Month: February 2010

Knee Injury: From Surgery to Hockey Training

Part 3 of the return to normal in-season hockey training following knee surgery…

If you missed the first two posts, check them out below:

Training Hockey Players with Knee Injuries

Following the first 4 weeks of training (described in the previous two posts), the player visited Shattuck St. Mary’s so he missed a week of training. When he returned, he said he’d been doing loaded, full range of motion exercises on both legs at physical therapy. His brace had been removed and he was cleared to do normal full range of motion movements, just not jump or sprint work.

I was told he had two more weeks of physical therapy, then he’d probably need another month before he’s able to return to full speed running, cutting, jumping, and skating.

Phase 3 (Weeks 5-7): Upper Body/Non-Operative Leg (Heavy)/Operative Leg (Light)
Program Goals:

Improve upper body strength and power
Improve core strength and power
Improve strength/coordination of the non-operative leg/hip
Improve single-leg stability on operative knee while minimizing compression
Make him work hard so he still “feels” like an athlete
Use exercises that won’t piss off PT or surgeon

A sample training session would look like:

A1) 1-Leg Squat: 4 x 12/side
A2) DB Incline Chest Press: 3 x 8
A3) 4-Way Stability Ball Front Plank: 3 x (3×4)/side
A4) Scap Wall Slide: 3 x 8
B1) 1-Arm DB Row: 3 x 8/side
B2) Split Squat (Front foot on BOSU): 3 x 8/side
B3) Rice Digs: 3 x 60s
C) Lying Partner Multi-Planar Hamstring Stretch

The major changes in this program were the addition of single-leg exercises (A1 and B2) performed on BOTH legs. He told me his balance was terrible since the injury, which is why I went with higher reps on the 1-leg squats and added the BOSU for the spit squats. He really struggled with these at first, but made a ton of progress from set to set.

Multi-planar hamstring stretch
Lastly, this player has great range of motion everywhere except in his hamstrings, so we added a long hamstring stretch emphasizing hip flexion in a neutral rotation position, in external rotation and abduction (leg going outside of hip), and in internal rotation and adduction (leg going toward opposite shoulder).

I’ve had success training hockey players with knee injuries, both in terms of improving their strength/performance and minimizing/preventing knee pain or further injury. A lot of what I know about preventing and training around knee injuries I learned from my colleague Mike Robertson. He put together an incredible resource, Bulletproof Knees, that I HIGHLY recommend to anyone with a history of knee pain/injury or currently dealing with knee pain. Bulletproof Knees details exactly how you can figure out what’s wrong with you (it may not be a knee problem causing your knee pain!) and gives you the exercises to fix it. Check it out below:

-Kevin Neeld

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Hockey Training with a Knee Injury

A couple days ago I wrote about the training program I used for a hockey player that had recently undergone knee surgery. You can read that here: Training Hockey Players with Knee Injuries.

That post included a sample upper body training session that he used. After the first couple weeks, the general inflammation from the surgery was gone, and so was the pain and any hesitation about hurting his knee. Of course, the absence of pain doesn’t mean that his knee had completely healed, so it was important not to push his operative leg so far.

Phase 2 (Weeks 3-4): Upper Body/Non-operative Leg
Program Goals:

Improve upper body strength and power
Improve core strength and power
Improve strength/coordination of the non-operative leg/hip
Minimize compression on operative knee
Make him work hard so he still “feels” like an athlete
Use exercises that won’t piss off PT or surgeon

He again came in 2x/week for the next two weeks before taking a week break to visit Shattuck St. Mary’s Prep. One of his training sessions looked like this:

A1) Chin-Up: 5 x 6
A2) 1-Leg Stiff Legged Deadlift (non-operative leg only): 4 x 8
A3) Standing Belly Press Iso-Hold: 3 x 20s/side
B1) Weighted BOSU Push-Up: 3 x 10
B2) Standing Tight Rotations: 3 x 20s
B3) 1-Leg Squat (On box so operative leg can stay extended; non-operative leg only): 3 x 8
B4) Stability Ball Front Plank w/ Small Circles: 3 x 20s
B5) Rice Digs: 3 x 60s

The major difference between Phase 2 and Phase 1 is the addition of two lower body exercises (1-Leg Stiff-Legged Deadlift and 1-Leg Squat). Both of these exercises were performed only on the non-operative leg. As I’ve written in the past, strength improvements on one-leg are, at least in part, transferred to the other side. This is one of the brilliant adaptations of the nervous system.

I had him go slow on the way down in each of these exercises since more strength is transferred during contractions of longer “negative” or “eccentric” phases.

Stay tuned for Phase 3 of this progression, when we start to re-integrate our injured hockey player back to normal full-body training sessions.

-Kevin Neeld

P.S. I’m less than two weeks away from the official launch of my new hockey training membership site. You won’t want to miss the incredible bonuses that go to the action takers that sign up right away! Keep checking back for more information on the launch.

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Training Hockey Players with Knee Injuries

A couple weeks ago, I mentioned that I was doing some work with a young hockey player that had recently undergone a meniscal repair surgery. You can read that article here: Doctors vs. Strength Coaches: A Difference in Perspective

After speaking with his surgeon and physical therapists, I put together a program for him.

Phase 1 (Weeks 1-2): Upper Body Only
Program Goals:

Improve upper body strength and power
Improve core strength and power
Minimize compression on operative knee
Make him work hard so he still “feels” like an athlete
Use exercises that won’t piss off PT or surgeon

He came in 2x/week for these weeks. With the above goals in mind, one of his training sessions may have looked like:

A1) DB Chest Press: 5 x 6
A2) Front Plank/Side Plank/Side Plank: 3 x 30s/each
A3) Scap Wall Slides: 3 x 10
B1) Chin-Up: 5 x 6
B2) Standing Tight Rotations: 3 x 20s
C1) DB Curls: 4 x 8
C2) DB Skull Crushers: 4 x 8

I realize how basic this program is, and that some of you may be surprised based on some of the things I’ve written about and programs I’ve posted in the past. The idea isn’t to overwhelm him with variation. The goal is to improve his upper body strength as much as possible without irritating his recently operated-on knee.

I steared clear of many of my favorite exercises (e.g. low pulley row, standing 1-arm db row, overhead mb floor slam…to name a few) to be extra cautious that he didn’t do ANYTHING that would bother his knee.

In the next couple days, I’ll write how we transitioned into “Phase 2” to get him working a little harder and strengthening his non-operative leg.

-Kevin Neeld

P.S. If you’re a hockey player or coach, check out my hockey training site for some great information on how to become a fast, strong, well-conditioned player.

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