With the Superbowl coming up, I thought that I would be able to find some good articles on the web about the Cardinals and Steelers strength and conditioning programs.  Here is a good one that I found on Strength and Conditioning Coach John Lott.  John is the coach who conducts the bench press testing annually at the NFL scouting combine.  It is not uncommon to see footage on him helping a young kid squeeze out a couple of more reps.  This article talks about how when he was hired in Arizona, he revamped the weight room and his work has become “another building block for their success this year.”  Only 4 players are on injured reserve while all 53 roster players are available to play.

This weekend, I attended the annual Perform Better 1-Day Seminar at the LA Convention Center.  Chris Poirier and his staff at Perform Better do an excellent job and continue to lead the way in providing continuing education opportunities.  I always try to attend the 1-day’s when they are here in January as well as attending the Functional Training Summit’s every summer.  I always learn something new from these and try to apply something with my athletes when I get back to the weight room. Unfortunately, I missed Todd Durkin’s Going For Greatness presentation.  I have seen Todd speak before and was very inspired and motivated by his positive energy and enthusiasm.  His hands-on later in the day was killer. Next up was Alywn Cosgrove who is an awesome speaker.  His presentation was The Evolution of of Personal Training.  Alwyn tells it how it is every time he speaks.  He touched on all the issues that today’s personal trainer faces and how to make the best of them and take advantage of them.  His presentations are always funny and entertaining. Gray Cook was up next with his Understanding Primitive Patterns topic.  I always learn something new when Gray speaks.  I am a huge fan of the the functional movement screen and am always looking for ways to help my guys correct any movement impairments.  Gray talked about how patterns that we learned as a child should be re-enforced as most people lose them over time.  His hands on was great as well as he went over how to incorporate corrective strategies for the rotary stability screen. During his hands-on, Dr. Mark Cheng broke down the turkish get-up into a 7 step process.  I’ve learned that this exercise can be another evaluation tool in itself.  I could definitely see how this exercise and other Kettlebell exercises can make corrections by increasing stability in some areas while increasing mobility in others.   Michael Boyle was up next with Training Modifications for Obesity and Low Back Pain.  Mike talked about the challenges that are faced when training an obese client.  Since Mike is known for his work with athletes, Mike had to make some adjustments from the usual way he trains people.  It really made me think.  His concepts on low back pain always are always a reminder to think lumbar stability and hip mobility.  Really key concepts in preventing low-back problems. Again, these seminars are great and really give you an opportunity to interact with everyone including the speakers and other attendees.  In the audience, I got to talk to some of the best in the industry including my friends Dave Constant and Jack Baurhle of Speed Training Centers in Anaheim, and Rachel Cosgrove.  I also got to meet and talk with Chad Moreau, who is the strength and conditioning consultant to the Edmonton Oilers. I am already looking forward to the Summit this summer.