HeyJaredMighty Oak Athletic
Welcome to the Mighty Oak Athletic Podcast, where we dive deep into the world of student-athlete sports performance, lowering the risk of injuries, and strength training.Each week, we break down key insights from our latest essays, covering topics ranging from optimizing…
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- 10
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- Sep 11, 2026
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- Jul 10, 2026
Latest episodes
Sick Season is Coming (opens the original)
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Your kid is going to get sick this winter and probably roll an ankle before the season's over. That's not the question. The question is whether it's a three-day thing or a three-week thing, and the biggest factor is one most parents never think about: muscle. In this episode, Coach Mike breaks down why doctors now classify muscle as an organ, how the body pulls amino acids straight out of it to fight illness and rebuild injured tissue, and why strength training cuts youth injury risk by roughly
Young Men Are in Crisis (opens the original)
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Young men in America are not thriving. Women now earn about 60 percent of college degrees. One in nine prime-age men isn't working or looking for work. One in three young men still lives with his parents. The share of men with zero close friends has jumped fivefold since 1990. In this episode, Coach Mike breaks down the numbers behind the crisis, what the drift looks like up close, and why it starts at 8, 10, and 12 — not 22. Then: the traits that determine whether a boy thrives as a man (depend
Want a Faster Kid? (opens the original)
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The speed industry sells ladders, cones, and camps. Physics sells something simpler: force. This episode covers why the strongest kid is usually the fastest, what the research says about strength training and youth speed, and the two-ingredient formula that beats every gimmick. Get full access to Mighty Oak Athletic Free Newsletter at mightyoak.substack.com/subscribe
Deadlift from 12lbs to 355lbs (watch this) (opens the original)
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Every Mighty Oak Starts as a Tiny Acorn: From a 12-Pound Deadlift to 355 One of my favorite videos we've ever filmed starts with a six-year-old deadlifting 12 pounds off a yoga block — and ends with an eighteen-year-old college football player pulling 355. Most people see the beginning and the end. In this episode, we talk about everything in between. Coach Michael Ockrim, CSCS, founder of Mighty Oak Athletic in Westmont, Illinois, breaks down why parents asking "how fast can my child get strong
Screens Are Winning - Here's How a 6-Year-Old Fights Back (opens the original)
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When's the best time to dig a well? Before you're thirsty. In this episode, Coach Mike Ockrim of Mighty Oak Athletic in Westmont, Illinois explains why age 6 — not 12, not 16 — is the right time to start strength training. He breaks down what the American Academy of Pediatrics actually says about kids and lifting, why the "stunts growth" myth refuses to die, and what a bodyweight-first progression looks like for young athletes across DuPage County and the western Chicago suburbs. Strength is bui
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