Hey guys, it’s Maria here from Goalie Training Pro TV, episode 44. And today we’re talking about restorative.
If you want to see the visuals for these exercises, check it out here >> https://youtu.be/Lqv4fR04DSU
Now, we did a big in-depth review on post-practice, post-game restorative strategies on episode 33. The link for that is HERE so you can find that if you wanna get sort of an in-depth review of sort of what it is and what we do with that kind of thing.
Last week, if you remember last week’s episode, we talked about sort of if you’re just only gonna do three exercises for dynamic warmup or you wanna add three new exercises, do these three. So I thought we’d sort of flip the script and do the three exercises for your post-game, post-skate restorative routine.
If you do one already, you can try adding these in.
If you don’t do one at all, then just even start with these three exercises and you’ll notice a big difference.
Restorative is so important, but it’s so undervalued by most goalies. It’s interesting because when I go to the higher level camps, this is what the goalies are interested in. Because it is, you know, when you’re looking for a little extra advantage over everyone else, this is a place where you can actually get a pretty big advantage.
If you think about it, the best way to prepare yourself to perform at your best in the next game or practice is to start recovering right away and to be active about it. Not just, sort of, get in the car, drive home, and got to bed or whatever.
So this is a really important element. It’s gonna get more and more important. It’s gonna be one of those things in a few years everybody’s gonna be talking about how this guy does this restorative routine after he comes off the ice, but we’ve known about it for years.
You and I, we know how to do it.
So here are the three things that I think you should do when you come off the ice. So come off the ice, take off your gear, but then go and do these three.
Again, somebody’s gonna ask, “But I can’t do it at the rink. I have to wait till I get home and it’s a 24-minute drive home. So should I do it or not?”
Yeah, there’s good, better, best. Best is if you can do at the rink. Just take off your gear, do it, and then go home; but better, is to do as soon as you can when you get home.
So, I like to use the foam roll rather than the lacrosse ball when you come off the ice because, again, it’s restorative. We’re trying to help the muscles, the joints, restore and reset and be ready to go. We’re not trying to be aggressive with them. They’ve just been yanked all over the place and herkey-jerked and been put through a bit of micro-trauma, so we want to just be like, “It’s okay. It’s alright. We’re gonna be fine.”
So I think the foam roll is a little less aggressive and a little bit more of a nice just flushing type of massage.
I think the areas that are worth getting are quadriceps. So getting in on the front of your thigh, getting on the borders of your IT band. So we don’t really roll a lot right in the middle of your IT band ’cause it’s so thick and fibrous, you’re not gonna make a lot of change. I think gently doing your adductors is totally fine, but again, just nice and gentle. Think of it just as a little flushing massage.
I would get my glutes and I probably wouldn’t even pop your foot up like you might be used to. Again, I’m gonna keep ’em a little bit looser and just a nice, easy roll.
I would come into my thoracic spine, even keep my bum on the ground, and just do a little bit of extension over the foam roll. Just gentle extension as we go.
So, that’s what I’d go over with the foam roll.
Could you also foam roll your calves? Yes. Your shins? Yep. Your lats? Uh-huh. It all depends how much time you have.
So, we’ve done the foam roll then we’re gonna come in and we’re gonna gently do a little half kneeling groin stretch. So one leg is extended. I’m keeping a nice neutral back position and I’m just gonna sit back in my hips a little bit. Not so that it’s an uncomfortable stretch, but just so they feel a little stretch as I sit back. Come out of it and I’m going to 10-15 on each side, just gently.
I’m not really trying to stretch out those adductors. I’m just trying to get them to relax a little bit and move them through some range of motion to have them almost let go.
The last thing we’re going to do, is we’re gonna work on focus on breathing and I think in that other video, definitely in the strategic mobility for goalies program (so it’s just StrategicMobilityForGoalies.com). I have a whole module. It’s a bonus module that comes with the program that takes you through a full in-depth restorative routine where we do some ELDOA techniques and a little more advanced techniques. But this is just sort of the beginner version.
So I want you to come with your butt in nice and close to the wall and your legs straight up on the wall. If this is too much stretch on your hamstrings, then move away a little bit. But we’re just here, we’re having gravity help us with some blood flow return and then we’re gonna breathe in through our nose for four seconds.
As we breathe in through our nose, we’re gonna try to let our ribs expand and let our abdomen rise. We’re just gonna try to fill this whole cavity with air as we breathe in through our nose for four seconds, one, two, three, four.
Then you’re gonna hold your breath for four seconds, then you’re gonna breathe out through your mouth for six seconds. And as you breathe out, you’re gonna try to get all that air out as you breathe out and you’re not blowing it out agressively, just slowly.
You’re going to do four breaths like that, breathing in through your nose for four seconds, holding for four seconds, and then breathing out for six seconds because that helps reset your nervous system as well. It’s the only part of your fight or flight nervous system that you can consciously control, so it kinda helps you restore and recover and get your legs up and just help with a little bit of blood flow return and just get everybody feeling super nice and loosey-goosey.
Sometimes we will also finish in that same position getting into a little bit of adduction by opening the legs, and just again, trying to get those groins to relax a bit, not to stretch them, but you can also do the same things. So those are two positions for the last one.
Restoration – it’s important. It’s the best way to get you ready for the next game, practice, workout. It’s an area that gets missed a lot, so it’s a place where you can get a little extra advantage because a lot of goalies don’t even know that they should be doing it. It will take you seven minutes to do, if that. So it’s a pretty good investment.
Those are the three you should do. Some foam roll about 30 seconds each spot, the half kneeling groin with the rock back for 10-15 on each side and then four breaths elevated and then you can get on with your day.
So if you want that all put together, StrategicMobilityForGoalies.com. It’s a full goalie mobility program. You gotta bonus module. One is a detailed warmup blueprint, one is a detailed restorative blueprint. You can check that out.
And don’t forget, of course, if you like this video, give it a thumbs up, give it a like, subscribe, hit the bell, call your mother … I don’t know what, but you know, you know the drill.
