Duluth native Chris Locker knows sports.
As a child, Locker spent countless hours in his father's athletic club and also playing multiple sports.
But it was hockey that was Locker's passion. He was a member of the Duluth East championship hockey team in 1995 and he spent two seasons playing for the University of Minnesota as a Golden Gopher.
Now, as an adult, Locker couldn't imagine working in any field but one that helps athletes improve upon their skills.
Currently, Locker is working as the general manager of Athletic Republic in Duluth.
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The business opened a year ago, and its training style is still somewhat novel to Northlanders.
"The technology we use isn't exactly new, it's just new to the Duluth area," Locker explained.
Locker said a lot of people think that Athletic Republic is some sort of athletic apparel shop or clothing store, but it is definitely something completely different.
"[We utilize] acceleration-based training," Locker said of how Athletic Republic trains athletes. "It's a lot of plyometrics, and we work with quickness and agility and also core strength -- along with speed and power."
"Any weights we use are minor," he went on to explain. "Most of the strength training is done with resistance training."
Currently, Athletic Republic is working with athletes who want to improve their ability in their given sport.
Although his business does work with basketball, football and soccer players, Locker said that, by far, Duluth's most popular sport for training is hockey.
"Our bread and butter is hockey, and it always will be," Locker said.
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Locker said that youth and high school sports are appearing more competitive than ever. He also was quick to point out that recruiting for college sports has started at a much younger age.
"It's good to focus on the younger kids; it's a lot about learning your body," he said. "Kids start to learn all the proper techniques and then the skills can really start to develop."
Locker and Athletic Republic also work with multi-sport athletes, which he considered himself.
"Each one helped me to do better," he said.
One of the most common sport combinations seen is soccer and hockey.
Athletic Republic doesn't do much with injury recovery, but they pride themselves on injury prevention.
"We do a lot of stretching and improving flexibility," Locker said. "We do a lot with ACL and knee strengthening. We want to prevent injuries."
Frequent Budgeteer contributor Sarah Packingham can be reached via budgeteer@duluthbudgeteer.com .
