I admit, I did not stay up last night to watch the entire game, but I did stay up until 9:13pm, which is pretty good for a work night. I was cheering for the Hawks in the final, but I would have been satisfied to see Stamkos win one too, so I did not feel passionate about it.
Must have been wonderful for those players and fans to share a Cup Championship together. I can only imagine the celebrations that are probably still going on.
Although the season is so long, I already feel a little sad that there won’t be any hockey for 3-long months 🙂
EOTW: Hip Drive
You only need to read this if you are a goalie or skater who is looking to be more powerful on the ice this season…everyone else can go back to watching South Park re-runs.
This is one that we have been using a lot in the RevCon gym over the last two off-seasons. I love it because we can really load it up with minimal risk of injury – either the player can lift it or they can’t.
The exercise is called a Hip Drive or Hip Thrust and it is a great posterior chain exercise for hockey players that puts the glutes in a good position to do work as it is a hip dominant movement, but the hamstrings will also contribute as hip extensors with the spinal erectors contributing to a neutral torso position.
If you cannot see the video above, just click on the link below…
https://youtu.be/0SsurlP25c0
A few words of caution…
Check and double check your set up. Make sure you are using a stable bench, step or plyo box, you do not want that thing moving or tipping as you go through the exercise.
Only lift your hips as high as your range of motion will allow. Lots of you goalies cannot get to neutral hip extension (that’s why your butt sticks out behind you when you stand up straight >> I wrote about it HERE) so if you try to get your hips right up in line with your thighs and torso, but you don’t have full hip extension, that means you are going to be hyper extending your lower back.
Lift and lower the weight, do not jam up into your end range of extension. Just lift it with control while maintaining a neutral spine and squeezing your glutes as you go.
As you lift your hips, your torso and your head will move at the same rate. You should only be hinging at the hips.
How much, how many?
Start with 3 sets of 8 reps; take your time to find the balance and build your technique before you start loading it up.
So give this one a try the next time you are in the gym. You could also do it at home by resting a dumbbell across your hips. It is a great way to build backside strength for any hockey player (goalie or skater) who is looking to be more explosive on the ice this season, oh wait…that’s ALL of you 🙂
Cheers,
M
PS – once you get the form feel free to load it up as you go. If you want to see how exercises like this fit into the your off-ice goalie training click here to see for yourself how I weave flexibility, strength, speed and stamina into a comprehensive goalie specific training program > CLICK HERE