A. Box Squat 5×4

B. Deadlift 8×2 @50% 1RM

C. Walking Lunge 4×8

D1. Reverse Crunch 3×12

D2. Plank 3x30sec

Week 1: Day 2

A. Bench Press 5×4

B1. Incline DB Press 3×10

B2. Seated Cable Row 4×10

C1. Prone Trap Raise 3×12

C2. Side-Lying External Rotation with DB- 3×12

D. Side Plank 3x30s each side

Week 1: Day 3

A. Front Squat 4×6

B. Rack Pull from kneecaps 4×6

C. DB Split Squat 3×6

D1. Cable Pull Through 3×10

D2. Reverse Crunch 3×12

Week 1: Day 4

A1. One-Arm DB Push Press 4×6

A2. Close-Grip Chinups 4×6

B1. Pushup 3×10

B2. One-Arm DB Row 3×8

C1. Kneeling Cable External Rotation 3×12

C2. Side Plank 3x30s each side

Click on the number below that corresponds to the week of training you’re in.

Week 2: Day 1

A.Box Squat 4×4

B. Deadlift 8×2 @55% 1RM

C. Walking Lunge 3×8

D1. Reverse Crunch 3×12

D2. Plank 3x30sec

Week 2: Day 2

A. Bench Press 4×4

B1. Incline DB Press 3×9

B2. Seated Cable Row 4×9

C1. Prone Trap Raise 3×12

C2. Side-Lying External Rotation with DB- 3×12

D. Side Plank 3x30s each side

Week 2: Day 3

A. Front Squat 4×6

B. Rack Pull from kneecaps 3×6

C. DB Split Squat 3×5

D1. Cable Pull Through 3×10

D2. Reverse Crunch 3×12

Week 2: Day 4

A1. One-Arm DB Push Press 4×6

A2. Close-Grip Chinups 3×6

B1. Pushup 3×12

B2. One-Arm DB Row 3×7

C1. Kneeling Cable External Rotation 3×12

C2. Side Plank 3x30s each side

Click on the number below that corresponds to the week of training you’re in.

Week 3: Day 1

A. Box Squat 8×3

B. Deadlift 10×2 @60% 1RM

C. Walking Lunge 4×8

D1. Reverse Crunch 3×12

D2. Plank 3x30sec

Week 3: Day 2

A. Bench Press 8×3

B1. Incline DB Press 3×10

B2. Seated Cable Row 4×10

C1. Prone Trap Raise 3×12

C2. Side-Lying External Rotation with DB- 3×12

D. Side Plank 3x30s each side

Week 3: Day 3

A. Bench Press 8×3

B1. Incline DB Press 3×10

B2. Seated Cable Row 4×10

C1. Prone Trap Raise 3×12

C2. Side-Lying External Rotation with dumbbell- 3×12

D. Side Plank 3x30s each side

Click on the number below that corresponds to the week of training you’re in.

Week 4: Day 1

A. Box Squat 3×3

B. Deadlift 3×2 @65% 1RM

C. Walking Lunge 2×8

D1. Reverse Crunch 3×12

D2. Plank 3x30sec

Week 4: Day 2

A. Bench Press 3×3

B1. Incline DB Press 2×10

B2. Seated Cable Row 3×10

C1. Prone Trap Raise 3×12

C2. Side-Lying External Rotation with DB- 3×12

D. Side Plank 3x30s each side

Week 4: Day 3

A. Front Squat 3×6

B. Rack Pull from Kneecaps 2×6

C. DB Split Squat 2×6

D1. Cable Pull Through 2×10

D2. Reverse Crunch 3×12

Week 4: Day 4

A1. One-Arm DB Push Press 3×6

A2. Close-Grip Chinups 3×6

B1. Pushup 3×8

B2. One-Arm DB Row 3×7

C1. Kneeling Cable External Rotation 3×12

C2. Side Plank 3x30s each side

Click on the number below that corresponds to the week of training you’re in.

Week 5: Day 1

A. Front Squat (4×2)x5 cluster sets- 4 sets of 2 reps with 10 seconds of rest between each set

B. DB Step Up 3×8

C1. Bar Rollout 3×10

C2. Glute-Ham Raise 3×8

D. Single Leg Squat to Box 2×10

Week 5: Day 2

A1. Incline Bench Press (4×2)x5

A2. Weighted Pullup (4×2)x5

B1. DB Bench Press 3×8

B2. DB Row 3×8

C1. Cable Backhand 3×12

C2. Standing Zottman Curl 3×10

Week 5: Day 3

A. Broad Jump 5×5

B. Deadlift 5×5

C. DB Reverse Lunge 3×6

D. Pallof Press 3×10 per side

Week 5: Day 4

A. Speed Bench Press 10×3 @40% 1RM

B1. Close-Grip Bench Press 4×5

B2. Neutral Grip Row 4×5

C1. Inverted Row 3×10

C2. Scapular Pushup 3×15

Click on the number below that corresponds to the week of training you’re in.

Week 6: Day 1

A. Front Squat (5×1)x5 cluster sets

B. DB Step Up 3×6

C1. Bar Rollout 2×10

C2. Glute-Ham Raise 2×8

D. Single Leg Squat to Box 2×10

Week 6: Day 2

A1. Incline Bench Press (5×1)x5

A2. Weighted Pullup (5×2)x5

B1. DB Bench Press 3×6

B2. DB Row 3×6

C1. Cable Backhand 3×12

C2. Standing Zottman Curl 2×10

Week 6: Day 3

A. Broad Jump 5×5

B. Deadlift 4×5

C. DB Reverse Lunge 3×6

D. Pallof Press 3×10 per side

Week 6: Day 4

A. Speed Bench Press 8×3 @45% 1RM

B1. Close-Grip Bench Press 3×5

B2. Neutral Grip Row 3×5

C1. Inverted Row 3×10

C2. Scapular Pushup 3×15

Click on the number below that corresponds to the week of training you’re in.

Week 7: Day 1

A. Front Squat (4×1)x6 cluster sets

B. DB Step Up 4×8

C1. Bar Rollout 3×10

C2. Glute-Ham Raise 3×8

D. Single Leg Squat to Box 2×10

Week 7: Day 2

A1. Incline Bench Press (4×1)x6

A2. Weighted Pullup (4×2)x6

B1. DB Bench Press 3×8

B2. DB Row 3×8

C1. Cable Backhand 3×12

C2. Standing Zottman Curl 3×10

Week 7: Day 3

A. Speed Bench Press 10×3 @50% 1RM

B1. Close-Grip Bench Press 5×5

B2. Neutral Grip Row 5×5

C1. Inverted Row 3×10

C2. Scapular Pushup 3×15

Week 7: Day 4

A. Speed Bench Press 10×3 @50% 1RM

B1. Close-Grip Bench Press 5×5

B2. Neutral Grip Row 5×5

C1. Inverted Row 3×10

C2. Scapular Pushup 3×15

Click on the number below that corresponds to the week of training you’re in.

Week 8: Day 1

A. DB Step Up 2×6

B1. Bar Rollout 2×10

B2. Glute-Ham Raise 2×8

C. Single Leg Squat to Box 2×10

Week 8: Day 2

A2. Weighted Pullup 3×5

B1. DB Bench Press 2×6

B2. DB Row 2×6

C1. Cable Backhand 3×12

C2. Standing Zottman Curl 2×10

Week 8: Day 3

A. Deadlift 2×5

B. DB Reverse Lunge 3×6

C. Pallof Press 3×10 per side

Week 8: Day 4

A. Speed Bench Press 5×3 @55% 1RM

B1. Close-Grip Bench Press 2×5

B2. Neutral Grip Row 2×5

C1. Inverted Row 3×10

C2. Scapular Pushup 3×15

Click on the number below that corresponds to the week of training you’re in.

Week 9: Day 1

A. Front Squat 7 singles >90%

B. Speed Deadlift 8×1 @60% 1RM

C. Barbell Reverse Lunge with Front Grip 4×8

D. Pallof Press 3×8 per side

Week 9: Day 2

A. Close-Grip Incline Press 7 singles >90% 1RM

B1. Decline Close-Grip Bench Press 4×8

B2. Prone Grip Row 4×8

C1. DB Hammer Curl 3×12

C2. Mountain Climbers 3×12

Week 9: Day 3

A. Box Squat 10×2 @50% 1RM

B. Glute-Ham Raise 4×5

C. DB Forward Lunge 3×6

D1. Single Leg Squat to Box 3×10

D2. Bar Rollout (knees on 4inch box) 3×12

Week 9: Day 4

A. Speed Bench Press 10×3 @50% 1RM

B1. Close-Grip Barbell Floor Press 4×5, 2×7

B2. Neutral Grip Pullup 4×5

C1. One-Arm DB Row 3×10

C2. Close Grip Pushup 3×10

Click on the number below that corresponds to the week of training you’re in.

Week 10: Day 1

A. Front Squat 5 singles >90%

B. Speed Deadlift 8×1 @65% 1RM

C. Barbell Reverse Lunge with Front Grip 3×8

D. Pallof Press 3×8 per side

Week 10: Day 2

A. Close-Grip Incline Press 5 singles >90% 1RM

B1. Decline Close-Grip Bench Press 3×8

B2. Prone Grip Row 38

C1. DB Hammer Curl 3×12

C2. Mountain Climbers 3×12

Week 10: Day 3

A. Box Squat: 8×2 @ 55% 1RM

B. Glute-Ham Raise: 3×5

C. DB Forward Lunge: 3×5

D. Single Leg Squat to Box: 3×10

D2. Bar Rollout (knees on 4 inch box): 3 x 12

Week 10: Day 4

A. Speed Bench Press 8×3 @50% 1RM

B1. Close-Grip Barbell Floor Press 3×5, 1×7

B2. Neutral Grip Pullup 3×5

C1. One-Arm DB Row 2×10

C2. Close Grip Pushup 2×10

Click on the number below that corresponds to the week of training you’re in.

Week 11: Day 1

A. Front Squat 9 singles >90%

B. Speed Deadlift 8×1 @70% 1RM

C. Barbell Reverse Lunge with Front Grip 4×8

D. Pallof Press 3×8 per side

Week 11: Day 2

A. Two Board Press 9 singles >90% 1RM

B1. Decline Close-Grip Bench Press 4×8

B2. Prone Grip Row 4×8

C1. DB Hammer Curl 3×12

C2. Mountain Climbers 3×12

Week 11: Day 3

A. Box Squat 12×2 @60% 1RM

B. Glute-Ham Raise 4×5

C. DB Forward Lunge 4×5

D1. Single Leg Squat to Box 3×10

D2. Bar Rollout (knees on 4inch box) 3×12

Week 11: Day 4

A. Speed Bench Press 10×3 @60% 1RM

B1. Close-Grip Barbell Floor Press 4×5, 2×7

B2. Neutral Grip Pullup 4×5

C1. One-Arm DB Row 3×10

C2. Close Grip Pushup 3×10

Click on the number below that corresponds to the week of training you’re in.

Week 12: Day 1

A. Trap Bar Deadlift 5×2

B. Barbell Reverse Lunge with Front Grip 2×8

C. Pallof Press 3×8 per side

Week 12: Day 2

A. Decline Close-Grip Bench Press 2×8

B. Prone Grip Row 2×8

C1. DB Hammer Curl 3×12

C2. Mountain Climbers 3×12

Week 12: Day 3

A. Box Squat 8×2 @65% 1RM

B. Glute-Ham Raise 3×5

C. DB Forward Lunge 4×6

D1. Single Leg Squat to Box 3×10

D2. Bar Rollout (knees on 4inch box) 3×12

Week 12: Day 4

A. Speed Bench Press 8×3 @65% 1RM

B1. Close-Grip Barbell Floor Press 3×5, 1×7

B2. Neutral Grip Pullup 3×5

C1. One-Arm DB Row 2×10

C2. Close Grip Pushup 2×10

The post Cold As Ice: 12 Weeks to Brute Strength In Ice Hockey 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.

So how exactly are you supposed to improve your athleticism during the season?

As a strength and conditioning coach or a player, the thing to keep in mind when designing an in-season program is your team’s game schedule. The whole purpose for players getting into the weight room is to improve their performance on the ice, so games need to be the focal point of scheduling. You need schedule in some recovery time leading up to games, as well. The last thing to remember is that workouts should not be scheduled more frequently than three times a week. Overdoing it in the weight room during the season is going to be a recipe for disaster in the form of overuse injuries, especially groin strains, which are already very common in hockey players.

Here are four tips for in-season hockey training success:

Let’s look at shot power, for instance. By adding in medicine ball exercises like side throws, you’ll be focusing on building rotational power through the core area, which is a huge key to having a cannon of a shot. Or take speed as another example. Running for thirty minutes to an hour at a time isn’t going to help you get faster, so stop doing that if speed is your goal. Instead, program in intervals of sprints that last anywhere from ten to twenty seconds. Remember a hockey player’s shift is around one minute at a time, but if you look at the players and what they’re doing during that shift, there could be a few stops in action, and the most they’re ever going all out is really around ten to twenty seconds.

With those four tips, whether you are a coach or a player, you should be able to refocus your in-season training for hockey. Remember, there’s always a way to improve – the off-season isn’t the only time to focus on athletic improvement.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post 4 Tips For In-Season Training Success In Hockey appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

This same phenomenon can be seen in sports. When I was in my school days, the Canadians could always be counted on to win the World Hockey Championships every spring. Unlike today the amateur rules were strict but no matter. Even the Canadian Senior Amateur Champions, plus a few others to bolster the team, could easily win in most years. No other country played hockey in any serious manner. But, that did not last forever. After WWII when some degree of normalcy returned to Europe the Soviets decided they would enter Olympic and world championship hockey. And they planned on winning.

They surprised us when they took the Worlds in 1954. Later the Americans surprised us even more by winning the 1960 Olympics. Both those victories were considered flukes as the Canuck squad regained the lead the next year. Canadians just assumed that only they could really play the game and became very complacent under this attitude. Reports of greatly improving Europeans were scoffed at my most “experts.” No one worked out in the summer nor did they do much dry-land training in season. When training camp arrived in September most just counted on playing themselves into shape.

But, starting in 1962 the Soviets first, then the Czechs, then the Swedes took turns at winning the gold. We comforted ourselves with the idea this state of affairs only applied to amateurs. The pro NHL is what was really important. We noted the International rules limited body checking. Since our pros were experts at intimidation we assumed that if we could only play them with “our” rules things would be different. Since that would not happen soon, we could always reassure ourselves of our “real” superiority. But as the 1960s wore on it soon became apparent that even our best amateurs could not do the job anymore. We had to concede that a new day had dawned. We were not the best amateurs any more.

Our fall-back position was that they would still never beat our pros. They just knew they weren’t big enough, fast enough, skilled enough, and especially not tough enough (the much vaunted Canadian nice-guy image is not operative in hockey). We also realized the officially amateur Soviets were in fact professionals since they trained full-time at Red Army expense. This provided a serviceable excuse when losses became commonplace. Unbeknownst to us our egos were also protected by the amateur rules forbidding games with professionals. We still too-confidently assumed that OUR pros would clobber them if only they ever were to meet. Canadian fans craved such a meeting where they could show the world their superiority once and for all. The fact this would raise a lot of rubles did much to finally bring this about.

In 1972 we finally got our wish. The eight game Summit Series that fall was a landmark in our attitude change. Most experts assumed it would be a blow-out. That delusion lasted for about half a period. Canada scored early in the game, but then lost the game 7-2. Canada ultimately won the eight game series, but just barely. Most celebrated as if we were vindicated, but deeper thinkers knew otherwise. A lot of illusions died that September. No longer could we fall back on all of our former excuses for losing or our assumption that others could not play the game like us. To the credit of the Canadian hockey establishment much more serious coaching was instituted along with dry-land training, systems study, and a trend to bigger and stronger players.

It worked, but only to a degree. We eventually started winning the big ones again, much to the relief of sport fans who assumed our days of hegemony soon would return. Despite such optimism we never did regain domination of the game. Too many other countries were then doing the same things as international sporting prestige drove all to excellence. Canada would begin winning World Championships again, but they could not count on doing so every year. A certain degree of hockey power parity had been reached just as had happened in the economic powers a century ago.

By now the more observant readers will see how this connects with the weight sports. Bud Charniga has written very extensively of how the USA’s much cited superiority in Olympic lifting from 1946 to 1959 was based on the absence of many European nations still recovering from WWII. Contrary to common assumption that was not the natural state of affairs. Over the decades since then many pundits have yearned for an American restoration in Olympic lifting superiority complete with their simplified prescriptions on how this can be brought about. In fact, if any such revitalization does occur it would likely only result in the USA taking a certain share of the medals but not to the degree of the Hoffman heyday.

A degree of parity has been achieved in weightlifting, just as happened in hockey. The old USSR has devolved into a number of successor states. None are now as strong as the old USSR but they are still way ahead of most others. Many other countries have joined the elite in recent years, all at the expense of the formerly dominant Soviets and Bulgarians. They all now stand in the way of a second US Golden Age. This would not be impossible to achieve (nothing is) but it certainly is not probable given the systemic problems facing them.

And just in case any powerlifters are still reading they will back my observations up. The USA ruled that sport for many years but unlike the quick lifts they are still to be reckoned with. They never had to consider the Eastern Europeans in days gone by but now the latter and others have broken THAT monopoly. No American goes to the worlds assuming he or she will come home a world champ.

The lesson here is that competition makes us all better but we cannot guarantee that we will be the only ones better when all is said and done. Just ask an old Scottish shipbuilder.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post When a Monopoly Falls: What Weightlifting Can Learn from Hockey appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Some of them include needing big arms and shoulders or say that stick speed is the difference maker, but the one theory that seems to stand out more than others is wrist strength.

Contrary to popular theory, I believe that although wrist strength plays a part in shot power, it’s definitely not the most important.

If you are a hockey player, then you have found there are plenty of theories and opinions out there telling you the best way to improve your shot power.

Some of them include needing big arms and shoulders or say that stick speed is the difference maker, but the one theory that seems to stand out more than others is wrist strength.

Contrary to popular theory, I believe that although wrist strength plays a part in shot power, it’s definitely not the most important.

Think about the size of the musculature in your forearms. It’s a fairly small muscle group compared to other sections of your body. Not only that, but if you think about where the shot power is generated from and not where it ends, you’ll begin to realize wrist strength is only a very small piece of the puzzle.

So where does shot power generate from? The beginning point from which a player begins to ready him- or herself for a shot is when they brace the legs, then the core, and start to transfer power through the hips. That’s your answer. Shot power comes from the core and the hips.

Let’s go back and compare the amount of musculature in the forearms compared to that of the core and hips. We’re talking about a big difference here.

So stop doing a million wrist curls every workout. Your forearms will always get a great workout when you’re using compound exercises in your training, like pull ups, rows, deadlifts, presses, and any other exercise where you have to grip a dumbbell or a bar.

If you want to increase your shot power, the first thing you need to do is start concentrating your training on where it needs to be, which is the legs, hips, and core.

Legs

For your legs, I find the most beneficial exercises for developing strength are squats and lunges.

My favorite type of squat is the box squat, as I try to teach it to my athletes first when learning proper technique. The reason is the box squat gives the athletes an idea of how to hinge at the hips when they have to sit back to a box. I coach them to be explosive once they first touch the box.

Another great exercise for the legs is the Bulgarian split squat. When an athlete uses heavy dumbbells to challenge him- or herself in this exercise it can reap huge benefits.

The obvious benefit is that it’s going to increase strength. The second benefit is that since it’s a single leg exercise, the rest of your body, your core in particular, has to work much harder, therefore increasing strength elsewhere in the body.

Hips

For the hips, the best exercise out there for increasing strength is the deadlift.

This exercise’s main focus is increasing strength in the hip extensors, which are the hamstrings, glutes, and lower back. To be successful with this exercise, however, you need to tighten up your core all over.

This exercise also transfers over to the ice very well because with any shot, whether it is a wrist shot, snap shot, or slap shot, you need to drive your hips forward to generate power. The deadlift covers that perfectly.

Core

The core is the last large muscle group that initiates power in a shot. Doing a bunch of crunches won’t exactly transfer over well to the ice, however, so you need to think about how the core is involved in a shot – while the hips drive forward your core is twisting. We can use that knowledge to better plan our exercises.

The absolute best way to challenge your core while rotating is by using medicine ball tosses or wall tosses.

What you’ll do is grab a medicine ball, stand about ten feet from a wall, start with the ball just above the hip on one side, and drive the ball at the wall pushing with the hand on that side. This exercise mimics a shot so well, that we’d be silly not to include it in programs for hockey players.

Conclusion

The next time you’re in the gym or looking over your program, look to see what types of exercises you’re including and ask yourself if they will help increase your shot power.

If you’re focusing on wrist strength and doing a bunch of wrist curls, your best bet is rethink how a shot is actually taken and where power in your shot is generated.

The legs, hips, and core are exactly where the shot begins, so focus on getting those parts stronger and your shot will be raising eyebrows in no time.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post How to Increase Shot Power in Hockey appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

It’s not that I was scared of my granddad growing up; it’s that I knew from an early age not to piss him off. But a lot of things pissed him off. My childhood image of him remains the same: a rough, barking presence; a six foot two former Marine Corps sergeant with a full head of hair, mean ice-blue eyes, and a smirk that slapped you around. I’ve never seen him sentimental except maybe in the few seconds he stood over the open casket of my grandmother where I caught him quiet and staring. But it was the type of sentimentality forced upon you when regret brings you to your knees.

We have nothing in common, my granddad and I. Or I believed we didn’t until I realized we have an athletic connection, a connection I only recognize now that I’m a grown woman. When I was a child, we often watched the Kings play hockey on a TV built into a huge wood console in his den. We didn’t speak much. He was on the red leather couch smoking a cigar and I was cross-legged in a studded chair near a bar lined with bottles of scotch and whiskey. The walls of the den were plastered with Marine Corp memorabilia, a venerable museum. Then there was the one, framed photo of me when I made the local newspaper as an All Star soccer goalie. The newspaper clipping had faded to sepia and in it I was diving for a ball, mouth open, fully outstretched. He beamed over the photo, in his gruff way. These memories often have a soundtrack of the hard clicks of skate blades on ice and the crashing of padded bodies against board and Plexiglas.

My granddad, Canadian born with Irish-American parents, played center for the Moose Jaw Canucks junior hockey league in 1941. He was on his way to a professional hockey career. But at age sixteen, after his brother Roger sank with the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor, he quit hockey to join the Canadian army to support the efforts of World War II. He had to lie about his age to join. He was promptly kicked out when it was discovered six months later. He then traveled to Michigan where his parents’ family was from, and with a note from his father he joined the Marines Corp at seventeen. At nineteen, he landed on the shores of Iwo Jima.

As the Los Angeles Kings were making their miracle run to the Stanley Cup finals, I was unexpectedly excited. I am loyal to L.A. teams for sure, but I felt a deep tie to hockey. Except for a couple fans at the gym, I knew no one truly interested in talking about it. So I called my granddad. He’s been a Kings fan since they came to Los Angeles in 1967, coincidentally the year I was born.

He’s almost eighty-seven now. Over the years, I’ve spoken to him on the phone irregularly in short, polite conversations. I know he is not well and he tries to hide the persistent cough that laces his still commanding voice. When I called him last week, I bypassed our usual small talk and said, “How about those Kings!”  His voice lit up as he rattled off every stat regarding the team’s road to the finals. I said, “I was thinking about coming over to watch game three with you tomorrow night.” I hadn’t seen him in years. He boomed, “That’s a great idea.” The upswing in his intonation touched me.

His once six-two frame has withered considerably, by many inches. His shoulders are nonexistent. His chest is sunken in. But he still has a presence. He still has a full head of hair. That day, his clothes were neat. His small house was spotless and now the entire place was a shrine to all things Marine Corp, not just the den. I recognized many things hanging on the walls. An oil painting of him in his dress blues. His framed Purple Heart. A black and white photo of him in a pressed khaki uniform, sporting a crazy twisted moustache that would be considered hip by today’s standards. I could hear the hockey game already in procession in the background.

“Get me a drink, will ya?” He said, sitting in a big, cozy chair twenty feet from the hanging flat screen. In front of him was an ashtray with a cigar. I poured him two fingers of eighteen year old scotch. “You can see the TV from there?” I asked. He wore no glasses. “Sure,” he said. “There’s seven minutes left in the period and that Doughty has the puck.” He’s hard on Doughty. He’s hard on all of them, he can’t help himself. I noticed a poster of the six men raising the flag at Iwo Jima. He has many things Iwo Jima since he personally witnessed the flag being raised, but this poster was signed by about thirty soldiers who had fought that battle, including signatures from the flag raisers who survived. “Is that original?” I asked, ogling the poster. “Yup,” he said.

Instead of sitting on the couch, I sat on a small stool embroidered with the eagle, globe, and anchor that butted up against his chair. With the game on, which I could barely see myself, and over the sounds of scraping skates on ice, I started asking him questions about being a Marine, being a hockey player, about our family in Ireland. He asked me if I still had the newspaper picture of me as a goalie, which he had given me years ago. “I do,” I told him. I wasn’t sure if my many questions would piss him off, but he gladly recanted story after story, including his first date with my grandmother. He had taken her to a hockey game and a slap shot had sailed over the boards and smacked her in the knee. She was the one for him, handpicked by the hockey gods themselves.

I watched the desperate play between the Kings and the Devils. I watched Quick squat down so low and make saves so instinctually. I listened to my granddad yell at the screen, “Hit ‘im for Christ’s sake!” And quietly, I rooted so hard for them. Not necessarily out of loyalty to the L.A. team, but because I wanted them to win The Cup for my granddad. He had hung up his skates at sixteen – as a child – to lay his life on the line and serve our country. And for forty-five years, he has been a diehard Kings fan, a team that has never won the Stanley Cup and by all intents and purposes should not have made this year’s finals. I felt the Kings owed him this. It’s like he’s been holding out to see it, finally. It would piss him off if I were to bring up anything that metaphorically sentimental. He would ask me what the hell I was mumbling on about. Instead I decided to simply sit back on the Marine Corp stool and enjoy what the Kings had already restored.

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