Coach Em Up Podcast

Check out Alec on socials! @alecblenis

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Hybrid athlete and coach Alec Blenis is back for his SIXTH appearance on Coach Em Up! Alec breaks down his pursuit of a sub-2:30 marathon while holding serious muscle, training alongside Paris Olympian Yaseen Abdalla, and surviving sodium bicarbonate's most brutal side effects.

Alec Blenis is a hybrid athlete who has been chasing the sub-2:30 marathon while maintaining elite-level strength. In this episode he lays out exactly how he got there: doubling weekly running volume to 75 miles, outsourcing his programming to coach John Davis to kill decision fatigue, and training on treadmills next to a guy who ran a 2:11 in Paris. The interference effect is real, but Alec explains how adaptation eventually brought strength back online. He also speaks on his unorthodox fueling, drinking a liter of OJ a day and over 400 grams of sugar total to maintain his training.

From there, things get weird in the best way. Tim and Alec break down backyard ultramarathon psychology through Mark Dowdle's 5-day performance in Germany, dissect trainer Joel Seedman's Instagram content connecting 90-degree squats to theology, and then unload a stacked Q&A covering high-carb marathon fueling strategy, unilateral vs bilateral training, hybrid athlete training split design, HRV usefulness for athletes, endurance training for heavy runners, treadmill stiffness vs road running, and whether mental toughness drills are actually overrated.

If you are running a marathon while lifting heavy, training concurrently, or just trying to understand the interference effect without losing your mind, this episode has you covered.

Produced by
Q6 Media
https://q6.media

Timestamps:
00:00:00 - Introduciton
00:01:41 - Alec's Running Background and Sub-2:30 Marathon Goal
00:07:04 - Marathon Benchmarks, Coaching Value, and the Interference Effect
00:12:48 - Training with Yaseen Abdalla and Mitch Ammons
00:18:23 - High-Carb Fueling: OJ, Sugar, and Surviving Austin Heat
00:27:18 - Backyard Ultras and Mark Dowdle's Psychological Warfare
00:35:36 - Joel Seedman's Eccentric Isometrics and Theological Squats
00:46:14 - Tim's Best and Worst Qualities
00:50:06 - Unilateral vs Bilateral Training
00:52:11 - Session Flow vs Exercise Ordering
00:53:30 - Building Muscle Under High Endurance Fatigue
00:55:04 - Smartwatch Metrics and HRV Skepticism
00:59:01 - Structuring a Hybrid Training Split
01:00:45 - Sodium Bicarbonate Side Effects
01:06:33 - Weekly OJ Totals and Apex Australia Plans
01:09:16 - Single High-Volume Run vs Spreading Weekly Mileage
01:10:06 - Endurance Training for Heavy Athletes
01:15:02 - Heat Acclimatization and Overrated Mental Toughness Drills
01:20:07 - Treadmill Stiffness vs Road Running

#HybridAthlete #ConcurrentTraining #AlecBlenis #CoachEmUpPodcast #MarathonTraining #InterferenceEffect #RunningAndLifting #EnduranceTraining #Podcast #StrengthAndConditioning

Check out Jason on socials! @Jason_rotger @jasonrotger

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Speed and performance coach Jason Rotger joins Tim Riley to break down speed training, sprint mechanics, and vertical jump training the right way. From a near-fatal BMX crash at 15 to Division I decathlon at FIU, Jason's story is as wild as his coaching methods. He dropped his own 100m from by ditching heavy squats, and he'll tell you exactly why your weight room obsession might be killing your speed.

Jason Rotger went from BMX national rankings to pole vaulting, then earned a D1 scholarship as a decathlete at Florida International University. Along the way, he dealt with ankle surgery, a torn labrum, a supraspinatus tear, and a sprint plateau that had him squatting 435 lbs at 175 lbs bodyweight and still running an 11.8 hundred meter. The fix? He stopped squatting and started sprinting. That single shift dropped his time almost immediately.

This episode covers the how to run a faster 100m debate head-on, the real role of plyometrics for sprint speed, timing gates as a non-negotiable coaching tool, 40 yard dash start technique, and how to improve broad jump distance fast. Jason also breaks down decathlon training volume, pole vault physics, and why sprint coaches need to invest in timing equipment for their athletes. He also opens up about completing his first full decathlon post-college without injury. You only lose when you quit.

Produced by
Q6 Media
https://q6.media

00:00:00 - Introduction
00:02:06 - BMX Racing Career and Near-Fatal Crash
00:11:28 - Transition to Pole Vaulting
00:19:14 - D1 Decathlon at FIU and Injury Streak
00:27:36 - First Full Decathlon and Process Mindset
00:31:00 - Mental Grit and the Rocky Influence
00:34:49 - Sprint Plateau and Heavy Squats
00:39:45 - Coaching Collegiate Sprinters to 25 mph
00:44:49 - Vertical Jump Training and Volleyball Athletes
00:48:25 - Coaching CrossFit Athletes for Combine Events
00:52:54 - Combine Timing Systems and Hamstring Injury Risk
01:02:14 - Pole Vault Physics and Apex Targets
01:12:09 - Hottest Takes on Speed Training
01:16:02 - Authentic Brand Building and Event Swaps
01:20:05 - Three Pieces of Advice for Performance Coaches
01:22:02 - Sprint Coach Rant
01:25:41 - Overrated vs. Underrated in Athletic Performance
01:30:43 - Unsolicited Advice

#SpeedTraining #SprintMechanics #VerticalJumpTraining #CoachEmUpPodcast #Decathlon #PoleVault #JasonRotger #AthleticPerformance #Plyometrics #Podcast

Check out Emmanuel on socials! @Matadi

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Emmanuel Matadi, three-time Olympian and one of the most jacked sprinters on the planet, joins Tim Riley on the Coach 'Em Up Podcast to break down sprint science, recovery, the Enhanced Games controversy, and what it actually takes to run a 9.95 at age 35. From Liberia to the Olympic blocks, Matadi's story is as wild as his 40 time in Timbs.

Matadi didn't start taking track seriously until his junior year of high school. He was too busy playing football, wrestling, and figuring out how to survive as a Liberian immigrant in Minnesota. Then he casually smoked the fastest kid at his school in a race and the rest wrote itself.

On this episode, Emmanuel and Tim go deep on how to run faster in the 100m, why most youth sprinters burn out before they ever peak, and how the old-school method of running 400m repeats until athletes puke is the opposite of what athletes need. Emmanuel breaks down his phase-by-phase sprint cues, why tense muscles are slow muscles, his love of resisted hill sled work over overspeed, and how 8 hours of sleep a night is the ultimate recovery tool.

They also get into the Enhanced Games, where Matadi ran 9.95 at 35 years old and had to address years of steroid accusations head-on. They also explain the science behind fast twitch muscle fiber training and why preserving Type 2X fibers into your 30s and 40s matters more than any 5K you'll ever run.

Produced by
Q6 Media
https://q6.media

00:00:00 - Introduction
00:01:15 - Matadi's Background
00:06:23 - High School Football, Wrestling, and How Track Started
00:11:08 - New NCAA Eligibility rules and NIL
00:17:56 - JUCO Grind vs. Pro Sprint Programming
00:27:26 - Trackflation, Youth Burnout, and Why Off-Seasons Matter
00:32:27 - The Mental Side of Sprinting
00:36:22 - Racing in Three Olympics
00:43:16 - 100m Race Strategy, Acceleration, and Sprint Mechanic Cues
00:46:58 - Recovery Protocols, Weight Management, and Off-Season Lifting
00:52:21 - Line It Up 40 Tournament and the Enhanced Games Experience
01:03:22 - Longevity, Fast-Twitch Fiber Training, and APEX Philosophy
01:15:37 - APEX Miami Breakdown
01:19:38 - Crocs 40, Phase Cues, Bulgarian Split Squats, and Plate Marches
01:28:43 - Youth Mechanics, Peaking in Long Seasons, and Rant n Rave
01:37:06 - Unsolicited Advice and Closing

#EmmanuelMatadi #CoachEmUpPodcast #SprintTraining #HowToRunFaster #EnhancedGames #SprintMechanics #FastTwitchTraining #TrackAndField #ResistedSprinting #OlympicSprinter

Check out Q on socials! @coach_q_physio

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Tim Riley sits down with physical therapist and strength coach Q Willey to break down change of direction training, deceleration, and how to actually bridge the gap between the weight room and the field. Q brings his 4 level COD programming framework and zero patience for coaches running circus tricks with reaction lights.

Q is a former UNC lacrosse national champion, exercise physiologist, and Doctor of Physical Therapy who now coaches out of Austin and collaborates with Dr. Katie Dabrowski on the Confusingly Jacked program and a comprehensive COD Program Guide. In this episode, Q draws a hard line between pre-planned change of direction training and true open field reactive agility, explains why deceleration ground reaction forces run 2 to 3 times higher than acceleration, and lays out exactly how to move athletes through Return to Participation, Return to Play, and Return to Performance phases without blowing them up.

Q also torches the coaching mistake of substituting circus tricks like reaction light games for real cognitive perceptual training, walks through the model for deceleration kinematics, and breaks down how to calculate a COD deficit using the 5-10-5 drill. If you work with athletes and you are still debating whether COD work belongs in your programming, this one settles it.

Topics include change of direction vs agility, reactive agility drills, biomechanics of deceleration, eccentric deceleration drills, return to performance continuum rehab, microdosing change of direction, the 4 level COD programming framework, and catastrophizers vs confronters in physical therapy.

Produced by
Q6 Media
https://q6.media

00:00:00 - Introduction
00:01:45 - Q's Background, Adult Lacrosse at 35
00:10:31 - Change of Direction vs Agility
00:13:56 - Bridge Between the Weight Room and the Field
00:17:01 - Reactivity Spectrum and the Reverse Marilyn Monroe Principle
00:25:43 - Circus Tricks vs Real Cognitive Perceptual Training
00:32:01 - Deceleration Biomechanics
00:46:25 - COD Testing and COD Deficit Calculations
00:54:06 - Return to Participation, Play, and Performance
01:00:15 - The 4-Level COD Programming Framework
01:15:36 - Microdosing COD Work Into Your Weekly Routine
01:21:15 - Confusingly Jacked Program with Katie Dabrowski
01:29:21 - Non-PT Coaches, Confronters vs Catastrophizers, Pain Management
01:38:11 - Why Novel Exercises Cause Soreness, PT School Reality
02:03:17 - Clamshells and OVR Force Plates
02:10:33 - Heat Shock Protein Sauna Myth Busted

#CoachEmUpPodcast #ChangeOfDirectionTraining #DecelerationTraining #ReactiveAgilityDrills #SportsPhysicalTherapy #StrengthCoach #ReturnToPerformance #QuentinWilley #AgilityTraining #PhysicalTherapyPodcast

Check out Brian on socials! @briankula @kulasportsperformance

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Brian Kula has spent 27 years turning athletes into weapons, from high school track kids to NFL Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey. On this episode of the Coach Em Up Podcast, Tim Riley sits down with Brian to break down sports performance philosophy, the biggest mistakes coaches make in speed training, and how to safely bring sprinting to the general population. Plus, Brian gets candid about coaching elite pros, building ETS Performance, and why relationships matter more than any X's and O's.

Brian Kula is one of the most decorated performance coaches in the game. A third-generation coach and former decathlete, Brian built Kula Sports Performance from the ground up, including a pivot during the 2020 pandemic that helped him scale his private training business.

This episode covers the full spectrum: why coaches keep making the same speed training mistakes, what vertical integration speed training actually looks like in practice, how to coach sprinting mechanics for athletes without destroying your general population clients, and what Brian learned from his elite mentors. Brian also opens up about the realities of coaching pro athletes, his work with ETS Performance to build career tracks for young coaches, and why plyometrics for speed development are criminally underrated.

If you are chasing faster athletes, a smarter program, or a coaching career worth building, this one is packed.

Produced by
Q6 Media
https://q6.media

00:00:00 - Introduction
00:02:20 - Brian's background and coaching legacy
00:06:40 - Athlete to coach transition and developing patience
00:11:12 - Coaching youth athletes vs. coaching pros
00:18:33 - Evolution of training philosophy and mentors
00:27:10 - Learning from coaching mistakes and pivoting your program
00:32:04 - Top mistakes in speed training
00:34:40 - Sprinting for general pop and the Fast Forever protocol
00:45:12 - Assessing and coaching elite pros
00:49:18 - Pros and cons of coaching professional athletes
00:55:25 - Mentorship, ETS Performance, and building careers
01:11:34 - The power of relationships
01:14:37 - Listener Q&A with Brian Kula
01:29:37 - Three Things, Rant and Rave, and Unsolicited Advice

#CoachEmUpPodcast #BrianKula #KulaSportsPerformance #SpeedTraining #StrengthAndConditioningPodcast #SprintingMechanics #PerformanceCoach #ETSPerformance #SpeedDevelopment #Plyometrics