DUSTIN Martin enjoyed an extraordinary season in 2017, winning the Brownlow Medal and Norm Smith Medal to go along with the Tigers' drought-breaking premiership.
But how did he gain such an edge on the competition?
Richmond’s strength and conditioning coach Luke Meehan joined the very first episode of The Inside Game podcast, and revealed how the Tigers superstar trains differently to other players.
"[Martin]'s just so genetically blessed, and very driven," Meehan told host Bec Goddard.
"If anything, we kind of do less than what we would do with other guys.
"He's so powerful and has such brute force, he doesn't require a lot of work in the gym.
"We like to do the bare minimum with him to get the maximum result."
>> LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW IN THE PODCAST BELOW
Meehan said Martin's gym workload wasn't as intense as some of his teammates, and also revealed how programs are tailored to each player's strengths, not their weaknesses.
Listen to the full podcast in the player below to hear about Luke's approach to strength and conditioning and how it's taken the Tigers to new heights.
This week’s episode guide…
2:55 – What is strength and conditioning?
05:45 – How Luke optimises players' strengths
06:30 – Luke's favourite part about working at Richmond
07:43 – How Covid impacted Richmond’s 2020 and 2021 plans
09:45 – How Richmond's hub gym set-up gave them an edge
13:15 – Luke's contribution to Richmond’s incredible success
15:10 – How Luke helped Dustin Martin win a Brownlow Medal
16:23 – Tapping into different players' strength and conditioning needs
17:28 – Takeaway Tips, fuelled by the John West Protein Plus range
18:31 – Why Luke's allegiances are almost torn
19:24 – Quick Hands: Which player has benched the highest weight? Who's the biggest gym pest?
'The Inside Game' is a new podcast series that takes a peek behind the scenes of the high-performance world of the AFL and AFLW. Join AFLW Premiership Coach Bec Goddard as she chats with high-performance experts who share the one-percenters that make the difference between an average day and a great day, fuelled by the John West Protein+ range.
