Mike Boyle

The number one ingredient for athletic success, says top strength and conditioning coach Mike Boyle, is passion. "Find something your kid loves," he tells 4-time Olympic medalist Angela Ruggiero. "You can't want it for them."

Top strength and conditioning trainer Mike Boyle echoes the advice of more and more nutrition experts in talking nutrition with 4-time Olympic medalist Angela Ruggiero: less carbs, more high quality protein.

Plyometrics is an Eastern European name for jumping, popping, and throwing exercises which train an athlete's nervous system to become more explosive.  For young athletes, says strength and conditioning trainer and coach Mike Boyle, a little bit of plyometrics is good (around 25 to 30 jumps a couple times a week); more not so much.