Do You Do This Wrong?
The Band Lateral Walk
When done correctly, the band lateral walk exercise is a great way to target one of the smaller gluteal muscles; the gluteus medius (glute med). This muscle plays a significant role in stabilizing the pelvis, causing the leg to abduct (move away from the body), and the outward or external rotation of the leg (most important to hockey players).
Looking at how a hockey player takes a stride, they slightly externally rotate their hip and then push (abduct) their leg away from their body. This motion creates the skating stride and when this is done with lots of power it results in a greater amount of force that is applied to the ice and which in turn increases ones skating speed.
There are different ways to target your glute med but I find the easiest and most practical way is performing band lateral walks. The only catch is that the exercise needs to be executed properly (like most exercises). Rushing this exercise and performing it with less than optimal form will only waste your time and you won’t get the benefits you need to improve your skating and your speed.
In the video below I demonstrate 3 different variations of the exercise. The first 2 demonstrate poor form and sadly I tend to see these all too often in the gym. Performing the exercise in this manner, will not target the glute med and will end up wasting your time and effort. The last variation in the video is how I want to see you perform the band lateral walk exercise.
Here is the breakdown of the 3 variations I demonstrate:
In the first variation, you can see my knees collapse inward as they move laterally. There is also some movement of the upper body. The poor positioning of the body will only reinforce a poor movement pattern and won’t help the areas that are supposed to be targeted.
During the second variation, I am doing a much better job making sure my knees don’t collapse inward but I still have way too much movement through my upper body and pelvis. Remember, part of the glute med’s job is to stabilize the pelvis, and when there’s too much movement in this area you’re not training the muscle to do one of its jobs.
The last variation of the exercise is how I’d like to see you perform the exercise each and every time. Once the band is around the top of my knees, I get myself into a ¼ squat (feet just outside hip width). Then I externally rotate my knees, keeping my upper back engaged and in an upright position by slightly sticking my chest out. I make sure to lead with my heel and don’t let my knees collapse inward or lift my pelvis.
To start the drill, I take one small step out to the side then take a small step in with the back foot. You’ll want to continue this small stepping action for the desired amount of repetitions while never allowing your feet to be in a narrower position than your starting position (feet outside of hip width). Maintaining the postural position throughout the exercise will target the glute med and help it to get stronger, and improving your on-ice stride.