Episode 32: AJ Dwyer on Coaching Youth Athletes

AJ and Megan Dwyer own MAD Strength and Conditioning and CrossFit SwampFox. Since December 2015, they’ve affiliated and opened a second location. Their rapid growth is fueled by AJ’s focus on youth athletes, and sports teams. AJ brings a unique approach to intake, testing, prescription and training, and he’ll share his methods in this podcast.

00:5:00 – AJ’s story: MMA, bodybuilding, military deployment to Afghanistan and finding CrossFit

10:30 – AJ trains his first “sport-enhancement” client

12:05 – “Sport-specific” training vs “Sport-Enhancement” training

17:00 – How AJ works with local coaches

19:30 – Misconceptions athletes have when starting the program

22:20 – AJ programs for athletes all day. But he uses BoxProgramming.com for his CrossFit members. Why?

23:15 – We start walking through the client experience from the first inception point, through intake and assessment, and then programming. We start with an overview.

26:45 – We go back through his process in very small detail, from recommendations to testing to recruitment.

34:00 – AJ and I talk about his testing process. He’s currently refining his testing in preparation for rollout to other coaches, so there are some details we skim. But the original model came from mine, which you can read here. Two-Brain Coaching clients are given a copy to use verbatim, but you can replicate the idea without cutting and pasting.

You’ll also see the “report card” we give athletes at each test.

37:00 – What athletes actually need vs what they don’t

41:00 – How “sport-enhancement” programs differ from CrossFit youth programs

42:00 – Problems AJ is seeing with kids who play sports, and how he corrects them

44:30 – How AJ recommends PT, small group or large group training for different clients

46:30 – How AJ would get 50 more kids if he had to

49:00 – How AJ describes his program to coaches

51:00 – AJ offers to help other gyms assess and program for athletes to build their program

In Critical Questions, I answer, “I have lots of great ideas. How do I actually get the time to DO any of them?” I refer to the “10-Hour CEO” template tool.

Recorded on June 6, 2016.