from Ronnie Shuker of The Hockey News,

Gary Roberts had a surprise for his players when they started training with him again this past summer. It wasn’t a sleek new machine, a powerful new superfood or a funky new core exercise. It was far more scientific.

As his NHL clients returned to his gym in Toronto – Steven Stamkos, Connor McDavid and James Neal among them – Roberts had each player’s DNA tested. An ex-NHLer himself, he understands players’ mindset when it comes to training and knows they prefer to be shown, not told, what to do.

“What I like is that a player is going to see his own DNA,” Roberts said. “You can tell them something, and they won’t clue in, but if they actually see their results, they say, ‘S—, my DNA doesn’t lie.’ ”

Among the biggest benefits Roberts sees with genetics testing is that it can reveal susceptibilities to certain kinds of injuries, which allow strength and conditioning coaches to tailor players’ programs more precisely. Say, for example, a player is predisposed to hip, knee or ankle injuries. Roberts might take back squats out of his program and replace them with single-leg exercises to lessen the load on those joints.

“What we’re trying to convince these young guys of is, ‘These are your DNA results, this is what you’re going to be more susceptible to and this is how we’re going to avoid it,’ ” Roberts said. “They’re not going to avoid all injuries, because no one does, but they’re going to avoid some injuries.”

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