FAQs

CAN I train remotely with the athlete lab?

Yes! While headquartered in Sun Valley, Idaho, we support both in-person and remote coaching, allowing committed athletes—anywhere in the world—to access our training system and community. The remote membership is a monthly subscription that offers on demand access to programming, with fully guided coaching videos complete with guidance for correct movement mechanics, safety cues, reps, sets and periodization (in season, pre season, off season). Remote athletes will be in contact with a lead coach to build a plan that matches the athlete’s goals and developmental journey. Remote athletes need access to a home gym or a local gym, ideally with at least dumbbells to get started.

Why Our Coaches Are Unmatched in EXPERIENCE AND PASSION

Each coach on your athlete support team brings a unique blend of elite-level athletic experience, formal education, clinical depth, world-class coaching credentials, and proven results. From Olympian-trained therapists to NCAA Division I sports psychologists and former national-team athletes, your coaches don’t just teach the game—they’ve lived it.

• Andrew “Wris” Wrisley (Co‑Founder and Lead Strength & Speed Coach) played DI baseball at the University of Portland and spent nearly a decade at Nike shaping elite products in Baseball, Football, and Training. He's a certified NCSF strength trainer, youth sports coach, and brings rare insight from both high-performance athletics and professional-level product development.

• Wanda "Vunda" Rozwadowska (Co‑Founder) is a former pro soccer player (France D1 Ligue), national team athlete (Canada), and NCAA D1 champion. As a young athlete she won the World Junior Taekwondo Championships. Professionally she was in executive leadership roles at Nike, Black Crows Ski, and DECKED.

🎓 Clinical & Science-Backed Expertise

• Dr. Colleen Little, PT, DPT, OCS serves as team physical therapist, strength coach, and medical coordinator for the Nike Swoosh Track Club. She has worked with over a dozen Olympians (including two silver medalists) and multiple national record holders. Former Nike World HQ clinic director, she seamlessly integrates elite-level clinical rigor into real-world athletic development. Her own sport journey included two NCAA D1 soccer championships and two-time marathon winner.

🧠 Sports Psychology & plAYER Development Authority

• Zak Taylor (The Athlete Lab Coach - Mental Performance), earned his psychology degree at Oregon State University and was on the 2018 D1 national champion baseball team. As current Director of Baseball Player Development at OSU, he works hands‑on with elite prospects like OSU standout Travis Bazanna (2024’s #1 MLB draft pick). He deeply understands performance under pressure and player mindset development at the highest levels.

🥗 Elite Nutrition Credentials

• Teresa Brennan, RD/N, LD, CD, CNSC (The Athlete Lab Coach - Nutrition) brings 18 years of clinical nutrition experience. A member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ Sports & Human Performance practice group and adjunct professor, she specializes in fueling high-performance through tailored nutrition strategies.

🏒 Expert Contributors & Guest Coaches

• We also host elite guest coaches across disciplines—sport technical experts, mental performance consultants, sport nutritionists, and strength specialists—all invited to elevate our programming further.

Why Parents Trust The Athlete Lab

At The Athlete Lab, we know your child is more than just an athlete—they're a developing human with goals, pressure, and potential. That’s why our entire training ecosystem is built to develop the whole athlete, not just the stats.

Safety + Science First

Every training session is grounded in evidence-based sports science, injury prevention protocols, and Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) principles. Our team includes a licensed doctor of physical therapy, certified strength coaches, and credentialed sports nutritionists—ensuring that every session, movement, rep, and recovery moment is intentional and safe.

Character Over Ego

We’re not just building speed and strength—we’re building resilience, leadership, accountability, and confidence. From how we structure feedback to how we celebrate progress, our coaching intentionally reinforces the kind of character you want your child to carry into life, not just into sports.

Coaches You’d Want as Mentors

Our staff includes former Division I athletes, Olympian-level performance specialists, and leaders from global brands and national teams. More importantly, they’re human beings of integrity who know how to connect with kids and teens. We build our team by values first—your child will be surrounded by adults who walk the walk.

Clear Communication with Parents

You’ll never be in the dark. We believe in collaboration with parents, as well as the athlete—whether it’s explaining programming and progress, flagging fatigue, or helping a young athlete navigate pressure. We’re here to support the full circle of development, not sidestep it.

Growth That Sticks

We're not chasing flash-in-the-pan results. Our programs are structured around Long Term Athletic Development (LTAD), with a focus on sustainable improvement that keeps your athlete healthy, motivated, and hungry to grow.

Real Results, Real Stories

You will get expert guidance, allowing you to reduce the guesswork - like, wondering what is stage/age appropriate for your young athlete, constantly having to ask yourself what movements, how many sets, reps, when to dial up or down the load, when to plan recovery.... Save that energy for putting in the work - we can help you with programming in person or delivered straight to your phone to train on demand anywhere.

You’ll see the impact:

• Athletes gaining strength, speed, explosiveness as well as confidence, growth in emotional maturity and ever-growing tools to fuel their ambitions

• Teams built on camaraderie, trust and mutual effort

• Young players stepping into peer-to-peer leadership roles, on and off the field

Trust is Earned—And We’re Earning It Every Day

At The Athlete Lab, we train your athlete like they matter—because they do. We blend elite performance development with grounded mentorship and real-world experience. It’s not just about what they can do now, but what they are becoming - UNCOMMON.

WHAT RESULTS CAN I EXPECT?

Following The Athlete Lab’s athlete-centered stage-based programming can result in -

• Stronger, Faster and More Explosive, including:

  • Sustained performance—even through competitive seasons

  • Translating strength into speed, power, and agility: Coaches emphasize turning absolute strength (like, heavy squats) into functional, relative strength (like, sprint speed, jumping power). For example, a key tool is the hex bar deadlift, that builds stronger hip extension and speed transfer on the field. By coupling strength work with explosive plyometric movements and speed drills, athletes see gains in jumping, agility, and acceleration.

  • Reduced injury risk through structured corrective work

  • Measurable progress via objective lift and performance tests

  • Consistency through monitoring and micro-adjustments with wellness data

• The mental performance coaching is integrated into the core of our training, not as an afterthought, with mental reps built in—every week. Led by expert coaches, our coaching series helps athletes:

  • Improved handling of nerves, mistakes, or adversity - by building pre-performance routines that dial in confidence

  • Increased in-game focus, fewer mental lapses - by practicing pressure simulations in training environments

  • Emotional consistency, more positive inner voice, faster bounce-backs - by training recovery mindset (what to do after a mistake or setback)

  • Sharper goal setting, more consistent effort & intensity - by using tools like visualization, cue words, and goal reset techniques

• Our Registered Dietitian-Nutritionist (RD/N) provides nutrition coaching —whether they’re 12 or 22 - to help athletes grow their knowledge and autonomy around fueling for performance:

  • Understand macronutrients and timing in an age-appropriate way

  • Create game day fueling plans and recovery routines

  • Navigate lunch, snacks, and travel nutrition

  • Address fatigue, mood swings, appetite shifts, and hydration

  • Develop positive habits and food awareness

HOW DO YOU TRACK ATHLETE PROGRESS?

• Strength gain (absolute & relative) - Improvements in trap bar deadlift, squat, bench press relative to bodyweight

• Power & explosiveness - Vertical jump, broad jump, sprint / agility tests

• Movement efficiency & injury resilience - progress in key mobility movements, corrective exercise guidance

• Seasonal consistency - Year-over-year comparisons of strength and power metrics

• Recovery and fatigue adaptation- Daily athlete feedback (soreness, sleep, OVR data) and adjusted micro-periods

SHOULD I STRENGTH TRAIN WHEN MY SPORT IS IN-SEASON?

Yes. Yes. Yes. The Athlete Lab follows the modern scientific consensus - that in-season strength training serves to preserve what was built in the off-season, can reduce injury risk, and should fit within a competitive schedule without overloading the athlete.

Training at The Athlete Lab is periodized across macrocycles: off-season builds strength and power; pre-season fine-tunes skills and power; in-season focuses on maintenance of gains and managing recovery.

Our in-season programming is centered around flexible micro-periodization, where intensity and volume are adjusted frequently (like, day-to-day or week-to-week) to account for competition stress and recovery needs. Typical design consists of 1-2 strength sessions per week, short duration, moderate/high intensity, combined with recovery, core, mobility, and corrective work, monitored via athlete wellness data and subjective fatigue assessments to avoid overreaching.

Structured in-season programs significantly lower injury rates, help athletes retain strength and power (and in some cases even produce slight improvements in performance metrics), and can mitigate fatigue from games. It also contributes to mental well being, by providing a sense of accomplishment and control during the stress of the season.

The Athlete Lab uses OVR Performance to track athlete readiness, fatigue, and overall performance trends over time. It collects data to support smarter training decisions, particularly in high-performance and youth athletic development environments. Athletes don’t always look fatigued. Without a way to track internal load and stress responses, coaches can:

• Overtrain athletes unintentionally

• Miss early signs of burnout or injury risk

• Misalign programming with recovery needs

This leads to stalled progress, missed performance windows, or worse — injury. Micro-periodization — adjusting training day-to-day or week-to-week — makes training more effective and safer. But it requires reliable, real-time feedback on how athletes are responding to workload and stress. This is where we leverage the data from OVR, combined with regular coach-athlete conversations and check-ins.

WHY THIS MATTERS AT THE ATHLETE LAB

The OVR Performance tool aligns perfectly with The Athlete Lab’s philosophy of intentional, individualized development. It helps us:

• Train smarter, not just harder

• Prevent burnout and overtraining

• Match strength and speed programming to where the athlete actually is—not just what’s on the calendar

Performance gains are earned in the margins. OVR helps us read those margins clearly—so every session, every rep, and every adjustment works with the athlete, not against them.

WHAT IS THE WORKOUT FLOW IN A TRAINING SESSION?