Getting in shape

[SB39 2]

Its Tabata, named after a doctor that invented the method, and any 20 on 10 off exercise would qualify, though its easier to stick to certain protocols. I would highly recommend using the Tabata method with sprints, even if you have to go 90 or 80% then walk, whatever you can do will help and you will improve fast if you aren't drinking.

[warrior37 0]

so pretty much cutting out all booze is the way to go?

[biff44 0]

Well, obviously you do not want to be killing your new knee. So as far as leg work, use a stationary bike and go for 45 minutes at a time, medium level.

If you have a good weight room around, look for an ergonometer for your arms. It is like a bicycle for the arms, you can do a lot of the aerobic conditioning using your arms instead of your legs, and still get the same cardio workout while sparing the knee.

Also, some of the old schwinn airdyne bikes had the moving handles to you could pump it solely with your arms.

You could also get onto a cable pulldown machine, sit down, set the weight low (like 30#) and do a couple hundred pulldowns.

[gavin 0]

so pretty much cutting out all booze is the way to go?

I personally think that it is BEST to not do beer at all, for hockey reasons. But I'm sure that drinking a cold one after a hard skate is not doing as much damage as some people think. The major problem would be, just when all those guys need some protein to build a little muscle, they are downing plenty of filling carbohydrates, and then they go home and go to bed without any protein. SO, technically what you should be doing is slamming a bunch of beer BEFORE the game and then getting protein afterwards.

Especially if you're playing against me :lol: Nothing funner than knocking a drunk winger out COLD. Sometimes they don't even see the check coming.

[gman 0]

so pretty much cutting out all booze is the way to go?

I personally think that it is BEST to not do beer at all, for hockey reasons.

That's why I prefer Vitamin-J... Jack Daniels :D

Seriously, if you realize that anything you put in your mouth (food wise) is going to have an effect on your body somewhere, you will be more careful what you consume. Alcohol serves no purpose for your body. I am not a tee-totaler and I do like beer and the aforementioned Vit-J, but I realize that I am doing nothing whatsoever to help my body. Same for precessed sugar, corn syrups (ie; soda, pancake syrup and just about anyting sweet). If you want to get really serious about fitness, you have to get serious with your diet. They go hand in hand.

[HotBacon 0]

I just did a great workout. I ran out to a small ski hill here in the area. Then I grabbed a log that I was using for workouts last fall. It's basically a big round log with 2 holes bored through it and ropes in both ends. It's about 10 feet long and ways a lot. Anyways, once I get it situated on my shoulders and balances (usually takes 10-20 seconds) I sprint to the top of the hill and then put it on it's edge and hold it there. It's so tall that half of the workout is trying to keep it standing up while I'm breathing hard. After 10 seconds, I put it on my shoulders and go down the hill as fast as I can (the slope I use is not long, but very steep. I need cleats, even though it is covered in good grass).

Basically, this turns into a sort of Tabitha method. After I do it about 8 times I will do some sprints, sprinting up the hill and then picking up a big round of cedar and holding it above my head. Then I curl a big huge metal bar (I think it was used for logging in the area about 40 years ago) and then run back to my room. It's a good compliment to my times in the weightroom. Right now I'm exhausted, I think I'm going to have to go to sleep.

Sounds very Rocky-ish. Do you have "Eye of the Tiger" playing in the background too? :D

[BGM 0]

I just did a great workout. I ran out to a small ski hill here in the area. Then I grabbed a log that I was using for workouts last fall. It's basically a big round log with 2 holes bored through it and ropes in both ends. It's about 10 feet long and ways a lot. Anyways, once I get it situated on my shoulders and balances (usually takes 10-20 seconds) I sprint to the top of the hill and then put it on it's edge and hold it there. It's so tall that half of the workout is trying to keep it standing up while I'm breathing hard. After 10 seconds, I put it on my shoulders and go down the hill as fast as I can (the slope I use is not long, but very steep. I need cleats, even though it is covered in good grass).

Ski hills and logs laying around. Do you live in northern MN ? Just kidding.

Seriously, if you realize that anything you put in your mouth (food wise) is going to have an effect on your body somewhere, you will be more careful what you consume. Alcohol serves no purpose for your body. I am not a tee-totaler and I do like beer and the aforementioned Vit-J, but I realize that I am doing nothing whatsoever to help my body. Same for precessed sugar, corn syrups (ie; soda, pancake syrup and just about anyting sweet). If you want to get really serious about fitness, you have to get serious with your diet. They go hand in hand.

You couldn't have said it any better.

[gavin 0]

Actually Northern Wisconson right now, but yeah I'm kinda from north of Northern Minnisota. Either way, I know that I'm more blessed than most in opportunities to work out. We have a great weight room here at the college, but I prefer to mix it up with something more Rocky-ish (thanks HotBacon). And yeah, Eye of the Tiger is good to hum to yourself. Maybe it's time to get an iPod. :lol:

On the topics of beverages, the worst thing you can do is just cut out beer altogether, because most guys that drink are actually not hydrating themselves enough if they don't drink. So... stop drinking but replace it with something that you like. My youth pastor is all about iced green tea right now, so we sit around saturday night swinging back cold green tea.

[gman 0]

My youth pastor is all about iced green tea right now, so we sit around saturday night swinging back cold green tea.

Your youth pastor is a bright guy. Green tea iced or hot is awesome. I got on a tea kick last year and found white tea. I am not sure if it is all true, but it is supposed to be even better for you than Green with less caffeine. In a perfect world I would drink nothing but iced or hot green and white teas and water. But nothing is perfect....

[gavin 0]

White tea eh? Thanks for the tip. I'm going "home" to BC to work this summer, no doubt I'll find some white tea out there. Every time I go back I discover a new tea/herbal thing. But for sure, it's not hype. The green tea stuff works.

[hock20 0]

I now have shin splints from all the sprinting...how do you get rid of them

[gman 0]

I now have shin splints from all the sprinting...how do you get rid of them

Rest, rest, and then rest. You can ice as well. But you have to rest to let them heal. If you do they will heal quickly. If you don't, they won't....

[Kovy_Ribs_Fedo 3]

Do you have good running shoes? It sometimes does a difference? I use to have shins splints last year, but I don't have them this year because I got great shoes for working out.

[BGM 0]

Yes if you have shin splints that's your body telling you have overdone it or it's getting adjusted. Rest but your shoes as mentioned could be the problem. Most people go and buy any running shoe at a sporting goods store and don't realize they might have the wrong shoe. If you plan on doing a lot of running you need to go to a running speciality strore and have them watch how you walk/run.

[gavin 0]

I coach college cross country and honestly, if your shoes are good etc etc (most runners already have that stuff taken care of) there is really nothing you can do but ice your shins and stay off your feet.

Sometimes we'll have our 2 best runner out, and there's really nothing we can do about it.

[BGM 0]

Yeah general rest is the best I was just pointing out people have pains, etc when they run and sometimes it's just a biomechanical issue in their stride because they have the wrong shoe.

[Kovy_Ribs_Fedo 3]

I coach college cross country and honestly, if your shoes are good etc etc (most runners already have that stuff taken care of) there is really nothing you can do but ice your shins and stay off your feet.

Sometimes we'll have our 2 best runner out, and there's really nothing we can do about it.

Hey Gavin or others, do you know if shin splint can be worse if you still continue to do sprints or the pain peaks at a certain level.

[gavin 0]

Actually yeah I forgot to mention that... with runners, you can still train with shin splints. We tell the runners to just run through the pain, because the shin splints are not going to damage you at all. I'm just thankful that when I ran competetively I didn't have any.

What I mean by resting them is, when you are not training, get your feet up on a footstool, put some ice on the shins, and get a good book, or your laptop. But you can keep doing your sprints or running or whatever it is you're doing.

[Kovy_Ribs_Fedo 3]

Actually yeah I forgot to mention that... with runners, you can still train with shin splints. We tell the runners to just run through the pain, because the shin splints are not going to damage you at all. I'm just thankful that when I ran competetively I didn't have any.

What I mean by resting them is, when you are not training, get your feet up on a footstool, put some ice on the shins, and get a good book, or your laptop. But you can keep doing your sprints or running or whatever it is you're doing.

k, thanks for info...I had tendency to stop when I had shin splints because I was thinking it could get worse.

[gman 0]

Actually yeah I forgot to mention that... with runners, you can still train with shin splints.

What I mean by resting them is, when you are not training, get your feet up on a footstool, put some ice on the shins, and get a good book, or your laptop. But you can keep doing your sprints or running or whatever it is you're doing.

I am not quite sure this fits in all situations. I know from experience that shin splints can be minor or severe and anywhere in between, and can go from minor to sever in the same bout. I also know that a severe case of shin splints can mask a stress fracture. That happened to two people on my college XC team. You can go from an inflamation of the muscles and connective tissues on your tibia to full on tears and separations.

If you are very in tune to your body, and are an expereinced runner and have been through these before and healed successfully and you have a trainer and or doctor to bounce your progress off of you could perhaps keep training. Otherwise it seems to me the best thing to do is rest and ice completely. If you are going stir crazy without a workout, bump up your chinups, dips and situps. Maybe you can even squat without pain in your shins. Take this as an opportunity to change up your workout a little. Of course this is all just MO and worth every penny you are paying for it :)

[hock20 0]

Ok thanks for all the tips, the weird thing is shin splints dont hurt at all while skating which is great. I have Jr tryouts coming up now in 2 weeks, should I stop doing squats and such since my legs are feeling pretty burnt out? Im going to just skate lightly and stretch until tryouts or maybe a few lifts.

[ktang 34]

I think that you should be in "maintenance mode" now, lower volume (not necessarily lower weight, but fewer reps and fewer sets), and a lot more skating. No plyos for at least 2 days before tryouts.

[gavin 0]

gman: yeah you have a point, like we had a girl on the women's cross country team who broke her leg in Sept., the 3rd week in and we didn't know until after Christmas break! She was wearing a cast all spring semester, and to think that for 3 months we thought she just had shin splints. One thing, she was not a runner, just an athletic girl with a TONNE of grit (I should know I was her timekeeper and I spent 2 months yelling at her to "just run through it!!!") and so in most cases, an athlete will know if it is shin splints or a facture. She's doing OK now, I think she started working out again right before graduation. But my point is, if you know it's just shin splints (see your local trainer, it's best to have it diagnosed locally), then you CAN just run on it, there is absolutely no danger of hurting yourself further.

And then there is one of my favorite wingers on our college team, an ex soccer player, thought he was having ACL/knee ligament problems and was living through the WHOLE hockey season on painkillers and not trying to sleep using sleeping pills, only to turn out he broke his femur during pre-season dryland training, and while he was jogging with his gf or something stupid. He played the whole season on it broken without knowing and then when he found out he had to get a HUGE cast and crutches, the whole nine yards.

Point is, weird things can happen, and if you have a long-term (3+ weeks) pain, go see an athletic trainer. But if it's just shin splints, keep running and lifting and everything, cause you're not going to hurt anything. And the number 1 rule for any sport is REST

[hock20 0]

does anyone think that creatine would help my performance on the ice? does anyone have personal experience with it, i searched and found only a little info. thanks

[gman 0]

does anyone think that creatine would help my performance on the ice? does anyone have personal experience with it, i searched and found only a little info. thanks

I am not big on most supplements. But guys I know who are even say that creatine is BUNK. It may help you holdon to water so it will make you look bigger, but it does nothing for performance. Save your money...