Exercises For Power

Hockey is a physically demanding sport. The players of today must train on and off the ice year round to keep up or stay ahead of the competition. In this article I will discuss 2 exercises that will help build core and leg strength. In today’s game a powerful core and legs will give you faster reaction time for lateral movement and make it much more difficult for the opposition to knock you off the puck.

1. Hockey Squat Jump:

• Start by getting into hockey stance - feet shoulder width apart, legs bent, chest and head up.
• While keeping your head and chest up, squat down so that your upper legs are parallel to the floor.
• Launch/jump up as high as possible, getting full leg extension.
• Land in hockey stance, absorb the landing.
• Immediately lower yourself down to parallel and repeat.
• Perform the exercise in 3 sets of 15 repetitions.
o Increase the level of difficulty by wearing a weighted vest

2. Lateral Stride Jumps: (mimics the hockey skating stride)

• Start by getting into hockey stance - feet shoulder width apart, legs bent, chest and head up.
• Transfer your weight over to your right foot, the left foot off the ground and behind you as if being in the middle of a stride. Sit into it by trying to get your right upper leg parallel to the floor.
• Jump to the left as high and as far as possible.
• Land on your left foot, and absorb the landing.
• Without letting your right foot touch the floor, launch yourself back to the right side using the same mechanics.
• Perform the exercise in 3 sets of 15 jumps each way (3 sets of 30 total jumps)
• This is a difficult exercise that takes a lot of core and leg strength to maintain balance. Practice will perfect this exercise, and results will quickly show up on the ice as your stride will become faster and more powerful.
o Increase the level of difficulty by wearing a weight belt

These two exercises should be performed twice (spaced 3 days apart) per week on a regular basis.

Al Shaw, SCC