Advertise on podcast: The Curious Competitor with Connor Carrick

In this episode, we welcome Dr. Nikole MacLellan aka “Dr. Kokes”, a naturopathic doctor and fellow member of the Designs For Sport advisory board. We talk about the dance between sympathetic and parasympathetic states for athletes, strategies for getting back into a parasympathetic state after an event, how to balance a playful approach in stressful situations, and using breathwork as a tool to build your CO2 tolerance. Dr. Nikole also dives into the tradeoffs that often occur between performance and longevity, why you should build a support team of different professionals you trust, and how to endure the darker periods as an athlete.

In this episode, we are joined by the founding members of Apex Cool Labs, Ariel Paul and Evy Lyons to discuss their new palm cooling device “The Narwhal”. Ariel and Evy share their inspiration for creating Apex Cool Labs, how they first connected over a Tweet, all the prototypes and testing they went through to get to their final product. They also discuss how your core body temperature and local muscle temperatures affect performance, why palm cooling is such an effective tool, how to use palm cooling for downregulation at the end of your workout and to reduce delayed-onset muscle soreness, and the optimal temperature for palm cooling to see results.

Do you ever wonder how your brain works? In this episode, we have the privilege of hosting Neurotherapist Dr. Andrew Hill, who graciously guides us through an exploration of cerebral operations. Following our participation in Quantitative EEG ”brain mapping,” we had the opportunity to interpret the ensuing data in real time during the podcast. Our analysis delves into an array of brain patterns, connections, and states of neural activity. Notably, several of these revelations unveil significant correlations with the daily-life symptoms I encounter and even extend to my athletic performance, all without any prior interaction with Dr. Hill. Our discussion extends to the impact of brain injuries on function, alongside an examination of how brain mapping holds promise for forthcoming athletes. We conclude by addressing pivotal lifestyle factors poised to enhance cognitive capabilities.

In this episode, I welcome renowned Performance Coach and Physical Therapist Scott Livingston. We discuss the concept of Neuro Reconditioning, and how traditional training modalities fail to consider how the brain functions. We talk about the importance of individuality in training based on sport, position, injury history, and body type. We also chat about the hidden challenges of working through injury as well the importance of disrupting narratives we tell ourselves.

In this episode, I break down some of my thoughts on the latest NHL trade deadline as well, as some personal stories of players that have been moved. I also discuss some recovery modalities I use to help me regulate my nervous system and maximize athletic performance during the season. I also talk about the importance of emotional regulation and off-season training advice for youth athletes.

In this episode, I sit down with Jeff Lovecchio, a former professional hockey player and current trainer and co-host of the Hockey Think Tank Podcast. We talk about how it’s not enough to just show up in the sport of hockey, how to grow confidence through discipline, and how to learn from your mistakes. Jeff also shares his journey from a professional athlete to becoming a trainer, his methods of using visualization to better his game, and the role models he looks at to expand his toolbox and better help his clients.

In this episode, I am joined by Jack Han, a hockey consultant, former NHL analyst, and AHL coach. We discuss Jack’s approach to personalized player analytics and development, what it’s like to work alongside NHL head coaches and the exhausting nature of a hockey season. We also dive into the importance of storytelling to improve your game, how you can use hockey as a vessel to reach your long-term goals, and different exercises to better your physical and mental game.

In this episode, we welcome Strength Coach Jim Ferris. Jim is known for his work in the basketball community from training with the Philadelphia 76ers for many years and training several NBA players that live their offseason in the Philadelphia area. We discuss how to adapt your training for performance and recovery metrics and identify weak links in training protocols. We also dive into where most athletes fail to focus on for their off-season training, and how playing the long game is the key to a sustainable and injury-free career.  We also discuss the challenges in youth development in sports and the success of your training is completely individual.

In this episode, I sit down with Christian Burrus and Jeremy Tucker from Adapt Fitness, an app for customized training programs from top hockey performance experts. We talk about setting your training goals as an athlete based on your needs from the game, how Adapt Fitness can help fill gaps in various aspects of your athletic training, how to manage the stress of all the moving parts in maintaining your health and the game, and how to manage the tradeoffs between training and sleep. We also dive into why you should be customizing your training specific to your goals and needs, how to draw inspiration from the previous generation of athletes, and why education on all aspects of your training is the key to being a great athlete.

In this episode I am joined by Sam Whiting, a human potential specialist, to discuss all things breathwork. Sam talks about his journey as an alpine ski racing athlete and how he came to discover breathwork in his training, how to gain the ability to notice your nervous system and why breathwork is a powerful tool for wellness. Sam talks about the importance of training your breathing muscles, and the different types of breathwork practices, and teaches some tools accessible to everyone when starting with breathwork. We also dig into the impacts of chronic mouth breathing, the connection between your breath, your physiology, and your psychology, and how you can use breathwork to help influence your state of being.

In this episode, I recap what the last few months have looked like and some of my strategies for adopting a growth mindset. I dig into the concept of DIIG: Desire, Intent, Imagination, and Grind, and how I use these concepts to fuel my growth as a professional hockey player. I walk through some of the ways that I support healthy dopamine levels to fuel my desire, including cold exposure, vagal tone, taking phone breaks, and creating variations within my routine. I also talk about the mindset I take to prevent burnout, how to ask yourself questions in order to find solutions to your game, as well as how to effectively put your plans into place.

In this episode I sit down with J.B. Spisso to chat about career design, mental wellness, performance and what it looks like at the highest level. J.B. is a veteran of the US Armed Forces, leadership and culture expert, and author of the Warrior Leadership: Steps to Success for Leaders on the Ground. J.B. opened up about his decision to join the military and some of the parallels between the military and athletes in terms of setting and maintaining high standards and short term goals. We spoke about some of the examples of leadership in the locker room, how to pick yourself back up after defeat, some of our tools for mental wellness, and the importance of enjoying the journey that is your life.