Running in the Boston Marathon was a longtime dream for Natalie Daniels, and doing it six months’ postpartum, she says, felt like a way to celebrate the beauty and power of the female body.

That’s why Daniels says she was troubled to learn that the Boston Marathon was now allowing men who identify as women to compete in the women’s category.  

Daniels, an avid marathon runner, shared her concerns regarding the Boston Marathon policy on social media and on a podcast with XX-XY Athletics just a few days before the marathon in April. Almost instantly, people Daniels knew and did not know began attacking her over her opinion that men should not be allowed to compete in the women’s category.

The mom, in her early 30s, faced threats, with individuals online encouraging Boston Marathon attendees to throw bottles at her while she ran.  

Following the race, Daniels was kicked out of her running club for refusing to state that a man, with sufficient hormones and treatment, could ever become a woman. Today, she has partnered with XX-XY Athletics, a pro-women athletic apparel company, to stand up for the integrity and protection of women’s sports.  

Daniels joins “Problematic Women” to share her story and explain how her faith in God has played a critical role in her running journey.  

Also on today’s show, we discuss Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s appearance on “The Shawn Ryan Show,” a popular podcast, and the controversy following Chip and Joanna Gaines’ decision to feature a same-sex couple on their new TV series. Also: Is “Swag,” Justin Bieber’s new album, a hit or a miss? We give our reactions.  

Enjoy the show!

Today’s guest is Will “Hoss” Ratelle — former All-Big Sky linebacker turned strength and conditioning coach, with experience at the University of North Dakota, the NFL, and the CFL. Known for his intense, results-driven training style, Hoss blends his pro football background with evidence-based methods to build size, speed, and resilience in athletes. He’s also the creator of popular programs like “Hoss Concurrent” and a respected voice in the online performance space.

Most fitness and training education tends to be rigid, centered around fixed sets, reps, heart rate zones, and prescribed loads and timing. While this structure has value, athletes eventually need to move beyond it and enter a more adaptive, natural rhythm of training. Sets and reps can serve as a starting point, but great coaching gives training a feel, one that fosters ownership, problem-solving, and deeper athlete engagement.

On today’s episode, Will Ratelle shares practical strategies for building training protocols that allow for flexibility and athlete autonomy. He discusses how to keep athletes dialed in during strength and power work, while also diving into topics like hamstring rehab, velocity-based training, and more.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Hammer Strength.

Use the code “justfly25” for 25% off any Lila Exogen wearable resistance training, including the popular Exogen Calf Sleeves. For this offer, head to Lilateam.com

View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. (https://www.just-fly-sports.com/podcast-home/)

Timestamps
0:12 – Transitioning from College S&C to Academia and Private Sector
5:41 – Training Adjustments for Harsh Winter Environments
9:35 – The Role of Giant Sets in Strength Training
15:11 – Building Competition and Problem-Solving into Small Group Training
18:05 – Time-Based Plyometrics for Better Autoregulation
22:50 – Applying Time-Based Models to Jumps and Olympic Lifts
27:21 – Minimalist Approach to Accessory Work in Training
30:54 – Using Velocity-Based Training for Autoregulation
41:25 – Hamstring Rehab Strategies Using Sled Work and Sprint Progressions
44:37 – Perspectives on Nordics and Eccentric Hamstring Training

Actionable Takeaways
Training Adjustments for Harsh Winter Environments – [5:41]
Training outdoors year-round is unrealistic in extreme winters. Will adapts by simplifying programming indoors and accepting seasonal fluctuations in volume and intensity.

What to try:

Plan for seasonal ebbs and flows, especially in outdoor-heavy programs.
Shift to more controlled indoor environments during harsh weather periods.
Keep aerobic and speed elements alive through creative indoor alternatives like tempo sleds or circuits.

The Role of Giant Sets in Strength Training – [9:35]
Will uses giant sets to create training flexibility. These allow athletes to autoregulate volume, manage energy, and work at their own pace without strict rep schemes.

What to try:

Build sessions around circuits of 3–4 movements: main lift, jump, core, mobility.
Set time limits (e.g., 20 minutes) instead of strict sets/reps.
Let athletes self-select volume based on daily readiness.

Building Competition and Problem-Solving into Small Group Training – [15:11]
Will’s small group setups naturally encourage problem-solving, teamwork, and friendly competition—all without over-coaching.

What to try:

Create circuits or mini-competitions that require collaboration.
Encourage athletes to solve challenges together (e.g., team med ball throws for max reps).
Keep coaching cues minimal—let athletes figure things out.

Time-Based Plyometrics for Better Autoregulation – [18:05]
Will prefers time-based plyo sets to help athletes naturally regulate their own volume and quality of output as they warm up and fatigue.

What to try:

Run 30-60 second blocks for depth jumps or hops instead of fixed reps.
Encourage gradual build-up in intensity within each b…

Call it a sign of the times that there is such a thing as a person who hosts a podcast, based on a sub-Reddit, that is dedicated to a podcast host. Alas, this is the case for the man behind The r/BillSimmons Podcast, a sometime-troll and sometime-hype man for Bill Simmons, The Ringer founder known to his earliest fans as The Sports Guy.

This week, the anonymous host of The r/BillSimmons did an interview with Tom Ley at Defector in which he joked about his own parasocial role in the sports media industrial complex and spilled some takes on why Simmons is “objectively worse” as a podcast host in 2025 than he was a decade ago.

According to the host, Simmons’ fall-off comes from the fact that he no longer conducts big-time interviews like he did in his ESPN and Grantland days. The host also believes Simmons is less prepared and interested in sports conversation than he used to be, a fate that befalls many aging hosts.

Here are the comments, in full:

Yeah, it’s an excellent question and people who don’t listen don’t understand it. We don’t hate Bill Simmons—if we did, we wouldn’t listen. Personally, I think his podcast is objectively worse than it used to be in terms of quality of content. At ESPN he featured a wider variety of guests than today’s Ringer-dominant lineup, brought on key sports figures such as David Stern more often, had on celebrities which were often doing interesting longform interviews for the first time, and talked about most sports rather than being so NBA heavy. Additionally, I think Bill has regressed as a host—he doesn’t prepare as much, he interrupts guests instead of listening and asking questions, and the podcast is usually more about him than his guests, which I don’t think was the case at the start and which I believe developed as Bill became more famous and successful. Plus, I just don’t think Bill cares as much about sports as he used to, which inevitably shows up in the pod.

If Simmons is slacking, it hardly shows in the data. The Bill Simmons Podcast (the real one, not the one based on the sub-Reddit) remains one of the top sports podcasts on the planet. On top of that, Simmons routinely draws 200,000-plus viewers on his recently launched YouTube channel for new episodes.

Some elements of this answer, however, are inarguable. Even Simmons recently teased a coming uptick in interviews, noting that Spotify is building out more studio space throughout Los Angeles in the near future.

Since launching his trailblazing podcast in 2007, there have been a great many imitators. Some have succeeded in taking up some space on what The Sports Guy might call “Bill Simmons Island.” He isn’t the only one having irreverent, gimmicky sports conversations anymore.

Perhaps that is why longtime listeners are coming back. Simmons is a genre unto himself, and all the slop out there can make you hungry for the original thing. At least, that’s what the host of The r/BillSimmons Podcast thinks.

“We know the content is worse than it used to be, but we keep coming back because it’s enjoyable to listen for all his Simmons-isms, making fun of him and his guests for the stupid sh*t they say, laugh at his extremely confident predictions that don’t pan out, and revel in the joy of a Boston team losing a playoff game and Simmons going mad,” he told Defector.

The current Simmons is less crass, less experimental, and more self-indulgent than the guy who was putting out podcasts in the shadows at ESPN nearly 20 years ago. By that standard, this anonymous host is likely correct to call Simmons “worse” at being a sports podcast host. But Simmons is undeniably as good as ever at being Bill Simmons.

The New York Jets are now in the Justin Fields era, after opening two disastrous seasons with Aaron Rodgers as the starting quarterback. In an effort to make sure Fields has all the pieces he needs to succeed, the Jets inked one of his new weapons to a massive extension.

“The #Jets and star WR Garrett Wilson have reached an agreement to make him one of the NFL’s highest-paid WRs. It’s a 4-year, $130M deal done by Jeff Nalley,” Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported.

Rapoport then followed up on his initial report with details of the extension.

“More details on Garrett Wilson’s deal: — $90M is the fourth largest guarantee for a WR. — $13.75M signing bonus with a $20M option bonus in year two and a $10M option bonus in year three.”

Fans reacted to the massive deal on social media.

“He has done nothing in this league to be paid this much,” one fan wrote on Twitter.

“Getting paid before Justin Fields tanks your value >>>>>,” someone else added.

“$130M for Wilson confirms what my models have shown. 1,000+ yard seasons with backup QBs wasn’t a fluke—it was elite separation in action. Books still haven’t moved his props for Fields’ arrival. Time to hammer the overs before the market catches up to this guaranteed volume,” one fan added.

It’ll be interesting to see what kind of connection Fields and Wilson have in New York.