Insane Coaching Stories, Navigating Life, and the Future of APEX | Coach Em Up Podcast Ep. 131

Check out Tim on socials! @timrileytraining

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Tim Riley goes solo on the Coach Em Up Podcast for a Q&A covering apex competition rules, sprint training for beginners, OCD diagnosis, sobriety, and much more. He shares combine stories, his biggest coaching blunders, and why carbs are still the OG performance enhancer.

He breaks down the viral Hyrox biohazard incident in Beijing and uses it to set the record straight on Apex competition health policy. Then he rewinds to age 26, no car, no phone, no money, walking to his first training job out of a Florida halfway house, and explains how he became the person he is today.

On the business side, Tim talks about how watching physical therapist David Gray build ethical, high-value content convinced him to post consistently and eventually launch Cheat Code, open his own gym, and build Apex from the ground up. He shares his rules for hiring new coaches, the real reason Apex does not use weight classes, and his 2026-2027 expansion targets.

Tim walks through how to improve broad jump mechanics with the Blaine Broad progression, covers sprint training for beginners with a slow-to-fast, low-impact-first framework, and shares his experience training Xavier Worthy. He also recounts two genuinely catastrophic coaching mistakes involving a plyo box and a Swiss ball on a treadmill.

The back half of the episode goes personal. Tim opens up about his OCD diagnosis and how Exposure and Response Prevention therapy finally gave him tools that worked. He also reflects on fatherhood, egocentric bias, and what it actually means to live instead of just survive.

This is a strength and conditioning podcast that does not stay in its lane. That is the point.

Produced by Q6 Media https://q6.media

00:00:00 - Introduction 00:01:28 - The Hyrox poop incident 00:10:32 - Advice to his 26-year-old self and early sobriety 00:14:48 - Finding venues for Apex and expansion hurdles 00:18:11 - Building influence, business ethics, and launching Apex 00:29:52 - How to improve your broad jump 00:32:49 - Scaling brands and rules for hiring coaches 00:37:13 - Game speed vs weightroom skill 00:40:46 - Biggest coaching mistakes 00:50:11 - Sprint training for beginners 00:54:08 - Apex 2026-2027 road map and international expansion 01:01:38 - Stepping back from full-time client training 01:06:01 - Why Apex does not have weight classes 01:10:41 - Unsolicited advice, lying, and egocentric bias 01:18:20 - Pure OCD diagnosis and Exposure Response Prevention therapy 01:29:11 - Carbs for athletic performance, fatherhood, anxiety 01:37:27 - Managing career transitions and embracing uncertainty

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