The Need for Change: How to Vary the 'Big Rocks' of Your Program
Multi-Planar Movement for Power and Athleticism
Too often in my programming, I have come to use the same movements over and over again: box jump, skater jump, hurdle hop, medball slam, medball side tosses, etc.
These are great (even fundamental) exercises of a program for building power, whether it's a stand-alone movement or paired with a strength exercise as a potentiation complex, but lately I had begun to question whether I needed to make changes. After all, hockey is a free-flowing sport. It is played on a 200-foot frictionless surface with players bundled in all sorts of equipment, feet locked in a boot, sticks that could be considered weapons elsewhere, and a little vulcanized rubber puck bouncing around. Because of this, I needed to incorporate a broader range of exercises.
The Topic of Sport Specificity
Sport specificity shouldn't be tying bands around hockey sticks and mimicking faceoff draws. On the other hand, you can't remain solely in the sagittal plane by completing a front squat one day and trap bar deadlift the next. As a coach it's a constant battle to find a happy medium. The basics need to be the foundation of a program and touched on frequently, but not to the point of burnout. Training should meet the demands of sport without becoming something that looks like skill work. Implementing new exercises has played an important role to balance this.
Do single leg mini hops into a skater jump perfectly mimic angles and movement on the ice? No.
Can it teach the athlete to quickly explode in the opposite direction from their momentum? Yes.
Does shuffling and throwing a medball look exactly like something done during the middle of the game? No.
Is it a good way to replicate the strength and power needed for a battle in the corner, then quickly releasing off the boards? Yes.
With these new jumps, medball throws, and sprints we are working through different planes of motion and applying force in numerous directions to build power and athleticism. All of this equates to a better athlete who has been exposed to a wider variety of movement. This will support performance and injury prevention.
We know from an abundance of research (1,2) how overuse injuries in hockey cause players to miss time. The same is likely true in the weight room: if you stay boxed in to the same movements, it could lead to injury. At the very least, adding new variations can also help to prevent boredom, which as any coach knows, can't be understated. Varying exercises increase motivation to train for physically active individuals (3). On top of that, research notes that changes in exercises for active individuals is more efficient for producing strength gains (4). All to say, variation can spur new progress while preventing injury.
Variation Case Study: New Movements in My Programs
MB Push Shuffle Toss - Youtube
Hurdle Jumps (Fwd-Lat-Fwd-Lat-Fwd) - YouTube
SL Mini Hurdle- Mini Hurdle- Skater Jump - YouTube
Variation is healthy, especially when the changes are well thought out and included as part of a long term program. We're not just throwing darts at a board and hoping something sticks. Each change has a reason behind it.
Programming Considerations
Game schedules are different for almost every league, from Juniors, NCAA, AHL, or NHL. I have always worked backwards from game dates to build out a plan for the weight room. Working in the AHL's north division, many weeks we play Wednesday-Friday-Saturday. Knowing the schedule can give you a look into what this week typically looks like from a strength and conditioning perspective:
Sunday - Off
Monday - Lift
Tuesday - Power Complex + Mobility
Wednesday - Game
Thursday- Recovery
Friday - Game
Saturday - Game
With this schedule, there are 4 potential areas these new movements can show up:
- Lift: As a standalone exercise or complex immediately after the warm-up, but before moving in to our strength exercises.
- Lift: Paired with a strength exercise, as part of a post-action potentiation complex.
- Power Day: Typically, the day before a game we will keep things low in volume, high in velocity. So these movements again show up to match the theme for the day.
- Gameday: If the morning skate is optional, I will usually have a couple athletes ask me for something to get them moving in the weight room. Players have noted the variety of jumps and medball throws can give them a feeling of explosiveness/readiness for the game later in the evening.
Keep in mind I typically only get 20-30 minutes a session, and warm-up time is included in that. We try to accomplish something every day, and micro dosing these movements has been a big asset. Our set/rep ranges reflect both time constraints and a desire to keep our athletes fresh.
For an off-season program, our multi-planar movements can represent a needed progression in a phase. If we have worked through the beginning of our off-season and coached up things such as non-countermovement jumps, basic medball throws, and short sprints, then it's possible to begin to tie things together.
For example: When working on a power complex, we can combine our skater jumps with a medball lateral toss instead of keeping them as separate exercises. Now not only am I adding a load to my jump by holding the medball, but the athlete must learn to express power while turning on a dime. Below is a video example:
Skater Jump to MB Lateral Toss - YouTube
About Nate
Nathan Williams has been the strength and conditioning coach of the Utica Comets, AHL affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks, since 2019. Prior to joining the Comets he was the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Lake Superior State University, overseeing the D1 hockey team and all D2 sports. There, he was the first full time strength coach in the school's history. His previous stops in the field include work with the St. Louis Blues, University of Nebraska-Omaha, Miami (OH) University, Missouri State University, and Eastern Michigan University.
Website: nathanwilliamstrength.com
Instagram: @NateWilliamsSC
Twitter: @NateWilliamsSC
References
- Bruner, R., Bizzini, M., Niedermann, K., & Maffiuletti, N. A. (2020). Epidemiology of Traumatic and Overuse Injuries in Swiss Professional Male Ice Hockey Players. Orthopedic Journal of Sports Medicine, 8(2).
- Nordstrom, A., Bahr, R., Talsnas, O., & Clarsen, B. (2020). Prevalence and Burden of Health Problems in Male Elite Ice Hockey Players: A Prospective Study in the Norwegian Professional League. Orthopedic Journal of Sports Medicine, 8(2).
- Baz-Valle, E., Schoenfeld, B. J., Torres-Unda, J., & Balsalobre-Fernandez, C. (2019). The effects of exercise variation in muscle thickness, maximal strength and motivation in resistance trained men. PLoS One, 14(12).
- Fonseca, R. M., Roschel, H., Tricoli, V., De Souza, E. O., Wilson, J. M., Laurentino, G. C., . . . Ugrinowitsch, C. (2014). Changes in exercises are more effective than in loading schemes to improve muscle strength. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 28(11), 3085-3092.
