A New Season! Are You Ready?
About this time last year you may remember how you felt after a number of hard sprints up and down the ice: out of breath, legs feeling weak, short choppy strides, bending over at the waist. Not only that, one of your teammates is blowing by you, with speed and agility he didn’t have last year, and he just fired a rocket shot to the top shelf that has the goalie wondering where that came from. What gives? After practice you ask your teammate what he did to step up his performance. Here’s how he replied.
I spent the last six weeks training at Acceleration Indiana. I trained three times per week (one hour each time). Two sessions were on the Hockey Treadmill (HTM) and one session of Plyometrics, plus I did shooting and puck handling for an additional half hour each visit.
The hockey treadmill was awesome! The trainer identified problems with my skating mechanics and then taught me how to correct them. I skated in front of a mirror so I could see what I was doing and that visual feedback allowed me to concentrate on making the correct movement based on input from my trainer. It’s like an hour of power skating instruction on ice. I also skated uphill which built up my leg muscles and improved my stride. It’s like an hour workout in the gym doing leg and hip strength exercises. I improved my stride 20% and my skating form is much better. I can maintain good knee bend because my legs are stronger and I don’t bend over at the waist because my core strength has improved. My stamina is outstanding. I didn’t get tired in practice and in the third period I can skate just as fast and get to the puck just as quickly as in the first period. They tested my anaerobic power when I started the program and I could go all out for only 24 seconds. When I finished, I was able to skate all out for 40 seconds, 16 seconds longer. They explained to me that skating uphill on the treadmill for short sprints (like on the ice in hockey) conditions the muscles to adapt to the acids and enzymes formed during sprinting so that you maintain your speed and quickness during that important third period. It’s a heck of a workout, basically three workouts for the price of one: an hour of power skating, an hour of strength workout for the legs and hips, and an hour of interval sprint conditioning, accomplished in one hour on the hockey treadmill, with one on one input from your trainer.
Â
One day a week I did plyometric training. I didn’t realize how important plyometrics are for hockey players. It really develops your quickness, multi directional agility, balance, leg strength and power. My first two to four strides are definitely quicker. They also tested me before and after my training. I did 35% more repetitions in the same time period compared to when I started the program. That’s a big improvement in leg strength, quickness and balance. Several sets of exercises are single leg, which help develop not only leg strength but also good balance.
 I also had a lot of fun developing my shooting and puck-handling skills. They put a special device called power cords on me that adds resistance to my arm and shoulder muscles and they then teach me proper shooting mechanics. My shooting velocity, when I started, was inconsistent and varied from 30 to 40 mph, that’s a 10 mph variation. When I finished my speeds improved to 38 to 43 mph, that’s only a 5 mph variation. Being more consistent, I was also move accurate. My maximum shot was 3 mph faster, my average was 6 mph faster, and my slowest shot was 8 mph faster. I now feel more confident about putting the puck in the net. The puck handling was fun and I learned proper use of my lower hand, upper hand and overall coordination to better control the puck. I did two half hour sessions per week plus had homework assignments to work on specific puck handling drills. Repetition trains the muscles to remember the moves so you don’t have to think about it on the ice.
So, if you want to step up your game this season now is the time to sign up for a program at Acceleration Indiana. Time is running out as the season is here. Start any week. Your program will be designed for your age and ability, and you’ll receive one-on-one training to help make you the best hockey player you can be.
Mon, Jul 13, 2009
Hockey, Sport Specific Training