Training the Energy Systems Needed to Perform in Hockey

A lot goes into hockey training, yet many players lack the understanding of all that goes into it. Ice hockey is an intermittent skating sport, requiring short, high-intensity sprints followed by low-intensity skating, and ultimately recovery. The body requires different energy needs for the demands of a hockey game, whether it’s racing for a loose puck, defensive zone coverage, or even getting ready for your next shift. There are 3 energy systems and they work together to ensure that the body is able to perform during a game. There’s a whole science behind it but let’s keep it simple so that you can understand and incorporate it into your training. The 3 energy systems are Aerobic, Anaerobic Glycolytic, and Anaerobic Alactic.

Aerobic:

The Aerobic energy system is what many of you will refer to as your endurance or even cardio. It’s the fuel of the body. This is the foundation of the 3 energy systems and you need a solid aerobic base and capacity to offset the anaerobic energy demands. It also plays a big role in recovery between shifts and periods. We could throw some big scientific words at you, but again let’s keep it simple and tell you the “what” and “how” as a player for your training.

This will be the focus of the postseason and general prep phases of training but will still be built into training plans throughout the year. The modality of exercise is less important compared to the target heart rate. These should be low to moderate intensity exercises such as jogging or cycling. To build a solid aerobic base, exercises should be completed around ~50-65% intensity for up to 45 minutes, aerobic power at ~65-85% for 2-5 minute intervals, and anaerobic threshold from ~85% and above of continuous or longer interval training.

Anaerobic Glycolytic:

The anaerobic glycolytic system is like your energy bar in EA Sports' NHL video game

The anaerobic glyoclytic system is like your energy bar in EA Sports’ NHL video game. It determines how long you can sustain these high-intensity bouts of effort that are required by our game before fatigue sets in and determines how much work you are able to perform on the ice. This system supports the body’s energy demands during long shifts, like a penalty kill for instance.

Training this system typically starts with the general prep phase of the offseason to improve the work capacity and efficiency and continues throughout the year. Simply put, shuttle runs, skating, and cycling are all great ways to work on this system through all-out bouts of effort of 15-30 seconds (rest 30-90) to boost lactate production and 30 seconds-2 minutes to improve lactate capacity, which improves your ability to tolerate fatigue at this intensity.

Anaerobic Alactic:

The anaerobic alactic system is the amount of horsepower you have. It supports energy requirements for short-burst, high-power outputs like racing for a loose puck. The capacity of this system is very low and can’t sustain energy requirements for more than a few seconds.

This training will be more incorporated in the offseason towards the end of general prep, but mostly in sport-specific training. This will be your speed training through skating, cycling, or sprints. To improve phosphagen creatine stores (for energy production), we want to perform these sprints for 5-15 seconds with 1-3 minutes of rest and 45-90 seconds of rest to improve phosphagen creatine amount (for more energy).

We tried to make this article as short-winded and simple as possible for you hockey players so you can incorporate it into your own training. As mentioned earlier, there’s a whole science behind it, but as players, there’s no need to get into all of it. We just wanted to give you the “what” and “how”. It’s important, however, that the training of these energy systems is programmed in a methodical manner depending on needs and the time of year. That’s why you can leave that to us here at Line 1 Hockey.