Inline Hockey Performance

Strength Training Round-table: Volume #1

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

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.

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.

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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