Strength Training Benefits For Hockey Players

We’ve reached a point
in time where training for hockey off the ice is a must if you’re
looking to go places in your hockey career. Sure there’s the odd
exception to the rule, where a phenom comes along once every 10 or 15
years that just seems to have the natural ability and skills that were
meant for big time hockey. But if you have any fantasies about playing
big-time hockey, I wouldn’t count on yourself being that exception.

That doesn’t mean that you should give up all hope though. There’s
plenty of big-time hockey to go around, besides the NHL, and putting in
the hard work off the ice will improve your chances drastically of
achieving your dream. Off ice training is where your focus needs to be
because the benefits of strength training for hockey are numerous.

We’ve all seen the kid that seems to skate faster than the rest of the
group growing up. He has a huge advantage over the rest of the pack
because his speed gets him to places on the ice faster than everyone
else. But as time goes on, the pack starts to catch up. Kids mature at
different paces. And once these kids reach a certain age, like around 10
to 13 years old depending on their physical maturity, strength training
can take the kids that were trailing a bit and make them into the
faster kids on the ice.

If you think that being fast is only about
being lucky enough to have been born with it, you’re only partially
right. Some guys are just born faster than others, but speed is one of
those things that can be improved with training. You see, the greater
the amount of force you can put into the ground, the faster you’ll be.
So in order to get faster, you need to improve your strength.

I’ll
be the first to admit that running short sprints is a great way to get
faster, but that will only take you so far. When you increase your
strength, the ceiling for how fast you can get all of sudden gets
higher. Doing sprints as well as strength training together then becomes
a killer combo.

Increasing lower body strength with strength
training has other benefits as well. If you’ve ever gone into the corner
to fight for the puck and are always the one that ends up on the ice,
you’re probably lacking the strength in your lower body to keep yourself
upright while an opponent is trying to move you. Becoming stronger in
the lower body suddenly helps you become the player that does the
knocking around in the corner.

The other half of your body, the
upper half, also needs to get stronger too if you have visions of high
level hockey. Just like how lower body strength helps you in the
corners, upper body strength. What’s even better than being able to move
guys around is the ability to rifle the puck by goaltenders. That is
what wins games right? Although lower body strength plays a huge part in
shot power, you also need a strong core and upper body to really blast
the puck.

The benefits of strength training for hockey keep adding
up when you really think about it. I’ve seen players’ confidence sore
once they start adding muscle and strength to their frames. Mindset is
huge when it comes to hockey in particular because of the physical
nature of the game. So the next time you think you’re doing enough to
become a great player, hopefully you haven’t left out strength training
off the ice from your development program.

===================================================================================
Conor Doherty, PTS, is an athletic trainer in Dryden, Ontario, who
specializes in sports performance. The majority of his clients are
hockey players. Conor has a well-rounded background in the training
field with an Honours Bachelor of Kinesiology degree as well as being a
certified trainer with Canadian Fitness Professionals. Learn more about
his training methods and programs at http://starfactoryfitness.com