Megan Young - More than Strength - Episode #204

Episode #204 of The Athlete's Podcast features Megan Young Seattle Sounders FC Performance Coach, athlete, renowned coach, and the embodiment of resilience. Megan's journey is a testament to determination, versatility, and an unyielding spirit. Megan is not all about personal glory. As a coach, she has embraced the "Big Mama" persona, reflecting her nurturing, team-first approach that has resonated with athletes under her wing.

Megan's diverse experience in various sports has endowed her with a unique perspective on coaching and athlete management. She brings to the fore the importance of a coach's ability to connect with athletes, emphasizing empathy, understanding, and the creation of a conducive environment for athletes to thrive. Discover how Megan uses her understanding of shapes and systems in a movement to enhance athletic performance and learn about her early career challenges as a young strength coach and the grit it took to overcome them.

We also tackle the subject of stress management and performance indicators in athletics. Megan shares her insights on how stress, when managed properly, can become an unexpected ally for athletes. Hear about her transformative experience with bodybuilding, weightlifting, and Olympic lifting, and how these disciplines have helped her evolve physically and mentally. Lastly, we delve into Megan's take on the "nomad" lifestyle and why finding the right balance is crucial for elite athletes. Whether you're an athlete, a coach, or simply a sports enthusiast, this episode offers a wealth of insights into the thrilling world of high-performance athletics.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

My favorite population over the age of 60, that's pivoted at least twice in their career. You get to learn so much from them and you say what made you decide to leave that industry job or to leave that factory job? A lot of times there is like a life inflection point, but sometimes they just made a conscious decision to it's time. It's not that something forced them, it's that they decided. And I wanna be the deciding factor in my life of like what's to come and when to pivot. So I try and search out, like what are the characteristics that make that?

Speaker 2: 0:35

You're the most decorated racquetball player in US history World's strongest man, from childhood passion to professional athlete, eight time Ironman champion. So what was it like making your debut in the NHL? What is your biggest piece of advice for the next generation of athletes, from underdogs to national champions? This is the Athletes Podcast, where high performance individuals share their triumphs, defeats and life lessons To educate, entertain and inspire the next generation of athletes. Here we go, yo, let's kick start this conversation. Okay, megan Young, thank you for coming on the.

Speaker 2: 1:10

Athletes Podcast Cheers Overdue. First of many conversations, I'm sure I first of all wanna ask how was your time down under?

Speaker 1: 1:21

Oh yeah, I'd never been to Australia before and got asked to go down there to speak at the ASCA, which, if you're a strength coach in America, there's like two organizations here in Australia. They have that one organization that a lot of their coaches go through accreditation process for. So I was very fortunate to get asked, having never been to Australia. It's a great way to go when you're not flipping as much of the bill. So cheers, amazing people, amazing conference, there's like what you think you know about a group. And then, and you gotta remember, 96 Olympics were in Atlanta Leading up to 2000, australia invested so much money getting ready for Sydney to try and win as many gold medals as possible, so they had the Australian Sport Institute and that's where a lot of what we call now sports science yes, it was already happening in labs elsewhere, but actual, practical, applied or performance science, sports science was happening.

Speaker 1: 2:24

And so when people talk about it from a performance, it's like an Australian sports scientist, it's like, well, that could have been happening a lot further back than maybe what we know in America. So in elite sport very early on. So talk after 2000,. There was an influx of these high level Australian sports scientists because there was so much investment into what they were doing leading up to the Olympics. So going there and like seeing, like okay, what is this? And obviously that's 23 years ago, so now there's a much more level playing ground as far as knowledge transfer and the way we learn is so different now. But I was also on Gold Coast and it was summer there, so Seattle is kind of going into the gray days. So to get away for my birthday that happened to fall on that same week was awesome. To spend time walking on the beach every day.

Speaker 2: 3:14

Yeah, happy, belated by the way you crushed out like what? 2030 straight 5K rucks with GoRuck? I was watching falling along. We were in Australia doing rucks while you were doing those here in Seattle slightly warmer weather and I was so fired up and I was ready for this conversation. I was trying to take down as many notes and then, when you were in Australia, I'm like what the heck's going on? How did we switch places here? But that's also because you were a 2023 NCSA coach of the year as well, correct and well deserved recognition for the years that you've put in. I would love for you to start. What was your? I said at the beginning we wouldn't do gadget questions, but I feel like your nickname at some point was was it mama? Big mama, big mama. There we go, okay. So I want big mama to share her story from the beginning in athletics, in coaching, kind of how you've gotten to be where you are Sure.

Speaker 1: 4:10

So I went to University of North Carolina in Wilmington. I was a thrower through, shot disc and hammer right and within I really kind of came out as my own personality and person, which happens like that's a foundational age right Of all these things coming together. And how are you and how are you presenting? And everyone on my track team was like man, you always taken care of everybody. Like you're like everybody's mama and they're like you're big mama. And where that came from was a place of, like our team culture was one of everyone has a role because it's an individual sport. My personal culture is, even though we're an individual sport, we're still a team and I think that's what was felt of how I take care of it is I wanted to know who was gonna, how they were doing in long jump. I want to know the four by one results and I wanted to drive the team together. Even though we're all training for something slightly different, there's something very special about winning a championship together as a group.

Speaker 2: 5:12

That's not common in individual sports to come across. Obviously. That's why you've had success as a coach. Did you notice when you were in Australia that people were just in better shape, like fit?

Speaker 1: 5:21

Yeah, I think anywhere you live along the coast where it's like mild temperatures most of the year affords an opportunity where people want to get outside. But I remember calling my partner and I was like, oh, it's kind of like in Wilmington. In Wilmington you better be outside doing something. And one thing I did I have an Aussie coworker and I was like I thought it was just you, but now I realized like let me sum up and make this assumption that Aussies like to just make up games. And I was like I have books on like pedagogy and like games and how to gamify things.

Speaker 1: 5:56

And I met up with Tim Gabbitt when I was there and he was talking about a race he does with his son for a 5K trophy and I was like no like, that's just no like, that's not what I'm doing, but I totally get it, and I think that the part of Australia that's like get outside is where you live for sure, but it's definitely ingrained into the culture there, did you?

Speaker 2: 6:21

I don't know for sure. Did in 2000 with Sydney? Did Australians perform really well? Because I know in Canada for 2010, Vancouver, there was a ton of money put in for own the podium. I believe that was the program and they didn't. They saw results, but they saw lagging results afterwards.

Speaker 1: 6:39

So they're track swimming in 2000. I think that's when Ian Thorpe was around and Brett Hawke I hope you watch this and you can educate but I remember they called him like the torpedo right and so there was this like huge challenge in the men's, I think 100 freestyle or the 50 free and I'm not a swimmer, so forgive me swimming community. But I remember watching those games and being like, oh wow, that's Australia's putting on. But again, this was 23 years ago, so I was young at that point. So what is my memory of that is a little faded at this point, but I do remember they did very well in swimming.

Speaker 2: 7:17

You are always going to be young, megan young.

Speaker 3: 7:19

Yeah, totally.

Speaker 2: 7:22

No, it's crazy, because I'm always curious and that's what I was really attracted to with your kind of upbringing is the fact that you're not just dedicated to one sport. You've been basketball, football, soccer, like you name it. You're willing to train and help athletes, and one of the quotes from your coach here in Seattle, brian Schmetzer, says we need to build good athletes, we need to build better athletes, we need to fine tune the already good athletes, and she does a great job of working with them in the weight room. But what I love about her is that she connects with people and I think, even based on how we connected here at the W Hotel where we're filming this incredible podcast, is the fact that you just have an innate ability to connect with people, whether they're looking to perform their best, whether they're recovering, whatever the case may be. How is that?

Speaker 1: 8:09

Yeah, I mean, first of all, that's like how I define myself.

Speaker 1: 8:12

When people say, like what are you?

Speaker 1: 8:14

I can answer that I'm a connector, whether it's people to each other or people to information or people to themselves, and I think that part of that comes from having vast life experiences at a younger age that allow me to either hold space for people, create space for people or connect them to a space. And a lot of that is deeply caring about everyone, like, yes, my players, but also other staff members and people within my circles. And when you have deep care, that doesn't mean I carry other people's emotions, but I create a space and try and use empathy as much as possible, and I believe in like magnetic resonance and I believe in connection between people and there's science to that too. But that is something that is between all of us and if you can get on a wavelength similar to someone, you can probably tap into a space maybe that they didn't know they had in them and draw it out of them. And I think that's like the best coaches. It's not what I do for you, it's like what I bring out of you that's already within you.

Speaker 2: 9:28

This is something that so many athletes need in their lives like we. It's a given you just hearing you speak. It's like Free I know Phoenix was talking about earlier like if we had coaches like you growing up, we probably would be in different positions, not sitting behind the mic talking, right. But at the end of the day, it's okay. You've learned from someone as well, right, and I believe that was your coach at Baylor that really opened that up for you, correct?

Speaker 1: 9:51

Yeah, there's a couple different coaches along the way, like when people ask me who my mentors are. I don't really have an answer for that because I don't. A mentor is like someone that you model yourself out after and you kind of follow that path and maybe you pivot off. I've never had someone In front of me actively being like here's the path forward. And there's pros and cons to that, because sometimes you're like no one else on this path with me. It can be super lonely, but also you get to go wherever you want and you get to decide if we're using an analogy what side of the mountain you're gonna climb. And but along that way I've had people where it's been so interesting to see like what are the positives of what they're able to do and who you're talking about.

Speaker 1: 10:40

A Baylor was a coach. Kizadi was Came over and cause played in the NFL, but he was at a couple different schools and news at Baylor and His first six months at Baylor was really trying to establish the psychology of what he wanted and he has a psych background, so that looked a little different. I won't tell all the stories but yeah, he was like the first person in a major football way that I was like, okay, I get this. And then there was there's plenty of coaches I've learned from and I don't want to take away from them like at Baylor, at Auburn, all these different places coach who. He's been a huge influence. I have plenty of friends that I would call them, or family, but that doesn't mean they aren't influencers. But I use the word mentor carefully because I think it's supposed to hold a special weight in place for something, and if Someone says I'm their mentor, that should mean something different than I'm an influence. So that's, that's interesting.

Speaker 2: 11:37

I've never heard that articulated that way. I love it. One of the things that you just touched on there is being like a really good connector and knowing who to call. Jordan shallow, who we've had on the show, who I know you're familiar with, says the same thing. He's like man, I know what I'm doing in my space, but what makes me special is the fact that I can call people, connect, know who to reach out to to get the answers to those questions. If there's like that top five podium list of people that you consistently reach out to, or who were you consuming information from, maybe over the past couple of decades to get to where you are, because I know you're an insatiable learner, yeah, we'll talk just from like their performance in sports side and we'll leave, like my nerd side passions every year.

Speaker 1: 12:21

Jordan is actually one of those. I think that what he's done with pre script and being able to remind coaches as a coach and being able to remind coaches as an anatomy, as a driver, and trying to understand lines of force and creating tension and proper biomechanics awesome. Austin, he is someone that has like an evolutionary biology course and we, when we see movement devolve and we see different strategies for things. Why is that so? Looking at things from shapes and systems are kind of like those two frameworks and everyone talks about systems and frameworks right now like that's a new fad and it's like I think that shapes is a much more interesting thing to talk about because we can have systems of progression. But unless you actually understand the shape or what's happening in that posture to cause, it doesn't matter what system or framework you're balancing it against.

Speaker 1: 13:11

I think that Stu and less in what they're doing in the sprint world Sue's been doing it forever and now there's way more people paying attention to really good sprinting. But you know, I think the connection there and, honestly, people wanting to invest the time not just into resistance training but actually the mechanics of being fast and even if you're a sub elite, so for not an actual sprinter. If we're a different type of athlete, what does it look like In the tracking field? World has been doing this forever. So I'm like, so fortunate that I came from a track background because I have so much respect for the nuances of technique. And then I guess the other side would be I'm still an Olympic lifter like deep, deep, deep, deep down, that also loves bodybuilding, deep, deep, deep down. So the people and influences in that community, like if you're talking Cal strength or Travis mash, those guys, I think those, these are all like the practical side.

Speaker 1: 14:12

And then and then within that underpinning, there's another list. So you ask for five, you get more than five. It's like that practical lifestyle piece, right, and when you're here, everyone talks about Hebrew men's podcast now, but he was talking a long time before that, doing really good education, very interested in neuroscience and neuro anatomy and trying to understand of like, how much can we actually change ourselves? There's a PT in Chicago, adam Wolf, that I think is one of the best manual therapists I've ever had the pleasure of working with and he has driven me to go back to massage school just to be able to say, like, how do you access that manual side of work?

Speaker 1: 14:54

It's less about. I hope I'm never doing massage, is that won't happen, I'll put it say right now, but, but it's a license to be able to learn some different things. So I think that it goes back to all those pieces, but it evolves along the way. So much more on like the technician and less on the general side of things right now, but it'll at back, I'm sure. Has there ever been anything that you haven't been interested in learning? You know?

Speaker 2: 15:17

we'd also love to hear from you guys, specifically the males watching this athlete's podcast episode.

Speaker 3: 15:27

What are you guys doing for your face? You guys are probably brushing your teeth every day. Are you washing your face? Are you applying the good every night to make sure that you're hydrated, moisturized, making sure that your skin looks young, youthful, glowing?

Speaker 3: 15:35

I personally use caldera lab. I start off my day by washing my face with the clean slate. You can tell it's still wet. That's because I used it this morning. Then I follow it up. I throw on the nice little icon here in the middle underneath the eyes, keeps those black, dark spots away, and then, to finish it off, we use the beard product to make sure that the beard is looking nice and full. Check out caldera lab dot com. Use the code AP 20 for 20% off. Yours is the best deal that they offer anywhere out there, and I can't recommend the products enough. I use caldera lab every single day. As you can tell, my skin's looking all right and I'm very happy with it, to say the least. I want to know, though, if you're using it. Let us know down below. Guys promise you're going to love it. I can tell you that I'm not handy.

Speaker 1: 16:23

So if it comes to like plumbing and I've changed my brake pads once in my life and change my old ones, so I check that box I hope I never, yeah, this last time I do that stuff too.

Speaker 2: 16:36

Yeah, I'm not really the mechanical handy person.

Speaker 1: 16:39

That's what you leave the experts to right.

Speaker 2: 16:40

But that mechanic isn't going to come to you and ask to get his oil change. He's going to ask to get trained properly, right, and you're going to be able to do that right. So, obviously, you're also probably changing your brakes and your oil when you're making 30 K at Auburn at your first time full time job, right? That was probably around the same time. Yeah for sure, that is actually exactly when I changed my own brake pads.

Speaker 1: 17:03

so good job, I figured I'm we're living it right now.

Speaker 2: 17:09

You know it's part of the grind and that was one of the things I admired so much about Listening to other podcasts that you've been on is, like you know, you put in time, effort, chicago, auburn, traveling out here like. One of the things I want athletes to learn from in this conversation is you've overcome All odds in your life and I think your ability to do that and still have such an amazing positive perspective is something that everyone needs to kind of soak up. How have you been able to maintain that over the years, making 30 K in your first full time job? Even just explain that story, because it's such an incredible one.

Speaker 1: 17:48

Yeah. So, going to Auburn, I learned under a younger staff at Baylor, meaning they were in their first big time job. You know what I mean. And so to have a network and that's important in any industry I needed to work for someone that had proven themselves and was really connected. So SEC was like one of the power five conferences and at that time coach Yox was at Auburn and had been there, I think at 15, for 15 years at this point, and I said, ok, they had a professional internship opportunity. I think I made eight hundred and thirty three dollars a month. I flew there.

Speaker 1: 18:23

When I got back to Waco I had twenty bucks to my name, you know like, but that was, it wasn't there. I need to be clear even though those were the realities, I was never concerned by that. I was stressed because, like, cantaloupe was dessert, but I wasn't stressed about like I'm never going to have money, like I knew it was like to not have money. So that's not. When you know that reality, it's okay to be able to survive through it and I think it gives you an extra. Some people called a chip on the shoulder, an extra motivator. I think it's just that extra battery of how much further you're willing to go because you already know what it's like to be uncomfortable, and so I was lucky enough to get Offered the opportunity to go to albert and as a paid intern, and I got hired the next year in 2010.

Speaker 1: 19:16

So, prove myself enough and had two really awesome female coaches in now for her and Karen hopper, with basketball and soccer and yeah, kind of a dream job in terms of your first full time roles, sec with a gold medal winning head coach and coach. It's been there. I think she had been there 12 years at that point in soccer and yeah, but you made an awesome $30,000. So you know people are like, oh, where? Well, what did you do? Where'd you live? I was like, well, I had a craigslist roommate and I slept on a mattress on the floor for the first year and a half, until one of the assistant soccer coaches, who's now the head soccer coach at georgia, shout out can any Was like not your moving in with me, and I think that we all need someone like that. It shows up in our life and is like I got you and like I don't even know you. I just see the work you're putting in and most people have those people that show up in those moments, and I've been really fortunate to have people like that.

Speaker 2: 20:17

I'm just trying to ride my head around how you spend a year and a half sleeping on the floor, like the ability to wake up every single day. I know your schedule was like 5am. Get the 345, 345. Yeah, okay, so you're beating the coach to the gym because I was the other coach, right, you want?

Speaker 1: 20:33

to coach ox. I just like he I think the man is made of oil and metal, like you just kind of wakes up in the morning and grinds and that's it like, and he probably still does the same lifts today, puts his lifting shoes on, pulls his shorts up little too high, coach ox, and gets into his olympic lifts in his prep, like I mean, he's a grinder and like he could do it forever. But yeah, like I made it up, set a point for myself of how can I show this guy that I'm different, and not just because I'm female, but I'm different in the way I operate, in the way I show up, and I was like I'm gonna just beat him to work every day, stop going to work so early, like so, yeah, that was that whole thing it's so interesting cuz Jordan bright, shallow brings up a similar thing where it's like man, I just wake up and work like I'm not doing anything crazy right now.

Speaker 2: 21:25

There's nothing groundbreaking, I just wake up and work. Where's a lot of people Sleep in on weekends? They're not willing to come do a podcast early in the morning on a Sunday, they want to go sit in watch football, crush some chicken wings and that's fine. But I think there's you know to your point, there's always that separator mark and there's some people that are willing to put in that little extra effort. Have you noticed Characteristics of athletes that have stuck out that you would say are Key performance indicators or best skill sets that they should be adopting for those that next gen?

Speaker 1: 21:59

I think there's a specific age range difference, like if we're talking Frontal, not fully developed under twenty two ish. They have a really good support system, whether that's family, friends, chosen family, whatever that is, and also a coach they can rely on. And, to Phoenix's point, they have a strength coach that cares about them as a person and not just, as here's a workout Over twenty two and let's say, like, maturation, what is the family dynamic like? Because that can be a real positive or real negative if they're in a relationship, have kids, all those things. So I think, understanding that piece because it can be the biggest performance indicator or decrement.

Speaker 1: 22:43

So how do you separate those two? And if it is a stressor, that's not a bad thing. Like, my job is not avoidance of stress, it is to be able to accept as much stress as possible and recover from it and then be able to do more than you did before. That that is the job of a coach. And shallow talks a little bit About it's not progressive overload, it's progressive stimulus. Yes, and when we that's true in every aspect of life.

Speaker 1: 23:14

I've stolen that, thanks J like one thousand times already in that when you talk about things in term of Stimulus them, we're also talking about adaptation. But if we're talking about what is support, look like, well, that can be one or both ways, right, and plenty of people that Make plenty of money but their family still their biggest stressor and it's not because they're trying to support their families, the dynamics of that. So the other key performance indicators for me is like, what is the why? And when you have people that athletics has been their way out of their situation and their why is because, like, if not this, then what? Well, that's a different indicator. Actually, given talent and ability, I think is still pretty neat it helps.

Speaker 2: 24:05

Yeah, it's pretty necessary. Genetics don't hurt things.

Speaker 1: 24:08

And then you know, as a coach, everybody would love me to say like how hard they train and blah, blah, blah, but I would say that it's consistency. How consistent are they with the non-negotiables of a performance platform, of whatever that is for them? I don't agree with what they think it is, but consistency over time is going to help things. You see plenty of athletes early in their pro days they can kind of do whatever and you can Like you've proven that. Good job. But how long can you go forward doing that whatever? What I'm trying to help you with is how much can we stretch this talent that you have, add to it and make that a career instead of a window?

Speaker 2: 24:51

And that's a testament to you having an open mind and being willing to understand the fact that, hey, this guy's gotten to this point or this gal's gotten to this point. Obviously it's worked. Let's just continue to add on. Did you listen to that progressive stimulus? Was that from the Mind Pump episode that Jordan did? So we had Sal, Adam and Dustin on the pod, probably almost two and a half years ago now, so I was a little younger. You can go back, watch those episodes. They're not my best work. We're working on it but one of the things that they preach is the fact that resistance training is just such an integral piece that should be in everyone's life. You talked about bodybuilding, weightlifting, Olympic lifting, you being a fan of that. How has that impacted your life in a positive fashion?

Speaker 1: 25:33

Okay. So it's really cool to see how much you can change given the different training cell, like chasing, olympic lifting and that was really fun because when you're a thrower you're a part-time Olympic lifter. So then you're like, well, I probably should just try this next. And then after that I was working in basketball and soccer and it becomes. Well, how fit can I actually become and transform my body that way? And that was 2012 to 2014. And then, after the cancer chapter in 2015, it was like, well, what does this look like now? What's the new norm?

Speaker 1: 26:09

And that's when I started getting really close with Huberman and Kelly Starlett and trying to understand more mobility, neuroscience of the inner workings of the body instead of just always the outward projection of the body. And then now it's also like Vernon Griffin is my coach and fam. But how can we incorporate different stimulus and have accountability? And I think that when a lot of people talk about resistance training being so important, there's sure those people that wake up at three or four AM like good on you and that's what they want to chase. I still enjoy the community aspect of training and when you get a lift, in had a bodybuilding gym or you have a program you're dedicated to, there is a sense of pride even if you don't see it as that that you carry with yourself throughout your day, and that is the thing that I want not to check a box, but I want these things that make me feel like okay, myself, as an accurate representation of the work I'm putting in.

Speaker 2: 27:11

Nowhere else are you putting a couple hundred pounds over top of your head for repetitions. I always remember when I'm working out in the mornings. I'm like that's the hardest part of my day. What else is going to be difficult, right? Maybe not the case for you. You brought up your cancer. Over 70 transfusions is one stat that I just had to bring up before anything else. But again, how were you able to overcome this?

Speaker 1: 27:40

I think people talk about what our job is, especially in high-performance sport, in the NBA, there's load monitoring, right, and people think that we're the do less coaches. I'm actually the do more coach and more intense. Just cut out the fluff, and whether that's in practice or in the gym, it's like what are the things that are actually going to help in? That are performance adaptation pieces that are non-negotiable, and that is how I live my life too. It's like if this is a non-negotiable of something that I'm driving for, then I have to be consistent, I have to be intentional and then I'll see a result, and I love that system of process. So if I want to get better at doing hard things and right now, let's say, there's a person that does zero hard things their biggest decision in life is what to order on DoorDash, right, like that type of level.

Speaker 2: 28:35

It's a tough one.

Speaker 1: 28:36

Yeah, so it's having an honest evaluation of where you are first so that you can decide what are the steps in the progression, right, but you're talking to someone that thinks in systems and design. Like I love a good framework of progression. How are we going from here to here, like when it comes to running, like shout out, I am doing a running thing right now, but we're not going to talk about that right now.

Speaker 2: 28:56

I was going to ask I won't bring it up.

Speaker 1: 28:58

Yeah, no, no, we get the so one an honest evaluation internally and then having really good coaches to help you decide what can I push towards? And when you push towards that first hard thing, can you get over that initial hump. And I think that's the best one, because being a novice and being a learner gives you so much freedom. So I was talking to a friend of mine, matt Benson, one time and he was like you can choose to be a nomad in your own life and it's so freeing when you don't think you have direction.

Speaker 1: 29:31

Sometimes what you're actually seeking is just new, but often, as like high performers, we think I have to know what that next step is. So when we kind of get there and I'm and I'm terrible at setting goals because I'd be like in five years, I want to be here when it happens in six months, I'm like cool, that timing is not working for me. So then just getting rid of those and saying let me be a nomad and just explore, and that's fine, and if there is no end point, that's okay. So do you set goals? I set short term goals a 12 week return to run program. I set physical and training goals. No problem, I don't set my professional career goals anymore.

Speaker 2: 30:16

I might steal that from you because I feel like I've been we've been on a similar journey over the past year and a half traveling. We left Toronto, drove to LA, drove up the coast, misty here in Seattle the first time, got to the second time and we've been living the nomad life in physical. But I also feel like I've been living it professionally right, like we've got full time jobs. We're doing this as a passion project, trying to educate, entertain and inspire that next gen.

Speaker 2: 30:43

And I think that nomad lifestyle has transitioned into our personal professional life and I've never heard it articulated that way and it's so nice to hear way that you've been able to like build resilience and you talked about like load management. That's such an interesting point because that Performance coaches get flack. Now they're like oh, Kawai Sit and he's only playing 40 games out of 82, whatever, right. And the fact that you brought that up is so interesting to me because you're just cutting out the fluff, which a lot of people think is what makes it just like oh, I gotta get that extra couple reps in extra couple sets, when in reality that's probably the opposite, right.

Speaker 1: 31:22

I mean it definitely depends like. I hate that answer, but yeah, it depends. And I think when you work with the best of the best and I have a couple examples of that in Chicago and I feel like with the sounders, we definitely have some of those within them. Unless it's Independent to them, what is them the minimal effective dose of what I can do to get that adaptation Without pushing and requiring more recovery than necessary? So when we're talking elite athletes, we're talking way different in terms of let's give them the right dose and let's give them a ton of movement, but the right dose of training, if you will, and let's keep them moving and move them even better than they thought they could move, and Dial in to some of those. What is an assessment like? And then what are we looking to work on or what is the difference Left to right up and down, whatever that may be. But when you're talking overall on team, yeah, a lot of like.

Speaker 1: 32:18

The reason sports science is a thing on the field is because basically, we gave volume and intensity to coaches and Now we have a framework of.

Speaker 1: 32:29

I remember back in like 2011, there was something called a practice intensity rating Algorithm like that we built out and it's like a 10 would be a game, and then I broke it down based on, like, rest interval, size of the pitch, reactive versus programmable, and it's you were able to kind of give intensity to it, right Okay, but now we can do that on a way grander scale with things like GPS. The hard part, though like you brought up the NBA is when the game is the dose and the game happens, and any sport is the most important thing, but when the game happens with the frequency it does in the NBA, how, how do you manage the in-between and what is the in-between for? And I think that's where you're talking about Performance. Coaches get a lot of flak, but I know a lot of good ones do a really good job and getting guys training, and part of it was just picking a different time, like my friend Corey when he was when the Sun's like kind of yeah yeah so he kind of pushed this envelope of Microdosing with him for a sport is in basketball and saying how can we do this when they've already had their highest effort?

Speaker 1: 33:37

The game has already happened, why don't we just match highs and lows? So if you go to like old-school weightlifting, track and field, like all these people talk about a high load method and that's kind of like what we're talking about, probably with the NBA.

Speaker 2: 33:50

And if you only had a short time with Kevin Durant, where I saw him working with him after games to get in a bit of lifting in, it's too bad. I mean it's great for him that he's in Texas now and working without organization in the longhorns.

Speaker 1: 34:01

And KD still comes back to Texas.

Speaker 2: 34:02

I know that's why, but it would have been sick to see what he could do with the Sun's For on a longer scale, because it like they have such a unique team right now with their superstars. But let's talk about Seattle, the sounders, your job here now as the head perform. You don't even like head performance coach, you just want performance. Right, you didn't want doctor, you didn't want it. That was.

Speaker 1: 34:22

It's such an interesting thing because, coming from academics after university, heaven forbid you address someone without putting doctor in front of them well, in part of it is the doctorate thing is all my partner is a PhD, and Right here from UW, and I respect so much the academic process and what I wanted out of starting a doctorate in adult education and going through that process was to learn, and my whole time in adult education was around learning styles of adults.

Speaker 1: 34:57

Yes and when it came to, took my comps and everyone knows it's been through this process. When it came to Datalining with my life events around cancer afterwards I was like I got everything I needed from this. Actually, don't need to close this chapter. And it's so interesting because the athlete mindset is like finish, finish last 10%, finish this. And it's also as a human aspect. You have to decide when you've gotten what you wanted out of something versus when the world tells you you're done with something. So I got everything I needed out of that and moved on to the masters and information systems.

Speaker 2: 35:32

Damn so no need for that piece of paper on the wall.

Speaker 1: 35:36

No. Yeah, extra if you go in our house, it's pictures of mountains and waves. There's no, there's no degrees on any wall.

Speaker 2: 35:44

Yeah, I love it. Um, tell me about being young, passionate and naive, because I think that's one thing that maybe we share, and Obviously, you've got a bit more experience under your belt than I do now, but it was something that stuck out to me with, like, your Ability to just say, hey, like I'm gonna go do it, right, we've talked about it already a bit, but like having 20 bucks to your name when you get back to Waco, right yeah?

Speaker 1: 36:08

like how do you, how do you find energy is like really good with peers, so like having strong peer groups help you when you're in those moments. And I've had some awesome friends and we've lived some legendary chapters and I remember one time we like calculated our hours to sleep in grad school. We're not gonna talk about it, but it was not a lot you remember and wouldn't be happy. No one would like I mean even my military guys would be like, yeah, that doesn't make sense. So the I think that being naive is just admitting you're new.

Speaker 1: 36:44

Hmm and being okay, being wrong, like sometimes there's. There's definitely this thing. Is a coach, like you're in a leadership position now over this or with this athlete, I should say, to work towards this thing together? So you have to present with confidence and you have to project your voice and you have to be able to queue Okay, but you also have to have peers or people over you. They can check your work.

Speaker 1: 37:10

Hmm, if I go back and probably pull up in the first program I ever did now, I'd be like, well, that was good, but maybe not this or that right, and so you have less of that because you don't have the experience of that. What you've done, you know, in the way back, it was me pulling up articles from elite FTS and reading about Different systems there and I'm like accommodated resistance training, you know like what, what are those things and so. But applying those things was a lot with ourselves. So we were being naive, meant I did a lot of training on my own and that was too much or this was too little.

Speaker 1: 37:46

Passion is one thing, purpose is another. I am passionate about being a coach and I always have been so. Like you talk, it doesn't matter what my energy is like through a day when it comes to actually being coach and coach mega when she steps on the floor, like there's a different switch of when that happens and you're talking about running a group through things. And I Will say that is different in college and then different in pro and different on a match day minus three versus a match day Plus one, and different on the individual, because some players I meet and the way I get them pumped up is saying, hey, great job, yeah, you ready for another set, and the other way I can get guys going is, you know, a little bit more intense and a little bit More bravado. But all of those dynamic ranges of a coach I've built over time, right, so that's passion now has a different bandwidth of energy.

Speaker 2: 38:38

Jordan refers to it as like playing playing the man instead of like playing zone. Right, yeah, it depends on the person. I Thought it was fitting where at the W hotels they're known for being whatever whenever attitude you share that whatever whenever. I Thought I was like man crazy connection. Can you elaborate on that?

Speaker 1: 38:58

Yeah, I have friends that would say I'm down for whatever, whenever with them good and bad decisions. But as a coach, it's being adaptable is the number one tool after being caring, and and that means you have to be able to say like what does this mean now? But also, how many things do we say no to in life because we weren't open to saying yes? And I go through seasons of life, and right now we're in one, of saying yes to anything. Like this podcast like this podcast, like running shut up.

Speaker 2: 39:32

Yeah, there you go. 12 weeks. What a 10 weeks left.

Speaker 1: 39:35

Yeah, after tomorrow or after today it'll be nine weeks, thank goodness. But yeah, the Saying yes to things that maybe are outside of you or is sometimes how you can get stretched. It's really easy to bump the percentage in your bench press if that's what excites you. But how are you stretching to do other things or develop other skills, and the more I can add Random skills that may seem random at the time, those skills end up being tools later.

Speaker 2: 40:05

Yeah, that's I, it's you brought up another thing on a previous podcast is just being roll Coach, not, you know, we've heard the term role player and I Myself, as a goalie and other sports, is like always Wanting to be that roll guy. Show up, you know what you're gonna do, you satisfy your objectives. But you talked about being a roll coach and being able to know where you're needed at that time. Yep, I, coaches need to hear this information because you're just a gold mine and I think, like people need to realize that, hey, like I shouldn't just stick to one method, I shouldn't just stick to one modality. There's so many variables at play.

Speaker 1: 40:42

Yeah, you have to be willing to write like humans want logic, right, we want to understand. Is it right or wrong? And this black white mentality leaves you missing so much that lives in between. And if I can hang out in that in between gray space, if you will, then I'm going to understand a lot more of when it's maybe just a little this way or a little that way. And coaching in the beginning goes okay, is it safe or was it not safe, yes or no? And as you go further and further down and you gain experience, you kind of come into that middle space and you can spend more time saying is it a tweak here or tweak there? And what it may look like is in the moment of coaching is what is the cue you give one player versus starting off with this player that's in his first ever or her first ever training session? I have way more constraints happening and queuing happening over here, or just really good constraints, versus with this player. I'm going to remind him hey, think about taking out of that slack and start with that left big toe. And in my head, right, I just saw the player I'm talking to. So you have so many reps in your mind of what that player's position looks like, that you've built this framework in.

Speaker 1: 41:56

Sometimes it is with video feedback, and we used to have video of the weight room during lifts and I would watch it after to assess myself as a coach of, like, how did this actually break down and what did I see? Right, just as sport coaches watch practice back and a lot of times they're watching the team, but good ones also watch themselves what was my timing like here? What was the message and information I was trying to get across? So all those things kind of play into what is that role of a coach? And sometimes my role of a coach is to be invisible. Sometimes my role of a coach is to step in and own a space, and I think it's really important to gain the awareness and this does require, like that EQ skill of when and where do we show up and how do we show up. Sometimes it's with a hug, sometimes it's with a look, a firm reminder, right?

Speaker 2: 42:51

That look would get me moving. Throw on the three plates. I'm going for reps.

Speaker 1: 42:58

And that's just developing a relationship with a player or an athlete or another coach or another human. When they get one of those, they're like, oh, yep, all right, yep, I know where I'm supposed to be, or know I'm supposed to be, but also I have to be able to give myself that look, and it's like a lot of times that look is, oh no, like here we go. So you have to have these things that you kind of contribute to over time and that's how you're going to build that.

Speaker 2: 43:23

Is there anything that you notice right now that a lot of coaches, teams, organizations are missing, Like? Is there anything that you see consistently?

Speaker 1: 43:33

I mean I don't think there's a consistent theme because every organization is so different. I think that coaches have gotten a lot better. I hate the word work-life balance, but I just call it like lifestyle balance. So I think that continuing to reinforce that across roles, careers, jobs and the walk away moment People don't talk about like well, why did you leave?

Speaker 1: 44:04

What was the walk away moment? And that's okay. To walk away from something, that doesn't mean it undoes the five years you spent with building something. A lot of times, people either leave really quickly or they stay too long, and so they may have some resentment or they just think there's better. So I think it's important to evaluate, like, what was your decision in that process? So a lot of time reflecting on those things. I think reflection might be the thing that's needed most within organizations, whether it's here's a process we tried and now it's adapted Well, why was it adapted? Or here's something we didn't. It didn't work, okay, why didn't it work? And we are so much on the front foot of like what's next sometimes that we forgot how amazing we were doing 10 years ago with this thing. We added and we don't do anymore, and now we're cycling back to doing that thing again. Well, why did it drop off? Because we didn't reflect on how good that thing was.

Speaker 2: 45:02

All gas. Looking in the front view mirror, not looking in the rear view, right Totally. I've heard you talk about building community and impacting others through education of a high performance lifestyle, and I love that and I think what you're doing right here is proof in the pudding right. One story I also wanted you to share was being the guy that, or a person that, chases the lion into the pit. From your 2015 talk when you were a coach at Auburn.

Speaker 1: 45:25

So there's a book called chasing a. I think it's a lion in a pit on a snowy day and what that's about is like confronting the thing you're afraid of is probably the scariest part, and we all, like you, probably just thought of that thing for yourself, like what is that deep thing that I actually don't want to confront, whether it's like that next training block or that?

Speaker 1: 45:49

my mobility right, or that phone call to that person, right, like it can be any of those things. And the book is actually like I think, actually a faith based Facebook and I pulled a lot of performance things out of it. So the main moral of it is the biggest, scariest things that we leave to not confront, will never know what it's actually like, but if we can create an environment where we're willing to go into the scary cave with the big sounding lion and the thing that we think is so large and terrifying, well maybe you actually have everything it takes to survive that. And the reason we do all this training, the reason we try and promote resiliency, the reason my purpose is connecting with 100 million people to teach them a high performance lifestyle is do hard things now. So when hard things happen, you've already built up the resiliency you need to survive them.

Speaker 2: 46:47

And your goal is to help people if they're at a 90% ability to handle that resilience. How do we get to 92, 93, 94, increasing that bandwidth a little bit every day, right?

Speaker 1: 46:59

Yeah, or if they're at 5%. To me, like it's easy for people that have seen success with training or athletes, Like they've developed that mindset of like you can maybe do something and then get better. How do you help the people that have never done anything and don't know what it's like to be better? How can we help them decide hey, you know, getting in a walk today is going to be awesome, and that was part of the the Go Ruck partnership challenge was how can I invite people that have had something happen in their lives where they've either been a cancer patient or had someone in their life that they've helped take care of? How can I bring them back on a path of? This is foundational for you getting out just for a walk, and I'll do it with weight on my back so that you can walk for free.

Speaker 2: 47:48

And it's so like, first off, thank you for doing that, and like the thousands of dollars that you raised throughout that process and showed up to Go Ruck for doing that and partnering with you, because it is something like I mean, we've all been at one stage or another where you're in a rut. You don't even feel like you know getting out of bed, whatever, but it's once. You still build that momentum. You go for that walk. Maybe the next day it's a little longer, maybe the day after you get into the gym, maybe you go for a friend, you go for a cold plunge in like Washington, like little bits of momentum that add up and you're like, oh, look what I just did. If you take the time to look in that rear view mirror, right.

Speaker 1: 48:21

Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 2: 48:22

And Rhonda Rasech, who I need to give a shout out her quote and I can't remember if, Phoenix, you might have to help me it was the rear view mirror is bigger than the windshield. What was that? The windshield is bigger than the rear view mirror. That too Back forward. But yeah, that again to your point. What's ahead is still important. You still need to look behind, make sure you're in check, but long term, you got a lot ahead. I don't. You don't want to talk about what's ahead for you. Maybe let's talk about your running and let's talk about, like, what the next couple of decades look like for you, if you were to reach out. I know you mentioned that 100 million person impacted mark. Any other I don't want to use the word goals because you don't set those long ones, but anything in particular you've got on your mind that you're looking to achieve so that we can catch up on you. Hold the accountable next time we chat.

Speaker 1: 49:10

Yeah, I mean I think that it's like diving into fitness is one lens and working out is one lens of connecting with the other, and it's I'm already a part of so many of those communities, so that's honestly why the running thing.

Speaker 3: 49:21

Okay.

Speaker 1: 49:22

That's a community. I how do we say this? Shout out to you, I'm not one of you, I'm coming along for a ride. So you know, being willing to do something that it allows me to connect with the community, maybe that I haven't connected with for since I was a track athlete, right Like now. What connections come from that that allow me to inspire them, to influence the people that they're with in a positive way? That's the whole reason. So it's just trying to not join communities but understand as many communities as possible so that I can see where can I be a best service to help that lifestyle within that community, If that makes sense.

Speaker 2: 50:04

It totally does. I'm like I'm reevaluating last four years and trying to think about how I can impact more communities now, honestly, because I this is inspiring. I can't thank you enough, megan, for your time. I know you've been on 50 plus podcasts. Is there anything we didn't cover here today that you'd love to talk about? Highlight before we wrap up with our staple question.

Speaker 1: 50:24

Yeah, I think the one thing in talking about, like the reflection piece, it's clear, it's good to clean that up and it's like doesn't mean hold on to something right, like as a former cancer patient and now cancer survivor, I don't look at myself and say, oh, I'm a cancer survivor, I'm like, I'm someone that that is a chapter, right, and that's not the whole book.

Speaker 1: 50:48

So don't allow one thing that was probably traumatic in the moment to be the defining thing of your whole life. So I think that's why I like the thought of reflection in that system, because it allows me mentally to close that chapter and say how can that chapter influence the people that are with me and that chapter influence the next one, but not bleed and become all the chapters. So that's the reason for the reflection piece as well, from the positive and also the closure piece. And then the other thing is if you're a coach getting into coaching now, it is so overwhelming all the information that's out there, right, it's crazy. And people are like, oh, are you a generalist or a specialist? Well, sometimes generalists are just people that haven't learned enough yet.

Speaker 1: 51:29

So, how can I be a specialist when I just started? I think that as you develop as a person, you're also going to develop as a coach. Get your hours in on the floor, coach people, care about people. Everything else will come. But if you're not actually applying the things that you're sitting in front of a computer learning then you're not going to move forward as a practitioner.

Speaker 2: 51:51

So true, and I guess maybe from the athlete perspective, the way we wrap up as you know, we ask our guests what their biggest piece of advice for the next gen would be you just hit it on coaches. Anything for athletes in particular, you'd leave them with.

Speaker 1: 52:09

If I was an athlete coming up now, I would spend more time connecting and less time distracting myself and choosing that connection. It's not it's saying whether it's like doing your own work on your own film or your own skills, but connecting with other people. Connecting with other athletes like yourself that maybe they're in a different sport but that can be your peer group around you to help drive you during those kind of what if? Moments to the right way and less time distracting. And that goes into like I'm glad we're doing a podcast and this will be all over social media, but if this is in a tool that helps you, if it's not serving you, then mark that as a distracting moment. And if, at the end of the week, you're spending 90% of your time in distraction, how much better are you actually getting?

Speaker 2: 53:02

Let us know down below. That was sick, megan, I can't thank you enough. That was inspiring, to say the least. I'm very excited about being able to stay in touch with you now, having chatted in person down here in Seattle at the W Hotels, and I look forward to following along with the rest of your career, not only with the Sounders, but whatever else you continue to pursue, because it's going to be impactful and you're going to help a lot of people.

Speaker 1: 53:23

Thank you so much. Thanks, minux, thank you, thank you.