Month: November 2014

Making an Impact

Today I wanted to share a pretty cool story with you.

Over the Summer, Emily and I bought our first house together. It was something we’d talked about doing at some point in the future, but the process from starting to look to closing happened FAST. Like 6 weeks fast.

Holding each other up after a long move in day.

Because we moved in July, the middle of the hockey off-season (e.g. my busiest time of year at work), we didn’t move in as much as just drop boxes inside of our new house and then carry on with our lives.

When the dust finally settled on processing all the testing data from our off-season hockey group, the pre-season testing/programs from the Flyers Junior Team, and the two camps I had with the US Women’s National Team, I was finally able to spend some time working on the house and digging through some of my boxes.

In doing so, I came across something awesome that I forgot I had.

When I was a kid, my older brother (Jim) and I used to write letters to our favorite professional hockey players. In the letters, we’d always ask for advice about becoming better players, and what they thought really helped them along their career. Of course, we also politely suggested that getting an autograph would be cool too.

As you can imagine, we didn’t get any letters back, as those guys are inundated with fan mail and don’t have the time (and probably the desire) to personally respond.

What Jim and I were both pretty surprised about, though, was that we almost always got an autographed picture back. Over the years, we built an awesome collection that included guys like Wayne Gretzkey, Mario Lemieux, Eric Lindros, Paul Kariya (my favorite player growing up), Joe Sakic (my brother’s favorite player), Mats Sundin, Teemu Selanne, John LeClair, Pavel Bure, Valeri Kamensky, Patrick Roy, and many, many more.

It was sweet. Those were always the best days. We’d run home from school and check the mailbox everyday for weeks after we sent out our letters.

Growing up, I always wanted to go to the University of Michigan. I don’t know why (it as the helmets), but I just thought that the team and school were awesome. In fact, my first plane trip ever was when my mom took me to Ann Arbor to visit for my 10th birthday. Somewhere I think I still have the silky yellow jersey I got that year too (the best present ever)!

One day, I looked up the University of Michigan hockey roster and wrote every player on the team an individual letter letting them know I was a huge fan, wishing them luck, asking for advice on how to become a Division 1 hockey player, and, of course, requesting an autograph.

As a quick aside, the practice of writing to people that have attained what I aspired to attain, which my brother taught me, has stuck with me to this day. While I don’t write asking for autographs anymore, since entering the field I’ve reached out to a TON of strength coaches, physical therapists, researchers, coaches, and agents to introduce myself, ask for advice, and/or thank them for the help their writing/products have provided me. This was ultimately how I connected with guys like Mike Boyle, Mike Potenza, Eric Cressey, Sean Skahan, Charlie Weingroff, and a number of other guys that have had a huge impact on my career.

…getting back to Michigan.

The cool thing about the experience with Michigan is that a number of the players actually wrote back, including players like Brendan Morrison and Mike Knuble that went on to have great NHL careers.

First, I think it’s a great gesture and testament to the character of those players. I was 9. It would have been easy for them to just laugh at the letter and throw it out. But they didn’t. They took the time out of a schedule packed with schoolwork, training, practicing, travel, and games to write back.

Second, I got great advice that had a huge impact on my motivation and work ethic at a young, impressionable age. And frankly, I think a lot of those characteristics have stuck with me to this day.

In digging through one of the boxes, I found a letter from Peter Bourke, a defensemen on the team.

The Best Advice I’ve Ever Gotten

I reread the letter when I found it and it’s amazing how much good advice there is that is extremely relevant to youth athletes today.

With that in mind, I wanted to share a few things that Peter told me when I was 9, that I think will really help the youth athletes you know:

“Hockey has always been fun and is of course my favorite sport. However I also enjoy many other sports like basketball, tennis, golf and water skiing, among others. At your age you should remember to try other sports even though hockey is the best game.”
“I used to play too much hockey and would get sick of it. I try to play only for fun in the Summer time and don’t go to the rink that often.”
“Work hard in school and sports and you will find success one day.”

What This Means To You

Playing multiple sports is essential at young ages, not only to avoid burnout, but also to maximize the athleticism necessary to become an elite hockey player at older ages.
Athletes need an OFF-season. This is an especially important note today as the trend is continuing to move toward year-round competition and an increase in competition at the expense of preparation and restoration.
Hard work is inherently valuable. If you work hard and don’t accomplish your goals, you’ll never have to live with the regret of knowing that you may have achieved your goal if you just put forth a little more effort. Sports provide a great opportunity for kids to see how their hard work translates to accomplishments (even small ones like scoring a good goal in practice), which will ultimately help cultivate the character needed to be successful when they make the transition to the “real world”. Bottom line, developing the habit of working hard toward your goals will pay dividends in every component of your life.

Hearing these things from an athlete I looked up had a profound impact on my life. Hopefully these words can do the same for you.

To Peter and the rest of the University of Michigan team, THANK YOU for taking the time to write back to me, and any other young kids that reached out to you. You truly made an impact on my life.

To your success,

Kevin Neeld
HockeyTransformation.com
OptimizingMovement.com
UltimateHockeyTraining.com

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Year-round age-specific hockey training programs complete with a comprehensive instructional video database!

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“Kevin Neeld is one of the top 5-6 strength and conditioning coaches in the ice hockey world.”
– Mike Boyle, Head S&C Coach, US Women’s Olympic Team

“…if you want to be the best, Kevin is the one you have to train with”
– Brijesh Patel, Head S&C Coach, Quinnipiac University

Stuff You Should Read

I don’t know what it is, but I’ve had a lot of fun at work this week. Even more than usual! Tuesday morning I woke up to learn that Kelvin Benjamin’s two late TDs gave me a 1 point victory over Devan McConnell in Fantasy Football, officially moving NaFolesean Dynamite over Taco Corp in the standings.

Wednesday, the Flyers Junior Team won their 8th straight game, scoring 6 goals for the 3rd time in 4 games. The guys have worked hard all season up to this point and I couldn’t be happier that they’re being rewarded with success on the ice.

That night, Jared Beach, Matt Sees, Matt Siniscalchi and I took David Lasnier out to Fogo de Chao in Center City Philadelphia for a 2nd bachelor party since we missed his official celebration in Montreal a few weeks prior. Not only did we all get Fogo Fever (when you eat so much you start to develop flu-like symptoms; immediately precedes “Meat Sweats”), but our server, immediately after seating us, took one look at all of our faces and said “I’m going to get you all some clean plates and start sending meat over immediately”. We had a good showing.

Upholding my streak (2 for 2), yesterday I picked up my car from the shop after replacing the engine…about 4 months after I bought it. My last new used car (The Bat Mobile)had a 90-day warranty; I found out I needed to have the transmission rebuilt somewhere around day 93. I wasn’t overly thrilled with the bill I had to pay, but I’m glad to have my car back after spending a week hitching rides.

Apparently, when you take the engine out of the car, this isn’t supposed to fall out of…

this.

Never a good thing when the mechanic says “I’ve never seen a Honda do this before…

Today I’m in Bethesda, MD at a TPI Level 1 seminar that I’ve been looking forward to for a while. I’m not overly interested in golf, but am very interested in how they’re assessing athletes and how they describe findings in terms of sport-specific faults. There is definitely a lot of carry over between TPI’s teachings and altered movement patterns in hockey (and all rotational sports for that matter), but given that almost all of our players spend a significant amount of their off-season time on the golf courses, I figured it was an appropriate time to start learning more about the sport.

Over the last week I’ve come across a few pretty cool articles/stories that I wanted to share with you. This is a great way to wrap up the week as there’s some good information tied in with some inspiration. Enjoy!

In-Season Success Starts in Off-Season (Great piece on the importance of off-ice training at the NHL level)
Tom Brady Explains Why He Goes to Sleep at 8:30 (Awesome lesson from one of the best quarterbacks of all time)
The future of treating ACL tears (Nice article on a new strategy to facilitate better outcomes in ACL surgery)
3 Coaching Cues to Make Your Strength and Conditioning Programs More Effective (3 great coaching cues from Eric Cressey to help improve your performance in common exercises)
Acts of Random Kindness (I really enjoyed reading through these. 45 pictures of people going out of their way to help others)
Cool video of an 11-year old Japanese player displaying an incredible skill set. It’s fun to see how much hockey has grown in my life time.

To your success,

Kevin Neeld
OptimizingMovement.com
UltimateHockeyTraining.com
HockeyTransformation.com

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“…one of the best DVDs I’ve ever watched”
“A must for anyone interested in coaching and performance!”

Click here for more information >> Optimizing Movement

Shoulder Pain with Pressing Exercises

Today’s Thursday Throwback is one of my most popular posts ever. This post gained traction quickly as it discusses the largest underlying factor in why so many athletes and lifters alike get shoulder pain while benching and doing other pressing exercises.

Since this post was first published over 3 years ago, I’ve continued to emphasize the importance of having some sort of screen to pre-qualify yourself (or your athletes) for specific exercises, and the necessity of having a system to make program changes if a specific exercise is not a good fit for an athlete. This is the system I use at Endeavor: Optimizing Movement

Enjoy the post and if you know anyone that has experienced shoulder pain while benching or doing push-ups, please share this with them!

Shoulder Pain with Pressing Exercises

Last week I got an email from my step sister saying that she’s been getting shoulder pain during bench pressing and dumbbell raising exercises. I had a similar conversation with a hockey parent a week before about one of his son’s teammates. In both cases, it’d be impossible for me to say with 100% confidence that I know exactly why they’re in pain and what they can do to fix it. As you know, non-traumatic pain tends to be multi-factorial and necessitates considerations to static and dynamic postures. In other words, how we hold ourselves throughout the day and how we move plays a large role in soft-tissue overload.

With that said, I’d bet my car (an estimated value of $137), that in both of these cases, the bench press is performed with a similar fault – the elbows are out too wide. Let’s walk through this:

It’s somewhat hard to tell from this picture, but my elbows are approaching 90 degrees off my side. In other words, my upper arm and the side of my rib cage form about a 90 degree angle. This puts a tremendous amount of stress on the anterior shoulder capsule at the bottom of the lift. It also increases the risk of having the glenohumeral head impinging on the structures superior to it.

Ligaments of the shoulder

The picture above illustrates the ligaments of the shoulder. As you approach the bottom of a bench press with your elbows flared out, it tends to put excessive stretch on the IGHL and MGHL ligaments displayed above and increases the chances of impinging the ligaments and tendons between the acromion and glenohumeral head (long head of biceps brachii tendon and subacromial bursa are two notables).

The same is true for push-ups, although there tend to be some other differences between bench pressing and doing push-ups. For instance, push-ups allow free movement of the scapulae, allowing the shoulder a bit more freedom than during bench pressing, which may delay the onset of pain from resulting from the elbows being out too wide. Of course, because your body isn’t supported by a bench during a push-up, it also means more freedom of movement for other joints; as a result, it’s common to see people with sagging hips, excessively arching backs and protruding chins (or what I call “bird neck syndrome” or BNS).

Brutal Push-Up…but decent display of BNS

In both exercises, the goal is to keep the elbows within 45 degrees off the side of the body and to retract the scapulae (squeeze the shoulder blades back and down) as you go down. Because the scapulae aren’t free to move during a bench press, it’s important to set up on the bench with your scapulae in the correct position, packed back and down, and to keep them there throughout the movement.

Bench Press with correct positioning

With push-ups, the shoulder blades aren’t wedged between your rib cage and the bench so they can move freely. When going down in a push-up, think of pulling your chest down to the floor and pulling your shoulder blades back and down along the way.

Push-Up with proper technique. Notice how the hands are beneath the shoulders, the elbows are within 45 degrees of the sides of the body and the chin is tucked back.

If you already have shoulder pain, it may be best to back off the pressing exercises for a week or two and focus more on rowing exercises, emphasizing pulling the shoulder blades back and down as you pull the weight toward your chest. If it’s not that bad, the floor press is a great exercise to reteach a proper pressing pattern while limiting the stress on the shoulder because of the decrease in range of motion.

Dumbbell Floor Press

With regards to push-ups, I think most of the problem comes from people assuming they can do push-ups on the ground right away. This stems back to an interesting paradox in youth training, where there is still the perception that lifting weights is dangerous but people are free to do as many push-ups as they want. In reality, I’ve come across very few athletes 14 and under that can do a single push-up the correct way on the floor. As with any exercise, it’s important to progress the loading as the individual develops the strength to perform it correctly. In this case, the overwhelming majority of people need to start performing push-ups on an inclined surface and focus on proper body positioning and proper movement (e.g. moving as a unit connected from ears to ankles, descending so that the lower chest is the first region to touch the ground or raised implement and keeping the elbows within 45 degrees of the side). As people progress in strength, you simply lower the implement closer and closer to the ground.

At Endeavor, we use the safety bars in our squat racks to accomplish this. This way it’s easy for us to objectively assess progress as each level is numbered. As the athlete gets stronger, they approach higher and higher numbers as the bar lowers closer to the ground.

Incline Push-Up

In a team off-ice training setting (especially with younger teams), this can be tough. In these situations, I’m more apt to use our jump boxes, which are set at heights of 24, 18, and 12 inches. Using these, I can start everyone at the top box and progress them lower on an individual basis as they demonstrate sufficient strength. If someone mastered the 18″ box, but isn’t quite ready for the 12″, you can just lengthen the negative or “going down” phase of every rep to make it a bit tougher.

Pressing movements are an essential part of any person’s training program. Unfortunately, they’re also one of the most common causes of upper body pain. Making the simple corrections discussed above will help make you stronger than ever, while keeping you pain free!

To your success,

Kevin Neeld
OptimizingMovement.com
UltimateHockeyTraining.com
HockeyTransformation.com

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“…one of the best DVDs I’ve ever watched”
“A must for anyone interested in coaching and performance!”

Click here for more information >> Optimizing Movement

This may be why you’re not playing…

A few years ago I had a really interesting conversation with one of our D1 hockey players at Endeavor.

It was his first Summer with us so I didn’t know much about him, but the report I got was that his coaches felt he was extremely skilled, but too fat, slow, and lazy to contribute a significant role on their team.

After spending some time with him, he wasn’t really fat at all (~12% body fat), he WAS definitely slow, and I think “lazy” wasn’t as true a descriptor as “laid back”.

He also prided himself on playing “smart” and not being one of those players that just ran around all over the ice.

This is a tough combination of qualities to overcome as a player.

Here’s the thing…if you’re 12% body fat, but you’re one of the fastest players one your team, you’re less likely to be perceived as “over fat” and even less likely to be perceived as lazy. If you’re fat and slow, but one of those players that brings an intense, focused look to every practice (e.g. not a laid back, joking personality), you won’t be interpreted as lazy either. Players that constantly move their feet and “run around all over the ice” may not be making the best use of their energy, but they certainly won’t be thought of as lazy.

But if you have a slightly higher body fat than the team average (most colleges look for <10%), you’re not fast, and you have a laid back personality, it’s hard to interpret you as anything except lazy, even if that’s not actually the case.

The reality is that players at every level bring different strengths and weaknesses to the team, based largely on their developed skill sets and genetic make up. And while I firmly believe every player can (and should) get faster, not every player on a team can be the fastest. This, however, rarely limits a player’s playing time on a team. In combination with the perception of him being lazy, though, will certainly send the wrong message to the coach and is likely to limit playing opportunities.

The reason I’m telling this story is because I think it’s important for players to understand how they may be perceived by their coaches (and even their teammates), even if…or especially if it’s not how they perceive themselves.

As I’ve talked about in the past (See: Play the Underdog), body language matters. So does how you respond to your coach’s feedback.

With this in mind, here are three common things youth players do, how these actions are likely to be interpreted by the coach, and how you can make subtle adjustments to improve the coach’s perception of your character. .

1) Action: Rolling your eyes while tilting your head back

Interpretation: I have no interest in your feedback and would rather continue doing things my way then even listen to what you’re telling me, let alone try your suggestion. Simply, I’m not coachable.

One of the few times I’d suggest not following Iron Man’s lead (Image from: EvilEnglish.net)

Better Action: Look the coach in the eye and just listen.

2) Action: Saying “I know!” or “I can’t…”

Interpretation 1: I’m quick to speak, but slow to listen. I think I already know what you’re telling me, despite my actions showing the opposite.

Interpretation 2: I’d rather give up then go through the uncomfortable process of improving.

Better Action: Look the coach int he eye and listen. When he/she is finished speaking, say “I’ll try that. Thank you.”

3) Sitting down/slouching at every opportunity

Interpretation: I’m tired and not ready to go.

Better Action in a training setting: Walk around and help spot/encourage teammates and clean up weights/equipment.

Better Action in game setting: Stand up, but if you must sit, stay engaged with the game. Anytime the coach looks your way, you want to look like you’re ready to go.

Wrap Up

These are very basic ideas, but making the subtle adjustments suggested above will make a huge impact on how your perceived by your coaches and teammates (For more tips on being a great teammate, click here: 10 Qualities of GREAT Teammates). A lot of this comes down to the two simple habits of being respectful and being engaged.

One of the greatest compliments someone can pay an athlete is to say that he/she is very “coachable”. Following the tips above will help you be just that. The best part is that it’s 100% within your control. Decide to be coachable and it’ll have a positive impact not only on the rest of your athletic career, but the rest of your life as you transition into the “real world” and have bosses instead of coaches, and coworkers instead of teammates.

To your success,

Kevin Neeld
HockeyTransformation.com
OptimizingMovement.com
UltimateHockeyTraining.com

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

Get Ultimate Hockey Transformation Now!

Year-round age-specific hockey training programs complete with a comprehensive instructional video database!

Get access to your game-changing program now >> Ultimate Hockey Transformation

“Kevin Neeld is one of the top 5-6 strength and conditioning coaches in the ice hockey world.”
– Mike Boyle, Head S&C Coach, US Women’s Olympic Team

“…if you want to be the best, Kevin is the one you have to train with”
– Brijesh Patel, Head S&C Coach, Quinnipiac University

Sports Nutrition Tip: Slow and Steady Wins the Race

Today I have another awesome sports nutrition tip from Brian St. Pierre, who authored the Nutrition Guide for my new program Ultimate Hockey Transformation. Enjoy! – KN

Tip #2: Slow and Steady Wins the Race

Have you ever missed out on accomplishing a goal or task because you were overwhelmed? Maybe you had too much information to sort through or tried to do too much at once.

If so, I’d like to share a powerful principle with you – one that can increase your chances of success.

And not just a little. If you apply the principles discussed here, your chances will skyrocket from less than 35% to greater than 80%.

That’s the difference between: “maybe this will work” and “this is totally gonna happen.”

The principle I want to share today is one that I use very comprehensively with my own clients.

And the principle is called: habit based coaching. So, what is habit-based coaching?

Well, it’s the commitment to a single, but immensely important idea: Focusing on less helps you achieve more.

What it all comes down to is this. In a world full of distracting “technologies”, “novelties”, “cutting edge resources”, and “gadgets”, one thing ALWAYS rules: the application of basic habits.

Research and experience with thousands of clients – “regular” folks, high school athletes, and professional athletes alike – has taught me that this is the best approach.

The key is to go slow and steady for long-lasting success.

Select only one habit at a time. You can choose any habit you want, whatever you think will have the biggest impact on your life. Or follow the monthly tips that will follow this one. Simply choose one habit per month (at most every 2 weeks).
Write this habit down. Put it on post it notes, or use iPhone reminders to help you do it each day.
Tell people you are doing this habit. This helps to provide social support, and social accountability.
Track your consistency daily. It’s not about perfection, simply progress over the long haul. You won’t get it 100% right every single day, and that is okay. Just aim to get better day by day, with the occasional hiccup, until you have that habit down pat.
Only then do you move on to your next habit.

Image Credit: OneSocialMedia.com

I know this may sound slow, or even boring. It is definitely more exciting to make big sweeping changes.

But here’s the thing – those big sweeping changes rarely last. There is too much change all at once, and nothing sticks. Instead, by just making one change at a time, you allow for that new habit to simply become what you do everyday.

Then, and only then, you add on a new habit. Before you know it, you will have radically changed the way you eat and think, will be fitter, healthier and performing at a higher level, and doing so in a sustainable manner.

So remember, slow and steady wins the race. Practice one new habit at a time, and you will change your life.

-Brian St. Pierre, MS, RD, CSCS, CISSN, PN1

P.S. For more information on how to get a copy of Brian’s incredible hockey nutrition resource, click here: Ultimate Hockey Transformation

Brian is a Registered Dietitian and received his Bachelor’s in Human Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Maine, where he also received his Master’s in Food Science and Human Nutrition. He is a Certified Sports Nutritionist as well as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist.

Brian worked for three years at Cressey Performance as the head Sports Nutritionist and as a Strength and Conditioning Coach, working with hundreds of athletes and recreational exercisers of all types. During this time, he also authored the High Performance Handbook Nutrition Guide, Show and Go Nutrition Guide, Ultimate Hockey Nutrition and dozens of articles for publication.

Nowadays, he works closely with Dr. John Berardi as a full-time coach and a nutrition educator at Precision Nutrition. In particular, working closely with our elite athletes and fitness professionals. As part of the Precision Nutrition mission, he helps to deliver life-changing, research-driven nutrition coaching for everyone.

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

Get Ultimate Hockey Transformation Now!

Year-round age-specific hockey training programs complete with a comprehensive instructional video database!

Get access to your game-changing program now >> Ultimate Hockey Transformation

“Kevin Neeld is one of the top 5-6 strength and conditioning coaches in the ice hockey world.”
– Mike Boyle, Head S&C Coach, US Women’s Olympic Team

“…if you want to be the best, Kevin is the one you have to train with”
– Brijesh Patel, Head S&C Coach, Quinnipiac University