Another month, another post full of random thoughts that have been going through my head. Hope it sparks a little thought in people and you enjoy!

1. Diaphragmatic breathing is probably the simplest and easiest thing we can perform with our athletes when it comes to changing and improving movement and performance – and I am the first one to admit that I don’t do nearly enough with the teams I work with.
2. Treat an athlete like a person first, athlete second.
3. “Minimum dose. Maximum benefit.” – This should be a rule that every single strength coach or performance coach lives by.
4. The best ability an athlete can have is availability.
5. Credit goes to Anthony Donskov for bringing this to my attention over the last year or so, but isometric work is very underrated. Depending on the time of the year I think there is a strong case for having some sort of isometric work in the strength program at all times.
6. Consistently timing 10 yard sprints is one of the best additions to our off-ice program that we’ve ever made (thanks Tony Holler & Michael Boyle). We’ve always performed acceleration work, but the intent has improved (a night and day difference) when the athlete is sprinting versus the timer.
7. Dumbbell Rows have to be the hardest ‘easy’ exercise to teach people/athletes how to perform.
8. Understanding human behavior can potentially make you a better strength coach, yet many strength coaches put little effort into developing their ability to tap into human behavior. FYI, for those who want to work on this aspect of coaching, Brett Bartholomew has done a TON of great work on this stuff.
9. Working with hockey players has made me realize one key thing…hockey is a sport that is played in constant hip flexed position. Therefore, in order to do everything you can to keep hips healthy, I think its critical to train hip extension often in-season through sprinting, sled marching, 1-leg deadlift’s, slideboard leg curl’s, and 1-leg bench hip lift’s among other lifts/movements.
10. Volume in the weight room is a killer, especially in-season. I would be willing to bet that most athletes aren’t over-trained, most are actually under-recovered.