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Athletes' Acceleration Audio and Video Expert Interviews

Tune in as Latif Thomas interviews leading athletic coaches Patrick Beith, Barry Ross, Lee Taft, Brian Grasso, Rhadi Ferguson, and Boo Schexnayder on the speed training industry, including how to help your athletes achieve maximum speed, agility, strength, and power.

Interviews will be added regularly. Please check back often.

Latif Interviews Patrick Beith

Part 1- Click Here to Listen Now

  • The current State of the Athletic development industry
  • How to develop an effective training philosophy of your own
  • When it is OK to ignore the advice of ‘expert coaches’
  • How coaching is both an art and a science
  • Coaching mistakes are part of the process?
  • The difference between ‘Speed development’ and ‘Athletic development’
  • The problem with living in a ‘Results Now’ society
  • How to turn your athletes into ‘Assistant Coaches’
  • The different ways we underestimate our young athletes
  • When athletes should start ‘specializing’

Part 2 - Click Here to Listen Now

  • Factors that adversely affect athletic performance
  • Your athlete will not be the next Tiger Woods!
  • 2 specific things coaches are doing wrong when training young athletes – and how to fix it
  • ‘Conditioning’ redefined
  • The most critical skill for all athletes to develop
  • What is true ‘speed development’?
  • Why speed must be developed year round
  • Coaching the different ‘phases’ of sprinting
  • Case Study of a State Champion sprinter

Part 3 - Click Here to Listen Now

  • How to get athletes to buy into their training
  • Teaching the ‘skill’ of sprinting
  • The importance of ‘goal setting’ throughout the athletic season
  • What you don’t know about your athletes can hurt you
  • The magic of ‘accountability’
  • What Patrick learned interning for Mike Boyle
  • Don’t be afraid to admit you were wrong
  • Why arguing with your colleagues can make you a better coach

Latif Interviews Barry Ross

Part 1 - Click here to listen now

  • The #1 secret to revolutionizing the speed training industry
  • Why most coaches are using ‘purposeless training’
  • Exactly why coaching running technique doesn’t make sense
  • How the body naturally adapts to any external stimulus
  • Understanding why Mass Specific Force is the key to faster running
  • Why 15 minutes of walking is all the ‘conditioning’ an athlete needs
  • How to drastically improve in the 400m – never running further than 70 meters
  • Common myths about the impact of ‘aerobic conditioning’ on performance

Part 2 - Click here to listen now

  • The most effective way to train soccer (and similar sport/s) athletes
  • Whether or not strength training will benefit ‘endurance’ based athletes
  • Why coaches should spend more time in the weight room and less time conducting running workouts
  • Does lifting weights stunt growth in young athletes?
  • How to effectively coach large groups of athletes in the weight room
  • How to periodize strength training
  • Why the deadlift is the only lower body lift required for optimal speed gains
  • The secret to improving deceleration and the ability to quickly change directions
  • How to incorporate plyometric training into your speed and strength training program

Part 3 - Click here to listen now

  • How to determine the ideal number of repetitions for any workout
  • The real reason muscles fatigue and athletes slow down after sustained sprint efforts
  • Uncover the secret algorhythm that instantly takes all the guesswork out of program design
  • Why athletes never need to do more than 20 total reps for any weight training workout
  • When and how to integrate interval workouts into training
  • Do ‘prehab’ exercises and training really make a difference?
  • Why a ‘minimalist’ approach to training maximizes results

Part 4 - Click here to listen now

  • What to do before you begin to buy into any coach’s training concepts
  • The training techniques Barry used with 200 meter National Record Holder Allyson Felix
  • How to establish a 1 Rep Max for athletes who have never lifted before
  • The secret to improving muscle density
  • The ideal number of days per week to strength train
  • Why athletes should lift before performing speed work
  • Where to get more information and content from Barry Ross

Latif Interviews Lee Taft

Part 1 - Click here to listen now

  • The value of using specific tools in training
  • Treadmills versus natural running
  • Applications for sleds and parachutes
  • Setting sled loads
  • Using resistance bands
  • Assessing your athlete to choose their training tools
  • Over-speed training applications
  • Using agility ladders in training

Part 2 - Click here to listen now

  • Dealing with differing opinons among coaches
  • Maintaining good psychology and faith regarding your coach
  • Handling your coach as an athlete
  • Scheduling skills training with skills application
  • Assessing an athlete's natural skill set
  • Quick training techniques for basic movement patterns
  • Breaking down the mechanics of movement for sprinters

Part 3 - Click here to listen now

  • Strength versus mechanical skill
  • Biomotor development and movement skills
  • Diversifying exercises to improve movement skills
  • The psychology of guided play in training
  • The value of self-guided training versus over-coaching
  • Creating games out of skill development exercises
  • Parental perceprions of under-coaching
  • Using self-assessment for athlete development

Part 4 - Click here to listen now

  • Lateral shuffle technique explained
  • Deciding training focus on a tight time schedule
  • Assigning self-applied training regimens for spare time
  • Approaches to starting weight training
  • Breaking long-term training into blocks and re-tuning the program
  • Individualizing athlete's programs within large groups
  • Assessing and grouping athletes of similar skill levels

Latif Interviews Brian Grasso

Part 1 - Click here to listen now

  • Brian Grasso's training philosophies
  • The anatomy of a Brian Grasso speed drill
  • Athletic intelligence in training
  • The effect of resistance training on growth during youth
  • How and why to strength train youth athletes
  • Individually assessing athletes for training
  • Muscle density in youth
  • Muscle loading and training technique

Part 2 - Click here to listen now

  • Using "Guided Discovery" training for pre-12-year-old athletes
  • Deceleration training concepts
  • "Closed habits" and "Open habits"
  • Long-term training practice versus the "results now" mentality
  • Working within the context of human reality in training
  • Adequate versus excessive training in youth athletes
  • "Coaching beyond the clipboard" - a wholistic approach to coaching
  • Skill-based versus performance-based training

Part 3 - Click here to listen now

  • Basing annual programs on four-month blocks
  • Why less training often produces more results
  • Obesity in modern youth
  • Treating obesity for the short and long term
  • The need for fun in sport, for long-term benefits
  • Target heartrate and performance goal myths
  • The "Play is the way" fitness and training model

Part 4 - Click here to listen now

  • More on "Guided Discovery" for skill development
  • Loss of motor skills in modern youth
  • Negative aspects of excessive competition
  • The creation of "bad" rules to compensate for underdeveloped skills
  • Flexibility and power output - connected?
  • The symbiosis of shoulders and hips
  • Static versus dynamic stretching
  • Which to train first - strength or technique?
  • Impact of training order on the central nervous system

Part 5 - Click here to listen now

  • The "Complex Training" concept
  • The advantages of Brian Grasso's training methods
  • Principle-based versus merit-based training
  • Injury resistance
  • The "Athlete Development System"
  • The "Function Movement Screen"

Latif Interviews Rhadi Ferguson

Part 1 - Click here to listen now

  • Rhadi Ferguson's background
  • The connection between power and speed
  • Weightlifting for strength development
  • The "triple extension"
  • The "training age" of an athlete
  • Setting standards and the art of coaching
  • Why athletes need to learn their craft
  • Over-speed training applications
  • The state of the coaching industry
  • Understanding muscle groups and balance

Part 2 - Click here to listen now

  • Choosing to use machines in training
  • Choosing exercises for strength building
  • Single-leg strength-building exercises
  • The value of combining optimal weight and velocity for results
  • Training your weaknesses
  • The "Super Legs" routine
  • The mental versus physical aspects of fatigue

Part 3 - Click here to listen now

  • Training volume psychology
  • Training periodicity and scheduling
  • Training with body weight alone
  • Using creative training to overcome equipment shortages
  • The importance of periodization in training
  • Anatomical adaptation - "training to train"
  • The value of coaching for both athletes and coaches
  • Leadership in coaching

Part 4 - Click here to listen now

  • The need to pre-plan training schedules
  • Commonly-perceived strength training dangers - myths?
  • Training and bulkiness in female athletes
  • Neuromuscular adaptation
  • Training styles for sprinters versus mid-distance runners
  • The relationship of power to speed and endurance
  • The Force-Velocity curve applied to running

Part 5 - Click here to listen now

  • Creating a training program out of a series of protocols
  • Modification of an exercise with load, rep and tempo changes
  • Collaboration in coaching
  • The value of constantly upgrading your coaching skills
  • The benefit of investing in your training
  • Taking cues from outside pros
  • Developing a team of support professionals

Latif Interviews Irving "Boo" Schexnayder

Video Interview - Click here to watch now

Turn up your speakers and watch now as Latif Thomas interviews Boo Schexnayder, one of the nation's premier field event coaches, and the mastermind behind 18 individual NCAA titles secured by nine different athletes during his tenure at University of Southwestern Louisiana (now Louisiana-Lafayette).