The Playground Podcast

On this episode of The Playground, we join Mike Laviolette as he shares his journey towards prioritizing his own health and wellbeing as a physical therapist. We discuss the negative impact of burnout on health and the importance of personalized application of physical therapy research. The benefits of time-blocking and efficient clinic practices are emphasized, along with the guilt associated with practicing self-care and the importance of reframing guilt as clarity. Mike is the owner of Evolved Health and Physical Therapy, who shares his perspective on the general lack of health in their profession and his desire for change. Tune in to learn about habits, decision fatigue, and reducing the burden of decision-making.

Episode 9: One Cool Sober Night in Ontario

John and Jared are keeping it casual today, talking shop about USAPL Mega Nationals, CPU Nationals and the lifters that the guys got to coach there. Which leads to an interesting discussion: what's the mindset like of successful lifters with long careers? Do you need to be snorting ammonia and letting loose a battle cry before your attempts, or do a few roads lead to Rome? We think you'll like this one, but we want you to tell us if you're right. Leave a review and fire off a message to John and Jared to tell them if you want more episodes like this!

Strength programming is a unicorn, and we're all chasing it. We've heard about it but it still seems kinda mysterious. Everyone seems to have their own way of going about it and opinions run hot. We see our favorite lifters hitting big PR's on social media and wonder what they're doing that we're not. We learn from our favorite coaches and think "If I could just program like that, I'd get those results too. "But would we? Does programming actually matter? Spoiler: yes it does. You do need a plan. But how much does it matter, and what does "good programming" look like? That's what John and Jared dive into on this episode and you're not gonna wanna miss it! Things might have gotten spicy. Can't say for sure, you gotta listen to find out!

In colleges across America and beyond, a turf war rages. But it's not the kind of war you might expect. This one is about who gets the final say in college athletes' plans of care. Physical Therapy? Athletic Trainers? Sports med docs? S&C coaches? And caught in the middle are the athletes who just want to play their sport well and stay in one piece. It's time to change that. We've brought in two change makers who are knee-deep in the collegiate sports world: Dr. Charlie Badawy and Dr. Marcin Szczyglowski. They're here to pull back the curtain on what really goes on in college sports, how to care for athletes better, and how to get into the collegiate world as a rehab professional. Make sure you don't miss this one! 

Your success as a clinician or coach depends on your ability to ask better questions. But there's a problem. Through years of school and testing, we get used to cut and dry, "right" and "wrong" questions and answers. So when we get messy and complex situations to work with (e.g. people), checking boxes doesn't work well. But our clients are still counting on us to deliver. We don't want to let them down. So what do we do? Don't worry, we brought in backup to help! Enter Shelly Belk - behavior change coach, business owner, lifter, mom and more. She's got some words that'll encourage and challenge you. She's gonna show us how to ask better questions, make deeper relationships and guide clients to better results. Buckle up for this one, it's gonna be a blast!

We've all seen them. The movement guru telling you you're moving wrong and our ancestors did it better. The screening system that'll show all your imbalances and how to fix them. And alarm bells go off in our heads. We smell BS. The question is why? What makes us say "No, not another one!" so fast? And is there any common ground we can find? That's what our friend, Nick Licameli, brought to us and why we wanted to chat with him about it here. So sit back in your comfy chair your ancestors didn't have, kick off your foot coffins (shoes), and give this one a listen!

Do you think of yourself as a leader? Most of us don't. We don't think we're smart enough, or skilled enough, or influential enough to be a leader. After all, leaders are the people who lead big companies to change the world, right? And we don't feel like that. Especially in the coaching and clinical worlds. But our guest today thinks you actually ARE a leader, and you just don't know it. We've brought out the big guns and are chatting with Alex Kuhn, founder of Born to Lead, whose life's work is to help people discover their innate abilities to impact lives. He believes that every single person has success coded in their DNA. All you have to do is figure out what your superpowers are and how to use them the best - at home, in the clinic, and in your business. And if you're reading this right now thinking, "Yeah, that's not for me" then check it out - you're EXACTLY who it's for. You're not gonna wanna miss this one! Check it out on your favorite podcast platform and let us know what you think!

ALLOW US TO RE-INTRODUCE OURSELVES! Every now and then, a movie or series gets rebooted to be better than ever. This is one of those times. They said it couldn't be done…but the Nameless Series FINALLY has a name! It took a while to get here because we couldn't just pick any name. So we thought long and hard about what we want to do with this show. We want to hang out and chat with some of our favorite people in the strength and rehab worlds. Old friends and new friends, talking about how to get people strong, resilient and kicking ass. And we also want to have some challenging conversations. We want to talk with people who we may not see eye to eye with so we can grow and get better together. And that all reminds us of a very special place we used to hang out at when we were younger… So lace up your sneakers and grab your lunchboxes. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to The CALU Playground! Join us on this special re-launch episode and learn about what you, Clark Kent, and Superman all have in common. You're not gonna wanna miss this!