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CB ATHLETIC
CONSULTING TRAINING REPORT -
www.cbathletics.com
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ISSUE
#85
INSIDE
THIS ISSUE...
-
"A Winning Program: Preparing Hockey Players for 2002-2003"
- "The 8-week CB ATHLETICS
Hockey Program"
- "Women's Ice Hockey -
The Need for Physical Training"
- "Bonus: Mike Gough Football
Speed Tip"
-
"Sports Research Update Secret Weapons!"
1
- A SOLID PROGRAM TO GET YOU SOLID FOR HOCKEY
As
they watch the Stanley Cup finals, this is the time of year
where many young hockey players begin to dream of next season.
In North America, most players are on the ice year round,
with only small breaks between winter hockey and summer
hockey. And even if a player does not commit to a summer
team, almost all players are back on the ice by mid-August.
With these timelines in mind, CB ATHLETICS has developed
an 8-week preparatory program for hockey.
Strength
and Conditioning Coach Peter Twist of the Vancouver Canucks
says, "For hockey performance, it is most important to build
strength and flexibility in the 'speed center'. This includes
the abdominals, low back, hip flexors, hip extensors, adductors,
abductors, and glutes."1
Strength
and Conditioning Coach Randy Lee of the Ottawa Senators
adds, "Train for athleticism and a strong core. We use lots
of single leg exercises, even doing dumbbell rows on a single
leg. We also use the stability ball for some exercises.
We do this all year round and really see the benefits, even
during the season. These exercises even benefit the guys
that are already very strong in traditional exercises. Single-leg
exercises make players much more stable on the ice and help
the players from getting knocked off the puck." When it
comes to strength training, experienced coaches have many
valuable tips. Charles Poliquin recommends the use of the
step-up over the use of the squat in development of skating
power.1 While it is great for all of these muscles to be
strong, it is also important for the player to be able to
move explosively.
Coach
Mike Gough offers an intensive and comprehensive hockey
(and football!) preparation program each summer in Ottawa,
Ontario. When asked to summarize his training philosophy,
Mike said, "Hockey demands high levels of speed, power,
agility and anaerobic fitness. A comprehensive strength-training
program is the foundation of a hockey specific conditioning
program. But even more important are the Speed, Agility,
Plyometric and Anaerobic training which is what makes the
difference with elevating on-ice performance. I feel that
this type of training takes my athletes to the next level."
"Increases
in speed, footspeed, power and lactic acid tolerance are
the keys to elevating an athlete's hockey performance. I
suggest 3 intense speed-agility-plyometric sessions per
week complemented with three to four strength training sessions
per week. As the season draws near, I usually lighten up
on the volume (reducing it to only 2 strength sessions)
as the athletes are conditioning on-ice as well." You can
learn more about Coach Gough's program and experience at
www.optperformance.com
and www.cbathletics.com/profiles_01mikegough.htm.
Many
players may ask why the emphasis is not on bench presses
and leg extensions? Coach Gough explains the value of more
important explosive training, "Train at high speeds. Do
every speed, agility and plyometric drill as fast and as
explosive as possible. Constantly change exercises or drills
to challenge the body, increase the difficulty, and add
stability and balance into drills. Remember we must not
only train the muscles but also the brain!"
It
is very different to prescribe a "one size fits all" program
over the Internet. As a player, it is your best bet to become
informed and to identify your priorities over the off-season.
What is holding you back from being the best player you
can be? If it is on-ice quickness, then focus on developing
explosiveness outside of the weight room. If you simply
need to gain muscle, then you may want to include up to
4 weight workouts per week, plus a major overhaul on the
nutrition program to make sure you are eating properly.
The MASSIVE ACTION
program has all the details for that.
The
CB ATHLETICS hockey program and MASSIVE ACTION manual are
not restricted to hockey players, as both will benefit all
athletes in power sports. The speed-agility-conditioning
sessions are also excellent for all athletes.
Strength
Training Summary
*
You don't need to spend 5 days a week in the gym following
a bodybuilding program. The CB ATHLETICS program recommends
strength training only 2 days per week for most athletes,
with the option of up to 4 workouts per week.
*
Focus on leg strength. Pro hockey players have strong and
massive legs that enable fast skating, puck control, balance,
and injury prevention.
*
Leg exercises should be modified to address the groin. Sport-specific
training decreases early season injuries.
*
Some exercises should be modified so that they are performed
in a single-leg stance to help improve balance, as recommended
by Randy Lee.
*
No direct lat work is necessary, just upper back work. Emphasize
rowing movements.
*
Abdominal work can be done for strength (www.cbathletics.com/issues/56.htm#AdvAbs)
and explosiveness (using medicine ball drills - wait for
an upcoming newsletter that will describe a wide variety
of drills).
1.
Journal of Hockey Conditioning and Player Development. 2(2):
6-9, 1997.
2
- 56 DAYS TILL CAMP
With
the belief that many players will be back on the ice as
early as mid-August or early September, the following 8-week
program arrives just in time to help them develop the strength
and speed necessary to make next season their best ever.
The 8-week program will follow a 7-day training schedule,
outlined below. However, the program will change quite dramatically
over time as strength is developed and explosiveness and
agility become the training goal.
Day
1 - Speed-agility-conditioning
Day
2 - Upper-Body Strength Training
- Conditioning
Intervals
Day
3 - Active Rest
Day
4 - Speed-agility
Day
5 - Lower-Body Strength Training
Day
6 - Speed-agility-conditioning
Day
7 - Active Rest
According
to Dr. Duncan MacDougall, professor emeritus of McMaster
University, hockey players need to begin training in the
pre-season for oxygen extraction and muscle strength. As
the pre-season approaches, interval training should become
more intense and muscle power should be the focus of training.
Preferably, more than 8 weeks is scheduled for training,
but unfortunately, many players take a long rest between
their last playoff game and their first off-season workout.
Whatever
your current fitness, don't get caught up in the trap thinking
more is better. According to neuromuscular physiology expert
Dr. Digby Sale, "It should be noted that many speed and
power athletes are probably doing too much, especially low
intensity, high volume activity that may be used simply
to kill time in a training session." Don't workout simply
for the sake of training, workout with a plan!
Week
1-3
Start
smart. If you haven't trained in 2 weeks, you are going
to be sore if you jump right back into a full workout. If
this is the case for you, perform half the volume listed
in your first week. CB ATHLETICS also has valuable advanced
recovery tips for all athletes in the archives thanks to
Strength and Conditioning Coach Dr. Jonathon Fowles, Ph.D.,
(www.cbathletics.com/issues/60.htm#Advanced).
Dr. Fowles believes that athletes that don't follow the
advanced recovery tips "end up with dead legs in a week.
This is one area of research that I am using to tailor into
my advanced training area, to balance advanced training
with advanced recovery." Expect more exciting news on advanced
recovery from Dr. Fowles and his lab at Acadia University
in the future.
Day
1 - Speed-agility-conditioning
Follow
the workout guideline found in ISSUE #74 (www.cbathletics.com/issues/74.htm#3).
Spend extra time in the warm-up, making sure to go through
the circuit 3 times. Perform only 1 set of each plyometric
drill in week 1 and add one set each week. Pick 2 agility
drills and do only 2-3 reps in week 1, adding a repetition
each week. Next, grab your medicine ball and do 2-3 sets
of lying abdominal tosses and standing rotational tosses.
Finally, finish your workout with three sprint intervals
of 30 seconds. Follow up with the advanced recovery techniques.
Day
2 - Upper Body Strength Training (2-4 sets of 8-10 repetitions
per set)
* Medium-grip
Bench Press
* Barbell
Row or Seated Row
* Dumbbell
Shoulder press
* Shrug
- Conditioning
Intervals
* The
intervals on this day will be longer than on day 1. For
a complete description, check out the "Sport-specific" interval
newsletter (www.cbathletics.com/issues/31.htm#Interval).
* Each
interval should last 2-3 minutes and you should reach your
maximum heart rate by the end of the interval. Each rest
interval should be of equal length.
* Begin
with 3 intervals in week 1, and add 1 interval per week.
* Follow
up with advanced recovery techniques.
Day
3 - Active Rest
Day
4 - Speed-agility
Perform
a similar routine to day 1. However, choose different drills
for plyometrics, agility, and medicine ball work. There
are no intervals on this day.
Day
5 - Lower Body Strength Training (2-4 sets of 8-10 repetitions
per set)
* Wide-stance
squat (www.cbathletics.com/issues/39.htm#Squat)
* Stiff
leg deadlift (www.cbathletics.com/issues/75.htm#3)
* 1-2
ab exercises (www.cbathletics.com/issues/56.htm#AdvAbs)
* 3
sets of low back extensions (10-20 reps)
Day
6 - Speed-agility-conditioning
Perform
the workout as in day 1, but finish your workout with 5
intervals of 30 seconds. Follow-up with advanced recovery
techniques.
Day
7 - Active Rest
Week
4-6 - Training to meet your individual needs!
Researchers
have looked at the relationship between different jumps
and skating performance. The static squat jump had the greatest
correlation to the near blue line time, suggesting that
the squat jump provides a great estimate of starting strength.
Chances are that if you improve your squat strength, you
will also improve your skating start.
Depth
jump performance had the greatest association with fast
skating to the far blue line. This indicates higher intensity
repeated jumps (i.e. sets of 6 squat jumps) may be more
effective in helping skaters become faster over longer distances
because the athlete will become better at using stored energy
from the previous stride. You can see why all types of jump
training are recommended for a successful overall program.
For
strength workouts, athletes must choose their sets and reps
to meet their goals. Players looking to put on mass will
benefit from more volume (3-4 sets per exercise and 6-10
reps per set). They must also make sure to consume additional
calories (www.cbathletics.com/issues/14.htm#Post). In contrast,
athletes that simply want to increase maximal strength can
use heavier weights and fewer reps per set (2-5 sets of
2-5 reps per exercise).
Day
1 - Speed-agility-conditioning
Adjust
your workout to emphasize the jumps that will improve your
performance the most. Choose 2-3 jumping drills and perform
3-5 sets of each. Once you notice your performance and technique
dropping, move on to the next drill.
If agility
is your weakness, place a greater emphasis on performing
several different agility drills. Make sure to move with
a bend in your knees and your head up, just as you will
on the ice. Mike Gough uses the speed ladder to really help
his guys with agility, "I feel that the Speed Ladder has
a great transfer ability to on-ice movements. I think that
it is especially great for defensemen doing patterns backwards
keeping their head up, just like they are challenged by
a forward on-ice. Also they usually have slow feet so it's
great."
For
medicine ball work, there are numerous exercises you can
choose from. If you need to concentrate on explosiveness,
perform overhead throws will the ball, releasing it at the
top of the movement. You can also carry the medicine ball
through your agility drills to increase the difficulty.
Finish off with a couple of medicine ball-based ab exercises.
How
is your conditioning? If you just can't make it through
a double-shift, keep pushing on the intervals. Add more
intervals or increase the intensity and decrease the rest
between intervals. You will definitely need to follow up
with the advanced recovery techniques after these workouts.
Day
2 - Upper Body Strength Training
* Close-grip
Bench Press
* Row
* Single-leg
standing shoulder press
* Single-leg
DB Row
- Conditioning
Intervals
* Perform
up to 6 sets of 2-minute intervals.
* Follow
up with advanced recovery techniques.
Day
3 - Active Rest
Day
4 - Speed-agility
Day
5 - Lower Body Strength Training
* Lateral
Step-up (www.cbathletics.com/issues/68.htm#4)
* Wide-stance
deadlift (www.cbathletics.com/issues/75.htm)
* Reverse
lunge or Single-leg Squat
* Abs
* Low
back extensions
Day
6 - Speed-agility-conditioning
In
this workout, perform the warm-up, jumps, agilities, and
medicine ball work as you normally would. However, in place
of the sprint intervals, you can try an alternative form
of conditioning called sled pulling. You will need a 100-200
foot dragging space, a sled (toboggan, weighted tire, etc.),
and some weights that you can throw on the sled.
Drag
the sled for up to 6 intervals of 200 feet. Train with a
partner so you rest while they pull. You can walk forwards,
backwards, and laterally. All of these movements will condition
your legs in a manner you have not experienced before. Alternatively,
you may use wheelbarrow walks (push a loaded wheelbarrow).
Also, you have no worries about looking a little out of
place. After all, you'll be dragging a sled in the middle
of summer.
Does
it work? Non-elite player Brad Pilon says it has helped
him play the best hockey of his life. "I attribute it to
the sled pulling, med balls and plyos." Follow up with advanced
recovery techniques and post-workout supplementation.
Day
7 - Active Rest - Well deserved!
Week
7-8 - Concentrate on game preparation.
Day
1 - Speed-agility-conditioning
Injuries
occur when an athlete is not prepared for the specific task
at hand. Groin-specific agilities and conditioning are very
important. Train to improve your weaknesses with the drills
that you have found worked best in the previous weeks.
Day
2 - Upper Body Strength Training (3 sets of 5 repetitions)
* Medium-grip
Bench Press
* Wide-grip
Pullups (use extra weight if necessary)
* Wide-grip
Seated Row
* Abdominals
- Sprint
Intervals
* Perform
up to 6 sets of 30-second intervals.
* Follow
up with advanced recovery techniques.
Day
3 - Active Rest
Day
4 - Speed-agility
Day
5 - Lower Body Strength Training (3 sets of 5 repetitions)
* Cross-over
Step-up (www.cbathletics.com/issues/29.htm#1)
* Romanian
deadlift (www.cbathletics.com/issues/75.htm)
* Single-leg
Squat
* Abs
* Low
back extensions
Day
6 - Speed-agility-conditioning
* Perform
up to 6 sets of 45-second intervals with only 45 seconds
of rest between work intervals.
* Follow
up with advanced recovery techniques.
Day
7 - Active Rest
Week
9 - Hit the ice in your best condition yet!
3
- WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER GOLD-MEDAL WINNERS?
Women's
hockey is an extremely popular sport in Canada, the USA,
and around the world. An off-season program is clearly a
necessity for female players. Strength and Conditioning
Coach Sarah Applegarth believes, "From my experience, girls
do not push themselves hard enough. Males tend to try to
lift too much weight when they strength train, but females
tend to be more conservative. I think girls don't always
get the adaptations (physical benefits) that they could
if they trained to their potentials." Fortunately, to meet
these demands, there has been a growing body of research
on the female hockey player.
In a
study sponsored by the US Olympic Committee, the heart rates
of Women's National team hockey players were monitored during
practices and games.1 It turned out that the average heart
rate during a game was significantly higher than during
a practice. The study also showed that twice as much time
was spent above 90% of maximal heart rate during a game
in comparison to a practice.
The
study concluded that, "Elite women hockey players experience
significantly greater cardiovascular load during game play
than during practice. This mismatch in cardiovascular demand
may prevent players from achieving 'game shape', thus affecting
competition play."1 Clearly, any player that does not include
structured interval training in their off-season program
will also not achieve 'game shape'. You must incorporate
the interval recommendations from above into your program
to get you into 'game shape'.
Canadian
researchers performed extensive fitness testing on university-level
female hockey players and found that over 2 years, females
did not improve in most areas of physical performance.2
Improvement was only observed in on-ice anaerobic power.
While anaerobic power is very important for hockey, there
appears to be room for improvement in many aspects of physical
conditioning. Proper strength training may make the most
impact on performance for female players.
The
same Canadian research group has also found that the 40-yard
dash and VJ are predictors of skating speed. Through their
experiences, they have also found the differences between
elite and non-elite female players are age, skating speed,
and on-ice fitness.
Coach
Applegarth says, "Get educated on the theory behind training,
then find what works best for you. We are not just smaller
versions of men. For example, fitness-testing results are
greatly affected by a girl's monthly cycle (due to the hormones
involved). Test results will vary greatly between "Pre-ovulation"
and "Post-Ovulation" points. Differences will be clearly
visible in your anaerobic (strength, power, speed) versus
your aerobic scores. This is important for both the coach
and athlete to keep in mind during testing. All athletes
should make sure their coach knows your cycle and keeps
testing consistent with respect to time."
1. Rundell,
K., et al. An evaluation of cardiovascular demands and practice
specificity in women's
ice hockey. Med. Sci. Sport Exerc. 34: s157, 2002.
2. Bracko,
M., et al. Effect of two seasons of play on Canadian female
university hockey players.
Med. Sci. Sport Exerc. 34: s198, 2002.
3. Bracko,
M., et al. Performance and talent identification of female
ice hockey players: What
we know - How do we use it? Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 34:
s296, 2002.
4
- A SIMPLE TIP TO INCREASE SPEED: Q'n'A with COACH MIKE
GOUGH
In
this installment, Coach Gough offers advice to a Division
II defensive back looking to increase his speed.
Q:
I run in the 4.5 range but I think I could potentially be
a lot faster. I feel my biggest problem is stride length
because one of my friends said that although I look to be
turning over really fast I am not covering enough ground.
So stride length is one area that I think if I focused on
my speed would really increase. Do you know any drills or
specific things i could do to help? I have started stretching
a lot lately to help. I have read your article on the 40-yard
dash start and I plan on using those tips when we test in
the fall.
Coach
Gough:
A: It
sounds the like you may have tight hamstrings. Really focus
on stretching your hamstrings, hips, quadriceps and glutes.
Second, get someone to video tape you running your forty.
Focus on the start and then go from there. I do this with
athletes and it really helps then understand what they are
doing wrong and how to correct it.
For
stride length try using an agility ladder. Get in your start
position at the end of the ladder then explode out stepping
in every other one. However, I think the flexibility is
the key. You should be able to lift your knee with your
lower leg touching your butt. Refine your running form using
the traditional track exercises of "A's" and "B's". In the
weight room, perform squats, lunges, deadlifts and step-ups.
 |
| Here is one of Mike
Gough's athletes using the speed ladder |
Mike
Gough, B.Sc., CSCS, CFC, www.optperformance.com
5
- SPORTS RESEARCH UPDATE
In
keeping with the hockey related theme of this issue, the
following research update will discuss the issue of post-exercise
glycogen storage. Very few athletes, coaches and parents
give due diligence to this aspect of the athlete's overall
program, when in fact it could be the easiest method of
achieving greater performance.
Zehnder,
M., et al. Resynthesis of muscle glycogen after soccer specific
performance examined
by 13C-magnetic resonance spectroscopy in elite players.
Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 84: 443-447, 2001.
In this
study, elite junior soccer players performed a test designed
to simulate a fatiguing soccer match (repeated sprints).
The athletes then consumed their regular diet (~2700 calories,
99g protein, and 327g carbohydrates). Glycogen levels were
measured and values were:
Before
training: 134 mmol/kg [wet mass]
After
training: 80 mmol/kg
24 hours
after training: 122 mmol/kg (~10% less than before training)
Results
show that a diet consisting of ~50% carbohydrate (4.8g of
carbohydrate per kg body weight) may be sufficient to return
glycogen to resting levels within 24 hours of a soccer match.
However, in the optimal situation, an athlete's carbohydrate
intake should be higher to ensure full replenishment and
perhaps even increase glycogen stores for future games and
training sessions. The easiest method to enhance glycogen
replenishment in athletes is with an immediate post-workout
recovery drink containing carbohydrate and proteins. This
will enable the athlete to get a head start on recovery,
especially if the athlete is engaged in tournament. Use
glycogen-replenishing drinks as your team's secret weapon!
Nygren
AT Effect of glycogen loading on skeletal muscle cross-sectional
area and T2 relaxation
time. Acta Physiol. Scand. 173: 385-390, 2001.
In this
study, 5 healthy volunteers underwent 4 days of extremely
carbohydrate-restricted meals followed by 4 days of extremely
high carbohydrate intake. The cross-sectional area (CSA)
of the thigh and calf muscles were related to the intramuscular
glycogen content evaluated at days 4 and 8. An increase
in glycogen content from 281 to 634 mmol/kg [dry mass] increased
the CSA of the vastus muscles by 3.5% from 78 to 80cm2 and
the thigh circumference by 2.5% from 146 to 150cm2.
The
study supports the importance of a high-carbohydrate diet
for athletes that need to keep their glycogen stores high.
It also provides a neat way of increasing muscle size acutely,
simply by increasing the carbohydrate content of the diet.
Bodybuilders have used a similar technique for years just
prior to their competitions.
