hyrox poop incident
00:10:32 - Advice to his 26-year-old self and early sobriety
00:14:48 - Finding venues for Apex and expansion hurdles
00:18:11 - Building influence, business ethics, and launching Apex
00:29:52 - How to improve your broad jump
00:32:49 - Scaling brands and rules for hiring coaches
00:37:13 - Game speed vs weightroom skill
00:40:46 - Biggest coaching mistakes
00:50:11 - Sprint training for beginners
00:54:08 - Apex 2026-2027 road map and international expansion
01:01:38 - Stepping back from full-time client training
01:06:01 - Why Apex does not have weight classes
01:10:41 - Unsolicited advice, lying, and egocentric bias
01:18:20 - Pure OCD diagnosis and Exposure Response Prevention therapy
01:29:11 - Carbs for athletic performance, fatherhood, anxiety
01:37:27 - Managing career transitions and embracing uncertainty

#CoachEmUpPodcast #ApexCompetition #SprintTraining #StrengthAndConditioningPodcast #BroadJump #MentalHealth #OCD #NFLCombine #XavierWorthy #Podcast