Cal Dietz is the Head Olympic Sport Strength and Conditioning Coach at the University of Minnesota. He has been with Minnesota since 2000. Prior to his current position, Cal served as the strength coordinator at the University of Findlay (OH) where he oversaw 26 men’s and women’s sports. Coach Dietz has consulted with various professional sports including the NHL, NFL, NBA, and MLB. He has also worked with various Olympic and world champions. He is a sought-after presenter and has co-authored the top selling book, Triphasic Training: A systematic approach to elite speed and explosive strength performance.
Dietz is a native of Shelby, Ohio, who earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from the University of Findlay as well as a master’s in kinesiology from the University of Minnesota. He was an outstanding college athlete at Findley, winning three national championships in two different sports (football and wrestling). He was inducted into the Findley Hall of Fame in 2005.
Cal gives us an in-depth look into his latest methods in complex training for improving sprint speed. He explains that even bilateral hurdle hops have the potential to “mess athletes up” neurologically, and so Cal goes into detail on how he adjusted his complex training sets to address that. His programming for the weight room is done with the primary purpose of improving sprint speed and sprint mechanics. From this perspective, he gives his take on block periodization, and how he utilizes 5-,10-, and 20-yard dash markers to help determine an athlete’s primary training emphasis for the next block of work.
In this podcast Coach Cal Dietz and Joel discuss:
- Cal’s experience with various methods of training.
- Using running and speed to assess athletes and creating the required adaptations.
- Interpreting and discussing maximal velocity as a training linchpin.
- Quad-dominant vs. posterior chain-dominant athlete assessments + Cal’s 5-10-20 tool.
- The 5-10-20 tool simplified.
- Programming for athletes in need of isometric strength training.
