An increasing number of athletes are using the services of a Sport Conditioning Coach to improve their personal performance.  An educated Sport Conditioning Coach (SCC), who understands the demands of the game as well as position specific requirements, can provide the individual athlete with a significant competitive edge in their sport.   Among other benefits, the SCC trains the athlete to improve their movement ability and efficiency, increase strength, become more powerful and durable, as well as give them more confidence in t...Read more

Midfielders: Movement:  Multi directional, various tempos and speed.  Great spatial and field awareness. Act as transition between both ends of fields Activity during the match- In motion more than any other position on the team. High Aerobic demand. Sustained movement interspersed with anaerobic bursts. Co-ordination under fatigue. Forwards: Movement:  More Linear movement than other midfield players.  Requires field awareness. Have to time run onto balls and adjust position to open up field.  Activity during th...Read more

Keepers: Movement:  Multi directional with great spatial awareness (know where body is relative to the net and other players) Activity during the match- Significant downtime combined with intense short bursts of activity. Keepers have to be powerful to jump for the ball and durable so as to challenge safely for the ball as contact is common. Defense: Movement:  Multi directional with ability to transition from backward to forward movement Great spatial and field awareness (know where body is relative to the net and other defens...Read more

Success in Soccer performance is dependent on a player possessing a foundation of strength, speed, movement skills and sport specific energetics (aerobic and anaerobic capacity).  The sport demands necessitate that each position places varying time and attention on building each of the primary and secondary fitness characteristics. The training foundation will provide a base from which the player can accelerate faster, stop quicker, change direction efficiently, and become more skillful with the ball.   Analyzing each position wi...Read more

SMART Muscle™ exercises are more stimulating and therefore gain much greater adherence than simple repetitious exercises.   Safe interesting whole body challenges at a pace adult athletes are comfortable attempting produce a powerful combination. This develops a strong yet responsive and skilled body for an adult athlete who enjoys the exercise experience and lives the results. Repeating movement patterns improves mind–muscle communication and creates SMART Muscles™ that comply quickly and accurately.   Lif...Read more

To instill positive physical change, the body must be challenged beyond the current comfort level.  Athletes and coaches must all commit to engage in this style of workout to maximize results and guarantee safety.  Coaches must be fully engaged using a critical eye that instantly identifies and corrects mechanical errors using well established cueing techniques.   We have carefully designed Smart Muscle™ exercises which are actually combinations of several lifts, some concurrently, some sequentially. For example, a lat...Read more

Stretch (5 to 10 min)Finish the workout with a mindful stretch that includes all the major muscle groups used in the workout.  A collection of sport yoga postures can also be used to energize the group.BOSU® Hip Flexor Stretch...Read more

Linked System™ Strength (25 min)Whole body, multi joint, multi planar powerful movements are emphasized in the strength training segment.  Exercises teach the muscles to fire sequentially from the ground in a standing “sport and real life” ready position. These enhance coordinated strength for complex activities like racing down a mountain, chasing children in tag, running down a tennis serve or driving a golf ball.Equipment:  Medicine Ball, Dumbbells, BOSU®, SMART Toner™Sample Exercises include:• ...Read more

Speed, Agility and Quickness (15 min)      Following a dynamic warm up, athletes engage in agility, quickness and reactivity training using ladders, hurdles, cones, and Slingshots.  Lightning footwork patterns are emphasized to turn on the system with ATP based efforts. Memories of play oriented childhood games provide enjoyment in these drills. Mastery creates the foundation for self esteem and the physical confidence to try new sports, activities and challenges at all ages.    Agility Ladder Sample...Read more

Dynamic Warm Up (10 min)Once activated, the workout shifts to developing mobility using exercises that systematically bring the athlete to their full natural range of motion.  The Dynamic Warm Up switches on the neuromuscular patterning by activating motor patterns building on familiar movements resulting in more responsive muscles and movements that are more efficient.Sample Exercises include:•    Cool Walk to Long Lunge•    Lateral Sumo Squats•    BOSU® Lateral Step or Bound...Read more

Balance (15 min) A balance challenge starts the workout to awaken the body and mind. Using the SMART Board™ requires precise equal strength between left and right sides of the body. Grading force in an athletic stance draws upon prime movers and stabilizers, postural muscles and primes the mind and neural connections to be on alert.  Physically activated, athletes are ready for greater challenges.  •    SMART Board™ Tuck and Hold (with intent of no touches of board to floor) 30 sec x 4•  ...Read more

Smart Muscle™ training is a recommended methodology that combines appearance goals with real life function and sport performance goals.   Using a blend of dynamic balance challenges, multi directional movement skills and whole body strength exercises, an efficient and effective workout is built.  The training style creates a maximum metabolic cost through exercise that recruits various muscles from prime movers, to synergists and stabilizers to handle whole body, purposeful movement sequentially from toe to fingertip. ...Read more

Today’s active population pursues recreation year round with a continuum of outcomes in mind.  Many choose outdoor pursuits for sheer enjoyment whereas others seek a more competitive experience for a greater adrenaline rush.  Whether running a 10k, racing down a mountain, shooting a lower golf score, winning pick up hockey, having fun at women’s soccer or rejuvenating with a quiet hike in nature, each of these pursuits require an athletic body that is easily able to meet the demands of the activity.   Inside ever...Read more

To provide the best sport conditioning services possible to any athlete, it is important to identify all aspects of sport talent from a physical, mental and emotional perspective.  Once athlete strengths and weakness are identified, an all encompassing training program that blends sports skills with athleticism will enhance overall development and lead to athlete success.  Over time all aspects of the athlete’s training (sport skill and conditioning) become part of a planned progression to enhance performance and reduce the inci...Read more

Statistics reported in the Active Kids Canada Report Card (2007) show that 60-80% of Canadian children are engaged in sport.  The level of participation is directly related to family income with 79% of children from high income families being involved in organized sports.  The face of sport for children and youth is changing with the influence of training methodologies used by professional athletes that is promoted in the media and branded with innovative apparel and shoes.  The best trained and educated sport conditioning coache...Read more

Pre-Pubertal  Children  (8 – 11 yrs)Movement fundamentals can be improved using agility ladders and hurdles that incorporate basic footwork with fun and interaction.  Pubertal Adolescent (12 – 14 years)Incorporating balance training activates the mind to muscle communication systems enhancing proprioception and body awareness, improving core control and developing whole body strength.  Post Pubertal Young Adult (15 yrs+)To capitalize on the mature neuromuscular system, a developed skeletal system and a developing...Read more

Sport coaches focus on helping athletes develop sport specific skills (throwing and hitting in baseball, skating and shooting in hockey, tumbling in gymnastics, backstroke in swimming) along with the individual and team strategies and tactics required for success.  A sport conditioning coach focuses on the development of athleticism whereby they improve an athlete’s physical tools that support sport skill execution.  Enhancing athleticism comes from the development of the secondary characteristics of fitness including:  bal...Read more

From birth, the brain and nervous system is constantly changing and adapting based on experiences creating information pathways between the mind and the muscles.  Peak changes in this system occur between birth and 8 yrs where children develop gross and fine motor patterns that become the foundation of sports skills and recreational activities.  The neurological system is very pliable as it readily accepts and absorbs new movements during this stage of development....Read more

Skeletal DevelopmentChildren grow in height gradually until age 10 where a major growth spurt creates a high velocity height change until age 14 as the long bones grow creating gangly arms and legs most characteristic of teenagers.  During this time there are minimal changes in the muscular system creating a scenario of long levers without adequate muscle size to control them creating an opportunity for injury along with a disconnect between mind and body.Muscular DevelopmentGradual change in the muscular system is evident until age 14 whe...Read more

Through the first 20 years of life, a child evolves and grows into an adult.  The changes that occur affect athlete physical, emotional, psychological and social development impacting every aspect of life and sport.  There are predictable phases of change that every child experiences, but the amount of time in each growth phase is diverse leading to a great deal of variability among children.  Grouping children by chronological age alone does not account for the rate and stage of growth, so other methods of categorizing children ...Read more

Professional athletes at the top of their game are serious about their sports and focus on the training and development of their “physical machines” year round.  Sport conditioning has evolved into big business with the development of branded shoes, clothing, equipment, print and TV media that profiles the training programs of pro athletes.   If the pro athletes train this way, shouldn’t every serious athlete do the same whether they are 8 or 18?  Parents who are passionate about their children and their sp...Read more