Evidence Strong
161 episodes listed below
Strength science for serious coaching decisions.
Evidence Strong treats strength sport as a practical science problem. Guests explain research on lifting, testing, fatigue, eye pressure, youth development, and competition nerves, while the conversation keeps returning to what coaches can actually use.
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Evidence Strong is a research-minded interview show about weightlifting, strength sport, and performance under pressure. It moves slowly enough for complicated ideas to become usable. The host tends to steer with definitions, examples, and practical follow-ups, while the guest carries most of the technical weight. That gives the show a seminar feel without losing the rhythm of a coaching conversation. Recent episodes show its range clearly. Manuel Buitrago explains Chinese weightlifting through relationships, athlete dialogue, start positions, foot pressure, and force production. Marie-Claire Janot discusses strength qualities, countermovement jumps, back squats, intact force-time curves, and the value of testing movements athletes already know. Chris Massagno brings sport and exercise psychology into the competition setting, focusing on choking, anxiety, perfectionism, automatic execution, and the risk of overcoaching. Hilary Galvin approaches choking from the lifter's perspective, asking how athletes process mistakes and rebuild confidence after a poor competition. Feliciana Menno adds a health lens, connecting heavy exercise, eye pressure, glaucoma risk, caffeine, prevention, and athlete care. Ian Darragh talks about attempt selection and models that can inform competition strategy without replacing coaching judgment. Andy Fry treats overtraining as a term that needs careful definition rather than casual use. Zack Gillen connects youth strength norms to weight classes, training return, nutrition, recovery, and long-term development. The show is strongest when it slows down around a word everyone thinks they understand, such as strength, choking, fatigue, or pressure. It asks what the term means, how it can be measured, and what a coach should do differently after hearing the answer. The copybook lesson is rarely the point. Evidence Strong is more interested in when a tool works, where it breaks, and how much confidence a coach should place in it. The result is thoughtful, useful, and sometimes dense. It rewards listeners who enjoy the connection between research design and day-to-day coaching decisions.
Made for: For weightlifting coaches, strength and conditioning practitioners, competitive lifters, and sport science listeners who want research interpreted through real training problems.
What sets it apart: Evidence Strong is less interested in quick tips than in the reasoning behind them. It lets specialists explain mechanisms, measurement limits, and practical tradeoffs before turning toward coaching application.
The science of Olympic weightlifting and strength sports. Join expert conversations on the latest research and coaching trends. Each episode delivers actionable, science-driven tips for enhancing power and strength training.Want more? Check out extended episodes at https://www.patreon.com/collection/119238
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Research methods meet coaching judgment in detailed conversations about lifting performance, competition pressure and the limits of measurement.
Evidence Strong | Weightlifting Science treats performance questions as problems to define before they can be coached. In guest interviews, the host starts with definitions and research methods, then returns to what the evidence permits a coach to do.
A rising heel turns your next coaching cue into a question about force through the floor.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Chinese weightlifting is presented as coaching judgment, athlete management, and force production rather than mystery.
Manuel Butrago frames Chinese weightlifting as a matter of coaching judgment, not mystery. The conversation centers on how coaches read the athlete, keep the dialogue open, and decide when to press or ease off so fatigue does not spoil the next day.
Loaded jump testing meets the back squat, with coaches asked to measure what athletes regularly do.
Evidence Strong turns Marie-Claire Janot's newest study on the countermovement jump and back squat into a focused look at how loaded jump testing can sit beside strength testing in day-to-day coaching.
Pressure stays manageable when practice does the thinking and competition stays automatic.
Chris Massagno keeps the focus tight: pressure only matters once it starts changing how an athlete behaves. The useful split here is between adaptive perfectionism, which helps performance, and maladaptive perfectionism, which puts perfection ahead of success.
A practical look at when attempt jumps help, and when they start costing lifts.
Competition jumps in squat, bench, and deadlift are treated as more than a small coaching detail here. Ian Darragh and Alex make the case for why they matter, where a bigger attempt can help, and where it starts to work against the lifter.
A clear look at why sex-difference rules in sport do not fit neat categories.
The discussion treats sex classification in sport as a problem with rough edges, not a tidy binary. Shani walks through SRY, DSDs, testosterone, and receptor sensitivity, and keeps coming back to the limits of any single cutoff.
A Tokyo Olympics case study that puts athlete trust ahead of the training plan.
This conversation stays grounded in the Tokyo Olympics preparation story under COVID disruption, and that is where it works best. Shyam Chavda comes across clearly as someone arguing that the athlete comes first, with comfort and shared decisions treated as part of the work…
Mindset coaching for the next play.
Creative courage under real pressure.
Sport psychology made usable.
Life coaching through an athlete’s lens.
Sport psychology for the whole athlete.
Manuel Butrago explains how he teaches Chinese weightlifting worldwide.
Marie-Claire Janot, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Victoria and strength and conditioning coach with the Canadian Sport Institute and the Professional Women’s Hockey League in Vancouver, discusses her study on countermovement jump and one-rep max back squat testing.
Chris Massagno talks about choking under pressure in sport.
This episode explores how physical exercise, particularly strength training, affects eye health, focusing on conditions like glaucoma and the importance of prevention and regular check-ups for athletes.
Ian Darragh joins Alex to discuss how a model can inform best-attempt jumps without overriding coach judgment.
A weightlifting coach discusses choking under pressure in competitive weightlifting, its definition, causes, and strategies to overcome it.
An expert interview discussing the science of overtraining in resistance exercise and weightlifting.
An interview with a kinesiology professor discussing weight class optimization and training principles for strength athletes.
An expert interview discussing the science and risks of anabolic androgenic steroids in strength sports.
Discussion with weightlifting coach and scientist Bartosz Malak about factors affecting weightlifting performance in youth athletes, focusing on the role of fat free mass.
Alex welcomes Shanie Landen back and starts by setting out the basics.
Shyam Chavda returns with a case study on getting an athlete ready for the Tokyo Olympics during COVID-era disruption.
An interview with a chiropractor working with Chinese weightlifting teams discussing the training system and culture.
Interview with a professor and coach about lifelong involvement in Olympic weightlifting, based on a research paper.
Interview with a high school athletic director about integrating Olympic weightlifting into physical education classes.
A discussion with performance nutritionist Sinead about the causes and mechanisms of blackouts in Olympic weightlifters during the clean and jerk.
An interview with a professor and competitive Masters weightlifter discussing the science and training of older Olympic weightlifters.
An interview with biomechanics professor Tony Blazovic discussing post-activation potentiation and performance enhancement in weightlifting.
This episode discusses the use of mental imagery for Olympic weightlifting performance, featuring a mental performance consultant.
Interview with a sports scientist about a study on a five-day back squat overreaching protocol and its effects on strength and recovery.
An interview with a PhD student and former national champion weightlifter discussing hormones and their role in weightlifting performance.
A researcher discusses a study comparing the accuracy of velocity-tracking devices for weightlifting movements.
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An interview with an online powerlifting coach discussing the definition and effectiveness of online coaching in strength sports.
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An interview with a mental performance consultant who is also a competitive weightlifter, discussing the need for a support team in elite weightlifting.
A discussion on the science behind cold water immersion for muscle recovery and its placebo effects in athletes.
This episode features physiotherapist Sharon Kearney discussing how injury prevention and wellness strategies from netball can be applied to weightlifting, focusing on the Netball Smart program and improving female sports from community to high performance levels.
This episode features an interview with biomechanics researcher Francesco Travascio discussing his study on how using straps affects muscle activation during the snatch weightlifting movement.
This episode discusses a study on the accuracy of smartphone apps for measuring bar velocity in powerlifting, featuring an interview with researcher Alex Renner.
This episode features an interview with Mary Geneau discussing her PhD research on the five key domains of strength measurement in sports, emphasizing the importance of critical evaluation in selecting appropriate tests and metrics for athlete performance.
This episode explores the concept of psyching up in strength sports, discussing its definition, strategies, and impact on athlete performance with PhD student Kurtis Cusimano.