The same strength and conditioning training that helped get the Boston Bruins into the NHL playoffs is now at Mount Saint Charles Academy.
Michael Macchioni, sport performance coach for the Bruins, took on that same role at Mount at the beginning of the 2019-20 school year. Mr. Macchioni and his staff at Northeast Sports Training (NEST) in Warwick bring to Mount experience in training, nutrition, and physical therapy that are typically only seen in professional sports and Division 1 college programs. Mount students will also have access to an athletic trainer every day, which is unusual for a high school.
“Mike and his staff have decades of experience counseling athletes to train at the pace and intensity that’s exactly right for them. They’ll be an incredible asset to students by designing training regimens for athletes who want to compete at the highest levels or any student who wants to develop solid lifetime fitness habits,” said Mount Saint Charles President Alan Tenreiro.
Mr. Macchioni and the NEST staff will be at Mount daily developing and supervising individualized conditioning programs. Like the programs NEST develops for professional athletes, Mount’s training programs will be based on scientific principles of anatomy, physiology and kinesiology (the study of body movement). The objective is to understand what stage of physical development each student is at, then tailor a program using appropriate exercises and means of resistance, according to Mr. Macchioni.
“When you’re working with students, it’s not about chronological age. You have to assess their physiological age in order to design safe and effective programs,” he said. “We’ll do an initial assessment of every student we work with to determine strengths and weaknesses. Then we’ll build pre-season, in-season, post-season and off-season training programs and do two tests per year to re-assess the programs.”
Mr. Macchioni, a Merrimack College graduate, is a student of strength and conditioning pioneer Mike Boyle. He has worked with athletes from the National Hockey League, National Football League, Major League Baseball, and is a former strength and conditioning coach at Providence College. Mr. Maccihioni is a past state president of the National Strength and Conditioning Association and USA Weightlifting. Other members of his staff have degrees in exercise and sports science, kinesiology and nutrition.
Adding professional-level training is the latest major change in Mount’s innovative programming over the last two years. The school has added equestrian, figure skating and gymnastics programs, revamped its training and athletic facilities, and launched a new hockey program.
“We want our students to have every possible opportunity to make the most of their talents, whether they’re playing for the love of a game, shooting for the pros, or just want to be in the best condition they can be. With Mike Macchioni’s training, Mount athletes will have the physical tools they need to strive toward any fitness goal,” Mr. Tenreiro said.
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