ASCA Podcast #65 - David Watts

ASCA Podcast

David has been preparing Olympic and professional athletes for competitive success for over 10 years. He started his S&C career at the Queensland Academy of Sport in 2010. For a little over 6 years, he developed his coaching skills and knowledge as he worked with athletes from a wide range of Olympic sports. After the 2016 Rio Olympics he made the move to professional sport by taking on a role at the Geelong Cats Football Club. After 3 years specialising in rehab with the Cats, David transitioned back to a traditional S&C role moving into his current position as the Strength and Power Coach for the Melbourne Football Club. In addition to his extensive experience, David holds a course work masters from Edith Cowan University and is accredited with the ASCA as a Level 3 Master Coach. QUOTES “I realized how important my personal training was to me for my mental space and to continually test my ideas” “There are two sides to CrossFit, participation and then the sport and the training that goes into supporting those athletes in the actual sport is quite frankly extraordinary” “You need to be so skilled at movements that there is very little cost to performing them repeatedly” “There are elements of Crossfit that really make you question the principles and theory of concurrent training” “One thing I will say about Crossfit athletes is they value recovery modalities more than any other athlete I have come across” “If you maintain a certain level of volume, you can recover from more than what you think you can, especially if it is a volume you have adapted to” SHOWNOTES 1) Dave’s backstory, from the QAS to AFL and the introduction to CrossFit 2) The type of athletes in CrossFit and competition structure 3) The crucial elements of training for Crossfit including the skills of barbell cycling and gymnastics 4) The type of "engine" needed for the sport And Dave's 3 component model of energy systems 5) How does training look for competitive Crossfitters and getting “caught up in the volume trap” 6) The periodization of Crossfit with a typical example over 12 weeks pre competition 7) Crossfit athletes and coaches that S&C coaches could learn from 8) The value of volume and competition, the interaction of energy systems and other things Dave has taken from Crossfit and applied to his S&C practice 9) Other changes to Dave’s practice in last 2-3 years and upcoming development PEOPLE MENTIONED Kieran Young Darren Burgess Chris Dennis Matt Fraser Tia Clare Toomey Ben Bergeron Chris Hinshaw Lachlan James