I don't recommend a lot of supplements. In fact, I think most of the products widely used by athletes are complete garbage. Most are sold because of hyped up marketing claims that lack ANY research-based evidence. And the proportion of supplements randomly pulled from the shelf that would cause an athlete to fail a drug test is flat-out scary (upwards of 20%). With that said, there are a few supplements that have withstood research scrutiny, and have consistent benefits with essentially no real risk. Last week's post identified the "rockstar" of supplements and discussed a few lesser known benefits that recent research has elucidated. If you missed it, you can check it out at the link below!
 

>> The Magic Supplement <<

Endeavor Q&A
I was recently asked to do a Q&A with a college student as part of an internship requirement. I get asked these questions in one form or another fairly frequently, so I thought it would be instructive to share my responses with you. Enjoy!

What is the philosophy at Endeavor?
Improve athletic performance and injury resistance by grooving proper foundational movement patterns, and augmenting the athlete's ability to produce, reduce, and control force in velocities and directions commensurate with the demands of their primary sport.

Translation: Putting a bigger engine into a car with misaligned tires will help that car get to the wrong place, very quickly. The human body operates within a similar framework. Athletic performance and injury prevention are not mutually exclusive pursuits; in fact, they're the same. Movement QUALITY is the primary training goal. Its achievement inevitably coincides with improvements in more traditional markers of athletic performance (speed, power, strength, conditioning, etc.). Establishing quality movement gives us the green light to agressively improve athletic qualities, with the understanding that quality movement must NEVER be sacrificed in the process.

What makes Endeavor stand out and/or superior from the rest of the sports performance places in the area?
A comprehensive approach to program design built on the understanding that all aspects of movement and athleticism compliment one another and that the prolonged isolated development of any one quality will inevitably lead to suboptimal athletic performance, and impaired long-term athletic development.

Translation: Programs designed to improve ONLY speed and agility, vertical jumping ability, ACL prevention, etc are grossly short-sighted and limited in their ability develop athletes. The success of these programs stems from their ability to deliver a watered down product to a large number of athletes simultaneously (higher revenues per hour) and the overflow of misinformation about what quality training for athletes should consist of. This is not meant to be a pitch for our services at Endeavor. There are dozens of facilities across the country that understand comprehensive athletic development and have designed a hierarchy of training services to accommodate different income levels of the aspiring athletes in their area. I commend all of them, and have referred athletes and interns alike to several of them. Unfortunately, these facilities are still the exception, and the number of "trainers" that are either too ignorant or apathetic to pursue more advanced training information and subsequently create more comprehensive and appropriate athletic development programs still predominate. 

An in-depth understanding of movement impairments and neuromuscular imbalances that lead to extremely common, yet entirely unnecessary athletic soft-tissue injuries, and the pre-emptive corrective strategies to avoid these problems entirely.

Translation: This comes back to the idea of movement QUALITY first. The overwhelming majority of common injuries like ankle sprains and ACL tears could be prevented by helping the athlete develop a "mobility and stability reserve" (sufficient range of motion to avoid end-range in normal athletic movements AND sufficient control to quickly get out of potentially dangerous positions) and teaching the athlete proper movement mechanics. The same philosophies and methods that we use to describe components of our program geared toward improving athletic qualities are also effective in preventing common soft-tissue strains, such as those to the adductor ("groin"), hip flexors, quads, and hamstrings, even in high risk athletic populations.

What are some things that helps one succeed in the athletic development business?
Passion. Despite the glory typified of training athletes for a living, the reality is that it's an incredibly physically, mentally, and socially taxing occupation. The fitness industry in general kicks out thousands of "haphazard professionals" every year that can't deal with the long hours, necessity for continuing education, and lack of monetary incentive. On a personal note, I regularly spend 10-14 hours per day at Endeavor. Depending on the time of year, 10 of these hours could be running consecutive training sessions. Many of the remaining hours are spent in the pursuit of furthering my education to share better training strategies or coaching cues with our staff and to design more effective programs for our athletes.

The professionals that survive and thrive are the ones that truly love every educational endeavor, are excited to get up in the morning to help another person reach their goals, and understand that, very much like the process of athletic development, becoming a top professional in the training industry is a long-term process. I could write a book on the importance and process of networking and marketing to facilitate success in the athletic development industry, but all of these efforts are fruitless if the professional doesn't possess a strong passion!

How did you come to this part of your life as a coach? What are your aspirations and goals for the future?
My interest in sports training stemmed from an early observation of the profound impact that a mediocre training program had on my personal hockey career. Years later, I graduated from the University of Delaware with a Major in Health Behavior Science and a Minor in Strength and Conditioning, having completed internships at both UD and a local private high school. I immediately went on to pursue a Masters Degree in Kinesiology with a concentration of Exercise Neuroscience at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, during which I interned with the UMass Strength and Conditioning staff and at Cressey Performance, a top-ranked private training facility. After graduation I took over immediately as the Director of Athletic Development at Endeavor. While formal education has undeniably played an integral role in my ability to analyze information, the overwhelming majority of the information I use on a day-to-day basis was the result of self-driven educational endeavors.

My primary goal is to continue building our list of "success stories". The majority of athletes we work with have transformational seasons after they leave our facility. I'm proud to be a part of that process for them. The goal is to expand the number of athletes that we can deliver a quality service to and to constantly expand our knowledge and skill sets to allow more elite athletes to continue progressing.

On a personal note, I plan on getting more actively involved with NHL programs in the near future, and hope to have an opportunity to work at the Olympic level later in my career. From an educational standpoint, I'd like to do what I can to shed more light on the importance of respecting structural "abnormalities" of the hips (e.g. excessive ante- or retroversion of the femur or acetablum, femoroacetabular impingement, etc.) in the interest of preventing unnecessary strains to surrounding muscles and damage to the hip labrum, especially in high risk athletes like elite level hockey players. These structural adaptations and related injuries are still poorly understood amongst performance and rehabilitation professionals and very basic assessments and training strategies can have a profound impact on the athlete's performance and well-being.

To your success,