Meade Smith joined the SIUE Athletics department in July 2011 as a strength and conditioning coach.Smith brings collegiate and professional sports experience in the area of strength and conditioning. Smith currently is the owner and curator of Smith Performance Systems in Chesterfield, Mo., which offers clients a range of personal training, sports performance, and consulting. Prior to that, he worked as a coach and later as the Director of Sports Performance for Velocity Sports Performance.A 2000 graduate of the University of Missouri, Smith earned a bachelor's degree in nutrition and fitness. He played two seasons with the Tigers baseball program.Smith worked as a graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach at SIUC where he earned a master's degree in exercise physiology in 2004. Smith was in charge of coordinating and developing the strength, conditioning, and rehabilitation programs for Saluki baseball, track and field jumpers, and women's golf. He also assisted with the rest of the SIUC programs including football and basketball.Smith mentored with some of the nation's top strength and conditioning coaches including Eric Klein, the head football strength and conditioning coach at the University of Minnesota, and Mike Linn, the head strength and conditioning coach at UCLA. He said those individuals helped mold what he holds as core strength and conditioning principles of training movements not muscles, ground-based training programs, explosive training, an accent on core training, and an emphasis on injury reduction.Smith spent much of 2003 with the Anaheim Angels as strength and conditioning coach.Smith has been an adjunct professor at Logan University providing instruction on Exercise Prescription & Testing, Cardio-Respiratory, and Exercise & Sports Practicum.Smith said his philosophy for strength and conditioning is based on what is best for the individual student-athlete and not necessarily toward a specific movement."The primary focus with all performance programs is to build a strong athletic foundation while focusing on each student-athlete's individual needs," said Smith. "This is accomplished by developing comprehensive training programs that put a major emphasis on movement training, explosive power development, foot speed and agility, linear and lateral speed, proper resistance training techniques, functional strength, injury reduction, and energy system development."He is a certified strength and conditioning specialist in the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Smith is a performance enhancement specialist through the National Academy of Sports Medicine and is finalizing certification as a corrective exercise specialist. He also is a certified sports performance coach and Level 1 weightlifting coach with USA Weightlifting.-siue cougars-
