Football Body vs. Hockey Body

[Neo5370 132]

Can someone explain like I'm five; both football and hockey are anaerobic sports but most (pro) football players seem to have more "athletic" looking bodies than NHL'ers. Is it the longer season? Less emphasis on upper body exercises? Are the ones I'm noticing the exceptions? For example...

Drew Dough-ey (see pics below w/ hot blond)

http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx?contractUrl=2&language=en-US&p=drew+doughty&assetType=image

Or Andrew Ference (see pics where he looks like fashionable Sean Avery)

http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx?contractUrl=2&language=en-US&assetType=image&excludenudity=true&p=andrew+ference

And of course there are the infamous Dustin Byfuglien and Kyle Wellwood.

[IPv6Freely 2082]

I'm going to go with:

Hockey players need to be more like runners or sprinters, less bulky. They have to play 1-2 minutes at a time, for upwards of 20-30 minutes a game, for 82 games a season.

Football players bulk up because they're only needed for 3-5 seconds at a time, for only 6-7 minutes a game, for 16 games a season.

[215BroadStBullies610 434]

For football players, they are looking for max weight due to the physicality of the sport. Hockey players should be looking for higher reps/increased endurance due to the duration of the season/playoffs. Balance and flexibility is much more important as a skater than a football player. It's more common for a hockey player to focus plyometrics while football players are more focused on workouts centered around dumbbells and bench press. As someone who is built like a football player, I've learned over time to workout as a hockey player and not just put on mass/muscle.

[DLK 0]

There are also very different demands based on the position you play in American football - wide receivers, cornerbacks and some runningbacks aren't built that differently from hockey players, but there's no comparison between most lineman and hockey players.

[Stewie 721]

in hockey, the physicality portion is more technique based than it is how muscular you are. Look at someone like Kronwall, who is one of the best technical hitters in the game currently if you ask me. Hes not a very big guy at around 5'11'' or 6' depending where you look, and around 190 lbs. But he knows how to use his weight/positioning, and leave a good check. Hockey players have enough gear bulk, and need insane ranges of motion, that being absolutely ripped isnt very beneficial. Football also has a lot of downtime, so the players dont need to be as endurance based as well.

Also as eluded to before, football is very position specialized. Hockey athletes dont need such varying body styles as football, no matter what NES ice hockey told you.

[Chadd 916]

Unfortunately, I have a bowling (ball) body.

[215BroadStBullies610 434]

But you still play the game and that's all that counts!!!

[shooter27 116]

There are plenty of hockey players that are pretty ripped, but they tend to be longer and leaner (kind of like a boxer) whereas football players tend to be bulkier. A number of the reasons for his have been touched on above, but I think one more key one is the level of dexterity in the hands and arms needed to lay the game. Hckey players must be able to move their hands and arms in different planes than their torso and legs. Most football players simple don't need that type of dexterity. Particularly lineman and linebackers (who tend to be the most ripped guys) because they simply don't handle the ball much, their arms, torsos, and legs all tend to move in the same plane together. The closest thing to level of hand and arm dexterity needed in hockey is the skill football positions, qb, wr, cb, rb and those guys tend to be longer and leaner, not big and bulky, with a few exceptions. Those guys need the flexibility to be able to move their hands in arm in space in different planes than the body is moving, just like hockey players do.

The new breed of tight ends (Gronk, Jimmy Graham, etc) are an interesting hybrid in that they are bulky and ripped buy maintain the flexibility and physical dexterity to be able to catch the ball and move like much smaller men. Those guys would be absolute beasts if you could get them on ice.

[Jason Harris 31]

I think most players get funneled into positions based on their body type, or, maybe more accurately, based on their productivity due to their body type. Three-hundred pounders obviously do better at ramming heads than one-hundred sixty pounders, while whippets do better at outrunning linebackers. Conversely, it helps an NHL player to be sturdy enough to withstand the wear and tear of a season, yet I think shooter's right about hockey players being better when they have more fluidity of movement.

That said, I suspect another difference between the sports is not so much in their training, but in their practicing. I've seen videos of NHL players doing the same squats, presses and curls as NHL players, but it seems like NHL practices are more of an aerobic activity than NFL practices. There seems to be a lot more standing around at NFL practices, while NHL players are generally moving for ninety-plus minutes. Do that five plus times a week and one's going to get pretty lean.

So it's a sport that favors being leaner more than the other, then it's a sport that basically has them practicing at high intensity for long periods.

[crispy92 14]

The new breed of tight ends (Gronk, Jimmy Graham, etc) are an interesting hybrid in that they are bulky and ripped buy maintain the flexibility and physical dexterity to be able to catch the ball and move like much smaller men. Those guys would be absolute beasts if you could get them on ice.

I read an article about gronk. Apparently he did play hockey and he was a beast. Idk what level but the article pointed out an instance where he scored 9 goals in a game

[SB39 2]

Unfortunately, I have a bowling (ball) body.

Hey man, round is a shape, don't hate.

[gxc999 7]

Hockey players have to be leaner, and utilize more neuromuscular strength than do football players. Everyone above did a good job of summing it up and consider Steve Stamkos. His real size is apparently 6'1 192 lbs, pretty toned, Gary Roberts training to a tee. Fast twitch muscles are specifically focused on. Plus, not a lot of guys at 6'1 220 can be fast and have a high level of endurance. Possible but tough to do for a number of years.

[Kevin 5]

Andrew Ference is actually in great shape; those photos are deceiving. I have seen him in the gym; he is strong for his size.

[Trooper 8]

The skilled position football players may be more bulky than most hockey players, but not all.

[Jordan 13]

More steroids in football.

[Law Goalie 147]

I would introduce one other issue: the duration and intensity of the season and playoffs.

It's not uncommon for players to drop a bunch of weight over the season (Oct. to April), but even more in the Apr.May/June playoff period; they just can't eat enough to maintain. If you start with a terrifically lean body and a high metabolic rate, the amount of food you'd need to take in to maintain healthy function during periods of peak exertion and intensity, with minimal recovery and maximal stress, is astronomical. If you've got a little weight salted away -- not enough to really slow you down, but something -- you'd presumably endure those peak periods better. The case I'd point to here is Brodeur, who has been 'soft' his whole career, yet put together a ridiculous run of season and playoff success while playing more or less all the time; he played more games in effectively longer seasons (and correspondingly shorter offseason recovery periods) than anyone in those two decades, except maybe Roy and Hasek for brief stretches (and even they, while comparatively tall and stringy, were by no means lacking in BF%). Tim Thomas fits the same bill. Then you look at a guy like Ryan Miller, who has from a technical perspective the ideal body for a goalie (like a lightweight rower, all angular strength, reach and flexibility), but who wears down noticeably in every playoff series he enters, and over the course of even his best seasons, even when protected by a good backup.

I'm not saying you need to be chunky to be a good NHL player, or a good NHL goalie, but that there may be a balance to be struck between the peak moment-to-moment performance of a body on the razor's edge of fitness and a body that makes some compromises between that kind of performance and a more durable consistency.