Uncharted Performance

Ben Dziwulski of WODPREP is this week’s guest in the first episode of Season 6. Ben, aside from creating WODPREP, is a former coach at CrossFit Invoke as well as former owner of his own CrossFit box. Ben has always been a natural at coaching and was able to create opportunities for himself to not only get better but to succeed beyond his initial plans. We’ll learn how he distills difficult concepts into small, manageable steps (or dominos, as he refers to them) to be able to teach others how to tackle them. Other gems from this interview include how to advance in training through what Ben refers to as an “unbalanced life” or letting the pursuit of a goal consume you for a time while you maintain single-minded focus and cherishing small victories to enjoy life to the fullest.

To wrap up this season Uncharted Performance, our guest of the week is Jeff Clapacs. Jeff is Bethune-Cookman University basketball team assistant coach with a decade of experience in college basketball coaching all over the U.S. This interview probably won’t make you better at basketball but we hope it inspires you to live a life of passion and purpose and that’s what Jeff is doing. He has learned that aspiring to always get better, practicing patience and paying it forward are the keys to success. All of us will encounter adversities or tough circumstances and Jeff has a few pointers on how we can stick with it through these rough times. Enjoy!

In this episode we’re happy to introduce you to Shellie Edington. Shellie is an age 50-54 division CrossFit Games champion, business owner and former gymnast. We got to pick her brain about her experience at the CrossFit Games, how she improved with every single year of competing and what keeps her coming back stronger than ever. We also touched on topics such as coaching and developing athletic kids, loving the challenge and brain engagement of a movement practice as a way to develop the life-long habit of exercise, as well the benefits of gymnastics for CrossFit. Among other helpful advice Shellie recommends using all the resources at your disposal (sports psychology is a good example), keeping a good handle on your work/exercise/leisure schedule to maximize efficiency and last but not least, finding the fun in the workouts even when you’re doing something you’re not very good at!

This week on Uncharted Performance we’d like to introduce you to Tim Robertson Jr. of Speed Strength. Tim holds a master’s degree in sports physiology, is a CSCS and owner of Speed Strength. Tim has over 20 years of experience training both youth and profession athletes and his impressive list of clients include LeBron James, Ben Simmons, Nene, Ellie Hess and London Fletcher. This conversation spanned from discussing how effective leadership can make you a better coach to what exercises can have the biggest carryover on the field/in sports, and everything in between (no surprise here, folks - do your squats). Tim’s recommendations and wisdom will benefit not only coaches but athletes as well, especially when it comes to developing your own philosophy and work ethic.

In this episode of Uncharted Performance our guest is Matt Gildersleeve, who is the director of football strength and conditioning at the University of Akron and the youngest strength coach in Division I football. Matt brings energy, drive and inspiration this week as he walks us through his story. Matt knew from an early age  what he wanted to pursue and credits mental fortitude and character resilience as the biggest factors that helped his along the way, with just a little bit of luck. The way he chooses to show gratitude for working his dream job is through serving others who cross his path. Some actionable takeaways from this episode are listening to feedback, learning from others, and acting the part of what you want to achieve long before you get the part. 

Welcome to episode 56 of Uncharted Performance! This week we are returning to Black Flag Athletics to talk to Lindsey Kelly, Tom Rini, and Pete Nelson II. The topic of this discussion, as all three of our guests have extensive experience in, is coaching. We start off with learning why coaching is such a passion for them and how it helps them find fulfillment. As Tom puts it, it is an opportunity to give something of yourself and build a relationship with those you’re coaching that impacts the rest of their lives.  Lindsey, Pete and Tom describe their growth as coaches and give some useful advice on how others can evolve in this unique role. Learning from other coaches, developing good communication with clients of all different types and going out and getting that all important experience are just some of those critical skills. 

Thanks for joining us for episode 55 of the Uncharted Performance podcast. Some familiar faces are back at it, Mark Valenti of Blind Dog Gym and Shawn Schumaker of Team BBS Fitness. These gents have a combined 50 years of experience in the strength game and they’re more than willing to share what they know and reveal their strength secrets. This is one of the most technical episodes we’ve done. You’ll find out what the most effective accessory movements are for the core, posterior chain, glutes, upper body, as well as the all important grip development. Additionally, we’ll list numerous variations of those standard movements to avoid injury and plateaus. Both Mark and Shawn emphasize the importance (surprise, surprise!) of strict movements so get your strict pull-ups in, ladies and gentlemen!

Episode 54 of Uncharted Performance is back, this time introducing Korey Smerk of EYE Fitness. Korey is a fitness coach, an obstacle course racer, trail runner, and nature lover. Korey shares his journey with bipolar disorder, from his diagnosis several years ago to how he manages it and learns to function with it daily. He approaches it by doing frequent self checks to assess where he is at that moment in time but even more importantly, he admits that having patience is the key. Korey’s biggest motivation is wanting more for himself and he achieves that by life-long learning and growing despite the sometimes daily obstacles (no pun intended!). 

Thank you for joining us for episode 53 of Uncharted Performance! We are at CTown CrossFit for this episode talking to Cory Moore and Brian Warner about what it takes to make it in the world of bar athletics. Cory is a nationally and internationally recognized masters weightlifting competitor and coach, and Brian is a 2016 NPC natural master’s physique competition winner and a personal trainer. However, both have an extensive history in the bar world. In this interview you will find out how simple (but not easy!) bodyweight exercises can help develop strength, agility and coordination, especially as it applies to bar athletics. Both Brian and Cory cannot emphasize enough that repetition of strict movements (e.g., pushups, dips) can elevate your performance but that we shouldn’t forget to utilize different variations of those “basic” exercises for maximum muscle recruitment. Finally, both of these gents just want to “reach people with positivity” so make sure you tune in!

This week on episode 52 we are back at Eleventh Element CrossFit, this time talking with Graham Holmberg. Graham is a multiple-time CrossFit Games competitor, former Games champion, family man and owner of Eleventh Element CrossFit. Graham was always a voracious athlete and before he found CrossFit, he played multiple sports in high school and college. We discussed how he developed some destructive behaviors such as substance abuse in his younger years and how one event brought him back to himself and God and set him on the path to success. Of course, we couldn’t interview a former Games champ without talking about his training, recovery, coaching and plans for the future. His advice for athletes and non-athletes alike? Have a big vision and slow down to get better.