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| What the
Pro's Do To Stay In Shape |
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NHL players work out a lot, as
you will see. These guys are constantly working on
their conditioning and never seem to let up. "Players will
usually take a couple of weeks off at the end of the season,"
says Jim Ramsey, "but then they get right back into it."
And they keep at it until the end of the year.
Run Or Not to Run
Running used to be a part of every athlete's regimen, but not
anymore. Very few
hockey players ever run during the season, and those that do use
it mainly as a
warm-up. It's not very popular in the off-season either, and
that's because it is such ahigh-impact exercise that can lead to
knee and back problems. And there are very few NHL players who
haven't had knee or back problems during their career. Still,
some
do find it an effective training tool, especially when it comes
to building speed and endurance.
Cycling
Many more players prefer to cycle, especially on exercise bikes,
because it has a
lower impact on knees, backs, and so on. Some players bike
during the season to
build or maintain aerobic condition and enhance leg strength.
(Power comes from the
legs in hockey, and when a player is skating, he is using his
legs all the time.) During
the season, many NHL teams like their players to get on an
exercise bike a couple
of times a week for up to half an hour a pop. Also, they have
them use it as a
cool-down after a game and as a way to rid their bodies of
lactic acid and other
by-products of strenuous exercise that can delay recovery As for
the off-season,
most clubs want their players to ride bikes, both stationary and
regular, fairly often,
perhaps five or six days a week for about 30 to 45 minutes each
time.
Skating
Not surprisingly, skating is a huge part of a hockey player's
conditioning program,
and your average NHLer is on the ice most every day during the
season, either for practice or a game. What he does when the
season ends is often a different story.
Some get together and rent ice time at a local rink during the
summer and meet
regularly for informal workouts and scrimmages. Others hardly
touch the ice until the following season, but they do a lot of
in-line skating and/or play roller hockey.
Those are very sports specific exercises that use the same
muscles a player employs on the ice and gives him a chance not
only to work on conditioning but also to keep honing his hockey
skills (stick handling, shooting, passing, and so on). The only
problem is that it's much harder to stop on those off-ice
skates.
Stairmaster
Players use Stairmasters both in- and off-season the same way
they use exercise
bikes. Again, they use these machines to build and enhance
aerobic fitness. Players generally spend anywhere from 30 to 45
minutes working in one-to-three-minute intervals, building up
the intensity as they go. "Interval training is important to
elite hockey players because they go on and off the ice so
frequently," says Ramsey.
"We want them to work hard for 45 seconds and then have some
time to recover
because that's the way they play during the season, with shifts
lasting just under a minute, and then they have some time to
rest. Recovery is essential so that they can be 100 percent on
the next shift."
The types of exercise we have described so far are all
considered aerobic and are
needed by hockey players for a number of reasons. Aerobic
fitness is an athlete's ability to take oxygen into his lungs,
deliver it to his muscles via the heart and blood, and then use
that oxygen in his muscles to generate energy. Athletes who are
aerobically fit, Wenger explains, can recover faster between
sprints, between shifts and periods, and also between games.
They can recover more quickly from softtissue and bone injuries,
do more strength and power training, and handle jet lag and heat
stress more effectively. In addition, their immune systems are
enhanced so they can better withstand minor infections and colds
and also build a resistance to lactic acid, which causes
fatigue. Given all that, is it any wonder that players today
listen to what their trainers and physiologists have to say?
Weight Lifting
Strength fitness is another important consideration for hockey
players. Dr. Wenger points out that strength means bigger
muscles, which translates into better injury protection for
joints and soft tissue. It also makes players stronger around
the puck and helps establish position against opponents. More
specifically, abdominal strength allows playersto transfer
momentum from the lower body to the upper body and protect the
lowerback, while leg strength is the first step in improving leg
power and explosiveness.
Obviously, the best way to improve strength fitness is through
weightlifting, and
most hockey players in the NHL lift weights at least once a week
during the season. Trainers tailor individual programs to each
player so that the players can maintain their strength
throughout the year. The New York Rangers have 12 different
weight machines, and a player might do about 15 mid-range reps
(or repetitions) on each one, working on everything from leg
extensions to bicep curls. Some players, say those nursing knee
or shoulder injuries, may spend extra time trying to build those
areas up as they try to recover, perhaps lifting weights two or
three times a week.
As for the off-season, players increase their time with the
weight machines;
at a minimum they lift three times a week; some do it as often
as six. Generally,
they alternate body parts each time, working on the legs one
day, the lower
back and chest on another, and so forth until they have done
their whole body
in one week.
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