Fitness for Hockey
Posted on 03. Mar, 2010 by yuri in Train Like a Pro
I have to say that the last time I was really into hockey was about 15 years ago – right around the time that Patrick Roy was traded from the Montreal Canadiens. When that happened, I don’t think I followed hockey, until…
The recent winter Olympics in Vancouver.
I was drawn back in from the incredible excitement of the game along with the physical fitness demands of the sport.
Yesterday, I wrote about why soccer players are fit. Today, I’m going to do the same for hockey and convey a compelling argument that hockey players are some of the fittest athletes on the planet.
Strength Requirements
Due to the sheer physical nature of hockey, these athletes need to have a solid foundation of physical strength. It also helps if they carry a good amount of muscle mass as well since momentum comes into play when two players collide. Usually, the heavier, stronger player will win that battle.
Thus, hockey players need to be strong from the ground up. The need solid legs and a heck of a lot of core stability. Furthermore, skating fast and having a hard shot go hand-in-hand with overall body strength. But they also need an incredible amount of…
Power
As I’ve mentioned several times already, power is the name of the game in sports. Hockey players are no different. If they want to skate faster than their opponents, they need to be more explosive. If they want a slap shot that will put a hole through the net (or shatter the glass), they need to be able to harness their strength into powerful full body explosiveness.
And, all the while, ice hockey players also need to have a great…
Balance and Stability
If you’ve ever stepped onto the ice and taken a slap shot only to land on your butt, you obviously understand that playing on ice brings a whole new element to the sport.
So, hockey players not only need great strength and power but they also require superb balance and stability – on ice!
It’s easy to train on a stable surface but what about training while you’re moving quickly on a slippery surface. It’s a whole new dimension. So eventhough dry land training is essential for developing strength and power, hockey is a game that is played on ice, and thus, players should harness their skills and challenge their bodies on ice as well. It’s only by doing so that they can improve specifically to the demands of the sport.
Anaerobic Requirements
In case you haven’t noticed, most hockey shifts last about 45 seconds. And that’s mainly because the players are going “all out” for that amount of time and can’t possibly last any longer. Skating at literally full speed for 40-60 seconds is very tough and produces a huge amount of lactic acid.
The muscles seize up, brain function declines, and mistakes are made if a player continues to stay on the ice longer than necessary.
Even though a good aerobic base is needed for hockey, the major focus needs to be on anaerobic conditioning. Doing high intensity intervals of roughly 45-seconds @ 100% with 2-3 minutes of recovery is a simple and effective to train the energy system mostly needed for hockey. Ideally, that should be done on skates but running or biking can be effective as well. Try doing that for 60 minutes!
Strength, power, and anaerobic fitness are huge elements to any hockey player’s fitness arsenal. But I forgot to mention foot speed, agility, hand-eye co-ordination, and tactical and technical ability.
Oh well. But I think you get the point.
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