James Van Riemsdyk, the 2nd overall pick by the Philadelphia Flyer’s in the 2007 draft, is one of the many notable hockey players that has walked through our doors at Endeavor Fitness.
In this interview with ABC, James talks about how he’s preparing for his NHL debut.
*If the video does not appear below, click here to watch it directly from the ABC site.
Last week we had over 10 NHL draft picks, 15 Division 1 NCAA players, and 6 soon to be D1 players training here. If you play hockey anywhere in the Mid-Atlantic area and still aren’t training here, you’re missing out on a phenomenal opportunity to take your game to the next level.
As with all of my services, results are guaranteed.
If you don’t live anywhere near Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, or New Jersey, but are still interested in making huge improvements this summer, shoot me an email at kneeld@endeavorfit.com. I have a few online training client spots left for DEDICATED athletes. With online training you’ll receive a comprehensive training program customized to fit your specific needs with instructions on how to perform the exercises and how to select the your loads/intensities. You’ll also receive nutrition consultation based on your needs.
Email me now. Training groups are filling up fast with players like this:
– Kevin Neeld
The other day I suggested that hockey players may be making a big training mistake, a balance training mistake. I’m referring to training that involves standing on medicine balls, stability balls, dynadisks, etc.
Don’t get me wrong, I think unstable lower body training has a place in rehabilitation settings, especially for lateral ankle sprains. I DO NOT see a place for standing on these objects for healthy hockey players. Yes, hockey requires a lot of balance and stability, but NO it does not require these things while standing on a round object!
I can understand the appeal of mastering these circus acts, but they won’t make you a better hockey player. Balance is extremely movement and surface specific. This is evident by watching a team of talented youth hockey players go through a dynamic warm-up that requires single-leg stability (for details on how to design your own hockey-specific dynamic warm-ups using hockey-specific exercises, check out Hockey Training U’s Off-Ice Performance Training Course).
Despite their admirable skating ability on the limited surface area of a skate blade, many of them have trouble balancing on one foot off the ice, despite a much large surface area. Unstable surface training has been excessively misinterpreted and misused. Eric Cressey put together a phenomenal resource outlining the myths of unstable surface training. Of more interest to most people, he also includes a wide variety of awesome core training exercise progressions and the neurological rationale for why these exercises are beneficial. For only $39.99, I think this is a resource that every athlete (or coach that trains athletes) should invest in. I use it as a reference on a regular basis. STOP standing on stability balls, and START training smarter.
For more information on Eric Cressey’s Truth About Unstable Surface Training, click here.
– Kevin Neeld
Hockey is by far the most physically demanding sport out there. If you’re an athlete/coach of another sport, here me out before you send me hate mail.
I DON’T mean hockey players need the highest level of anaerobic or aerobic conditioning. I DON’T mean that hockey players need to be the strongest. I DON’T mean that hockey players need to be the most coordinated.
I DO mean that when you consider every aspect of athleticism, hockey is the most demanding sport. Think about it: All of the hand-eye coordination necessities of sports like lacrosse and basketball are present in puck handling in hockey. All the metabolic demands of most team sports are present in hockey (although there are some obvious slight differences between more aerobic-based sports like soccer and basketball and between more strictly anaerobic-based sports like football). All the strength requirements of high-speed contact team sports are required of hockey players.
So what sets hockey apart? All of these physical demands are tacked on top of mastering the art of skating-maneuvering on a thin metal blade with a forward-backward rocker and side-to-side hollow. Skating is an incredibly challenging activity by itself. Need proof? Throw an athlete from any other sport on a pair of skates and watch them learn (read: fall…hilariously).
Despite the limited surface area of the skate blade on the ice, I think many hockey players are making a huge off-ice training mistake. More on this soon…
Kevin Neeld
At Endeavor Fitness, our Summer Hockey Training Programs just started. One of the kids in my Pro Hockey Group, that I have Monday-Thursday for 2 hours, felt lightheaded and sick about 90 minutes into the 2nd training session of the first week. This is somewhat common as deconditioned athletes jump back into intense regimented training.
Having said that, feeling sick should never be a training goal. There’s nothing funny or boast-worthy about working to the point of throwing up. It’s pathetic that some coaches encourage this. I’ll clear up any confusion here: The training effect you get from pushing yourself to the point of projectile sickness is NOT better (and is, in fact, worse) than the training effect you get if you stop prior to this point.
So when my athlete hit the point that he thought he may be sick, I shut him down for the day. He was disappointed that he couldn’t finish the session. I helped him understand that it was Day 2, and he had plenty of time to make the progress he wanted. He basically had the option of being in one of two places:
1) He could be deconditioned, or
2) He could be deconditioned and sick
It’s that simple.
The take home messages:
1) If you’re training to the point of sickness you’re doing yourself a disservice.
2) If your coach takes pride in pushing you to the point of sickness, find a new coach.
Smart hockey training revolves around appropriate starting points and progressions.
– Kevin Neeld
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