Advertise on podcast: SOFLETE

Coach G sits down with Brent Phillips to answer questions from the Instagram DMs. They cover shooting, programming and staying consistent over the long term. What they cover: Shooting low and left. It's usually anticipating the recoil before the shot. Brent's fix is dry fire: treat it as training and the range as test day. They also cover setup, targets, and how to spot a good shooting coach.Beretta 92 vs. Glock. Brent explains why a modern Beretta changed his mind after the worn-out ones he used in the Marines. They also discuss whether gear can buy skill.Podcast growth. Audio downloads dipped while YouTube grew, and why a niche audience works for SOFLETE.Marathon prep. A listener asks how to train for a marathon on SOFLETE programs. Brent says to pick a stamina cycle, then move to an Apex or hybrid cycle.Which program unit leaders should use. Brent's pick is the Basic cycle, plus getting nutrition and sleep sorted.Cluster sets. How to load a deadlift, Pendlay row and hang power clean complex, and why the row is usually the limiter.Training and diet. Creatine, psyllium husk, and why heavy aerobic work can pull your eating off track.Gym burnout. Why a week off won't cost you muscle, how to stay consistent for years, and why strength is a trade-off as much as a loss. Timestamps 0:21 – Welcome and what's on the list0:44 – Shooting low and left, and why dry fire is the answer3:08 – How to choose a good shooting coach6:17 – Dry fire setup and targets11:12 – Beretta 92 vs. Glock22:16 – Podcast growth: audio vs. YouTube23:10 – Training for a marathon with SOFLETE programs27:10 – Which program should unit leaders start with?28:56 – Listener question on cluster sets38:01 – Training and diet: creatine, psyllium husk and aerobic work42:29 – Burned out on the gym? What to do instead56:55 – Wrap-up Nothing here is medical or firearms-safety advice. Follow your own range rules and talk to a professional about your health.

Conditioning for field and court sports: capacity, density and power, plus the drills that train them. Coach G and Coach Matt are back on the SOFLETE Podcast. This episode breaks down how to program conditioning without fancy equipment. Coach G also shares a health update on his headaches and his 10-month wait to get care through the VA. In this episode: Capacity vs. density vs. power in conditioning, and how they relateWhy the goal is to make athletes better at being tiredThe S-run chase drill for short, high-quality sprint intervalsThe Y-reaction drill, with known and unknown cutsHow to track a fluid drill when you can't just time itRunning unit PT with only cones and a stopwatchCoach G's headache, sinus surgery and sleep update, and his experience with the VA Timestamps 0:00 – Intro and Coach G's headache update 0:45 – Navigating the VA: a 10-month wait for outside care 2:00 – The oxygen prescription and the cost of migraine meds 5:26 – Sinus issues, surgery and sleep 7:49 – Sleep pressure and why consistency matters 11:02 – Soldiers to Sidelines presentation 11:16 – Capacity vs. density vs. power 16:59 – Rugby sevens treadmill example 17:20 – Are you making athletes better at being tired? 25:58 – Power and the S-run chase drill 30:53 – The Y-reaction drill 34:16 – Tracking capacity, density and power in fluid drills 42:05 – Unit PT scenario: day one with cones and a stopwatch Nothing in this episode is medical advice. Talk to your own healthcare provider about your health. Subscribe to SOFLETE for more strength, conditioning and performance talk.

Pain, Limb Symmetry, and When to Leave It Alone Giovani and Matt tackle two listener questions that sit at the intersection of performance and rehab: when pain is normal versus when it needs attention, and how much left-to-right limb asymmetry is actually a problem. The conversation is especially relevant for athletes, military first responders, and anyone training with a long history of sports, injuries, or one-sided demands.They also dig into a bigger theme: not every asymmetry needs fixing, and not every pain signal means structural damage. In many cases, the better question is whether the issue is affecting function, performance, confidence, or daily life. Key topics In this episode, Giovani opens with two listener-requested topics: understanding when pain is something you can work aroundknowing when limb symmetry actually mattersMatt explains that everyone is asymmetric by nature: leg length, pelvic position, foot mechanics, hip position, and even organ placement can all differ side to sideThey distinguish between visible asymmetry and clinically meaningful asymmetry: some differences are obvious but harmlessothers matter only if they affect function, pain, or performanceThey break down true leg length discrepancy versus positional discrepancy: true discrepancy means the bones are actually different lengthsa pelvic twist can create the appearance of a short or long leg without bone length differencesThey use trauma cases to show when asymmetry clearly matters: fractures, bone infection, and major limb reconstruction can create permanent structural differencesMatt argues that chasing symmetry too aggressively can be a trap: if an athlete is performing well and pain free, changing things may create more problems than it solvesThey compare passive and active function: something may look fine on a plinth or in a clinical testbut fail under load, at speed, or in the athlete’s actual sportCycling becomes the main example of a fixed-position activity: because the body has fewer degrees of freedom, asymmetries can show up more easilyMatt explains why orthotics help him on the bike but not in every contextGiovani notes that strength and conditioning can help buffer asymmetries: especially for one-sided jobs, unilateral sports, and tactical populationsthe goal is often to support function, not force perfect symmetryThey give practical thresholds for concern: range of motion differences around 15 percentforce output differences around 10 to 15 percentpain that affects sleep, work, training, or daily tasksThe conversation ends by reframing pain as a signal: not always a sign of injurybut often a request for changeand a reason to look at stress, sleep, nutrition, training load, and psychosocial contextTimestamps 00:00 - Intro and the two listener questions: pain and limb symmetry  01:44 - Why asymmetry is normal in every body  03:10 - When asymmetry becomes a concern  04:03 - Severe trauma and permanent limb differences  05:57 - Function versus what a static assessment shows  08:16 - True leg length discrepancy versus pelvic position  09:42 - Orthotics, pedorthists, and practical correction  10:57 - Why Matt uses orthotics on the bike but not elsewhere  12:24 - Why manual therapy may help, but only temporarily  13:46 - The symmetry trap and wasted effort chasing perfection  15:21 - Why some asymmetries never become a problem  16:15 - Cycling as a sport that removes coping strategies  17:10 - Why fewer degrees of freedom means less tolerance  18:27 - Long rides, numb toes, and context-specific symptoms  19:43 - Asymmetric sports and youth sport specialization  20:55 - When lifts or positions are off-limits for certain athletes  22:05 - Strength and conditioning as a way to buffer imbalances  24:36 - How hip morphology can make textbook positions risky  26:21 - A 15 percent range-of-motion difference as a red flag  26:46 - Force output, landing mechanics, and eccentric control  27:53 - Why pain-free, high-performing athletes may not need fixing  29:20 - Better tests versus better outcomes: the NFL example  30:41 - Preserving function, confidence, and agency  33:21 - Why pain is not the same as structural damage  35:00 - When pain should be escalated: function and duration  36:56 - Military first responders often underreport or misread pain  38:44 - Pain that affects lifting, driving, or daily life  39:42 - Green flags, yellow flags, and red flags in pain  41:19 - When to refer out for medical or psychosocial support  43:02 - Nutrition, protein, and recovery as pain modifiers  44:12 - When ignoring pain creates a downward spiral  46:20 - Pain as a request for change, not something to glorify  48:42 - Autopilot habits for managing chronic pain and fatigue  51:15 - The danger of learned helplessness and complaint culture  52:04 - Where people with chronic pain may seek support  53:43 - Sunlight, laughter, people, and getting outside as recovery tools  54:31 - Wrap-up, the new app, and final thoughts Key frameworks Passive versus active function a position can look fine in clinic but fail under sport demandsTrue discrepancy versus positional discrepancy structural difference versus the illusion created by pelvic or postural shiftsGreen flag, yellow flag, red flag model green: clear cause and effectyellow: pain with life stressors or unclear driversred: urgent medical evaluation neededCapacity versus load pain often appears when training or life demand exceeds what the body can tolerateDegrees of freedom fewer movement options means less tolerance for asymmetry

Authenticity, Identity, and Complexity from the Art of Coaching Conference Coach Giovani, Brent Phillips, and Coach Matt unpack a wide-ranging discussion that starts with a cyclist he helped on the way to the recording and expands into physical therapy, pain management, identity, and the cost of high-performance careers. The episode centers on takeaways from the Art of Coaching conference, where presenters wrestled with authenticity, external validation, and the complexity of human performance.

Join us as we dive into the lessons learned from an epic mountain biking trip! 🚵‍♂️ In this episode of the Softly Performance Podcast, Coach G and Coach Matt discuss key takeaways on gear selection, fatigue management, and calorie consumption that apply to all endurance sports, not just mountain biking. Whether you're a seasoned rider or just curious about the principles of performance, this episode is packed with insights! Key takeaways: * Understand the importance of gear selection for optimal performance. * Learn how to manage fatigue effectively during long rides. * Discover the best practices for calorie consumption to fuel your adventures. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:19 Overview of the mountain biking trip 01:04 Key lessons from the trip 04:08 Trail experiences and challenges 10:02 Gear selection insights 15:25 Nutrition strategies for endurance 20:30 Mental preparation for high-intensity rides 25:45 Recovery tips post-ride 30:00 Future plans and reflections What's your biggest challenge with endurance sports? Drop it in the comments! Subscribe for weekly insights on performance and training! #MountainBiking #EnduranceTraining #PerformancePodcast Music licensed through Soundstripe. Code: 6WTREWY4BB4IUUUV

How to Read Research Without Getting Misled This episode is about how to evaluate research with more discipline and less hype. Giovani is joined by Coach Matt and Brent for a practical breakdown of what actually matters in a study, from sample size and methods to p values, R squared, study design, and whether the findings apply to real people in the real world.We discuss why abstracts are not enough, why observational research is not the same as prescriptive guidance, and how funding, publication bias, and participant selection can shape what a study seems to say. (00:00) Why this episode is about evidence, not just opinions  (02:19) Abstracts vs methods and what a study is really asking  (03:55) Observational data is not the same as prescription  (05:55) P value basics and why significance gets abused  (07:25) How funding and grants shape research questions  (09:09) Does this study even matter to your population?  (13:21) Study design, control, and why bigger samples are harder to manage  (15:28) Randomized controlled trials vs case studies  (17:25) Meta analyses and review articles explained  (18:58) Why medical research and performance research are not the same problem  (21:06) R squared, measurement error, and why trends matter more than single numbers  (24:00) Wearables, accuracy, and consistency over perfection  (26:37) Citation count is not truth, but it is a clue  (27:32) Correlation is not causation and why that distinction matters  (29:39) Injury prevention vs injury mitigation in real coaching language  (32:09) Why current goals should not override the full performance picture  (35:04) Coaching experience as its own form of evidence  (37:31) Raider, recovery, and scaling training for the right population  (41:33) Pool training, underwater swims, and task-specific adaptation  (49:19) Getting better by attacking the thing you suck at  (54:51) Sooner vs faster in shooting and the task transfer tax  (57:28) Publication bias and why negative results are harder to find  (58:14) Reaching out to researchers and reading beyond the abstract  (61:35) Homework: read one study this month and verify the source

Giovani hosts Coach Matt and Brent for a wide-ranging conversation that starts with Giovani’s first big Moab mountain bike trip and expands into training theory, endurance specificity, and tactical human performance. It’s a practical episode about how different demands shape preparation, from bike fitness and recovery to the reality of movement, load carriage, and mobility in the field. In this episode, Giovani shares his current mountain biking build-up, Matt pressures him to explain the full context, and Brent adds firsthand Moab, racing, and tactical experience. The discussion moves naturally between sport and operational performance, with a strong theme of not over-specializing too early.

In this episode, Giovani, Brent, and Matt explore conditioning progressions, tactical training, and the importance of adaptability in athletic performance. They share practical insights for designing effective training protocols for military, law enforcement, and sports athletes.

Performance dietitian Ariah Fish joins Coach G and Coach Matt to unpack practical nutrition for athletes, tactical professionals, and anyone training hard. They cover fueling with carbohydrates, recovery nutrition, hydration and electrolytes, how to spot nutrition misinformation online, and why sustainable habits matter more than chasing trends. Ariah also shares her work supporting professional athletes, including the Phoenix Mercury, and discusses nutrition for female performance, travel and sleep strategies, and a practical look at supplements such as creatine, fish oil, tart cherry, beta-alanine, and beet-based nitric oxide products. https://www.fortitudesn.com/

Giovani Urrutia and Coach Matt debrief day three of Tactical Strength and Conditioning Association training, focusing on the ideas that actually change practice versus the ones that just sound good in a room. They compare culture, data, and coaching communication across tactical sport, military, and first responder settings, with a strong throughline of keeping things simple enough for stakeholders to use.In this episode, Giovani and Matt share lessons from the conference floor, from cultural change and common language to data interpretation, cognitive loading, and recovery tech. They also dig into what makes a coach effective when you are stepping into a new environment and why the best coaching often looks more like service than authority.

Periodization Is Not Dead: Tactical Training, Contrast Work, and Real-World Readiness Coach Giovani, Coach Brent Phillips, and Coach Matt unpack the claim that “periodization is dead” and argue that the real issue is not periodization itself, but bad, dogmatic takes stripped of context. They connect training theory to tactical athletes, selection prep, and the practical reality that most people need a plan that balances readiness, recovery, and performance.We discuss why training must match the athlete’s environment, why contrast training can be useful for advanced athletes, and how intent, buy-in, and logistics matter just as much as the programming on paper.

Coach Giovani and Coach Matt unpack relatedness from self-determination theory and apply it to military, first responder, and civilian environments. They dig into how inclusion and exclusion shape behavior, why some people become “the other” in a group, and how leaders can use environment, accountability, and shared standards to help people shift from external motivation to real internal buy-in. In this episode, Giovani also shares field examples from training special operations candidates, working with difficult Marines, and helping people rebuild identity and community after leaving service. Matt adds perspective on transition, belonging, and the value of finding the right tribe outside the military.

In this episode, Coach Matt and Coach Giovani delve into the implications of recent policy shifts toward testosterone screening in military and first responder communities. They discuss the potential benefits, risks, and logistical challenges, emphasizing the importance of lifestyle factors and ongoing research. The conversation also explores broader issues like preventative health, data collection, and the cultural aspects of fitness and medical intervention in tactical settings.

In this episode, we explore insights from the Sportsmith Conference, discussing the implications of AI in training, the unique value of high-level coaching, and distinctions between sports and tactical performance. We examine how expert experience cannot be replaced by machines and delve into advanced training techniques like oscillatory isometrics, tissue tolerance, and their practical applications.

In this episode, Giovani and Brent dive into the shifting landscape of supplements, training philosophy, gear choices, and lessons from the field—both military and fitness. They share their candid reflections on past mistakes, wisdom gained, and the importance of systems and principles in optimizing performance and avoiding injury.