On The Road With The Chicago Blackhawks Strength Coach

Here’s an interesting video that recently surfaced — features Paul Goodman, strength and conditioning coach for the Chicago Blackhawks, and follows him around during a ‘Hawks road trip to see what a day in his life is like.

The Value of Goal Setting & Motivation To You and Your Workouts

One of my favourite things about not being a competitive athlete anymore is that I no longer have to compete (no more smashing my body up and taking 10 hour bus rides are some of the highlights).  It’s also been one of the hardest things to mentally adjust to as well–especially when it comes to training now.

Let me explain a little further.  When I was trying to climb the ladder in the hockey world, everything was a competition, both on the ice and off the ice.  On the ice, there’s obviously the team vs team conflict; but there’s also the individual battles to be better than other individual players on opposing teams, and also on your own.  You want to beat other teams, but you also want to get a lot of points, so you can get a lot more ice time, so important people notice you and give you the chance to move up.  You train as hard as you can in the summers and through the year to give yourself an edge over other players.  So season in and season out, it’s a necessity to be your best. Mentally, I’m glad to be done with that stuff as well.

These days when I workout, all that pressure if off and I don’t have to worry about people getting ahead of me.  I workout to stay in shape, and because I enjoy it.  But as gruelling as the competition used to be, it did do me one favour: it kept me focused on my goal and on track towards achieving it.  While my workouts now are far more relaxed than they used to be, without some of that focus and motivation I picked up along the way, they run the risk of becoming completely unproductive very quickly if I can’t stay tuned in.

If you take one thing away from reading this article, let it be the value of goal setting and motivation in your workouts.  What are you trying to achieve?  Weight loss?  Weight and mass gain? Are you training for a sport? Are your goals long or short term?  And perhaps most importantly, are they realistic?  If I stroll down to the gym once every month and a half in flip-flops, do a set of bench press and bicep curls and then leave, I don’t really have the right to wonder why I have chicken legs and don’t have six-pack abs.  However, if I establish a goal (lose abdominal fat and gain muscle mass, lose x amount of weight, run a marathon, etc) set a realistic timeline of when I want to achieve these things by (at least six weeks), and stick to the parameters of an appropriate training regimen and nutritional plan, those goals will begin to shift from unobtainable to obtained.  And of course, a fitness professional can scientifically lay out the amount of sets, reps, frequency, intensity, time, and type of exercise that is best suited to your specific goals and are appropriate for your body type, and can show you how to execute them all safely.

Another invaluable point about motivation is recognizing what your personal motivational style is.  I always had a difficult time working out on my own, and found I got far better results with a regular workout partner.  Some people love to plug in their iPod earbuds, tune out the world, and dive in on their own.  Some people benefit from a large group setting, such as a fitness class.  Maybe you work best at the crack of dawn, or maybe the evening is your optimal workout window.  The important thing is to be honest with yourself about who you are, and what environment is going to be most conducive of getting you to where you want to be.  Pick your style, and run with it.  If you are unsure, try them all and find out!

That brings me to my last point, which is that working out should be, and needs to be, fun.  If you are not enjoying your training time, eventually you will grow to hate it and not see the need for it at all.  If your workouts have grown stale, change them up!  If you hate the fitness class you’ve been going to for a year, try a new one!  If you’re grown bored of working out on your own, invite some friends along.  Maybe you would benefit from the competitive element of sports, and should take up a new one.  Whatever it takes to keep you off the couch, take a risk and do it.  Don’t be too proud or too scared to try new things, nor to not be any good at them.  Don’t compare yourself to others, compare yourself now to who you want to become.  Changing lifestyles and habits takes work, but it’s got to start somewhere.  Discovering your motivational style, maintaining it, setting goals, and enjoying yourself, are all key factors that will go a long way in spurring you on to achieving whatever fitness goal you’ve set for yourself.

If you need a goal setting or motivational reboot in your workouts, I’d be happy to help.  Come by World Gym Kelowna or West Kelowna today and see me, follow me on twitter, email me, or leave a comment — I’d be more than happy to help you set goals and make sure you reach them!

Integral Hockey stick repair

Hi folks!

Any of you just have your $300 composite hockey stick snap shortly after your warranty also expired? Well, this blog post may be for you. Check out what Integral Hockey can do for you and your stick budget.

-Dave

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Aerospace Technology Takes Composite Stick Repair To New Level 

New Development In Composite Repair Process Saving Teams, Players, & Parents $$$

Canadian business owner, and founder of Integral Hockey Inc., Randy Langille, of Port Alberni, BC, has developed a process in composite hockey stick repair that is quickly becoming the leading-edge repair system in the industry. Since the arrival of composite repair services, stick owners have had to make do when sending their broken sticks in for repair, namely, dealing with substantial loss of flexibility in their sticks – typically affecting several inches on either side of the break, along with a considerable increase in weight. The Integral Hockey repair process involves taking these broken sticks and repairing them applying true composite aerospace technology with the end result – no noticeable change in respect to weight, flex, kick-point and balance. Junior A, Junior B, Triple A Midget and Bantam teams, along with minor, as well as, rec-league players, are reporting no compromise in the dynamics of their repaired sticks, in addition to experiencing the cost-savings benefits. Further details along with testimonials and video clips on the performance of an Integral Hockey stick repair, may be found at the following lnk: http://www.integralhockey.com/media

Integral Hockey’s goal (pun intended), is to provide everyone involved within the dynamic hockey community, whether it be teams, players, parents, etc., from a local to eventual, international level, not only a trusted source in affordable composite stick repair, but in addition, offer superior quality and workmanship utilizing composite aerospace technology. In Langille’s own words, “We have taken a very real problem, solved it with the most high-tech solution on the market, and we’re delivering it at a price that will work for everyone. Something we are very proud of.”

In addition, Integral Hockey is doing their part in promoting a ‘Green’ agenda. They’ve implemented a system taking broken sticks that are beyond repair, and sending them to be ground into carbon fiber powder which can then be reused to manufacture other products, thereby reducing the carbon footprint from these composite sticks that typically end up in a land-fill. Integral Hockey considers themselves to be ‘the ultimate Canadian recycling business’.

Integral Hockey is the brainchild of former aircraft component manufacturer, Randy Langille. Having tested and refined repair techniques for several years during the early days of his manufacturing career, his desire was to use his skills to develop a process that would revolutionize the hockey stick repair industry. Hence, Integral Hockey was born. And, due to the tremendous response the company has already received in the short time since its inception, repair service locations along with franchise opportunities, are now available, Canada-wide.

For general information, or to contact Integral Hockey regarding repair locations in your area, please visit http://www.integralhockey.com. For inquiries on franchise opportunities, contact Gord Piercey at, gord@integralhockey.com, or call 250-710-5895.