Inline Hockey Performance

For those of you who read our blog consistently you know we are not like most trainer’s. We are not the typical personal trainer that you see in the commercial gym down the road from your house, and we aren’t the guys making all of there athlete’s attend speed and agility sessions. Why? Well, we’re smarter than that I like to think.

Being in charge of someone’s physical fitness seems like a pretty easy thing to do. I mean, look at it like this.. you have a client who wants to lose weight. Tell them to exercise more, eat less, and they’ll lose weight.. right? Well, not really. In fact, if that worked that easy, we wouldn’t be dealing with obesity and kids with type 2 diabetes. Things can get very complicated. Your talking about the combination of many different subjects including biology, chemistry, anatomy, physiology, psychology, biomechanics, neurobiology…. and many more, I think you get the point.

Your probably asking what I’m getting at here.. My main point is if your currently looking for a personal trainer, find someone that knows their shit. So I have a few general rules to follow when seeking out a new strength coach or personal trainer.

1) Interview him. Your paying for his services, so make him impress you. That is his job. But do not base his expertise solely on his personality.. He may be a very good coach, just a little hard to communicate with. This happens often..

2) Ask for his education background. Did he graduate High School? You’d be surprised how many local personal trainers have not. Next, ask him about College. Did he graduate and if so, where from and what major? Having a degree in accounting is a lot different than Exercise Physiology (although again, don’t solely judge him on this because he could still be very good at what he does). After that, ask him if he still attends seminars or continuing education courses. Does he communicate with other strength coaches? And does he read book or study outside of the weight room?

3) What kinds of certifications does he have? This isn’t entirely important, but it should be asked. Some people get online weekend certs (which are jokes), and some get something more legit like a C.S.C.S. (certified strength and conditioning specialist) from the NSCA. If your curious about a certain certification email us and we’ll give insight.

4) Ask about experience. How many athletes does he train? Does he have pro or olympic athletes? How many years has he done this? Has he changed his training philosophy often (this is actually a good thing, the coach who is always changing is way ahead of the guy who follows the same routine for 10 years).

5) Ask him why he has you do what you during a session. You do the bosu ball squat? WHY? You do daily ladder drills.. ask why and how is it effective.. Don’t take his word for it on everything.

6) Look at his body composition. You can tell a lot about a trainer based on their body. How can they preach to you about lifting and nutrition when they are very unhealthy themselves? But keep in mind again, this is not always true. There are some strength coaches who may not be in great shape but are very very smart, but because they work so many hours and train so many athletes it’s hard to train themselves with no free time.

Just a small rant from me after I received an awfully stupid question from a 16 year old last night. Hopefully this gives you a good idea of what to look for in a trainer. Have a good day everyone!

Dustin Roux

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I’ve got some questions recently from local players asking how I do programming, or in other words.. how do I set up a program for someone.

First of all, rarely do I have 2 people doing the same workout. I often use a lot of the same exercises (one’s in which I think work the best obviously), but we never have 2 people using the same numbers of reps, sets, and a number of other variables.

Think about it.. Different players have different goals. The kids that is 6’0”  and weighs 160lbs need to put on some weight, so we’re going to put him on a phase focusing on mass. The player that is overweight will focus on leaning down, and the player that is very skilled but too slow will focus on getting faster.

All of programs include some type of the same thing, but no two are alike. Every person will perform a dynamic warm up before the workout, some longer some shorter. Foam rolling and mobility/activation drills will always take place, but if someone has a weak area or has an injury then we will change those accordingly.

Regardless of our athlete, though, we always include some type of power training. Hockey players, and most athletes alike need to be fast, and explosive. Size and strength does nothing for you if you can’t perform at a fast pace. Think about having a ferarri with a ford taurus engine, it looks great on the outside but it won’t perform like you want it too.

Over the next few days I will outline how we design our programs. It won’t be too detailed because programming is something you can write a whole book about, but check back every day and  you can get an idea of why we do what we do.

- Dustin Roux

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IHP readers and fans… I would like to apologize for us taking such a irresponsible lapse on our blog and site… we have been busy.

I usually hate when people say they are too busy… cause, who really is?? Well, we really were. Eric works full time training hockey players and figure skaters (no he isn’t weird, trust me, these girls can lift and it’s a great sport to be involved with business wise).

I have also been all over the map, LITERALLY. I was in the LA area working for AAU during the JO’s and training for Team USA. I left LA and went straight to Philly, practiced with the USA team, hopped on a plane and went to the Czech Republic for the FIRS world championships. Wow. Time changes, airport food, and crappy beds = worn out already.

Czech Republic = lots of history, beautiful women ( although wish they would use deodorent), terrible weather, great hockey fans. Good food, sometimes.

We won the 2010 FIRS world title. 2 years in a row for Eric and I. We pat our selves on our backs already, dont worry..

After this, we flew home. I got stuck in Philly for a night, yippee. Caught a flight the next day home and relaxed for 2 nights. Hit the track and weight room hard, and found out I was going to Narch.

Flew to Narch (San Jose, CA) and played for 4 days. Had fun, made friends, saw old friends, and then flew home again.

In case you lost count.. I went 3 hours backwards. 9 hours forwards. 6 hours back to Pittsburgh. 3 more back to CA. and then 3 more back home. So, when I wake up at 3 am and am fully awake… well, you know why.

So, tired of my boring talk… here’s the cool news.

IHP will have a booth at major tournaments next year. We will offer a lot of different services.. stay tuned.

Also, if you signed up for our newsletter.. look for the first one coming out this week.. tons of free info on weight lifting and hockey training.. if you have not signed up, DO IT!!! It’s def. worth it.

We also have a nice list of articles and good info to post over the next few weeks.

Finally, I would like to announce I’ve got a job with the Pittsburgh Penguins as an assistant strength and conditioning coach. I will be training all the penguins, well, assisting in training them at least. It’s a cool gig and I couldn’t be more excited.

Last but not least, if you live in Pittsburgh or Philly, we are planning several camps over the next few months (and this month). If your a high school program who wants some help, we are affordable and we know what we’re doing, but contact us now before we are booked solid. In Pittsburgh I will be working with Pine Richland and Shaler, and many more have contacted me.

If you have questions, as always… email inlinehockeyperformance@gmail.com for more info!

Best,

Dustin Roux

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Welcome back for round 2 of the strength training round-table.

Roux: Since I got about 10 emails regarding our Abs training guide (thanks Steve)…Your top 3 ab exercises, name ‘em..

Volek: Since I am the reason for the controversy, here are my 3 home runs when it comes to ab training.

1)   An isometric physio ball squeeze. For this one, lay on your back, legs up and knee bent at 90 degrees. Then stick the physio ball on your stomach, and hold your arms straight up against the ball. Very slightly squeeze the ball with your right arm and left leg, then the opposite. Hold each squeeze for 3-5 seconds and do this 10 times for 3 sets. This is a great isometric exercise because your abs are not separate muscles, they are call connected and intertwined, and this hold works the entire core.

2)   Med ball Russian twist/ball toss against a wall. Stabilizing yourself while rotating and throwing a med ball against a wall is not easy and is great for core stability and overall balance.

3)   My third favorite would be an overhead inclined sit up. Get a glute ham, set it up on a box to give it an incline. Climb up there and try to do an incline sit up w/ a plate over your head. Now do 10 of them for four sets as a pairing with your set of bench…..it’s a good time.

Russian Twist: a good exercise, but don't be afraid to make some variations

Roux: Good start, I think we are introducing some new stuff to our viewers. Delo, what are you doing with your ice hockey players down in Virginia when it comes to abs training??
DeLorenzo: Well, when it comes to abdominal training in athletics the first thing that comes to mind is the word “stability.” In functional anatomy, it is important to know that each muscle has two functions…

1. Movement

2. Stabilization or Anti-Movement.

Therefore, two of my next three exercises are geared towards anti-movements. Assuming the program includes Squats and Deadlifts (which are great anti-flexion movements), I would include an anti-extension movement, and an anti-rotation movement into my program. Some great anti-extension movements are plank variations, including the roll-out, the body saw, and the basic plank (and its variations). When it comes to anti-rotation movements I think the pallof press is near the top of the list. Lastly, I am going to go with the reverse crunch. This is an ab exercise that reverses some of the effects of the continuous “rib cage to pelvis” movement that so many of us get when doing endless crunches (which once again does not help when we are already in a sport with a “hunched” posture, and a lot of shoulder injuries!).

Will good ab work help posture and make you a better hockey player... Yep

Roux: The Pallof Press is one of my favorites as well, and I would have to say I would rank med ball throws and farmer’s walks up there too. Good stuff Luke. What do you have for us Johnny?

Macguiness: Top 3 Ab exercises would have to be

1) Planks and their variations

2) Hanging Leg Raises (Knees to Elbows)

3) Landmines/BB Rollouts

An as seen on TV product actually useful?? Possibly..

Roux: I’m glad to see you guys throwing in rollouts into this convo. These things are the underdog of ab training. 300 crunches are a breeze compared to 20 rollouts done PROPERLY. Extremely challenging, and what’s funny is the ab wheels that use to sell on tv are actually a great device. People just don’t usually use them the right way to notice the effects!

Keener, finish off abs for us..

Keene Core training?! Once again, I’m going to go by Lukes lead and say that core stability comes to mind – where anti extension, anti flexion, and anti rotation are key players.

1. Anti Rotation Variations
These include the Pallof Presses, Tall Kneeling, Half Kneeling, and Standing Belly Presses
2. Bunkie Variations
You’re probably thinking, “What on earth is a bunkie?” This is an exercise I was recently introduced to by performance coach Kevin Neeld, and it is a great way to train the functional diagonal line outlined in Anatomy trains which produces twisting movements when shortened (twisting movements include shooting).
3. Med Ball Throws: Throw it as hard and fast as possible.

Roux: Bunkie’s are a pretty cool ab exercise, and I agree that med ball throws are a must for any ab program.j Now, lastly.. I thought it would be a great way to wrap up all this awesome information with a your choice question. As a strength coach, imagine you have an athlete who has the perfect program on paper.

What is going to be the one minor thing you make them change in their lifestyle to see that 2-5% gain that might make the difference between gold and silver, or between a 300lb squat or a 250lb squat??

Volek: If I were the head strength coach somewhere, I would really pay attention to the athlete’s post workout nutrition. I think that sometimes this gets over looked and this is the most crucial time of the lift. I have had the experience working at a university where athletes only got post workout shakes after one out of the three lifts they had that week, and that was for only half of the season. I know that most of the time these post nutrition supplements come out of the teams budget and not all collegiate sports make a lot of money, but this should be a priority and the teams should make room in their budget to make sure that their team is recovering properly from training. A proper shake after a workout can you get ready for your next workout quicker.

Proper recovery methods will take you a long way

Roux: Definitely agree with you Steve, how about you Luke?

DeLorenzo: This last question is very difficult because there are so many ways to answer. As much as I think soft-tissue work (to improve tissue quality) is important, I am going to go with nutrition. While at Penn State, we had the opportunity to use Dr. Kristine Clark. Dr. Clark is a top-notch sports nutritionist. She once told me that “what you do in the kitchen is as, if not more, important than what you do in the weight room.” This includes everyday nutrition, game day nutrition, pre/post workout nutrition, etc.

Roux: Once again, definitely agree with you there. Let’s wrap this up Johnny, what you got for us?

Macguiness: I would make my athletes pay better attention to their nutritional habits and diet!!! And no, organic candy doesn’t mean it’s healthy, and yes…. Fast food really is THAT bad for you!

Roux: Ha short and sweet again! Well personally I’m going to go off on a different route. After studying the physiology associated with heavy weight training and the long grueling hockey season, I feel that taking care of the immunological and endocrine systems will give you the biggest payoffs when it comes to recovering for workouts and games. To make sure your taking care of these 2 systems, clearly a healthy diet is optimal. However, something that contributes highly to the immune system, as well as keeping your body in an anabolic hormonal status, has got to be good ole fashioned sleep. Getting a good 7-8 hours of sleep a night is the best way to recover for any athlete. The best part about it? It’s free! Make sure it’s dark, so you can really get the full effects of REM sleep, and supplement with some ZMA or Melatonin occasionally if needed, especially during finals week or a stressful time at work!

Foam Rollers. Great for self-massage, great for recovery

Keener, let’s finish off this round table with your final tip for an athlete who already has every duck in a row..

Keene: Last question is tough. Since of course all of our soft tissue work, mobility and static stretching will be taken care of, I’m going to go outside of the physiological realm and go into the psychological realm and say that always have a positive attitude and be ready to work hard. Nothing promotes results like wanting to be where you are and believing you can get to where you want to be.

Thanks everyone for joining in on this roundtable. That’s all for now, but keep checking back this week for more great articles.

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Starting next Sunday, May 16th we are starting the IHP spring development class. There will be four meetings for this group.

Sunday May 16th: Stick handling class

Tuesday May 18th: Shooting and Passing Class

Tuesday May 25th: Putting it all together I

Sunday Putting it all together II

Cost:

Attend one class: $30 per player

Attend two classes: $50 per player ($25 per class)

Attend three classes: $75 per player ($23 per class)

Attend all four classes: $90 per player ($22 per class)**

The benefit of attending all four classes should go without saying, and you will save money per class as well…

**Also, if you attend 3 of the 4 classes you will get a free IHP t-shirt and also a guide to training at home for hockey.

email dustin16@comcast.net to reserve your spot, only 20 people will be accepted per class.

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Author: Dustin Roux

I really dislike the word Tone. I had a conversation with a kid at the rink yesterday and he told me he wants to get more tone. He’s about 18 and a little overweight, no big deal at his age because if kids do the right work they can lose a lot of weigh really quickly. I told him he doesn’t need to be tone, he needs to lose body fat. I’ve heard this word “tone” from hundreds of people in my major(Kinesiology) at Penn State. These are all girls who want to go into the fitness industry, and every once in a while a guy uses it too. “toned” is a made up word that fitness people use to make money, and there’s nothing wrong with making money. It’s just a pet-peeve, similar to the theory that 1000 crunches will give you abs. Well… we’re all born with abs, so we all must have abs, but therein lies the same problem again. Most people simply have too much body fat for the much envied “6 pack” to be visible.

This flyer above is exactly what all of you reading this should avoid

Muscles already have tone. If you are alive right now (and, i’ll go ahead an assume you are)… your muscles already have tone, or what we can call “muscle tonus”. The only way for your muscles to look “more tone” as a fitness person would put it, is to lose a lot of body (so, essentially toned = lean? Yes). Now, you can hypertrophy a muscle. That just simply means adding volume, or size to the muscle via increase in muscle fibers size.

Muscle Structure

So, after this little rant I feel like writing out an entire article.. Your intro to weight lifting words.

Before I move on let’s talk about muscle. Skeletal muscle has a few characteristics you all should know about. First, most likely, you were born with all the muscle fibers you will ever have. What does this mean, well.. it means you can change the one’s you currently have, but your body can’t really make new ones (at least science says so right now). Second, your muscles are made of 2 basic fiber types. Fast twitch (think sprinters) and Slow twitch (think cross country). Every muscle has a mix of those 2 fibers, though genetically some people have a 90% fast twitch fiber make up, and others have a 90% slow twitch make up. That simple fact right there can determine whether or not your good at a certain sport. A person with 80% slow twitch fibers simply cannot be a sprinter. There body won’t allow them to be fast enough.

So.. on to the terms of the day..

Hypertrophy: This means an increase in the size of the muscle fibers we already have. Look at a bodybuilder, and you’ll see plenty of hypertrophy. Hypertrophy is double edged sword though. Too much bulk, and you won’t be flexible or mobile, and you’ll weigh too much to get work done on the field.

Too much hypertrophy..

Strength: Let’s define muscular strength as being able to exert a large force against an object, or in our world it usually consists of doing heavy lifts with 1-5 reps. A 15 rep exercise displays no signs of strength, just muscular endurance really.. Strength, too, is a double edged sword. Hockey players need strength for sure, but coming from my Russian professor Vladimir Zatsiorsky at Penn State.. “too much strength without enough power will make the athlete slower”. So, that leads into the next one.

Power: This word can be replaced by explosiveness, or speed, but they all mean the same thing.. To train for power, athletes can use a multitude of exercises. I stick to lifting weights (bench, squat, deadlift) with about 55% of 1RM, throwing medicine balls, jumping on  anything, and sprinting.

Good blend of hypertrophy, strength, and power

Here’s a few more terms we might use:

RM: stands for Repetition Maximum. So 1RM means a weight you can lift once, so it’s like maxing out.

ROM: Range of motion of a joint. When we say work the full ROM that means when you squat don’t stop at 90 degress, go all the way down.. or ass to grass as my powerlifting buddies put it.

I’ve got some work to do, so check back tomorrow for the Strength Training Roundtable #2, it’s awesome.

Dustin Roux is a strength coach and a student at Penn State University majoring in Kinesiology. To contact him email dcr5044@psu.edu or inlinehockeyperformance.com

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Strength Training Round-table: Volume #1

Is sprinting really that good for lower body development, and hockey? Keep reading to find out!

Written by: Dustin Roux

What’s a roundtable? 5 guys, tons of ideas, and lots of free information for all of you.

A few days ago I sent out an email to 4 of our contributors to get their view on a few different subjects regarding strength training and inline hockey. This is what we will call a roundtable and these will take place at least once a month and will cover a wide range of topics. Often, you might see us all disagree on a subject, which can get pretty heated, but we tend to agree on a ton of stuff as well. Next week we plan to shoot a video roundtable from the Men’s USA tryouts in Pittsburgh, PA-should be exciting..

Anyhow, without further adieu, here are the 4 contributors (along with myself, of course):

Johnny Mac

Eric Keene

Steve Volek

Luke DeLorenzo

DeLorenzo, along with Volek will be doing a lot of guest blogging for us in the future. DeLorenzo will also contribute to some ice hockey training details since that is his specialty.

ENJOY!

Roux: Guys, it’s great to have everyone on board for this. I think these roundtables will be a great resource for all the players and coaches reading our site. For our first question, I would like to know what you would do with your athletes if you could only use 5 exercises. Which 5 would you use, and why?

Volek: Well obviously, in a real training situation I wouldn’t throw all of these into one workout, but my top 5 lifts would be:

1) The Back Squat

2) Deadlift

3) Bench Press

4) Pull Ups

5) Cleans

It's possible she squats more than you. Get after it..

All of these should be somewhere in your program. Maybe not all at once, but they should be in there at some point. These are all total body lifts and train athletes to be more efficient on the field. Unlike a body builder… whose leg day consist of 100 leg presses and burning out with leg extensions.

Roux: Nice, good stuff. Delo, what’s your take?

DeLorenzo: As far as my top 5 exercises (and I am speaking in regards to Ice/ Roller Hockey and in no particular order)

1) Front Squat- research shows that front squats place less compressive forces to the lumbar spine and knees. I am by no means saying that I would never have anyone back squat, but I am partial to the front squat.

2) Deadlift Variations- I think it has been well documented how important posterior chain development is for athletics, so this doesn’t need much of an explanation. Likewise, since hockey is a quad-dominant sport, the addition of hip dominant exercises is of utmost importance when taking into consideration that the athlete needs to be balanced. Think asymmetries.
3) Horizontal Pull variations (Rows) – Even though I strongly believe the pull up and chin up are the pinnacle for upper body strength development, we are talking about what hockey players need. Therefore, rows not only help with the thickness of the back’s musculature, it has also been proven to improve posture and shoulder function (decreasing rotator cuff and impingement problems). These reasons, in my eyes, are important in a sport where you are already in a “hunched” position.

4) Core Stabilization Exercises (for more on this read further down).

5) Unilateral (Single) Leg Exercises- If I had to pick just one I would go with the walking lunge, but all unilateral leg exercises can be beneficial. Unilateral movements are great for mobility of the hip, stability of the knee and single leg strength (among other things), which are obviously important in hockey.

A back like this doesn't come from doin P90x.. or Crossfit

ROUX: Shoulder health is definitely important in this sport, nice list Delo. Johnny Mac?

Macguiness: If I had to pick 5 exercises for my athletes to perform, they would be:

1) Back Squat: A player with strong legs will be at an advantage on the rink over a player with a strong upper body. Don’t forget variation, though. Front squats are a great way to hit the quads and can be a bit safer for any athlete, especially those with prior shoulder injuries, or back problems.
2) Deadlift: The development of the Posterior Chain is essential in the development of an athlete. Nuff said.
3) Box Jumps: I’m not opposed to Olympic Lifting, but I think it is easier to teach Box Jump variations, and in my opinion jumping is one of the best ways to improve explosiveness
4) Pullup/Chinup: Definitely one of, if not the best test of relative body and pulling strength for an athlete.
5) Bench Press: When performed correctly, the bench press is a great test of upper body pushing strength.

Roux: I like the addition of box jumps, there efficient and easy to do anywhere. All you need is something to jump onto. Keener, what ya got for us?

Keene:
1. Barbell Power Split Jerk
This olympic lift variation has all of the components. It starts as an explosive deadlift from the floor and accelerates the bar high enough to get under it with arms extended overhead in a lunge. Reinforcing, let’s say, quadruple extension (ankles, knees, hips, and elbows), makes this exercise one of the most functional lifts out there (outside of standing on a bosu and doing bicep curls of course) edit: Keene, of course, is joking about the last comment… avoid bosu bicep curls.. unless you wanna look like this guy below.

2. 10 Yard Sprints
People underestimate how important the ability to accelerate is. Getting from point A to point B the fastest when it is a 100 yard race is speed. When it is 10 yards or less, that’s acceleration. How many times are you sprinting for more than 30 feet on the rink?

3. Dumbbell Reverse Lunge
I’m sure you’re thinking, “Eric, where’s the heavy stuff man? I want to get strong!” First, let’s redefine our definition of strong. Yes, strength is the ability to apply maximal force; however, for sports and Inline Hockey, functional strength is most important, not just brute strength. While both are important, functional strength is more important because it allows you to apply the strength you’ve gained into the sport setting. Plus, I have athletes at Endeavor and some guys on the WCU Ice Hockey team Reverse DB Lunging 100 lb DBs for 6 a side. I chose DB over Barbell in order to work grip strength along with scapular retractors while activating the low back extensors less (just completed data analysis on this for my study). Plus, since research shows that unilateral exercises produce a co-activation of knee flexors and extensors, there is no need for a “push-pull” exercise couple.

4. DB Bench Press and other Horizontal Push Variations:
Staying strong and balanced in the sagittal plane

5. DB Bent over Row and other Horizontal Pull Variations:
Staying strong and balanced in the sagittal plane while promoting good posture and correcting that hunched posture that hockey players are always in (nice call, Luke!).

Roux: We can always count on you to provide us with something completely out of left ball park Keener. Good job, guys. I’m going to throw in my 5 favorites real quickly before the readers get too bored.

1) 1 leg squat (google pistol squats for videos) I absolutely love the back squat and all variations, however, 1 legged squats can completely blast your legs and push your strength through the pain.

Pistol squats. One word... Badass

2) Standing push press: Why? Try standing on both feet and pushing 200+ lbs over your head and you’ll feel your arms shake and your core about to crumble. Not only that, but you’ll be pushing through your feet and simulating something similar to a sporting movement.

3) Sled pushes/pulls: No explanation needed, do a good sled pull or sled push (similar to prowlers) and you will get nauseous every time in the future when your coach tells you to do one.

4) Deadlift variation: Like the previous guys said.. Nuff said.

5) Glute ham raise: Hands down best hamstring/glute exercise on earth,

Come Monday morning we have Volume #2 of this article coming out. And Tuesday will be a continuation of our Abs training series.

I want to thank all the guy’s for contributing to this first, of many, round tables. If any one has any questions, post a comment, or email us: inlinehockeyperformance@gmail.com

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Author: Steve Volek (University of Minnesota ice hockey strength and conditioning intern)

Intro: Dustin Roux

So let’s go over a basic workout real quick. Let’s say it’s Monday, and it’s your Lower Body day (remember, we as hockey players don’t body part splits except under rare circumstances/injuries). Your workout consisted of some heavy squats, a Romanian dead lift to hit your posterior chain (basically the group of muscles running from your calves to your back, functioning as a kinetic chain), then you moved onto a nice single leg exercise like lunges and finish off with some calf work for the ladies. Now, we typically want to do our abs training on leg days, but what do we do for abs, how many sets/reps, what exercises give us the most bang for our buck? Well.. Steve Volek (our guest blogger from the University of Minnesota) is going to fill you in below.. Enjoy!

Chances are that at least one time you’ve gone to the gym with a friend or teammate and experienced the following situation: It comes time to do abs and what happens next is a series of what seems like 500 crunches, maybe a plank or 2 for about 1 minute each, and if your lifting partner has read a Muscle and Fitness magazine, some Russian twists or maybe some of those sissy flutter kicks. If you consider yourself an elite hockey player this is not what your ab routine should look like. And not to crush anyone’s egos about your “ab routine,” but you should not even have one. What you should have is one or two ab exercises placed in your actual workout. There are many reasons for this, but the most important would be that it saves you time. You don’t need to spend 20 minutes at the end of your workout doing strictly ab work. There is nothing wrong with deciding one day that maybe you just want to blow your abs apart, that’s fine, but just not every single workout (remember, when it comes to strength training, most things are good in moderation, few are good all the time). You simply do not need that much ab work by itself if you do things correctly. Baffled by this? Continue reading and you will understand what I mean.

FUNCTIONAL ANATOMY

I feel it’s necessary for everyone to know a little bit about the muscles they are training before they design a program or do any exercises. So, for our purposes and to avoid confusion, we will stick to the main 4 muscles of the your core and go into each of their functions briefly. These 4 muscles include the rectus abdominus, the transverse abdominus, the internal oblique, and the external oblique. Quickly read over this section before we get to the fun stuff.

*  Rectus Abdominus: Used for flexion and lateral flexion of the trunk. The rectus abdominus is the abdominal muscle closest to the surface of your skin. These are the muscles that people are referring to when they say they want to get a “6 pack.”

*  Transverse Abdominus: This flat muscle is used to compress your abdomen. This muscle is deeper into your abdomen lying between the internal oblique and an underlying fascia or depression called the transverse fascia.

*  Obliquus Externus or External Oblique: This muscle is also used for lateral flexion of the trunk and is on both the left and right sides of your trunk. It is the outermost muscle covering the side if the abdomen.

*  Obliquus Internus or Internal Oblique: Located on the left and right sides of your trunk, this muscle is used for lateral or side flexion of your trunk. It is triangular in shape and is smaller and thinner compared to the external oblique which overlaps it.

Whew! Now the boring part’s over, so what now?

The abs are the most popular muscle on the advertising market in today’s world, and for good reason. One, a nice six pack will do a lot of things for you including picking up sorority girls as well as giving you a little self confidence you might not usually have. Two, they are EXTREMELY important when it comes to living a long healthy life. The CORE, as it is called so often in all these magazines, is what will help determine your daily posture. It can keep your low back healthy for years, which is great because I’ve read statistics showing up to 85% of Americans will experience low back pain sometime in there lives.

So, why do they give you better posture and save you low back, along with all the other benefits? Well, they function in so many ways we could write 8 articles about them… In fact, we will be selling an eBook in the next month focuses on abs training for hockey. The main reason we love the abs so much is because they provide you with stability. There’s no way you would be able to play any contact sport, especially hockey, at a high level if you did not have the stability of your abs to help you absorb hits and stay on your feet. Now prepare yourself for what is coming next. I am going to go over my top two exercises for your abs and they probably are not what you would expect.

1)  Squat: I am not talking about body weight squats and I am not talking about pistol squats (which are great for posterior chain work, but that’s for another day). When I say squats I mean load up the bar, get after it, heavy squats. The reasoning for this is quite simple. If you want strong abs you need to do movements that place a heavy load or a great amount of stress or contraction on them; which isn’t accomplished by doing 1000 crunches. When you go down into a squat position, the load on your shoulders wants to come forward towards down the ground due to gravity. Now, there will be some stress placed on your lower back, but because the load wants to come forward, as I just mentioned, your abs need to work overtime and contract as hard as they can to help prevent the bar from dropping you to the floor. Or in simpler terms, whose abs need to contract and work the hardest? The 200 pound guy squatting 135 or the 200 pound guy squatting 400? If you continue to do heavy squats for a certain amount of time, you will see improvement in your abdominal strength as well as overall stability.

Are you gonna tell me his abs aren't getting worked over right now?

Now if you are a hockey player who is in season, heavy squatting is not always the best option due to the high demands placed on your body. So that is why the heavy squats come in most handy during the off-season, to strengthen your core for the grueling season ahead. And to help maintain your core strength throughout the season, which is where the accessory work comes in.

2)  Deadlift: If you were still in your chair after my first top ab exercise, there is no way you are sitting down after this one. So you are probably saying. “Deadlifts? Doesn’t that just work your hamstrings and low back?”  Yes, it does work both of those, but like the squat, that’s not all it works. Think about how your setup looks for your deadlift.

Flat back, head up, bar along shins, arms tight = Good form

From the start position of a deadlift you need to make sure your feet are flat, your arms are straight, you have a flat back, big chest, and are looking straight ahead. But you also need to make sure that right before you pull that you contract your abs as hard as you can. Why? When looking at the diagram, from the pull position, your trunk is leaning forward in an angle less than 90 degrees, which normally would put anyone at a disadvantage for trying to pull any type of weight straight off the ground. However, if you contract your abs right when you push through your heels and pull the weight up, the abdominals prevent you from simply falling forward. The heavier the load, the harder the abs have to contract.

Similar to the squat, if you are a hockey player in-season, you won’t be able to perform heavy Deadlifts on a weekly basis because of the grueling season.

Arnold using good form, heavy weight, and going barefoot

Check back on Monday, where we will feature part 2 of this article. It will cover all the accessory exercises you need (not that many) and how to properly fit them into your weekly program.

Dustin Roux is a strength coach and a student at Penn State University majoring in Kinesiology. To contact him email dcr5044@psu.edu or inlinehockeyperformance.com

Steve Volek graduated from Penn State with a degree in Movement Science and is currently a strength and conditioning coach intern for one of the most historic collegiate hockey clubs ever, the University of Minnesota. To contact Steve for questions email smv5014@psu.edu

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DR: What initially made you interested in strength training?

JM: Growing up I always heard from everyone how I would never be any good or go anywhere with my hockey career because I was too little. I was determined to prove everyone wrong so I worked hard practicing at the rink, working on my skating, speed, stick handling, and shot. I realized this would only get me so far, and I had to do something else to take me to the next level. This marked the beginning of my passion for strength training. I began researching weight training programs for athletes that would help me improve my game. After seeing the results that strength training brought to my game, I was immediately hooked.I began recognizing what my weak areas were in the weight room and on the rink, and began working on them to turn them into my stronger areas. I was amazed at how the progress I made in the weight room translated to the development of my game on the rink.

DR: Do you think inline hockey will become a sport down the road where you will have to train to compete, as opposed to how it is today where it’s kind of a show up and play sport? I guess it’s kind similar to the NHL circa 1980’s compared to now?

JM: I think inline hockey will eventually become a sport where the players will have to train to compete at the highest level. The sport will continue to grow, and the players will be bigger, stronger, and faster than they are today. In order to compete with the competition, players won’t really have much choice in whether they work out or not, because if they don’t they will be left behind. The way I look at it is that if an athlete is involved in a sport, there’s only one thing to have in mind, and that is being the best possible player that they can be. It takes a lot of hard work to become the best player on the rink, and it’s not going to be easy, because if it was easy, then everyone would do it!!

DR: If you had to pick only 5 exercises for your athletes to do, what would you use?

JM: If I had to pick 5 exercises for my athletes to perform, they would be:

• Back Squat: A player with strong legs will be at an advantage on the rink over a player with a strong upper body.

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Inline Hockey Performance is giving away a 6 week individualized strength training program to the first 15 people to email them!!

Inline Hockey Performance is an inline hockey training resource that was formed by Dustin Roux, Eric Keene, and John McGuinness. IHP’s goal is to improve inline hockey and help both youth and elite players learn more about the strength and conditioning aspect of inline hockey.

All 3 IHP staff members competed on the Team USA FIRS Men’s team that won the Gold Medal last year, as well as some of the following accomplishments.

• Dustin Roux : 2009 FIRS World Champion (Team USA), 2009 World Games Gold Medal (Team USA), 2009 AIHL National Champions (Pittsburgh Bandits)

• Eric Keene: 2009 FIRS World Champion (Team USA), 2009 World Games Gold Medal (Team USA), 2010 DII NCRHA National Champion (West Chester University)

• Johnny Macguiness: 2009 FIRS World Champion (Team USA), 2009 World Games Gold Medal (Team USA), 2008 and 2010 DI NCRHA National Champion (Lindenwood University), 2009 TORHS and NARCH PRO Gold Medalist (Mudcats)

IHP services include:

• Team training camps – on rink and off rink performance enhancement
• Individual training: on rink (must be within driving distance to one of the 3 locations: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, & Long Island)
• Individual strength training programs (via online consultation and phone calls): these programs are specialized to your needs and goals and take into account prior injuries, ailments, and playing experience/weight lifting experience.
• Team performance consultations through computer and phone calls
• Nutrition and dietary supplement advice
• Coaching clinics: to be announced soon.

Starting today, the first 15 people to email us will receive a FREE fully customized 6 week strength training program with an attached eBook covering the right nutrition and dietary supplements to help you perform your best. All applicants must be at least age 15 and must commit to completing the 6-week program.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity! Email now!

inlinehockeyperformance@gmail.com

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