Ben Rosenblatt, graduated in Sport and Exercise Science from the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff where he is currently undertaking a Ph.D. in the biomechanical specificty of the power clean to sprinting. Previously he was a voluntary strength and conditioning assistant at Long Beach State University and the Rehabilitation Strength and Conditioning Coach at the Olympic Medical Institue. Now in his second season as Head of Sports Science and Conditioning at Birmingham City Football Club, he has been promoted to the Premier League Campaign to Manchester United.

Mike “Vinny” Varrato, MS, CSCS is currently a Strength and Conditioning Coach at Tenafly Racquet Club in Tenafly, NJ just outside New York City. Mike works in an elite tennis player program called CourtSense where he trains players from children to professionals. Mike previously started his career for the Philadelphia Phillies and their Double A affiliate Reading Phillies. Mike received a Master’s degree from Florida Atlantic University in December 2006 and is a former roommate of co-host Anna Lepeley (His biggest claim to fame). Mike has worked and interned for/under Florida Gulf Coast University, Perfect Competition, David Sandler/Strengthpro, Florida International University, Providence Bruins, Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning, and various football, hockey, and tennis camps.

Shawn Myszka, CSCS

His wealth of experience begins at a personal level as a competitive bodybuilder, winning the NPC Wisconsin State Championship in 1999 and 2001, and eventually competing at the National-level. Shawn took his passion for training athletes to the next level, the professional level, as a strength coach on the Strength & Conditioning Staff with the Chicago Bears in 2003. Shawn has also spent time working with Louie Simmons, regarded by many as the top strength coach in the world, as well as 6-time Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates. In addition to all of this, he has trained Collegiate National Champion Athletes and has also worked closely with various high schools / sports organizations to implement the best possible athletic performance program available for them! Go to: www.explosiveedgeathletics.com/staff.html for more information.

 Travis Triplett is currently at Appalachian State University, serving as the Director of the Graduate Program and the academic concentrations in Strength and Conditioning. She was a research assistant in Sports Physiology at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs before completing a PhD in Physiology of Exercise at the Penn State in 1995. Dr. Triplett is also on a NASA review board for developing resistance exercise countermeasures to micro-gravity environments for the International Space Station and is a Certified Club Coach with USA Weightlifting.

Mark Flynt In 1965, he was first team, all-district defensive back for the first state championship football team for the Odessa Permian Panthers, starting the winning tradition at Permian High School, and later inspiring the movie Friday Night Lights. At age 59, he received national attention throughout the 2007 football season. With his final year of eligibility confirmed by the NCAA, Mike was able to make the team and become the oldest contributing member of a college football team in NCAA history.

Jason Hartman, MS, CSCS, is currently the Strength & Conditioning Coordinator at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, New York. His duties include overseeing the resistance training and conditioning programs for the resident programs of the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center which include: Bobsled, Skeleton, Biathlon, Freestyle Skiing, and Luge.

Juan Carlos Santana

Juan Carlos Santana, CSCS received his bachelor and master’s degrees in Exercise Science from Florida Atlantic University. Mr. Santana is the Director and CEO of the Institute of Human Performance in Boca Raton, Florida. His training methodologies have been successfully applied to the full spectrum of the population-youth, geriatric, rehabilitation, and elite athletes. Mr. Santana’s professional responsibilities have included serving as the Chairman of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) Sport Specific Conference, as the NSCA Florida State Director, and as a member of the NSCA Conference Committee.

Checkout SPhour’s Radio Podcast to hear what they have to say.

Mike Nitka

Mike Nitka, MS, CSCS, is the Director of Strength & Conditioning at Muskego High School in Muskego, Wisconsin. Mr. Nitka has over 31 years of coaching experience with adolescent athletes. He has served as NSCA Vice-President of Youth and Adolescents Activities, received the NSCA Strength & Conditioning Professional of the Year and is currently the chairman for the NSCA High School Special Interest Group. Mike currently serves on the NSCA Board of Directors.

Nick Ratamess

Nick Ratamess is an assistant professor in Health & Exercise Science at the College of New Jersey. He received his PhD in Kinesiology in 2003 from the University of Connecticut. He has published numerous research articles and educational publications and has made a remarkable contribution to the strength & conditioning and sports nutrition fields of research.

Dr. Joseph Dziados, M.D., MPH completed his medical degree at Creighton University in Omaha, NE in 1977. He is residency-trained and board-certified in Family Practice, Public Health and Preventive Medicine, and holds a Certificate of Additional Qualification in Sports Medicine.
He served a full career in the US Army holding many clinical positions, including research and publications in the area of Exercise Physiology and upon retirement continued service as a civil servant for several years. He currently works part-time in Urgent Care.
His passion for many years, has been the application of strength training to the elderly in order to improve function, pain, and overall health. He instituted a Physician-Prescribed Exercise Program (PPEP) for patients over-65 years of age at a major Army medical center which he supervised for 2 years. The results, although not unexpected, serve as a model for what beneficial outcomes elderly patients can achieve with exercise.
Dr. Dziados credits Dr. William Kraemer for his passion and knowledge in strength training—acquired when both served and conducted research in the US Army together. Dr. Dziados lives with his wife, Annette, in Salem, OR.

Dr. Jeff Volek is an associate professor and exercise and nutrition researcher at the University of Connecticut. He is a Registered Dietitian (R.D.) and holds a Ph.D. from Penn State University, where his major fields of study were exercise physiology and nutrition. Having published more than 165 peer-reviewed studies in the last decade, he is one of the most prolific exercise, diet, and supplement researchers in the world. He has performed some of the seminal scientific work on dietary supplements such as creatine, carntine, and a variety of other ergogenic aids. He is co-author of “The Testosterone Advantage Plan” and author of “Men’s Health TNT Diet”. His current primary area of research is focused on physiological adaptations to low carbohydrate diets with emphasis on outcomes related to metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. He uses prospective diet and/or exercise interventions and use sophisticated cellular techniques to understand changes in adiposity, fatty acid and lipoprotein metabolism, inflammation, vascular function, and endocrine adaptations. He currently has multiple projects evaluating novel health benefits of whey protein. Dr. Volek does not just write about his research, he actually uses it. In 2000, he won the Indiana state powerlifting championship in the 82.5 kg (181.5 pounds) weight group with the highlight being a 585 pound squat and a 600 pound deadlift.

Dr. Jay Hoffman is Professor and Chair of the Department of Health and Exercise Science at The College of New Jersey’s.  Dr. Hoffman was awarded the 2007 Outstanding Sport Scientist of the Year from the National Strength and Conditioning Association and received the 2005 Outstanding Kinesiology Professional Award from the Neag School of Education Alumni Society of the University of Connecticut. He is also the sports science advisor to Major League Baseball Strength Coaches.  Dr. Hoffman has published more than 120 articles and chapters in peer-reviewed journals. His books Physiological Aspects of Sport Training and Performance and Norms for Fitness, Performance, and Health were published by Human Kinetics.   A Practical Guide to Designing Resistance Training Programs and Total Fitness for Baseball were published by Coaches Choice.  Further sharing his research and findings, Dr. Hoffman has lectured at more than 180 national and international conferences and meetings.

Bob Takano has developed and coached some of the best weightlifters in the U.S. for the past 39 years.  A 2007 inductee into the U.S.A. Weightlifting Hall of Fame, he has coached four national champions, 7 national record holders and 28 top 10 nationally ranked lifters.  His articles have  been published by the NSCA and the International Olympic Committee and helped to establish standards for the coaching of the Olympic lifts.  He is a former member of the editorial board of the NSCA  Journal, and an instructor for the UCLA Extension program.

 

A graduate of McQueen High School in Reno, Ali McKnight  earned All-America honors in the heptathlon at the 1995 NCAA Championships. Her second-place finish in the event marked the highest a female Wolf Pack track and field competitor had ever placed in the national competition. She competed in both the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Trials in the heptathlon. A two-rime Big West Conference Athlete of the Year in 1994 and 1995, McKnight  captured back-to-back conference titles in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 100 meter hurdles. In 1995, she led Nevada to a runner-up finish to Utah State at the conference meet, which was the highest the Wolf Pack had finished in the Big West Championships. McKnight went on to post the second-fastest 200-meter time in the history of the heptathlon and later earned a spot on the 2000 U.S. Women’s World Cup Bobsled team.  Ali currently works in the fitness industry.  http://www.alifitness.com

Tom Myslinski

Coaching Background:

1996 – University of North Florida, volunteer head strength and conditioning coach; University of Pittsburgh, volunteer assistant strength and conditioning coach

2002-03 – Cleveland Browns, part-time assistant strength and conditioning coach

2004 – Cleveland Browns, assistant strength and conditioning coach

2005-06 – Robert Morris University, head strength and conditioning coach

2007 – University of Pittsburgh, assistant strength and conditioning coach

2007 – Cleveland Browns, head strength and conditioning coach

Dr. Douglas S. Kalman Ph.D., RD
Dr. Kalman is currently a Director in the Nutrition and Endocrinology Division of Miami Research Associates (MRA). He has been active within the sports nutrition community for more than 14 years. Dr. Kalman has worked with professional, collegiate and high-level amateur athletes in and outside of the United States.

He is the Past Chair of the Nutritionists in Complementary Care-DPG and is a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition; a Spokesperson for the American College of Sports Medicine and The National Strength and Conditioning Association.

Steve Plisk

Steve’s current professional activities include:

• Associate Editor of the Strength & Conditioning Journal
• Member of the NSCA Certification Commission’s CSCS Job Analysis Committee, 2002 & 2007
• Chair of the NSCA Strength & Conditioning Professional Standards and Guidelines
• Chapter author for several books, including the NSCA’s Essentials of Strength Training & Conditioning text

Andrea Hudy joined the Kansas staff as Associate Director of Strength and Conditioning in September 2004. Hudy handles the strength and conditioning responsibilities for the University of Kansas Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams and Volleyball team. Hudy came to Kansas after nine and a half years at the University of Connecticut, where she worked closely with the Huskies’ National Champion Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams. In all, Hudy was part of eight national championship teams while at Connecticut – two men’s basketball; five women’s basketball; and one men’s soccer.

A native of Huntingdon, Pa., Hudy was a four-year letter winner in volleyball at Maryland where she graduated in 1994. Her freshman season at Maryland, she was a member of the 1990 Atlantic Coast Conference volleyball Championship Team. Hudy earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology at Maryland and her Masters of Arts degree in Sport Biomechanics from Connecticut. She is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association and a USAW Level I Coach.

 

Mike Nitka, MS, CSCS, is the Director of Strength & Conditioning at Muskego High School in Muskego, Wisconsin. Mr. Nitka has over 28 years of coaching experience with adolescent athletes. He has served as NSCA Vice-President of Youth and Adolescents Activities, received the NSCA Strength & Conditioning Professional of the Year and is currently the chairman for the NSCA High School Special Interest Group.

Certified Personal Trainer – (NASM) National Academy of Sports Medicine Experience and Background A native of Puerto Rico, Yari has spent most of her life in Miami. She has been passionate about fitness, health and athletics since she was a child and began playing competitive soccer, basketball, softball and badminton. Yari’s introduction into the world of training and fitness occurred six years ago, when she competed in a South Florida figure competition. This experience inspired Yari to become a personal trainer, or as she likes to call it, a “lifestyle coach.” http://www.getfitin6.com/ 

MeMe Roth

Dr. Avery Faigenbaum is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health and Exercise Science at The College of New Jersey.  As a leading researcher and practitioner in the field of youth fitness; Dr. Faigenbaum has published over 150 articles on fitness and conditioning and is the co-author of twenty book chapters and seven books including Strength and Power for Young Athletes and Medicine

Jeffrey Stout, Ph.D., FISSN, FNSCA, FACSM  is currently an Assistant Professor and Director of the Metabolic and Body Composition Laboratory in the Department of Health and Exercise Science. He received a undergraduate degree in Exercise Science from Concordia University in 1989 and a masters and doctorate in Exercise Physiology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1992 and 1995, respectively.  In addition, Dr. Stout is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine (FACSM), Fellow of the International Society of Sports Nutrition and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS).  Dr. Stout has conducted and published numerous studies that focus on nutritional intervention on exercise performance, muscle function and body composition in journals such as Journal of Applied Physiology, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research and Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.  Furthermore, he has edited and co-authored six books on sports nutrition.  Dr. Stout serves on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research and Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition and is a regular reviewer for journals such as Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise and Journal of Sports Science and Medicine.  He has also attended and regularly presented at each NSCA National Conference since 1993 and was recently elected to the NSCA Research Committee.  In July 2001, Dr. Stout received the Outstanding Young Investigator of the Year Award from the NSCA.  In addition, that year he also won the Editorial Excellence Award from the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

Hector Lopez, M.D. is the co-founder of Physicians Pioneering Performance, LLC. Clinical interests include: physical medicine and rehabilitation, optimal aging, obesity, and sports/musculoskeletal medicine.  Dr. Lopez has had research experience in the molecular biology of cancer, lipoprotein and amino acid metabolism, and effects of manipulating macronutrient composition on athletic performance.  The PPP group has an interest in developing a new paradigm of rehab medicine…‘Integrative/Metabolic Physiatry’ through strategic nutritional and metabolic intervention as another “tool” in the armamentarium to enhance performance outcomes in patients, healthy laypersons, and athletes alike.  Research interests of PPP include: 1) Applying advances in sports nutrition and exercise science to enhance the functional capacity and human performance of the rehabilitation patient population, senior/aging population, athletes, and laypersons.  Dr. Lopez has experience consulting on integrated training, nutrition and supplementation for clients at all levels of fitness (recreational and amateur to elite/professional athletes).  Dr. Lopez is on the advisory board of the NBFE (National Board of Fitness Examiners), the ISSN, and MyoTred.  PPP is collaborating with MyoTrend to educate and empower consumers in performance nutrition science and safety, to bring forth supplements that have long-lasting value, and embodies a true balance between the available scientific evidence and art of innovation.