Episodes

Jeff and Mikki Martin discuss the development of youth fitness games in the early functional fitness days, misinterpretations and missed opportunities. They lay out how and why SuperGames can deliver so much more. Games + Functional Movement, Games + Physical Literacy, Games + Positional Strength, Games + Elements of Free Play, Games + Neurological training in agility, balance, coordination and accuracy, Games + Current Cultural Context. Episode Highlights: 1:15: Misinterpreting Fun, Kids Fit...

Jonny Smyth hops on for friendly conversation concerning the needs of youth beyond simply physical performance. Jonny, Jeff and Mikki discuss how to apply these concepts within a gym and why they are so very important to building amazing and fully healthy, capable humans. Episode Highlights: 3:20 One for learning, plus a "wee bit of background" 7:53 Fitness silos and the need for better integration of Practicum and Manualized learning Ideas on advancing the Novice to Expert Coaching path 14...

The third in a series on Brand X® methodology, Base- Build- Boost The Martins cover how to BOOST performance and autonomy for a healthy movement-rich life. "Intensity is the sport of mechanics, so it is our job as coaches to make sure our athletes understand the rules of the sport before they play it."- Keegan Martin Episode Highlights: 1:30 BOOST = Accelerating growth, performance and training autonomy 2:49 Maximizing potential, volume, load and the continued use of pause and tempo strateg...

Jeff and Mikki continue the discussion of how to build on the base to solidify a foundation for great movers in fitness, sport and all of life's adventures. Listen in to hear strategies for testing, experimenting, expanding competency to promote broad physical literacy through exposure and why they are important. Episode Highlights: 1:40 Build on lessons learned in Base while testing and experimenting 3:22 Guiding youth to solve and self correct movement challenges while "moving the goal pos...

Jeff and Mikki discuss how to provide the foundation for great movers in fitness, sport and all of life's adventures. Repetition is good, creativity is necessary, errorless learning builds confidence, how to mix things up for strong workouts while developing foundational positions (Brand X® Movement Skills). Episode Highlights: 1:36 Base begins with Starting points assumed and actual 3:06 Brand X® Movement Skills & Global Strategies 6:05 Brand X® Base and Tier 1 Movements 8:21 Quality First...

Four time Brazilian National Kung Fu Champion, Boxing champion and CrossFit Coach, Cristiano Starling talks with Jeff and Mikki about Youth Training, his project working with Ukrainian youth war refugees, safe spaces, social relevance and the very basis for the development of a community. Cristiano is the energetic, engaging founder and co-owner of Starling Performance in Berlin Germany. "For a kid the only way that you create value is from development!" Episode Highlights: 1:29 The journey fr...

Venezuelan Competitive CrossFit athlete Amato Mazzoccas joins his Coach Connor Martin and Jeff and Mikki to talk about training as a Teen Athlete (he qualified for the CF Games Teen Division in all 4 of 4 possible years) pegboards, current goals, motivations, temporary obstacles, 315# Good Mornings and the path towards continued growth in competition. Episode Highlights: 1:10 Getting started, a pegboard challenge and sporting history 5:03 From training with friends for fun to serious competit...

Christopher Thynne of CrossFit 162 West, Brand X ®Mentor, Ambassador and one of only four flagship Brand X® LABS in the world - Brand X® Stockholm, joins Jeff and Mikki to talk about his history and his path to massive Youth Program Success. Episode Highlights: 2:04 How a background in a broad array of physical activity. sport, adventure and play shape a great foundation. 4:28 "A Huge buffet of possibility" PE in the Uk and choice of a wide variety of sports in the curriculum from Gymnastics ...

Since most every coach loves training high performing athletes, Jeff and Mikki discuss how that informs the practice of coaching youth, Doing What Is Best for Kids™ and how that practice informs the business of youth programs. Episode Highlights: 1:14 Statistics, athletes and high performing youth 6:30 Serving the 90% and Doing What Is Best For Kids™ 7:36 Barbell Club, Walk-ons to College Sport and hundreds of youth powerlifting records 10:44 Base Build Boost, progress and a path to success...

Jeff and MIkki discuss parent communication on what their children need and how more information helps. Episode Highlights: 1:12 Why Parents do not want to "label" their children and how that informs coaching 2:43 The tension between privacy and care and support 3:13 Kylee, Taylor and Suzy's stories 9:20 3 Important takeaways for coaches Hashtags and Links: #thebrandxmethod #theathletecoachnetwork #jeffandmikkimartin https://parenting.firstcry.com/articles/should-parents-label-their-ki...

Dr. Amy Saltzman talks with Jeff and Mikki on Mindfulness Teaching to youth. As the author of "A still quiet place for athletes" she offers great advice for defining, understanding and tactics for helping young athletes practice mindfulness. Episode Highlights: 1:25 Defining Mindfulness "paying attention here and now with kindness and curiosity so that we can choose our behavior" 4:21 Internal & External kindness are not mutually exclusive 5:16 Harsh vs. Supportive Coaching and data 9:21 C...

Keegan, Jeff and Mikki get together to discuss a few experiences with kids and teens that reflect important lessons about how kids think, how we respond and the responsibility to pay attention to what they need. Episode Highlights: 1:25 Preschoolers and pre class preparation 5:53 Teens and coaching moments, "we finish what we start." The case of Not Fran, Kinda Fran and Fran. Please Note: we do not recommend triple Fran for teens. 9:30 Band Aid awareness, Movement Exposure surprises and wel...

Keegan, Jeff and Mikki outline a simple checklist and some takeaways on common soccer injuries that both Coaches and parents should have a basic awareness of, including causes and strategies to address, prevent or mitigate the chance of non contact injury. A progressive roadmap is provided to support youth player development. Episode Highlights: 1:40 Common Youth Soccer Injuries include: Ankle Sprain, Knee Sprain, ACL Tear, Meniscal Tear 2:05 What do we mean by "Flat Foot" and how it affects ...

Guam Men's National Team Captain, Coach and player Jason Cunliffe, hops on the podcast to discuss a little of our mutual Brand X® history, one awful workout and his experiences, influences and methods training youth in Football and Soccer with Connor, Jeff and Mikki Martin. Episode Highlights: 3:11 Finding Brand X®, "edge" and one bad workout 7:28 Some Great things about growing up in Guam 10:13 "Quality over Quantity" 12:28 Coaching the U-17 National Team, physical and emotional maturity, ...

Jeff, Connor and Mikki get together to discuss a few experiences with kids and teens that reflect important lessons about how kids think, how we respond and the responsibility to pay attention to what they need. Episode Highlights: 1:26 Taste testing 6:24 Assumptions on proprioception 10:25 Gyms are playgrounds Links and hashtags: www.thebrandxmethod.com Find the Athlete Coach Network in the Apple Store #AthleteCoachNetwork #TheBrandXMethod #YouthFitnessStories

Connor, Ben and Jeff discuss "Murph in the Garden", getting started in CrossFit, what Ben had been doing in sport and fitness prior to 2019, and how competition drives him to long term goals. Connor and Jeff talk about programming with and for Ben and what it takes for a young athlete to focus on the things they need to work on rather than just the more motivating strengths, and of course- the outcomes and rewards of that work. Show Notes/Highlights 2:02 "Murph" in the garden and Great Stour T...

Jeff, Keegan and Mikki are back to talk about how to get kids to move more throughout the day. Parents are provided with some solid and specific ideas to get their kids on a path to more movement more often. Show notes /Highlights: 3:12 Sedentary is the new normal 3:45 Is One hour a day of movement good? 6:29 Competence breeds confidence, Confidence breeds motivation 8:45 Tips for Parents- Add home workouts, Parent involvement is key, Create Habits, Use Popular Challenges, Movement Based Ta...

Tony Randall (of Tony and Kris) joins Jeff and Mikki to talk about his experiences being part of the early "Shenanigans" crew at Brand X® The Lab, in Ramona, CA. As expected, he brings humourous insights from 30+ years of expertise in the entertainment industry and a decade of training with Jeff. We touch on music in the gym environment and his fantastic work with and for kids via two decades fundraising for St. Judes. Episode Highlights: 5:40 Shenanigans at Brand X® testing methods, the bene...

Connor joins us again to further discuss Youth Fitness Competition. This time we dig into how and what that should look like for both competitive top level athletes versus youth wanting to begin that path. Programming, challenging skill, volume, strategies, with a lifetime of competition in mind, and defining success. Show notes/Highlights: 2:28 What should training look like for functional fitness focused competitive youth? 3:45 Building an athlete for now and down the line 4:10 Training El...

Keegan, Jeff and Mikki discuss a process for identifying and addressing movement faults in kids and teens fitness and strength programs. This process forms the basis for taking the appropriate steps towards and creating strong remedies to provide long term health and athleticism. What is observed to be happening, How important is it, and what actually needs work (fixing). Episode Highlights: 1:09 Identification of 3 major types 5:55 Pacing, triage and positive patterning 7:16 3 Major Reasons...

When and How do PE programs translate to real life? Jeff and Mikki talk with International School Physical Education expert, James Dowling and the path to making meaningful programs and curriculum. Episode Highlights: 5:19 Functional Fitness "An aha moment" 9:43 Really Serving our kids best 12:29 Recognize those who can and those who cannot 16:47 Tools to solve Movement Riddles in sport or out 18:14 Observations on implementation in International Schools in Asia and Europe 24:33 "Adaptabi...

In part 2 of 3 Connor, Jeff and Mikki discuss observations on Youth Fitness Competition and the multitude of differences between youth and adult competition. The conversation focuses on the differences in opportunity and therefore motivation, as well as future expansion and sustainability. Episode Highlights: 2:39 Opportunity to compete, and at multiple levels/divisions 3:09 Extremely low number of competition spots available 4:16 Why and how this discourages athletes 5:16 Room to cast a wi...

Jeff and Mikki Martin speak with Dr. Amy Saltzman and discuss her system for teaching youth to recognize potential predators and abusers, the obvious ones and the sneaky ones. Recent highly publicized events only reinforce the need to make sure youth are protected from abuse in athletic and competitive environments. Listen in to learn more about accessing needed resources. Show Notes & Highlights 4:14 What is "Spot a Spider"? 7:25 The missing piece is to actually teach the kids 8:07 Coach & ...

In part 1 of 2 U18 Episodes, Connor Martin looks back on 15 years of youth functional fitness competition, starting as the OG kid at age 11, competing as a teen at 15 and now as a teen competitor coach. The Martin family discusses the growth and change within the sport, including capacity, larger sample sizes, recovery pioneers, common characteristics of top level teen competitors. Episode Highlights 3:11 A 15 year retrospective on Youth Fitness Competition 2006 - present 4:59 Fitness pioneer...