This Goalie Workout Might Be Worse Than Doing Nothing At All
I am a moderate, so I typically believe that some kind of workout is better than no workout at all – even the workouts you see advertised on TV J, however, the workout that one of you emailed me a few weeks ago might actually be worse than doing nothing at all.
I will paraphrase, but the basic email went something like this….
I really like your blog and I know that I could be a much better goalie if I worked out off-ice. Last week I joined the gym and hired one of the trainers who took me through this workout…
- 15 reps of leg press
- 60s of squat jumps
- 15 reps on knee extension machine
- 15 reps on hamstring curl machine
- 60s of box jumps
- 15 reps on groin machine
- 60s of crunches with my feet up
- 60s of side crunches
- 60s of sideways hurdle hops
- 30s of something he called Russian Twists with a medicine ball
Okay, so that was the workout – I am not sure how many times he went through this, but my guess is more than once. As I type this next line, I am hearing my Mother’s voice pop into my head. When I was in high school my Mom would often remind me that if I was ever anywhere that someone was doing drugs, I was to run home right away.
And I know she did not mean it figuratively – she wanted me to bust into full Forest Gump mode and run for it. Well, I guess it worked because I never got into drugs J.
My advice to you if you are ever given a program like this to do… run away – literally!
I bet most of you can pick out the flaws here…
- All the strengthening is done on machines – making the prime movers strong and leaving the stabilizers weak as twigs and dumb as stumps. Recipe for an injury and does not train your muscles the way a goalie needs to use them on the ice.
- High volume plyometrics – we never do high volume plyometrics. What’s even worse is that this was the goalie’s first day working out with this trainer. Recipe for injury and it will actually make this goalie slower over time.
- Crunches and loaded Russian Twists for ‘core training’. I wrote an entire article about the Russian Twist HERE and I hope you understand by now that crunches do not strengthen your abdominal muscles the way you use them in hockey. Crunches are also repetitive lumbar flexion which is a mechanism for lumbar disc herniation – so recipe for injury and it does not teach the abdominals to work that way they do on the ice.
So you can see that there are so many things WRONG with this program that I really cannot fix it other than tell you to run away! But here are the ingredients you should look for in your goalie training program…
- The only machines you use for strengthening are cable column machines, the rest is done with dumbbells, barbells, resistance bands or body weight
- Your program includes more useful core exercises, like planks or ground based strength exercises that require core stabilization like a standing cable or bungee press – much more useful on the ice
- You speed training actually makes you faster which means the duration is lower
- Your anaerobic lactic training is not high impact, but more agility based
- There is time taken to develop a strong base of flexibility and stability before adding strength. Putting a bigger engine into a Pinto will not give you the Formula One experience you are looking for 😉
So now you know the warning signs when you are in danger at the gym. Stay away from the dealers – the dealers of misinformation and ignorance….just run away. Take the money you would have spent and give it to a trainer who actually knows what they are doing or invest in a program like the Rapid Response Goalie Training System for a step-by-step goalie training blueprint that you can do at home or in the gym.
The workouts only take 20-40 minutes to complete and it is guaranteed to improve your flexibility, stability, strength, speed and stamina. You can learn more here…
RAPID RESPONSE GOALIE TRAINING
This week I am running a Valentine’s Day promo, so if you buy between now and Friday at midnight (Eastern Time) you will get access to a LIVE Question & Answer session plus you are eligible for a private coaching call with me. No catch, you and I will get on the phone and you can ask any goalie training questions you have for no additional charge.
If you want to learn more, just click the image below…
Cheers,
M