Decoding Excellence

In this episode of The Decoding Excellence Show, I’m pulling back the curtain on what it really takes to hire the right person to lead a collegiate strength & conditioning or sport performance department.

After nearly a decade at the University of Colorado—contributing to a sport science and high performance model while working with Women’s Basketball and Volleyball—I’ve seen firsthand what works, what fails, and why so many...

In this Cardio Talks episode of The Decoding Excellence Show, I’m breaking down one of the most overlooked threats to athlete recovery: late-night screen time and blue light exposure.

Whether you're a performance coach, sport scientist, or former athlete trying to stay sharp—this conversation cuts into the heart of why your HRV, deep sleep, and overall recovery metrics might be lagging.

We're talking science-backed di...

In this special “Cardio Chats” edition of the Decoding Excellence Show, I’m hitting record during one of my Zone 2 ruck walks—raw, unfiltered, and straight from the heart.

No fancy studio. No edits. Just the real thoughts running through my head while I’m moving my body and reflecting on the work we do in Strength and Conditioning, Sports Science, and High Performance Coaching.

This isn’t scripted. It’s not polished. It’s jus...

In this episode of the Decoding Excellence Show, I’m sharing a solo Q&A I originally recorded for the Former Athlete Society. Whether you're freshly out of sport or years removed, this one cuts deep into what really matters: rebuilding discipline, identity, and structure after athletics.

I break down four of the most common (and crucial) questions I hear from former athletes navigating life after sport:

1. How do I s...

In this episode of the Decoding Excellence Show, I'm sharing a handful of the things that have been grabbing my attention lately—from what I'm reading to what I'm watching, buying, doing, and listening to.

We’re talking about Dan John’s new book The ABCs (and Fs) of Strength Training and how Easy Strength changed my approach early in my coaching career. I’ll break down a recent Flagrant podcast episode with Pete Butt...

In this episode of theDecoding Excellence Show, I’m diving into the intricacies of workload monitoring and athlete preparation, particularly for basketball players. From managing training on the road to adapting workouts to fit within the constraints of a packed game schedule, I break down the strategies we’re using to keep athletes performing at their best.

Episode Highlights:

• The challenges of training basketball athletes o...

‌In this episode of the Decoding Excellence Show, I'm discussing the rapidly changing landscape of collegiate athletics. From NIL deals and the Transfer Portal to the monumental implications of the House v. NCAA settlement, I explore how these seismic shifts are impacting athletic departments across the nation.

Episode Description: In this episode, I delve into my recent article, Advice I'd Love to Give Myself 15 Years Ago, inspired by conversations with young strength and conditioning interns. Join me as I discuss the article and add some personal commentary.

In this episode of the Decoding Excellence Show, I'm discussing my recent article 10 Hard Truths for Coaching in the World of Athletics. This was an article I wrote off the backend of several conversations with young strength and conditioning interns. This show narrates the article while adding some author commentary.

In this episode of the Decoding Excellence Show, I'm discussing how we utilize Workload Monitoring across our basketball performance. We discuss weekly periodization models, basketball-specific movement metrics, acceleration vs. deceleration loads, and how you can take principles of wearable workload monitoring for basketball and apply it to your environment.

In this episode of the Decoding Excellence Show, I'm discussing how we utilize Isometric Training across our performance benchmarking & testing, strength and conditioning programming, and several of the technologies we use to collect this information. If you've been interested in utilizing isometric testing in your pre-participation athlete profiling or sports performance training, this is the episode for you! 

In this episode of the Decoding Excellence Show, I'm discussing some of the new things we're doing around University of Colorado Boulder. It's been some time since I've been behind the microphone and I'm just dusting off the thing. We talk about some of the new technologies we're utilizing within our athletic department, some of the new pre-participation athlete benchmarking we're conducting, and a general run-down of our summer st...

‌In this episode of the Decoding Excellence Show, I'm discussing the all too common debate between sport science and performance coaching. To be fair, it is a common debate I hear often between the pure academic sport scientists and strength and conditioning coaches "in the field". In this Random Episode, I dive into this debate between an evidence-led, sport science, data-driven decision model versus the applied nature of strength...

‌In this episode of the Decoding Excellence Show, I'm discussing an issue I hear too often regarding sport science and it's applied nature within high performance sport. I outline a typical day and the many touchpoints with sport science, data-led decision making, and the applied nature of scientific processes on sport outcomes. This was a fun episode to record because I get on a roll talking about this material.

In this episode of the Decoding Excellence Show, I'm speaking with Jim Garofalo, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for KINEXON. This show is a first as we begin to spotlight innovative companies who are leading the sports performance industry. On the show, we discuss Jim's background, his role at KINEXON, the specific company's vision and market scope for wearable technologies, the introduction of KINEXON's SafeZone, ...

In this episode of the Decoding Excellence Show, I'm speaking with Industry Veteran and High Performance Practitioner, Dan Howells. Dan has experience at US Ski & Snowboard, the English Institute of Sport (EIS), Rugby Union and Rugby 7s, and most recently, in the Major League Baseball (MLB) Houston Astros organization. You do not want to miss this show!

In this episode of the Decoding Excellence Show, I'm speaking with former NFL New York Giants Director of Performance Nutrition and Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach, my friend, Pratik Patel.

In this episode of the Decoding Excellence Show, I'm discussing many of the leadership lessons I've learned, through the successes and failures of operating in elite sport. I discuss tactics to help empower leadership and decisions among your athletes and co-workers. I talk about leaning into your weaknesses and being vulnerable. I discuss ways you can take the first step and challenge others to co-elevate to new heights. I think y...

In this episode of the Decoding Excellence Show, I'm discussing my application of velocity based training techniques (VBT) and the application of training along the force-velocity curve. I discuss the different velocity thresholds, exercise modalities, how I utilize VBT during different periods of our annual training program, and much more.