Episode 58: Dane Miller on the Science, Business, and ART of Coaching

Dane Miller is a force. Twice-over business owner and coach of Olympic competitors, world champions, and NCAA athletes across 7 sports, he combines a deep knowledge of sports performance with business acumen and people skills you just can't teach. We admire the heck out of him, so we invited him on our podcast to find out, essentially, how he does it all. 

What ensued was a highly informative, highly animated conversation about everything from coping with COVID-19 to running a business in the health/ fitness industry to what it's like to train with pioneers such as Dr. Anatoliy Bondarchuk and Charles Poliquin. We dove headlong into coaching philosophy, balancing your passion with the fact that you've got to make money, and the ingredients making up Dane's massively successful approach to programming for sports performance. 

Tuning in as a gym owner who's also a coach? You'll learn you're not alone in pulling insane hours just to get by. You'll get confirmation that making mistakes is par for the course, and you'll gain some refreshing validation that, yes: Juggling your responsibility to your athletes with your responsibility to your family AND your responsibility to your business is damn hard. But not impossible. While discussing his experience owning both Earth Fed Muscle and Garage Strength, Dane explains, "It's all such a process, and you have to be open to that. Just like an athlete needs to be, business owners have to be open to it."

And if it's coaching that you're really passionate about, if you live and breathe the success of your athletes, then you'll learn a lot from this episode, too. Dane explains what it takes to be among the best in the world, providing valuable advice for coaches at any stage of their careers. 

Critically, Dane points out, "My athletes taught me more than anybody." Considering the resumes of his mentors, this is quite a statement. One with which, by the way, we wholeheartedly agree. The best coaches in the world listen to their athletes. Really listen. When push comes to shove, coaching is relationship building. When push comes to shove,"Every system works, but you've got to train your athletes."

Which Dane does expertly. Whether it's throwers, weightlifters, wrestlers, Olympic competitors or kids, Dane is a master of cultivating successful athletes. His prowess emerges, in part, from his experience working with some of the field's most innovative minds, including Dr. Anatoliy Bondarchuk and Charles Poliquin. 

Dane details the key lessons he garnered from these two greats, providing thorough and judicious analyses of what Dr. B and Charles got unequivocally right, and what he doesn't fully agree with. As with any skilled critical thinker, Dane filters their teachings through his own evaluative system, an exercise which produces his unique and powerfully effective approach to training.

We had such a blast talking with Dane that we invited him on our podcast again! Be sure to tune into Part II when we release it! In the meantime, if you want to learn more about Dane and his businesses, you can visit Earth Fed Muscle's website at https://www.earthfedmuscle.com/ and follow @EarthFedMuscle on Instagram OR you can visit Garage Strength's website, https://www.garagestrength.com/ and follow @garagestrength on Instagram.