If your team enjoyed post-season play, your players went through a grueling regular season and then were in a peak output condition throughout playoffs. They have drawn upon every available reserve—including physical, physiological, mental, emotional, and hormonal components. Some players immediately cease all activity and are sedentary until their summer conditioning program begins. This can be problematic. Since playoff teams have a shorter summer phase, it is important to maintain a base of fitness to work off of, as opposed to allowing yourself to become completely deconditioned. A general base will allow you to make a quicker improvement you can accomplish within the summer period before camp begins.
Additionally, while you need time to rest and repair, you also need a transitional unloading phase. The body, mind and spirit need time to adjust from a peak output environment to one of rest and recovery. Your body’s mechanisms for recovery and repair do a better job with light activity. Active regeneration will help facilitate the process of unloading, allowing your muscles, organs, hormones, mind (etc.) time to unwind, gear down and recover. Activities that are low impact and low stress can be prescribed with a moderate intensity three times per week. If players are together, activities should be characterized by play, cooperation, and fun. If players are on their own, they should use a variety of activities that they personally enjoy. Swimming, cycling, 2-on-2 volleyball, hiking, tag football, Frisbee throwing, and pick up games from various sports are suitable. The purpose is to achieve mainly aerobic exercise within an activity that also has lateral movement and anaerobic components.
I also prescribe a low volume full body strength training workout twice per week, followed by static stretching. Three sets per muscle group is sufficient. I encourage players to complete this outside the weight room, using body weight exercises like push-ups, pull-ups, step-ups, squats, and lunges. Smaller muscle groups are accommodated with surgical tubing or using a partner to apply manual resistance.
Being active and having fun in an unstructured environment is a key factor in the body’s, mind’s and spirit’s response to tapering down from the playoffs to active rest and recovery and on to the generality and intensity of initial off-season training. Stay off the ice and out of the weight room, but utilize an active transition with pick up games and activities you particularly enjoy. Top this off with plenty of social, leisure, rest, and relaxation opportunities. I encourage my players to fulfill a four-week phase of unloading, rest & recovery, and fitness maintenance before they begin their structured hockey-conditioning program.
About the Author: Peter Twist is the Strength & Conditioning Coach for the Vancouver Canucks, the B.C. Provincial Director for the NSSCA, and the President of the Professional & Collegiate Hockey Conditioning Coaches Association. Twist, an Exercise Physiologist and Sport Scientist, has written two books on hockey conditioning, published dozens of articles on player development, and peer reviews submitted articles for academic journals.
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