Hey Gang – before I get to telling you about one of my favourite hockey training exercises, I want to welcome you to the last day of Summer! I hope you had as great a summer as we had here in southern Ontario – people had a lot to complain about her – the sunshine, blue sky and those damn HOT temperatures. What the heck is the weather doing making it HOT in the summer?
Now everyone will be able to complain about how it is cold and all those stupid red, orange and yellow leaves are falling all over their lawn – – hmf!
My new babies.
I am loving the more fall like weather, mainly because I LOVE fall, but also because I get to bust out my new Vintage 1460 Dr. Marten’s boots that I got in Toronto when we went to see Springsteen (by-the-by – if anyone has tips on how to break these mothers in I would appreciate it if you left a comment telling me). Now, some people are cool enough to rock the Docs with shorts….I, my friend, am not one of them! I can barely make it look good when I am wearing long pants, but I loves them!
A little history lesson for you – as you probably know, Docs were originally from England. Declining sales and changing economics sent production to China and Thailand – not the same. So Docs did the smart thing – the offer and upgraded (read: more expensive) version called ‘Vintage’ – these are made in the original factory with better quality materials and craftsmanship…so there, more than you ever wanted to know about Dr. Martens 🙂 Now let’s get to business…
The Front Squat For Hockey Training
You know when you see one of the greatest hockey training exercises done so poorly, it feels like someone is reaching right through your bellybutton and pulling on your soul? You know that feeling? What? Am I the only one?
Last week (or earlier this week – can’t remember) I posted an article telling you why you should banish back squats from your hockey training. Because I have put back squats out to pasture at Revolution Conditioning it does not mean that I have turned my back on all squats, I still have a strong love for front squats.
So today, I want to show you how to do them properly and help you appreciate that even very small technical flaws can have dire consequences over time. It seems like nothing at the time, but that ‘butt wink’ could lead to a disc herniation. Let me explain a little more in the video below….
I hope this video has helped clarify proper technique for one of the best exercises you can use in your hockey training to build strong legs and a strong torso. Remember these key points:
- Keep your elbows up. This helps create the ‘shelf’ that bar will rest upon and it helps you keep proper back position. It is very hard to round your back when you are keeping your elbows up (not impossible mind you)
- Use your glutes, so the first thing to move should be your hips moving back, you should not start the movement by gliding your knees forward.
- At the bottom of the squat you should feel the pressure just in front of your heel.
- Only descend as far as you can without tucking your tail under or ‘butt winking’. This will be inconsequential until the second that you bulge or herniate a disc – at that point you will wish you had never, ever squatted in your life.
- As with all strength training exercises for hockey, only use a weight that you can lift with perfect technique. If you cannot lift it perfectly, then don’t lift it.
Hope that helps – have a great weekend gang. Also thanks to all the skaters out there for your great support of the new HockeyWorkoutClub.com – there are only 5 (out of the original 50) pre-launch specials at $7.95 remaining, which is pretty cool since we just released them yesterday. So, once they are gone the price will go up to the regular launch rate, which will still be very reasonable, but not as dirt cheap as $7.95. Anyway, thanks again.
And don’t worry goalies, I have not forgotten about you – the next program is for you – it will be a dirt cheap follow along flexibility video – yahoooo!
But for now – both of you get to work on your perfect squats.
Cheers,
M