Training Considerations For: Hockey

Training for hockey can be unlike any other sport in the world. Hockey involves some of the best athletes on the planet flying around on the ice at speeds over 25mph with medal blades attached to their feet, holding sticks, and covered in amour head to toe. Going all out for :45 seconds, 25 times a game with the goal of scoring and defending your opponent. These unique demands create a challenge to properly prepare athletes to play this sport at a high level safely. While the principles and big rocks of training apply to all sports and athletes. And I would caution people reading to be weary of "sport specific training". Their are unique considerations when it comes to training hockey players. This article will give you a 30,000 foot view of properly training as a hockey player to improve your performance and build resilience.

Demands:

Hockey is one of the most demanding sports in the world. Hockey players will play anywhere from 40-80 games a year over a 6-8 month period. Often playing multiple games in a week and back to back days. In games they will have somewhere between 18-25 shifts a game. Each shift lasting :30-:45 seconds with 2-4 minutes between shifts. You will be hard pressed to find a sport as physically demanding as hockey that also has this dense of a training and playing schedule. Which is why it is so important to devote time year round to developing the underpinning physical qualities to support these demands. If you think just playing more hockey is going to do this for you, thats just sadly not the case.

Common Injuries:

Unfortunately injuries are apart of sports and hockey is no exception to that. Many injuries come from collisions and contact related trauma. But many can also develop from chronic overuse as well. The top 5 injuries seen in hockey include:

1. Contusions - (Bruises) 20-30% of all injuries.

2. Groin/Hip Adductor Strains - 10-20% of all injuries.

3. Shoulder Injuries - (Primarily AC Joints) 8-15% of all injuries.

4. Knee Injuries - (MCL Sprains most common) 6-12% of all injuries.

5. Concussions - 5-15%

There is no way to prevent injuries all together. However, proper training including speed, strength, conditioning, movement, and mobility can drastically reduce the likelihood of these injuries. When training it is important to understand these common injuries specific to hockey and prepare to mitigate them accordingly. For example, this could include increasing overall muscle mass to mitigate contusions, strengthening the groin and hip complex as well increasing as hip internal & external rotation, building up strength of the shoulder and knee complex, and dedicating time to training the neck and surrounding musculature. The best ability is availability. It doesn't matter how talented you are if you not healthy enough to play. If you want to play hockey at a high level, you need to be resilient and healthy.

Speed:

We have seen speed take over the game of hockey in the last several decades. And for good reason. Offensively, speed creates space, space creates time, time creates opportunities, opportunities create more shots on net, more shots on net the more goals you score, the more goals you score, the more games you will win. Defense is just the opposite. You restrict space, to take away time, opportunities, and shots on net. All this to say speed training has become an essential part of hockey. Speed detrains faster than any other quality meaning you need to train it more frequently if you want to maintain and improve it.

Ideally this should be build into practice where you actually skating as fast as you can with long rest periods in between. For example, skating from the end line through the center line as fast as you can. Then resting several minutes before repeating. But unfortunately this is not common practice yet and ice time is precious. So, the next best thing is sprinting! Skating fast is all about creating large amounts of horizontal force, exchanging the limbs through large ranges of motion efficiently, and effectively interacting with the ground. Sprinting fast is all about creating large amounts of horizontal force, exchanging the limbs through large ranges of motion efficiently, and effectively interacting with the ground. See the connection? As long as your skating technique is sufficient, sprinting faster will translate to skating.

Sprinting needs to be done at 100% effort with complete rest. Focus on short accelerations of 10-20yds. Resting 1 minute for every 10yds you sprint. Performing somewhere between 60-120yds of total sprint volume. Some options can include resisted sprints, lateral sprints, curved sprints, or fly's. In-season try to get at least 1 high speed exposure per week. In the off-season try to get 2-3 per week. Example of and quick simple speed workout for a hockey players.

Off-Season Speed Example:

Dynamic Warm Up

A1. Band Resisted Sprint 1x4x10ydsx:60 rest

Rest 2 minutes

B1. Lateral Sprints 1x4x15ydsx:90 rest

Rest 2 minutes

C1. Curved Sprints 1x4x10ydsx:60 rest

In-Season Speed Example:

Dynamic Warm Up

A1. Fly's 1x3x20ydsx:120 rest

Plyometrics/Throws:

Plyometrics and medicine ball throws are some of the best training tools we have available to us to prepare hockey athletes. They allow us to produce high amounts of force at rapid rates and in multiple directions. Just like sprinting we want to keep the quality as high as possible which means 100% effort and full recovery. Hockey is a unique sport that requires athletes to produce force in all directions. We can use plyo's and throws to help prepare for this. For example vertical emphasis might include mini hurdle hops to box jump or vertical tosses. Horizontal emphasis might include broad jumps or horizontal throws. Multi-directional emphasis could include a skater hop and stick or a rotational throw. There are a million plyometric and throw variations out there to choose from. But always having at least 1 exercise in each category of vertical, horizontal, and multi-directional throughout the week is a good place to start. You also want to make sure you are training at all intensities. Progressing from high volumes at low intensities to low volume and high intensities. For moderate intensity plyometrics and throws like the ones listed above. Perform 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps with ample rest in between.

You may also want to consider adding some static starts to your plyo's and throws. If we look at the skating glide, it is much more concentric in nature than say sprinting. So, performing things like squat jumps or seated box jumps where you have to explode from a static position may have higher levels of transfer to skating. However, it is important that you do not become to statically dependent and can efficiently use your stretch shortening cycle (SSC). Many hockey plays struggle with foundational things like bouncing and using their SSC. So, before you start to become too specific. Make sure you develop foundational qualities like rhythm and the ability to bounce or be elastic.

Strength:

Strength training can and in most cases should be kept simple. Focus on on large compound movements like squats, hinges, presses, and pulls. Make sure to always over prioritize movement quality over load. Squats that I like to do with hockey players include trap bar deadlifts, heels elevated goblet squats, and lunge variations. Hinges could be RDL's, glute bridges, or back extensions. Presses like bench press, landmine press, or. dumbbell bench. Pulls could be pull ups, DB rows, or cable rows. Performing 3-5 sets of 3-6 reps is a great place to start with these movements. Then we can build in accessory work focused on core ,hips, groin, shoulders, neck, lower limb. Performing 2-3 sets of 8-15 reps. Example of simple effective lifts for a hockey player.

Dynamic Warm Up

A1. Trap Bar Dead Lift 4x3

B1. Bench Press 3x6

C1. SA DB Row 3x10ea

D1. DB RDL 3x5

E1. Face Pulls 3x15

E2. Lateral Lunge 3x6ea

E3. MB Groin Squeeze 3x:15

E4. Dead Bug 3x10ea

Conditioning:

One area where hockey usually does a great job of training is conditioning. It is build into the lifeblood of the sport that if you want to play you need to be well conditioned. This is great as proper conditioning is key to success. However, traditional conditioning includes endless bag skating, dry land, and just going as hard as you can with no proper plan in place. Good conditioning like all training should have a plan in place that progresses from extensive to more intensive, general to specific, and simple to complex. Designed to develop both the aerobic and anaerobic systems. An example of early off-season conditioning may just be a low intensity long duration bike ride for 30-45 minutes. This is great for developing the aerobic system that is the foundation of your conditioning. Then over the course of the off-season as you get closer to the pre-season. You can start to focus on more interval based work that closer mimics the time motion demands of hockey. For example, a bike workout where you sprint for :5, steady state for :15, repeating this 8-12x before resting for 3-5 minutes. Then repeating it all again. Conditioning is important to performing well and staying healthy. But don't let it be the only thing you focus on.

Mobility:

Hockey can wreak havoc on the body if left unaddressed. With hockey players I usually have 3 areas of focus that I like to address. First is the ankles. We have started to see a trend in hockey where players and coaches are starting to recognize the importance of good ankle mobility. Connor McDavid is known as the best and fastest skater on the planet. Him and many pro's like him are starting to only tie their laces to the ankle and not up the ankle any more so they can dorsiflex their ankle. This dorsiflexion allows them to hit better angles and skate faster. Years of wearing hockey skates can drastically reduce ankle mobility and be a limiting factor in skating performance. A great drill for this are ankle rolls.

The next area to address are the hips. The flexed posture of seen in hockey and unnatural movements made by skating can negatively impact the hips and their function. Hip mobility has been closely linked to groin and knee injuries. 2 drills great for hip mobility are the hip 90/90 and the 1/2 kneeling hip flexor stretch.

Last area of focus is the T-spine or thoracic spine. The T-spine runs from your neck down to you low back and is an integral part of movement. Hockey is a 3d sport meaning you have to be able to move and look in all directions. A rigid T-spine can make it challenging to analyze the ice, know where the puck is, and move efficiently. The T-spine has 2 primary roles. To flex and extend and to rotate. 2 drills for that include the cat camel and the side lying rotation.

In-Season vs Off-Season

Training during the season and the off-season should be different. At the end of the day training is a means to an end which is to perform better at your sport and stay healthy. But in a sport like hockey, where the season can last 8 months out of the year. You cannot afford to not train during the season. I see it happen all the time where athletes will train for 12 weeks during the off-season and make all these incredible gains but then lose it all when the season comes. The whole point of training and playing your sport is to develop and be at your best when it matters most. If you want to reach your potential as a hockey player, you cannot afford to not train in-season. Those that do get left behind quickly.

During the season we want to reduce overall volume and maintain moderate to high intensity. If done correctly you can effectively train 2x per week and still maintain and even some cases improve. An example of a in-season training session may look like this.

In-Season Training Example

Dynamic Warm Up

A1. Flys 1x3x15ydsx:90 rest

B1.DB Step Up 3x4ea

B2. Box Jump 3x3

C1. Bench Press 3x4

C2. NG Pull Up 3x5

D1. Nordic Leg Curl 3x3

D2. 1/2 Kneeling Cable Chop 2x5ea

A workout like the one shown above can be done in as little as 45 minutes and checks all the primary boxes of training. By simply performing a training session like this 1-2x per week allows you to maintain your gains and continue to improve. In the off-season we should be training anywhere from 3-5x per week. For comparison an off-season workout may look like this.

Off-Season Training Example

Dynamic Warm Up

A1. 1/2 Kneeling Lateral Acceleration 4x1x15yds

A2. Lateral Skater Hop & Stick 3x3ea

A3. Underhand Rotational MB Throw 3x3ea

B1. DB Reverse Lunge 4x5ea

B2. Hip 90/90 Lift off 3x5ea

C1. DB INC Bench 4x8

C2. Ab Roll Out 3x12

D1. Chest Supported Row 4x10

D2. SL DB RDL 3x6ea

Goalies:

Training as a goalie deserves its own blog as the demands are drastically different than being a skater. However, as referenced above. The principles and big rocks of training apply to all sports and athletes. The overwhelming majority of training is should be similar as all athletes need to be stronger, faster, conditioned, and resilient. For the sake of brevity I will give you 3 areas of consideration to focus on when training goalies.

1. Visual Processing. Visual processing is critical for hockey goalies because the position demands rapid interpretation of complex, high-speed information under extreme time constraints. A goalie must track the puck through traffic, read subtle cues from a shooter’s posture and stick angle, and anticipate deflections or passes ,all within fractions of a second. Efficient visual skills such as peripheral awareness, depth perception, and visual anticipation allow goalies to process what matters most while filtering out noise, leading to faster, more accurate motor responses. Strong visual processing also supports postural control and balance, helping goalies maintain stability during lateral pushes, drops, and recoveries. Ultimately, elite goaltending isn’t just about reflexes; it’s about seeing the game faster and more clearly than everyone else. We now know that this is a trainable quality that can be improved with the correct training.

2. Hip Strength & Mobility. You will almost never find an immobile goalie and for good reason. You will find it almost impossible to effectively play the goalie if you cannot get into the positions necessary to block shots. Developing and maintaining good hip mobility is key for goaltenders and is something that should be worked on daily. Hip mobility should be measured and monitored throughout the season to make sure you are maintaining. 2 metrics to track are hip internal & external rotation. For internal rotation we want to be > 35 degrees and for external rotation we want to be > 45 degrees. It's important that you are not just mobile but also strong in these positions. As mobility without sufficient strength can be a precursor for injury. I recommend finding and performing a mobility and strengthening routine to do daily prior to any time on the ice.

3. Aerobic Development. From an energy system standpoint goalies do not have near the same demands as skaters do. They are on the ice the entire game with no rotations. They position requires them to be extremely explosive followed by long periods of rest. It's fair to say that their practice demands are often times more demanding than their game demands. Which is why they do not need to spend ample time developing the lactic system as they will rarely rely on it. Focus should be spent on developing the aerobic system. This will allow them to maintain a lower heart rate throughout games, recover between games and practices, maintain a higher level of readiness, and be able to accrue more time practicing. Think long durations at lower intensities like 30-45 minutes.

This article is a 30,000ft view of what goes into training hockey athletes to give you an idea of some of the special considerations. I strongly recommend working with a qualified professional to help you or your athletes prepare to play hockey. Whether that is with Rebuild or not. Hockey is an incredibly demanding sport that requires serious physical preparation. If you want to reach your potential, training is no longer an option or a luxury. It is a necessity. If you have questions about hockey training or working with Rebuild you can contact us at https://www.rebuildperformancerehab.com/contact or by email at Rebuildperformancerehab@gmail.com. If your looking for hockey training in the Pittsburgh area we are located at 2585 Freeport Road Suite 110 Pittsburgh, PA 15238.