Before I get talking about leg exercises for hockey players, in particular the one you probably do but should abandon, I want to let you know about a few changes you may have noticed on the site. Basically, now that Tyler has joined the coaching team at Revolution Conditioning, I have more time to work on the online aspect of my business (yeah, this part).
You know I am a big believer in the idea that ‘if you are going to do something, the do it well’ and with the time I had, I decided to focus mainly on goalies. I know a lot of skaters still follow the training tips, but there was not a lot of specific stuff in there for you, especially when it came to online training programs and I am about to fix that, so keep an eye on your inbox later this week (probably Thursday) for the biggest pre-launch discount ever!
This 2-minute video gives you a quick tour of some of the changes and shows you how to find what you are looking for on the site…
One Leg Exercise For Hockey You Should Abandon
Now, I am not going to go so far as to say this is an evil exercise, I am just going to say that I think you can do better. So without further adieu the exercise that you need to abandon is the Barbell Back Squat. You don’t need it, you are better than that, move on. Seriously, there are better ways to give you the strong, powerful legs you need for hockey. The problem with back squatting is that you can back squat a lot of weight using really bad technique – and that is always a problem.
If I were you, I would replace the Back Squat with the Single Leg Squat to Tap.
The single leg squat to tap builds strength in the leg AND stability, AND it does all this without compressing your spine. When you stride, you are pushing off one foot at a time, not both, so the single leg squat is more functional AND I have never seen someone single leg squat heavy and poorly.
I first learned this concept from one of my mentors, Coach Michael Boyle and I was sold when he broke it down something like this. If a player single leg squats 110lbs, that is equivalent to Back Squatting 220lbs with half the load on the spine and equal load on the legs. So the legs get the same training effect, while the spine is spared 50% of the compression – SOLD!
Here is a video walking you through the Single Leg Squat To Tap…
Cheers,
M