Takano Athletics

Dr. Mike Stone is considered one of the foremost sport scientists in the U.S.  Mike is currently a professor at East Tennessee State University, and is a past president of the National Strength and Conditioning Association.  He is also the former chair of the Sport Science Committee of U.S.A. Weightlifting, and a former national caliber lifter.  In this hour long interview Mike discusses issues regarding the education of coaches and sport scientists as well as the role of universities in the development of sport science and athletes.  Lots of content and provocative thoughts in this interview with Dr. Stone.

Craig Dunham is a practitioner of structural integration or Rolfing.  This particular modality aligns the muscles of the body to deal with the vertical pull of gravity, and as such makes the body more efficient in its use of energy to maintain an erect posture.  

Craig is interested in applying this to athletes who have retired from active competition and are interested in resuming an energetic and aligned physical existence as “civilians”.  

The lively conversation between Craig and myself is engaging, informative and we hope stimulating.  This one is for more than our usual weightlifting audience.  Enjoy the dialogue!

Ken Vick is the Executive Sports Performance Director and Co-Owner of Velocity Sports Performance in Redondo Beach.

Ken talks about his thoughts on coaching education and the mentoring of new strength and conditioning coaches.  His comments are insightful and especially valuable to coaches interested in entering the field.

Due to time constraints this interview was ended after an hour.  There will be a Part 2 in the future.

Derrick Crass is a two-time member of the U.S. Olympic Weightlifting Team.  He qualified in 1984 as a 90 kg lifter, and in 1988 as an 82.5 kg lifter.  He grew up in Belleville, Illinois and was initially coached by Ted Frank.

He was among the first wave of weightlifters to move to the U.S. Olympic Training Center where his lifting was refined by national coach Harvey Newton.  He is a 3 time national champion.

Derrick is currently involved in coaching athletes through the Crossfit and U.S.A. Weightlifting coaching education programs, and is the owner of DC Blocks.  He manufacturers training blocks for weightlifting gyms. 

This interview covers his career, perspectives and hopes for U.S. weightlifters.

Mike Burgener has long been one of the top weightlifting coaches in the nation, having served as the U.S. National Coach to the Junior Women's World's Championships. For the past several years Mike has been the lead instructor and administrator of the Crossfit Olympic Lifting Certification program.

In this interview Mike recounts his history as a weightlifting and strength and conditioning coach, the influences in his career and his perspective on the coaching of technique in the snatch and clean & jerk.

Furthermore he comments on the growing relationship between Crossfitters and the sport of weightlifting.  Any prospective weightlifting and strength and conditioning coaches should give a listen to these valuable viewpoints.

This interview with top U.S. weightlifting coach Jim Schmitz covers his history and development as a coach, some of his most memorable experiences and his views on the current state of U.S. weightlifting.

Jim, the coach of the national champion Sports Palace team, is a two-time U.S. Olympic weightlifting coach, and served as USA Weightlifting President as well as competition director of the 1984 Olympic Games weightlifting competition.

His recollections and observations should prove interesting to fans of the sport as well as to up and coming coaches and weightlifters.

Harvey Newton is the owner of Newton-Sports.com.  He is considered an authority on the sport of weightlifting and the field of strength and conditioning.  He was the U.S. Weightlifting Team coach at the 1984 Olympic Games, served as the executive director of USA Weightlifting and as the executive director of the NSCA.  He is a respected presenter, coach and lecturer.

Bob Alejo is a thirty year veteran of the Strength and Conditioning Profession.  He is on his second term of employment as the director of Strength and Conditioning for the Oakland Athletics.  He has coached at a number of Universities including UCLA where he coached or assisted with 23 different sports.  He is also currently the strength and conditioning coach for Todd Rodgers and Phil Dalhausser, the gold medal winnning beach volleyball team from the Beijing Olympics.

Erik is a former head strength and conditioning coach at CSULB, UCI and UCSB.

Cara Heads is an 8 time USA national champion and all time record holder in the women's 75 kg. class.  She was a member of the 2000 Olympic team and was a bronze medalist at the junior world's championships.

Giselle Shepatin was an 8 time national champion and 7 time member of the U.S. women's team to the World's Championships.  She was a multiple medal winner at that level, and the all time record holder in the 60 kg. class.  Just as importantly, she was one of a cadre of great lifters that emerged in the 1980's and 1990's to lead the women's weightlifting movement in the U.S.  This is a great interview providing perspective for U.S. lifting.

Dianna Linden is any hard training athlete’s best friend.  Her educated hands and fingers can accurately diagnose soft tissue injuries with the accuracy of a high tech scanning device.  Listen to Dianna as she speaks about the importance of active recovery through sports massage, and the importance of effective restoration methods in the training of high level athletes.  Athletes, coaches, and sports medicine professionals can learn a lot from this fabulous bodyworker.

John Garhammer is former weightlifting team mate of mine and we've known each other for over 30 years. More importantly he "wrote the book" on the biomechanics of weightlifting and did some of the most influential studies in this field. The author of over 80 technical articles on a variety of biomechanics topics, John is a professor emeritus at Cal State Long Beach, and has also taught at UCLA and Auburn University. He is a former NSCA Coach of the year, and a member of the Strength and Conditioning Hall of Fame. Together we co-authored a chapter on weightlifting training for the Encyclopedia of Sports Medicine Strength and Power In Sport edition that was published by the Sports Medicine Commission of the International Olympic Committee.

Robert Takano's interview with Dr. John Garhammer. Please click the start arrow below to listen to the one hour interview.

Robert Takano's interview with Lakers Strength & Conditioning coach Joe Carbone. Please click the start arrow below to listen to the one hour interview.

Joe Carbone is in his fourth season as Head Strength & Conditioning coach of The Los Angeles Lakers. MVP Kobe Bryant, who Carbone privately trained from high school through three NBA championships, is quoted in the Orange County Register (April 14, 2006) with these words about Carbone:

"He took me under his wing and taught me that game when I was 17 years old. He taught me how to lift, train, and get physically ready. From that point till now, I've been with him. So all the physical things I do on the court, progressing and getting stronger through the seasons, those come directly from his knowledge of how to make it happen." - Kobe Bryant

Carbone was a college football player at the University of Delaware where he was the Round 10, Pick 243 in the 1973 NFL Draft for the New York Jets as a defensive end.

Kobe personally employed Carbone from 1996 through 2004. In 2004, Joe was hired by the Los Angeles Lakers. Prior to working with Kobe Bryant, he was the Head Strength & Conditioning Coach of the Philadelphia 76ers. Carbone is an accomplished professional Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) through the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA) and trains athletes from all sports. He is also a mentor, speaker, and entrepreneur.

Once a nationally ranked USAW Olympic-style weightlifter, nationally ranked ADFPA power lifter, and champion amateur bodybuilder, he also played football, lacrosse and wrestling. He received his Master of Science degree from Long Island University and Bachelor of Science from Gettysburg College.

This interview took place at the North American Open Championships in December, 2008.  A few months earlier John's best lifter ever, Melanie Roach had competed in the Beijing Olympics and finished in 6th place.  John talks about his team, his coaching and the difficulties of coaching Melanie after her back injury.

John, a former national competitor, speaks about his coaching, his current weightlifting program and his experience of coaching the National Junior Team for an extended period of time.  His insights are especially helpful to any and all prospective weightlifting or strength and conditioning coaches.

Dr. Murray is the top chiropractor in the country working with weightlifting athletes. Brendan currently serves as the co-chair of the USA Weightlifting Sports Medicine Committee and his services are greatly valued by the athletes that represent the U.S. at top international competitions.  Listen to Brendan’s comments on the value of chiropractic for hard training athletes and the benefits of proper training in the developing of athletic ability and the avoidance of injury.   Brendan has worked on a number of my former weightlifters and I’ve been with him as he worked on numerous members of the national teams at national and international events.  In so many cases, Brendan’s adjustments can make the difference between success and failure on the competitive platform.

Radio Show and Podcast, Guest Interviews with Robert Takano and Ali McKnight.
From TPS Radio Network - Sports Podcast Network.