Kevin Neeld — Hockey Training, Sports Performance, & Sports Science

UCAN Perform, Look, and Feel Better!

I hope you and your family had a great new year! Last week we wrapped up the highlights of 2011. If you missed those posts, you can check them out at the links below:

  1. 2011 in Review
  2. Top Athletic Development Posts of 2011
  3. Top Hockey Training Posts of 2011
4 Pillars of Athletic Success
While I was in Minnesota, I had an opportunity to hear Dr. Colleen Hacker speak to the players and staff about mental preparation. Her entire 2-hour talk was nothing short of riveting, and was one that I think every athlete should hear (probably more than twice). One of the things she mentioned was the idea of there being four pillars to athletic success:
  1. Technical Preparation
  2. Tactical Preparation
  3. Mental Preparation
  4. Strength and Conditioning/Nutrition

Simply, a failure to fully realize any of these categories will widen the player and/or the team’s “Performance Gap”, the difference between their current performance level and where it could be. Focusing on the last category, there are a lot of athletes that make huge sacrifices to train hard in the off-season and even during the most rigorous times of their season to ensure that they are continually progressing toward their goals and toward their full potential. A HUGE proportion of these athletes go on to practice and compete with a COMPLETE neglect for proper nutrition. The same can be said for athletes that work exceptionally hard (and smart) all season long for a complete neglect for proper nutrition. They’re passively widening their Performance Gap.

Proper nutrition can mean a lot of things-food selection, food timing, consistency, etc. One area that I think is especially important is activity-related nutrition. In other words, to perform at their best, athletes need to properly fuel themselves before, and even DURING the event. In this regard, I think there is one solution that is far superior to the alternative options out there!

Perform Better, Lose Body Fat, and Have More Energy!

Generation UCAN offers a revolutionary sports drink that is taking professional, collegiate and recreational sports by storm, and for good reason. Typical sports drinks provide a simple carbohydrate source (basically energy in the form of a sugar derivative) that causes a fast, relatively large spike in bloog sugar levels. Unfortunately, this energy supply is short-lived, can have a negative rebound effect (lower blood sugar than before the drink), and blunts the body’s ability to burn fat in the process.

In contrast, Generation UCAN’s products have a time-release effect. This serves to provide an energy supply over a long period of time, avoid the negative effects of a plummet in energy supply, and allow the body to rely on fat as a primary fuel source. It is possible to train the body to rely more heavily on fat for energy (which is in more plentiful supply than carbohydrates and many of the other fuel sources for high intensity activities) by having a well-developed aerobic system. That said, ingesting a sugar supplement (like most sports drinks) will cause a spike in blood sugar, which causes a spike in insulin and consequent blunting of the body’s ability to rely on fat for fuel, REGARDLESS of training status. In other words, it is best to attack this issue from a training AND nutrition standpoint to ensure that you can perform at a high level, consistently and without wear.

Notice UCAN’s consistent, long-lasting energy supply (red) compared to a typical sports drink’s spike and crash (blue)

Note the higher level of fat burning after consuming UCAN (red) compared to a typical sports drink (blue)

In short, Generation UCAN has created a safe, healthy supplement that provides long-lasting energy AND promotes fat burning. It’s the perfect solution for all athletes, and even for the “desk jockeys” out there that may need a mid-day energy boost.

Until the end of the month, Generation UCAN is offering an exclusive 25% discount for you on ALL of their products. To take advantage of this great offer, simply follow these 4 easy steps:
  1. Click this link: Generation UCAN
  2. Click the “UCAN Shop” button on the upper left
  3. Click on each of the products you’re interested in on the left hand column and add them to your cart
  4. On the checkout summary page, enter the coupon code “competehard”

Nutrition can have a profound impact on your performance, body composition and overall energy and well being. Generation UCAN offers a truly revolutionary option that will have you playing, looking, and feeling better than ever before!

To your continued success in 2012!

Kevin Neeld

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Kevin Neeld

Kevin Neeld Knows Hockey

Kevin has rapidly established himself as a leader in the field of physical preparation and sports science for ice hockey. He is currently the Head Performance Coach for the Boston Bruins, where he oversees all aspects of designing and implementing the team’s performance training program, as well as monitoring the players’ performance, workload and recovery. Prior to Boston, Kevin spent 2 years as an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach for the San Jose Sharks after serving as the Director of Performance at Endeavor Sports Performance in Pitman, NJ. He also spent 5 years as a Strength and Conditioning Coach with USA Hockey’s Women’s Olympic Hockey Team, and has been an invited speaker at conferences hosted by the NHL, NSCA, and USA Hockey.