Episode 6: Season 7, Episode 6: Jason Martinez, "Everything We Teach Is Intent"

Programming for a younger roster, intent-driven training, and building resilience with Jason MartinezJason Martinez joins Jay DeMayo to break down how he approaches programming for a new roster at West Virginia Men’s Basketball, especially when turnover is high and last year’s results can’t be copied over. The conversation focuses on evaluating what this team needs now, not punishing them for what previous teams did, and how to build conditioning, movement quality, and buy-in through intentional daily exposures.Jason also shares a broader coaching philosophy around intent, movement variability, and using training as an assessment tool. This episode is especially useful for strength coaches, performance staff, and anyone working with athletes in constantly changing environments.Key topicsJason shares how he approaches each new roster as a clean slate, rather than letting last year’s team dictate this year’s programming.In this episode, he explains why high roster turnover forces coaches to re-evaluate everything from training stress to meal compliance to daily structure.Jason discusses removing the traditional hard Friday “bury them” session and replacing it with smaller, more frequent exposures across the week.We discuss how a younger team often needs broader movement exposure, not just more intensity.Jason breaks down his idea of a “well-rounded training program” through categories like single-leg work, rotation, anti-rotation, flexion, and anti-flexion.He explains how spreading conditioning across the week made the work more digestible, improved outputs, and created better enthusiasm.The conversation digs into intent as a coaching principle, not just bar speed or load, but also range of motion, control, rest, and recovery.Jason shares how different athletes can show intent in different ways and why that matters more than chasing one universal standard.We discuss eccentric control and movement variability as the two biggest limiting factors he prioritized in the summer.Jason explains how small changes like tempo, balance, and implement choice can create major adaptations without constantly changing the entire program.He describes how training now doubles as an assessment tool, helping staff see which athletes are progressing well and which may need a different stimulus.The episode closes on the importance of asking questions instead of questioning athletes, and understanding that pain or improvement can come from many different causes outside the weight r