A Career in Strength & Conditioning: Insights and Inspirations from Jeff Osadec
Dear aspiring strength and conditioning coaches,
I used to think that “making it” as a S&C coach was when you trained high level athletes from the Olympics.
I was wrong.
“Making it” as an S&C coach is more than just training Olympic athletes. I was very fortunate to learn this in Spring 2019 when I first sat down to chat with Jeff Osadec, a veteran S&C coach who has trained Olympic athletes for several years. If I could go back in time, I wish I recorded the in depth conversation to share with you and all aspiring S&C coaches.
Jeff was incredibly generous in offering his time to do this interview to provide you with immense knowledge from a veteran S&C coach who has trained a wide range of athletes. He shares the intricate relationship between exercise physiology and coaching, program design, and uncover valuable insights and advice for those embarking on or advancing in their strength and conditioning careers, setting the stage for a comprehensive guide to success in this dynamic field.
Let’s get started!
Hey Jeff! Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to do this interview. It means a lot to me and the team. To get started, could you tell us a little bit about yourself?
There is no short way to tell this as I have been at this game for a real long time. I started my journey in 1996. To put that in perspective, the Canadian Sport Institute began in 1994, so to venture out into the world hoping to work with high performance athletes at that time, it was a made up job. There were only a handful of people doing it, and access to those individuals was difficult.
I grew up in rural Manitoba, playing a variety of sports. It was purely out of interest but also necessity. With a small school population everyone was needed to field a team, so we all grew up active and multi-sport by accident. I loved hockey and wanted to excel at it, so in reading, I found the concept of “training”. Asking my physical education teacher at the time for a “training” plan, it was literally two pages photocopied out of a book called Getting Strong by Bill Pearl. It was a typical upper lower split based off a football centric type program. But that was my first exposure. I can also brag that I have had a subscription to Men’s Health Magazine since I was 14 years old, and for the most part the material was really informative. It helped to influence my career path.
Once again, not having a clear path to the chosen field, I started at Brandon University in 1996 in pedagogy. I then found myself in the education faculty and completed a teaching degree in 2002. However, knowing that was not the pure career choice, in my first year, I had already put the wheels in motion to transfer to the University of Manitoba to complete a degree in Exercise and Sport Science. As you can see, no real clear path, but really I was so fortunate to have the path I did. I met great people along the way. If you take time to read THE ALCHEMIST by PAULO COELHO, I believe I was meant to travel this path to meet the people that helped to influence me.
In 2005, I traveled to Calgary on a whim after emailing out a number of resumes. One place emailed me, and said they did not have a job, but I showed up anyways, and said, “just give me an interview, and you can offer me a job after that.” Pretty sure of myself, but I was taking the bet on me. So, shortly after on the drive home, I got a call, and sure enough I was offered a personal training position at Talisman Centre, which is now MNP Centre. There I began personal training and sport training in 2005 with an amazing team of individuals, whom many have gone on to stellar careers much more impressive than mine. But, after being told that I need a Master’s Degree to work with national teams, I applied to the University of Calgary, where I was accepted and started my studies in 2007.
In 2009, I was working at Peak Power Sport Development with a great individual, Mike Souster who I was so fortunate to learn from. I was there for about a year, when Dr. Matt Jordan called and offered me a position as assistant strength coach for the National Cross Country Ski Team in Canmore, Alberta. And as they say the rest is history. I started full time at the Canadian Sport Institute Calgary (CSIC) May 2010 and have been involved for the most part ever since.
Not only are you a well-established strength coach, but you’re also an applied exercise physiologist. How has being an applied exercise physiologist helped you as a strength coach (e.g program design, monitoring injuries, performance)?
I would like to correct that I am far from well-established. My super power is knowing and recognizing a lot of people and names but being the person who is never known, or recognized. I travel through this journey relatively unknown. I am like that actor that is in a ton of movies, but no one can tell you what their name is.
I have for the last number of years placed my title as Sport Scientist. The roles that I have been in for a majority of my career have not been purely in Strength and Conditioning, but not in pure physiology. So, sure, Applied Sport Physiologist, probably sounds best. I have been blessed to have the background in both Strength and Conditioning and Exercise Physiology because there are only a few of us who have had the opportunity to live in both the exercise physiology lab setting, and take that information to the daily training environment (DTE), to apply it with our teams. Now we have individuals who do that spectacularly from the Strength Lab at CSIC to the DTE, but I have spent a majority of my career in endurance / power sports like hockey, water polo, speed skating, cross country ski and biathlon.
I struggle now with the trend to have people say Strength Coach or Endurance Coach. Look, at the end of the day, physiology is a continuum, from pure endurance to pure power based sports. Where you fall on that continuum is based on the needs of the athletes that you work with. I love that all strength is just a point on that continuum. Once I came to terms with that, it has really guided my view of what needs my athletes have for their sport. The new thing of “Screw around and find out…'' Well for a long time we would screw around, find out, write it down. Being an applied sport scientist has really been a series of ongoing mini experiments. Each program, each intervention has been treated as a means of evaluating the program for its effect to impart change, the magnitude of that change and can we repeat that change.
You’ve coached and trained a wide variety of athletes at multiple levels and stages in their career including developmental to Olympic athletes. When it comes to coaching and program design, what are some of the similarities and differences?
I teach in the Advanced Coaching Diploma for coaches across the country. One of the documents we use is Designing an Annual Training and Competition Plan: A Step by Step Approach by Istvan Balyi and Alain Marion in 2008. It’s a 12 step approach and that for me does not change no matter the level of the athlete. The systematic process of developing a plan, starting with a Year Training Plan (YTP); yes I write out a YTP even if I have the athlete(s) of 3 months, addressing the gap analysis for the athlete and their sport.
What really changes is the complexity of the program. When I have a young athlete, with a relatively low training age, the program is not complex. The plan is really, do the basics spectacularly well, and repeat. The young athletes respond to almost all training within reason.
Once we move that to the higher performance athletes, that level of complexity can change. I still believe in doing the basics well, but that margin of change for an athlete with years of training requires the things that could be considered novel.
Therein lies the challenge of our environment. Social media, the age we are in for information is literally at our thumbs. All the things we see on our phones, on our media pages, have over complicated the world we live in. Young athletes want to do what their idols are doing. Older athletes do what their rivals are doing. In our roles, we have to take a step back and bring in the education piece that helps to clarify that information for the athletes we have, regardless if they are stepping foot in the weight room for the first time or the last time.
Having mentored dozens of strength coaches over the years, what advice would you give to aspiring coaches that want to do what you’re doing?
There are a few things that have:
One… A really big influence on me was a colleague Andrew Gustafson. He was my mentor and boss while I was at Talisman, and I still look up to him to this day. When I was accepted to my master’s his advice was, “don’t weld your brain shut.” Keep an open mind, understand that what you know now can change and that is 100% okay. Be ready to change if needed, and accept and acknowledge that as of right now you are making the best informed decisions you can with the information you have. And if that changes, you will reevaluate at that time.
Two… There is no rush to work with the highest level of team or athlete. When I started I wanted to work with Pro’s. I had a handful, but I look back and realize that I was so far from prepared to work with them. Work with athletes that are what I consider “non-threatening environments.” These are teams, or athletes that make the mistakes that we will make as young coaches… training sequencing errors, not errors in negligence… do not cost the performance or career. When we work with athletes in these situations, we learn, we begin to understand training and develop our philosophy and approach. When you work with a national team, or pro team, any mistakes, no matter how small, are highlighted for all to see and you to be exposed.
Three… Be adaptable. As I said before, I have been so fortunate to have the skills to hop into the lab, then to the floor, or step into a board room and present/teach. I am not saying to spread yourself thin, but have the skills to move around a bit. It allows you to find that thing that you excel at. Look, in 2020, many people know between the pandemic, and some changes at the university level, I lost my job. I was pretty bummed, and after some time, I realized I had more than just coaching skills. Because of that, and connections with people who I owe my career to, I was able to adapt, and come out of that dark time with a renewed view of what I want to do for the next chapter of my career.
Four… and lastly, I saw this on social media. If someone tells me 2 + 2 = 5, great, that’s wonderful. I am at an age that I realize how much time I spent letting stupid things bother me. How much time I worried what others thought of me. There is a chapter in the book, Legacy by James Kerr, called “No Dickheads” . It states it’s better to have a thousand enemies outside the tent, than one inside. A little water seeping through a small hole may swamp a canoe. In short, don’t endure any ‘dickheads’ in your team. Be an exceptional person. This is a really small community, sport performance, and word around travels fast. It is about not only building relationships with your athletes, the coaches, but with the people in your network. And if you are a good person, we look out for one another. I would like to think I try to be a good teammate, I guess, why number three above had the outcome and the people support me as they did.
For undergraduate and graduate students, how would you recommend that they leverage their time as a student to help them kick start their career in strength and conditioning? (e.g. Enroll in practicums, intern at CSI).
Well, I think those are two pretty unique and high quality examples. Those options did not exist when I was going through my schooling, however I was lucky to have worked at a YMCA while in Brandon and Winnipeg. I also worked as a personal trainer while at University of Manitoba. My summers were spent traveling the country teaching for a hockey school specific for goaltenders each summer. I made my own practicums. Now, they are well established across the country. But spread your experiences around in varying situations. When I was in grad school, we had to do practicums in both clinical and performance-based settings. I knew, once clinical was done, I had zero desire to do that. It scared me every time thinking how fragile the patients were, but the clinicians were so skilled. Putting yourself in uncomfortable positions will teach you about yourself, but also confirm what direction you want to take your career.
From personal experience, I know that finding your first gig as a strength coach can be challenging. Do you have any advice on how to get your foot in the door as a strength coach?
Firstly, I like stories so here’s one to help answer this. I have been blessed to be part of an athlete’s journey. That athlete went on to a so far amazing career, with the typical ups and downs. Because of my relationship with that athlete, people assume that I had a lot to do with his success. In reality, he was going to go on to do amazing things whether it was me, or one of my colleagues there with him. He was just one of those special athletes that I have been lucky to help support. However, a team had asked me to come out to a remote town to do some work with their athletes. It was in the same sport as this star athlete, so the notoriety of your connection was not lost on the team and staff. So when I ended up at the training centre, this little elderly gentleman opening the facility asked me, “you know, we found out you were coming, and a lot of the people looked you up. Your resume is pretty impressive. How does our team get you to come out here to help this program?” To which I replied, “pretty simple, they asked.” As I said before, be a good person. For the most part we all talk. But reach out to the people you want to be around, to work with, or work for. Ask to meet if they have time, and buy them a coffee. Now with social media and the world getting ‘smaller’ reach out to the people who inspire you.
Secondly, some practicums are pretty competitive, and can open doors faster than others. I like to think the Canadian Sport Institute internship can do that, I know EXOS who offer internships can kick doors wide open, however can be hard to get into. Do good work, regardless of where you are. Be humble about who you work with or where you work. As it has been said word gets around fast, and it is a small world. I think the most successful practicums have not immediately transitioned into a job. Many have ended, the two parties have gone their ways, but every once in a while, when all hands on deck events take place, those people who did good work are called upon if they can help. And when positions are opened, they always end up high on the list.
On your website (deliberateperformance.ca), you share some awesome resources. What are your top 5 resources that you recommend for new strength coaches? Also, do you have any resources that you’ve referenced several times over the years?
Hahaha, I was wondering who the one hit on my website was this year. I have been so busy I have not had time to update my posts or resources for a while. We will have to set up a post of just good people to follow on social media. That would be a fun conversation.
But for resources, I have a number that I go back to all the time.
I already mentioned The Alchemist. When things get rocky in life or in profession, it's good to come back to this book for a re-read. Puts things in perspective.
Athletic Development: The Art & Science of Functional Sports Conditioning – Vern Gambetta. I was lucky to get this one signed after having dinner with Mr. Gambetta. What a wonderful individual.
Science and Practice of Strength Training – Vladimir M Zatsiorsky. One of the first introductions to those concepts around sport training.
Science of Sports Training – Thomas Kurz. I have used this book so much, it is held together with clips because the pages are falling out.
Strength Training and Coordination: An Integrative Approach – Frans Bosch. This one is amazing, and will challenge your view on strength and movement.
The Athletic Skills Mode: Optimizing Talent Development Through Movement Education – Ren Wormhoudt – this one is a must read if you are working with development athletes.
Easy Strength – Dan John and Pavel. This one is an easy read, hence the name, but influenced me that we as coaches have over complicated our professions for the sake of complication.
Change Maker – John Berardi. During the pandemic, I took a business course. We all get taught about science, theory, etc. But when we step out of school, we become our own businesses, and have been taught nothing about running a business. This was the closest systematic approach to business development that resembled the course that I took. Beyond helpful for a young professional.
As a highly regarded strength and conditioning coach in Canada, do you have any recommendations or suggestions on the type of certifications that a new strength and conditioning coach should get?
Highly regarded in Canada? I’m barely regarded in Calgary, but when it comes to certifications, that can get to be quite the list. However there are a few ways to approach this.
Firstly, there are courses that come with certifications. We can hop online and google 100’s of these types of courses. Now I am not saying they do not have merit. When I first came out, I took a number of these. Some were great, some were good, and others, well, not so much. But I always came at it from the standpoint of if I took the course, and learned two things to do with clients, but 100 that I shouldn’t do with clients, I learned 102 things. Now if these come with a certification, in say, Lifting Oddly Shaped Object Certified, that’s wonderful, but in the greater picture, not recognized by employers. If that certification in LOSO is necessary for your job, then I would say keep it.
When we talk about employer recognized, we are aiming at the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP) and they have the Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) or Certified Exercise Physiologist (CEP). Within CSEP, there are specialties that can be attained, such as High Performance Specialization, which I think is extremely well done, and the two guys who voice the entire modules are just amazing. Kidding, it is well done but my colleague, Graeme Challis, and I were tapped to create the material. It is a good certification to do, and as it has been 5 years since, it is undergoing a review as all good certifications should.
Second is the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. (CSCS). If you want to work in the world of strength and conditioning, this is one that you have to hold.
Currently I hold the CSEP – CEP HPS, and the NSCA CSCS. They both come with the notoriety, and insurance that you must hold as a coach, trainer or professional in the DTE. The other thing that comes with the certifications is the membership to the organizations that have the resources, the connections to the greater membership base. And as was evident here in Calgary in October, the CSEP Conference which was a phenomenal learning experience, with the ability to connect to new colleagues and visit with old.
CSEP has just announced a partnership with the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). This is a huge partnership so I look forward to what that may mean for the certification process in the future. For now, I would be sure to at least hold CSEP, NSCA or in some instances, both.
Where do you see the future of strength and conditioning coaching heading, and what skills should aspiring coaches develop to stay relevant and effective?
I have been around for enough years to see the pendulum swing a few times. What I mean by that is that I have been around to see the culture shift from ‘it’s about just getting strong, and moving weight.’ to ‘it’s about the pure science and everything needs to be research quality work’. I don’t quite know where we are now, and it may be that it depends on the groups or crowds we run with, however, there are things that have become common practice.
There are two books, one called NSCA’s Essentials of Sport Science by Duncan French and Lorena Torres Ronda and the second, High Performance Training for Sport by David Joyce and Daniel Lewindon. I think those books are about as close to the reality of our world as it can be. It is less about the “just move weight’ and now into the holistic approach to training. We have to look at the monitoring of health and training load, we need to understand movement and mechanics, but also quantify them, and so many other factors to consider that can affect an athlete’s performance. So in short, if you can get your hands on those books, I would highly recommend taking some notes from them.
Where can people learn more and connect with you?
Looks like I need to do a better job of updating my webpage, but I am on Instagram @deliberateperformancesprsci and I do a bit on X @spr_sci But I am still old school and can be reached by email at jeff@deliberateperformance.ca or josadec@csicalgary.ca
I really have been blessed to have had so many good people surround me in my career. I think about how they helped me, so I am always willing go pay it forward. I always start presentations with “there are stupid questions. If you do not ask a question, and someone else is probably thinking the same thing, then it’s a dumb question.” So I encourage people to reach out. I am happy to meet, chat, and all it usually costs is an invite and a coffee.
Alright, let’s wrap up!
I want to give a huge thanks to Jeff for taking the time to do this interview.
We hope that with this interview, you also gained immense value and wisdom from Jeff. He was the first coach that I ever chatted with as a student. He’s one of those practitioners who genuinely wants to make an impact and help the future generations in the field.
After I finished my interview with Jeff, we had a quick chat. Jeff said some important things and reminders that I want to point out that summarizes our interview:
“I have had some wild success in the 25 years I have been doing this. And I still suffer from imposter syndrome. I think we need to take a step back and realize what we do is just a minuscule part of the athlete's big picture, and just enjoy the ride that we are on. Continue to do good work based on solid behaviors rooted in fundamental values.”
If you ever get a chance to talk to Jeff, don’t take the opportunity for granted. You’re in for a real treat!
Don’t hesitate to reach out if you ever have any questions or need some guidance. One of the reasons that we’re so passionate about starting Your Kines Mentor is that we’ve had amazing people like Jeff who have given us their time to help.
Sincerely,
Your Kines Mentor
