The key to hockey performance is practice and conditioning. A properly coordinated program of strength, endurance, power, and agility training is essential to peak performances from an individual and team standpoint.
This web page will explain the specific conditioning process geared exclusively toward peak hockey performance.
The strength training program is laid out on the principal of periodization shifting emphasis from BASIC STRENGTH to SPORT SPECIFIC STRENGTH to POWER and finally to QUICKNESS and AGILITY.
The ENDURANCE program is designed to gradually improve endurance using a periodized program. By coordinating INTERVAL training with longer bouts of STRAIGHT CARDIOVASCULAR TRAINING, promote both the ability to perform short bursts at high intensity and also to have long-term endurance that will enable the athlete to recover from exercise more easily.
Finally, we have the QUICKNESS and AGILITY program, which comes toward the end of the periodization cycle. This part of the training process will improve skating speed, direction changes and lateral mobility. This part of the process will improve skating specifically. The improvement in skating ability will dramatically improve overall playing performance.
The initial phase of the conditioning program starts with a safe and soundly designed strength training program. By using resistance training for all of the major muscle groups, you can give the athlete a fundamentally strong body from which to build athletic performance.
Upper body strength training will improve shooting, body checking and puck handling.
Lower body strength training will improve skating speed and power.
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Sports specific training is the second phase of the program. These exercises are designed to condition the athlete’s muscles specifically for his sport.
- Lunges
- Squats
- Adduction
- Abduction
- Smith Squat
- Walking Lunge
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Training for power is essential for explosive muscular movements. Skating acceleration is dependent on muscular power. In order to get a quick take off and acceleration fast twitch muscle fibers must be trained to contract explosively.
Plyometrics are exercises designed to develop explosive power in the fast twitch muscle fibers to get maximum speed and power out of those muscles.
These exercises will help the athlete train those fast twitch muscle fibers specifically for the movements needed in the sport of hockey.
Quickness and agility are the last pieces of the training puzzle to be added to the program.
Quickness and agility are crucial to success in hockey for direction changes, deking, and puck handling etc.
The following exercises will help develop these traits in your athlete.
