Tag: transitional speed training

This Week in Hockey Strength and Conditioning

I hope you had a great week. We’ve had a good week at Endeavor. We’re wrapping up our in-season training for the youth program we work with. They’ve done a great job this year. One of our ’96s just committed to Penn State, and one of our U-18s has offers on the table from Yale and Princeton (not bad schools to choose from). I’m really proud of how hard these players (and their teammates) have worked this year and am happy to see that I’m not the only one noticing! I’m looking forward to watching some of the older teams compete in the playoffs over the next few weeks.

It’s been two weeks since my last hockey strength and conditioning update. In that time, I’ve added a ton of hockey training content that you’ll want to check out. Last week, I posted three videos on speed training for hockey, hockey conditioning, and designing comprehensive off-ice training programs. You can check those out here:

This week, I added two new articles, one on an incredibly important concept related to human (and therefore hockey) performance that is often only glossed over, if mentioned at all, in academic programs. I also added an article dissecting the “nature vs nurture” debate of athletic excellence. Check them out at the links below:

We’ve also added some great stuff at HockeyStrengthandConditioning.com over the last two weeks.

Darryl Nelson added a new youth hockey training program geared toward improving conditioning or what others may refer to as “work capacity”. These youth training features are meant to provide those in the trenches training youth hockey programs without much equipment some new ideas on things they can implement. Darryl’s players are holding light weight plates, but if you don’t have access to weights you can really use anything (water jug, puck bag, etc.). This circuit looks pretty brutal!

Watch the video here >> Metabolic Circuit #2

Mike Potenza added a pre-camp off-season work capacity program, which is similar on concept to what Darryl posted in his video. Mike’s program is really insightful because it shows how he structures the training week (not every day is a grind), and he provides some extra examples of work capacity circuits that players can use. Because Mike’s players, in general, have a relatively strong training background, he’s built quite a bit of diversity/variety into these circuits, attacking the same physical quality(or qualities) through different means.

Get the program here >> Off-Season Pre-Camp Work Capacity Circuits

Eric Renaghan, who I had the pleasure of meeting when I was out in San Jose last Fall, is Mike Potenza’s assistant with the Sharks this year. Eric is a really bright guy that has a unique combination of insight stemming from his experience as an elite soccer player, strength and conditioning coach, and manual therapist. He put together an interesting article on breaking the cycle of repeat groin strains. His thoughts are very much in-line with what I’ve been preaching for the last few years. An adductor (or “groin”) strain is a SYMPTOM of a larger problem. Avoiding these injuries certainly requires some soft-tissue work to the adductors themselves, but the most causative factors likely lie elsewhere, which is what Eric discusses in this article.

Read the article here >> Help…I’ve strained my groin, again

We also added a new “poll” feature. Log in to the site today to weigh in on what you think needs to be addressed most regarding the current concussion epidemic! This is a very controversial topic, so we’d love to have your opinion. This should spark some great conversations on the forum.

That’s a wrap for today. As always, if you aren’t a member yet, I encourage you to try out Hockey Strength and Conditioning for a week. It’ll only cost $1, and if it’s not the best buck you’ve ever spent, I’ll personally refund you!

To your success,

Kevin Neeld

Please enter your first name and email below to sign up for my FREE Athletic Development and Hockey Training Newsletter!

Ultimate Hockey Training: Comprehensive Off-Ice Training

Over the last week, I’ve released two videos on the most popular topics in hockey training. If you haven’t watched them yet, you can check them out here:

Today’s video discusses the most important components of an off-ice hockey training program. Most players only focus on a handful of these qualities, and therefore don’t make NEARLY the progress that they would if they took a more comprehensive approach. I also find that many of these factors are simply poorly understood by coaches, or generally thought to be isolated from other desirable adaptations. In other words, they may not recognize how much training one quality (e.g. strength) will influence a seemingly unrelated quality (e.g. conditioning).

Please take a few minutes to watch the video below and post your comments. If you picked up a couple good hockey training ideas, please forward it along to all the players, parents, and coaches you know that would benefit from watching it also. Thanks!

To your success,

Kevin Neeld

P.S. If you’re looking for a strategic hockey training plan, check out my book Ultimate Hockey Training!

Please enter your first name and email below to sign up for my FREE Athletic Development and Hockey Training Newsletter!

Ultimate Hockey Training: Hockey Conditioning

As part of the launch for Ultimate Hockey Training, I recorded a few videos that go into detail about specific components of off-ice training programs, as well as how to design a comprehensive hockey training program.

This week I’ll be making these videos available to the public for the first time. A couple days ago, I released the video outlining my Transitional Speed Training System for hockey players. If you missed it, you can check it out here: Transitional Speed Training for Hockey

In addition to speed training for hockey, another popular training topic is hockey conditioning. In general, conditioning enthusiasts tend to fall on one side of the continuous aerobic training – interval anaerobic training continuum. Unfortunately, both of these extremes miss out on a HUGE component of hockey conditioning, one that is largely overlooked in most programs. Today’s video discusses off-ice hockey conditioning, and presents a training progression for the most overlooked quality that hockey players need to be successful on the ice!

Please take a few minutes to watch the video below and post your comments. If you picked up a couple good hockey conditioning ideas, please forward it along to all the players, parents, and coaches you know that would benefit from watching it also. Thanks!

To your success,

Kevin Neeld

P.S. If you’re looking for a comprehensive hockey training program, check out my book Ultimate Hockey Training!

Please enter your first name and email below to sign up for my FREE Athletic Development and Hockey Training Newsletter!

Ultimate Hockey Training: Transitional Speed Training for Hockey Players

Last November I released my new book Ultimate Hockey Training, which reveals my year-round off-ice hockey training system for players at all levels. Since then, I’ve been humbled by the overwhelmingly positive feedback I’ve gotten from all the people that picked up a copy.

As part of the launch for Ultimate Hockey Training, I recorded a few videos that go into detail about specific components of off-ice training programs, as well as how to design a comprehensive program. Over the next week, I’ll be making these videos available to the public for the first time, starting with today’s video on Transitional Speed Training for Hockey, which I strongly believe is the secret to making off-ice speed training transfer to on-ice improvements.

Please take a few minutes to watch the video below and post your comments. If you picked up a couple good speed training ideas, please forward it along to all the players, parents, and coaches you know that would benefit from watching it also. Thanks!

To your success,

Kevin Neeld

P.S. If you’re looking for a strategic hockey training plan, check out my book Ultimate Hockey Training!

Please enter your first name and email below to sign up for my FREE Athletic Development and Hockey Training Newsletter!

Transitional Hockey Speed Training

A couple weeks back I posted a video of a lateral speed training starting position. If you missed it, you can check it out here: Hockey Speed Training: Lateral Start Progression. At the end of that post, I mentioned that we eventually go into strictly dynamic starts, or probably more accurately, we progress to an increased focus on transitional movement patterns.

This can be a bit difficult to describe sometimes, so I shot some video last week to give you an idea of how we incorporate transitional movements into our speed training.

5-Yard Back Shuffle->5-Yard Forward Back Pedal->10-Yard Forward Sprint

5-Yard Forward Sprint->5-Yard Backward Back Pedal->10-Yard Forward Sprint

5-Yard Lateral Back Pedal->10-Yard Forward Sprint

The goal here is to emphasize moving through similar patterns that hockey players face on the ice as quickly as possible. In the first two videos, this is the first time these players have performed these drills so their movements aren’t as refined as they would be with a bit more practice. With that said, I try not to lose sight of the fact that each player is going to move a little differently and that my job isn’t to make them all run like robots, just to make them move as quickly and efficiently as possible.

I go into detail about how I design my speed training programs for hockey players in Breakaway Hockey Speed.

To your success,

Kevin Neeld

Please enter your first name and email below to sign up for my FREE Athletic Development and Hockey Training Newsletter!