Optimizing Adaptation and Performance
What you will learn.
- The field of sport performance is rapidly evolving.
- The importance of strength and conditioning is more widely recognized and appreciated than ever before.
- There is more applied sports research being published than ever before.
- There are more opportunities to work in the field than ever before.
- This is an incredibly exciting time to work in sports performance. But with this growth comes several challenges.
- There is more opportunity, but significantly more responsibility.
- More recognition, but significantly more pressure.
- More available information, but less clarity.
- Strength and Conditioning Coaches aren’t just responsible for putting together a good training program.
What you will be able to do.
- Understand movement assessments and how they relate to injury risk and sport performance.
- Design special programs to recondition athletes recovering from injury or surgery.
- Integrate technology to monitor workloads and recovery.
- Analyze data for meaningful insight, and design reports to effectively communicate with athletes, coaches, and management.
- Educate athletes on proper sleep habits and the consequences of suboptimal sleep.
- Make nutrition and supplementation recommendations to facilitate improved health, performance, and recovery.
Presented by
James B. LaValle
D.N., C.C.N., M.T. D.M.B., D.H.M.
Mike Potenza
Director of High Performance, San Jose Sharks
Kevin Neeld
Head Performance Coach, Boston Bruins
James B. LaValle
D.N., C.C.N., M.T. D.M.B., D.H.M.
James (Jim) LaValle is an internationally recognized clinical pharmacist, author, and board-certified clinical nutritionist, with over 40 years of clinical experience in natural products, lifestyle, drug/nutrient depletion, compounding pharmacy and peptides. LaValle is currently the Chief Science Officer for Life Time and is best known for his expertise in performance health and integrative care.
He has served thousands of patients, using his metabolic model for health, at his clinics in Orange County, CA, Austin, TX and formerly at LaValle Metabolic Institute, in Cincinnati Ohio. His focus both in clinic and enterprise platforms is to uncover the underlying metabolic issues that keep people from their peak health and resiliency.
He is the founder of Metabolic Code Enterprises, a cloud-based health technology that helps practitioners and individuals pinpoint the metabolic roadblocks to health based on a symptom survey, lab markers, biometrics, and wearable data. This groundbreaking assessment tool incorporates some 40,000 decisions, prioritizing networks of metabolism that are the most out of balance and provides suggestions for dietary supplements, diet and other targeted interventions and lifestyle suggestions with the goal of building metabolic reserve, resiliency and vitality.
In 2010, Jim and his team developed personalized weight loss and wellness programs for Lifetime Fitness using his Metabolic Code approach for health and wellness. He was the clinical director for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Performance Health Program. Organizations including Corvette Race Team, Orlando Magic, Chicago Blackhawks, San Jose Sharks, Golden State Warriors, Austin FC, and Colorado Rapids have relied on his expertise for performance, resiliency and return to play programs.
Mike Potenza
Director of High Performance, San Jose Sharks
Mike enters his first year as the Director of High Performance for the San Jose Sharks after being with the Golden State Warriors the past two seasons serving as the Director of Performance. He was in charge of the planning and physical training of the players, provided support to GSW’s performance nutritionist, coordinated and administered the yearly performance testing schedule, created return from injury programs for the athletes, and worked closely with the coaches and development staff on daily scheduling.
Before going to the Warriors, Mike spent 16 years in the NHL with the San Jose Sharks. His prime responsibilities as Director of Strength & Conditioning were in the areas of performance enhancement, reconditioning the athletes after injury, nutrition, performance assessment, NHL combine evaluations, player physical development planning and Training Camp testing. He managed a staff of three strength coaches at the NHL and minor league levels.
Mike served as Vice President of the NHL Strength Coaches Association from 2015 to 2019 and the President of the Association from 2019 to 2022. He was the main point of contact between the league and its Performance Coaches on all issues relating to training, performance testing, COVID protocols, the Combine format, and equipment standardizations for visiting teams.
During Mike’s time in San Jose, he worked closely with two United States Air Force Pararescue teams within the National Guard Bureau on implementing a Performance Enhancement Program for its operators. The programs were initiated for the 131st Rescue Squadron (California) in 2009 and for the 212th Rescue Squadron (Alaska) in 2012. The Performance Enhancement Program model has now become a standardized program among all 5 National Guard Bureau Pararescue teams.
Prior to coming to the Bay area, Mike served as the Strength and Conditioning coach for the Men’s and Women’s hockey teams at the University of Wisconsin (Madison) from 2003 to 2006. In 2006, both teams won the Division 1 National Championships.
Mike is a graduate of Springfield College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Exercise Science. After receiving his Bachelor’s degree, Potenza earned a Master’s degree in Physical Education with a concentration in Human Movement Science from Boston University. While at BU he held a graduate assistant position within the Strength and Conditioning department working with all twenty-one Varsity intercollegiate sports.
Mike and his wife Bonnie reside in San Jose with their three children, Griffin, Natalie and Luca.
Kevin Neeld
Head Performance Coach, Boston Bruins
Kevin Neeld is the Head Performance Coach for the Boston Bruins, where he oversees all aspects of designing and implementing the team’s performance training program, as well as monitoring the players’ performance, workload and recovery. Prior to Boston, Kevin spent 2 years as an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach for the San Jose Sharks after serving as the director of a private sports performance facility in New Jersey for 7 years, working with pro, college, junior and elite level youth hockey players. He also served as a strength and conditioning coach with the U.S. Women’s Olympic Ice Hockey Team for 5 years.
Neeld is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and Licensed Massage Therapist holding a Master’s degree in Kinesiology & Exercise Neuroscience from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and a Bachelor’s degree in Health Behavior Science & Fitness Management with a minor in Strength and Conditioning from the University of Delaware. He’s currently a Doctoral candidate in Rocky Mountain University’s Human and Sport Performance program. In 2013, Kevin became one of only 9 professionals worldwide to earn the Postural Restoration Trained (PRT) credential from the Postural Restoration Institute.
Kevin has an unwavering passion for helping hockey players fulfill their potential. He recognizes the huge impact that quality instruction, coaching, and training can have on a player’s career. In order to help hockey players of all ages and levels succeed,
Kevin is sought after for his expertise in blending high performance training with injury prevention and post-rehabilitation work. At Endeavor, Kevin has trained athletes for improved performance while alleviating symptoms of a variety of injuries, including: shoulder labral tears, hip labral tears, shoulder impingement, hip impingement, sports hernias, groin pain, hip flexor strains, and low back pain.
After completing a successful college hockey career at the University of Delaware (‘05-’06: MVP; ‘06-’07: Team Captain, Lifetime Achievement Award, 2nd Team All-American), Kevin served as the Assistant Coach of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst Women’s Ice Hockey Team and assisted with the implementation of the strength and conditioning program for the UMass-Amherst Men’s Ice Hockey Team. Kevin continues his work in ice hockey serving as a coach, educator, and program consultant in the sport.
An accomplished author, Kevin has had articles published in Men’s Fitness and many of the top fitness and performance sites, including AskMen.com, StrengthCoach.com, T-Nation.com, EliteFTS.com, and SportsRehabExpert.com. He also wrote Chapter 3: The Real Reason You Can’t See Your Abs in the Men’s Health Big Book of Abs, and is the author of Ultimate Hockey Training, a comprehensive resource on long-term player development and year-round off-ice training methods. Additionally, he has served as an investigator and co-author on scholarly works published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, Perceptual and Motor Skills, and The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance.
Kevin possesses the unique ability to combine his backgrounds in research, academia, and athletics to create highly effective programs for athletes and clients of all backgrounds. Specializing in ice hockey training, Kevin has helped guide athletes of all ages and abilities to optimal health and performance.
Our success, echoed by our clients.
Our clients share their experiences of transformation and growth. Unfiltered feedback and the true testament to our service quality.
Mike Potenza has created a higher level of training for me as a professional hockey player. We began creating my training foundation and training standards 15 years ago at the University of Wisconsin and he continues to raise the bar with new hockey related training in my pro career. His methods have allowed me to develop into a better NHL player each season.
I've trained with Kevin since before my first year of juniors. As a smaller guy, having the ability to create time and space has been crucial to my success. Kevin's programs have helped me develop the speed and quickness I need to compete at the highest levels, and the conditioning to continue pushing the pace late in games. If you're looking to fulfill your potential, Kevin is the guy to help get you there.
Nobody else in this field has extensively studied the human metabolism functions like Dr. LaValle. His courses will make you re-think your own training methodologies and push them to a superior level.
