19. Ben Kenyon - How Trailblazers Thrive under Pressure

Sam Gash Podcast

Ben Kenyon is the High Performance Coach for the NBA Portland Trail Blazers. He is the Ultimate Hype Man, the King of Community, Connection & Human Performance. This conversation will remind you that what truly counts is the work you do when no-one is watching. He is also the founder of the Great Day Squad, who provide interactive workshops and engaging experiences to help YOU achieve your personal best performance. He's currently based in Florida with the Blazers during his 7th season with the team, with the season expecting to finish in October. As a Performance Coach he addresses each athlete - individually and holistically. With the objective of train; prepare and inspire them to compete and achieve success at the highest level of professional basketball. Specifically he's in charge of providing the athletes with nutrition guidance, physical strength improvements, moral support and innovative recovery techniques to better themselves in all areas of human performance. We discuss the foundations for performance all the way through to the 1%. We discuss the impact of travel and sleep on high performance. Especially relevant as the Blazers are the only NBA team in the Pacific Northwest & travel more miles than any other team in the NBA. In fact, they have logged more travel miles than any team in the four major professional sports leagues in North America. We talk in depth about the current controversies in the US. Ben shares his unique and wise lens on the pressure people are facing and how listening, without necessarily a response, is his best piece of advice. Ben came to the Blazers from George Washington University, where he served as Assistant Athletics Director for Strength and Conditioning, a position that oversees strength and conditioning and nutrition for all 23 varsity sports. Not exclusively we discuss: •tools to perform better •the way out of adversity and darkness •creating community by living in your core values •how to recognise your core values by identify what sticks with you in the tough times •why its important to be motivated to show up even when there is no one watching or when you receive no external affirmation •the power of sleep •how to get your team to trust you •the balance of science and art. You can follow this legend of a human via socials @ben_kenyon_ and @greatdaysquad