Tag: off-season training

Guarantee Your Success

Several years ago I came across a recommendation to read Million Dollar Habits by Brian Tracy. Brian is a self-made multi-millionaire. He also never went to college.

One of the fundamental habits of his success was goal setting.
Setting long-term goals, then breaking them down into smaller chunks.

As an example, you might say I want to lose 30 pounds by August, 2010. 30 pounds in 52 weeks is about 2.5 pounds a month, a little over ½ pound a week.

Not only does goal setting help hold you accountable, but it also makes big goals seem more attainable.

Losing 30 pounds sounds awful. Losing ½ pound doesn’t seem so bad.

It’s amazing how simple this is, and how few people do it.

It’s amazing how many people say “I don’t need to do that.”

Maybe some people can get away with not writing out their goals, but why risk it.

The most successful people in EVERY industry have clearly written out goals.

If you’re not reaching your goals try writing them down.

Write them every morning.

You’ll be amazed at how much this helps.

-Kevin Neeld

Please enter your first name and email below to sign up for my FREE Athletic Development and Hockey Training Newsletter!

A Valuable Coaching Lesson Part 2

The other day I mentioned that coaches should lead by example. I wrote a short paragraph about what this means in my Off-Ice Performance Training Course that I wanted to share with you:

“A word of advice for coaches: It would be best to not prescribe any exercise that you can’t do yourself. Ideally, you should be in great shape. Athletic coaches should live what they preach and look the part. However, if you work in a profession that demands 20 hour work days and you use one of your remaining 4 hours to coach a hockey team, you should AT LEAST practice a few of the exercises until you feel comfortable demonstrating them. Practice in the office if you have to. Not only will this keep you awake, but it will make a sometimes mundane office day a bit more exciting! You may want to consider going through the off-ice practices with your athletes. Leading by example will be a great way to earn and maintain their respect.”

-Kevin Neeld

Please enter your first name and email below to sign up for my FREE Athletic Development and Hockey Training Newsletter!

1-Leg Squat vs. 1-Leg Deadlift Continued

Watch the 1-leg squat and 1-leg deadlift videos that I posted the other day. Can you see the slight difference in the movement pattern?

The 1-leg versions of these exercises are similar to the 2-leg versions.

The 1-leg squat with the leg in front is similar to a front squat.

The 1-leg squat with the leg in back is similar to a back squat.

The 1-leg deadlift is similar to a deadlift.

The back squat will load the hamstrings a little more than the front squat. The deadlift will load the hamstrings a little more than a back squat. If you watch the hips and torso you’ll see that they’re tilted forward more in the deadlift than the squat.

More hip movement and less knee movement means more force production from the hamstrings and less from the quads.

I use both, but at least initially try to write more hamstring/hip-dominant work than quad-dominant work into my athlete’s programs to counteract glute/hamstring weakness and excessive use of stupid exercises like the seated leg extension and leg press that most young kids do.

1-Leg Squat and the 1-Leg Deadlift. Similar looking. Different in muscular emphasis. Both effective. Both necessary.

-Kevin Neeld

Please enter your first name and email below to sign up for my FREE Athletic Development and Hockey Training Newsletter!

The Difference Between a 1-Leg Squat and 1-Leg Deadlift

After talking to Nick Tumminello, I changed the way I do 1-leg squats. I used to do them with the “up leg” out in front. Some people call this a pistol squat (I hate that name). Now I do them with the up leg behind the body.

I made the switch from the “up leg in front” to “up leg in back” in the middle of this summer. In my afternoon hockey training group at Endeavor, I wrote a 1-leg squat and 1-leg deadlift into the same training session.

Switching to the “up leg in back” version of the 1-leg squat prompted a lot of my athletes to ask what the difference was between them. This really got me thinking. Watch these videos and see if you can pick up on the differences between these two. It’s pretty subtle.

1-Leg Squat

[quicktime]http://www.kevinneeld.com/videos/1-Leg%20DB%20Squat%20Pattern.mov[/quicktime]

1-Leg Deadlift

[quicktime]http://www.kevinneeld.com/videos/1-Leg%20DB%20Deadlift%20Pattern.mov[/quicktime]

-Kevin Neeld

Please enter your first name and email below to sign up for my FREE Athletic Development and Hockey Training Newsletter!

A Valuable Coaching Lesson

This Summer I’ve been fortunate to work with a group of highly motivated hockey players pursuing various levels of professional hockey.

Last week one of my guys said something that stuck with me. Something that I wrote about in my Off-Ice Performance Training Course.

He said something that went like:

“I hate Wednesdays. This day is BRUTAL. I can’t even complain to you though because I know you’re doing it all too.”

So what’s the big message here?

I put that group through tough training sessions. Need a partner to push you through it, tough. Need to take a look inside yourself and see if you’re mentally strong enough, tough. Tough.

And I know how tough they are because I do every single training session, exactly as written. My athletes know that. They respect that.

Coaches that preach, but don’t do (or haven’t done, in the case of some of the older coaches) rarely have the respect of their players.

Think about it-Would you want to be bossed around by some lazy loud mouth with a whistle?

I’m not saying every coach needs to follow the same training program as their athletes, but every coach should be setting a good example.

Athletic development coaches should stay fit.

Youth sport coaches should maintain and seek to improve their skill levels in that sport.

And last, but not least, nutritionists should not be fat (I’ll save that rant for another day).

Train your athletes hard. Train yourself harder.

-Kevin Neeld

Please enter your first name and email below to sign up for my FREE Athletic Development and Hockey Training Newsletter!