How much strength & endurance do you need to play hockey? Compared to other sports?

[CarpeNoctem]

D and Forward uses different muscle groups IMO. Skating backward works out the muscle near your glutes more, while forward skating works the muscles on the top of the thigh and inside groin area the most.

 

[gatorcali21]

I think it is a different type of endurance. And strength. I'm a mid level beer leaguer and am known for speed and endurance (but not skill). I recently trained and finished an ironman triathlon. I took a month off from hockey to train, and recently returned. I found out a few things. From all the leg training, in spite of dropping 25 lbs, my leg strength was stronger in front of the net and wasn't pushed around as easily. I also found that my speed decreased. My arrogance got the best of me and I thought my endurance would blow the rest out of the water. I was dead wrong. I was exhausted by the 2nd period. It's a completely different type of endurance.

 

[WaltWhitman]

A 2 page thread of this guy arguing about something he has never even done once... Is this for real?

Ignorance is bliss.

 

[BladesofSTEELwFIRE]

Ignorance is bliss.

It's not that. You don't need to play to know basic facts. The 2 greatest players EVER had awful fitness! Lemieux ccouldn't even bench 180 as an 18 year old! There are junior high kids who can do that! He also couldn't finish a 3 mile run! In 6th grade I ran 3 miles! Gretzky said he ALWAYS came in last in strength and endurance tests on the Oilers.

Also Lemieux was a heavy smoker and ate McDonald's regularly during his first few years in the NHL but STILL was world class! So it's obvious you don't need a lot of strength OR endurance to even be a world class hockey player!

 

[CarpeNoctem]

It's not that. You don't need to play to know basic facts. The 2 greatest players EVER had awful fitness! Lemieux ccouldn't even bench 180 as an 18 year old! There are junior high kids who can do that! He also couldn't finish a 3 mile run! In 6th grade I ran 3 miles! Gretzky said he ALWAYS came in last in strength and endurance tests on the Oilers.

Also Lemieux was a heavy smoker and ate McDonald's regularly during his first few years in the NHL but STILL was world class! So it's obvious you don't need a lot of strength OR endurance to even be a world class hockey player!

To say you sound ignorant is putting it mildly. You're isolating rarities, e.g. hockey BARELY uses the pectoralis in comparison to other muscle groups. Lemieux probably had tremendous back strength, or you can come watch me do bent over rows over 275 and call me weak because I bench only 175? Stupidity dude.

Cardio also depends on your style of play and how your coach uses you. He doesn't need to jog 10 miles, 2 is plenty. Hockey is mostly ANAEROBIC.

 

[Siamese Dream]

It's not that. You don't need to play to know basic facts. The 2 greatest players EVER had awful fitness! Lemieux ccouldn't even bench 180 as an 18 year old! There are junior high kids who can do that! He also couldn't finish a 3 mile run! In 6th grade I ran 3 miles! Gretzky said he ALWAYS came in last in strength and endurance tests on the Oilers.

Also Lemieux was a heavy smoker and ate McDonald's regularly during his first few years in the NHL but STILL was world class! So it's obvious you don't need a lot of strength OR endurance to even be a world class hockey player!

You didn't, in the 80's or 90's

Using retired players from a different era as examples doesn't prove your point

 

[BladesofSTEELwFIRE]

One of the Pens trainers asked Lemieux to come on a 3 mile run and Lemieux dropped out after a mile and a half so he couldn't even do a 2 mile run which is beyond pathetic and I'm a HUGE Lemieux fan! Back in the day I got every book and video on him and I found out his fitness was awful till about the early 90s. After he got cancer he started to get wise but even during his best ever 199 point season his fitness and diet were horrid!

And I REALLY doubt he had this amazing back strength. Even rec league hockey players have told me you don't need much upper body strength to play hockey which explains why he was so weak yet still a world class player!

 

[CarpeNoctem]

You literally have no clue what the hell you're talking about. First off, you made up your mind after a few bits of anecdotal evidence from 20+ years ago and secondly, you never played.

Why do you think guys who were great stink after not having played for a few years? Did they forget how? Jesus, someone please lock this insulting stupidity. Go get your rear-end on the ice for a few hours, see how you do. Even if you study all the videos and read the books on technique, skating, shooting etc, it won't work right. You won't have the requisite conditioning and strength. It's not random chance ffs.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

I'd be shocked if nhl players smoked anything besides goalies during the season.

Carey Price and Alex Semin smoke, and probably a few others. I know for sure that some of the older players from the Soviet Union like Sergei Zubov smoked a lot.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

You didn't, in the 80's or 90's

Using retired players from a different era as examples doesn't prove your point

Young Lemieux would destroy the league right now. He'd be much better than Crosby.

 

[BladesofSTEELwFIRE]

Young Lemieux would destroy the league right now. He'd be much better than Crosby.

I totally agree.

But he could destroy the league without even being able run 3 miles or bench 180 while smoking and eating junk just like he did in the 80s!

I totally agree that playing ice hockey is a very difficult skill that takes years to master. But the reality is it doesn't take much strength or endurance! I ran track for years and my track coach would've literally kicked us off the team if we kept sitting down every 60 seconds! THAT DESTROYS CARDIOVASCULAR FITNESS!

If any of you guys have ran track or cross country the number 1 rule is DON'T SIT DOWN when you are finished running! You strengthen the heart, increase cardiac output and ejection fraction by standing instead of sitting!

 

[predfan24]

Hockey shape does not equal running shape is one thing I've learned over the past 10 years. The best way to increase endurance on the ice is by skating and running sprints has been what I found. Being a good 3 mile runner isn't going to do it.

 

[Goonzilla]

The sprint stuff will aid in the on ice endurance or stamina, but running the three miles is what aids in your recovery on the bench to be ready for your next shift.

 

[predfan24]

The sprint stuff will aid in the on ice endurance or stamina, but running the three miles is what aids in your recovery on the bench to be ready for your next shift.

I disagree; 30 second sprints followed by 90 seconds rest has given me the best results as far as on ice performance and recovery goes as it mimics a hockey shift.

I have been a runner as well running 4-5 + miles (moderate pace) 4-5x a week before and the sprinting was far more effective as it translated into hockey.

 

[mattkaminski15]

Young Lemieux would destroy the league right now. He'd be much better than Crosby.

Not necessarily true. The speed of the game is a hell of a lot higher, and the demand for multiple skill points is also higher.

Also, watch footage of games from back as far as you can go and watch how different the skating ability from players is.

He might have been the great Lemieux but that doesn't mean his skill set would fit that required of nhl players today.

There was an article i read about Gretzky and how if he were in the nhl today he wouldn't be able to compete because he wasn't up to part with the physical standards.. He didn't shoot very hard, he was fast but there are skaters today that would make him look like a snail i wish i could find a link id love to share it with you guys.

Personally i have no opinion on what would happen if Gretzky or Lemieux were in the nhl today, not sure what to expect.

Just realize that this isn't the 80s where players could smoke a pack of cigarettes and eat a box of doughnuts and go play..

 

[BladesofSTEELwFIRE]

But Matt, if LeMagnifique and the Great One were in the NHL today wouldn't they have the diet and fitness standards that today's players have?

Just like how in the 80s it was normal for players to smoke and eat McDonald's every day now the normal is very different.

I agree both Lemieux and Gretzky had awful fitness and they admit it! So if you brought those exact 2 same players back their numbers wouldn't be as high.

 

[RandV]

I totally agree that playing ice hockey is a very difficult skill that takes years to master. But the reality is it doesn't take much strength or endurance! I ran track for years and my track coach would've literally kicked us off the team if we kept sitting down every 60 seconds! THAT DESTROYS CARDIOVASCULAR FITNESS!

If any of you guys have ran track or cross country the number 1 rule is DON'T SIT DOWN when you are finished running! You strengthen the heart, increase cardiac output and ejection fraction by standing instead of sitting!

Why do boxers & mma fighters sit down between rounds?

 

[BladesofSTEELwFIRE]

Why do boxers & mma fighters sit down between rounds?

Probably because they are getting CONSTANTLY hit and beat on. That doesn't apply to running or hockey. Unless you are Bob Probert!

 

[nystromshairstylist]

I am beginning to re-evaluate my training/workouts.

Starting about 2 years ago to be as fast as humanly possible - a human version of a cheetah on the ice so to speak - I focused on items purely to increase my speed:

1) do 100% pure cardio - I don't do any weight training of any kind - with intense cycling and doing the P90X videos on cardio, plyo and core.

2) dropped my weight to 165 lbs to get to a BMI of 24

3) Use a rather flat hollow relative to my weight of 5/8ths for maximum glide/speed

4) Focused exclusively on improving skating and passing - rarely on shooting during stick and pucks - to be more impactful in gameplay

I took these steps as i play in non-checking men's league, and as a forward felt that speed and skating were the most important aspects as opposed to physical strength, where I'd imagine I'd come in close to last on my team. Also felt that the added muscle weight would slow me down as I wanted to be as fast as possible on the ice, but am now wondering if there would be some benefit to introducing some weight training.

 

[deansredhalo]

Figured I would chip in...I'm a fairly big guy, 6-1, 220ish and I'm in what I would consider to be high above average if not excellent shape. I'm a hardcore Crossfitter if that's any indication; I'm extremely strong, but also very fit so I'm not just a big ball of muscle sucking up oxygen out there.

I've played almost every sport you can think of: baseball, football, soccer, was a sprinter in track and even rec volleyball. I took Brazilian jiu-jitsu and trained in MMA for a couple years until concussions finally forced me out.

Right now I play mid-level rec league hockey and I will say this -- there is only one sport I've played that makes me more fully exhausted after an ordinary game/match than hockey (it was MMA). There are some hockey games where I will be more tired than I am after an intense CF workout.

It's constant explosive, almost plyometric movements with tons of quick changes in directions and starts/stops. It wears you out. You may not realize it, but it does.

Also, just to say this one thing -- whoever made the comment about their puck skills fading as they get tired, man you are so right. I have the same troubles. As the game goes late into the third I will struggle to just carry the puck lol.

The standard of play and the standard of athlete has drastically improved in hockey, as it naturally has in all sports. A decade ago a 220 lb WR in football would be an unheard of, almost unhuman monster running around and now you can find guys that size on almost every college squad who can run and are athletic.

Having said all that, hockey is still not so much about size, strength as much as it is your downright skill. I'm big and strong and fast, but I'm not ashamed to admit I will get downright smoked by a much smaller guy who has been playing longer than me simply because his skill is 5x what mine is lol.

Where all that stuff comes together and when you have a guy who is a big specimen who is also skilled...watch out.

TL;DR Hockey is hard; not as hard physically taxing as MMA, but still incredibly draining.

TL;DR PS Doesn't matter how big, strong, or even fast you are if you suck at the fundamentals. Skill is important.

 

[mattkaminski15]

But Matt, if LeMagnifique and the Great One were in the NHL today wouldn't they have the diet and fitness standards that today's players have?

Just like how in the 80s it was normal for players to smoke and eat McDonald's every day now the normal is very different.

I agree both Lemieux and Gretzky had awful fitness and they admit it! So if you brought those exact 2 same players back their numbers wouldn't be as high.

I guess theres two ways to look at it..

If we took the Lemieux you all watched(i was too young lol) and put him in the nhl today, hed get stomped.

If you took Lemieux and gave him the same fitness regimen that nhl players go through hed still be a stud..

Just depends how you look at it i guess

 

[WaltWhitman]

Hockey players sit down during a game because the point of a game isn't to burn the maximum amount of calories.

Like how soccer players stand around half the time, in a game, when they could theoretically be running and burning more calories.

 

[ORLY]

More than your opponents

 

[wils5150]

If you are playing pro or olympic hockey (women) you are in shape period.

 

[JR97]

And I REALLY doubt he had this amazing back strength. Even rec league hockey players have told me you don't need much upper body strength to play hockey which explains why he was so weak yet still a world class player!

You really need to qualify but what you mean as "upper body". Pecs and arms, not at all. But to skate with power and properly and hold your own in the corner you do need solid core strength much of which is the back.

I have a history of back issues and I can tell you right off the bat that you do need back strength. Maybe not "amazing" back strength but you can't be a weekend warrior and expect to take a bump even from a runt like me and expect to stay on your feet without core strength and balance. I don't care how big you are.

Have you ever watched rec league hockey? You better find out what division your rec league fitness experts play in.