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15 Things I Learned in 2015

What a year it has been.

Since April, I’ve had the pleasure of serving as strength & conditioning coach for a youth hockey organization. This includes working with numerous young hockey players between the ages of 14 and 20 each week.

Nothing makes me happier than watching an athlete put in the work and gaining another step towards fulfilling their potential. And several of our guys have certainly done that.

Urho Vaakanainen, Joonas Niemelä and Samuli Rasilainen have already made their debuts with Blues Espoo in the Finnish Elite League. Vaakanainen cracked the lineup at age 16 and was the first ´99 born in the entire country to play in the top Finnish professional league.

Contrary to many pre-tournament predictions, Kasper Björkqvist played his way into the Finnish roster at WJC 2016 and scored a goal in last night’s 8-3 victory over Slovakia.

Photo credit: Leijonat.fi

Many others went on to don the Finnish national team jersey with the U17, U18, U19 and U20 national teams in international tournaments over the past few months.

While the individual success of our hockey players delights me, this has also been a continuous learning process on a personal level.

I’m always pondering how I can tweak our training system so that the athletes get even better results faster.

Here are 15 things I learned (and re-learned) in 2015…

1. Staying Healthy Is #1 Priority

What’s the best way to win games?

Having your best players healthy and able to play.

That’s what former Boston Bruins and Boston University strength coach, Mike Boyle, said in one of his Functional Strength Coach DVDs and this thought really resonated with me.

3 Cups in 6 years… You want to keep these guys healthy and producing on the ice

Losing your top goal scorer or starting goalie to an injury chasing arbitrary numbers in the weight room doesn’t help you win.

Keeping the guys healthy and ready to perform when it’s go time does.

My Best Articles of 2015

Holiday season went by fast.

Good. Never could understand all that fuss.

Though it was great to train in an empty gym when everyone else was busy eating their way into a carb coma.

I was working on some new movements like the ring pelican push-up and 1 arm dragonflags. Oh, and also managed to hit three PR’s on Boxing Day.

Yes, it was a great Christmas.

The other day, I laid out the 10 most popular articles of mine based on page views, social media likes/shares and e-mails received from readers in the past year.

Now it’s my turn.

Here are my own top 5 choices for best articles of 2015.

#5 5 Things Every Hockey Player Needs to Do in the Off-Season

As I’ve pointed out multiple times in the past, you can definitely achieve solid strength and performance gains during the hockey season – if you know what you’re doing.

Still, the off-season provides the greatest window of opportunity for individual progress. You can’t go wrong when following these five tips next summer.

10 Most Popular Articles of 2015

With 2015 coming to an end, it’s time to compile the very best of the very best information on this site.

Here’s a look back at the TOP 10 most popular articles I wrote this year based on page views, reader e-mails and likes/comments/shares on social media.

#10 How to Avoid Shoulder Pain

Smart training and making progress is all about staying healthy. Here’s how you avoid or train around shoulder injuries.

#9 3 Advanced Ab Exercises I Like

You know those training programs that have you doing 500 sit-ups and bicycle kicks in a workout?

They suck.

Check out these three advanced exercises for core training that’s not stupid.

My Favorite Training Gear

I’m a total gearhead.

Few things can get me as excited as trying out new training equipment.

Most fitness gadgets are overpriced, overhyped crap. So I decided to compile this list of my favorite training gear to help you get more out of your gym sessions.

And with Christmas approaching, finding one of these items gift-wrapped under the tree will put a smile on the face of any weekend warrior or washed-up meathead.

Weight Vest

Very handy for loading bodyweight exercises like push-ups, dips or chin-ups with external resistance.

Also great for conditioning when worn while walking.

Why Deload Weeks Are Overrated

When should you schedule a deload or “light” week?

Good question. And one that deserves a moment of deeper reflection…

Going heavy for three weeks and drastically cutting volume and intensity on the fourth to drive supercompensation is a staple in popular powerlifting programs.

Thus, that would be a great rule to follow. Except for one tiny problem… it sucks for non-powerlifters.

First of all, most people in commercial gyms don’t train hard enough to warrant a lighter week in the first place.

I see all these dudes coasting through their workouts day after day… Then they wanna “take it easy” because they fear they might get overtrained from another week of 3×12 leg presses and a few sets on the peck dec machine?

But what if you’re actually one of the few guys more interested in improving your strength and athleticism than posing in the mirror for Instagram pics or exchanging weekend drinking stories with other gym-goers?

Surely you gotta deload properly then?

While I do believe the three powerlifts – especially certain joint-friendlier variations – have merit for building up athletes in the weight room, the truth remains…

You don’t use a training system designed for one sport to prepare athletes competing in another sport.

The typical plan of hitting the weights hard for three weeks, followed by a deload that is common among elite powerlifters is about the dumbest thing you can do for a hockey player or other team sport athlete.

Why?

Great New Ab Exercise

The other week, I posted an article detailing three awesome abdominal exercises. One of them was the Valslide push-up with forward reach, which you can see below.

I played around with this exercise for a couple weeks, after which they became too easy for me. So I immediately started looking for ways to make the exercise more demanding.

One option would have been to add a weight vest (which I did), or move on to the gymnastic rings (which I also did).

After three weeks of tweaking things, here’s what I came up with…

I worked up to 10 reps while wearing a 20 kg weight vest. Not easy!

Here are a few reasons why I like this variation:

• Much more challenging since Continue Reading

TOP 11 Metallica Training Songs

Back in the day I would get really psyched up before a big lift and couldn’t approach a barbell without In Flames, Killswitch Engage, AC/DC or Metallica blasting through the loudspeakers.

Over the years, I’ve moved away from a powerlifting-centric training program to one prioritizing bodyweight movements and dumbbell exercises that won’t beat up my joints as badly.

I’ve also mellowed out in the music department and in the last month alone have set PR’s listening to 50 Cent, Bomfunk MC’s and Red Hot Chili Peppers.

But I still get that extra kick whenever a raw, hard metal song with banging guitar riffs and a hoarse, heavy voice like that of James Hetfield comes on.

Here are my top picks for the best Metallica training songs of all time…

#11 Some Kind of Monster

How can you not approach a weight with unshakable determination when James starts shouting “Some kind of MONSTEEERRRRR”. Instantly adds a 10% increase on any lift.

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