Components of Hockey Training

Ice hockey is a game of short, high intensity bouts of effort with long, low intensity bouts of effort. To be able to prepare for that, you need to train the correct way, targeting areas that will translate to the ice. The 5 components of ice hockey training include aerobic endurance, anaerobic power and endurance, muscular strength, skating speed, and mobility.

Aerobic Endurance

Aerobic endurance, AKA cardio or stamina, is your body’s ability to sustain exercise over an extended period of time. Endurance training helps players sustain their energy levels each shift over the course of 3 periods of hockey. You already get a lot of cardio in during the season through practice and games, so this type of exercise will be done more in the offseason. Cycling or tempo runs in a low to moderate intensity are a great way to build up your endurance.

Anaerobic Power and Endurance

Anaerobic power and endurance refers to the body’s ability to generate energy without the use of oxygen and is needed to make quick bursts of speed and power during the game. Just to be clear, when I say without the use of oxygen, I don’t mean that literally. Think about it, the more intense the exercise, the more tired and more you have to catch your breath. In hockey, this would be used during backchecking or trying to beat the defense entering the zone for a shot on goal. A lot of this training will be done through sprints, plyometrics, and resistance training.

Muscular Strength

It’s not a secret that you have to be strong to be able to even play hockey. This just means being strong on the puck or generating force for a more effective stride or shot. Strength training is a must for hockey players and can be done through squats, deadlifts, lunges, bench presses, and core work.

Skating Speed

Skating ability is the most important skill in hockey and you gotta have that breakaway speed to beat defenders. Depending on programming, the same types of exercises used for strength and power can be used to translate into speed through sprints, plyometrics, and resistance training. I also want to point out that you need to be skating outside of team practices whether it’s through attending skill sessions or rollerblading. That extra amount of time working on your skating mechanics goes a long way and is necessary to make that jump as a hockey player.

Mobility

Mobility is the flexibility and strength to perform a controlled range of motion within your joints and surrounding muscles, and exercises are used to relieve tightness, correct structural imbalances+technique, increase range of motion+movement efficiency, and decrease the overall risk of injury to the parts of the body it pertains to. In short, these exercises are used to better perform the movements associated with hockey, thus impacting the rest of your game. If you can’t move well, you won’t be effective. Most of these workouts are dynamic exercises that you can dedicate a whole day to or you can incorporate them into a warmup.

It seems pretty simple...endurance, strength, power, speed, and mobility. If you’re able to find a way to work on these things in your training, you are quite literally in good shape. That being said, all of these components need to be methodically programmed in a correct way depending on your needs as a player and the time of year. That’s our job here at Line 1 Hockey.