Hockey Strength and Conditioning Classic: The Essential Components of a Strength Training Program

I had a coach in the gym last week that wanted to observe the training that we were doing.  After about 10 minutes he approached me and informed me that he only does "hardcore training and none of this functional stuff".  So I thought it was a good idea to revisit some of the essentials.

For a strength training program to be successful it must meet certain criteria. It must provide the player with power. The program needs lower body strength training exercises that are both knee dominant and hip dominant. The majority of these exercises should be performed in a single leg fashion. Upper body strength training exercises for both pushing and pulling movements are important. Again, unilateral training is big here. Lastly, the program should be followed to the letter. Attention to detail is vital. Execution matters a great deal.

There are several different ways to train power. It can be trained with heavy weights using Olympic lifts, jump squats, and kettle bell swings. Also, it can be trained with very light implements such as medicine balls. The medicine balls can be used for many different throwing patterns such as rotational throws, overhead throws, chops and slams. Power can also be trained with no external weights at all. This is done with different jumping, bounding, and sprinting exercises.

Knee dominant lower body strength exercises performed on 1 leg are a must. These exercises help build our foundation for speed and explosive ability. They include various types of squats and lunges performed in all planes of movement. Single leg performance is important because this mimics the patterns seen in skating and running.

Hip dominant lower body strength exercises are patterns such as SLDL's, hip bridging on stability balls and suspension trainers, and leg curl exercises lying on the back side. Lying on your back for leg curls is important because it requires the glutes to fire and extend the hips while the hamstring flexes and extends the knee. Again, single leg performance is important here.

For upper body strength exercises it is important to do an equal amount of pushing and pulling. These exercises include variations of bench pressing and over head pressing, and pushups along with chin ups, pull-ups, and row variations. Unilateral loading translates to sports skills so don't be afraid to get out from under the barbell and grad a dumbbell.

The better the exercises are performed the greater their benefits will be. Pay close attention to detail here. I don't care as much about how much you can lift as how you lift.