Hockey & Dry Land Training
The Importance of Dry Land Training
As a strength coach I have seen many hockey players neglect their strength & conditioning workouts during the season. Finding reasons not to train seems to be a trend, especially those players who travel. The hockey season is one of the longest sports seasons in North American athletic seasons. Yet many of our players do not participate in dry land strength & conditioning programs during the season.That in-season period of the year for hockey includes roughly 6 months of time. Even the best off-season program cannot carry you through a full competitive hockey season; you need to incorporate some in-season. The older the individual, the more important it is to have a well balanced strength & conditioning program.
As the season begins it is important to get into the weight room 2-3 days a week beginning of the season and tapering down to 1-2 days a week as the post season nears. Workouts may last 75-90 minutes and taper off toward the post season as well. Even workouts as brief as 30 minutes have proven to be beneficial around the end of the grueling hockey season. You’re dry land strength & conditioning program should have a strong focus on regeneration, flexibility and strength during the season.
A good routine I like for a well balanced dry land strength & conditioning program starts with 10-20 minutes on the foam roller followed by 10 minutes of dynamic and static flexibility routine. Your dynamic efforts should include activation for the groin, hips, hamstrings, trunk, calves and lower back. Appropriate static stretching varies for each athlete based on flexibility, structural balance and muscle imbalances in the upper and lower body alike.
Once my athletes are warmed up they perform their core lifts or prime mover exercises. Be careful not to confuse the term “core lift” with the term “core”. It is easy to do now that the sports world is so aware of having a strong “core” as inyour torso. The core lifts include your main lifts like pull ups. shoulder press, squats, leg press, bench press, dead lift & Olympic lift variations. Performing 2-5 sets of these types of exercises keeping the repetitions above 8 and reducing percentages for Olympic lifts will help maintain strength and explosiveness.
Following the exercise session hockey players should use a few regenerative exercises. These regenerating types of exercises can include light jogging, cycling, swimming, additional foam rolling, post exercise static and dynamic stretching. Toward the post-season you may find that recovery/regenerative exercise sessions are really all your athletes are can handle. This is the time when you need to stay motivated and listen to your body. All to often the athlete is so beat up and tired by this stage of their season that they need all the energy they can get for contest days. A quick regenerative workout is just fine.
A good dry land program can help decrease the loss of strength that hockey players experience during the long in-season. A long with adequate sleep and proper nutrition you will be in the best position to successful at the end of the season.
For more information on taking your game to the next level visit our website at www.brownstrength.com and learn more about our Dry Land Training program.
Play hard, Train Hard, Achive Success!!