Today’s episode features strength coach, track coach and writer, Dan John.  Dan is a legendary contributor to the world of human performance, having written numerous top-selling books in strength development, such as “Easy Strength”, as well as having coached and taught athletes for decades.  He has been a multi-time guest on this podcast, and is one of the greatest influences on the way I see the process of sport performance today.

In the world of athletics, it becomes very easy to dissect elements of performance or biomechanics down to a level of minutia where things can actually lose effectiveness, efficiency, or both.  In large, fast, multi-joint movements, for example, we reap value that is often times “greater than the sum of its parts” when we are talking about the best way to achieve functional lower body development (such as using a squat or deadlift, rather than several machine based exercises to train the same muscles).  Fast sprinting is a more effective way to train the hamstrings than breaking hamstring training down into a series of strength exercises (although you can certainly do both).  In a similar vein, a game like volleyball or basketball is often times better than the sum of its parts in terms of agility and plyometric training.  Within the scope of complexity and velocity, the human body is forced to adapt to a higher level than a “broken down” versions.

In his vast experience, Dan John has been able to see what “big things” in training are truly important, and how we can close the gap that so often appears between common training practices and competition.  He knows how to combine key elements in training and one’s life outside of training to create synergistic effects.

On the podcast today, Dan speaks whole-part-whole teaching, and how training get actually get dissected to the point where we are creating gaps in actual competitive performance.  He will talk about the role of games (not specific to one’s primary sport) in athletic performance, in the off-season, in-season, and as a form of conditioning.  From there Dan goes into motor learning wisdom in coaching, and how he uses elements of velocity, complexity, rhythm and relaxation to help athletes adapt to better technical proficiency, as well as dealing with over-analytical athletes in this process.  Finally, Dan finishes the show with some practical wisdom on sets and reps in the grand scheme of program design, as well as some thoughts on periodization.  It’s always an honor to have Dan on, and listen to his coaching wisdom from decades in his craft.

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Timestamps and Main Points:

4:00 – Whole-Part-Whole teaching, and principles of not overly dissecting movements in the process of athletic development

9:19 – Principles on synergy, and the “sum of the parts” being greater than the individual elements, when it comes to a sport or major human movement

16:08 – The importance of games in athletic programming, and how game play can fulfill many conditioning needs of athletes without over-complicating the process

22:21 – How the “fundamentals” of free play and overall athleticism are critical in the general development of athletes

28:50 – What Dan’s throw practices look like in terms of the proportion of drills or constraints vs. traditional throws

33:45 – How giving athletes more complexity can be a cure for “monkey brain”, or over-thinking athletes

43:43 – Dan’s take on the “Rewzon study” on variable long jump training, and how it carries into his throws practice

54:23 – Advanced, or “magic” drills in track and field, or sports performance

1:04:10 – Dan’s thoughts on where to get started with “sets and reps” in ...