156: Does your “Functional Training” have a Purpose? with Mike Boyle

Today I am very excited to announce our guest, Mike Boyle. Mike is one of the foremost experts in the fields of Strength and Conditioning, Functional Training and general fitness. He currently spends his time lecturing, teaching, training, and writing.

In 1996 Michael co-founded Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning, one of the first for-profit strength and conditioning companies in the world. Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning exists for one reason: to provide performance enhancement training for athletes of all levels. Athletes trained range from junior high school students to All Stars in almost every major professional sport.

Mike also was the Boston Red Sox strength and conditioning coach in 2013 that won the World Series and served as a consultant in the development of the USA Hockey National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Mike has also lectured all over the world. He published Functional Training for Sports for Human Kinetics Publishers. Mike and his wife Cindy have 2 children, Michaela and Mark and reside in Reading.

Michael Boyle’s Background

• In addition to his duties at Boston University and the Red Sox, from 1991-1999 Boyle served as the Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League.
• Mike served as the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Boston University for 15 years and has been the Strength and Conditioning Coach for Men’s Ice Hockey at Boston University for 25 years.
• He was the Strength and Conditioning Coach for the 1998 US Women’s Olympic Ice Hockey Team, Gold Medalists in Nagano and 2014 Silver medalists in Sochi
• Mike has been a featured speaker at numerous strength and conditioning and athletic training clinics across the world and has produced 20 instructional videos in the area of strength and conditioning.

Highlights from this Episode

• Why we shouldn’t be so tied to the status quo, and “how we’ve always done things”. We need to be questioning and researching constantly to make sure we’re always training in the most effective ways possible.
• Mike’s progression in how he thinks about training, from when he was younger, to how he thinks about it today. We get into an article of Michael’s about the evolution of a strength coach.
• How Mike views the “controversy” of doing too much strength training in golf. There is almost no question that effective strength training can do wonders for your golf game, but if done incorrectly, can create problems. We get into all of this.
• How to account for how much power training golfer’s need to do, depending on their age. As a general rule, every young athlete should be Olympic lifting in one way or another. Obviously, the proper precautions need to be taken, but it is usually helpful.
• The idea of “bilateral deficit”, and why Mike has switched to more unilateral training. It all started when Mike started seeing 20% of his athletes encountering back problems related to squatting, which changed the way he did things.
• Some of the common misconceptions about function training. It is often viewed as lifting weights on bosu balls, not lifting heavy etc. But really, it is just the practice of doing things in a more practical way. You can still lift heavy.

Caddy Shack or Happy Gilmore?

 Happy Gilmore

Who would you want to spend a day on the course with, and where?

My father – anywhere

What would be your “walk-up song” to the tee?

 Little River Band – Lonesome Loser

What has you most excited these days?

 Being a dad and getting to watch my kids play sports.

Parting words of advice?

Start doing some strength and fitness training with someone who knows about golf fitness.

Where to find Mike Boyle:

 Website: http://www.bodybyboyle.com/

Articles: http://www.strengthcoach.com/public/department51.cfm

Episode Sponsors

PGATour Mobile App: http://www.pgatour.com/mobile.html

RADroller: (RADroller.com)

The greatest self soft-tissue and myofascial release products in the world!!

Connect with 18STRONG

Facebook Page       Twitter Profile       Instagram Profile

Join The 18STRONG Movement!

If you listened to the very end of this episode, then you know that there is a movement happening in golf and fitness.  To join, simply follow this link to the private Facebook group and ask to join!  Once you’re accepted, you are officially part of The 18STRONG Movement!  Introduce yourself to the group and let’s get connected!