HMMR Media

•

Channel • 2 Shows

Sports

Sports

Updated Monthly
Fitness

Fitness

Updated Monthly

Aug 31

Back on track

It's been a while since our last episode, but the podcast is still alive and kicking. With the season over we take time to look back our the training successs and failures. Plus we throw in a few classic rants and life lessons along the way. For more information on this topic, read the complete show notes at: https://www.hmmrmedia.com/2026/08/hmmr-podcast-episode-328-back-on-track/ » Support the show: join HMMR PLUS to get full access to our coaching resources. More notes: This episode is brought to you by HMMR Plus. Become a member for full access to our videos, articles, and podcast archives. We mentioned the release of Vern Gambetta's new book Building the Complete Athlete: A Coach's Guide to Athletic Development. You can order it exclusively on HMMR Media.
Jun 22

The female athlete (with Morgan Smith)

For decades, coaches have trained female athletes the same way they train male athletes — or worse, held them back entirely out of myth and misunderstanding. In this episode of the GAINcast, Vern Gambetta sits down with Morgan Smith, senior performance coach for US Soccer's women's youth national teams and former Stanford post-doctoral researcher, to tackle what we actually know about training the female athlete. For more information on this topic, read the complete show notes at: https://www.hmmrmedia.com/2026/06/gaincast-episode-297-the-female-athlete-with-morgan-smith/ The following links were also referenced in the podcast or provide some additional reading material on the topic: The GAINcast is sponsored by GAIN and by HMMR Media. Join HMMR Media to get access to a vast library of online training resources, video, articles, podcasts, and more. You can follow Smith on social media on Instagram (@goldenmo_) or LinkedIn. Vern's own new book was recently released. Learn more and order here: Building the Complete Athlete.
Mar 9

The adaptation conversation (with Dan Cleather)

As coaches we like to think of the training process as predictable and controllable, but the reality isn't that straightfoward. As guest Dan Cleather explains on this week's podcast, we don't dictate training outcomes, we simply guide a conversation with the body. In the interview he looks at how to best guide that process, the role of overload, and rethinking recent trends in athlete profiling. For more information on this topic, read the complete show notes at: https://www.hmmrmedia.com/2026/03/gaincast-episode-296-the-adaptation-conversation-with-dan-cleather/ The following links were also referenced in the podcast or provide some additional reading material on the topic: The GAINcast is sponsored by GAIN and by HMMR Media. Join HMMR Media to get access to a vast library of online training resources, video, articles, podcasts, and more. Cleather was previously a guest on GAINcast 269, together with John Goodwin, where they discussed force and speed. Cleather's most recent book is The Practice of Change: The Art and Science of Training. This landed on Vern's top 10 list for 2025. Previous books include The Little Black Book of Training Wisdom (discussed here by Craig Pickering), and his series on force: Force: The Biomechanics of Training, Force 2: The Biomechanics of Sprinting, and Force 3: Strength Training for Endurance Performance. Vern's own new book was recently released. Learn more and order here: Building the Complete Athlete.
Jan 12

Debriefing the year

If you don't try learn from your mistakes, you'll never improve as acoach. Nick and I often reflect on our coaching to see what went well, what didn't, and what we want to try going forward. No time is better to do this than the start of the year. On this week's episode we look back on 2025 and also look forward to what we'll be trying differently in 2026. For more information on this topic, read the complete show notes at: https://www.hmmrmedia.com/2026/01/hmmr-podcast-episode-327-debriefing-the-year/ » Support the show: join HMMR PLUS to get full access to our coaching resources. More notes: This episode is brought to you by HMMR Plus. Become a member for full access to our videos, articles, and podcast archives. We mentioend the upcoming release of Vern Gambetta's new book Building the Complete Athlete: A Coach's Guide to Athletic Development. You can preorder it exclusively on HMMR Media. We also referenced the work of the late Anatoliy Bondarchuk. We'll have more about him in the coming weeks, including a free webinar on his training methods. In the meantime you can read a few words about his death here, and learn about his training methods in HMMR Classroom Lesson 1. We've done similar season and year debriefs on past episodes such as Episode 205, Episode 117, Episode 110, and Episode 30.
05/12/2025

High school coaching (with John Larralde)

What are the demands of modern high school coaching? John Larralde calculated that he has just 43 training days to prepare his track athletes this year. Add to that a small student population, multi-event athletes, a young coaching staff, and little connection to the daily campus life. Some might see these as problems, but for Larralde that's no big deal as he describes himself as a problem solver. On this episode of the GAINcast Larralde talks about how he approaches high school track coaching. For more information on this topic, read the complete show notes at: https://www.hmmrmedia.com/2025/05/gaincast-episode-290-high-school-coaching-with-john-larralde/ The following links were also referenced in the podcast or provide some additional reading material on the topic: The GAINcast is sponsored by GAIN and by HMMR Media. Join HMMR Media to get access to a vast library of online training resources, video, articles, podcasts, and more For more from Larralde, listen to our interview with him about endurance training on GAINcast 95. Larralde shared examples of how he has used different methods with different athletes from different athletes can produce top results. For another perspective on high school coaching, check out GAINcast 69 with high school coach and athletic director Patrick McHugh. Some discussion points in this episode included The Russell Cup and training by design (covered on GAINcast 285).
04/21/2025

Career debrief (with Adam Keenan)

Olympic hammer throw Adam Keenan recently retired after the Paris Olympics. His long career spanned getting to work with Bondarchuk as a teenager to included a late career breakthrough to the top of the sport. On this week's episode he joins us to debrief on his career, including a look at what led to his breakthrough, advice for young throwers, how his training methods evolved, the role of light and heavy implements in training, and a detailed discussion of hammer throw technique. For more information on this topic, read the complete show notes at: https://www.hmmrmedia.com/2025/04/hmmr-podcast-episode-323-career-debrief-with-adam-keenan/ » Support the show: join HMMR PLUS to get full access to our coaching resources. More notes: This episode is brought to you by HMMR Plus. Become a member for full access to our videos, articles, and podcast archives. You can follow Keenan on Instagram @adamkeenanthrows. After his retirement he posted a six-part series breaking down his best training throws with various implements including the 10kg, 9kg, 8kg, 7.26kg, 6kg, and 5kg. Keenan was also a guest on Episode 245 where six former of Bondarchuk's former atheltes reflected on training with the master. For more on Bondarchuk's training methods, we have a simple introduction, as well video lesson detailing his approach, as well as a sample training program. We also interviewed Bondarchuk in 2015, and interviewed his protege Dylan Armstrong in 2023 on Episode 308.
07/14/2025

It starts with the plan (with Richard Parkinson)

Canada gets a lot of headlines for their recent dominance in the hammer throw, but there are aren't the only ones making their mark internationaly. Over the last decade, coach Richard Parkinson has been building several world class shot putters out of his group in Toronto. This isn't just by chance; it's by plan. Planning is key to Parkinson. It seems so simple, but is often overlooked. On this episode Parkinson discusses his planning philosophy, as well as technical training. For more information on this topic, read the complete show notes at: https://www.hmmrmedia.com/2025/07/hmmr-podcast-episode-324-it-starts-with-the-plan-with-richard-parkinson/ » Support the show: join HMMR PLUS to get full access to our coaching resources. More notes: This episode is brought to you by HMMR Plus. Become a member for full access to our videos, articles, and podcast archives. Planning has been a topic several times on the podcast, including a planning Q&A on Episode 286, fitting S&C into planning on Episode 67, as well as GAINcast Episode 4. For more on planning, visit our periodization and planning resource page.
09/30/2024

Training by design roundtable

Coaches education is filled with lessons on technique, methods, sport science, and more. What is often missing is how to put it all together. How to design a training session, training cyle, or training year is a key skill that many coaches struggle to learn in the trenches. On this week's podcast we bring together an elite roundtable with Nick Garcia, Brian FitzGerald, and Jimmy Radcliffe to discussion their own mistakes in planning, putting together progressions, planning in-season training, defining themes, and much more. For more information on this topic, read the complete show notes at: https://www.hmmrmedia.com/2024/09/hmmr-podcast-episode-320-training-by-design-roundtable/ » Support the show: join HMMR PLUS to get full access to our coaching resources. More notes: This episode is brought to you by HMMR Plus. Become a member for full access to our videos, articles, and podcast archives. The GAIN Workshop on planning will take in Los Angeles on December 14-15. If you are a GAIN member, renew your membership to get free access. FitzGerald was a guest on GAINcast 139 and HMMR Podcast 153. Radcliffe was included on roundtables in GAINcast 163 on progressions and GAINcast 190 on creating adaptable athletes. For more on planning in genreal, list to GAINcast 4. We also looked at planning the training session on GAINcast 249.
02/24/2025

Mo's pros (with Mo Saatara)

Out in California, coach Mohamad Saatara has been slowly putting together one of the top throws training groups in the world, led by athletes such as Olympic champion Camryn Rogers and world record holder Mykolas Alekna. On this week's podcast Saatara joins us to talk about his backround and coaching philosophy, including how to program for transfer and indvidiual strengths. For more information on this topic, read the complete show notes at: https://www.hmmrmedia.com/2025/03/hmmr-podcast-episode-321-mos-pros-with-mo-saatara/ » Support the show: join HMMR PLUS to get full access to our coaching resources. More notes: This episode is brought to you by HMMR Plus. Become a member for full access to our videos, articles, and podcast archives. You can read more about Saatara's background in his university profile. You can also follow him on Instagram at @mohamad.saatara. We have developed a lot of content about Alekna's world record over the last year in collaboration with biomechanics professor Kristof Kipp. This includes a video lesson on breaking down discus biomechanics with professor Kristof Kipp, as well as a 4-part article series on Alekna's rhythm and release, delivery subphases, phase durations and orbit, and center of mass. For more resources on the throwing events, check out our throws topic page. We also discussed the influences of coaches such as Don Babbitt and Anatoliy Bondarchuk on Saatara's training. Both have been featured in video lessons, interviews, and more such as our Bondarchuk training webinar and Don Babbitt's rotational shot put master class.
11/24/2025

Strong mind (with Wil Fleming)

When it comes to strength, Wil Fleming is one of the top coaches in the world with his athletes having set American records and won world medals in weightlifting. But the key to strength isn't just in the muscles, it is also in the mind. On this week episode Fleming joins us to discuss the mental side of training and lessons he has learned on developing a strong mind. For more information on this topic, read the complete show notes at: https://www.hmmrmedia.com/2025/11/hmmr-podcast-episode-326-strong-mind-with-wil-fleming/ » Support the show: join HMMR PLUS to get full access to our coaching resources. More notes: This episode is brought to you by HMMR Plus. Become a member for full access to our videos, articles, and podcast archives. Click here for details on the Strong Mind book pre-launch. You can also get a lot of great weightlifting products and programs from 1Kilo. You can also check out his past books Velocity-Based Training for Weightlifting: Current Concepts & Applications and Complete Olympic Lifting Handbook. Fleming presented HMMR Classroom Lesson 35 about strategies on rethinking strength and power training. Fleming was also a guest on Episode 299 (muscle snatch) Episode 251 (fixing weightliting technical issues), Episode 236 (velocity based training) and Episode 147 (programming). Mental training was the site theme in April 2019. There we featured a special podcast Episode 195 looking at mental preparation with Olympic champions Adam Nelson and Szymon Ziolkowski. We also looked at Ziolkowski's example in a more detailed article. We also have plenty more on the topic of mental training in our archives: Podcasts: GAINcast 159 on sports psychology, Episode 14 on mental toughness with Kibwé Johnson, GAINcast 66 and GAINcast 124 on making the champion's choice. Episode 194 on mental skills with Mona Pretorius de Lacey. Articles: the role of training for mental toughness by Chris McCormick, psychological aspects of coaching from a sports science persepctive and coaches perspective, Vern's definition of what mental toughness is and what it isn't.,tips from Kibwé Johnson, and lessons from mountaineering and climbing.

Helping coaches and athletes train smarter. Subscribers gain access to podcast archives.

Website

HMMR Media

Top Shows

Back on track

The female athlete (with Morgan Smith)

The adaptation conversation (with Dan Cleather)

Debriefing the year

High school coaching (with John Larralde)

Career debrief (with Adam Keenan)

It starts with the plan (with Richard Parkinson)

Training by design roundtable

Mo's pros (with Mo Saatara)

Strong mind (with Wil Fleming)

About

HMMR Media

Top Shows

Top Episodes

About