Between 2 Racks
Between 2 Racks is a strength training podcast from KILO, a coach-led education company built to support personal trainers and strength coaches who want a deeper, more durable understanding of training.
The goal is simple: create a home for sound knowledge. Not trends, not shortcuts, and not recycled talking points.
Each episode explores program design, loading, periodization, and coaching decisions through real-world application. We focus on what holds up over time, where theory breaks down in practice, and how coaches can make better decisions for the people they train.
Hosted by experienced coaches with decades spent in private training, performance settings, and long-term athlete development, the conversations are practical, honest, and grounded in principle.
If you are a coach looking for clarity, depth, and a place to think critically about training, Between 2 Racks is that space.
Let’s kick it!
Between 2 Racks
Sports Performance: Tapering, Power, Plyos & In-Season Decisions
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In this follow-up episode of Between 2 Racks, the KILO Crew continues the sports performance conversation by moving from off-season structure into the decisions coaches have to make as the season gets closer.
The episode starts with a student question on tapering, and whether athletes need a formal taper at the end of the off-season or if the reduction in training volume happens naturally once preseason and in-season demands begin. From there, Steph, Pauric, and Kelsey break down the difference between a true taper, a descending mesocycle load, and the shift from off-season development to preseason performance.
They also discuss how to reduce fatigue without detraining the athlete, why maintenance loads matter, and why not every phase of training needs to be a stimulating load. The conversation then moves into power development, including the practical differences between starting strength, explosive strength, and reactive strength, and why most athletes need to earn the right to train higher-level power qualities.
The episode also covers how KILO uses plyometric warm-ups to build tissue quality, foot strength, reactive ability, and progressive exposure to higher-impact work without turning every session into a full plyometric day.
Finally, the crew discusses in-season programming, where the goal shifts from building qualities to maintaining strength, power, mobility, and tissue integrity without interfering with sport performance.
The closer the season gets, the more precise the coaching decisions need to become.
0:00 Introduction
0:22 Listener Q&A: Tapering in Off-Season Programming
3:20 Taper vs. In-Season Training Reduction (Clarification)
17:55 Maintaining Fitness Without Detraining (Zatsiorsky's Fitness-Fatigue Paradigm)
18:13 Starting, Explosive & Reactive Strength Explained
28:42 Plyometric Warmup Protocol
39:14 In-Season Programming
42:32 Using Assessments In-Season
52:20 Final Thoughts & Resources
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