Today you're certain a special treat. i have been fortunate to attach with Ryan Van Austen from Hockey Canada. Ryan is that the Strength and Conditioning Coach for the National women's team also because the conditioning coordinator for the National Luge team. Needless to mention 2010 has been an exciting and busy time for Ryan. Read on as Ryan shares with us a touch bit about his background to bring him to where he's , his training philosophies, with specific emphasis on hockey, what working for the National Team has been like also as his dream team of practitioners and therefore the best resources he has found to permit him to possess had success together with his athletes. So sit back and luxuriate in a 1 on one with Ryan Van Austen.

Background

Chris Collins - Where did you attend school? What made you would like to try to to this for a living? What was your sports background? Who were a number of your mentors along the way? What are a number of the interesting places you've worked?

Ryan Van Asten - Master of Science (Exercise and Health Physiology) - University of Calgary

• Bachelor of Science (Honours) (Subject of Specialization - Life Sciences) - Queen's University, Kingston Ontario

• Bachelor of Physical and Health Education - Queen's University, Kingston Ontario

• Certifications: CSCS (NSCA), Certified Exercise Physiologist (CSEP), NCCP Level 1 Olympic Weightlifting, FMS Certified

My sports background was varied as a toddler (i.e. hockey, soccer, lacrosse, baseball, alpine skiing, water skiing, wake boarding, etc.) but specialized in Hockey and Lacrosse as an adolescent . Eventually, just focusing on hockey I played Provincial Jr. A in Ontario, 4 years collegiate (Queen's University), 1 year semi-professional in Germany - retiring at age 24 to peruse my graduate degree in Calgary. As a results of my sports background, dry-land training was always a neighborhood of my life and that i loved every second of the training. While at Queen's University i used to be fortunate enough to figure with and play hockey with Anthony Slater (now a serious a part of a corporation called Athletes' Performance within the United States). Anthony (although young himself at the time) put me on a educational program one summer and therefore the results were astonishing because for the primary time in my life i used to be on a per iodized program that wasn't centered around bench press. then i used to be hooked and couldn't get a hold of enough information on training - i used to be digesting the things love it was my job...one problem: it wasn't. At the time i used to be just finishing my Bachelor of Science degree and wasn't sure which direction to travel ...this had all changed by that time , I needed to figure in sports performance. therefore the following year I enrolled within the Bachelor of Physical and Health Education program at Queen's to bring me closer to my goals. it had been in 'Phys Ed' where I met David Frost (a engineer who also had a passion for training and bio mechanics). Dave was an enormous guy who loved to coach and knew a hell of tons more about just about everything than I did - so I spent time with him tons and since we were the old guys during a class filled with 18 and 19 year olds we clicked directly . Training with Dave brought my strength to a good greater level, however, it had been not necessarily do to the physiological aspects anymore - Dave was skilled at breaking down and assessing bio mechanics and he tweaked just about everything I did and my strength went through the roof. this is often once I realized that it's not about the exercise or the exercise selection; it's about the coaching and therefore the implementation of the exercise in an appropriate manner that are the important factors. Evidently, today Dave is finishing his PhD at the University of Waterloo where he's mentored by Stuart McGill (now famous within the realm of strength and conditioning).

My first two mentors (and still be to the present day) in strength and conditioning were Anthony Slater and David Frost. I then moved to Calgary and commenced my graduate research - working under Dr. Smith and Dr. Stephen Norris (two of the foremost prominent exercise and sport physiologists within the world) my knowledge expanded even further. i used to be also fortunate enough to urge exposure to excellent Strength and Conditioning coaches at the Canadian Sport Centro - Calgary (I am one among them now...ha)(Matt Jordan, Scott Maw, Mac Read, and Matt Price) - These are guys who have training numerous Olympic and World champions in both summer and winter sports and that i have learned tons from all of them and still learn from them on a day to day.