Weight and speed

[hock20 0]

Ok, so i have been told so many things. First I was told that a big upper body will change your center of gravity and make you slower, then I was told that you wont notice and speed difference unless you gain like 40 lbs. In my case I gained about 18lbs of lean muscle mass in the past 6 or 7 months training every day legs 3 times a week. I have gotten much bigger legs and my upper body is was bigger in the chest and shoulders. I cant really tell but do you think the upper body mass will slow me down. If the legs got bigger to support the new upper body I think im ok, please give me some feedback.

[willy0314 0]

it wont slow you down. people only say that because of the misconception that huge guys are generally slow.

as a general rule, if you lift weights, your going to be faster then if you dont. Your fine until you pack on abotu 50lbs. then you might slow down a bit. Even if you dont notice your sprinting speed changing, you'll be better in the corners, and you be faster at the end of the game because your legs wont be as tired.

you might wanna drop one of your leg workouts tho. You dont need to lift for you legs 3 times a week. Every 4 or 5 days at the most would be fine.

[Deerok 3]

I wouldn't worry about that man!

Unless you are on roid's (and "suddenly" gained that weight), your body has adapted to the extra weight and it shouldn't affect you (unless you stopped playing/skating for a while).

Right now on my beer league team I am probably the heaviest and tallest guy (6'2" 200lbs), and I happen to be the second fastest guy on our squad.

That being said, I make sure to train (lifting, plyometrics, core strengthening, etc) with the mindset of improving my game on the ice.

Don't worry!

[usahockey22 0]

No, you'll be fine. There are some people who only lift their upper body muscles and don't do cardio/plyos/lower body...in this case, you would be developing strength and power in one area but leaving the body out of proportion, and could have a higher center of gravity and less leg/core power and speed. This is only if you really don't know what you are doing though, and generally won't happen.

[hapamatt122 0]

dang.. 18 pounds in 7 months.. what the heck is your routine?

[hock20 0]

Thanks for the replies helped me a lot. I have been worried about this for a while now.

chest: monday/thursday

shoulders: tuesday/friday

back/deadlifts: wednesday

core: almost every day

Legs: monday/wednesday/friday

I take in a ton of protein every day and lift very hard. I never lifted consistant before this so I got huge gains from how much I went. Now everyone including my teamates think im on steroids, lol but im all natural.

[BigT 4]

Thanks for the replies helped me a lot. I have been worried about this for a while now.

chest: monday/thursday

shoulders: tuesday/friday

back/deadlifts: wednesday

core: almost every day

Legs: monday/wednesday/friday

I take in a ton of protein every day and lift very hard. I never lifted consistant before this so I got huge gains from how much I went. Now everyone including my teamates think im on steroids, lol but im all natural.

thats a pretty sound routine and is similar to mine.......however, legs three times a week is a bit much, twice at the most would be fine

[Grave77Digger 1]

I have also put on a good bit of weight from weight training and it feels like I have lost the "spring" in my step. My first step seems slower and has less power I think. My legs just feel stiff. Im trying to look into plyometrics to develop my fast twitch muscles.

[hock20 0]

how much weight did you put on? and is it distributed evenly throught your upper and lower body? my first step doesnt feel slower if anything it feels faster..have you trained your legs at the same time? you shouldnt notice a difference unless you put on fat or 50 lbs

[Kovy_Ribs_Fedo 3]

If you trained correctly, weightlifting will never makes you slower.

[srv2miker 0]

One really important factor when adding all the muscle is to include a dedicated stretching routine. Having all that strength is no good if you aren't mobile, and you're joints and ligaments are going to be under more stress from the extra weight you're carrying. A thorough stretching routine will really help your ability to stay healthy.

[Cavs019 708]

exactly, super strong legs are a nice commodity, however if you are super flexible and can launch your legs out like a sling shot you will be fast as anything. Stretching is more important than putting on muscle mass.

[hock20 0]

thanks for the tips, i dedicate 30 minutes every night to stretch everything out

[Chadd 916]

exactly, super strong legs are a nice commodity, however if you are super flexible and can launch your legs out like a sling shot you will be fast as anything. Stretching is more important than putting on muscle mass.

Exactly my thoughts. I have seen a lot of guys put on bulk that doesn't help them at all. Upper body strength is highly overrrated by a lot of people for hockey.

[hock20 0]

Upper body is important though to prevent injury, also if you are underweight for your age. Is flexibility really more important then strength...i that tons of nhl players are constantly in the gym working on everything squatting a lot.

[Chadd 916]

Upper body is important though to prevent injury, also if you are underweight for your age.

I've never seen a person get injured because they were too thin, you would have to be very underweight for that to happen.

[hock20 0]

ya, i was 146 playing aaa in michigan and jr a next year so i gained about 20 lbs of muscle to get to 166 at 5'10 i was way too small and skinny...although very fast im focusing more on legs then anything now though.

[biff44 0]

To answer the original question, you really need to check your % body fat. It may not be as lean as you might think. Have yourself tested. If you are in the 6% range, then the only thing you might be missing for speed is some plyometrics in your routine. If the body fat is too high, work on that, as it is like skating with a parachute.

[hock20 0]

im sure im in the 6% range, i cant find fat anywhere on me...very fast metabolism. can someone post a good stretching routine?

[Gongshow11 1]

i've seen havlat in the gym, let's just say firehydrants as legs, and a small upper body. however his forearms were bigger than my biceps

[hock20 0]

small upper body huh, maybe i should cut down upper body to 2 days a week...i dont want to be out of proportion for hockey.

look on nikebauer.com at iginla...hes huge

[hockechamp14 0]

Well with all these other posts, I'm assuming you're getting confused again, here's a little help:

Hockey is a game of agility. Putting on upper body mass DOES raise your center of gravity. Putting on lower body mass does the opposite. You want a lower center of gravity for bodychecking. You also want a lower center of gravity for being agile.

Look at it this way: if a Jeep and a Dodge Viper had the same engine in it, who would win in a race with a lot of twists and turns. The sports car would because it would be able to go faster around corners and it's weight is lower. A similar concept applies to hockey.

----However, much of this varies on what kind of player you are. If you're a big (evil) defenceman, putting on a ton of upper body mass may not be a bad thing at all. If you're an (awesome) skilled forward it is exactly as described above. Find your yin and your yang and figure out what is right for you.

Yglod is very correct. Huge forearms rule for hockey, as do powerful legs. The forearms are one of the keys to putting power into your stick. If your forearms can't transfer all the energy you built up from your core to your stick, then you should save the 170 dollars on the XXX lite and find some high quality grippers, and a wrist roller.

If you've been training your legs 3 times a week, most of those 18 pounds should have been gained there. However, you might want to be careful with that training frequency depending on your volume. If you hit a plateu, you may want to take a week or two off, and train only twice a week for legs. Make sure you're not doing the same leg workout all three days, or you're asking for an injury. Last month I was training legs three days a week with a rotation like this:

Monday: Heavy Westside barbell style day

Tuesday: Oympic lifts

Thursday: Sprint Training

(I hurt my hip flexor sprinting, so be careful --- although I know my hip flexor problem came more from my sprint spikes than my schedule)

Good work though, just make sure you're putting your weight on doing good work for hockey (squat, deadlift, good mornings, 1 leg squat, pull throughs) and not bodybuilding garbage (leg curl, leg extention). If you're in need of any other help, post it here or PM me, I'd be happy to help.

[BigT 4]

Good work though, just make sure you're putting your weight on doing good work for hockey (squat, deadlift, good mornings, 1 leg squat, pull throughs) and not bodybuilding garbage (leg curl, leg extention). .

what's wrong with leg extensions and curls? i use them in some of my leg routines and have found them very useful

[ktang 34]

I've read that users of leg extension machines stretch their ACLs because the forces pull the knee apart.

[BigT 4]

I've read that users of leg extension machines stretch their ACLs because the forces pull the knee apart.

i haven't heard anything like that but i am gonna try and research it because if that is true than im cuttin those machines out