The Podcast
Conversations With the People Who Build Champions
The Athlete Builder podcast is where Jim Beebe asks the people who actually build champions how they do it. 150+ episodes with college and pro coaches, athletes, physicians and special operations veterans. New episodes twice a week. Free, everywhere you listen, and you can start with any one of them.
Why This Show Exists
I spent 13 years owning a facility, and the fastest way I ever got better was sitting across from someone who had already solved the thing I was stuck on. That is the whole show. No debate format, no hot takes, no guest reading their own book back to you. One long conversation with somebody who has built athletes at the highest level, and my job is to ask the question you would ask if you had the chair.
What Every Episode Comes Back To
Every athlete is built from six blocks, and every episode lands on at least one. That is why a conversation with a Navy SEAL and a conversation with a Big Ten strength coach end up teaching the same lesson from opposite directions. You do not need to know the framework to get something out of an episode. But once you do, you start hearing which block a guest is really talking about, and which one your own athlete is missing.
Three in the Head
Mindset, Knowledge, Teammates. Why an athlete quits at the wall, what they actually understand about their sport, and how they treat everyone in the building.
Three in the Body
Training, Nutrition, Recovery. Strength and speed, fueling at a principles level, and the sleep and treatment habits that keep an athlete available in November instead of watching.
Who Has Been in the Chair
Mickey Marotti, who runs sports performance for 39 teams at Ohio State. Pat Ivey, an NFL veteran with a doctorate who now oversees health and performance at Louisville. Tony Holler, the coach behind Feed the Cats. Zach Even-Esh, twenty years into a gym that has trained two generations of the same families. Kenny Bigbee Jr., a Navy SEAL who was told he had a zero percent chance. Brandon Smitley, a world-record lifter who became an owner. College coaches, pro coaches, physicians and special operations veterans, 150+ episodes of them.
Where to Listen, and How Often
The show is free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube, and new episodes land twice a week. Subscribe on whichever one you already use and it shows up on its own. If you would rather read than listen, every episode gets broken down in writing on the blog, and the short version lands in the newsletter each week.
If an episode lands, take the next step: score your athlete across all six blocks, free. Prefer to read? We publish written breakdowns of these episodes twice a week, and you can get two ideas from each week's episodes, by email.
What People Ask About the Show
How often does the podcast publish?
Twice a week. One conversation with a guest, one shorter solo episode where I take a single idea apart. Both land free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube. Subscribe once and you never have to check for it. New episodes show up on their own.own.
Where can I listen?
Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube, plus the player on this page. All three carry the full catalog of 150+ episodes at no cost. YouTube also carries shorter segments, so you can get a five-minute version of a long conversation before committing an hour to it.
Do I need to start at episode one?
No. Every episode stands on its own, so start with a guest whose name you recognize or a topic your athlete is struggling with right now. If you want the framework before the conversations, there is a short run of solo episodes that walks through all six blocks in order.
Start With One Episode
Pick a guest whose name you know, or the block your athlete is weakest in. One conversation is usually enough to change how you look at the next practice.
© 2026 Athlete Builder, LLC. All rights reserved • Privacy Policy