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Welcome to Functional Hockey news. This monthly newsletter mail
provides updates on what's going on in the hockey world. We'll also alert
you to new features and happenings at functionalhockey.com.

Becoming a Better Player in the Off-Season:

To understand hockey strength and conditioning you have to be aware
of the unique demands placed on an ice hockey player. In order to be
successful in hockey, besides having exceptional skills, players should
participate in a program that will enhance their strength, power, speed
and agility. Ice hockey has a number of unique features. During the
game, players must accelerate and decelerate rapidly in shifts that last
30-45 seconds on average. The game is played in shifts and the player
rests sitting down. In addition, hockey players must endure extremely
high force collisions due to the high speeds attained in skating.

Although many so-called authorities will tell you the energy supply for
hockey may be primarily aerobic, the trained observer may draw a
different conclusion. Forwards generally play in a rest-to-work ratio in
the area of 3:1, while defensemen use a rest-to-work ration of 2:1. Most
sports can be classified somewhere between low intensity and high
intensity activity. Low intensity activities can continue for long periods of
time. However, high intensity activities can proceed only in short spurts
interspersed with regular rest intervals to facilitate recovery. Using these
definitions, hockey places towards the high intensity end of the scale.

The off-season strength program should focus on preparing both the
muscular system and the neuromuscular system. Exercise selection
should include explosive weightlifting movements, multi-joint lower
body exercises, upper body pulling and pressing movements, and a full
range of trunk movements. The off-season conditioning program should
focus on speed development and interval training. We tell our athletes:
“train slow, get slow.” Conditioning, speed development, and strength
training should be specific to the sport of ice hockey. Speed training on
land, using similar intervals to the game, but some conventional aerobic
training should also be done. Click here for the complete article on the
Principles of Program Design.