Elitefts SPP: Dan John Interview

Dan John Interview

Dan John is one of the most influential and popular authors in the Sports Performance Community.  Dan has competed in Track & Field, Olympic Weightlifting, and Highland games a the highest level.  He was an All-American Thrower in the discus and still holds the American Record in the Weight Pentathlon. Dan John is the author of Intervention, Never Let Go, and Mass Made Simple.  He has also co-authored Easy Strength with Pavel Tsatsouline.  I had the opportunity to sit down and interview Dan for this podcast during the last day of discus camp.  Our discussion covered many topics including the need to write Intervention, his 4 quadrants, youth training in America, 3 musts for trainers, periodization, assessment, and teaching the hip hinge.

For the last several years, I have made the trip to Granville, Ohio to visit with Dan at John Powell’s Throwing Camp on the campus of Denison University.  The first year, my assistants and I sat in an on-campus apartment and talked for hours about training, the industry, and life in general. To say if was a invaluable learning experience is an understatement.

Year two found me making the trek to my former place of employment twice.  The first time ended up being an outstanding roundtable of sorts as Nic Bronkal, Elitefts.com™ Advisor, J.L Holdsworth, myself, Derek Fry, and Nick Showman joined John Powell and Dan John. Anytime, you have a collection of coaches able to share ideas without ego, everyone involved wins.

Books by Dan John

Easy Strength: How to get  lot Stronger than you Competition (with Pavel Tsatsouline)

Intervention: Course Corrections for the Athlete and Trainer

Mass Made Simple: A Six-Week Journey into Bulking

Never Let Go: A Philosophy of Living, Lifting, and Learning

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Videos by Dan John

Intervention: Course Corrections for the Athlete and Trainer

Dan John 3-DVD Set: Everything’s Over my Head, From the Ground Up, and Carried Away

Dan John has spent his life with one foot in the world of lifting and throwing, and the other foot in academia. An All-American discus thrower, Dan has also competed at the highest levels of Olympic lifting, Highland Games and the Weight Pentathlon, an event in which he holds the American record.

Dan spends his work life blending weekly workshops and lectures with full-time writing, and is also an online religious studies instructor for Columbia College of Missouri. As a Fulbright Scholar, he toured the Middle East exploring the foundations of religious education systems. His books, on weightlifting, include Intervention, Never Let Go, Mass Made Simple and Easy Strength, written with Pavel Tsatsouline as well as From Dad, To Grad.