Gary Roberts Q&A: Talking with one of hockey's most revered trainers

http://www.si.com/edge/2015/03/31/talking-with-gary-roberts-nhl-training

In his 21 seasons with the National Hockey League, Gary Roberts was known for his style of play: tough and rough. His grueling on-ice presence, combined with crushing physical ability, left opponents knowing that Roberts was a bodily threat if they dared to enter his orbit. Roberts was a specimen of muscular health.

But in 1996, after years of intense play, Roberts developed bone spurs and nerve damage in his neck, limiting his arm function. He underwent two surgeries to relieve the nerve impingement to regain full use of his upper extremities, but his return to the NHL was doubtful.

“After the surgeries, I had hoped to be able to live a normal and active life, but I never thought I would play competitive hockey again,” Roberts tells SI.com. “Fortunately for me, I was put in touch with experts who used cutting-edge techniques to help me become strong enough to play again.”

Yes, play again—for 13 additional seasons prior to his retirement in March 2009 at age 43. 

Since he retired, Roberts has combined his experiences with his own injury and rehabilitation and love for cutting-edge strength and conditioning to become one of the most respected and well-known physical training experts in the NHL and amateur hockey today. In 2011, Roberts officially founded the Gary Roberts High Performance Training Centre in North York, Ontario.

“The GRHPT is the philosophy I developed through my own personal experiences as a player in the NHL,” says Roberts, who played for the Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Tampa Bay Lightning.

“What I realized in the last few years of my career, as an older player, is that I really enjoyed working with the younger players to try and help them prepare to play—and hopefully avoid some of the challenges I faced over the years.”

Roberts talked with SI.com about some of those challenges and what his experiences in the NHL have taught him.

SI.com: Tell me about the Gary Roberts High Performance Training Center

Gary Roberts: The GRHPT is an integrated approach to achieve peak performance in sport, particularly hockey. It brings together three critical components—customized training, proper nutrition and recovery strategies that, when combined in specific ways, help optimize athletic performance.

SI.com: How has strength and conditioning evolved in the NHL?

GR: I believe the importance of strength training and speed work has increased—the game is faster now, so you need to be able to skate well in order to play. … It used to be more endurance-based with a focus on your max VO2. Too much endurance training hinders progress in strength training and can actually make you slower.

SI.com: What strength training approach do you take with new trainees?

GR: I believe in customized training for each individual player that is developed with the insight from substantial testing. That training needs to be supported with proper nutrition and appropriate recovery measures.

SI.com: What areas of nutrition do you stress in your training programs?

GR: Proper nutrition is absolutely critical—it’s what supports recovery and fuels progress. But it’s not only about eating a variety of nutritious food—it’s about what to eat and when to eat it.”

SI.com: What are your thoughts on dietary supplementation?

GR: I don’t believe in a lot of dietary supplementation. What I think is critical is eating nutritious whole foods. However, I do take some supplements that I consider important like vitamin C, vitamin D, magnesium, omega 3 oils and probiotics.”

SI.com: What's the appropriate age for hockey athletes to begin participating in a strength and conditioning program? 

GR: Around 14 years of age, which is typically when they are physically mature enough to do strength and resistance training. They need to begin preparing to play in leagues, like junior hockey leagues, where they will play against 16- to 20-year olds.”

SI.com: Who are some of the most memorable athletes you've trained?

"[Steven Stamkos], an extremely talented hockey player; he is also very dedicated in how he prepares to play and professional in how he approaches the game. [Connor McDavid] is very similar [to Stamkos]—extremely talented and very dedicated to his preparation. I expect he will enjoy the same kind of success in the NHL as Stamkos.”

“[Hodgson's] another player I have worked with for a long time who is very dedicated to how he prepares to play. He stands out because his preparation was very complicated as he persevered through injury early in his career. He had to be patient and cautious, and stay the course, which he did.”

SI.com: What was your training regimen like during your NHL career?

GR: In the first part of my career, up until my neck injuries, I spent a higher percentage of time focusing on endurance training and less time on strength training—that wasn’t optimal for me to support the kind of game I played. … In the second half of my career, after my neck surgeries, I changed all aspects of my preparation. My training focused more on power with heavier resistance training, along with agility, explosiveness and speed training.”

SI.com: How has that changed today?

GR: My focus now is on maintaining mobility and strength—ex-hockey players can seize-up pretty quickly. I still do a significant amount of strength training, but not with as heavy resistance as when I was playing. I also continue to do agility and speed work.”

SI.com: What advice do you have for athletes trying to excel in hockey?

GR: Success in hockey requires an ongoing commitment to an integrated program that includes customized training, proper nutrition and recovery.

Behind the Body: Tampa Bay Lightning's center Steven Stamkos

http://www.si.com/edge/2015/03/20/behind-body-steven-stamkos-tampa-bay-lightning-workouts-nutrition

It was a scary scene in November 2013—with less than eight minutes remaining in the second period of a contest against the Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos pounded his fist on the ice in agonizing pain. After smashing his right leg into the goalpost of Tampa Bay’s net, trainers told him he fractured his tibia. He returned to the ice in March 2014, but now a year later, reminders of his devastating leg injury still linger.

“It was tough—I had never had a major injury like that before in my life,” says Stamkos, who is a two-time recipient of the Maurice Richard Trophy. “You realize how tough it is—you have a new perspective and appreciation for the game. I learned how powerful the mind is. When you’re thinking positive and think you can push your body to the limit in order to recover, you can do it.”

But it was a combination of Stamkos’ extensive recovery and rehabilitation programs that helped to get back on the ice a mere four months after being taken out of Boston’s TD Garden on a backboard and stretcher.

“It was long. It was tough,” Stamkos says. “We were going four to six hours a day when I was just trying to get back and walk. We were lucky to use the resources and assets we had, like underwater treadmills [and] certain supplements to help the bone-healing process. It was grueling, but it was worth it in the end.”

Training grounds: Gary Roberts High Performance Centre, North York, Ont.

Current condition of leg injury: “I don’t think there’s a day that goes by that I haven’t felt it in a certain capacity—a lot of it is a mental thing, so if you can get over that mental hurdle, you can go on the ice and put in the work. Last off-season was big to be able to try and strengthen that leg and regain the muscle. It’s definitely getting there.”

Days spent working in the gym per week: Three to four days in the summer, and at least one day per week during the season.

Typical summer workout: “Wednesdays and Saturdays are track days. We’ll do dynamic warm-ups, stretches, quick feet, agility and then we’ll get into our sprints, whether it’s explosive days or going for a little more cardio. We’ll try to mix in a yoga session, too, and usually Sundays are our day off where you try and regroup, and get ready for Monday.”

Typical in-season workout: “Usually, you get a day off [each] week, so you’re at the rink six days a week, whether you’re practicing or playing. You try and mix-in your workouts when you don’t have a game the next day. Our trainer usually tries to get the guys together, depending on the schedule, for at least one workout a week as a team and do something not too crazy because the schedule is pretty tough.”

Secret workout: Belt squat machine and the curved treadmill. “It’s a safer way than doing back squats. It’s a little easier on your body and still generates the same power. [The curved treadmill] is not plugged into anything so you’re generating the power on your own. With the curve, it’s forcing you to use your hamstrings and glutes a lot more, so it’s a tough one.”

Most essential exercises for top on-ice performance: “I think, for me, it’s all about explosiveness—any type of jumping or light squatting with explosive movements. That’s probably the thing that benefits me the most.”

Body fat percentage: “It’s usually between eight and 12 percent.”

Body change, pre-NHL until present: “You mature. I was 18 years old when I came in and I’m 25 now. So, just physically over time you are going to get bigger and stronger. You realize it’s not about how much you weigh but how strong you are, and I’ve been able to gain a lot of muscle over the years. You physically change and realize how hard it is to compete—you learn that pretty quick.”

Typical diet: Steak, fish, chicken, with a mix of veggies and carbs. “In the off-season, I’m pretty strict with my diet—everything I do is mostly organic. We have a company that we partner-up with in the Toronto area that provides us with our food. During the year, it’s a little different—you’re traveling so you’re eating out more.

Favorite pre-game meal: “I usually try to have a little pasta and a little chicken, and a salad.”

Guilty pleasure: “If I’m going to go off the chart, I would probably go to McDonald’s.”

Specific drink to celebrate with: “I wouldn’t say celebrate with but I am a big Caesar fan. I know Canadian fans will know what I’m talking about. For the Americans, it’s a Bloody Mary, but I think it’s way better in Canada—we use Clamato juice. Any time throughout the year we go to Canada I make sure to try and have one … if I can get one.”

Intense lifting is building Bishop Gorman football into national power

http://www.si.com/edge/2015/02/06/bishop-gorman-high-football-french-contrast-lifting

The Bishop Gorman High Gaels have amassed six straight Nevada state football championships—as great a run as any seen in Las Vegas, on or off The Strip. But what’s behind such success? For USA Today’s No. 1 ranked squad, the program’s strength begins with…strength.

“Any team that wants to a compete for a championship at any level has to have not a good strength program, but a great one,” head coach Kenneth Sanchez tells SI Edge. “And that’s what we have here at Bishop Gorman. It’s the foundation in which our house here at Gorman is built on.”

The French Contrast strength and conditioning method, originally developed by French sports scientist Gilles Cometti, combines complex (a high load lifting set and plyometric exercise) and contrast methods (a near-maximal load, followed by a lighter sub-maximal load performed as one set), and has become a pivotal pie-slice in Bishop Gorman’s strength development—thanks to strength and conditioning coach Sean Manuel.

“It takes advantage of high motor unit recruitment using heavy weight, then using plyometrics to stimulate the nervous system, then using light weight at high speeds, followed by an over-speed movement,” says Manuel, who is a National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS). “French Contrast, done properly, trains the body to produce greater power outputs, creating a more explosive athlete.”

Manuel, who just completed his fifth successful season at Bishop Gorman, began initiating the French Contrast protocol last season, as an avenue to break away from common weight room strength training. “This has been an evolution,” says the two-time American Football Monthly national high school strength coach of the year. “We used to use a basic linear progression (light to heavy). Then I started to research an undulating block method after reading Cal Dietz’s Triphasic Training book. It made a lot of sense and that’s when I started experimenting with the French Contrast method.”

Before the Bishop Gorman players become eligible for the world of French Contrast training, they are taught body function basics—beginning each January for two to three months—and must meet intense criteria before graduating into the program’s advanced training. The prerequisite requires athletes to focus on corrective exercises, core strength, hip mobility training, proper functional movement patterns and general strength training, followed by a phase where they’re tested to see if they’ve made the cut.

“We work from a base where we develop stability and flexibility in the kids, as well as identify faulty movement patterns and muscular imbalances,” Manuel explains. “We work to correct these first, then we work to put size on the kids (hypertrophy). After gaining some size, we develop absolute strength and work to get the kids to lift 1.5 to 2 times their bodyweight on the squat, and .75 to 1.25 times their bodyweight on the bench. Once we hit these strength [markers] we turn to French Contrast methods.”

It’s generally observed that most players performing French Contrast have a prior two years of strength training experience, but the genetic freaks are advanced forward after one.

“Freshmen and sophomores usually don’t go into French Contrast,” Manuel says. “Those who don’t, stay in the strength phase to get them to reach the markers.”

The team’s French Contrast approach begins with a squat exercise (1-2 repetitions, 80-90% of a 1 repetition maximum), followed by a plyometric movement (3-6 repetitions) of either box jumps, drop squat jumps, hurdle jumps, split jumps or depth jumps.

“The key to creating dynamic movement patterns is focusing on the reactive eccentric drop followed by the explosive concentric secondary action,” Manuel says. “You want to drop like someone just pulled the lever on a trap door you are standing on. Then jump up as high and fast as you can.”

And that’s not all. Next comes a sub-maximal squat jump (3-6 repetitions, 20-40% of a 1 repetition maximum).

“French Contrast has produced tremendous strength gains in our athletes,” says master personal trainer Robert Burgman, Bishop Gorman’s athletic training center coordinator. “We have measured their gains in rate of force development (RFD) and it was greatly increased over previous years due to the recruitment of specific muscle fibers.”

Finally, the players are required to execute over-speed assisted band jumps (4-8 repetitions), performed by attaching resistance bands to the squat rack. The four French Contrast modules are merged into a single circuit, consisting of three sets and a three to five minute rest between each set.

“I went, ‘Oh yeah, this is it,’” Manuel says about French Contrast. “People only become fast when they move fast. This last year showed up the biggest. From a strength coach’s perspective, I‘m ecstatic about their growth.”

Interestingly, Bishop Gorman’s program also stresses safety in a football world that’s well-known for its concussion-stricken past. Each year, U.S. emergency departments treat over 173,000 traumatic brain injuries in children and adolescents, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC also states that traumatic brain injuries are highest in high school football at 55,007 (.47 per 1,000 athlete exposures).

“We do impact testing on every [athlete] to establish a base score,” Manuel says. “You are not allowed to continue to compete on the team unless you have done it. Once a baseline is established, it’s filed away for later reference. Then, if a [player] is suspected of having a concussion, they [are tested] again to see the degree of deviation from the original score. A certain amount of deviation from the original score means there is a high probability that [the player’s] concussed. At that point, he is held out until his impact scores go back to baseline.”

So how do the athletes feel about what may be arguably the pinnacle of high school football strength and conditioning programs in the country? Just ask the 2014 Nevada State rushing title holder, senior Russell Booze.

“Bishop Gorman's strength and conditioning program has contributed to my success and overall fitness by giving me a constant challenge with every weightlifting workout, stretch and plyometric,” says Booze, a 5'11", 185-pound running back, who finished the season with 1,791 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns. “The competitive atmosphere among my teammates and I brought out each of our highest peaks, as far as flexibility, speed and strength for the season.”

“The workouts we did exercised body parts that I didn't even know could be targeted, which would improve the bigger muscle groups,” Booze continues. “The demanding presence that Coach [Manuel] had upon us kept us focused, disciplined and healthy throughout the season. This mindset was also applied on the field with the other coaches which led to our undefeated season and number one national ranking.”