Month: April 2010

Hockey Nutrition Tips: Part 1

Whenever I have a question about nutrition or supplements, I always call the same person. My friend Brian St. Pierre is the Nutrition Consultant and a Strength and Conditioning Coach at Cressey Performance in Hudson, MA. He’s truly one of the brightest young minds in sports nutrition today and really “gets it” in terms of being familiar with the research AND knowing how to implement strategies to help his athletes succeed.

A while back, Brian sent me some AWESOME nutrition tips that I wanted to share with you. The first three tips are below. Check back throughout the rest of the week for more great hockey nutrition information.

Nutrition Tip #1

Eat Real Food!
It may seem trivial or vague, but if you sat back and really took stock of the food in your home, you would probably be shocked to realize just how much of it qualifies as a food product, not actual food. Increasing the amount of real food, defined below, and decreasing the amount of food products you consume is the easiest thing you can do to improve your nutrition and health. It doesn’t require counting calories, worrying about nutrient timing, calculating macronutrient percentages, or any of that, and it will have a far greater impact on your health.

Real Food Conditions:
•    If you couldn’t hunt, fish, pluck, grow, or ferment/culture the food, you probably shouldn’t eat it.
•    If it wasn’t food 100 years ago, it probably isn’t food today.
•    If it comes in a box or a plastic wrapper, it probably isn’t food, it is a food product.
•    If it contains lots of industrial vegetable oil (canola, cottonseed, soybean, safflower, sunflower, etc) and/or added sugar/high fructose corn syrup, it probably isn’t food, it is a food product.

Nutrition Tip #2

Eat Food as Close to its Natural State as Possible.
Eating food that has been produced in a sustainable, animal, plant and environmentally friendly manner will not only have a profound impact on your health, but the health of your food and the health of the planet. Choosing food from local, seasonal and sustainably grown sources, like farmer’s markets, ensures that you know exactly where your food is coming from, who is producing that food, and exactly how it is produced.

Natural State Conditions:
•    Eat meat, eggs and dairy from pastured/grass-fed animals.
•    Eat full fat versions of these foods for the greatest profile and absorption of nutrients.
•    Eat produce from local, seasonal, and sustainably grown sources.

Nutrition Tip #3

Eat Vegetable and/or Fruits at Every Meal or Snack
This is the easiest way to meet your minimum of 5 servings of fruits and veggies per day. I would go so far as to say the minimum should be 7-10 servings. Maximize your health to maximize your performance. You will drastically increase the amounts of powerful phytonutrients, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and fiber to optimize your nutrition.

Key Tips:
•    You don’t need a side salad with every meal. 1 serving will do just fine.
•    9 baby carrots, 2 celery sticks, and small pieces of fruit are all equivalent to one serving.

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Breaking in to the Strength and Conditioning Industry

Last day to save 25% on all hockey training products at Ice-Hockey-Training.com!

If you missed the details, check out why I want you to save money:

http://www.KevinNeeld.com/2010/birthday-sale-25-off-all-ice-hockey-training-products

Another great post from Endeavor’s newest addition David Lasnier. Forgive his grammar. He is French.

Enter David:

This post would be for those looking to make it in the strength and conditioning world in the first place.  I know that from an outside perspective, it might look like a cool job to work with athletes on a daily basis and helping them get to the next level; and believe me it is.  I know a lot of people who want to make it in this industry when they first get into College in Exercise science or kinesiology.  But the truth is a lot of them don’t know that it takes a lot of dedication and the process takes a certain time.

Beside from having good grades in College and pursuing continuing education, there is a lot more one needs to do to make it in this industry.  Here are a few tips to help you make it in the strength and conditioning business.

– Make contacts. Go out there in seminars and introduce yourself to other strength coaches and trainers. Make sure that the successful guys out there know who you are and that you trying to make it as strength coach.  These are the ones who might help you get an internship; they might refer you some athletes/clients if you live in a different region; they might even let you know about job opportunities.

– These same guys know a lot. There is a reason why they are so successful.  They know a lot about strength and conditioning, but they also know a lot about the business itself.  So don’t be shy to pick their brain and ask questions.  They have been around for a while, so they probably know a lot more than you do.

– Internships.  That is a key to making it in this industry.  Most of the time you won’t get paid for them, but you need to let everyone know that you are dedicated to getting more experience and making a name for yourself.  This is a necessary process if you wish to make it someday.  Go out there, bust your balls and someday you’ll be rewarded.

– On a related note, when doing internships, never forget that the goal is to gain experience. It is not to let others know how much you know because quite frankly they probably don’t care. I’ve seen too much people getting out of College without any experience and thinking they know everything.  You need to realize that theoretical knowledge will only get you so far.  Years under the trenches are worth so much more knowledge than what you will ever learn in College. So do me a favour and respect that.  So the next time you go on an internship or chat with a knowledgeable Strength coach, listen. Stop talking and listen to what he has to say, because he knows a lot more than you do.

– Be kind and polite.  It may sound obvious for some, but unfortunately not enough people get that.  People will always help out more somebody who’s kind and polite and they will be more willing to give out some of their time and answer questions.  And I’m not only talking about the strength and conditioning business here….this would apply in general in a thing called Life!

Hopefully, I’ve helped some of you out there who wish to make it as Strength and conditioning coach.  Be patient, listen, don’t be afraid to give some of your time and be polite and you will sure be rewarded someday.

David Lasnier

Enter Kevin:

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Top 5 ways to get on my good side:

1) Read everything I write, even if it sucks.
2) Email me from a computer, not a blackberry, ipod, iphone, ihome, icar, irobot, etc.
3) Take time to learn about my system before impressing your own thoughts.
4) Be humble.
5) Be coachable.

At the risk of sounding “preachy”, I expect the same from myself. Before I interned at Cressey Performance, I read EVERY single article Eric wrote. Every one. Since Eric writes in his sleep, his collection of articles was in the triple digits. It goes a long way in understanding why a coach does what he/she does and shows you’re serious about your career/education.

To your continued success,

Kevin Neeld

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