Today we talk to the face of the leading off-season hockey training facility in Alberta, Doug Crashley. Douglas Crashley, BSc., CSCS Crash, the President/Founder of Crash Conditioning has worked with 1000’s of athletes, but primarily those from hockey, and looks to influence the way the field transfers athletic performance to on ice success. A professional speaker, Crash consults with a number organizations in both hockey and sport, and believes that it is not until you fail that you will learn to succeed!
1. What originally motivated you to work with hockey players on the strength and conditioning side of the game and is that motivation the same today?
It began with a period of a year or two after I stopped playing hockey that I completely stepped away from the sport and immersed myself into non sport related fitness training. I thought I was done with the game and was at Red Deer College studying Kinesiology when a teacher who also coached the men’s hockey team (Karl Taylor) taught class and spoke to us like a hockey team. I realized my passion for hockey was not gone and I found a blended passion between the two. Over the next couple years as I transferred from Red Deer to the University of Lethbridge where I really started to absolute my focus. I wanted to influence the field of Performance for the sport of hockey, I couldn’t stand to see hockey players train like body builders, or so called “gurus” sell boot camps as “hockey specific training”. I hope when it is over my professional story tells of someone passionate about shaping the way hockey players train, and the culture go hockey training. More than ever I recently have found an additional gear of interest specific to some work I am currently doing with both specialized athlete training for goalies, as well as players. I am looking at ways the top goalie, skating and skills coaches teach players and how I can transfer training to these needs.
2. The slogan of Crash Conditioning is “Not for Everyone” where does this come from and how can it be applied to today’s athletes?
It’s something that started a number of years ago, and I think its said best by Adam in our video we use on our website, when he speaks f it not being of an elitist mentality but a mentality of those who are willing to open their minds to improve their bodies and thus their athleticism within their game
3. In your opinion, is it enough for hockey players to train and condition for 3 months over the summer, or should they be training year round?
I think there is a need for LTAD focused programming that periodizes training periods both during the season as well as the off season. Those 12-16 weeks of an off season or less are not enough to truly translate off ice performance training to hockey. With better in season training culture I believe that true Long Term Development can occur
4. How important is developing core and flexibility in hockey players and what can players do to increase these?
Both are important parts of athlete development to get the best out of the human body, but are often misunderstood. What’s important is the body has both the necessary stability and mobility to perform tasks that are asked of it in sport or life. Not one thing can fix everything, and there are many ways to improve both or either. Too often athletes, specifically
in hockey either only focus on one aspect or they try to dabble in a bit of everything without improving anything. It should be like a puzzle, training “pieces” need to be coordinated and sequenced to make the full picture.
More on CRASH CONDITIONING
In the constantly evolving sport of hockey CRASH CONDITIONING has become the training destination of choice for elite players of all ages. Crash Conditioning has become a training destination for elite hockey athletes of all ages based around hard work, devotion, and strong minded athletes. For more on Crash Conditioning visit their webpage at http://crashconditioning.com
More on Competitive Thread
Competitive Thread is located in Sherwood Park, Alberta and is Western Canada’s leader in athlete testing and development. They have worked with teams and athletes in the National Hockey League, the Canadian Hockey League and Minor Hockey teams and players across Western Canada. They take a holistic and balanced approach to development and aim to positively contribute to the individual growth of each athlete both on and off the ice. For more information visit www.competitvethread.com or call us at 780-267-5795.
