Allie Fairbarn drags a weight during a training session Monday morning at the Trojan Power Boot Camp. Photo by Dennis Chippa.
Four times a week, all summer long, Allie Fairbarn has headed to the Trojan alumni complex to train.
Hard.
Maybe harder than she ever has.
Fairbarn, who plays for the North Bay Ice Boltz, is enrolled in the Trojan Power Boot Camp.
Alllie says the reason she trades sleep for sprints with a weight attached to her is simple.
Results.
“Power, speed, agility and just overall athletic ability.”
She’s one of dozens of athletes, of varying ages, skills and from schools all over the city, who take part in the summer long camp.
Brandon Grube, who runs the camp, says it’s not just the elite athletes that take it in.
“They’re not always very athletic, and sometimes you’re working with people that have very little athleticism. So we’re teaching them co-ordination and how to move their body and where their body is in space, and that sort of thing.”
Grube works with all of them trying to achieve individual goals,, working with muscles and balance to get them ready for whatever sport they play.
At the same time, he sometimes has to break bad habits athletes have developed, especially athletes who are focused on one sport.
“A lot of times when you focus on one sport at a very early age you develop one skill set. You also develop a lot of muscle imbalances. So following Athletics Canada’s long term athletic development model most kids and athletes should be playing two or three different sports up until they’re seventeen or eighteen years old and then start to specify.”
Training sessions focus on a variety of skills, and use a variety of methods, including work on the track, with weights and anaerobic energy.
The early morning group is more of an elite set, with high performance male and female athletes.
Grube says, however, no matter the athlete, the results they seek are the same.
“The main goal in every one of the training sessions is to make them a little more athletic, whether it’s to improve their speed, power agility, and that sort of thing. Anther thing we really focus on is movement mechanics. So in our track session today we’re eliminating things like taking false steps, proper arm mechanics, and proper ankle mechanics too to eliminate braking forces and things like that.”
Allie is sold, saying the results are showing up on the ice.
“Yes, I am definitely quicker to the puck and harder to get off the puck.”
So even though it’s summer, these students are already working hard t be ready for fall and winter.
