Tag: Mike Boyle

Hockey Strength and Conditioning 2010 Finale

This is it…the final HockeyStrengthandConditioning.com update for 2010. Things have been pretty slow for the last couple weeks as we all try to dial back the workload to relax and enjoy the holidays with our family. Hopefully you’ve had an opportunity to do the same.

Mike Boyle posted the first phase of a 4 day per week off-season training program without Olympic lifts. As I’ve mentioned in the past, I think looking at another coach’s program provides incredible insight into their training philosophies. This was especially interesting because Coach Boyle is a big proponent of Olympic lifts. Although, as any good coach does, he clearly recognizes that no lift is perfect for every athlete and that certain circumstances warrant making program adjustments. Check out his program at the link below:

Click Here >> 4-Day Summer Phase 1 without Olympic Lifts from Mike Boyle

There are also a few great forum discussions you should check out. Look for these three specifically:

Coconut Water (interesting discussion on a potentially more effective and “natural” replacement for sports drinks)
1-Leg Squat (discussion on single leg training progressions)
Female ‘Tendies (how to balance performance enhancement and injury prevention in goalies, with a special focus on female players)

Click the link below for more information about Hockey Strength and Conditioning!

Also, I just wanted to send you a final reminder that today is THE LAST DAY to save 25% on all Generation UCAN products. Go to the link below to take advantage of this one-time offer before it’s gone!

>> Generation UCAN <<

To your continued success,

Kevin Neeld

P.S. Remember, it’s only $1 to try HockeyStrengthandConditioning.com for the first week. You will never find more hockey training content anywhere for $1…trust me (I’ve looked!).

P.S.S. I have an important announcement for you tomorrow. Whenever you roll out of bed, come check it out!

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Training Wisdom

I really enjoyed Michael Boyle’s article on Monday. In case you missed it, check it out here: Becoming the Best and then come back and finish reading this post.

Today’s culture seems to be very much driven by instant satisfaction. This certainly isn’t a bad thing. The advances in technology over the last decade have been exceptional, and lead to profound improvements in our ability to share information. As a result, we have more information at our fingertips than ever before. Louis CK explains…

“How quickly the world owes him something, he knew existed only 10 seconds ago.”

In many ways, this incredible information revolution has also made us very lazy. I don’t mean lazy in the obesity “epidemic” way; I mean that it’s lead some to expect success equally as quickly. Having worked in a teaching setting recently, interacting with interns and young athletes, and emailing back and forth with young aspiring strength and conditioning professionals, this “I want to be the best right now” idea is everywhere. While I whole-heartedly appreciate the enthusiasm, I feel they may be missing the big picture.

This is why I thought Mike Boyle’s article was so insightful. He reinforces that being the best, in anything, takes time, work, and a ton of practice. On a personal note, Eric Cressey has been a great mentor for me. He established himself as a authority in strength and conditioning at a very young age and quickly opened his own training facility, which was something I also wanted to do at the time. On the surface, he appeared to be an “instant success”.

When I met him, Eric was far from an “instant success”. He, even now, reads and studies more than anyone else I know, and is constantly putting what he learns into practice. He finds a way to squeeze 25 hours of progress into every 24 hour day and never slows. Frankly, I’m not convinced that he sleeps every night. Instant success? Pretty far from it.

Undoubtedly, young professionals can expedite their path to success by exposing themselves to and retaining as much QUALITY information as possible. This can come in the form of books, articles, dvds, seminars, talking with colleagues and other professionals, and observation hours. This will begin to provide the foundational knowledge necessary to be successful.

The part you can’t “expedite” is developing the wisdom to know when to use this knowledge. This is only developed through thousands of hours of coaching and controlled “experiments”. As a few examples:

High intensity interval training is hands down the most efficient way to burn fat, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best for everyone. Some people simply aren’t in good enough shape to train at sufficiently high intensity and/or aren’t mentally tough enough to sustain a program built around interval training. The best program in the world isn’t so good if a person can’t sustain it!
Knees collapsing in during squatting, jump landing, or lunging movements is typically the result of a lack of femoral internal rotation control. It can also result from an overpronated foot, which can be related to bone structure or some sort of muscular restriction (e.g. a tight soleus). It’s possible to identify which is the major factor by watching athletes move (and by performing a few simple assessments), but it takes time and practice. Nothing in training is as simple as “If this happens then you need to do this.”
Coaching is more of an art than a science. Experience teaches which athletes need to be “pushed aggressively” and which need to be “encouraged politely”.
There are very few inherently bad exercises and equally few absolutely essential exercises. In most cases, the right exercises need to be applied to the right person at the right times. After all, exercises are only stressors. There is undoubtedly multiple exercises that will serve a similar function, or create a similar stress to the body.

Ultimately, experience develops the wisdom to put information into the appropriate context, to realize that the “perfect program” will be different depending on the coach, the environment, and the athletes. The same can be said for athletic excellent. Many times it will come down to hundreds of hours of QUALITY preparation time (training, practicing skills, studying the game at your level and the next, etc.).

To wrap up, one of the best ways to “become successful” in any field is to find a couple people that have accomplished what you want to, and then develop the same habits they did.

To your success,

Kevin Neeld

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Becoming the Best

Last week I read a great article from Mike Boyle that I wanted to share with you. While the article is largely oriented to how he became one of the best coaches in strength and conditioning, the theme of this article could be applied to any endeavor (e.g. becoming a great strength coach, becoming a great hockey player, becoming a great employee/manager/boss, etc.)

Check it out:

“It must be New Years resolutions and goal setting time because recently I have received more than a few Facebook messages asking how I got started. Rather than half-ass a quick post I thought I would take a moment to tell a story that might inspire a few of you. I have been lifting weights since around 1973 or 74. Like many my age I started with the York 110 pound set with the wall chart in the basement. My father was a teacher-coach and Hall of Fame football player in college and I was going to be just like him.

To cut to the chase my football career was ended by two serious problems that afflict far too many athletes. Lack of size and lack of talent were two things I just couldn’t overcome. What I did learn was that I had some fast twitch muscle fiber and liked lifting. Lifting kept me sane after giving up football and I pursued athletic training in college. In true Outliers fashion I was lucky enough to have a dorm director named Mike Woicek my first two years of college Mike, for those who don’t know, is the current New England Patriots strength and conditioning coach and the man with the most Super Bowl rings in the history of the NFL. What luck. Another guy at Springfield College at that time was Rusty Jones, current Chicago Bears strength and conditioning coach. Very early on I had great mentors and role models.

I left Springfield College after five years with a Masters degree and took a job at Boston University as an assistant athletic trainer. In the back of my mind, I knew I wanted to be a strength coach. It was 1982 and I was about 185 lbs, soaking wet. I didn’t look like a strength coach and still don’t. After six months of athletic training I took the plunge. I quit my full time, paid job as an athletic trainer and became the volunteer strength coach. I gave up a salary and benefits for a volunteer job and started my journey. Very few schools even had full-time strength and conditioning coaches at the time. I tended bar 4-5 nights a week to pay the bills and threw myself into the job.

I was a former football player and a competitive powerlifter but I became a “hockey expert” at the urging of the hockey coaches at BU. For those unfamiliar BU is to college hockey what Notre Dame or USC is to college football. I figured hockey out and also figured out that there was no one training professional hockey players in Boston. I had found my niche. I met a hockey agent and talked him into sending me a few minor league clients. I told him no NHL guys. I needed desperate guys that would listen to a “football guy” tell them how to make it to the NHL. I also started training some high school hockey players because, in truth, I needed the money. That may have been the smartest thing I ever did.

To make a long story shorter, some of my new minor league clients did make the NHL and the Boston Bruins offered me a part time job as their strength and conditioning coach. With a little money from BU and some from the Bruins, I gave up the bar business and was now a full time strength and conditioning coach with two jobs. I worked from 8:30 AM to 11:30 AM with the Bruins and then drove to BU and opened up the weight room at 12. I coached every day at BU from 12-7 with some 6 AM football stuff thrown in during the winter before Bruins practice. I would then either go to a BU game or go back to the old Boston Garden at 7 PM and train the injured players or those who didn’t dress. After the game I would try to coerce a few players to work out. I’d get home about 11 PM. Not a bad day for an eight month season.

At the roughly the same time I began my speaking career by accepting the invitation to speak at everything but the opening of an envelope. Most of my “speaking engagements” were to middle school hockey players in groups of 10-12. Obviously an audience that foreshadowed things to come. Chris Poirier and Perform Better gave me a break when they began their Perform Better clinics. I was one of the first speakers and like any good job, I never left.

I did this for 10 seasons and at the same time found time to leave my full time job at BU and open Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning. We were one of the first for-profit centers opened in the country. As Alwyn and Jason so aptly described in their article The Business, I was rapidly becoming an overnight success one twelve hour day at a time.

The rest is simple. I just kept doing what I was doing. I worked in my business. I put in my 10,000 hours. I coached athletes and I coached coaches. I think the big key is that I took chances and was willing to work long hours. It was not easy. Except for my brief athletic training job at BU ( six months) I did not have a full time job with health insurance until I was thirty years old. I read this quote in a book the other day.

“Most people give up right before the big break comes”

Don’t let that person be you. Keep moving forward. Remember, the big break might be around the corner.”

To your success,

Kevin Neeld

P.S. Mike Boyle’s best project ever? http://tiny.cc/fkr0h

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Hockey Development Present Ideas

I remember the anxious anticipation I used to feel leading up to Christmas when I was younger. The holidays have come to take on a different meaning as I’ve gotten older, but then, it was all about getting new hockey stuff. Whether it was new gloves, new pants, a new jersey, or new rollerblades, I almost always strictly wanted something that would help make me a better player or replace old gear that I had bought myself. Somewhere I have a picture of me as a little porker, fully clothed, wearing my new hockey pants and flexing (a hockey strength and conditioning coach in the making); if I can dig it up I’ll throw it up on here.

Santa’s shooting technique is eerily resemblant of Mark Messier’s

One of the things I love so much about the hockey community is how passionate everyone involved is. I’ve found that, as much or more than any other sport, hockey players, parents, and coaches are always looking for ways to get better. This, in combination with the rapid growth of the sport over the last decade, has done wonders in improving the quality of the game at all levels.

With the Holiday Season upon us, you may be in a rush to finish up your shopping for the hockey enthusiasts in your life. With that in mind, here are a couple recommendations:

For the Players:

Because my focus has been primarily on the training side of things over the last few years, I don’t talk very much about skill development. Many are surprised to know that this is actually where a lot of my background originated-running on-ice power skating and puckhandling clinics. One of the most overlooked aspects of hockey training is how much improvement a player can make in his/her hands from spending some time handling a puck or ball and taking a few hundred QUALITY shots everyday. The key is to find the right equipment to do so. I’ve been really impressed with what HockeyShot has to offer. Go to the link below and check out the “Top 12 Must-Haves” under the Hot Gifts tab on the left. A good net and shooting board allow you to bring the feel of a rink anywhere you want. I also recommend picking up one of the stickhandling balls in the Stocking Stuffers section.

Click Here >> HockeyShot: Your #1 Source for Hockey Training Aids!

The thing that most consistently limits a player’s performance is how they fuel themselves. From talking to hundreds of players over the last several years, hockey players aren’t able to consistently identify any “good” foods except for chicken. Essentially, the idea of pre-, during-, and post-training/competition meals are completely lost on them. Generation UCAN has a simple, and extremely effective solution to this problem. Their SuperStarch drinks are perfect for pre- and during- training, practices, and games, and their SuperStarch/Protein drinks are prefer for afterward. I highly recommend picking up a case of each. They have a special deal right now offering 25% off all their products, but only through the link below.

Click Here >> Generation UCAN Sports Drinks

For Parents and Coaches

There are countless products out there that may appeal to you, many of which I’ve talked about in the past. Having said that, I still think the #1 thing every parent and coach should do is watch Mike Boyle’s presentation from USA Hockey’s ADM conference. It won’t cost you a dime, and will have a profound impact on what you do with your sons/daughters/players. The general feedback I’ve gotten from parents that have watched it so far is “I can’t believe how wrong of an approach I’ve taken.” This presentation address things ranging from whether or not players need to play in “prospect camps” (which many parents push their kids to play in for fear of not getting “noticed”) to what players should be doing from a training standpoint to give themselves the best chance of success (not what most coaches have their youth teams doing). You can watch the entire presentation for free here:

>> The Truth About Developing Elite Level Hockey Players <<

Strength Coaches, Trainers, and Sports Medicine Professionals

One thing I’ve noticed over the last year is that it’s easy to get busy and let continuing education stuff slip under the radar. Many strength and conditioning coaches work in excess of 10 hour days on a regular basis. In an effort to keep up with current trends in hockey training, it’s important that continuing education isn’t ignored. In an effort to maintain some semblance of a social life, it’s important that you only look to the best resources for this information. In this regard, HockeyStrengthandConditioning.com is the top resource for hockey training information on the internet. The diversity of the contributors allows for great information on new exercises and training progressions, injury prevention and rehabilitation techniques, coaching cues, nutrition and supplementation, and more. Even better, the contributors aren’t “internet gurus”; they all have real-world experience developing hockey players (many at the NCAA D1, Major Junior, Olympic, and Professional Levels)! A year-membership makes a perfect gift!

Click Here >> Hockey Strength and Conditioning

As an added bonus (and incentive), if you sign up for a 1-year membership by tonight at midnight (12/15), I’ll throw in my Ultimate Hockey Development Coaching Program as a free gift. You can listen to the 14 Coaching Calls with some of the hockey development industry’s top experts on your drive in and out of work or while you shovel! Just send me an email after you’ve registered with your name and login id and I’ll shoot you over a download link after I confirm.

That’s a wrap for today. If you have any questions about the things I’ve mentioned here, feel free to post a comment below and I’ll get back to you.

To your success,

Kevin Neeld

P.S. Forward this along to your friends, family, teammates, and coaches…and hurry, shopping time is running out!

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This Week at Hockey Strength and Conditioning

I have some exciting news for you. Earlier this week I had an opportunity to make a trip up to Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning. While there, I got to talk to both Coach Boyle and Kevin Larrabee (the co-brains behind BodyByBoyleOnline). If you haven’t already registered, NOW is the time to check it out. Coach Boyle recently filmed his three most valuable lectures and is offering them on DVDs. If you’re a BodyByBoyleOnline member, you get them for FREE! The three lectures are:

ACL Reduction was filmed at the MBSC Winter Seminar in 2010 and looks at ACL prevention from a training standpoint. This is about a 50 minute lecture that outlines a multi-step program of training to prevent ACL injury. Coach Boyle states that this is better than any of the ACL prevention programs he’s seen marketed commercially.

Training the Overweight Client documents the steps Coach Boyle took to help a client lose over 100 lbs. in three months. This is a real common sense lecture that looks at the real problems with obese clients. Don’t expect any watered down “go for a walk” stuff or any Biggest Loser stupidity from this one. Boyle actually gave this lecture in 2008 and 2009 on the Perform Better tour.

Hips and Hernias will appeal to the athletic training and physical therapy crowd. This lecture is the same one Coach Boyle gave to the NHL Strength and Conditioning Coaches in 2010 as well as at a few sports medicine seminars. Hips and hernias looks at the near epidemic of sports hernia and hip surgery in sport and how to prevent it.

Each of these retails for just under $40 ($39.95 through Perform Better). You could get all three for $120 (a lot of money, but not a bad deal at all). When I was at MBSC I grabbed Kevin Larrabee for a bit and talked to him about the site. He mentioned that they sold out the first 500 spots that were reserved at a special discount price, but were extending the offer for another 150 spots. What I didn’t realize, and what Kevin informed me about, is that this will lock in that price for you forever. In other words, when the price of the site inevitably goes up, you won’t have to pay more if you get in at the intro price ($59.97).

If you’re half as thrifty as I am, you’ll recognize that you can get access to $120 worth of DVDs for only $60. That, in my mind, easily justifies the price of admission. If you aren’t already a member, check it out now by clicking the image below.

On to this week at Hockey Strength and Conditioning. Check out what you missed!

Article: Rules for Training a Hockey Team from Jaime Rodriguez
As you know by now, I’m somewhat of a science nerd. To that end, I really enjoy learning new exercises to capitalize on new information regarding functional anatomy and biomechanics. What can get los in this approach is the art of coaching. In reality, it doesn’t matter how smart you are if you don’t know how to coach your athletes to do what you want. Jaime’s article is excellent in that it outlines several different ways to improve your coaching strategies. I’m hoping Jaime continues to contribute this type of stuff to the site. It’s a great addition.

Article: Powerful Influence of Posture from me
This article approaches hockey training from a more scientific and less “artistic” standpoint. I wrote this article as a means of presenting several of the topics I learned from the Postural Restoration Institute and how they can be applied to hockey players. I may be biased, but I think this is one of the most interesting articles that I’ve contributed. Go to the site and check it out!

Click the link below for more information about Hockey Strength and Conditioning!

To your continued success,

Kevin Neeld

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