2015-2016 USASA SBX Year-End Re-Cap

Sunrise Over the Boardercross Course

The regular race season ended up being much shorter than usual with my relocation to the East Coast to work as Snowsports School Director for Seven Springs Mountain Resort.  The winter didn’t really get going until early January and ended quickly in early March.  The USASA Appalachian Series only had one weekend of racing at Massanutten in Virginia.  I was lucky to get time off to make the 2nd day of competition and qualify for Nationals.  Big thanks to the App Series for running the event even though it was pouring down rain all day.

2015 USASA SBX Year-End Re-Cap

While my goal for this year was the same as the past few (win Gold at Nationals), I had a little more incentive to succeed, as a Gold in April would have made it 3 in a row.

Lined Up for Time Trials

Leading up to Nat’s, I had won 5 Rocky Mountain Series regional races where I was often racing against younger age group competitors.  I was riding really well and had consistent, strong starts throughout the year.

A Standard of Excellence

While attending the USSA Level 300 Coaches Symposium last weekend I had the great privilege to visit 2 renowned training facilities; the USSA Center of Excellence in Park City and Gym Jones in Salt Lake City.

COE Gym Floor

Client Success Story

Before relating one of my client’s success stories, I want to describe a few standards I follow when training and working with people:

-     It’s my experience that no matter how great you perform in the gym, none of that matters if your improved strength, endurance, etc. does not translate to results outside of the gym.

-     I also believe that one’s overall health and wellbeing are just as important as their sport specific goals and achievements.  You should look and be (inside and out) a real example of fitness, health and athleticism.

Both these ideas match with my business mission:

Develop/administer effective, creative, specific and safe exercise programs/training sessions to help my clients achieve their personal health/fitness, athletic performance and competition goals.

Ale Getting SBX Ready

What I Eat

Most people think I eat super-strict and never have foods like pizza, ice cream or cheeseburgers.  I often get comments like “I wish I could be as disciplined as you with food” or “You must eat kale sandwiches all day long”.  I don’t feel like I’m “disciplined” when it comes to food in any special way.  I eat a lot and like to eat good food as evidenced by my Tweets of SBX Gold Medalcelebration meals.  What I do have is a certain level of consistency with following some simple food guidelines over a significant period of time.  You too can apply these principles and experience a significant improvement in your health and physical condition (this is assuming you do not have any specific medical conditions that require a specific nutrition plan).

Hungry Yet?

A few things go along with eating the way I do:  intense physical exertion in the gym and on the snow/trails along with adequate recovery time (sleep/rest).  It’s not enough to just work out in the gym - you can’t out-work crappy nutrition.  You also won’t get the most benefit from quality foods and solid training without appropriate rest and recovery.  The results of eating well will help and have an effect, but you can have a much greater impact on your physical state with all 3 elements working together.

How About Now?

Stick To Your Program

Most of my athletes are on the same training schedule: 

       -        Off-season – End of April to October

       -        Pre-season – October to December

       -        In-season – December to April

Focus on Form and Function

There are several separate Training Phases during these three time frames with specific physical adaptations expected from each.  The whole season is planned out in advance, though may be adjusted depending on the particular needs, progress and competition schedule of each athlete throughout the year, though the overall template remains generally the same.

2014 USASA Nationals Re-Cap #4

Be sure to read Nats Re-Cap #1 + #2 + #3.

Final preparations for race day include tuning and waxing boards (lots of waxing), some gym work, visiting with friends and family, and of course the traditional Nationals lasagna dinner.  How you manage your time and activities during a longer break (I had 3 days off before race day – technically 4, but I worked the day after practice was done) makes all the difference in staying in the peak zone for performance.

Ale's Board Getting Some Speed Mojo

2014 USASA Nationals Re-Cap #2

Be sure to read Nationals Re-Cap #1.

As you’re working through an off-season training program it’s sometimes hard to see/feel how the efforts are going to benefit your performance during the season, especially when the snow is 5 months away.  It can be difficult to imagine how doing mega-rep squats on a random day in June is going to set you up for success in March, but that’s exactly what is happening.

Deadlifts = Simple, Effective and Fun

2014 USASA Nationals Re-Cap #1

This year marked the 25^th Anniversary of the United States of America Snowboard Association (USASA) National Championships hosted at Copper Mountain,Colorado.  Close to 2000 athletes spread across 14 age divisions (for both Men and Women) were on hand for events in 5 disciplines - Boardercross, Halfpipe, Slopestyle, Giant Slalom and Slalom.

Earned the Top Spot on the National Rankings

2014 USASA SBX Race Update #2

Snow, snow, snow and more snow.  That was the theme of last weekend’s RockyMountain Series SBX Races at Copper Mountain.  In fact it seems like it’s been snowing in Summit County since the beginning of January.  RMS did a great job keeping the course in solid shape for racing both days and other than super-low visibility, the conditions were pretty good.

Powder-Cross?

2014 USASA SBX Race Update #1

The first weekend of SBX Racing is in the books and things went pretty well.  I won two Gold Medals and felt like my riding picked up right where it left off at the end of last season.  Gym training has been solid and I feel physically strong, though there’s still a lot of work to do before Nationals.

Copper Course

12/5/13 Training Session Highlight Video

Here are a few excerpts from my last Mountain Athlete conditioning session:

If that looks like fun to you, contact me to start your training program today!

Give the Gift of Starting a Lifetime of Fitness

The gift giving Holiday’s are right around the corner and I’ve got a great special for the "new-to-lifting" member of your crew.  Click here to check out my Personal Training Services page.

If you need something for a more experienced training partner of yours, I will create a unique offer for their specific gifting needs, just email me to get the ball rolling.

Quality Coaching Right From the Start

These promotions won’t be around too long so don’t miss out!

Acclimation

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary website defines Acclimation as:

           “the process or result of acclimating; 

             especially: physiological adjustment 

             by an organism to environmental change”

Ask any experienced snowboarder/skier and they’ll report that they get to ‘enjoy’ an acclimation period during the first portion of the snow season.  Boots are tight, legs get sore, lungs are burning.  Even if they’ve participated in quality off-snow training it still takes time to adjust to the demands of their specific sport, especially after not participating in it for quite a while (assume there’s no jetting off to Chile, Hood or NZ for summer snow time). 

Backcountry Clinic = Not a Good Day to "Bonk"

Pre-Season Training Session

Check out these excerpts from a recent Mountain Athlete training session at the Colorado Kettlebell Club:

Snow is coming soon…are you ready?

Pre-Season Conditioning

How’s your pre-season conditioning going?  I just finished up the second wave (8-day cycle) of the first round of my pre-season conditioning (PSC) phase and feel really good.  I enjoy the extra work that’s involved this time of year:  increased frequency of Plyometrics, Balance Work, Olympic Lifts and even the Metabolic/Conditioning aspects are fun too.

I can tell from recent Twitter/Facebook video posts that a lot of other athletes around the globe are in PSC mode as well.  To be totally prepared for the snow season one needs to be at peak levels in strength, endurance, speed, power, balance, agility/coordination and mental focus, especially for competition settings.  If you’re not addressing all these needs in your PSC program you need a new program and maybe a new coach. 

20-Minute Squats

Over the past several weeks I’ve been working with a supplement company (Generation UCAN) to finalize a partnership and subsequent affiliation.  I started using their pre-workout nutrition about a month before the 2013 USASA Nationals and have experienced great results.  I had hoped to make the announcement in my next (this) blog post, but all the final details and webpage stuff (where you can purchase at a discount, etc.) aren’t quite dialed in yet.  In the mean time enjoy this 20-minute squat article and keep an eye out for the upcoming supplement news.

Make Every Training Session a Success

I’ve never had a training session where I’ve failed.  Seriously.  And I’m going to demonstrate how you can do the same.  It all starts with a willingness to do some Extra Work (E.W.) to be stronger for your next gym effort.

I know that opening statement sounds a little exaggerated, but it’s true.   Understand I don’t mean to say that I’ve never missed a lift, or that I always hit my numbers.  It simply means that I didn’t leave the gym on those days without doing Extra Work to make sure I wouldn’t miss the next time. 

Smart E.W. Can Be the Difference Between A Made or a Missed Lift the Next Time in the Gym

The Way You Train is Not "Insane" Part #3

Be sure to read Parts #1 and #2

Quite a few facilities make the claim of ‘top-level’ fitness, ‘hard-core’ training, and the like.  While some gyms/trainers actually do provide these services, they rarely are out banging the gong, announcing to the world about their ‘ultra-elite’ status.  Mostly because they’re too busy in the gym actually training, doing work and achieving results to care about an image.  These results-based gyms are good places to train.  The facility where I train my athletes is such a place.

Peak Performance Personal Training

The Colorado Kettlebell Club

The Way You Train is Not "Insane" Part #2

Be sure to read Part 1

There are some after-exercise reactions that seem to have achieved band-wagon status. What I mean is that people see real intense efforts from high-level or truly dedicated athletes and try to copy their mannerisms thinking that they will then be a ‘part-of’ or their ‘acting’ will validate their effort even though no real maximum capacity effort was made.