Bodybuilders vs Powerlifters
Last week saw an immediate improvement in the game of Phil Shankly, reminding GMs (specifically @Advantage and @Mr. Power) of why he is he touted as the 1st overall selection in the upcoming Season 52 VHL Entry Draft. Of course, he is not the “undisputed” pick, due to the fact that there are a couple of blindingly good goalies in the draft as well.. as well as a handful of great forwards and a couple of good defensemen. Alright, so there's a lot of good picks... but SHANKLY IS ONE OF THEM!
This spike in performance from Shankly could have something to do with his off-ice training. Many hockey players often overlook what they do off the ice, but the best players will tell you that it is just as, if not more important to train off the ice. Luckily for Phil Shankly, his player agent, Phil Knight, is a graduate in Kinesiology and has been bodybuilding for a number of years. Knight has always been actively involved in his players’ development, with the exception of Phil Villeneuve in the first half of his career.
“Bodybuilding’s a passion of mine and I use it to help my players with their physical deficiencies. This allows the players to gain the mobility and strength to perform better on the ice.”
This is the first time that Knight has ever undertaken a power forward, and he believes that it could be his best signing.
“Obviously the player with the rawest talent I’ve ever worked with was Phil Rafter and honestly Hamilton’s proving to not be that far behind, but I am really looking forward (pun intended) to working with another winger, especially one with as much strength as Shankly is showing.
“There’s a big difference between bodybuilding and power-lifting,” Knight continues. “Power-lifting is more about lifting the heaviest possible thing you can. These are the guys you see arching their backs and using their legs to push the bar up on a bench press, but the bodybuilders are the ones who target specific muscles and aim for symmetrical and aesthetically even muscles. This is way better in the athletic world as it will strength the targeted muscles, which will help decrease the risk of injury. It’s something every athlete should do. I’m just luckily enough to have the knowledge to use this to my players’ advantage.”
Shankly’s program is a 6-workout a week regime which focuses on one major muscle group each workout. Day 1 is back, followed by chest, quads, thighs and calves, arms and abs, & finally shoulders and calves. This is his ninth day of the program so he will be doing Chest today. He told us that he’s never had a pump like he gets from these workouts… and that he’s never felt better or stronger on the ice.
Phil Shankly enters the playoffs this weekend with VHLM team Bratislava Watchmen. The team (as including Shankly) has under-performed for roughly 65 games of the 72-game season but they are heating up at the right time, with Shankly averaging 3.75 points per game in the last 4 games of the season. If he can keep that production up, there’s not a team that can rival them.
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~phil