WEBVTT
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My why is to give kids what I didn't have growing up, to give them what the next level looks like, and to show them the opportunities that can be created through our sport.
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If I didn't have track to go to the next level, I probably wouldn't have gone to college at all.
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We couldn't afford college.
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And my job was to get a scholarship if I wanted to go to college because mom wasn't going to pay for it.
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My goal is to fill that gap.
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My why is to give kids that same opportunity that track provided to me.
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Welcome to the PT Rebels Podcast.
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This is the place to learn how you can become a PT Rebel and take charge of your own health and wellness.
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We will help you find answers to your questions about pain, injury, and the path towards healing in the most efficient and effective way possible.
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I'm your host, Dr.
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Jim Podcast, everyone.
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On today's episode, I wanted to welcome Tanya Vassar to the podcast.
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She's a good friend and also a gym owner in Denver at Hustle Gym and also Hustle Track Club.
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Tanya spent her life optimizing health and performance, not only for herself, but also for her clients.
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With a master's degree in exercise science and a true passion for self-mastery, she teaches the techniques for continued success.
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As a collegiate track and field academic all-American, Tanya brings her educational background, personal collegiate competition experience, and years of coaching collegiate athletes and high school athletes alike.
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She specializes in movement mechanics, motivation, and teaching the essential principles to succeed at the next level.
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No matter your sport, no matter your goals, Tanya can help you improve your athleticism and health to reach the next level.
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Tanya was a Division I track and field coach, a Division I strength edition coach, and has coached 21 All-Americans and won a national championship title in NCAA Division II.
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Tanya, welcome to the podcast.
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Thank you for having me, Gina.
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I'm really excited to be here with you today.
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Me too.
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I've known Tanya for quite some time, and I've wanted to have her on the podcast for a while.
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She's very inspirational.
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I've watched the magic she's been able to perform with her high school athletes, and I wanted to share that with you all today.
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Tanya, tell us more about yourself, your family, and what your day-to-day looks like.
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My name is Tanya Bassard Grooms, and I am originally from Cheyenne, Wyoming.
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I went to college to a division two in South Dakota and then got a master's degree from Adam State here in Colorado and coached there for two years before moving to the division one level, coaching there for four years.
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And then got out of the collegiate game and opened my own sports performance facility in Denver to help get kids to the next level, hopefully on a scholarship.
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But if not, at least get them recruited and then hopefully they'll be able to earn a scholarship once they get to that level.
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What does life look like as a busy mom and business owner and coach?
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How do you balance all of that?
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I'm pretty blessed, being my own boss and whatnot.
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She'll go with me to training sessions and truck practices and trek meets.
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She actually gets upset if she doesn't get to string along with us.
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She loves track just as much as everyone else in our family.
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And so just balancing, making sure she's getting her meals where I'm getting my meal.
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And then giving the best quality coaching we can to our athlete from session to session and also trying to inspire them, do the right things on their own time before we see them again.
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Tell us about your own personal track and field journey.
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How long have you been involved with track and fields, both as an athlete and a coach?
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So I started running a track formally, you could say, in fourth grade.
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I lived in Las Vegas at the time, and they had a four-week season.
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That's where I did hurdles.
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Where I started was on the hurdles.
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And then I just fell in love with it.
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I loved that when I worked hard, I got the return from that.
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It was all on me.
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If I did more, I got more return.
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I did all different sports during high school, basketball, volleyball, soccer, and track.
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And then in my junior year, I decided I probably needed to start focusing on what might pay for college.
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And that was track.
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I was a scholarship athlete at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota, where I did the Heptahlon and loved that.
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And then after I graduated, I was a grad assistant in Adams.
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When did you decide to open Hustle Denver Gym?
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And when did you start Hustle Track Club?
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So I left college athletics in the summer of 2017 with not really a clue of what I was doing, but just in my heart knowing that there was something more for me to be doing versus sending emails back to kids saying sorry, you're not good enough to run college athletics.
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It was really in my heart trying to bridge that gap.
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I've always had the dream of having my own sports performance facility since I was a sophomore in high school.
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It timed up really well with my now husband, who I was dating at the time, for us to stop dating long distance for two and a half years and start trying it in the same town.
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And so I moved down to Denver and I worked six jobs, got a real estate license, was showing houses and everything, just trying to build up my clientele.
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So by February of 2018, so about eight months after doing that, I was in a position where I could pursue looking for my own facility.
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And then I was in my own facility, only 1,100 square feet, just a small studio by August 2018.
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And then I was only in that facility for about six months before I had to upgrade.
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I was very lucky that my landlord had a pretty big building and he let me just navigate around to the bigger space.
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And now we're in a 5,000 square foot space.
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I would never go back to college athletics.
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I find what I do now much more rewarding, finding 10, 15, 20% more out of an athlete versus 1% every year at the college level.
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How have you seen Hustle Track Club grow throughout the years?
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And what impact has that track club had on athletes in the Denver metro area?
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When I left college track and field, I didn't intend to be a high school track coach.
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My intention was to open my facility and do one-on-one training in small groups and not really be on the field with track kids.
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But word got around that I was from to have a master's degree in exercise science.
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So I had two girls sign up with me and had a lot of success with both of them with less than a year of training and they got scholarship.
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I guess the best thing for my business is referrals.
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Once one person got a scholarship, three more kids came.
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And then it just grew from there, all very much organic.
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This past year, we graduated 18 track athletes, and 14 of them are going on to be freshmen in college and run track this year.
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That's just a huge impact.
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And I've seen very fast growth and congratulations on that.
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I think that you're really able to impact a lot of kids' lives in such a positive way.
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Tell us more about the mission and vision for Hessel Track Club.
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Our mission really is to put kids in a position to be successful.
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A 12-week high school season is not enough time to be good at our sport.
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And you even in those 12 weeks, do you have the right person in place to at least get something out of you within those 12 weeks?
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Our goal is to give you what you need, definitely give you what I didn't have growing up.
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And that was knowledge and science and math training to help me improve as my own individual athlete to get to the next level.
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Our vision is to be the top track club in the state.
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Colorado is very big on club track, but I think there are a lot of gaps when it comes to high quality training.
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We're not just a numbers kind of program, we're a quality kind of program.
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And I think our performances speak for themselves when it comes to the level of quality we provide.
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We also do believe that if you work hard and you give 100% effort with every opportunity and have a bad attitude about it, you're going to be successful in some way and improve as an athlete.
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Tell us more about your why.
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What drives you and motivates you to own and operate several businesses and to continue to lead and coach, track, and field athletes.
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My why is I grew up in Wyoming.
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One of my PE teachers was our coach.
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Our driver's education teacher was our other coach.
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And it was just training the people who were fast were gonna be pretty fast, and the kids who weren't were trying to play catch-up.
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My why is to give kids what I didn't have growing up, to give them what the next level looks like, and to show them the opportunities that can be created through our sport.
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If I didn't have track to go to the next level, I probably wouldn't have gone to college at all.
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We couldn't afford college.
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And my job was to get a scholarship if I wanted to go to college, and mom wasn't gonna pay for it.
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My goal is to fill that gap.
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My why is to give kids that same opportunity that track provided to me.
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Let's talk about our friendship and affiliation with FICPT Performance and Hustle Track Club.
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Tanya, I think I met you in 2017 through the mutual connections and athletes that we were both working with.
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I found out about your background and that you were a strength conditioning coach and that you had really advanced training and knowledge, and you're producing some really good results with athletes that I'd seen.
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And so I was excited about the opportunity to meet you and to learn more about you.
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And since then, we've had the opportunity to work with several of your athletes.
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I just wanted to know, in your opinion, what makes a successful partnership with a physical therapist?
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And how do you, as a coach, come to trust a physical therapist to work with your track and field athletes?
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So having coached at the college level, my expectation is that the care team for the athlete is on the mission of getting the kid back on the field or track as quickly as possible in a safe manner.
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Most of my experience with physical therapist is hey, you come in, we have 10 sessions that your insurance pays for, and we're going to use all 10 sessions to get you back.
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Typically, those sessions are one time a week, and that's 10 weeks.
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Being out for 10 weeks in our sport, the season's already over, regardless if it's indoor, outdoor, or summer.
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So my expectation is that the communication with the physical therapist is transparent.
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Our goal is that this kit is ready for our nationals in five weeks, and then realistic treatment program for that and communication of if that's achievable or not.
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And then communicating with the kid with what is going to be required for that to happen.
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I have had very little success with any physical therapist other than you, Gina, in that level of communication, honesty, and progression with athletes.
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So that's why I send everyone to you, even though for a lot of them it might be a 45, 50 minute drive one way.
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Yeah, I think that knowing what Tanya's abilities are as not only a track and field coach, but a strength and conditioning specialist really helps me partner with her as well because I know that I can return the kid back to sport faster because she has a good understanding of the injury of what that athlete can continue to do strength and conditioning wise.
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We don't want to completely shut an athlete down.
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We want them to continue to do as much as possible.
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So even if it's a hamstrings here, Tani and I work together to make sure that kid is still lifting, still doing as much as possible, doing exercises on the energy limb.
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I trust her to be able to return that athlete back to sport properly, even when it comes to looking at mechanics.
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That's a huge thing.
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A lot of our athletes are getting injured in the first place because they don't have proper mechanics.
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They aren't doing proper strengthening and conditioning programs either in their high school or through other means.
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And so it's really a lot of fun to be able to partner with a coach like Tanya because she has such a good understanding and a mutual respect of I know what my boundaries are.
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Tanya knows what her limitations are.
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As if she's not a physical therapist, I'm not a track coach.
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And so being able to partner together in that and really get the best out of the athlete is really what it's all about to get that athlete back as quickly, safely as possible.
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And I think a lot of people have that same message, but we truly do that here.
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And when an athlete comes in with, say, hamstring injury, I'll be able to differentially diagnose and tell her, hey, it's a grade one, here's what they can still do.
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Let's get them back, or give her an accurate timeline of when that kid can be back racing.
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A lot of that just comes with communication and trust.
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And that's what we've been able to develop well over the last several years.
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If you have a track and field athlete and he or she is dealing with the injury, such as a hamstring tear, for example, how do you approach that injury?
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And how is partnering with FICPT and performance helped in accelerating that recovery process?
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Um, typically, a lot of kids sometimes they're not sure if they've injured their hamstring or not, if they don't feel like a pop or anything.
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I'm a big fan of I don't need a practice hero.
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So if something doesn't feel right, we can shut it down or we can modify.
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And then my first thing I do is I obviously want to refer them.
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I don't have the knowledge or technology to diagnose a hamstring injury.
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So my goal is to get an answer first, because I think a lot of kids these days want answers.
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And it's not necessary for them to go two, three weeks with pain before they address something.
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And it's definitely not my job to push them through it to see if it's an injury or not.
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So my first thing I do is I try to get them in with sick peepee.
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And then the next thing is I speak with Gina directly or the care team to understand the severity, the limitation, and then what can be done.
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I think it's definitely my job to be trustworthy when it comes to taking that information and holding to it.
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If they say an athlete can't go above 70%, I need to know what 70% is for that athlete and be very strict with them to that 70%.
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When we look to a progression back to sprinting protocol, which Gina and I have used different levels of research to develop a program that really does work within my training scheme, we need to know what 75% effort looks like for 100 meters.
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It's not just a perceived effort.
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I want an exact time.
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So communicating with the care team, asking questions if things seem to be out of place or not progressing well is really important.
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And just really relying on the communication and honesty between the physical therapist, the athlete, and myself in all regards to get the athlete back.
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If there is an issue, whether the athlete wants to push it further, they don't feel confident to progress when they are ready to progress, then those are things where we make modifications, such as, all right, let's start on the bike to see if we can push the limit there and try to build some confidence.
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And then also helping athletes understand the mental aspect of getting through an injury, what that looks like, how to be realistic and how to understand that injuries are at some point inevitable, and how to utilize that time to take a step back and use it as a learning tool, as a way to better understand their body, how to better listen to the cues their body is giving them to hopefully prevent it from happening again.
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In your opinion, what is the difference between a physical therapist who is an expert in sports physical therapy and rehabilitation versus a general physical therapist?
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And what does that look like in terms of return to sport?
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What are those differences that you've seen?
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I think a lot of people misunderstand track and field as a sport.
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Repeated hamstring injuries shouldn't be a problem, but we always end up with them.
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And most physical therapists just address it as, oh, they have weak hamstrings or they have weak glute.
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And unfortunately, that's a very terrible excuse.
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The majority of track athletes are not going to have weak hamstrings.
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Most of the issues come with mechanical changes that need to be occurring because something is inefficient in the movement pattern.
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Being able to understand the movement pattern that is necessary for athletes.
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Not every movement pattern is the same for every athlete, but the athlete you have and how their body needs to work with physics in order to be efficient is really important.
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Physical therapists who don't have a lot of expert geese in working with specifically track athletes, understand how to implement that.
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We can rehab the hamstring all we want and get it back to healthy.
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But if you get back on the track and you've got bad hip posture, anterior, posterior, posterior tilt in the wrong phase of your running, you're going to be re-injured.
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So having someone who's a sport specialist for that is really important because then we can start to look at making the changes technically and not always just bring weak hamstrings.
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What we do is we take different aspects of the warm-up, or we take different aspects of sprinting mechanics and the positions that they have to get into, we make sure that we're training that here so that when they get back out into the track or the gym with you, those are not unfamiliar and those are not things that they can't perform.
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If they don't have proper hip mobility, maybe they can't get in proper positions to be able to get in optimal mechanics for sprinting.
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Or if they have too much anterior pelvic tilt, putting their hamstring at risk for reinjury, or they don't have proper dorsal flexion in their ankle and foot.
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There's so many things that we look at.
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This didn't just happen overnight.
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For me as a physical therapist, I've spent so much time asking questions, looking at videos, asking coaches questions, understanding what ideal mechanics look like for sprinting and really diving deep into that and how that translates into anatomy strengths.
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How do we test strength?
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How do we talk to athletes about certain cues?
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I talked to Tanya this weekend about how to cues for certain skills.
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It's important for me to be able to know that so we can also give them similar cues when we're working with them so that it's more streamlined.
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I think some sports physical therapists have this perception that because they're sports physical therapists, they automatically can train track and field athletes at a high level.
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And I think to be good at being a physical therapist who works with track and field athletes at that level, you really have to dive in and have a really good understanding of what that means and what that looks like.
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And for track and field, it's different for every event.
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So there's some similarities, obviously, but it can look different if you're throwing javelin versus if you're a pole vaulter versus if you're a triple jumper.
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So I'll ask Tanya a lot of questions and she'll teach me like this is what they should be doing in triple jump.
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And that how important is communication?
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We spoke a little bit about it before, but how important is communication with medical providers and in this case physical therapists when handing athletes who are struggling with injuries?
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And what has that looked like for us working together?
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Communication is essential.
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If you don't want to repeat the path, there has to be something in place to prevent that.
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A lot of kids get re-injured because the communication between the care team, that coach, and the athlete is unclear or not being followed.
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If you don't have the ability as a coach to communicate with the care team, chances are what you're getting from the middleman, which is typically the athlete, isn't quite accurate.
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And if there's not accuracy, then we're probably going to end up with an injury again.
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So every person I have that works with a physical therapist or a chiropractor or whoever it might be, I always request that they give permission to share their treatment notes and everything so there's a better understanding to be able to get on the phone with them.
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I've noticed that as well.
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One thing I think as physical therapists, we need to be really accessible.
00:21:23.119 --> 00:21:26.559
And in our practice, that's one thing that we always try to do.
00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:40.480
I think it's really important that the athlete is hearing the same message from the physical therapist, from the coach, and that everyone's on the same page, especially when it comes to time frames and expectations in terms of what activity level they can be doing.
00:21:40.640 --> 00:21:46.160
So, what I'll try to do if I have the athlete here in the clinic is I'll just try to call Tanya before they leave.
00:21:46.240 --> 00:21:47.359
I'll try to get her on the phone.
00:21:47.519 --> 00:21:59.359
I tell Tanya exactly what I've just told the athlete, their parents about what's wrong, realistic expectations for return to sport, what those guidelines should look like, and what the athlete should and shouldn't be doing.
00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:08.400
So that Way the athlete and the parents know that not only have I spoken into what I think would be the best plan of care for them, but that the coach is on the same page.
00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:12.799
What do you do as a coach to ensure that your athletes stay healthy?
00:22:13.119 --> 00:22:22.160
And what are some of the strategies in terms of strength conditioning, recovery, et cetera, that help ensure your athletes don't lose time away from sport being injured?
00:22:22.799 --> 00:22:24.720
We have the option to train year-round.
00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:29.920
If I can, I encourage all of our athletes to get started with our base strength phase in August.
00:22:30.160 --> 00:22:32.720
We don't run during our base strength phase.
00:22:32.799 --> 00:22:46.240
It's just eight weeks of strength training where I'm asking them to be put in positions and under load that they're going to experience when they do get on the track, within a much more controlled environment where we're not going 100 meters worth of it or doing six reps of it.
00:22:46.480 --> 00:22:48.079
I like to start them there.
00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:53.759
And I start with physics physics is always going to win.
00:22:53.920 --> 00:22:56.799
And it's our job to learn how to work with it.
00:22:57.039 --> 00:22:59.039
We can get away with trying to fight it.
00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:06.480
And a lot of times we get poor results or injuries or decline performance and a lot of frustration.
00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:18.799
So if we can understand how physics works, we can understand how the body is designed and then put those two together to help them work harmoniously, then we can have a healthy athlete.
00:23:19.119 --> 00:23:23.359
I pride myself on not having many issues with injuries.
00:23:23.680 --> 00:23:33.839
I would love to send more business to you and potentially have them in my own facility, but we just don't produce enough need, I guess, for that.
00:23:34.079 --> 00:23:40.000
There's always an instant where a kid gets excited and they get greedy out of the blocks and they reach.
00:23:40.079 --> 00:23:43.680
And then there is a need to be seen by fake PT.
00:23:43.920 --> 00:23:49.119
It's in our best interest to start from ground zero to base all of our training off of science.
00:23:49.359 --> 00:23:58.880
And then from that, figure out from past experience what works and doesn't work for the athlete you have directly in front of you.
00:23:59.119 --> 00:24:01.359
Not every athlete is going to be coached the same.
00:24:01.519 --> 00:24:16.799
And so being able and willing to make modifications and changes for the athlete as an individual human being and not a machine is really important, trying to help them understand and be students of the sport themselves.
00:24:17.039 --> 00:24:26.319
They can watch videos of world-class block starters and think that they need to get that aggressive an angle off their block push.
00:24:26.400 --> 00:24:30.319
And the truth is they're not explosive enough or strong enough to hold that kind of angle.
00:24:30.480 --> 00:24:43.440
So helping them understand that if we want to have a steeper angle off our block start, that we need to see these kind of measures achieved in the weight room to war into those things and that with all a progression.
00:24:43.599 --> 00:24:58.400
We might start at a little bit higher block start angle and gradually see ourselves over the years get to something more aggressive that's sustainable, but then also works with the body that they have and the physics that we work with every day to achieve success.
00:24:59.759 --> 00:25:06.720
In your opinion, what makes a successful athlete specifically a successful track and field athlete?
00:25:07.680 --> 00:25:15.119
Oh man, I think there's three or four characteristics that I think every track athlete has to possess.
00:25:15.759 --> 00:25:25.440
One of them is the drive to want to be more or achieve more or go further than where they're currently at.
00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:34.559
Any other sport, you can stay stagnant and continue to get playing time and still feel somewhat successful.
00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:37.839
In track, the numbers don't lie.
00:25:38.079 --> 00:25:42.960
If you're not wanting to achieve more, you'll continually run the same time.
00:25:43.440 --> 00:25:48.799
Wanting to do more, be more, and achieve more is really important to be successful in track.
00:25:49.440 --> 00:25:53.519
The second thing is being willing to be uncomfortable.
00:25:53.839 --> 00:25:55.839
Our sport is hard.
00:25:56.160 --> 00:25:57.599
There's no easy way to say it.
00:25:57.680 --> 00:26:00.000
Lactic days are miserable.
00:26:00.160 --> 00:26:04.559
And you really just have to embrace the suck in and be okay with that.
00:26:04.799 --> 00:26:12.480
So having the ability to be uncomfortable to the point where you're comfortable with that is really important.
00:26:12.960 --> 00:26:16.160
And the next thing I would say is communication.
00:26:16.319 --> 00:26:29.599
If you can't openly communicate how your body is feeling with where you're at, with all the other life factors that are always weighing on our teenagers these days, so that your coach can then understand and maybe make a modification.
00:26:29.839 --> 00:26:37.119
That's the only way you're going to have longevity in our sports, if you're honest with how your body is feeling and where you're currently at.
00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:40.079
Because, like I said before, we don't need practice heroes.
00:26:40.160 --> 00:26:42.160
We need to be thinking about the long term.
00:26:42.319 --> 00:26:49.119
But a lot of times that's nationals, a lot of times that's enough races to hit a PR and then be noticed for recruiting.
00:26:49.359 --> 00:26:52.799
I would say probably those three things are really important.
00:26:53.039 --> 00:27:00.880
If you have those three things and you can bring a great attitude every day to practice, you're going to improve, especially in our program.
00:27:01.039 --> 00:27:07.519
If you give me great attitude and great effort, every time you step on the track with me, you're going to see improvements.
00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:11.599
And then obviously you have to do other things right outside of track practice.
00:27:11.920 --> 00:27:20.400
But I think track is awesome because we cater to so many different kinds of athletes, as well as so many different kinds of body types.
00:27:20.720 --> 00:27:31.200
But I think what keeps all of the event groups common is the mentality it takes to be successful in a sport that's so individual.
00:27:32.480 --> 00:27:40.000
What are some of the pitfalls that you see or roadblocks to the path of success for high school or collegiate track and field athletes?
00:27:40.960 --> 00:27:43.759
Oh, I think one of the big pitfalls is social media.
00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:47.440
I know everyone says that social media, this, social media that.
00:28:48.160 --> 00:28:57.200
I can tell when a kid shows up to practice that they're not a hundred percent there communicating with them to try and figure out what might be the issue.
00:28:57.359 --> 00:29:08.319
And then from there, helping provide perspective, letting them know that one day doesn't determine your outcome or your identity in this sport.
00:29:08.640 --> 00:29:18.960
Also helping them understand that it's hard to be good at our sport and you have to give it time and patience and a lot of concerted effort to get to where we want to go.
00:29:19.599 --> 00:29:28.319
But more recently, I have decided, because I'm very big on doing mindset and mental health.
00:29:28.559 --> 00:29:31.440
I read and listen to podcasts and all those kinds of things.
00:29:31.680 --> 00:29:35.920
I've decided to do a mindset class for track athletes specifically.
00:29:36.319 --> 00:29:48.559
And in that, I'm taking a lot of the information and data that's provided through mindset coaching books and interpreting it in a way that makes sense sense to a high school track athlete.
00:29:48.799 --> 00:30:03.839
I've talked with a lot of our college kids and got their perspectives about how they handled things and went through things and made breakthroughs in their high school careers, where they're at now in college and how things have changed or shifted or what the same and remain.
00:30:04.400 --> 00:30:24.559
And then I've compiled six different lessons that we'll be doing one time a week to help kids get in the right mindset and in the terms of the title of the class through the finish for track, keeping things in perspective, understanding that everything is a progression.
00:30:24.799 --> 00:30:35.599
And then also how to uh kind of block out the other things around you that are trying to put influence, but actually have no determination in your success unless you let them.
00:30:35.920 --> 00:30:50.480
So I'm gonna try and make it more streamlined in that way so they can have more individual attention on a larger scale with kids versus having the same conversation with 10 different kids every other week of the year.
00:30:50.799 --> 00:30:52.400
I think that's a really good idea.
00:30:52.559 --> 00:31:01.920
One of the things that I see most in the clinic here when I work with high school track and field athletes is that there's so much going on sometimes mentally and not just physically.
00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:04.880
And that plays into their physical recovery as well.
00:31:05.039 --> 00:31:06.960
So I'm glad that you're addressing that.
00:31:07.119 --> 00:31:15.599
I think that can not only help kids recover from injury faster, but also excel in their performance and take their performance to the next level.
00:31:15.839 --> 00:31:24.640
I know that one of the goals of Hessel Track Club is to ensure that your athletes are successful beyond high school and into college and even beyond.
00:31:24.880 --> 00:31:32.319
How do you help high school athletes with the recruiting process and help them prepare to be successful collegiate student athletes?
00:31:32.720 --> 00:31:37.680
We very much so try to run our program, how a college program would be run.
00:31:38.240 --> 00:31:42.720
Being able to train year-round is going to be required of you at the college level.
00:31:42.880 --> 00:31:45.119
So we offer the ability to train year-round.
00:31:45.279 --> 00:32:07.279
We go through different training phases just like they would at the college level, whether it's base strength, pre-comp competition phase, those kind of things, so that the kids can get used to and understand that track is a 24-7 or it is not like I show up for three hours for 12 weeks of the season and I'm a high-level track athlete.
00:32:07.519 --> 00:32:16.319
We also try to provide opportunities at high-level competitions where they've held indoor world championships before or Olympic trials before.
00:32:16.480 --> 00:32:22.000
So kids can see what the next level in the scale of that level looks like.
00:32:22.319 --> 00:32:29.759
Having been a recruiting coordinator at the Division I level, I'm pretty in tune with what coaches are looking for when it comes to being recruited.
00:32:29.920 --> 00:32:35.279
We do individual recruiting meetings with all of our juniors who are going into their senior year.
00:32:35.519 --> 00:32:41.680
And we help them understand where they're at and what they need to achieve to get to the schools they're interested in.
00:32:41.920 --> 00:33:01.680
And then we also help them navigate the websites to fill out the questionnaires and put together emails and how to understand if a visit is official or unofficial and what that might say or indicate about their ability to maybe get scholarship at that school and really just guide them through it.
00:33:01.920 --> 00:33:08.079
With the NCAA's landscape, it's getting harder and harder to get recruited out of high school.
00:33:08.480 --> 00:33:19.359
And we want to make sure that everything is transparent for kids so they don't have a really big, lofty goal and get really excited about something that's not even a possibility.
00:33:19.759 --> 00:33:21.200
We facilitate all of that.
00:33:21.359 --> 00:33:24.799
And we understand that not all athletes want to run at the college level.
00:33:25.039 --> 00:33:29.759
So we do everything that we can to make them as good as we can have them be before they graduate.
00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:37.519
And then that way they are at peace with what their athletic career comes to by the time they graduate.
00:33:38.720 --> 00:33:44.720
Can you share a few success stories of athletes that you have coached and a little bit about their journeys and where they are now?
00:33:44.960 --> 00:33:47.359
So a couple athletes come to mind.
00:33:47.519 --> 00:33:50.640
I'll start with the first one that we had the most success with.
00:33:50.799 --> 00:33:54.240
She was a 300 hurdler, ran on the relays.
00:33:54.480 --> 00:34:02.960
When I first started working with her, she ran 69 or 70 seconds in the 400 hurdles.
00:34:03.359 --> 00:34:08.159
It was very apparent that she didn't need much more to run faster time.
00:34:08.400 --> 00:34:15.599
She was very front-end mechanic driven to the point where she was reaching and pulling when she would run, which was costing her a lot of energy.
00:34:15.760 --> 00:34:21.840
We trained for about three months before she was able to get into another 400-meter hurdle competition.
00:34:22.000 --> 00:34:26.079
She ended up running 64 seconds, so a six-second PR.
00:34:26.400 --> 00:34:36.239
And then that took her from only really getting looked at by some small schools around the state to getting scholarship offered to Oklahoma.
00:34:37.280 --> 00:34:43.119
Another athlete, he was actually on your podcast, this last one that you did, Benjamin Kirk.
00:34:43.280 --> 00:34:48.239
He was a football kid that came out and was just trying to get faster for football.
00:34:48.480 --> 00:34:59.840
As he'll say, he fell in love with my coaching style and the program and really didn't have many offers for football, none of substance, at least that he was willing to entertain.
00:35:00.239 --> 00:35:04.480
And he really liked the environment and culture much better of the track program.
00:35:04.559 --> 00:35:07.519
So he decided to go all in on track his senior year.
00:35:07.679 --> 00:35:19.039
So I told him if he gives me one dedicated year, really trying to do everything that I asked, do it to a high level, I could guarantee him that he would have the opportunity to run in college.
00:35:19.360 --> 00:35:25.199
And like Ben Kirk, he did exactly what I asked, and he did it to the best of his ability.
00:35:25.360 --> 00:35:36.800
And he went from having very low-level football scholarship offers to making the team at UCLA, which definitely wouldn't have been an option for him in the realm of football.
00:35:36.960 --> 00:35:56.239
So his dream school, running track, and given he only had one full dedicated year to the sport of track, I think that was a very good success story given that he went from not making finals in the hundred meter his junior year to winning state in the one and the two as a senior.
00:35:56.559 --> 00:36:02.880
I know those athletes both very well and they both attribute their success to you.
00:36:03.280 --> 00:36:09.760
I know that the athletes on your club team and the athletes that you've come in contact with feel the same way.
00:36:09.840 --> 00:36:13.599
And it's really cool to see the change that you can make in kids' lives.
00:36:13.679 --> 00:36:16.000
And I know that's a big why you do this.
00:36:16.239 --> 00:36:17.119
Thank you.
00:36:17.679 --> 00:36:22.079
What is your vision for the future in terms of Hustle Denver and Hustle Track Club?
00:36:22.400 --> 00:36:28.559
I think the space we have is really perfect for what it is that we're trying to achieve.
00:36:28.800 --> 00:36:37.039
My vision is to bring in a couple more high-level trainers so that we can really reach out to more of the community.
00:36:37.280 --> 00:36:44.800
There's way too much demand for what we do, and there's not enough high quality trainers to provide it.
00:36:45.039 --> 00:36:50.320
When you look at the stats of sports performance gyms in Colorado, it's astonishing.
00:36:50.559 --> 00:36:52.800
And not all of them are created equal.
00:36:53.039 --> 00:37:02.320
I have a very high standard when it comes to hiring, but I would love to get a couple more high-level coaches into the facility to help more kids get to that next level.
00:37:02.559 --> 00:37:21.039
And then for the track club, I would really like to bring in one or two coaches just for track who have a passion and love for the sport, like I do, who've also been college athletes and want to somehow give back and turn coaching high schoolers into a part of their why as well.
00:37:21.280 --> 00:37:24.639
And then from there to continue to build our Hustle Dynasty.
00:37:24.960 --> 00:37:26.079
Fantastic.
00:37:26.400 --> 00:37:33.920
Tanya, if someone wants to get in touch with you and learn more about Hustle Track Club or Hustle Gym, what is the best way to reach you?
00:37:34.239 --> 00:37:36.079
You can always Google Hustle Denver.
00:37:36.159 --> 00:37:39.519
It should pull us up and you can reach us through our contact form there.
00:37:39.760 --> 00:37:47.920
Or you can always just direct message us on Instagram at Hustle Denver or Hustle PC.
00:37:48.320 --> 00:37:50.880
That's our track club and our gym pages.
00:37:51.119 --> 00:37:54.400
We check those regularly and we can get back to you right away.
00:37:54.880 --> 00:37:57.119
Thank you so much for being on the podcast today.
00:37:57.360 --> 00:38:05.599
I know that our listeners are going to learn a lot about the collaboration between physical therapists and coaches and about yourself as a track and field coach.
00:38:05.840 --> 00:38:06.559
Thank you, Gina.
00:38:06.639 --> 00:38:14.000
And thank you so much for having me and looking for my insight on how we both collaborate in working with athletes.
00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:12.880
My why is to give kids what I didn't have growing up, to give them what the next level looks like, and to show them the opportunities that can be created through our sport.
00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:19.280
If I didn't have track to go to the next level, I probably wouldn't have gone to college at all.
00:00:19.519 --> 00:00:20.960
We couldn't afford college.
00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:25.679
And my job was to get a scholarship if I wanted to go to college because mom wasn't going to pay for it.
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My goal is to fill that gap.
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My why is to give kids that same opportunity that track provided to me.
00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:38.399
Welcome to the PT Rebels Podcast.
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This is the place to learn how you can become a PT Rebel and take charge of your own health and wellness.
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We will help you find answers to your questions about pain, injury, and the path towards healing in the most efficient and effective way possible.
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I'm your host, Dr.
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Jim Podcast, everyone.
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On today's episode, I wanted to welcome Tanya Vassar to the podcast.
00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:07.840
She's a good friend and also a gym owner in Denver at Hustle Gym and also Hustle Track Club.
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Tanya spent her life optimizing health and performance, not only for herself, but also for her clients.
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With a master's degree in exercise science and a true passion for self-mastery, she teaches the techniques for continued success.
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As a collegiate track and field academic all-American, Tanya brings her educational background, personal collegiate competition experience, and years of coaching collegiate athletes and high school athletes alike.
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She specializes in movement mechanics, motivation, and teaching the essential principles to succeed at the next level.
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No matter your sport, no matter your goals, Tanya can help you improve your athleticism and health to reach the next level.
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Tanya was a Division I track and field coach, a Division I strength edition coach, and has coached 21 All-Americans and won a national championship title in NCAA Division II.
00:02:06.719 --> 00:02:08.560
Tanya, welcome to the podcast.
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Thank you for having me, Gina.
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I'm really excited to be here with you today.
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Me too.
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I've known Tanya for quite some time, and I've wanted to have her on the podcast for a while.
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She's very inspirational.
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I've watched the magic she's been able to perform with her high school athletes, and I wanted to share that with you all today.
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Tanya, tell us more about yourself, your family, and what your day-to-day looks like.
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My name is Tanya Bassard Grooms, and I am originally from Cheyenne, Wyoming.
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I went to college to a division two in South Dakota and then got a master's degree from Adam State here in Colorado and coached there for two years before moving to the division one level, coaching there for four years.
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And then got out of the collegiate game and opened my own sports performance facility in Denver to help get kids to the next level, hopefully on a scholarship.
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But if not, at least get them recruited and then hopefully they'll be able to earn a scholarship once they get to that level.
00:03:06.639 --> 00:03:10.080
What does life look like as a busy mom and business owner and coach?
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How do you balance all of that?
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I'm pretty blessed, being my own boss and whatnot.
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She'll go with me to training sessions and truck practices and trek meets.
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She actually gets upset if she doesn't get to string along with us.
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She loves track just as much as everyone else in our family.
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And so just balancing, making sure she's getting her meals where I'm getting my meal.
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And then giving the best quality coaching we can to our athlete from session to session and also trying to inspire them, do the right things on their own time before we see them again.
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Tell us about your own personal track and field journey.
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How long have you been involved with track and fields, both as an athlete and a coach?
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So I started running a track formally, you could say, in fourth grade.
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I lived in Las Vegas at the time, and they had a four-week season.
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That's where I did hurdles.
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Where I started was on the hurdles.
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And then I just fell in love with it.
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I loved that when I worked hard, I got the return from that.
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It was all on me.
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If I did more, I got more return.
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I did all different sports during high school, basketball, volleyball, soccer, and track.
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And then in my junior year, I decided I probably needed to start focusing on what might pay for college.
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And that was track.
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I was a scholarship athlete at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota, where I did the Heptahlon and loved that.
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And then after I graduated, I was a grad assistant in Adams.
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When did you decide to open Hustle Denver Gym?
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And when did you start Hustle Track Club?
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So I left college athletics in the summer of 2017 with not really a clue of what I was doing, but just in my heart knowing that there was something more for me to be doing versus sending emails back to kids saying sorry, you're not good enough to run college athletics.
00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:08.000
It was really in my heart trying to bridge that gap.
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I've always had the dream of having my own sports performance facility since I was a sophomore in high school.
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It timed up really well with my now husband, who I was dating at the time, for us to stop dating long distance for two and a half years and start trying it in the same town.
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And so I moved down to Denver and I worked six jobs, got a real estate license, was showing houses and everything, just trying to build up my clientele.
00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:46.639
So by February of 2018, so about eight months after doing that, I was in a position where I could pursue looking for my own facility.
00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:54.240
And then I was in my own facility, only 1,100 square feet, just a small studio by August 2018.
00:05:54.959 --> 00:06:01.279
And then I was only in that facility for about six months before I had to upgrade.
00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:08.079
I was very lucky that my landlord had a pretty big building and he let me just navigate around to the bigger space.
00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:10.879
And now we're in a 5,000 square foot space.
00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:13.759
I would never go back to college athletics.
00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:22.720
I find what I do now much more rewarding, finding 10, 15, 20% more out of an athlete versus 1% every year at the college level.
00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:26.240
How have you seen Hustle Track Club grow throughout the years?
00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:30.639
And what impact has that track club had on athletes in the Denver metro area?
00:06:30.959 --> 00:06:35.920
When I left college track and field, I didn't intend to be a high school track coach.
00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:44.319
My intention was to open my facility and do one-on-one training in small groups and not really be on the field with track kids.
00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:50.160
But word got around that I was from to have a master's degree in exercise science.
00:06:50.319 --> 00:06:57.839
So I had two girls sign up with me and had a lot of success with both of them with less than a year of training and they got scholarship.
00:06:58.319 --> 00:07:03.040
I guess the best thing for my business is referrals.
00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:06.959
Once one person got a scholarship, three more kids came.
00:07:07.279 --> 00:07:10.879
And then it just grew from there, all very much organic.
00:07:11.279 --> 00:07:24.480
This past year, we graduated 18 track athletes, and 14 of them are going on to be freshmen in college and run track this year.
00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:25.920
That's just a huge impact.
00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:29.120
And I've seen very fast growth and congratulations on that.
00:07:29.199 --> 00:07:33.600
I think that you're really able to impact a lot of kids' lives in such a positive way.
00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:36.800
Tell us more about the mission and vision for Hessel Track Club.
00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:44.240
Our mission really is to put kids in a position to be successful.
00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:49.600
A 12-week high school season is not enough time to be good at our sport.
00:07:50.079 --> 00:07:58.399
And you even in those 12 weeks, do you have the right person in place to at least get something out of you within those 12 weeks?
00:07:58.639 --> 00:08:03.360
Our goal is to give you what you need, definitely give you what I didn't have growing up.
00:08:03.519 --> 00:08:10.319
And that was knowledge and science and math training to help me improve as my own individual athlete to get to the next level.
00:08:10.639 --> 00:08:15.199
Our vision is to be the top track club in the state.
00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:24.160
Colorado is very big on club track, but I think there are a lot of gaps when it comes to high quality training.
00:08:24.319 --> 00:08:27.920
We're not just a numbers kind of program, we're a quality kind of program.
00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:33.039
And I think our performances speak for themselves when it comes to the level of quality we provide.
00:08:33.440 --> 00:08:46.960
We also do believe that if you work hard and you give 100% effort with every opportunity and have a bad attitude about it, you're going to be successful in some way and improve as an athlete.
00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:49.200
Tell us more about your why.
00:08:49.279 --> 00:08:56.639
What drives you and motivates you to own and operate several businesses and to continue to lead and coach, track, and field athletes.
00:08:58.320 --> 00:09:02.240
My why is I grew up in Wyoming.
00:09:02.320 --> 00:09:04.159
One of my PE teachers was our coach.
00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:07.360
Our driver's education teacher was our other coach.
00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:13.840
And it was just training the people who were fast were gonna be pretty fast, and the kids who weren't were trying to play catch-up.
00:09:15.759 --> 00:09:28.879
My why is to give kids what I didn't have growing up, to give them what the next level looks like, and to show them the opportunities that can be created through our sport.
00:09:29.519 --> 00:09:35.279
If I didn't have track to go to the next level, I probably wouldn't have gone to college at all.
00:09:35.519 --> 00:09:36.960
We couldn't afford college.
00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:41.600
And my job was to get a scholarship if I wanted to go to college, and mom wasn't gonna pay for it.
00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:44.320
My goal is to fill that gap.
00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:49.279
My why is to give kids that same opportunity that track provided to me.
00:09:49.519 --> 00:09:55.360
Let's talk about our friendship and affiliation with FICPT Performance and Hustle Track Club.
00:09:55.679 --> 00:10:03.519
Tanya, I think I met you in 2017 through the mutual connections and athletes that we were both working with.
00:10:03.919 --> 00:10:15.360
I found out about your background and that you were a strength conditioning coach and that you had really advanced training and knowledge, and you're producing some really good results with athletes that I'd seen.
00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:20.080
And so I was excited about the opportunity to meet you and to learn more about you.
00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:24.720
And since then, we've had the opportunity to work with several of your athletes.
00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:30.480
I just wanted to know, in your opinion, what makes a successful partnership with a physical therapist?
00:10:30.720 --> 00:10:36.720
And how do you, as a coach, come to trust a physical therapist to work with your track and field athletes?
00:10:37.360 --> 00:10:51.519
So having coached at the college level, my expectation is that the care team for the athlete is on the mission of getting the kid back on the field or track as quickly as possible in a safe manner.
00:10:51.840 --> 00:11:04.960
Most of my experience with physical therapist is hey, you come in, we have 10 sessions that your insurance pays for, and we're going to use all 10 sessions to get you back.
00:11:05.279 --> 00:11:08.879
Typically, those sessions are one time a week, and that's 10 weeks.
00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:14.480
Being out for 10 weeks in our sport, the season's already over, regardless if it's indoor, outdoor, or summer.
00:11:14.720 --> 00:11:23.279
So my expectation is that the communication with the physical therapist is transparent.
00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:33.519
Our goal is that this kit is ready for our nationals in five weeks, and then realistic treatment program for that and communication of if that's achievable or not.
00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:38.559
And then communicating with the kid with what is going to be required for that to happen.
00:11:38.799 --> 00:11:49.360
I have had very little success with any physical therapist other than you, Gina, in that level of communication, honesty, and progression with athletes.
00:11:49.519 --> 00:11:55.279
So that's why I send everyone to you, even though for a lot of them it might be a 45, 50 minute drive one way.
00:11:55.840 --> 00:12:21.919
Yeah, I think that knowing what Tanya's abilities are as not only a track and field coach, but a strength and conditioning specialist really helps me partner with her as well because I know that I can return the kid back to sport faster because she has a good understanding of the injury of what that athlete can continue to do strength and conditioning wise.
00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:24.080
We don't want to completely shut an athlete down.
00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:26.320
We want them to continue to do as much as possible.
00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:37.039
So even if it's a hamstrings here, Tani and I work together to make sure that kid is still lifting, still doing as much as possible, doing exercises on the energy limb.
00:12:37.279 --> 00:12:44.320
I trust her to be able to return that athlete back to sport properly, even when it comes to looking at mechanics.
00:12:44.480 --> 00:12:45.600
That's a huge thing.
00:12:45.840 --> 00:12:49.840
A lot of our athletes are getting injured in the first place because they don't have proper mechanics.
00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:55.200
They aren't doing proper strengthening and conditioning programs either in their high school or through other means.
00:12:55.360 --> 00:13:06.399
And so it's really a lot of fun to be able to partner with a coach like Tanya because she has such a good understanding and a mutual respect of I know what my boundaries are.
00:13:06.639 --> 00:13:08.639
Tanya knows what her limitations are.
00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:11.759
As if she's not a physical therapist, I'm not a track coach.
00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:20.720
And so being able to partner together in that and really get the best out of the athlete is really what it's all about to get that athlete back as quickly, safely as possible.
00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:25.679
And I think a lot of people have that same message, but we truly do that here.
00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:34.879
And when an athlete comes in with, say, hamstring injury, I'll be able to differentially diagnose and tell her, hey, it's a grade one, here's what they can still do.
00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:40.000
Let's get them back, or give her an accurate timeline of when that kid can be back racing.
00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:42.559
A lot of that just comes with communication and trust.
00:13:42.639 --> 00:13:46.399
And that's what we've been able to develop well over the last several years.
00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:55.039
If you have a track and field athlete and he or she is dealing with the injury, such as a hamstring tear, for example, how do you approach that injury?
00:13:55.200 --> 00:14:00.240
And how is partnering with FICPT and performance helped in accelerating that recovery process?
00:14:00.960 --> 00:14:07.440
Um, typically, a lot of kids sometimes they're not sure if they've injured their hamstring or not, if they don't feel like a pop or anything.
00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:10.159
I'm a big fan of I don't need a practice hero.
00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:14.080
So if something doesn't feel right, we can shut it down or we can modify.
00:14:14.240 --> 00:14:17.440
And then my first thing I do is I obviously want to refer them.
00:14:17.519 --> 00:14:23.039
I don't have the knowledge or technology to diagnose a hamstring injury.
00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:29.360
So my goal is to get an answer first, because I think a lot of kids these days want answers.
00:14:29.679 --> 00:14:35.600
And it's not necessary for them to go two, three weeks with pain before they address something.
00:14:35.759 --> 00:14:41.200
And it's definitely not my job to push them through it to see if it's an injury or not.
00:14:41.519 --> 00:14:46.159
So my first thing I do is I try to get them in with sick peepee.
00:14:46.399 --> 00:14:58.559
And then the next thing is I speak with Gina directly or the care team to understand the severity, the limitation, and then what can be done.
00:14:59.200 --> 00:15:06.879
I think it's definitely my job to be trustworthy when it comes to taking that information and holding to it.
00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:15.840
If they say an athlete can't go above 70%, I need to know what 70% is for that athlete and be very strict with them to that 70%.
00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:33.600
When we look to a progression back to sprinting protocol, which Gina and I have used different levels of research to develop a program that really does work within my training scheme, we need to know what 75% effort looks like for 100 meters.
00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:35.279
It's not just a perceived effort.
00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:36.720
I want an exact time.
00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:44.879
So communicating with the care team, asking questions if things seem to be out of place or not progressing well is really important.
00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:56.000
And just really relying on the communication and honesty between the physical therapist, the athlete, and myself in all regards to get the athlete back.
00:15:56.240 --> 00:16:13.919
If there is an issue, whether the athlete wants to push it further, they don't feel confident to progress when they are ready to progress, then those are things where we make modifications, such as, all right, let's start on the bike to see if we can push the limit there and try to build some confidence.
00:16:14.080 --> 00:16:40.240
And then also helping athletes understand the mental aspect of getting through an injury, what that looks like, how to be realistic and how to understand that injuries are at some point inevitable, and how to utilize that time to take a step back and use it as a learning tool, as a way to better understand their body, how to better listen to the cues their body is giving them to hopefully prevent it from happening again.
00:16:40.480 --> 00:16:49.600
In your opinion, what is the difference between a physical therapist who is an expert in sports physical therapy and rehabilitation versus a general physical therapist?
00:16:49.759 --> 00:16:52.639
And what does that look like in terms of return to sport?
00:16:52.720 --> 00:16:54.559
What are those differences that you've seen?
00:16:54.799 --> 00:17:00.559
I think a lot of people misunderstand track and field as a sport.
00:17:01.039 --> 00:17:05.599
Repeated hamstring injuries shouldn't be a problem, but we always end up with them.
00:17:05.920 --> 00:17:12.000
And most physical therapists just address it as, oh, they have weak hamstrings or they have weak glute.
00:17:12.400 --> 00:17:15.839
And unfortunately, that's a very terrible excuse.
00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:19.519
The majority of track athletes are not going to have weak hamstrings.
00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:26.480
Most of the issues come with mechanical changes that need to be occurring because something is inefficient in the movement pattern.
00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:32.880
Being able to understand the movement pattern that is necessary for athletes.
00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:42.960
Not every movement pattern is the same for every athlete, but the athlete you have and how their body needs to work with physics in order to be efficient is really important.
00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:52.079
Physical therapists who don't have a lot of expert geese in working with specifically track athletes, understand how to implement that.
00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:55.519
We can rehab the hamstring all we want and get it back to healthy.
00:17:55.599 --> 00:18:04.559
But if you get back on the track and you've got bad hip posture, anterior, posterior, posterior tilt in the wrong phase of your running, you're going to be re-injured.
00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:16.000
So having someone who's a sport specialist for that is really important because then we can start to look at making the changes technically and not always just bring weak hamstrings.
00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:34.640
What we do is we take different aspects of the warm-up, or we take different aspects of sprinting mechanics and the positions that they have to get into, we make sure that we're training that here so that when they get back out into the track or the gym with you, those are not unfamiliar and those are not things that they can't perform.
00:18:34.880 --> 00:18:42.880
If they don't have proper hip mobility, maybe they can't get in proper positions to be able to get in optimal mechanics for sprinting.
00:18:43.039 --> 00:18:51.599
Or if they have too much anterior pelvic tilt, putting their hamstring at risk for reinjury, or they don't have proper dorsal flexion in their ankle and foot.
00:18:51.680 --> 00:18:53.680
There's so many things that we look at.
00:18:54.079 --> 00:18:55.599
This didn't just happen overnight.
00:18:55.759 --> 00:19:14.240
For me as a physical therapist, I've spent so much time asking questions, looking at videos, asking coaches questions, understanding what ideal mechanics look like for sprinting and really diving deep into that and how that translates into anatomy strengths.
00:19:14.400 --> 00:19:15.599
How do we test strength?
00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:18.319
How do we talk to athletes about certain cues?
00:19:18.480 --> 00:19:22.720
I talked to Tanya this weekend about how to cues for certain skills.
00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:30.720
It's important for me to be able to know that so we can also give them similar cues when we're working with them so that it's more streamlined.
00:19:31.039 --> 00:19:42.319
I think some sports physical therapists have this perception that because they're sports physical therapists, they automatically can train track and field athletes at a high level.
00:19:42.480 --> 00:19:54.640
And I think to be good at being a physical therapist who works with track and field athletes at that level, you really have to dive in and have a really good understanding of what that means and what that looks like.
00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:57.839
And for track and field, it's different for every event.
00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:05.119
So there's some similarities, obviously, but it can look different if you're throwing javelin versus if you're a pole vaulter versus if you're a triple jumper.
00:20:05.200 --> 00:20:09.839
So I'll ask Tanya a lot of questions and she'll teach me like this is what they should be doing in triple jump.
00:20:10.319 --> 00:20:12.400
And that how important is communication?
00:20:12.559 --> 00:20:21.920
We spoke a little bit about it before, but how important is communication with medical providers and in this case physical therapists when handing athletes who are struggling with injuries?
00:20:22.079 --> 00:20:25.519
And what has that looked like for us working together?
00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:28.319
Communication is essential.
00:20:28.559 --> 00:20:35.279
If you don't want to repeat the path, there has to be something in place to prevent that.
00:20:35.519 --> 00:20:44.799
A lot of kids get re-injured because the communication between the care team, that coach, and the athlete is unclear or not being followed.
00:20:45.039 --> 00:20:57.279
If you don't have the ability as a coach to communicate with the care team, chances are what you're getting from the middleman, which is typically the athlete, isn't quite accurate.
00:20:57.519 --> 00:21:01.519
And if there's not accuracy, then we're probably going to end up with an injury again.
00:21:01.680 --> 00:21:16.559
So every person I have that works with a physical therapist or a chiropractor or whoever it might be, I always request that they give permission to share their treatment notes and everything so there's a better understanding to be able to get on the phone with them.
00:21:17.759 --> 00:21:18.960
I've noticed that as well.
00:21:19.119 --> 00:21:22.799
One thing I think as physical therapists, we need to be really accessible.
00:21:23.119 --> 00:21:26.559
And in our practice, that's one thing that we always try to do.
00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:40.480
I think it's really important that the athlete is hearing the same message from the physical therapist, from the coach, and that everyone's on the same page, especially when it comes to time frames and expectations in terms of what activity level they can be doing.
00:21:40.640 --> 00:21:46.160
So, what I'll try to do if I have the athlete here in the clinic is I'll just try to call Tanya before they leave.
00:21:46.240 --> 00:21:47.359
I'll try to get her on the phone.
00:21:47.519 --> 00:21:59.359
I tell Tanya exactly what I've just told the athlete, their parents about what's wrong, realistic expectations for return to sport, what those guidelines should look like, and what the athlete should and shouldn't be doing.
00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:08.400
So that Way the athlete and the parents know that not only have I spoken into what I think would be the best plan of care for them, but that the coach is on the same page.
00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:12.799
What do you do as a coach to ensure that your athletes stay healthy?
00:22:13.119 --> 00:22:22.160
And what are some of the strategies in terms of strength conditioning, recovery, et cetera, that help ensure your athletes don't lose time away from sport being injured?
00:22:22.799 --> 00:22:24.720
We have the option to train year-round.
00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:29.920
If I can, I encourage all of our athletes to get started with our base strength phase in August.
00:22:30.160 --> 00:22:32.720
We don't run during our base strength phase.
00:22:32.799 --> 00:22:46.240
It's just eight weeks of strength training where I'm asking them to be put in positions and under load that they're going to experience when they do get on the track, within a much more controlled environment where we're not going 100 meters worth of it or doing six reps of it.
00:22:46.480 --> 00:22:48.079
I like to start them there.
00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:53.759
And I start with physics physics is always going to win.
00:22:53.920 --> 00:22:56.799
And it's our job to learn how to work with it.
00:22:57.039 --> 00:22:59.039
We can get away with trying to fight it.
00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:06.480
And a lot of times we get poor results or injuries or decline performance and a lot of frustration.
00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:18.799
So if we can understand how physics works, we can understand how the body is designed and then put those two together to help them work harmoniously, then we can have a healthy athlete.
00:23:19.119 --> 00:23:23.359
I pride myself on not having many issues with injuries.
00:23:23.680 --> 00:23:33.839
I would love to send more business to you and potentially have them in my own facility, but we just don't produce enough need, I guess, for that.
00:23:34.079 --> 00:23:40.000
There's always an instant where a kid gets excited and they get greedy out of the blocks and they reach.
00:23:40.079 --> 00:23:43.680
And then there is a need to be seen by fake PT.
00:23:43.920 --> 00:23:49.119
It's in our best interest to start from ground zero to base all of our training off of science.
00:23:49.359 --> 00:23:58.880
And then from that, figure out from past experience what works and doesn't work for the athlete you have directly in front of you.
00:23:59.119 --> 00:24:01.359
Not every athlete is going to be coached the same.
00:24:01.519 --> 00:24:16.799
And so being able and willing to make modifications and changes for the athlete as an individual human being and not a machine is really important, trying to help them understand and be students of the sport themselves.
00:24:17.039 --> 00:24:26.319
They can watch videos of world-class block starters and think that they need to get that aggressive an angle off their block push.
00:24:26.400 --> 00:24:30.319
And the truth is they're not explosive enough or strong enough to hold that kind of angle.
00:24:30.480 --> 00:24:43.440
So helping them understand that if we want to have a steeper angle off our block start, that we need to see these kind of measures achieved in the weight room to war into those things and that with all a progression.
00:24:43.599 --> 00:24:58.400
We might start at a little bit higher block start angle and gradually see ourselves over the years get to something more aggressive that's sustainable, but then also works with the body that they have and the physics that we work with every day to achieve success.
00:24:59.759 --> 00:25:06.720
In your opinion, what makes a successful athlete specifically a successful track and field athlete?
00:25:07.680 --> 00:25:15.119
Oh man, I think there's three or four characteristics that I think every track athlete has to possess.
00:25:15.759 --> 00:25:25.440
One of them is the drive to want to be more or achieve more or go further than where they're currently at.
00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:34.559
Any other sport, you can stay stagnant and continue to get playing time and still feel somewhat successful.
00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:37.839
In track, the numbers don't lie.
00:25:38.079 --> 00:25:42.960
If you're not wanting to achieve more, you'll continually run the same time.
00:25:43.440 --> 00:25:48.799
Wanting to do more, be more, and achieve more is really important to be successful in track.
00:25:49.440 --> 00:25:53.519
The second thing is being willing to be uncomfortable.
00:25:53.839 --> 00:25:55.839
Our sport is hard.
00:25:56.160 --> 00:25:57.599
There's no easy way to say it.
00:25:57.680 --> 00:26:00.000
Lactic days are miserable.
00:26:00.160 --> 00:26:04.559
And you really just have to embrace the suck in and be okay with that.
00:26:04.799 --> 00:26:12.480
So having the ability to be uncomfortable to the point where you're comfortable with that is really important.
00:26:12.960 --> 00:26:16.160
And the next thing I would say is communication.
00:26:16.319 --> 00:26:29.599
If you can't openly communicate how your body is feeling with where you're at, with all the other life factors that are always weighing on our teenagers these days, so that your coach can then understand and maybe make a modification.
00:26:29.839 --> 00:26:37.119
That's the only way you're going to have longevity in our sports, if you're honest with how your body is feeling and where you're currently at.
00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:40.079
Because, like I said before, we don't need practice heroes.
00:26:40.160 --> 00:26:42.160
We need to be thinking about the long term.
00:26:42.319 --> 00:26:49.119
But a lot of times that's nationals, a lot of times that's enough races to hit a PR and then be noticed for recruiting.
00:26:49.359 --> 00:26:52.799
I would say probably those three things are really important.
00:26:53.039 --> 00:27:00.880
If you have those three things and you can bring a great attitude every day to practice, you're going to improve, especially in our program.
00:27:01.039 --> 00:27:07.519
If you give me great attitude and great effort, every time you step on the track with me, you're going to see improvements.
00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:11.599
And then obviously you have to do other things right outside of track practice.
00:27:11.920 --> 00:27:20.400
But I think track is awesome because we cater to so many different kinds of athletes, as well as so many different kinds of body types.
00:27:20.720 --> 00:27:31.200
But I think what keeps all of the event groups common is the mentality it takes to be successful in a sport that's so individual.
00:27:32.480 --> 00:27:40.000
What are some of the pitfalls that you see or roadblocks to the path of success for high school or collegiate track and field athletes?
00:27:40.960 --> 00:27:43.759
Oh, I think one of the big pitfalls is social media.
00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:47.440
I know everyone says that social media, this, social media that.
00:28:48.160 --> 00:28:57.200
I can tell when a kid shows up to practice that they're not a hundred percent there communicating with them to try and figure out what might be the issue.
00:28:57.359 --> 00:29:08.319
And then from there, helping provide perspective, letting them know that one day doesn't determine your outcome or your identity in this sport.
00:29:08.640 --> 00:29:18.960
Also helping them understand that it's hard to be good at our sport and you have to give it time and patience and a lot of concerted effort to get to where we want to go.
00:29:19.599 --> 00:29:28.319
But more recently, I have decided, because I'm very big on doing mindset and mental health.
00:29:28.559 --> 00:29:31.440
I read and listen to podcasts and all those kinds of things.
00:29:31.680 --> 00:29:35.920
I've decided to do a mindset class for track athletes specifically.
00:29:36.319 --> 00:29:48.559
And in that, I'm taking a lot of the information and data that's provided through mindset coaching books and interpreting it in a way that makes sense sense to a high school track athlete.
00:29:48.799 --> 00:30:03.839
I've talked with a lot of our college kids and got their perspectives about how they handled things and went through things and made breakthroughs in their high school careers, where they're at now in college and how things have changed or shifted or what the same and remain.
00:30:04.400 --> 00:30:24.559
And then I've compiled six different lessons that we'll be doing one time a week to help kids get in the right mindset and in the terms of the title of the class through the finish for track, keeping things in perspective, understanding that everything is a progression.
00:30:24.799 --> 00:30:35.599
And then also how to uh kind of block out the other things around you that are trying to put influence, but actually have no determination in your success unless you let them.
00:30:35.920 --> 00:30:50.480
So I'm gonna try and make it more streamlined in that way so they can have more individual attention on a larger scale with kids versus having the same conversation with 10 different kids every other week of the year.
00:30:50.799 --> 00:30:52.400
I think that's a really good idea.
00:30:52.559 --> 00:31:01.920
One of the things that I see most in the clinic here when I work with high school track and field athletes is that there's so much going on sometimes mentally and not just physically.
00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:04.880
And that plays into their physical recovery as well.
00:31:05.039 --> 00:31:06.960
So I'm glad that you're addressing that.
00:31:07.119 --> 00:31:15.599
I think that can not only help kids recover from injury faster, but also excel in their performance and take their performance to the next level.
00:31:15.839 --> 00:31:24.640
I know that one of the goals of Hessel Track Club is to ensure that your athletes are successful beyond high school and into college and even beyond.
00:31:24.880 --> 00:31:32.319
How do you help high school athletes with the recruiting process and help them prepare to be successful collegiate student athletes?
00:31:32.720 --> 00:31:37.680
We very much so try to run our program, how a college program would be run.
00:31:38.240 --> 00:31:42.720
Being able to train year-round is going to be required of you at the college level.
00:31:42.880 --> 00:31:45.119
So we offer the ability to train year-round.
00:31:45.279 --> 00:32:07.279
We go through different training phases just like they would at the college level, whether it's base strength, pre-comp competition phase, those kind of things, so that the kids can get used to and understand that track is a 24-7 or it is not like I show up for three hours for 12 weeks of the season and I'm a high-level track athlete.
00:32:07.519 --> 00:32:16.319
We also try to provide opportunities at high-level competitions where they've held indoor world championships before or Olympic trials before.
00:32:16.480 --> 00:32:22.000
So kids can see what the next level in the scale of that level looks like.
00:32:22.319 --> 00:32:29.759
Having been a recruiting coordinator at the Division I level, I'm pretty in tune with what coaches are looking for when it comes to being recruited.
00:32:29.920 --> 00:32:35.279
We do individual recruiting meetings with all of our juniors who are going into their senior year.
00:32:35.519 --> 00:32:41.680
And we help them understand where they're at and what they need to achieve to get to the schools they're interested in.
00:32:41.920 --> 00:33:01.680
And then we also help them navigate the websites to fill out the questionnaires and put together emails and how to understand if a visit is official or unofficial and what that might say or indicate about their ability to maybe get scholarship at that school and really just guide them through it.
00:33:01.920 --> 00:33:08.079
With the NCAA's landscape, it's getting harder and harder to get recruited out of high school.
00:33:08.480 --> 00:33:19.359
And we want to make sure that everything is transparent for kids so they don't have a really big, lofty goal and get really excited about something that's not even a possibility.
00:33:19.759 --> 00:33:21.200
We facilitate all of that.
00:33:21.359 --> 00:33:24.799
And we understand that not all athletes want to run at the college level.
00:33:25.039 --> 00:33:29.759
So we do everything that we can to make them as good as we can have them be before they graduate.
00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:37.519
And then that way they are at peace with what their athletic career comes to by the time they graduate.
00:33:38.720 --> 00:33:44.720
Can you share a few success stories of athletes that you have coached and a little bit about their journeys and where they are now?
00:33:44.960 --> 00:33:47.359
So a couple athletes come to mind.
00:33:47.519 --> 00:33:50.640
I'll start with the first one that we had the most success with.
00:33:50.799 --> 00:33:54.240
She was a 300 hurdler, ran on the relays.
00:33:54.480 --> 00:34:02.960
When I first started working with her, she ran 69 or 70 seconds in the 400 hurdles.
00:34:03.359 --> 00:34:08.159
It was very apparent that she didn't need much more to run faster time.
00:34:08.400 --> 00:34:15.599
She was very front-end mechanic driven to the point where she was reaching and pulling when she would run, which was costing her a lot of energy.
00:34:15.760 --> 00:34:21.840
We trained for about three months before she was able to get into another 400-meter hurdle competition.
00:34:22.000 --> 00:34:26.079
She ended up running 64 seconds, so a six-second PR.
00:34:26.400 --> 00:34:36.239
And then that took her from only really getting looked at by some small schools around the state to getting scholarship offered to Oklahoma.
00:34:37.280 --> 00:34:43.119
Another athlete, he was actually on your podcast, this last one that you did, Benjamin Kirk.
00:34:43.280 --> 00:34:48.239
He was a football kid that came out and was just trying to get faster for football.
00:34:48.480 --> 00:34:59.840
As he'll say, he fell in love with my coaching style and the program and really didn't have many offers for football, none of substance, at least that he was willing to entertain.
00:35:00.239 --> 00:35:04.480
And he really liked the environment and culture much better of the track program.
00:35:04.559 --> 00:35:07.519
So he decided to go all in on track his senior year.
00:35:07.679 --> 00:35:19.039
So I told him if he gives me one dedicated year, really trying to do everything that I asked, do it to a high level, I could guarantee him that he would have the opportunity to run in college.
00:35:19.360 --> 00:35:25.199
And like Ben Kirk, he did exactly what I asked, and he did it to the best of his ability.
00:35:25.360 --> 00:35:36.800
And he went from having very low-level football scholarship offers to making the team at UCLA, which definitely wouldn't have been an option for him in the realm of football.
00:35:36.960 --> 00:35:56.239
So his dream school, running track, and given he only had one full dedicated year to the sport of track, I think that was a very good success story given that he went from not making finals in the hundred meter his junior year to winning state in the one and the two as a senior.
00:35:56.559 --> 00:36:02.880
I know those athletes both very well and they both attribute their success to you.
00:36:03.280 --> 00:36:09.760
I know that the athletes on your club team and the athletes that you've come in contact with feel the same way.
00:36:09.840 --> 00:36:13.599
And it's really cool to see the change that you can make in kids' lives.
00:36:13.679 --> 00:36:16.000
And I know that's a big why you do this.
00:36:16.239 --> 00:36:17.119
Thank you.
00:36:17.679 --> 00:36:22.079
What is your vision for the future in terms of Hustle Denver and Hustle Track Club?
00:36:22.400 --> 00:36:28.559
I think the space we have is really perfect for what it is that we're trying to achieve.
00:36:28.800 --> 00:36:37.039
My vision is to bring in a couple more high-level trainers so that we can really reach out to more of the community.
00:36:37.280 --> 00:36:44.800
There's way too much demand for what we do, and there's not enough high quality trainers to provide it.
00:36:45.039 --> 00:36:50.320
When you look at the stats of sports performance gyms in Colorado, it's astonishing.
00:36:50.559 --> 00:36:52.800
And not all of them are created equal.
00:36:53.039 --> 00:37:02.320
I have a very high standard when it comes to hiring, but I would love to get a couple more high-level coaches into the facility to help more kids get to that next level.
00:37:02.559 --> 00:37:21.039
And then for the track club, I would really like to bring in one or two coaches just for track who have a passion and love for the sport, like I do, who've also been college athletes and want to somehow give back and turn coaching high schoolers into a part of their why as well.
00:37:21.280 --> 00:37:24.639
And then from there to continue to build our Hustle Dynasty.
00:37:24.960 --> 00:37:26.079
Fantastic.
00:37:26.400 --> 00:37:33.920
Tanya, if someone wants to get in touch with you and learn more about Hustle Track Club or Hustle Gym, what is the best way to reach you?
00:37:34.239 --> 00:37:36.079
You can always Google Hustle Denver.
00:37:36.159 --> 00:37:39.519
It should pull us up and you can reach us through our contact form there.
00:37:39.760 --> 00:37:47.920
Or you can always just direct message us on Instagram at Hustle Denver or Hustle PC.
00:37:48.320 --> 00:37:50.880
That's our track club and our gym pages.
00:37:51.119 --> 00:37:54.400
We check those regularly and we can get back to you right away.
00:37:54.880 --> 00:37:57.119
Thank you so much for being on the podcast today.
00:37:57.360 --> 00:38:05.599
I know that our listeners are going to learn a lot about the collaboration between physical therapists and coaches and about yourself as a track and field coach.
00:38:05.840 --> 00:38:06.559
Thank you, Gina.
00:38:06.639 --> 00:38:14.000
And thank you so much for having me and looking for my insight on how we both collaborate in working with athletes.
