Who do work more, top soccer leagues' players or nhlers?

Shultzyfeelinirie25

Registered User
Jun 29, 2018
369
250
A lot of Europeans play football right I'm sure they could play a whole game for the most part both consider a lot of lower body strength
 

karlstegger

Registered User
May 15, 2016
329
107
Denmark
If it's footballers, then NHL'ers don't work as hard as I thought. Footballers are pretty spoiled and generally whine when they have to play 2 matches a week during a period of time.
 

Statto

Registered User
Sponsor
May 9, 2014
4,889
6,648
If it's footballers, then NHL'ers don't work as hard as I thought. Footballers are pretty spoiled and generally whine when they have to play 2 matches a week during a period of time.
The footballers don’t whine, it’s the managers that do. I’ve never heard a player complaining about playing 2 games in a week but I have heard them complain about being rested and not playing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: LFCTML

Statto

Registered User
Sponsor
May 9, 2014
4,889
6,648
Really?

I've done this math in the past.

A soccer ball, which is multiple times heavier than a puck, travelling far faster than the hardest Chara snapshot recorded, has many times the kinetic energy.

The shots from some players have enough force to cause serious internal harm if taken on the chest or head.
Without padding!

That's a horrifically ignorant statement to make.
Then you maths needs work. If a ball was struck at slap shot speed (which they aren’t hit even close to) might have a lot of kinetic energy but the ball even fully inflated has flex and give, would also have a larger surface area making contact with its target spreading the impact.

The ball also reabsorbs a significant portion of the kinetic energy whereas a puck doesn’t (it does a small amount)… seen by a ball in such situations travelling significantly farther away from the target after impact.

The PSI impact of an ice hockey shot is much higher also.

A blasted penalty in football is approx 70mph. Long range free kicks are more like 60mph, top speed.
Slap shots 100mph.

That said, I completely agree a football can do damage.
 

karlstegger

Registered User
May 15, 2016
329
107
Denmark
The footballers don’t whine, it’s the managers that do. I’ve never heard a player complaining about playing 2 games in a week but I have heard them complain about being rested and not playing.

Until a few years ago I've followed football all my life and I've heard plenty of players whine about exactly that.
 

HotPie

Registered User
Dec 3, 2007
4,134
948
I’m going to go with the sport that doesn’t have Phil Kessel in it.
 

Ninety7

go oil go
Jun 19, 2010
7,914
5,058
Canada
Never played organized soccer growing up, but I have played ball hockey and ice hockey.

ball hockey for me was definitely more fatiguing. having to run around all game with no ability to glide… my lungs felt like wet paper bags.
 

blankall

Registered User
Jul 4, 2007
14,935
5,263
Football and it isn't really even close.

Most soccer players have the fitness levels of high end runners. A lot of hockey players are in poor shape for regular people, no just athletes. Hockey is the type of game where if you are a talented stick handler and skater, you can survive a 30-40 second shift. Soccer requires you to run about 10km per game plus practices. Soccer is also a game of patience. You have to be ready to strike at any point. If you get 30 minutes in and you are gassed, you're not going to be very successful.

Soccer players are some of the most fit of any major sport.
 

CSKA1974

Registered User
Feb 10, 2010
6,283
6,240
Flyerville
What do you think?
How do you define work?

It's a bit apple and oranges comparison for me. Two very different physical outputs. Mostly aerobic with infrequent sprints for soccer players vs. mostly anaerobic work for the hockey players with the frequent speed skating.
Who works more a 10 mile or a 1/4 mile runner? Physiologically 1/4 mile run is more taxing for the body as by the end of the run a system just switches from anaerobic to aerobic activity with a demand for sprinter's speed, however, 10 mile runner definitely runs for much longer after 1/4 miler has finished.

So,, perhaps, you need to normalize your question.
 

CSKA1974

Registered User
Feb 10, 2010
6,283
6,240
Flyerville
Most soccer players have the fitness levels of high end runners. A lot of hockey players are in poor shape for regular people, no just athletes. Hockey is the type of game where if you are a talented stick handler and skater, you can survive a 30-40 second shift. Soccer requires you to run about 10km per game plus practices. Soccer is also a game of patience. You have to be ready to strike at any point. If you get 30 minutes in and you are gassed, you're not going to be very successful.

Soccer players are some of the most fit of any major sport.
There are so many things to pick apart here. I will just stick to the math 10 km = 6.2 miles. That averages speed to 4.1/mile over 90 minutes. So yes, thet run a lot, but infrequently at a top speed, and also they jog a lot.
Most of the hockey shift is a top speed movement that can not be sustained for long period of times.

Also, are you suggesting that hockey players are not practicing?
 

blankall

Registered User
Jul 4, 2007
14,935
5,263
There are so many things to pick apart here. I will just stick to the math 10 km = 6.2 miles. That averages speed to 4.1/mile over 90 minutes. So yes, thet run a lot, but infrequently at a top speed, and also they jog a lot.
Most of the hockey shift is a top speed movement that can not be sustained for long period of times.

Also, are you suggesting that hockey players are not practicing?

Soccer players aren't just jogging the whole time. They are jogging and then sprinting. Whereas hockey players are sprinting and then resting. From a cardio/fitness point of view soccer is very demanding. You just cannot play professional soccer at a high level if you are out of shape.
 

CSKA1974

Registered User
Feb 10, 2010
6,283
6,240
Flyerville
Soccer players aren't just jogging the whole time. They are jogging and then sprinting. Whereas hockey players are sprinting and then resting. From a cardio/fitness point of view soccer is very demanding. You just cannot play professional soccer at a high level if you are out of shape.
Nore can you play hockey anymore. The nature of work is very different, but physical demands are very high on both of these sports at a professional level.
 

pcruz

Registered User
Mar 7, 2013
6,077
4,051
Vaughan
Then you maths needs work. If a ball was struck at slap shot speed (which they aren’t hit even close to) might have a lot of kinetic energy but the ball even fully inflated has flex and give, would also have a larger surface area making contact with its target spreading the impact.

The ball also reabsorbs a significant portion of the kinetic energy whereas a puck doesn’t (it does a small amount)… seen by a ball in such situations travelling significantly farther away from the target after impact.

The PSI impact of an ice hockey shot is much higher also.

A blasted penalty in football is approx 70mph. Long range free kicks are more like 60mph, top speed.
Slap shots 100mph.

That said, I completely agree a football can do damage.

Ahh, here we see the definition of sheer ignorance at work.

The hardest hit free kick was over 200 km/hr, or well over 120 mph.

You routinely get shots at 100 mph during the run of play, nevermind free kicks.
 

rambo97

Registered User
Jan 2, 2018
902
585
Some posts in this thread are funny.

I can guarantee you that every player in the NHL is extremely strong in the lower body. You can't skate fast if you don't have a strong lower body. To skate fast you have to exert force into the ice. You can't exert force into the ice unless you are strong. You need lots of knee bend (which requires a lot of strength) and then to produce force (power & strength) to move really really fast. Yes there are factors like stride length and stride frequency that also matter but the biggest factor is strength and power production.

Some of you referenced Phil Kessel - I can guarantee you that he is extremely strong in the lower body. He's probably squatting substantial weight to be able to skate so fast. Why does he look doughy? Well, that is diet but also look at powerlifters. They don't look that great.....but they are some of the strongest athletes in the world. Or just look at strongman competitions. These are the strongest athletes on the planet but if you looked at them on TV they don't look that impressive. Appearances can be deceiving.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tarheelhockey

Fig

Absolute Horse Shirt
Dec 15, 2014
12,957
8,449
Serious side question: Does anyone know how Triathlon training works?

The reason I ask this is because I think it goes significantly deeper than sprint vs marathon that the majority have debated.

I'd be curious to know from someone who does Triathlon whether they perceive there is a legitimate physical and mental difference between types of activities. Especially the differences between activities if you are aiming to somewhat train to be top echelon in multiple sport activities. I'd also be curious not just about physical training/maintenance, but equipment training/maintenance too (ie: Bike/Goggles/shoes).

====

Furthermore, the definition of work has already been pointed out as being a definition that can change the answer, but I think it goes further than physical work. Those that have hinted mental work, I think don't realize how much extra mental work it might be.

Equipment wise, soccer player at most perhaps has to worry whether his cleats/shoelaces are at optimum level prior to playing? An issue with the pitch is likely far less to be an issue like bad/varied ice quality. Ignoring the basics of equipment functioning/not functioning like gloves/cups/helmets etc. skate blades, stick types and even how you tape the stick can really throw off a hockey player's performance. It is for this reason that perhaps many hockey players are often considered creatures of habit/superstitious.

Video review/strategizing against teams I think would differ immensely as well. I assume hockey players would have to go through new material significantly more often than the average soccer player. Hockey teams have IMO more tools/moves at their disposal, which works both ways for use/defending against. Soccer has less options, but their accuracy must be significantly higher. Soccer players make mundane plays look easy by being surgically accurate in the same way ice curlers can make the sport look like anyone's mom and dad can play it at a high level within a few hours of playing it for the first time.
 

tarheelhockey

Offside Review Specialist
Feb 12, 2010
84,985
137,357
Bojangles Parking Lot
then NHL'ers don't work as hard as I thought.

At some level, that's probably true for most of the season. NHL'ers do intensive workouts in the offseason, but it dials back significantly during the season so that they focus mainly on maintaining and recovering. They're not in the gym for much more than postgame workouts during the season. Likewise their on-ice workouts are generally not aimed at exhaustion. Overdoing it is counterproductive.

For anyone interested in specifics, this is a bit outdated but here is the actual 1998 summer workout plan for the Boston Bruins. The team recommended 9 hours per week to conditioning. That dropped significantly once the season started. It's not as much actual gym time as you might imagine for a pro athlete, because after a certain point you're just raising the risk of injury while losing joint health. I would actually go as far as to say, NHL'ers probably spent more time at the actual gym pumping weights and doing sprints in 1990 than they do today, because the science now recommends a more holistic and targeted approach to total body health.
 

pcruz

Registered User
Mar 7, 2013
6,077
4,051
Vaughan
I just wanted to add a couple of points here.

First, there have been some "studies" related to the energy expenditure of soccer and hockey players.

The results are thus:

https://www.researchgate.net/public...URE_ESTIMATION_DURING_OFFICIAL_SOCCER_MATCHES

The average soccer player expended 1540 kCal per game (+/- 130)


Energy expenditure and physical fitness of ice-hockey players

The average hockey player expended .48 kCal/per ToI * kg - a 100kg (220 lb) player would then expend about 960 kCal for a game with 20 minutes of time on ice.

As for the energy a hockey puck has vs a soccer ball:

A puck weighing 170g traveling at 160 km/h has about 170 J of energy.
A soccer ball weighing 430g traveling at 180 km/h has about 540 J of energy.
 

ChuckLefley

Registered User
Jan 5, 2016
1,665
1,038
Having played both at the college level I’d say they are both equally hard, but in different ways. It’s one thing to spend 45 seconds sprinting, cutting, hitting, etc. every couple of minutes vs. 90 minutes of running 10k with random distance sprints, cuts and leaps.

I do question the idea that skating is harder than running. Once you have mastered the skill, I just don’t see it because you have the ability to glide.
 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->