Episode 153: Phil Wagner - Sparta Science | The Robbie Bourke Podcast

This episodes guest is Phil Wagner of Sparta Science.

Phil spent 8 years as a strength & conditioning coach at University of California Berkeley and University of California Los Angeles, including 3 National Championships, as well as a performance coach for the Canterbury Crusaders and the New South Wales Waratahs (professional rugby teams in New Zealand and Australia). Following his coaching career, he graduated medical school as a physician from University of Southern California, focused on studying biomechanics at their School of Physical Therapy’s Biokinesiology Lab. Dr. Wagner founded Sparta Performance Science in the Silicon Valley as a facility to directly measure and enhance performance alongside athlete resilience to injury. This business evolved to include a larger technology business, Sparta Software Corporation (est. 2012), which provides an athlete data management platform to establish evidence based practices within sports organizations.

On this episode Phil and I discuss

Phil's background
How big is the sparta team currently
Phil discusses how he has gotten the entire team at Sparta to share the companies core values and vision
Why Phil decided to go back to Medical School
Phils's influences
What are the good and not so good things that Phil currently see's with the physical preparation profession, and what solutions would he offer for the not so good things he is seeing
Phil talks about the importance of how we preceive feedback and how we should learn the difference between disagree vs dislike
Phil discusses why he feels its important for coaches to develop empathy as this can help develop a greater degree of relateness with our athletes
Why did Phil call the company Sparta
Phil discusses why its so important to approach data with an open and critical mind
Phil talks about how the squat, deadlift, and bench press had the highest co-relation with eccentric RFD
Phil and I discuss about confirmation bias' within science
Phil shares with us the testing protocols that they utilize at Sparta
Phil shares with us the training system utilized at Sparta
Phil discusses the partnership that Sparta has with many other elite organizations around the world
Phil discusses the future of Sparta
Phil shares with us the biggest lessons he has learned so far in his career and life
Phil shares his top resources
Phil gives us his top advice to all the listeners
And if Phil could invite 5 people to dinner, dead or alive, who would he invite and why?

This was an outstanding episode with Phil guys, and I hope you really enjoy it.

Stay Strong,

Show Notes:

Sparta Science Twitter

Phil Wagner Twitter

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