Thursday, 25 August 2016 / Published in All, Strength and Conditioning
The sport of Figure Skating is very demanding all-around – from the sport’s culture which requires early specialization to the significant physical & mental demands on the skater. The frequency and duration of practice puts figure skaters at risk for repetitive injuries. Plus skates that aren’t the best at absorbing force during takeoff and landing,
Monday, 30 May 2016 / Published in All, Fitness, Strength and Conditioning
I am a big fan of the saying, “less is more.” Sometimes, the problem with most people is they spend too much time on their warm-up. Sure, there are times where we need to take a little longer because we aren’t feeling 100%. However, putting too much emphasis on your warm-up can take away from
Monday, 25 April 2016 / Published in All, Strength and Conditioning
  Seeing videos of people do advance plyometric movements and then implementing it into your training regimen right away without any thought can be counter-productive. Before trying out really advance plyometric exercises, you must understand the basic concept of true plyometrics.
Thursday, 21 April 2016 / Published in All, Fitness, Strength and Conditioning
We’ve all seen Youtube videos where athletes showcase how fast they can do a ROUTINE cone drill, or how quickly they can shuffle their feet during a ladder drill (more on this in another blog post). Not to bash those drills because they can be great at improving change of direction speed, footwork, coordination, etc. but
Monday, 18 April 2016 / Published in All, Strength and Conditioning
  In the beginning, some female athletes/clients (especially if they have little experience with training) I worked with get a little bit hesitant when we walk over to the squat rack. The first question that comes to their mind is “Would I get really big and muscular if I lift weights?” My response sometimes (depending
Tuesday, 22 March 2016 / Published in All, Motivation, Strength and Conditioning
  A major problem that I encounter as a coach is parents specializing their kids too early in one sport. Dealing with young hockey athletes, sometimes I see parents put their kids in hockey organizations that focus on having young athletes play hockey several times a week year-round while putting them through EXTRA on and
Friday, 18 March 2016 / Published in All, Strength and Conditioning
  Most of the time, the success of your training/practice sessions depends on how well you do your warm-ups. I often see athletes rush through the warm-up or just “go through the motion” without awareness. There are days where the athlete’s going to feel tired and unmotivated to train, which is why a successful warm-up
Wednesday, 01 April 2015 / Published in All, Motivation, Strength and Conditioning
Many people stay away from the pull-up simply because they’re hard. However, the key is to start with progressions that gradually strengthens the muscles activating during the movement. The pull-up is one of the best exercise to develop upper body strength. Having a strong pulling strength is can be crucial for improving performance. It can
Tuesday, 20 January 2015 / Published in All, Olympic Weightlifting, Strength and Conditioning
What is a weightlifting complex? It is when a series of weightlifting movements are done one after the other without rest for an “x” amount of repetitions. For example, a snatch complex may include a snatch deadlift, followed by a snatch pull, followed by a hang snatch, and an overhead squat. There are many variations
Friday, 24 October 2014 / Published in All, Olympic Weightlifting, Strength and Conditioning
In this two-part series, I’m going to go back to basics and try my best to SIMPLIFY both the snatch and the clean and jerk so that you can get a general idea on how to perform the lifts. When learning the Olympic lifts it is important to understand what they are. The snatch is