A Leader Both On & Off the Field: Strength Coach Travis Reust
In an industry where winning and losing can decide the fate of your employment status, strength and conditioning can make or break you depending on what skills you possess and how hard you are willing to work. Getting athletes in top conditioning takes time, dedication, and the right mindset. Anyone can tell someone to pick up and put down weights, but it’s the combination of training protocols along with a great support staff of strength and conditioning coaches that help propel athletes to the next level. Welcome to the world of Travis Reust.
Travis Reust is no exception when it comes to top strength and conditioning coaches in America. Each coaching job was a stepping stone to help him get to where he is today – learning a lot along the way and shaping him into the fine coach in which he is. The amount of time spent working with elite athletes is more than one would expect, but with athletes that strive for greatness, no amount of time is enough for them to excel on the field.
For those readers who don’t follow college sports down to the coaching level, can you give us a brief background on yourself and your previous positions within college sports and how you wound up at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA)?
Travis Reust: I’ve been a college Strength and Conditioning coach for over 15 years – prior to that, I was in the fitness/personal training industry with Gold’s Gym and a few others for at least 10 years. My first coaching job at the college level was at an NCAA Division II school, East Central University in Oklahoma (my alma mater), where I was the Strength and Conditioning coach and I also coached the defensive line on the football team. It was a Division II school so you had to wear more than one hat. I was given the opportunity by Dennis Darnell who was the head coach at the time.
I went from East Central University to the Oklahoma State University Strength and Conditioning program. I already had my Master’s degree so my position was called a restricted earnings coach, so I was basically an intern of sorts. My first full-time coaching position was at the University of Colorado where I worked for one of the godfathers of the Strength and Conditioning Profession, “Doc Kries”.
From the University of Colorado, I went to TCU as an assistant strength coach and then moved on to Nebraska where I was the head strength and conditioning coach for basketball as well as assisted with football. I then went back to my alma mater, East Central, as the Director of Strength and Conditioning. They actually created the position for me and I was honored to be given that opportunity. There I spearheaded fundraising and helped build a brand new 7,000 square-foot strength and conditioning facility which was labeled one of the best in Division II athletics at the time.
When given the chance to come to the University of Texas at San Antonio and be part of starting a Division I football program, I simply could not pass on that opportunity and couldn’t get to San Antonio fast enough. The Director of Strength and Conditioning at UTSA, Charlie Dudley, and I had known each other for years so the opportunity to be with him and with an amazing head football coach like Larry Coker was something I could not pass up.
Credentials:
Travis Reust, M.Ed., SCCC, USAW, RSCC*D, MSS
Associate Director of Strength & Conditioning
Coaching Timeline:
1997 – ECU (East Central University) – Graduate Assistant Football Coach & Strength Coach
2000 – OSU (Oklahoma State University) – Strength Coach’s Assistant
2001 – CU (University of Colorado) – Head Assistant Strength Coach
2004 – TCU (Texas Christian University) – Assistant Strength Coach
2005 – NU (University of Nebraska) – Head Basketball Strength Coach
2006 – ECU (East Central University) – Director of Strength and Conditioning Coach
2010 to Present Day – UTSA (University of Texas-San Antonio) – Associate Director of Strength & Conditioning
Is it true that you were once a competitive bodybuilder? How do you feel bodybuilding has helped you become a better strength coach?
Travis Reust: Yes, that is true. I competed in the NPC. I was in the novice and open divisions in the mid-’90s in Oklahoma and Texas. There is no doubt that without my bodybuilding background that I would not be as good of a strength coach as I am. There are so many aspects of the training, nutrition, mentality, dedication, etc. that I try and instill in my athletes and have helped me to be a much better coach.
What’s your coaching philosophy?
Travis Reust: Enhancing athletic performance and reducing the risk of injury should be the goal/philosophy of any strength and conditioning program. As a Strength and Conditioning Department, we are dedicated to teaching the fundamentals of proper science-based speed-strength training.
It’s my goal to promote an atmosphere that is conducive to the personal and physical development of each individual athlete while ensuring the health, safety, and well-being of our athletes at all times. Fostering a positive relationship with each athlete is critical in order to motivate him/her to reach his or her full athletic potential, pushing those athletes past what they think they are capable of. I place a huge emphasis on the athlete to be consistent in their approach to training and accountable for their own actions and will ensure we reach the highest level of success while demanding discipline during all workouts and insist that athletes are accountable for themselves. The weight room experience should be positive so that each athlete is eager to come and complete their strength and conditioning workouts.
What people don’t necessarily understand is the demand for this position. How do you balance your work and home life?
Travis Reust: We definitely put in a lot of hours in our profession. I work with a great group of people in our athletic department and we all make it work. It also helps that I have an amazing and supportive wife (April Reust) who understands college athletics and is UTSA’s biggest fan.
What do you feel sets UTSA strength and conditioning apart from other universities?
Travis Reust: I would say nothing really. The weights weigh the same here at UTSA as they do at the University of Texas. We are very focused and have great head coaches in our athletic department that allow us to do our jobs. We expect the athletes to be accountable, disciplined, organized, and very focused when they come into the weight room – and we have a great group of athletes to do so.
Why did you want to become a strength and conditioning coach and how competitive is it to land a job at the college level?
Travis Reust: I was in the fitness industry for years and I had someone tell me that there was a profession in athletics that you could do basically the same thing I was doing for the general public. Once I found that out, I was determined to get my degree and become part of the college strength program. While I was in college I was given the opportunity at the university where I attended and have been blessed every sense in that regard.
What is the best part about being a strength and conditioning coach in the college ranks?
Travis Reust: Being able to mentor these athletes is one of the greatest accomplishments we could have. When you take a freshman who comes in and has not lifted much and you can make that individual bigger, faster, stronger, and then see it apply to whatever sport they’re in and see them succeed is one of the greatest gifts as a strength coach that we could have.
What do you feel is the most important part of your job?
Travis Reust: Helping my athletes accomplish their goals, the relationships I forge with them in the process, and by getting them bigger, faster, and stronger. I have coached so many athletes that have gone on to a professional career and that is rewarding to see them playing at that level and achieving greatness. It is just as rewarding for me though when a former athlete comes back to visit or gets in touch with me to just say hello, and he has a family and is doing great in his personal life outside of athletics.
Can you break down for us an off-season training routine?
Travis Reust: Our summer conditioning which is what gets us prepared for the season is basically as follows:
We run four times a week: (Monday/Tuesday/Thursday/Friday)
We condition two days and do agility two days
We also lift four days a week: (Monday/Tuesday/Thursday/Friday)
We have two base strength days and then two explosive days (where we do Olympic lifting)
What are your thoughts on post-workout recovery? Are your athletes utilizing the key 45-minute window of opportunity to take in something to help restore their glycogen levels and help them maintain and build their lean muscle mass?
Travis Reust: I am a firm believer in the 45-minute window as all the research I have read on post-workout recovery has leaned in that direction. Our athletes definitely take advantage of this window. We use MET-Rx’s Collegiate Series RTD’s and we have since I got here in 2010. We also utilize Balance Bars as well to help fulfill the athlete’s nutritional needs. I personally have used MET-Rx products at all the schools I have worked. I actually used the original MET-Rx packets and powders as far back as my days of competing and still use their products to this day. I think they make a great product. The athletes also seem to really like it and they have a great price point for schools which makes it extremely affordable.
How do you motivate your athletes day in and day out to train as hard as you push them every day in the weight room?
Travis Reust: I try to stay very upbeat and positive and bring a lot of energy to the workouts, but to be honest, the athletes of today know what we do in our weight room can make them a better player and they come in there ready to work which makes our job very enjoyable.
What do you feel has helped your athletes perform at such a high level to help UTSA move forward at breakneck speed in the rankings? Bleacher Report is predicting UTSA to be in the Top 25 in terms of college football programs for the next 10 years which is an honorable feat.
Travis Reust: We have an amazing football coaching staff. Our head coach, Larry Coker, is by far one of the greatest men I’ve worked for. Coach Coker has been around and coached at some of the greatest football universities in the country. He’s won a national championship and he is very well respected, not to mention an amazing coach. When you have a coach of that caliber it definitely helps in the recruiting process and obviously the better recruits you get, the better you’re going to be as a team.
If you had to give advice to an aspiring strength and conditioning coach, what would it be?
Travis Reust: Stay focused, have a lot of energy, and work very very hard. I went from coaching at East Central one season and our last game we had a crowd of about 4,500 people then coached at Oklahoma State for the spring and summer, but my next college football game was Colorado versus Colorado State at Invesco Stadium and our attendance was about 76,000. I got the opportunity to work at Colorado because I was evaluated by their head strength coach, Doc Kreis at a convention. So, put yourself out there, always work hard, and networking is very big in our business.
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