Last weekend I headed up to Wixom, Michigan, for the 1st annual Strength and Conditioning and Athletic Development Clinic at Total Performance Training Center in Wixom, Michigan, which is run by my boy Jim Kielbaso.

The clinic was co-sponsored by Rob Taylor’s S.T.T. (Smarter Team Training), and Coach Taylor was one of the presenters.

I headed up there from Florida at 10 PM on Friday night (the only direct flight of the day-what can I tell you, I hate wasting time), arrived at 12:30, and took the shuttle over to the rental car place–where there were 25 people ahead of me in line! By the time I got to the hotel it was 2:45. Awesome. So much for sleep.

The next day, the clinic started off with a bang with Coach Alan Stein of Stronger Team showing us “Basketball Strength Training Tricks of the Trade.” Alan specializes in working with elite level basketball players, and demonstrated a unique series of exercises performed barefoot to strengthen the ankles, the most-often injured area in basketball players.

Next we were in the classroom with Rob Taylor of S.T.T. for a presentation on how to develop agility. Coach Taylor is the head Strength Coach at Loyola University in Maryland, and is well known for his work with lacrosse players (both the Mens and Womens teams at Loyola are nationally ranked). Rob had some really thought-provocking slides that really got the audience thinking in different ways about training. He also caused me to become extremely jealous of his going to Australia and New Zealand like 17 times to work with athletes there. Strangely, he has never seen a kangaroo there. Weird.

Next on the list was Rick Court, Director of Football Strength and Conditioning at the University of Toledo. His topic was how to add competition to the strength and conditioning program. His presentation went into great detail, and he had plenty of great videos of his team in action to illustrate his point. Coach Court also gave the most “spirited” presentation of the day–let’s just say nobody fell asleep during his talk.

All the speakers at this clinic were GREAT, but the next classroom presentation was a real highlight for me. That’s when Mike Gittleson of Rogers Athletic spoke to us about strength training-where it’s been, where it is, and where it’s going. In case you don’t know, Mike was the head Strength and Conditioning Coach at the University of Michigan for 30 years (one of the first ever in the entire country); for many, many years has been a zealous advocate of High Intensity Training; and is the only guy I’ve ever met who has a neck machine next to the couch in his living room.

The thrust of Coach Gittleson’s presentation revolved around the issue of concussions in sports, and the value of strengthening the neck musculature to help reduce the incidence and severity of them. He outlined a comprehensive strengthening program involving the capital muscles, which move the head without significant cervical spine movement; the cervical (neck) muscles, and the upper and middle traps. Fascinating stuff.

After lunch, we headed down to the indoor soccer field (watch the video to check out the facility), where South Florida Strength Coach Ron McKeefery to us to speed school. Coach McKeefery outlined his philosophy on speed development, then led us through some of the exact drills and techniques he uses with his players.

Next, we learned some corrective exercises and stretching techniques from our host ,Jim Kielbaso, of Total Performance. Jim taught us how to recognize deviations in proper body positioning and alignment during athletic movements, and how to isolate and correct them.

Then Oakland University Hockey Coach Gordie Schaeffler treated us to a demonstration of the skating treadmill, which has to be seen to be believed. Hockey players can actually practice skating and stick handling on this thing with ice skates on. Wild stuff.

The day concluded back on the field with Nick Wilson, the Strength Coach for the newly formed University of Detroit Lacrosse team going through some of the training techniques he uses with his players, followed by Rob Taylor going through some team drills designed to build chemistry between the athletes while also having some fun.

In addition to taking in the great content provided by the speakers, I was able to talk to a few High Intensity Nation readers at the clinic, which was a real treat for me. Thanks guys!

All-in-all it was a great time-learning a lot, catching up with old friends, and making some new ones.

Here’s a quick video of my trip, including a guided tour of Total Performance Training Center:

P.S. Smarter Team Training will be producing a video of the clinic soon, I will let you guys know when and where it’s available.

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