Happy New Year. I’ll admit - I am not one to celebrate holidays, even my own birthday. Maybe this is because I really dislike the rah-rah master motivators who get jacked up for 2 min here and there every once in awhile. I’d rather seek consist (+/- some error) energy and focus. In other words, I like to take each day and make the most of it. But anyways … this year the holiday is good timing to celebrate the launch of IronMan Performance on Substack.
New Platform
I was just telling someone today that I was a bit of a late adopter to social media platforms. I did not join Twitter until October 2016. As an academic, I saw social media as a waste of time. In contrast, I have grown tremendously from the content, replies/comments, and connecting with many scholars and practitioners. I have also been told by others that they enjoy my content on Twitter and also my blogs - either through Volt Athletics or on my website.
A few weeks ago, I spoke with a contemporary and he mentioned that I should consider Substack — so here I am. In the next week or so, I will be moving or re-purposing my previous blogs here - and obviously be adding to it as well (see below).
What to Expect
If you have followed my work (tweets, blogs, research articles, presentations, workshops, consults) in the past - thank you. If you are new and exploring who I am or what I offer, here is what to expect -
IronMan Performance spans several areas within the broad category of Health/Fitness/Human Performance/Exercise & Sport Science. I draw from my 30 years of experience as a coach, professor, researcher, educator, applied sport scientist, and strength & conditioning coach. My entire career has focused on the growing and maturing child in terms of health, fitness, youth sports and athletic development.
I have previously used the slogan of Tested | Trained | Energized to highlight the integrated and holistic approach taken to develop health- and performance-related fitness in youth (and humans in general). On this platform, I will share information on all three of these areas:
[Tested] sport science, technology, screening & monitoring; research, data science
[Trained] all things strength & conditioning, physical literacy, fitness or whatever you choose to call it, along with the “training” (education) of the next generation of and professional development for exercise/sport/health scientists and practitioners
[Energized] recovery, nutrition, sleep and mental skill development
Posts and updates will include short blogs and longer written content (excerpts from book chapters, longer scholarly blogs); vlogs; infographics; presentations; short courses and other effective communication strategies to learn about health and human performance.
Subscribe to get access to free and paid content that will go directly to your inbox. Never miss an update - but you can always find everything on the IronMan Performance Substack HomePage.
Here’s a more specific sampling of what to expect:
What is Athleticism .. and How do we Measure it?
Re-imagining Youth Sports: How about a multi-sport camp?
What’s causing the ACL Injury Epidemic in Teenage Girls
GPS & the Physical Demands of High School Football
On the Education of the 21st Century S&C/Sport Scientist Hybrid
Short Course: Research Methods for Strength & Conditioning Coaches: Harvesting Data from the Living Lab
Short Course: Adolescent Growth Spurt and Physical Performance
Infographics summarizing a research study or key concept
plus #FastFriday, a monthly post on developing sprinting speed and explosive power!
UPGRADE TO A PAID SUBSCRIPTION for $5/month or $50/year because you find outstanding value in this content or ultimately you want access to top-shelf, detailed insights behind the paywall that includes: long-form scholarly blogs, eBooks, vlogs, short courses, infographics, training programs and more.
New Logo
A few years back when I created my LLC, I dubbed it IronMan Performance. Why? My heritage is German, and Eisenmann means ‘ironman’. To me this signifies strength and robustness - and I have dedicated my lifetime to building strong, healthy, fit and robust young athletes. You can learn more than you want to know about my 30-year career and background here.
Although I had a name, I did not have a logo. I did not want to go with the classic barbell, biceps, meathead, runner, EKG heart logo. So, I settled on the anvil. The anvil is an iron block on which metal can be hammered and shaped. This could be interpretted as the base or the foundation on which we shape the physical qualities of health and human performance.
I hope this gives you an idea of what will transpire here and who’s behind it. And I hope that you join the community and invite others who may find and/or provide value in this platform.