Dan Furlong Q and A

The following is from my newsletter that you can subscribe to at www.real-strength-training.com

Strong to the Core Newsletter Q and A

The following newsletter series will focus on innovative strength coaches that you should know about. I feel very fortunate to have met them. This issue will feature Dan Furlong MS CSCS. Dan is a conditioning coach currently based in Brewster, New York.

Dan, we have known each other for several years now. I have always considered you to be one of the most talented, and thorough, conditioning coaches around. I remember watching you teach an “Athletic Development” program and being impressed not only with your breadth of knowledge but by the fact that your athletes were working hard and having a great time doing so. I was laughing most of the time myself. Would you share some of your thoughts with our readers?

A. First off, I want to thank you for the generous introduction. So that your readers understand what an “Athletic Development” program entails, it’s not just a speed and agility clinic, or a weight training class (actually we have yet to approach the weight room). We build upon all the underlying components of athleticism. Speed and agility but also power, balance, coordination, ambidexterity, strength, the whole package. It would not be a stretch of the imagination to attend a class and see a group of athletes learning how to juggle for improved hand/eye coordination. I just try to make it fun while connecting with the athletes.


Q. Dan, tell us a little about your background.

A. I have a Bachelors degree from St. John’s University and a Masters from the University of Connecticut. But I wouldn’t have time to list all the people that inspired me in different disciplines along the way. I’ve taken the eclectic route. I started out going towards athletic training. I worked in the training room at St. John’s, with the NY Knicks, at UCONN and even was a tour trainer with the United States Tennis Association (USTA). But my second season with the Knicks I really connected with our Strength & Conditioning Coach, and eventually ended up switching my Masters program to Sports Biomechanics. I had left the field for a short time for full time Children’s Ministry and Youth Ministry and coming back into it I was fortunate to be hired in the Scarsdale Equinox. That club had an all-star caliber line-up of personal trainers, strength coaches, athletic trainers and physical therapists. I spent about two and a half or three years there training along side of you and some other really knowledgeable professionals that it felt like another Masters program! I then ended up back in the NBA as an Assistant Strength Coach under Greg Brittenham with the NY Knicks for another two and a half years and now I’m out on my own.



Q. How did you get started in the fitness/conditioning field?

A. Its all because I got hurt lifting (incorrectly) in the gym and tore my rotator cuff. The doctor I went to see was (and still is) a chiropractor who had a Masters in Exercise Physiology as well. Dr. Steve Brown. His demeanor, professionalism, knowledge, the whole package, was inspiring. I knew I didn’t want chiropractics, but that’s when I learned about athletic training. Eventually, I just felt that I was a better strength coach than a trainer so I stayed with this.


Q. What is your personal philosophy with regards to sports conditioning and general fitness?

A. Really, what I’ve found, is if you get your client moving and moving correctly, while working on gaining their trust, eventually you will come to a place where your steadfastness in wanting them to achieve more for themselves will inspire them. If your forty years old, but can’t play with your young kids because you just can’t, your body has lost the ability to “play”, there’s a problem. So I just start with a goal close to home, and we just keep adding incentives. Next thing you know, your client is running a half-marathon. What does that say about my philosophy? Mobility with strength for an improved quality of life, I guess.


Q. Does your strong commitment to your spiritual beliefs and your experience as a youth minister influence your teaching approach when working with young athletes (or vice versa)?

A. I think my relationship with God is the basis for my commitment to all my clients really. If He could be patient with me, I should be able to handle anyone. But when it comes to young athletes, it’s hard for me to discern what really helps me connect with them outside of a genuine enjoyment of wanting to help them tap into their potential. Which, obviously, is what I hoped to do when I was a youth or children’s pastor. They invest money, effort, and sweat, so I look at it as I’m now responsible to invest my efforts and knowledge in them.

Q. What would an initial session with you look like assuming you are working with an athlete?

A. My preference would be to get them on a field or turf, warm them up my way, then see how they run and check their balance. I’ve made up a test where they sprint 20 or 30 yards and I time them and count their steps. We do that twice. Then we get into breaking down running form and spend time opening up their stride length. Generally, you can knock off anywhere from 1-2 steps and more than half a second after just working with them an hour. If we were talking strength training, I’m just like anyone else. I have a certain routine I like to take them through to see how they move, how they manipulate the weight or their body, learn a little about their strength levels, watch their coordination, etc. But, with athletes, I like to get out on turf first and see what we can work with.

Q. What would a session look like with that same athlete one month later?

A. A lot cleaner. We go through drills a lot faster. I don’t talk as much except to say, “PERFECT!” “EXACTLY!” I tend to get more excited than my athletes when it goes right. In the beginning there is so much teaching involved. And sometimes, even a month later, their form may not be DVD ready, but it has improved so much from when they first started that you feel like, “okay, we can get started now.” From there small adjustments are made each and every time.

Q. What projects are you working on currently?

A. Too many, but I guess that’s good. Building a website for the other company I am involved in with my former boss, NY Knicks Strength & Conditioning Coach Greg Brittenham. It’s called Academy For Human Performance. Also, we are revamping a book/manual DVD series he had previously out on the market called Complete Conditioning For Basketball. Then a solo project of my own, a manual/DVD set called Going Mobile, which is pretty much what I do to take my clients to my “Base Camp” so to speak. Here’s what we need to achieve so we can get going.

Q. Where do you see yourself five years from now?

A. I think training less people, but mentoring other coaches. Still teaching Total Athlete, though. I can’t give that up. Probably back in ministry in some capacity. Why? Where do you see me in five years? It sounds and rings familiar, but I want more time for my family. My wife Lisa and my now 1 year old son Dan, The Sequel, and I have so much fun together and I greedily want more of it. Maybe even venture out over the Tappan Zee Bridge to visit a friend of mine and actually meet his wife and daughter.

Q. Dan, how can our readers contact you?

A. I’m just a mouse click away. I have a contact page on my website www.TrinityBiomechanics.com and soon to be up and running on
www.academyforhumanperformance.com.