Zac Cupples, rap battle and PT extraordinaire, joins the show today to talk about learning, movement, the squat, inhaled and exhaled skeletons, the foot, the ankle, and why these matter for how you program for your clients.
Zac initially found his way into Strength & Conditioning after trying to improve his Track & Field performance, which eventually led him to become a Physical Therapist. He’s spent time as an outpatient PT, traveling PT, and PT for the Memphis Grizzlies, and currently tours the country teaching his Human Matrix workshop. Recently, Zac accepted a new position as the Lead PT and Director of Education at Elevate Sports Performance in Las Vegas, Nevada.
As a fellow continuing education junkie, Zac and I kick things off diving down the learning rabbit hole. We discuss Zac’s “on-demand” approach to choosing what he’s going to study next, the power of teaching, how to go about improving your retention processes, the importance of context and environment, and the need to balance consumption with times of thought and reflection.
Next, we talk about all things squatting vs. hinging. How to decide whether your client should focus more on squatting vs. hinging, how to decide on the specific squat or hinge variation that should be in your client’s program, and how inhaled skeletons, exhaled skeletons, and the heel wedge tie into the big picture.
For example, we discuss how a simple hip flexion test can tell you to focus more on squatting, and why you’d load someone differently if they have limited shoulder extension vs. shoulder flexion.
All in all, it was great having Zac on the show to provide some much-needed clarity on these biomechanics and movement-based principles.
Enjoy and hit that subscribe button if you learned a thing or two.
Episode Highlights:
4:00 – Zac’s Background
9:00 – Zac’s generalist approach and all things learning
21:45 – Zac’s learning process
27:45 – The squat
39:00 – The current rap battle landscape, in case you aren’t up to date
40:45 – Inhaled vs exhaled skeletons and genetics
53:20 – The heel wedge
1:00:00 – Knee shear forces
1:05:00 – Zac’s seminar and resources
Links and stuff:
- Zac Cupples: www.ZacCupples.com
- Zac Cupples: @ZacCupples
- Human Matrix: https://zaccupples.com/human-matrix/
- James Cerbie: @jamescerbie
- TRAIN: https://train.jamescerbie.com
- Silverback: https://www.silverbacktrainingproject.com
- The 4 Hour Work Week: https://amzn.to/2R1AGva
- The Ego is the Enemy: https://amzn.to/2FVvUcu
- Extreme Ownership: https://amzn.to/363d4eb
- The Obstacle is the Way: https://amzn.to/2Rs3lJ2
- Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates (Netflix)
- Make Great Art: https://bit.ly/2G1KteG
- I’ll Teach You to be Rich: https://amzn.to/2TyswvX
- Bill Hartman’s Intensive: https://billhartmanpt.com/
- AOMT: https://aomtinfo.org/
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