Explosive Power Training for Hockey

Hello everyone, I’m a new member here and this is my first post so if there’s any mistakes I make, just let me know :wink:

What I’m looking for is some help and some advice about my off-season training for hockey.
I’ve periodized my training to Off-Season part 1 (size, strength, aerobic base), Off-Season part 2 (explosivness, strength, aerobic intervals, some anaerobic traning) and Pre-Season (speed, quickness, agility, balance, coordination etc.).

This question is about part 2. I have a program here which I got from another guy and I just want someone to look thru it and tell me what you think about it. Most

Day 1 - Monday
Explosive Squats (5-6 x)
Hang Cleans (3 x)
Good-Morning / Stiff Deadlift (3 x)
Leg-Press / Front Squats (3 x)
Abs Endurance (6-9 x)

Day 3 - Wednesday
Push-Press (3 x)
Bench Press (5-6 x)
Barbell Row (3 x)
Standing Rodd (3 x)
Triceps Curl / Skull-Crushers (3 x)
(Sometimes 8x3 Benchpress WestSide style - then I change order of excersices)

Day 5 - Friday
Cleans (5-6 x)
High Pull (3 x)
Explosive Squats (4 x)
Calf Raise (4 x 10)
Explosive Abs (6-9 x)
(Sometimes 8-9x2-3 Squats WestSide style - then I change order of excersices)

How about it?

PS: Sorry if my language isn’t so very good :wink:

It might not be a bad idea to throw some single leg movements in the mix as well. Maybe some lunges or bulgarian split squats .

Sounds like a good idea to me.
Lunges is hockey specific too! :slight_smile:

What do you think about the rest of the program?

When you say for example, (3 x), is that sets or reps?

That is set.
I don’t want to do too many sets instead focus on explosive movements and heavy weights.

Just wondering if you’ve read this article by Michael Boyle: http://www.momentummedia.com/articles/TC/tc1506/puckdrop.htm

Just checked it out, seems like a good PRE-season workout.
I will take a closer look when I’m not so tired as I’m now.

It is great when you post articles and such! Really intresting! :slight_smile:

Does anyone have something to say about the strength training?

[quote]Control_61 wrote:
Sounds like a good idea to me.
Lunges is hockey specific too! :slight_smile:

What do you think about the rest of the program?[/quote]

lunges are not “hockey specific” or “sport specific.” I guess I know what you meant though…

[quote]Control_61 wrote:
That is set.
I don’t want to do too many sets instead focus on explosive movements and heavy weights.[/quote]

Heavy weights mean low reps which mean more sets. And you need a variety not just heavy all the time.

[quote]Control_61 wrote:
Hello everyone, I’m a new member here and this is my first post so if there’s any mistakes I make, just let me know :wink:

What I’m looking for is some help and some advice about my off-season training for hockey.
I’ve periodized my training to Off-Season part 1 (size, strength, aerobic base), Off-Season part 2 (explosivness, strength, aerobic intervals, some anaerobic traning) and Pre-Season (speed, quickness, agility, balance, coordination etc.).

This question is about part 2. I have a program here which I got from another guy and I just want someone to look thru it and tell me what you think about it. Most

Day 1 - Monday
Explosive Squats (5-6 x)
Hang Cleans (3 x)
Good-Morning / Stiff Deadlift (3 x)
Leg-Press / Front Squats (3 x)
Abs Endurance (6-9 x)

Day 3 - Wednesday
Push-Press (3 x)
Bench Press (5-6 x)
Barbell Row (3 x)
Standing Rodd (3 x)
Triceps Curl / Skull-Crushers (3 x)
(Sometimes 8x3 Benchpress WestSide style - then I change order of excersices)

Day 5 - Friday
Cleans (5-6 x)
High Pull (3 x)
Explosive Squats (4 x)
Calf Raise (4 x 10)
Explosive Abs (6-9 x)
(Sometimes 8-9x2-3 Squats WestSide style - then I change order of excersices)

How about it?

PS: Sorry if my language isn’t so very good :wink:

[/quote]

Do you have a coach in Sweden you can consult? Where did you get your ideas on the periodization? What is your training experience like? Forget about the leg press and skull crushers.

I think you meant to say biceps curl not triceps. I don’t see any vertical pulling or single leg work, and not enough rowing. What exactly are “explosive squats?” What running and agility drills are you currently doing?

If you go to www.johnberardi.com he has an srticle entitled "Gladiator Training that was designed for a hockey player. It might be of some use to you if you’re looking to tweek your routine here and there. Give it a glance.
Il Don

First of all, this is not a mass gain program, all I want from with this program is to become explosive (POWER) and as a secon priority strong. To become explosive I cant train so many sets. If I do to many sets, they will not be explosive and then I will not gain explosivness? Is that right?
Every program I’ve seen is built up almost the same way. :slight_smile:

The periodization is from “Complete conditioning from hockey” By former Vancouver Canucks trainer Peter Twist. I also got inspiration from Gladiator Training by Ryan Foster.
I have no doubt that the periodization isn’t right.

Explosive Squats is just regular heavy squats.

I think that you can have a point when you say that I need more variety.
That one of the reasons why I sometimes train “west side”. When I train westide I focus on squat or bench press and make explosive sets with 50-60% of 1 RM.

I only make agility and running drills during the pre-season or as a break in to the other periods.

My training experience is:

  • Trained hockey for 14 years (17 years old now)
  • Trained serious off/pre-season training during the last 2 summers
  • Trained a lot of weight training, especially during the last year.

Bench Press 1 RM: 85 kg = 188 pounds
Squat 1 RM: ~100kg = 220 pounds
Cleans 1 RM: 70-75kg = 155 pounds

Yes, I will add some one-leg training :slight_smile:
What do you mean with vertical pulling?

No, I mean tricepscurl. Maybe you have another word for it! :slight_smile:

Maybe I should explain my off/pre-season periodization a bit more!

First of all, by the end of the hockey season, I rest for a week or two.
Then the off-season starts.

Off-Season part 1:

  1. Weightlifting for mass and some strength. 8-12 sets/muscle. A LOT of food etc.
  2. Aerobic base training. Maybe this will effect my weight gain but I’m training to be a better hockey player and then I need the aerobic base. (this I only train at the end of the off season part 1.

Off-Season part 2:

  1. Strenght and Power training. Low sets, low reps. Many olympic lifts and many multi-joint excersices.
  2. Aerobic interval training.
  3. Some anaerobic interval training.

Pre-Seson:

  1. Speed!
  2. Quickness!
  3. Agility!
  4. Hockeyspecifik training (scrimmages, shooting, passing)
  5. Coordination
  6. Balance
  7. Some explosive weight training
  8. Anaerobic interval training.

The thing I need help with is the Off-Season part 2 weight training.

Thanks for all the answers and all the help! :slight_smile:

Give us the following info:
Height
Weight
Age
Training experience
Max squat (1rm or whatever number you have)

Also vertical jump would be helpful if you know how to accurately measure it.

Just from glancing at that program without knowing anything more about you or the phase for which the program is intended, I agree with the others that you need more unilateral work but particularly some with a lateral element. It’s absolutely critical that your adductors (groin muscles) keep up with you abductors in strength gains or you will be almost guaranteed injury.

[edit] oops, I got caught in the post delay. I’ll give my opinion when I get back from eating. One thing I noticed right off was the aerobic base training thing. If that means LSD (long slow distance) then that is unnecessary and possibly counterproductive. Unless you regularly take leisurely 15 minute shifts, the LSD will not bring you anything but disadvantages relative to interval training. Hockey requires a well developed anaerobic-glycolytic system above all else and training for that will provide for more than adequate improvements in your aerobic capacity.

First, I don’t like the idea of breaking your training into blocks that focus on certain aspects. You build strength in cycle 1 and 2, but what happens to that strength when you get to cycle 3? It doesn’t just magically remain the same. Also, you need to think about how the game of hockey is played. You need to be able to sustain max or near max force for 30-60 seconds, then be able to recover with 15-60 seconds of rest and do it again. So you need endurance but not the marathon endurance.

If you only had 3 days to train for the offseason then I would break it up like this:

Cycle 1
Monday - Max Effort Upper Body
Wednesday - Speed/Mobility and Strength-Endurance
Friday - Max Effor Lower Body

Cycle 2
Monday - Strength-Endurance
Wednesday - Speed/Mobility
Friday - Strength-Endurance

Cycle 3
Monday - Speed/Mobility (Dryland)
Wednesday - Speed/Mobility (On-Ice)
Friday - Strength-Endurance

As you can see, you are working everything at once, you are just prioritizing certain things. Right now you are weak (I judged this off your max lifts) so cycle 1 will focus on making you strong. Cycle 2 will add a little more speed work but the real focus is on building endurance with your new strength. Cycle 3 will lead you into training camp or preseason or whatever, and will focus on taking your new strength and endurance and improving your speed.

Obviously this would have to be broken down even more, but you get the idea.

Bench Press 1 RM: 85 kg = 188 pounds
Squat 1 RM: ~100kg = 220 pounds
Cleans 1 RM: 70-75kg = 155 pounds

My training experience is:

  • Trained hockey for 14 years (17 years old now)
  • Trained serious off/pre-season training during the last 2 summers
  • Trained a lot of weight training, especially during the last year.

Height: 184cm = 6 foot 72 inches?
Weight: 78kg = 171 pounds
Age: 17

When the training starts I will probably be much stronger and weight more.

How would you suggest that I train? :slight_smile:
A 3 day split! :slight_smile:

To this program I got inspiration from:
Gladiator Training part 2 by Ryan Foster (can be seen in john berardis website)
And also from Off-Season Sports Workouts And Cardio: A 12 Week Program!
The first “part” and the first program.

I don’t have a lot knowledge about power training thats why I need helt with the it.

Yes I do. But the periodization seems like a good idea to me.
I will absolutely keep the gains I made during earlier periods.
I will train to keep the strength, power etc. too, but not as much as I did when I started.

Looking at your numbers, the biggest thing that jumps out at me is your low squat number. You list a bodyweight PClean and a 1.25 bw squat, which suggests that your ability to produce power is limited by your ability to create absolute force rather than your rate of force development (rfd).

As such, both your immediate sports performance as well as your long term development will be best served by focusing primarily on strength methods in the lower body. This means more ME and RE work and relatively less DE work in the lingo familiar to people with westside experience.

[quote]Control_61 wrote:
First of all, this is not a mass gain program, all I want from with this program is to become explosive (POWER) and as a secon priority strong. To become explosive I cant train so many sets. If I do to many sets, they will not be explosive and then I will not gain explosivness? Is that right?
Every program I’ve seen is built up almost the same way. :slight_smile:

The periodization is from “Complete conditioning from hockey” By former Vancouver Canucks trainer Peter Twist. I also got inspiration from Gladiator Training by Ryan Foster.
I have no doubt that the periodization isn’t right.

Explosive Squats is just regular heavy squats.

I think that you can have a point when you say that I need more variety.
That one of the reasons why I sometimes train “west side”. When I train westide I focus on squat or bench press and make explosive sets with 50-60% of 1 RM.

I only make agility and running drills during the pre-season or as a break in to the other periods.

My training experience is:

  • Trained hockey for 14 years (17 years old now)
  • Trained serious off/pre-season training during the last 2 summers
  • Trained a lot of weight training, especially during the last year.

Bench Press 1 RM: 85 kg = 188 pounds
Squat 1 RM: ~100kg = 220 pounds
Cleans 1 RM: 70-75kg = 155 pounds

Yes, I will add some one-leg training :slight_smile:
What do you mean with vertical pulling?

No, I mean tricepscurl. Maybe you have another word for it! :slight_smile:

[/quote]

The strongest players are usually the biggest players. At 171 lbs you should be seeking to gain lean muscle mass. There are different ways of periodization, so don’t just pick one and think you know it all. Don’t call them explosive squats if they are just regular squats. Vertical pulling is chins or pullups.

You probably don’t know much about “westside” so don’t try and pretend you do-it isn’t for hockey players anyway. You should be doing agility drills, sprints, and plyos at other times during the year, not just pre-season. By the way, enough with the smiley faces. You should do more than “some” one leg training-it should make up most of your lower body training other than squats and post. chain work. Read all of Michael Boyle’s articles on www.michaelboyle.biz

sorry if i sounded too critical there, i’m just trying to help. Read as much as you can. As an athlete, “50 tips for serious athletes” is one article on here that i thought of off the top of my head that is required reading. good luck.