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Adductor/Core Masterclass from Alex Trinca (Pittsburgh Penguins)...Keep Reading ›

Today's athlete needs to be educated in nutrition, specifically how it relates to training and the competition schedule. A poorly-designed nutrition program and poor eating habits will hinder muscular...Keep Reading ›

At high levels of all sports there is a correlation between an athletic ability or skill and success in that sport. In basketball having a large vertical jump correlates well with success. In football running a fast 40yd dash has the best correlation of success of any measurable statistic. Hockey seems to be an exception to the rule. There is no athletic variable that seems to correlate with success in hockey. In fact the best marker for being a successful hockey player is, oddly enough, body fat percentage....Keep Reading ›

Anterior knee pain goes by a large number of names but unfortunately seems to have relatively few effective treatments. Chondromalacia Patella, Patella Tendonitis and Patella-Femoral Syndrome are all ...Keep Reading ›

There's a Gatorade commercial where New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter says, “The next game begins where the last one ends.”    I love this quote because it makes a passio...Keep Reading ›

There is a debate in the hockey world that playing at the Canadian junior level is better for a young hockey player's development rather than playing at the collegiate level. In the Canadian system you play more games, resulting in less time commitment towards a off-ice training program....Keep Reading ›

Gray builds a case for why, when, how and with whom to use High Intensity Exercise...Keep Reading ›

Interview with Paul Robbins that originally appeared on the Strength Coach Podcast...Keep Reading ›

It's well researched and documented that muscle groups contract and produce force better when they are warm. However, warming up the specific muscle groups for all sporting activities isn't as simple as going into a sauna before a match....Keep Reading ›

Make sure to read part 1 before reading this
Influence of Functional Movement Screen on Thought Process
The concepts obtained from the Functional Movement Screen reinforced everything that we believed and, in addition, added an entire level of thought process to what we did. The knowledge gained from Gray and from the screens drove our entire thought process to new levels. When I first encountered Gray he preached the idea of "stability before mobility"....Keep Reading ›

Part 2 Designing The Ideal Program (this is part 2 of a two part article. Before continuing make sure to go down and read part 1 of Advanced Program Design.
The ideal program is designed with the previous three goals in mind. The ideal program takes risk, but analyzes risk to benefit ratio. The ideal program works on all aspects of training but, in a progressive manner that minimizes exposure to undue stress. The big key is that the program improves performance but, never at the expense of health....Keep Reading ›

A recent forum post Got me to put this together. The chart below is a sample of a twelve week progression for conditioning. Please be aware that our workouts are done over four consecutive days Monday-Thursday. This is a logistical decision. Our clients like the three day weekend and honestly, so do we....Keep Reading ›

In collegiate and professional athletics, the term "sports hernia" seems to be frequenting conversations more and more. While the diagnosis of a sports hernia seems to be increasing both in prevalence and media attention, the injury remains poorly understood and defined. An in-depth look into the associated research helps explain why there is so much confusion surrounding this injury....Keep Reading ›

Who do we believe? The strength guys say something like "forget doing abs, just do heavy squats and deadlifts". Don't even say the word core around these guys. The functional guys say "lying down is not functional". The functional guys seem to be against any core training not done standing. If we proceeded logically we would see that both groups, the strength guys and the functional guys, at least agree that all good core training is done standing. As usual, I disagree with both parties.
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It's interesting, ask a strength coach what a good bench press is for a 200 lb male and chances are you'll get a good answer. Maybe everyone won't be in agreement but, everyone will have an opinion....Keep Reading ›

Phase 3 of our 3-day off-season training program. The second phase ramped up the speed and conditioning work, but had an emphasis on improving strength. Because this is the last phase before most of our players leave to return to their teams' pre-season camps, the focus of this phase is on:...Keep Reading ›

Interview with Pete Friesen that originally appeared on the Strength Coach Podcast...Keep Reading ›

My recent experiences with Crossfit caused me to put some ideas down on paper. I think it is important to write down what you really believe just so you have to think about what your philosophy actually is.
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Interview with John Berardi that originally appeared on the Strength Coach Podcast...Keep Reading ›

One of the best pieces of advice I've received in program design was to first analyze the physical demands of the sport and then create your program. It sounds like common sense, but a very powerful coaching cue for young strength coaches who aren't sure where to begin a training program....Keep Reading ›