The Team Behind the Team

Host Donnie Maib discusses coaching technique and theory with fellow coaches around the country.

The Team Behind the Team

conditioning

E22 | Sam Gardner: Coaching within Paralympic & Olympic Sport

The Team Behind the Team
The Team Behind the Team
E22 | Sam Gardner: Coaching within Paralympic & Olympic Sport
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Samuel Gardner is currently in his 6th year supporting Team USA as a Strength and Conditioning Coach. Sam has worked with medalists from the London, Sochi and Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games. Sam has also spent time working as an Athletic Development coach in professional basketball supporting the Santa Cruz Warriors and Golden State Warrios. He also spent a year working as a contracted Strength and Conditioning coach for the US Department of Defense while working with the 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion.

Sam has been certified through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) as a RSCC and CSCS. He is also dual certified through USA Weightlifting (USAW) as a sports performance coach and club coach. Sam is a level-1 certified USA Track and Field (USATF) coach as well as a level-1 Functional Movement Systems (FMS) and level-1 anthropometrist through the International Society of Anthropometrics (ISAK) as well as a Nike SPARQ certified tester and a level-1 Precision Nutrition Coach.

This episode of The Team Behind the Team was mixed and mastered by Oscar Kitmanyen.

E17 | Daniel Martinez: Multiple Perspectives to Performance

The Team Behind the Team
The Team Behind the Team
E17 | Daniel Martinez: Multiple Perspectives to Performance
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This month we hear from Daniel Martinez as he displays his versatile background by sharing his experiences and views on a variety of performance topics. He shares his approach to coaching 17 teams, insight to force plate application, perspective on demands of court-athletes, and he discusses the practicality of sales as a coach. This episode is filled with examples of Daniel’s unique lens as a performance practitioner.

Coach Daniel Martinez is in his 4th year as the Head Strength & Conditioning Coach at Trinity University, where he works with 17 teams. In addition to coaching at Trinity, Daniel coordinates a Trinity conference on sport science and strength & conditioning. He has previously served as a consultant for ForceDecks where he worked with many teams at the collegiate, professional, and international level.

E13 | Bo Sandoval: Strength & Conditioning

The Team Behind the Team
The Team Behind the Team
E13 | Bo Sandoval: Strength & Conditioning
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This episode features a coach who has a wealth of knowledge and is loaded with lessons that are applicable for both young and veteran coaches alike. Director of Strength & Conditioning at the UFC Performance Institute, Bo Sandoval shares his approach to collaborating with coaches and athletes, how seemingly small opportunities can move your career forward, the importance of adding versatility to your role, and much more! 

Prior to joining the UFC Performance Institute, Sandoval served as a Strength & Conditioning specialist at the United States Olympic Training Center and as the Assistant Director of Strength and Conditioning for Olympic Sports at the University of Michigan. While at UM, he expanded his involvement with the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), participating in multiple Special Interest Groups, as well as serving as a subject matter expert on Weightlifting for the Essential Lifts Certification and Curriculum, and was honored by the NSCA as the 2015 College Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year.

E12 | Zach Even-Esh: Strength & Conditioning

The Team Behind the Team
The Team Behind the Team
E12 | Zach Even-Esh: Strength & Conditioning
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Well renowned coach, Zach Even-Esh, joins Donnie Maib and Mike Hanson to dive into Zach’s perspective as a veteran coach. Key topics discussed include coaching the modern athlete, the impact of training in different environments, the benefits of being a multifaceted coach, and a lot more. As always, Coach Even-Esh will leave you fired up with plenty of takeaways!

Zach Even-Esh is the founder of The Underground Strength Gym and creator of The Underground Strength Coach Certification. He has served in both the collegiate setting and private setting, working with hundreds of athletes from a number of sports. He is the author of The Encyclopedia of Underground Strength & Conditioning, and continues to provide many training resources on his website and speak to coaches around the country.

E9 | Dan Fichter: Strength & Conditioning

The Team Behind the Team
The Team Behind the Team
E9 | Dan Fichter: Strength & Conditioning
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Coaches Donnie Maib and Mike Hanson received the privilege to pick the brain of one of the best innovators in sport performance, Coach Dan Fichter. Dan sheds light on his unique approach to training, how he trains the nervous system to improve motor control, strength, and performance. Tune in as he litters this episode with thought-provoking training gems and great pieces of advice!

Dan Fichter owns and operates Wannagetfast Power/Speed Training, a performance training business in the upstate New York area that offers training to elite athletes. Additionally he travels the country speaking to numerous coaches on speed training, strength training, and nervous system development and how to pull these elements into a comprehensive package that can substantially elevate an athlete’s speed and strength. Uniquely, Fichter’s system attacks the athlete at the individual specific level (SBN-Specific body needs) unlike most programs that offer a more standard approach.

E7 | Sheri Walters: Sport Medicine

The Team Behind the Team
The Team Behind the Team
E7 | Sheri Walters: Sport Medicine



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This month, Sheri Walters joins Donnie Maib to discuss a performance model from the lens of sport medicine. Sheri shares her professional journey that has led her to Texas A&M and how her philosophy has evolved over the years.  She dives into topics relating to performance versus safety, recovery modalities, return-to-play strategies, collaborating with sport coaches and strength coaches, and continued education.

Dr. Sheri Walters most recently served as an assistant professor at A.T. Still University in the Department of Kinesiology while concurrently serving as a consultant for USA Women’s Ice Hockey. Sheri has served for a variety of companies and teams over the years including for US Paralympic Track and Field, EXOS, Indiana State University, the Detroit Shock, and more.

E6 | Brett Bartholomew: Strength & Conditioning

The Team Behind the Team
The Team Behind the Team
E6 | Brett Bartholomew: Strength & Conditioning



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Brett Bartholomew stops by the booth to talk shop with Donnie Maib. Brett dives into a plethora of topics that expand the role of performance coaches. He revisits the intricacies and importance of building buy-in, having transparent communication, and having skin in the game. Other subjects that Brett shares his thoughts on include his influencers, the process of writing a book, the governing bodies of certification, marketing in strength & conditioning, adding value to yourself and others, and career evolution. It’s imperative to note that Brett’s principles can be applied far beyond strength & conditioning!

Brett wears many hats as a strength & conditioning coach, best-selling author, philanthropist, and more. His experience includes coaching athletes in the private sector, collegiate field, and in the U.S. Special Forces. Altogether, Brett has coached a wide-range of athletes from youth athletes to Olympians across 23 sports. For more information, visit artofcoaching.com.

E5 | Ben Haines: Strength and Conditioning

The Team Behind the Team
The Team Behind the Team
E5 | Ben Haines: Strength and Conditioning



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All the way from the land down under, Ben Haines joins Donnie Maib to discuss Ben’s career path, the shaping of his philosophy, working with high school athletes, Ben’s role in utilizing sport science, an integrated approach to performance, the challenge of earning a PhD, mentoring younger coaches, and keeping an open mindset.

Ben Haines has been coaching in Australia since 1999, working with a wide range of sports in the professional, private, and academic setting. In addition to becoming a Level 3 ASCA Master Coach, Ben earned his PhD examining the neuromuscular effects to maximal strength and power training. Currently, he is the head of Physical Preparation for Australia Volleyball.

E3 | Andrew Pyke: Strength and Conditioning

The Team Behind the Team
The Team Behind the Team
E3 | Andrew Pyke: Strength and Conditioning



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While visiting the forty-acres, Australian strength & conditioning coach, Andrew Pyke, gets a moment to dialogue with our Director, Donnie Maib. Andrew offers a unique perspective, being from Australia and also wearing many different hats as a teacher, sport coach, and S&C coach. He takes listeners through the vigorous process of becoming a credentialed coach in Australia, programming philosophies, building trust with sport coaches, utilizing technology, and the direction that Australia S&C may be heading.

Andrew Pyke is a certified ASCA Professional Coach from Gold Coast, Australia. Currently, Andrew works with both swimming and rugby as a strength and conditioning coach, is a school teacher, a high school rugby coach, and much more!

E1 | Cal Dietz: Strength and Conditioning

The Team Behind the Team
The Team Behind the Team
E1 | Cal Dietz: Strength and Conditioning



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For the inaugural episode of the Team Behind The Team, we sit down with renowned coach and author, Cal Dietz. Cal sheds light on what he’s been working on, the shift in his competiveness, and a variety of training topics. He discusses the importance of fluid periodization, his views on core bracing, squat depth, and unilateral training, what makes interns successful, communication and culture within a team, and much more!

Cal Dietz serves as the Associate Director of Athletic Performance at the University of Minnesota, where he has coached many championship teams over the last twenty years. He is the author of Triphasic Training, co-founder of the Reflexive Performance Reset system, and continues to travel the country speaking on sport performance.