The Curious Competitor is a journey into the pursuit of improvement and well being-physically, mentally, and spiritually. In each episode, NHL Defenseman Connor Carrick speaks with some of the world's highest performing people about how they curate and execute their respective craft. Connor Carrick dives deep into the path and process of each guest, and the lessons learned on how to live more curiously, passionately, and purposefully. All on a quest to become a more Curious Competitor.
Episodes
2 days ago
2 days ago
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.
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To purchase my favorite Designs For Sport supplements visit www.connorcarrick.com
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Visit our YouTube for additional content
Episode Overview:
- 0:00 Introduction
- 2:14 Thoughts on Trade Deadline
- 2:25 Dmitry Orlov
- 6:57 John Klingberg
- 10:20 Tanner Jeannot
- 11:46 Patrick Kane
- 17:11 Heart Rate Variability & Nervous System Regulation
- 20:20 Red Light Therapy & Dopamine
- 21:45 Napping & Non-Sleep Deep Rest
- 23:11 Importance Of Protein Consumption
- 24:12 Disrupting Of Routine
- 24:23 Visualization
- 26:35 Reading
- 27:48 Addressing Injuries
- 29:30 Training Advice For Youth Athletes
- 35:35 Emotional Regulation For Importance
- 37:57 Final Thoughts
Wednesday Mar 08, 2023
Wednesday Mar 08, 2023
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.
Listen to Jeff on the Hockey Think Tank Podcast: https://www.thehockeythinktank.com/podcast
Episode Overview:
- 2:00 The Game Within the Game
- 8:00 Discipline vs Motivation
- 12:30 From Professional Athlete to Trainer
- 21:00 Learning From Past Mistakes
- 24:00 How Storytelling Can Help or Hinder Your Game
- 32:00 Using Visualization to Better Your Game
- 38:00 Setting the Standard vs Responding to It
- 42:00 Hockey Role Models
- 50:00 Working Smarter and Harder
Wednesday Mar 01, 2023
Wednesday Mar 01, 2023
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.
Connect with Jack on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jhanhky
The Hockey Tactics Newsletter: https://jhanhky.substack.com/
Timeline:
- 4:00 - Jack’s Approach to Player Analytics
- 7:30 - Player Analytics vs Head Coaches
- 14:00 - Exhaustion During the Season
- 17:00 - Storytelling vs Analytics
- 22:00 - Hockey as a Vessel to Reach Long-Term Goals
- 31:00 - Showing Up in a Competitive Environment
- 35:00 - Visualization Using Time Horizons
- 48:00 - Growing Together as a Team
Wednesday Dec 28, 2022
Wednesday Dec 28, 2022
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.
Episode Overview:
- 3:14 How To Adapt Training Based On Performance and Recovery
- 8:30 Balance Old-School Training Work Ethic Vs. Modern Approaches
- 12:30 Identifying Weak Links In Training & Working With Other Trainers
- 18:20 How To Get The Most Out Of Your Summer Training
- 22:40 Where Athletes Should Focus On Training
- 27:00 Balancing Life and Training
- 29:16 Playing The Long Game In Training
- 33:20 The Individuality Of Training
- 35:54 What Does Basketball Do Right and Wrong?
- 39:47 Challenges In Youth Development and Training
- 45:47 Redefining Success In Training
- 53:30 What Struggles Do You See With Modern Athletes?
Connect with Jim at https://gymferris.com/
To purchase my favorite Designs For Sport supplements visit www.connorcarrick.com
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Wednesday Dec 21, 2022
Wednesday Dec 21, 2022
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.
Episode Overview:
- 2:00 - Welcoming Christian and Jeremy
- 3:45 - What is Adapt Fitness
- 8:45 - Setting Your Training Goals
- 11:30 - Why Athletes Need Extra Support
- 18:00 - Managing the Stress of All the Moving Parts
- 22:00 - Tradeoffs in Your Training
- 24:45 - Why You Should Customize Your Training
- 30:00 - Taking Inspiration From the Previous Generation of Athletes
- 38:00 - Education and a Growth Mindset
- 44:00 - Comparing Training Around the World
- 47:00 - Training for Amateur vs. Professional Athletes
- 52:00 - Adapt Success Stories
- 57:00 Conclusion
Visit https://www.adaptfit.io/ to learn more about Adapt Fitness App
To purchase my favorite Designs For Sport supplements visit www.connorcarrick.com
Follow Connor’s Instagram or Twitter
Visit My YouTube for additional content
Wednesday Dec 14, 2022
Wednesday Dec 14, 2022
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.
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Visit Sam at https://www.samuelwhiting.com/
To purchase my favorite Designs For Sport supplements visit www.connorcarrick.com
Follow Connor’s Instagram or Twitter
Visit our YouTube for additional content
Episode Overview:
- 10:30 Why Breathwork?
- 22:00 Training Your Breathing Muscles
- 26:00 Inhale vs Exhale
- 29:30 Different Types of Breathing Practices
- 35:30 Using Breathwork in Your Daily Life
- 47:00 Chronic Mouth Breathing
- 51:00 Breathwork and Physiology
- 57:00 Adaptability Through Your Habits
- 1:00:00 How to Work With Sam
Wednesday Dec 07, 2022
Wednesday Dec 07, 2022
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.
Timeline:
- 3:35 Growth Mindset
- 6:30 How Desire Leads to Improvement
- 16:00 Dopamine and Athleticism
- 23:00 Working Hard to Make Things Easy
- 27:00 Preventing Burnout as an Athlete
- 32:30 Using Intent in Practice
- 35:00 Using Imagination to Find Solutions
- 42:20 Putting Your Plans Into Place
- 50:30 Conclusion
To purchase my favorite Designs For Sport supplements visit www.connorcarrick.com
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Visit My YouTube for additional content
Wednesday Jul 13, 2022
Wednesday Jul 13, 2022
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.
Episode Overview:
- 0:00 Welcoming JB Spisso
- 5:00 Joining the Military
- 9:00 High Standards and Short Term Goals
- 3:30 Leadership in the Locker Room
- 21:00 Repairing Bruised Belief
- 30:00 Tools for Mental Wellness
- 41:30 Lessons From Combat
- 49:00 Understanding Your Needs
- 58:00 Conclusion
Instagram @ jbspisso
Website: https://www.jbsleaders.com/
To purchase my favorite Designs For Sport supplements visit www.connorcarrick.com
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Visit our YouTube for additional content
Wednesday Jun 08, 2022
Wednesday Jun 08, 2022
In this episode, we welcome Frankie Corrado, a professional hockey defenseman and former teammate of mine from the Toronto Maple Leafs. We took a trip down memory lane remembering our journeys into the professional hockey space and joining the OHL before becoming teammates on the Toronto Maple Leafs. We talked about the struggles of transitioning from junior hockey to the NHL, the ways that luck works for or against you, how we build mindfulness into our day, and battling through injuries.
Timestamps:
- 0:00 Welcoming Frankie Corrado
- 2:00 Frankie’s Hockey Origin Story
- 6:00 Joining the OHL
- 14:30 Transition from Junior Hockey to NHL
- 20:45 Luck of the Draw in the Game
- 31:30 Reviewing Your Old Plays
- 37:30 Building a Mindfulness Practice
- 43:30 Battling Injuries
- 52:00 Building Mental Toughness
- 55:00 Don’t Rim the Puck
- 1:05:30 Working with TSN
To purchase my favorite Designs For Sport supplements visit www.connorcarrick.com
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Wednesday May 18, 2022
Wednesday May 18, 2022
In this episode, I sit down with Sylvie Tetrault, sports nutritionist, about all things nutrition for athletes. We discuss her experience working with Gary Roberts and the NHL, the importance of good nutrition, systems or habits you can implement to help you achieve your nutrition goals, and staple foods to have on hand. We reflected on the changes in food systems that have led to food intolerances, and why the quality of food you eat is important. She breaks down why fasting may not be beneficial for all athletes and the cyclical nature of athletes, how to wind down after a late-night game, and why you should take responsibility for your own health.
Episode Overview:
- 0:00 Welcoming Sylvie Tetrault
- 0:30 Working with Gary Roberts
- 8:30 Foundational Basics of Nutrition
- 12:00 Systems for Effortless Results
- 16:15 Staple Foods to Keep on Hand
- 20:30 Foods that Get a Bad Rep
- 24:00 Fasting Practices as an Athlete
- 31:13 The Cyclical Nature of Athletes
- 48:30 Taking Responsibility For Your Own Health
- 56:15 Foundational Supplements for Athletes
- 1:07:00 Conclusion
Sylvie’s Instagram: @Sylvietetrault
Find Sylvie at Gary Robert’s Performance: https://garyrobertsperformance.com/sports-nutrition/
Email: info@sylvietetrault.com
To purchase my favorite Designs For Sport supplements visit www.connorcarrick.com
Follow Connor’s Instagram or Twitter
Visit our YouTube for additional content