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In this third episode of Between the Shifts from Stop and Starts, the host welcomes Erin Bratcher of EB Athletics to discuss off-ice training and athlete development for parents and players. Bratcher shares her background as a Division I basketball player at Charleston Southern, four-year pro in Germany’s Bundesliga, and her path into strength and conditioning, including building EB Athletics during COVID and developing a 5,000-square-foot facility. They cover how strength gains translate to speed, power, injury prevention, and confidence, and discuss early specialization versus multi-sport benefits, recovery and readiness (sleep, hydration, nutrition), and age-appropriate progression from coordination to loaded lifting. Bratcher explains her TeamBuildr-based in-person and remote coaching, form feedback via video, pricing guidance, and sport-specific programming like groin prevention for hockey and ankle focus for basketball.
00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
01:39 Erin Bratcher Background
03:54 EB Athletics and Results
05:39 Old School vs Modern Training
06:39 Why Strength Matters
09:15 Sports She Trains
10:46 Early Specialization Debate
13:19 Building the Gym
16:02 Online Platform TeamBuildr
18:16 Remote Assessments and Testing
18:50 Remote Training Intake
19:09 Stop and Starts Mission
21:14 Building Athlete Confidence
22:47 Recovery and Body Awareness
24:21 When Kids Should Train
26:07 Assessments and Body Types
27:43 Online Coaching and Pricing
29:01 Form Checks via Video
30:16 Fitness Fundamentals and Readiness
31:56 Sport Specific Programming
32:42 Wrap Up and Giveaway
Creators and Guests
What is Between the Shifts — Presented by StopNStarts Hockey?
Between the Shifts is a monthly show for players, parents, coaches, and youth hockey leaders navigating the fast, confusing and often expensive world of youth hockey. Hosted by a former professional player, coach, and parent, and owner of STOPnSTARTS Hockey, Marc Genest. We carve into player development, real-life family stories, coaching culture, costs, training pathways, and everything young athletes and their communities are facing today. Whether you’re in a traditional hockey market or growing the game in the South, this podcast helps you make smarter decisions, understand your options, and avoid common pitfalls. Join us for honest conversations that empower families and fuel hockey dreams.
03 - Between The Shifts
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Speaker 8: [00:00:00] thanks for joining us today on our third episode of Between the Shifts, our podcast here at Stop and Starts. I know we've talked about a realm of stuff already. My intro was pretty long. We talked about Little Johnny a lot, and the second episode was about equipment and skill development.
Today I wanna be a little bit more specific. And as we continue with these podcasts, obviously this platform is to enable you parents and players to kinda really get a, a broad idea of, of what it takes to get to where you wanna go. And, and with us today we have Erin Bratcher with EB Athletics. We're gonna talk about off-ice training.
She's got a platform and a program that can help kids. She already works with a ton of kids here locally in various sports, but also a platform that you can work with Erin outside of our area. And again, this platform was created for us to be able to reach as many kids as we can, not just kids that I've coached personally or that Erin has worked with locally.
But this is a platform where, you know, look, we're, [00:01:00] we're athletes, we were athletes, and w- we know what it takes. And if there's a platform that we can use to share that knowledge with you guys, then we wanna be able to do it. It, it's very satisfying to pay it forward. And Erin's been fantastic. She's worked with my kids now for almost 10 years probably- Yeah
if not more. Um, so glad to have you on board, Erin, and welcome to the show. First off, I just want you to kinda introduce yourself and let everybody know your college career, your pro career, what you did.
Erin: Yeah. Um, so Erin Bratcher. I've been in the strength and conditioning world full time since 2018. Um, prior to that, I played Division I college basketball down at Charleston Southern.
[00:02:00] Um, after that I went and played professionally in Germany, the Bundesliga. Um, played four seasons over there, and that's, um, during that time was kind of when I got my start in the strength and conditioning field. Um, I know you know Aaron Brown, but I went to undergrad for kinesiology, which is a pretty broad sports science topic.
People become ATs, PTs, all kinds of things. Um, and I didn't know what I was gonna do, and then continued playing, which kind of bought me more time, I guess, to figure out what I was gonna do. During one of my off-seasons, I came home and started working for Aaron Brown, who's, he's a well-known strength and conditioning coach at this point.
He's, he'd already been in the industry 15 years. He's owned his own facility, worked with a lot of athletes, all different levels. Um, and that kind of sparked, I guess, my fire and what I might really wanna do next. Um, so you know, I went back, finished my playing career, but during that time got my master's in applied exercise science.
Started kinda like setting the stage for the next steps.
Marc: Okay. Yeah. And, and [00:03:00] I'm familiar with Aaron Brown here locally. He used to train... I've been coaching a long time, so I think one of our first teams, we used to go to his facility. Right. And I think that's when you and I initially met.
Erin: Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's been around a long time and, um, you know, people might not know it, but he's got, like, every certification under the sun. He's, he's very well-versed in, in this field and, you know, one of the first conversations we had was, "It's great that you have your undergrad, but you really should go get your master's and, and some more specific certs."
Um, so yeah, once I did all that, kinda set me up to, what do I wanna do? College, high school, private sector? And I've frankly dipped my toe in all of those.
Marc: Yeah, and still do, right? Yeah, and
Erin: still do. Yeah. Um, which is unique. Normally you kinda narrow down to one, but- Um, I started working at Meredith College r- right off the bat in 2018, um, and working a little bit in the private sector.
It wasn't till 2020 and, you know, COVID that I started my own thing, so.
Marc: Yeah. Yeah. And known as EB Athletics, right? Correct. Yeah. I mean, And, and you have a really nice facility [00:04:00] here. Um, I know you've got a, a really good list of, Gosh, you've got kids that played youth hockey here that have now gone on to D1.
Yeah. Some guys are playing pro that still come to your facility. So that says a lot about- Yeah ... What you do, and I've, you know, heard some stories from certain players to where, Yeah, fitness sometimes, I've seen it. I'm very v- still involved in fitness in my 50s and, and still try to continue staying fit.
Um, but I, I just see the importance of fitness coming through, and it becomes a lifestyle for these guys- Right ... because, you know, back in my playing days, I mean, we still had guys at times smoking a cigarette- Yeah. ... between the periods. You know, and- Yeah ... and, and maybe not being as fit as, as they are now.
Right. I mean, the lifespan of a hockey career early on was five years. Now I, I would hedge my bets to say that it's closer s- to 10 years- Yeah ... only because the guys are taking care of themselves. But my point was that a lot of these guys come back home and can't wait [00:05:00] to get back- Yeah ... in the gym with you- Yeah
because of the amount of progress they've made during the season.
Erin: Yeah. I mean, last year your son was part of this group with that, that off-season summer training group. I mean, their numbers were ridiculous. Um, I pre-tested them, and about halfway through we retested and, I mean, they couldn't believe it.
They were putting up, like, 50 pounds on a deadlift after just, like, six weeks. Yeah. Um, and that stuff translates. You know, they, they see it in their speed and their power, explosiveness. So when kids, like, commit to the program, they buy into not just how it affects their game, but how it affects them, like, their body and for life.
And that's part of what, you know, has made this so, you know, interesting to me.
Marc: Yeah. And growing up for me, one of the first programs was Ice Fit up in Ottawa. The guy's name was Mark Slater. Okay. Also a very certified guy. And we had a ton of athletes from the Steve Eismans to the Jeff Chikrins to the Luke Richardsons, and we all did the same program.
Yeah. Right? And as a f- You know, I started at 15, 16, I think. Mm-hmm. My first year junior. [00:06:00] Um, you know, I needed to put weight on. Right. Right. That was the most important thing. And, um- You know, the Ice Fit program was fantastic. It was a, a bible. It was six days a week. Okay. It was intense.
Erin: Yeah.
Marc: Now, obviously, a lot of the training, and, and one name comes to mind is O'Reilly from the Nashville Predators.
He has really changed. Like, I, I see some of his off-ice workouts- Yeah ... like on, on a beam, like a gymnastics beam. Yeah. And he does a lot of flexibility and mobility. F- for me, my program, I could reiterate back in the day, was a, a lot of squats, a lot of lateral squats, a lot of bulking to- Right ... actually increase the muscle mass so we can sustain the longevity of the ice hockey season, right?
Right.
Erin: Right.
Marc: Um, w- why did you get involved in fitness? Like, did you... Did, did you get injured? Did you... I mean, I know you came back home and worked with Aaron Brown. Yeah. But- Well, so- What really set the difference between you just saying, "Man, this is what I wanna do"?
Erin: Yeah. So, um, you know, I, I graduated high school in 2010, so it shows a little bit, a lot of things have changed in that time.
When I [00:07:00] was in high school, no one stepped foot in the weight room unless you played football or maybe men's basketball. And it wasn't till my, you know, senior year when it was clear that I was on track to be a D1 athlete that one of my basketball coaches pulled me in and was like, "This is the next step."
Like, "You gotta get in the weight room." I was, like, 5'9", 140. So I was just scrawny, and I was a shooter, and I was like, "I gotta be able to handle contact and stuff." So he pulled me in, and between, you know, the end of my senior year of high school, freshman year of college, I put on 15 pounds of muscle, and at that size, that's a huge difference.
Didn't slow me down or any of these things that a lot of females in particular are concerned about. It helped me, like, tremendously. Could handle contact, could grab rebounds, hold onto it, and when it, I saw the impact on my game, I think, obviously, that a light bulb goes off of like- Yeah ... "Wow, you invest in this, and it's gonna pay off."
Marc: Yeah, for sure.
Erin: And so it's not only that. You know, obviously I wanna help athletes turn a corner in their game, but now I've also transitioned into I'm no longer an athlete, and I'm trying to train for the rest of my life.
[00:08:00] Yeah.
And, you know, that's a hard process. I've, I've been talking to Grace about it.
Yeah. You know, it's a, it takes some athletes years sometimes to figure out what fits.
Marc: And I tell families all the time that reach out to me is, you know, you can't, you can't force the light bulb to come on, right? Right. Like you talked about the- Right ... light bulb. Like, say, "Oh my God," you know? "Finally, it's working."
Yeah. Like, "Holy $h!t I can see the difference." You can't force that, and every athlete, that light bulb comes on at a different time. Right. It's- And no matter what they do, they have to acknowledge it themselves- Right ... in order f- for them to- Yeah ... like I hear parents all the time, "Oh, I'm his parent. He won't listen to me."
Right. I, I, it, it's got nothing to do with that, right? Yeah. It's, it's not because you're the parent that he's not listening. It's just not rational for him. Right. And the light bulb's not coming on to where he believes it. Right. But the minute he does believe it, whether he believes that fitness is good for him or believes how good he can be- Right
as an athlete, a- all of a sudden, that player's dynamic completely changes. Yeah,
Erin: and it comes from experience, and it could be, like you mentioned, injuries are a big one where they start to turn a corner and [00:09:00] realize, "Hey, I have to do this to get back to that." Um, but yeah, every, every kid has a different experience with it, and part of what I've seen is that they learn to appreciate what it does for them beyond sports.
Um, and that's, that's a big part of this too.
Marc: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Now, what sports do you cater to? Like, obviously you've trained two of my kids, both hockey players. You know, y- you, you help out a ton of hockey players in your gym. What other sports do you cater to?
Erin: Yeah, hockey has been a big one. Um, we do a lot of soccer, basketball.
I mean, through the high school and the college, we hit all the traditional- Yeah ... sports. So, you know.
Marc: Lacrosse- Yeah ... basketball. Yeah.
Erin: Um, 'cause Cardinal Gibbons has 900 athletes, so we've got pretty much every sport that you'd see in a, a school. Um, outside of that at the, at EV, we see a lot of your, your non-traditional sports.
So ice hockey, rugby. We've got, like, a roller derby team. Yeah. It's kind of just a resource to those that, that wouldn't get it other places.
Marc: Yeah. And again, word of mouth, right? Right. The, the, the people in, say, [00:10:00] lacrosse or soccer or even track- Right ... s- see a kid going to school, and it's amazing that we talked about hockey, and I digress all the time, but you know how, how much hockey has grown here.
Right. I mean, you know, we've gone to having 25 ho- 2,500 hockey players here in town, and all of a sudden now I'd hedge my bets to where we're probably between 8,000 and 10,000- Yeah ... between all the programs- Mm-hmm ... that are available at different levels, from, from house league to triple A level.
Right. It do- doesn't really matter. Yeah. Um, f- from a young athlete coming in to see you, what, what do you see most? Like, what do you see today? Like, you know, we're ... We talked about me in the '80s and '90s. Yeah. And now we talked about you in 2010.
Erin: Yeah.
Marc: Now we're '26. Yeah. What, what do you see today?
Erin: So one of the big changes, which has been going on for a while, is early specialization.
So they're no longer playing three or four sports. They're, they're picking one, and they're going all in, and that has its pros and cons. Um, you know- At what age
Marc: do you see that [00:11:00] they, they doing that? I mean, it's starting
Erin: earlier and earlier. I would say by middle school most of them are picking one sport and going with it.
Yeah.
And it's not necessarily all negative, but a lot of strength coaches will say that's not great for their development, right? They're not getting to, you know, a break from certain planes of motion and, and being able to work in other ones. They're just hammering the same movement patterns. Or using different
Marc: skill sets.
Right. Like, I, I will say that I haven't seen too many hockey players that are bad at golf. Right. I haven't seen too many- Lacrosse ... hockey players that are bad at lacrosse. Right. I haven't seen too many hockey players- Right ... that are not good at any other racket- Yeah ... sports, whether it's pickleball- Yeah
or tennis. Hockey as a whole is probably ... I, I, I mean, I could say the same for basketball except for the fact- Yeah ... that sh- maybe the, the hand-eye with a stick- Yeah ... or an extension of your arm might not be as- Yeah ... fluid, but-
Erin: Well, it's also like a mental break for them, right? Oh. Usually they have one sport that's their main sport they're putting some pressure on themselves for, and then maybe the second one is just for fun.
Yeah. And you see less of that, which is, again, fine, but they're also losing some of those other skills. So having them [00:12:00] in start strength and conditioning can kind of help fill some of those gaps, you know. Um, hockey players aren't jumping on the ice a lot, but we're getting them in the weight room and working on those kind of movement patterns to help them translate to the ice.
Marc: Yeah. And, and, and that argument comes a lot these days, like from various pro guys that say, "You know, that's the problem with today's kid, is they're not playing multiple sports anymore." Right.
Erin: Yeah.
Marc: But I, I I don't know that I agree or disagree. I, I- Right ... I think it's up for a topic of conversation- Right
with a, a, a, a nice stiff drink. But I, I think for me at the end of the day, the, the competitiveness of one particular sport, gone are the days that you can just show up- Right ... put, put your gear on- Yeah ... and go play. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Those, those days are over. Right. Like, if you're not putting in extra time on power skating and- Mm-hmm
off-ice fitness and skill development and learning the game, it- Well, and that's just it ... you're gonna lose.
Erin: That's just it. Hockey is one of the, of the sports that I work with, one of the few sports that does it right. They give the athletes time to do that, to work on their skill stuff. Yeah. [00:13:00] Their, their skating and their stick work and everything else.
They have an off-season, so they can come in, they can put on muscle, they can work in different phases. Most of these sports, though, don't stop playing, and if you're in season all year and you're just playing, you're not drilling, you're not working on the skills, that's where you're like, "Are, are we helping, are we hurting at this point?"
Marc: Yeah.
Erin: Yeah.
Marc: Well, we could talk about that all day, but- Yeah, that's a different topic ... Let's talk about the gym. Like, I know my kids- Yeah ... Love coming to the gym. They love the atmosphere you've built in there, and they love the setup. Describe how you came about that. Yeah. What was your pur- purpose with the layout?
I know people can't see it right now. Would've been cool to have a picture, but- Yeah ... they can go on your website as well- Yeah ... which is ebathletics.com.
Erin: Yep, that's it.
Marc: Yeah.
Erin: Um, yeah, so the gym, like I said earlier, started during COVID. So, um, it was one of those situations where you work for yourself or you don't work at all.
And, you know, I was like, "I have all these kids that have been asking me for stuff. Let me just figure out the business side of this, and I know we can, we can roll with it." So the first three months, we actually worked out of a park, and it, I [00:14:00] mean, this was COVID. You weren't allowed inside anyway. It was like, you know, do what you can outside.
We got pretty creative. It was a lot of speed training, a lot of body weight work. Moved into a facility, worked out of the first facility for three years as a, a shared space, and then moved into where we are now, and it's a, you know, 5,000 square foot space with turf and sleds and all your stuff. You can do dynamic work, but also the racks and dumbbells and, and free weights where we can do the strength work as well.
[00:15:00] [00:16:00] Now, with all these kids that come to the gym, you also have an online platform, right? Correct. Yeah. So you're able for, you know, and I talk about little Johnny all the time. After my first podcast, everybody's like, "Man, who's little Johnny?" But as a general rule, these kids come in, they work out, and then they have a platform- Mm-hmm
Marc: that they fill out. Talk about that platform. Yeah. So
Erin: our higher level athletes, I have them all on TeamBuildr, and TeamBuildr is obviously very popular at this point. Most colleges use it. A lot of high school pro- programs use it. The Junior Canes use it. Um, and it's a platform that allows me to kind of streamline all of their programming.
So I can put their programs in, we can look at long-term progressions. I can throw in micro cycles. I can adjust it as we need to. But the biggest thing for them is they can track all of their progress. They can put in all their weights. They can see a history of where they've grown. I can pull reports and, and look at, like, bigger cycles of time and say, "Hey, this is where we were.
This is where we're going." Um, and it's really cool for the kids that are in person, but it's great for the kids that are [00:17:00] not local, um, 'cause it also allows me to, like, write them programs to do in Canada. Um, I've had kids all over the world at this point that, you know, they can send me video feedback to check their form.
Um, we can opt in and out of stuff and switch it up day of if I need to. It's, it's super interactive, which allows me to kind of, like, reach more kids that, that need this kind of thing.
Marc: And again, you know, you could tell with your passion and my passion for the game, and, and for me, this is not a money-making scheme- Right
for me. This is, Yeah ... kind of just a platform where I can help more kids than just the kids that I've coached locally. Right. And that's all I'm trying to do. Yes, there is a fee for everything. You know, it costs to do this. Right. It costs to do that. I, I understand. But at the end of the day, allowing you to make sure that they're getting the proper training- Right
for whatever sport they may wanna do. Right. Like, you know, I know this is Stop and Starts, and this is a hockey platform, but man, at the end of the day, you know, the sisters and the brothers- Yeah ... that may not play hockey may also need a, a- Right ... training platform that would be also [00:18:00] conducive to what you do.
Erin: Well, frankly, I've started putting parents on it. You know? Yeah. Parents are watching their, taking their kids to the gym and sitting there waiting an hour, and I was like, "Don't you guys wanna, you know, make sure you're staying in shape, too?" Their programs are very different. Yeah. But, you know, they can benefit from this stuff, too.
No
Marc: jumping.
Erin: Well, very little.
Marc: So you monitor the progress. You also do some testing. I just wanna recap on that. So you, you, you can evaluate a kid. Now, you know, for somebody that doesn't live in Raleigh, you would be able to do, say, a Zoom call. Yeah. So we s- Look, have a conversation, have a meeting, kind of get a- physical or you know, an, an ice shot of the kid and can say, "Okay, what kind of player is he?"
Yeah. "W- what does he need to work on? What is his feedback from-" Yeah ... his coaches?" And at that point, you turn that around, create a platform for him to follow. Right. And then you can monitor progress, and obviously do testing for him, regardless if he's in Raleigh or not.
Erin: Yeah, correct. It, it usually starts with either a Zoom call or a phone call, just going over, "Hey, w- what do, what have we got?
Like, what kind of gym are you going to? How often are you training? Have you had any [00:19:00] injuries? Let's chat. What is your coach saying? What do we need to work on?" From there, you know, we can build it all out, and we can keep up with him every day if we need to. Yeah. Yeah.
Marc: That's awesome. So I wanna talk a little bit about Stop and Starts.
When I first approached you to let you know what I was kinda working on, what I was thinking about, obviously I came about this platform because, like I talked in my first podcast, you know- Yeah ... the realm of, of advising has become more of a placement gig k- than I think. Yeah. And my son having advisors and, and, and just not getting the feedback that we need in that advisory role.
Yeah. Now, I understand the work that an advisor does, like Schaefer Hockey Group or, or um, any other type of advising firm. Will spend a good bit of time making phone calls to try to get an opportunity, try to get a- Yeah ... a do- a door to open so that they can get to camp and be seen. Right. However, f- for, for Stop and Starts, it's not about that.
It's really about helping the kid develop.
Erin: [00:20:00] Right.
Marc: Helping them through adversity. Mm-hmm. Helping the families guide them into making good decisions. And so when I approached you about that, how did you feel initially? Like, um- I mean,
Erin: I think this is awesome. Like, I watched, I've, I've worked with so many of the athletes that you've also worked with.
And, um, you know, I've seen why they're in it, right? They're, they're wanting something a little more, they're wanting to push themselves, they're wanting, you know, to do the best they can. And that's exactly what, you know, I wanna work with. I wanna work with the kids that, that care. And whether this is for a five-year hockey career or a 20-year hockey career- Yeah
you know, I wanna help them be the best they can be while they have that time. Um, and these kids are invested. They're willing to put in the work and commit to it.
Marc: Yeah. And, and for us, it's just a platform to help them. Right. Right? Like, I- You know, pay it forward. I mean, my dad, again, you know, love him. He's never paid for any other development outside of my- Yeah
Off-ice fitness- Right ... and my power skating. That was it. Never had a skill coach. Right. Really never had an advisor. This was f- kind of a long time ago where that wasn't really a thing. Right. But [00:21:00] now, y- you just, y- you need to be, you need to have people that you can trust- Right ... and help you make better decisions.
Right. So I'm not here to make any decisions for anybody. I just wanna walk you through the process of what are the opportunities available. Right. And, you know, having a partner like yourself with us allows me to s- you know, as I'm having a conversation and little Johnny gets cut from the AAA team, then I can have a conversation about, "Okay, well, what was the feedback?"
Right. "What, what did they do? I, I really think you need to get in touch with EB Athletics- Right ... and really let her help you with either f- your boots are slow- Yeah ... You're not strong enough in the corners, you're not able to keep the puck on your stick along, you're not a lot, you're, you're not able to create time and space.
That's all about body- Yeah ... confidence and body positioning, which only comes if you gain confidence in the gym. Correct. Right? Right,
Erin: and that's one piece of the, the strength training that people don't talk about enough, just the confidence.
Marc: Yeah.
Erin: Um, you know, obviously it's gonna translate on the ice.
Every bit of getting stronger and faster is gonna make a difference. But if they feel more confident in it, too, I mean, [00:22:00] that's where, that carries into all parts of life. Absolutely. Yeah. I
Marc: remember my first year junior, you know, I was 5'7", 140 pounds.
Erin: Yeah.
Marc: And man, I was skinny. Yeah. And the second, so I was grade nine.
When I came back for grade 10, everybody thought in school I was on steroids- ... 'cause I'd put on, like, 35 pounds. Yeah. I was now closer to the 170 range, 175 range. Yeah. And even the coach, when he saw me walk in the locker room, he's like, "Holy shit." Yeah. "What did you do this summer?" I was like, "Man, I, I need to get stronger."
Right. Like, I, I, and I could feel my confidence carrying the puck, shooting the puck- Right ... decision-making.
Erin: Yeah.
Marc: It was, it was- And- ... lights out, man ... yeah.
Erin: And at this point in my career, I felt it as an athlete, the difference it makes, but I've also seen it as a coach. Like you see- Yeah ... these kids go from one level to jumping way up.
Absolutely. And you're like, they put in the work to get there. And that's been really
Marc: cool for me, right? Yeah. Like, I've been able to not only teach them stuff on ice, but the minute that they make my team in the fall, off to EB Athletics we go, even though I feel like at times- Trying to combine the fitness and the hockey all in one year [00:23:00] with our travel schedule- Yeah
gets a little hectic. Yeah. And, and sometimes going to the gym tired, you're better to stay home and rest, you know? Yeah, yeah. That's a key part of fitness too, is understanding and, and, and listening to your- Take a mobility day. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I mean, like,
Erin: that's, that's a ... Especially at that high school age, that's a big part of what we're trying to teach too, like learn to listen to your body.
If you're exhausted, maybe we're doing mobility, maybe we're doing recovery. If you have a game the next day, maybe we're not skipping the session all together, but we're doing some activation or something else. And once they learn what they need, they're gonna better take care of themselves.
Marc: Yeah. And, and even at my age, like I, I'll tell you two days ahead before I know I'm gonna get sick.
Like, I- Yeah ... I am dialed in. May not look as good as what I did in the 20s, but man, I, I know my body. Yeah. I know what's happening. And, um, I, I think that's just been a progression of my career being able to ... You know, as a smaller sized guy in my era, right? Right. I wasn't 6'2", 240 pounds. Right. I was maxed out at 5'11".
I'd get on my toes at training camp just to see if I could get- Yeah. ... to [00:24:00] six feet and nobody would catch me, but that didn't work.
Erin: Yeah.
Marc: And you know, the heaviest I ever got in college was 198 pounds, and I didn't feel good at 198 pounds. Right. I was too, too bulky. Right. So you, you learn to know and discover your body- Yeah
as a whole, which that's the piece of fitness that we don't talk about.
Erin: Yeah, absolutely. Right?
Marc: Yeah.
Erin: And yeah, you hope that kind of stuff carries into, to after.
Marc: Big question, how early should kids start talking or doing fitness? Okay. You know, this is another topic- Yeah ... like we should play multiple sports, and we should do- Yeah
all that, but.
Erin: And it could be its own full conversation. The s- the short answer is every kid develops differently, right? Every 11-year-old is not the same biological development as they are numerically, chronologically. Um, so we have to take into consideration where are they in their, their physical development.
And then the second question is what are we doing with them? It's not they can't train all together. It's are we working on body control, and stability, and balance, and coordination? Great. That will, that foundation is huge for [00:25:00] when you build on it later. But if we're throwing them under barbells and having them max out a back squat, maybe that's not the best thing at, for an 11-year-old.
Yeah.
Um, you know, so it's a big thing about what, what are we doing? Um, obviously when they're prepping for college, kids need to be in the weight room. Yeah. They're gonna, they're gonna get smacked when they get to college, so we need to be having them in there and teach them the fundamentals. But if they start at 11U, 12U working on just coordination, well, at least now we know they have the body control to add some weight to it when they get 13U, 14U.
Mm-hmm. Um, you know, what we've done with the Junior Canes is we developed a long-term progression model. So every age group has these standards that we expect them to meet. Okay, you can stand on one foot with your eyes closed without falling over. Check. Now we can start adding, like, some split squats or single leg stuff.
Um, it's very basic stuff, but it's, like, really key to their, their long-term growth. Are
Marc: those exercises that you've deve- that you've learned about that are telltale signs that they're ready for the next progression? Yeah,
Erin: absolutely. Okay. Absolutely. And, you know, you could have a team- 'Cause I don't think
Marc: I could stand on one leg and my eyes [00:26:00] closed-
without falling over. I mean, I do hot yoga three days a week- Yeah ... and my eyes have to be open.
Erin: Yeah. Well, it, it is, it is a telltale sign. Um, and, you know, within a team of 20 11-year-olds, you might have three different levels within that team, right? Okay. You might have your advanced, like these kids move like 15-year-olds and have the bodies of 15-year-olds.
Marc: And does it matter, like how tall they are, how short they are? Like, I always feel like, you know, especially U8, U10, you see this little speedster- Gangly, yeah ... out there, he's a little smaller, then you see, you know- Yeah ... a big giraffe out there that- Yeah ... ooh, boy, you know, he's- That's,
Erin: yeah, that definitely has an impact.
Um, the longer limbed guys, you, Bauer, you guys are both built like that, the weight room is hard for them, right? Yeah. You got long limbs, it makes things a lot harder. Um, but it doesn't mean, you know, they can't develop in their own way. But that, that all boils down to what we do when we do our assessments.
Yeah.
We go through needs analysis, what do each of these kids need, and then we kind of develop that path of- Yeah ... of, you know, foundation we need to build. I
Marc: remember getting fitted for my tux when I [00:27:00] was getting married, and, and you know, I was the last guy, we were just joking around, having a few cocktails while doing the, the fitting and the guy measures the length of my arms and just whispers back to the person that's writing, "36," and, and the person that's writing it down just looked up, "What?"
There's no way that short guy has got the longest limbs of anybody in here. Yeah, yeah. I was like, "Oh, yes, I do." Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, and Bauer's very much like that, Grace, long limbed as well. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, yeah, pretty unique for me to see a kid just kind of gravitate towards it. Like, you give them a little bit and then they want a little bit more.
Yeah. And as they grow, they continue to- Yeah ... to want more, right? Right. Because they're seeing that it's already making progress. Right, right. Super cool. How would you, how would you cater to athletes outside of Raleigh? We kind of touched on it a little bit already. That can't come to the gym at all
Erin: Yeah.
Yeah, I mean, that's where, again, the app that we use is very interactive, so that, that is very helpful. Um, and then just communication throughout. Keeping up with them, getting video [00:28:00] check-ins, um, progressions, hearing from their coaches. A lot of times I'll end up meeting with their coaches as well to figure out how they're looking on the ice and what they need.
Um, but yeah, just setting it up where we're continually in touch with them and helping to work them through a program.
Marc: What does a program cost for a player like that? Like, um, let's just say he's, um, U12's a little s- small, but still I think m- maybe at that point you, you could s- start with the- Yeah
coordination stuff- Yeah ... and the mobility and agility stuff. Yeah.
Erin: And it, it, it varies because at that age they're probably only in the gym one or two times a week- Yeah ... versus a 18 year that's might be in there five times a week. That's right. So we do have kind of a little bit of a scale here, um, because we know they also have to pay for gym memberships to go do it somewhere.
Somewhere else. Yeah. Yeah. We try to keep it, like, 100 bucks or less a month. Um, but that, yeah, it depends on the kids. Is
Marc: that, is that something at, at, at an early age they could probably just buy some equipment and do some of that stuff- Oh, totally. Yeah ... at home for a couple years, and just have mom and dad- A lot of it's
Erin: body weight.
Yeah. You're doing speed and agility, or you're learning how to [00:29:00] control your body. Yeah. You don't need a ton of equipment for that. What about
Marc: form when they're so far away? Like, do you have a platform on this or a, an area on this platform that allows you to maybe see some videos of the kid- Yeah ... or correct some form?
'Cause man, at the end of the day, you, you can bench all you want and you see the guys at- Yeah ... the Gold's Gym with their backs arched- Yeah. ... and it ends up being a half squat versus a- Right ...
Erin: bench press. Yeah. There's a, so there's two parts of that, is one is there's a video demo for everything. Okay. So they're able to watch and they- And that's
Marc: already on the platform?
It's already on the platform. Okay. It's
Erin: stuff that I've put on there. And so they can watch exactly how I'm wanting them to do this, and they can, you know, learn that way. There's also a written description 'cause some people are less visual and more verbal. They can follow the written description. And then there's a video feedback, so when they're doing it they can set up their camera, record themselves doing it, it comes right to me.
I can say, "Yep, good. Perfect form," or I can say, you know, "Let's adjust your stance. Let's adjust your grip"- Okay ... and kinda take it from there. Again,
Marc: just, just wanting to make sure. I get, because I, I, I believe in the form is critical- Oh, yeah. Totally ... to, to, to prevent injuries- Yeah ... and to make sure you're [00:30:00] working on the right muscles.
Right. Well, that's cool. Yeah. So from about 100 bucks we're looking at, um, you know, getting them the initial meeting and, and- Yeah ... kind of getting them organized. Again, depending on, um- Yeah ... their age, what they're requiring- Yeah ... what they need- Right ... and go from there.
Erin: Yeah.
Marc: All right, Erin, this has been a great chat.
Um, I, I do in closing, I, I wanna kinda wrap up
Fundamentals of fitness, you know, we talked about- Yeah ... What are the essential components of combining the whole fitness under one roof, you know, right?
You need rest. Yep. You need good fitness. You need anaerobic for ice hockey players. You need good nutrition. Yeah. You know, talk about that. Yeah. I
Erin: mean, it's a total thing. So learning, learning your body is a big part of it, um, figuring out what kind of meals work for you pre-practice, pre-game, what kind of recovery you need.
Sleep is a big one. They've, they've gone away from the days where they give you a set number. Everybody has a, has a number that's better for them, the number of hours that they need. Um, certain numbers will affect your cortisol levels, how [00:31:00] susceptible you are for illness and things like that, injuries, injury risk skyrockets if you're not at the right level of sleep.
Um, all of those things. And I always felt
Marc: when- Yeah ... I was on the road too, no matter what time we got in somewhere, I'd always get up at around 7:00- Yeah ... and have breakfast. Right. For me, I just felt sharper. If I slept too long, I felt hazy. Yeah. No legs. And then trying to get legs from no legs was virtually impossible.
Yeah. And so I really, you know, again, part of my fitness being dialed in, I just wanted to make sure that, man, I got up at 7:00 and made sure my roommate wanted to get up at 7:00- ... 'cause that was another issue.
Erin: Yeah.
Marc: A- and then go about your business. But- Right ... yeah, it's- And this
Erin: is, this is actually all part of our training app too at this point.
We do readiness questionnaires. "Hey, did you get enough sleep? Are you hydrated? Did you get enough fueling? Is, is all of this set so you can, you can perform at your optimal level?"
Marc: Yeah. And again, you know, you're doing all this with a purpose, right? Right. Like, again, you're training different athletes in different fields.
Erin: Yeah.
Marc: Um, I like the fact that your program can be [00:32:00] specific- Do you have any broad examples, like what exercises you get to, to a hockey player to do versus, say a, um- Yeah.
Erin: So- ...
Marc: a, a basketball player ...
Erin: so that, this goes back to, I've, I've been throwing out the phrase needs analysis. In strength and conditioning, that's a big term.
We look at the sport, we look at the position, and then we look at the individual. So hockey, you know, the highest injury risk is groin. So we're gonna hit things like Copenhagens, we're gonna hit a lot of stuff in the frontal plane. It's also a rotational sport, so we're gonna work in those planes in a way that hopefully prevents those most common injuries.
Basketball, ankles are a big one. Um, so again, we got a different set of kind of injury prevention tools. We're gonna- Hm ... we're gonna work in for that. Yeah. Yeah.
Marc: Pretty cool. Well, Erin, it was a pleasure having you on Stop and Starts. I hope it was beneficial to all of our fans out there. Again, our views are increasing.
That's fantastic. I do wanna bring out again the f- minute we get 100 members signed up to Stop and Starts the website as a member, we have a [00:33:00] free pair of skates that we're giving away based on our friends at True, and I also wanna reiterate all of our likes on our all of our social media platform as well as, um, our podcast.
So Erin, thanks for coming. Yeah, thanks for having me. It was awesome cha- chatting away from the gym- Yeah ... and not talking about my kids, make sure they're not slack, but- ... It's been awesome having you, and appreciate all the work you do for all the kids.
Erin: Yeah, anytime.