LOWER BODY, ONE-LEGGED SPORT

The game of hockey is like none other. It is played on a frozen ice surface and the only contact you have with that ice is by means of a 1/8 inch wide steel blade. Hockey is a game that is played from your nipple line down to your toes. It is primarily a lower body sport. Another unique characteristic of hockey is, it is a one leg sport. 


Your “money makers” are your legs. Without strong legs, you will not be a hockey player.  Hockey is played from your nipple line down. It starts with your core, your hips, and moves down to your gluteus maximus, through your quadriceps, through your calves, and ends up transferring to the ice through your steel blades. 


Core – More commonly known as your abs, is the foundation of all athletic movements. Every movement an athlete makes, originates here. One of the easiest ways to become a better athlete/hockey player is to improve your core. If you want to shoot the puck harder, skate faster, have better balance, or have a quicker glove save, improving your core will help you. 


Your core is also the first area that fatigues. As soon as you bend over and place your stick across your knees, you’re starting to fatigue. In a Division 1 collegiate hockey player this happens around the half way point of the game. You can extend your “fatigue point” by working on your core. If you core is in good shape, you will fatigue later in the game. You develop your core by doing 1,000 sit-ups daily. 


Gluteus Maximus – More commonly referred to as your butt, (along with your quadriceps referred to as your “hockey muscles”) is what makes you a great skater. 


Quadriceps – Is the name given to the front of your legs from your hip down to your knee.


Hips – Is the name given to the junction area between your legs and torso.


These muscles are the area that you should spend the majority of your training time on. The stronger your butt, quads, and hips are, the better skater, hockey player you will become, guaranteed. 


You always hear of players that are never knocked off the puck, powerful skaters, unbeatable in the corners, have a good drive to the net, great balance, fast, and explosive. All of these characteristics of a good player are because of the butt, quads, and hips. The more you develop these areas, the better you become. You develop your Gluteus Maximus, Quadriceps, and Hips by doing back squats, front squats, weighted squat jumps, and plyometrics. 


Calves – Is the name given to the back of your legs from your knee down to your ankle. These play a minor role with your skating power, but yet a crucial little detail. Your calves produce that last little push. When your leg is fully extended, you push from your heel through your toes. When you flex and extend your toes (for the last little push) your calves are doing the work. This is a minor detail that many people forget about. 






Your calves do not need to be as developed as your butt, quads, or hips, but do need to be in shape. Stronger calves make for a stronger kick at the end of each stride, which will make you a more explosive skater. You can develop your calves by doing calve raises or by just walking on your toes for a while. 


Steel Blades – Is the piece of equipment that transfers all the power your legs produce into the ice, which propels you in any given direction. Without this 1/8 inch thick piece of steel that is attached to the bottom of your skate, you wouldn’t be able to skate. Make sure your blades are shape for every skate. Dull blades will force you not to have powerful strides. 


During an average shift, a player is on one leg around 80% of the time. This is another issue that makes hockey a unique sport. While skating, you get the majority of your power from one leg and then the other. The lead leg is supporting all of your weight, while the trail leg extends outward pushing you forward. If that lead leg cannot hold your body weight alone, for an extended amount of time, your stride will become shorter. It will become shorter because your back leg will hurry through the stride and get back to help support the weight. If your stride becomes shorter, you become a slower skater. However, if your front leg can hold the weight, your back leg can fully extend and produce a long powerful stride. This is another reason why hockey is played from the waist down and your “money makers” need to be strong. 


When skating forward, sometimes a power turn is necessary to escape a defender. During a power turn, your inside lead leg might be exposed to 500 pounds of pressure. If your leg is not strong enough to withstand 500 pounds of pressure, it will collapse, causing you to fall and go sliding into the boards. How can you make a play when your laying flat on your back next to the boards? Power turns are a common ingredient for an escape move. If your legs aren’t strong enough to let you do power turns, you will not be a dynamic player and the power turn will not be in your bag of tricks. 






The common theme when training for the unique sport of hockey is to train your lower body. Your entire body needs to be in good physical shape, but your focus of your training needs to be from your nipple line down. If your training time is limited, pick an exercise for each area of your lower body. 


For all of this lower body training to be effective, you need to be flexible. To become flexible stretch, stretch, and stretch some more. You should be stretching before and after every practice and workout. This should give you four stretching periods a day. Stretching will improve on your training results and will help prevent injury. 


The game of hockey is like none other. Training for hockey also needs to be like none other. The harder you work and prepare, the better you play.  “Courage + Training = Success!” Pick a workout and workout schedule that works best for you and work as hard as you possibly can. GREAT THINGS WILL HAPPEN!


Good luck with your training! Any questions, please ask. 


MHC – “Helping Others, Help Themselves!”