Check out what you missed this week at Hockey Strength and Conditioning!
Article: More Support for Unilateral Training from Michael Boyle
This article provided real-world evidence from a collegiate strength and conditioning coach of what happens when you switch from a program primarily revolving around bilateral lifts to one primarily revolving around unilateral lifts. There are valid arguments for both the bilateral and unilateral activists, but I think certain evidence can’t be denied AND that people shouldn’t be so emotionally attached to squats. A while back I received a very curt email from a reader stating, “If you don’t believe in squats, I don’t believe in you.” Squats are JUST an exercise! Can you imagine someone saying “If you don’t believe in half-kneeling belly press isoholds with perturbations, I don’t believe in you”? Both are great exercises, I’m sure I completely understand why people get so offended at the thought of replacing squats as a major lift with something else. Nonetheless, whether you’re pro-squat, anti-squat or somewhere in between, if you’re reading this it means you’re pro-learning and new information is always valuable in that regard.
Article: Developing a Yearly Strength Training Program for Ice Hockey from Dan Boothby
Dan is the Strength and Conditioning Coach for the hockey programs at Northeastern University (NCAA D1). He’s also the genius behind the Boston Hockey Summit (the best hockey-related sports medicine event in the world). This article provides invaluable insight into Dan’s philosophies and training methodologies. I think this is one of the better articles we’ve run to date, simply because it provides such an extensive amount of information, including exactly what assessments/tests they use at NU, why they use them, and what they’re looking for in all of them. Great read from a brilliant coach.
Lastly, there are a couple good discussions on the forums, including one on hip impingement. I think this is a topic that needs to continue to receive a lot of attention. The question that started the discussion is one that anyone working with hockey players will face at one time and the responses have been great so far.
Click the link below for more information about Hockey Strength and Conditioning! I look forward to speaking with you on the inside!
To your continued success,
Kevin Neeld
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