The Athletic Republic training center in Clifton Park, NY is helping hockey players in Update New York improve their skating mechanics, and increase foot speed and on-ice performance.

Ice Hockey Treadmill Increases Skating Speed for Saratoga County Athletes  ~by Stan Hudy

CLIFTON PARK — Parents have yelled at children for decades for putting their feet up on the coffee table and the furniture.

Now, imagine their reaction if their young, skate-wearing hockey player decided to jump on mom and dad’s treadmill at home?

Jack Bartoszek, owner of the Athletic Republic franchise in Clifton Park doesn’t see a problem in that and actually encourages it.

Bartoszek teamed up with Athletic Republic and provided the ideal training for hockey players with a need to increase speed — the ice hockey treadmill.

Introduced as part of each Athletic Republic location the skating treadmill allows skaters to lace up their ice skates and work on their strides on a treadmill designed just for them.

“It’s a synthetic surface, kind of like if you were to compare it to the cutting board in your kitchen, the white board that you cut vegetables up with,” Bartoszek said. “It’s similar to that in that the skates will make a mark in it, but they won’t really cut it too badly.”

Instead of a single piece of running surface or mat stretched across two rollers, the ice hockey treadmill utilizes synthetic slats, attached to the mat surface and then pulled across the rollers.

“We replace the slats every couple of years,” Bartoszek explained. “Youth athletes, Olympic athletes and professional athletes come in and they skate on this.”

The unique treadmill — the only one in Upstate New York — provides a workout in from the cold for a number of athletes during a training session and provides unique challenges when the treadmill, like its running cousin, is lifted up at an angle.

“They are improving their skating performance by skating uphill at different various speeds and angles all controlled by a computer,” Bartoszek said. “You come in here and skate, become a better skater and that translates directly onto the ice when you are skating on flat ice.”

With a safety system for each skater, the overhead beams, rope and harness gives the ice skating treadmill a feel of a ride at an amusement park, but these rides are much shorter and more strenuous.

“When you are skating uphill, incline training recruits muscles at a rate of three times more than skating or running on flat ground,” Bartoszek said. “When the athletes come in here, their longest time on the treadmill is 45 seconds and that’s a warm-up at a very slow speed and very low angle.”

Professional hockey player and Clifton Park resident Peter MacArthur pushed himself to the limit on the treadmill earlier this week, stepping on for a few strides at its highest point.

“When you go 30 degrees like that, five or six seconds is the longest time you are going to be on there,” MacArthur said. “Usually we’ll go through that three or four times and be really, really difficult by the third time. The first time isn’t bad and you get through it. The more you do things — the repetition — that’s what really gets you.”

Even for a professional athlete, the treadmill wins every time.

“If you go for 20 seconds you’re done, you need at least a minute break to get your heart rate down and the lactic acid out of your legs,” MacArthur said. “It’s really tough. You’re just not used to using those muscles for that period of time at that quick of a rate.”

The skating treadmill isn’t limited to high school, collegiate or professional athletes as Jack’s daughter, Mandy Bartoszek, jumped on for some stride work and family friend David Wehrlin took his first strides on the synthetic surface.

“When I started it felt kind of weird, then the second time I got on it I felt really good about myself and it was really fun,” she said.

Her interaction on the treadmill stirred a return to the slippery flat surface for Bartoszek. “I played when I was 5 and then I stopped for a little while because it didn’t feel right for me,” she said. “Then when I started on the treadmill I just wanted to try again for a while, just me and my dad, to have some fun on the ice.”

Twelve-year-old David Wehrlin wasn’t intimidated by the unique treadmill.

“Since we were harnessed I knew if we did fall I would just swing back,” he said. “Really it wasn’t that scary. It was just weird.”

With a full life on the ice for MacArthur, skating for Shenendehowa, Boston University and the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs, the professional hockey player knows what it takes to be successful on the ice.

“The game is all about confidence and skating. If you can’t skate now you can’t play,” the AHL free agent said. “Even the big guys who are fighting they can all fly. It may not look like it, but when you’re out there next to them they can all fly.

“Skating is the number one thing if you want to be a hockey player,” MacArthur said. “If you want to be a successful playing hockey you have to be a good skater, otherwise it’s not going to work out.”

Through the years MacArthur has learned that his success has to do with the center of his body as much as his legs to propel him up and down the ice.

“A lot of things that young players and athletes don’t understand that your core is essential,” he said. “If you don’t have a strong core, strong legs, strong muscles in your stomach you can’t do anything. It’s your base. It’s like having a good center of gravity.”

“We do a lot of things with the core balls, the weights down on the floor, working on our core to make our center muscles as strong as possible and in return makes you a better skater,” MacArthur said. “Even if you don’t think it’s going to your core is number one.”

Currently back home during the off-season and fielding offers from different professional ice hockey clubs, MacArthur is taking advantage of the local skating treadmill.

“This is the only place that I have ever seen one and the only place I have ever trained on one,” MacArthur said.

“I’m sure other places have them, I think Cornell has one and a bunch of the pro teams have one, but this is the only one I have used. It’s pretty convenient. It’s nice.”

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2010 marks Athletic Republic’s 20 year Anniversary. Over the past two decades the company has grown from an idea that was planted in Fargo, North Dakota into a field of 160 training centers that helped 80,000 athletes develop a competitive advantage last year.  The following video captures the spirit of Athletic Republic’s heritage of performance sports training.

Athletic Republic, the nation’s leading franchisor of science-based performance sports training centers, and Panasonic Enterprise Solutions Company, have agreed to a strategic alliance. Under the terms of the alliance, Panasonic is “The Official Technology Partner” of Athletic Republic.

“The strategic alliance with Panasonic will certainly be very beneficial for both parties and we value Panasonic’s expertise and flexibility in integrating and creating innovative technology systems for enterprises like us,” said Athletic Republic CEO Charlie Graves. “We have lofty goals to expand our businesses in the future, and to continue our industry-leading practices: our facilities will feature advanced technology needed in sports training.”

Each of the 160 existing Athletic Republic training centers will be eligible to purchase the sports technology package Athletic Republic has developed with Panasonic. In addition, all new Athletic Republic facilities will include the use of Panasonic plasma screens, HD cameras, computers and point of sale systems as part of the athlete training experience.

Panasonic will have their advanced technology products on display to more than 80,000- athletes that will use Athletic Republic facilities this year. While staying true to its approach to uniting sports with science, Athletic Republic has a history of applying the newest technology to improve an athlete’s development. This alliance is another example of the competitive advantage Athletic Republic offers.

“The formation of the Panasonic Enterprise Solutions Company allows our company to address specific vertical markets in meaningful ways,” said James Doyle, President of the newly formed Panasonic Enterprise Solutions Company.  “The alliance with Athletic Republic shows how a company best-known as an electronics company can align successfully with innovative, entrepreneurial companies, and create real value for customers. Through this alliance, we have the opportunity to position Panasonic products in front of some of the most technologically-savvy consumers in the U.S.”

Panasonic has been an Official Worldwide Olympic Partner in the Audio and Visual Equipment category for more than 20 years.  Our alliance with Athletic Republic puts the same world-class Panasonic technology that has fueled Olympians for decades into the hands of today’s developing athletes.

EAS is expanding its “Power to the People” advertising campaign, which debuted during March Madness, to directly connect with athletes at the point of performance™ in Athletic Republic’s performance sports training centers.  The association distinguishes EAS as Athletic Republic’s Official Sports Nutrition partner.

Athletic Republic is proud to announce an advanced certification recognizing trainers who demonstrate extraordinary athlete development skills, maintain the highest level of professionalism, strive to improve their training centers’ operations and contribute to the advancement of Athletic Republic. The Master Trainer certification is being awarded to 20 long-time members of the performance sports training network to commemorate the company’s 20 year anniversary. The inaugural class of Master Trainers will be awarded the distinction on Saturday, April 24, 2010 as part of Athletic Republic’s Facility Conference, being held in Park City, Utah, and include:

» Mike Antoniades: Sport Dimensions - London, UK

» Darrel Barnes: Athletic Republic - Rancho Cucamonga, CA

» Paul Cialone: Athletic Republic - Rochester, NY

» Myron Cullen: St. Alexius Medical Center - Bismarck, ND

» Shawn Dassie: Athletic Republic - New Braunfels, TX

» Derek Ferley: Athletic Republic - Sioux Falls, SD

» Dan Hutchison: Ultimate Speed - Jupiter, FL

» Jim Kielbaso: Total Sports Performance - Wixom, MI

» Pete Leno: Dickinson State University - Dickinson, ND

» BJ Maack: Athletic Republic - Little Rock, AK

» Jay MacLeod: Athletic Republic - Fargo, ND

» David & Gary Nelson: Acceleration Indiana - Indianapolis, IN

» Kyle Nettestad: Athletic Republic - Lincolnwood, Morris and Orland Park, IL and Merrillville, IN

» Kyle Norris: Sports Acceleration Center - Spirit Lake, IA

» Dan O’Donnell: Athletic Republic - St. Louis, MO

» Chris Range: Madonna ProActive Sports Performance - Lincoln, NE

» Matt Stack: Bluestreak - Stamford, CT

» Rocky Tekulve: Tekulve Acceleration Training - Cincinnati , OH

» Jim Walker: TOSH - Salt Lake City, UT

Last June, Cole Marcoux was an unheralded quarterback prospect preparing for his senior season at The Fieldston School in the Bronx, when he attended Football University - Philadelphia. His size and skills impressed the production team preparing to shoot the opening episode of a new reality TV show, The Ride, and he was invited to be one of 8 unknown high school quarterbacks looking to win a spot in the All-American Bowl.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Cole made great strides in both skill and strength over the ten episodes and, despite being the underdog in the group, he was able to come away with the berth they all coveted.

During last week’s U.S. Army All-American Bowl, Marcoux completed 5 of 8 passes for 99 yards, two touchdowns and a two-point conversion to lead the East team, and, in the process, made a name for himself while competing against some of the nation’s marquee defenders and surpassing all expectations.

Cole credits his training with BlueStreak Sports Training at Chelsea Piers in Manhattan - one of 160 centers in the Athletic Republic network, as one of the key reasons he was able to earn the chance to succeed in the Super Bowl of high school football.

“Cole’s accomplishments in the game are the result of his commitment to becoming a better quarterback.  He absorbed the teaching provided by some of the game’s best quarterback coaches and became dedicated to improving his fitness, quickness and foot speed by following the principles of the Athletic Republic method of science-based training,” said Steve Swanson, Athletic Republic’s Chief Science and Technology Officer, and one of judges on the The Ride.

“In just five weeks, Cole lost 8 pounds of fat, doubled his foot speed scores, and improved his overall conditioning so much that the other judges quickly noticed the difference when he arrived at the Top Gun camp in late July.  Those improvements allowed him to jump ahead of some other contestants in the show and be in a position to earn the All-American Game roster spot,” Swanson continued.

Over 680,000 athletes have taken advantage of its individualized, sport-specific training programs to enhance their speed, power and agility to gain more than just a step on their competition.

Cole Marcoux is just the most-recent example.

Connor Sport Court has been excited to be a part of this project ever since we first learned about it a year ago when approached by Athletic Republic to design a super plyo floor for the new training center under construction in St. George, Utah.

This custom platform exceeded our previous designs since it measures 864 square feet and is 46′ x 18′ in size, making it the biggest plyo platform we have ever built (and thus the largest in the world). The design incorporates numerous activities including multiple Munoz, Krumrie, LeClair, 4-Square formations along with a ladder w/ruler (for measuring the broad jump), allowing this plyo floor to accommodate multiple athletes simultaneously with plenty of space left over for functional training. The platform is made up of 4′ x 8′ hard rock maple panels with a sleeper subfloor produced that are manufactured in Amasa, Michigan plant, by the same team that makes the NCAA’s Final Four basketball tournament floors each year. All of the graphics and formations including the Athletic Republic logo were custom painted in our manufacturing facility.

The extra large plyo floor is just one of the reasons we think Athletic Republic’s St. George training center is super!

David F. Smith
Connor Sport Court International

Acceleration St. George, a proud member for Athletic Republic, has been in St. George Utah since 2002. In that time we have relocated 3 times. July 21st 2009 was our final move into Intermountain Dixie Regional Health & Performance Center. The Health and Performance Center is an out-patient facility that offers numerous programs dedicated to helping clients get the most out of their body, and out of their life.

Southern Utah has very hot and dry summers and mild winters. That is one of the many reasons we are excited for our large plyo floor. It will allow us to do most of our agility and cord drills indoors. Along with the different formations we have a ruler and ladder painted on the floor to help us maintain the professional Athletic Republic look. With our new space we also now have a large grassy area and sport court to do more outside during the winter months.

Acceleration St. George has spent the last 7 years helping many local athletes gain their competitive edge. We know this move will only help us be able to train at an even higher level.

Dayna Player Robinson

Acceleration Sports Performance Training

Here’s a link to a post on Rivals.com that talks all about the integration of technology into Athletic Republic’s on-field and training center based football training programs.

Kyle Palmieri — 1st Round/Anaheim

Mike Cichy — 7th Round/Montreal

Jordan Samuel-Thomas –  7th Round/Atlanta

Athletic Republic Congratulates  our class of 2009 NHL Draft picks!

The recent NHL Draft was a great one for players who have trained using Athletic Republic’s patented Hockey Treadmill and proprietary training protocols. The photos above show just three of 16 players drafted after training at an Athletic Republic facility or with the USA National Team Development Program.

At Athletic Republic we take great pride in our athletes accomplishing their goals.  The NHL Draft this past Friday and Saturday in Montreal was a major event in the lives of 16 Athletic Republic hockey players. The on-ice and off-ice dedication that these 16 hockey players have shown has led them from aspiring to be NHL players to be drafted on the NHL stage. All of us at Athletic Republic would like to send out a heartfelt congratulations to these 16 athletes (listed below).   We know that your journey has been a long and grueling one. Athletic Republic applauds the outstanding coaching, dedicated parents and remarkable work ethic that has gotten you to this point, and wish you nothing but the best in the future.

On Friday night, two AR athletes had their names called, with Jordan Schroeder from the University of Minnesota being taken with the 22nd pick by Vancouver, and Kyle Palmieri being selected with the 26th pick by the Anaheim Ducks. On Saturday, the names of 14 Athletic Republic athletes were called, nine of whom are members of USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program (USNTDP) U-18 team.

Athletic Republic training and technology is currently part of the NTDP training regimen, with athletes training on our patented Hockey Treadmill during their pre-season and post-season stages.

Other notables drafted were Craig Smith (Waterloo), Nick Jensen (Green Bay), Brad Peltz (Avon), Mike Cichy (Indiana) and Jordan Samuel-Thomas (Waterloo). Every one of these players have experienced our scientifically tested and guaranteed hockey-specific training program, which is designed to give players the on-ice edge.

From Pee Wee to Pros, at Athletic Republic we have a program that’s specifically designed to accelerate a player’s game on and off the ice. Our programming is designed specifically for athletes preparing for the season, gaining the advantage in the off-season and ramping up their skills in-season. Each program incorporates regular athlete assessment and strikes a balance based on time of year, physical development, skill level, performance level and an athlete’s goals. We have over 32 levels and over 2,500 pages of protocols designed to help athletes progress from beginners to the National Hockey League, and that is exactly what we have done — helping to develop over 500 NHL players and athletes competing with the US National Team Development Program and Hockey powerhouses like University of Minnesota, Cornell, Ohio State and Michigan Tech.

Athletic Republic congratulates all 16 of this year’s draft picks! We look forward to watching your journey and applaud you on your work ethic on and off the ice.

Here’s the full report, showing round , team, hometown and current league/team:

1         VAN    Jordan Scroeder                   Burnsville, MN               WCHA              U of MN
1         ANA    Kyle Palmieri                         Smithtown, NY               USNTDP         US U-18
2        PHX    Chris Brown                           Houston, TX                   USNTDP         US U-18
2        SJS      Will Wrenn                            Anchorage, AK                USNTDP         US U-18
2        FLA     Drew Shore                           Denver, Co                        USNTDP         US U-18
2        ATL     Jeremy Morin                       Auburn, NY                      USNTDP         US U-18
2        TOR    Kenny Ryan                           Franklin Village, MI       USNTDP         US U-18
2        CBJ     Kevin Lynch                          Grosse Pointe,   MI         USNTDP         US U-18
3        NYR    Ryan Bourque                      Boxford, MA                     USNTDP         US U-18
3        NSH    Craig Smith                           Madison, WI                    USNTDP        Waterloo
5        DET    Nick Jensen                          St Paul, MN                       USNTDP         Green Bay
6        COL    Brandon Maxwell                Winter Park, FL                USNTDP         US U-18
6        TOR    Jerry D’Amigo                     Binghamton, NY               USNTDP         US U-18
7        OTT    Brad Peltz                             New York, NY                     NE-HS             AVON
7         MTL   Mike Cichy                           New Britian, CT                 USHL               Indiana
7         ATL   Jordan Samuel-Thomas    Hartford, CT                        USHL              Waterloo

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Last year when Athletic Republic moved its training and technology into the USNTDP training facility at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube, Scott Moneghan Director of Hockey Operations for US Hockey had this to say:

The U.S. National Team Development Program is a cutting-edge program that strives to make our American players the best on the World stage. And the Athletic Republic Hockey Treadmill is the type of cutting-edge technology that will help our players continue their string of five consecutive medal performances at the Under-18 World Championships, also helping them to reach their personal goals for success in college and professional hockey.

It’s seems that Scott Monaghan he wasn’t kidding with that statement.  Last week, in the same town where Athletic Republic was  created — Fargo, ND — the USA U-18 team took the ice to defeat the Russians 5-0 defeat. Five separate players scored goals in the championship game.  The U.S. finished the tournament 6-0-0-1, and captured the first world title for a U.S. hockey team on home ice since the 1980 Olympic Winter Games.

Tonight was a culmination of two years of hard work for many of our players, said Ron Rolston, head coach of Team USA. They sacrificed for each other and they became a family. They had the focus, determination and persevered, which is what the National Team Development Program is all about. There is no better way to end the season and I am really happy for our players.

Before a record crowd of 4,923 at the Urban Plains Center, Team USA struck early when Cam Fowler (Farmington Hills, Mich.) put a wrist shot into the lower right corner of the net through a screen just 2:09 into the game. Matthew Nieto (Long Beach, Calif.) doubled the U.S. advantage after he streaked towards the goal and one-touched Kevin Lynch’s (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) feather pass inside the left post at 9:27.

Just 1:55 into the second period, William Wrenn (Anchorage, Alaska) one-timed Drew Shore’s pass from the middle slot into the lower left corner for a power-play goal, making it 3-0.

Chris Brown(Flower Mound, Texas) extended the lead to 4-0 when he took Shore’s drop pass and wired a wrist shot over the right shoulder of netminder Igor Bobkov 2:29 into the third period. Just 1:10 later, Nick Mattson (Chanhassen, Minn.) fed Ryan Bourque (Boxford, Mass.) who sniped a shot into the upper left corner to ice the 5-0 victory.

Netminder Jack Campbell (Port Huron, Mich.) made 17 saves to earn his second shutout at the IIHF World Under-18 Championship.

All of us at Athletic Republic would like to say ”Congratulations TEAM USA!”