seanskahan

This Week at HockeySC

Jul 292011

I hope everyone has had a good week. For me, I have back to back Saturday and Sunday games this weekend. I am taking the weekend off from Kettlebells so I can be fresh for both games. Proper nutrition and hydration principleswill be important Saturday night!

We have had another good week of excellent content additions
at HockeySC.com.

Youth Core Training Program Phase 1 by Mike Potenza- A good core program for a youth player or any player for that matter. I really like how Mike breaks up his progressions and I like the choice of exercises here. These can be used both off-season and in-season.

Summer Program Phase 3 by Darryl Nelson- I really like Darryl’s programs because of the simplicity of them. Proper, basic exercise selection with adherence to good technique is all you need. One of our players is working with Darryl again this summer and judging by how the individual did last season for us, this is a really good program.

Friesen Physio Fitness Summit- Our good friend Pete Friesen is having his annual Physio Fitness Summit. I really wish I could attend this.
Check it out here- Friesen Physio Fitness Summit.

It’s All About Durability by Sean- This is an article that I
put together on the importance of durability. It may mean different aspects for some, but it is an important component for a teams’ success.

Sled and Sprint Contrast by Sean- This is the video of the week. In these videos, I show what we are doing right now for our speed training. I really like the addition of the sleds to the speed program this summer. This is a variation of training that we are doing with our athletes.

Thanks for your continued support!

Sean, Mike, Anthony, and Darryl

Wednesday Workout

Strength and Conditioning No Responses »

Jul 282011

Another Successful Wednesday is in the books:

– Worked with some of the guys in the am. Conditioning was shuttles and they killed them.

My training:

– Kettlebell Snatches- 9+9 ea. arm on the start of every minute. I was supposed to get 9 minutes of them, but I got 6 today. I will get 9 minutes next week. The positive thing is that I got 90 done in 4:44. HR was 182 at the end of set 6. I haven’t seen that HR in a long while other than playing hockey.

– 1-Arm Kettlebell clean and press with 32k- 3 rounds of 1 +2 ea. arm (I clean the bell, do 1 rep each, then put it down to rest, and then clean the bell and do 2 reps each). Paired with 5 chin ups for 3×5

I am 3 weeks out of the RKC. I am feeling good where the higher amount of snatches are feeling smoother and my shoulder strength is getting better. I think most importantly is that my hands are adjusting pretty good. The calluses are more manageable.

This Week at HockeySC.com

Hockey, Strength and Conditioning No Responses »

Jul 222011

I hope everyone has had a great week and also have a great weekend. This week at HockeySc, I will call the Mike Potenza week because we had 2 awesome contributions from him. Mike is a really good Strength and Conditioning Coach who has done an ubelievable job with the San Jose Sharks. He is also a good friend who I get to share ideas with every once in a while. Here is what we had added to the site by Mike:

Linear and Lateral Movement Training– This a really good in-depth article on Mike’s linear and lateral movement philosophies and progressions. What I like most about the article is the coaching cues included. These types of movements are important for hockey players to learn and do properly so they can move more efficiently. I have a very similar belief system with this philosophy. My only addition would be the importance of the crossover step. Check out my Improving the Crossover Step For Hockey in the article section of this site if you have not.

2-Day Summer Travel Workouts– This is something that does come up quite frequently with hockey players, especially the pros. Sometimes when a player goes out of town for a few days, workouts like these are necessary. The hotel gym may not be good enough or what I run across more frequently is players not having enough time. A players’ personal time on vacation really needs to be taken into consideration. These are is quick, bang for your buck, workouts that will be just fine in any situation.

Thats it for the week. Special thanks to Mike Potenza for putting up some great content. Also, don’t forget to check out the forum. We have a good discussion going on about how to design an on-ice conditioning program late in the off-season.

Thanks for the continued support,

Sean, Mike, Anthony, Kevin, and Darryl

Wednesday Training Session

Strength and Conditioning 3 Responses »

Jul 212011

Today was another day in my preparation for the RKC next month in San Diego.

The day started with an early morning dog walk for about a mile and a half. These walks are always a great way for me to start my days. These walks are also great ways for me to try to stay lean (as well as my dog Bailey).

As for my workout which was done later on in the afternoon, it was a snatch prep day with the 24k kettlebell. Wednesdays are my “Density” days where I do a certain number of reps on each arm at the start of every minute. My rest period is the remainder of the minute until I start the next set at the start of the next minute. The program that is outlined in Brett Jones’ RKC Snatch Test 101 article is actually what I am doing for my snatch test prep. Today was 8+8ea arm every minute for 10 minutes. I had been stuck on this phase for the past 2 weeks. I couldn’t get them done in an acceptable manner. Two weeks ago, I only got 6 minutes and last week I got 9 minutes. Today, I got my 10 minutes. It’s now onto 9+9ea. for 9 minutes next Wednesday.

After my snatches, it was on to my kettlebell presses and chin ups. Today was a medium volume day where I did 5 ladders up to 3 reps on both single arm presses and chin ups. I cleaned the kettlebell, then performed 1 press on each arm. Then I went over to the chin up bar and did 1 chin up. Then I cleaned the kettlebell and performed 2 presses on the left arm and then 2 on the right followed by 2 chin ups. Then I cleaned the kettlebell and did 3 presses left and 3 presses right followed by 3 chin ups. I did this 4 more times. It gave me a total of 30 reps of presses on each arm and 30 chin ups. This is actually taken from Pavel Tsatsouline’s Enter the Kettlebell book.

That’s it.

In Season and Off Season Training, Pete Friesen, ACL Rehab, Power Skating, and Posterior Chain Variations

Hockey, Strength and Conditioning No Responses »

Jul 152011

We have had tons of content added since my last post about HockeySC. Along with the quality content in the form of articles, videos, programs, and webinars, the forum continues to have great discussions. Currently, there are discussions on slideboards, short off seasons, and summer hockey schools. If you are a member and you want to ask a question, please don’t be afraid to post it on the forum.

Here is what we have added in the last few weeks:

In Season Training Webinar by myself. In this Webinar, I give the same presentation that I gave live last month at the Roger Neilsen’s coaches clinic. In season training ias something that I am passionate about as it consists of the most time that I spend with our players.

Training with the NHL Carolina Hurricanes is a video featuring Peter Friesen, the Athletic Trainer/Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Carolina Hurricanes. Pete is a passionate, high-energy coach who gets the most out of his athletes. This is a good video that shows Pete in action.

ACL Rehab Phase 4 by myself. This is another part of my ACL rehab program. You can see how we progressed along with all of the exercises included in the program. The exercises during this phase aren’t too much different from exercises used with “healthy” players.

Interview with Power Skating Coach Cathy Andrade by Mike Potenza. I am seeing the benefits of proper power skating coaching with players, especially younger ones who might need to fine-tune some aspects of their skating. As a result, I’ve seen some drastic changes in some players’ stride and technique over the years from good power skating coaching. This is a good interview with a good power skating coach.

4-Day Off Season Program Phase 3 by Kevin Neeld. This is a good program designed by Kevin. I really like the pre-training assessment questions on the sheets of paper for each workout. There are some excellent exercise variations in this program.

Posterior Chain Variations by Darryl Nelson. In this video, Darryl shows some examples of the posterior chain exercises that he uses with his players. Darryl shows how uses such as the stability ball, slideboard, and the TRX for strengthening the posterior chain. Good stuff from Darryl.

Thanks for all of your help and support,

Sean, Anthony, Mike, Kevin, and Darryl

Boston Trip

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Jul 122011

I hope everyone is doing great and enjoying the summer. I am actually typing this on my parents back deck here on a humid night in Quincy, Ma. I have been out of the loop for a little while here at my blog. During the week of June 29th- July 6th, I was heavily busy with our annual prospect camp. We had a great week of coaching and educating our young players on our strength and conditioning program. I really enjoy these weeks because it really is a young prospect’s first exposure to professional hockey and their new respective team.

After the prospect camp, my family and I were on a plane heading to Boston for my sister Marybeth’s wedding. While we were there for the wedding, we also got to spend some time with family and friends. For training, Hillary and I got some good workouts in at the Boston Sports Club in Weymouth where I was able to use their kettlebells and continue my training for RKC which is now 5 weeks away. Hillary was able to get her own lifts in and at the same time, get plenty of different looks from the females on the elliptical trainers and treadmills doing their low intensity cardio.

While I was home, I also got to visit with Mike Boyle at MBSC in Woburn. What I really enjoy about my visits with Mike is that I always pick up something new that I can use immediately with my athletes. This time around, I got to see the 1-leg deadlift being performed by the athletes. This is another simple, yet effective exercise that definitely looks like a hybrid between a 1-leg deadlift and a 1-leg squat. Something I can see in the program real soon. After I observed the pro and youth athletes train, I was able to get in my own workout in. It was my first time I was at MBSC. I was really impressed with the facility and the flow of the workouts that were going on. Perfect technique across the board combined with hard work was what really stood out.

After my visit to MBSC, it was then off to the Boston University weightroom to visit with Glenn Harris. Glenn is the Director of Strength and Conditioning at BU and does a really good job. The weightroom has recently undergone an expansion which makes it look unbelievable. Check out Glenn’s blog at GameFitPerformance.

All in all, another good trip back home.

Kettlebells and Hockey

Hockey, Strength and Conditioning No Responses »

Jun 272011

What is with the title? Let me explain.

First, here is some background information for those who are reading this blog for the first time. I am scheduled to do an RKC workshop in San Diego in August. I am currently training with Kettlebells so that I can make it through the weekend (which I hear is brutally challenging) and pass the Snatch test. My training is going really well. My sessions are spread throughout the week where I am doing h1-arm swings with a 32k on Monday, snatch prep with the 24k bell on Wednesdays, and high rep snatch work with the 16k bell on Fridays. Each day I am also doing Turkish Get Ups and Presses. This is a routine that I picked up from reading another one of Brett Jones’ articles and getting some practical instruction from Jim Hooper RKC who owns and operates Balboa Fitness here in Newport Beach, CA. I was fortunate to spend a few hours with Jim where he critiqued my form and gave me some pointers. We both agreed that the program I am following will be beneficial to me as I build up strength and endurance for the weekend and the test.

For those wondering about my snatch progression, I am on the 7+7 reps each arm on the minute for 12 minutes. I just finished 11 minutes last Wednesday; however, my form was breaking down on my left arm. I really didn’t think that another set would look or feel good. I am going to get another week of 7 reps before I head to 8 reps each hand in 10 minutes. I am going to own each stage before I progress to the next. On a different note, one thing that I was concerned about was my hands. I have experienced torn calluses now a few times. Each time, I had no clue they were torn until I looked at my hand when I put the bell down. Now I feel that I have figured it out as I have been obsessively shaving them down and smoothing them out. Now they feel better and I can grip the bells pretty good. The 100 rep goal will be attainable when I head down to San Diego.

What does this have to do with Hockey? I think as a Strength and Conditioning Coach, you owe it to your athletes and yourself to be in the possible condition you can be in. Many times when I tell someone what my training routine is, I usually get a response “what else are you doing” or “what are you doing for cardio/conditioning?” I probably don’t need to be doing anything else besides the work with the kettlebells because all of the endurance work with bells is probably sufficient enough. However, I really can’t train 3 days out of a possible 7.

One thing that I really enjoy is playing hockey. I have been playing in an adult league now for the last year. When I play, I really enjoy the competition. I really want to win no matter if it is a league game or a pick-up game that I play once per week. I actually just played a 10:40 pm game this past Saturday night. On the way to the rink, I thought back to when I was in my early twenties which was when Saturday nights were for other activities. If you asked me then if I could ever picture myself at age 35 playing a hockey game at 10:40 pm on a Saturday night, I would say you were crazy. Actually, the toughest part was that I am usually in bed an hour before the start time! It is just amazing how life changes right in front of you.

I really never skated until about 4 years ago here in Anaheim. I would started skating with the injured players to help them get their on-ice work done. It was difficult at first as I was absolutely terrible out there. However, our guys were more than helpful when it came to the small technical instructions that have helped me along the way. (By the way, I am still terrible when in comparison to the pro’s.) I know that my experience with our injured players and by playing in a league has helped me do my job better on a daily basis. My perspective has changed when it comes to designing workouts for strength and conditioning sessions for our players.

So when I am asked what I do for conditioning besides work with kettlebells, I say that I play hockey 2-3 times per week. Playing hockey is a really good conditioning tool. Several times, I will wear a heart rate monitor and I will usually see my heart rate in the 175-182 bpm range.

For now, this is what’s working for me. I feel great as I think the kettlebell work is helping my hockey performance and the hockey skating is helping my conditioning in the kettlebell work.

HockeySc.com Roundtable Discussion, Bar Complex, Off-Ice Games, 2 new programs, an Interview with an NHL Coach, and Current Thoughts on Core Training

Hockey, Strength and Conditioning No Responses »

Jun 242011

The off-season is going by quickly. I can’t believe that we are already at the annual NHL draft weekend as it seems like it was yesterday that the regular season ended. Next week is also our annual prospect conditioning camp. I really enjoy the prospect camps because we get to teach young players how to train what we feel is proper. Most of the teams in the NHL are incorporating these camps now as I think everyone is starting to see the benefits of them to their success.

As we prepare for the camp and I roll along with working with some of the roster players who are in town during the summer, it is time to give an update on what’s happening on HockeySc.com. We have had some really great content added over the last week or so.

The HSC Roundtableis a new feature to the site. In this segment, myself, Mike Potenza, Kevin Neeld, and Darryl Nelson give our thoughts and opinions on setting up a training facility. Although some of our answers are very similar, there are some differences as we each have had different individual issues that we had/have in setting up our facilities.

My Barbell Complex video was up next as I added a complex that we use with a barbell during the last phase of the off season. We will also use this as an exercise in-season as well.

Off-Ice Games by Darryl Nelson is a video showing some simple, fun games that Darryl has used with some youth players that he has worked with. These are ways to make the drills exercises fun with the benefits of gaining some speed and agility.

There were 2 programs added this week in 4 Day Off-Season Training Phase 2 by Kevin Neeld and Speed Strength Phase of Training by Mike Potenza. Both of them are good programs that work well in Kevin and Mike’s system. I always read the programs to look at the coach’s template and workout flow. These are some really solid programs from these guys.

Next up was a link to an interview with Mike Babcock. This was submitted by Kevin Neeld and it was originally on NHL Network. Mike is one of the most driven to succeed person that I know. He is someone who approaches everything with intensity, including continuing his own education and getting better. This is worth a listen for some extra motivation to seek constant improvement in whatever your profession may be.

Last up was Darryl Nelson’s Core Training. In this article Darryl explains his philosophy on core training. Like me, Darryl is a believer that we should not be performing flexion and rotation. We should be performing ant-flexion/extension and anti-rotation exercises in our core programs. In the article, Darryl references Dr. Stuart McGill who I have read about and seen speak several times. This is article is a must read if you are still doing crunches or sit ups with your players.

That’s it for the last week or so.

Thanks for your continued support,

Sean, Mike, Anthony, Kevin, and Darryl

Wooden On Leadership

Coaching, Education, Strength and Conditioning No Responses »

Jun 202011

I am a huge John Wooden fan. I completely admire and respect the way that he conducted himself as a basketball coach. He won several national championships as the coach at UCLA and left an unbelievable legacy.

I have read several books about him during the last 5 years or so. When I read these books (or any other book for that matter), I always try to learn something that I can apply in my situation. Not only as a strength and conditioning coach, but also as a person.

One of my favorite books about coach Wooden is Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization. The book actually contains copies of several of his own private notes that he kept when he was coaching. This is one of the books that I continue to re-read over and over again.

Here are some quotes and thoughts that I think are good for strength and conditioning coaches, coaches, or anyone else who leads people.

“The coach must never forget that he is, first of all, a teacher. He must come (be present), see (diagnose), and conquer (correct). He must be continuously exploring for ways to improve himself in order that he may improve others and welcome every person and everything that maybe helpful to him.”

– You must teach your athletes and clients to do things correctly all of the time and continue to learn and evolve so that you can help them get better. To me, this is what I love about the profession I am in. This is what it is all about. We continue to teach the little things over and over again on a daily basis and I am always looking for ways to get better.

“Develop the same sense of responsibility in every player regardless of the amount of time they may get to play. The varsity squad is one team, not regulars and substitutes.”

– This is a key for strength and conditioning coaches working in team sports. Although it is probably more difficult at the professional level, every player needs to get their work in. It requires a really good job of communicating the importance of it to them.

“Success is not a destination, it is a journey.”

– I love the simplicity of this quote. It is actually on a sign on the wall in our weight room.

If you are a coach or a leader and haven’t read any if John Wooden’s books, you should. I would love to see John Wooden coach today. I really think that he would be successful. Some may disagree, but I think he would do a great job in today’s game.

Youth Hockey Training, Get Ups, and Beginner’s Off-Season

Hockey, Strength and Conditioning No Responses »

Jun 112011

I just had an amazing experience presenting on In-Season Strength and Conditioning for Hockey at the annual Roger Neilson’s coaches clinic. I was absolutely honored to be involved in this clinic. I met some really nice people who are involved. I hope to be a part of it again someday.

Some have been asking how my preparation is going for the RKC. I feel like it is going really well. I am progressing nicely with building up the necessary volume of snatches while my strength and technique is improving on my swings. However, what I have been struggling with is that my hands get pretty ripped up. Most of the time, I don’t even know it until I put the kettlebell down after the last rep on my last set. I think I now have figured it out though as I have been working with a pumice stone and an emery board to get my hands smoother.

As for HockeySC.com, we have had some great content added during the past week. The forum is busy as well with discussions on playoff training models, sled training, and having a strong stick on the ice.

Here is what was added last week:

Kevin Neeld added Youth Hockey Program. This is a good program that doesn’t require any equipment. I really like these programs because in reality, this is what youth coaches are faced with when designing programs for their players. You can really accomplish a lot with minimal space and equipment.

I added the Using The Get Up in Team Sports article which was posted here on my blog. Check out my last post.

Next up was the International Hockey Panel from the USA Hockey Symposium with Igor Larionov. This is actually a webinar on youth hockey. Igor Larionov gives his own perspective on the current state of youth hockey development.

Last was Darryl Nelson’s Beginner Phase 2 Offseason. I really love the simplicity of Darryl’s programs. This is totally what young athletes need- a program with the intention of getting stronger at the basic lifts.

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