Muscles are not the smartest tissues in the human body. They pretty much just do as they are told. The complexity of muscles resides in the message they are being sent through the nerves and nervous system.  In the world of muscle contraction, there are terms that are commonly used to describe what is happening […]

Learning to be highly effective in any pursuit is about learning to deal with competing demands. Ben Franklin said, “For every minute spent in organizing, an hour is earned,” and, given all his life’s accomplishments, we can definitely improve ourselves by internalizing his motto. Last month we discussed how to get the most out of […]

KGB VOL 14: How to take full advantage of the off season I speak ad nauseum about mastering the basics. In my role as a performance consultant, I can have a conversation about this several times each day. Such repetition can be monotonous and, for some people, it is not their cup of tea. I […]

At almost all levels, the hockey season is long and the off-season is short. It is no secret that top strength coaches in the industry look at in-season strength and conditioning programs as an opportunity to get players stronger as well as improve on other athletic qualities.  While this approach is not brand new, there […]

Let me introduce you to one of my “secret weapons” of athletic performance: Blood Flow Restriction training (BFR). It is not new, but it is certainly making its way into every sports team, every progressive injury rehab clinic, and every results-driven gym in the world.  Take a quick tour on PubMed with “blood flow restriction” […]

I could say that I owe a lot to the game of hockey. It gave me the ability to travel and meet amazing people. I competed with incredible athletes and had the luxury of celebrating victory as well as mourning defeat. Hockey in a sense introduced me to my wife and is one of the […]

Who doesn’t love learning new skills while building on experience? Lifelong learning is not only healthy but it adds spice to life. The brain is an amazing structure capable of things we’ve scarcely begun to discover. Thankfully for those of us who are not highly-trained neuroscientists, there are some time-tested truths that we all have […]

AN ALTERNATE PERSPECTIVE ON GROIN HEALTH 10,00 ft view: Groin injuries are one of the most common causes of missed competition in the game of hockey. It is widely accepted that the most common cause of groin injuries is the extreme length of a player’s stride and the stress that puts on the soft-tissues. Many […]

“Recover to win” they tell you. Much like nutrition, the world of sport recovery is difficult to navigate. There are endless gadgets, sketchy information sources and recovery gurus always at your disposal. Like most problems, the solutions are likely somewhere in the middle of all this chaos. The 10,000 ft view: Recovery = REPEATABLE HIGH […]

There’s a widely-circulated meme that reads, “My only complaint about doing cardio is that it involves doing cardio.” Laugh if you want, but many devoted athletes and common gym rats find this statement highly relatable. The positive effects of cardiovascular training have been researched and proven for decades. Every person needs to train their heart […]