Where to Start

Where to Start

by | May 9, 2016 | Educational

Where to Start

I remember the first off-season where I actually worked out like a hockey player. I was fortunate enough that my Junior hockey team had a great strength and conditioning coach. Always being a skinny tall guy I knew I needed to put on some serious mass if I wanted to play at a higher level. After the hockey season, the strength and conditioning coach gave me a program and said if I followed it properly I would be able to put on about 10-15lbs and really increase my strength over the summer. I was pretty happy to hear this because I needed to not only add size but strength as well.

I remember flipping through the pages of the training book and thinking to myself, I need to get big and strong so I don’t need to start with these light weights and high reps at the front of the book, I’ll go right to the good stuff. Following the program how I thought it should be done rather than what my strength and conditioning coach planned for it to be done left me with less than optimal results. I still got a little stronger and added a few pounds of muscle mass but nothing like what the strength coach said would happen.

The following off-season I promised myself I would follow the program correctly from start to finish. At the end of the summer, I had put on 15lbs of muscle mass and increased my strength just like the off-season program was designed to do. Not only did it make me bigger and stronger, my on-ice performance improved as well. It was a bittersweet feeling because it made me realize I could have had these results the previous year but instead I missed a whole hockey season with this added size and strength. And now I was also at the end of my Junior career.

The point I’m trying to make is that strength and conditioning coaches have a plan that is progressive in nature and will help you achieve your goals. We don’t just slap together a program. Every piece is specially designed with the end goal in mind. Every part of the program has a purpose and is as important as the next. Don’t do what you feel is best or what you feel like doing, follow the program and enjoy the results!

Your first two weeks should look like this….

During the first two weeks (minimum) of your summer training, you need to train higher volume and lower to medium loads to develop your muscle tissues, ligaments, and tendons. This will help prepare the body for more challenging demands later in the off-season. The first phase of training needs to have a “prehabilitation” mindset as it will help prevent any “rehabilitation” from occurring later in the summer.

In the first phase, the specific focus needs to be placed on improving balance, motor control, coordination, mobility, and core strength. All these aspects of training help build a strong foundation. Along with building a strong foundation, you need to work on developing the strength ratio between flexors and extensors by balancing the training on both sides of the body.

Even though this type of training might not be as glamorous as lifting heavy loads or performing plyometrics, if you don’t do it you will NOT develop your strength and power as much and the chance of injuring yourself later on in your off-season training is a lot greater.

I know every hockey players wants to lift heavy weights and get super strong and add tons of muscle mass over the off-season. Although this is important to a certain degree, what you really need to do is improve the neuromuscular system to function as effectively as possible to meet the demands of hockey. If your summer training program doesn’t have a proper progression in place and doesn’t go through the appropriate phases then you will have a hard time achieving this goal.

Machine vs Free Weights

Machine vs Free Weights

by | Apr 25, 2016 | Educational

Machine vs Free Weights

Looking back at the first time I went to the gym to work out, I can honestly say it was an overwhelming experience. It was at the local gym and I was 16 years old. I remember walking into the gym, looking around and thinking to myself “where do I even begin?” There were so many different machines, plus all the free weights. Add to that, the amount of people in the gym, and my anxiety was getting high. With no direction of my own I figured I would just observe what everyone else was doing. I assumed that everyone in the gym was more knowledgeable than me and I started to mimic their workout regime (wrong move!). For some exercises I used machines and others I used free weights. I had no idea what the pros or cons of either were. I was completely clueless. Today I’d like to pass on some basic information about the different uses of the two types of equipment.

When to use the machines vs. free weights?

Every piece of equipment in the gym has its place in a workout program. Whether it’s a big portion of the program or a small one, a workout program is like a puzzle. You need multiple pieces of equipment in the gym to complete the full picture. However here is my disclaimer, personally I am not a huge fan of machines and most of the time nowadays I only use them as a place to hang my towel. That being said, there is still a time and place machines can be beneficial in a workout program.

Let’s discuss who should be using machines, when and why

 

Why Machines

If you are new to working out and don’t have the means to get proper training instruction then using a machine would be most valuable for you. Machines allow you to perform exercises with minimal knowledge of the actual movement. They have a fixed range of motion (ROM), as well as a controlled weight system which minimizes the risk of inquiry by possibly moving in an incorrect way or potentially dropping the weights. Machines are designed to target specific muscles by only allowing movement in a particular way. They are also important from a rehabilitation stand point because they limit the activation of stabilizing muscles and allow a greater focus on the targeted muscles.

Why Free Weights

Just like machines are beneficial for beginners and rehabilitation purposes, free weights have their place in a training program as well. Using free weights helps target more muscle groups than just the one you are training. Free weight exercises activate stabilizer muscles and improve the musculature of the core. They also allow for a more natural ROM. Free weights recruit more muscles fibers during an exercise than a machine would. This not only improves the targeted muscle strength but it also improves the strength of the stabilizing muscles. Stabilization strength is very important for hockey players because it is what allows us to have better balance and more controlled movements on the ice. Using free weights doesn’t restrict our movement to a fixed range. The freedom of ROM allows us to perform certain exercises with more speed and power (like the hang clean or dumbbell snatch).

Free weights play a very important role in hockey workout programs. However please remember training with free weights requires coaching because proper form is everything. Since hockey players are strength/power athletes we must train for these two aspects, and using free weights allows us to do this most efficiently.

Machines
  • Useful to learn proper movements of exercises
  • Effective a reducing risk of injury
  • Help target and isolate certain muscle groups that can be beneficial for rehab
Free Weights
  • Recruit more muscles fibers that help strengthen our stabilizers
  • Allow performance of speed and power exercises like hang cleans or dumbbell snatches
  • Not limited to a fixed range of motion (more freedom with the exercise)

The next time you go workout make sure you have a goal in mind because it will help you know which type of equipment should be incorporated into your workout plan!

Should You Squat With Your Knees Over Your Toes?

Should You Squat With Your Knees Over Your Toes?

by | Feb 29, 2016 | Educational

Should You Squat With Your Knees Over Your Toes?

I am almost sure that at some point you have heard a trainer, coach or even a friend say “Don’t squat with your knees over your toes”. If you bothered to ask why you probably got a response somewhere along the lines of “it’s bad for your knees because it puts too much pressure on them”. I remember hearing that while I was growing up and at the time it made sense to me. Today I am going to explain why it actually doesn’t matter.

Anytime we squat, lunge, or even step-up we want to decrease the amount of pressure placed on our patellofemoral joint (knee). When we perform repeated movements that put too much force on this joint we can develop patellofemoral syndrome or what is more commonly known as “runners knee”. The theory behind not allowing your knees to go beyond your toes is to help reduce this force.

In 2009 Escamilla and associates conducted a study that tested 3 different types of squats. Each type of squat had a different knee alignment and the researchers measured the different type of force each squat placed on the knee joint.

The first squat variation was a wall squat with the tibia (shin bone) perpendicular to the floor. The second variation of the squat was a wall squat with the knee extending past the toe by an average of 9cm. The last variation of the squat was a single leg squat with the upper body angled forward toward the floor and the knee extending past the toe by an average of 10cm.

After measuring the force the three different types of squats placed on the knee, the researchers found that it didn’t matter how far past the knee went over the toe. It was actually the angle of the back that made more of a difference when determining the amount of force placed on the knee. When we have a more upright back when squatting, lunging, and doing step-ups we place more force on the knees and less on the hips. Since our glutes and hamstrings are such large muscles, we want to incorporate them into our squatting movements and have them take most of the force rather than our knees. This is only accomplished by angling our upper body about 30-40 degrees forward during squats, lunges, and step-ups.

Remember that it is crucial to have proper form when performing any exercise otherwise, we will start to develop chronic symptoms from having an improper alignment of the joints. When squatting, lunging, and performing step-ups we must make sure we:

  • Angle our upper body about 30 – 40 degrees forward
  • Don’t allow our knees to extend past our toes by more than 10cm
  • Always utilize proper form