Hockey player at the gym...

[Hockeylover]

I signed up for a year to a gym last May. I went only 3 times! Always a good reason: Too cold, too hot, too late, too tired, blah blah blah... The good news is that there are several months left to my subscription! What exercises should I do?

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[ALF AmericanLionsFan]

I signed up for a year to a gym last May. I went only 3 times! Always a good reason: Too cold, too hot, too late, too tired, blah blah blah... The good news is that there are several months left to my subscription! What exercises should I do?

A good one to start with would be to walk through the doors!!!!

 

[pitthockey81]

Do some research online for weightlifting. You'll find routines you can use to get started. Don't just focus on one body part when lifting, because you can't neglect the rest of your body. A safe bet though, is to just focus on strengthening your core, especially if you do not plan on investing much time in the gym.

 

[ALF AmericanLionsFan]

What you really need to do is get yourself in the gym. Watch what others do and ask questions. You'll be able to find out pretty quickly who knows what they are talking about and who doesn't and who knows how to workout and who doesn't. Find exercises that fit into what you want to accomplish,but always remember to train your whole body and not just certain areas. Everything is built off of the other.

 

[stu the grim reaper]

dont get carried away with building upper body mass; youll raise your center of gravity
also your abdominals are of supreme importance
and plyometrics are great for hockey players

 

[stu the grim reaper]

always remember to train your whole body and not just certain areas. Everything is built off of the other.

very true!

 

[The Tikkanen]

Only do 1 body part at a time. Chest 1 day, arms 1 day, shoulders 1 day and legs 1 day. You can do abs almost every day since they are a smaller muscle and recover quickly. Do not just use machines, use machines and free weights. If you don't know anything about lifting weights I suggest hiring a trainer and let them show you the way you need to lift weights so that you don't get hurt or are wasting your time by doing it totally wrong. And don't wear spandex.

 

[Kamsa]

What I do is a Monday to Friday routine, I do chest on monday, back tuesday, shoulders wednesday, arms thursday, legs friday. The biggest thing if u are just starting at the gym is to have a training partner, that way he can push you to go.

 

[toroytorero]

here ya go http://hockeyschoolonline.com/ this site is awesome for ideas on workout routines circuits etc etc and some other useful info

 

[LordHelmet]

The #1 movement is squats, but you've gotta learn proper form. Get an experienced lifter or trainer to help you out.

Once you get comfortable with the proper movement, work on increasing the amount of weight you can do. A good initial goal is to squat your body weight for 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps. Assuming you stick with a good program of training, recovery, and diet you should be able to reach that goal pretty quickly.

As you work up to that point, you should start to notice a marked difference in your skating. With stronger legs, you can acheive a deeper knee bend which is critical for a good stride.

In addition to squats, core (i.e. abs & lower back) movements are important too. There are a variety of movements that'll hit these spots. Find what works for you and stick with it.

Flexibility is often overlooked. Spend some time stretching your legs. You'll be able to extend your skating stride more, and will be better able to maintain your balance on the ice.

Some cardio training is beneficial as well. Interval training program will closely the pattern of short shifts in a hockey game and it burns lots of calories. If you're on the ice for hard practices or games 3-4 times per week, a seperate cardio program probably isn't necessary. If you're a beer leaguer with 1 or 2 games a week, a little bit of cardio is probably a good idea.

Upper body work doesn't really benefit your skating, but will contribute to your overall level of fitness and strength. If you've got the time, do it, but only after you've done the more important things.

Plyometrics are helpful, but it's important to establish a base level of fitness, strength & flexibility before you start a plyo program.

 

[Icicle]

First thing to do is to MAKE SURE YOU GO! I have absolutely no free time in my life, but I manage to go early in the morning before school three days a week. If something happens, like today, where I worked late the night before and slept through my alarm in the morning, I just have to make it up later that night, even if that means it has to be after practice and my workout has to be significantly cut down. No excuses should be the rule.


As for lifting.. getting a trainer would be a good idea. Make sure he is an athletic trainer though, not a weightlifter. You're not there to look buff, you're there to build your hockey muscles.

Stay far far away from the machines. Do your free-weights instead whenever (which should be always) possible. Machines don't develope the full-range of muscles and balance is key in hockey. When I first started working out, after I could finally see some results, I noticed I lost much of my balance because my body changed its figure and I was missing some very small muscles. Took me almost a month to correct.

For your lifts: You want explosiveness, not endurance. Make sure you are doing fairly low reps high weight exercises. Stay away from the bike or the tredmill. You shouldn't be on those things for any longer than the 5-minute warm-up. You're not trying to cut every ounce of fat on you. You're a hockey player, you need to be able to tolerate the cold. Leave the dieting and jogging to the zero self-esteem women.


I also reccomend this book. It has many lifts and a whole lot of other information in it. I started reading it a couple months after my trainer already started me on my work-out. I ended up seeing where he was going with me and finally was able to take over for myself. There's always guys in the gym who can help you on your form if you're unsure. Even at 4 in the morning.

Strength, Conditioning, and Injury Prevention For Hockey by Joseph M. Horrigan, D.C., and E. J. "Doc" Kreis, D.A.



edit: As for people above saying do 1 body part a day, I tend to be cautious about that. Each day you might want to focus on one part of the body, but make sure you're moving everything else. You can push your abs one day, but go easy on them the next two. Maybe use a weight when you're crunching on a ball one day, and go without a weight the other days just to make sure you're still flexing it. And for a personal note: My favorite lifts involve my lower back. Anything that strengthens that makes me feel MUCH better the next day. No matter how stressed or tired I am, after a few weeks of working out anything and everything seems much easier. Especially your hockey game, since all the muscles you don't give any attention in your game catch up, your body is ready to progress all over the board faster.

 

[Hank19]

Go to www.abcbodybuilding.com. This site is absolutely incredible for giving tips on training, nutrition and information.

I've been working out for 10 years now but after finding this website I realised that I've been doing so many things wrong for so many years.

And like everyone else here is saying, just DO IT! Don't make any excuses. I don't care what everyone says, everybody has at least one hour 4 days a week to work out.
Because of my current lifestyle (married, one kid, long commute) I need to work out in the mornings. I go four days a week at 5:00 am. So nobody can say "There's not enough time in the day".

I read an interesting stat that said that 50% of people that start working out quite within the first 6 months. But those that make it past 6 months will continue working out for at least 3 years.

If you can find a buddy to go with, even better.

Congradulations on deciding to change your life. Not many people can or will do it, but you will thank yourself in the long run.
Good luck!!

 

[Hockeylover]

Go to www.abcbodybuilding.com. This site is absolutely incredible for giving tips on training, nutrition and information.

I've been working out for 10 years now but after finding this website I realised that I've been doing so many things wrong for so many years.

And like everyone else here is saying, just DO IT! Don't make any excuses. I don't care what everyone says, everybody has at least one hour 4 days a week to work out.
Because of my current lifestyle (married, one kid, long commute) I need to work out in the mornings. I go four days a week at 5:00 am. So nobody can say "There's not enough time in the day".

I read an interesting stat that said that 50% of people that start working out quite within the first 6 months. But those that make it past 6 months will continue working out for at least 3 years.

If you can find a buddy to go with, even better.

Congradulations on deciding to change your life. Not many people can or will do it, but you will thank yourself in the long run.
Good luck!!

5AM? That's something!!! I am going to start reading this thread. I don't want to look like Mr. Universe, but just want a work-out that will improve my speed, agility and endurance in hockey. I want to be able to play hockey in my 60's.

 

[Hank19]

5AM? That's something!!! I am going to start reading this thread. I don't want to look like Mr. Universe, but just want a work-out that will improve my speed, agility and endurance in hockey. I want to be able to play hockey in my 60's.

LOL! I'm never going to be mistaken for Mr.Universe either but my workouts have helped my game immensly. I've really been working hard on building my legs the past year and I can't tell you how much it's helped.

Good luck! You'll love the changes to your body and mind. I know I feel so fresh after a good morning workout.

Cheers!!!

 

[Jysk]

Well it takes time and a lot off effort to gain muscle mass and jou dont have to worry about looking like mr universe( i am a bodybuilder so i know). Ask the gym about a trainer ( all gyms have one) and have him or her make you a program four your body.

Good luck

 

[Hockeylover]

dont get carried away with building upper body mass; youll raise your center of gravity
also your abdominals are of supreme importance
and plyometrics are great for hockey players

Plyometrics... I have just ordered some videos on the subject from my local library. I look forward to taking a look at them. Thanks.

 

[Kestrel]

As others have mentioned, it's good to do each body part once a week, on different days. Unfortunately, I've never really done ice hockey, so I don't know how to optimize a routine for that - I was just a strength/bulk lifter, but maybe the breakdown I used to do will help.

Monday - back and chest
Tuesday - abs - very important
wednesday - arms
thursday - off
friday - legs
saturday - shoulders
Sunday - off

I did a running/cardio program on top of that. It's a good idea to keep a day between your shoulder routine and your arm and back/chest routines, because your arm and back/chest routines will use your shoulders as secondary muscles - the day between will keep your shoulders fresh so they will respond better to your shoulder routine.

To really over simplify, for strength and bulk, lots of weight, fewer reps, for toning/endurance you do lighter weights and lots of reps. Doesn't hurt to do a strength program for several weeks, then switch to a toning program for several weeks, and work back and forth, especially if you're worried about building up too much bulk.

That's just a very basic idea - someone at the gym can give you an idea of what exercises to incorporate - from there, you decide how much time a day you want to spend, and what pats of your body you want to hit the hardest.

Last important piece of advice - pay attention to your body, and learn what works! For example - most people shouldn't work out much more than an hour and a half, because they'll exhaust their muscles too much, and limit their gains - I got my biggest gains with 3 hour workouts. If something works really good for you, keep doing it until it isn't working so well, and change up - maybe come back to it later. Oh, and drink LOTS of water.

Good luck.

 

[Hockeylover]

I'm just back from the gym! I've finally got off the chair and paid a visit to the gym. The trainer have us to walk stairs up and down, push-ups, run on one leg, stretch, kick legs, throw legs, etc. If you're not doing anything, he'll scream after you. It's some kind of boot camp, but not that rough. They understand that not every one of us is in good shape. They don't want to scare you, but to force you to go beyond your limits. I would even wish they were harder on me. Maybe I should join the army? I would get more than I asked for! I will have that kind of boot camp four times a week plus two ball hockey games. One thing's for sure, I'm going to reach a new level of physical shape. With that new shape, I think I'm going to become -finally- an average player of Tiers 4.

 

[in the hall]

for hockey specific?

i would say work your legs

do basic compound exercises to get an all around workout since i assume you're not looking to build your body to look good just to improve on strength for the sport

for legs you can do squats, leg press, lunges, stiff legged deadlifts's
i would also work my arms/forearms and do heavy deadlifts

like posted above do research or ask this in a place that can help you better (fitness board)

endurance is another thing you should work on, that doesn't mean using the stationary bike for an hour each day as you will probably lose the muscle you've been trying to add more then anything

 

[Hockeylover]

I'm back from the gym again! Two visits in two nights! Tonight I did trademills for 15 minutes, and I was in the pool for 20 minutes. I swam and I made some Aquafit. I have alot of pain in the calf. It will disappear in the next few days, I guess. I saw a class of Pilates tonight. I did not go because I did not want to cause any more pain to my calf. But Pilates is going to be great for my legs from what I can see.

Tomorrow, our ball hockey team rent the rink for two hours. We are finally going to show people how to play hockey. The focus, I hope, will be on man covering in the defense zone and how to position the players in the offense zone. We'll keep 20 minutes at the end to simulate a game. We'll see if we can put all together what we have learned. PRIORITY 1: To stop the mass confusion in our defense zone. We gave sooooo many goals because the other team had men uncovered in front of the net. It looks like the centermen will be under great scrunity tomorrow.

 

[MiZZZike*]

Anything below your chest and above your knees.