Podcast 89: Speed and Power Training Q&A with Joel Smith

Today’s episode is a question and answer session where I take user questions from Instagram. It’s always good to settle back and see what people are interested in, and things often tend to run in themes. For this episode, themes revolved largely around lifting in positions of large ankle dorsiflexion and knee bend, training setups and concepts for jumps, as well as questions about Christian Thibaudeau’s neuro-typing system. You can likely see throughout my answers that the different types of athletes in terms of nervous system strength, novelty need and the ability to utilize the stretch-shortening cycle has made a big impact in how I create workouts.

Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.

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Key Points:

Plyometric programming either within a strength program or separate block
The role of biarticular muscles in training and performance
How I’m using neurotyping to improve my training and workout writing
My take on split squat variations with the knee passing as far in front of the toes as possible and some aggressive angle decline squats with a load.
The best training split for jumpers in track and field.
How to improve ankle mobility for better vertical jumping
Training for a high-rep lifting competition
Variation in vertical jump training
Vertical jump training for 30+-year-old athletes
Trail running and steady cardio for explosive athletes
My use of the power jumper
How I’m setting up my own training these days
Concepts for overthinking athletes

About Joel Smith

Joel Smith, MS, CSCS is a NCAA Division I Strength Coach working in the PAC12 conference. He has been a track and field jumper and javelin thrower, track coach, strength coach, personal trainer, researcher, writer, and lecturer in his 8 years in the professional field. His degrees in exercise science have been earned from Cedarville University in 2006 (BA) and Wisconsin LaCrosse (MS) in 2008. Prior to California, Joel was a track coach, strength coach and lecturer at Wilmington College of Ohio. During Joel’s coaching tenure at Wilmington, he guided 8 athletes to NCAA All-American performances including a national champion in the women’s 55m dash. In 2011, Joel started Just Fly Sports with Jake Clark in an effort to bring relevant training information to the everyday coach and athlete. Aside from the NSCA, Joel is certified through USA Track and Field and his hope is to bridge the gap between understandable theory and current coaching practices.

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