Table of Contents - Amazon S3 · Because hockey players develop tightness’s and structural imbalances in different areas then track athletes. Also, when you look at the sport of

HOCKEY SPEED: THE GUIDE TO SKATING FASTER 2

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 3

Speed Kills ....................................................................................................... 6

Stride Length VS. Stride Frequency ............................................................ 7

Why Hockey Player’s Need to Train the Core ........................................ 13

Mobility .......................................................................................................... 17

Conditioning for Speed .............................................................................. 33

Application of Aerobic Capacity Work .................................................. 36

Tempo Runs .................................................................................................. 39

Agility ............................................................................................................. 44

Speed Warm-Ups ......................................................................................... 52

Speed Training: Putting it all together .................................................... 55

Next Level Speed Off-Season Periodization Model .............................. 57

Next Level Speed Incorporated into Next Level Performance

Periodization Model .................................................................................... 59

Next Level Speed Workouts ....................................................................... 62

Conclusion .................................................................................................... 65

REFERENCES .................................................................................................. 67


INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Hockey Speed. My name is Dan Garner, and I am the

head strength coach at HockeyTraining.com. I’ve been helping

hockey players improve their game through off-ice training for a

number of years now, and I’m ready to help you too!

Let’s dive right in…

Although conditioning, strength training and nutrition have been

discussed to their absolute depth over the past several decades,

many coaches do not address the topic of speed. Speed is an

incredibly complex topic where a lot of puzzle pieces have to be

properly organized and placed together to create it and train it.

Speed cannot be oversimplified and is its own entire component.

Meaning:

Strength training is a part of speed but speed training is also different

from strength training.

Conditioning is a part of speed, but speed training is also different

than conditioning.

Athletic skill coaches and strength and conditioning coaches often

grossly oversimplify speed and will often only ask their athletes to go

outside and run and you will get faster. Or skate some laps on the ice

and you will get faster.

And yet, how many of them actually get faster?


They may get some better aerobic and/or anaerobic conditioning.

But they rarely increase their speed development. This is because

speed is its own component in the design of a complete,

professionally created strength and conditioning system for the

athlete truly training to make it to the next level.

Speed is built through many different things such as:

Genetics

Training age

Warm up type

Mobility

Strength training

Relative strength

Structural balance

Stride length vs. Stride frequency

Top speed

Acceleration

Starting speed

Energy system conditioning

Nervous system capability

Technique

In addition to these factors, a good strength and conditioning coach

also has to incorporate all aspects of the specific sport the athletes

are in. For example, speed training for hockey is going to look different

than speed training for track athletes.


Why?

Because hockey players develop tightness’s and structural

imbalances in different areas then track athletes. Also, when you look

at the sport of track the typical athlete is running 100m, 200m or 400m

in length. If you sit down and watch hockey for hours on end, how

often are you ever going to see a hockey player skating as fast as

humanely possible for these types of lengths?

If it ever even happens once it is too many times. Hockey is an

extremely explosive sport that more often than not only demands

blazing speed for 10-20m at a time.

What I’m presenting you with in Next Level Speed is the absolute best

methods to use in the offseason to bring up your speed on the ice.

Upon proper application to the principals, outlines and workouts in this

book in combination with a good diet will bring your speed on and off

the ice to a whole new level.


Speed Kills

I think everybody has heard that expression before. Why this saying

and why every athlete, parent and coach repeat it over the years is

because it simply holds true in all areas of performance development.

Every athlete from every single sport could benefit from improving

their speed.

Think about it, who wouldn’t benefit from being more explosive, agile

and overall just faster than their opponents? When you’re faster than

your opponents it really eliminates a lot of other factors contributing

to your ability to play against them.

Consider this; it’s always great to be the big and strong guy on the ice.

But when you think about some of the best hockey players of all time

and also some of the best modern hockey players they are rarely ever

the biggest and most intimidating guys. Their speed and skills get them

to where they want to be and that alone is enough to change the

pace of the entire game.

Over the next several chapters I’m going to go over some brand new

topics that the loyal hockeytraining.com crowd may have never seen

me discuss before and also revisit some old subjects but discussed with

speed training at the forefront of priority.


Stride Length VS. Stride Frequency

Stride length: The length (or) distance covered in one stride.

Stride frequency: The amount of steps taken per distance covered.

I am starting off with these two because these are biggest factors of

speed development. When it comes down to it, any and all speed

training comes down to improving these two qualities. Anything that

we do in the gym, on the ice or out on the field to improve speed has

to effect either stride length or stride frequency in order for it to be an

effective technique to improve speed. This not only includes the

training, but also the mobility work as well. Everything is driven at

improving these two aspects.

When it comes to stride frequency, this is most trainable in the earlier

stages of life. This is because stride frequency is very highly nervous

system based and when you are a kid growing up; it is during this time

your nervous system is being molded.

This is why it is so important for parents and/or coaches to recommend

and expose their athletes to as many different sports and movement

patterns as they can. I encourage all kids to play outside and play

each and every sport they can. Doing this helps them learn how to

properly move.

One of the biggest problems with the generation growing up right

now is they don’t know how to move, which is a breeding ground for

structural imbalances, mobility issues and poor athletic central

nervous system development.


I have had parents bring their kids to me for youth athlete

development and they can’t properly squat, this is a big problem. Too

much time being sedentary leads to poor movement patterns. It is

during these years where they have to be moving in all planes of

motion to ensure their nervous system capability will not hold them

back later in life.

To give your kids the best chance at excelling in athletics and speed

development you need to:

Have them learn to move

Have them learn to play

Have them perform as many sports as possible

Strength training at a young age should first begin with body weight

and can progressively move to training with loads around age

12

Once you understand movement in sports, you understand that it

demands perfect timing and perfect movement to be one of the

best. Competing in as many sports as possible allows children to

develop strong motor patterns and movement ability in all planes of

motion. This translates perfectly to each and every sport.

Very young children should be playing, running, climbing, running

backwards, throwing balls around, jumping, crawling and playing with

their parents so they can learn from the parent’s movement patterns.

From being children to a more teenage age, in these years you should

enroll your kid in as many sports as possible, but not at the same time.

Do not overwhelm your kid, in the game of hockey, keep it in every

year, but the other sports should be rotated based on the season.


Martial arts is one of the best things you can do with a child for

increasing athletic ability and discipline. Additionally, martial arts

helps to build strength with plenty of explosive body weight

movements. Gymnastics is also excellent for all the same reasons.

Following these guidelines, in my experience, will give your child the

best base to build from and properly develop the central nervous

system. Various sport exposure at a young age develops body

awareness, co-ordination, balance and speed development.

On average, once they have hit puberty and are into their teenage

years the central nervous system has been developed and stride

frequency becomes much less trainable. It is still trainable by following

the proper outlines in this book, but it is much less trainable. It is in this

time period now where a greater emphasis can be placed on proper

resistance training and sport specialization.

This is where stride length comes into play and why stride length is

arguably the most important component to speed development

because stride length is what is more trainable now.

This is the component that is giving more athletes their “breakout” year

because this normally happens much later in life so when it comes to

making already good athletes into great athletes, stride length is the

key factor.

The perfect example of this is Usain Bolt. The fastest man ever

recorded to run the 100m sprint. He covers a 100m in only 41 steps

(8.01 feet per stride!) whereas everybody he competed against

covered it in 44-46 steps.


This is a clear cut example of stride lengths power at the elite level.

Less steps to cover the same distance and you will be getting their

faster than your opponents. Period.

Stride length is highly trainable in all stages of life but becomes the

more trainable of the two after puberty has begun. The two key

factors for stride length include:

1. Relative strength. Which is how strong you are in relation to your

body weight

2. Mobility. Specifically in the hips, lower body and upper back.

Why is relative strength important to speed? Doesn’t that just allow me

to lift more weight?

Relative strength is vital to speed development because speed

potential is highly dependent on strength development.

Strength is the mother of all qualities. That is a quote that one of my

mentors, Andre Benoit, likes to always say and it holds true to all

athletic endeavours. The addition of relative strength to your arsenal

will improve everything. When you get two guys of equal everything

and yet one is stronger than the other, the stronger athlete will always

dominate him.

Strength in terms of its relationship to stride length is vital because it is

strength that is propelling you forward at the fastest rate possible.

When you press your skate down on the ice, or your foot down into

the ground to push backwards and propel your body forward; the


speed at which you explode from the starting position is entirely

dependent on how relatively strong you are.

For example, if you have a 180lbs hockey player who can squat 180lbs

vs. a 180lbs hockey player who can squat 400lbs. Who do you think is

going to be faster?

The 400lbs squatter!

Why?

Because he has that much more strength to overcome his own

bodyweight in order to push and propel himself forward from the

starting position. This same relative strength that is increasing your

“starting speed” is also increasing your stride length because you are

strong enough to propel your body further per stride taken. The

weaker man, relative to his body weight, will not be able to propel

himself forward with enough strength to take as long of a stride.

Whereas the stronger man, once his foot makes contact with the

ground is strong enough to propel his body off the ground not only

faster, but also further.

Keep in mind this is relative strength, not absolute strength and it also

has to be accompanied with the proper mobility. If strength was the

only component to speed this book wouldn’t exist and powerlifters

would be the best athletes in the world. But we all know that’s not true.

Moving on to the second key component to stride length

development, mobility.


When it comes to mobility, hockey players are almost always tight in

the hips, calves, Achilles tendon and vastus lateralis.

Ideally, for optimal speed it’s good not to be tight anywhere and to

have a well-functioning body all round. But for speed mechanics, the

big ones to focus on are the hips, lower body in general and the upper

back. More of this will be covered in the section on mobility.

Proper range of motion and strength within those tight areas is crucial

to achieving optimal stride length for the simplest reasons. If you’re not

flexible enough to achieve triple extension at the hip, knee and ankle

during motion then your stride length is limited to only the available

range of motion that you have.

Additionally, if you’re not flexible and mobile you will not only be

hurting your stride length but you will also be affecting your skating

mechanics and skating technique which also has deleterious effects

on your speed potential. To skate with optimal speed and energy

efficiency you need lower body mobility.


Why Hockey Player’s Need to

Train the Core

The core plays a major factor in all areas of hockey performance, not

just speed development. But to stick to the theme of the book we will

discuss the many areas in which the core plays a huge role in your

speed on the ice.

First and foremost it is your core that is the transmitter of the power you

are outputting. All power begins from the ground, travels up through

the kinetic chain across the hips and shoulders and is expressed

through the extremities.

But, it is your core that optimally transfers this power from the lower

body to be expressed through the upper body in any compound

motion whether it be exploding from your position to skate for a loose

puck, take a slap shot or body check an opponent. Core mobility and

strength play a role in all of those.

The core creates stability and tension throughout the torso to stabilize

you when somebody is trying to knock you off the puck (core strength

drastically improves an athlete’s ability to absorb forces), and also to

protect your spine when you get knocked on your ass.

The optimal function of your core is dependent on a few things:

1. Structural balance

2. Mobility

3. Complete development


STRUCTURAL BALANCE: From a structural balance standpoint, hockey

is what is known as a unilateral sport. Meaning, one half of your body

is worked more throughout the game than the other half. Hockey

players whether right handed or left handed continuously play on that

side and over the years develop the muscles responsible for making

them strong on that side while simultaneously neglecting the other

side.

The core plays a big role in all rotational movements which come up

every shift in hockey so when you’re always rotating to one side (think

of trunk/core rotation during a slap shot) you are at the same time

creating a strength imbalance within the core of your body.

This scenario is quite unfortunate as we learned the core expresses

power through all movement so when you create a structural

imbalance in the core you also just created a host of other issues.

Skating, stopping, shooting, checking, saving; your core is involved in

all of it. If you want to skate faster on the ice you need to correct your

imbalances in your core.

Where hockey players tend to have imbalances is in the lower

abdominals and obliques. The lower abdominals issue is normally due

to improper training technique or training program design in

combination with their bent over stature during games, practices and

everyday life.

The oblique imbalance comes from the unilateral aspect of the sport,

obliques are heavily recruited for rotation of the body and every time

you shoot you are always rotating the same way.


MOBILITY: Which brings me to the next area for optimal core function,

mobility. For the core to function optimally your other muscles and

movements also have to be functioning optimally. Yes it’s true that the

core transmits power from the ground up and expresses that power

effectively through the extremities in the movement you are doing.

But that core function can be limited before it even begins if you do

not have mobility and stability in the lower body, hips and upper back.

If you do not have proper stability and mobility in these areas of your

body you are not able to perform the correct techniques to create

optimal power and speed in the first place.

Additionally, if you have tightness’s in these areas of your body you

will be limiting the range of motion during movement, and when you

limit that range of motion you also limit your core’s maximum ability to

recruit muscle fibers and recruit all that power you are creating and

transmit it elsewhere.

To put it short and simple, the mobility of the lower body, hips and

upper back will determine if the forces you create are transferred and

accumulated, or, dissipated and inefficiently displayed.

COMPLETE DEVELOPMENT: Last but not least in optimal core function

restrictions is ensuring you have complete development. This means

both anterior (front) and posterior (back) development.

Yes I’m talking to you guys who hold 6 pack abs above all else!

There is nothing wrong with anterior development at all, I’ll never say

that. But, the posterior chain must also be present. If you have a weak

lower back, or a weak dead lift, and six pack abs you’re not doing


any favours for yourself in any sport. You would be completely missing

the point of what drives strength and performance.

You need to have both.

The core doesn’t have to be directly hit all the time. It receives massive

stimulation and strength gain simply from big movements such as

dead lifts, squats, front squats, chin ups, pull ups, rows and overhead

presses. Do these all properly and keep them in your rotation, they

play big dividends in the core department.

Think about it, what requires greater core/spinal/pelvic stability.

Deadlifting 500lbs while maintaining a straight back from the floor or

doing a crunch on a bench? Exactly.

But from a more isolated perspective, I find these exercises to work

exceptionally well with correcting hockey player’s trunk imbalances;

Sled drag with rope around only one shoulder (alternate each drag),

barbell Russian twists, hanging leg raises, ab wheel rollouts, planks,

and barbell ab complex’s.


Mobility

Mobility is something that has come up time and time again in my

videos, blogs and even throughout other topics in this book. It’s

probably driven into you now that mobility is huge for overall athletic

development.

Just think about your class you grew up with. The most unathletic guys

were also the guys whose movement mechanics looked ridiculous.

Zero flexibility and mobility leads to improper movement patterns and

decreased speed + power output.

I can’t think of anybody in my life I trained or even grew up with that

was even close to their athletic potential while still being tight. It

doesn’t happen. Sure you can be strong while being tight, and a

decent athlete perhaps. But in no way are you going to be reaching

your potential if you’re tight.

When you’re tight, you can’t move properly. When you can’t move

properly, that is the first domino that knocks over many dominos from

a performance perspective. It doesn’t just limit your range of

motion. Being tight limits your agility, starting speed, acceleration, top

speed, puck handling ability, high velocity direction change,

stretch/reflex potential and power potential – All major factors that

need to be working in sync in order to have you perform at your best

on the ice.


Here are the two biggest reasons why I always hammer home the

concept of tightness:

1. It goes highly unrecognized in training circles as a performance

potentiator

2. All hockey players are tight!

Far too often coaches will say to their hockey athletes “Just go do

some stretches before or after the game” or “Do some stretches after

your workouts”. Without giving any of their players any real advice to

go from there.

What stretches should you be doing?

Where are hockey players tight?

Should I be doing static or dynamic stretches?

How often should I do it?

These things have to be addressed and if they’re not odds are nothing

is going to improve or happen. Also coaches aren’t the only one to

blame, often times athletes write it off as well saying things such as

“Stretching is boring” or “I’m just inflexible”.

Targeting and improving tightness is a way to improve performance

without even changing anything else. You could be training the same,

eating the same, whatever your routine is. If you corrected your

tightness, even though you’re essentially still the same guy, you will

perform better on the ice just because you will be able to move

better.


Why would anybody not do this is a better question.

Mobility with hockey players is highly universal. The movement

mechanics of the game are quite similar regardless of the position

(except for goalies) which creates the same type of issues.

I feel 100% confident that the advice given in this book is going to help

every single hockey player become more mobile because they all

present similar issues. Sometimes certain aspects of training or nutrition

can be highly individual, but when it comes to tightness in hockey

players you can be sure that the hips, Achilles tendon/calves, vastus

lateralis, hamstrings (biceps femoris) and shoulders are all a little, or,

super tight.

Let’s break them each down one by one and discuss some potential

options.

HIPS

If you look at a hockey player he is bent over at the waist for pretty

much the entire game. During a face-off, when taking a shot, when

skating and even sitting on the bench. Then most people go home

and either sit at the table, sit on the couch or sit at the computer. All

continuously creating a bent over position at the waist in relation to

the legs.

This shortens and tightens the hip flexors which can lead to a whole

host of postural issues including pain in the hips during movement or

weight training, tightness in the hips, rounded shoulders, shoulder


impingements, low back lordosis and a forward lean in the neck.

Anybody who knows posture knows a healthy posture increases both

your power output and reduces your susceptibility to injury. Posture is

very important.

These are issues that have to be addressed as soon as the offseason

training begins because during the season it is tough to get the

necessary work done. With travelling, scheduling and injuries the gym

more often than not takes the back seat. You can perform basic

stretches at home which is a hell of a lot better than nothing, but still

isn’t optimal when compared to a complete training system.

Remember, proper resistance training can and should be increasing

your flexibility as well. The whole idea that lifting weights is going to

tighten you up overtime is only true if you train that way. If you properly

train like an athlete, it is going to actually play in your favour for

mobility, among many other things.

In addition to the above, chronic bending over at the waist causes

the pelvis to rotate forward, creating that low back lordosis (this will

show itself a lot if you perform a barbell overhead squat) but can also

affect the core muscles ability to fire properly.

Core strength is critical in transferring the power from your lower body

to the upper body. All power originates from the ground up and if your

core is not up to par your ability to produce power takes a negative

hit. This negative hit can come in the form of poor posture and tight

hips.


Resistance training exercises to alleviate hip tightness:

Front foot elevated Bulgarian split squats

Bulgarian split squats

Split squats

Front foot elevated split squat

Lunge variations

Unilateral reverse hyperextension

Single leg / both leg hip thrust variations

Box jumps

Cossack squats

Dynamic flexibility exercises to alleviate hip tightness:

A-skips

Running A’s

Leg swings lateral

Leg swings anterior/posterior

Donkey kicks

Hydrant circles

Hip circles

Iso-hold split squats

Elevated rear leg iso-hold split squats

Single leg hip thrusts

Iso-hold single leg hip thrusts

Cossack squats (body weight)

Groin frog stretch bounces

Cat camels


Static flexibility exercises to alleviate hip tightness:

Groin frog stretch

Hip flexor stretch

Seated piriformis stretch

Seated glute stretch

Self-Myofascial release techniques to alleviate hip tightness:

Lacrosse ball on glutes

Foam roller on glutes

Lacrosse ball on anterior hip muscles

ACHILLES TENDON + CALVES

The common tightness in hockey players within the Achilles tendon

and the calves has mostly to do with skating mechanics vs running

mechanics over the course of a competitive season.

When running you have a much greater ability to fully extend the foot

(pointing the toe downwards) in a straight on movement. Whereas in

hockey on the ice the foot is sideways when taking strides and there

is much less overall extension at the ankle, but still a ton of tension is

being created through muscle contraction which can create

tightness overtime. Just like always being bent over at the hips, the

foot is always in that right angle position as well.

This is one of the many reasons I believe it’s so important for hockey

players to run in the offseason. Running has direct crossover to speed

on the ice when performed properly and also helps to both alleviate

tightness and drive structural balance in the quadriceps.


Structured running systems to achieve both your speed development

and conditioning for the upcoming season is ideal during the summer

for hockey players, more on this program design later.

With the Achilles tendon and calve tightness, it is an issue that seems

to correct itself a little faster than the hips and is also much easier for

the athletes to see and understand in their minds. Correcting this issue

is more or less just stretching out that area, whereas the hips have

many deep, relatively unknown muscles that are very important

although require most athletes to have an anatomy book nearby to

fully grasp which muscles we are hitting/stretching.

Once this tightness is alleviated both your skating and running

mechanics will improve and so will your stride length. Once these are

improved you have a greater potential in trainability in these areas

which is going to have direct impacts on your speed and agility.

Resistance training exercises to help alleviate calve + Achilles tendon

tightness:

Any form of calf exercise with a 2-4 second pause in the stretched

position at the bottom of the movement.

Allowing your knee to pass your toes during unilateral leg work.

Examples: split squats and lunge variations. Yes it is ok for the

knee to pass the toe during these movements. But you must

have good, controlled technique and your knee is only allowed

to pass your toe if your front leg’s heel is still on the ground. If that

heel creeps up, you need more mobility before you’re allowed

to do this.

Cossack squats


Dynamic flexibility exercises to help alleviate calve + Achilles tendon

tightness:

A-skips

Running A’s

B-skips

Running B’s

Jump variations

Ankle circles

Knee circles

Cossack squats (body weight)

Static flexibility exercises to help alleviate calve + Achilles tendon

tightness:

Calve/Achilles stair stretch

Lean forward stretch

Lean forward stretch with object under the distal part of the foot

Self-Myofascial release techniques to alleviate calve/Achilles tendon

tightness:

Lacrosse ball on calf

Foam roller on calf


HAMSTRINGS + QUADRICEPS

The biceps femoris muscle of the hamstring in combination with the

vastus lateralis muscle in the quadriceps both get tightened for the

same reasons, they are prime movers in the force generated during

skating.

Starting to see the pattern?

Hockey players are always overusing one aspect of their body and

always under using another aspect. This leads to structural imbalances

and tightness’s like no other.

Here’s why I have a big problem with a lot of “sport specific”

movements like weighted stick handling, fixed lateral resistance to

mimic skating, artificial ice treadmills, among many other exercises

that try to mimic the sport as much as possible. It’s making the problem

worse!

Overusing all of these muscles we are discussing during practice and

games during the season and then going right into the offseason to

overuse and tighten them up some more is not only a recipe for injury

but also a recipe for lack luster results.

If you strengthen a muscle, it will be able to express that strength in all

planes of motion. Meaning, you don’t need to have a

resisted/weighted stick to strengthen your puck handling ability. If you

strengthen your rotator cuffs + upper body development through

proper strength training, that puck handling ability is going to be

enhanced.


Big lesson here! Do not overuse movement patterns or muscle groups

year round, you’re asking for problems.

Now back to the hamstring and quadriceps tightness.

Hamstrings control foot orientation and one of the biceps femoris’s

main jobs is to point the foot outwards, which is the position hockey

players feet are in whenever they are skating. The vastus lateralis is

that big muscle on the outside of your quad, it’s his job to apply force

down on the ice to propel you forward.

Both of these muscles get overused during hockey which leads to

them both becoming tight as a rock. Just take a look at your legs. If

you’re a hockey player, odds are the outside of your thigh is far more

developed than the inside of your thigh. That outside of your thigh is

also probably rock hard to the touch if you haven’t addressed

tightness directly in the past either.

Most hockey players when it comes time for the offseason have

biceps femoris and vastus lateralis muscles that resemble steel rods.

Way too tight in order to function properly and is something that we

have to address immediately in order to improve speed over the

offseason.

An important thing to note is that the vastus lateralis connects to the

knee and when it tightens up bad it is also more susceptible to bring

the knee out of place. Think about it like this, the vastus lateralis is so

tight it is pulling the knee out diagonally towards it. This can cause not

just acute injury but long term injury.


Resistance training exercises to help alleviate hamstring tightness:



Split squats


Lunge variations

Romanian dead lifts

Cossack squats

Good mornings

Resistance training exercises to help alleviate quadriceps tightness:



Split squats


Lunge variations

Dynamic flexibility exercises to help alleviate hamstring tightness:

A-Skips

Running A’s

B-skips

Running B’s

Bounds

Straight leg bounds

Body weight lunge variations

Groin frog stretch bounces


Dynamic flexibility exercises to help alleviate quadriceps tightness:

A-Skips

Running A’s

B-skips

Running B’s

Body weight lunges variations

Static flexibility exercises to help alleviate hamstring tightness:

PNF stretching

Single/double leg toe reach (standing or seated)

Step up stretch

Iso-hold split squat variations

Static flexibility exercises to help alleviate quadriceps tightness:

Standing or lying quad stretch

Iso-hold split squat variations

Self-Myofascial release exercises to alleviate hamstring tightness:

Foam roller on hamstring

Lacrosse ball on hamstring

Self-Myofascial release techniques to alleviate quadriceps tightness:

Foam roller on quadriceps

Foam roller on IT band

Lacrosse ball on IT band


SHOULDERS

Last but not least the infamous rounded shoulder posture. When

you’re standing in a relaxed position, your shoulders shouldn’t be

pulled forward. This is a good indication you are either far too tight, or

have overdone chest work in relation to upper back work.

To be quite honest, younger guys are the worst offenders for this. It’s

not their fault, it’s usually just a case of not having professional

guidance in the early stages of their weightlifting programming.

What do they do?

Bench press plus maybe some arm and ab work mainly for the first

couple years of lifting, just because that’s all they know at the time.

Put in reality back exercises should outweigh chest exercises with a 2:1

ratio until this is corrected. And not just back exercises in general, but

back exercises that focus on the upper back and scapula retraction.

Doing this will not only improve their structural balance, injury

prevention and posture. But will also help with that bench press power

that they are after. Let’s face it, all guys ask “How much you bench?”

but very few know how large of a role the back plays in bench press

development.

In a relaxed, standing position your shoulders should be at your side.

Not in front of you. Also, in a relaxed position they should be

symmetrical in height. One should not be higher or lower than the

other. This type of tightness usually results in a forward head lean as

well.


Addressing shoulder tightness with hockey players is extremely

important for puck handling ability, shot power and shot accuracy.

The internal and external rotator muscles work together to create a lot

of this motion and hockey players normally have a bigger issue with

their external rotators and specifically their scapula retractors.

Additionally, our nervous systems are structured in a manner where

the faster your arms are pumping, the faster your legs will be pumping

as well. Your mobility in your upper back plays a large role in the

stretch/reflex potential for your upper body to contribute to your top

speed.

Resistance training exercises to help alleviate tightness in the

shoulders:

DB power cleans

Barbell Cuban press

L-lateral raises with external rotation

Face pulls

Elbow on knee, DB external rotations

Dynamic flexibility exercises to help alleviate tightness in the shoulders:

Arm circles (large)

Arm circles (small)

Over / under arm twists

Scapula floor slides

Two arm band shoulder stretch (from waist to glutes with straight

arms)


Static flexibility exercises to help alleviate tightness in the shoulders:

Lying, manual internal rotator cuff stretch

Posterior shoulder stretch

Anterior shoulder stretch

Self-Myofascial release techniques to help alleviate tightness in the

shoulders:

Lacrosse ball in the deep part of the shoulder

Foam roller on upper back

Now that we have gone over all of the main tightness areas that

effect hockey players and their performance it’s important to note a

few things.

1. Tightness in anywhere on the body can effect completely

different muscles separate from the origin of the problem. For

example, ankle flexibility effects the cores ability to properly fire

and transmit maximal amount of power. Many people only think

locally when it comes to injuries / tightness but other areas of the

body always pay for it. If you can’t reach triple extension at the

knee, ankle and hip during a stride due to immobility in the ankle,

the core’s power potential will suffer.

2. Manual therapy is always a solid option. By manual therapy I

mean professionals who perform either Active Release Therapy

(ART), Fascial Stretch Therapy (FST), Acupuncture, Trigenics or

Massage Therapy. Having somebody work on you is always ideal

and will always be my #1 recommendation. If you have access

to this in your community, do it.


3. Static, dynamic and strength training all done properly can

alleviate much of the tightness symptoms and in some people

will alleviate all symptoms. But, the most powerful combination is

those three in combination with either self-myofascial work or

professional therapy. Don’t shrug it off like it’s nothing, it will

noticeably help your speed.

4. To play to your absolute best potential and become the fastest

hockey player you can be, tightness’s have to be addressed. No

way around it.


Conditioning for Speed

Like I stated in the beginning of the book, although conditioning

training plays a big role in speed you’re starting to see now how speed

is a very different component than just conditioning. This is why the

average coach’s recommendations of just:

“Go run outside”

Or

“Do some laps around the ice”

Does next to nothing for speed, or even conditioning for that matter.

Hockey being a sport that requires a mixed demand of specific

energy system conditioning, the process in proper training program

design for hockey conditioning can be very tricky and requires a lot

of back work to determine at the cellular level what is really going on.

From an energy system conditioning perspective, hockey is an

alactic-aerobic sport. Meaning, it demands short bouts of high

intensity power output interspersed by low intensity aerobic work. So

to properly condition yourself for the game and to have maximal

speed, you need anaerobic conditioning but you also need that base

aerobic capacity.

Sure the game of hockey is 80% anaerobic so training has to

maximally replicate those energy system demands, but at the same

time if you are walking around with absolutely zero aerobic capacity


you’re not going to be able to oxygenate your tissues very well or

recover at the same rate in between shifts.

The good news is hockey only requires a fairly decent aerobic

capacity base and then once that base has been built, it is much

easier to maintain. Those who know their sport performance

physiology well know that residual adaptations from aerobic

development last up to 30 days. So once a hockey player has built up

a base aerobic capacity, he only needs to revisit it every so often to

maintain that.

This is good news because let’s face it, no athlete likes to go for long

jogs outside or spend an hour on the treadmill after training. Especially

right when the season has just finished. Too much pounding and wear

n’ tear on the joints, and if we’re being honest it gets boring pretty

quick. Especially when you consider the fact that it doesn’t have

much carryover into the game of hockey.

Remember, conditioning has a different definition to every athlete. A

marathon runner does not have the anaerobic conditioning to hang

with the 100m sprinters and perform repeated bouts of maximal

sprinting and maintain high performance.

Likewise, the 100m sprinters do not have the aerobic conditioning

required to run a marathon at the rate a marathon runner would be

able to. Apples and oranges. Athletic conditioning is completely

dependent on the sport you play. No athletes conditioning system

should look the same across different sports. This is why there are

different gold medalists in the 100m, 200m and 400m sports, different

energy system conditioning requirements.


For more information on the anaerobic aspect in excruciating detail,

check out my blogs on conditioning. And for even more information

on the topic plus the actual application of the training, check out Next

Level Conditioning (or) Next Level Performance at

www.HockeyTraining.com/programs/.

Here in Next Level Speed, the sprint variations in the workout

templates I provide do train anaerobic alactic conditioning levels,

which will crossover into hockey, and I’m also going to breakdown

and provide workout templates to properly achieve your aerobic

capacity base.

But, if you want to maximize overall conditioning and not solely speed

development, it is best to incorporate both systems. Remember

conditioning is a huge part of the game. It doesn’t matter how fast

you are or how strong you are if you have an empty gas tank.

The game of hockey is played within inches and seconds. Very often

you see examples of guys scoring a goal with only a few seconds left

in the game, or being just 1 step ahead of the defensemen to get a

shot in, or being that much more fresh then your opponent that even

though he passed you with the puck you were able to catch him

before he got to the net.

These are all examples of the relationship both speed and

conditioning have together. It’s great to have one, but it’s

phenomenal to have both.

http://www.hockeytraining.com/programs/


Application of Aerobic

Capacity Work

When approaching aerobic work in the offseason to bring your

aerobic capacity up to speed it’s important to both not overdo it and

to schedule your training sessions at the right time. Both of these

reasons have crossover into the same result, intra-cellular signalling.

When you perform resistance training you are creating an anabolic

stimulus throughout the body which puts the body in a state of

anabolism, muscle growth and strength adaptations. Although many

factors that go outside the scope of this book play into the effect and

duration of this anabolic stimulus, what we need to be concerned

with in respect to the offseason development’s relationship to speed

in mTOR and AMPk.

That resistance training session stimulates anabolic intra-cellular

signalling machinery through a pathway called the mTOR pathway.

mTOR helps drive muscle growth and neurological/nervous system

adaptations. But resistance trainings counterpart; aerobic work, will

stimulate a separate signalling pathway known as AMPk.

AMPk serves as a stimulus for the positive adaptation from aerobic

work such as increase ability to oxygenate tissues, faster recovery,

increased intramuscular mitochondrial density, cardiac adaptations,

blood volume, etc.

The problem here is that AMPk shuts down mTOR. So if you perform a

super intense weight training session and then do a little too much


aerobic work afterwards you will be telling your body to potentiate

the AMPk pathway instead of the mTOR pathway.

The result?

Sub-optimal recovery from strength training + sub-optimal strength

and muscle gain adaptation from the training session. Doesn’t sound

like a very good trade off to me?

How we can avoid this issue is to properly adhere to the beginning

guideline:

Don’t overdo it and schedule your training sessions at the right time.

In the best case scenario if you had to train both aspects at the same

time, aerobic/speed work would come immediately before the

resistance training session.

Why?

Because doing this allows you to both improve your endurance work

but also not affect the mTOR pathway post-workout. Remember, in

the hierarchy of priorities for offseason training, resistance training

comes first. We want to maximize that as best as possible as that is

going to have the largest impact on your game.

But in a perfect world, you wouldn’t train both at the same time. You

would either separate the workouts 8hrs apart, or, train them on their

own days. This is how you can maximize the most you can out of both

worlds while allowing your body to better accumulate to the positive

adaptations from both mTOR and AMPk.


The goal for hockey players in the offseason with their aerobic work is

to not exceed their anaerobic threshold. Once an increase in blood

acidity has been reached to the point where you are producing more

lactate than you are excreting, this is what is known as your anaerobic

threshold. This is the point where you are feeling that real burn in your

legs during a workout.

We aim to avoid this in our offseason aerobic work due to the fact

that when you are training with one goal in mind, that should be the

focus of your workout and when other factors come into play there is

always intracellular signalling that can throw you off course.

For example, if you’re training aerobically and you consistently reach

and/or go past your anaerobic threshold you are decreasing the

body’s ability to positively adapt to aerobic conditioning. Meaning,

you won’t make any aerobic progress and this is the whole point of

this workout.

Levels too high in blood acidity during aerobic training reduces

activity of organelles and enzymes connected with aerobic

metabolism. Not only is it counterproductive but it would also slow

down recovery.

The big lesson here guys is go easy. Don’t be tempted to go all out,

you would be completely missing the point. In some cases going all

out is a good thing but here, it’s not. After the offseason aerobic

sessions that I’m going to provide you, you should feel energized, not

tired.

How hockey players should be approaching their offseason aerobic

capacity based training sessions are what is known as tempo runs.


Tempo Runs

Tempo runs are the elite athletes version of aerobic training and what

it essentially is, is interval training but done at a controlled aerobic

output. They serve as a great aerobic capacity development tool, as

well as helping speed recovery by creating a flushing of the muscles

with new blood and nutrients.

While tempo runs are great to support aerobic development, fat burn

and speed recovery they must also be done in a controlled manner

within certain parameters to ensure the correct energy systems are

being used.

How it works is you perform intervals of 60-75% of your maximal exertion

speed. If you have low fitness levels or are brand new to this, stick to

the lower end of the percentages to begin with and work from there.

Performing it in this manner allows you to tap in to your aerobic

capacity energy system development while still allowing full recovery

in between runs so that you do not reach a level of lactate threshold.

Here’s how an example works:

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

Stop watch

A known distance

Heart rate monitor: Not necessary, but helps.


RUNNER A

Maximum sprint speed for 100m: 13secs

75% of maximum sprint speed = 13 / 0.75 = Roughly 17secs

Runner A would run at a pace to hit 100m in 17secs each tempo

run he performed.

Rest 45-75seconds in between runs, if not fully rested, rest a little

more.

If you feel the onset of lactic acid building up, slow down, that’s not

the goal here.

Runner A would perform 2 sets of 5, 60yd runs as a standard tempo

run workout resting 45-75secs in between runs and 3-5mins in

between sets.

HERE’S WHAT A WORKOUT LOOKS LIKE ON PAPER

Performing 2x5 60yd runs

60yd run at 75%

Rest 45-75s

60yd run at 75%

Rest 45-75s

60yd run at 75%

Rest 45-75s

60yd run at 75%

Rest 45-75s

60yd run at 75%


REST 3-5mins between sets

60yd run at 75%

Rest 45-75s

60yd run at 75%

Rest 45-75s

60yd run at 75%

Rest 45-75s

60yd run at 75%

Rest 45-75s

60yd run at 75%

FINISHED THE WORKOUT


HERE’S WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE OVER A PHASE OF

NEXT LEVEL PERFORMANCE:

WEEK 1: 2x5 60yds

WEEK 2: 2x6 60yds

WEEK 3: 2x7 60yds

WEEK 4: 2x8 60yds

WEEK 5: 2x5 60yds

Note the reduction in load over the course of week 5.

It is very important to incorporate a recovery week every 4-6 weeks

depending on how you are feeling. It is during this recovery week that

you are going to be making the gains you earned in the gym and on

the field during the past 4 weeks.

In Next Level Performance, the training is demanding enough where I

incorporate a mandatory deload week every 5th week which is why

you see it that way here.

But if you are a purchaser of Hockey Speed in isolation of the other

programs, it is important for you to know that to receive the beneficial

adaptations from the Hockey Speed program (or any program for

that matter) that you incorporate a week of lower volume training

every 4-6 weeks to catch up with your recovery.

The above 5 week periodization still can be used with virtually any

training system, it doesn’t have to be run with Next Level Performance

if you are already on a different system.


To conclude the conditioning chapter of Hockey Speed it is important

to drive home the point that you require both a base aerobic

capacity + a very well-developed anaerobic conditioning base. You

cannot be fast if you do not have any energy left in the tank or if you

can’t recovery properly in between shifts in a game.

Hockey is a mixed sport which requires a mixed energy system

demand and to be the fastest player possible you are going to need

that aerobic base, and then a whole lot of anaerobic conditioning.

But also keep in mind you must follow all the principles in the book to

develop true speed.

If conditioning was the only factor in speed then a lot more people

would be fast. But there are plenty of people out there with great gas

tanks yet not a whole lot of explosive speed, which is because they

are their own respective qualities and need to be trained as such.


Agility

Agility is the combination of a lot of things at work which really

represent what is known as agility. You can be both physically and

mentally agile and how they play in with each other is how much

agility potential that athlete has.

You may have physical agility that will represent itself through high

velocity direction change, deceleration and swift movement.

Whereas mental agility represents your potential to follow two things

at once. For example, your ability to follow two conversations at the

same time. Or in a hockey context, your ability to accurately read the

ice. Where the players are, what play the coach wants you to run,

what’s happening on the ice that is either positively or negatively

effecting that play, etc. The amount of external stimuli involved in

hockey is very high and your ability to take in and absorb that

information is a product of your mental agility.

Your ability to mentally read the game plays as big of a role in your

agility as your physical agility capability. One man may be less agile

than another from a purely physical standpoint and yet appear more

agile on the ice due to his ability to be one step ahead of everyone

else because he can better read what’s going on and judge the other

players activity.

I wanted to make that very clear because my job as a strength and

conditioning coach is to make you better. Not to have you do

workouts that are fun, and not to bullshit you when it comes to the real

facts.


And the real fact is the #1 way a hockey player can improve his agility

is to actually just play the game more. Yes agility is trainable in the

gym, and we’ll get there. But the #1 way you are going to improve

your agility on the ice is by getting more comfortable under pressure

and the only way to get more comfortable under pressure is to play

the game.

Hockey is a wild sport. Everything can change in a few seconds

because all aspects of the game are completely random. At no point

is everything in complete control by any one person or team in

general.

Improving agility in chaotic sports requires playing the game and

becoming more comfortable and confident. When you are both

comfortable and confident, your ability to read the ice will heighten

your agility like no other agility drill can give you. It’s the guys who get

the puck and panic who have no agility because they will either fire

the puck down the ice or freeze up making sure no one is about to

check them before they make any moves. It is in those seconds where

agility is most beneficial and where it will get you ahead of the game.

Now, getting to the trainability of agility and what works vs. what

doesn’t. Again, I’m here to give you the real facts on speed and a

couple things that will absolutely do nothing for your agility are BOSU

ball exercises and ladder drills. These are often passed off as

“functional” exercises.

The criteria in which would deem a movement “functional” would be

to utilize the same muscle groups, have the same range of motion,

incorporate the same intensity of muscle contraction, last the same


duration of time and would have to be executed in the same plane

of motion as the sport specific movement.

What does this mean for us?

The only true functional training you could ever possibly do is play the

actual sport itself. “Functional” sport training does not exist.

There is nothing more time wasting you could be doing than holding

a weighted hockey stick and stick handling. Or balancing on a BOSU

ball and stick handling.

I promise you this will have zero crossover into the game of hockey.

Holding a weighted stick creates unnatural movement patterns that

you would never be using during a game. Additionally, if you wanted

to strengthen the rotator cuffs and forearms why wouldn’t you use

better exercises to get the job done?

Strength will express itself where you create it.

An example of this would be saying that squats won’t help your

running or jumping power because it’s not sport specific, it’s not the

actual movement – this doesn’t make any sense when you view it like

that. Squats have a massive carryover to both of those athletic

movements.

Another example would be saying chin ups and lat pulldowns won’t

help your slap shot because you aren’t doing a slap shot movement

pattern when you are doing those exercises. This is incorrect, the slap

shot is highly correlated to lat strength and strengthening the lat will


express itself in any movement pattern it’s involved in, not just lat

pulldowns.

To address the BOSU ball, at no point on the ice are you on an

unstable surface so why is this deemed functional? Because you are

wobbling? How is that functional?

When you are on an unstable surface you sacrifice two MAJOR

components to speed development:

#1: Since you are unstable, you have to slow down your movements.

Slow eccentric and slow concentric movements = slow athletes. To

properly train the muscle fiber recruitment utilized in fast explosive

movement you have to train fast and explosive. Specific Adaptation

to Imposed Demand (the SAID principal) has been around forever

and people seem to forget this. Training slowly = moving slowly on the

ice. You are training the wrong recruitment patterns.

#2: You drastically decrease the load you are able to use. One of the

biggest factors to speed, conditioning, agility and overall hockey

performance is strength. If you sacrifice strength you sacrifice so many

faucets of your game.

Who do you think is going to be the faster man who is harder to knock

off the puck?

The man who can slowly but surely squat 185lbs on a wobble board

Or

The man who explosively squats 400lbs on stable ground?


10 times out of 10 the man squatting 400lbs on the ground is going to

be faster, harder to knock off the puck and have a hell of a lot more

power to express on the ice.

Now take the whole methodology of “unstable” surface training and

its supposed ability on improving balance. First of all, if you are off

balance on the ice you probably have more problems you should be

addressing.

Second, balance is entirely about strength. Unless you are falling over

and wobbling on the ice like a baby giraffe for no reason at all then

the only thing that is going to knock you off balance is another player

trying to either body check you or knock you off the puck.

What prevents that?

Strength!

The stronger man is harder to knock off the puck. Every time.

So when it comes to functional training, my definition is far different

then some of these other coaches out there.

Functional training to me means observing the biomechanical,

physiological and bioenergetic demands of the sport and

segmentally working backwards in determining kinetic segments,

muscle actions, intensities and energy systems required for each

athletes position.


That is TRUE functional training and this approach can provide real

answers and programming direction for more functional adaptations.

Functional training is done through proper analysis of the game and

properly structuring and periodizing a training schedule to be followed

either during the off-season or in-season.

So when I view agility training I’m looking at the true factors that go in

to agility training which are:

Tightness: If you’re tight you can’t move well and if you can’t

move well it will directly affect your agility. If you have a tight

lower body and hips both your stop/start speed and ability to

change directions will be negatively affected.

Strength: To put agility as simply as it can be put, agility is your

ability to go from an eccentric contraction to a concentric

contraction. Meaning, agility is entirely about your body’s

capability of absorbing and re-directing forces. These

contractions represent your ability to quickly change direction,

decelerate from top speed, and explode quickly into a different

direction. These are all completely governed by your current

level of total body relative strength.

Core strength: The core specifically is what is allowing your total

body relative strength to maximally express itself in multi-planar

movement. Additionally, the core is what is going to allow you

to maintain balanced and stable throughout these aggressive

motions.


Confidence: Your ability to remain calm and confident on the

ice plays a stronger role than any physical training session could

towards your agility. For example, if you make it to the semi-pro

league next year and you’re on a different team, you’re

travelling more and you’re a little intimidated by the next level

of competition; that first year could be a tough year for you. Then

you come back again next year. You are used to your team

mates, the travelling and have an idea on what the next level of

competition is like. You may have not changed anything from a

physical perspective from one year to the next and yet on the

ice everybody would see you as more “explosive” and “agile”

simply due to the fact that you are now more comfortable and

confident out there.

Structural balance: Structural balance plays a large role in both

speed and agility because if you are walking around

imbalanced you will never be moving with the proper

mechanics. I have wrote extensively on this in the past on my

blog and I highly recommend you check it out because if you’re

not balancing your physique through your resistance training,

you’re playing hockey with one arm tied behind your back.

Conditioning: What may appear as a high level of agility may

just be a high level of conditioning. If it’s late in overtime and all

the other players are slowing down due to fatigue and yet you

still have a full gas tank you are going to appear the much more

agile player.


Some of you guys may have opened this chapter and hoped for a

bunch of crazy, cool looking exercises to boost agility but in reality

those just don’t exist and I don’t want you to waste any of your time.

You want to invest your time in the gym, not spend it.

Here are some exercises that will benefit your agility on the ice:

Barbell squat variations (Olympic, power, sumo, band, chain)

Split squat variations (Bulgarian, front foot elevated Bulgarian, split

squat)

Dead lift variations (Conventional, sumo, snatch grip, chain, band)

Lateral squats

Cossacks squats

Weighted sled pulls (forward, backward, lateral)

Prowler pushes

Medicine ball throws

Jump variations (box jump, broad jump, single leg box jump,

hurdles)

Barbell hip thrusts

Single leg hip thrusts

Sprints

Lateral sprints

Weighted carries (DB farmers walk, BB farmers walk, Dinosaur carry,

one arm farmers walk, Offset farmers walk where one side is

heavier than the other)


Speed Warm-Ups

Warming up for speed training properly is crucial to your

development. Some guys like to rush through the warm up because

they feel it is boring or unnecessary but trust me, if it was unnecessary

or it wasn’t going to improve your performance I wouldn’t be writing

about it.

Proper warm-ups increase body and core temperature which is going

to improve mobility and in turn decrease your risk for injury. We already

learned how important mobility is for speed so if we can increase that

during the warm up that’s already reason enough, but when you’re

doing speed training or sprints the amount of power output and

velocity that is required puts you at a high risk for injury if you are not

properly warmed up.

Once the body has reached top speed the forces coming down on

your body each stride can reach 5-6x your own body weight. That is

a tremendous amount of weight when you think about it especially

when you consider how many sprint steps are taken during a given

workout. Being warmed up to properly absorb these forces is critical

to your long term training life.

Additionally, a proper warm up stimulates the central nervous system

which is going to improve performance earlier within the session. You

know that feeling you get half-way through a workouts and you’re like

“Man I’m really killing this thing I feel great!”


That’s your central nervous system waking up. The object of a proper

warm up is to get that nervous system woken up at the beginning of

the session so your performance is strong right from the beginning and

all the way through.

SAMPLE SPEED WARM UPS

WARM UP #1:

1. Jog for 3-5mins (change your pace here, really try and loosen up)

2. Leg swings forward/backward x 10 per leg

3. Leg swings laterally x 10 per leg

4. Hip circles x 10 each direction

5. Front lunge into reverse lunge with same leg x 5 per leg

6. Scapula floor slides x 10

7. Lying hip thrusts x 10

8. Cossacks squats x 5 per leg

9. A-skips 10yds there and back

10. B-skips 10yds there and back


WARM UP #2:

1. Jog for 3-5mins (change your pace here, really try and loosen up)

2. Jumping jacks x 10

3. Body weight squats x 10

4. Leg swings forward/backward x 10 per leg

5. Leg swings laterally x 10 per leg

6. Hip circles x 10 each direction

7. Arm circles x 10 large circles in each direction

8. Arm circles x 10 small circles in each direction

9. Cossacks squats x 5 per leg

10. A-skips 10yds there and back

11. B-skips 10yds there and back


Speed Training: Putting it

all together

Now the part you have been waiting for! What speed training looks

like and how to work it in your offseason schedule.

When training for speed you must have power. Power is developed

through strength training and speed training. When training for

optimal speed on the ice you are looking to target the anaerobic

alactic system with your training.

Hockey as we know is an alactic-aerobic sport which is why Next Level

Conditioning is highly alactic based. But remember, that’s

conditioning, not speed. What separates Next Level Speed (which

you will find below) from Next Level Conditioning is exercise selection,

program design and periodization are all aimed to enhance starting

speed, acceleration, top speed, agility, aerobic capacity and

anaerobic capacity.

This is done primarily through tempo runs (aerobic capacity) and

hockey specific sprint program design (speed development). You

essentially need both to skate to your speed potential because

hockey is played with several bouts of high intensity anaerobic

movements but during your recovery periods in between those

movements the aerobic system helps to catch up with the oxygen

debt you created.


You know that feeling after a super tough shift where you’re breathing

non-stop on the bench afterwards? That’s your aerobic system trying

to catch up with the oxygen debt you created through explosive

movement.

When we are targeting your anaerobic alactic system during these

training sessions you have to keep in mind the same goal as during

your aerobic sessions, do not let lactate build up. There will be some

without a doubt as you progress through the training sessions but the

goal that should be in your mind at all times is to avoid build up and

you should rest until you are near fully recovered.

When you train with too much lactic acid floating around, burning up

the muscles, you are doing yourself no favour in hockey. I know that

goes against a lot of what you have heard in the past about “feeling

the burn”. But when it comes to hockey, it’s counterproductive.

Training in a lactate state is too low intensity to build speed, and too

high intensity to build aerobic capacity. You’re spinning your tires in

the mud.

Training in this fashion could benefit athletes who spend a ton of time

in a lactate state during their sport but this does not represent hockey

players.

Before we carry on, it’s imperative you allow the body to recover with

a 1 week deload every 4-6 weeks depending on how your training

program is designed. Without adequate recovery the body will not be

able to adapt and enhance speed development


Next Level Speed Off-Season

Periodization Model

WEEKS 1-4: Only resistance training – No speed or tempo work

Deload: 1 week – 2-3 aerobic tempo runs

PHASE l: 4 weeks – 1 speed session per week, 2 aerobic tempo runs per

week – Introductory speed work


PHASE ll: 4 weeks – 2 speed sessions per week, 1 aerobic tempo run

per week – Increasing force production


PHASE lll: 4 weeks – 2 speed sessions per week, 1 aerobic tempo run

per week – Increasing force production


PHASE lV: 4 weeks – 3 speed sessions per week, 1 aerobic tempo run

per week – Maximum force production

Deload: 1 week – No training

Tryouts / Hockey season


NOTES:

Force production is gradually increased throughout the course

of the offseason and peaked prior to tryouts and/or the next

competitive season

Tempo runs are introduced first to introduce the athlete to

proper technique, mechanics and force production created

during running while minimizing injury risk

1 deload week is given once every 5 weeks to recover and

receive the gains you earned in the past 4 weeks

Tempo runs are still performed on deload weeks to upkeep your

aerobic capacity and because they are low enough intensity to

not affect recovery

Zero weight training, aerobic work or speed work is performed 1

week prior to tryouts and/or the competitive season

When performing speed work, ensure it comes either

immediately before your resistance training session, 8hrs away

from your resistance training session, or on its own day entirely

Ideally, speed work wouldn’t be placed immediately before a

lower body day due to the stress sprinting can have on your legs.

But it could be placed before upper body days.


Next Level Speed Incorporated

into Next Level Performance

Periodization Model

WEEKS 1-4: Only resistance training – No speed, tempo, or conditioning

work


PHASE l: 4 weeks – 1 conditioning session per week, 1 speed session

per week, 1 aerobic tempo run per week – Standard conditioning +

introductory speed work


PHASE ll: 4 weeks – 1 conditioning session per week, 1 speed session

per week, 1 aerobic tempo run per week – Increasing conditioning

work capacity + higher force production speed work


PHASE lll: 4 weeks – 1 conditioning session per week, 2 speed sessions

per week, zero aerobic tempo runs – Increasing conditioning work

capacity + higher force production speed work



PHASE lV: 4 weeks – 2 conditioning sessions per week, 2 speed sessions

per week, zero aerobic tempo runs – Maximum conditioning work

capacity + maximum force production speed work

Deload: 1 week – No training

Tryouts / Hockey season

NOTES:

Force production is gradually increased throughout the course

of the offseason and peaked prior to tryouts and/or the next

competitive season

Tempo runs are introduced first to introduce the athlete to

proper technique, mechanics and force production created

during running while minimizing injury risk

1 deload week is given once every 5 weeks to recover and

receive the gains you earned in the past 4 weeks

Tempo runs are still performed on deload weeks to upkeep your

aerobic capacity and because they are low enough intensity to

not affect recovery

Aerobic work is tapered off and maintained through deload

weeks as the resistance training, conditioning and speed work

increase in training volume

Zero weight training, aerobic work or speed work is performed 1

week prior to tryouts and/or the competitive season


When performing speed and conditioning work, ensure it comes

either immediately before your resistance training session, 8hrs

away from your resistance training session, or on its own day

entirely

Ideally, speed work wouldn’t be placed immediately before a

lower body day due to the stress sprinting can have on your legs.

But it could be placed before upper body days.


Next Level Speed Workouts

PHASE 1

1. Warm up

2. Falling start sprints: 8 x 15yds with 45-75secs rest in between sprints

3. Double broad jump: 6 x 2 jumps with 45-75secs rest in between

sets

4. Backward overhead med ball throw x 10 with 45-75secs rest in

between throws

PHASE 2

1. Warm up

2. Mountain climber start sprints (alternate take off leg each sprint):

7 x 20yds with 75-90secs rest in between sprints

3. Box jumps: 6 x 3 jumps with 45-75secs rest in between sets

4. Forward medicine ball scoop toss x 12 with 45-75secs rest in

between throws


PHASE 3

1. Warm up

2. Half kneeling start sprints (alternate take off leg each sprint): 6 x

20yds with 75-90secs rest in between sprints

3. 3-point stance sprint: 4 x 10yds with 75-90secs rest in between

sprints

4. Depth box jumps: 15 x 1 with 45-75secs rest in between sets

5. Jumping medicine ball throw from chest x 15 with 45-75secs rest

in between throws

PHASE 4

1. Warm up

2. Push up start sprints: 6 x 25yds with 90-120secs rest in between

sprints

3. Back pedal sprints: 4 x 10yds with 75-90secs rest in between

sprints

4. Single leg box jumps: 5 x 3 jumps per leg with 45-75secs rest in

between sets

5. Rotational medicine ball scoop toss from waist x 10 per side with

45-75secs rest in between throws


NOTES:

Force production is slowly increased throughout the offseason in

total yards covered during sprints and power production of

exercise selection

If you are following Next Level Conditioning, choose workouts

that do not incorporate the same style of jumps as Next Level

Speed in your current phase. For example, Phase 1 of Next Level

Speed incorporates broad jumps. When choosing your selection

of Next Level Conditioning workouts to perform during this phase,

it would be ideal for you to not choose the workout that

incorporates broad jumps. You don’t want to be performing the

same movement too often and create repetitive stress on your

joints.

Do not perform speed or conditioning workouts on deload

weeks. I can’t stress this enough

There is no “cool down” after these workouts. Although, if you

would like to you can perform static stretching to improve

mobility. When performing static stretches always do them after

training or during the evening sometime at home. Here’s what

your ideal cool down would look like if you want to incorporate

this strategy:

1. Seated piriformis stretch on both legs for 10-15secs

2. Seated glute stretch on both legs for 10-15secs

3. Hip flexor stretch up against the wall for 10-15secs per side

4. Calf / Achilles tendon stretches for 10-15 seconds in each

portion of the stretch

5. Seated butterfly stretch on the groin for 10-15 seconds


Conclusion

The biggest take away here guys is although speed is a product of so

many different factors of training and optimal body function, it is also

highly trainable in its own right. Speed development for hockey

players is no longer in the dark ages; performing long jogs, skating laps

around the ice or trying to mimic movements with “sport specific”

training and having no success.

True speed development comes through proper functional training

which means observing the biomechanical, physiological and

bioenergetic demands of the sport and segmentally working

backwards in determining kinetic segments, muscle actions, intensities

and energy systems required for optimal speed development.

This means being mobile, structurally balanced and training the

correct energy systems to get a desired result. The implementation of

the speed workouts in this eBook is going to have an effect on your

starting speed, acceleration and top speed. Not just conditioning or

strength, but true speed potential that you already have inside you.

Hockey players can and absolutely should be sprinting in the

offseason and performing various other high power output exercises

to maximally develop their sport specific demand. An important thing

to understand is that too many athletes and coaches overuse this

lateral motion trying to mimic the skating movement pattern. This is a

big reason why so many hockey players have knee pain, too much

repetitive motion.


Think about it like this, a computer worker doesn’t get carpel tunnel

syndrome or lots of inflammation in their wrists because typing is such

high intensity task. They get it because of too much repetitive motion.

Same goes for hockey players, if you mimic this motion all the time you

are going to run into knee issues or knee inflammation. Not because

the movement pattern is “bad”, but because you do it so often.

We don’t want to encourage this motion any more than we have to.

Sprinting isn’t lateral and will drive greater structural balance within

the lower body while simultaneously being more effective for speed

development due to its unlimited variety in exercise selection and

energy system targeting.

Sprinting is one of the most explosive, force producing things any

athlete can do and when you can increase an athlete’s force

production you are also increasing his stride length potential which

has a direct carryover to his speed on the ice. This in combination with

the fact that it is not a lateral movement decreases any knee injury

susceptibility as well.

Thank you very much for supporting HockeyTraining.com and

checking out Hockey Speed – The Guide To Skating Faster. Now get

out there and go fast!

If your want a full training program for the off-season make sure you

head over to www.HockeyTraining.com to check out the full list of our

programs.

http://www.hockeytraining.com/


REFERENCES

1. Thomas Baechle, Roger Earle. Essentials of Strength Training and

Conditioning, Third Edition. Chapters 5, 6, 13 and 17. 2008.

2. Mel C. Siff. Supertraining. 1.4, 1.15, 3.2. 2004.

3. Joel Jamieson. Ultimate MMA Conditioning. 2009.

4. Tudor Bompa, Gregory Haff. Periodization: Theory and

Methodology of Training, Fifth Edition. Chapter 12. 2009.

5. Defranco and Smith. SPEED. 2013.

6. Pete Bommarito. Unloaded Speed Development Seminar. 2014.

7. Mike Srock. Brynes High Summer Speed & Strength Training

Seminar. 2014.

8. Chad Smith. The Juggernaut Method 2.0. Conditioning. 2013.

9. Charles Poliquin. Ask the Coach. 2011.

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