Coach Em Up Podcast

Check out Zack on socials! @zack_zillnerUse code "coachemup10" for 10% off EVERYTHING at https://eleiko.com/coachemupHead over to https://ovrperformance.com/coachemup and get $25 offGrab a Subscriber tee at https://www.dripthatdelivers.comTim Riley and Zack Zillner are back in the Austin studio for a full Q&A episode covering strength and conditioning coach salary debates, NCAA 20-hour rule logistics, shin splints, eccentric quasi-isometrics, AI in programming, NIL culture, and whether Tim could survive a bear fight.Zack breaks down the operational reality of the NCAA 8-hour off-season rule and the full 20-hour in-season window, and explains why sport skill execution will always beat weight room numbers when practice time is limited. Tim reflects on private sector coaching ethics: when an athlete is already buried under school practices, an extra meal often does more than another squat session.Q&A covers how to build work capacity, why eccentric quasi-isometrics are mostly social media noise, meathead hypertrophy as connective tissue insurance, sleep tracking anxiety and its effect on athletic performance, in-person coaching requirements before going online, AI tools like Relay for programming templates, NIL and transfer portal impact on athlete work ethic, low-tech athlete monitoring tools, and bucket list podcast guests.Don't forget to subscribe! Produced byQ6 Mediahttps://q6.media00:00:00 - Bear Fight Cold Open00:00:32 - Happy Birthday Zack!00:03:14 - NCAA 20-Hour Rule Breakdown00:07:29 - Weight Room vs. Court Time Tug-of-War00:14:05 - Private Sector Coaching00:18:05 - Strength and Conditioning Coach Salary Debate00:37:52 - In-Person Coaching Before Online Coaching00:44:30 - Managing Shin Splints in Sprint Training00:47:16 - Debunking Eccentric Quasi-Isometrics00:51:10 - Meathead Hypertrophy vs. Sport-Specific Training00:53:37 - How to Find Your Coaching Style00:57:00 - How to Build Work Capacity00:58:19 - Sleep Tracking Anxiety and Athletic Performance01:02:20 - Bucket List Podcast Guests01:08:04 - Advice for International Coaches Interning in the U.S.01:09:42 - Biggest Challenges in Basketball Strength and Conditioning01:12:43 - AI for Strength and Conditioning Programming01:17:36 - NIL and Transfer Portal Impact on Athlete Work Ethic01:23:08 - Low-Tech Athlete Monitoring Tools01:27:07 - Bear Fight Simulation#CoachEmUp #StrengthAndConditioningCoach #StrengthCoachPodcast #AthleticPerformance #CollegiateStrengthCoach #NILAthletes #SportScience #StrengthCoaching #Podcast #ZachEvenEsh

Check out Tim on socials! @timrileytrainingUse code "coachemup10" for 10% off EVERYTHING at https://eleiko.com/coachemupHead over to https://ovrperformance.com/coachemup and get $25 offGrab a Subscriber tee at https://www.dripthatdelivers.comTim Riley goes solo on the Coach Em Up Podcast for a Q&A covering apex competition rules, sprint training for beginners, OCD diagnosis, sobriety, and much more. He shares combine stories, his biggest coaching blunders, and why carbs are still the OG performance enhancer.He breaks down the viral Hyrox biohazard incident in Beijing and uses it to set the record straight on Apex competition health policy. Then he rewinds to age 26, no car, no phone, no money, walking to his first training job out of a Florida halfway house, and explains how he became the person he is today.On the business side, Tim talks about how watching physical therapist David Gray build ethical, high-value content convinced him to post consistently and eventually launch Cheat Code, open his own gym, and build Apex from the ground up. He shares his rules for hiring new coaches, the real reason Apex does not use weight classes, and his 2026-2027 expansion targets.Tim walks through how to improve broad jump mechanics with the Blaine Broad progression, covers sprint training for beginners with a slow-to-fast, low-impact-first framework, and shares his experience training Xavier Worthy. He also recounts two genuinely catastrophic coaching mistakes involving a plyo box and a Swiss ball on a treadmill.The back half of the episode goes personal. Tim opens up about his OCD diagnosis and how Exposure and Response Prevention therapy finally gave him tools that worked. He also reflects on fatherhood, egocentric bias, and what it actually means to live instead of just survive.This is a strength and conditioning podcast that does not stay in its lane. That is the point.Produced byQ6 Mediahttps://q6.media00:00:00 - Introduction00:01:28 - The Hyrox poop incident00:10:32 - Advice to his 26-year-old self and early sobriety00:14:48 - Finding venues for Apex and expansion hurdles00:18:11 - Building influence, business ethics, and launching Apex00:29:52 - How to improve your broad jump00:32:49 - Scaling brands and rules for hiring coaches00:37:13 - Game speed vs weightroom skill00:40:46 - Biggest coaching mistakes00:50:11 - Sprint training for beginners00:54:08 - Apex 2026-2027 road map and international expansion01:01:38 - Stepping back from full-time client training01:06:01 - Why Apex does not have weight classes01:10:41 - Unsolicited advice, lying, and egocentric bias01:18:20 - Pure OCD diagnosis and Exposure Response Prevention therapy01:29:11 - Carbs for athletic performance, fatherhood, anxiety01:37:27 - Managing career transitions and embracing uncertainty#CoachEmUpPodcast #ApexCompetition #SprintTraining #StrengthAndConditioningPodcast #BroadJump #MentalHealth #OCD #NFLCombine #XavierWorthy #Podcast

Check out Alec on socials! @alecblenis Use code "coachemup10" for 10% off EVERYTHING at https://eleiko.com/coachemupHead over to https://ovrperformance.com/coachemup and get $25 offGrab a Subscriber tee at https://www.dripthatdelivers.comHybrid athlete and coach Alec Blenis is back for his SIXTH appearance on Coach Em Up! Alec breaks down his pursuit of a sub-2:30 marathon while holding serious muscle, training alongside Paris Olympian Yaseen Abdalla, and surviving sodium bicarbonate's most brutal side effects.Alec Blenis is a hybrid athlete who has been chasing the sub-2:30 marathon while maintaining elite-level strength. In this episode he lays out exactly how he got there: doubling weekly running volume to 75 miles, outsourcing his programming to coach John Davis to kill decision fatigue, and training on treadmills next to a guy who ran a 2:11 in Paris. The interference effect is real, but Alec explains how adaptation eventually brought strength back online. He also speaks on his unorthodox fueling, drinking a liter of OJ a day and over 400 grams of sugar total to maintain his training.From there, things get weird in the best way. Tim and Alec break down backyard ultramarathon psychology through Mark Dowdle's 5-day performance in Germany, dissect trainer Joel Seedman's Instagram content connecting 90-degree squats to theology, and then unload a stacked Q&A covering high-carb marathon fueling strategy, unilateral vs bilateral training, hybrid athlete training split design, HRV usefulness for athletes, endurance training for heavy runners, treadmill stiffness vs road running, and whether mental toughness drills are actually overrated.If you are running a marathon while lifting heavy, training concurrently, or just trying to understand the interference effect without losing your mind, this episode has you covered.Produced byQ6 Mediahttps://q6.mediaTimestamps:00:00:00 - Introduciton00:01:41 - Alec's Running Background and Sub-2:30 Marathon Goal00:07:04 - Marathon Benchmarks, Coaching Value, and the Interference Effect00:12:48 - Training with Yaseen Abdalla and Mitch Ammons00:18:23 - High-Carb Fueling: OJ, Sugar, and Surviving Austin Heat00:27:18 - Backyard Ultras and Mark Dowdle's Psychological Warfare00:35:36 - Joel Seedman's Eccentric Isometrics and Theological Squats00:46:14 - Tim's Best and Worst Qualities00:50:06 - Unilateral vs Bilateral Training00:52:11 - Session Flow vs Exercise Ordering00:53:30 - Building Muscle Under High Endurance Fatigue00:55:04 - Smartwatch Metrics and HRV Skepticism00:59:01 - Structuring a Hybrid Training Split01:00:45 - Sodium Bicarbonate Side Effects01:06:33 - Weekly OJ Totals and Apex Australia Plans01:09:16 - Single High-Volume Run vs Spreading Weekly Mileage01:10:06 - Endurance Training for Heavy Athletes01:15:02 - Heat Acclimatization and Overrated Mental Toughness Drills01:20:07 - Treadmill Stiffness vs Road Running#HybridAthlete #ConcurrentTraining #AlecBlenis #CoachEmUpPodcast #MarathonTraining #InterferenceEffect #RunningAndLifting #EnduranceTraining #Podcast #StrengthAndConditioning

Check out Jason on socials! @Jason_rotger @jasonrotgerUse code "coachemup10" for 10% off EVERYTHING at https://eleiko.com/coachemupHead over to https://ovrperformance.com/coachemup and get $25 offGrab a Subscriber tee at https://www.dripthatdelivers.comSpeed and performance coach Jason Rotger joins Tim Riley to break down speed training, sprint mechanics, and vertical jump training the right way. From a near-fatal BMX crash at 15 to Division I decathlon at FIU, Jason's story is as wild as his coaching methods. He dropped his own 100m from by ditching heavy squats, and he'll tell you exactly why your weight room obsession might be killing your speed.Jason Rotger went from BMX national rankings to pole vaulting, then earned a D1 scholarship as a decathlete at Florida International University. Along the way, he dealt with ankle surgery, a torn labrum, a supraspinatus tear, and a sprint plateau that had him squatting 435 lbs at 175 lbs bodyweight and still running an 11.8 hundred meter. The fix? He stopped squatting and started sprinting. That single shift dropped his time almost immediately.This episode covers the how to run a faster 100m debate head-on, the real role of plyometrics for sprint speed, timing gates as a non-negotiable coaching tool, 40 yard dash start technique, and how to improve broad jump distance fast. Jason also breaks down decathlon training volume, pole vault physics, and why sprint coaches need to invest in timing equipment for their athletes. He also opens up about completing his first full decathlon post-college without injury. You only lose when you quit.Produced byQ6 Mediahttps://q6.media00:00:00 - Introduction00:02:06 - BMX Racing Career and Near-Fatal Crash00:11:28 - Transition to Pole Vaulting00:19:14 - D1 Decathlon at FIU and Injury Streak00:27:36 - First Full Decathlon and Process Mindset00:31:00 - Mental Grit and the Rocky Influence00:34:49 - Sprint Plateau and Heavy Squats00:39:45 - Coaching Collegiate Sprinters to 25 mph00:44:49 - Vertical Jump Training and Volleyball Athletes00:48:25 - Coaching CrossFit Athletes for Combine Events00:52:54 - Combine Timing Systems and Hamstring Injury Risk01:02:14 - Pole Vault Physics and Apex Targets01:12:09 - Hottest Takes on Speed Training01:16:02 - Authentic Brand Building and Event Swaps01:20:05 - Three Pieces of Advice for Performance Coaches01:22:02 - Sprint Coach Rant01:25:41 - Overrated vs. Underrated in Athletic Performance01:30:43 - Unsolicited Advice#SpeedTraining #SprintMechanics #VerticalJumpTraining #CoachEmUpPodcast #Decathlon #PoleVault #JasonRotger #AthleticPerformance #Plyometrics #Podcast

Check out Emmanuel on socials! @MatadiUse code "coachemup10" for 10% off EVERYTHING at https://eleiko.com/coachemupHead over to https://ovrperformance.com/coachemup and get $25 offGrab a Subscriber tee at https://www.dripthatdelivers.comEmmanuel Matadi, three-time Olympian and one of the most jacked sprinters on the planet, joins Tim Riley on the Coach 'Em Up Podcast to break down sprint science, recovery, the Enhanced Games controversy, and what it actually takes to run a 9.95 at age 35. From Liberia to the Olympic blocks, Matadi's story is as wild as his 40 time in Timbs.Matadi didn't start taking track seriously until his junior year of high school. He was too busy playing football, wrestling, and figuring out how to survive as a Liberian immigrant in Minnesota. Then he casually smoked the fastest kid at his school in a race and the rest wrote itself.On this episode, Emmanuel and Tim go deep on how to run faster in the 100m, why most youth sprinters burn out before they ever peak, and how the old-school method of running 400m repeats until athletes puke is the opposite of what athletes need. Emmanuel breaks down his phase-by-phase sprint cues, why tense muscles are slow muscles, his love of resisted hill sled work over overspeed, and how 8 hours of sleep a night is the ultimate recovery tool.They also get into the Enhanced Games, where Matadi ran 9.95 at 35 years old and had to address years of steroid accusations head-on. They also explain the science behind fast twitch muscle fiber training and why preserving Type 2X fibers into your 30s and 40s matters more than any 5K you'll ever run.Produced byQ6 Mediahttps://q6.media00:00:00 - Introduction00:01:15 - Matadi's Background00:06:23 - High School Football, Wrestling, and How Track Started00:11:08 - New NCAA Eligibility rules and NIL00:17:56 - JUCO Grind vs. Pro Sprint Programming00:27:26 - Trackflation, Youth Burnout, and Why Off-Seasons Matter00:32:27 - The Mental Side of Sprinting00:36:22 - Racing in Three Olympics00:43:16 - 100m Race Strategy, Acceleration, and Sprint Mechanic Cues00:46:58 - Recovery Protocols, Weight Management, and Off-Season Lifting00:52:21 - Line It Up 40 Tournament and the Enhanced Games Experience01:03:22 - Longevity, Fast-Twitch Fiber Training, and APEX Philosophy01:15:37 - APEX Miami Breakdown01:19:38 - Crocs 40, Phase Cues, Bulgarian Split Squats, and Plate Marches01:28:43 - Youth Mechanics, Peaking in Long Seasons, and Rant n Rave01:37:06 - Unsolicited Advice and Closing#EmmanuelMatadi #CoachEmUpPodcast #SprintTraining #HowToRunFaster #EnhancedGames #SprintMechanics #FastTwitchTraining #TrackAndField #ResistedSprinting #OlympicSprinter