Joe Kenn: There Are No Absolutes in Strength Training (Full Episode)

Joe "Big House" Kenn coached strength in the NFL for nearly a decade. He sits down with Tom Barry for four decades of lessons. From a guard at Wake Forest to leading strength programs at Boise State, Utah, Arizona State, and Louisville, Joe Kenn has built one of the most decorated coaching careers in the NSCA. He created the Tier System, served as head strength and conditioning coach for the Carolina Panthers from 2011 to 2019, and is the only coach to have won both the NSCA Collegiate Strength Coach of the Year and the NFL Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year. He now runs Big House Power and works with elite strongman athletes including Brian Shaw and Tom Evans. In this episode, Joe and Tom dig into how strong is strong enough at the highest levels, how NIL and the transfer portal have rewired strength coaching, how Joe interpreted Louie Simmons rather than copying him, practice-based evidence vs evidence-based practice, why he stopped programming power cleans for three years at Arizona State, peak velocity over average velocity, and why the strength coach often has to be the sacrificial lamb in a team sport setting. TOPICS COVERED 00:00 What the public misunderstands about strength at the top level 05:35 Joe's background: Wake Forest to the Carolina Panthers 10:41 How NIL and the transfer portal changed strength coaching 28:58 No absolutes, and how Joe interpreted Louie Simmons 32:00 Dynamic effort, compensatory acceleration, and peak velocity 36:00 When three quarters of the NFL trained one set to failure 41:00 Lineage, principles, and "absorb, modify, apply" 49:00 The apprenticeship problem: 32,000 grads, 14,000 jobs 1:13:00 Why Joe stopped programming power cleans for three years 1:30:00 Why the strength coach has to be the sacrificial lamb 1:36:00 What Louie Simmons actually contributed to Joe's tier system LEARN THE CONJUGATE METHOD Conjugate Coach Pathway: Digital Internship (Level 1): Conjugate Club: CONNECT WITH JOE KENN Instagram: @bighousepower Website: FOLLOW WESTSIDE BARBELL: Website: Instagram: @westsidebarbellofficial Facebook: @westsidebarbellofficial Twitter: @westsidebarbell Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: Studio Sponsor: Dollamur Sport Surfaces CLMS Conjugate Tactical The Conjugate Club

You can listen to Joe Kenn: There Are No Absolutes in Strength Training (Full Episode) online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Joe Kenn: There Are No Absolutes in Strength Training (Full Episode) is an episode from Westside Barbell by Westside Barbell.

This episode is 110:12 long.

This episode was published on May 12, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Westside Barbell when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.