Travis Mash: Powerlifting, Youth Development, and the Importance of Athlete Monitoring

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Travis Mash
Powerlifting, Youth Development, and the Importance of Athlete Monitoring

Travis Mash has been strength training for over 21 years and has been working with athletes on their strength, speed, and athletic performance for over 15 years. Travis has worked with athletes and non-athletes of all levels from NFL and Olympic hopefuls, to 7-year-olds just starting out, to a 70-year-old senior seeking increased mobility. Travis is a current world champion in powerlifting and has held the all-time pound-for-pound world record.

We talk to Travis about his career path, the importance of athlete monitoring, youth development, and his love of the flywheel.

For more info about Travis, check out Mash Elite Performance, follow him on Instagram, and check out all his articles on GymAware.

Mentors, Coaches, and Researchers mentioned in the episode: 

04:43  Travis takes us through is background growing up in a small town, moving to Colorado Springs after college in 1997 to pursue weightlifting, hoping to work with Wes Barnett
07:10  Travis’ mom was not enthused about this move
08:20  The Starrett’s daughter, Caroline, got to do a camp at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado
09:40  Travis did have a background and experience in weightlifting before he moved out to Colorado; Coach Burgener
10:15  Travis got into weightlifting when he played football at Appalachian State with Mike Kent as his strength and conditioning coach
12:10  Specialization too early is a detriment to development – i.e. before 14yo
13:40  Travis shifted from Olympic lifting to powerlifting out of necessity when his father fell ill and he moved home with access only to globo gyms
14:30  Travis’ powerlifting lineage is about as elite as they come; Louie Simmons; Charles Poliquin; T Nation; Dr. Leahy
16:25  Louie always handled Travis at his meets even though he was competing against Louie’s athletes; Chuck Vogelpohl
17:05  Kelly tries to always answer the phone because like Travis, he was lucky enough to have mentors answer his calls when he was just starting out
17:15  Kelly reached out to Travis after an injury to set him up with an HWAVE
18:07  Accessibility to the world’s greatest coaches
19:29  Travis has finished a masters is working toward a PhD on athlete monitoring
20:40  Travis just did a paper for Kabuki on flywheel training
22:20  Much of The Ready State staff wears Oura Rings; Pavel Tsatsouline
23:45  Travis had his first rough meet after 8 years of PRs with Ryan Grimsland, due to overtraining
24:50  After age 20 an athlete’s ability to handle volume changes
26:00  Travis talks about what he monitors when he talks about “athlete monitoring”
31:20  Travis, Kelly, and Juliet have all had joint replacements
33:30  Travis finally decided to get his hip replaced when he got to the point that he could barely walk
33:55  18 weeks post surgery, Travis squatted 506lb – his doctor was not pleased
34:38  Wolff’s Law – when you challenge the bone, it gets stronger
35:55  Moving well and being strong matters for recovery; Tony Hawk
37:25  Having a joint replacement has made Travis wish he looked at movement differently earlier in his life
39:10  Rethinking recovery
41:40  Travis trains with his kids (age 20, 8, 6, and 3)
42:18  Parents ask the Starrett’s all the time about what ‘sport-specific’ strength and conditioning their kid should do; Avery Faigenbaum
46:10  The general public sees no issues with tackle football for kids, but freak out if they see a kid weightlifting even an empty bar
47:15  Travis’ essential movements for youth development
48:45  The Starrett’s kids have gone to Marin Heavy Athletics; Jasha Faye
51:45  The Starrett’s kids both like to go to Tamalpais CrossFit in town
52:30  Travis has set up a full play room for weightlifting in his basement and the kids love it
53:39  What Travis is looking forward to
56:32  Travis’ socials

Full Transcript

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