seanskahan

Perform Better Functional Training Summit Recap Part 2

Coaching, Education, Motivation/Inspiration, Strength and Conditioning 2 Responses »

Jun 112010

The 2^nd day of the Perform Better Functional Training Summit started at 8am on Saturday. Here is the lineup of all the speakers and some of the information that I got from the day:

Todd Wright- Todd is the Strength and Conditioning Coach for Men’s Basketball at the University of Texas. Todd is a guy who has an unbelievable passion for learning and helping his guys get better. Todd is highly influenced by Physical Therapist Gary Gray and his organization’s methodology. He is also an entertaining speaker who is pretty funny. Here are some of the things that I took from his talk:

– Locomotion is the ability to get from A to B using a variety of specific movement patterns that will allow you to accomplish the task most efficiently

– Although the primary patterns of locomotion are walking, running, shuffling, skipping, and carioca, the possibilities of progressions and variations are endless

Chris Frankel- Chris is the Director of Programming for Fitness Anywhere, the makers of the TRX. Although I have been using the TRX for a few years now, I’ve never been able to see Chris speak on the concept of suspension training. Chris did a great job both in the lecture and the hands-on sessions. Here are some of the keys that I got from both:

– Chris describes work as “high intensity interval training built on strong focused movements.”

– When doing a plank, or whenever you are holding yourself against gravity (such as with the TRX), you should focus on flexing your trunk, extending your trunk, side bending your trunk to the right, and side bending you trunk to the left, to create stability.

– The TRX is basically performing moving planks

Greg Rose- Greg is with the Titleist Performance Institute where they primarily work with golfers. This was a highlight for me because I have seen Greg speak before and was really impressed. His ability to evaluate movement in the golf swing and prescribe exercise strategies to prevent pain is remarkable. His speech is one of the main reasons why using a foam roller (especially a vibrating one) has helped me get out from the miserable state of the back pain I was having a few months back. I truly think that all strength and conditioning coaches should try to do this the best that they can with their athletes. Preventing injuries and/or rehabilitating injuries go a long way with clients. Greg is a pioneer in training for golf and I was glad I sat in this lecture. I am already looking forward to visiting with Greg at the institute in Oceanside, Ca this summer. Here are some of the keys that I took away:

– The number 1 injury in non-contact rotary athletes is compensation

– The key to controlling back pain from the golf swing is managing the hip and t-spine areas. (Do we see a pattern here?)

– There are 3 postures in the golf swing- The N posture, the S posture, and the C posture

– The reverse spine angle in the golf swing is the leading cause of back pain

– Never bring a mobility problem to a stability correction

– The inability to disassociate the hip and t-spine leads to injury

Sue Falsone- Sue is a Physical Therapist who works at Athlete’s Performance and with the Los Angeles Dodgers. She spoke on the Thoracic Spine, an area that she is passionate about and an area that I need to know more about. Here are some key points I got from Sue’s talk:

– When using the 2 tennis balls taped together for t-spine mobility, it is better to think about making anterior to posterior movements rather than simple rolling over the balls

– The t-spine has to move in order for our arms to move

– A great pec minor release that Sue showed was with a tennis ball against a wall where there is pressure applied between the wall and pec minor with an emphasis on scapula depression.

– Respiration is automatic, breathing is conscious

That was it for Saturday. It was another outstanding day of learning. Sunday, I stuck around for both a lecture and hands on by Thomas Meyers.

Thomas Meyers- Last, but certainly not least was Thomas Meyers. Thomas is the author of Anatomy Trains, a great book that describes the myofascial system. I think most of the attendees at the Summit stuck around just to see Thomas speak. Through his book and his lecture, Thomas gets you to look at things from a different perspective. I learned tons of information from the lecture and hands on. I am already thinking about how I am going to incorporate some of the line (frontal, posterior, lateral, and spiral) stretches into my training system. Here are some of the key points from both the lecture and hands on:

– Habit requires posture. Habits can’t be changed easily. Postures require structure- fascia

– Fascia has a proprioceptive emphasis and is 10 times more sensitive than muscle. There are 9 times more receptors in fascia than there are in muscle.

– Foam rolling and dynamic warm ups are good for turning on receptors

– “The body is 1 muscle surrounded by 600 fascial pockets”

– Fascia connects muscle to muscle. Isolation exercises are a mistake.

– Fascia is organized according to the forces that you apply to the body.

Again, the Summit was awesome. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see everyone speak. There are so many great speakers and topics that you simply don’t get to see them all. I am planning on going to the Long Beach Summit for a day so that I can see some of the speakers who I didn’t get to see in Providence.

Another aspect that I want to point out is that there were over 700 people at the Summit. What truly amazes me is that I recognize a large number of people at these every year. These are people who are passionate about learning and helping their athletes or clients get better. On the other hand, there are so many people that I know that I never see at these events. I think as coaches or trainers, we get caught up in not having enough time to attend these. Or we may look at continuing education opportunities to just get the CEU’s for a certification. My opinion is that you can’t afford not to go to a conference like this. I always think of Pat Riley’s quote- “If you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse.” Thanks for reading.

Perform Better Functional Training Summit Day 1 Recap

Coaching, Education, Motivation/Inspiration, Strength and Conditioning 2 Responses »

Jun 092010

This past weekend, I attended the Perform Better Functional Training Summit in Providence Rhode Island. I believe this one was my 5^th or 6^th Summit that I have attended. I really think that year to year, Chris Poirier and his staff do a great job putting together great educational opportunities. In my opinion, the 2010 Rhode Island Summit may have been one of the best.

I think the best way to judge if a seminar was really good or not is by reflecting on how much knowledge you learned and more importantly, where you can make some adjustments in your programs. I don’t think that it’s a good idea to just learn a new exercise and throw it in somewhere without any reason to do so. However, if I can learn a new progression, or sometimes a regression that makes sense and can help my athletes get better, I am all for it. Here are some highlights of who I saw speak and what I took away from the presentations during Day 1:

Steve Cotter- Steve is a Kettle bell guy who walks the walk and talks the talk. Steve came up to Anaheim for a 3 hour practical where I learned how to teach the kettle bell lifts such as the Swing (double and single arm), Snatch, Clean, and Clean and Jerk. Steve pretty much went over those lifts to a crowd of over 100 people. Some good information that I was reminded of and took away includes:

– Starting the swing or snatch with your hand in a neutral position (as opposed to overhand) and also some techniques to avoid ripping your hands apart when doing multiple reps.

– Steve advocates competition style kettle bell lifting where he does reps up into the 100’s.

Mike Boyle- Mike gave his presentation on the joint by joint approach to warm up. Although I think I may have seen this before, I really enjoy seeing Mike present live. He is really funny and isn’t afraid to say what’s on his mind. Some of the things that I picked up include:

– I need to do more hip internal rotation with my athletes

– Hip and Thoracic spine mobility are key. (Sue Falsone gave a talk on T-spine mobility which I will review later)

– Mike does a good job of incorporating some of the tri-planar movements into his warm up. I like the progression and it is something that I have done with my athletes but have gotten away from. We need to do more of that.

Fraser Quelch- This was the first time that I have seen Fraser speak. He did a great job. Some of the things I took away from it include:

– “Balance is the ability to control the position that we are in”. That quote kind of stuck to me.

– The plank is a reactive exercise to gravity.

Al Vermeil- Al is the best, period. I love seeing him speak as his passion for training is really noticeable during his talks. Some great information that I got from Al:

– Ankle, Knee, and Hip (triple) extension is the most important thing in sport

– Coaches must keep training. You must be able to do what you are asking your athletes to do.

– Look at training programs like you would at investing money

– Never get too far away from speed work

– Ask yourself- “Am I doing a good job, or is there something I can do better?”

John Berardi- John gave a great talk on nutrition for injury recovery. This was a good talk for me to see I it really opened up my eyes to the importance of nutrition during the recovery process.

– For fat loss, John recommends 1 gram per percent of body fat on a daily basis for the first 2 weeks

– Most everyone is deficient in Vitamin D

– Fish Oil and Flax Seed are not the same. John recommends taking both.

– Eating fish on a regular basis isn’t the same as taking fish oil supplements.

Thomas Plummer- Thomas Plummer is a great presenter. He really gives a kick in the butt to all of the attendees. This year, Thomas profiled some of the people who were speaking at the Summit including Boyle, Cook, Alwyn Cosgrove, Rachel Cosgrove, Todd Durkin, and Chris Poirier. He outlined what makes these people successful and why they are considered to be at the top of our profession. It was really inspiring for me as I have lots of respect for all of them as professionals. Here are some other tidbits I took from Thom’s talk:

– Thom believes that every 4 months, you should project your life 3 years. What does my work/life mean? How much money am I making? Where do I live?

– One on one training is in-effective in making money and running your business successfully

– Some of the quotes that I liked in the talk from some of the professional who were profiled include: “It’s not what you know; it’s what you can get someone else to do.”- Boyle. “Listen, practice, study, and apply- again and again- then talk.”- Cook. “Dedication and hard work will get you some sort of success; however caring will get you happiness.”- Poirier

The first day was great. I really picked up a lot of information that I can use with my athletes now. Day 2 and 3 of the Summit were just as good. I will review the rest of the Summit in a few days. Thanks for reading.

Lead By Example

Coaching, Education, Hockey, Motivation/Inspiration 6 Responses »

May 262010

I was recently on a flight from Long Beach to Boston. On the flight, I watched the movie “Invictus” which starred Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. Morgan Freeman’s character was Nelson Mandela, while Damon’s character was the captain of the South African rugby team named, Francois Pienaar. In the movie, they both met for tea where Mandela was getting to know more about Pienaar’s leadership philosophy. Mandela asked “How do you lead the rugby team?” Pienaar’s answer was “By example”.

Of course, I have and you have most likely heard this before, but hearing it again, prompted me to write and post this. I really think it is crucial for any leader of any group/organization to lead by example. For example, in sport, captains of any team need to lead by example. They don’t necessarily have to be rah-rah type leaders, but they must lead by example in terms of character, work ethic, professionalism, etc.

In our business, I also think it is crucial for the strength and conditioning coach or personal trainer to lead by example. For example, are you able to complete the workout that you are asking your athlete/client to do? Have you experienced what they have? Do you look the part? Are you in adequate condition?

For me personally, I am realistic in knowing that I get to work with some of the most elite athletes in the entire world. I will probably never be in the type of condition (strength, power, speed, anaerobic, aerobic). However, I will do my best in trying to experience what these guys go through. I will try to get in the best condition that I possibly can so that my athletes will see me as leading by example. What do I do? I try to adhere to a healthy lifestyle where fitness and proper nutrition are important. Also, I play pick up hockey once a week and I have recently signed up for a hockey league. What do you do?

Work From Home or Stay at Home Mom?

Motivation/Inspiration No Responses »

May 252010

This is a guest blog post from my wife Hillary. She wrote this and posted it on her blog at www.HillarySkahan.com.

Do you find yourself standing in the fridge trying to decide what you should eat for lunch while your stomach growls “HURRY UP!”? Or, does the 3 o’clock hour roll around and you dive recklessly into the cupboard devouring anything in site? Unplanned binges or splurges can ruin your diet simply because you didn’t know what you were going to eat for your next meal. You didn’t plan for success.

As moms, we are always preparing our children for what is to come next in their day. We tell them if they are good in the store we will go to the park later. We persuade them to sit nicely at dinner and eat all their veggies so they can have dessert. We set them up for success and rewards. These same tactics need to be applied to ourselves.

I think the hardest group of women to keep on track diet wise is the stay at home mom or the woman who works from home. When you spend the majority of your day at home, it is so easy to think, “I will just eat when I am hungry, no need to plan.” This can be a diet wrecker. What typically happens is, hunger sets in and quickly becomes starvation mode. Poor choices are made and regretted later. Here are 5 rules to follow and use as your bible when it comes to nutrition.

Tips for successful eating:

1. Plan all your meals the night before even if you aren’t leaving the house the next day.

2. Tupperware is in your house for a reason, not just for leftovers. Put all your meals, except for dinner with your family, in those containers. Plan for Success and it will happen.

3. If the food isn’t in the Tupperware don’t eat it! It wasn’t planned.

4. Water- buy a Sigg or a Life Factory glass water bottle, keep it filled and on your counter. Don’t drink anything with more than 0 calories in it.

5. Get out of the kitchen. My grandmother use to say the kitchen was closed after meals. Adopt this phrase and don’t linger where temptation lurks. A handful of this or a handful of that can blow a diet.

Plain and simple, 5 tips to keep your diet on track. Break any bad habits now. We preach to our children all day long why they should or shouldn’t do something. I think all moms want their children to grow up and make good choices. It’s time for mom’s to make good choices, why should it stop when you become a mother? Believe what you teach and teach what you believe.

Learning and Networking

Coaching, Education, Hockey, Motivation/Inspiration, Strength and Conditioning No Responses »

May 202010

Even though it’s the off-season here in Anaheim, I am staying busy while working with a few of our players, continuing my education, and networking.

Based on some of my past blogs, I obviously view continuing my education as a very important aspect of my development as a strength and conditioning coach. Another aspect that I think is important is networking. Getting to know other coaches and trainers who may do a better job than me at something or getting to know a different perspective on things is important. Last weekend and the next 3 weekends, I have plenty of opportunities for both education and networking.

Here is what I have been doing and will be doing:

1- May 15^th– 11^th Annual College of the Canyons Strength and Conditioning Clinic- I had the opportunity to speak at the 11^th Annual College of the Canyons Strength and Conditioning Clinic last weekend. I really had a blast giving my presentation and meeting most of the people there. Robert Dos Remedios is a great coach and a great guy who did an unbelievable job organizing the clinic. Stay tuned for a future of episode of “Snatches and Beer” which features Robert and I talking about training while enjoying a beer. Good stuff.

2- May 22^nd and 23^rd– BSMPG Hockey and Basketball Conference- This weekend coming up, I have the opportunity to speak at the Boston Sports Medicine and Performance Group Hockey and Basketball Conference. I am really psyched and honored to speak at it; as most of you know, Boston is where I consider home. I am really looking forward to seeing some of the other talks including those by Matt Nichol (formerly of the Toronto Maple Leafs), Jack Blatherwick, Bill Hartman, and Mike Boyle. It looks like an unbelievable lineup of speakers and will no doubt provide plenty of networking opportunities.

3- May 27^th, 28^th, and 29^th– Annual NHL Scouting Combine- The following weekend, I will be in Toronto for the annual NHL scouting combine. This is a great opportunity to catch up with most of my colleagues in the NHL. We have a meeting scheduled where we will be having some speakers present to us including Mike Boyle and John Pallof.

4- June 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th– Perform Better Functional Training Summit- The weekend after the combine is the Perform Better Summit in Providence, R.I. I think I’ve been to the Summit each year since Perform Better started doing them. In my opinion, these are the best continuing education options presently available. It seems that Perform Better is always adding different speakers and concepts. This is another great opportunity to interact and share ideas with other coaches and trainers. Stay tuned for my preview of the Summit where I will outline who I am going to go see speak.

New Content at HockeyStrengthandConditioning.com

Hockey, Strength and Conditioning 2 Responses »

May 182010

Hey Everyone, here is an update of the newest content we added

last week on HockeyStrengthandConditioning.com.

Articles:

“Goaltender Development”- Devan McConnell

Off-ice training is crucial towards goaltender development. In

today’s game goaltenders must be the most athletic players on the

ice. A good training program will build the fundamentals of that

athleticism and provide the transfer of the highly specialized

skills necessary to be a successful goaltender.

This Week on HockeyStrengthandConditioning.com

Hockey, Strength and Conditioning 3 Responses »

May 102010

Here is an update on some great content added the last 2 weeks:

Articles-

“Hockey Related Concussions: From Evaluation to Return to Play”-

Jeff Cubos

http://www.hockeystrengthandconditioning.com/members/Hockey_Related_Concussions_From_Evaluation_to_Return_to_Play.cfm

“Maxing Out Without Burning Out- How to calculate an athlete’s

max 365 days a year”- Ben Peterson and Cal Dietz

http://www.hockeystrengthandconditioning.com/members/Maxing_Out_Without_Burning_Out_How_to_calculate_an_athletes_max_365_days_a_year.cfm

“Goaltender Development”- Devan McConnell

http://www.hockeystrengthandconditioning.com/members/Goaltender_Development.cfm

Videos-

“Side Lunge Start”- Kevin Neeld

http://www.hockeystrengthandconditioning.com/members/Video_of_the_Week_Side_Lunge_Start.cfm

“Dumbbell Complex”- Michael Boyle

http://www.hockeystrengthandconditioning.com/members/Video_of_the_Week_Dumbbell_Complex.cfm

Programs-

“In-Season “Road” Workouts”- Sean Skahan

http://www.hockeystrengthandconditioning.com/members/InSeason_quotRoadquot_Workouts.cfm

As always, there have been some great discussions on the forum

including:

“How Goalies Can Drop Faster response”-

http://www.hockeystrengthandconditioning.com/members/cfmbb/messages.cfm?threadid=40215497-24E8-5ED2-F165BF1DAC4BCFF1

“A Question About Something Mike Boyle Said”:

http://www.hockeystrengthandconditioning.com/members/cfmbb/messages.cfm?threadid=6B12BBD4-24E8-5ED2-F18453F1F66806FB

Thanks to everyone for participating and if you have any

questions, let us know.

Michael, Kevin, Mike and Sean

http://www.HockeyStrengthandConditioning.com

Update

Uncategorized 5 Responses »

Apr 282010

The 2009-2010 season ended for us less than 3 weeks ago. Unfortunately, we didn’t make the playoffs. This isn’t something that we are not used to around here. It is amazing how you go from working 6-7 days per week for over 7 months during the season, and then the season ends just like that. The daily routine of going into work for practices, workouts, and/or games suddenly ends.

Right now, as our players are in an “Active Rest” phase, the transition of my in-season mode to the off-season mode is taking place. What’s important right now is for me to maintain a daily routine. I am filling my day with activities such as spending more time with Hillary and Will, walking the dog more, getting my own workouts in, trying to improve my golf game, hiking, writing more, and continuing my education by reading books and watching DVD’s. I’ve also got a few trips lined up in the next couple of weeks including a trip back to Boston to present at a seminar, the NHL scouting combine in Toronto, and another family trip back home.

When the off-season officially starts, I will have around 5-10 players here training throughout the summer. Also, I anticipate having up to 20 younger hockey players who I work with. It will be full go from there all the way until the next season starts.

This Past Week on HockeyStrengthandConditioning.com

Coaching, Hockey, Strength and Conditioning No Responses »

Apr 262010

Hey Everyone,

Hope you are doing well. Here is a recap of the articles, videos

and programs this week on HockeyStrengthandConditioning.com:

Restoring Proper Hip Function: Part 2- from Kevin Neeld.

“Part 1 of this series addressed restoring adequate

range-of-motion in the hips and teaching the athlete to

dissociate between hip and lumbar spine movement. I’ll spare you

another article introduction and jump right into the nuts and

bolts of PART 2: Developing appropriate progressions for

improving hip flexion and adduction movement patterns.”

Are You Indispensible?

Motivation/Inspiration, Strength and Conditioning 4 Responses »

Apr 212010

I just finished reading the book “Linchpin- Are You Indispensable?” by Seth Godin. Seth has also written other books such as “Purple Cow”, “The Dip”, and “Tribes”.

It really is a great book. It really spoke out to me as I read along.

Here is one of the paragraphs that I highlighted-

“I’ve never met anyone who had no art in them, though it’s buried sometimes. Markets are crying out. We need you to stand up and be remarkable. Be human. Contribute. Interact. Take the risk that you might make someone upset with your initiative, innovation, and insight- it turns out you’ll probably delight them instead.”

Throughout the book, Godin promotes the need for more Linchpins in the world. More people need to work at making themselves indispensible. People need to contribute their art and not just become a “cog in a giant machine”.

What does this have to do with Strength and Conditioning? We need to see ourselves as artists as well. It takes creativity to design a program. More creativity is required when implementing programs to your athletes. Blogs (such as this one) are a way for me to express what I believe in. I also think it’s important for us to try and lead, innovate. Don’t worry about what others may think. Don’t let other ‘s opinions suck the life out of your passion and enthusiasm.

Check out Linchpin.

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