Hockey

Hockey

Hockey pulls you in two directions at once. First, it''s a sport of grace and coordination. Without that, you have no hope of using the long, thin stick to maneuver the short, fat puck across the slick surface—all the while trying to stay balanced on a pair of thin metal blades. As if that isn''t hard enough, you''re on a rink filled with other men trying to do exactly the same thing.

Which brings us to the second aspect of hockey: the checking, blocking, twisting, swinging and evading. Hockey is a brutal contact sport.

"If you''re not crashing into something, you''re in constant motion trying to get control of the puck. Or you''re just trying to stay upright," says Edmund Connors, a certified strength and conditioning specialist in Hingham, Massachusetts, who has trained hockey players currently playing for the Boston Bruins, the New York Islanders and the Chicago Blackhawks. "Either way, you need to coordinate a lot of different types of exercises if you want to be any good at it. And that goes for the professional ice-hockey player as well as the guy who plays skate-hockey in the street," says Connors.

Being Slick on the Ice

Improving your balance, protecting your body against hard contact, building your leg and torso strength to skate well—these are the goals of hockey training.

"We train our players year-round. They get maybe three weeks off a year. Otherwise, they''re constantly working on their hockey skills and conditioning," says John Wharton, head athletic trainer for the Detroit Red Wings and fitness consultant to the Dave Lewis Hockey Fantasy Camp in Fraser, Michigan.

As a casual player with a professional and personal life to lead, you can''t do that, and you don''t have to. "A man who does regular exercise for about a half-hour three days a week isn''t going to have a problem playing hockey," Wharton says. Besides regular fitness training, you can increase your edge with a few tips the pros use.

Improve your balance. To help improve your sense of balance, Wharton recommends doing off-ice balance drills. Stand on one foot with your eyes closed for as long as you can. Now try doing single-leg squats, flexing your knee to 90 degrees. Work up to 30 seconds, then a minute. As you get better, try to hop from leg to leg—30 seconds on one leg, 30 seconds on the other. "We have players do exercises in full equipment, just to get them used to their balance when they''re wearing all their gear," says Wharton.

Get in-line. If your game is street hockey, then there''s no excuse for you not to spend an hour on the in-line skates once or twice a week.

"And if you play ice hockey, it''s still a very good training exercise," says Connors. "For the recreational player, nothing better mimics the motion and feel of ice skating." Besides straight skating, find yourself a quiet alley or cul-de-sac and set up some boxes and maybe even a net. "Build yourself a little obstacle course and run through it. Practice your stickwork. Every little bit helps," says Connors.

Hit the rink. Good as in-line skating is, if there''s a year-round ice rink near you, use it.

"It''s one of the most important things you can do," says Connors. "Skating is not a natural movement; you have to teach your body how to do it. If you don''t teach it on a regular basis, your body is going to forget." Thereafter, each time you take to the ice, you''ll likely spend half the game just getting your sea legs under you. "Instead, if you skate even once a week, you''ll eliminate that problem," says Connors.

Play soccer. In hockey, your body has to get used to lots of lateral movement and quick direction changes. One of the best cross-training sports for that—and a terrific workout in its own right—is soccer.

"Many of our professional players actually play professional soccer in the off-season. It mirrors hockey in several ways—you have to work your way down the field, trying to maintain control of the ball while keeping away from players who are charging at you. It also uses the same muscle groups and energy systems as hockey. If you''re training for hockey, this is just about the best sport you can do when there is no ice available," says Wharton.

Take a swing. There aren''t many batting cages for hockey, but you can always hit the golf course.

"For the recreational player, golf wouldn''t be bad. Of course in hockey, you can''t swing your stick as high as you would in golf," says Connors. In fact, most sports that involve swinging a club or racquet are good cross-trainers, since they''ll work your hips and abdominals. That will only increase the swinging power you''ll need to get the puck out of there.

Take your medicine. To duplicate some of the dynamic action required in hockey, Wharton advocates working out with a 10- or 15-pound medicine ball. "It helps build the kind of explosive strength you need in hockey, especially for shooting," he says. When you play catch with a pal, don''t just lob the medicine ball back and forth at one another. In fact, don''t stand facing each other; turn to the side. "Then, every time you throw, you have to rotate your trunk and throw. That''s what the exercise is meant to emphasize—twisting and throwing, building the torso strength and dynamic stability you''ll need when you''re shooting and trying to score," says Wharton.

Becoming As Hard As Ice

If hockey puts anything in check, it''s the lower body.

"Lower back, hamstrings, hips, groin—we get a lot of groin pulls in hockey," reports Wharton. Because he works with both elite hockey athletes and the average weekend ice warrior, he has seen the broad range of hockey-induced ailments.

"A lot of what I see could be prevented by regular strength and aerobic conditioning. Prep work—that''s the key," he says.

This workout program will focus hard on the areas you''ll need for hockey—especially your lower body and your flexibility. That said, don''t forgo a full-body workout: Use our Core Routine as a basis. Here''s what the experts recommend.

Aerobic Exercise

Just because hockey is a sport doesn''t mean it''s a good aerobic workout.

"Hockey requires a strong aerobic base, but the sport itself does not give you a good aerobic workout," says Connors. As part of your training, then, do at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise three times a week—four would be better. Run, ride a bike, do some stair-climbing. Build your heart and lungs so you''ll have plenty of wind to move you across the ice.

Stretching

Work to keep your lower back, hips and groin especially limber. Back extensions and hip flexions with light weights will help those areas. For the groin, do butterfly stretches. Be sure to do additional stretches as outlined in Flexibility on page 32.

Leg Exercises

Just about every leg exercise you''ve seen in this book will benefit your leg strength for hockey. Specifically, focus on the leg press. "It''s one of the best all-around leg exercises you can do," says Connors. Also do hip flexions with heavier weights, dumbbell lunges, dumbbell step-ups and step-downs and standing heel raises for lower-leg stability.

Abdominal Exercises

In addition to being home to your swinging power, your abdominal region helps you meet other essential hockey requirements. "Strong abs will help you with balance. They''ll also keep your lower back strong—and it takes a lot of punishment in hockey," says Wharton. Besides the crunches in the Core Routine, do hanging single-knee raises as well as oblique twists and oblique crunches.

Box Jumps

This explosive exercise helps build balance and leg strength at the same time. "We call it bounding. We have our athletes jump laterally over cones or milk cartons. You could use a short box, too," says Wharton. "The idea is to get used to that lateral movement, while building power."

Shoulder Exercises

Because of the endless checking and bouncing off walls, you''ll need strong shoulders to survive in hockey. Strong shoulders also come in mighty handy when you need to swing that stick. To protect and strengthen your shoulder joints, do shoulder shrugs as well as one-arm dumbbell rows and alternating front lateral raises, says Connors.