The off-season is a great time, actually the perfect time, to start to really focus on getting stronger in your off-ice hockey training. By the time next season rolls around, you don’t want to be in the same place you are right now. You, of course, want to be better. There’s plenty of ways you ...…
My first experience with off ice hockey training came about 15 years ago. I was just getting into lifting weights and a couple of my buddies had been playing junior hockey and were always in the gym. I came around the corner into the weight room of my hometown’s rec complex and there was one ...…
One of the most important aspects of your hockey workouts that I haven’t really touched on in the past is baseline testing. How do you know the program you’re working on is actually helping you improve? I can guarantee you this, that most players have no idea if what they’re doing is really helping them. ...…
In the past I’ve continually talked about training with heavy weights in order to pack on muscle as well as gain strength and power. That’s one part of my training philosophy that really isn’t that earth shattering, but your hockey workouts also need a little more explosive type exercises to get you faster. Remember, speed ...…
Back when I was growing up, hockey training programs just weren’t around for everyone. You played hockey, came home and played road hockey, went to the basement and took shots, and then went to sleep dreaming about hockey. Times were much different. There wasn’t the need for physical activity that there is now because that’s ...…
Your hockey workouts this time of year should be looked at a bit differently than during the season. You don’t want to completely burn yourself out during the season so that you can’t perform on the ice. Well, during the off-season, you can throw that mentality out the window. It’s time to build some muscle ...…
With the off-season pretty much in full swing for the majority of players out there, your off-season hockey workouts need to be on your mind. In fact, your off-season hockey workouts should be in full swing. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you shouldn’t take some time to recover from the long season that’s just ended ...…
Many of us are at a point in our lives where our prime has past us by. We play for the love of the game and our off-ice hockey training needs a few tweeks because our priorities are a little different from when we were younger. I received an email recently about adding some posts ...…
It happens to everyone. You get in a bit of a slump and you need some motivation to get you back on track for your hockey training. It happens even more often around this time of year. You just finished your season and your not in the mood to get going, even though you know ...…
Whether you like it or not, the off-season is upon us. That’s right, hockey season is almost over. For some, you’re into the playoffs, while others are just waiting for the snow to melt so they can either hit the links or get to work on their off-season hockey training. The best thing for you ...…
Training for track and field is not the same as hockey training. I bet you wonder where I’m going with this as this post is about acceleration, but take a look at how the two sports differ. In track and field, most of the events require you to either run, jump, or throw in some ...…
People make mistakes. It’s just human nature. Whether it’s on a test, in a game, or choosing not to shower for a couple days. Hockey training is no different. You see, with the amount of information out there on the internet, it’s no wonder players make a mistake or two in their hockey training programs. ...…
Maybe the most underestimated part of your hockey training program is the environment in which you place yourself. The importance of the environment in which you do your hockey training cannot be understated. Your hockey training results can be taken to another level just by tweeking a few things where you train. Before I get ...…
Designing a hockey training program seems to be a daunting task for some because there’s so much information out there about training. There’s so many options to include in your hockey training program that you can really get confused and discouraged, like you’re doing something wrong. Let’s just get this out of the way first…there is ...…
Upper body strength, excellent cardiovascular endurance and a strong core and are just some of the fitness requirements needed to be a good hockey player. Hockey is an intense game which requires high levels of overall fitness. Even top players come off the ice feeling exhausted. This is why it is so important that hockey players ...…
Breaking Muscle has just announced it’s Top 10 Fitness Blogs for 2013 and Star Factory Fitness has cracked the Top 10. I can’t explain how awesome the feeling is to get myself and all my hard work infront of people to read each week knowing that my thoughts and opinions are actually helping people and ...…
So many ideas and fitness trends have hit the market lately, with great marketing, hoping to grab your attention so you’ll buy the product. The use of battle rope training is NOT one of those fads. Battle rope training can be an excellent addition to your training program because it provides some intriguing benefits: 1. ...…
Over the past couple months I’ve been using this app to end my hockey workouts. I’ve never really been a huge fan of using apps for my hockey workouts, as I’ve never really seen the point in having my iphone sitting infront of me while I’m trying to do something intense. It just seemed to ...…
Last week I wrote a post about ice hockey training exercises with bands that you could use to help you get stronger for the ice. When you’re training yourself or your players, the one thing that I can’t stress enough is getting the basics down first. I made this mistake before because I was excited ...…
When I started using bands for ice hockey training, I’d use them with younger clients, like 10 to 12 year olds. Starting out ice hockey training with kids this young, I figured it was a good idea to start with resistance bands over dumbells, barbells and the such. Not to say that youth this age ...…
I need your help to create a hockey training product. In order to bring you guys the best available information and hockey training products, I need a favour from you. Below is a short survey that will help me gather the information I need in order to put together a product that will help you ...…
Learning how to warm up properly was probably the best thing I’ve learned when it comes to training. When I was younger and just starting out, I was one of those guys that walked into the gym, waved my arms around a little bit, and then jumped straight into my first set. I didn’t care ...…
Can a hockey player benefit from functional training exercises during his or her training sessions? There’s debate as to what functional training exercises actually are, but in essence, they’re exercises that have a very high transfer over effect into the sports that we play. How often do we see everything in sports happen in a ...…
This is big for me because learning how to achieve success takes people years and even their lifetimes to figure out. I used to think I would only be considered successful as an athlete if I turned pro in something. Looking back, I was very naive. Success is often masked by our preconceived beliefs. Telling ...…
Out of all the exercises I do, a single leg squat challenges me the most. Hockey players all need single leg exercises in their programs in order to create functional strength and power to use on the ice. They’re beneficial to hockey players because of the amount of pushing off of one leg a player ...…
During the hockey season, finding time to do anything else besides play hockey can sometimes be quite the task. Most players, along with their heavy schedule, have practices, tournaments, and not to mention school work and time with their family and friends. But finding the time to do some in-season training shouldn’t be a difficult ...…
One of the best ways an athlete can generate and develop amazing power is through the use of olympic lifts. If you’ve ever watched weight lifting in the Olympics, you’ve probably witnessed some of the most powerful athletes in the world. The reason they are so freakishly strong is because of their dedication to improving ...…
Before I get into things, these are my 3 hockey websites for training that are free to join. There are other membership sites out there like hockeystrengthandconditioning.com , strengthcoach.com , hockeyot.com, and goalieworkoutclub.com , that will be more in depth and give you more specific workouts, but they come at a price. There’s a ton of ...…
Nutritional tips for athletes and people in general come by the dozens online. It can be so confusing looking for advice and solid tips because everyone has their opinion. Everyone out there is an “expert” because they might have read a book or two, liked the idea behind it, and suddenly that became the only ...…
In order to improve your shot power, you have to break down exactly what goes into a shot first. Rotation exercises are great for power, but before we get there, let’s get a couple key points out of the way first. If you’re going to improve your shot, here’s a couple things to keep in ...…
Anyone that’s been working out for any length of time will be somewhat familiar with interval training exercises. The use of a treadmill to perform intervals or a spin bike were originally the way intervals were most often used, but now other forms of interval training are starting to surface and with very positive results. For hockey ...…
I wanted to do a review of Sean Pronger’s book, “Journeyman” as soon as I read the last word in the acknowledgements. Over the past week, I’ve been lucky enough to sit down and read one of the best stories I’ve read in a while. You see, I’m a bit biased as Sean is from ...…
There are moments of 2012 that really stick out for me that I’d like to share with my readers. Going from a complete unknown trainer to a not-so-completely unknown trainer has been a cool journey for me. When you think back on your moments of 2012, I’m sure you have some things that you’re proud ...…
There’s been a lot written about core muscle exercises and the benefits of them, from improving posture to relieving back pain. But core muscle exercises aren’t just for the general fitness enthusiast looking to improve their quality of life. Using core muscle exercises can improve your shot power. As hockey players and coaches, you’ve probably ...…
This week’s post about slide boards comes courtesy of Ken Cambell over at Ultraslide. Most athletes know that in order to improve their game they need to train, train, train, and then train some more. But training does not mean doing the same repetitive moves over and over again. Training for a sport does not ...…
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