If you’re a fan of professional hockey, you’re likely familiar with the legendary Gary Roberts. With a career spanning over 20 years, including a Stanley Cup win, Gary’s journey is nothing short of remarkable.
After sustaining a severe injury and retiring, Roberts came back to play for 11 seasons – not only at a high level, but at maybe THE highest level he had ever played in his entire life.
But his story doesn’t end there.
In today’s episode, I sat down with NHL Superstar Gary Roberts to delve into his transition from player to coach, where he’s been shaping incredible talents like Conor McDavid, widely regarded as the greatest hockey player today.
Gary shares invaluable insights into harnessing McDavid and other young players’ phenomenal abilities, and discusses the methodologies that have led to his own sustained success, even in his fifties.
What makes this episode truly special is that we recorded it live in Gary’s home, right in his personal gym. Being welcomed into his family’s space and witnessing where he hones his craft every day was a true privilege.
Whether you’re a coach or athlete looking for valuable insights into high performance nutrition and recovery, don’t miss this one!
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Hey everybody I’m B pulski and my guest today is Mr Gary Roberts if you have ever been a fan of professional hockey certainly in the last 30 years you will probably be familiar with G Roberts someone who was a professional hockey player for 20 plus yearsing at the
Highest level in the world having won a Stanley Cup getting injured retiring and then coming back to play again not only at a high level but at maybe the highest level he had ever played in his entire life Gary has since transitioned to coaching incredible young athletes such
As the likes of Conor McDavid currently by far in away the greatest hockey player in the world right now just an incredible athlete and Gary has some incredible insights on how he harnesses Conor mcdavid’s incredible physical prowess and capabilities we get into some of his meth methodologies that
Allow him to succeed not only as a player certainly through injuries and now well into his 50s how he approaches his specific regime now and ultimately how he approaches training and Recovery with his athletes here he’s got some incredible value incredible valuable insights in this podcast and I feel just
Incredibly blessed to have been welcomed into his home at his family ultimately be able to see where he gets after it every day in his little gym if you have the opportunity to watch this on YouTube we actually are filming this live in Gary’s home in his gym and it’s just an
Incredible facility so I highly suggest check us out there if you are someone who is not a regular listener of the muscle intelligence podcast welcome to the show we have just incredible guests and incredible value coming at you for the last 600 episodes and into the future already subscribed go ahead and
Do that now on Spotify YouTube and everywhere else amazing podcast or listen to I know that there is a lot going on out there there’s a lot of places for for you to choose from and we do our best to Source the best information in the world and the best
Experts Mr Gary Roberts certainly is at the top of that list ladies and gents thanks for being here my name is Ben moli this podcast is the muscle intelligence podcast serving you to be your highest and best not only today but for the rest of your life enjoy the show
Mr Gary Robert take a brief minute to thank our sponsors from today’s podcast by optimizers by optimizers is known for making the highest quality expert formulated in thirdparty tested purely guaranteed products in the market by Optimizer supplements are my top pick optim for optimizing digestion optimizing sleep specifically now why
These things are so useful to me well you might think that making nutritious food choices like I do every day is enough unfortunately it seems as though it’s not especially for people who are training really really hard even if you’re non training hard if you’re stressed if your food supply is it
Absolutely a Immaculate you’re going to want to support digestion you’re going to want to support your nervous system and the two ways I do that consistently time and time again through my bioptimizers products are with mass zymes and P3 I use that combination together to optimize my gut health and
Digestion and then at bedtime I’m using their sleep formula and I’m also using their magnesium breakthrough just incredible products that are consistently in my medicine cabinet But ultimately even when I’m traveling I don’t go with out thanks to buy optimizers you can head over to buy optimizers docomo p t m I
Zs.com use the code muscle to get hooked up at checkout back to the show we in the home of Mr Gary Roberts my friend how you doing I appreciate you making the time I’m I’m a longtime fan I’ve followed your career for a long time and uh I’m really excited to dig in
Because you got you got an amazing story that’s a long one so I don’t know much time we know we got all the time in the world everybody’s been listen so I actually want to start like before you even got into the NHL cuz I think that’s
An interesting place for a lot of aspiring hockey players like what did that look like you know when you finally got that bug and I’m sure it was very young but when you finally got that bug to say you know I this is what I want to
Do because I know so the reason I want to understand this question is most professional athletes have uh very specific mental framing towards something it’s like some somewhere between uh play and Obsession and uh you know this is all knew and I’m curious how that kind of fits for you yeah I
Mean uh you know growing up in town called Whitby Ontario just East Close y played my minor hockey there I truly didn’t uh think of being an NHL player I just thought maybe was just too far of a grassp for me to get to at when early
Was 16 years old I I got a call from a from an hockey agent um who’s still my agent today Rick her and uh he talked to my dad and said hey I think you know Gary might be drafted uh into junior hockey my dad said say like you should
Go to the draft and I’m like Dad I’m not I’m not can’t drafted in junior hockey I’m kind of thing and uh ended up going to the draft and then was selected in the second round by the auto 67s so I would say it that time was when it
Really was like wow like you know I’m I was playing Whit I wasn’t playing in torle wasn’t playing in the big Le was playing in the OM doublea hockey at the time so I got just think of the time it was just you know it’s 16 teams in the
National Hockey League it just wasn’t something I thought about as a kid uh whether I’d end up making the National Hockey League uh it wasn’t until I really got drafted to year hockey it started having some success as a 17-year-old that I thought there may be
A chance that I that I could play so uh maybe not the story that you know other people have but for me it was just I came from a household where my mom and dad worked really hard um my mom worked at the hospital my dad was an ey worker
My dad you know I still remember uh check to check he cash his check on Friday he had four kids We Know by Tuesday his wallet was empty and spent all his money on us with sticks and skinks and yeah and uh that’s what I remember as a child I I just remember
How hard my dad worked to take care of his family and uh was just grateful that he uh he took the time with us to to introduce us to the game and uh and really get us you know on course for what it up aete so what was it like from
A personal level you maybe at level of the family to get drafted in the NH yeah like I mean I was uh obviously very grateful for my parents personally for me I can remember being 18 and drafted in the first round to Calvary Flames I
Mean it was a it was really a dream come true but i’ say it was uh a point where I thought holy crap I have an opportunity to play to play the National Hockey League and you remember it was 1984 when I was drafted to kagi so it’s
Was a very long time ago but it wasn’t it didn’t come without challenges like you know I mean to talk about you know why we’re sitting here today why I’m doing what I’m doing today a lot of it probably stems from my first sential training camp like I was uh I was
Lacrosse player and I was a runner I was never a weightlifter and um I got drafted to probably the fittest team in the National Hockey League at that time Calgary Flames were built with college players that were older Bader Bob Johnson was our coach wasn’t a lot of
Junior a hockey players there so a lot of the players that were there they were in their early 20s and spent a few years of College where they lifted a lot more weights than us Junior a playing so I really uh went to my first inil training
Camp not prepared and uh and you know I can remember being in a room with uh at the time I think they might have had 60 70 guys at training camp back then like the training camps were huge and uh Badger Bob Johnson got up and spoke and
Said uh you know our our worst condition player at Camp was our first- round draft pick and that’s how called out called me out in front front of everybody so I would say if anybody could have bean me up and sent me back to Junior Hockey at
That time that would have been the moment I was very embarrassed so I was asmatic as a child wasn’t ready for the fin Aon Calgary like all these factors led to the right the only thing I could do is run and I could run uh had an asthma
Attack in the two mile run and failed all the all the Str tests wow so you know I left my first NHL training camp at 18 I basically said okay like awful experience I’m either going to start working out and work harder off the ice
Or I’m I’m not going to go bad and it was a mission for me the next year and uh I owe a lot to Lauren Goldenberg for that like he was our strength coach in iwa where I played Junior Hockey ended up spending that whole next summer with
Him in the story I mean all the guys that that I play with know the story uh I went from doing one and a half chin-ups my first NHL training camp to 16 the next year and I mean like they were good chinnos Badger Bob walked to
The pullup Mark and watched me do the chims and uh so I had on from 1 and a half to 16 in one season so that was really the moment for me where you know Str I was introduced to strength and conditioning by Lauren Goldenberg I took
The information applied it and it saved my career so you know I’m here today talking to you about uh you know life in the NHL but also uh my journey and uh strength and condition condition is a pretty big part of it sounds like a massive part of it and would you say
That was like a moment where from one year to the next your confidence just clicked and like I can do this and like yeah my first initial training camp I can I’m lined up beside Lon McDonald and uh gosh I remember uh being in such awe
Of him like he was a f Mela Joe n and I who were the end up being his teammate when he tell a couple of them we would go watch what they called showdown in Toronto ATL McDonald was part of that show after we were kids so to be lined
Up beside him in training camp and puff dropped he took the went by me scored a goal and that day was over and Jared Blair the head Scout remember who drafted me uh saw me a game and he’s after for practice and he said hey Gary
Said uh just want you to know what’s my job too like I drafted you uh you gotta you you got to take that guy’s job like I said l m got to take his job he’s like yeah you want to play mat H they got to
You got to come and take someone’s job and that’s what it started to click for me like holy like I’m in one car compe this isn’t just my na I’m competing for my my you know my my live it yeah and this is going to be my job
And that’s when you know I mean all these moments in already in my career that kind of set me up for who I am today um there are moments like that that really stand out in my mind as being like a a wakeup call like holy
like the head scale drafted me so his job’s on the line and he basically just told me if I’m not prepared to battle add McDonald for the pop I’m not playing the National Hockey League yeah and that’s when you they so those those all those moments along my journey that
Uh that stand out but that first training camp for me was was not a great experience was it so you’re known now for being the guy who comes in and develops these young draft picks and and you know Player Development from the NHL and so I’m curious first how different
You would say your experience then was as compared to what these guys are experiencing now and if you can draw some kind of correlations and contradictions into what the league might look like for someone coming at 18 19 years old like you did yeah like and
I still I mean believe it or not there’s still a lot of moments in in Player Development when certain players are only exposed to so much as young players Y and a lot of players are still come in you’re like gosh he’s it’s not where we
Thought he was uh there’s all I mean no one hasn’t figured out between 14 and 18 kids today play hockey stri and conditioning is still part of it but it’s still not the Bas bis our biggest challenge as a company is try to convince our players that they need to
Stay off the ice they don’t have to touch the ice every day it’ be great so although you might think the information no doubt the information is amazing if you’re prepared to listen there’s a lot of great information a lot of great people out there that can give you some
Direction but it’s really tough to program a hockey team uh you play hockey nine months a year and you’ve got to be really with an organization that is committed to helping these players for life and not just the moment and the moment of just winning games there’s a certain mentality for most organizations
And the workouts and the strength training and the nutrition side of it is still an afterthought so we get kids at 18 years old and I think that’s where the NHL teams are successful developing or building their team through the draft they invest in Player Development right
And getting more touch boys with these young players at 18 when they’re drafted you still don’t get them them under your roof till they’re 20 years old so they’re not pro hockey players till they’re 20 they’re still playing Junior Hockey they’re still trying to go to school they’re still on buses they’re
Still crazy busy they a lot of them act like they’re in the NHL but they’re not that it takes a it takes a real you know commitment by organizations to keep kids at that age on task and on task of reaching the ultimate goal of being in
The National Hockey League but it’s a it’s a big Journey between the day you’re drafted and the day you play in the National League I mean have your handful of guys that may play as 18-year-old to reer right but other than that it’s it’s it’s two years right in
Most cases sounds like when you were coming in Only the Strong Survive like you’re going to get you’re going to get broken down and if you’re strong enough to make it through maybe you’ll be you know good enough and strong enough to make it through maybe you’ll be lucky
Enough to play whereas now there’s a little more intention L it there’s a little more support I agree 100% um you know I think about my my my job currently with Seattle and the time they spent on thir development the people that have uh to that are involved that
With an extra video guy next to skill development guy power skiing guy uh you know Jeff TL does an amazing job for our young prospects staying in touch with them traveling to see them like there’s a there’s a handful of guys or more that are in charge of Player Development
Right uh that that is that wasn’t the case back then and I would agree 100% the strong survived when we were younger and uh the mentality that when things aren’t going well just work harder yeah you know that was okay it worked yeah but now there’s a lot more science to it
Today to try that try to get players to get to where they need to go but a little safer and a little a little more hope for for more players to have longevity in the game right you had an incredible career and I’m curious how you would say that a team now would
Create a culture of winning because I think these young guys coming in you’re going into all these these different organizations and some of them just perpetually win and some of them perpetually don’t win and I’m curious you know if you were in charge of the team which you are in this case in
Player Development like what are you doing to create a culture of winning or culture of success in the organization yeah like with within organization I think it’s it’s it’s trust it’s it’s having uh you know having the confidence as a manager to bring a group of people
In that you really believe are are good at what they do and and not micromanaging those people letting them letting them do their jobs but it definitely is it takes it takes an army takes an army to uh create that culture where you know years ago veteran players
Had a bigger impact even if you weren’t a a high minute guy you had an impact on the culture of the destiny yep and I think with how young the game is today it’s tougher for those younger players to they don’t say they don’t respect them but they don’t appreciate what
Other players did it’s like God why is he so gliding like you know can we can we get rid of that guy you know I mean like the younger players that they consist tougher if you’re going to be a veteran guy today and I still think there’s a need for veteran players that
Work hard that are good people I just believe those players need to have a bigger impact on the game to get the respect from the younger players because of the the immaturity in that area in in our youth I mean you see the league today very it’s a young it’s a young
Man’s game so do you think that’s because of the way the games Chang when you were playing it was very gritty very I’ll say it’s very masculine whereas now it’s a little bit more uh skilled and um yeah so like fast and skillful words when you’re paying was like gritty and
You need to be be willing to take a punch in the mouth AG that’s it’s it’s it is more skilled and believe me I love I love watching the skill I do do I still like seeing the L M we gain yes yes do I want to see do I always see
Players talking the face offs yeah no no not like to the opposition you know I could be sitting beside my best friend Jo unik on face off but we’re not talking to each other right like those are oh like friendly Talking really talking I thought you talking trash
Talking no not trash talking that’s yeah no I’m not talking trash talk but I mean hey like actually having a conversation right I just find that part for me like I am I’m obviously you know I call my old boy new boy kind of thing I’m still
In it I’m still in it I appreciate the game I would not here to today to to put down the game cuz I love watching the skill of the players but do believe that uh there’s a lot of games that it just doesn’t look like anybody’s really angry
With each other yeah you know and and I me being the kind of player I was and and uh you know how I grew up playing the game and how coaches that coach me like you weren’t allowed to talk to the opposition there were some coaches I
Played for that if you cross pass with the opposition in the hallway you better not smile at them you better not to to right so it’s that that mentality that I that I grew up with I know what’s changed and I understand why but there still needs to be some part of that
Where you know we’re friends we’re not friends out here MH you know I say to my guys it’s okay to be nice off the ice guys you know be good people I think it’s the focus of skill it’s focus of skill for sure and uh and all the social
That goes with that and waned to make the nicest move and do this and do this and copy somebody I and I believe all that’s there’s some value to that but it has it has changed the mentality of the game where there’s less really hard nights in the National Hockey totally
The games are boring I don’t even watch hockey anymore to be honest and that’s not like yeah I would never say that cuz it’s given me everything I have in my life um but but yeah there’s some games I’m like gosh I just wish there was a
Little more bit l no physical contact was no gra people used to tune in I mean I did to like I want I want to watch somebody like I want them to to compete yeah rather than like you’re not just competing for the scoreboard you’re competing for like masculinity I think
That the idea I talked about this a lot I was like the idea of a worthy adversary like as a man and I’m sure you feel the same like I want someone to compete against me I want you to bring your best so that I can know where I am
Where I have to get better and they do that from the skill perspective but there’s also the physical component I get why they don’t because everyone’s contract is so big and like someone gets hurt you know it breaks a hand yeah then I mean the 0 Game season and the travel
I mean all that yes you know all that we I I get all that like you know I I do I I Don’t Stray too fire from my belief recovery is everything yeah you know so if you’re not recovering you don’t you don’t do what you did the day before
You know I was young at an older age in my late 30s the game’s over I’m like okay what am I doing now to feel this good to wall hey that went hands nutrition that’s a cold therapy that’s maybe a quick 12 minute spin that’s how
I played the rest of my career after losing my career at 30 getting it back through lifestyle change nutrition training then I was like okay I need to play as long as I can I had a really good dear friend of mine that that died
In a plane crash Brad re kman uh in Russia when he went to coach over there and he used to say to me he used say Roy and my middle-age Roy Roy make them cut the skates off you you know play as long as you can yeah and he was coaching of a
Time like he says you’ll never have more fun than while you’re playing the game and I and I truly believe that I I miss the game every day and I do I miss playing the game I miss competing it’s still wi D and play with my buddies a
Couple times a week uh it’s it’s a great non impact game when you’re not making contact right it’s easy on your body so I I truly believe that that uh um the game is an amazing game I would never put the game down yes it’s changed but
There are elements of the game I still wish I still think need to be in the game to keep the fans engage I think it it’s going to be a massaging forever it’ll be it’ll always continue to evolve I agree yeah so let’s talk about what we
Just spoke about there you had 10 years before a over 10 years before you said you know your career ended for the first time yeah and so I’d love to hear what that story was yeah like uh I would say it’s an emotional story for me I went
Through a time where you know I got hit from behind in the early 90s in Toronto they took me off with a stretcher I battled it for about three years where had n severe nerve damage um I had what they call foral stenosis I basically got
To the point in 1994 playoffs where I couldn’t cut my food you know I was playing against Vancouver I was wearing a horse CER I was getting hit from behind I spent most of my time OB was see in the coret Around the Net I remember you know barely being able to
Time my skats out barely been able to I had to put my right arm was really B and grab my right arm and I would put on the M my stick and I go on the ice so I went through a time uh that was not a lot of
Fun uh we lost in triple over I know but triple overtime we lost in overtime p b scored in 94 playoffs and I say it’s the only time in my career where I truly sat in the Manion if you look at the highlights you’ve still see me sitting
There going like the first one I ever was happy I didn’t have to put my equipment on the next day cuz I couldn’t defend myself I was up there playing and uh and not having a lot of fun back then in no one’s fault but the message to me
Through the medical staff was you’ve got severe nerve damage he’ll heal little bit of the summer right uh little did I know that it would be almost two years before my nerves two surgeries in two years before my nerves were regenerated enough for me to build any muscle back
To protect myself allow me to go back to play so it was uh it was you know the part of the part of the journey I would say I’m stronger mentally today because I when I went what I went through and I retired from the game and
Uh you know I took a really bad hit after my surgeries I came back and played ended up putting the bill Master Tim that 1996 in in June as comeback player of the year but with wa got squashed in the game we the season with Chicago and uh lost to playing my arms
Rumbl 5 minutes sat in the bench and I said after from behind no just I kind of got one guy hit me this way one goty hit me this way and got a really bad and he like football burner y but it wouldn’t go away now they said when I had my
Surgeries I’ll do the Rea I’ll come back to play but happens again I’m probably going to retire and when it happened I thought sh it’s over so I stopped playing and like he Pro didn’t play in the playoffs that year uh announced my retirement at the D M at the nhel awards
Where I was G in the bill masterton and then I thought okay I’ll just get on and do other things uh Wayne mcme was an ex player that had retired he was involved in uh a golf course in Calgary he did a corporate uh corporate logoing uh business I was doing some
Stuff at nhlpa was doing some stuff for some companies in Calgary I jumped on and started working with them and uh September went I wouldn’t go to the rake to watch October went I was still working with Wayne we were playing Squad wash in the afternoon a few beers you
Know retired and I’m 30 years old right and a little money in the bank uh one daughter at home and thought uh gosh the phone was ringing I was like what am I going to do with my life like working in this industry you know so I walked in
One day I remember saying to way M bean I said I love you bu but I said I can’t do this I got to find a way to go back to play and uh and Surly around that time it was uh November so i’ I already watched two months of hockey
After I retire in 1996 and I remember uh Lauren Goldenberg longtime friend still talked to Lauren today so very loyal to what he what he’s done for me he called me said hey just talked to Mark Lindsay Dr Lindsay said you think she should go see Dr Michael a
Out in Colorado Springs and uh I said I’m old I said I’ve done you know I’m done just about everything that I think I can do to come back and play and he’s like he said well would you think about it so I thought i’ went for four or five
Days and I told my wife for the time that I was going to go see this toter in Colorado Springs and truly that’s when I went up there he did Art on me for 5 days I cried in a chair he had me strapped down on a bed he was into my
Subscap my neck my whole upper body was just so adhesed from the beating I’d taken you playing pro hockey and and not the ability to build any muscle to support it so I was I was pretty beat up like I was I was in in tough shape and
Uh spent five or six days there started to really feel about it and then he said to me said think you said Charles pin lives in uh in Calgary you should get hooked up with him he trains Olympic athletes um I think he all all his
Athletes are competing in the Wen so he might have time for you so that’s why I called Lauren and said hey do you know what Charles poin guy he’s like oh my gosh went to school with Charles he said and uh he said truly he said I got into
The NHL like I was a strength coaching the NHL he said Charles kept learning like he’s the smartest guy I know and uh so I called Charles and that’s truly where my comeback I went to see Charles and uh Charles was as honest as the day long and told told me I didn’t
Want to hear at the time uh looked at me evaluated me yeah a special way saying very special way saying that he looked at me he said uh I’ve seen bigger arms on a chair right I’m like yeah yeah okay I got that and then we kind of you know
He did some work on me and evaluated me I told him what my goal was my goal was just to get healthy that was my goal I I literally couldn’t play two games of golf in a row I couldn’t turn my neck I had no strength atrophy everywhere and
Uh and then we negotiated a price and and basically I was going to pay him a certain fee uh for every hour he spent with me and then I was going to pay them the second half of the fee if I made a match from the NHL and I spent every day
With that guy for 10 months and uh he taught me everything at that time that I knew about nutrition about training about supplementation it was amazing it was amazing ride that part that’s I come back in 1997 and uh gosh went on to play to 2009
So I was you know I was it’s a long story Bor with any more of it but but Charles bin Lauren Goldenberg those are the guys that really got me back on Dr Mark Lindsay Michel Dr Michael a at the time every nobody was afraid of chiropractors but I really felt for me
Chiropractor saved my career M so uh there’s a whole bunch we skipped over right there that I think is just gold for people listening so people listening want to understand performance and they want to understand like how do I take a body that isn’t working the way I want
It to and take it to where I want to go so when you walk into a talk with a guy like Charles what does that what does that look like what like what is the conversation uh where did you guys start what do you remember what stands out to
Your mind as being you know was it hard was it specific was it was it different every day like what stands out in your mind as being what all this instrumental the the biggest reason I wasn’t playing I just wasn’t strong enough to play and at that time he was recognized as the
Number one strength coach in the National a league y not National oag I take that back I was his first NH show player but in sport y he was to beet Bob SLS you know I saw I went and watch the Bob slers part of this introduction him
Was watching the Bob slers tra you know watching a guy like Dave mcer and Jack pick like all these uh Bob Setters that I knew back in Calgary who were machines they were big big strong powerful and I’m like that’s what I need to look like
Yep that’s how I need to train Charles was no doubt he taught me like I never knew like Lauren go don’t get me right I wouldn’t want to put Lauren down because Lauren was amazing but I did a lot of uh lipid cliping with Lauren like I was
More doing that kind of stuff uh back then I used to fight with Lauren in my 20s well my legs are huge I don’t need to train my legs just see I do pull-ups because that was really a test I really sucked right cuz hockey players that
Have heavy legs pull-ups really hard so I really want to work on my upper body work on pullup so I didn’t really you know probably listen to Lauren as much as I should have but when I looked at what Charles pin did to me when it came
To you know Ecentric loading when it came to Temple I mean doing 60-second pull-ups doing you know uh neck Bridges to try to stimulate the neurons so I’m stronger the next set like stuff he did at I was 30 years old and we’re talking 27 years ago y u it was pretty extreme
You know how to eat when to eat what to eat and it was just like no can’t do that no can’t do that and I took him to Arizona I remember taking Charles Golf to Arizona said everybody in Calgary started to see me training at Lindsey
Park every day all Roberts is making a comeback when they come back and I didn’t want any part of it I didn’t know whether I was ever going to make a comeback and it was until end of February I trained with Charles S M and
I was doing a pull-up one day I had like 55 PBS between my legs and uh I got down to the pullup bar and he looked at me he said uh you’re going to play again and it was I took like three months of training with him every day and some
Days twice a day for him to say that to me I still remember the day like I had I had chills you know I had chills I was like holy I’m I’m healthy and uh but that was no drinking that was 100% nutrition based you know I mean not that
I take carb powders anymore but I remember taking 200 Grand cyto Ma after every word out like you know like I was to I was totally into it uh so I I owe a lot I I like I said very very uh passionately like I’m in the industry
Because of what those guys did for me you know the Lauren Goldenberg to Charles poock and a good friend of mine Sam Bach who’s a who’s a brilliant guy who helped me in my 20s like all these guys introduced me to the nutrition to the training Matt nickoll was with me as
A leaf Andel Bri for some time with the that Florida like I’ve been really fortunate to be around some amazing uh experts in the field of strike conditioning and wellness and uh and I believe that uh in the National Hockey League it’s uh still underappreciated for what those guys do behind the scenes
For all the players it’s definitely shifting as we spoke about just before recording like guys like yourself and and Andy are and Lauren are doing a great job to lead the charge in a way that’s uh objective I think the problem in the past was it’s like it wasn’t it
Wasn’t measurable like if that team wins why did they win now we can definitively say this these you know there’s less injuries there’s there’s more uh you know progress there’s more speed there’s you know less injury games would be a big metric in the NHL as you know so you
Guys can measure that whereas in the past was like I think they’re a good coach but I don’t know yeah yeah and I think uh you know all the all the all those methods uh whether it’s whether it’s catapult whether it’s polar whether it’s all these uh measurables and that
We can measure players uh work capacity and and and really players that are willing to look at the numbers and try to understand what helps them play in certain zones and what’s help what helps them recover yeah the takes a real takes a strength coach obviously it’s a big
Job teams do spend more money in that area uh but players that are willing to listen there’s a lot more information out there that they can use in order to give them themselves the best opportunity there’s some trust involved there you know there’s always contracts there’s always you know Stu behind the
Scenes in the game that you got to you got to really watch out for who you hire and watch out make sure that they’re there for the you know I would say guys it’s not it’s not about us it’s about our client it’s about the players you
Know uh I had a team behind the team that helped me I want to be the nice quiet team behind the team team that helps the best players in the world yeah I’m not looking for a pat on the back I’m not looking at me on the front page
Of Ting magazine uh I’m I’m not a good salesman I always say I’m not a good salesman I love what I do um but I like to do it quietly and I like to help players quietly but the players that listen uh it’s no secret I’m you know
I’m not the best salesman in the world but we’ve been doing this since 2009 the year I retired and uh the players obviously I didn’t give a lot of those players are still level but but they’ve taken the information we’ve given them and I’ve had the same team of
Professionals Adrian Lucas Sylvie Brian for a decade so you know I the only player only TR coaches that I’ve lost in my company have gone to the National Hockey Le it’s about treating people well it’s about making people give people their identity within the within the the brand and the company and let
The run with it and uh and I’ve been fortunate to have an amazing team to help build this and continue to to share I mean I have nothing to hide when I say everybody your my door’s open every day you want to walk in my door you want to
See what we do come see what we do M because I really truly believe it’s not a it’s not an exercise it’s not one exercise in the gym that’s you know it’s it’s the system and it’s it’s the it’s the education of the players seeing the
Best players in the world what do they do what do they do every day right it sounds like um a degree of understanding who’s in front of you and then meeting them where they are with what they need degree of care and empathy right absolutely yeah care and empathy and I
Mean not every story’s as in a guy playing I I feel very badly for for players I uh you know I get emotional when I try to you know I try to help a guy hang on playing the national know you know the moments that guys get big contracts that’s obviously
Fulfilling for the for all of us the guys that put the work in they got rewarded but the guys that are struggling every year that come to us every year and you know they reached your true potential as a player and now they’re trying to hang on seeing a
Player could make a comeback for me comp Peter Holland this year came to me you know he met with me and may said hey I’m really struggling I want to come back to BL I don’t like what I’m doing brought them in he’ll help them out a little bit
Financially to get to the point to to do it but half you say for me this this year this fall was with Peter Hollen called me he said hey robs I got a got an americ L contract I’m back BL play BR hockey and he’s 33 years old hadn’t
Played in the National Hockey League for I think four years 5 years and spent a little time in Europe and then retired so those moments of helping players that aren’t the best players with room right are just as gratifying to my whole company than than the ones that are that
Are very very successful right so everybody matters and I think that’s the the uh the uh professionalism I’ve tried to instill every day at our facility doesn’t matter if you’re 12 as a matter if you’re 40 you matter and and we’re going to give you the same information
The same care and and try to get you to to live a routine I believe it’s a routine of uh you know of uh of Lifestyle your routine your lifestyle all those all those uh elements that eventually Define you as an athlete or a player it’s repetition repetition repetition like consistency consistency
It’s like every day how much water did you have you know like the conversations I say my strength coach he not just strength coach he like what did what did you eat before you came in here you know are we do we have something to build
With you you’re a leader yeah yeah like gu thought just it’s it’s you know maybe not totally comfortable talking nutrition with your athlete but you need to be there Al I like say the kids come come to gym they don’t have any fuel and I’m like hey go upstairs get some food H
Go for a half hour come back down start to workout you know I’m a big big Adit kid of being fueled to play and that’s why you know FD are you know or we say it’s like fuel trained recover and it’s that cycle day in and day out right if
You’re not fuel then that about nothing else matter correct yeah and that’s you know one of my true beliefs yeah so talk to me about the training G so what was it about the training that uh stood out to you either when you were doing it or
Now about your approach and curious you know some people love training some people hate it some people think it’s a job and some people like certain things and hate other things I’m curious how you person personally approach the training from a mindset perspective yeah I think the challenges of I went through
You know I I’ll be honest I was in my 20s doing what everybody else did you know having beers and wings and and working art I mean I made the national hocky I was playing the national obviously I did some yeah I was a hardworking guy but I didn’t follow the
Rest of the stuff hence why my body started to break down in 27 7 years of pro hockey fighting getting hit from behind not really having the muscle on micro body to fend myself uh for me those those were the the um the habits
That I had to I had to change go back to your question how’s your mindset toward Training Fitness became a bigger part of the game and I was a big advocate of you know first impressions were Lasting Impressions so going to training camp uh passing the fitness test became
My passion preparation became my passion you know standing up blue line and uh knowing that I had prepared for the test I was excited to write it you know standing on the blue line nights early in my career when he maybe had too much fun the night before didn’t do all the
Things that he should have done to be ready to play created anxiety for me and a lot of it and um you know I had a couple nights that you can play guilty early on in the late 80s and ’90s I’m but I mention you can’t play guilty very
Often mhm and and uh I really enjoyed beginning to enjoy I wanted to win the fitness s training camp and I know now I say to people yes did I do things wrong yeah did I did I lift too heavy at times did I did I um did I overtrain for sure
You know I was I was a guy that overtrained and uh near the end of my career I learned a lot more about uh recovery and modalities to help me recover but but I definitely I definitely fell in love with the preparing to to uh to write the test and
Being that guy training C where I like holy that guy’s in sh you find that transfer to the ice 100% the confidence the confidence I had and the the fitness level that I had in my 30s to we all get to a certain level of of uh skill I knew
That I wasn’t the most skilled guy in the world I knew that I brought something to a line that was going to benefit my linemates I wanted to play with good players so how was I that maybe I didn’t consider myself a skilled guy how was I going to play with the
Best players on the team so what did you bring to that line just intangibles the intensity uh physicalness being a good teammate being first on the puck creating those opportunities um I look at some of the Hall of Famers centerman that I played with my job was to get them to Puck and
Protect them and I was I was you know about two milon War but I was I was pretty good at that job very good yeah yeah pretty good job so I I found a niche that not everybody wanted to do and uh and made a career it which player
That you played with impacted you most or inspired you most anyone come to mind oh gosh a long list of uh thinking about the the having the opportunity to play with better players you know obviously my long time childhood from body Joon new and Dyke and I grew up together
Played squirt hockey against each other and I know people have heard that story over in but you know I was on the Rens and he was on the owls you know we’re named after Birds uh we were we were 5 years old playing H and uh became really
Good buddies end up playing lacrosse together hockey together uh we went different routs I got drafted the anti hockey Le he ended up going to Cornell University and I was drafted at 84 in the first round of Cal he wased drafted in 85 in the second round to Calgary oh
Wow so we ended up playing uh 10 years on the same line basically in Calgary and then with our super WS but uh he was a player that you know when he went to the National Hockey League won Rookie of the Year in the National Hockey League
And I had an up train to play with him and remember being a I was fighting my way through trying to scrap here get the OD goal but for most part I was fighting my way the National Hockey League and he looked at me with Dan rubs you’re a
Better player than that you don’t need to you don’t need to fight anymore and I still fought but end up getting a couple goals that night I remember saying him after the game I said you know that was a lot more fun than fighting you
Know so I started you know I scored in junior but it took me a while to become a scorer in the National Hockey League and had a little tougher Journey that way uh finding my way but guy like uh Joe at land McDonald like I spoke about
Earlier was one of the greatest captains and mentors you could ever have as a young player uh taught us how to act not just on the ice but out the ice how’d he do that just the way he carried himself he was uh you know he play with the guys
That are yell are and screamers yell scream every night right and you’re like you’re like can you get tired of it over time uh when ly McDonald spoke in the dressing room there was like soon as he started to speak everybody stopped you might have been doing your shimad he
Might have been tying your skates but he just had this way about him that you knew it was important if Lon McDonald was talking and um we’d be sitting on the bus after games and not that autograph uh Seekers were that big at the time but
He would stand outside that bus and he would sign everybody’s car so just though his his mannerisms his his approach to the game his friendliness he’s is a genuine me headwise you know president and chairman of the hocky Hall of Fame and uh spoke on the ice two days
Ago he’s just he’s just an amazing human being and taught us so much about uh being a good Pro being a good Pro um one of the said him remember I said holy crap used to call him Lars and said Lars said you spend a lot of time with
Her s autographs and he said well rob you said remember all those people you pass on the way up are the same people you’re going to pass on the way down I think that was something his dad used to tell him and it kind of registered with
Me like you know so I I’ve kind of taken that uh to you know yes I know I’ve changed just people make money out your autograph um but very I mean I try to stop and sign as many as I can recognize someone has 10 pictures all the same
Photo I’ll sign a couple and say is that good you know uh but I I’ll never turn down an autograph and a lot of that comes from what I learned from a guy like I mconnell uh spoke about Brad mccr another guy that taught me how to work
And say my dad talked me how to work but I used to train with Brad McMan the summer before he passed away and that man taught me how to work he was a farmer from plenus scatch one he’ take me to his farm make me work on the on
The bin skirts and uh used to call me a spoiled city boy which it wasn’t really but but I hadn’t done a lot of going r a little bit I hadn’t done a lot of grunt labor right he used to always laugh he would put in his har M on his silky
Small shorts and we would run the Grable roads and pl SC and I would chase this guy around and he was he had fun but he was a hardest working uh guy that I’d come across in that that time in my career so there’s there’s moments those
Kind of players obviously you get to play with good centerman like Ronnie Francis was a amazing player meton amazing player new and Dyke um then I later in my career I mean I think about those guys I played with I mean my finished my career playing with you know
Sydney Crosby and Stephen Samus so that’s a range of players I played with those guys taught me how to how to play and gave me the confidence I could be more than just a fighter the franceses the M new and dkes those guys and then uh the stam coastes and Crosby made me
Realize how much the game was changing I was seeing the speed of the game seeing the dedication of to sooning the extra stuff they did on the I you know it wasn’t just practice how much skill development they did and how much High how much the game was changing by
Players spending way more time on the ice to be better hockey players so went from Fitness on the ice to now skill on the ice right yeah and then less a not not this last time in the gym but but that’s what individualization I think is
Gone back into the gym because you need to almost train the player for the position they play and the type of player they are just be big and strong everybody’s got to be big and strong I mean that to a certain level to a certain level yeah and then after that
It’s it’s like individualization and then that’s to challenge for us coach as an Adrian would say it Lucas Brian is is dealing with the amount of volume the players to try to accomplish in the sun yeah if you’re a younger athlete I’m like what’s keeping you away from
Playing the national F put your strength then you better give yourself a chance to get straw yeah you can’t skate five days a week away from here and in fact to get strong right and and it’s that I think that’s the biggest frustration for all of us and that the frustrating but
Biggest challenge is to try to get the parents to understand you want your player to play in junor hockey league in two years or play in naot big and four uh St think straight conditioning has to be the biggest uh factor for the next 12 weeks yeah not his not his power skating
Not his stick handling uh he needs to get more f he needs to get stronger and you got to get the buying from people to sell that and get them and get them convinced that that has to be done or the rest of it doesn’t really matter so
You mentioned two names L McDonald Brad McMan I’m curious if do leaders like that still exist in the NHL it’d be not fair for me to say but I’d say no harder like I said those leaders need to real have an impact on the game I look at a
Guy who I just played with on the weekend PE shifts with him uh Patrick Marlo I mean you couldn’t you couldn’t uh meet a nicer nicer man I think he had a big influence on the the late Elite young players really seemed like they respected him and he was a bit of a
Father figure to them uh seems like a real gem so I I I’m not saying it doesn’t exist I would say there’s less of them um but I look at him as being a guy who’s recently retired that I think still had a pretty big impact he had
Pretty big impact on the game still because he still fairly good player yeah but it was also an amazing human so players were and the other players were attracted to them but I do believe it’s a bigger challenge because like I said I think that player and need to still have
A pretty impact on the team to uh uh to get that respect how many hours hours a day are you training doing your career you obviously days you’re you’re playing you’re not you’re maybe doing a little bit but not the same amount that you made you on the off days or in the
Offseason what does that look like you know an hour a day two hours a day 5 hours a day an hour skill do you have like an like a overall idea what that would look like yeah for me personally or yeah like I know when I went to
Charles um and he changed my feeling around training I was never allowed to train two Energy Systems within a 4-H hour period so I would do I would do my strength in the morning and get up I eat knew a little stretching he wasn’t big on stretching but a little stretching
And uh a little bit about Dani EIC and I get into my left and then I would do my energy system so I was on like a 5day cycle right so I would I would have uh four workouts in two days and then next day is completely off then that next day
I’d had to overeat those days and then I would and then I’d have a the next day I would train again and do two workouts and I had another day off so two complete days off every 5ay cycle mhm but I would do six workouts in in those
5 days and I couldn’t believe how I grew like he convinced me you I want you to eat more on your day off not less right and everybody said I didn’t work up today so I cut my protein or cut got recovery day it’s recovery day yeah so I
To recover well nutrition that’s why I said what can I play golf today he said no it’s your recovery day so I want you to eat right sit down sit down relax eat and then we’ll get back at of tool so so I always did my energy whether I was
Going to run Hills do stairs do a bike whatever I was going to do Energy System wise happened at dinner what I loved about that was it kept me the afternoons that wasn’t golfing I wasn’t on my dock at Min musoka having a beer you know I
Was like no I got to work out tonight and it really and on my days off I I knew I had to focus so it really it really simplified my training but when I train I believe when I train hard I I worked I trained hard but when I rest I
Need to rest hard too you know what I mean like of course yeah and that’s where I think it’s a bigger challenge for players too because every want everybody feels the need to be so busy I have a tough time telling guys okay you can’t golf after every every weight tray
You work out right people don’t understand what it does to your nervous system golf correct yep walking I played in my late in my 30s I was you end up going to Florida thought oh you know I’ll play a little golf my days off and I played two rounds of golf in Florida
The whole winter and the next day after golf I was flat as a pancake I had I I was dehydrated I just had no jump in my STA and the sitting out in 80° golf weather whether I had a beer or not walking 20,000 step walking even have took a
Cart you off you’re under the heat you’re drinking water but you’re you’re still not you’re not recovering right and so so golf is harder on your system so anyting players that’s part of the you that’s the challenge that’s the journey is saying guys how committed are you and and how
Long do you want to play and really how you live your Summers your summers are your time cuz in season if you’re a hockey player that’s playing you know 16 to 22 minutes a night you’re not getting stronger in seon right you’re holding this together you’re holding it together yeah you’re
You’re you’re doing some maintenance work you’re doing I always say go into the gym every day spend 20 minutes on your body every day you need to do body maintenance if you don’t do don’t do body maintenance whatever that looks like for you individually you don’t do
It you don’t make it for the season and in January and February when you want to play your best like I say we train all year for playoffs right that’s why we work out that’s why I’m such a like like like I I couldn’t have a stronger belief about strength training during the
Season if you’re not going to strength train for nine months nine months of the year right you’re going to just strike TR for three months fall what he’s going to fall apart Y and the key to the teams have success is is convincing their players that Office training is
Mandatory in season there’s a way to do it and certain guys need more certain guys need less but it’s definitely not one workout on the board that’s prescribed to all you know there needs to be and I think that’s strength coach in naal they have gotten a lot better
There needs to be some level individualization for inseason training to for performance for recovery and for longevity how are you assessing and measuring guys in the NHL to determine how to do it and that could be inseason or offseason yeah I think um you know in
I mean obviously you have your you know we’ll do some we’ll do jumps for plates right we’ll do uh we’ll do some type of uh some type of am sorry aerobic capacity work whether it’s like a three-minute bike ride you know we have like little five question questioner
That guys fill out every day um you know it’s mandatory I think in the cities that I’ve um worked for it to be in front of your strength coach face to face every day walk in have that conversation how you feeling to day how’d you sleep last night how much
Water did you drink what did you do yesterday in your day off all those little conversations that give the strength coach an idea of your Readiness to train your Readiness to uh to play that day and then and then having the the year of the of the coach cu up to to
Be able to go in as a strength coach and say hey you know what our guys we got half a dozen guys who are pretty binded up you know or pretty F we need have him an easy day you know but if you if you’re if you if you have a few numbers
And not that you need to like you cannot inundate players each and every day we do this test today we got this test today you know there’s a there’s a a wat bike test we do like a sixc wat bike test set players you can incorporate into their into their strength training
There’s just certain ways to do it that that the players AR always feel like they’re being evaluated and some players are way more willing to look at the numbers because they know that the the strength coach has the best interest on the player so gaining that trust is
First and foremost for the strength coach he needs to gain the trust in the player this is for you this is going nowhere else to you but eventually as a strength coach if you have a player that just doesn’t buy an edit edit it that you doesn’t wear a sh monitor does not
Prepared to we the Catapult brackus or not not prepared to get any numbers on them then eventually the the Str coach is in no position to say sorry coach I got no information on this guy it’s still keep you’re playing great but the moment you don’t play well right or the
Moment that those measurables become important so you know so it’s a it’s it’s it it is a challenge but there’s a there’s a way to do it I would i s a brook wasan is one of the best I’ve I’ve seen in the National Hockey League in
Seattle a wonderful guy in it for the right reasons does does everything he can every day for the players to give the players the ability to to play their best uh Jake Jensen our assistant Seattle and have a really a lot of respect for the way they operate and how
Caring they are for the players so I know the players are in good hands there and it’s a it’s a good feeling when uh you know you watch Seattle what they’ve accomplished a very short period of time I know a lot of that has to do with what
Those players are doing off the ice I know an enormous part of what you teaches recovery I want to talk about nutrition because obviously nutrition is this very vast landscape and everyone’s got their own unique approach and some people you know it’s paleo and it’s like
You know it’s got to be keto so I’ve heard even within the NHL I talked to a lot of guys and there’s a big Spectrum yeah so I’m curious what your appro what approach you have seen most effective for your athletes yeah I and you know we
Would say we’re always conscious of the fact that it’s expensive right like you need to understand that parents invest so much money in their kids the equipment you know they on nice train tring the office training the food like like it really it can be overwhelming for
Families so when parents call me and say hey should my son take creatine or should my son take clue to me and I’ll say hey like how’s your family’s nutrition like how do you guys eat try to get an idea that what the message I’m trying to get across is food will always
Be first mm okay so the Simplicity of it is I know we could go down that rabbit hole for a while and everybody has your belief you know but whole real foods don’t lie in my opinion when I take players grocery shopping I say look at the ingredients you know what’s in this
If you don’t understand 10 of the ingredients that are in what you’re about to buy whether it’s a protein bar whether it’s some kind of snack whether I’m like don’t buy it you know if it says oats oats are pretty good and say almonds it’s pretty good we can get into
The depth of nutrition through you know I strength coaches that are like this like okay I don’t I don’t have any oxalates I don’t you know I don’t have any dairy I’m completely vegan or whatever their belief says I just think for the K hockey and for that we talked
About how young the game is today where are those players going to get their food if they get so extreme that they actually don’t the worst thing in TR SP always to me I don’t care this is how you’re got to eat but never not eat you
Always have to eat and he was like I don’t care where you are make the best choice in a bad situation as a parent and as a young athlete that’s what I prescribe it starts with whole real foods and as they get older yes you can introduce some supplementation I believe
That you know players that playing National Hockey League The energy they burn the travel the Sleep obviously they need supplementation there’s certain things we prescribe but it still goes back to our basis and our true belief is that if you’re covering you know the rainbow when you’re covering you know fruits vegetables lean
Proteins you know some starchy carbohydrates that a fiber I mean I was through a stage in my career with Charles I was not allowed to eat anything white nothing you know that was his so I mean like no chicken no no no no rice no potato not no bread uh just
Fruit vegetables and meat and that’s and that’s what I ate with Charles and uh I mean it worked for me I mean you know I’ve done some uh DNA genette Tes I know that you know for me my body works well on meat you know so so I’ve always been
A protein guy I would say probably ate too much protein at some point in my career I’ve kind of T that down obviously as I’ve gotten older I don’t eat as much saturated fan uh but no doubt that the fiber I needed the fiber I wasn’t getting out of fiber eating 300
Plus grams of protein a day I was you know my heaviest in naal life was 25 you know think St hockey player yeah 15 is a leaf and uh but I you know a lot of strength training lot of power uh sto doing so much AIC conditioning like my
My belief uh when you talk about Fitness I had to have a 60 V2 to play in the National Hockey League that’s what we were all told in the 90s right you don’t have a 60 V2 you can’t play so running and biking became very important if you
Wanted to have a 162 the heavier you were the harder where it comes harder accounts right so I was 188 Pounds with a 64 BO2 um but I you know I couldn’t bench press 135 lbs you know so there’s a i line now I’d say in my 30s I became
More of a power athlete and my BO2 Dro no doubt about it I can show to tell you the results but I was also 250 instead of 188 and but I was Stronger Faster healthier because that muscle held you together weren’t injured as much of course I wasn’t injured as much and yes
I had some muscle tears because I got two Ean sometimes you know some of my some of my I had oblique tear I had a Gro tear you know on a on a on a dexas SC that was like 85 body fat and it was probably to lean back then right the
Calipers was probably you know probably a probably a four probably a five you know I don’t I don’t prescribe players to be ultr lean I believe you play 20 minutes a night need some fat on your body and so you’re too in like you need
Fatten you up so there’s a and I think that’s what we know when I when I get players for think about I’m with a player for almost 80 Days in the summer yeah I’ve done some stuff on the side I’ve worked for I’ve worked for Vegas I’ve worked for Pittsburgh worked for
Seattle with Prospect Dev bment but I truly don’t think those players understand some of though the the real message of consistency until I get a player for eting days and I’m in his space every day you know then what to eat have you sleep what’ you do last
Weekend you can’t have another weekend like last weekend all these all these touch points trying to get the player to develop a routine and lifestyle for longevity and uh you know let’s kind that go somewhere else with yeah let’s talk about recover man I know that that’s that holds a special place in
Your heart you talk about that a lot and how that was ultimately able to sustain your career as long as it did and now you’ve got some incredibly unique uh as we look around here in your your beautiful gym you’ve got some incredibly unique modalities so i’ be curious what
You did during your career that was hely impactful and then maybe what you do now that’s the most impactful yeah I mean I would say the biggest thing I did obviously was nutrition between my at the age of 30 uh nutrition was obviously the basis of my recovery uh some supplementation
But for the most part it was nutrition and then on the recovery side I I did like to spin the bike uh post plane so I’d spin the bike for 12 minutes I’d do a little stretch and then I’d get in C tubs and I was in uh cold tubs after
Every game for the last decade of my career I had you know I had roommates that joke around about you know me yelling at them go get some more iice put it in the bathtu you know I was big on I was big on cold tubs yeah before it
Was famous now it’s now everyone’s doing now everybody’s doing and this was you I was having the I have a friend of mine Mike Vernon that went into the Hall of Fame and we literally were joking two wees ago that I would yell at verie and
Say Vernie the ice is melting and I said get me some more ice and he’d go get buckets of ice and throw it in the bathtub on me and we’re talking I mean him and I were him and I were teammates in the early 90s I was cold dos so I
Found for me that really worked for me of course one night crazy story Brad MCC said he your box butting you go and you’ll run the bath and so was I know January and Calvary and I ran the bath and I’m laying in this bathtub you know
With Calvary colding January water up to my neck and I’ve been there and I’m I’m like I’m h a shake here you know till like chips and Med passes by and I feel my tee arear get chatter and I’m like I think it’s sign pretty out here yeah so
I get out I’m I mean buddy we’re talking like this is like this is 1990 and I almost killed myself right in my cold up and I literally put on long john sweater uh hoodie couldn’t warm up couldn’t warm up and got on my bad and
It took me hours to get my like so so just like those are the you know it’s a funny story but but that tells you like but I really felt that when I did a cold tub in the ’90s or the 2000s uh the next
Day I had a little more jump on my legs completely it work off inflammation yeah it worked for me and it was the number one thing I did as a player on the road i’ I’d asked our trainers to fill up garbage cans with ice really we put it
So after you jump in all the shower showering and then the ice tub would be there you jump in a bucket of ice put garbage can full of ice and water so that’s what I used to do on the road just stay in once and get out stay one
Try to say for long as you can but you know like no situation you you know the bus is leaving everybody’s yelling at right you know I was always the last I get on the bus everybody y on me holy we got to go robs we’re going to
Miss the plan and sitting in the cold to so I mean yeah like iy was I mean for a hockey player in the 90s and 2000s that was pretty extreme right I mean guys that play they say I was very extreme I had battery operated blender I take on
The plane i’ be making protein shakes at the back of the plane they just always you know guys be laughing at me they would laugh they see like year over the top and which I was probably but then by the end of the year they’re like hey Rob
You got any snacks tot jvin I for 20 years right I had my gym bag in my gym bag had my supplements and had my shaker and had my battery Opera blender and uh and I used to travel everywhere with it so supplementation cold tubs would be
The things I did for me to help me play as 43 years old eventually at 43 I retire for the second time um but I really haven’t left there you know like yes I have a little more fun yes I cheat a little bit more have a little more
Wine like I I live I have four kids anybody that has four kids list yeah I get it I get it you still got to live but I Don’t Stray too far from you know my beliefs in P sound nutrition really drive my performance and and you know I
Want to practice what I preach I preach it every day uh I have a long lineup I’m sure people that are hoping I get really fat one day and uh and unless it’s something that I can’t control right I’m I’m never getting there it it keeps me
It keeps me motivated and being on young players and like I said you earlier have something to train for you know I trained for I trained for for beer leag hockey now that I drink a little beer when I play but that’s what we call it
Yeah uh I don’t want to play shitty hockey even at 57 I want to goow and I want to I want to play well and I wanted and it’s a workout for me it’s a day that I don’t have to get on that bike over there I could stay yeah and uh and
I still love to play the game I love to play the game love to compete uh and have some fun with u with guys that have the same you know the same uh drive or the same the same uh you know healing that I have are there a lot of guys at
57 who still have the same drive and and I don’t say 57 no I wouldn’t say there’s many 57 year olds that are that are probably set a new standard yeah I would say that but I would say that you know generally uh people are having uh kids
Later life so I want to be I want to be pretty healthy for my grandchildren I have a I have a 13-year-old figure skater 14-y old hockey player a 17y old hockey player and a 33y old now you know Yogi I want to be healthy for as long as
I can I know life can throw some uh some things in your direction that you can’t control um but I certainly hope by the way I live my life and how I take care of myself and I’m giving myself the best chance to be around here for my
Grandkids man no doubt car absolutely pleasure man thanks thank you very much for making the time yeah thanks for thanks for having me today ladies and gentlemen that is a wrap I’m your host Ben bolski as I promised Gary is just incredible with his insights and coming from someone
Who’s played professional sports played at the highest level take his information and heed his wisdom the focus on recovery that he emphasizes time and time again is not by accident right success leaves Clues he knows what he’s doing and so many of us are so stressed and we’re so focused on I want
A bigger gas pedal and I want a bigger engine and I want to go harder and faster yeah it’s it’s important to go art it’s important to go fast but if you want to go fast you need to recover thanks to Gary Roberts thank you to his
Amazing family and thank you to for being here and supporting the muscle intelligence podcast I don’t take your support LLY I do my best to get these podcasts out consistently and bring you the highest quality information on best guests from all around the world if you
Do enjoy this podcast I would love it if you left us a review you can do that on YouTube you can also send me a direct message on Instagram you can also join our musle intelligence community on Facebook we’re also expanding into a new community which I’ll tell you about
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