The Truth of Athletic Performance

Believe it or not, I actually started my career in Strength & Conditioning. Well, sorta. I interned at Arizona State University with their strength and conditioning department. To be honest, I loved it! The job is far more intensive than I thought it would be at the time, but I was in! That was till I spoke to some friends that were already in University programs. The long hours, insecure job, not awesome typical pay, weren’t great selling points so I made the smart move (extreme sarcasm) of going into the private arena.

With all that said, I wanted to train athletes in my own business and I wanted to bring athletic based training to the masses. I believed and still do today, that being athletic is how we achieve most of the fitness goals that people have that want to train. It is more fun, feels more natural, and allows us to accomplish many goals at once.

However, most REALLY don’t know what it means to train athletically or even where strength coaches go wrong in the training of athletes themselves. That is why I decided to reach out to one of the best performance coaches I know, Matt Durant.

Not a name that jumps out at you? I’m not surprised! Matt has spent almost the last 20 years at the University of La Verne in California. How could a guy NOT at a major school be so good? Well, Matt made the choice to have an impact on those in his community and in an environment where he could do what he thought was best to serve the young men and women he was working with.

All you have to do is spend 5 minutes with Matt and you realize how deeply and thoughtfully he thinks about training. Best of all, Matt isn’t afraid to change his training for the better. When your goal is to make athletes feel and perform their best, you constantly look for superior strategies. Especially when you aren’t working with the most gifted athletes, but those who want to reach their potential.

Matt was nice enough to sit down with me for a great interview on how athletic based training impacts any goal and how he has evolved to realize the better solutions to training needs. When you hear the results he has gotten for his athletes, you will have so much more confidence that functional training is a REAL method that makes a difference.

Check out Matt’s Interview HERE

Follow him on social media HERE