Why Some Athletes Get Faster, and Others Get Hurt (ft. Dr. Amber Murphy)

What if the secret to running faster isn't training harder—but moving smarter? Sports biomechanics expert Dr. Amber Murphy joins Rodd Duff to explore the science of speed, athletic performance, and injury prevention. In this episode of INsights & Straight Talk, Dr. Murphy explains how biomechanics—the science of human movement—can help athletes and coaches understand running mechanics, improve technique, and recognize movement patterns that may contribute to injuries. Drawing on her background in track and field, scientific analysis, and athlete development, she challenges conventional assumptions about speed training.

Wow. This has been an experience of amazement

to me. Before you leave, if you'd like to watch

another one of the podcasts, click the first

link in the description. We love having you here

and we appreciate all your support. And with

that, producer Barbie and I are out. I've got

to change that sign. I just noticed it says established

in 1989. That was actually a machinery business

that I started. back in 1989, and if you guys

know the story, I started this podcast two years

ago. We've done about 650 episodes, and we're

about 25 ,000, a little over 25 ,000 subscribers.

With that, welcome to Insights and Straight Talk.

I'm Rod Duff, and producer Barbie is right there

alongside me. And you know, we live in a culture

that loves speed today. We want faster athletes,

right? We want faster results, faster improvement.

And when an athlete isn't getting faster, what

do we usually tell them? Work harder, train longer,

push yourself, right? But what if working harder

isn't always the answer? What if the difference

between getting faster and getting hurt? can

sometimes be found in something is invisible.

It's almost invisible to the naked human eye,

the way the human body moves. That's where today's

conversation really gets interesting. Because

behind every sprint, every cut on the football

field, every soccer kick, every hurdle, every

explosive start is something. Most people never

really think about it. Physics, force, angles,

timing, balance, biometrics. And when we begin

to understand those things right there, those

things right there, we can start asking a much

better question than how do we make an athlete

work harder? We can ask, how do we help them

move better? My guest today has spent more than

20 years working inside of that very question.

Dr. Amber Murphy is president and CEO of Comfort

Sport, a sports biomechanics expert, an exercise

scientist, and author of The Science of Speed.

Her experience includes work with USA Track and

Field, USA Bobsled, and IMG, one of my personal

favorites. as well as athletes and coaches across

track and field, football, soccer, another one

of my personal favorites, running and winter

sports. But there's another reason I wanted Amber

at this table. She earned her doctorate in exercise

science right about 48 years old, so right around

five years ago. And I love that part of her story

because whether we're Whether we're talking about

athletics, business, education, or simply life.

Somebody somewhere is always trying to convince

us that there's an age, that there's an age when

opportunity just passes. That starting gun already

went off. That everybody else is already halfway

around the track somehow. Maybe not. maybe sometimes

you're just getting into the blocks right now.

So today we're going to talk about speed, right?

We're going to talk about performance. We're

going to talk about, we're going to talk about

injuries and whether science can help us recognize

problems before an athlete's body finally says

enough. And I especially want to talk about our

younger athletes. Are we training kids intelligently?

Are we specializing too early? In a personal

note there as well, I've got, I raised five boys

in the youngest, in his mid -20s. Before high

school, boys were all athletes, before high school

we were talking around about, that was a big

conversation even back then. kids specializing

too early. And our parents and coaches sometimes

chasing performance today at the expense of an

athlete's body tomorrow. Because winning the

race today doesn't mean a whole lot. It doesn't

mean much if you can't comfortably walk away

from the track years later. And underneath all

of this, is a question that reaches far beyond

sports. What is the human body truly capable

of when we stop simply demanding more from it

and start understanding it? Sit with that for

a minute. That is the conversation we're having

today. And remember this, isn't an interview.

It's a conversation. So if you're watching live,

get involved. you know drop your questions and

thoughts into the comments because there's always

another chair at this table you have a seat you

have a voice and your voice belongs at the table

so dr amber murphy let's uh let's let's talk

about the science of speed huh and and before

we do that before we get deeper into a lot we

already have our comments coming in okay that

was awesome Somebody's saying hi. I don't know

if you know Lynn here, but Lynn says hi. Usually

comments don't start coming in until 10, 15 minutes.

That's why I wanted you to kind of get into also

that beginning story, that journey, that inflection

point that puts you on the road to bring you

to us here in our community today. What was that

inflection point? What change, where was the

big moment for you that started you down this

path? I know obviously you've been built this

way, you have to have done, otherwise you wouldn't

have continued to be built this way, but what's

the inflection point? Well first of all, thank

you for having me. My journey started very young

because my father was an Olympic silver medalist

in Munich and he He liked cheap labor like anybody

else and so he once he decided he was gonna understand

the science behind running and speed he recruited

me to help him so I thumbed my first track meet

at eight and You know eight eight years old and

then worked through high school was when we were

doing the building our model our perfect sprint

and hurdle model. And so I did a lot of the statistics

and analysis then. And then over the years, just

continue with that. I ran collegiately at Florida.

I was a hurdler. So my love track and field was

ingrained in me. And then I ended up getting

married, having three kids before I even got

my bachelor's degree. I got my bachelor's degree,

master's degree, and doctorate while I was working,

going to school, and raising children. And during

that time was when I had all the time in the

field working with the athletes, doing, understanding

the math and science behind what we were doing

so that when we got on the track, we're not just

giving our opinion, we're doing something that's

completely based on science. And we can be very

confident in it that we're helping people and

doing the right things. You know, it's interesting.

You said this a couple of times. You were a hurdler

at Florida. And of course, your dad was this

Olympic swimmer for the US, I'm guessing. Olympic

track and field hurdler. That's what I meant.

Sorry about that. I assumed for the US. Yes.

But the hurdler part kind of caught my attention

there, because if you think about biomechanics,

right? And I'm no expert. I know a little bit

about a lot of things. And I was an athlete and

all those things and raised my voice. So I'm

a dad expert, I guess. And you've heard, you

know those folks. But I noticed hurdling. And

it's interesting because of all the sports out

there, swimming as well uses a large amount of

the body. But a hurdler, you're using... you

know, that flexibility, that joint movement,

that activity, that body movement, not only the

arms, obviously, but not only obviously the legs,

but you're not just sprinting, which is all these

are important sports, all of them, right? But

now you're also talking about purgling, where

you're primarily, I think that's one of the sports

you're using more of the body structure and alignment

and movement. than other sports as a percentage,

or am I totally off track there? Or do you know,

have you ever tracked it? I haven't really tracked

it, but I do know that it's a full body movement,

more so than some of the other just, you know,

sprinting. It doesn't involve the torso. It doesn't

involve balance as much. I mean, sprinting involves

the torso, but when you're hurdling, you're using

it as a lever. So you're not you're using your

body in a different way. This way and this way,

not just this way. Right. Wow, that's amazing.

So you started it not... Oh, by the way, we didn't

get it enough time in the green room, but one

rule, one partnership that I asked my guests

and myself to have during this show is I'll read

the questions because I kind of like to adjust

them sometimes and I'll read them back. But when

comments come in, I like to guest you in this

case. to read the comment and then respond to

it. Hi is a pretty easy one. That's an interesting

one. But go ahead and say hi back to Lynn Sulk.

Hi, Lynn Sulk. And then right after that, gentlemen,

Clive here. Looks like he's got a head photo.

Maybe he's a podcaster. Why don't you read what

Clive has to say. He says, I hope today's live

show will be fantastic. I hope you find it fantastic.

I think we all do. I think all three of us are,

oh, by the way, we have 192 people on right now.

So you started at nine. Your dad loved cheap

labor. His old dad's dead. And the child, but

on top of that, it really builds something, too,

also, right? There's that connection that you

guys talk about day in and day out besides just

how was your day. So what were some of the nine

years old? That's a mature place to be at that

age. What are some of your favorite, least favorite,

some of the things that you were out there every

day when you were doing this, right? I was out

there when we were doing the track meets. We

filmed the competitions. It was great because

when I'd walk around, people would recognize

me as his daughter. I have this similar look

and mannerisms. So they would talk to me about

their memories. And we would talk track and field.

Even as a young kid, I was immersed in the track

and field world. I ran in all the AAU and all

that stuff. I had a lot of different kinds of

people that would give me information and talk

to me. And then some of my least favorite stuff

was, you know, just being out in the rain and

the cold and filming and trying to change the

film because we had the actual film back then.

So you had to wait, wait, wait, wait. So you

were you were like 90. What yearish was this?

So like like 82 or so. and we would have the

actual film and we'd have to change it in the

dark because we couldn't expose it. So we'd have

to be like, we'd be under something and trying

to get it out and put it back in without messing

it up. And so that was kind of stressful. But

I'm just so glad I don't have to worry about

that anymore. You were doing these things actually

at that age range that obviously went on for

years. But you were doing those things. That's

quite a lot you were learning there actually.

I mean, life experience. Very much hands on.

Wow. That was impressive. I remember I remember

the early mornings and, you know, and you have

all those things, no matter what the sport is.

I was a wrestler. So even earlier mornings, because

you had the weigh ins and you couldn't eat beforehand.

And then my boys wrestled. So we used to go out

and do sushi. So there's always these neat little

stories that build up in between. But where was

that point? So we started for you, obviously,

early on. I'm sorry, the questions came in much

earlier than I expected, which is a good problem

to have. So you started at a very early age.

But where was that point where you said, aha,

this is my journey? I mean, even your book, which

I want to talk about in a minute. But it's gone

this direction. Are you an only child or were

you the only child? No, I have a brother. I have

an older brother. Oh, so you had a brother. Older

or younger? Older brother. Okay, so you were

really immersed no matter what the world was.

It was all about that. So where was the point

where you said, yeah, you know what, I'm not

going to go this route. I'm going to go this

route. And we all have choices in life. What

was that moment for you? So I think it was after

I had my second child and I still hadn't finished

my bachelor's degree and it was really hard and

You know It was just I decided this this is going

to happen. I'm going to make this happen. No

matter what happens I'm gonna make this happen

once you leave it's it's you've lost momentum

You've lost energy. You've lost, you know that

that you said it was really hard I think that

was an understatement and not to give you extra

cost, but realistically, it was really, really

hard. You haven't even got your bachelor yet.

No, and I ended up having my third child before

I had my bachelor's degree. And, you know, by

then I was, you know, five or seven years older

than almost all the other students. And I was

in math and science, so already it was kind of

like, I was an anomaly in there anyway. So I

just kinda got used to not being the norm and

accepting that and being okay with it. I walk

in nine months pregnant to a bunch of college

kids, and it's like, this is happening and it's

fine and we're just gonna make this happen, right?

So I think that was a big turning point for me.

And then once I started getting out on the track

and helping athletes and really see, the kind

of difference we can make. That just, that's

really what it's all about for me. That's what

it's all about is I want to go, I can see the

change. I can see it. They can see it and everybody

gets excited about it. And so, I mean, that's,

and then that's when I decided I wanted to get

my PhD so that I could be the best, most educated

person that I could be to help these athletes

and help these coaches. I mean, you come from

an athletic background, so you know that this

feeling I'm going to describe. That what you

just said, I could hear it in your voice. You

see the results that that in itself is like a

competition. It's like it's like hitting that

tape. Right. When you when you see those results,

I'm kind of at a crossroads here. I want to dive

in a little bit about your book here. Do you

want me to address some of the comments or no?

No, no, I'll get to it. We're good. But but but.

What does that look like? What's the picture

as you're seeing somebody see the results? It's

obviously an evolution. Do you start to see a

result before the athlete does? What does that

look like? What is that feeling? It's a progression.

So usually we do we film them and do a model

overlay. We build their perfect model of their

sprint or whatever. So you're filming them as

they're going down the lane? Correct. Yes. From

your site, you have starting blocks. Yes. So

I have an overlay of the model where they can

see where their body is and where they should

be and where they're meant. So then we pick one

thing to start. And then we go and we talk about

it with the coach and the athlete on their body

point or one thing that they're doing that we

want to fix. So let's say let's say their knees

are separated at touchdowns. So we want them

to be together. So, OK, let's talk about that.

And then what does that feel like? And so then

I have things that I teach them drills. And sometimes

it's conceptual and sometimes it's just going

through the body motions that I go out there

and do the body motions with them. And then.

we go through it and then they spread through

again and we look at it and say, okay, is this

one thing fixed? If it's fixed, great, we can

go to the next thing. If it's a little fixed,

okay, that's the right feeling. Now let's amplify

that feeling and let's do it again. And then

you see the change over time. And so then whatever

you're fixing is something that's gonna make

them faster and most of the time help prevent

them from getting injured. Nah, not even technically.

There's a fine line between, as I said in the

opening, getting faster or getting injured. Just

by the way the angles, because of the forces

that are enacting, depending on how that body

is positioned at that time. It's fascinating

how far the science of things have come. to the

point where, like you just said, if you go into,

what's your website again? Give me your website.

coming together and then and then I'm assuming

you're also seeing a reaction from that overlay

you're seeing a reaction out of the touch points

that are over the body because it's hard to tell

when you're looking at a body but when you're

looking at touch points and and then what is

it doing it's analyzed it creates the perfect

moment or point and then and then it wants then

you need to match that continuously all right

Yeah, the perfect body angles and positioning.

Yeah, because I talked about my son being in

baseball. He went to Villanova and he ended up

leaving. He was done. You know, there's a lot

of reasons. There's professional athletes, which

is a rarity. It's a funnel, right? So he went

all the way through and then ended up leaving

and going into the military. And it was a great

decision for him. It was awesome. I should have

forgot where I was going at that point. I just

totally went blank on that. But the sciences

were just starting to kind of develop to get

to that next level. And let's face it, kids sports

is a billion dollar business. There's a lot of

reason for this development to happen. But what

also comes out of that is also side benefits.

You're seeing people now take more care of themselves.

You're seeing people take, you know, this approach

of, you know, in the old day, if you got hurt,

you'd just rub some dirt on it and move on, right?

That kind of approach. Now we're starting to

get better results from better science with longer

abilities for the body to function. And one thing

I'm really fascinated by, and do you see... of

more being able to happen. And we'll get into

these questions here real quick. But do you see,

there's a thing that I'm fascinated by when I

was working on your episode here is if we just

quit trying to get more push out of the body

and start understanding it more, there's so much

more we can get out of that. Do you understand

what I'm kind of leading into a question here?

Absolutely. And I think it's really important

that people aren't scared of the science, that

they can actually realize they can use it to

help them and with coaches and athletes. I try

to enable the athletes also and you know, they

have to take ownership of their own performance

and they have to understand what they're doing

to their body if they don't fix these things.

And I think that we're really good at injury

treatment. I'm not so great at injury prevention.

I don't think it's talked about enough. I don't

think there's enough done about it. I think that

there's a lot of focus on strength and fitness,

but not enough on biomechanics. That piece isn't

there. I think that's, by the way, I forgot to

mention there's almost 700 people on it. So great

audience today. Thank you all for being here.

Please subscribe and continue to make comments.

Actually, let me throw a banner up here that

says. What you just said about, we're really

good at injury recovery. And we've been, as a

society, as a sport, I mean, we're a sports society,

right? I mean, society loves it. And nothing

wrong with it. It's great. It's awesome. Sports

is so good for so many different reasons, especially

as kids, because you teach how to push past.

And so there's nothing about... you know getting

hurt and taking care of that that's wrong. We've

always had this mindset of you know push past

the pain and all that and through that we developed

the ability to recover better from injury. A

lot of things are done that but what's really

interesting about that in my opinion just seeing

what I've seen in my short little window of life

here in this athletic is that you're seeing people

take care of, so now we're getting better at

preventing injury because we went through, I

think, and got better at repairing injury. Does

that make sense? It does, but I also think in

a lot of ways that's true. active or active,

you know, stretching, all those things. But I

don't think that piece is there biomechanically.

I don't think people talk about how biomechanics

can help prevent injury. No, enough. No. But

but but you are we are now. Right. I mean, and

we never really we never we almost didn't jump.

It's almost like it was an evolution in itself.

And you're right. We're not talking about it

enough. And we're just now starting to get to

a point where people are saying, okay, let's

make an investment in our lives instead of, you

know, we know there's a funnel out there and

we know you got to work hard to get past, you

know, into high school, much less the next step.

But what we're finally doing is getting into

what can, we talked about in the show, having

longevity and quality. Meaning life, you know

just having longevity if you don't have quality

for the last 50 years Then that whole longevity

thing is kind of out the window right because

you can't do anything in your you know You're

a burden then it's it's it's not it's not a It's

not the way to go. So let me talk to you about

you the book here So tell me about what you're

talking about in your book here and what we're

talking about today Okay, so we had another book

the mechanics of sprinting and hurtling and it

was very textbook like there was a lot of equations

physics science and But it was very detailed

and a lot of the coaches came to me and said

I felt like it wasn't it wasn't written for me

it was written for somebody a scientist or somebody

who understands all that stuff and so What I

did was I? wanted to just take a lot of the stuff

that would be a barrier away and take the barriers

away and say you could read it I could read it

anybody could read it anybody and get something

out of it and be able to be improve their performance

or help prevent injury so I took a lot of the

the force vectors and the science and the equations

that I put them in the back of the book and and

I are saying yeah reference yeah and I also said

you know I love to talk science so reach out

to me on my website if you have a question and

you want to get more in depth or if you want

to get on more depth go buy the other book because

that that could be the next step if that's what

you want but I felt like a lot of coaches felt

like this is too much I can't get through this

enough to get to what I really need to know so

I try to make it very concise and very accessible

oh sorry I misread that tone yeah so okay so

awesome so basically what you did is you took

the science coming out of the first book where

there was a lot of success, a lot of coaches

were able to grab that information or scrape

it and then pull that onto their team and for

that experience be able to then improve their

athletes. But I understand exactly how difficult

it can be and challenging to read through a document

that doesn't, that has more, if I'm not a math

and science person, as more than maybe my mind

can keep up with. So that's what this new book

is. It has all those same details of what your

body is doing as you're going through the hurdling

process and as a teaching or instructional tool.

The real... This is interesting. Is that a cubs

hat? I'm from Chicago. I'm in Oklahoma now. I

just wanted to add also that these winter sports

and team sports and injury prevention are all

new. Okay, put some color around that that layer

right there. What do you mean they're all new

as far as people starting to talk about them?

No, as being part of our book. So that's all

the stuff that I said. Go through that. The chapter

on winter sports and team sports is all brand

new material because that's stuff that I focus

on. So I added that to the book and then all

the injury prevention information is all new

because that was part of what I did for my dissertation.

I found and I know it's a lot more than this

and we're going to get into some more of these

questions here. But one thing I really found

out is how important stretching is. to specifically

to injury prevention, something I always tried

to get producer Barbie into because that was

a wrestler growing up. And so, you know, we did

that a lot, a lot. And then I had a disc removed

in my back. And then I had what's the what's

the pain that goes down your sciatica and amazing

how much stretching just pulled all that apart.

Just kind of relaxed everything in there that

that's a true state i see you shaking it that's

a true statement how important that is isn't

it and add to that what is the biggest biomechanical

mistake that slows athletes down now that's why

i brought in stretching because that can also

actually speed you up too right there's a lot

of things about stretching So the biggest biomechanical

mistake that slow athletes down in general is

having the running motion be more behind the

body than in front of the body. We want the running

motion to be in front of the body so that we

can attack the ground. We can attack the ground

and we control the movement. We want to lead

with our hips at all times. And in addition for

even recreational runners, the way you strike

on your foot. You never want to heel strike.

You can midfoot strike, but the best strike is

to on the outside of your foot and rolling toward

the big toe where there's got a nice natural

spring. Whoa, when did this come? When did this

all happen? It's always been heel toe. That's

wrong. Wrong. Well, no wonder I'm such an awesome

runner. So you're saying you should actually

be striking from the just like just past the

toe. Just on the pinky. Pinky toe right here.

Yep. Roll. And that's you get a nice natural

spring off the big toe. Wow. Now what does that

do for you? You're not giving anything away.

You're enabling your body to act as a natural

spring. And then you're also reducing the braking

forces because if you've ever jumped up and down

flat footed, it's very jarring. But if you jump

up and down on your toes, it's not. So that's

you're you're helping. you're helping yourself

not get those kind of impacts that can lead to

injury. Wow, okay. So I've been out of the game

for about 10 years, something like that. How

much is this not known? Because what you just

said just totally blew me away. Is that very

well known out there in the world of athletics

today? No. I'm seeing you shaking your head.

Is that the way the body's actually made it?

Well, if you want to, if you want to get your

fastest touchdown and off and the most efficient,

that's how you want to do it. Wow, that's got

it. And it just seems like you're working with

all the ligaments. And I mean, I again, I don't

know much about anything. But when you did that,

you could see how the ligaments kind of all that's

what they want to do anyway, right? So go on

with your point, right? Because there was two

parts of that was the biggest mistake. Because

the heel toe is like... But strike. You're jamming.

You're jamming. You don't want to do that. I

mean, if you can't do it up on your toe, at least

do it flat -footed. But please, please, please

don't land on your heel. Wait a minute. OK, so

now you're saying... I bet you what, 95 % of

people do it over heel now, right? And then flat

-footed, one of the middle son, Matthew's older

brother, named Gavin, He had to get arches in

his shoes because he was flat -footed. So is

flat -footed actually not a bad thing? Or is

that more complicated than just yes -no? No.

It's OK for distance. If you land flat, it's

OK. But it's always better to be up on your toe,

because you're giving away some of that spring.

Yeah. Yeah. Now, that makes sense. Wow. That

is truly fascinating. That is on. Oh, wow. Whole

bunch of more questions. Let me let me get to

my job here a little bit. How can coaches tell

if the athlete is using emphasis in this inefficient

running mechanics? Now, here's the thing. There's

this this question that can also go with you

don't know what you don't know. So some coaches

may not know, but answer the question for Jayrod

here, would you? So we want to look at how they're

landing. If they're reaching out in front of

their body when they're landing, that's all bad.

If they're too flexed in the trunk. How should

they be landing then? Yeah, I thought you said

it was closer in front of your body, but you

don't. You want the knees in front of your body.

You don't want to land way out in front of your

body because that's how you stop, right? You

start to feed out. So you want to. your knees

so that you can pull under your body so your

foot can be close to your body when you land.

So if the foot's too far away, you're just using

breaking forces and it's increasing the stress

on your body and also slowing you down. You know

what's fascinating is, again, I've been around

athletics growing up all my life, obviously,

and my young adulthood with the kids, but definitely

no expert. But it's amazing how much none of

this has been known at this point. None of it.

And here's the fascinating part to me about it

is that when you're saying it, it's so obvious.

I mean, I'm picturing in my mind not wanting

to have my body in this position, but I've never

heard those comments before or why they would

be important. But when you're saying every time

all of these moments that we've been taught as

athletes to do, I was in track and field, I was

one of those athletes that just, that's all I

did. I did that stuff, I loved it, right? But

we've never heard this before. What do you think

that is? It's kind of like... Kind of like behind

the ball on this, aren't we, or is it just not

been of importance and it's just coming around

and it's just the evolution has started slow

and is catching up? What do you think? I think

because it's based on science and math, it can

be, there could be barriers to it. I think a

lot, and even when I was in my PhD, there's a

lot of people in academia that wants to keep

the knowledge in. academia, keep it up here somewhere.

And I'm so opposite of that. And I want everybody

to understand it and know they can understand

it. You don't have to be a genius. You can just

understand why it works and how you can apply

it to life. And you don't need to understand

anything else. And so I think that's really,

really important. And also, nobody's taken it.

and really tried to push it. And that's what

I'm trying to do is to get it out there because

I think there's so many pieces of the puzzle

that are missing like in, you know, football

and soccer and rugby and all those. Those people

are sprinting. That's what they're doing. So

if we can help them with their mechanics so that

it helps prevent injury, I mean, that is a huge

deal. Yeah, I mean, there's a there's a semi

famous football. I think his number was 57. I

just saw a social media couple of them. They

were from San Francisco Super Bowl game probably

10 years ago and middle linebacker I believe

was just sprinting onto this field from the sideline.

They were just standing there. Defense comes

on there sprinting on the field and his Achilles

snapped and I mean you're talking about a top

athlete and not even that long like that the

football players from today and My dad played

for a minute. He was drafted by the Green Bay

Packers, but that's when they paid like $60 a

game. So he went into the military instead. But,

you know, it's evolved quite a bit in the last

several years to speed. And what you're talking

about now is coming at an almost critical time

because the human evolution, the human species.

has gotten to a next level. I think AI is going

to change all of that. That's a whole other story.

We'll talk about it another day when the world's

completely different. But what you're talking

about right now is really important because we

are, in football and in all athletics, taking

it to, I mean, kids are doing in high school

what they couldn't do in pros a couple of decades

ago. And so that's here. put everything else

moving aside so fast aside the fact of what you're

talking about now almost catches up to where

the needs are right now for the athlete because

the athlete today is at another level in speed,

reaction, everything, right? I mean, the whole

sciences. So it's almost like you're catching

the science. You've read that, I see. Yes, and

I just want to keep it out there and I would

love to get more of it out there so we can help

more people. I think it's unfortunate that we

don't talk about it more and it's not a piece

of the puzzle in everybody's and every football

team and every soccer team and every rugby team.

Biomechanics should be a piece of the puzzle

and it should be done by a real biomechanist

with a doctorate in exercise science who understands

what they're doing. Yeah, and it would. It would

offset so many insurance things, claims. I mean,

there's almost an R -O -I there. But I mean,

you're almost, it feels like to me when I was

looking at all the information and the data points

and what is being talked about, what is it? And

like I said, I like to talk about my son, my

oldest son, a couple of the oldest boys. They

are in that... 40 something year old area. So

they're in that generation that I call the bridge

generation. They were here before the internet,

but they're also after the internet. What we're

talking about here now is, I was here during

the time when concussions weren't a thing. And

then they were like, well, there's something

to this. There's something going on here. And

then there were some, you know, LALAL ZETO and

the steroids. So there's a lot of science stuff

that was damaging. before, and I was there during

that, never heard of it. Oh, I heard something.

Ah, that's BS, that's, you know, that, whatever,

let me hear more. Oh, wait a minute. And then,

oh shit, and then now they're actually doing

some pretty interesting and I think some important

things. We're learning about the brain a lot

more obviously. But with that said, I feel like

that's where the concussions. conversation where

it was, you're like, this conversation is there

now. Is that a fair comparison? I would say so.

And I think that any kind of injury prevention

is more important than people realize. Yeah,

for so many reasons. I mean, just for the performance

of the sport, if you want to be selfless about

it, just for the performance of the sport, technically...

first time you get injury, your very first injury,

your performance, obviously immediately, but

technically long -term, and it depends on what

it is, but you're at a less, you're not at 100%,

right, technically. Actually, in some cases,

you're a little bit better, because the bone

really gets stronger and all that, but that aside,

once you're injured, I mean, mentally and physically,

you're not 100%. So absolutely, I mean, the investment,

the ROI is there. to start paying more attention.

Richard here asks, can improving a running technique

reduce the risk, and this came up right when

you were talking about injury, the risk of common

sports injury? Of course, yes, right? Yes, because,

okay, so specifically I've done extensive research

on hamstring injuries, Achilles injuries, and

knee injuries, because those are really very

common and team sports and sprinting. And if

you go into the, I only look at peer review journals.

If you go into that, the mechanism of the way

that people hurt themselves is very clear. Okay.

And so once you understand how it happens, then

you understand what movements create this situation.

So running behind your body with your legs too

flexed, like kicking your butt sets yourself

up. all the way back to kicking your butt. That's

too flexed, you're saying? Oh yes, yes, yes.

So doing that when you're spreading. We've learned

everything ass backwards. We're going to start

breaking world records after a decade or so here.

Well, yes, yes. So doing that sets you up for

hamstring injury. And so that particular movement,

if you see that. you've got to try to change

it and you don't want to get stronger until you

change it because getting stronger and not changing

running mechanics are one of the most common

mechanisms of injury that I see because you're

pulling because you have more power so the more

the stronger you get the more you're pulling

on those muscles in an inefficient and ineffective

and destructive way for Achilles injuries if

you're pushing off the ground not pulling off

the ground Pushing off one side of your foot

in the back is a common mechanism of Achilles

injuries. In addition, sticking your foot out

in front of you. Any kind of breaking forces

is a mechanism for Achilles injuries. When it

comes to knee injuries, again, sticking your

leg out. You often see if someone sticks their

leg out and how their knee can destabilize when

they land because of all those breaking forces

and then the knee destabilizes and that can cause

an ACL tear. So those are three Pretty simple

examples of ways that the athletes can run that

would make them more vulnerable to injury. That's

interesting. There's a couple really cool questions

coming up about kids here. I'm going to jump

up with those because I want to stay with where

we are right now a little bit. And Joe, Joe D.

Sheppard here, Joe Sheppard, can biomechanics

testing And I want to hear more of what biomechanics

testing looks like. Can it reveal injury risk

before an athlete feels pain? I love this question.

It can expose an injury risk, yes. Because when

we do biomechanics testing, we overlay the model

and we look at where the body, where the limbs

are. A lot of times it's where the limbs are.

So say the limbs are up against the butt. And

when we get to the top, we can see that the leg

starts to go out, kick out. If we see that, then

we know, okay, this is a real hamstring injury

risk. Or if an athlete can't do a movement that

we're trying to teach them, this could mean they

need mobility. They need flexibility. Maybe something

is... going wrong that they don't know about

yet because their body is changing, but maybe

they don't feel it yet. So let's talk about why

is this happening? Why is this body not be able

to do what we want it to do? When you say, when

you say because their body is changing, are you

talking about because their body's changing because

there's an upcoming impingement or is you talking

about their body is changing because they're

becoming more athletic? and building muscle,

what were you referring right there? I was referring

to compensation, where they're doing something

different than they usually do. Okay, yes. And

that's a big problem, because you do it slightly,

right? Your body automatically wants to do it

without, and your brain is just doing what it's

told to do, it's seeing reality through whatever

data it's got, and it's not necessarily seeing

the truth. Ah, so when you, okay, please go on.

So we get a baseline, you know, we try to film

an athlete three times a year. So if we see something

that's out of the ordinary, then we'll say, and

I do on track at 60 frames per second, but then

I go home and do analysis at a 480 frames per

second. So that is, you can see a lot and it

takes a long time. So that's why we don't do

it on the track. we can see things that we can't

see when we're just there on the track. So I'll

go back to the coach and say, OK, they're making

this movement. And I want to can we need to understand

why they're doing this? And if 400 frames per

second compared to 60, which is more normal.

Correct. OK, fine. And so then we'll go to the

coach and say this is what they looked like before.

And this is what they're doing now. Or their

stride legs were equal last time and now they're

not. or you know there's different stuff we can

choose and talk about this this ground time and

this ground time where this last time and now

they're this and do you know you know can we

talk about why that might be true wow yeah that

makes that makes a lot of sense and you know

we talked a lot about and this is a mental health

thing so i'm off subject here but but to the

point we talk a lot about working from the inside

out And that's what we're doing here is we're

almost getting back to how the human frame or

body. And I know we all fit into this, like I'm

technically obese because I've got a bigger frame

and I'm 5 '11 and 2 '20 and I'm supposed to be

1 '70. I haven't been 1 '70 since I was a freshman

in high school. But how would that work? But

at the same, at the end of the day, we're also,

we're a creation. We're a species and as such

we place on the earth for certain skills and

attributes that one of them Well, the biggest

one by far is the brain, right? Because we didn't

learn I mean we shouldn't be living out of nature

We should have hair all over our body, but no

we built houses and put the fireplaces in and

heaters and furnaces and so That's the human

nature. That's the evolution of the species.

And now that we're kind of taking these weird,

awkward steps, but we're taking them in that

I think the human body has really come a long

way. I mean, four -minute mile used to be a huge

deal. Now it's kind of average. And much less

sprinting, obviously. I just don't know the stats

off the top of my head as well. So I cheated.

you know we're at that point we talked about

this a little earlier we're at the point now

where the human body needs this now because otherwise

we could almost take steps back right if you

were not if we continue on this recovery we're

good at recovery because we're built and we have

we're building good beings but if we keep on

this track without getting this further along

we're almost you're almost going to start bumping

against the wall start getting more and more

injuries because we didn't recognize we didn't

have we didn't have uh concussions until the

athletes got to a point it did the appointment

had to catch up and all that but until those

athletes really became beasts we didn't really

have that and now we have it in high schools

and youth sports right If you look at any of

the statistics, the injuries are getting to be

more and more. A lot of that is early specialization,

but some of that is just getting stronger and

not fixing your mechanics. A lot of times mechanics

aren't even part of the conversation and they

really need to be. Yeah, and I think the only

time they really get to be is When you become

elite, almost elite, somewhere in that range

where, you know, at least your parents are past

the point of just living vicariously through

you, you may actually be able to do something

with this. That's when mechanics really, and

it's not for the right reasons, as they think

about it. The mechanics are so that I can beat

you, not so that I can last longer on the field

in the way we're approaching it. Is there a difference?

Yes. I think that there's a more I think it's

more intrinsic motivation for an athlete, especially

if they know what it's more intrinsic motivation

for the athlete because if they've ever been

injured, they remember how it feels, how debilitating

it is. And I think that they don't need external

motivation. If I say this can help you not get

injured. It has meaning to them. That makes a

lot of sense. Now is the is the biomechanics

that are being outside of your program and similar

ones like it. Are there similar programs? Actually,

hold on. It's not the way I want to ask that.

Are there programs that are going through the

people learning and programs learning biomechanics

and kids and parents learning the biomechanics?

is what they're learning. Again, outside of your

program, because you're specific to what we're

talking about today is what we're talking about.

But is that a different kind of mechanics training?

So not just getting faster is getting faster.

The same thing is is preventing injury. Yes.

And this is great because you're approved performance

and and so you're working together. to do that.

And so they complement each other. Correct. And

anyone, if you get educated on it, can teach

it and teach it to young people, teach it to

whatever your audience is, teach it to math,

teach it to your 5K group. There's there's you

just have to get the information and make sure

you're checking your sources and where you're

getting your information from, especially when

you're dealing with younger athletes, because

it's a responsibility. I feel responsible when

I go out on the track and teach an athlete something.

I want to teach them the best thing that I can

teach them about what I'm experience, what my

expertise is. And so. If they ask me about nutrition

or they ask me about strength, I can say, well,

I have a general idea, but you have a strength

trainer. Go ask them. You have a nutritionist.

Go ask them. You don't have to be good at everything,

but you have to, whatever you're good at, make

sure you have the credentials and you can be

responsible for making a change in somebody's

life. Because these are lives. This is matters.

Yeah. Yeah. And I think there's another advantage

to this when you were just talking about you

can be trained at this in teaching biomechanics.

It seems to me, if I'm a coach, I've been a coach.

Oh, I didn't wear my coach's hat today. But I've

been a coach and so forth. And especially the

younger. Well, that's not necessarily true. But

let's just say that the younger, if you're teaching,

you said 5K or 5U group or or Pop Warner football,

or track and field at AAU, or any other mini,

mini, mini programs that are out there. To me,

it seems like, especially teaching a younger

kid, because kids are sponges, right? If you're

teaching them the mechanics of doing it, when

they're getting better at it earlier, which obviously

is a great thing. But on top of it, to me it

seems like the kid would seem more intrigued

and so more involved, more paid attention to,

and more thinking. It's like, what's the best

dog in the world? The tired dog. Well, so is

the tired kid. If they're thinking, and they're

not my kid, to me it seems like they take more

interest in learning whatever it is they're doing

instead of just stepping. If you're telling them,

oh, by the way, would you step like that? your

phone's doing this, your this is doing that.

I'm simplifying, obviously, but your ankle's

doing that. That whole foot thing, I'm still

blown away by that. You're still killing me on

that. But to me, it seems like you'd also have

your kids' interest more in the sport that you're

teaching them, wouldn't you? Yes, and I also

think that a lot of times, like when we worked

with the combine athletes, nobody had taught

them anything about mechanics. Nothing. Oh, yeah.

So, um, so it's a big gap. There's a gap there

that's not being filled. And I think that if

the kids can understand a different aspect of

the game, yes, they understand the hitting and

all the things that they normally do. But if

it's something a little different, sometimes

that can ignite more of an interest in the sport.

Sometimes when I come the kids get excited just

because it's something different something different

to think about a different way to improve performance

a different way to do this not the same old weight

room yes track yes or field yes whatever it's

a different voice in a different perspective

well and i think you brought it up um it earlier

um you want to get the word out well let's go

back to the the concussion example They had to

get to the point, start teaching coaches how

to tackle. I think I was in high school during

that time. Maybe it was college. But anyway,

at first it was being fought against by the coaches

because they're having to teach this new way

of tackling and throwing your head up. I'm sorry,

I'm talking more about football than I am track

and field. That's okay. The only reason I say

that is because that's the best example I have

is that those time slots. And the reason I said

all of that is because to support what you're

saying, getting this out there more, it's because

there's probably not a lot of coaches that know,

you don't know what you don't know, right? You

don't have in your toolbox what you don't have.

And so if the high school and no matter what

sport it is really I mean you go down into toddler

sports and you know kids sports and all that

but really by high school you really have to

really have this kind of philosophy this kind

of dedicate not philosophy bad work dedication

it's kind of dedication to what's needed because

it is this I mean could you get it you're now

you're backing them the head, the spine, the

all sorts of things that are going on. Not just

sure. Most common is knee achilles and calf injuries

because that's what we and I assume a lot of

those are sports as well because they're you're

trying to kick a ball and sometimes it's an ankle

you're kicking, right? Okay, so with all that,

he made a comment a little bit ago or a question.

I remember the baseball cap. Would you read this

comment out loud and respond to it? The great

show, great conversation. Really enjoying the

biomechanics insights. Well, thank you, yes.

I mean, it always seems to excite people. Shocker,

though. I bet you a lot of people in this audience.

We don't talk about it. We don't talk about it.

Exactly. I was going to say, go ahead. But this

is a shocker because we don't talk about it.

That's why I love it. long -form conversations

like this. By the way, subscribe if you would

and please comment. We don't talk about it. Go

ahead. But there are a lot of high quality track

and field coaches that I know that do talk about

and have read the books and are working on it

and understand how important it is. But I think

it needs to become more mainstream into I want

to spread it out. I want more people to see it

and also into other sports because the injury

problem is not going to go away. So why not have

another tool in the toolbox to address it? Oh,

I like that. Oh, you picked up on the toolbox.

I love that. Great, great thing. Hey, why don't

you go ahead and say what Mr. Girard here is

saying? Great insights from Dr. Murphy. Thanks

for sharing this conversation. Of course. All

right, so. Oh when so she said hi right at the

beginning I remember this name so she says I'm

curious how can coaches tell the difference between

an athlete who needs more strength this is a

really good question and one who simply needs

better technique and there's probably a little

bit of a balance because you said it earlier

your body's changing when you start altering

things but also your body does change when you

when you get stronger so if you're hamstring

If you're kicking all the way up and you're not

adjusting that movement and you're making it

stronger and stronger, you're just hurting it

worse or you're doing, you're doing worse, harder,

right? So I don't think that strength and technique

exists too much. They are intertwined. Okay.

But it's also like anything else. So if you have

a young person, you know, that's not even it,

let's say before high school or even in high

school. There's gonna be a lot of things going

on with their bodies, right? But you can teach

them the basics of what you want them to do.

You have to meet them where they are. And you

want to get them progressing toward what you

want. They're not gonna get there because they

may not have the strength or the coordination

or the proprioception of how they're moving their

body to get to where you wanna go. But you wanna

get them toward that. And as you're moving them

toward that, then you can start getting them

stronger. But if you don't move them toward that

while you're getting them stronger, then their

risk of injury goes way up. So sorry about that.

I was really fascinated by some of these questions

here. I'm just kind of reading them as I'm listening

to you. But I appreciate that. I mean, it is

kind of, you know, you've got to you've got to

build strength and technique at the same time.

because your technique is going to change with

the level of power, whatever it is that you're

doing is impacted by. So they do go kind of hand

in hand, step in step, right? And as you go along

here. So Mathely, great show. Thank you. I appreciate

that. Thank you. I appreciate it, Amber. Should

I say doctor? I should say doctor. It's okay.

I know I'm a doctor, so we're fine. Doctor, I

apologize about that, please. So, Great Show,

what are some of the most common movement mistakes

you see that prevent athletes from reaching their

full speed? So, I'm assuming that it's The obvious

ones are stretching, you know, there's things

that are obvious, but there's also the ability

to move that joint or that something further

and deliberately doing that. Not injury, but

deliberately. In that effort, also, when you

get down into the microfibers, I mean, when you

get down to that, don't you need to get down

to that to get to where we're talking about next

levels? Well, I think that, you know, there's

a lot of different elements. But from my point

of view, from what we haven't spoken of yet,

I think the torso is very important. I think

people don't like to do core work. And it's very,

very, very important. And you want to... Let

me ask you. I know why it is. And I know why

I don't do it. And not just aesthetically. I

do have a good solid... pack, one pack. But the,

you know, there's balance, balance comes in to

say there's injury and there's support of the

muscle in the back and there's all that. But

I mean, what beyond, where's, the core's the

core. It's called the core for a reason. What

all is the reason that the core is, by the way,

we've been going well over an hour already. This

just kind of just flew by. So talk to me about

the core. Educate me about my core, besides.

Don't make fun. So the core is very important

because it helps stabilize the body and I always

say it's really important to lead with your hips

because if you lead with your hips you can control

the movement. If you lead with your torso You're

not really controlling the movement. So you want

to lead with your hips. And the only way to do

that is to have a really solid core because you

have to be able to hold them tight when you're

putting that much doing what you're doing with

those movements and putting that much force into

the ground. It's easy to break at the hips. And

so if you're not stiff here in the hips and torso,

then that gives away some of the natural spring

that you'll get off the ground, no matter what

kind of running you're doing. You know that this

isn't exactly true. It's not true at all, but

as a picture in the mind, I like to do that kind

of thing. When you were just describing it, it's

almost like, what's that thing that goes around

in a ball and it keeps from wavering? What's

that term? Like a gyroscope? It's almost like

your core is a gyroscope. It's supporting all

of it, but it's... the picture of the mind of

a gyroscope almost keeps everything steady, right?

As all these other movements are happening, your

core is almost like a gyroscope. It's not, but

is a mind reference or a picture, right? I mean,

it's almost kind of like that, right? It's a

stabilizer. It's the thing that keeps everything

in place so that your body can do what it needs

to do. If your body, if your core fails, then

you're going to be doing things that you should.

different movements that shouldn't happen. Yeah,

yeah. And then, so I grew up in the machinery

business and lathes and little measurements make

a big difference and if something's going to

fit or work right. What you just said, if the

core isn't working and everything's moving out

of, because you've got to be, it's not steel,

but you've got to have, you still have tolerances

your body needs to move within. to have the most

efficient and effective result. Makes sense,

right? I mean, yeah, I'm not saying anything

that doesn't make sense there, right? Right.

So I want to go back to a couple of questions

that came up earlier and we're continuing down

a little bit of a path here, but I like what

Rob has to say. You alluded to this earlier as

far as starting younger. What age should young

athletes begin learning proper movement mechanics?

That's one thing. But also I don't want I want

to use this this as well to kind of touch on

what you mentioned earlier, which I mentioned

earlier as well, which is kids specializing in

sports too early. It's been a problem for a while.

And I know why it's wrong because you want your

body to build mass, you know, your muscles to

have flexibility and going different directions.

And baseball does this and football does that.

to track the different, each specialty does the

different specialty. So that's part of it too,

but can you combine those two together and kind

of work that out? Yes. So let me address it first,

the age young athletes. I don't think any time's

too early to begin understanding conceptually

what the right way it should feel and look. The

expectation that you're going to get the outcome

you want should be very low. But you want to

start talking to them about how it should look

and how it should feel and just kind of not have

rigid expectations, but just encourage them to

at least understand a little bit about how it's

supposed to look and feel so that when they are

ready developmentally or mentally, then you can

move to the next step because it's always going

to start with the first step. that's really important,

I think, and just to not have an expectation

that they're gonna be able to do what you can

do because they can't. But you can talk to them

about it and you can - I hope not. You can show

them, you can move them toward that. And then

with early specialization, I am not a fan of

early specialization. And for a number of reasons.

One is - Hey, let me have - Is early specialization

worse now than it was a decade ago? Oh, absolutely.

So much worse. And it was bad then. It's pretty

bad now. But one, kids get burnt out and they

hate the sport. Two, kids get injured. Three,

kids who do well when they're young aren't necessarily

the ones that are going to do well when they're

older. So if you see a 12 -year -old that looks

like a 25 -year -old, yes, they're going to win.

but then when all the all the 12 year olds catch

up when they're 18 or 19 then that person they're

already there they're they're not going any further

with that their body type i mean we've all seen

it there's a body type of a 12 year old that

looks like a nine year old there's a body type

of a 12 year old that looks like a 12 year old

there's a body type of a 12 year old that looks

like an 18 year old so yes the 18 year old is

going to win on that but going into college and

professional in a lot of sports being really

good when you're young does not translate to

being really good as a collegiate or a professional.

I don't think we I don't think we realize that

when we're caught up in the emotion and that

you know the excitement and you know all of that

living vicariously and all of that but I don't

think we really understand as as as young as

as young parents I don't think we understand

how how tiny that funnel really is. And it's

literally a funnel. It's wide open out here.

Everybody goes into sports when they're young.

Most people go into sports when they're young.

And it's just give the parents a break. Keep

the kids active. It's healthy. You're learning

lessons that the parents are adding to, not necessarily

coming up with, because sports teaches you how

to push through. And oh, daughter, it's OK. You're

going to make through. They discover they can.

Go ahead. No, no, go ahead. I love sports. I

think they have so much value. I just think that

it's okay to try different things. And it's okay

to learn that you're not going to be good at

everything. And it's okay to have to work at

it. I think it's really important, all of these

things you're saying. Not just okay, it's really

important. Life's not a straight line. And it's

life skills. I think it's life skills like anything

else. And so I think that It's important to say,

we're going to have, we're going to do this and

we want you to try your best, but it's okay if

you're not the best one on the team. It's okay.

And if you want to get better, great. And if

not, you know, next, next month or next year,

we're going to play basketball or we're going

to do this. So we're going to, you know, and

I think that it gives you some kind of flexibility

and, and empathy for others. If you are K not

really good at something, you know, May I ask

you this? Speaking of that, we were kind of stuck

to touch on this for a second, but how can coaches

tell the difference between, and again, it's

education. You don't know what you don't know.

And that's why this program and your books and

these things that we're talking about are so

important because it's about getting the information

out there. There's, I don't think there's enough

in a grade middle class that have access to truly

important information like this. You know, the

elites have more. more money and more access

and there's nothing wrong with that, but that's

why I love these conversations because this is

what impacts the great middle of class. I mean,

we all have kids, most of us have kids. So how

can coaches tell the difference between technique

and strength? Now we said, we went into this

and that we said, you know, it's kind of goes

both, but is there ever... Dude, you just need

to work on your strength is fine You know, I

mean is that ever I would say that I would say

To a coach I would get this I would not get this

athlete stronger before I fixed this particular

Okay, I like that because stronger is good but

stronger Isn't good when you're using it in a

way that's gonna hurt your body. Yeah. Yeah all

right, so Try to remember if we I think we already

we already talked with her So I lost my places.

I was jumping around and I was trying to not

jump back off stage here did we? Prove their

script mechanics Okay. Yeah, so what's the first

thing you focus on? I mean what where does how

does the we talked about your book and you went

through the different chapters and we talked

about different things But what we're you got

a young athlete say Clyde's got a young a daughter

and she wants to be a sprinter. She's got some

natural skill sets and what should they focus

on first? I would focus on foot strike first.

So that's striking we were talking about. Foot

strike. And that has to do with speed as well,

not just comfort of the foot. Oh, it's all about

speed and technique. You have to do certain things

to get the foot in that position. So you'll have

to practice. No, like the way that you sprint.

So you want to pull under your body when you're

running instead of reaching out. So you won't

really be able to get to that foot position if

you reach out in front of your body. So that

kind of goes hand in hand with preventing injury

and improving performance and doing things right.

So you start with pulling under your body so

that you can get that fifth metatarsal foot strike

and then go from there. But a lot of times we

just take them to touchdown and look at their

body and see what they're doing. You said that

a couple of times. Touchdown. What do you mean

by that? I know that's a term in your company

probably. No, it's just when the foot first touches

the ground. Touchdown. Touchdown. Not a touchdown.

The foot touches down. Oh my goodness. Okay,

well, I always say this is not an aesthetically

perfect show and there's an example So so this

is this is interesting to me because I'm assuming

the answer is yes And I assume in the technology

she's referring to which it sounds like she's

taking a little look at this I can technology

accurately measure the small movement changes

that improve performance. So obviously I'm guessing

I Already know it is I've cheated The answer

is yes. Could you tell us why? Yes, because we

can use film. And the naked eye can only see

so much. And even if you film it with just your

iPhone, you can see things that you weren't necessarily

going to see right in real time. But I'm going

to qualify that with saying you need to understand

what you're looking for and have a good resource

of why you're asking the athlete to do what you

want them to do. and make sure that there's a

reason behind it. That's huge what you just said

because you know if you make small changes if

you make those in the wrong direction or if you

make big changes if you make them in the wrong

direction you're going in the wrong direction

and you're gonna you know they say i'm gonna

go back to baseball on this one my my youngest

son oh i that that was the point i was gonna

make a while ago that i i lost my thought on

i'll bring it in later now They say that you

need to practice something 10 ,000 times. Your

swing is what I'm referring to here. You need

to practice your swing 10 ,000 times correctly

to do it correctly. I mean, if you practice it

10 ,000 times wrong, you're going to do it that

way wrong. But that's where you're that bridge

or this technology is that bridge because now

you're teaching those repertoire, those repetitions

in the right moments, in the right movements,

and that's important. So what the technology,

what it's actually measuring is where you're

starting and ending in a position, is that what

we're measuring here? We're looking at the movement,

how they look in different positions throughout

the stride cycle and all the way through and

then like I said, we pick one thing and we talk

about it and we work on it and then you're going

to see things with the camera that you won't

see with the naked eye. Yeah, no, and that makes

perfect sense, especially you ever see those

slow motion cameras that are doing the hummingbird

wings. Yeah. And I mean, that's what we're talking

about here. You're seeing something that we see

with the naked eye, we see a body that we kind

of see blur. I don't even know if we see a blur

with the wings. But with that still action, that

camera, 600 frames per second, 400 frames per

second, 60 frames per second. There's a lot of

difference what's happening here. And to that,

I mean, what are coaches most likely to misunderstand

about developing speed? Where do you see, you

talk to coaches day in and day out across different,

we've talked about the examples in some of the

opening monologue, but what do you see as people

go, like my aha moment. Amongst many here is

the foot impact, but what do you see? I see that

sprinting is not running fast in any sport. It's

not a natural motion. They are not going to come

to you and know what to do. It's not a natural

motion. To do it right, they're going to have

to learn to be uncomfortable and get used to

having to actually think about what they're doing

and make an effort in a certain direction. You're

not going to get somebody who just walks out

there and knows exactly how to run unless somebody

talks. I'm really doing bad on my timing here

today. You know, we're almost like an hour and

a half. We have 800 people here. So I want to

kind of manage this because I don't want to get

too far back up against you on time. I knew you

were kind of looking at some things there. So

the James show. How should training change as

an athlete moves from high school? And this is

part of that funnel process, right? And then

even within from high school to college, you're

looking at 180, 202, you're looking at different

levels within there, but how should training

change? And I think this answer goes as much

because their physicalness, is going to answer

this question as much as just whether they're

moving from high school to college, right? Well,

I think that you have to be careful with developmental.

Anything that's going to hurt them developmentally,

you want to avoid. Meaning what? Meaning any

kind of lifts that would keep them from growing.

This is not my area of expertise, but you know,

any kind of nutrition that they're not getting

enough nutrition in certain ways where they can

grow. So outside of my expertise, those two things

come straight to mind. And then from high school

to college, they have to realize I was a collegiate

athlete. If anybody who's been a collegiate athlete,

this is a full time job. OK, you're not going

to get the college experience. You're going to

go and you're going to work out and you're going

to go to school and you go to sleep and you need

the same thing again. So as long as you know

that. and you really want it, it's not, it's

not going to be easy. I don't care how good you

are because you're going to have, you know, mandated

strength training and mandated fitness. You're

going to have mandated, you know, foam rolling.

You're going to have mandated massage. You're

going to have all these different things and

it's going to be half your life is going to be

school and the other half is going to be collegiate

athletics. So just know that and I think the

collegiate athlete, in general what I've seen,

they do a pretty good job at everything. But

just make sure that you're listening to your

body and you still have to have your own responsibility

for what's happening. And just to add to that

though, you were talking about younger athletes,

especially one thing, and I know these were kind

of getting outside of what we're talking about

here. And again, none of these... Go see experts.

We're having a conversation here. One thing that

people don't think about, especially on younger

athletes, especially in the joints, is the growth

platelets in the knees. If you push too far back

to this question a little bit ago, if you push

too far beyond the age, beyond the relativity

of their physical abilities, We've got to balance

all things. We've got one more question so far.

I'm going to do a little bit of work in the back,

and then we've got several comments. So you're

up. I'm going to ask this question here. And

can better movement mechanics help athletes maintain

performance as they get older? So we were just

talking about on the younger side, on the youngest

side of athletics, probably the biggest concern.

I think one that's not talked about is growth

plans, because that can be an issue. I know people

who have that as an issue have become that hat

as an issue. But as you get older, so the mechanics,

the stretching, all these things become important.

And this is an important thing to me because

I am old. As well as here in Oklahoma, they have

a very big concern of the elderly and tripping

accidents and breaking their hip. you know and

once you break your hip when you're older you

typically decline pretty fast um you know muscle

keeping the muscle so address all of that as

far as from the standpoint of as we get older

and i'll get some comments out here in front

of you to read take your time a little on this

a little bit i want to bring some of those comments

up front into the so as we say in the in the

movie industry So the answer is yes. I think

as we get older, we want to understand what exercise

we're doing affects our body. We have to listen

to our body more and we have to do more. I mean,

it's not just, we can't just jump out of bed

and go run. That's not realistic. So if we can...

if we're doing the other things, if we're doing

the strength training and doing the massage and

doing the stretching and doing the icing and

those sorts of things, I think mechanics are

just as important. And there's a lot of information

in the book on how to reduce the stress on the

body, how to land, how to, you know, How you

don't want to make noise when you hit the ground

different things that small things that can contribute

to you getting more Efficiency and effectiveness

out of your running so you don't have to put

as much effort into it I've been running since

I was a child and I still run and so I certainly

understand the challenges of Running as a 53

year old or as we get older So I just think it's

really, really important to come out from all

different angles and make sure that you're not

missing some piece that could help you continue

to run for as long as you can. Yeah. And I think

it's just a matter of keeping active as you get

older. You know, they say cardiovascular wise,

walking, just walking 15 minutes at a minimum

a day. It changes your cardiovascular influence

to the body. It does some things that are really,

really beneficial. So I couldn't agree with you

more. I have a big fan of walking. I think it's

great. And a lot of people are like, I'm out

of shape. Where do I start? I'm like, move. Get

up and walk, move. Move for five minutes if that's

all you can do, but if you just move your body

and then don't set unrealistic goals, but just

say, I'm gonna move and I'm gonna do it for five

minutes and then maybe I'll do it for 10 minutes

and that sort of thing, because it doesn't matter

and nobody cares. Nobody's looking at you at

the gym. Nobody's looking at you walking down

the street. You do you and do what you can. One

thing I like about the show, and I talk about

this, we've done over 600 episodes and all that,

and we talk about different subjects. But we

also talk about similar subjects at times. You

know, athletics. I had a professional football

player on a couple of days ago. But we're talking

about, we're looking at a house through different

windows. And I love the ability to be able to...

sit down and have these conversations and really

think about the whole of our life, you know,

working from the inside out and how simple things

like this that are now just being discussed,

getting out there. And these aren't impossible

things. And what you just said, and maybe I'll,

where do I start? Well, go walk for five minutes.

And then if tomorrow you don't, you know you're

not starting over you're just doing the next

day you know it's how we treat ourselves as well

you know and a lot of what you're talking about

is you know mental mental has a lot of a lot

to do that i'm going to get to some of these

comments here in a second but i also take very

good pride in my uh in my uh copy and paste skill

sets and i want to make sure that that my copy

and paste skill set it meets your Now, I only

got two up right now. We're gonna go back and

do a couple more while you read the comments.

But does this meet your approval? Yes, absolutely.

All right, and then your book is on Amazon, obviously,

and this is the Amazon site. Yes. The site on

Amazon where your book is. Correct. This is the

second book, right? Yes. All right, so so far

I've got well Barbie so far. Oh, oh she wants

me asking The green color chocolate covered M

&M. She didn't touch I didn't touch those All

right, so I'm having a good good show here This

has actually been a very good show. We've got

800 people on nice And yeah, very nice and we're

over an hour and a half already. So We're going

to try and get close to not make it too late

here. I'll come back and get these other ones

on here in a second. But I did want to get over

here. There's like four questions or so, four

comments that I want you to read. And bring them

out if you would. And I'm going to do a couple

more. So this was Rob Gerst. I remember his emblem

earlier. I love that little picture thing. Hi,

Rob. Really enjoying this discussion. So many

practical takeaways. Well, I'm glad. And I hope

you get a chance to get my book and read it and

then give me some feedback. I always like to

hear about it on LinkedIn or on Instagram. Just

give me a little bit of feedback on the book.

I was trying to get back quick enough. I didn't

make it. So yeah, and that could be by. via email

you can make a comment here on the show but I

don't get comments every day you know like tomorrow

I won't be back on here tomorrow that's why I

like that I'm putting up her email address and

website and so forth I'll be doing a couple more

here in a minute but why don't you go ahead and

oh Natalie is back here why don't you go ahead

Really enjoying this live, the science behind

the human movement is fascinating. It is fascinating,

isn't it? And it's not so complex that we can't

understand it. We can understand it and we can

use it. And I think that's what makes it valuable.

I feel like there's a lot of data out there and

information, but not necessarily quality data

and information and not information and data

where you can go out in the world and apply it.

And I think that's what makes it really important.

I'm trying really hard here. The only things

I haven't done now is the Instagram. So I just

put up LinkedIn right here. That's correct, correct?

Yes. That's correct, correct. This is your website,

which I was talking about earlier. And what I'm

going to do, folks, if you guys follow us on

WhatsApp, no, not WhatsApp. What did I just say?

Instagram. I'll put up Instagram after we close

out the session. I'll go back up and look forward

towards the bottom part of the show. I'll put

up those comments. You have two Instagram accounts?

And I got everything else up there, correct?

Yes. All right. We have two more comments. Oh,

I might be able to get them both up. Excellent

discussion about helping athletes perform without

breaking down their bodies. Yes. And when we

want to get the word out to coaches, parents,

and athletes, I try to teach the coaches and

athletes while I'm on the track so they can understand.

And if you read the book and then ask the athlete

to read, then they can all take some ownership.

I believe it's not just the coach's job. or the

parent's job, it's also the athlete's job to

take ownership of their own performance and really

make the changes. It's like the old saying, it

takes a village to raise a child. It takes a

village. It really does. To raise an athlete.

So we've got one more comment here. And then

what I want you to do is I want you to read this

comment out loud, just like we've been doing.

remark back to him and then and then leave. You've

got a fan club. I mean you're talking an hour

and a half of 800 people just sitting here chit

chatting with you about this stuff. It's obviously

important. It's obviously on people's minds out

there and and and I'm just glad that that you

could bring your expertise to to be able to bring

this forward to us. So I want you to read this

comment out loud and then go into your what what

What final statement? We should do another show.

We should talk more about your show. I mean,

your show. We should talk more about your book.

And I forgot to ask you what what did what did

what you just said? You like to teach him while

you're on the track. So in other words, you're

on the track filming. You don't do these one

on one, correct? Well, we go we do one on one

with the athlete and the coach on the track.

I missed here because that's when we go to the

track. their track and we set up all our equipment

and then we work with all the coaches and the

one athlete at a time and go through whatever

the coach wants to look at. They're running,

they're full speed, they're sprint, they're start,

they're hurl, whatever it is. Or sometimes we

do relay, but it's one -on -one with me and the

athlete and the coach, whatever coaches are there.

want to be there and so I instruct and then we

look at it and we talk to the coach we talk to

the athlete and then we we apply some different

strategies then we go back and refilm it and

take another look at it and then when that athlete's

time is up then we go to the next step. All right

so this here that's one of your instruments that's

correct and then One more comment, and then we'll

go into that final word you want to leave everybody

with. Fair enough? Yep. And I've got one more

Instagram to go. OK. Dr. Marjory's journey to

earning her doctorate at 52 is truly inspiring.

Well, thank you. It was very hard work, and there

was a lot of failure. And the only reason I accomplished

it was because I really believed in myself and

was very persistent and didn't rely on any external

any external validation. So I think that my message

is, one, science is very accessible, two, biomechanics

is an important piece of the puzzle, and three,

if you really want something and decide you're

gonna get it, you have to believe in yourself

and you can't look to anyone else. You have to

really have that belief inside you and you have

to be persistent. All right. Was that your final

statement? Did we get into everything there?

All right. So I just now finished over the second

Instagram. And sorry about that. I misread that.

My bad. So Instagram. This is the other Instagram.

Now the difference is your personal account and

your sport account, correct? My business CompuSport

account, yes. So please buy the book, please

visit me at CompuSport .org and send me a message

through the contact us button. All right, why

don't you give everybody a big wave here. Thank

you very much for having me. I look forward to

having more discussions with you like this and

let me put you in the green room. Please leave

the M &Ms alone for the final seconds here and

I'll come back and I'll wrap this up and I'll

come back and chat with you. Thank you. Yeah,

that was an awesome show. It was one that I've

been looking forward to because I think a lot

of us have a lot of background and our kids.

and then bringing athletes up through different

levels of sport. And Amber, I want to thank you,

because I think we started talking about speed,

but we ended up talking something much bigger.

We talked about understanding what that means,

understanding how the body moves, understanding

why athletes get injured. understanding that

training is an automatically better training,

just because it's training. And understanding

that sometimes the smallest adjustment can make

an enormous difference, enormous. There is something

about that idea that reaches well beyond athletics

to me. This is just how I think about it. Effort

matters, of course. But effort without understanding,

we just talked about this, sometimes can take

us exactly in the wrong direction. We see that

everywhere, not only in sports, in business,

in our communities, even in our own lives. Sometimes

we're pushing harder and harder because we've

been taught that perseverance means never giving

up. uh giving up or or let letting go maybe but

maybe it's you know the wisdom is this it's knowing

when to push harder right and when to change

the way we're moving i also keep coming back

to something else from remember story you know

that that doctrine at 47 years old 48 years old

think about that i mean seriously think about

that there are people watching right They're

watching this right now. They believe they're

too old to start something, too old to change

careers, too old to go back to school, too old

to build a business, too old to write a book,

right? Too old to chase that dream they put away

20 years ago. Maybe somebody today needed, you

know, watching today, maybe they needed to see

this. Look, folks, the clock isn't your enemy.

Amber Murphy didn't allow a number attached to

her age to determine whether she was finished

learning or not. And today she is talking about

that knowledge and putting it into work and helping

other athletes understand their own potential.

It's interesting. And you know what? That matters

to me. because around this table, we talk constantly

about the great middle class, the parents, coaches,

teachers, entrepreneurs, workers, families, and

young people who are trying to, every day, they're

just trying to build something just a little

bit better. And sometimes building something

better doesn't begin with working harder. Sometimes

it begins with learning something we didn't know

yesterday. Amber, thank you. Thank you for bringing

that science and your own journey to our table.

And everyone who joined us live commented, shared

this conversation, or will discover it a little

bit later on. Thank you. There's something you

heard today. Maybe it made you think. of an athlete

or a coach, a parent, or somebody who simply

needs to be reminded that it's not too late to

pursue something bigger. Well, then share this

conversation with them. Subscribe to Insights

and Straight Talk. Follow us across our growing

ecosystem. And keep joining these conversations

because... This show was never built around one

voice. It was built around the table. A table

where scientists can sit next to parents, where

professional athletes can sit beside weakened

warriors, you know, where experts can sit besides

ordinary people asking extraordinary questions.

And where a disagreement doesn't have to end

a conversation. It can begin one. I'm Rob Duff

with Producer Barbie, and this is Insights and

Straight Talk, empowering the great middle class

one conversation at a time. Until next time,

remember, you have a seat, you have a voice,

and your voice belongs at the table. And with

that... Before you leave, if you'd like to watch

another one of the podcasts, click the first

link in the description. We love having you here

and we appreciate all your support. And with

that, producer Barbie and I are out.