Posts in "Conditioning"

Aerobic Training to Support Repeat Sprint Ability

Aerobic Training to Support Repeat Sprint Ability

Over the last 10 years, there’s been a wide-spread emphasis on “high intensity interval training” to improve conditioning in team sport athletes. Recently, there’s been more attention paid to the importance of repeat sprint ability (i.e. clustered maximum efforts with incomplete rest before longer periods of lower intensity activity or complete rest), either as the… Read more

Hockey Conditioning: Off-Season Goalie Training Progression

Hockey Conditioning: Off-Season Goalie Training Progression

In viewing the game demands for hockey goalies, it’s apparent they do not need the same focus on anaerobic capacity that is often essential for forwards and defensemen to integrate into their training programs. This picture is adapted from the “Performance Profiling as a Platform for Program Design” presentation I gave at our Optimizing Adaptation… Read more

Hockey Conditioning: Goalie Considerations

Hockey Conditioning: Goalie Considerations

The goalie position has unique physical demands compared to forwards and defensemen that should factor into the training process. This image shows heart rate data (courtesy of @dmcconnell29) from a goalie in a game and a practice. Clearly there are differences in the conditioning demands in how goalies are being utilized in practices compared to… Read more

Repeat Max Effort Sprints

Repeat Max Effort Sprints

Short duration maximum effort sprints on the Assault bike is an example of a conditioning strategy to improve repeat sprint ability by “raising the ceiling” (opposed to aerobic strategies that “raise the floor”). The Assault bike is a great tool for this purpose because it’s a low skill movement, so the athlete can focus exclusively… Read more

In-Season Training: Extra Work

In-Season Training: Extra Work

During the season, there are time when players should perform extra “conditioning” work. When making daily decisions on how to design this type of work, it’s helpful to ask these 3 questions: · What does the player need?· What has the player done recently?· How long does the player have to recover? This will help identify the most impactful training goal,… Read more