Game On Magazine - April 2017 Game on Preview Edition | Page 14

›› | C O N D I TI ONING |
W I T H A . J. Z E G L E N
G
rand Rapids Griffins
defenseman Dylan
McIlrath is a
physical freak. His
combination of size
and athleticism is
a rare find and when mixed
with a blue collar work ethic it
creates a machine.
A brief look at some of
McIlrath’s numbers wil l
give you a sense of just how
freaky he is. He is 6-foot-5
with a wingspan to match.
He weighs 235 pounds with a
body fat percentage below 10.
He deadlifts more than 500
pounds and is fast, explosive
and conditioned. So how does
an athlete achieve this?
The first part is genetics. His
parents clearly provided him
with some good genes in order
for him to be that tall and have
arms so long that his knuckles
are touching your face when
yours are reaching nothing but
the vast expanse of air that
separates the two of you.
The second part is if you
have some natural physical
gifts you don’t sit back and rely
solely on them for success. You
make sure you are always the
hardest worker in the room
and you widen your separation
from the pack. Here is how
Dylan McIlrath trains:
1 4 | G AM E O N | S E P T EM BER 2 0 1 7
Phase 1. Recovery:
Immediately after the season,
time is taken to recover from
the rigours of a long, hard
hockey schedule. The travel,
the game frequency and the
physical nature of hockey
takes a toll on the body and a
couple weeks should be spent
focusing on proper nutrition
and proper sleep. Everything
Dylan will do during his off
season will work better with a
rested body so it’s important
to start on the right foot and
take some time to rest after
the season.
Phase 2. Primer: Dylan’s
first phase in the gym is the
primer. The main purpose is
to work towards removing
any movement restrictions,
increase strength base (both
maximal and relative), establish
base level conditioning
and prepare his body for
more explosive training to
come (eccentric loading to
strengthen tendons).
Phase 3. Strength: McIlrath
spends this phase increasing
his strength base as much
as he can. The strength base
is the engine that drives all
other athletic attributes. It’s
why proper attention should
always be paid to being as
strong as possible. Dylan
tests his big lifts: bench
press, squat, chin ups and
deadlifts and then works off of
calculated percentages. There
is no guess work here. His
work is precise and efficient.
Phase 4. Power: Once the
big man is moving well and
he has gone through some
quick adaptations in strength
the focus, he switches to
developing power. Strength
production is still a priority
to increase force, but equally
as important is how quickly
he can produce that force.
The quick production of
force is what constitutes
power. To develop this, Dylan
uses moderate to what we
call light/heavy weight and
focuses on moving it fast with
good technique. Olympic lifts
and variations of standard
strength lifts are executed in
this phase. His conditioning
also continues to increase.
Phase 5. Speed: If you
want to be fast you have to
practice moving fast. It is no
different for the big man. A
high emphasis is put on speed
in this phase using sprints,
Plyometrics, movement
drills and exercises using
accommodating resistance.
Strength levels are maintained
and conditioning is increased
to peak performance. This
is the final phase of the off
season and it’s what leads
Dylan into training camp.
Creating an athletic
machine does not happen
by accident. It’s a little bit of
natural talent mixed with pure
hard work.
Remember: Strength,
Courage, Hustle,
Commitment – A.J. Zeglen
Dylan McIlrath: Physical Freak
Dylan McIlrath:
The Anatomy of a Machine