When it comes to tracking health statistics, the Hexoskin seems to offer more bang for your buck than many competitors. With excellent wearability and feature-rich platforms available for both iOS and Android, Hexoskin may set the bar for personal-use telemetry.

About Hexoskin

Compared to other Bluetooth devices I’ve used, the Hexoskin provides immediate and accurate feedback. The software is also easy to understand. Once you’ve logged in, you simply click the type of workout you are going to use and begin your session. That’s it.

HxService is a free app that can be utilized to sync your workout into the HxDashboard, which you sign up for when you purchase your unit. All your information is stored in this server, providing you with comparable data for all of your workouts. Additionally, you can give access permission to coaches and friends who may want updates on your progress. This is helpful if you’re on vacation, out of town, or in a situation where you need remote coaching.

How It Fits

Quite possibly the best feature of this product is wearability. Hexoskin comes in the form of a tank top for both men and women. The top is meant to fit tightly in order to provide accurate tracking. That said, the shirt is quite comfortable and offered in several sizes.

A set of straps that tighten around the thoracic and abdominal areas comes with the shirt. These straps assist in keeping the electrodes in place to collect accurate data. The actual Hexoskin unit resides in a small pouch on the right side of the body. It tethers to a built-in cord that is unencumbering. The unit itself can be charged via the same cord used to sync data with your computer. It charges quickly, too.

What It Tracks

Pertaining to data, the Hexoskin tracks:

• Heart rate
• Breathing rate
• Steps
• Total breathing volume
• G forces
• Cadence

Heart rate (HR) is one piece of data that everyone likes to see. It gives you feedback as to how quickly you are recovering between bouts, how intense your workout is, and how fatigued you are. HR can easily be tracked with cheap devices, but I believe Hexoskin tracks it more accurately.

While breathing rate generally requires sophisticated devices, Hexoskin appears to track this accurately, as well. The device tracks how often you breathe and how much expansion versus contraction there is within the chest and stomach.

Steps are measured by how many steps you take, similar to a pedometer. I think these numbers are a bit skewed. I’ll elaborate why in a moment. Cadence is a similar measurement of how many steps you take per minute. And that may be an issue as well.

Possibly the most important factor measured for athletes, especially those looking to assess power, is g-force. This measure is taken through an accelerometer. Without professional lab testing, I can’t guarantee that you will receive the best data from any device, but for personal use this product could provide you with sufficient numbers. At the very least, it will allow you to see some level of force production, which is good when you want to increase speed and power.

The Possible Dowsides

I mentioned earlier that I don’t believe Hexoskin accurately tracks steps and cadence. At one point in my testing, I stayed in a stationary spot, moving my torso forward and back without taking a step. The result was an increase in steps taken every time I leaned forward.

This may be due to a malfunction of the three-point accelerometer. Changing position might cause the accelerometer to assume you’ve taken a step. This will directly affect measurement values for your steps and cadence. For many athletes this may not be a big deal, especially those in contact sports. It may be more important to distance runners, sprinters, and marathoners to track that data accurately.

Another issue is the potential for poor g-force function. With the unit being located at one spot on the body, it makes measuring forces that are multi-planar a bit of an issue given the variables of human error, specifically involving posture, performance, and efficiency. This is strictly speculation, but I think it may be something to look into in more detail.

My Conclusion

Overall, the unit is great for recreational athletes, casual runners, extreme athletes, or professional athletes looking for personal telemetry. The shirt is comfortable and sweat-wicking, and since it’s made of polyester, it doesn’t make you overheat.

This product sits at a fair price point, as well. Many similar units on the market are unable to track as much data as the Hexoskin. Accuracy does not appear to be a problem, with a few minor exceptions. Therefore, it’s my conclusion that the Hexoskin is hard to beat without spending an additional $800.

Hexoskin is available for $399.99 at Hexoskin.com.

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When I found out about the Original Worm, I was instantly intrigued. All too often, my clients complain that regular foam rolling is painful. This discourages them from rolling altogether. But the Original Worm turns out to be different.

What Makes the Original Worm Different

The primary goal for rolling is to release restricted fascial tissue, i.e. the connective tissue like cartilage and muscle sheaths that separate muscles. When that tissue restricts muscles, the result is poor range of motion, poor recruitment of additional fibers, and overall poor strength coupling.

The Original Worm is not as invasive as some other rollers, due to the “worm” design that helps to spread the pressure across the entire surface. This appeals to the crowd that experiences too much pressure from a regular roller.

Without giving all the trade secrets away, the worm appears to be four ultra-soft balls. Compared to a regular foam roller, the softness of the balls provides a slight amount of give. This separation between the balls creates a buffer area that helps to decrease compression of muscles. The outer shell is designed with neoprene, giving the Worm a soft feel.

Construction

The Original Worm comes in two sizes, 6.3 centimeters and seven centimeters. I recommend the larger seven-centimeter model. The larger surface allows you to target larger muscles, such as the hamstrings and quadriceps. The Original Worm can be used for smaller muscles as well.

The neoprene shell allows the skin to glide across the roller. This gliding promotes elongation of the muscles and connective tissue. This feature is great, because the idea of elongation plays a major role in releasing tight muscles. The outer shell’s design gives the Worm a soft feel that can be appealing to those opposed to hard foam rollers.

Drawbacks

The only issue that I had with the worm was when trying to roll my thigh muscles. If you roll manually with your hands, then you will have no problems. If you are trying to roll against the floor, then the neoprene shell becomes a problem. The shell can also get caught in shorts or loose clothing, so be sure to wear compression shorts or something tight that will facilitate a smoother process.

My Recommendation

The feel of the Original Worm is great, and it has the major benefit of pressure control. It is easily controllable, as the balls are pliable and forgiving. This allows the user to create varying levels of intensity. By varying intensity, you should be able to gradually introduce additional pressure that will elongate and loosen myofascial tissue.

While rolling should be an intricate part of any athlete’s training regimen, pain should be avoided. The Original Worm is a success when it comes to creating a level of intensity suitable for every individual. I recommend rolling with the Original Worm daily. Gradually, you will notice that muscles actively gain range of motion, which will assist in creating more powerful movement – something that is ideal for all athletes.

The Original Worm is available for $22.99 at OriginalWorm.com.

The post The Original Worm (Product Review) appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

When Jake at Bio Skin contacted me asking if I had ever heard of Bio Skin products, I was hesitant, to be honest. With thousands of products promising to produce increased performance or quicker recovery, the whole gear-buying process can become mind-boggling to the consumer.

And I actually hadn’t heard much of Bio Skin, just a few random mentions from some professionals. Knowing that I’m a hockey and golf guy, Jake wanted to fit me with some calf sleeves. However, I had my sights set on the compression shorts.

What Makes Bio Skin Different?

These aren’t your average neoprene or spandex compression shorts. The Bio Skin compression shorts are made from a blend of Lycra and a proprietary SmartsSkin membrane that keeps the pants from slipping, and all in a 1.05mm thin package. This combination makes the shorts stronger and lighter than neoprene. It’s also great that Bio Skin products are made in the United States.

According to the Bio Skin website, the compression shorts can:

• Reduce injuries
• Control muscle movements to improve recovery time after injury
• Increase proprioception
• Isolates compression for the groin and hamstrings with the optional groin wrap

Is Compression Just a Buzzword?

Admittedly, compression has become a buzzword in sports. Everything has some sort of compression product now. The difference that the Bio Skin compression shorts provide over regular compression shorts by Nike, Reebok, or Under Armour, is that they provide an ultra-high level of compression. These things are tight!

Note: If you do decide to purchase a pair, be sure that you measure your waist accurately and size accordingly. I highly suggest against sizing down or up.

From a functional standpoint, that tightness is actually exactly what you need. The idea of compression is to isolate muscle movement in injured tissue. By isolating movement, you enable the muscle to heal without immediate recurrence of injury.

Additionally, if you are not injured, the Bio Skin compression shorts can still be of assistance. Strength training is essential, but there’s a drawback. The byproduct of energizing your body via the anaerobic lactic system is a build up of lactic acid (LA) in the muscles. LA is what causes muscle soreness and prolonged fatigue. It keeps you from returning to the ice, gym, or course as quickly as you may like. The purpose of wearing Bio Skin’s compression shorts is to necessitate the removal of LA from the muscles through vasoconstriction – basically forcing the LA out of the muscle.

Considerations

There is a bit of a catch 22 here, though, because you’re also stopping blood flow from getting into the muscles when you wear compression shorts. So what happens to the residual LA still in the muscles?

For starters, contrast baths are great. A contrast bath is a mix of hot and cold dipping on the body or extremities. An easier and less shocking method is to not wear the compression shorts 24 hours a day. You then allow normal blood flow to remove the LA from the muscles, so when you slide the shorts of again, they will be working to push remaining LA out of the muscles. However, you must ensure that you’re properly hydrated as well, as that will assist in keeping muscles in a state for optimal recovery.

My Experience With Bio Skin

Overall, I think Bio Skin nailed it with these compression shorts. I’d certainly have to agree with the success of their claims. When the shorts arrived, I had just experienced a minor groin strain. I figured this was a great time to test these shorts.

I wore them for the majority of two days and slept two nights wearing them. I also utilized the groin support strap, which provided additional locking support. I have not tried any of my training sessions wearing the shorts.

My initial impression is that they may be a little too restrictive for workout purposes. But if you are training legs, I would suggest that you toss them in your bag and wear them immediately following your cool-down phase. It’s likely that you will prevent lactic acid accumulation in the legs by doing so.

While no compression short is a miracle maker, I think Bio Skin’s version helped me to recover more quickly compared to rest alone. I noticed by day two of wearing the shorts that the strained groin muscle was no longer inhibited in amplitude. The soreness was considerably lessened, as well. I was fortunate enough to have avoided major groin injury, but inevitably injuries will happen. Anything that can help to speed up recovery is always a welcomed assistant.

Even if these shorts hastened my recovery by a single day, this would be a benefit to athletes across all sports. Granted, the shorts are a bit pricey, but I’m not sure you can put a price on quicker recovery.

Bio Skin compression shorts are available for $94.95 at BioSkin.com.

If you have knee issues, check out our review of Bio Skin’s Hinged Knee Skin.

The post Bio Skin Compression Shorts (Product Review) appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Strength coaches focus on the entire torso when it comes to building core strength. These muscles consists on the rectus abdominus, external and internal obliques, transverse abdominus, and erector spinae. These may be technical terms, but you use all of these muscles in normal daily activity to ensure proper posture, as well as stability for the skeletal and visceral systems.

Why is all of this important? The rectus abdominus, i.e. the six-pack, isn’t just for show. While, the other muscles are even more important for rotational force, the erector spinae muscles are key factors in postural adaptations, including vertebral column extension. In fact the erector spinae muscles run the entire length of the spine.

If golfers focus primarily on building a six-pack, they are severely neglecting the muscles primarily responsible for rotation. Sure, a strong rectus abdominus will aid in the driving force during the down swing, developing a forceful swing that makes that perfect divot. It also helps to prevent you from topping the ball, but it won’t help in the rotation needed to maximize club head speed.

The transverse abdominus will aid here by compressing the abdominal cavity. While the obliques, combined with the quadratus lumborum, help your entire swing create the force that develops right and left lateral rotation. These are the powers that be in golf!

Core Workout for Golfers

The good part is that incorporating training for these muscles into your core training routine is simple and should be done regardless. Building a strong core is one of the most important methods to preserve back health. It’s just a side effect that your golf swing will become more powerful.

Strong core muscles assist in effective breathing patterns, forceful rotation, and spinal support. While, we are bipedal mammals, think of your back similar to a snake. Powerful muscle tissues surround the delicate skeletal system of snake, but gravity doesn’t work against a reptile like it does to humans. If your back is poorly supported, then the likeliness of injury increases, especially when we add global system stressors – such as golf.

Maintaining proper muscle balance through the core develops stability in the back. This process helps us to avoid disc herniation, a debilitating disorder that affects many golfers, both professional and amateur. Strong core muscles provide the support that prevents the vertebral tissue from becoming irritated by rotation that affects alignment. That’s why you currently feel tight, sore and stiff after a round of eighteen. The back muscles are either, poorly trained or highly inactive during your swing. Consistent abuse leads to wear and tear injuries that could be prevented by using the exercises outlined below.

Back Extension

This is a light weight-only exercise. These muscles should not endure large loads of resistance. Completing 3-4 sets of 8-12 repetitions is sufficient. They can be completed on a back extension seated machine or by using a stability ball.

Oblique Crunches

For this exercise, you want to choose a kettlebell that provides enough weight to be challenging to the system. Work both side of the body. Hold the weight with the one hand on the lateral side of your body, next to the outside of your leg. Completing 3-4 sets at 8-12 reps is sufficient for gaining strength.

Contralateral Plank Supermans

This exercise is a full core exercise that requires no weight. They are challenging because the movement stimulates stabilizers, as well as antagonistic muscles to be active. After 3-4 sets exhaustion will set in quickly, so see how many reps you can complete without losing your form.

How to Incorporate This With Your Golf Game

When training for golf, the same principles should apply as would for any other sport. The goal is sport specific, meaning you want to mimic movements that are similar in planar motion to the sport itself or train the muscles that are required to produce progressive strength and power.

Completing the workout above two to three times a week, in combination with other exercises that train golf specific musculature, is sufficient. What we want to avoid is overtraining. Key signs are prolonged fatigue and muscle soreness. Your diet plays a major role in fatigue as well.

If you want to prolong your golf career, you need to keep your back healthy. By training your entire core, not just the showy muscles, you are completing what I like to call “preventative medicine.” By doing this work now, you are preventing a future visit to the doctor who might ultimately tell you that you should stop golfing.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post How to Improve Your Golf Game and End Lower Back Pain appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Basically, the author said that if both units move independently then the results would be added power and increased distance. The article got me thinking. As with many sports, where does much of our power production come from? Our legs.

Granted this seems rather obvious since the muscles with the greatest bellies belong to the legs. Thicker muscles possess fuller, stronger fibers. In turn, these fibers are capable of creating greater force. For me the process is really a no-brainer. Actively engaging the muscles of the legs will produce greater club head speed.

Stance Width and Leg Power

The old theory was to keep your legs relatively within shoulder-width apart when taking a shot. For some shots, like a chip, that can be effective. But what about a drive? A wider stance actively recruits leg muscles to do more work. Work equals power. A wider stance also enables greater hip internal and external rotation.

Meanwhile, many professionals in the field suggest keeping your knees soft. A locked knee is horrible, but bending the knee more deeply engages powerful muscles in the hamstrings. In turn, this enables the player to create more power through the downswing.

The Importance of Hip Stability

Since many recreational golfers don’t train sport specific, it’s likely there exists poor hip stability. Hip extensors and flexors allow the hip to maintain stability laterally.

Why is hip stability so important? It prevents looseness in the hips during the entire course of the swing. Unstable hips can lead to topping the ball during the impact or driving the clubface into the ground, make “fat” contact with the ball. Hip stability will provide both a more fluid swing and allow the quadriceps and hamstring muscle groups adequate means to transfer power from the ground to the body and into the clubface.

Exercise Choice

While genetics plays a huge role in overall body composition, many golfers are long and lean. This build structure is great for producing club head speed that can propel the ball well over three hundred yards.

While height is advantageous, smaller players can have an edge. Their shorter muscles are able to produce quicker more explosive power, even though they lack the hang time that a much taller player possesses. This is part of the reason why you are able to see shorter guys like Rory Mcilroy (pictured above) averaging 303-yard drives. If I’m able to take that taller player and develop equal levels of explosive power to that of the smaller player, the result is a highly efficient powerhouse, resulting in something like Bubba Watson’s 311-yard leading average.

If I had the opportunity to work with Bubba, I can nearly guarantee that I could correct some issues that may add yardage and accuracy to his drive. Creating better symmetry between the quads and hamstrings could be that difference. At 6’3”, Bubba also tips the scale at 180 pounds. That’s pretty light for a larger athlete. Building his lower body would help to stabilize his core, as well as lower his center of gravity producing more power down through the ball.

Three Ways to Build More Powerful Legs for Golf

When doing these exercises, I suggest taking your time to focus on perfecting your form and sacrifice weight. By doing so, you’ll ensure that the proper muscles develop movement memory. That’s the first step to adaptation.

Romanian Deadlifts

Otherwise known as RDLs, this movement actively engages both muscles that produce power, as well as the muscles that stabilize the hip complex. Powerful hips develop through optimum stability combined with maximal muscle fiber recruitment.

You should begin slowly, focusing on form. Perform 3 to 4 sets with a weight that feels slightly heavy hanging from the arm. Once you have mastered the movement, then you can begin training for power. Your repetition range should begin at roughly 8 to 12 and gradually decrease as resistance increases.

Box Jumps

All athletes can benefit from box jumps. The benefit to golfers is the lack of heavy resistance compressing the spine, such as that of the back squat, while the same muscles are being worked. This provides you with power glutes and hamstrings that develop increased power and speed through the downswing.

Completing 3 to 4 sets is adequate. The rep range should depend on the height of the jump. Most boxes begin at twelve inches and can grow to over 36 inches. Again, don’t shoot for the stars here, especially if you are an untrained individual. Your muscles will quickly tire. Reps in the range of 6 to 12 are sufficient. Remember to press the heels down through the ground and explode to the ceiling. Be sure to land in the same position with “soft” knees.

Lateral Band Walks

While this movement may not appear challenging, trust me, many of you have weak gluteus medius muscles. Lack of proper training can lead to poor hip stability, possibly hip impingement, and general fatigue after a round of eighteen. Developing strength here will ensure proper stability and enable your knees to lead the downswing.

Bands come in all different levels of resistance, so don’t be a trooper here. Selecting the right band should allow you to complete ten to twenty foot lateral walks left of your starting position and head back to your start position without rest. Completing two full walks should show you how neglected these muscles have been.

Employing these three exercises should help to solve some of your muscular issues, if not at least making you more capable on the course. Remember that the focus on form is key, as well as not overdoing it. The goal here is to make your game more complete and not finding yourself on the couch all weekend with a severe case of DOMs.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post Three Ways to Build More Powerful Legs for Golf appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Since controversies of head trauma and concussion have hit the forefront in contact sports, companies like Reebok have begun designing products to increase head trauma awareness. Hospitals, doctors, and exercise physiologists all agree that parents, coaches, and players need to become more conscious about brain health. All too often, kids and adults experience a collision that could impair them in the long term. The problem is, these individuals unknowingly put themselves at risk by returning to the game too soon through a lack of education or failure to utilize technology.

The Reebok Checklight, named CES 2014 Best of Innovations, provides athletes with an inside track aimed at predictive impact measures. Ultimately, the device can’t diagnose impacts that result in concussion or similar brain injuries, but it does serve as a means for interaction and intervention.

I recently had an in-depth conversation with Mr. Dan Sarro of Reebok Sports, and we discussed the importance of brain impact studies. Unfortunately, no product is the end all, be all preventative measure that we want. What the Reebok Checklight does is provide parents with peace of mind. According to Reebok, the Checklight provides, “Consistent, reliable, actionable impact data.” What does that mean?

Essentially, the Checklight is not a concussion predictor or preventer. Every athlete is different. Some can sustain more severe blows with little to no occurrence of symptoms, while others aren’t so lucky. Concussion produces a magnitude of symptoms from nausea, to headache, to blurry vision, but further testing is still required to properly diagnose a concussion. Headaches can produce similar symptoms, but not be concussion-related. A sensor built into the Checklight uses specific algorithms to measure G-forces (forces acted upon the body as a result of gravity). By measuring these forces, the Checklight gives you three clear understandable criteria for impact severity.

The three lights on the back of the Checklight are your gauges. When an impact occurs, immediately the Checklight provides feedback. A green light means a less severe hit, a yellow light indicates moderate, and a red light warns of a more severe impact. No light being illuminated indicates no questionable impacts have occurred. Again, these lights are not a concussion predictor, but they do give parents and coaching staff reasons to check the impact data of their players and children to ensure safety. Any player who sustains a hit that registers a yellow or red light should be examined by a trainer or doctor to ensure that returning to play is safe.

I’ve been wearing the Checklight while playing hockey for a little over a month now. Fortunately, I haven’t sustained any red lights. In fact, I haven’t had any yellow lights either, so I guess you can say I’ve been fortunate. If I had noticed my Checklight indicator was lit, I wouldn’t have hesitated to get it checked out. While the game of hockey is highly competitive, there is no reason to risk your life for it. Wearing a Checklight ensures that you consciously take responsibility for your safety. Gone are the days when a player can pretend to shake off a considerable hit. The Checklight provides players and coaches with a sense of accountability.

As for fit, I have a pretty large head, so I required an extra large. Using the chart on Reebok’s website provides you with accurate sizing. The skullcap should fit snugly on the head, but comfortably under your helmet. I will suggest that you use a Reebok helmet, as well. I tested it with a Bauer 4500 and it was doable, but the Reebok 11k provided more comfort.

Turning the Checklight on and off is a breeze, so even young children can handle it on their own. The sensor is fully removable, allowing you to wash the skullcap. Just plug the sensor into a USB charger and you’ll have battery life for hours. One thing to note: if you don’t use the Checklight daily, then make sure you keep it charged. It does have a tendency to drain the battery when not in use.

Another key feature of this device is impact logging. Every time you turn the Checklight on, you will be provided with a set of flashes that indicate the number of impacts in each zone. With accountability being so important, parents and coaches can check for lights immediately following every practice or game. It eliminates the guesswork around the dangers of contact sports.

If you’re a parent who checks for a red or yellow light following practice, you can use the information to actively engage your child. Be proactive about your child’s brain health and ask questions about how practice went. In addition, with the Checklight, coaches become the first line of defense. A blinking light is easily noticeable and a clear indicator that the player in question should be pulled aside and examined.

So far I’m pleased with the feedback the Checklight has provided me. Comfort, ease of use, and accuracy are key features required in sports, and the Checklight delivers in all these areas. Likewise, Reebok is proud to provide athletes with an opportunity to increase awareness. During my conversation with Dan Sarro, he was adamant that the real goal for Reebok is to open the minds of consumers, increase awareness that concussions and brain injuries should be taken seriously, and provide a product that will aid in prevention. As a player and coach, I think Reebok has definitely accomplished something here.

Reebok Checklight is available for $149.98 at Reebok.com.

The post Product Review: Reebok Checklight appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Hockey players, pound for pound, are some of the toughest athletes in the world. But no athlete is bulletproof. These days, the game is faster and the players are bigger, but the intensity of the game remains the same. As a result, injuries are becoming more common.

Hockey players, pound for pound, are some of the toughest athletes in the world. But no athlete is bulletproof. These days, the game is faster and the players are bigger, but the intensity of the game remains the same. As a result, injuries are becoming more common.

For instance, some NHL clubs have nearly a hundred man games lost this season. Man games lost are how many games a team has played with injured players out of the lineup.

While an athlete can do his best to prevent injuries from occurring, there’s no way to stop catastrophic injury in a sport like hockey.

In this article, I am going to teach you how to locate weaknesses that indicator poor posture and generally lead to overuse injuries. These issues can be addressed easily by training specific muscle groups responsible for maintaining hip stability.

In hockey, the known weak spots for athletes are the muscles the laterally extend and flex the hips.

The abductors responsible for spreading the legs apart are gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, tensor fascia latae (TFL), and sartorius. While the gluteus maximus is strong in hockey players, generally the gluteus medius suffers and tightness occurring in the TFL can make each stride less powerful.

On the hip extensor side, the adductors (brevis, longus, and magnus) aid in pulling the legs together. These muscles are even more susceptible to injury due to them not being primary movers. Have you ever pulled your groin? Usually one or all of these adductor muscles have been strained.

Unfortunately, injuries to any of the abduction or adduction muscles can be time consuming to heal. Again, the nature of the beast is that these muscles are not primary movers. They work as antagonist, synergists, stabilizers, and neutralizers.

The primary movers, the largest, most actively engaged muscles handle most of the workload responsible for creating powerful movements. If a primary mover becomes inhibited, then what occurs next is natural.

The secondary muscles kick in, but they’re not capable of handling all the stress. Muscle strains and tears occur or, worse yet, ligament sprains or tears, as well. So how can we prevent this culmination of injuries?

First, hockey players have to focus on training all of the muscles in the legs. Focusing on just the primary movers is a recipe for disaster. Secondly, since hockey is so demanding on the lower body, players should train the lower body less while in season.

Adequate rest is imperative to injury prevention. Many strains come from overworked and underpaid muscles. This brings me to another point. If you aren’t feeding your muscles the appropriate fuel, then you are yet again building for a volcanic eruption.

You’ll probably ask, “If I’m not training with heavy weights how can I make the adductors and abductors stronger?” Remember when I said these muscles aren’t primary movers?

That also means these muscles respond very well to light weight training, as well as isometric training.

Isometric training is great for in-season work for two reasons, First, you’re not causing damage to the muscles that heavy weight training does. In order to increase muscles size you must continuously create microscopic tears in the muscles that heal and repair.

Second, in isometric work the muscle length is not changing. This results in a lesser build up of lactic acid and also helps to shuttle lactic acid out of muscles where it has accumulated from a hard skate. A combination of a healthy diet, isometric training, and foam roller will speed up the lactic acid process.

So now, we know what muscles are weak points for hockey players. We also know how these muscles work and the best way to train them while you’re still in season. But what exercises should you be focusing on to build the adductors and abductor complexes?

Here’s one exercise for each group. I highly suggest you begin slowly, especially if you have not trained these muscles previously. While in season, I would not train the leg groups more than twice per week, with a strong focus on plyometrics, speed, and agility training with band work. Hockey is an explosive game, so movements should be treated as such.

In these movements, you can focus on a 1-3-1 protocol. This means 1 second to finish the concentric phase, or contraction phase, 3 seconds accounts for the extending phase, and 1 second of rest before repeating a repetition.

If you’re just beginning, 2 sets should be sufficient. If you’ve previously trained these muscles, then a set of 3 is suggested in season. Keep to a repetition range on 8-12.

Lateral Band Walks

Work both the abductors and adductors in the same exercise. Starting with feet together, knees and hips in line. The band should be around the outside of the ankles, resting low on the tibia. While squatted, keep the core active, chest open, back neutrally held, and shoulders relaxed.

Step forcefully, plant the stepping foot, and allow the trailing foot to meet the lead foot slowly under load. Once the feet are together again, complete another step under the same protocol. Once you’ve reached your desired number of reps, return back the opposite direction to you start position.

Lying Hip Internal Rotation

Here’s another great exercise. Attach the cable ankle cuff to the furthest ankle. Lie prone perpendicular to the cable. Bend knee to ninety degrees so the attached ankle crosses over the resting straight leg. Adjust the positioning of legs slightly away from cable pulley so a slight stretch is felt in the hip.

Keeping the knee of attached leg bent approximately ninety degrees, pull the cable attachment away from pulley by rotating the hip as far as possible. Return leg to original position toward pulley and repeat. Place the ankle cuff on opposite leg and continue lying opposite direction. (Click on the photo to the right for a full explanation of the movement.)

Skater Lunge Jumps

The skater lunge jump is a fantastic exercise for explosive leg strength. Make sure to keep your chest up, core active, and your back flat during this exercise.

Photos 1, 2 & 3 courtesy of Shutterstock.

Photo 4 courtesy of ExRx.net.

The post How to Strengthen the Abductors and Adductors for Hockey appeared first on Breaking Muscle.