On the latest edition of the Samson Strength Coach Collective, we sit down with Dr. Faith Brown to explore her journey from collegiate athlete to strength and conditioning coach and the role of sports science in everyday coaching.
Faith reflects on the experiences that shaped her career, including a near-fatal car accident and the demands of pursuing a PhD while working full-time. Her story highlights the persistence required to keep learning while managing the responsibilities of coaching.
The conversation also explores how research and load monitoring can inform training. Faith discusses evaluating new information, adapting as the field evolves, and translating data into practical insights for coaching staffs. She emphasizes making those insights small and digestible so coaches can understand and apply them.
For coaches looking to strengthen the connection between research and practice, this episode offers perspective on education, communication, and continued professional growth.
Key Takeaways
- Persistence matters. Faith describes consistently showing up as an essential part of her journey.
- Research should inform practice. Consider how findings apply to the athletes and training environment in front of you.
- Load monitoring requires interpretation. Collecting information is one step; understanding what it means for training is another.
- Communication shapes how data gets used. Share clear, digestible insights that help coaches make decisions.
- Professional growth extends beyond training knowledge. Education and leadership development also deserve attention.
- Keep adapting. New research and technologies create opportunities to reassess and improve coaching practices.
Guest Quote
“It’s about how you communicate and make small, digestible insights.”
— Dr. Faith Brown
Faith:
I don’t want to be just seen as like the weight room person or just the strength coach. I want people to see that I’m versatile, I’m diverse, I’m smart outside of the weight room. Like the I think our strength conditioning professionals are really, really smart. And I think a lot of that doesn’t get seen because people don’t really understand what it is that we’re doing in the weight room and
how we can manipulate things to optimize training. So I try to make sure that I’m making an impact in practice and with our coaches with how they are approaching games and how they’re structuring practices
Connor:
What’s going on, Samson Strength Coach, Collective Listeners? On today’s episode, we have Associate Director of Strength and Conditioning at George Mason University, Dr. Faith Brown. Faith, thank you so much for coming on.
Faith:
Yeah, no, thanks for having me. I’m happy to be here.
Connor:
I’m happy to have you here and I should offici introduce you with a different title. Ultimately, okay. we’ve got Associate Director of Standing Conditioning, we have PhD, but we also have winner of the Samson Hold at CSCCA twenty twenty six. I mean, let’s go.
Faith:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that was
that was kinda crazy. I didn’t I didn’t expect to, I think, hold it that long and I definitely didn’t expect for no one to hold it longer than me. But I don’t know. I just kinda you know, once you just grab in and you just lock in, I was just like I’m not letting it go until it slips through my hands. So yeah, I’m I’m
Connor:
What was
Faith:
happy I won that. It was kinda crazy ’cause, you know, I I literally how many times did I walk past you guys? Like probably three times where I was like, All right, fine, you you guys
Connor:
Yes.
Faith:
convinced me to
to come over and and give it a try. But, you know, I’ll do some of those and like I lost the one with concept two. They had the skier one. I lost that by like five tenths of a second or something crazy. So it’s like I’m like I I’m never gonna win this, you know, and then that one I actually did win. So
Connor:
okay, so correct me if I’m wrong. You were I think you were the first or the second one to go.
Faith:
Yeah, I think so. yeah, I think yeah, I think you guys had a time you were like the last woman held it for like twenty seconds or something like that. And I was like, All right, I’ll try to get like thirty. And then I got like it was over a minute, yeah. It w it was kind of
Connor:
Yeah, okay. Yeah. And then what would would you get a over a minute, right? Yeah.
Faith:
crazy. I was like I was like when you guys said thirty, I was like, All right, I’m feeling pretty good. Like I can keep holding on. So it was yeah, I don’t know. I think I just w went into the got in the zone and just went into a dark place and stuck it out.
Connor:
Well, I gotta tell the story briefly for our listeners just to understand
Faith:
Yeah.
Connor:
this because seriously, like you you already alluded to this. You walked past a couple of times. And I mean, this is the hardest I’ve ever sold anything in my life. Like I was like, I’m telling you, you’re gonna do well. Like I just I I got a vibe from you that you were gonna do really well. I mean, I would like to say I I’m a good enough talent scout to know you were gonna win it right away, but I just knew you
Faith:
Yeah.
Connor:
were gonna do well. and so I was just trying to sell it to you non stop, like you kept going and going, and then finally we convince you to go.
And then you I mean, held on for dear life. Like I was I at one point, like we get to forty-five seconds and you were so calm and collected. I was like, I don’t think you’re ever gonna let go. Like I kind of got the concern.
Faith:
Yeah.
Connor:
I was like, we do have to let other people go at some point. So I
Faith:
Yeah.
Connor:
I I thought it was awesome. It was the first time we did the challenge. So it’s very exciting for me to have our challenge winner on the show.
Faith:
Yeah. Yeah. Well thank you. Thank you for inviting me. So I’m and I’m glad we make this c you know, connection so I could be on here.
Connor:
A thousand percent. Well, all right, enough about Samson, enough about us. We wanna learn about Doctor Faith Brown today. So can you give us your background in strength and conditioning, your different experiences that you had and what leads you to George Mason?
Faith:
Yeah, so I really got into collegiate strength and conditioning or just strength conditioning as a whole. When I was in grad school, I went to grad school at VCU. I ran track in undergrad, but we didn’t have a strength coach. A strength coach that we had was just kind of football. And at that point in time, strength conditioning for track and stuff, like it wasn’t you really saw that more at the higher levels and things like that. So our track coach would
give us workouts, we go in the weight room and do it. And we’d do, you know, at the end of the workout, three to five hundred abs. And we were just, you know, in there just lifting. We weren’t really like following a structured, you know, program. So getting to VCU and seeing how Coach Kantos was, that’s who I worked under at VCU and just seeing his staff and how they worked together and how they were impacting the athletes. Like after my first week I was sold. I was like, this is this is actually where I want to be. At the end of that first week, I was going down to visit my mom and I got into a car accident.
And I actually like broke my femur. It was like I was in the hospital for days. It was like really like my car was totaled. It was a whole thing. And the first thing that I remember when I one of the first things I remember saying when I woke up was like, you know, I have assignments due for my internship. And everyone was like, Okay, like you almost died. Like nobody’s worried about your internship. But I was like, I like, I really I that’s what that’s what I want to do. Like that’s what I want to do. you know, with my career. I I wanna be a strength conditioning coach. And so I remember emailing
my intern supervisor at the time and being like, hey, I got into this accident. So, you know, I wouldn’t be able to finish the internship. So, you know, whatever and they were they understood. And I was already like, okay, once I heal up, I’m gonna apply for the internship again for the following semester. So that’s kind of how I got started, kind of with strength and conditioning. And obviously during that time where I was rehabbing my own injury, I was reading a ton of research, just reading about how I can, you know, strengthen my my quad and just get back to
being an athlete because I had started CrossFit earlier or a year previous, a year before I got injured. So I was really just trying to figure out how I could get back to that level and you know, reading doctor’s notes and, you know, they’re like, you know, I could possibly have a limp the rest of my life. I could, you know, not be able to, you know, run, jog, walk, squat, all this stuff. It was kinda like, you know, freaking me out. but I was just like, I’m gonna rehab myself, I’m gonna get back in. So obviously I was working with physical therapy, but I did a ton of stuff.
obviously on my side to, you know, try to learn and grow. So then once I get to the point where I can walk unassisted the following spring, then I reapplied for the internship and really got really immersed in that. And that’s where I learned a lot from VCU staff and I wanted to continue. So then I went on to University of Richmond. I under interned under Jay DeMoo at University of Richmond. And then I was doing some private sector work. And then the I was a GA with
the kinesiology department or I think it was health and movement science at the time. And he was a strength coach, but had kind of transitioned over to academia. And he got me in contact with the intern supervisor at the time at Georgetown. And he was like, hey, he was just trying to try share opportunities with me of just kind of where to go next. And so I ended up interviewing for that position and then getting that internship. So I moved up to the Northern Virginia area and I was
Working at CrossFit gyms, doing private sector work to, you know, make money on the side. And then I did that for, I guess that was about like a a couple two semesters or so. And then they had this other position that was like a part-time strength coach, but you’re contracted out to some of the local high schools in the afternoons. So then I applied for that. They I got that position. And so I did that for a year. And after that, at this point, right, I’ve got my master’s, I my CSCS, I’ve got my
SCCC, USAW. I’m still new in entry level, but like the next step for me was a was a full time role. So I was applying different jobs and applied at George Mason and ended up getting the job at George Mason. So it was kind of it was kind of all over the place there for a little bit. And I’ve been at George Mason eight full years. So I’m starting my ninth season this upcoming, this this current season. So yeah, that’s kind of been my journey with strength conditioning. But
And when I was an undergrad, I thought I wanted to do physical therapy and I did different internships and it just didn’t, you know, it didn’t ignite anything in me. It wasn’t exciting. And the first week I spent being in collegiate strength and conditioning, it just I was like, this is where I’m meant to be at. Just just everything about it, you know, I loved. so yeah, so I’m just just kind of rolling with it at this point now.
Connor:
Yeah, I you I think you bring up a really cool point at the end there, right? Where you talk about, okay, this was I I did something different and it just did not ignite my interest whatsoever. And then you also wake up from a car accident where you almost died, and the first thing you think about is your internship experience, right? Like, you
Faith:
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Connor:
know, and it’s it’s something that I think it’d be hard to explain to families sometimes, right? Because I have a similar story. I I had to get a surgery. you know, when I was my first time I had my own team, it was cheerleading. I had them like for like just a month, you know.
And I remember I had to get a surgery and they were like, if you waited another day, you could have gone into septic shock, whatever, you know, like everybody’s freaking
Faith:
wow.
Connor:
out. And I was like, No, I had to, I had to run my cheer group. Like, you know, like this is something that I’m really, I’m really excited about. Like this is something I’m really
Faith:
Yeah.
Connor:
interested in doing. Right. so I get it, you know, and I I just to say I understand that, but I’m glad that you found something that truly ignites your passion, right? ’cause that’s what it’s all about. I I’m curious now. go ahead. No, no, no, go ahead.
Faith:
Yeah. And I think Yeah, no,
I was just gonna say, I think like also like when you’re early in your career and you finally find something after going through all the years of, you know, you know, undergrad or master schooling and nothing is really like exciting, or you either you don’t really have any direction to find something that you’re like, okay, like this is something I could do for the rest of my life. It’s it’s really exciting and you just wanna give your all to it. So, you know, I think it’s the same situation, you know, you needed a surgery and you’re focused on running your cheer group. I’m
trying to get back so I can do an internship, so I can, you know, kind of get my career going. So I think just when you’re young and you and you find something that just ignites you, you just want to give it your all, you know. But not the healthiest thing to do, but you can get away with that when you’re, you know, early twenties.
Connor:
I
was about to say, you know, now if I needed the surgery, I I’m gonna go get it, right? I’m not I’m not as you
Faith:
Yeah, yeah. Definitely.
Connor:
know, foolish as I was when I was younger, but early twenties, a hundred percent of the time. I’m I’ll
Faith:
Yeah. Yeah.
Connor:
I’d do it again every single time too.
Faith:
Yeah.
Connor:
one thing that I I’m I’m laughing about a little bit, you know, I you mentioned that you initially started off at VCU and then you know, obviously you work at George Mason now. I was like, damn, that’s like two of the top three, you know, like really
Faith:
Yeah.
Connor:
high quality universities. I was like, I literally thought in my head the only one missing was Richmond.
And then of course it turns out you worked at Richmond as well too. I mean,
Faith:
Yeah.
Connor:
can you I I I think it’s for people on the East Coast, they’re very familiar with, you know, especially that mid-major level of the caliber of schools, especially if you’re familiar with basketball. Like you understand that those three are really, really high-level basketball schools on the women’s and men’s side. you know, what is it like to be able to have experience at all three of those?
Faith:
Yeah, I think it I think it’s really cool. definitely great when we go to visit, ’cause I can stay in contact with those strength coaches. I know somebody at each of those universities. and I can always just kind of reflect on my experience when I was there as an intern and just how much both of those programs have grown. I think it’s it’s really cool to see and to also be growing the program at George Mason. So the first couple of years when we went down to VCU, even though I’m
An alumni of BCU. I obviously I’m with George Mason now as staff. So I wanted to come in and I wanted to beat BCU and we just couldn’t do it. Like the first like they were just really good at that time and we just could not, you know, beat them. And so I remember the first time we beat them, I was I was just so happy. I’m like, finally we beat them. Like, you know, one of the best programs that has been, you know, consistently, you know, performing well in the A ten. And now I’m with George Mason. Now we’re succeeding. So, you know, it’s a it’s a really cool feeling. So yeah, but I mean I
I definitely think between us, Richmond and BCU, there’s really some good basketball talent there. So, you know, we’re just we’re looking forward to this year’s matchups and hopefully we can kind of come in and do what we’ve done the past couple of years.
Connor:
A thousand percent. Well I’ll certainly be watching and I’ll be rooting rooting for you guys. I d I mentioned in your pre-show that we had one of the App State players transfer to George Mason as well, too. So secretly I’m gonna have to be a George Mason women’s and men’s basketball fan. okay, so
Faith:
Yeah.
Connor:
You talk about igniting your passion, right? You go into strength and conditioning, you find something that you’re very passionate about, and then you take it a step further, you get your PhD. So can you walk me through the thought process behind getting your PhD and then what was it actually like going through the entire process? I I’m just curious about all of it.
Faith:
Yeah, it was it was something that it it’s really kind of crazy, just the things that you just have these like random thoughts and like it would be crazy if I like got a PhD and then you go out and actually do it. It’s something that I wanted to do, but after the master’s program, I was like, I need to take a break from school. It was just that it was just a lot. I’m trying to, you know, get my career, you know, jump started. And I remember one night I was text I was on Snapchat talking to one of my former classmates from VCU and just catching up, seeing how each other were doing. I think she was looking to
apply to like a occupational therapy program or something like that. And I remember being like, you know, I I kind of want to get my PhD, but like I don’t know how I could do that with working in strength conditioning. And I remember at that time it was a couple of programs that had like a, you know, PhD kind of focused in strength conditioning or something like that. And I but I’m like, how can I work and do that at the same time? You just you didn’t really see that, you know, very often. So still have those, you know, those programs like bookmarked on my computer. So then when I got to George Mason and I learned more about the Patriot Performance Lab.
I connected with Dr. Jones, not with that in mind, but I remember there was a PhD student that was doing data collection with catapult with w with men’s soccer. And I asked our other strength coach, I was like, Hey, like are you doing stuff with catapult? Like, you what’s going on with that? And he like, no, it’s one the PhD students. Got me connected with Dr. Jones and the and the lab and the PhD students, and I kind of talked to them about their experiences, like what type of research were they doing.
What did the program look like? And I had several conversations with Dr. Jones about it. We probably talked about it periodically for about a year and a half before we kind of sat down and kind of made a plan. And, you know, but she really took the time to like figure out what I wanted out of the PhD, figuring out how it works. So I had to go to the director of strength conditioning and n I don’t want to say ask for permission, but kind of like, would you support me in this? And he was like, Faith, I think that’s great. Like I love that. You know, I want you to do it. The biggest thing he was just like, you know.
work is work. Like you still need to make sure that nothing drops off at work. That PhD program can’t be more important than what we’re trying to achieve here. It’s strength conditioning. So I’m like, you know, completely I understand. So he supported me through it all. And yeah, so I applied and was in communication with Dr. Jones, got accepted into the program and she pretty much was my dissertation chair, just kind of like my advisor, my mentor. And
You know, it it was a really you know, looking back at it now when people ask like how did I do that? I I don’t know. Like I think I kinda think I may be a little bit crazy the fact that I was able to do that because it was it was just like I was n I was just always on the go. I was just nonstop on my computer. Like my memoji on my phone is like the little memoji of like me with like the laptop. Because that’s what it was. My laptop was like glued to my face everywhere I went because if I wasn’t writing up programs or
looking at our women’s basketball data or anything like that, then I was writing something for school or doing some sort of schoolwork. So it’s like I couldn’t close my laptop for pretty much like four and a half years. And the process really started before that with the whole application process and trying to, you know, make connections within the department with the professors I might be working with. So it was just it was just a lot. I really don’t know like I just kept showing up every day. I think that’s that’s really what it was. I just kept showing up and
the whole time I was in the program, it felt like the end was too far away, but I was too far away to quit. It was never a thought to quit, but like it was really hard from just like juggling, you know, everything all at once. It was just nonstop. And but I’d I think it just I really had a village around me that kept encouraging me and and kept pushing me.
So I think that was really important. just being able to call my parents and and just vent or talk to them and just, you know, anything. Dr. Jones, I could call her and vent. I could tell her I’m frustrated about this, or, you know, but I think she was just a really unique and great mentor for me. She had been a strength coach back in the day at Springfield. So she understood what it was I was doing, where I was trying to go, but she also was good with the academic side. She worked with so many students. But
One of the most memorable things I remember her telling me was about how she’s never had someone working full time finish the PhD program. So that wasn’t really encouraging to me in the moment. Cause I’m like, great, like how can I continue balancing all this? But she just pushed me in a way that she encouraged me, but it was like also tough love at the same time. So if something wasn’t up to her standards, she would let me know. But if I was crashing out about something, she would also be there to support me. So yeah, it was it was a really good experience. But
I it was while I was at George Mason or while I’m at George Mason, like I it wasn’t an opportunity that I could pass up. I couldn’t just say I had the opportunity to go and get a PhD while working full time and I had support from you know, my staff and department, but I didn’t do it. I just couldn’t I couldn’t pass it up. So it was definitely something that, you know, I definitely have fond memories of, but
You know, I’m I’m really happy that I was able to push myself to get through it and I learned a ton. I learned a ton through it. So yeah, it was it was a good experience now that I’m done.
Connor:
I mean, I can only imagine. So I I mean, what I like really like about what you said is that you were the first person to be able to actually do this program while working a full time job. But in the moment, again, obviously that’s very scary to hear. But in the long run, I think it’s really exciting. So, you know, now you could be the example for other people who are looking to do the exact same thing.
Faith:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. And I think but yeah, and I mean Dr. Jones worked with me in terms of structuring the program so that I could that it did not interfere with my, you know, work schedule because like right now I’m pretty much working like seven to five. So some of the classes would be over at our side tech campus in Manassas at like ten AM. And so like, you know, we had to kind of restructure my schedule to make sure that I had those like evening classes or online hybrid. And I did start in 2020, so at that point
the classes almost every class had the option to be virtual or hybrid or asynchronous or whatever. So I did start out, you know, with it that way. But really it just made it more difficult to kind of connect with my classmates and, you know, kind of ’cause we would have group projects and things, it made it more difficult, you know, to do that because you didn’t have like that, you know, class time to get everyone together and and to see them in person. But yeah, I mean it it all worked out scheduling wise. But yeah, it was yeah, it was it was unique.
That was that’s pretty much what I can can say about it. But it it gives me good perspective because like our full time students now that aren’t working or doing like a GA or a T A, being able to share my experiences with them kind of puts it into perspective, you know, for them. And I can just use my experiences and examples to kind of help relate to them and just kinda help mentor them as well. so yeah, I mean, yeah, it’s yeah, it was it was a really good experience.
Connor:
Yeah. So did you ever have an in person class or were you able to do everything online?
Faith:
Yeah, no, I definitely had in person classes. that’s what I was getting. That was one thought I had. So
Connor:
Oof. Yeah.
Faith:
they started shifting back to in-person classes, I think late 2021 or so. So I had several in-person classes. And I had one class that was 7 30 p.m. to 1040 or something. Like and we were in basketball season. It luckily that that class was never on days where we had games. But I that class I just I would be so tired, you know, by the time I worked a full day and I have to go to class at 7 30 and get
Home at like 11 p.m. It was awful. But I also had most of my classes were like 4:30 to 7:10. We would finish basketball practice roughly at 4:30. And you know how it can go with coaches. We need to get one more rep of this, one more rep of this. And now it’s almost five, and I’m trying to, you know, get out of practice so I can get to class. Most of my professors were understanding, but I had one professor that I had her class on game days, and I gave her the schedule ahead of time, had a conversation, and she still docked me participation points.
And I was frustrated about it, but I was like, you know what? Like, I’m just gonna let my work do the talking. And I got I got an A out of her class. I don’t remember what my exact score was, but like all of my work, like there was it was like, great job. This is good, this is blah blah blah. So I’m like, I’m just gonna let my work speak for itself. If I get docked ten points because I can’t show up to class because I have a full time job, that’s okay. but either way, I’m still gonna keep up on on my assignments. I had one class where I when I missed the class, we were traveling.
And the professor, he kind of set it up virtually so I could like look into the class. And I was just sitting in my hotel room, like, you know, virtually in the class. So no, the PhD, that’s what my mom, she obviously, like most moms would, likes to brag about it to people, which makes me feel like really uncomfortable in the moment. She’ll just tell people like, well, she’ll be getting her nails done and she’ll be like, you know, my daughter has her PhD. And I’m like, this lady does not care, mom. But
One thing I do think is really accurate is she tells people like it’s like a it’s like a true PhD. Like it’s not one of those PhDs that they just hand out because you paid some money. Dr. Jones made me work for that PhD, without a doubt. It wasn’t like, I’m gonna give you a pass because you’re a full time employee or you got this going on. She made me do the same amount of work as everyone else. I would maybe argue a little bit more, you know, it sometimes. So yeah, it but yeah, it started out in person. I mean, it started out virtual, but then
We shifted back to in person classes, you know, as COVID kind of progressed out. But yeah, it was it was definitely difficult juggling that with your hectic basketball schedule and me working like seven to five. So I had some very long days on campus. Lunchbox was packed full of, you know, everything breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, everything. Cause I was not getting home until late.
Connor:
Yeah, I I this is not the PhD that Shaq got from Syracuse for communications, right? As much as I love Shaq.
Faith:
Yeah, no, definitely, definitely not. It was yeah, it
was it was a real it was definitely a real one. I put I put a lot of work into it. So I’m you know, I’m definitely had glad I went through that type of program though, because it makes being on the other side and knowing all the work you put in, it makes you feel really proud of it.
Connor:
Yeah, a thousand percent. I can only imagine. You know, I mean, obviously as a basketball strength coach, I know what it’s like being in season. I know what it’s like being out of season as well, too, especially in the transfer portal era. I think a lot of people think about in season as the toughest part, but out of season now is there’s a lot that’s going on. So yeah, absolutely.
Faith:
There’s a lot of moving parts. Yeah, there’s a lot of moving parts, yeah.
Connor:
Yeah. And so what is this, you know, getting your PhD, what has this equipped you to do? How has this helped your career?
Faith:
Yeah. So it’s interesting. During the PhD program, pretty much everything I was learning, I was applying to what I was doing with my job, which I think is unique. I think a lot of PhDs is like the PhD may be in something completely different, or you don’t you’re not able to really practically apply anything to what you’re doing on a day to day basis. So like I had that conversation like I was saying about the catapult. So once that PhD student finished doing her data collection for her dissertation, they
It was like a grant. So she had a little bit more time that she could use the catapult. So Dr. Jones was like, Hey, do you want to take a couple of these and see what you can collect with basketball? There’s not really much going on out there with that, but maybe it’ll be something you’re interested in. Cause I was running heart rate monitors because the head coach wanted that. And I was collecting session RPEs. And so I was like, Yeah, sure. Like I was familiar with catapult. obviously I’ve seen a lot of the football and rugby research, but yeah, there was nothing out there for basketball. So
we started using those and I just kind of got really into the numbers and just really trying to make sense of it, but there was no normative data, there was no research out there. So I was trying to connect with other strength coaches. At that point, it was really just power conferences. Some of them were using it. So I’m trying to connect with them to learn about how they’re implementing it. And I think everybody was still learning it at that point in time. So as I’m going through the PhD program, I had this data when we had different projects and things.
then I was taking our data and using it and then, you know, running stats and coming up with research questions and thinking about the meetings I’m having with coaches, how I can help answer their questions with the data. So I was able to just progress that over time. And now we have a really comprehensive load monitoring system. And a lot of that was built just from, you know, obviously listening to podcasts like these where people who are working at a higher level.
or implementing things from reading research, from talking to other strength coaches and practitioners and just learning more and just getting more in tune with my coaches and what it is that they need and how I can present that to them. So yeah, everything that I was learning just kind of I just flowed that into what I was doing. I I’m, you know, definitely embraced growth mindset. So what I’m doing, how can I do it at a higher level with how I’ve run our load monitoring program each at the end of each season, I’m sitting down
kind of being like what worked, what didn’t, what do I want to add? What do I want to take away? How is the research trending? So when I first started using it, acute to chronic workload ratio was like the rage. Like everyone was like, yeah, AC ratio, you know, 0.8, 1.2. And now there’s some there’s a ton of research out there saying like that’s not really the best way to look at it. You want to look at exponentially weighted moving averages, you know, different things. So, you know, now I don’t really look at that as much anymore because if I just kept with what I did year one,
You know, research is progressive. Each year it’s gonna change. So I have to kind of keep evolving with it. So I would say that definitely from the load management or load monitoring standpoint. And then I also took some classes in educational psychology, educational leadership. And that was really to equip me to kind of move up within our department and just be able to get more in tune with that administrative side instead of just me just focusing on being a practitioner and just that day-to-day with the coaches, but having those conversations with administrators.
trying to start new initiatives, try to grow our d our department and our program and be able to just communicate better with our coaches and, you know, stakeholders. So that was really important for me as well. Cause that I took that class around the time that I was kind of we were looking at this promotion for me to associate director of strength and conditioning. And then once that promotion happened, I definitely got to see the side of administration that I didn’t before, just how decisions are made.
the chain of command, you know, how they’re talking about growth in our department in terms of all of athletics. So it it was really like really good timing with that to kind of pair that up with because I had to do an assignment where I had to put myself in a in a administrative role and I had to write up. I don’t remember what the assignment was, but I remember I had to like put myself in an administrative role and I had to handle these certain initiatives for our department and I had to make it specific to what I was doing with my job. So it was it was really kind of unique to be able to think about it.
From a different way instead of just what I’m doing day to day with the coaches, looking at it, that kind of thirty thousand foot view of how is this impacting everything that we’re doing as a department, which ultimately is gonna affect the day to day with the athletes and their performance and, you know, just how their their experience as a student athlete. So yeah, it was it was really unique.
Connor:
I I love the educational classes piece because it got me thinking a little bit, right? Like and I I talked to my sister about this yesterday, right? So my sister and I were discussing how you know, a lot of people can end up getting promoted because they’re really good at X job. And then the promotion is now for Y job and they’ve never really demonstrated that they have the ability to do that job.
Right. It’s just, hey, you were really good at X. Now let’s try you out and Y because you’re reliable at X. And so it those things are a and it happens in strength and conditioning all the time. Right. So somebody could be a really good strength coach. They could be really good at developing relationships with their specific sport coach or with their athletes, but then they get put into a director position and it’s completely different. And I mean, I can tell you myself from working as a director, it’s a lot different than you would even think it is. When you like kind of imagine yourself in that role or working in an associate director space, like
When you have to make decisions, it doesn’t go the way that you always imagined it when you were a young assistant strength coach, right? It’s a lot different of a process. And so I really, really like that you that you took classes that were directly related to it because that’s the type of training that directors really need, right? You know, so we can take all the classes we want on biomechanics, research, load monitoring, whatever it may be. but when it comes time to grow into the next step for a lot of strength coaches, which is the director role, do you actually have the tools to be successful with it?
Faith:
Yeah, and yeah, I think that’s a really good point. And I think you see that in administration a lot of times people get promotions and yeah, they’ve never done the job before. So it’s kind of like, okay, how do we know that you can do the job because you succeeded in another role? So what I’ve done with our administration, just trying to push forward like our sports science initiative is showing them, you know, if I want to pursue kind of a little bit more of a concentration in sports science while still doing strength and conditioning, like here’s how I’ve already done that job for you.
So it’s not like you’re putting me in a job and saying, Faith got her PhD. Let’s put her in this, you know, job or let’s have her take over these initiatives. How do they know that I know how to take over those initiatives exactly? You know, and one other thing I should probably go back and mention. So my PhD, essentially it’s in sports science, but it was in it was in education, but it was like education with interdisciplinary studies. But they we kind of built my program out to support.
what I wanted to do moving forward in my career. So that’s why I had the educational leadership, educational psychology. I had a ton of research methods, statistical analysis, sport analytics. So it was definitely very dense with the research methods and things like that. But I had independent studies where I had to, you know, do projects with the data that I’m collecting, answer research questions, write a paper, you know, whatever it was, you know, present abstracts at the N SCA, things like that.
So just so that because I don’t think I actually ever said what my PhD was in. So it’s not a strength and conditioning PhD. It’s definitely more sports science, but I was working as a strength coach, integrating all that sports science into what I was doing. So it’s it was like a little bit of like a kind of like a a melting pot of all this different stuff, which was put together to support me being able to move forward in my career as a strength and conditioning professional, but knowing that I have a really strong niche for sports science and
Like I said, I started using catapult my first year at George Mason, so things just kind of, you know, evolved from there.
Connor:
Yeah.
No, I I I I love that. I mean, I I think realistically, there’s only so much you can truly learn about strength and conditioning without just getting more years of experience. and so being able to broaden your education in other areas that okay, now let me get exposed to them, let me take the classes on those and then let me get better within those specific areas. So now I have the tools to get gain more experience in that. Like I think that’s the best way to go about it. So I’m glad they could tailor your program to your specific needs.
Faith:
Yeah, and I think the sport science, like the way I’ve explained to administrations, like it’s like a niche area. Like, you know, like it it takes a lot to be like, I’m really good at sports science or I am a sports scientist. Cause there’s so much other stuff that that you need to learn that like we didn’t learn because that stuff wasn’t really out when we took the CSCS. So like you had timing gates, you had jump mats, but all that technology that probably is in the probably is in the new edition.
We didn’t have access to. So that’s stuff that you’re taking time to learn how to organize and clean data, how to run analyses on your on your data, how to put presentations and reports together. And some strength coaches do not want to know how to do it. That’s why you have all this AI stuff that’s coming out of like just run your data through, we’ll, you know, print it out. You have AMSs who are automatically doing it for people. but I do think that there’s value in understanding
what that data means and like how to interpret it, not just relying on something that just like spits out, okay, this was your percent change. This is how how much an athlete, you know, decreased. I do think there’s value in knowing how to look at data, making sure that you’re collecting data properly with integrity, that essentially your research methods or your method of collecting data is consistent so that you’re not comparing apples to oranges when you go back and look at your data and you’re trying to figure out why do you have these drastic fluctuations week to week or whatever it is that you’re doing.
so that was a big part of that was a big part of my program as well. Cause obviously when you’re writing up research, that data, you know, you have to collect the data with integrity and there’s just a certain way that you handle the data. Otherwise, when you do your preliminary analyses, the data’s gonna be messy. So then you’re not gonna be able to move forward with the analysis. So but yeah, so that’s why I try to explain it to our admin because you know, I think that a lot of strength coaches really don’t want to have to
be bothered with with all that. But I enjoy being bothered with it. So and I want to help contribute to our department and help things grow. We don’t have the budget for AMS. you know, the conversation about AI models and things like that has been, you know, brought up, but it still requires strength and conditioning coaches to do extra stuff that, you know, I just don’t really think that it it’s in our job description to do. So if there is someone like obviously power conferences and
you know, your professional teams, they have sports scientists, somebody who it’s their job to collect the data, to aggregate it, clean it, organize it, and then tell you what it means. That’s great. I think we’re a little bit a ways away from getting that. But how I how I can come in and just make an impact with our sports science initiative so that we can stay on track with the trends with strength conditioning, kind of stay on par with what other universities, mid majors are doing is is kind of my goal. So
Just trying to kind of figure out what that looks like and just how I can continue to grow as a professional, you know, at George Mason and in my career.
Connor:
Yeah, absolutely. And I couldn’t agree more with you. I really like what you say there too about ultimately like that is not within our job description. You know, like obviously there’s gonna be a lot of things that we would want to do. you know, but I do think there’s some sometimes, and not saying this is the case whatsoever with George Mason, but you know, there can be a disconnect between admin understanding that, okay, adding this on my plate is not just a five second project. This is a large undertaking, you
Faith:
Yeah. Yeah.
Connor:
know, that we really have to work a lot towards. and so we need more resources for sure to complete that.
Faith:
Yeah. Yeah.
And another thing is I I would say like it’s not even our administration, it’s really I would say all these sports science initiatives, like it’s really kind of things that have stemmed from the things that I that I started doing early on at George Mason with catapult, and then it’s just like more things started popping up. So it’s like, should we get this? Should we get that? But it’s really like our staff, like we actually want to take on the initiative of like being involved in these types of things. But then it’s like kind of once you get involved in your
how much extra work is taking you, you’re like, my God, like this is a lot, you know? So, and I I’ve definitely been in that position before where I’ve taken on way too much and been like, wow, like this is a lot, you know. you know, because at the end of the day, the bulk of your job is working with those athletes in the weight room, and trying to improve your KPIs and they are impacting their performance on the on the court. But with basketball, you know, where practices were a game. So we’re very much immersed into
everything that those athletes are doing day to day. So we do have an opportunity to make a little bit of a bigger impact. And so I I definitely try to do that with the sports science and load monitoring is I don’t want to be just seen as like the weight room person or just the strength coach. I want people to see that I’m versatile, I’m diverse, I’m smart outside of the weight room. Like the I think our strength conditioning professionals are really, really smart. And I think a lot of that doesn’t get seen because people don’t really understand what it is that we’re doing in the weight room and
how we can manipulate things to optimize training. So I try to make sure that I’m making an impact in practice and with our coaches with how they are approaching games and how they’re structuring practices so that they can see like this girl’s not just throwing the weight room and people will get better, but it’s she can be in the weight room getting l helping girls get better and she can also help us on the court as well.
Connor:
A thousand percent. Yeah. I’ve had that conversation with a lot of basketball strength coaches. It’s you know, the profession is now changing into a little bit more of a space where
The strength and conditioning professional is also related to the core. It’s not just the weight room anymore where it’s okay, we have our two separate domains. The position’s getting blended a lot more. and that really truly makes you an assistant coach. that’s why I think we’re seeing a lot of you know, I think Matt Aldred like one of the first ones I saw when he was at Furmin where he became an associate head, I think, at Furmin.
Faith:
Yeah.
Connor:
you know, the titles are changing so because the profession’s changing a lot. You mentioned you know, going through the research for load monitoring.
kind of how acute decronic, I remember that was the big talk. I remember a lot
Faith:
Yeah.
Connor:
of people talking about it nonstop. One of my best friends has been a guest on this show a couple of times actually. he used to love acute decronic and then one day he called me. He was like, all right, acute decronic’s out. I’m like, okay. So all right, we’re just
Faith:
Yeah.
Connor:
completely switching up. what are some trends you’ve seen recently or what is some research that’s come out that’s really caught your eye and changing how it might change or maybe just having you s take a second look at how you manage your load model.
Faith:
Yeah, I think a lot of the research looking at not just the metrics. I think at this point we know the metrics, you know, that are gonna be looked at for basketball, but how you’re looking at those, you know, metrics. So the research about like the loads that you’re having days out from a game, how it’s impacting your game load, a lot of the research has shown that there’s not one metric that we can say is exactly
predicting game performance or directly impacted by game performance, other than obviously the more time that you’re in the game, your player load’s gonna be up, accelerations, decelerations are gonna be up. But taking that one number and saying if we have an athlete hit this player load, they’re gonna have this performance. Like it it doesn’t work like that. And there’s just so much that’s going on tactically and technically on the court. that it it just there’s too many variables. But there’s a lot of research looking at
the loads with different things in practice, small sided games, different offensive defenses, how that impacts the load and the accelerations or decelerations. And then outside of that, like my all of my dissertation work was like with wearables, catapults, polar for heart rate monitors, session RPE. But I’m looking at a lot more of the research with the force plates because I started, we got our force plates a little bit later probably than most programs. We got them in I think like twenty twenty three or twenty twenty four. So at that point, I just I was learn still kind of learning them.
And so now I’m looking into that research a little bit more because I think that’s what a lot of strength coaches and sports scientists people are relying really heavily on that to look at neuromuscular readiness and fatigue. So I’m trying to learn a little bit more about that. the force curves and things like that to understand kind of how how the how they’re getting that number is that the ideal way that we want them to, you know, jump so that they get that, you know, number. So I have a couple of return to play athletes and their numbers were.
pretty much on par with our average. But then I go deeper and I look at asymmetry, I look at the eccentrics, I look at how they’re landing, and then that’s telling a completely different story. So it’s like, you know, I can present to coaches, hey, like, yeah, they’re they’re average so then the coach or they’re along with our team average, the coach might be like, great, well let let’s get it on the court. But probably not the best idea because we have still some asymmetries. But then athletes who have transferred in and are coming in with an injury, I don’t know what their baseline is.
So this asymmetry, 24%, that might be their baseline. That might be them at their peak. That may be just how their body is. because I don’t know where they were before injury. So I’m kind of looking into the force plates a little bit more and trying to dig into that research. But I think really with the wearables and how you’re implementing that with your team, it’s really gonna come down to how do your practices and games and like what is your flow? And then what do the coaches need from you?
And I mean, as you if you’re collecting data consistently, I think you can chop it up, dice it up however you want to try to answer the question that you that you want. So one of the things I do look at a lot is our loads leading into games. How does that look? How does our performance in games, you know, look? I tried to correlate it with like wins and losses one year. and I we did have more, the higher our game loads were before the game, we did have more losses that year that, you know, were like, you know, associated with that.
but it wasn’t it wasn’t really the full picture because there’s so many other things, travel, fatigue, just different things that I couldn’t quite quantify that also could have been influencing that. But there has been some interesting research with that. So that’s kind of what I’m trying to look at for this year. And I also think just getting our coaches, I mean, I’ve I’ve worked with our coaches every year on this and each year I’ve tried to approach it different way to get them to
understand and kind of, you know, trust my insights. And it’s been it’s been a consistent progress. Like each year I think has gotten better with that communication. So instead of trying to answer every single question and try to make a whole big thing about it, I think just being able to simply communicate with your coaches small digestible insights for them is going to be so much better than you presenting a whole dissertation on your, you know, all of your research. You know, I’ll share my research with our coaches like a little here’s a paper I just had published. Here’s a little blurp of it.
But, you know, just to kind of keep them in the loop, but I’m never coming into a meeting saying, I published this paper and we need to do this, you know, but it’s more about what makes sense for them and the team. And that can change year to year. Staff changes, athletes change. so it’s gonna be different each year.
Connor:
Yeah,
I think you said it best there with ultimately it’s about disseminating these small bits of information, right? I think it’s really tough to go in. It’d be almost like if somebody’s trying to convince me to become a defensive coach and then immediately went through, okay, here’s zone. And then try to break every single thing down. Right. I I’d be
Faith:
Yeah, yeah.
Connor:
lost by, you know, the second the second set that we get to. but you know, I I’ve had success myself with just kind of breaking down small things and then
opening the door to larger conversations as they come along. Right. And like you said, it’s not going to happen overnight. you’ve been at George Mason for eight years, you said. Yeah. So, you know, it’s a build it’s a continuous process to build that trust. And it’s hard sometimes for coaches to help you know, or for them to kind of give away some of the control that they have. But if you can show them with research and consistent numbers that this can make a difference then it can really be revolutionary for a team. I I’m curious from a very, very specific perspective, you know, I I’ve heard arguments for
And against this, I’m just curious what your thoughts are because obviously you’re well more a lot more researched than I am. Do you break down drills specifically in load per minute? Do you try to track drills and then see what their load per minute is? Or is that something you just think is getting a little too far into the weeds?
Faith:
Yeah, so I I do it, but I actually do it not to try to go to the coaches and say this is how this drill impacted the athletes. I mean, I I tell them that I that we have that option in terms of like being able to build the practice plan because in catapult you can create like a drill library. So if you live track it and you, you know, block off drill, drill, drill, then every time you log that drill, it just updates the, you know, the average. And then you can say, Okay, if we did this drill for five minutes, here would be the estimated load or load per minute, or if we did it ten here.
So you can sit down with coaches and help them build a practice plan out like that. Our coaches, I’ve always said it’s an option. They haven’t really taken me up on that offer. And like I’m I’m actually okay with that. But what I will do is kind of break our drills down and break it down for them in terms of how often this practice, what was the goal? Did we do 50% teaching? Did we do 50% of, you know, just kind of getting them under like a high intensity stimulus? Was this a high volume practice? Like, what was the goal of the practice? So having those drills allows me to like,
break that down so that I can just share with them the emphasis of the practice and what from a physiological standpoint what we actually did. was this more of a mental practice where it was a lot of teaching I’ve had, because I take RPs at the end of practice, I’ve had some athletes come over, they’re like, I’m not like physically tired, but like it was just like a mental day, you know? And like, okay, so you know, like I want to have that information as well. But I can tell the coaches if we kind of went a little high volume or a little bit higher intensity, I can kind of tell them
If we were to cut this drill down by five minutes, we would have been spot on with the target that I that I wanted. and with them now, I’m I would I kind of give them like a weekly range that I would prefer us to be in. I’ve done the day by day and it just it keeps them in like I don’t want to say a cage, but kind of like too tight of a cage where like it was one day at practice, you know, they ended up running a lot at the end of practice. So if we were already where we wanted to be, but then some things happened and we ended up running, then now we’re over that.
But having a weekly goal allows them to say, all right, we pushed a little bit too much today. We can scale back tomorrow or we can do this. Or, you know, they can have more, you know, flexibility. I think of it as in terms of like, you know, counting calories or macros. I might have, you know, had two donuts last night, but I just need to shave off a couple other calories later in the week. And then my weekly calorie is still the same. So I haven’t, it’s not the end of the world, you know.
So I try to bring it to them like that. and I just try to have conversations with them when I see things that I’m like, meh, maybe we could tweak this a little bit. But I would say it’s really more of a kind of after the fact. I have the data and I’ll say, Hey, here’s kind of how things went. But it really comes down to how your coaches want to communicate. Like, I’m just I’m happy that they keep letting me show up and collect the data. it’s there if they have a specific question.
Something needs to be answered, I have it, but I’m like shoving it down their throat, but they know that it’s there. They one of my coaches popped over and was like, you know, what’s going on with so and so’s heart rate? Boom, I have it right there. You can look at it, we can have a conversation about it. So I just try to make it like friendly and not intimidating, you know. I don’t want them to think I’m trying to run the practice. I definitely don’t want that responsibility.
Connor:
No, a thousand percent. I I certainly don’t want that either. and you bring up an excellent point too. one of the assignments I I’ve always wanted to give an intern, but I’ve never I’m like, I’d just be such a jerk if I did this, right? Was have them create a really complicated plan based off of one specific scenario. So hey, you have to do this lift and practice is gonna be one hour and twenty three minutes. You know this for a fact, you know, then have them fill everything out and then have them bring it in the next day and then just say, Okay, now rip it up, practice but two and a half hours. What are you gonna do?
You know, I I’ve done a mental exercise
Faith:
Yeah, and I I yeah, but I think that’s
Connor:
but but I’ve never made actually spend too much time doing it. But it
Faith:
Yeah.
Connor:
like you said, it’s just so fluid. Like you can have a plan, but you have to know how to be fluid and especially from a data standpoint, how can you use that to your advantage to then help them out for the rest of the week as well too?
Faith:
Yeah. I mean, honestly, I think that that is actually a really good idea that you should have somebody do. Because that’s that is
Connor:
Yeah, thank you.
Faith:
really I think when you’re early in your career, you know, you write these programs, you do the all this stuff and you’re like, this is gonna be the best program. And sometimes you can forget about practice. You can forget about how practice is gonna affect that lift, if especially if you’re lifting after practice or, you know, it’s it was a hard practice and they have an early lift the next morning, or you factor travel or
you know, a bad game into it, you know, that completely blows up your plan. So you really have to be able to just kind of, you ebb and flow with however things are going on the court for sure. So I I think that would be a good learning experience for for an intern for sure. Better they experienced it as an intern versus when they have their own team. Yeah.
Connor:
All right, I’m gonna do it. I promise ya. A thousand percent. Yeah, yeah.
That’s actually a very fair point. That’s what my that’s what our jobs are to do, right? Is to help prepare for what they’re actually gonna see. So
Faith:
Yeah. Yeah.
Connor:
Okay, well, my final question for you. I’m a big lunchbox guy myself. I always pack my lunch every day. My wife is huge, she’s a dietitian, so she’s got me dialed on everything that we need to do. Yeah.
Faith:
you got it. You got it you got a great setup then.
Connor:
I’m very, very fortunate. Yeah. And she’s a great cook. I do all the meal prepping though. I wanna set the the record straight on that, but
Faith:
Okay, good for you.
Connor:
Yeah, thank you. okay, so there’s the snacks that I always have to I always have to have an RX bar. What’s the one snack that you have to go with if you if you packed it in your lunch every single day, you couldn’t go without it.
Faith:
Snack wise. I mean, the only snack that I pack,
Connor:
Or any any staple.
Faith:
yeah, the only snack I pack every single day is I’ll do rice cake with honey, peanut butter, and cinnamon. So that’s kind of like my that’s gonna be in my lunchbox, you know, every single day. But I would say in terms of grab and go, I like bare bells bars for like protein. Yeah. Yeah. But I used to be
Connor:
Yeah, that’s a good one. That’s a great pick. All right.
Faith:
big on RX bars. I really did used to be big on RX bars. So I definitely understand that.
Connor:
Well, we’ve got Aldi here now. So Aldi’s got the knockoff of everything. I think they I don’t even I think they call like XR bars or something. I mean, it’s just shameless what they did.
Faith:
Perfect. Yeah.
Connor:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So they’re a lot cheaper. so now we can keep doing for sure.
Faith:
Okay, I’ll have to
ch I’ll have to check that out then. I hadn’t I hadn’t I don’t shop at Aldi. We have one, but I just I just never shopped there, so I’m gonna have to check them out a little bit cheaper.
Connor:
Aldi’s great. I’m telling you. If you want a cheap food that’s a hundred percent just a knockoff of like everything else that you can get and it’s just way cheaper and tastes the exact same, I recommend Aldi. A thousand percent. Yeah. Absolutely.
Faith:
Yeah. Okay, I’ll check it out for sure.
Connor:
All right. Well, Faye, thank you so much seriously for coming on. I really appreciate it. I always am excited when I get to do these podcasts because I get to learn something and I get to pick your brain. So I greatly appreciate it.
Faith:
Yeah, of course.
Connor:
if anybody
wants to follow you on Instagram and because I know your PhD and you’ve done lot of research is your re research gate profile,
Faith:
Yeah.
Connor:
what would be the best way to do that?
Faith:
Yeah, so in my so my Instagram is Faith S A Brown and then in my I have like a link to my like research gate and LinkedIn profiles where I’ll publ I’ll post all of my research full text copies up there. So yeah, you just pretty much go to my Instagram and then you can find the link for research gate from there.
Connor:
Awesome. Well thank you, Faith, so much for coming on. I really appreciate it.
Faith:
Yeah, thanks for having me.
Connor:
Absolutely.
