Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Interview With Pete Friesen

Friday is the Carolina Hurricanes opening night and I was hoping to get an interview with the Hurricanes Head Athletic Trainer, Pete Friesen. I was pleasantly surprised when I got a response back from him agreeing to be interviewed!

Pete has been with the Carolina Hurricanes for nineteen seasons, but has been a professional hockey trainer for thirty-five years. Pete wears a lot of hats in the hockey world. He is a certified strength and conditioning coach, certified as a performance enhancement and corrective exercise specialist and massage specialist, a board-certified Sport and Orthopedic Physical Therapist, and is certified in the United States and Canada as an Athletic Trainer/Therapist.





What made you want to become an athletic trainer?

1) I like being around hard working people.
2) Great healthy life style
3) There is always a learning curve

Do you have a philosophy on diet and nutrition?

Moderation and natural foods

What is your fitness routine? Do you run regularly? Have you ever done a half or full marathon?

I love to run three miles daily for fitness. It is especially important to maintain a great blood profile, heart rate, and blood pressure.

I did a half marathon at Bemidji State University in the late 70's. My favorite distance in my 20's was the 10k, but now it is the 5K.

How do you help your players when their motivation is low?

I try to remain positive. When you're around people that are upbeat, that usually improves your motivational level.

 What advice could you give to people just starting a new healthy lifestyle? 

You have got to do it for yourself and no one else.

Injuries in fitness and running are common, what are the best ways, in your experience, to prevent them? 

Moderation, listen to your body, be smart. Anyone can get an overuse injury.

How do you help your players stay positive during injuries? 

Give them good information on what to expect, goals for each stage of the rehabilitation, and celebrate any accomplishments in the rehab process.

What is a typical day for for during hockey season?

I have three typical days: game day, practice day and rehab day. During the season, there are very few days off. On game day, I start at the rink between 7-8am and leave the rink about 10:30am. A typical practice day I'm at the rink about 8am and I leave at about 2pm. On rehab days, I'm usually at the rink for 2-3 hours in the mid morning.

What is the most rewarding aspect of your job? 

I love to work with hard working people who want to win.

What was the toughest challenge of your job?

Keeping up to date on all the information coming out of training and rehab areas. Keeps me busy.

If an athlete is looking to increase endurance, what is their best plan of attack? 

No surprise here, start with diet, sleep, mental toughness and a great training program that emphasizes quality work.  Intervals are great, but they need to be of high intensity. The resting intervals are just as important, or even more important, then the work phase. 


Favorites:

Race: Jasper – Banff relay race

Running shoe: Brooks

Running store: Omega

Way to relax: red wine

Athlete: Bobby Orr

Recovery meal: Salmon, spinach salad with assorted berries and nuts

TV show: Modern Family

Movie: Trouble with the Curve

Book: all motivation books

Singer/Band: Jim Buffet

Mantra:  You Can Do It

Guilty pleasure: Red Wine

City: Nashville

Country: Spain

Racing Memory: Running both Summits at the Banff Jasper relay race

You can follow Pete on Twitter 

Thanks again to Pete Friesen for taking the time to answer my questions, I know he must be super busy preparing for the start of hockey season. Go, Canes!

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