I have two sons who play competitive hockey and I am starting them on a lifting program to prepare for next fall. They are 19 and 15. The main thing that I want to accomplish is to increase the explosiveness and overall strength in their skating stride. After reading the article about the education of a powerlifter, I now know that there is a speed component to consider to facilitate this explosiveness. If anyone could maybe throw a few excercises my way, or even just the name of a good program, I could search it up and print it out. I tried DeFranco’s, and am still waiting for a reply, but I thought that I would try you guys - always good advice here! Thanks in advance,
I would utilize a basic strength program with focus on developing the p-chain. I honestly believe that strong hams, hips, ass and lower back will do more to improve explosiveness than all the ballistic movements and plyometrics in the world. Other than that, get on the ice. I think way too many hockey players focus on dry land training and gimmicky workouts which have very little, if any carryover to hockey. The kiss principle is true for most athletes and IMO, especially true for highly uniquely skilled sports like hockey. Just my $.02
I have worked with some hockey players around the same ages as you sons. Unfortunately they were on the ice so often I didn’t have much of an opportunity to make a difference in the weight room but when I had them in there I did some shoulder girdle work as well as some hamstring work (both for injury prevention) as well I used a circuit style program for them. Decently high intensity, covering the whole body in one workout, in and out fairly quickly.
The head trainer/S&C coach at my new Toronto facility, Ryan Foster, published this article a while back. It’s got alot of great information.
Also, it’s helpful to know that Ryan played college hockey then, when heading to university, didn’t even make the team. After a few years of following these training principles, he, for fun, went to a few tryouts and got drafted to play pro in Germany. Sure, that’s only 1 man’s experience – but not a bad testimonial.
One thing that you should be aware of is the component of flexibilty in sports like hockey.
The glutes and quads are very important in the skating stride and powerlifting will definitely help in increasing power in those muscles, but it often decreases range of motion in rotation about the spine and can pre-dispose your kids to injury later in life.
With the advent of more weight training in hockey there has been a disproportionate emphasis on strength versus physical longevity and injury prevention.
Do an internet search on what Gary Roberts is doing over at Station 7, here in Toronto. His program has a lot of heavy, strength based lifting, as his trainer is a Poliquin associate (Dave Avlat, sp?).
But it also includes Yoga, a discipline that many hockey players in the NHL have adopted over the past couple of years.
So my advice would be to make your kids stronger and more powerful, but not at the expense of their flexibilty, muscle balance or longevity. Look into Yoga for Kids and see if there’s a class they can attend in your area.
Hey Rob, I thought Roberts was training with Michel Lalonde? Either way, you are correct in your statement, but also keep in mind that Gary is not exactly a “rookie” and the yoga definately helps the older guys but yes, many younger guys are catching on to this. On another note, you’d be surprised what some of these athletes are doing. You think they’d know better at this point. I know who Eric Lindros’ trainer is(I won’t say his name here) and have seen what he does with Eric in the offseason. It is ridiculous to say the least. One thing he had him doing were Complexes. I have nothing against Complexes, when done properly. He had Eric doing BB squats(1/4 squats at that) with 185lb on a stability board for 8-12 reps followed immediately by explosive jumps. The guy’s methods are obviously high in what I like to call the “cute factor”. What a shame that a multi-million dollar athlete like Lindros is wasting his career working with such a trainer. People who use too many “cute” techniques lack the knowledge to put the basics to proper use.
Thanks guys. I shoulda been a little more clear about what I am trying to accomplish. First of all, all the advice is great and thanks for taking the time to answer. First, I agree with getting on the ice (magnus) and with the flexibility themes (rob coates). In a perfect world, the coaches would emphasize such practices and devote ample time to each. However, my youngest son had a coach this last season who refused to sprint the kids in practice cuz he thought it would ruin their legs for games! I called bullshit, but he had his mind set. Anyway, my sons skating strength and speed suffered greatly, to say the least. Now I am trying to make up for lost time and get his stride back where it should be. My oldest is playing junior hockey, and just needs to pick his skating up a notch to go with the “big boys”.
oopfit - sled work intrigues me greatly; in fact, I have a piece of metal at the shop right now that I need to pick up for a sled. Any suggestions as to specific excercises or routines for the sled? Thanks.
John B. Thanks - exactly the kind of info that I was looking for. Thanks for pointing me in that direction.
Again, thanks to all. I never stopped being amazed at the knowledge on this board. What a luxury to be able to tap in. Thanks much,
It’s unlikely that there’s much info on the web about Gary’s place…At first I thought he was trying to hide it because I couldn’t even find it when I first moved to TO and I wanted to find it! Odd…
Anyway, Dave Ablack is one of two S&C coaches at Gary’s (Jill Halligan being the other) and they do alot of O-lifting with their athletes (among other things). Theirs is a great facility. I train there from time to time when I want to get out of my place.
Anyway, email me if you’re looking for more hockey stuff. Although Im not Canadian (which automatically disqualifies me as a true hockey aficionado), Im learning more and more about the sport since my good buddy is the S&C coach for the Leafs. If you’re in the area, you should bring the boys down to our gym.