UNCA’s new Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach Jose Escalante-Justo brings passion and new ideas to the weight room this fall. His focus on gratitude and distinct coaching style connects with student-athletes.
“I think what I can accomplish here is not only hardware with the teams I’m working with, but also introducing new approaches and new training philosophies in the weight room, as well as building those relationships with athletes to not just get them better here, but just to make them better people,” Escalante-Justo said.
According to Brian Robbett, head strength and conditioning coach at UNCA, having Escalante-Justo has been a huge help to the program already.
“It’s really great to have Coach Jose. He loves being here which is the biggest plus because he’s even here when he doesn’t need to be,” Robbett said.
Being involved in sport started early for Escalante-Justo. After finding his passion playing soccer and competing in track and field throughout high school in Greenville, he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in sport and exercise science at USC Upstate. Alongside his studies, Escalante-Justo interned as USC Upstate’s track and field strength coach before interning at the United States Performance Center in Charlotte post-graduation.
Escalante-Justo is happy he can use his knowledge and background to coach student-athletes at UNCA, as well as advance his own learning in the process.
“Being here at the university itself, I feel like I’m in a good place where I can add value but also have room to grow as well,” Escalante-Justo said. “I’ve always had the goal in the back of my mind of leaving some place better than I found it.”
Student-athletes have taken a shine to Escalante-Justo’s growth mindset and expertise in the weight room.
According to Noah Henthorn, decathlete on UNCA’s track and field team, Escalante-Justo’s insight into track and field strength work from his time at USC Upstate is incredibly valuable to the team.
“He’s worked with track and field before so knows a lot,” Henthorn said. ”It’ss also nice to have someone you can talk to if you don’t really understand something. He’ll spend the time with you.”
UNCA makes quality strength training a priority for all sports, including track and field. The program focuses on a combination of power and speed work, recovery modality and injury prevention exercises. Escalante-Justo echoes this in his coaching mentality and delivery.
“We really truly do believe that strength training will make you better as an athlete as long as you do it right,” Escalante-Justo said. “There seems to be this fear of doing too much weight and it having a negative effect on you or your sport. And that can 100% be the case, but the trick is managing those stresses and finding the time and place to do more and to do less.”
A strong focus on gratitude is something new Escalante-Justo brings to the strength and conditioning program. At the end of each lift with the women’s soccer team, he picks a player to tell the group one thing they are grateful for. These small acts of gratitude are a way to instill values that can be carried outside of the weight room, according to Escalante-Justo.
“In our world there’s more than one way to develop a strength program. It’s nice to have different thoughts and philosophies and I can learn that way as well,” Robbett said.
