Size vs. Strength

One thing I used to hear from a lot of hockey players is “my legs are big enough.”

In most cases, this was the player’s way of saying “lower body training is hard, and I don’t want to do it” but aside from the laziness, there’s a misconception that bigger means stronger.

Muscle size relates to the strength POTENTIAL, but a significant portion of strength is driven by the nervous system – in terms of improving coordination, maximizing activation, and minimizing inhibition.

In other words, for any given size, strength can vary widely; so strength training is important to maximize the ability to produce force REGARDLESS of whether gaining muscle is a priority.

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Kevin Neeld, PhD (@kevinneeld)

There are 2 things that I love about this video:

1️⃣ Kyle hits an easy 3 reps at 205 at a body weight ~165lbs early in the off-season while he was in college. His relative strength was a key factor in his speed development.

2️⃣ When most players suffer an injury, they’re told to take time off while it heals. Kyle was back in the gym as soon as he got his cast put on, focusing on what he COULD do, instead of what he couldn’t. It’s this drive/leadership that lead to him becoming the first 2-time captain at Harvard since 1923.

As more and more team sport athletes prioritize speed development, improving relative strength should be a foundational training target.

Feel free to post any comments/questions below. If you found this helpful, please share/re-post it so others can benefit.

To your success,

Kevin Neeld
SpeedTrainingforHockey.com
HockeyTransformation.com
OptimizingAdaptation.com

P.S. If you’re interested in year-round comprehensive hockey-specific training programs for players at different ages, check out Ultimate Hockey Transformation.

Enter your first name and email below to sign up for my FREE Sports Performance and Hockey Training Newsletter!

 

Recovery and Training Adaptation Time Cycles

In making workload or recovery recommendations, it’s important to consider the timeline of the anticipated training/recovery response.

Recovery recommendations are often made with minimal consideration for the primary goal of the training phase or time an athlete has before they need to be recovered.

???? For example, cold water immersion can help reduce soreness/fatigue, increase parasympathetic tone, and better recover next-day measures of power. There’s also reason to believe cold water immersion will blunt the inflammation response to exercise, and compromise tissue adaptation.

???? The same method can be a great option for an athlete in-season with a competition the next day, and a poor option for an athlete in-season with >48 hours before their next competition or training to improve strength in the off-season.

In a similar context, workload monitoring and related recommendations to address specific physical capacities (e.g. additional high speed running or skating), overall volume, or recovery recommendations should be made with respect to layered time cycles and how they relate to short-term performance and recovery.

???? For example, if an athlete with a low overall volume of work over the previous week has a high-volume practice day, their NEW workload over the previous week will still likely be low, but the short-term fatigue response from the high-volume day may be significant and warrant either adjustments to their next day training volume or their recommended recovery strategies.

⚡ In contrast, an athlete with a typical or high volume of work over the previous week may still benefit from some day-before-competition priming strategy – (low volume of sprint, power or strength work).

???? Whether you start wide (looking at an athletes work over the previous 3+ weeks) and zoom in (work over 1-3 days), or start narrow and zoom out, it’s important to consider training and workload habits over various time cycles to better balance performance, training adaptation, and recovery.

Feel free to post any comments/questions below. If you found this helpful, please share/re-post it so others can benefit.

To your success,

Kevin Neeld
SpeedTrainingforHockey.com
HockeyTransformation.com
OptimizingAdaptation.com

P.S. For more information on in- and off-season program design, training and reconditioning for injured players, and integrating sports science into a comprehensive training process, check out Optimizing Adaptation & Performance

Enter your first name and email below to sign up for my FREE Sports Performance and Hockey Training Newsletter!

 

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 separation
2️⃣ An aggressive push-under
3️⃣ Introductory single-leg deceleration.

The goal here is to cover a lot of ground laterally, while turning the hips in the movement direction, but keeping the shoulders square to straight ahead. This hip/shoulder separation comes into play in most transitional patterns, but is especially helpful for situations where your eyes need to track the play away from the direction you’re moving.

Great option for athletes that don’t have a lot of space for their speed work.

Typically performed for 3 sets of 3-5 reps per side.

Feel free to post any comments/questions below. If you found this helpful, please share/re-post it so others can benefit.

To your success,

Kevin Neeld
SpeedTrainingforHockey.com
HockeyTransformation.com
OptimizingAdaptation.com

P.S. For comprehensive hockey training programs to improve your speed AND repeat sprint ability, check out: Speed Training for Hockey

Enter your first name and email below to sign up for my FREE Sports Performance and Hockey Training Newsletter!

 

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”)

These are all key characteristics of the early acceleration phase of skating (i.e., the first few strides).

When our goal is strength, we’ll generally build up to the heaviest weight the athlete can push while maintaining a “tall” posture and smooth forward progress.

Typically performed for 3-6 sets of ~10-yards (< ~8 seconds).

As I described in a previous post (see “Building a Base”), heavy sled marches are another exercise we may use as a conditioning strategy to emphasize the aerobic development of high threshold motor units (including fast twitch muscle fibers). In this case, we’ll typically start with 2 rounds of 6-8 reps of 6s-8s (~10 yards), starting on the minute, with 2-3 minutes between rounds.

Feel free to post any comments/questions below. If you found this helpful, please share/re-post it so others can benefit.

To your success,

Kevin Neeld
SpeedTrainingforHockey.com
HockeyTransformation.com
OptimizingAdaptation.com

P.S. For comprehensive hockey training programs to improve your speed AND repeat sprint ability, check out: Speed Training for Hockey

Enter your first name and email below to sign up for my FREE Sports Performance and Hockey Training Newsletter!

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 to add length to the quadricep group, including the rectus femoris which also acts as a hip flexor.

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Kevin Neeld, PhD (@kevinneeld)

To perform the exercise:

✅ Lean forward to fully extend the hip, and then push back until there’s a big quad stretch in the back leg.

✅ Hold the stretch for 10s, then push the foot into the box, building up to max tension for 10s.

✅ Push back into a deeper stretch for 10s, and repeat this process for multiple sets of 1-2+ minutes.

Opposed to just sitting back into a stretch, alternating periods of actively pushing the foot into the box also helps:

1️⃣ Inhibit protective tension in the quad to open up more range of motion
2️⃣ Creates a sense of neural control and strength at end range

This is an important strategy in the early off-season to help restore full hip extension range of motion, but also a position that can be worked into daily routines throughout the year to help combat the loss of motion associated with repetitive hip flexion common in most team sports, and prolonged periods of sitting.

Give these a shot, and as always, feel free to post any comments/questions below. If you found this helpful, please share/re-post it (or tag a friend that needs some hip mobility work) so others can benefit.

To your success,

Kevin Neeld
SpeedTrainingforHockey.com
HockeyTransformation.com
OptimizingAdaptation.com

P.S. For more information on how to assess movement and integrate specific strategies to improve mobility and movement quality in training, check out Optimizing Movement. Don’t have a DVD player? Send me a note through the contact page after you checkout here Optimizing Movement and I’ll get you a digital copy of the videos!

Enter your first name and email below to sign up for my FREE Sports Performance and Hockey Training Newsletter!

 

Use CODE: "Neeld15" to save 15%