427: Pat Davidson on The Hero’s Journey of Training and Human Performance

This week’s podcast features Dr. Pat Davidson, an independent trainer and educator based in NYC. Pat is the creator of the "Rethinking the Big Patterns" lecture series, a former college professor, and one of the most insightful coaches in fitness and human performance. With a diverse athletic background that includes strongman competitions, mixed martial arts, and various forms of weightlifting, Pat brings a wealth of experience to the table. He has been a guest on several previous episodes of this series. We live in a world of total information overload. We are continually given “10 drills” and “3 tips” but without a greater framework of understanding the complex system of the human body. Training in the modern age can be seen, in a way, as a swamp of methods, as well as lots of noise with various attention-grabbing headlines and social media posts. Having the principles and framework for what is important and how it fits into one’s worldview or training model is a shining light through that swamp, and it is one we must develop as we grow in our coaching and movement journeys. Today’s podcast with Pat digs into the story of training and motivation. We discuss the hero’s journey in training and cover decision-making, learning, and mastery in coaching. We then discuss the model by which Pat has evolved to understand the complexity of the body in motion. This episode finishes with a great continuing discussion on the principle of “ground” in athletic movement at development at the end of the episode. Pat is a deep thinker, and you always walk away with concepts to help you evolve your own process on a more profound level. Today’s episode is brought to you by TeamBuildr’s Gym Studio and Athletic Development Games. Use the code “justfly25” for 25% off any Lila Exogen wearable resistance training, including the popular Exogen Calf Sleeves. For this offer, head to: Lilateam.com TeamBuildr is an online software for coaches and trainers. Use the code “JUSTFLY” for a free 30-day trial of the TeamBuildr software. For a Gym Studio 14-day free trial, head to gymstudio.com View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 6:03- Dopamine's Role in Motivating Physical Activity 9:30- The Integration of Knowledge for Personal Growth 11:51- Mastering the Hero's Journey in Storytelling 14:50- Narrative Influence in Coaching Dynamics 22:35- Ego's Influence on Coaching Effectiveness 31:22- Movement Enhancement Through Strategic Coaching Adjustments 41:05- Muscle and Skeletal Characteristics in Exercise Selection 45:18- Optimizing Movement Efficiency Through Individual Constraints 59:55- Adaptation of Athletes to Environmental Constraints 1:12:00- Ground Continuum Categorization for Optimal Performance 1:17:05- Pendulum Squat for Muscle Imbalances 1:23:49- Graceful Resilience: Lessons from Martial Arts 1:29:27- Emphasizing Perseverance and Composure for Success Quotes “I think that Rocky four was my first exposure to, like, a training movie, like anything, actually. The karate kid when I was five was the first one. And I love that. I was obsessed, and that movie got me into karate, and I did that for years. And all I'm saying is, like, the stories from that period probably are the reason that I got into this in the first place and, like, created this drive that keeps me going” "The story always comes first. That's always the first and most important piece of it all." - Joel Smith “Having kids is actually pretty helpful on that because you're like, why is this so boring and taking so long? And I'm like, okay, like, thank you actually for that feedback. Now I know I was just talking and it was just me blowing hot air at a certain point” "When you finally work with the person that is actually truly knowledgeable in an area, boom. They have the simple right fix that quickly captures the idea and lets you do it in a much better way… They'll go in, they'll change something pretty simple, and it just opens the movement up for you. Whereas before, someone was like, oh, well, you know, you need to stretch this thing, that thing, the other thing. You know, you got to do these ten drills so that you can do this one drill, and they're like, no, no, no, just turn your hand this way and you're like, oh, boom." - Pat Davidson "The more grounded an exercise, the higher the probability that the person will execute it with competency with zero coaching input." - Pat Davidson “If there's any coaching input, it increases because I actually think of coaching, verbal cueing as ground.. I define ground as, you know, external support and neurological feedback and coaching is just neurological feedback. So it's more ground” “Low ground is. Is you're. You're great at those things because you can turn and tumble through space, and you're great at high ground because you can avoid being turned or tumbled by external forces in space. And so they're completely different poles” "In my mind, competent exercise is always better than incompetent exercise." - Pat Davidson "If you've got a breath left, you've got a place you can operate from, you know, you can take one more step." - Pat Davidson About Pat Davidson Pat Davidson, Ph. D., is an independent trainer, consultant, author, and lecturer in NYC. Pat is the former Director of Training Methodology and Continuing Education for Peak Performance, and former Professor of Exercise Science at Springfield College and Brooklyn College. He is the author of MASS and MASS2 and developer of the “Rethinking the Big Patterns” lecture series.