The Strength Game

The Strength Game is a weekly podcast dedicated to discussing all things physical culture with the coaches, athletes, iron enthusiasts, and experts deeply imbedded in the strength game on both sides of the profession; as coaches and as competitive athletes. Hosted by Nick O’Brien, each episode we discuss, rant and dive deep into all things related to strength and conditioning, high performance and training lifestyle. Join us in The Strength Game!

Episodes

#160 - Melissa Mercado

Melissa Mercado is the Tactical Manager and Practice Planner General Manager at TeamBuildr. Mercado joined TeamBuildr in 2024 first as a tactical manager before taking on additional responsibilities as the practice planner general manager in 20...

May 05, 2026 • Episode 160 • 1:08:34

#159 - Mike Axler

Mike Axler is an Exercise Science professor and researcher with extensive experience in endurance sport, strength training and applied physiology. Earning his PhD in applied physiology from the University of Delaware in 2023, Axler currently te...

April 21, 2026 • Episode 159 • 1:23:14

#158 - Tim Caron

Tim Caron is the Co-Founder and Head Coach of Allegiate Gym. Caron helped start Allegiate Gym with two of his former football players and co-founders in 2017. Since the opening in Los Angeles, they have seen the gym expand to three total locati...

April 07, 2026 • Episode 158 • 1:00:03

#157 - Colton Krueger

Colton Krueger is a Sports Performance Coach at William & Mary. Joining Tribe athletics in 2024, Krueger oversees training for the baseball, men’s and women’s soccer teams in addition to assist with football. Prior to W&M he was a gradu...

March 24, 2026 • Episode 157 • 1:28:45

#156 - Mike Sullivan

Mike Sullivan is an Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach at Syracuse University where he oversees and implements the training for the women’s lacrosse and women’s tennis teams. Additionally, Sullivan serves as the head strength and condi...

March 10, 2026 • Episode 156 • 1:32:55

#155 - Aaron Potoshnik

Aaron Potoshnik is a Strength and Nutrition Coach working in corporate wellness in the tech industry. Potoshnik stepped into remote coaching and the private sector in 2023 following a long stint in collegiate athletics. With his own business in...

February 24, 2026 • Episode 155 • 1:41:08

#154 - Alex Dee

Alex Dee is an Assistant Sports Performance Coach at the University of Illinois Chicago where he oversees the training for the baseball, track & field/cross country, and swimming programs. Joining the Flames in summer 2025, Dee previously s...

February 10, 2026 • Episode 154 • 1:04:38

#153 - Matt Rodriguez

Matt Rodriguez is the Associate Head Strength & Conditioning Coach at Sacred Heart University. He returned to SHU in 2022 where he directly oversees all aspects of sports performance for both men’s basketball and men’s lacrosse, and assists...

January 27, 2026 • Episode 153 • 1:34:43

#152 - Kayla Girgen

Kayla Girgen is a registered dietician, certified personal training, and founder of the online wellness community Sugar + Strength Academy. Her background spans clinical nutrition, personal training, and years of firsthand experience coaching w...

January 13, 2026 • Episode 152 • 1:20:50

#151 - Erik Hernandez

Erik Hernandez is the Associate Director of Sports Performance for Olympic Sports at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Hernandez began his tenure with the Tar Heels in August 2010 as intern coach with a year break in that stint whe...

December 30, 2025 • Episode 151 • 1:14:14

#150 - Kristoffer Koerper

Kristoffer Koerper is the founder of Full Strength Father and co-founder of Built Sports Performance. He is the Director of Facility Design at Samson Equipment, where he leads the design and development of high-performance training facilities f...

December 16, 2025 • Episode 150 • 1:15:45

#149 - Michael Stegemoeller

Michael Stegemoeller is an Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach at the University of Pittsburgh. Joining Pitt in spring 2025, Stegemoeller works directly with the Panthers women’s lacrosse, and swimming & diving programs. He previous...

December 02, 2025 • Episode 149 • 1:33:01

#148 - Andrew Clayton

Andrew Clayton is the founder of First Called Strength & Performance. First Called Strength & Performance is an online coaching and personal training service based in Jacksonville, FL. Clayton started First Called Strength and Performan...

November 18, 2025 • Episode 148 • 1:45:26

#147 - Chad Dunn

Chad Dunn is the Owner of Move Human Performance Center and Physical Therapy in addition to being a sports performance and exercise specialist specializing in catastrophic injury recovery. Based out of Chandler, AZ, Move Human Performance Cente...

November 04, 2025 • Episode 147 • 1:11:54

#146 - Jeff Kryglik

Jeff Kryglik is a strength coach and personal trainer as well as founder of Deep Blue Training LLC, which offers personal training in person as well as online program, consultation and coaching. His mission is to teach the sport of strongman to...

October 21, 2025 • Episode 146 • 1:43:02

#145 - Tommy LaBriola

Tommy LaBriola is an on-site Human Performance Specialist at O2X Human Performance training tactical athletes. Prior to working with O2X Human Performance in late 2024, LaBriola spent five years as a Minor League strength and conditioning coach...

October 07, 2025 • Episode 145 • 1:15:45

#144 - Ken Nowicki

Ken Nowick is the owner and CEO of Cerberus Strength USA, the American brand of the Scottish company of the same name which strives to provide supportive equipment of the highest possible quality to not only high level athletes in strength spor...

September 23, 2025 • Episode 144 • 1:30:07

#143 - Mike Colella

Mike Colella is a Strength Coach and the Owner of Coach Mikes Dawg Pound. Colella established his coaching business and LLC in 2023 after training clients at Explosive Performance from 2018-2023 in Frederick, MD. Throughout his time working in ...

September 09, 2025 • Episode 143 • 1:13:03

#142 - Tim Kontos

Tim Kontos is the Associate AD for Sports Performance and Student-Athlete Wellness at Virginia Commonwealth University. Kontos is going into his 27th year at VCU. First arriving in 1998 as the head strength and conditioning coach, he became an ...

August 26, 2025 • Episode 142 • 1:40:48

#141 - Blair Vaughan

Blair Vaughan is the Head Football Strength & Conditioning Coach at Sam Houston State University. Prior to his start with the Bearkats in 2025, Vaughan spent two season as the associate head strength coach at the University of Arizona. He a...

August 12, 2025 • Episode 141 • 1:20:20

#140 - Anthony Fuhrman

Anthony Fuhrman is a Strength Coach, Athletic Trainer and Co-Founder of Strengthlete Collective. The Strengthlete Collective is an online community and training app that gives members access to strength sports-based fitness programs created by ...

July 29, 2025 • Episode 410 • 1:17:02

#139 - Justin Lima

Justin Lima is a strength coach, high-performance consultant, as well as the president and CEO of Strength Coach Network. Lima has been at the helm of SCN since 2023, initially starting as a partner with the company from 2020-2022 and followed ...

July 15, 2025 • Episode 139 • 1:23:31

#138 - Danny Strohm

Danny Strohm is the Director of Basketball Performance at Georgia Southern University. Strohm arrived in Statesboro in 2024 after spending the previous two years as the interim director of strength & conditioning at Southeast Missouri State...

July 01, 2025 • Episode 138 • 1:02:01

#137 - Shannon Boone

Shannon Boone is the Head Athletic Performance Coach for USA Women’s Volleyball National Team. She joined Team USA in summer 2025 after spending the previous five years as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at Florida State University...

June 17, 2025 • Episode 137 • 1:21:29

#136 - Connor Truhitte

Connor Truhitte is the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach and Fitness Center Director at the University of Redlands. At Redlands Truhitte overseas the strength and conditioning department for all 21 sports in addition to the recreation fitnes...

June 03, 2025 • Episode 136 • 1:41:34