Yosef Johnson is the owner of Ultimate Athlete Concepts, a company based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, that he started in 2003 with the mission of “providing top quality information from the world’s leading coaches, scientists, and researchers.” Johnson has a quarter century of experience in the world of sports performance training. He has worked with athletes from the youth to pro levels and oversees the physical education program for the Reeths-Puffer School District.

Coach Johnson has had the unique privilege of close correspondence with top Soviet experts in the world of sport and human performance. He is one of the few coaches in the world to have personal relationships and mentorship with Dr. Yuri Verkhoshansky, Dr. Anatoliy Bondarchuk, and Dr. Michael Yessis. Coach Johnson has helped educate coaches and spread the popularity of the 1×20 strength training system invented by Dr. Yessis. He consults with and mentors both scholastic and private sector strength coaches.

Yosef lets listeners inside his connection with “The Big Three” in Russian sport performance methodology (Dr. Bondarchuk, Yuri Verkhoshansky, Dr. Yessis). He shares that knowledge with Joel and listeners of this episode. He discusses the 1×20 method that is gathering more and more notoriety, and also his knowledge of special strength methods, biomechanics, and long-term development.

In this podcast, Coach Yosef Johnson and Joel discuss:

• When and where special strength exercises should be placed in an athlete’s program.
• Ideas on what intensity levels to start young athletes with and how to progress.
• The 1×20 system and its training effect.
• Limiting factors of general strength and when to move into other modalities.
• In what instances he would suggest using Olympic movements.
• Anecdotes of his time with Dr. Bondarchuk.

Yosef Johnson can be found talking about Soviet strength and performance training on SimpliFaster.

Podcast total run time is 55:25.

Keywords: 1×20, special strength, Soviet System, general strength