Monthly Archives: June 2022

Speed Training: Alternating Crossover Run

Speed Training: Alternating Crossover Run

The Alternating Crossover Run is an exercise I’ll integrate into our pre-practice prep and as a main exercise in speed development blocks. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kevin Neeld, PhD (@kevinneeld) It’s a great option to teach: 1️⃣ Hip/shoulder separation2️⃣ An aggressive push-under3️⃣ Introductory single-leg deceleration. The goal here is to… Read more

Speed Transfer: Horizontal Force Production

Speed Transfer: Horizontal Force Production

Improving lower body strength is the foundation for being able to adopt lower skating positions and generate maximal power with each stride. The Forward Sled March is an effective option for developing lower body strength while also emphasizing: ✅ Single-leg strength✅ Concentric “push” dominant pattern✅ Horizontal force production (pushing “back”) View this post on Instagram… Read more

Mobility Work: Long Duration Holds

Mobility Work: Long Duration Holds

If general warm-up and mobility work doesn’t open up sufficient range of motion, it’s possible the athlete needs to “create” motion by adding length to the tissue. A key stimulus for adding sarcomeres in series (i.e. length to a muscle) is to hold a stretched position for 2+ minutes. The “Box Quad PNF” allows players… Read more

Building A Base

Building A Base

We often hear about the importance of building an aerobic base early in the off-season to help establish an ability to better tolerate higher training volumes moving forward. The reality is that the characteristics of the “base” should be specific to the athlete AND to future training phases.For example, the “aerobic” base for a marathon… Read more

Hip Injuries in Hockey

Hip Injuries in Hockey

A 2013 study from Philippon et al. found that over 1/3 of 10-12 year old hockey players have a structural change in their hips that limits hip flexion range of motion. Roughly 1/2 have hip labral tears. In players aged ~16-19, nearly all players had both diagnosable hip impingement AND hip labral tears. There are… Read more