Postural Restoration Institute Comes to Endeavor

If you’ve been reading my articles for the past year, you know that I’ve been heavily influenced by the Postural Restoration Institute (PRI). The lens through which they view functional movement and body system integration is both fascinating and unique, and frankly the results we’ve achieved using their methods has been nothing short of amazing in some cases. Using fairly remedial exercises, we’ve been able to restore symmetrical movement in a considerably asymmetrical pelvis or shoulder, to create a shift toward a more parasympathetic state decreasing the individual’s threat response (and related pain), and have been able to decrease tension in muscles that have felt tight for months (and in some cases even years) all in only a few minutes.

Without question, the money I’ve spent on PRI has been the most worthwhile of any continuing education endeavor I’ve pursued to date. Not only do their courses force me to learn functional anatomy on a whole new level, but they’ve completely changed the way I view movement in general. While PRI is rapidly gaining popularity among some of the top rehab and performance folks across the country, surprisingly, they’ve never presented a course on the East Coast between Baltimore and Boston, which, I imagine, is the most densely populated area of sports rehab and training professionals in the country. That, fortunately, all changes this November.

I’m proud to announce that on November 10-11, Endeavor Sports Performance will be hosting a two-day seminar from the Postural Restoration Institute titled “Myokinematic Restoration”. PRI was established to explore and explain the science of postural adaptations, asymmetrical patterns and the influence of polyarticular chains of muscles on the human body. Their mission is based on the development of an innovative treatment approach that addresses the primary contributions of postural kinematic movement dysfunction.

*The course is approved for CEU credits by the AOTA, BOC, NCBTMB, APTA, and NSCA.

REGISTER HERE: PRI’s Myokinematic Restoration

Course Objectives:

Outline biomechanical principles of lower half musculoskeletal dysfunction as they relate to rotational patterns of the femur, pelvis and lumbar spine.
Describe how musculoskeletal dysfunction relates to articular chain asymmetry and patterns of synergistic compensatory activity.
Apply examination and assessment skills to neuromuscular dyssynchrony and postural asymmetries that affect stability and function of the lower half.
Restore synchronous activity across the lumbo-pelvic-femoral complex and improve neuromuscular motor control of the muscles that stabilize these joints.

Course Description:

This advanced lecture and lab course explores the biomechanics of contralateral and ipsilateral myokinematic lumbo-pelvic-femoral dysfunction. Treatment emphasizes the restoration of pelvic-femoral alignment and recruitment of specific rotational muscles to reduce synergistic patterns of pathomechanic asymmetry. Emphasis will be placed on restoration, recruitment and retraining activities using internal and external rotators of the femur, pelvis and lower trunk. Identification and isolation techniques to inhibit overactive musculature will enable the course participant to restore normal resting muscle position. Participants will be able to immediately apply PRI clinical assessment and management skills when treating diagnosis such as “piriformis syndrome”, right SI joint dysfunction, and low back strain.

Due to equipment limitations, attendance will be limited and given the popularity of this course, spots are expected to fill up fast. Don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity. Reserve your spot today!

REGISTER HERE: PRI’s Myokinematic Restoration

In a couple days, I’m going to address a couple questions I get regarding whether to do the home study or live course, and on how to integrate this information into a structured training setting. Until then, I urge you to click on the link above to read more about this course, about PRI in general, and if it suits you, to join us at Endeavor in November. You can read more about how we’ve applied their methods to the hockey population in these two posts:

If you have any questions, please post them below and I’ll get back to you ASAP.

To your success,

Kevin Neeld

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Hockey Training Tip: Single-Leg Stability

Hockey Training Tip: When a player doesn’t have good single-leg stability, it is common to see his/her knee collapse in while in single-leg stance. This is important because when the knee collapses in, the players foot rolls in and puts more force on the inside edge of the skate blade. These players tend to ride their inside edge on their glide leg, and therefore “brake” against the propulsive force produced by their stride leg. This isn’t only inefficient, it also puts the player at an increased risk of injury.

In addressing this issue, it’s important to recognize that knee position is largely influenced by hip control. While the foot can also influence knee position (those with “flat” or overpronated feet also tend to have an inward collapse of the knee), training the muscles of the lateral hip and grooving a quality single-leg pattern seems to be the most appropriate strategy to help improve this movement impairment.

Bad knee position due to poor hip control

Better knee position with better hip activation

Poor alignment

Corrected

One of the exercises we use the most frequently to help correct this is a simple Lateral MiniBand Walk. The band acts to pull the knees in toward each other, which helps active the muscles on the outside of the hip to prevent this from happening.

Lateral MiniBand Walk

*If you don’t have them already, you can pick up a few MiniBands here: MiniBands

Naturally, this is just one step in improving this pattern. It’s important to reinforce proper alignment during all movements/exercises, especially those that involve single-leg stance.

To your success,

Kevin Neeld

P.S. Check out Ultimate Hockey Training for more hockey training strategies to improve single-leg strength and skating speed!

P.S.2. When you sign up for my newsletter (below) you’ll automatically receive a FREE copy of my hockey speed training manual “Breakaway Hockey Speed”.

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Hockey Training Tip: Speed Limitation

Hockey Speed Training Tip: When attempting to improve a player’s speed, it’s important to determine what the limiting factor to his or her performance is. A few of the most common culprits are:

Skating technique
Lower body strength/power
Single-leg stability

Training single-leg strength is a great way to improve skating speed

When coaches instruct a player to do things like bend their knees, get down lower, and “stop on a dime”, in many cases the player does not physically possess the capacity to do so. In other words, until the player’s strength and power is improved, they physically are incapable of doing what the coach asks. Identifying and training the limiting factor will save the player and coach a ton of frustration and lead to faster, more remarkable progress.

To your success,

Kevin Neeld

P.S. Check out Ultimate Hockey Training for more hockey training strategies to improve skating speed!

P.S.2. When you sign up for my newsletter (below) you’ll automatically receive a FREE copy of my hockey speed training manual “Breakaway Hockey Speed”.

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

Pre- and Post-Game Meals for Hockey Players

A couple days ago I posted the presentation (with the videos) I gave at the USA Hockey Level 4 Coaching Clinic in NJ. If you missed it, check it out here: USA Hockey Level 4 Presentation

After the talk, I got a great question from one of the coaches in attendance. To paraphrase, he wanted to know what the ideal pre- and post-game meals or supplements were to help prepare for and recovery from optimal performance. I love this question. It demonstrates an understanding of the impact that food/fuel can have on an athlete’s performance/recovery. Naturally, as the players achieve higher and higher levels of performance, their approach to training, nutrition, and recovery will need to be tweaked to squeak out as much potential as possible.

That said, in every performance category it’s important to understand the perspective of where the player is starting. It is very common for folks to be attracted to the strategies used by the elite, but when a player has a large adaptation window (or huge room for improvement) then the strategies they use should be simple. There are tons of applications of this concept, but relevant to this coach’s question, the best thing a hockey player could do to improve their performance (and overall health, durability, immune system resiliency, etc.) is to start eating REAL food (food that can be hunted or grown). We’re talking about a population that eats almost entirely processed foods, largely grain- or high fructose corn syrup based. There is a HUGE window for drastic improvement simply by changing to higher quality nutrient choices throughout the day. Throw out the snacks and start eating actual food, not food products.

I’ve been a big supplement guy in the past, and I’m not opposed to them now, but giving a 14 year old that eats garbage all day a Muscle Milk after their workout sends the wrong message. I think we need to make a bigger push toward holistic eating in our youth. Food is incredibly powerful, much more so than people recognize.

And kids may be smarter than we give them credit for.

I say all that to say this: The message that needs to be sent is that “pre-game” preparedness is a year-round endeavor. You can’t eat garbage all week or all day and then eat grilled chicken, quinoa, and steamed broccoli and expect to overcome all the prior poor decisions. With that said, if framing this message in a “these are the best foods to eat before and after practices and games” gets kids to eat two meals a day of higher quality foods, then it’s worthwhile. This can then be used as a springboard for adapting other dietary habits.

To provide some applicability to this post, I generally recommend players eat a meal pre- and post-game that consists of a plate divided up into thirds with a lean meat (e.g. chicken, turkey, ham, and eggs), vegetable (e.g. broccoli, spinach, peppers, asparagus, and carrots), and quality grain source (e.g. quinoa, sweet potato, and gluten-free pasta or rice). This gives the players the freedom to choose foods that they enjoy. If a meal can’t be consumed within an hour or so following getting off the ice, players would do well to grab a chocolate milk ASAP after getting off the ice. I still don’t think kids should drink Gatorade; if there is a push for a sports drink then they’d be better off with Generation UCAN.

If you’re looking for other great food choices, check out this “high performance” grocery list. I also highly recommend you pick up a copy of Ultimate Hockey Nutrition, which is the single-best Hockey Nutrition resource I’ve ever come across. It was written as a companion resource to my book Ultimate Hockey Training, but if you want to dive into the nutrition stuff first, you can pick up a copy of UHN by clicking the link below.

Grab your copy here >> Ultimate Hockey NutritionTo your success,

Kevin Neeld

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USA Hockey Level 4 Presentation

On Saturday I had an opportunity to present at the USA Hockey Level 4 Coaches Clinic in New Jersey. I was fortunate to sit in on the presentations from John Riley, Kerry Fraser, and Ryan Walter, all of which were insightful and inspiring. It makes me miss being on the ice!

As is often the case during events like this, the schedule was changed a bit and I had about 40 minutes to get through 60 minutes of material. While I was able to get through most of it, I did have to skim over some of the slides and skip over a few videos, a couple of which I think are extremely beneficial for coaches to see (e.g. the dynamic warm-up and lateral miniband walk videos). As a result, I wanted to post a copy of the power point (in PDF format), and the videos to the presentation below, so anyone in attendance that’s interested has an opportunity to review the material and post any questions they may have below.

Also, I know there was a lot of interest in where to buy some of the basic equipment I reference in the presentation (i.e. foam rollers and minibands). You can buy some of this stuff at any sporting goods store, but I’ve found the quality is pretty poor. The only company we use is Perform Better. Their stuff is high quality, inexpensive, and they have the best customer service out there. For your convenience, you can access the foam rollers (get 1′ 6″ round rollers for your whole team), and minibands (I recommend the yellow ones for younger teams, and green and blue for peewees and above) here: Foam Rollers, MiniBands.

I’ll be posting Q&As and a couple points of clarification on important training methods and their application to hockey performance throughout the week, so please post any questions/comments you have below.

You can download the presentation here: Physical Development for the Hockey Athlete

Videos are below. I also included a few that were in the talk I gave at the USA Hockey U-14 Regional Camp in Colorado Springs earlier in the Summer.

Enjoy.

Foam Roll Circuit