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Hockey Conditioning
Team sports in general and hockey in particular require a great deal of both fitness and skill from participants. In fact it is would be very easy to argue that hockey demands a high level of competency in the following ten physical skills in order to reach the highest levels of the sport...
1. Cardiovascular/respiratory endurance – the ability of body systems to gather, process, and deliver oxygen
2. Stamina – the ability of body systems to process, deliver, store, and utilize energy.
3. Strength – the ability of a muscular unit, or combination of muscular units to apply force.
4. Flexibility – the ability to maximize the range of motion at a given joint.
5. Power – the ability of a muscular unit, or combination of muscular units, to apply maximum force in minimum time.
6. Speed – the ability to minimize the time cycle of a repeated movement.
7. Coordination – the ability to combine several distinct movement patterns into a singular distinct movements.
8. Agility – the ability to minimize transition time from one movement pattern to another.
9. Balance – the ability to control the placement of the body’s center of gravity in relation to its support base.
10. Accuracy – the ability to control movement in a given direction or at a given intensity.
No one coach can develop all 10 skills within a player or team of players. It takes a team of coaches and trainers, each with their own specialty to fully develop an all around player. Working backwards from number ten it can be seen that 10 is a pure hockey skill developed on ice with stick in hand. Nine, eight, seven, six and five come through a blend of on ice drills and off ice sport specific cross training. Number four is purely off ice and often is left up to the athlete himself, while number three is also primarily off ice under the guidance of a sport specific strength coach. That leaves numbers two and one and this is where the IMFIT Athletic Performance Studio can come in to play. While skating does promote a certain amount of endurance and stamina as defined above, skating alone doesn't do enough. At the NHL level team trainers are looking for a higher degree of endurance, stamina and power than skating alone can provide. Much of their conditioning assessment is based on a VO2 test performed on a bike while measuring power output. The IMFIT Athletic Performance Studio not only has these tools, but also has close to ten years of practical experience in using these tools to get optimal improvement from our clients.
We recently had the pleasure of working with two NHL/AHL players from the Anaheim Ducks organization with outstanding results. We had them on bike for an hour a day, four days a week for three weeks doing very specific power and VO2 based intervals. At the end of the three weeks the results speak for themselves. A 30 watt increase in peak power. A 30 watt increase in power at Anaerobic Threshold. A 25 beat increase in Aerobic Threshold heart rate and a five point increase in VO2. All without impacting or interrupting their sport specific and on ice training.
If all of that can be achieved within three weeks, imagine what a full off season of conditioning could do for you or your team.
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