Okanagan Strength & Conditioning Conference 2013

At Okanagan Peak Performance we put the highest priority on education. But we don't want to just say we put a high value on education and not back it up. So we back it up and host one of the top educational events right here in Kelowna, BC. Below is a quick recap of the 2nd Annual Okanagan Strength & Conditioning Conference (OSCC).

When the first year of the OSCC concluded one of the presenterscommented that Boston puts on a top level event but that this event is on par with and set to become the standard in strength & conditioning conferences.

And so the expectations were already pretty high when we sought out to plan out the second installment of this event. With our first go round we had 41 registered attendees, plus guests, presenters and our team here at Okanagan Peak Performance Inc. This year we set out 96 chairs and there was only standing room once things got started.

So we know we had succeeded in terms of growing the event and now all that was left was the chance to sit back and learn from the experts we had flown in to share their knowledge and expertise with everyone. Here's who we brought in.

Patrick Ward - The Power Capacity Continuum

Patrick is a massage therapist and strength coach currently employed by Nike working with their top athletes. He is one of those really smart guys that teaches themselves things that the rest of us would struggle with even with a teacher or tutor.

With his topic Patrick was speaking about how power can be important for the aerobic athlete such as a triathlete as well as a shot putter. In the middle are team sport athletes that will have to generate high levels of power a number of times during a game.

With this in mind Patrick talked about how to train and develop Repeat Sprint Ability (RSA) which is how athletes can perform sprints at a high level over and over during a game. He had some really unique drills and programming options to develop all energy systems relevant to sprinting ability.

Matt Jordan - Strength Quality Assessment in Elite Winter Athletes: Power, Explosive Strength and Strength Curves

Matt came out from Calgary where he is a PhD candidate and strength coach for the Canadian Sport Centre working with bobsled, downhill skiers and long track speed skaters. Remember these sports next year during the Olympics as Matt works with them all.

He's one of those guys that measures and tracks everything. And then he uses the numbers to make tweaks and changes to programs where fractions of a second make the difference between podiums or not.

And with his PhD research he is looking into factors that may help prevent ACL injuries which are par for the course with downhill skiing.

Dr. Cassandra Forsythe - How to Build Powerful Female Clients in Both the Gym and the Kitchen

Cassandra came to us from Connecticut but is originally from Prince George so it was great have our first female presenter ever at the OSCC be a local girl. And she did a great job.

With a background as a strength & conditioning specialist as well as a PhD in nutrition she is very qualified to speak to the needs of women when training.

Armed with a graduate degree she could have dug deep into the science and really gone heavy with a technical presentation but instead found a comfortable balance point for the audience and spoke to that level.

There were a number of key points she made with respect to carb cycling and women that would make a huge impact on a woman's ability to achieve her goal. She resonated so strongly with the audience that one of the attendees was looking to book her for one of their upcoming events.

Stay tuned for Part II where we let you in on what Robert dos Remedios, Dr. Emily Splichal and Jim Radcliffe taught on day two.

Chris [fb-like]