My good friend Anthony Renna has done an unbelievable job with the Strengthcoach Podcast. To me, it has been a great educational resource. I usually try to listen to it on my ipod or I will put them on cd’s for my car. I was very fortunate to be interviewed on episode 1 back in September of 2007. You can access my interview and all of the episodes of the StrengthCoach Podcast at http://www.strengthcoachpodcast.typepad.com/
I saw this commercial during last night’s game 6 of the baseball game. Check it out.
Wow, what a great weekend I just had at this year’s Functional Training Summit on Long Beach, CA. Chris Porier and his staff at Perform Better know how to get it done! You can’t beat 3 days of seeing some great presentations while also getting to hang out with may colleagues and friends and also meeting a lot more. Here is my top 6 presentations that I saw based on how good it was and what I learned and will apply with my athletes (I couldn’t get it down to 5 as it was tough to pick as I saw 14 presentation and learned something in all of them:
1- Vern Gambetta- Foundational Legs- Building the Athlete from the Ground Up. What I really like about Vern is that he is a coach. He tells it like it is all the time. Like Al Vermeil, when he speaks, you should write what he says down.
2- Todd Wright- Vertical Core. Todd is a pretty funny guy who shows his passion for helping his guys get better every time he speaks. He is definitely a guy who has figured out a way to use Gary Gray’s information and break it down to a system that works for him and his athletes.
3- Todd Durkin- Going for Greatness. This lecture was very motivational and it was something I needed to hear (especially with training camp only weeks away).
4- Thomas Plummer- The 7 Habits of a Financially Successful Trainer. Like Todd Durkin’s, this was something I needed to hear. Thomas has obviously been doing this a while and knows what he is talking about.
5- Alwyn Cosgrove- The Evolution of Personal Training. I always have to see Alwyn speak. Very entertaining and a great guy. Always tells it how it its.
6- Robert Dos Remedios- Building Better Athletes: Getting Stronger and More Powerful Outside the Weightroom. I love seeing real coaches talk about what they do. Dos was awesome.
Besides seeing those guys and others speak, I also got to meet up with some other people such as Mike Boyle, Anthony Renna, Mike Potenza from the San Jose Sharks, and Pete Friesen from the Carolina Hurricanes.
This past week, I made my annual summer trip back home to Boston where I was able to see some of my family and friends. I was also able to get in some good continuing education and networking. On Thursday afternoon, my wife and I were able to get a training session in at the Boston University Weight room. I was able to hook up and catch up with Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Glenn Harris. Glenn has now been at BU for 12 years as the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach. He is a great guy and I will always be thankful to him for giving me an opportunity back in 1998 to do an internship. Friday morning, I was able to observe a Boston University Hockey training session. I try to make it over to watch these guys train every time I get back home. Mike Boyle is the Strength and Conditioning for hockey at BU. Also joining me to observe were 3 strength coaches from other college hockey programs. Mike is another friend/mentor to me who is always doing something new with his guys. I always learn something new when i visit with Mike. Friday afternoon was the 3rd Annual distinguished lecture series in sports medicine at Northeastern University. Art Horne, Strength Coach/Athletic Trainer for Men’s Basketball at NU helped put on an outstanding lineup of speakers. Some of the best speakers/clinicians in the industry including Mike Boyle, Dave Tiberio, Eric Cressey, Dr. Mark Phillipon, and Stuart McGill gave some great presentations. What I really liked about is that there were several presentations given on common areas that I am constantly trying to learn more information about. I picked up a lot of new information that I am really looking forward to implementing with our athletes. In my opinion, whenever I go and attend seminars and visit with coaches, I always judge it upon how excited I am to try new ideas when I get back to training on Monday. This trip didn’t disappoint.
Every off-season, I try to attend as many seminars that I possibly can. One seminar that I was referred to is the Third Annual Distinguished Lecture Series in Sports Medicine. This looks to be an outstanding seminar on June 5th and 6th featuring some great presenters including Dr. Stuart McGill, Eric Cressey, Mike Boyle, and Dave Tiberio. Also presenting is Dr. Marc Phillipon, who is becoming really well known amongst NHL players as well as several other professional athletes for his hip surgeries. I am looking forward to hearing what he has to say as far as hip injury prevention goes.
I will be speaking at the 19th Annual Practical Applications in Sports Medicine in Palm Springs, CA on May 31st. I am really excited to be a part of this as it features some of the best sports medicine professionals in southern California. My topic is Preventing Groin and Hip Flexor Strains.
I am going to meet up with my friend Guido Sendowsky today. I haven’t seen Guido in a long time but have kept in touch. He and I worked together a few years back when he was an intern athletic trainer. Guido has really good people skills combined with being a very bright athletic trainer. He has been an athletic trainer at Riverside Community College
now for a few years. I think it is important to maintain friendships and connections the best that you can. Obviously we all face busy times with daily responsibilities. However, it doesn’t take long to drop a line here and there to say hello. I always try to keep up with my friends and colleagues through phone, email, texting, and now facebook. It is always great to connect with people who you may have crossed paths at one time or another.