Strongman Forearm Strength For Goalies

Imagine my surprise when I saw an email from Louis Cyr in my inbox!

 

For those of you who don’t know Louis Cyr – he is one of the most famous strongmen ever to live!

I was surprised to get the email because he lived during the mid-1800’s into the early 1900’s  🙂

…clearly this was a different Louis Cyr (no relation).

Then I got a question about how to get Louis Cyr forearms so players would stop pushing the puck in past your stick, so you could make a strong poke check without just sliding your stick out there hoping for the best and to help with your passing strength.
So in honor of Louis Cyr (and Louis Cyrs all over the world) here are some forearm strengthening exercises that don’t require you to lift canon balls or lift a platform on your back holding 18 men for a total of 1976kg or 4347lbs – yeah Louis did that.

If you cannot see the video above, just click the link below…
https://vimeo.com/user2591012/review/120012137/3a1ddcd3c1

Single Hand Stick Handling

  • You can do this on the ice or at home.
  • To make it tougher move your grip higher up the stick.
  • Make fairly large side to side movements and make sure you angle the stick’s blade as you contact the puck or ball.
  • Start with 15 seconds and build up to 30s each arm (yes, do both arms).
  • As you get better at it, you will be able to go faster.

Single Hand Figure 8

  • Hold your stick straight out in front of you at the point where the paddle meets the shaft.
  • Using your wrist make a figure 8 pattern with the blade/paddle of the stick.
  • Make sure you are moving just the wrist, not the elbow or shoulder.
  • Do 5 in each direction with each hand.
  • If this is too easy, grip the stick higher up the shaft.

Single Hand Pronation Supination

  • Hold your stick straight out in front of you at the point where the paddle meets the shaft.
  • Using your wrist and forearm, alternate turning your stick blade up and then down.
  • Repeat 5-10 on each hand.
  • When it is easy for you, grip the stick higher on the shaft.

Pick One

You don’t need to do all three of these every time you workout. Pick one to add to each workout.

If you are not doing some extra stick handling at home in the basement or garage, you should add that in as well – just 10-minutes three days per week will have a big impact on your puck handling.

Happy Training!

Cheers,
M