Good hockey exercises for an old guy.

[bOILing point]

hi, im 37. ive played hockey for 32yrs. My legs and speed are gone! Im eating well and my nutrition is good. Im looking for some good advice and exercises that are hockey specific. When i played nobody trained but i figured you young snipers must have a wealth of good stuff.
I know noone can beat father time but trust me there is room for improvement. i want to lose 15pnds and figured id do it doing what we all love.

p.s. some of you guys gave esome great stuff for my son and i to do this summer and its worked out great! Not just his game but our relationship is better. I even directed some of my player/dad combos to this site to read your suggestions! ty.

Click to read more...

 

[beth]

I'm no expert - but I recently went to a stick and puck session with my kids, and spent a large amount of time pulling them around the ice for fun (them sliding on their knees or bellies, holding onto a couple of sticks). It killed my legs, but in my most recent game, I skated way faster than I'd ever had before! So I'm thinking resistance training is the way to go.

 

[jwitz04]

I'm no expert - but I recently went to a stick and puck session with my kids, and spent a large amount of time pulling them around the ice for fun (them sliding on their knees or bellies, holding onto a couple of sticks). It killed my legs, but in my most recent game, I skated way faster than I'd ever had before! So I'm thinking resistance training is the way to go.

agreed! you need to find a stick and puck session to bring your kids to, and then slide them on their bellies up and down the ice. make sure to slide them approximately 15-20 times each way while laying flat in the belly down position. Every 20 belly slides up the ice you should take a 5 minute stamina break, however you are to do this throughout the whole duration of the stick and puck session. You will notice as this will greatly increase your ambidexterity along with your stickhandling, and your snapshot.

 

[LyNX27]

^ Lol. I would say stretching.

 

[rinkrat22]

buy a kettlebell. google some workouts. check out some youtube videos for kettlebell training. rinse and repeat. enjoy your new found strength.

edit: I'm 39 and love it when the college kids home for summer think I must be under 30.

 

[mooseOAK*]

I use the exercise bike with weights on my feet and that helps both the leg strength and the cardiovascular.

 

[ktang]

Squats, power cleans, and deadlifts. I'm 44 and these exercises have helped me a lot.

 

[Gino 14]

buy a kettlebell. google some workouts. check out some youtube videos for kettlebell training. rinse and repeat. enjoy your new found strength.

edit: I'm 39 and love it when the college kids home for summer think I must be under 30.

I'll second that motion, except I'm over 50. Back issues have diminished, cardio is better and overall strength and conditioning is much better. Just remember to practice your form, it's critical to continued usage.

 

[Nighthock]

breathing

 

[nullterm]

Find a steep hill and sprint up it as fast as you can. Repeat.

Worked for Walter Payton.

I've also done the same with rollerblades, resistance the whole way.

 

[bOILing point]

thanks guys! appreciate it as always. Good to see im not the only player past his "prime" still loving the game.

 

[Wease]

I've been playing since I was 12 (16 on indoor rinks) and I'm 37. At 26 (when I left the military) I began to put on a lot of weight, over 90 pounds in 8 years. A desk job and not working out just killed me. Also killed my game. I still had the hands, but no more speed and stamina.

So 3+ years ago I began to really focus on losing weight and getting my game back. I hit the gym doing just some light strength training, stationary bike, and elliptical. No light workouts, I really worked hard in there and I still do. I also began to watch what I ate. 86 pounds later, I'm nearly the player I was (if not better) than I was at 26. I too get mistaken for much younger than I really am. I rarely get tired on the ice and have no problems keeping up with kids 20 years younger than me.

So to sum up, some really good cardio will help out your stamina in a big way...

 

[Badger36]

Squats, Romanian deadlifts, balancing on 1 foot and cardio. Stick and puck is great but it means nothing if your body cant perform.

 

[ComradeChris]

Elliptical is good for starting out. Burns lots of calories and is low stress on your body; much less tension on your joints than running on a treadmill. Squats are good, but can be a pain in the ass; leg curls, leg extensions, and hack squats are the way to go. Do some core training too... like laying down with a medicine ball and moving it side to side as fast as you can with your abs. Speed, acceleration come from your legs; agility and balance come from your core.

 

[Gibson19]

Dot drills, Box drills, Sprints will help good with your leg speed.

Mixed in with exercise bike, or actual bike for low impact cardio training.

As I'm sure your aware, you want your legs to be like trees, but bicep curls and stuff like that is not as beneficial as wrist and forearm exercises and core exercises.

 

[Guffaw]

Good info guys and no you aren't the only one!

I'm 38 and have been playing again for only a few months after a 16 year layoff since college ended. It's getting better, but man the legs and stamina just aren't there especially if we're only rolling 2 lines in a 90 minute session.

I'm open to suggestions. I'm not overweight, 6'2" ~175lbs, but it's like I have no strength/stamina in my legs.

I just recently incorporated squats and lunges into my workouts so I'm hoping that will help, but it's too early to tell. Obviously keeping your weight down, stretching, sleep, eating well all help.

I realize I'll never be 20 again and my days of having a shot at the pros are long gone! However I want to be the best player I can be.

Any advice appreciated

 

[nullterm]

For stamina, I've taken to just hoping on an exercise bike for 40/50 minutes at a reasonable pace with resistance intervals alternating between easy and hard. My knees have never been all that great, so it's better than the treadmill for impact on the joints.

While my legs are working crazy and my heart is pumping hard for an extended period, I'm also playing chess or sudoku on my iPhone while listening to music. The main reason to also work on being less dumb while at a high level of physical exertion. It's made a big difference.

Alternatively for stamina, go to a public skate and just keep up a solid pace for the whole duration of the session. Or go roller blading or bike for a long stretch.

 

[Sigge]

If you don't have all that much time to work out, I found something that works great for me.

I bought a weighted rope (small weights in the handles), for me it's enough to jump 10-12 minutes.
I started out maybe doing 1-2 minute intervales, which might sound like nothing but just wait until you try it!
After quite some time I've worked myself up to jumping for 5-6 minute intervales, 2-3 reps.

It's awesome for cardio and the weights put's a really nice burn in your shoulder-area as well.
I guess it also builds some muscle in your legs as well, even though you are probably best off mixing in some of the other recommendations posted here if you want to focus on building muscle!

 

[nullterm]

Just went out to follow my own advice. Full throttle sprints up a steep hill near my house here in hilly BC. Great workout, only needed 4 reps till I had enough. Now if you excuse me, gotta go hang my head over the crapper. Ugh.

 

[dannythekid]

I'm not quite that far up in years yet, but even at 27 I'm amazed at how much my energy and stamina has changed. It doesn't help to work a desk job for 40 hrs/week, I could def. afford to lose 25-30 lbs.

Anyways, what about plyometrics or HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)??? I live in a hilly area so I try to switch my normal running days up with hill sprints (pretty hellacious in July heat). Another thing I found to help me out a lot is spinning.

 

[Jarick]

Personally I keep it simple. Lots of routines and workout plans and what not are great for professionals or people who love to work out. I just want to play hockey better.

Hill sprints are amazing. Do that 3x a week and you just get a lot quicker and get more air.

Also if you want to lose weight, I'd focus on cleaning up the diet and losing the weight first. I can tell you that when I clean up my diet and lose 5-10 pounds, my teammates are amazed at the difference.

 

[mfd1068]

Personally I keep it simple. Lots of routines and workout plans and what not are great for professionals or people who love to work out. I just want to play hockey better.

Hill sprints are amazing. Do that 3x a week and you just get a lot quicker and get more air.

Also if you want to lose weight, I'd focus on cleaning up the diet and losing the weight first. I can tell you that when I clean up my diet and lose 5-10 pounds, my teammates are amazed at the difference.

Just be careful with your hill sprints. Its very easy to strain your Achilles tendon. I do power cleans with dumbbells. Great explosive excercise.

 

[nullterm]

Just be careful with your hill sprints. Its very easy to strain your Achilles tendon. I do power cleans with dumbbells. Great explosive excercise.

So far so good. My hamstring felt a bit tight, but stretched it out. I will make an effort to stretch and warmup better before my next sprints.

 

[BogsDiamond]

Squats + HIIT.

Try doing HIIT on a stationary bike for 5 minutes.
You go hard for 20 seconds, then light for 10. Do it for 4-5 minutes and tell me how you feel.

 

[Jarick]

That's basically what I do with hill sprints...run up a hill as fast as I can for 30-45 seconds and then rest a few minutes. Just like hockey. Fast, explosive movement driven by the big muscles in the legs. If you can get to the point that you can do those for 15 minutes, you're going to be in fantastic shape.

Of course, doing strength workouts as well as power skating or overspeed training would help even more...but I don't have the time or money