Forged on the Track
I grew up playing many sports but excelled early at middle-distance running. Participation in a centimeter-gram-second (CGS) sport was the perfect introduction to the training process, and the dose-response relationship between my offseason efforts and subsequent early successes solidified in my mind the importance of periodized training. I won many races, set a few school records, and won some medals. I suffered many injuries, lost my nerve a few times, and had many opportunities for growth.
Training and racing taught me to forge strong relationships with training partners and was the crucible that refined my character. My college coach was second only to my own parents in speaking hard truth into my life. Most importantly, my journey in sport lead me to meet my wife Lisa as we competed together in college. Ultimately, it was my love of training, the thrill of racing, and my passion for performance that led me into the field of sport performance and eventually sport science.
Trained in the Trenches
Lisa and I married (Best. Day. Ever.) and I set to work cultivating the skills I needed to make an impact in the world of sport performance. In the two years after graduation, I interned and then worked as a performance specialist at a local gym, took on personal training clients, taught group fitness classes, and taught lab and activity courses at Westmont College. I was also the strength coach for Westmont Track and Cross Country, and was the head track and cross country coach of a local high school with Lisa as my assistant (and our daughter as the mini-assistant).
After much thought and prayer, my journey led our family to East Tennessee State University. For five years I was in the weight room or lab most mornings when I wasn’t in class, working directly with collegiate athletes in both an S&C and sport science capacity. I also learned the (Olympic-style) weightlifting movements as I trained with the club weightlifting team and slowly overcame my endurance-oriented genetics and training history. So many of the practical and hands-on lessons I pass on to students come from these early experiences.
Rooted in Science
In addition to my coaching and sport science duties at ETSU, I served as the lead reviewer for the International Coaching & Sport Science College and assisted in the daily operations of the Center for Excellence in Sport Science and Coach Education (from athlete monitoring and testing to website development). I studied sport and strength science through the lens of daily practice and under the guidance of stellar faculty members—most of whom had pedigrees in both the research and coaching and applied sport science realms. In fact, the Athlete Monitoring Initiative (AMI) that I founded and direct at PLNU is based on the model of monitoring that I learned and lived out at ETSU.
I had intended for my own research to focus on determinants of endurance running performance, but due to a number of circumstances (most notably that my sample of distance runners could no longer participate in the research) I had to shift focus. Like many things in life, this unexpected turn allowed me to branch out into the other areas and develop new passions and knowlege. Ultimately, my thesis and dissertation work focused on barbell squatting styles, muscle fascicle architecture, and athlete monitoring techniques.
Called to Educate
I am now blessed to serve as an associate professor of kinesiology and Director of Sport Science at PLNU, where I teach undergraduate and graduate students across the human movement and health disciplines, mentor aspiring strength and sport science professionals, and participate in student-partnered research projects.
I began recording lecture videos during the online learning era of 2020-2021 to enhance my students' remote learning experience. Because, let’s be honest, nobody enjoys learning via Zoom. My teaching-focused YouTube channel now hosts over a hundred lectures spanning multiple kinesiology topics, with an emphasis on strength and conditioning and sport science.
I believe that sport science education should be available to everyone. And I’ve created this website not only to help organize my online lecture content, but to host helpful tools, digital downloads, and other resources for strength and conditioning coaches and sport scientists. I hope you will take some time to explore what is available here. And remember to check back frequently because I’m always adding new content.
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