"I always assume I'm the dumbest person in the room." —Cal Dietz

If that is the case, then Cal Dietz must hang out with geniuses on a regular basis. Cal is the success story that most strength coaches would want to have the lead role in. Cal played football and wrestled at Findlay University and worked his way to earn the position of Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for Olympic Sports at the University of Minnesota. While at the helm for the Golden Gophers, Cal's athletes and teams has amassed 32 Big Ten titles, nine national championships, and over 500 All-Americans.

Cal Dietz will be the first to give credit to the athletes and sport coaches. He admits that it is not solely his Tripahsic Training but the work-ethic and intensity of his athletes that leads to their success. Cal works with numerous professional and Olympic athletes in addition to his college players. Cal confesses he is still a work-in-progress himself, and never stops learning.

Often in coaching you have the opportunity to feel like you know another coach before actually meeting them. We often form opinions of these coaches based on their writing, presentations, videos or their reputation expressed by colleagues. Meeting in person either reinforces your preconceptions, or shatters them. When I met Cal Dietz at the 2011 CSCCa conference, I already knew he was the real-deal. Cal is one of the most popular and respected coaches. Those two attributes are rarely found together, but Dietz has earned both distinctions through his unselfish demeanor and humble attitude.

After watching Cal present many times at various conferences, I asked him to speak at the NSCA Ohio State Clinic this May. More importantly, I got the opportunity to interact with Cal all weekend and learned a lot more about the man behind the coach. When he wasn't blowing minds at the clinic or in conversation, he was casually hitting a 600 pound deadlift at the S4 Compound. Cal presented twice during the clinic. The first was on Advanced Methods of Triphasic Training and the second was a hands-on demonstration of appropriate jumps training in conjunction with his French Contrast Training.

Cal Dietz is the real-deal. If you listen to the podcast, I am sure you will agree that his knowledge, experience, and humility make him a coach worth looking up to.

Topics in this Podcast

1. What Cal attributes the success of his teams to
2. How Triphasic Training has evolved
3. Triphasic Training in relation to non-cyclical sports
4. General Overview of Triphasic Training
5. Approximate loads for eccentric and isometric training
6. Three-day undulating model
7. Post-Activation Potentiation and French Contrast Training
8. Peaking cycle, skill acquisition, and Olympic lifting
9. Sports-specific conditioning
10. Advice for young strength & conditioning coaches

Elitefts™ Sports Performance Podcast on iTunes

Elitefts™ Iron Subcultrue Podcast on iTunes

Triphasic Training is the pinnacle of sports performance training. That’s not hype. Cal Dietz, strength coach at the University of Minnesota, has the results to back up this claim: a Hobey Baker Award winner, two Big Ten Athletes of the Year, over 400 All-Americans, 30 Big Ten/WCHA championship teams, 7 NCAA National Team Champions, and 14 teams that finished in the top four in the nation.

Over the past decade, Coach Dietz has worked with thousands of collegiate and professional athletes, incorporating the latest scientific research into developing his Triphasic Training method. His approach breaks down athletic movements into their three components — eccentric, isometric, and concentric — allowing for the continuous development of athletes, maximizing their strength, speed, and power.

In this easy-to-understand book, Coach Dietz has teamed up with exercise physiologist, Ben Peterson, to explain the physiological foundations of Triphasic Training and how they can be applied to training to make athletes bigger, stronger and faster than ever before. The authors give examples of complete programs, as well as examples of how to incorporate the Triphasic method into existing programs, with descriptions on adapting it to virtually any scenario.

Included in the book:

• 5 complete 24-week training programs designed for 6-day, 5-day, 4-day, 3-day, or 2-day training models.
• Over two dozen tables showing when and how to modify exercises to ensure continuous improvement in athletes.
• Peaking programs for football lineman and skill players; swimmers; baseball, volleyball, and hockey players (among others).
• A complete 52-week training program for football.

The Cal Dietz’s File

Cal Dietz has been the Head Olympic Strength and Conditioning coach for numerous sports at the University of Minnesota since 2000. Since Dietz’s return to Minnesota he has developed the Strength and Conditioning Programs and over seen the daily progress in Men’s Hockey from 2000-present, Men’s’ Basketball from 2004-2010, Women’s Hockey from 2003-present, Men’s Golf from 2000-present, Women’s Golf from 2006-present Men’s Swimming from 2000-Present, Track and Field from 2000-present, Baseball from 2000-2007, 2010 -present, and Wrestling from 2000 to 2004. During his tenure, Dietz has trained: a Hobey Baker Award winner, two Big Ten Athletes of the Year, athletes that have achieved 400 All-American honors, 29 Big Ten/WCHA championships teams and NCAA Team Champions, and 13 teams finish in the top four in the nation. He has consulted with Olympic and World Champions in various sports and professional athletes in the NHL, NFL, NBA, MLB, and Professional Boxing.

Also, during his time at the university help founded and chairs the Sport Biomechanics Interest Group with its purpose to explore the physiological and biomechanical aspects of advanced human performance encompassing the various aspects of kinesiology, biomechanics, neuro-mechanics and physics. This will be achieved by utilizing extensive research theories and applied knowledge in the multi-disciplinary field of human performance. Utilizing through a collaborative effort which involving numerous professional perspectives from diverse areas of academia such also include professionals from Mechanical engineering, Biomechanical Engineering, Orthopedics, and Physiology. Dietz is also a member of the Gender Equity Committee at the University of Minnesota and currently represents the University as a member of the Big Ten committee to develop performance enhancing policy for anabolic and ergogenic aids.

During his time at the university, Dietz has given numerous lectures around the country, as well as publish several scientific articles and dozens articles on training. Most recently, Dietz co-authored the the top selling book, Triphasic Training: A systematic approach to elite speed and explosive strength performance.

Prior to returning to Minnesota, Dietz was the strength coordinator at The University of Findlay, overseeing 26 men’s and women’s sports, in addition to coordinating the university’s fitness center, coaching the offensive line with the football program and teaching strength and conditioning classes. He is no stranger to Minnesota athletics after serving as a graduate assistant strength coach while pursuing his graduate degree. During this time Dietz was the first assistant to football and assisted with a Majority of Olympic Sports.

The Shelby, Ohio, native earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from the University of Findlay in 1996 and his master’s degree from Minnesota in kinesiology in May, 2000. During his athletic career at the University of Findlay Dietz won three National team championships, two in football and one in wrestling. Highlights of his career was earning 2 All-American honors in Football and winning the NAIA National Duals MVP in wrestling. In 1995 he received the NAIA College Sports Magazine Athlete of the year and was inducted into the University’s of Findlay’s Hall of Fame in 2005.

Dietz married Karyn Bye, a member of the U.S. Olympic Women’s Hockey Team which captured the gold medal in 1998 and silver medal in 2002. The couple resides in Hudson, Wisconsin, with their daughter, Tatum Lynn Born in May 2003 and Brody Michael born July 2005.

(Courtesy of University of Minnesota Athletics)

TAGS: Umberger Performance, Scott Umberger, APRE, sports performance podcast, sprinting, speed, athlete,strength, Elitefts Info Pages

After walking in the front door of Umberger Performance in Pittsburgh, it only took a minute to see that this place was serious about building better athletes. Scott Umberger is all business and his passion for developing the best possible system to train athletes is evident.

Umberger’s coaching influences started while interning with Buddy Morris at the University of Pittsburgh. He also worked as an assistant strength and conditioning coach with Todd Hamer at Robert Morris University after competing as a two-sport athlete for the Colonials (football and track). Umberger dedicated an enormous amount of time and effort researching the best possible methods to improve athlete performance. By integrating training methodologies from Charlie Francis on speed and programming and from Louie Simmons on strength, and tying them together with the help of James Smith on Soviet sport science, Umberger has truly created a scientific approach to training athletes.

Topics Covered in this Podcast

1. How Scott Started in the Field
2. Basic Philosophy of Developing the Athlete
3. Social Media's Influence on the Profession
4. One of the Issues with CrossFit and Coaching
5. Training Youth Athletes
6. The Nature of Youth Sports
7. Assessment and Evaluation of Athletes
8. Sprint and Deceleration Mechanics
9. APRE Protocol in the Private Sector

Elitefts™ Sports Performance Podcast on iTunes

Scott Umberger is the Co-Owner and director of physical preparation at Umberger Performance in Pittsburgh PA. Scott has spent time working at the University of Pgh under Joe Collins, Tim Beltz, and Buddy Morris. Most recently spent two years working for Todd Hamer at RMU before opening his private 8,200 square foot sports performance training facility in Pittsburgh.

Scott’s passion for performance enhancement started at an early age, stemmed by his desire to receive a Division I scholarship.

Sports Science Knowledge

One year interning at University of Pittsburgh under renowned coach, Buddy Morris changed everything. After working with Buddy,Scott spent two years working as Todd Hamer’s Assistant Strength & Condition Coach at Robert Morris University training 600 of their athletes.

The influence of James Smith, who is regarded as the leading American expert on Soviet Sport Science, led Scott to an understanding of Sports Science held by handful of Americans. Since Sport Science doesn’t exist in the U.S.(Scott confirmed this during his exploration of a PhD at PSU). Scott’s knowledge has been obtained via mentorships, self study of his small library of translated foreign materials, videos, seminars with foreign Sports Scientist, and personal correspondence with leading experts and Sport Scientists. This knowledge of non-U.S. Sports Science is essential because of the understanding of human performance that this non US research has uncovered through the study of 20,000+ elite athletes. The funding for this kind of research does not exist in the US. This monetary investment in Sport Science research is one of the very few ways that the world can be thankful towards communistic regimes.

Speed

Attempting to “get the edge” on the competition, Scott read and has tried everything that he could get his hands on. Taken under the wing of D1 track coach, Waddie Freeman his senior year of high school, Scott reduced his 40 yard dash time from 4.6 to 4.4. Scott played football, baseball, and ran track in high school. This led him to compete at the Division I level in football and track at Robert Morris University. Scott’s personal experience teamed with his extensive knowledge of the late sprint coach Charlie Francis’s methodologies present a very unique mix of knowledge and practice experience regarding speed development.

Strength

Scott spent three months training at the strongest powerlifting gym in the U.S., Westside Barbell. There he gained an advanced knowledge of the three powerlifts, the bench, the squat, and the dead lift. He also learned about the concept of strength and its application to specific athletic scenarios.
Scott currently competes in the sport of power lifting and has dead lifted 635 and bench pressed 420 in competitions. He has also squatted 645 and bench pressed 505 in training at a drug free body weight of 192.

The Scott Umberger File

As part of his 17,000 hours in the trenches training experience, Scott has worked with over a 2,000 athletes and clients:
• high school and college athletes
• Male and female athletes in hockey, lacrosse, soccer, volleyball, football, basketball, softball, baseball, swimming, tennis, track.
• Fitness/figure competitors
• REAL Professional athletes (NHL, NFL, Arena Football , MLL&NLL-pro Lacrosse, World Championship Games.)
• Olympic Silver Medalist- USA Olympic Woman’s Hockey Team
• 3 All-Americans (track, swimming, hockey)
• 2 Hobe Baker Trophy Finalist (Heisman Trophy of College Hockey)
• A top 10 NCAA scorer in Men’s Hockey
• FINA Master World Championship Qualifying Swimmer
• ECAC/IC4A qualifying track hurdler
• Professional Hockey, Basketball, and Soccer players in Europe(Finland and Italy)
• Two Major D1 walk on football players- one who made OSU’s team when they were ranked #1 and WVU when they were top in the 20.
• Celebrities- Country Music Superstar Martina McBride and Actor Jake Gyllenhaal

Scott practices what he preaches. Research is fantastic but it is useless if it’s not applied in a real world setting. Scott studies and applies knowledge on himself before having his athletes use it. He’s squatted 650 lbs, dead lifted 635 lbs in competitions and bench pressed 505 in the gym at a body weight ranging between 190-200 lbs. In August of 2013 he completed a Tough Mudder Race(which is consider the most legit race of it’s kind in the US) which is a 12 mile “mud run” with 20+ obstacles.

Though it’s Scott’s formal education(BS, MS) that enhanced his abilities as a coach, it’s the intensive study of ”The Soviet Sports Science,” as well as Sport Science stemming from sources outside of the United States(primarily Premier League Soccer and Australian Sports Science) that have really separated him from the majority of the field. Real world success with real athletes using his “in trenches training experience,” as well as a unique blend of leadership and knowledge of legitimate non US Sport Science makes Scott a rare commodity as a physical preparation coach in the US.

LISTEN: How Mike Boyle Became a Coach of Influence

TAGS: unilateral, Mike Boyle, youth training, hockey, management, coaching, baseball, Elitefts Info Pages

Do you want to become a highly successful, universally respected, and well-recognized strength and conditioning professional? Follow this full-proof plan and you will reach all of your goals:

Work your ass off for 20 years by giving everything you have to the athletes you coach and the staff you interact with.

Once you have done that, you may be close to where you want to be in the strength and conditioning industry.

This is something Mike Boyle has figured out and why he's the coach he is today. Boyle's influence stretch far beyond the strength and conditioning spectrum and has been a unbelievable resource for coaches, athletes, and managers.

Boyle has the uncanny ability to combine an unapologetic and honest demeanor with a selfless, unrelenting commitment to helping others — two qualities rarely seen except for in the most experienced and knowledgeable coaches. After listening to this podcast, you'll understand how and why I feel this way about Coach Boyle.

Topics Covered in this Podcast

The Beginnings

1. How Coach Boyle Started
2. Having Mike Woicik as a Roommate
3. Appointing Himself as the BU Strength Coach

Training

1. Training for Hockey
2. Getting Strong is Getting Strong, Regardless of Sport
3. Why There Is a Steroid Problem in Track & Field
4. Defining Strength in an Unconventional Way
5. Unilateral Training for Sports
6. The Bilateral Deficit Research
7. The Influence of Mark Verstagen
8. How a Coach Defines Strong vs What Is Strong for Their Sports

Youth Training

1. What We're Doing Wrong
2. The Matheny Manifesto
3. The 10,000 Rule
4. Greg Rose's Cyclone Circuit
5. Basic Motor Qualities
6. Early Specialization
7. Soccer in Brazil and Baseball in the Dominican
8. The Number One Problem in Youth Sports: The Parents
9. The Responsibility of the Strength Coach

Staff Development

1. Pick the Right People
2. Get People Who Want to Work
3. Educating through a Solid Set of Resources
4. Book Club for Professional Development
5. Making the Coaches Do the Workout

Advice for Young Coaches

1. Unlike the Rest of the Business World
2. Make Yourself Invaluable
3. What Will Our Conversation Be Like When I See You
4. Recommending Coaches for Future Jobs

How to Reach Coach Boyle

Elitefts™ Sports Performance Podcast on iTunes

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The Mike Boyle File

Michael Boyle is one of the foremost experts in the fields of Strength and Conditioning, Functional Training and general fitness. He currently spends his time lecturing, teaching, training and writing. In 1996 Michael co founded Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning, one of the first for-profit strength and conditioning companies in the world. Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning exists for one reason: to provide performance enhancement training for athletes of all levels. Athletes trained range from junior high school students to All Stars in almost every major professional sport.

Prior to Co- founding Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning, Michael served as the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Boston University for 15 years, also for the past 25 years he been  the Strength and Conditioning Coach for Men's Ice Hockey at Boston University.  Mike also was the Boston Red Sox  strength and conditioning coach in 2013 that won the World Series. In addition to his duties at Boston University and the Red Sox, from 1991-1999 Boyle served as the Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League. Michael was also the Strength and Conditioning Coach for the 1998 US Women's Olympic Ice Hockey Team, Gold Medalists in Nagano and 2014 Silver medalists in Sochi, and served as a consultant in the development of the USA Hockey National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Michael has been a featured speaker at numerous strength and conditioning and athletic training clinics across the world and has produced 20 instructional videos in the area of strength and conditioning available through M-F Athletic. Michael has also lectured all over the world. In addition, Michael published Functional Training for Sports for Human Kinetics Publishers. Mike and his wife Cindy have 2 children, Michaela and Mark and reside in Reading.

- Bio from MBSC

The Elitefts™ Sports Performance Podcast

The Elitefts™ Sports Performance Podcast is the premier resource for strength & conditioning coaches, sports performance professionals, and athletes of all levels. Bringing you the best information from the scientific foundations to the practical application. Combining the latest cutting edge research, anecdotal evidence, and under the bar experience.

One of my proudest accomplishments while serving as the Director of Education at elitefts was the implementation of a platform for the best and brightest practitioners in our industry to pass on their wisdom. After over 60 episodes, it is time for a new chapter.

There were a few key components that were important to have to enable these podcasts to represent the quality of elitefts. First, our guests were unapologetically honest and were selfless in there presentations. Second, they held back nothing when disseminating information, which I was keenly aware of when inviting them on the show. Third, they understood the values of elitefts and passed on their experiences and knowledge to a wide arrange of coaches.

I sincerely hope you are able to give a listen to almost three days of information and were able to bring that experience back to your athletes.

1. Interview with Dan John
2. Interview with Chad Scott, Tim Kontos, John Davis
3. Interview with Todd Hammer
4. Interview with Tom Palumbo
5. Interview with Cam Davidson
6. Interview with Joe Kenn
7. Interview with JL Holdsworth and Nic Bronkall
8. Interview with Dan Stevens
9. Interview with James Clear
10. Interview with Buddy Morris
11. Interview with Anthony Donskov
12. Interview with Martin Rooney
13. Interview with David Allen
14. Interview with Bryan Mann
15. Interview with Buddy Morris
16. Interview with Jeff Connors
17. Interview with Brett Bartholomew
18. Interview with Carlo Alvarez
19. Interview with Shawn Windle
20. Interview with Mark Uyeyama
21. Interview with Megan Young
22. Interview with Rob McKeefery
23. Interview with Cal Dietz
24. Interview with Scott Umberger
25. Interview with Dr. Michael Yessis
26. Interview with Dan Baker
27. Interview with Joe DeFranco
28. Interview with Greg Pysczynski
29. Interview with Brian Cain
30. Interview with Alwyn Cosgrove
31. Interview with Matt Rhodes
32. Interview with Mike Robertson
33. Interview with James "The Thinker" Smith
34. Interview with Tim Hewett
35. Interview with Ryan Horn
36. Interview with Carl Valle 
37. Interview with Adam Feit
38. Interview with Jay DeMayo
39. Interview with Ashley Jones
40. Interview with Nate Harvey
41. Interview with Nick Showman
42. Interview with Charlie Weingroff
43. Interview with Simon Sinek
44. Interview with Jonathan Mike
45. Interview with Evan Simon
46. Interview with John O'Sullivan
47. Interview with Loren Landow
48. Interview with Brian Thompson
49. Interview with Ross Bowsher 
50. Interview with John Welbourn & Power Athlete
51. Interview with Gary Schofield
52. Interview with Eric Cressey
53. Interview with Frank Wintrich
54. Interview with Cory Schlesinger
55. Interview with Ted Perlak
56. Interview with Mike Boyle
57. Interview with Tobias Jacobi
58. Interview with Evan Marcus
59. Interview with Chris Doyle
60. Interview with Mark McLaughlin
61. Interview with Fred Eaves
62. Interview with Joe Hashey
63. Interview with Bob Alejo
64. The Last Sports Performance Podcast

Sports Performance Coach Education Series

The elitefts™ Sports Performance Coach Education Series is a comprehensive educational resource for coaches in the collegiate, high school, professional, and private settings. This series will take a fundamental approach to various topics that will enable coaches the additional skills to enhance their coaching abilities, improve marketability in the industry, and drastically increase the impact they have upon their athletes.

1. WATCH: How to Find a Strength and Conditioning Job
2. WATCH: Becoming a Mentor to Young Coaches
3. WATCH: The Four-Step Coaching Process
4. WATCH: 5 Strategies to Perform More Work in Less Time
5. WATCH: Why Communication is Key to a Better Coaching Career
6. WATCH: A Better Way to Train High School Athletes
7. WATCH: How to Implement Auto-Regulatory Training in a Team Setting
8. WATCH: Pre-Workout Circuits to Optimize Training Time and Maximize Performance
9. WATCH: Hypertrophy Circuits for Athletes in a Team Setting

Coaches Clinics 

1. WATCH: Two Bench Press Mechanical Drop-Sets for Hypertrophy
2. WATCH: Two Lateral Speed Drills with Bands to Improve Change of Direction
3. WATCH: Adjusting the Glute-Ham Raise to Optimize Your Training
4. WATCH: Basic Linear Speed Acceleration Drills in a Team Setting
5. WATCH: Kettlebell Training for Team Sports
6. WATCH: Three Dumbbell Press Variations

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 Mark Watts' Articles and Coaching Log