I had the opportunity to watch Charlie's GPP Essentials DVD - excellent!
I thought the movement prep was long but needed for a track athlete.
What are your thoughts on the duration of a movement prep for college/Jr/professional athletes, in particular hockey?
I don't know what movement prep means, but there are a large number of players that train as sprinters in the offseason. Sidney Crosby for one.
Movement prep is a combination of warm-up, activation and dynamic drills prior to speed, plyos and strength training.
I try to get my guys to train a good portion of their off-season like a sprinter. I feel the more stuff like this I can get them to do the better they'll be.
I had my first ice session with my guys last night. I had one of my older clients put them through a real thorough workout focusing on all the basics like edge control, cross-overs and starts&stops. You could really see how rusty they can get with the basics and when they work on these things how much easier skating becomes. I feel this is the same if they are to do the movement preps on a regular basis.
Most hockey guys ride the bike a ton hit the weights slightly less and do the agility ladder even less than that. Then the go on the ice skate around, play shinny and develop a ton of bad habits. Get them on a routine they can do everyday and they have a way better chance at being ready to go come October. We get good at what we do most of the time and if what we do most of the time is ride the bike and play drop in hockey then how can we expect to make any gains other than strength?
Thanks for the info.
I have also had great luck training my off-season hockey guys using CFTS, working more on the acceleration phase. They tell me the easy/fast/easy and fast/easy/ fast running feel alot like the acceleration requirements on-ice. Running the big circuit is somewhat taxing for them but reinforces good running techniques, which many hockey guys don't have.
I will point out that you need to watch training volumes with hockey players, simply because they are not runners, some are big guys, and the banging around can be brutal on their shins.
I'm still trying to figure out the obsession with the bike in hockey- short hams and hip flexors are not the training outcomes I'm looking for with my players!
Also- I've read about the shortcomings of agility ladders on the forums, but the guys I work with like them, and feel they help their feet. Could it be a placebo effect, like swinging a heavier bat in the on-deck circle? and are the ladders detrimental? If not, I would tend to leave them in.
I can almost guarantee that they're running the big circuit too fast or that they aren't capable of running that high a volume yet. I would drop one of the 1+2+1+1 segments of the big circuit to give them about 1700m of work. Also, you have to gradually build up the volume of tempo work. You can't take a bunch of hockey players one day and say "ok, today we're gonna do 2000m of tempo". It doesn't work that way. The nature of the work won't be what you're looking for.Originally Posted by boogatc
Training volume isn't the issue nor is it the size of the players. You don't just start having shin problems because you're a "big guy". It's about recovery and understanding training.
Hockey players bike for recovery because it's their only option. Where can you find a grass field for tempo, in Detroit in the middle of winter?
As far as agility ladders go... I won't even get into it. I'll just laugh under my breath like everyone else.
Biking in-season, for a flush or recovery is one thing- but many players I've spoken to do bike sprints and long rides throughout the summer as their total C-V work. Some with injuries, I can agree with.
I'll stand by my point that a 6'4", 235 hockey player has to be careful with running volume and speeds based on his size and lack of running experience.
Actually, my players have been fine, getting what we want out of the big circuit, with the running the full distances. It must be that I've communicated and coached them up to a point where they know how and why and with what intensity we do each exercise, run and drill.
As far as recovery- start a new thread and I'll explain the science of it to you, my "understanding" is just fine.
I STRONGLY support your thoughts and philosophy boogatc!
I agree with boogatc. You obviously haven't trained many hockey players. This is a very serious consideration to take when brining a hockey player to the track who has been stuck in hockey skates all in-season. Hockey players are prone to developing shins splints, so you have to monitor training volumes carefully.
In addition to the cold outside, a lot of the coaches I've talked to prefer the bike in season as it unloads the adductors and limits the chance of groin pulls.
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