Anyone can play ice hockey by learning to perform the skills of the game...but you can only play at your peak performance if you get in shape. If you want the power to move quickly and the stamina for sustained hard skating, you must condition the muscles and cardiovascular system to build strength, power, and endurance. This book takes you to that peak level with a year-round physical conditioning plan specifically for hockey.
52-Week Hockey Training is a day-by-day conditioning program that will get your team in shape for more powerful skating and shooting. It's a complete schedule for hockey fitness. The book is coauthored by an exercise physiologist and a former professional ice hockey player with more than 25 years of coaching experience—including stints with the Detroit Red Wings, Edmonton Oilers, and Ottawa Senators organizations. 52-Week Hockey Training teaches the essential components of fitness as they relate to improved hockey performance.
The 52-Week Hockey Training program is incredibly easy to implement. It gives you detailed workouts with specific exercises and drills, and it tells you exactly when to perform them. The book divides the calendar into four primary phases of training:
- Preseason
- In-season
- Postseason
- Off-season
Each season reflects a change in priorities as the hockey year progresses. The easy-to-follow layout clearly presents the goals and emphases for each season, and it outlines daily on-ice and off-ice conditioning workouts for every season.
The book explains how to perform all of the drills and exercises included in the workouts, with detailed descriptions and 160 photos and illustrations to show the proper form and technique. You'll find drills and exercises designed to improve flexibility, muscle strength and endurance, aerobic endurance, speed, and power and quickness. An exercise directory at the back of the book makes it easy to find any of the exercises used in the book.
The book includes alternate exercises that you can use to add variety to your program, to work on specific weaknesses, to work out when ice is not available, or to take advantage of special equipment. It also lays out specific conditioning goals for players by position.
The 52-Week Hockey Training program has everything that high-performance athletes need to get in shape—and stay in shape—for top-level hockey. It's an all-in-one, ready-to-go, full-season training guide to get your players in peak form for the competitive season.
