028: Alex Sirard – Evolve Your Game (BKin, PES, NCCP FMS)

Show Notes: 
In this episode, Alex Sirard – a sport performance coach and founder of EVO Athletics – joins me to discuss the most important protocols for training athletes. With a specialization in sport movements and injury prevention, he brings a wealth of knowledge from personal experiences and science based applications.

Alex has had a very extensive junior hockey career playing in the WHL, AJHL, and SJHL. Most recently Alex played at the CIS level for the Pronghorns at the University of Lethbridge where he graduated with a Degree in Kinesiology. Alex has great knowledge in movement patterns and as a very good rapport with his athletes.

This episode dives deep into training methodologies and offers practical insights to help you evolve your game!

TOPICS:
[1:55] Alex’s journey into the world of sport performance
[10:27] Defining ultimate human performance
[16:10] Microdosing athletic performance
[26:02] Training for adaptation
[32:35] Accommodating Central Nervous System (CNS) fatigue
[40:15] Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) autoregulation as an alternative to Velocity-Based Training (VBT)
[52:58] Why mobility is so important
[57:48] How to structure training without a personal trainer
[1:05:31] Alex’s one key to high performance

A Holistic Approach to Training
It is not sufficient to focus solely on skills or movement patterns contained in one’s sport. From hockey to basketball to swimming, understanding the complexity of the body is important to create an optimal program. Time spent on the ice, in the gym, or in the pool are only one piece of a holistic training program.

Alex heavily emphasizes the importance of approaching athletic performance holistically. While practice and physical training garner a lot of attention, other factors must also be prioritized, such as sleep, nutrition, mobility, psychology, and more.

However, once the foundation has been developed, highly specific training can be used to optimize athletic performance.

Training for Adaptation
One of the most important principles in a training program is adaptation. Through the use of varying training frequencies, volumes, and movement patterns (among many other controllable variables), the body is forced to adapt to changing stimuli.

This can occur in the form of physical adaptation, such as improved strength, power, flexibility, or endurance. To facilitate these improvements in physical capacity, new stimulus prompts neuromuscular and endocrine responses to training.

Therefore, not only can training variables result in a physiological response, but they can also influence the plasticity of neurons in the brain, helping to improve cognitive functions.

Microdosing for Optimal Performance
Adaptation can be created through a high frequency of programming training variables. Referred to as microdosing training, this happens when training sessions are modified and adapted daily in response to the circumstances and objective.

During long seasons, many athletes suffer acute injuries while navigating challenging schedules. Road trips, difficult games, long practices, and unforeseen changes in health or playing time may all alter an athlete’s capacity to perform.

Microdosing – requiring a highly attentive athletic trainer or highly self-aware athlete – allows for training to adapt to the unique and variable circumstances of the athlete.

Done correctly, microdosing can help athletes to continue to progress during the season, fully optimizing every opportunity to maximize health and performance. Without specialized programming, it is very easy to overtrain or undertrain.

Regulation Training Capacity
There are a few different ways that training intensity can be evaluated and managed. This is important to prevent excessive Central Nervous System (CNS) fatigue.

As Alex notes, high weight and high intensity training induces CNS fatigue that often takes 48 hours or longer for recovery. Overtraining will suppress the responsiveness of the nervous system, drastically reducing athletic (and potentially cognitive) capacity.

One strategy to evaluate capacity is the use of Velocity-Based Training (VBT). By evaluating lifts on an objective measure of performance – the velocity to which they are performed – trainers can effectively manage an athlete’s training capacity on a set-to-set basis. This eliminates costly guesswork.

As a free alternative to VBT training, Alex recommends the use of Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) Autoregulation. RPE consists of a subjective analysis of the intensity of an exercise, often using a scale from 1-10. Intensities can be prescribed to ensure that overtraining is avoided.

Injury Prevention and Mobility
Often overlooked is the importance of functional mobility and proper biomechanics in training. Understanding training mechanics and how they translate into sport-specific movement is critical to optimizing a training program.

An important component of this is mobility, which may be a limiting factor in performance for many athletes. Further, reduced mobility and poor mechanics drastically increase the frequency of injuries.

Alex notes that most athletes return from a season with decreased physical performance from the start of the season, and many also return with a list of injuries or issues.

For optimized team and individual performance, training programs need to be designed to facilitate optimal movement patterns, reducing injuries while subsequently optimizing performance. Making this approach standardized is one of the key missions of EVO Athletics.

The Key to Success
Training can be complicated, but it doesn’t have to be. Alex urges athletes, trainers, and everyone for that matter, that the biggest key to success is consistency.

Commit to learning, creating healthy habits, and be consistent. By doing that, you will be on the path to evolving your game.

Learn more about Alex Sirard and EVO Athletics:
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Thank you all for joining me on this journey to lifelong health, happiness, and higher performance. And remember, always be grateful, love yourself, and serve others.