Coach Ethan Reeve Interview - Density Training, Mindset, Work Ethic and Positivity
I am pleased to publish what may be my favorite of all the podcasts I have done to date. If you are new to the podcast you can get lots more information and also be a part of our online Book Club by going to the dedicated Podcast site. Tom Rowland Podcast click here
I had the opportunity to sit down with Coach Ethan Reeve. We were going to do it in my office but I decided that we must do this in the garage surrounded by the gear and culture that we have created. If you don't know Ethan Reeve, here is an intro that I wrote on the Saltwater Experience website:
Ethan Reeve is one of the world's very best strength coaches, PERIOD.
Ethan developed a love for strength training and a work ethic to match as a boy "chopping cotton" and baling hay for 8-12 hours a day. He did 500 pushups every day from grade 8 through 12 which helped him move on to wrestle at the University of Tennessee. While there he won two Southeastern Conference wrestling gold medals at 150 and 158 lbs but still felt as though there was something missing in his strength and conditioning. He created a workout that we call the "Ethan Reeve" which is 10 power cleans at body weight and 10 chin ups x 10 rounds. He did this 7 days a week for 2 years while in college always making sure that he could complete it under 20 minutes. His discipline was so strong that he even did this workout on competition days and before weigh in as a wrestler. The hard work and dedication paid off as he finished his career as a two-time NCAA All-American and four-time SEC champion wrestler at the University of Tennessee.
After college, Coach Reeve He began his coaching career at The University of Tennessee serving as assistant wrestling coach/strength coach for wrestling for two years, before working as an assistant coach at Oklahoma State, Ohio and Clemson.
He got his first Head wrestling coach position in 1984 at UT Chattanooga where his teams won five Southern Conference championships in just six years.
My path intersects with Coach Reeve at The McCallie School in Chattanooga, TN. He became the first full-time strength coach at McCallie from 1990-1995. He also worked with the Women's US Rowing Team at the same time period helping them to win four Gold medals and one Silver medal in the 1995 World Championships.
Coach Reeve became the first Director of Strength and Conditioning at Ohio University in 1995 and worked worked with over 650 athletes. In 2001, he became Director of Strength and Conditioning at Wake Forest University and remained there until this year when he returned to The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Coach Reeve is known for a training philosophy called Density Training which we talk about on the podcast. We also go into the mental aspect of training, training as an aging athlete and how his Density Training program can be applied to any exercise for athletes of any level.
I hope you will enjoy this conversation as much as I did. If so, leave a comment or share it with your friends on social media.
