Tanner Care, a high-performance specialist working with pro and university teams, outlines his practical framework for athlete development. He discusses sprint-specific isometrics, a layered health-first coaching model, and innovative drills that embed max-speed work into practice. He also explores athlete archetypes, plyometric dosing, and run-specific assessments to prioritize targeted interventions.
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volunteer_activism ADVICE
Check Speed Within Practice
Integrate max-speed checks into practice using sport-specific drills like overthrows to combine speed and skill.
Coordinate with the sport coach to design game-like constraints that preserve sprint intent and technical work.
insights INSIGHT
Health Before Performance
Prioritize health and function before chasing performance improvements in athletes.
Use dynamic observation over passive table tests to detect real sport-specific movement limitations.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Reinforce General Movement Capacity
Build general human capacity (crawling, rolling, calisthenics, plyometrics) before sport-specific work.
Address rudimentary movement deficits early to unlock higher-level performance drills.
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Today’s guest is Tanner Care. Tanner Care is a high-performance specialist, currently serving as the Director of Player Performance for the BC Lions (CFL) and the Director of Athletic Performance for the Vancouver Bandits (CEBL). Since 2023, he has also held the role of Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Simon Fraser University, where he oversees the physical development of athletes across 13 collegiate sports.
On the surface, strength and conditioning is about increasing an athlete’s physical strength and capacities. To dig deeper and help athletes reach their highest potential, an understanding of sprint-specific forces, athlete archetypes, and dosage of inputs is essential.
On today’s show, Tanner talks about his practical framework for elite athlete development. He shares how he integrates max-speed work into sport-specific drills, such as full-court basketball overthrows, and explains his “layered” coaching model, which progresses from foundational health and general capacity to more specific archetyping. The conversation also dives into the technical side of his toolkit, including the use of run-specific isometrics for sprint transfer, plyometric training, and how he balances force-velocity profiles across different athlete types. Ultimately, Tanner advocates for a “health-first” approach in the pro setting, favoring consistent, high-quality inputs over unnecessarily complex training schemes.
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Timestamps
0:03 – Introduction to Athlete Classification
2:19 – Innovative Training Drills
6:26 – Understanding Movement Signatures
11:32 – Exploring Strength Qualities
19:53 – Classifying Athlete Strength
32:02 – Benefits of Single Leg Strength
45:17 – Adjusting Training Based on Athlete Type
49:30 – Implementing Quasi-Isometrics
56:25 – The Complexity of Training Modalities
1:04:17 – Foot Positioning and Athletic Outcomes
1:07:47 – Closing Thoughts and Future Plans
Tanner Care Quotes
On Speed in Practice: "So the problem I was trying to solve was how can we check these speed residual boxes within the constraints of practice."
On the Priority of Training: "That's layer one health has to come before performance. So removing any potential inhibition."
On Dynamic vs. Passive Screening: "I've seen so many people get on a table, assess passive hip internal rotation and say there's some kind of limitation. But when we see it dynamically at sports speed, it's like, oh, there it is."
On General Movement Competency: "I can't tell you the amount of professional guys I have come in that like can't do like rudimentary plyometrics like they can't hop or bound stationary let alone locomotively"
On Local vs. Global Issues: "Do we have a Ferrari? Do we have a Honda Civic? Do we have a Ferrari with a flat tire? Like, sometimes we just have to deal with local issues, not necessarily broad systems of improving the overall organism."
On the Limits of Strength: "We know that the strongest individuals aren't necessarily the most forceful individuals. At some point, there's a clear cutoff."
On Stiffness and Propulsion: "Rate of force development and stiffness isn't always a good thing if they don't have the propulsive qualities necessary to actually displace their hips horizontally"
On Force and Sprint Performance“If you’re able to generate adequate force at adequate time and attenuate high braking force, that’s always going to correlate positively with sprint performance.”
On Weight Room Philosophy: "I try to remove skill or as much skill as I can within the context of the weight room."
About Tanner Care
Tanner Care is a credentialed strength and conditioning professional specializing in elite athlete development across pro and collegiate levels. He currently serves as Director of Performance for the Vancouver Bandits (CEBL) and the BC Lions (CFL), overseeing strength & conditioning, load management, sport science, and performance nutrition to enhance athlete readiness and longevity.
Previously, he was Head Coach of Strength & Conditioning at Simon Fraser University (NCAA), leading programs across multiple sports including men's basketball and track & field, where he built evidence-based training systems. Tanner holds RSCC and CSCS certifications (NSCA), is an EXOS Performance Specialist, and earned his Master's (MS(c)) from the University of Florida.
His background includes roles like Head S&C Coach for University of Ottawa rugby. He contributes to the field as a SimpliFaster author, podcast guest on performance systems, and CSCA advisory team member. Passionate about sprint training, speed, and mechanics, he's a dedicated husband, family man, and 49ers fan.
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