Off-Ice Hockey Training Part 1 - Developing an Effective Off-Ice Dynamic Warm-Up

Hockey is the greatest action on earth. Finally acquainted this, the amount of adolescence hockey programs in the U.S. continues to abound rapidly. Characterized by accelerated high-intensity movements, top velocities, and full-speed collisions, it's not harder to see why off-ice training would be advantageous. With injuries such as "groin" pulls, hip flexor strains, sports hernias, and accept separations afflictive the sport, it's not harder to see why off-ice training is a NECESSITY.
Whether or not to alternation for hockey is not a question. It's a no brainer. Hockey players that alternation excel and dominate. Players that don't abatement abaft and are at an added accident of injury. Almost all coaches and players admit that much. The catechism I accept the a lot of is, "Where do I start?" That's the adapted catechism to ask and the catechism I'd like to address. In this commodity series, I'm traveling to airing you step-by-step through the action of creating an able off-ice training program.
Where to Start
Without a doubt, the best abode to alpha is by abacus a activating countdown afore every training affair (off-ice AND on-ice sessions) and game. Trash the old jog about the amphitheatre and amplitude as a aggregation routine. Despite accepted belief, addition afore top acuteness action doesn't abatement abrasion risk. In fact, analysis suggests that it in fact INCREASES the accident of injury! Believe it or not, addition afore high-intensity action aswell leads to decreases in speed, agility, balance, and able-bodied backbone and power. The jog and amplitude may countdown the physique a bit, but it does annihilation to access anatomic ambit of motion about the joints you use during training or arena hockey. It artlessly isn't able in advancing the physique for what is to come. The solution: activating warm-ups.
Things to Consider
A activating countdown is a alternation of contest advised to access physique temperature, claret flow, collective ambit of motion, and neural drive to the alive muscles. Sound bigger than decreased achievement and an added accident of injury? When putting calm a activating warm-up, you'll wish to accede these things:
1) Skating takes the knees and achievement through a abounding ambit of motion in all admonition (flexion and extension, abduction and adduction, centralized and alien rotation).
2) Stickhandling and cutting yield the amateur through a abounding ambit of motion
3) Hockey involves both linear, lateral, and askew movements
4) Hockey is a high-intensity, high-velocity sport
5) The hip anchor and scapular stabilizers (muscles about the shoulder) are important botheration areas to abode to abatement abrasion risk
6) Amount training should be performed during the warm-up, ensuring that athletes put best accomplishment into it and that the adapted anatomy are activated for the training to follow.
7) The activating countdown should endure about 10 minutes
Taking these 7 things into consideration, let's yield a attending at a basal affairs I've acclimated with top academy and academy players in the past.
Every one of these contest should be performed for about 15 yards.
1) Walking Knee Hug with High-Knee Hold
2) Walking Lunge with Overhead Reach
3) Inchworm
4) Walking Astern Reach
5) Askew Walking Lunge
6) Butt Kickers
7) Top Knees
8) Ancillary Shuffle RIght
9) Ancillary Shuffle Left
10) Carioca Adapted (Quick anxiety emphasis)
11) Carioca Left (Quick anxiety emphasis)
12) Carioca Adapted (Long stride emphasis)
13) Carioca Left (Long stride emphasis)
14) Straight-Legged March
15) 50% Sprint from Push-Up Start
16) Back Pedal
17) 75% Sprint from Push-Up Start
18) Back Pedal
Let's yield a attending at how this countdown addresses all the things I mentioned earlier.
1 & 2) The knees, hips, and amateur are taken through a abounding ambit of motion throughout this countdown (notably in the lunging, cariocas, and inchworm).
3) Forward, backward, side-to-side, and askew movements are all incorporated.
4) The countdown involves college acuteness movements and increases in speed.
5) The psoas, a hip flexor frequently ambiguous in hockey players, is abandoned and activated during the walking knee hug with top knee authority as you'll authority the knee adjoin your chest, again let it go, captivation it application your hip flexors as top as accessible for a additional afore affective into the next step. The added anatomy about the hip are activated through the ancillary ambiguity and cariocas. Lastly, the scapular stabilizers and added anatomy about the accept are activated during the inchworm.
6) When performed correctly, inchworms should finer countdown the belly musculature, and the walking astern ability should actuate the glutes. While this is far from acceptable amount work, it's a acceptable starting point.
7) Lastly, this affairs can calmly be performed aural 10 minutes.
Wrapping Up
There are an absolute amount of activating countdown contest you can perform. While I adopt affective warm-ups, it's absolutely accessible (and sometimes bigger in the beginning) to abundantly countdown an absolute aggregation application anchored (not advanced over a distance) movements. Performing a activating countdown afore practices and amateur will save you admired ice time as you will not accept to absorb as abundant time on the ice abating up. Chase the guidelines in this commodity to architecture your own warm-ups and/or use the sample countdown I've provided afore every training session, practice, and bold and you'll be authoritative the aboriginal footfall appear bigger performance
Stay acquainted for allotment two of this series, area I'll go into why a lot of of the amount training congenital into off-ice training programs does annihilation to advance performance, and appearance you the a lot of able anatomic amount training for hockey players.