Matt King - NSCA’s Coaching Podcast, Season 7 Episode 14

Hear from University of Connecticut (UCONN) Director of Football Strength and Conditioning, Matt King, as he reflects on milestones and mentors along his decade-plus coaching journey with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon. King discusses how his early exposure to strength and conditioning as a high school athlete informs the training-age and level-based training approach of UCONN’s football team. Episode highlights include a look into UCONN’s highly collaborative sports performance department, tips for navigating marriage and children in a career with long-hours, and discussion about the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Transfer Portal.

Connect with Matt on Instagram: @coach_mking, Twitter: @Coach_MKing, or by email: matthew.2.king@uconn.edu| Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs

“I would say the biggest thing that we've done during the four or five years that I've been here now is be able to have a levels-based system in terms of our training. When they come in, it's based off their training age, we assess them and evaluate them, and then we have four different levels, and each one of my assistants takes a level. So, it also creates ownership in the program with my assistants.” 12:40

“We have an environment here where we kind of police each other in terms of making sure that we cover each other, and you're spending time with your family first and foremost, because jobs come and go. Your family's always going to be there for you, and they're going to need you in good times and bad times.” 21:03

“Don't try to be like your mentors. Make sure that you have your own personality, and you're authentic with that because if you try to be somebody that you're not, your athletes will see right through it. Let's be honest, nobody wants to be coached by somebody that comes in the room and is fake. They want authenticity, and they want realness.” 25:55

“I'd rather have someone that's more of a go-getter and is going to go try and get something done on their own, than have somebody who's going to sit on their hands and wait, because they're not making my job easier if I have to go and tell you to do something every time. Those would be some of my tidbits and my gems for young coaches looking to get in the field.” 28:20

[00:00:00.00] [MUSIC PLAYING]
[00:00:04.40] Welcome to the NSCA Coaching Podcast, season 7, episode 14.
[00:00:10.85] Don't try to be like your mentors. Like make sure that you have your own personality, and you're authentic with that because if you try to be somebody that you're not, your athletes will see right through it. And let's be honest, nobody wants to be coached by somebody that comes in the room and is fake. They want authenticity, and they want realness.
[00:00:32.93] This is the NSCA's Coaching Podcast, where we talk to strength and conditioning coaches about what you really need to know, but probably didn't learn in school. There's strength and conditioning, and then there's everything else.
[00:00:44.10] This is the NSCA Coaching Podcast. I'm Eric McMahon. It's football season. Let's take a look at strength and conditioning practices in college football. Today our guest is UConn Director of Football Strength and Conditioning Matt King. Matt, welcome.
[00:00:59.13] Appreciate you having me on, Eric, and looking forward to talking with you today. And hopefully, you guys learn more about me, and me being able to also share a little bit on terms of how we do things here at University of Connecticut.
[00:01:11.79] Awesome. No, I've been meaning to have you on the podcast for a while now. I remember I reached out and you had a baby on the way a while back. But we're circling back on this. Happy to have you with us. You're at UConn. Had stops at UW, Velocity Sports Performance coming out of University of Maine. What inspired you to get into the strength and conditioning profession?
[00:01:33.63] For sure. So like, I'm going to keep it as short as possible, but for me, the biggest thing was I played sports in high school growing up. I grew up in the Boston area. I was born and raised in Boston, went to high school outside the city at a high school called Stoughton High, and played at the University of Maine. Was fortunate enough to get a scholarship there to play football there for four years.
[00:01:54.87] And during my time in high school is really where I learned more about strength and conditioning. I had the opportunity to train with Mike Boyle's facility. He had a facility in Canton at the time, Massachusetts, and I trained there coming out of high school-- while I was in high school, excuse me-- and then before I got to the University of Maine.
[00:02:12.82] So I had a high training age at a young age, whereas I was exposed to a lot. And then some of the principles I learned when I was young, still putting into place nowadays training my own athletes.
[00:02:25.60] Then when I got to college, obviously, during that time there I kind of picked my strength coach's brain every day. I was trying to figure out-- I was always interested in how the body works, and more importantly, how to increase performance. You know, I was never really a big X's and O's guy. Like, played the game, loved playing football, obviously played it at a very high level.
[00:02:45.28] Was fortunate enough to be in some NFL camps with the Steelers and the Jets, and you know, CFL, arena leagues, all that stuff. So being around football a long time. But during that whole process, I was always intrigued by how the body works.
[00:02:57.67] So had great strength coaches when I was in college. My strength coach in college, Will Biberstein, he had a Nebraska background, did his internship, or did his GA at Illinois, worked at Illinois, and then did an internship, worked under that Husker power.
[00:03:15.64] So in terms of when I was in college, it's like I went from training under Boyle when I was in high school, then we were Husker power-type style training when we was in college, and then when I got the fortunate enough opportunity to be able to play at the next level, I got introduced to a guy named Loren Seagrave.
[00:03:32.08] And Loren Seagrave, outstanding track and field coach. Got to train under him. And he prepared me for my Pro Day, and all my training I did with him in terms of being able to understand the test and the demands of what you're going to get at Pro Day.
[00:03:49.03] But more importantly, like just being able to be a sounding board for me, like I was able to be a sponge with him and learn so much in terms of acceleration mechanics, max velocity mechanics, his whole velocity model. And in turn, that definitely helped me springboard into wanting to do this at a high level, and not stay on the private side for so long.
[00:04:14.98] So I was fortunate enough that got the opportunity to work out of Velocity Sports Performance outside of Boston in Foxborough. That was my first experience as an assistant, and then got elevated to the SPD, the Sports Performance Director, of the facility. And in a short amount of time, was able to make a big impact at that facility. and I was able to work with some great coaches as well during that time that have moved on to the college level as well.
[00:04:43.07] And then also, biggest thing that I learned was basically, I always felt like I had great communication skills because I was actually a communication undergraduate major, and then in turn, when I had the opportunity to go back to the University of Maine and begin my coaching career and start my master's, I knew this is what I wanted to do.
[00:05:04.73] I knew that I wanted to be in strength and conditioning, and I wanted to work with high level athletes. And for me, it was an opportunity where I was actually training kids at the Velocity Facility in Foxborough, and my former football coach was in the area recruiting, and he saw me.
[00:05:21.34] I was running a third or fourth grade group of young ladies through some agility drills, and he's like, Hey, man, you know, you're doing this at a private facility, and he's like, I know you got your combine guys, you got your adult clients, you got your high school kids. But you really need to be doing this at a high level with people on an everyday basis. I really feel like the college level or the pro level would be more suited towards your skill set.
[00:05:45.04] And I was like, Well, Coach, what do you think? And he's like, Man, you should come back to Maine and work as an assistant coach up here. You'll be able to work under a guy named Dan Nichol, Coach Nichol. The rest is history. I was able to learn, to take that job up in Maine, and Coach Nichol threw me right into the fire. Was able to learn a ton in a short amount of time with him.
[00:06:06.65] He's done a great job in terms of being very detail-oriented, understanding programming. Like he taught me a lot in terms of just the organizational aspect of it. I had a lot of practical knowledge at the time, but I didn't really know how to put all my practical knowledge on paper together and be organized with it. So was able to learn a lot with him.
[00:06:28.88] And then in turn, during my time at Maine, was fortunate enough to get my master's, and gain a lot of experience with a lot of different sports. So I had the opportunity to work with baseball, with softball, men's and women's basketball, track and field, women's soccer, football, you name it. So seeing all those different athletes and the different demands that they have on an everyday basis helped me become a better coach.
[00:06:57.14] And then in turn, some of my other mentors that I've had in the field, Bob Gilmartin at Columbia has done a great job. He was at Rutgers for a long time. I worked with Bob at Columbia for a year. He worked at Rutgers under Jay Butler, and he's done an outstanding job in his career.
[00:07:12.21] And then when I got to University of Washington, it was where I got to see it just where it was football only. And Coach Tim Socha. Coach Socha did a great job in terms of helping me understand how to do this where I can have a staff of five assistants, or four assistants and myself, and manage a football staff.
[00:07:33.10] So to say just working with one sport, that was the first time that I got a chance to work with one sport, and more importantly, see how to divvy up responsibilities, and how to delegate, and utilize your staff to the best of their abilities. But then that brought me to the University of Connecticut, where I'm at now.
[00:07:50.70] I know it was kind of long-winded response, but it was kind of my career and how I came about to being where I'm at right now.
[00:07:58.95] No, it's great hearing your coaching tree. You're a Northeast guy, but you branched out, and you saw some pretty high level programs, and worked with some really high level people in the field. There's some takeaways for our listeners there, young coaches that maybe want to break into the field.
[00:08:17.92] And one thing I heard you say that I thought was important was that you discovered the importance of strength and conditioning during your high school years. And you sort of alluded that maybe that isn't the most common path, where collegiate strength and conditioning tends to be where a lot of first, second year college athletes get exposed to the weight room for the first time.
[00:08:46.78] Do you see that in your current role? Do you feel like athletes have as much preparation as you had when you got to the college level?
[00:08:57.43] That's a great question. So I would definitely say that the high school strength and conditioning coach, and more importantly, private facilities that deal with high school athletes are underutilized and undervalued in my opinion. I feel like a lot of development can take place during those younger years where your training age is low, but more importantly, you're like a sponge from that 14 to 18-year-old range, in my opinion.
[00:09:25.47] Having the opportunity to work, and then also, a lot of those facilities or programs, you get the opportunity to work with-- like I had the opportunity to work with collegiate level athletes during the summer time at Boyles. So worked with Division I hockey players, and football players, and everybody that was home on break back then.
[00:09:46.60] So seeing it done at that level made me, in turn, realize that I could play at that level if I can keep up with these guys training. But more importantly, I just know that in terms of, you talk about development and injury prevention and all that, that the high school level is really where it's at in terms of being able to-- because it makes my job easier at the college level, and then in turn, my job is to make it better at the pro level. So when they're playing and making money doing it, it's easier on that strength coach at the pro level as well.
[00:10:25.75] So everything is a building block in my opinion. And I feel like if your base isn't strong, then obviously, you're going to be behind in terms of where everybody else is at in the long run. So I feel like having that training age and being able to have a high training age by the time you get to me is very beneficial.
[00:10:49.29] Yeah, pushing that four year developmental window to an eight year developmental window, or beyond that. I love that approach.
[00:10:57.31] [INAUDIBLE] athletic development, and that's definitely the ideal situation, ideal scenario.
[00:11:04.11] For sure. I like that thought because a lot of times when we talk about LTAD, it's youth or it's older populations, but it's not the college. The college age is where we do most, I'd say most of the field was founded, and there was a lot of-- there's a lot of building blocks, as you said, within college strength and conditioning that gets out into the rest of the field. And so yeah, there is definitely a long-term athlete development thought process there. And I like that you said that.
[00:11:38.49] Want to ask you about your approach to training. You're working at the Division I level. UConn wasn't always a Division I top conference football program, but really put themself on the map over the years, and is gaining some momentum. How do you approach training with your athletes?
[00:11:59.14] I am fortunate enough that we have outstanding facilities that we can utilize to train our athletes in. It all comes down to you can only do so much with the space you have. You got to be able to utilize the equipment you have, the space you have, and the resources that you have.
[00:12:14.21] So at UConn, we've got a Power Five operation in terms of facilities. It's outstanding in terms of what we have at our hands and disposal technology wise equipment wise and then also, nutrition wise. So training wise, I'm able to do some things also with my staff where we can delegate and kind of divvy up some training responsibilities.
[00:12:37.13] So I would say the biggest thing that we've done during the four or five years that I've been here now is be able to have a levels-based system in terms of our training. So guys when they come in, it's based off their training age. So when they come in, we assess them and evaluate them, and then we have four different levels, and each one of my assistants takes a level.
[00:13:02.71] So one, it creates ownership in the program with my assistants, level one being our incoming first year bridge program guys, and level four being our third, fourth, fifth year guys, some sixth year guys that have been in the program either for a long time here or with the transfer portal bid somewhere else, and came in with a high training age, and we were able to insert them into a higher training program.
[00:13:27.28] But I feel like it's beneficial. You got to train that way nowadays in terms of being able to keep athletes developing. More importantly, keep them healthy. Everybody can't be doing the same thing. Those days are long gone. So the levels-based system is where it's at.
[00:13:45.37] And a ton of people do it nowadays. It's hard to find a program that doesn't have a levels-based system where they divvy up programming. But I will say being at UConn, I've got a staff where I can utilize them, and they can take ownership over the program in terms of designing those programs.
[00:14:05.38] And then me, I'm the generalist. I have specialists. So I oversee the whole operation, and then in turn, I still do program, but at the end of the day, we all need to agree on everything that we do, whether it's on field movement or weight room wise.
[00:14:22.14] You mentioned the transfer portal. There's a lot of new things in the college landscape. What are some of the trends you're seeing in our field? And where do you hope our field is headed?
[00:14:33.48] Sure. So I mean, let's be honest, the transfer portal is here to stay. It's not going nowhere. So you got to learn how to utilize it, and utilize it to your benefit.
[00:14:43.69] So at UConn, being a program that isn't a Power Five school, or a Group of Five school right now as an independent, we get poached a lot. So I would say we're a developmental program. So we'll develop guys, and then in turn, those guys will get poached from NIL deals and whatnot, and be able to make that jump to the Power Five level. But in turn, it hurts our roster because we spend two, three, four years developing a guy, and then in turn, the next school gets the ready made product.
[00:15:18.58] So what our selling point is, you come in here, we're going to develop you. If we can keep you for four years, great. But at the end of the day, it's almost like you have to flip your model, as a Group of Five school or an FCS school, you have to flip your model where it's almost like a JUCO model, where you get an athlete for two years or three years, develop them, and then in turn, if they graduate and want to move on, cool.
[00:15:48.28] That's how the portal is supposed to be used. But if they want to stay, they can stay. But more importantly, we're never going to get a ready made product at a school like UConn. We're going to get-- and I feel like in turn, it makes your job more enjoyable, more fulfilling when you get an athlete who has had a lower training age, maybe not that experienced training wise, novice to the weight room, novice to training, and you can take them from what they are as a freshman, and then grow them into a grown woman or a grown man. That's what's exciting about this job is seeing their athletes change.
[00:16:25.36] And I said this a couple of weeks back, but I had an opportunity this year to see my first graduating class. And it's not often that you see, you're at a spot long enough to be able to see a class of athletes graduate.
[00:16:41.44] And then to see them from when they came in as freshmen to see what they are now as grown adults, it's outstanding in terms of how they change their mindset training wise. More importantly, you've got a lot of these guys are going to have opportunities to play at the next level too, as well.
[00:16:58.49] So just in terms of development, I feel like at a school like UConn, a smaller school where you're not going to get your ready made guys, you're not going to get your five star guys so to say, it's more fulfilling because of the fact that you got to be able to develop.
[00:17:13.64] And it's kind of like that high school strength and conditioning coach, where you got somebody that's a sponge, and you just got to mold them. They're not already molded. So it makes our job more exciting, definitely more challenging, but it, in turn, it makes it more rewarding because of the fact that you see the progress that has been made over time.
[00:17:35.69] Yeah. But to your point, at a school like UConn, really no better place for this developmental approach than UConn. Have so many resources, great strength and conditioning coaches across all the departments there. I think of the kinesiology department, the amount of research. Do you get to spread your wings beyond football a little bit?
[00:17:58.43] Yeah. So we got great relationships across all departments. The nice thing about it here is I can go and I can walk across the street to see Coach Hootie in the basketball facility. And I've worked with women's basketball at times over there, and I've worked with baseball here with Coach D'Marco, and men's ice hockey with Coach Mo Butler.
[00:18:17.60] So we all can, the way it's set up, we have five or six weight rooms here on campus. And the way that it's all set up, I can take a program from Coach Mo, and I can go work with hockey, or she can take a football program and come cover football for me. We all collaborate on a lot of things too, as well, in terms of being able to collaborate with our kinesiology department on campus. We have great relationships with them.
[00:18:40.77] We've been able to pair up with our kinesiology department, and pair up with them in terms of our first year athlete assessment when they first come into the program. Been able to do some special things research wise with them. And then also, the Korey Stringer Institute is right across the street too, as well.
[00:19:01.51] So just in terms of-- and then the coaches that have come through here. I'd be remiss to not mention Coach Jerry Martin. So like Coach Martin was in the field for a very long time, and has made a huge impact on coaches that are still coaching today.
[00:19:19.47] We've got his mural on the wall here in this weight room, also in the field house weight room. But more importantly, the tried principles that he established are still being used to this day, and coaches that he influenced are still here to this day. So his influence is still being felt at this university too, as well.
[00:19:40.73] And in terms, also, the quality of interns that we get, we get high quality interns with Springfield College being right up the street. It's a great environment to learn in, and as a coach, to grow in, whether you're a paid assistant all the way down to our intern. So we all bounce ideas off each other. Very humble environment. And we all work together because we all, at the end of the day, are working towards the same goal.
[00:20:09.80] Lots of history at UConn. Definitely one of the more forward-thinking institutions as it relates to strength and conditioning, and really the growth of where we're at today with sports science, and some of the more technological areas that have taken the field. I want to ask you about having a family in the strength and conditioning profession. How do you make it work as a coach, a husband, a father, and everything else that you do?
[00:20:36.29] So yeah, you got to wear multiple hats, man. It's been very rewarding in the fact that my staff has been very helpful, this entire sports performance staff, with Mo Butler on the Olympic side, and D'Marco, all these-- we all kind of work together. So if, for example, like if I'm in my office, Coach Mo would come by, she'd be like, Hey, you can read that book at home, or you can go home and spend time with your family. Do not guard your desk.
[00:21:03.74] So we got an environment here where we kind of police each other in terms of making sure that we cover each other, and you're spending time with your family first and foremost, because jobs come and go. Your family's always going to be there for you, and they're going to need you in good times and bad times.
[00:21:22.02] So for me, having, I got a two-year-old, and I got a 15-year-old stepdaughter. So it's like, I've got two ends of the spectrum when I come home, and I got to be able to turn it on and be able to be dad and then turn coach mode off. But it's funny because coach mode is still on sometimes when I get home because my 15-year-old, she's playing volleyball and softball, basketball, she's playing all these sports, and sometimes I have to go into coach mode with her when I'm at home.
[00:21:51.73] And then my two-year-old is bouncing off the wall because she's a toddler now. And it's one of those things. And my wife, she's the rock star of the family. She holds it down when I'm at work for 15 hours a day. So it's great in terms of having this one-- I have an outstanding wife who understands I love what I do, and she's able to support us and our family in that endeavor.
[00:22:19.68] And then also, I have a great support network in terms of my assistants on my staff, and all the entire sports performance department here kind of looking out for each other in terms of making sure that we're taking care of business in the weight room and on the field, but we're also taking care of business at home. We hold each other accountable with that.
[00:22:38.96] Yeah, that's important, man, finding that balance, if it exists. Just doing your best to make it meaningful on all fronts-- kids, your athletes. You have a great support system there at UConn, and it's great to hear that perspective. And maybe it's something we don't ask enough in our profession, the family aspect, but it is very important.
[00:23:08.22] And I would say, this is another thing I want to add on, is you got to find a significant other. It took me a long time. You got to find a significant other that understands, understands the profession, and more so what they're getting into. So making sure that they understand that one, you're going to be, like yes, work is going to be very demanding at times.
[00:23:34.35] There are going to be down times. But I don't call it work. It's not a job, it's a lifestyle. I always tell my interns that this is a lifestyle. Athletics are a lifestyle. They're not jobs. Jobs, in my opinion, a job is like you come and you punch the clock. This is a lifestyle because you work unorthodox hours, sometimes you're working holidays, sometimes you're working weekends, sometimes you don't get back from a game until 3 o'clock in the morning and you're right back in the facility.
[00:24:01.66] So it's a lifestyle. And if your wife or your husband doesn't understand the lifestyle that is athletics, then they're going to have a tough go. So making sure that they understand the lifestyle. Obviously, it helps if they were a former athlete themselves, or more importantly, that they have a career where they're flexible and able to move as well. I'm fortunate enough my wife's a nurse.
[00:24:23.12] So with the volatility of jobs having to move and whatnot, I know that she'll always have employment wherever we're living at. So that's another positive too, as well, is being able to have a partner that's flexible with that.
[00:24:42.89] Yeah. No, love that perspective, and love that you share about not just your coaching, but the family aspect with so much passion because you really have to approach the family in the field. And like you said, it's a lifestyle. You have to approach it with the same level of energy and enthusiasm that we bring to our coaching. No, it's really important. Appreciate you sharing that.
[00:25:12.42] Want to ask about advice. A lot of coaches would love to run a Division I football program one day. They look at your position, and it's definitely one of those roles that holds a lot of notoriety in our field. What advice do you have for those coaches?
[00:25:33.99] The biggest advice, the biggest advice that I could say is just be authentic. Be you. So a lot of times coaches, young coaches will try to emulate-- first and foremost, you should have a mentor or people that you can call and bounce ideas off.
[00:25:53.10] But don't try to be like your mentors. Make sure that you have your own personality, and you're authentic with that because if you try to be somebody that you're not, your athletes will see right through it. And let's be honest, nobody wants to be coached by somebody that comes in the room and is fake. They want authenticity, and they want realness.
[00:26:13.75] So one, being authentic, just making sure that you're understanding you're a teacher first and foremost. Yes, we're coaches, but we're teachers. So that aspect, you never can forget that aspect, is we need to consistently be teaching.
[00:26:31.54] So with that being said, just because somebody gives you a program doesn't mean you can take that program and just hand it to somebody else. You have to be able to teach that program, and be able to understand it in its entirety because our athletes are more informed than ever nowadays. This is the age where, with social media and all the internet, they can look up anything, and they want to know the why behind everything you do. And you should be able to explain the why behind everything you do, and explain it thoroughly where they can understand it, and they can go reiterate it back to their folks why they're doing what they're doing training wise.
[00:27:06.61] And then the other thing is just being humble. Stay humble. Don't be afraid to fail, and don't be afraid to step outside your comfort zone. But also, stay hungry. Stay on the path of consistently learning. I feel like a lot of times you can get stagnant in terms of what you're doing. It's like, I don't want a bunch of Matt King's on staff. I want people that bring something different to the table than me. So it's like, as a young coach, try to figure out what makes you different from the next man or woman, and how that can set you apart in the hiring process.
[00:27:45.20] So when we can sit down, and I can sit down and program or talk with my staff, we can bounce ideas and we're not all bouncing the same ideas off each other. That is definitely beneficial for young coaches.
[00:27:58.99] And then just being able to have that work ethic, being able to make the people around, you make their jobs easier. So like when stuff breaks, or you see something that needs to be done, just go ahead and do it. Don't be a person that has to be told to go ahead and do something.
[00:28:20.53] I'd rather have someone that's more of a go-getter and is going to go try and get something done on their own than have somebody who's going to sit on their hands and wait, because they're not making my job easier if I have to go and tell you to do something every time. So just having that attitude where I'm a go get this done, and I'm a help coach out, and then make his job, make his life easier. So those would be some of my tidbits and my gems for young coaches looking to get in the field.
[00:28:52.06] That's Matt King, UConn Director of Football Strength and Conditioning. Thanks for being on today, man.
[00:28:57.85] I appreciate it, man. Thank you so much. I hope I didn't ramble on too much. Hope you guys were able to take some tidbits, and feel free to reach out if you guys have any questions, for sure.
[00:29:06.85] Hey, what's the best way for them to do that? We'll put it in the show notes.
[00:29:10.46] Yeah, no, best way to reach out to me is on social media, coach_mking on Instagram and Twitter. And then also, you can shoot me an email at matthew.2.king@uconn.edu as well. I'm always open to people that are in the area that want to come observe. If you're in the area and you want to do an internship, we have running internships too, as well, where we're trying to grow the field and make sure that young coaches understand the demands of what it is at this level. And you're going to be exposed at the University of Connecticut to not just football, all the other sports that we have here as well in terms of development. So appreciate the time, definitely.
[00:29:57.49] You got it. Lots of opportunity at the University of Connecticut. Thanks, everyone, for tuning in. And a special thanks to Sorinex Exercise Equipment. We appreciate their support.
[00:30:06.83] Hi, this is Ivan Lewis, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at the Seattle Seahawks. Thanks for listening to the NSCA Coaching Podcast. Don't forget to subscribe on iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts to have the latest episodes delivered right to you. Also, take your career forward by joining the NSCA's Registered Strength Conditioning Coach Program. Learn more about becoming an RSCC at nsca.com/rscc.
[00:30:32.87] This was the NSCA's Coaching Podcast. The National Strength and Conditioning Association was founded in 1978 by strength and conditioning coaches to share information, resources, and help advance the profession. Serving coaches for over 40 years, the NSCA is the trusted source for strength and conditioning professionals. Be sure to join us next time.

Reporting Errors: To report errors in a podcast episode requiring correction or clarification, email the editor at publications@nsca.com or write to NSCA, attn: Publications Dept., 1885 Bob Johnson Dr., Colorado Springs, CO 80906. Your letter should be clearly marked as a letter of complaint. Please (a) identify in writing the precise factual errors in the published podcast episode (every false, factual assertion allegedly contained therein), (b) explain with specificity what the true facts are, and (c) include your full name and contact information.