Nick Zostautas Interview
By Jim Wendler
For EliteFTS

Nick Zostautas is the Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Nick received his B.S at Colorado State University and his M.S. at the very tropical University of North Dakota. Nick has competed in strongman competitions and is currently competing in powerlifting. He works with a variety of different sports in his career (football, wrestling, baseball, track and field, cross country, hockey, softball and men’s soccer) and has taken some time out of his schedule to talk with EFS. 

Question: First, who has influenced you most in strength training?
Paul Chapman, who is currently at the University of New Hampshire, has been the biggest influence. He taught me just about everything that I know about the business to date. He has been especially influential in regards to periodization and program design. To me, he is exactly what a strength and conditioning coach should be. I met him while I was at the University of North Dakota. I also would like to thank Larry Lilja (head strength/conditioning coach at N.U.) who gave me my first opportunity and Brian Bedard (my throws coach in college) who taught me to be patient with my athletes. All of these guys have been great with me.


Question: What are the most common mistakes that you see strength coaches make?
Not knowing the proper techniques in lifts, Olympic lifts especially. But this goes for every lift in the weight room. You don’t want to over teach anything but the proper form must be taught. Also, coaches need to know where to place the Olympics into the workouts. They should always be placed at the beginning of a training program.

Question: What mistakes have you made as a strength coach?
At times I have over estimated percentages on the lifts, but the biggest problem that I had, in the beginning, was trying to include everything at once when I first started to training athletes. These ended up being 2 hour workouts and confusing as hell.

Question: What tips and tricks can you share that have made your strength and conditioning program better?
The more you can lead by example, the more credibility you will have with your kids. This covers a lot of different things; showing up on time, dressing appropriately, looking like you care about your body (not being a slob and actually lifting), bringing a good attitude everyday. Also, the energy that you bring to the table directly affects the athletes you are working with. If you are always depressed and feeling like crap, it will reflect on your athletes. Don’t be negative. Even if it’s about your opponent, you don’t want to have to put people down to make your athletes feel better about themselves.

Question: What are the most glaring weaknesses you find in athletes?
Core strength, flexibility (as if I’m one to talk), and loss of technique near fatigue.

Question: Are there any exercises that you feel every athlete, regardless of sport, should do?
Cleans, squats, overheads, and core work are a few things that I think most athletes need. Also, any kind of posterior chain work (GHR for example) should be done by most athletes.

Question: I notice that you included Olympic lifts in your training. These lifts have gotten a lot of criticism as of late. Can you tell me why you include these?
Olympic lifts involve a little more athleticism than a squat; there are a lot of things going on in an Olympic lift that I think can carryover to an athlete.

Question: Obviously you don’t want to spend all day teaching these lifts. What is the quickest way to teach them?
A very simple progression, clean shrugs, RDL’s, front squats, hang cleans, rack cleans, etc. This is dependant on the athlete and what the coach determines he needs.

Question: What is the biggest obstacle you have to face as a strength coach?
Scheduling 23 teams in a single weight room and making coaches understand the reasons behind some of our thinking. A strength and conditioning coach has many bosses and the trick is to make these bosses happy while still maintaining your integrity. This is not easy to do. On one hand, the administration hired you to do a job and trusted your knowledge. The coaches need to respect that. On the other hand, these are their kids you are working with. Sometimes things can get heated.

Question: How do you deal with hesitant and/or stubborn coaches that don't agree with 
your program?
Sit them down and explain the science and reasoning behind it. You have to find some middle ground; in the end it is their team.

Question: What advice would you have for those wishing to become a strength coach at 
the collegiate level?
Get your feet in the water as quick as you can, listen to everything with an open mind, and be prepared to work your ass off. It all pays off in the end though.

Question: How do you explain your system/program to your athletes so that they 
understand what they are doing? Or do you do this at all?
I let them know that the program is Olympic based with special emphases on the posterior chain. I also tell them that there will be elements of “Dino Training” (Strongman) to get us out of the weight room. You have to understand that the kids are not strength coaches. You don’t have to blow them away with science and all the technical jargon. Give them real life examples (“This is going to make you faster.”). This will do wonders for their work ethic and their attitude.