By David Smith, M.Sc., CSCS., SDL (He/Him) “I am certainly competent, capable, and willing, but I need to ask… are you sure you want me as a cisgender white male to teach a class on women in sports?” Was the first question I asked when I took on my faculty teaching role at the State … Continue reading Mansplaining a Class on Women in Sports: My Reflections on Teaching and Learning in Honor of International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month
Coaching Sport Psychology + Strength and Conditioning: Perceived Focus as a Driver for Athlete Buy In and Performance Output
By David Smith, M.Sc., SDL (He/Him)Both Strength and Conditioning as well as Sport Psychology, as fundamental components of athletic development, are still struggling to find their footing in sport. While any athlete and coach, especially at the elite level will tell you, the “mental” aspect of performance is the key to achieving success. Despite this, … Continue reading Coaching Sport Psychology + Strength and Conditioning: Perceived Focus as a Driver for Athlete Buy In and Performance Output
How Sport and Exercise Can Reaffirm Gender Identity
By David Smith, M.Sc., SDL (He/Him) Humans, regardless of gender identity, are designed to move. It is within our very nature as a species to be active and express ourselves through movement. When you look at the vast number of ways that humans have developed different ways to move, you’ll realize that physical activity is … Continue reading How Sport and Exercise Can Reaffirm Gender Identity
One Week, 20 Students in a Small German Town and a Big Finish – My First Experience Teaching with the Studienstiftung
As part of my graduate school goals and pursuits has been to gain valuable teaching experience at the college level in order for me to be better prepared for a career in collegiate teaching and academia upon graduating. This has been easier said than done as I’ve overcome various challenges and barriers to achieve the … Continue reading One Week, 20 Students in a Small German Town and a Big Finish – My First Experience Teaching with the Studienstiftung
Dryland Speed and Coordination Training for Swimmers
By David “Dirk” Smith, M.Sc, CSCS, SDL (He/Him) At the very beginning of my Strength and Conditioning career pursuits, I attended a day long workshop hosted by one of the snottiest universities I had ever been to. While I was never a student at Snooty University, I had worked there and also trained there at … Continue reading Dryland Speed and Coordination Training for Swimmers
Athletic Development as a Complex Adaptive System
By Dirk Smith, M.Sc, SDL (He/Him) My recent article on the four the four pillars of athletic development talks about how building successful athletes and a team are rooted in the different skills and competencies of mental, physical, tactical, and technical conditioning within sport. During my time with the soccer team, as the team’s strength … Continue reading Athletic Development as a Complex Adaptive System
Building Power for Endurance and Endurance for Power
By Dirk Smith, M.Sc, SDL (He/Him) At first glance, the title sounds contradictory, as any coach, athlete or experienced gym goer might know, power and endurance are not exactly synonymous with each other. In certain sports, most notably swimming which inspired this article, but also cycling, wrestling, gymnastics, speed skating, and rowing having power and … Continue reading Building Power for Endurance and Endurance for Power
Sport and Performance: Building a Relationship with Your Audience
There are many “performance” sports in which the sport itself built upon the measure of success based on judgement from a panel of professionals with in depth knowledge of the sport and its rules. These sports, such as ice skating, gymnastics, cheerleading, dancing, and others often attract an audience who come to see the show … Continue reading Sport and Performance: Building a Relationship with Your Audience
Emotional Regulation Strategies for Endurance Sport Athletes
Endurance sports are some of the most challenging and brutal physical activities that humans can take part in. Yet, for these same reasons they also endure as one of the most popular challenges that people take on. From the elite level all the way to the beginner, endurance sports include events like marathon running, open … Continue reading Emotional Regulation Strategies for Endurance Sport Athletes
Strength Training for Top Surgery, Tips for Trans Men and Non-Binary People
For a lot of trans men, top surgery is recognized as one of the major guiding points in gender affirming care. During top surgery, the surgeon will remove the breasts, remove excess skin, and if necessary, reposition the nipples. For most trans men, this is a generally positive, life changing experience and goes a long way toward enhancing gender identity by adjusting appearance to fit more in line with a masculine gender identity. Chest-focused weight lifting can enhance the contour of your chest and improve your final results over time.
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