In episode 99, David answers a listener question on the topic of: Does Psychological & Emotional Stress Impact Adaptation to Exercise?

You can contact the show and submit questions by emailing: david@synapseperformance.ie

Full show notes available at: www.synapseperformance.ie/podcasts/episode99

In this episode, David is joined by Luke Jenkinson.

Luke is the current Head of Academy Sports Science & Medicine at Derby County FC, while also undertaking a professional doctorate at Liverpool John Moore's University.

In this episode, David & Luke discuss the pros and cons of early specialisation, and the potential role of isometrics in applied S&C.

For full show-notes: www.synapseperformance.ie/podcasts/episode98

In episode 97, David is joined by Sami Dowling & Shane Cahill of APEC courses.

Sami Dowling is the Director of Athletic Performance & Sports Science at Athletic Performance Education Company.  Sami brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the APEC education team. Working at the elite level of both rugby union and GAA, Sami has become a household name within the areas of speed development and the sport of Weightlifting.

Sami was a Strength & Conditioning coach with Leinster Rugby Academy for 10 years, one of Europe’s top professional rugby Academy’s.

Sami worked at the highest level in GAA, serving as Head Strength & Conditioning coach with the Dublin Senior Football team, winning an All-Ireland in 2011.

Sami served as Performance Director for Weightlifting Ireland, having coached at the World Junior, European Junior, and European Senior.

Sami is currently the Strength & Conditioning Coordinator at Hockey Ireland for the u16-u18 girls’ and boys’ national teams.

Sami has recently completed his MSC in Strength & Condition at the Institute of Technology Carlow. His role as Director of Athletic Performance & Sports Science at Athletic Performance Education Company is primarily focused on the development and growth of all strength & conditioning programs and service contracts run through the company.

Shane Cahill is the director of education and operations at APEC. An ex-professional athlete, Shane spent the majority of his professional rugby playing career in the UK playing in the RFU Aviva Premiership and Championship.

He has worked at the elite level of professional sports in the UK with teams such as Rotherham Titans in the RFU Championship where he served as head of strength and conditioning for two seasons before making his way back to Ireland to take up the role as of the head of strength and conditioning with Blackrock College RFC.

He is currently studying his MSc in Strength and Conditioning at the Institute of  Technology Carlow. Shane has gathered a wealth of knowledge and experience as both a professional athlete and as a strength & conditioning coach. His role as Director of Education and Operations at Athletic Performance Education Company is primarily focused on the development and growth of all education programs run through the institute.

In this episode, David, Shane & Sami discuss the realities of working in professional sport and being successful in the S&C industry.

Full show notes available at: www.synapseperformance.ie/podcasts/episode97

In episode 96, David is joined by Dr. Harry Dorrell. 

Harry is a lecturer and researcher at the University of Lincoln, where his research focuses on the use of velocity based measures to dictate training loads in an attempt to optimize adaptation to resistance training.

David & Harry discuss why velocity-based "loading" may be a more suitable term that velocity-based "training," how to practically apply velocity-based measures in a team setting and the future research direction of velocity-based training.

Full show-notes available at: www.synapseperformance.ie/podcasts/episode96

In episode 95, David is joined by Dr. Oliver Barley.

Dr. Barley is a lecturer and research at Edith Cowan University.

Oliver's research interest are in the domain of exercise physiology, specifically combat sports.

The focus of Oliver's PhD studies was in the area of weight cutting strategies in combat athletes.

David & Oliver discuss heat acclimation and it's potential benefits for both performance and the weight cutting procedure.

In episode 94, David is joined by Broderick Chavez.

Broderick Chavez is the Evil Genius. He’s a renowned trainer based in the US and has trained champions, Olympians and IFBB Pros as well as hundreds of other athletes.  He is a sports performance expert, biologist, chemist, coffee connoisseur and an insomniac.

Not only has Broderick worked in Sports Performance field 30 years, he’s competed at a national level in bodybuilding, powerlifting and strongman.

He’s a critical thinker, lifter, speaker and thought provoker.

Broderick is uncensored and controversial. Rather than trying to prove to you or anyone else that he is the singular outlet for truth, he hopes to stimulate thought, experiment and dialogue that will bring us all closer to the truth.

This is a guy to listen to if you coach athletes or you’re an athlete yourself, wanting to get to the top of their game.

In this Episode, David & Broderick discuss why understanding the tenants of biology is crucial to effective programming & decision making. 

The pair also discuss the value of regularly getting blood work done to optimise both health & performance.

In episode 93, David joined by applied sports psychologist Hugh Gilmore.

Hugh holds an undergraduate degree in sports and exercise sciences and a masters in applied sports and exercise psychology. 

Hugh is also an accredited sports psychologist with the Irish Institute of Sport & BASES.

David & Hugh discuss behaviour change, the benefits of motivational interviewing & applied sports psychology strategies.

Full show notes available at www.synapseperformance.ie/podcasts/episode93

In this episode of the podcast, Arthur Lynch moderates a debate between Synapse Performance's own David Nolan & Andrew Patton of Stronger By Science. 

The pair debate whether there is any utility to the functional movement screen or whether it is a pointless exercise.  

This is a valuable conversation for any applied practitioners in the strength and conditioning field.

In this episode of the Synapse Performance Podcast, David discusses all the key elements of performing high quality performance testing. As well as the common mistakes he regularly sees in performance testing procedures across multiple sports. 

In this solo episode, David gives advice for those wishing to begin or advance their career in strength and conditioning coaching. 

David also discusses the importance of S&C in sports performance and what the key purposes of a solid S&C program are, and how to audit your own coaching practices. 

In this episode, David is joined by teacher and coach, Shane Smith. 

Shane coaches right across the spectrum from underage to elite senior level. Shane's passion lies in the coaching of children and creating an environment that fosters development and life long sport participation. 

In this episode, David & Shane discuss how to effectively coach children, some of the pitfalls coaches fall into when working in youth sport and how we can all reflect on our own coaching practices.

For full show notes see: www.synapseperformance.ie/podcasts/episode89

In this episode, David is joined by Dan Garner.

Dan is a S&C coach, performance nutritionist, and educator.

Dan works with UFC fighters and other elite athletes through his online business.

In this episode, David and Dan discuss: 

Laboratory Based Nutrition Prioritizing Athlete Health & Effective Remote Coaching of Elite Athletes

Full show notes can be found at: www.synapseperformance.ie/podcasts/episode88

In this episode, David answers questions submitted by Listeners through social media. 

These questions covered the topics of; 

Steroids in GAA & Rugby, Advice for Young S&C Coaches, Recovery Methods for Team Sports, The Problem with Assumptions.

In this episode, David is joined by Dr. Alan Ruddock. 

Alan is a physiologist at Sheffield Hallam University with a wealth of experience in sport science. He has has worked with a range of individual athletes and teams, including FIFA World Cup referee Howard Webb and Commonwealth games medalists England Table Tennis. Alan has worked extensively within Boxing at the highest level, having a huge influence on Kid Galahad’s British, Commonwealth and European Title wins and most recently Kell Brook’s IBF welterweight world title victory. Alan is a BASES accredited sport & exercise scientist, doctoral researcher and one of the UK’s first chartered scientists in sport science. 

In this episode, David & Alan have an in-depth discussion around strength and conditioning for the sport of boxing.

In this solo episode, David answers questions submitted by listeners through social media. 

In this episode, David is joined by Dr. Dan Cleather.

Dr. Cleather is the program director of the MSc. in strength and conditioning at St. Mary's University, Twickenham. He has formal training mathematics and is an experienced S&C coach and academic.

David & Dan discuss the concepts of force & mechanics as it relates to S&C. 

Dan highlights misunderstandings of the force-vector theory and the force-velocity relationship. 

For full show notes see: www.synapseperformance.ie/episode84

In this episode, David is joined by Helen Collins of Dundee University.

Helen is an experienced strength and conditioning coach, sports scientist and lecturer. 

Helen is currently completing her PhD. at Dundee which focuses on resistance training interventions for children who are overweight or obese. 

In this episode, David and Helen discuss the role resistance training may play in tackling obesity, challenges in coaching strength training in children and what a wide-scale role out of a resistance training program would look like.

Full show-notes available at: www.synapseperformance.ie/podcasts/episode83

In this episode David is once again joined by Dr. Cody Haun.

Cody is an assistant professor in exercise science at Le Grange College. Cody is also an experienced strength and conditioning coach and works with stronger by science and Aplyft. 

In this episode, David & Cody discuss the theory of myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic muscle hypertrophy. Cody discusses the finding of his research and implication it may have for interpreting muscle hypertrophy research. Cody also talks about ideas of how different types of training may impact what type of muscle hypertrophy occurs and whether increased muscle hypertrophy influences increases is muscle strength?

Full shownotes can be found at www.synapseperformance.ie/podcasts/episode82 

In this episode, David is joined by Dr. Franco Impellizzeri. 

Franco is a Professor of Sport and Exercise Science and Medicine in the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia. 

After a decade in medicine based research, Franco has returned to sports science full-time and is concerned with the standard of research and dogmas he has seen since returning to the field. 

In this episode, Franco specifically argues using the acute:chronic workload ration to predict or prevent injury. Franco also discusses why the use of the worst case scenario or idea of tactical periodisation may not be efficacious.