October 17, 2026 | Austin Peay State University (APSU), Clarksville, Tennessee
Today, we’re excited to be attending the Health & Performance Summit at Austin Peay State University (APSU), an event bringing together leading practitioners, sports scientists, military human performance specialists, researchers, and innovative sports technology companies.
Presented by Deaconess, the summit aims to advance the conversation around athlete health, human performance, strength and conditioning, injury prevention, and the growing role of technology in optimizing performance.
The event also serves an important mission: raising funds to support student programs at APSU, helping develop the next generation of sports scientists, strength and conditioning coaches, and human performance professionals.
At Upside, we strongly believe that innovation happens when practitioners, researchers, and technology companies collaborate, share experiences, and challenge existing approaches.
This summit represents a great opportunity to do exactly that.
🎯 Summit Agenda: Key Themes and Objectives
Throughout the day, attendees will have the opportunity to hear from experts working across professional sports, collegiate athletics, and the military, while discovering some of the latest technologies being developed for the sports performance industry.
The discussions will explore several important themes:
1. Strength & Conditioning: Best Practices Across Elite Sports
How are leading professional sports organizations designing their strength and conditioning programs?
What can collegiate programs learn from the approaches used in the NBA, MLB, and other elite sports environments?
Speakers will share practical insights into performance programming, athlete development, workload management, and the integration of technology into daily training.
2. Athlete Monitoring, Data Analytics & Performance Optimization
With the growing adoption of wearable technologies, force-sensing systems, and athlete monitoring platforms, teams have access to more data than ever before.
However, collecting data is only part of the equation.
The real challenge is translating that information into actionable insights that help practitioners make better decisions about training, recovery, and athlete readiness.
3. Injury Prevention, Rehabilitation & Return to Play
Managing injury risk and helping athletes return to competition safely remain priorities across professional and collegiate sports.
The summit provides an opportunity to explore how evidence-based programming, monitoring technologies, and interdisciplinary collaboration can support these objectives.
4. Military Human Performance: Lessons for Elite Sports
One of the particularly interesting aspects of this summit is the participation of military human performance specialists.
Military personnel and elite athletes face many similar challenges, including physical fatigue, cognitive demands, stress, recovery, and decision-making under pressure.
There is a significant opportunity for knowledge transfer between these two environments, particularly in areas such as readiness assessment, mental resilience, wearable technologies, and human performance optimization.
5. Emerging Sports Technologies & Innovation
Attendees will also have the opportunity to meet sports technology companies developing solutions across strength and conditioning, athlete monitoring, velocity-based training, reactive agility, muscle fatigue assessment, and performance analytics.
These demonstrations should provide valuable opportunities for practitioners to evaluate new technologies and discuss their potential applications.
🎤 Meet the Speakers: Experience Across MLB, NBA, Collegiate Sports & Military Performance
The summit features an impressive lineup of speakers with extensive experience across professional sports, collegiate athletics, and military human performance.
Chris Dunaway — Los Angeles Dodgers (MLB)
Chris Dunaway is the International Director of Athleticism & Performance for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
He previously held strength and conditioning roles across the Baltimore Orioles, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Dodgers organizations.
His expertise includes evidence-based performance programming, sports nutrition, and performance scouting.
His experience across professional baseball provides an interesting perspective on how organizations approach athlete development, physical preparation, and long-term performance.
Dr. Bill Burgos — Founder, BUCOGROUP | Former NBA Strength & Conditioning Coach
Dr. Bill Burgos brings more than 20 years of experience across the NBA and sports performance industry.
He previously served as Head Strength and Conditioning Coach with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Orlando Magic, and New York Knicks.
His areas of expertise include player health and performance strategy, return-to-play protocols, and injury risk mitigation.
His extensive NBA experience offers valuable insights into the demands of managing athlete performance throughout a long competitive season.
Paul Robbins — Founder, VIP Data | NBA Performance Data Specialist
Paul Robbins has spent 16 seasons working as an NBA performance data specialist.
He is the founder of VIP Data and has extensive experience in metabolic testing, sports biometrics, and applied sports technology.
His background spans the NBA, NFL, NHL, USTA, and Navy SEALs.
Paul brings a unique perspective on the application of data analytics and physiological testing to improve human performance across different environments.
Ryan Metzger — Founder, AXIS Strength and Conditioning
Ryan Metzger is a collegiate strength and conditioning coach and founder of AXIS Strength and Conditioning.
Her expertise includes performance programming, athlete monitoring, and sports science, with experience across Power Five collegiate athletics and competitive Olympic weightlifting.
She brings an important collegiate perspective on athlete development and the practical application of performance science.
Sgt. Spencer Posey — Military & Human Performance Lead, Garmin Health
Sgt. Spencer Posey is the Military & Human Performance Lead for Garmin Health and founder and CEO of Denali Fitness and Nutrition.
His expertise includes wearable analytics, readiness metrics, and human performance optimization.
With experience across military, healthcare, and private-sector environments, Spencer brings a valuable perspective on how wearable technologies and physiological data can support human performance and readiness.
Dr. Seth Haselhuhn — SOCOM Mental Performance Specialist
Dr. Seth Haselhuhn is a SOCOM Mental Performance Specialist and owner of Caliber Development Group.
He holds a Ph.D. and specializes in mental performance, decision-making under pressure, and applied sports psychology.
His experience working with military and tactical populations offers valuable insights into the psychological aspects of performance, particularly in high-pressure environments.
🚀 Sports Technology Showcase: Six Companies to Watch
One of the highlights of today’s summit is the opportunity to discover innovative technologies being developed for professional sports, collegiate athletics, and human performance.
Six companies are exhibiting at the event, including Upside.
1. TeamBuildr — Strength & Conditioning Software
Website: https://www.teambuildr.com
TeamBuildr provides strength and conditioning software designed to help coaches create, deliver, and monitor training programs.
According to the company, its platform is trusted by more than 5,500 teams worldwide.
Its technology helps practitioners streamline programming, track athlete progress, and manage training data across large groups of athletes.
As teams increasingly seek integrated solutions for managing athlete performance, software platforms like TeamBuildr play an important role in modern strength and conditioning operations.
2. Upside — Connecting Elite Sports Teams With Innovation
Website: https://www.upsideglobal.co
At Upside, our mission is to help professional sports organizations discover, evaluate, and adopt innovative technologies that can improve athlete health, performance, recovery, and rehabilitation.
Today, our network connects more than 10,000 sports executives and practitioners across the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, MLS, NCAA, and leading European sports organizations.
Through our technology scouting platform, AI Assistant, research, interviews, and events, we help teams navigate a rapidly evolving sports technology landscape.
Our platform provides access to information about hundreds of sports technology companies, including their products, capabilities, pricing, scientific research, and existing customers.
We are excited to connect with practitioners and students at APSU and introduce them to some of the innovations shaping the future of sports performance.
3. DetecFit — Affordable Velocity-Based Training & Force Sensing
Website: https://www.detecfit.com
DetecFit is developing a portable technology designed to make velocity-based training and force measurement more accessible.
Its solution enables practitioners to capture strength training data and assess performance without relying on expensive or complex equipment.
By combining velocity-based tracking and force-sensing capabilities, DetecFit aims to provide coaches with actionable information to better monitor strength development and training intensity.
The growing adoption of velocity-based training across elite sports reflects a broader shift toward more objective and individualized strength programming.
4. QuickBoard — Reactive Agility & Cognitive-Motor Training
Website: https://www.quickboard.com
QuickBoard develops a reactive agility and cognitive-motor training system designed to help athletes improve reaction time, coordination, and movement performance.
The technology combines a sensor-based board with interactive training exercises, allowing practitioners to assess and train athletes under different physical and cognitive demands.
QuickBoard’s approach is supported by published research and is relevant to performance training, rehabilitation, and return-to-play programs.
The company is also exploring new force-sensing capabilities that could further expand its applications in athlete assessment.
5. Aris Training — Data-Driven Performance Testing & Resistance Training
Website: https://aristraining.com
Aris Training develops sports performance technology combining data-driven performance testing with digital resistance training systems.
Its solutions are designed to help practitioners measure physical capabilities, monitor progress, and individualize training programs.
Technologies that integrate performance assessment and training are becoming increasingly relevant as teams seek more efficient ways to connect testing data with daily programming.
6. Myocene — Muscle Fatigue Assessment
Website: https://www.myocene.com
Myocene develops portable technology designed to assess muscle fatigue in athletes.
Its approach combines electrical muscle stimulation with force sensing to provide objective measurements of muscle function and fatigue.
Muscle fatigue assessment is an increasingly interesting area of sports science, particularly for teams seeking better tools to evaluate readiness, recovery, and the physiological impact of training.
Solutions like Myocene could help practitioners complement traditional athlete monitoring methods with more direct measures of neuromuscular function.
🔍 Why Events Like This Matter for the Sports Performance Industry
The sports performance technology market continues to evolve rapidly.
New technologies are emerging across athlete monitoring, biomechanics, artificial intelligence, recovery, injury prevention, and strength and conditioning.
However, the availability of more technology does not automatically translate into better athlete outcomes.
Successful adoption requires collaboration between technology developers, researchers, and practitioners who understand the realities of elite sports environments.
Events such as the APSU Health & Performance Summit create opportunities to address several important questions:
How can practitioners distinguish between useful innovations and technologies that lack sufficient scientific validation?
Which performance metrics provide the most actionable insights?
How can teams integrate multiple technologies without overwhelming practitioners with data?
What can professional sports organizations learn from military human performance programs, and vice versa?
How can universities better prepare students for careers in an increasingly technology-driven sports performance industry?
These are some of the questions we look forward to exploring throughout the day.
🎓 Supporting the Next Generation of Sports Performance Professionals
Beyond the presentations and technology demonstrations, the summit’s fundraising mission deserves special recognition.
By supporting student programs at Austin Peay State University, the event helps create opportunities for aspiring strength and conditioning coaches, sports scientists, researchers, and performance professionals.
Giving students access to experienced practitioners and emerging technologies can play an important role in bridging the gap between academic education and the practical demands of working in elite sports.
At Upside, we believe the future of sports performance depends not only on developing better technologies but also on investing in the people who will use them.
📅 Coming Next Week: Our Key Takeaways From the Summit
Following today’s event, we’ll publish a dedicated Upside analysis highlighting:
The most interesting insights shared by the speakers.
Emerging trends in sports science, athlete monitoring, and human performance.
Lessons from military performance programs that could be applied to elite sports.
Innovative technologies showcased during the event.
Practical takeaways for teams, practitioners, and sports technology startups.
A special thank you to Austin Peay State University, presenting sponsor Deaconess, the speakers, exhibitors, and organizers for bringing the sports performance community together.
We look forward to an exciting day of learning, exchanging ideas, and supporting the next generation of performance professionals.
Looking forward to seeing many of you today at the Summit.
