Perform Bettter 3-Day Functional Training Summit

 Athletic Training, Coaching, Motivation/Inspiration, Physical Therapy, Recovery, Strength and Conditioning  No Responses »
Aug 052009
 

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.

Training Camp

 Coaching, Motivation/Inspiration  No Responses »
Jul 242009
 

Just read a great book called Training Camp by Jon Gordon.

It is a great inspirational, motivational book about a football player trying to make it as an un-drafted free agent during training camp.  I am recommending it to the guys who are in town this summer and to all the young players I work with at camps and clinics.  It even has a character in the book who is a strength and conditioning coach from Boston with a thick accent! Check it out.

Books That I'm Reading

 Coaching, Motivation/Inspiration  No Responses »
Jun 112009
 

I always enjoy reading other peoples blogs when they post what they’re reading or the list their “top 5” books in a certain field.  For me, I am always reading several books at a time.  Their really isn’t a time when I am not currently reading at least one book.  Here are the books I am currently reading.  

How to Be Like Coach Wooden by Pat Williams.  I really enjoy any book about coach Wooden.  He is definitely someone who I aspire to be like.  

Blink by Malcom Gladwell.  I really enjoyed Gladwell’s other books such as The Tipping Point and Outliers.  This one is pretty good so far as well.

Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin.  Good book showing how people who work and practice really hard at specific things within their field can excel without being really talented.  

Peaks and Valleys by Spencer Johnson, M.D.  A great story about the ups and downs and how we can have more peaks than valleys.  Johnson is also the author of Who Moved My Cheese.  Both of these books bring their message through easy to read stories.  

Little Teal Book of Trust by Jeffrey Gitomer.  I’ve also read Gitomer’s book, Little Gold Book of Yes Attitude.  I really like Gitomer’s books.  I find them to be very inspirational and help facilitate a positive attitude.

Great Weekend

 Athletic Training, Coaching, Hockey, Physical Therapy, Recovery, Strength and Conditioning  No Responses »
Jun 082009
 

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.

5 Coaching Cues

 Coaching, Strength and Conditioning  No Responses »
Apr 162009
 

I’ve been asked by a well-known fitness professional couple to come up with 5 coaching cues that I use when training my athletes.  They are going to collect coaching cues from several strength and conditioning coaches and personal trainers and come up with a small handbook.  I think this is a great idea.  We can always learn something from other people and use with our athletes. 

Although these are definitely not earth-shattering coaching cues, these are definitely some phrases that I use on a daily basis. 

1-      “Chest Up”- I find myself saying this more with athletes who are first getting started, especially with squats.

2-      “Touch Your Chest”- This is the #1 coaching cue on the bench press, especially with heavier load on the bar. 

3-      “Sit back, keep your weight on your heels”- Another coaching cue that I use with squats.   

4-      “Arch your back”- This is one that I use with exercises such as dumb bell rows.  (Actually it coincides with #1.)I am looking for more of a flat-back posture rather than arched.  However, when I do tell people with a rounded back doing rows to arch they’re back, then the result is a flat back. 

5-      “Keep the bar close to your body”- This one that I use with our Olympic lift variations such as dumb bell snatches, hang snatches, and hang cleans.

There are 5 coaching cues that I use.  I remember learning to keep coaching cues to a minimum amount of words, but get the point across. 

 

 

 

The Boston Sports Medicine and Performance Group

 Athletic Training, Coaching, Physical Therapy, Strength and Conditioning  No Responses »
Apr 132009
 

header

 

 

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.

10th Annual Cougar Strength Clinic

 Coaching, Hockey, Strength and Conditioning  No Responses »
Apr 082009
 

newcougarstrengthwhiteback

I will be speaking at the 10th Annual Cougar Strength Clinic at the College of the Canyons on May 16th, 2009 in Valencia, CA.  My topic will be Off-Season Training for Hockey.  Robert Dos Remedios is the clinic host and was kind enough to ask me to be a part of it.  I am really honored to be participating along side some really quality professionals in Chad Waterbury, Greg Vandermade, Valerie Waters, and Ken Vick.

Conditioned to lose: Weight room inconsistencies at fault for injuries

 Coaching, Strength and Conditioning  No Responses »
Mar 192009
 

Good piece written by Ross Tucker at SI.com.  As most NFL teams open up their important off-season strength and conditioning programs,  Tucker talks about how the strength coach’s job is all about injury prevention.  jackdelrioHe does make some good points as all current NFL players are almost certainly strong enough.  More attention must be given to helping the players feel better and “healthy” during the season.  With the functional movement screen and other protocols being used along with corrective exercises, I think that there will be a shift towards more corrective programs being done in the NFL.

Congratulations to Dan Bylsma

 Coaching, Hockey  No Responses »
Feb 182009
 

Congratulations to a former play who I had the opportunity to work with and who is now the Head Coach for the Pittsburgh Penguinsimages-23.  I got to work with Danny for 2 seasons as a player and 1 season as an assistant coach in the minor’s.  I always had a hunch that he would get into coaching when he was done playing.  He has quickly climbed the ladder in the ultra-competitive coaching profession.  He was a guy who played with passion and had an unbelievable amount of enthusiasm for the game.  If he can continue to bring that positive energy everyday, the Penguins will certainly succeed.

 Older Entries  Newer Entries