Tommy Heffernan Archives - Fukuji & Lum Physical Therapy

May 3, 2016 By Mark Yanai

2016 Hawai’i Strength Clinic

2016 UH Coaches Strength Clinic

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In January, I was fortunate to attend the 2016 UH Strength Clinic, an annual event organized by Tommy Heffernan, who heads the Strength and Conditioning Program at the University of Hawaii. I’ve attended the last three clinics and found it to be very useful in implementing training regiments and philosophies for our Work Hardening and Performance Plus Programs.

For the past seven years, Heffernan has organized the UH Coaches Strength Clinic. He always finds excellent speakers who bring great insight into various areas of strength and conditioning for athletes. Attendees are given hands-on instructions on improving mobility, speed and quickness, and of course, strength training.

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This year’s line up was filled with renowned strength coaches including:

Ivan Lewis, Head of Strength & Conditioning for University of Southern California.

Mike Vorkapich, Associate Head of Strength & Conditioning for Michigan State University

Wolfgang Unsold, Training Coach for Your Personal Strength Institute

Augusta Hathaway, Master Fitness Trainer for Special Operation Forces & Owner of Hathaway Fitness

Mike Blasquez, Director of Strength & Conditioning for the University of California-Berkley

Tanna Burge, Director of Sports Performance for Texas A&M University

Steve Watterson, Head of Strength & Conditioning for the Tennessee Titans

Ed Coan, Powerlifting Coach

(click on their names and teams for more info)

All of the speakers’ experiences in the field of strength training, translated to their expert knowledge in their various sports. Most of the college coaches spoke about off season programs and the key components to making their athletes better. Those not associated with a college or team, spoke about specific training regiments and systems in dealing with sport specific training.

While each of the speakers were captivating in their own way, I was most intrigued by the way Wolfgang Unsold, the strength coach from Germany, laid out his training system and how he used stories and examples of his athletes and their success to keep the audience engaged. He spoke about his focus on pull-ups, squats, dead lifts and bench pressing and how those key movements translate to functional improvements. Maybe it was his accent or his blunt comments, but his presentation was both funny and informative. Since the clinic, his exercises for upper back weakness and elbow flexion were added to our training programs and have benefited our clients significantly.

Heffernan is a member of the International Sports Science Association, the National Strength and Conditioning Association, and has been designated Master Strength and Conditioning Coach by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association. He resides in Kane‘ohe, O‘ahu and was a member of the UH football program from 1988 to 1991. Heffernan represents Hawai’i and the Polynesian culture well by always including a presenter during the clinic that speaks about this connection.

This year, Heffernan invited Sam Kapoi from the Polynesian Voyaging Society to present “Malama Honua World Wide Voyage“. Kapoi served as the media specialist on the Hokulea and presented the journey of the ship’s ’14-’15 voyage around the world. The presentation offered breathtaking pictures of the voyage and stories about the challenges of a crewman. Kapoi spoke of both the physical and emotional transformation that occurs with being a part of such a challenge. It wasn’t lost on me the importance of the keeping in touch with our culture, restoring world-wide connections with each other, and how teaching is core to our survival. It was in a sense, a perfect example of what the weekend was about.

We were lucky to have several members of F&L attend the weekend and hope to attend every year. If you have interest in attending, please contact me at [email protected] or go to UH’s website.

Mark's Blog

May 18, 2015 By Mark Yanai

Olympic Lifting – “DOING IT RIGHT!”

I’M BOLC!

As part of the 2015 UH Strength Coaches Clinic, Leo Totten, of Totten Training Systems, spoke about Power Development with Olympic style weightlifting. Totten is an expert in weightlifting, with over 20 years of coaching at the Olympic, Pan American, and World Championship level.

Totten Training is located in Littleston, PA. The major focus of Totten Training Systems is to provide the best in Olympic style lift training in conjunction with other modes of strength and power training for weightlifters and all athletes. Totten created this system after many years in the field as an athlete, coach, teacher and athletic administrator. He has worked with athletes and coaches from the high school level, to the collegiate level and even national and international level, working with individuals as well as teams. As a well-known speaker and author with has a strong reputation in the strength and conditioning field, Totten is one of most influential strength coaches of all time. His resume is full of achievements in lifting:

Recognized as one of the 65 most influential Strength Coaches – kickbacklife.com
Senior International Coach for USA Weightlifting (Level 5)
Head Coach, East Coast Gold Weightlifting Team
- 8 time National Men’s Team
- 6 time National Women’s Team Champions
President, WerkSan Barbells, 2005-2012
Over 20 years as Olympic weightlifting coach
Over 20 years as clinician for USA Weightlifting
Over 20 years training High School / College elite athletes
Over 30 years in Physical Education and Athletic Administration
Two Olympic Teams
Three Pan Am Teams
Five World Championship Teams
USA Weightlifting Coaching Excellence Award, 2005

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At the UH clinic, Totten gave a hands-on demonstration on the Clean, one of the three recognized Olympic lifts. He spoke about the benefits of lifting and how the skills transfer to sports that require strength and power, with the emphasis on power.

Following the clinic, Totten offered a class in Beginning Olympic Lifting Course (BOLC), which included instructions on the three lifts: Clean, Snatch and the Jerk. Check out this video on the clean:

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About 35 people of various backgrounds, high school and college coaches, athletic trainers, and physical therapists attended this eight-hour class at Crossfit Oahu. Totten took us through each of the lifts from set-up to finish. The class was very detailed as he dissected each lift step by step from the floor to the receiving position. He gave great tips on training and improving at each of the key positions.

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I had signed up for the clinic with great apprehension. I knew very little about Olympic style lifting other than it being different at the receiving position. My feelings were heightened when I saw that most of the other attendees were coaches and looked more the part. I felt a little better when a fellow colleague (physical therapist) showed up and we were able to learn together, sharing common thoughts about how we would apply these new lifting techniques to physical therapy. As a therapist that works mainly with injured workers, I noticed key body mechanics in the lifts that would assist in generating the necessary power to lift and manipulate heavy objects. I also felt that training with a barbell would be another great instrument to use for patients and personal training clients.

I was given a BOLC certification for completing the course, which allows me to begin teaching the lifts I learned. It by no means makes me a knowledgeable coach like Totten, but it’s a good starting point. He is a fantastic coach and his teaching style is methodical and systematic. He has great anecdotal stories that kept all of us interested at all times.

Despite my original fear, I was able to learn a great deal, meet new people, and pick up new skills. By the end of the day, I probably lifted a barbell a hundred times and I sure felt it the next day. But the soreness in my muscles were a great reminder of the hard work I put in and new skills that I gained.

Many thanks to Leo Totten, Tommy Heffernan, and Hank McDonald for putting the class together. And thanks to Crossfit Oahu for hosting it.

For more information on Totten Training Systems, email Leo Totten at [email protected].

Mark's Blog

May 11, 2015 By Mark Yanai

2015 UH Coaches Strength Clinic

Last month I attended the University of Hawaii‘s 2015 UH Coaches Strength Clinic on April 24-25th. After gaining valuable knowledge from last year’s clinic, I was excited to hear and learn new things from this year’s speakers, especially Tommy Heffernan, who heads the Strength and Conditioning Program at the University of Hawaii.

Heffernan played for the UH football and baseball teams from 1988 to ’91 and has been affiliated with the Rainbow Warrior football program ever since. Upon receiving his bachelor’s degree in Hawaiian history from UH in 1991, Heffernan taught at Kahuku where he also coached football and baseball. In 1995, he served as an assistant strength and conditioning coordinator at UH and then became the head coordinator four years later.

For the past six years, Heffernan has organized the Coaches Strength Clinic. He invites local speakers from Hawaii as well as from the mainland, each bringing great insight into various areas of strength and conditioning for athletes. Attendees were given hands on instruction on improving mobility, speed and quickness, and of course, strength training. It was interesting that the speakers had such different and unique perspectives on strength and conditioning, depending on their specialty and area of expertise which ranged from the armed forces and college athletics to specific sports like rugby and weightlifting.

One of the best moments of the two-day clinic, in my opinion, occurred when Heffernan presented the first Coach’s Recognition Award to one of his childhood coaches, Philip Chun. Heffernan talked about Chun’s influence on him as a young athlete and realized, as he grew older that all of the athletic knowledge he gained from Chun wasn’t as significant as the relationship he built over the years with Chun. He spoke highly of the nurturing relationship that coaches have with young athletes and how it sometimes isn’t realized until much later in life. The emotion in which the speech was given was moving and memorable. It was a sentiment that I’m sure all of the coaches (in attendance) experience with their athletes and it drives them to attend these types of clinics.

As a representative of F&L, I will continue to attend and support the Hawaii Strength Clinic as it brings great value to us in knowledge, community involvement, and connection with other health providers. I look forward to sharing what i learned from the clinic with my staff and patients at our therapy clinics. I expect to attend next year’s clinic which is expected to be held on January 29-30th.

Look for a future blog about my experience with one of the speakers, Leo Totten. I attended his certification for Olympic Lifting that he offered to attendees of the clinic.

Speakers included:

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