The magic of science could help Juraj Slafkovsky finally unleash the full power of his 6-foot-1, 250-pound player in his second season in the National Hockey League. Over the summer, the Slovak has already increased his lung capacity by 20%, an extremely significant leap for a top athlete.
In the off-season, fitness trainer Michal Břetenář invested in the development of the young power forward using the latest technology. His priority: enabling Slafkovsky to master “better economy of movement”. According to Břetenář, this will take the first overall selection of the 2022 amateur auction to a new level.
“Juraj has great strength,” the Czech luminary said during an interview with TVASports.ca. He goes into everything with maximum commitment, which is difficult to persevere with. However, hockey is an activity that requires repeated effort. It’s about the muscle’s ability to contract and relax. We want Slafkovsky to do everything 20 times, 30 times on the ice, but not at the expense of quality.”
In order to achieve the famous “economy of movement” that Břetenář calls, several systems in the human body must work together harmoniously so that energy is used efficiently. With Slafkovsky, some of these systems prevented him from working at full speed. One of them? The respiratory system.
Most of the time, Břetenář works on Slafkovsky’s development remotely, communicating with the Slovak’s head coach Daniel Kičura. However, during a stay of Slafkovsky in Prague, Břetenář took the opportunity to collect important data. He had the big one do a spirometry test, which assesses the function of the lungs.
“Then we carried out another examination on an exercise bike and found metabolic restrictions,” says Břetenář. We measured the performance of the heart muscle in supplying muscle oxygen to the human body using a sensor called Moxy.”
Armed with new information, Břetenář set about the long-term task of changing the way Slafkovsky breathes during physical activity. On the rink, Slafkovsky performed precise exercises using a breathing mask.
“The mask allows us to monitor respiratory rate and volume with and without the puck,” says Břetenář. We can observe when the athlete is holding their breath or breathing quickly and inefficiently. Various other irregularities can also be observed.
“Changes like this take time to embrace. However, if everything goes as planned, it will help him to complete more shifts and a higher intensity. He will recover faster and his first three steps will be more powerful.”
Within a few weeks, Slafkovsky made remarkable progress.
“We managed to increase his vital lung capacity by 20%, which is a very significant number,” emphasizes Břetenář.
Swear the Terminator
You may have spotted a photo of Slafkovsky in opaque glasses on the rink on the Internet. A look worthy of the Terminator. Perhaps a nod to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s famous “I’ll be back” line, a promise to fans to come back stronger and more efficient after his injury last year.
Seriously, it’s one of the many tools Břetenář uses when practicing on the ice rink.
“These flash goggles flicker at different speeds, changing the field of vision and the blinking of the eyes,” says the trainer. These glasses help Juraj improve his ability to judge distances and react quickly to dynamic changes, as well as improving his spatial orientation.”
Another device used: the NeuroTracker, a type of cognitive training that trains the brain to distill visual information faster.
In short: nothing is left to chance. And in a league like the NHL, where split seconds matter, the difference between losing the ball and making a precise pass is very small. Increasing the brain’s reaction time is the basis of war.
Nevertheless, it is necessary that Slafkovsky himself be open to this seemingly absurd approach.
“Genetics will always play a role, of course, and Juraj has certain physical predispositions [qui jouent en sa faveur], recognizes Břetenář. But that’s only part of the equation. Humility, open-mindedness and willingness to work on oneself are necessary qualities. And I think Juraj has those qualities.”
Several disaffected Canadiens fans have left Slafkovsky after just one season in the NHL. The future will tell us if their reaction is reasonable and if the Slovakian was the right choice for first place in 2022. One thing remains certain: the Slovak seems ready to explore all avenues to prove them wrong.