The Pit Falls of Tradition in Sport-Part 2 (Speed Kills?)

To touch on my previous post, tradition is a fundamental concept that should be embraced at arm’s length.  We must have the ability to understand where traditions come from, what time period and how if at all, can it benefit what we are doing today.  From a sport performance standpoint, I am going to touch on the tradition of strength and conditioning coaches drawing much of their athlete training from track and field. 

We can all understand the value of cross training for our multi-energy system sports and how we would draw on sports like weight lifting, track and field and power lifting to increase performance.  As an example;   these athletes are amongst the strongest and fastest athletes in the world, so if it works for them, it must work for us right?  My concern lies in how much time and effort should be spent on utilizing different methods to build better athletes vs. better sprinters or weight lifters and in what combination we use these.  For the sake of this article, we will start with some of the issues I see with Track work.  Do not get me wrong, I utilize many of the strategies from all of these disciplines in my athlete training.  The goal here is to question if and how much is of use vs. how much we use based on the fact that we have always done so.  To be clear, by using track and field methods I mean encouraging your athletes to wear spikes and training them as if they are prepping for top speeds as a competition on a regular basis or utilizing the majority of your on-field or court time working on sprint work.

·         Track and field athletes are judged on time or a measurement of distance.  At the elite level how do these athletes get better in their sport?  Think about it for a minute….THEY MAKE GAINS IN THE WEIGHT ROOM!  They’re not shaving tenths of a second off their times because they are just getting more technical or by miraculously sprinting faster.  

·         There are very few variables in track and field.  You may have to contend with weather or different surfaces, but for the most part everything in your training can be predicted and modified based on the needs of your INDIVIDUAL athlete.  Track and field has a very defined season and the amount of races an individual may have can be predicted well in advance.  Team sports require the collective effort of the group dynamic which does not make planning as easy.  You have to contend with injuries, different abilities/positions/body types/weather/opposing teams etc. 

·         The needs of an elite athlete in a multi-energy system require: change of elevation/direction, acceleration/deceleration in all planes of movement, contact and potential for repeat contact, needs of position (should an offensive lineman do the same speed work as a receiver?), weather variables, practice variables, distances covered in average bouts or bursts (energy system requirements).  Having said all of this, I understand the need for track workouts in terms of movement efficiency, energy system and central nervous system development, but we also have to consider why we are doing something other than the fact that track athletes are fast and powerful.  The majority of sports other than the ones listed in the opening paragraph require the athletes to be able to move efficiently in short bursts to close gaps and clear or avoid defenders.  How much are you preparing your athletes for this vs. time spent on the track?   The majority of track work that I incorporate is focused on starts and start variations with an emphasis on efficiently moving from a static or dynamic position to a powerful step(s) over a short distance (under 10 meters).  From here we look at what the dysfunction is first and if there is none, we move to longer distances as needed.

·         We have skewed the need for data as a main performance indicator.  There is definite value in knowing who your fastest athletes are.  Having said that, think about how often your athletes reach top speed in their perspective sport or position.  Is their 10 meter time more important for their sport than a 40meter?  If so, how much time do you intend on spending on the latter?  The NFL combine puts a large amount of merit into the 40yd dash which in turn has athletes training for the 40yd dash vs. working on specific skill work or other important factors of the game. 

·         The running mechanics on the field of play do not always mimic that of the track athlete.  Some sports require a tremendous amount of contact and/or the use of a stick, racquet or ball.  It’s understandable in sports that only one person has contact with the ball at any given time, but what are those surrounding them doing?  We must also take a look at the stride length of someone that is sprinting on a track vs. a ball carrier in rugby that may have to incorporate the 5 “D’s” of Dodge ball-“dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge.”

·         Different body types for different sports and positions.  I touched on this earlier, so aside from the comment I made, think about the difference in body type from say a power forward and a point guard in basketball or a lock and a prop in rugby.  All will have completely different mechanics based on strength, power, limb length and general athleticism.  Are you modifying what you are coaching for their positional and energy system needs? 

It is not my intention to take away from what track athletes do for their sport.  As both strength and conditioning and sport coaches we must draw from other sports, take what we can use when it’s applicable as opposed to doing what everyone else is doing or we have always done.  As far as I am concerned, we are still in our infancy stage as strength and conditioning coaches for multi-energy system sports, thus the need to question everything we do and let the results speak for themselves.  Remember kids, don’t just think outside the box, question what is in it first, weed out the crap then build your own box coupled with the mistakes and successes you have learned from yourself and others.  As always, this is my opinion and I welcome all comments and criticisms. 

Yours in Strength,

Joe McCullum

 

The Pitfalls of Tradition in Sport:

 

            As both a positional/team coach and strength and conditioning coach, I have seen all ends of the spectrum as to where tradition both helps and hinders performance.  The majority of what we do on a daily basis is deeply rooted in tradition ranging from sport, politics, religion and work.  I think we can all understand how traditions came about.  At some point in time, there was a need to develop some sort of structure to advance different aspects of society.  With this, we have developed the attitude that we should continue on with what we are doing because we have always done it this way.  See where I am going with this?  As much as I would love to talk politics and religion, I am going to focus on how tradition pertains to sport; starting with training camps. 

            One of my coaching philosophies is to embrace tradition without the fear of making change to it.  There are amazing traditions in sport that have been around for years that should be applauded: the postgame handshake, the HAKA, national anthems, honoring past players and staff, lifelong friends etc.  Having said that, I am going to touch on one that is the bane of my existence.  Lets use the entire off-season to build you up to begin to feel great, be strong, fit, agile and all the goodies that go along with what we do to break you down to feel like shit for the first game of the season.  How does this make sense?   I get it, in the past sport science did not play as big of a role as it does today, so off-seasons were more used as a vacation and very few athletes continued to train for their sport.   As far as I can see, training camps are used to bring the team together (usually pre-season), determine player positions, individual roles and depth charts, build character and learn systems.  Makes sense right?  Here is what I see for the majority of athletes I work with ranging from novice to elite athletes in regards to training camps:

·         In general, teams tend to try and pack 3-6 weeks worth of work in 1-3 weeks.  There are rules and guidelines from most governing bodies as to the amount of time you are allowed to be on-field, but that doesn’t mean much.  Quality is far more important than quantity at all levels and the ultimate goal for a training camp should be to prime athletes for the start of the season.

·         Camps are high in intensity and frequency (2-3 sessions per day) without adequate rest.  Many coaches use training camps as a way to test and increase physical and mental toughness. This is all good as long as you are noting and listening to the player’s mental and physical conditions.  A great coach knows when to push and when to pull back.  I fail to see the rationale behind beating your players to the point of potential injury because “this is what we do every year” and “this is what the program says.”   Injuries are a part of sport and so is managing them and reducing the chances, especially when you are limited in numbers and talent.  In my experience, many teams have the mentality that the strongest survive and the cream will always rise to the top.  This tends to work in countries that have professional teams that are their national sport because sheer numbers outweigh the need for practicality.

·         Testing for the sake of testing.  Many teams have a ridiculous amount of strength and conditioning tests that take away from an already limited time frame.  A major pitfall in our industry is the concern for collecting data over increasing performance and in many cases the time would be far more beneficial spent working on technique.   If you work with athletes all off-season, you should know where their strength and conditioning levels are, and use a few meaningful tests to spark competition and to chart improvements.   At the high school, club and collegiate levels (where the team may not train together in the off-season) they can also be used for accountability reasons.  Having said this, teams still run their players into the ground with a gauntlet of tests that are not always necessary.  At the professional level, you are dealing with people that are in a career and can be cut if they don’t show up in shape.  At the highest level of sport, players are an investment and as crass as it sounds, they should be thought of in that light.  You are also dealing with players that have gone through many training camps throughout their careers and may not need the same volume as a newer player or non-professional. Does it make sense to peak in multi-competition and multi-energy system sports that require you to play in 15 games or more (upwards of 80 games in hockey, basketball and baseball)?  I tend to think you may want to peak with your team when games actually account for something important, like the play-offs.

·         There should be a balance between collecting both performance and injury data and it should be used to better your system.  If performance is high and injuries are low, you are doing something right. 

If it comes off that I am anti-training camp, I apologize.  I am anti doing shit for the sake of doing shit because we have always done shit this way!  Address the needs of your team, player’s, systems and how you go about it should be evolving daily.  This takes tireless amounts of work!  We must be adaptable to the needs of our teams (within reason) and have the ability to look at what we are doing daily, learn from it and move forward.  I do believe there is a time and place to grind your players, but it takes a lot more thought than just throwing a ton of volume at them.   If you don’t believe any of my thoughts, please at least institute recovery practices on a daily basis to ensure you are preparing for the next daily grind. 

This is all observation and opinion based as are all my articles/blogs and with this, I encourage feedback so that we can learn from each other and continually better both sport and the strength and conditioning industry collectively.  I am not trying to change anyone’s thoughts on how training camps should be run, I am just hoping that people will start to look a little closer at their systems and realize that sport evolves every minute.   This is the first in a series of articles on the pit falls of tradition.  I once read a blog from some guy with 2 years experience in the strength and conditioning fields stating that blogs should only be 1 page, so sorry for going over. 

 

Yours in Strength,

Joe McCullum

 

A collection of thoughts on coaching.

                I want to open with my playing and coaching experiences to share a little of my back ground in sport.  I do not think of myself as the best coach in the world, I just want to share some of what I have learned over the years.  I grew up playing football, wrestling and rugby before moving to the States to continue with my football career.  I graduated from the University of Utah in 1999 and stayed in Salt Lake City for 2 more years where I worked as an assistant strength and conditioning coach with all 16 teams.  I started working for Level 10 Fitness in 2002 and began coaching wrestling and football at Carson Graham Secondary.  In the past 12 years I have worked with hundreds of coaches and teams as well as thousands of athletes from all disciplines.   I have worked with professional, national team(s), development, high school, paralympians and everyone else under the sun.  Coaching is my passion, whether it is an athlete or a recreational client or an active rehab patient.   There is nothing better than the feeling of helping someone reach their goal regardless of its magnitude. 

I think we can all agree that there is more to coaching than just teaching tactics, skills, technique, practice, game preparation, and team and player management.  What I have found is that there are many qualified coaches (and sometimes over qualified) on paper.  Certifications, experience and education all play an important role in one’s ability to coach, but there is more to it than just that.  The ability to talk to individuals or a group in a way that commands respect without asking for it and the ability to drive and motivate your athletes comes from something that cannot be quantified by any of the above qualifications.  If you lack personality, charisma, flare or passion; you will lack the ability to be a good coach.  Not all great coaches have all of these attributes, but all great staffs and teams do.  The mixture of theory, experience, personality and qualifications should be balanced amongst the staff to ensure the highest success rates.

I have been blessed to work under and with some amazing strength and conditioning coaches.  And with this position, I have also been fortunate to work with some outstanding head and positional coaches from all age levels and from the amateur level up to the professional level.  I have also coached sport as a head coach and as an assistant and I can honestly say I have picked the brains of all of them and have come up with some coaching points that I deem worthy to share.   As coaches, we need to learn from others successes and failures and formulate our own style while maintaining the concept that we must be able to evolve on a regular basis.   I have learned equally as important lessons from coaches that lack success and I deem the ability to learn from failures both as an athlete and coach an important attribute.

WHAT I HAVE LEARNED

The use of motivational quotes or videos:

·         They are often over utilized.  If they are used too much, any meaning that may be attached to the message becomes lost. 

·         Quite often the message can be misconstrued.  “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard” is perhaps my least favorite.  The message is great, but I hate to admit I have worked with hundreds of talented athletes that don’t work hard and are still very successful.   How do you prepare your kid that works his ass off, yet he gets no playing time because he is not a good athlete?

·         The majority of one’s motivation needs to come from intrinsic forces.  If you rely on quotes or motivational chants, you are a little too late.  Our athletes should be instructed how and when the best times for this type of stimulation is appropriate.  Minutes before kick-off is usually a case of too little too late!

·         Some athletes will connect very closely to certain quotes and ideologies.  Although this isn’t always a bad thing, it can lead to unrealistic expectations.  I am not a fan of the thought that every athlete just needs to “believe “or “dream” and your goals will be met.  Unfortunately you can’t dream yourself into a winner.  Athletes need to have a clear understanding that failure is often a great measure of your athletic prowess and mental fortitude.  At the highest level of sport, we are not training these athletes to get a participation ribbon, they are here to win.

·         They are great for sparking creativity and thought, especially in young athletes or those that may be searching for something to relate to.  There are no or very few new scenarios that are being played out that haven’t been repeated in history. 

·         I like to use them to hammer down important points and to disguise repetition.   Visual, mental and vocal points can easily be repeated and play an equally important role as the physical aspects would.

Commanding Respect

·         If you need to raise your voice to teach or coach, it means you are talking over people that are probably not listening.  There is a time and place to raise your voice, but if you are talking over people you do not have their respect.   By speaking in your regular tone to small groups or teams you can also determine who your keeners are and who your disrupters may be.  I find when working with groups of young kids, this is especially important for determining leadership.  The natural leaders will tend to quiet the rest of the group as your message is important to them.

·         You don’t have to have been an athlete at the highest level of sport to coach, but you do have to have the ability to understand what the athletes are going through at all times.  Your knowledge and ability to read when to push and when to pull back will garner more respect than trying to make up your short comings by being a hard ass.  At the elite level, I find this to be a big issue.  For the most part, the athletes are of the highest skill levels and the grinding attitude to push may lead to injury.  The problem arises when you are unable to read the athletes body language.  Most of them will do as they are told and will run through walls for you if they respect you and this can be a fault on both parties. 

·         Don’t be a cheerleader, be a leader.  There is a time to pump tires and show positive and negative emotion, but if you are doing this all the time, you will quickly set yourself up for both exhaustion and failure.  We all get emotionally tied into our athletes, but to make accurate and fair judgments; we must maintain our roles as coaches.

·         If something doesn’t look right, it probably isn’t.  If you see a negative pattern or concern (change in behavior, formation of cliques) forming, step in immediately and rectify the situation.  Team management is as important aspect as any for a coach.  The same goes for technique, specifically in the developmental ages.  The longer an athlete can get away with poor technique or skill set, the longer it takes to rectify it.  This becomes a problem more so when we coach toward an athlete’s strengths.  If an athlete is very fast and agile, we form a plan around this, if they are powerful they may get away with poor technique against weaker athletes, if they are highly technical but weak or lack power they may get injured etc. 

• Be clear and concise, if your audience doesn’t get what you are saying, you don’t know what you are talking about.  We need to have the ability to ensure that our knowledge base is high enough that our message can get through to an entire group regardless of age, ability and experience.    Quite often we coach to either the least experienced (and lose the focus of the more experienced athletes) or to the most experienced and lose the attention of the less experienced athletes.  If you frequently find yourself saying “they just don’t get it”, maybe it’s time to try another approach.
• You must have the ability to tell your athlete(s) confidently that they have to work on a particular aspect of their game if you do not think it is up to par.  Athletes will always inherently gravitate to what they are good at and if we don’t recognize it, we are missing out on their overall development.   I have found that a large amount of coaches can identify the strengths and weakness of their athletes, but they approach it in a manner where they tend to drop doing what the athlete is good at to bring up the imbalances.  Instead of dropping what someone is good at entirely and only working on where they are underdeveloped, I like to keep their strengths strong (simply reduce the volume of work in stronger areas) and spend a larger amount of time bringing up their imbalances or weaknesses.   For someone to be at an elite level, practice may not always be entertaining or fun, even though we can all attest to the fact that repeating what we do well is usually fun.  Take it out completely and you will deal with an athlete that hates training.

Learning is not “past tense”

·         It’s ever evolving.  If you are stuck in the same method day after day and year after year, you are missing the boat.  Our main principles and philosophies do not need to change with every group we work with, but how we work with them may have to. 

·         There are many ways to skin a cat, but if you use the same method every time you will lose interest of your athletes.  We all understand the importance of repetition in skill development, so attempt to disguise it so that you can get your desired results. 

·         For the most part, we are working with a “bored” generation.  They are over stimulated daily from the electronic boom and they have the answer to everything at their fingertips.  If you do not use social media, smart phones, smart boards or any of the latest video analytic software, you may be living in the past. 

·         Learning doesn’t necessarily mean just honing your skills within the sport.  Learning how to read an athlete’s mood, demeanor and learning style(s) is equally as important when trying to get the most out of your athlete.  If you have not used the VARK, I strongly recommend taking a look at it and seeing if it is something worthy of placing in your tool box.  The VARK is not the be all to end all, but it does give you the opportunity to see how you may best relate to any given athlete. (http://www.vark-learn.com/english/index.asp)

·         Practice and repetition are big keys to any successful athlete.  Playing games and competing is fun.  To quote my friend Jim Miller (former National Team Wrestling Coach) “you don’t get better at school by writing tests, so why would you get better at sport by just playing games.”  Incorporate competition into your skill and tactical work to keep the athletes enthused.

·         Your support staff of doctors, assistants, strength and conditioning coaches and therapists is keys to your success.  Quite often they notice specific trends that may be either detrimental or keys to performance.  They spend countless hours of individual time with the athletes and may pick up on some cues that you may miss when dealing with groups. 

Surround yourself with good people that everyone can relate to, not just likeminded people that don’t challenge you.

·         Have you ever noticed the age, ethnicity and experience level of any of the NFL teams and their organizations?  Do you remember when you were an athlete?  Not everyone is compatible, but it’s important to have a mixture of different people on your staff so the athletes have someone they can relate to.  Quite often younger players will draw on the connection of a recently retired from playing coach where older players may gravitate towards the wisdom of someone that’s been around the block.  We can’t fulfill all the properties of a great coach, so your weaknesses need to be filled by surrounding yourself with people to fill those needs to create the most balanced approach.

·         Like the business world, it is important that your staff is not full of “yes men” or “hero worshippers.”  If your staff does not challenge you, make you think, or have the ability to give you input you will never be able to determine any flaws in your program.  Obviously there is a fine line here, but your staff’s input is one of the determining factors between being good and great.

·         Check your ego.  It is not possible to work with others that may challenge you if you let your ego get in the way.

·         Draw on the experiences of others (not just coaches!).  There is plenty of merit into reading up on the top inventors, innovators, business people etc.   As coaches, we all have times where we may be placed in a unique setting, but chances are, so has someone else. 

Identifying Different Populations:

·         Coaching kids, young adults, young men or women, adult men or women, master’s athletes, special needs or differently abled populations are all quite different.  If you can’t adapt to the specific needs of your group, you will not be able to get the full benefit of your message.   Here are a few points that I have noticed and are worth review.

o   Most females have a pre-conceived notion as to how they should look based off of what media tells them.   From a sport perspective, body type/composition and weight should only be a concern as to how it pertains to your sport.  Quite often, these two ideals are conflicted and can cause problems (especially for development athletes).  It is our job to understand the potential complications with this identify them and react quickly. 

o   If you are a male coach, it is quite hard to relate to young women.  As much as I do not ever want to talk about this, you need to be aware of the hormonal changes that occur in these athletes.  This becomes especially difficult in weight control sports.  You must be prepared to understand why cutting weight is tougher at different parts of the month than others or why attitudes or moods may change quickly.

o   Females are usually wonderful to coach.  They are very eager to learn, take your coaching to heart and give you everything they have.  As great as this is, it can also sometimes be to a fault.  Because they are so coachable (and the same can be said for male athletes that are very coachable) they can lack creativity at times.  In sports with set moves or plays, they will run it perfectly but may neglect to see an opening that may be more advantageous.    I am not going to say that it is because they don’t have huge ego’s, but it is a big part of it. 

o   Most male athletes already know everything so your job is redundant.  Obviously that is a bit of a joke, but there is some truth behind it.  Ego and confidence are slightly intertwined, but like everything there needs to be some balance.  

o   I have noticed that social pressures are making it harder and harder to find leadership amongst our young male athletes.  In the past, we could rely on the born leaders to emerge and groom them to fit our team dynamic.  We have to be creative in finding ways to bring these leaders out of their shells and encourage them a lot more than we did in the past.

o   Elite or masters athletes (25+) - Depending on their sport, special attention needs to be given to past, present or potential industries.  If they are a high level athlete, it is safe to assume their technique and skill level is very high.  There should be a high focus on refining technique, skill work and strategy.

o   Special needs or differently abled populations-Like all athletes, they want to be treated the same.  They don’t think of their disability as such, so either should you.  Obviously in my realm of strength and conditioning it plays a different role as there are some movements that will need to be modified.  I don’t believe in holding back for any athlete and they are no different, it just may take some time to determine limitations.  If anything, it gives you an appreciation to the essence of what a true athlete is. 

o   Kids or developmental athletes need to have the best coach’s available working with them (this is when they are most pliable with the largest learning curve).  It requires a tremendous amount of energy and attention to detail to ensure we are instilling perfect technique balanced with fun.  If you grind kids, you will lose their focus quickly, there needs to be balance of technique, fun and games, discipline and an upbeat energy. 

o   For all populations, we must identify the athlete’s strengths and weaknesses.   If we leave it up to the individual, they will continue to work on what they are good at.  At the elite level, we need to keep the athletes strengths strong, and bring up their weaknesses. 

As I mentioned, I don’t profess to be the greatest coach, but these are some of the attributes I have picked up on over the years that I deem important for success.   The majority of my time is spent in the weight room or on the field, but at the end of the day, coaching is coaching.  If you have anything to add or comment on, please contact me at joe@level10fitness.com

Yours in Strength,

Joe McCullum

Director of High Performance Training

Level 10 Fitness

www.level10fitness.com

http://mandymarchak.blogspot.com/ Follow Mandy @mandymarchak on twitter

http://mandymarchak.blogspot.com/
If you are interested in following the trials and tribulations of one of our top national team rugby athletes, follow and read my friend Mandy Marchaks blog.  She is the current captain of the #1 ranked 7's teams in the world and has just moved to Vancouver Island to train as a team in a full time, semi-professional setting. 
This is a great opportunity for these athletes to work and train as a unit in hopes to continue on with their international success.  As fans, friends, family and supporters this is a great way to follow the teams success from the perspective of one of Canada's top female athletes. 
Good luck ladies and keep up the great work!  We are all very proud of you!

Speech from legendary coach-Dan Gable! Great Read!

THE INSPECTOR GENERAL OF THE

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

15TH ANNUAL HONORARY AWARDS LUNCHEON

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

DAN GABLE

September 25, 2003

TAPE TRANSCRIPION 2

Today I'm hoping to entertain you a little bit and to try to educate you a little bit about how I think and just talk some philosophy. But today I'm going to act like this room -- I know I'm not used to this big of a wrestling team because we're usually about 30-35 athletes in a room that's quite a bit smaller than this.

But today I'm going to act like this group is my team. And with that in mind, it gives me a better chance to talk from the heart, and it gives me a better chance to try to get inside your heads to be able to help you for the future as well.

I kind of looked at my career as an athlete and coach, and I never really analyzed it as it was taking place, just moving on to the next. And I'm kind of in that in my life right now but it's a different ballgame as far as what I'm trying to do.

I use the term "escape." It's a wrestling term. It's not worth a whole lot of points in wrestling, but it is an essential. And if you can't master the essentials, you will never be good in probably anything you want to be good in.

I give the credit in my career from the beginning from my mom and dad, my personal family when I was a kid, all the opportunities that they gave me and how they instructed me, whether it started at home, in the YMCA, or through some of the great coaches and teachers that I've been able to have. But I also give the credit today back to what I call a new family, my wife and children.

So basically I've had credit -- I give credit to family from the beginning and family current. It's from family to family. 3

And there's no better way of being motivated in your life than being involved and having support from the people that love you and that you love.

I look back at my career and I look at certain things within that family that made a difference. I carry this little green book around and I give speeches, or when I just want to find the answers to situations. It's a book written a long time ago. This is actually probably the third book that I've actually been through because I wear them out.

The book is called "The Heart of a Champion." It's by an Olympic champion, Bob Richards. He is also a minister. I call it my sports Bible. It's fantastic from successful sports stories to a strong faith in many avenues.

I watched Bob Richards, who was the first person ever on the Wheaties box, speak and bought one of his first books back, I believe, in 1964. And after I stepped down as the head coach of a college and went on to more of just Olympic coaching in the last few years, I went back to this book just to kind of analyze my mentality, what allowed me to go for 35 years, 10 years as an athlete and 25 years as a coach, and to be dominant in that profession.

It didn't take my long to realize, as a kid, what I was reading what affected my mentality to get to the point that's different than most. In fact, it only took me -- if you open it up to the first page in Chapter 1 to realizing what I was reading, as a kid, that helped shape my life. 4

It says, "We all want to be successful." It says, "We all want to go to the top. We all have these great aspirations and great goals." It says, "There are certain basic qualities and characteristics that you have to have." Number one, you have to have a will to win. The will to succeed.

As I analyzed great champions, I'm convinced that this is the something that makes the difference between mediocre people and great performers in a world of sport, business or defense. It depends upon whether or not you have this something deep down inside, this will to succeed. It's a will to win and a will to succeed not just a wish to do this.

He says, I know a lot of people who have what I call a wish to succeed. They'd like to go to the top. They daydream about the position they'd like to hold in life, and you find them three or four years later still talking about what they could do if they would only pay the price.

Well, it isn't this kind of thinking that takes you to the top. Wishful thinking or daydreaming is a kind of escapism that will destroy many a person's greatest aspirations.

I think it's equally important you have to have a will that can turn that dream into a reality through actions. And that's very important.

So it didn't take me very long to realize right away what was shaping my philosophy. And then I started thinking about what my goals were in my career at that particular time when I was trying to compete for state championships in the State of Iowa or for the 5

US championships when I attended Iowa State University, or for the World Championships after the Iowa State University collegiate seasons, or for the Olympic championships.

I thought about, yeah, yeah, I had these goals about wanting to do this or wanting to do that, but is that what really made the difference I my career?

I said no, the goal that I had was a daily goal that made the difference every day once or twice a day or even more. It was a fanatical goal. It was a goal that was very hard to reach. In fact, I never reached that goal.

If this was the wrestling room, and I'm in this wrestling room training today -- and again, this is a little fanatical -- I wanted to push myself so hard that I would collapse. I wanted to push myself to the point of physical and mental exhaustion.

And I always had an agreement with my coaches that said, "Coach, this is my goal. And when you see me pass out over there, just pick me up and carry me to the showers. Revive me. Get me ready for the next practice. But I need to push that hard.

Well, on a daily basis for 10 years I tried to do that. Several times I'd get very close to the point of exhaustion I thought. In fact, I'd even sometimes crawl towards the door, and it just wouldn't happen. I'd always pop up and walk out the door. Usually the last person there.

However, when I got out of the door, that's when I really realized what took place, that I didn't reach my goal for that particular day. So what it did is it got me to go back in the door, 6

go back in there and try to attempt to do that for another 10 or 15 minutes on a daily basis once or twice a day for 10 years. If you add that up, it means an unbelievable amount of extra discipline and extraordinary training that it gave me over the next.

But all this type of information that I'm giving you, this philosophy, leads to what I call performance. And performance is what everything is based on. Obviously, in this room there's a lot more than just what we're starting from the ground level and building up. That's called building performance.

In fact, in this room there's the second level is what I call repeat performance which means once you get to a certain level of excellence, you try to do it again once you feel comfortable about it.

The one thing I was able to do very well in coaching is I was able to get these people, you people if you're my team, to come back the next year and do it again and again and again.

So you need to work on that mentality that I talked about. It's important to you. Once they got there, they still feel like they need to get there again. It's rewarding. You have to work on that.

A repeat performance means you get the people better for the award winners today to come through again next year. To come through again next year, that's important.

And then to make sure it happens you get somebody else out there to join them. It's kind of like you get the mainstay to come through, which are the award winners here, and let's make somebody 7

else out there famous for next year.

There's another term called "record performance," and this record performance basically means, guess what, everybody comes through. That's difficult, and that can happen but you have to have a pretty good system. In fact, it's got to be a great system for that to happen. And you never know exactly when it happens. You just kind of get lucky, and I don't believe in luck. But with a great system, things will fall in place.

But with every great performance you have setbacks. Not very many, not very many setbacks. My career -- I went seven years in a row without a loss as an athlete, then I had a loss. It's a setback. It made me rise to greater heights quickly.

As a coach I went 10 years in a row without a loss, but then I had a loss. And that made me go on to greater heights, reform some different goals, eliminate the mistakes that was made.

But my biggest setback probably in my career had nothing to do with athletics. It happened to do with family when I was sophomore in high school. When I was sophomore in high school, I'd just won my first state championship in wrestling and my parents and myself went away for the weekend for a fishing trip. My sister, four years older, was going to join us the next day. She ran my dad's real estate office. And she didn't show up.

The bottom line there, she was raped and murdered right in our own house. The family fell apart because of it. The family was falling apart. It was crumbling right before my own eyes. But something had to be done. 8

For some reason at that particular time, I just told my parents, because I saw them crumbling, that I wanted to move -- they didn't want to move back into that house. I told them not only did I want to move back into that house, I told them I wanted to move into the bedroom where my sister had lived and had been actually murdered in. It was a giant step forward for our family, and it actually worked very well.

See, setbacks can either make you crumble or they can take you over, or you can beat them. There's no way that you can let them beat you because you've got to go on in life, otherwise you go on in the wrong direction.

There's something there also to be learned. Because I had been warned about this in a nonchalant manner walking to school one day that took her life, but I did nothing at that particular time because it was just boy talk. It was simple. I didn't think on it, but I didn't react. But it affected me to the point where I now have prevention as one of my biggest goals in my own family or in any type of life that I live.

And so because of that, I always take those warning signs and analyze them a little better to try to make certain things not happen, real simple things. My family -- I've got four daughters. Always remind them of things that are basic, like when they get behind the wheel, to buckle up. Even though they know it and they hear and they don't even want to hear it, it's important. That prevention makes a big difference.

But all this philosophy revolves around what I call a 9

standard of excellence. And you know, wrestling represents that standard of excellence. I know a lot of people have it. Russell. A lot of people don't even -- probably haven't even seen a wrestling match. But for those that have, and for those that have been involved, it's extraordinarily hard. But there's so many disciplines that you have to master, it makes you walk away a better person. Everything else in life is a little bit easier once you had to do this.

It represents a standard of excellence to the point that it's like -- in 1980 my mom was diagnosed with throat cancer, but they couldn't figure out where the origin was. And so they gave her like six months to live. It's like I took her to a higher level of expertise. And within five minutes, this guy could find the source. And he said, "I can save your mom." He gave her 15 more years of quality life just by a standard of excellence, because somebody was a little bit more ready and more scientific than the next.

You know, we've got so many things in America and across the world that we need to do yet. We need to find these cures for cancer, for HIV. And we've got so many things that we have to do right here in the war with terrorism.

America needs great people that is willing to look for that standard of excellence, and this room's full of it. And this room is full of people that can actually make a difference. I'm actually living proof by standing here right now and being here on my own two feet about that standard of excellence.

Not too many years ago, they actually probably called me 10

the bionic man when I was wrestling because I could whip everybody. But because of that and the amount of training that I went through, science has afforded me the opportunity to be as healthy as ever. I had 18 surgeries, two artificial hips. I don't know how long my knees are going to be last, but knees will probably be replaced and whatever else because that's the standard of excellence out there.

And it's important because -- you know, you think about things what makes a difference. Remember I said family to family? Well, when my mother was diagnosed with cancer in 1980, she had two grandchildren -- two daughters -- that were very young. Then she had two more from my wife. So she was able to be around four granddaughters. And you've got to remember this was the same woman that her only daughter raped and murdered. That's important. That's a standard of excellence.

But anyway, as strong as I stand up here and talk about standards of excellence, talk about fanaticism and so on and so forth, there's other things that are also real crucial too.

I'm going to end with this because this is what it's all about. I have a daughter named Molly that also competes in sports. She's a sophomore at the University of Iowa. She swims there. But she also ran track and field in high school.

As a junior she came up to her dad and said -- and I was getting ready to coach the Olympic team in 2000 for the World Trials -- and she said "Dad, can I not go to the Olympic Trials with you because I want to stay and compete in this qualifying event because I want to run in these big relays called the Drake relays." She 11

says I can run the 800 there and qualify. I've never ran this time but I have one more opportunity and would you give me that opportunity? And I said of course. But I said you better talk to your mom first about it a little bit because we're all going to the Olympic Trials. And of course, the mom said that she could do it.

I want to wind up everything. I want to make sure everything's good, and I want to listen through this cell phone by somebody in the stands while you're competing, and we can give a blow by blow of your race to your dad and so on.

So you know it's -- we worked it out. But I asked her before we left, how come you know you can knock two seconds off your time? How do you feel that? She goes, "Dad, the state champion's in the race, and I'm going to stay up with her. I'm going to stay right on her trail leg" or wherever. Her time is much faster than mine.

Well, you know, that's great. I'd never take that away from somebody. Never take those aspirations especially when they're going to do it through action.

So anyway, we're at the Olympic trials and my wife says, hey, the race is about ready to begin. And she comes over and she gets the cell phone out. And she says okay, they're off. The race is going. Wow, she's staying right up with the state champion. And she's one lap down, she's got one lap to go. She's got to be way ahead of her time because she's usually with the pack of girls. She's way ahead of them. She's up with the state champion. She's right on their heels. 12

There's about 100 yards to go, and my wife said I did a good job with the crowd because I told them we weren't going to be there and, wow, they're all behind her. They're yelling "Go Molly go. Go Molly go." I'm telling you, as a father -- I mean I've coached a lot of athletes and I got emotional, but when it's your own flesh and blood, wow, it's hard. I usually always cry the whole time she competed.

So anyway, my wife tells me, she goes "Wow, she might win this race. She's obviously going to qualify, she's four to five seconds ahead of time." Then all of a sudden my wife starts shaking the cell phone. I said oh no, battery must be dead. My wife thought that. And I had said these things are overrated, but we know they're not.

Then all of a sudden they came back on. The person on the other end choked up and couldn't talk. I saw my wife kind of turn white a little bit though. And here were the words that came out of her mouth, she says, "Molly fell." Wow, it just crushed me. One meter from the finish line she fell. She got disqualified actually. She tried to get up and she crawled over the line and got disqualified. She didn't qualify.

I looked into it. She didn't fall. She ran to exhaustion. She collapsed. She ran every ounce of energy in her body out of her body to the point of exhaustion. It bothered me. I didn't know how to handle it because her dad, he won his every wrestling match except one or two in his whole life. And all of his athletes that he trained, they won 93-94 percent of their matches. 13

I didn't know how to handle it.

So I went back to the sports Bible because I look for answers there. It didn't take me long to find the answer. And this is what it's all about. It says page 25, it says, "And another point," this may sound strange to you, it says, "do your level best no matter what." This may sound like a contradiction in terms after I what I just said. But would I surprise you if I told you that some of the greatest champions I've known are fellows and girls who never won a gold medal. They were people who, even though they didn't win, they looked up and performed to the highest within themselves. They did their best and outshadowed many of those who have one gold medals. That was my answer.

In wrestling you get your hand raised and the other person walks off and doesn't. I tell you, when you lay it on the line, those people get their hand raised. Molly got her hand raised no doubt.

And actually, my greatest contribution -- I have four daughters -- is to put four contributing daughters out into society.

Why? Because if you look at what's going on in the world, if you look at freedom, if you look Iraq, if you look at Afghanistan, if you look at all these places, how many chances have all these people had to be raised in good family support. Had they been in that family support, they'd have a different mentality.

And just think, if my four daughters go out there and then they have kids, and then those kids have kids, and if they keep 14

using the same philosophy, wow, have I been a contributor. That's fantastic. That's really my biggest contribution. And the world needs this.

So anyway, it was an honor for me to be able to come and speak. I got a chance to meet with Donald Rumsfeld last week for about an hour or so, and I really enjoyed it. And you know, when he stood up at a banquet just recently and said, "I love wrestling," he won me over. Thank you.

(Applause.)

* * * * * *

Specificity of Off-Ice Fitness Testing and Strength and Conditioning in Elite Male Hockey Players: A review and Personal Interpretation of Current Practices

Specificity of Off-Ice Fitness Testing and Strength and Conditioning in Elite Male Hockey Players: A review and Personal Interpretation of Current Practices

Carl Bergstrom

18912089

To:

Dr. Gallo and Dr. Mosher

Kinesiology 585 Coaching Science- Coaching Manual

December 20^th, 2011

University of British Columbia

           

Table of Contents

1.       Introduction…………………………………………………………………………p.3

1.1-            An overview of the demands of the sport………………………………p.3-4

1.2-            Concerns unique to its transferability from gym to ice …………………..p.5

1.3-            An overview of current spectrum of practices that are accepted

for training ………………………………………………………………..p.6-8

2.       Briefly describes the pros, cons, and concerns that I have with current practices:

 2.1- Using steady-state endurance training to build an “Aerobic Base”?..................p. 9-12

       2.2- Using Maximal Oxygen Update (VO2max) scores as predictor ice hockey      performance……………………………………………………………………………..p. 12-14

3.       “My 2 cents” and future considerations…………………………………………p. 14-16

4.       References…………………………………………………………………………….p.17-19

5.       Appendix

1.      Introduction

Ingrained within the Canadian culture is a passionate devotion for the game of ice hockey. Be it parents buying skates for their 2 year-old prodigies, possibly sacrificing their financial security, or the endless 5:30 am practices, our commitment to the sport is relentless.

Due to the “competitiveness” of sport at all levels and ages, off-season fitness testing and strength and conditioning has truly become a vital part of the game. The days of going into training camp 30 pounds overweight and out of shape with their golf clubs on their back from a summer off are as far gone as the days of helmetless players. In 1988, Montgomery observed that elite hockey players displayed a muscle fibre composition similar to untrained individuals. These players are non-existent in today’s game, as these fitness levels would likely not lead to a spot on the roster.

Despite the reality that sport training regimes have evolved, concerns and difficulties still exist in the implementation of efficient off-season strength and conditioning programs, as well as determining transferable off-ice testing measures that reflect performance in game-like situations.

       In my coaching manual, I will not attempt to “solve” the issues that currently perplex the hockey world. Rather, I hope to delve into the demands and needs of the game, while reviewing and interpreting “current practices” as they relate to recent research, in order to maximize my understanding of fitness testing and strength and conditioning implementation in the sport. I hope to accomplish this by providing a brief overview of the demands of the sport, concerns unique to its transferability from the land to ice surface, and an overview of some current strengths and conditioning practices currently accepted at the elite level.  Furthermore, I will challenge, via a research analysis, some controversial concerns in current practice within the sport. Lastly, I will review my own practices with current strength and conditioning.

1.1-            Brief overview of the demands of the sport

Ice hockey is a sport of power and grit with high speeds and collision. As I understand, grit can possibly be defined as pushing oneself to the maximum effort and determination. However, Reilly et al. (2009) stress the complexity of interpreting the demands of team sports due to the, “multidirectional high intensity movements interspersed with medium- and low-intensity episodes with and without the ball repeated over long periods in a semi-stochastic fashion” (p. 576). Further, the authors state that positional and tactile roles must be considered, as well as the type of surface in which the sport is played (Reilly et al., 2009). Hence, the bioenergetics and demands of ice hockey cannot be analyzed in such a simplistic fashion.

            What has been reasonably established is the contribution of the phosphagen (alactic) and anaerobic energy systems for the powerful nature of the sport, with the aerobic energy system contributing more so to over-extended shift lengths and for efficient recovery.

Balance, agility and core strength have been acceptable skill acquisitions for ice hockey due to the decreased friction of the skating surface, frequent change of direction and elevation and the decoupling of upper and lower body, respectively (Twist, 2007). With the nature of battling for loose pucks, high impact checking, shots ramping up to 100 MPH, and 3-4 second explosive skating strides, it is obvious that strength and power are keystones to success in the sport. As well, Jack Blatherwick (Hockey USA-Exercise physiologist) believes that rink “sense” is vital for success in this dynamic game.

Peter Twist (2007) has broken down the individual demands of the sport simplistically, yet with clarity.

Balance and Posture	Skating mechanics, low and long stride, edge control
Deceleration and Acceleration	First Step quickness, stopping ability, change of speed
Explosive Speed	Top-end speed, stride power
Multi-Directional Movement Skill	Efficiency of the tight turn, pivot, x-over, stop and start
Reactivity	Offensive creativity and defensive reactivity
Linked System Strength and Power	Strength on and off puck
Rotary Power	Shooting and pivoting power
Anaerobic Energetics	Hockey specific conditioning
Closed Kinetic Chain Core Strength	Strong on skates
Recovery / Regeneration	Flexibility, joint mobility, myo-fascial release

Figure 1-Twist conditioning core elements of the hockey training system

1.2  - Concerns unique to its transferability from gym to ice

Hockey is a unique sport in itself. Ice hockey is played on an ice surface, which has a significantly decreased frictional force relative to most surfaces. Also, players are dressed in a large amount of protective gear and carry a hockey stick, with their skate blades providing significantly decreased ground contact relative to they typical training shoes or cleats. Furthermore, the biomechanics of skating and the decoupling of upper and lower limbs (due to stick handing and shooting) differentiate its movement patterns from that of running/sprinting. Based on the examples above, it is clear that the issue of attaining transferable gains between off-ice strength and conditioning and game performance is a complicated one. Many respond by prescribing specific movement patterns, while others believe that training to be more powerful and athletic will transfer regardless of the sport. Hence, the realm of exercise prescription for the sport is both wide-ranging and often counterintuitive.

            Ice hockey is further distinctive in the manner in which participation occurs. It involves a unique “change on the fly” style of play, where players battle for 20-60+ second shifts with changes occurring during the play or in between whistles. Changes are frequent, yet the variability between the length and frequency of shifts, as well as the time between the shifts played varies significantly by the position, role, and skill level of the players. Also, recovery periods are further unpredictable by “television time-outs”, the flow of the game (amount of stoppages, penalties etc), and the intermission between periods. Recovery periods for the athletes range significantly, and the work:rest ratio often fluctuates from 1:1 to a roughly estimated 1:60+. Thus, we must consider many factors when creating conditioning programs for different hockey players.

Evidently, finding transferable off-ice/laboratory measures of game performance is one of great difficulty. Research regarding certain predictors of ice hockey performance, such as “cornerability” and skating speed, can provide a vital light on these important components of the game. However, by using the draft status as an indicator of overall ice hockey performance, Vesovi et al. (2006) determined that off-ice tests could not accurately predict ice hockey playing ability in an elite group of athletes. Furthermore, variables indicated as a possible rationale for these findings included homogeneity of the combined participants, a lack of validity of the tests, and other factors (such as on-ice hockey skills, psychological variables etc…) that play a role in a draft selection (Vesovi et al. 2006). Wayne Gretzky, arguably the greatest hockey player of all time, was notoriously poor in off-ice testing scores. With further investigation, perhaps having the ability to find better and more reliable testing protocols and indicators related to performance can help to development a more relevant and reliable physiological profile for hockey players.

1.3  - An overview of current spectrum of practices that are accepted for training

Many strength and Conditioning specialists and exercise physiologists believe that they are able to offer the “best” way to train for the sport of hockey. However, the varieties of which these individuals prescribe and implement their programs differ immensely in theories and focus. With this diverse spectrum of training philosophies, how do we decipher whose is the best?

Jack Blatherwick, a Ph.D in exercise physiology, is a well-respected strength and conditioning coach with USA hockey and several NCAA and NHL hockey teams. Having worked under the former Soviet system, Jack sits on one extreme of the training spectrum. He believes in ‘raising the comfort zone’ through overspeed training (combining skills with explosive athletic movements for nervous system development and plasticity) and techniques, such as post activation potentiation. He is a firm believer of sports specificity, as he states “The more training looks and feels like the movement in your sport the better it transfers to competition” (Blatherwick, n.d., p.2). Jack takes into account range of motion, speed of motion, multi-tasking, unpredictability, read/react, coordination, balance, agility, endurance, metabolism, gender and age (Blatherwick, n.d.). His philosophy of training is “Thinking outside the barrel”. This is accomplished by integrating more athleticism into strength workouts by turning weight rooms into “gymnasiums with highly athletic movement everywhere” (p.3), by having all lower body and core workouts simulate skating practice, as well as incorporating multi-tasking skills in off-ice training (Blatherwick, n.d.). Jack believes that strength coaches should become coaches of synergy in athletic movement, and that the synergy of skills, rink sense, and athleticism should be the goal for all training.

            Aligned with Dr. Blatherwick, be it less extreme, is Peter Twist.  Having spent 11 years as a strength and conditioning coach and exercise physiologist for the Vancouver Canucks, Peter is a very successful business owner and has extensive work experience with professional athletes and developing young elite athletes. Twist Conditioning has built what they consider “its own unique system of training” in which the focus is on training movement, not muscle (Twist, 2007). Peter wants his athletes to develop efficient, quick, powerful, deceptive, and confident movement abilities that will translate into increased sport skills, tactics, and overall performance (Twist, 2007). According to his camp brochure testimonial, “Each year Peter Twist creates new innovative exercises that produce even better on-ice performance” (Twist, 2007). Integrated into their programming includes parachute-resisted skating/dryland and Bosu ball training for balance, as it is meant to increase the specificity of training for ice hockey. Mr. Twist refers to training with specificity because, “Neural adaptations are involved in strength training”, and thus the muscular and neural systems feeding the muscle must be developed together, specific to game demands so as to learn how to meet those demand (Twist, 2007). Thus, he believes that training must be as specific to the requirements of the sporting action as possible so that the training effect is transferred to the sport movement (Rhodes and Twist, 1993).

            At the international level, Mike Boyle is considered one the pioneers and top experts of the strength and conditioning and sports performance in the training world. He is also known for challenging the reasoning behind certain training prescriptions, which makes him both popular and despised depending on whom you ask. Over the past 30 years, he has worked with several professional athletes and teams including the US Women’s Olympic teams in soccer and ice hockey, the Boston Bruins, the Boston Breakers and the New England Revolution. He is also the head strength and conditioning coach for the powerhouse ice hockey program at Boston University. He is more of a traditionalist in his training philosophy, as he believes that, “working on a solid athletic foundation will pay huge dividends down the road” (Boyle, 2011). Stating that the best methods to develop speed and power are somewhat universal, Boyle understands that some sports require more strength and power than others, but the way you build it does not change (Boyle, 2011). He emphasizes the importance of avoiding certain exercises for a given athlete, rather than having specific ones for a given athlete. However, for a sport like hockey, challenges exist in adding exercises to alleviate common problems, rather than subtracting exercises that exacerbate it. Specifically, Mr. Boyle has his hockey players add hip mobility drills and stretches to improve internal rotation (Boyle, 2011). He is also a big proponent of slide board interval training for adductor and abductor strengthening and conditioning specific to hockey, however he uses it for all of his athletes.

            Joe McCullum is the final strength and conditioning coach to be reviewed. Also a challenger of the “status quo”, Joe is a very well respected local professional with Level 10 Fitness. Joe has worked extensively with national programs and professional athletes, and even more so at the development level. Relatively speaking, he is a traditionalist in nature, specifically focused on fundamental movements, techniques, and progressions of exercise prescription (McCullum, 2010). Rather than focusing on what exercises may maximize a sporting performance, he is concerned with what exercises may maximize an individual’s performance.  Hence, his saying, “What works for one works for one” (McCullum, 2010). Joe believes that sport specificity is not just about training certain movement patterns because they look like something you do in sport, but rather Joe focuses on the progression of skills, adding increased difficulty as abilities increase (McCullum, 2010). He states, “Shouldn't everyone's training be specific? From the position of strength and conditioning coaches, before we worry about specificity we must ensure that an athlete has the ability to do basic movements and do them well before we worry about a sport specific movement” (McCullum, 2010). His definition of sport specificity includes, “addressing the athlete's goals, needs, ability, strength and weakness in order to decrease the chance of injury and most importantly; increase performance…Either way, progressions should be put in place with the end result being able to execute movement's specific to your sport” (McCullum, 2010).

The success of the four strength and conditioning coaches discussed above is not in question, yet their modes of philosophical implementation of strength and conditioning strategies vary drastically. Thus, how do we decipher whose training philosophy is the best? Perhaps, an absolute truth does not exist. More likely, these individuals execute their programming strategically and effectively with highly athletic individuals under the right circumstances. Is it the program the athlete “likes” or the one they “hate”? Compliance and dedication must have roots in perceived benefits. By in large, these are highly motivated and driven individuals who need to be professionally guided, not herded, into the right direction. Either way, they must all be doing something right, and we must respect the “method to the madness” that has driven them to success.

 It is evident that the definitions and the use of the term “sports specificity” differ drastically depending on whom you ask. Like the terms “core training” and “muscle confusion”, the definition of sports specificity is vague and open to interpretation.  While often used as a manner in which to train for skill acquisition related to performance, mimicking movement patterns of a given sport, and as evidence for specific exercise prescription, sport specificity is also integrated into marketing ploys, selling gimmicks and the uniqueness of a training facility, and as the answer to the common question, “what is the best way to train for hockey?” In actuality, I believe that it is a manner in which we attempt to maximize performance and understand the complexity of periodization and programming, especially for a sport that exhibits such unnatural movement patterns, such as ice hockey. We must not be fooled to think that a “golden key” standard of strength and conditioning exists; this is exemplified by the success of the four philosophically different trainers above. Joe McCullum (2010) sums it up very well by stating, “Build a base, or try to mimic movements seen in the field of play. At the end of the day, power is power and strength is strength and if you don't have the ability to transfer both to better you in sport the exercise selection you choose doesn't really matter anyways.”

2. Briefly describe Pros, Cons, and Concerns that I have with current practices:

2.1- Should we use aerobic endurance training to build an “Aerobic Base”?

            Ice hockey has been primarily deemed as a physical and power based sport. In terms of its bioenergetics contribution, it is roughly estimated that the ATP-PCR, anaerobic and aerobic conditions, and aerobic conditions contribute 60%, 20%, and 20%, respectively (Gallo, 2011). In general, the successes of these explosive activities depend on speed/turn-over rate, recovery rate (P-Cr resynthesis and lactic acid clearance), high economy/efficiency/technique, and high percentage of fast-twitch muscle fibers (Gallo, 2011).  However, the demands of an event do not equal the physiological aspects of that event (Reilly et al. 2009).

            In a literature review conducted by Tomlin and Wenger (2001), it was concluded that aerobic fitness enhances recovery from high intensity intermittent exercise through increased aerobic response, improved lactate removal and enhanced PCr regeneration. The need of an aerobic system may not always seem evident given the nature of sprint-intervals; however in reviewing the theoretical research pertaining to repeated high intensity intervals with different recovery durations, the aerobic contribution becomes further evident.

Energy System Contribution Table- Appendix A

A strong argument can be made for the development of every energy system when comparing the repetitions of sprint intervals to the number of shifts taken in a hockey game (Appendix A). However, of great importance in making inferences are the work-to-rest ratios of concern. As previously stated, the number and duration of shifts taken by a player differs significantly depending on many variables including skill level, position, and the role of a player. Montegomery (1988) observed that each shift for a player last 30-80 seconds with 4 to 5 minutes of recovery between shifts. However, the current level of elite ice hockey has become more powerful and physically demanding. John Cuniff, former head coach of the New Jersey Devils, accurately estimated that within a given hockey game, a player averaged 7 shifts of approximately 45 seconds per 20 minute period (Boyle, 2006). Within a given shift, it was estimated to include series of 3 to 5 second sprints. With 20 minute periods realistically 40+ minutes in length, intermissions of 16-18 minutes between periods, and the average television slot for a game from start-finish around 2.5 hours, the variability and need for immediate recovery is player dependent. Player position is also an important consideration, as defensive players are prone to getting more ice time; in the 2010-2011 season, 57 of the top 60 average time on ice/game were defensemen. NHL statistics calculated the lowest and highest average time on ice/game for defensemen and forwards at 2:43-24:17 and 3:04-22:33, respectively. Though the number of games played varied significantly for the players, the variables surrounding the average shift, and thus the resulting work:rest ratios, evidently makes the argument of bioenergetics far more complex.

So how should we build our aerobic fitness levels? In 1993, Twist and Rhodes stated that, “Athletes need to develop a good aerobic base on which to build quality work. Aerobic power is a supply and recovery system, while he needs a strong aerobic base before he can pursue more intense training” (p.11). Furthermore, a hockey player needs a strong aerobic base before he can pursue more intense training, and that he cannot train anaerobically without a strong aerobic base.  The reasoning for a strong “aerobic base” is supported by its contribution during the less intense efforts, its vital contribution to recovery and fatigue resistance, and to enable athletes to train harder so they can develop speed, strength, and skill (Twist and Rhodes, 1993, p.11). Conceptually, the aerobic base represents the base of a cardiovascular pyramid model of training. Thus, the moderate intensity and steady-state aerobic intervals, which represents the aerobic base, build the foundation on which quality higher intensity training (anaerobic, %) intervals can be completed. Though the processes used to build an “aerobic base” have been largely accepted since the early 1990s, research and rebuttals validating the manner in which this theoretical model is “built” or the existence of such a model has been challenged in recent times.

            Mike Boyle is a proponent of “dead to long steady state cardio”. Based on ice hockey’s “on-the-fly” nature of rest intervals with brief high intensity sprints, Mike believes that its bioenergetics requirements are unique, and that assuming, “that the development of an aerobic base is essential for this type of activity is foolish and shortsighted”. Also, he stresses the importance of strength and power in ice hockey, and the detrimental effects that high volumes of cardiovascular endurance work can have muscle fiber type conversion of transitional or intermediate muscle fiber to red, endurance muscle fiber (Boyle, 2006). Among many who support Boyle’s point, Fitts and Widrick (1996) observed that prolonged daily endurance exercise training might induce atrophy of the slow type 1 and fast type IIa fibers. In assessing skating performance variables, ice hockey players should focus on regularly engaging in activities promoting force and power production in the legs, while minimizing prolonged endurance activities which have been shown to hinder their potential (Potteiger et al, 2010).

Consequently, Boyle supports the use quality anaerobic intervals, which can promote the movement of intermediate fibers toward the anaerobic, fast twitch fibers (using 5-60 second sprints with longer recovery), while building the aerobic system by controlling the recovery periods to maintain recovery heart rate levels in the aerobic range (over 120bpm). Moderate-intensity aerobic training that improves the maximal aerobic power does not change anaerobic capacity; yet adequate high-intensity intermittent training can impose significant improvements in the anaerobic and aerobic energy systems (Nishimura et al. 1996).  Caret el al. (2007) also concluded that coaches should probably avoid including aerobic training in their practices, due to the increases in aerobic capacity associated with HITT seen in hockey training, as reflected in increased VO2max values of their subjects. Conclusively, it is evident that our body has a canning ability to build aerobic features of recovery during anaerobic training, while the same cannot be said in the reverse situation. Also of benefit is the reduction of training volume associated with HITT. In comparing short-term sprint intervals (SIT) training versus traditional endurance training, Gibala et al. ( 2006, p.1) discovered that given the large difference in training volume, that SIT was a time-efficient strategy/alternative to induce the rapid adaptations in skeletal muscle and exercise performance comparably exhibited in young active men trained via traditional endurance methods. Furthermore, the decreased training volume is better suited for injury prevention and minimizing overuse injuries.  Boyle sums up his points very well by asking the question, “An efficient aerobic system may facilitate faster recovery. However, at what cost are we developing the aerobic system?”

            “Mr. Sports Specific”, Jack Blatherwick, also supports the negation of long steady state cardiovascular training. However, he does not contradict its uses due to the lack of need for an aerobic base, but rather the biomechanical complication that a short “jogging” stride can have with a skating stride, and the lack of specificity of the training protocol.

            With benefits such as increasing the anaerobic and aerobic energy systems, and decreasing training volumes and body fat composition, controlled “High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)” is recommended in the literature, and of great importance for the development of elite ice hockey players. Conversely, the long endurance orientated conditioning methods (in attempting to build an aerobic base) continue to be passé for the aforementioned reasons. Running for an occasional leisure activity, for active recovery, or following an injury is the only time that elite ice hockey players should be going for long runs to work on their “cardio”. Whether you are a firm believer in “building the aerobic base” or not, the superior method of increasing our aerobic capacity coinciding with gains in our anaerobic energy systems seems to be through HIIT. HIIT better mimics the intensity and duration of ice hockey, and thus pertains to the training principle of specificity. In understanding the importance of recovery in ice hockey, it is vital to take into account the variables that exist, separating the theoretical and realistic dimensions and bioenergetics of the game. Those who still believe in the traditional pyramidal approach to building an aerobic base must be cautious in implementing their conditioning programs for elite athletes. It is both naïve and narrow minded to assume that professional and elite athletes lack an aerobic base in the first place. The evolution of the game has demanded that these athletes be professionals, year round. We must be careful in referencing research from the late 1980s. As early as 1995, Cox et al. demonstrated that the previous hockey studies were of little relevance to the “then modernized” hockey due to its evolution, and that much of what existed was based on poorly controlled studies. Furthermore, they suggested the investigation of several performance variables for future research, yet none of them included aerobic base/contribution (neuromuscular skills, strength, power, peripheral adaptations, travel, hydration, detraining and sport specific programs). Since then, it seems that the game has continued to evolve exponentially, gearing more and more towards a power and strength oriented sport. I am confident that this would be exemplified given the opportunity to compare fitness testing results over the past 20 years, though these quantitative measures have not been made available.

2.2- Using maximal oxygen update (VO2max) scores as predictor ice hockey performance

            In the above section, we reviewed the appropriate aerobic contributions to ice hockey performance. Though there is variance in the capacity in which its importance is valued, one cannot deny that it plays a role in performance.

            One’s VO2max is defined as the amount of oxygen an individual can extract from the air and deliver to his tissues (Twist and Rhodes, 1993). VO2max testing protocols have, and continue to be in many governing bodies, one of the gold standards of fitness test for ice hockey performance (along with the Wingate test). I do not deny that benefits exist, such as testing-retesting protocols for a given athlete to see if they have maintained their aerobic fitness levels on the off-season or following an injury, but it should by no means be considered a gold standard for ice hockey performance. Durocher et al. (2010) observed that off-ice VO2max and lactate threshold (LT) were not adequate predictors of on-ice VO2max and LT (in college elite males). These observations, supported by several others in the industry, pose a serious challenge to the use of a cycle ergometry in assessing aerobic capacity (VO2max).

Firstly, with different modes of testing existing (row, bike), the use of a cycle ergometry continues to be the acceptable method for testing in ice hockey. The “groin” muscles, which are major contributors in skating biomechanics, are “spared” in this method of testing (Boyle, 2006). Furthermore, the use of a cycle ergometry does not incorporate a full body movement relative to that of a skating stride. Though the use of VO2max testing is still under question by some, in an attempt to combat the aforementioned variables to make its testing values more acceptable, I suggest the use of a sports-specific on ice aerobic power test called FAST (Petrella et al, 2007). Otherwise, I would suggest the use of treadmill protocol due to its incorporation of the “groin muscles” and the research supporting sprinting speed to skating performance. In addition, the use of a beep test could be advantageous due to the change of direction, which further mimics the nature of ice hockey.

            Secondly, Mike Boyle (2006) states that, “The use of VO2max is frequently utilized to evaluate the condition of athletes involved in endurance sports like distance running, cycling and rowing. This assessment has never been shown to correlate to performance in sports that are intermittent in nature like hockey or court sports.” (Boyle, 2006, p.5) In short, how does the use of an aerobic fitness test represent a primarily anaerobic sport? A high value of VO2max may seem appetizing, however it has been suggested by some that a better dictator of ice hockey performance is a higher lactate threshold (a measure of efficiency; %VO2max at which lactate begins to accumulate), or rather the amount of “useable aerobic capacity” (Boyle, 2006)

            Thirdly, Sheppard et al. (2009) determined that maximal oxygen uptake tests are of little use in ranking athletes of similar ability. This finding in itself is strong evidence that the VO2max testing may be overvalued.

            Fourthly, according to Dr. Timothy Noakes, “Testing for maximum oxygen consumption has produced a brainless model of human exercise performance” (Noakes, 2008, p.551). Though controversial in his work, Dr. Noakes references heavily to make some strong arguments regarding the use of the test. He believes the testing protocol is flawed because it contains three features foreign to performance, including its progressive and graded nature of intensity, the variable duration which negates the ability for optimal performance, and most important the inability for the testing subject to regulate the intensity (Noakes, 2008, p. 555). By predetermining the work rate, Dr. Noakes notes that the test is beyond the control of the experimental subject’s brain, removing pacing strategies and the motor unit recruitment, which results during exercise performance (Noakes, 2008, p. 555).The current VO2max is oriented towards completing the activity without homeostatic failure and the development of a “limiting” skeletal muscle fatigue (Noakes, 2008, p.555). Dr. Noakes uses “limiting” in a semi-sarcastic fashion, as the use of 1-2 factors to determine performance is reductionist in nature, and that several hypothetical models of fatigue exist beyond the one that orients the VO2max test (what about central governor hypothesis?). In summary, “As the VO2max test does not evaluate the athlete’s ability to choose and sustain the optimum pace during exercise of different durations, it cannot be the optimum test either to evaluate a subject’s athletic potential or to understand the biological basis of superior athletic performance.” (Noakes, 2008, p.555).

Lastly, as noted previously, the high volumes of endurance/aerobic training methods can create a muscle fiber type transition unfavorable to ice hockey players. Often in elite sports, athletes focus specifically on the fitness tests that they will undergo during tryouts. In an attempt to make a team, many players may focus on increasing their VO2max testing score with steady state aerobic training, thereby possibly affecting overall on-ice performance; for smaller, younger and/or less explosive players, these transitions can be potentially catastrophic (Boyle, 2006).  Thus, by decreasing the importance of high VO2max scores, we can help negate poor training goals that may actually hinder performance.

I do not believe that removing V02max testing is necessary, but I believe that it is time for exercise physiologists and strength and conditioning coaches to be reasonable with regards to its value in evaluating performance in ice hockey. More important in cardiovascular fitness testing, other than the Wingate test, is finding ways to test recovery and energy regeneration. I suggest the use of a modified phosphate decrement test or repeated shuttle test to analyze performance decline related to recovery/fatigue. The use of a yo-yo intermittent test (modified beep test with short rest intervals) would be useful for aerobic capacity test, while FAST, a sport specific on-ice testing protocol, could be used for aerobic power. Finding an efficient way of testing %VO2max (use of blood lactates) would be beneficial as well.

A protocol developed by Mr. Boyle, which requires strong mental toughness and conditioning is the 10/10 treadmill test; 10% incline at 10 miles/hour until exhaustion (Boyle, 2006). Both traits are required for elite hockey players, and the nature of the incline protocol also stresses the gluteal muscles and hip flexors similarly to skating. Also, it is a true test of anaerobic endurance and aerobic power (record at BU is 3:15). Though the test may be more subjective and less quantitative in nature, its relative comparison is great.

2.       “My 2 cents” and Future Considerations

In the final section, I hope to delve into “my 2 cents” and to make suggestions for future research. Following the review of strength and conditioning and testing practices in elite ice hockey players, it is evident that the delivery and theoretical applications vary significantly. So, where do I find myself in this spectrum of ideologies?

      Regarding exercise and conditioning prescription, my guiding attitude is based primarily around injury prevention; if an athlete is injured, they cannot perform. After having been exposed to training young elite hockey players, it became quickly evident that a significant need for balanced training existed. Many of these athletes, a lot of whom are playing 6 days/week, already display significant imbalances in movement patterns, in musculature, and in flexibility. The extensive demand of the in-season schedule, as well as the demand to maintain elite fitness levels in the off-season, makes for a demanding commitment, which can often lead to overuse injuries. Poor recovery techniques, barely-existent warm up and cool downs, demanding travel schedules, and the “unnatural” movements involved in ice hockey also contribute to issues surrounding the sport. This is often evident throughout a season and late into the playoffs, where teams are plagued with injuries and grinding to perform. Thus, our job as strength and conditioning specialists is to program catering to individual needs that will maximize consistent performances, while maintaining efficient mobility and movement patterns while minimizing injuries. Nutritional considerations and maximal recovery techniques must be implemented in the culture. Furthermore, when we are programming, we must have the ability to understand the tradeoff between gains in the weight room versus mobility and performance detriments; there are always risks with increase intensity of resisted training. At what point is the risk worth the reward?

            I believe that programming should be specific to individual needs and demands. Designing a mass program catering to the “perfect training program for ice hockey players” must not apply. Variability in skill level, strength, size, experience, playing position and fitness levels are just a few of the variables that must be taken into account when programming. Furthermore, it is rare to have all athletes from a team or group to be injury free. Thus, a “Cookie-cutter” program for all hockey athletes cannot be optimal in my opinion. Maintaining efficient fundamental movements, range of motion, mobility and muscle balance are essential foundations for performance. The use of progressions of exercise prescription to attain performance goals in the weight room is also necessary, as you cannot run before you can walk.

Sport specificity, one of the major training principles, has its place in all training. However, its definition in practice and theory often varies depending on whom you ask. Concerns that I have with using sport specific training to mimic movement patterns seen in the sport exist. Firstly, I question the use sport specific movements during in-season training because we may be further likely to tax those muscle groups already prone to overuse injuries, such as the hip flexors and groin muscles. Secondly, in attempting to imitate movement patterns, velocities, and angles under resisted loads, it may possible to affect the biomechanics of the movement. I believe that specificity on this level does have its place, however this should be done on the ice surface and not in the gym (Matthews et al, 2010). Further research on this topic would be beneficial to sport specific programming. We must ask ourselves what our goals are when we go into strength and conditioning facility. For example, are we trying to make better and fit athletes, or are we trying to make better hockey players? I believe that the latter reason can be accomplished by playing the sport itself, while the former can contribute to the athletic attributes needed to excel in on-ice performance.

            As previously stated, I do not support the use of prolonged endurance training for the purpose of building an athlete’s “aerobic base” or aerobic capacity. The literature supports well the use of HITT as a method of building both the anaerobic and aerobic energy systems, while decreasing training volume and increasing the specificity of training.

            V02max testing must not be used as a primary protocol for determining ice hockey performance for the aforementioned reasons. What should be further integrated in fitness testing protocols are test pertaining to injury prevention and/or injury risk assessment. For example, significant research supporting the use of the functional movement screen (FMS) and Y-balance test as predictors for the risk of injury exist. It is not the “end-all-be-all”, however using them during the pre-season, mid-season, and post-season could give some insight on a player’s maintenance and progress throughout the season and how it pertains to their performance. Also, the importance of power and strength fitness components should be more heavily valued; the broad and vertical jump, balance, 10 and 40 meter sprint test, Wingate test, and body composition were all determinants of skating speed (Behm et al., 2005; Farlinger et al., 2007). Furthermore, Peyer et al. (2011) determined that leg press, chin-ups, bench press, and repeat sprint performance were significantly correlated to physiological characteristics of NCAA Division 1 hockey players and their relation to game performance. Further research is also needed in evolving more efficient off-ice determinants of ice hockey performance, as current standards display inconsistent results.

            Further investigations and research are required for the successful evolution of hockey. Having access to NHL combine results of the past and future could enable much of the research needed. Investigating career performance variables (such as games played and missed, points, and longevity of career etc…) and how they pertain to individual testing variables could provide helpful insight and correlations. Along with the use of GPS studies, this data could be used to study positional variances, possibly providing more accurate information of strength and conditioning variables. Lastly, investigating injury prevention and risk assessment techniques as they apply to the nature of injuries in the game of ice hockey would be very beneficial.

            The future of Ice hockey is promising, and continuing to grow internationally. By increase research, the collaboration of those involved, and the efficiency in which the game is approached, Hockey Canada will continue to be a dominating force.

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