137: Joel Smith on Improving the Workout Experience: Dopamine, Motor Learning and the Experiential Brain Network | Sponsored by SimpliFaster

Today’s episode features your host, Joel Smith, talking on various elements of optimizing the manner by which an athlete experiences a workout.   You could have similar workouts on paper, say 5x3 cleans or 10 jumps over a high jump bar, but the subtleties and nuances by which those repetitions are executed mean everything in how well an athlete will adapt to the movement, as well as move into the next workout with maximal freshness of the central nervous system.   When you understand how to stimulate dopamine release, how to frame a workout to tap into the experiential brain, how to utilize sensory information to coach technique rather than internal cues (or even external), as well as how to make training fun and exciting when needed, you have the tools to turn an average program into an outstanding one.   This isn’t to say meat and potatoes training isn’t important, because it certainly is, but having the tool-set by which to really optimize the way the athlete experiences the training process, both the fun and the repetitive, can really improve our effectiveness as coaches. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster.com, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more show notes at just-fly-sports.com/podcast-137-joel-smith