NSCA’s Coaching Podcast, Season 6 Episode 12: Chip Sigmon and Jerry Palmieri

Learn about the“Golden Age of Strength and Conditioning”from those who lived it. Former National Basketball Association (NBA) strength and conditioning coach, Chip Sigmon, joins retired longtime National Football League (NFL) strength and conditioning coach, Jerry Palmieri, on a journey back to the 1970s and 1980s. Sigmon and Palmieri share their experiences, mentors, and life influences that put them on a path towards meaningful strength and conditioning careers with the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon. Hear how the book, The Golden Age of Strength and Conditioning was written to feature powerful stories of professional growth from the many who were there.

Follow the link to read The Golden Age of Strength and Conditioning. You can also email Chip at chipsigmon@europasports.com and Jerry at jerrypalmieri910@gmail.com | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs

“There was a time 10 years ago after the Hornets where I went to work for OrthoCarolina and their strength and conditioning program, a sports performance program, but also assisted with physical therapy, which made me, in essence, a better strength and conditioning coach. It really helped me tremendously with rehab of athletes and so forth.” 16:27

“You have to let the athletes know you care about them. They're going to go to social media. Coach, why aren't we doing this? Why aren't we doing that? But if you really-- the social media doesn't care about them. And if you let the s know that you care about every little thing they do on the court, off the court, on the field, off the field, boy, you've got them.” 24:18

“I'm thinking about themes in the profession that really are timeless. And one thing we talk a lot about today is mentorship, and who we look up to, and who we learn from, and where we get our experience.” 26:35

“That’s what's great, and it’s life, overcoming adversity. And man, it just makes you stronger. It just makes you from a mental, physical, emotional standpoint spiritually.” 36:30

[00:00:00.00] [MUSIC PLAYING]

[00:00:04.39] Welcome to the NSCA Coaching Podcast season six, episode 12.

[00:00:09.58] You have to let the athletes know you care about them. They're going to go to social media. Coach, why aren't we doing this? Why aren't we doing that?

[00:00:20.03] And if you let the kids know that you care about every little thing they do on the court, off the court, on the field, off the field, boy, you've got them.

[00:00:35.60] This is the NSCA's Coaching Podcast, where we talk to strength and conditioning coaches about what you really need to know, but probably didn't learn in school. There's strength and conditioning, and then there's everything else.

[00:00:46.65] Welcome to the NSCA Coaching Podcast. I'm Eric McMahon. Today, we're joined by two veterans strength and conditioning coaches, Chip Sigmon and Jerry Palmieri. And we're going to talk about The Golden Age of Strength and Conditioning, a book from 2019, where 32 college and professional strength and conditioning coaches shared their stories from The Golden Years of Strength of Conditioning.

[00:01:10.49] On this podcast, we talk a lot about coaching journeys across all generations of coaches. This episode will take us back a bit to the early years of our field with two very experienced coaches who contributed to the book. Chip, welcome. Thanks for being with us.

[00:01:27.31] Eric, great to be with you. Cannot thank you enough for allowing us to share the book.

[00:01:33.53] Yeah, absolutely. This episode really came together you and I just jumping on a call. And we both happened to have the book on our desk. And we were just talking through some of the stories. And Jerry, we've also connected on some of these stories in the book and excited to have you with us too.

[00:01:53.33] It's great to be here. Looking forward to it.

[00:01:56.21] I want to give both of you the chance to share the story of just how this book came together. I think it's really impressive, just the number of experienced coaches that contributed. And Chip, I'll let you lead the way on this one.

[00:02:12.17] Thanks, Eric. Once again, it's three years this month. And I'll be getting something out to all the coaches who contributed on the book.

[00:02:22.84] We've got 32 coaches who contributed, two the exercise sports scientists, Dr. Michael Stone, Travis Triplett, and who I was with at Appalachian State, Dr. Michael Stone with him at Appalachian State. But anyway, it was three years ago. It was November.

[00:02:44.35] It was a cold, rainy-- I'll just quote the-- I could do it from not looking at it, of course. But it was a cold, rainy Monday morning, November 2019. And I was on my way to work. And I happened to call Mike Gentry, who had just retired from Virginia Tech, just asked him how he was doing.

[00:03:09.66] And we got to talking. And he said, Chip. He said, by the way-- we were talking about the good old days, strength and conditioning. He says, it's by the way, how much did you make in Appalachian State when you first started, when you were hired?

[00:03:23.17] I was hired from-- I was an assistant strength coach at the University of North Carolina, along with Jerry Palmieri. So I went to Appalachian State, head strength coach, their very first one in 1984. And a Mack Brown, who's now the head football coach at Curtin University North Carolina hired me, and of course, along with athletic director and others.

[00:03:43.56] But he said, how much did you start out making money at Appalachian State? And I said, well, nothing, Mike. I got room and board and training table and that was it.

[00:03:59.94] I said, well, how about you? He said, well, you got me beat. And I think it's in the book. It's 12,000 something, around there. A low number.

[00:04:08.82] You said, you got me beat. I made that. And I said, well, you know-- I told him-- I said, well, that sounds like the golden-- that was the golden age of strength and conditioning. And he said, you know what, Chip? He said, that sounds like a book.

[00:04:28.39] So we hung up. We talked a little bit. And I started-- my brain started going. I've always got to be working on a project. And so I got to thinking.

[00:04:41.00] I called Jerry, told him my idea. Let's get some coaches together and tell their stories. I called Bill Foran, strength coach of Miami Heat. He was the strength coach for the Miami Hurricanes under Jimmy Johnson.

[00:04:54.20] I called Alan Johnson. He was at East Tennessee State at the time. He was at West Virginia, Ohio State University. And let me see. I'm forgetting anybody. That's it, Mike.

[00:05:06.62] Gentry, of course. I was going to include him. I needed some help. So I got a core group together of us coaches, my Gentry Jerry, Alan Johnson, and Bill Foran and allowed myself. And we started it.

[00:05:23.42] And we came up with 32 coaches. First, it was 25. We talked to the publisher about more. We added 32, plus the two exercise science professors, sports science professors. So we added that.

[00:05:42.95] We started with 25. We got to 32. The rules were you had to be a strength coach in collegiate or professional level in the 70s or 80s. If it was January 1990, you were out. --and then of course, the publisher.

[00:06:00.61] And so that started the ball rolling. And two years later, in March of 2021-- it was 2020-- not 2019. I'm sorry. 2019. It was done. And we got it out to all the coaches and then social media.

[00:06:24.37] It was nothing short of an act of God putting it together. The publisher backed out one time, and talked him into it. And they did a great job for us. It's published by the Core Media Group.

[00:06:39.64] And then I'll say one more thing. Then Jerry, I'm going to let you-- I know I'm forgetting something. But we had to come up with some money. And so we had to get some sponsors.

[00:06:52.24] I worked at Europa Sports, did my sports training out of there. They're a nutritional company, I knew Cytosport, maker of Muscle Milk. I called them. Bill Foran knew the people at Woodway Treadmill, cardio. He called them.

[00:07:08.65] And then Mike Gentry called Williams Strength, Total Speed and Strength. He was familiar with them, had a relationship with them. All three love the idea. They were able to tell their story in the book, how Cytomax, Muscle Milk started, how Williams Strength started Total Strength and Speed, and of course, Woodway Treadmill and how they were involved in college, and collegiate, and professional sports.

[00:07:37.09] So in a nutshell, I think that's about it, Jerry. What am I leaving out? It was a long two years, I'll tell you that, of a lot of stuff. Jerry?

[00:07:51.79] We had more than 25. We had more than 32. We contacted a lot of guys to get those 32. Amazingly, some guys didn't want to do it. Some guy started doing it, then had to drop out.

[00:08:06.07] So yeah, it was a lot of phone calls to contact these people. And by no means is it all inclusive. Like I said, some guys decided not to do it. It was inconvenient for them.

[00:08:20.13] And quite frankly, some guys that are probably overlooked in the process as well. But we felt we got a good representation to give a good story of what it was like back in the early days of the profession. And so guys can contrast what it is to the way it is now.

[00:08:41.12] Yeah. What I really like hearing come through in that story is the resourcefulness we use as coaches. Just to get this book published you really had to dig deep and find a way to get it funded and get the information together. And it was a really collaborative process.

[00:09:01.40] I was connecting with Boyd Epley recently. And we were doing some recordings, actually. And we were talking about just being called the founder of the NSCA.

[00:09:14.96] And one thing he said was, there were a lot of us around at that time. And it was a bunch of people coming together to bring together a collective voice for strength and conditioning professionals. And this book really highlights that. I the '70s and '80s.

[00:09:33.20] And a lot of coaches today don't really have a lot of knowledge maybe before we were born. And I won't age myself here for all the listeners. But I've got a lot less experience than what you guys collectively bring and everyone in this book.

[00:09:51.05] And I think it really is a positive to encourage coaches of today, aspiring strength and conditioning coaches, to dig into this and just hear what it was like years ago. Jerry, one thing, I really like talking to you about this. You won the NSCA President's Award recognized by the NSCA this past year for your contributions to the field over many years, most notably in the NFL.

[00:10:21.53] But really, you got your start in sport with the sport of boxing. And that's something I don't hear a whole lot about. Dive into your story a little bit, and share that with us.

[00:10:31.62] Well, yeah, my dad taught us all how to fight just so we wouldn't get beat up in the street. That was a boxer growing up out of New York City. And so I just took a liking to it.

[00:10:45.39] And my skill level was pretty good. So you kind of do the things that you excel in. And the good Lord opened doors for me to have a good path of competition.

[00:11:00.78] I was able to compete at the state level in New Jersey, compete nationally, have my highest ranking of fifth in the country as a light heavyweight, and then also competed internationally as well. So it was good. The amazing thing about it, though-- because back in that era in the '70s, boxers wouldn't touch weights. So I didn't do any kind of resistance training until I graduated from college.

[00:11:28.36] And a friend asked me-- he said, hey, a new Nautilus club is opening up in a neighboring town. He said, why don't you come over there and work with us? I told him I don't know anything about lifting weights. So he said, no, it's easy.

[00:11:44.13] So I went and did it. After my first season of coaching football, I had a dead time, so I did it at nights while I taught during the day. And that kind of triggered my interest to find out more about how the body responds to exercise and went off for my graduate degree in North Carolina. That's where I met Chip.

[00:12:12.60] I was the volunteer. Chip was a part-time strength coach at Carolina. That's how we started. And our friendship began back in 1982 and has continued all these years.

[00:12:26.72] Chip, you mentioned Appalachian State. And I think your chapter in the book kicks off with being a junior at Appalachian State in 1977. I want to give you a chance to talk about some of the stops you've had, everything from working in the NBA at the college level, high school, and even thriving in the private sector working with athletes and clients.

[00:12:53.26] Yeah, it's been a very rewarding life, Eric. I'll tell you, I've been very blessed. The same with Jerry as well with Jerry. But yeah, the Appalachian State, a student-- I was into bodybuilding after playing junior college football and won some state titles and some other contests.

[00:13:20.23] And the baseball coach, Jim Morris, said Chip, they had an old universal and a few free weights in the gymnastics room. He said, Chip, why don't you be the head strength coach or come and help the baseball team? And that was out of the box. And not many baseball teams were lifting weights.

[00:13:44.65] And so I put something together for them. I had students everywhere asking me for workouts. Football players at Appalachian State, they didn't have anything at that time. Writing up programs for them. They had old barbell club down in the basement of the gym.

[00:14:01.06] And so that's how it got started. Our team in '77, the Appalachian State baseball team, won the Southern Conference, led the nation in home runs. And then I went to high school and coached high school football track and helped with the strength and conditioning program there.

[00:14:21.28] And then from there in 1984, I went to University in North Carolina. So in my background, Jerry's in boxing and mine, of course, in bodybuilding. And people back then-- I remember Appalachian State hired me.

[00:14:38.74] But I had to tell them, convince him, listen, I'm not going to try to make them bodybuilders. I'm going to make them football players. And I remember one of the coaches saying, well, I'm so glad to hear that. And Mack Brown just nodded his head.

[00:14:53.92] But nowadays, as we know, there is-- I remember going up to Liberty University-- my daughter went to school there-- and meeting Bill Gillespie, which I'd known him. And my daughter ended up-- she was video photographer there. And she ended up taking pictures of the football players just in shorts and the before and after pictures of the football team.

[00:15:20.86] Well, that's sort of bodybuilding. Of course, you're not going on stage. We out now have periodization plans for hypertrophy.

[00:15:33.31] And of course, they're not-- you know what I'm talking about. They're not going on stage, of course. But there are times for muscle muscular development because the more muscle, of course, the more contractile properties involved.

[00:15:47.14] So-- at University in North Carolina, then being hired at the head strength coach going back to Appalachian State to be their first full-time strength and conditioning coach. And it wasn't in there until two years later, where my first full-time check, I remember, was $21,000 a year. And then from there in 1990 going on with the Charlotte Hornets in the NBA for about 10 or 11 years before they left for New Orleans.

[00:16:23.14] And now, of course, in the private sector with Sigmon Sports Performance at present, there was a time 10 years ago after the Hornets where I went to work for OrthoCarolina and their strength and conditioning program, a sports performance program, but also assisted with physical therapy, which made me, in essence, a better strength and conditioning coach. It really helped me tremendously with rehab of athletes and so forth.

[00:16:51.95] So it's been a very-- now, as I said, with my own business, which now I'm having to go out and hunt for food. I used to get a check from all those teams and businesses. But it's in my latter years very, very rewarding.

[00:17:11.08] Still working with athletes. I still have that passion and purpose for it in the excitement. And I will leave here. And I've got to think. I've got about eight or nine athletes coming in tonight. It's going to be in one facility, but very, very rewarding.

[00:17:28.21] Eric, it's still-- and Jerry can attest to this. It's making a difference in kids' life. This is a country where you feel sorry for what's going on right now. Those other countries are not able to excel every day. But here, we're able to excel, able to be the very best we can be in everyday situations.

[00:17:54.28] And we are so blessed. This is a very, very rewarding profession where you're making a difference. And every kid on that football team or whatever sport it is, you're making a difference in their lives. You're getting better on the field, in the weight room, of course, but as a person, a better student, a better person, a better athlete.

[00:18:19.10] That really says a lot about the passion and just how connected coaches feel to our profession. And I think anyone who gets into a service profession like strength and conditioning where you are putting the needs of others, often first-- I mean, you talked about how low some of the salaries are and how challenging it can be just to get into the field and just those hurdles. But that passion and that level of care, it's really refreshing. And to hear that-- even going back to the very beginning, that was really important as it is today.

[00:19:07.31] And I think coaches who dedicate their self to this path really connect along those same lines, whether they have an injury, or a setback, or a coach that motivates them, or someone that motivates them to excel and push themselves. But man, that's powerful just how you connected that to what's going on in the world. And I think it's an important perspective for all of us to have.

[00:19:32.50] Jerry, I want to ask you-- when we talk about this book, it's a lot about the coaching journey and the different paths people take. You guys-- from boxing to bodybuilding, we hear about Olympic weightlifting, power lifting foundations. What are some of the themes that you've seen in strength and conditioning that come through in the book of just how coaches have navigated their career paths and that might be important for coaches of today to dive into?

[00:20:09.19] Well, I think the what's important for people to understand to read the book is where the profession came from and what it was like in the beginning. Back in those early days, there was a director of strength and conditioning. And that director was in charge of all the strength and conditioning that went on at the university throughout the athletic department.

[00:20:32.08] And many times, it could just be that one coach who is training the athletes. Or it could be that coach, and a GA, or a part timer. Or it may be an assistant. My first assistant got paid $5,000. So from that standpoint, it was quite a bit different.

[00:20:58.03] You really had to sell what you were doing because at that point, a lot of athletes didn't believe in weight training. They didn't think it was going to help them. And then coaches didn't believe it was going to help their athletes. So there's a lot of salesmanship taking place. s you had to present to them what you were doing and get them to buy in.

[00:21:20.43] Whereas, now, kids are lifting in high school. And they come into college with advanced training already. I think the path that we all took is we just love it.

[00:21:33.07] We just love investing in an athletes. We love the idea that we're helping athletes get better. And I think the key thing about a strength coach is you're going to have to make a decision whether or not a guy makes the team or gets cut, who's going to start.

[00:21:51.20] So if you're going to get better, then that, in and of itself, brings value to you and be able to pour into the lives of these athletes that we get blessed to coach. But that's kind of been the-- I think, the thing between everybody. They just love investing into and the people and helping them get better and improve their skills, whether that was getting to a point where they can make their high school team, or they can go on and get a scholarship, or become a starter, whatever that level is, just helping them to get better. And that was rewarding to all of us.

[00:22:33.58] Chip, do you feel like working with athletes today is different than it was years ago just building off of some of the things Jerry's talking about of having to sell the profession and sell weight training early to athletes that maybe didn't buy into it and now athletes come in with the expectation that strength and conditioning is more of the process? What have you seen?

[00:23:03.59] Yeah, the process is correct. Back when we first started, there was no social media. So boy, the athletes, they just took to us. We were the fathers of the football program. We were with them all the time at LDR too.

[00:23:23.43] And what we said was gold. And Jerry can say this too. I think I'll get off just a little bit then get back on track. But I still get letters and emails, and of course, Facebook and Instagram for athletes I coached. I know Jerry does too.

[00:23:41.97] There's a great bond, incredible bond. Now I'll tell you this, I was hard on my players because I want them to know if they can make it through my workouts, they can make it through life.

[00:23:57.86] Sometimes when I go back to Appalachian State or Charlotte Hornets or wherever, if I see an old athlete. I don't know if they're going to hug me or hit me because-- and mostly, I get hugs. But I worked them. And I know Jerry did too in a loving way, though.

[00:24:16.07] Nowadays, I still have great relationships with athletes. You have to let the athletes know you care about them. They're going to go to social media. Coach, why aren't we doing this? Why aren't we doing that?

[00:24:31.93] But if you really-- the social media doesn't care about them. And if you let the s know that you care about every little thing they do on the court, off the court, on the field, off the field, boy, you've got them. And sometimes, I'll let a kid-- I have 15 minutes left, 10 minutes left.

[00:24:54.88] All right. Now, what things do we need to work on? What are some things you need to-- go freelance a little bit. So it's all about-- it's still, Eric, it's still about caring about the athletes. And that's why I think the strength and conditioning coach--

[00:25:15.50] I've strength coached for all the teams. First year, I had no assistance whatsoever. I mean, it's a dungeon, no windows.

[00:25:23.29] I'm in there from 5:00. I walk out, the sun is dark. I walk out, it's dark. Ate lunch. There's no windows. I ate lunch in my office.

[00:25:33.10] Sometimes, I'd go to the training table. It'd be closed and shut down. I would go to bed hungry. And so there was a lot of sacrifice.

[00:25:45.23] But nowadays, there's coaches for every team, but you can steal-- and the facilities are incredible as well they should be. But now there's coaches for every team that you can steal. And that's even more-- it's better to have those individual relationships with just the members of that team.

[00:26:07.14] And so that's great [INAUDIBLE] through all the years, Eric. That is the great thing about this profession, is, yeah, you better know what the heck you're doing or you wouldn't have got the job anyway. But still, when you care about those individuals-- I don't think there's a job more rewarding than what a strength and conditioning coach can provide for a team.

[00:26:35.46] I'm thinking about themes in the profession that really are timeless. And one thing we talk a lot about today is mentorship, and who we look up to, and who we learn from, and where we get our experience. And I think that comes through in the book.

[00:26:59.96] But I want to ask you guys-- and Jerry will kick this off with you-- getting in at the early stages, who are the mentors you looked up to. And also what are the chapters in the book or the stories that were your favorite and just some of the stories that came up through the book?

[00:27:21.70] Well, Mike Martz obviously was my first mentor. He gave me the opportunity to coach at North Carolina. I had very little experience, very little knowledge.

[00:27:33.73] I'll never forget the time he had Chip, myself, and the other part-timer in the weight room. And he said, Jerry, why don't you show me a power clean. I had never power cleaned in my life. But all summer long, I kept watching his plays power playing just as an observer.

[00:27:53.02] So I took a shot at it. He said, that's not too bad. I had no idea what I was doing. But Coach Martz gave me an opportunity. And he introduced to the profession. But then when I went to Oklahoma State, John Stuckey really became my professional daddy. And he really invested in me as a man, as a Christian, as a coach, and really taught me how to coach.

[00:28:24.15] I truly feel that that's what I am a disciple of. And then-- yeah, so that's where my mentorship has come from. And then obviously, over the years, just continue to learn from your peers and the association, the NSCA, and just continue to grow professionally.

[00:28:46.43] But yeah, when I think of the-- I think what was most meaningful to me as I really look back is some of the kids that I really invested in and truly felt like they were sons to me. And there was a young man by the name of Russ Campbell at Kansas State who was-- he actually went to the Air Force Academy.

[00:29:15.38] And when he went there, they had them eat by the numbers. And he couldn't get enough food in, so he left after about a month. And he came to Kansas State right before we started training camp.

[00:29:37.44] And he and I just hit it off. And we just kind of fell in love with this kid. And he really became another son to my wife and I, at a house all the time and just became an older brother to our son and our daughter.

[00:29:54.72] And just a great guy, a great young man who has very successful in life. And the amazing thing one time, when my career ended and they transitioned me out of the weight room after Coach Compton got released from the Giants, he called me up, and he said, Coach, all those values you taught me 25 years ago, I now use those to teach my business team. And that says a lot as far as having an impact on someone's life like that. So that was very special to me.

[00:30:34.66] Chip, how about you? Mentorship. Who are your mentors in the field and just some of the stories that made your path what it is?

[00:30:49.63] I would have to go along with Jerry and Mike Martz, who gave me that opportunity. He was very patient with me, us, all of us. But say from my experience, he's been very patient. He should have fired me a couple of times. Very patient.

[00:31:08.64] Bill Whiteman, the strength coach at a high school in Kannapolis, very instrumental. We discussed a lot of things. Then at Appalachian State, two people I like, Dr. Michael Stone and Dr. Harold O'Bryant, the exercise physiologist there, sports science guys, always included them in what I was doing at Appalachian State. They really respected that.

[00:31:42.50] I would say to collegiate strength condition coaches get a relationship with your exercise science department. Don't leave them out. Let them be involved in what you're doing.

[00:31:53.58] I remember a story in the '80s, the Jane Fonda aerobics were out. And our indoor facility at Appalachian State was the balcony, a cement balcony in the basketball arena, cement up in the balcony. And the winners at Appalachian State and Boone are horrific.

[00:32:19.74] And so I had the football players twice a week only just in the summer just for a periodization phase, just for phasing periodization. I got called in, but I had to do aerobics for some aerobic dancers who taught aerobics, Jane Fonda. And I got called into the Exercise Science Department.

[00:32:43.73] Harold, and Dr. Stone, Dr. O'Bryant were, hey, Chip, we heard what you're doing. Your bench squat claims are going to go down. I said, guys-- and I explained to them why.

[00:32:55.61] I said, you're exactly right. And you know what? They did. They did go down. And that's something I'll-- but I think it's important to have those people involved in your program.

[00:33:06.46] I like what Buddy Moore says when he, I believe, was at Pittsburgh I'm thinking. I may be wrong. He's with the Arizona Cardinals now.

[00:33:15.52] But he says, I'm going to go to the exercise science people just to ask them how high I can jump-- something like that-- that my player should be jumping, anything I can ask them. I want to know what their philosophy is. Eric, you talked about stories in the book. And there's movies that could be made off a lot of those stories.

[00:33:39.96] One that really touched me-- and see, we had to edit all the stories. When coaches would send them to us-- the process of having the coaches-- your story had to make an impact. It could only be so many words. And you want your stories to have impact. And so that was the criteria.

[00:34:01.32] We'd get them, and we divide them up on how to edit those stories. And I was sitting. I would finish training my athletes. I went out to eat, and I would go over the stories.

[00:34:11.94] And the one I went over was Johnny Parker. And I cried. And my wife-- I said, Michelle, you've got to read this. And she called me back, I'm crying.

[00:34:25.33] Johnny talked to-- the little girl he talks about in the story-- I'll start crying now-- did not know she was going to be in the book. And it changed his life.

[00:34:36.93] He was coaching basketball, middle school or high school. And he would drive the athletes home. And one little girl, he said-- she got out-- she was the last person Johnny let off that evening.

[00:34:54.04] She said, Coach, come out here and see what mom and dad got me, my own basketball goal. And then they sit down. And she said, watch me-- he sat down. Watch me practice, Coach.

[00:35:08.56] And I sat down, and she started crying and crying. And finally, when she calmed down, he said, what's wrong? She said, Coach, you never help me. I wanted to show you what I can do because you never help me.

[00:35:23.32] He was very selfish like I was and we all are sometimes in our professions. And it changed his path. It changed his career. And we all know about Johnny Parker now. My goodness, there's nobody greater.

[00:35:40.81] Talking about Jeff Connor, his struggles in West Virginia coming up in a coal mining town and walking across the athletic field and the bullies and everything. And I had to overcome so many things. I could go on and on. But Eric, here's the deal with these 32 stories. Everybody overcame adversity, everybody, so much adversity.

[00:36:08.61] I remember-- and I hate to use this. But I remember having the flu. I didn't know if I could take one more step. I thought I was going to pass out. And this was on my lunch break.

[00:36:18.56] But I knew I had to go back in. Nobody's going to-- I can't call up and have somebody else. And so we all go-- and that's what's great, and it's life, overcoming adversity. And man, it just makes you stronger. It just makes you from a mental, physical, emotional standpoint spiritually.

[00:36:41.01] So that's what's great. I'll pick a story just to read for that day or two. And still, I've read all of them. And just what those coaches went through, it's just a great, great venue to go and read and what those guys went through.

[00:37:07.54] Chip, Jerry, really appreciate you guys taking the time to talk about The Golden Age of Strength and Conditioning. It's a book that you can have on your shelf and keep going back to, like you mentioned, and just read a story, and go back in time, and learn about how our field got started. Like we do on the podcast every episode, would you share your contact info, your email, with our listeners to reach out if they have questions or they want to connect?

[00:37:41.88] Yeah, Jerry Palmieri. So my email address is Jerry, J-E-R-R-Y P-A-L-M-I-E-R-I 901@gmail.com

[00:38:00.70] Chip, what's the best way to get in touch with you?

[00:38:03.92] It is my email, chipsigmon@europa, E-U-R-O-P-A sports.com. On Facebook, Chip Sigmon [INAUDIBLE] my business, Instagram trainwithchip, chipsigmon.com. I do want to mention, if you don't mind, Eric, our publisher, the Core Media Group did an outstanding job.

[00:38:27.81] There's three man on the back of the book who wrote-- endorsing the book, Mack Brown, Dick Vermeil, need you say more about how that can make an impact when people read it. He was very, very-- talking to other coaches. Loved the book.

[00:38:48.93] And then Alonzo Mourning, Hall of Fame, had the pleasure of coaching one of the most intense athletes I've ever worked with. But I apologize. That's my contact information. So Eric, we cannot thank you enough for giving us an opportunity.

[00:39:08.07] No, absolutely. This is a great resource for everyone in the field. And thanks again for being with us. To everyone listening, we appreciate you taking the time and going back to the early days of strength and conditioning and hearing some of those impactful stories. We'd also like to thank Sorinex Exercise Equipment. We appreciate their support.

[00:39:32.03] Hi. This is Ivan Lewis, head strength and conditioning coach of the Seattle Seahawks. Thanks for listening to the NSCA Coaching Podcast. Don't forget to subscribe on iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts to have the latest episodes delivered right to you.

[00:39:45.50] Also, take your career forward by joining the NSCA's Registered Strength and Conditioning Coach Program. Learn more about becoming an RSCC at nsca.com/rscc.

[00:39:55.59] [MUSIC PLAYING]

[00:39:57.95] This was the NSCA's Coaching Podcast. The National Strength and Conditioning Association was founded in 1978 by strength and conditioning coaches to share information, resources, and help advance the profession. Serving coaches for over 40 years, the NSCA is the trusted source for strength and conditioning professionals. Be sure to join us next time.

Reporting Errors: To report errors in a podcast episode requiring correction or clarification, email the editor at publications@nsca.com or write to NSCA, attn: Publications Dept., 1885 Bob Johnson Dr., Colorado Springs, CO 80906. Your letter should be clearly marked as a letter of complaint. Please (a) identify in writing the precise factual errors in the published podcast episode (every false, factual assertion allegedly contained therein), (b) explain with specificity what the true facts are, and (c) include your full name and contact information.