The Principles of Performance

          Darryl Edwards is a London-based movement coach, author, speaker, and founder of the Primal Play Method®, an evidence-informed approach to physical activity that draws on exercise physiology, cognitive neuroscience, evolutionary biology, and play psychology to make movement enjoyable, adaptable, and easier to sustain across the lifespan. Darryl holds credentials including FCIMSPA (Chartered Fellow with the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity), FBSLM, DFSEM(UK), and is an ACSM Cancer Exercise Specialist®. Through his work in exercise oncology, he founded Movement Oncology, applying the Primal Play Method to support people navigating cancer treatment and recovery with confidence, adherence, and safe movement progression. His April 2019 TED talk, “Why Working Out Isn’t Working Out,” has been viewed more than a million times, and his work has been featured across documentaries, TV, radio, podcasts, and international press. Darryl is the best-selling author of Animal Moves, Paleo Fitness, Paleo from A to Z, and My First Animal Moves — a children’s picture book encouraging kids to move more, sit less, and decrease screen time — and has released a range of Animal Moves fitness decks for adults, juniors, and fitness professionals. In 2025, Darryl received the US Play Coalition’s Stephanie P. Garst Distinguished Service Award, recognizing his advocacy for physical and social health through playful movement. Links: https://www.primalplay.com Instagram: @fitnessexplorer TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/darryl_edwards_why_working_out_isn_t_working_out_jan_2 — – Get your FREE eBook and Webinar at www.foreverclientformula.com The Principles of Performance is proud to be recognized by FeedSpot as one of the Top 30 Fitness Podcasts: https://podcast.feedspot.com/fitness_podcasts/ We have also been recognized as one of the Top 100 Strength Coach Podcasts on the web by MillionPodcasts: https://www.millionpodcasts.com/strength-coach-podcasts/

        Mickey Brueckner is the Founder and CEO of The ANNEX Sports Performance Center in Chatham, New Jersey, and has spent nearly two decades focused on building better athletes. He founded The ANNEX in 2006, growing it from a basement gym into a 14,000-square-foot, all-encompassing performance facility that has since expanded to a second location. Prior to founding The ANNEX, he held coaching positions at The Garage at HealthQuest and Gill St. Bernards School. A former collegiate baseball standout who was once projected as a 5th-round pick in the 2003 MLB draft, Mickey’s career was cut short by a season-ending elbow injury that required two Tommy John surgeries. That experience redirected his path into coaching and shaped the philosophy behind everything at The ANNEX: train smart, protect the body, and develop athletes who are built to last. His specialty is training overhead throwing athletes — pitchers, quarterbacks, and position players — and his approach to arm care, mechanics, and strength development has helped athletes at every level, from middle school to the pros. He currently also serves as head coach of QB Country New Jersey. Over the years, Mickey and his team at The ANNEX have worked with Super Bowl MVPs, World Series champions, Cy Young winners, and thousands of amateur and professional athletes, including Boston Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello. He also hosts the MTB Performance Project Podcast, where he sits down with fellow coaches and performance professionals — past guests include Lee Taft, Danny Foley, and Tim Riley — for conversations on speed development, coaching methodology, and the idea that knowledge only becomes valuable once it’s actually applied. Across his own content, Mickey consistently returns to a handful of themes he’s most passionate about: arm care and overuse injury prevention in throwing athletes, the balance between development and winning in youth sports, and giving young athletes “permission to learn as much as permission to fail.” Links: https://www.annexsportsperformance.com https://qbcountry.com/new-jersey/ — Get your FREE eBook and Webinar at www.foreverclientformula.com The Principles of Performance is proud to be recognized by FeedSpot as one of the Top 30 Fitness Podcasts: https://podcast.feedspot.com/fitness_podcasts/ We have also been recognized as one of the Top 100 Strength Coach Podcasts on the web by MillionPodcasts: https://www.millionpodcasts.com/strength-coach-podcasts/

          Gary Gray is widely known throughout the movement and rehabilitation industry as the “Father of Function.” He is the Founder, CEO, and Chief Content Creator of Gray Institute® and GIFT (Gray Institute for Functional Transformation), the organization he built more than four decades ago in Adrian, Michigan, originally as a physical therapy clinic, performance training facility, and educational institution. Gary is the originator of Applied Functional Science® (AFS), a discipline he developed alongside Dr. David Tiberio that reframes the human body as an integrated chain reaction rather than a collection of isolated parts. Over his career, Gary has worked with elite athletes including Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan, and his teaching has shaped a generation of clinicians and coaches across the sports medicine and performance industries. His contributions to the field earned him the John H.P. Maley Award for Outstanding Contributions to Leadership in Research from the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). Gary also founded Free2Play® (Free2Play Academy, Inc.®), a non-profit organization that uses movement to transform the lives of children around the world. Links: https://grayinstitute.com – Get your FREE eBook and Webinar at www.foreverclientformula.com The Principles of Performance is proud to be recognized by FeedSpot as one of the Top 30 Fitness Podcasts: https://podcast.feedspot.com/fitness_podcasts/ We have also been recognized as one of the Top 100 Strength Coach Podcasts on the web by MillionPodcasts: https://www.millionpodcasts.com/strength-coach-podcasts/

          In this episode, Eric and Mike break down Strength & Conditioning at the High School Level Defining S&C at the HS level: The broad range of training age, physical development, skill level and degree of engagement Do no harm: Injuries and keeping kids safe Multi-sport and specialization considerations Connecting in 2026: Modern Approach vs “Back in My Day” Attitude Herding Cats: Keeping them engaged enough to buy in Culture Building: “You get what you tolerate” The #1 Factor: Skill coach buy-in and support Practice involvement and integration GPP vs SPP Space, equipment and logistics Communication and team approach (Admin, coaches, ATCs) Working with outside trainers and coaches — Get your FREE eBook and Webinar at www.foreverclientformula.com The Principles of Performance is proud to be recognized by FeedSpot as one of the Top 30 Fitness Podcasts: https://podcast.feedspot.com/fitness_podcasts/ We have also been recognized as one of the Top 100 Strength Coach Podcasts on the web by MillionPodcasts: https://www.millionpodcasts.com/strength-coach-podcasts/

        Keith Burns is an experienced Lecturer and Strength and Conditioning Coach with a demonstrated history of working in the health and human performance industry. Passionate and skilled in translating complex concepts of human movement into tangible learning experiences, allows him to lead, teach, and develop the next generation of health and human performance professionals. In addition to his faculty position, he continues to coach athletes at the amateur, collegiate, professional, and international level having recently worked with the Puerto Rico Lacrosse Senior Women’s National Team as they prepared for the World Lacrosse Championships in Towson, Maryland in July of 2022 and the Women’s U-19 Team in 2019. Keith has co-authored two books, is a member of the NJ State Advisory Board for the National Strength and Conditioning Association, and is an invited peer-reviewer for the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (NSCA). Additionally, he is a Peer Reviewer for the Council on Accreditation of Strength and Conditioning Education (CASCE). He received his Master of Science (MS) in Human Movement from Arizona School of Health Sciences, A.T. Still University and completed a Graduate Certificate in Tactical Performance & Resiliency from The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. Links: https://www.raritanval.edu/academic-programs/academic-departments/health-science LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-burns-41770565/