Power and Quickness training

[kovalchuk71 212]

Hey guys, im going to start training for speed and power (Legs). What should I use to achieve this? Squats? Does anyone have any good plans they use?

[Quintin 16]

Squats and jumpsquats. Also train your core too. Can't ignore those core muscles for skating now, can ya?

[sdcopp 1]

do as much to strengthen all the major muscle groups in your legs. Squats, leg press, calf machines, etc. Also work sprints on your skates as well as sprinting in shoes up hills. If you can find sand or dirt hills that are loosely packed those are typically the best since you have to keep pushing full on to get to the top. Working on standing starts in your skates is also a good idea since you'll often find yourself needing it anyway. Work on all the different angles to burst through the first few strides.

[kovalchuk71 212]

How many sets and reps do you guys reccomend?

Also, im gonna start lifting for the first time since about July. How do I know what weight to do? I use to squat ~255 and bench ~165. Any suggestions?

[wk_style 0]

Along with the typical Squats, hack squats, presses etc. Start with strength training. Then work on explosive training for the sport. Pylometrics with cone jumps etc. I have a great hockey workout program that I could point you in the right direction, send me a PM if interested.

[SickLife 2]

http://www.elitefts.com/documents/strength...gram_hockey.htm

[usahockey22 0]

Squats, Deadlifts, Cleans, Clean and Press...all great for hockey and overall strength/power.

Also, don't be a pussy, do the lift with proper form. You should be squatting well below parallel, until the backs of your thighs touch your calves. And for deadlifts, no touch-and-go, lift the entire weight up from the floor for each rep.

[biff44 0]

Yeah, you do not need a lot of weight, but exquisitly perfect form and real explosiveness in the olympic lifts. I would also throw in some bounding and jumping plyometrics to get those fast twitch muscles working. And, always, the agility ladder is a crowd pleaser too.

[Trooper 8]

http://www.elitefts.com/documents/strength...gram_hockey.htm

I've since modified that program a bit. It's now in line with Joe DeFranco's Westside for Skinny Bastards program which replaces the dynamic days with an upper body repetition day and a running day. You can find it here.

http://training.pitthockey.com/

And check out DeFranco's site, tons of good info on there.

http://www.defrancostraining.com/

[usahockey22 0]

Yeah, you do not need a lot of weight, but exquisitly perfect form and real explosiveness in the olympic lifts. I would also throw in some bounding and jumping plyometrics to get those fast twitch muscles working. And, always, the agility ladder is a crowd pleaser too.

Yea, form and range of motion are much more important than the number of pounds you stack on the bar. I always get a good laugh when someone with stick legs tells me that they squat 450. Then I see them over in the rack with 450 on the bar, not even doing quarter squats. If you are really doing deep squats, you will definitely notice a size, strength, and performance difference in time. The more range of motion that is used, the more muscle fibers you are straining. The closer you are to replicating the power you will need at the base of your hockey stride as well, the initial push.

A few years ago I didn't know as much about lifting, and just did pussy squats (didn't quite go to parallel, but went a lot deepr than most people I see at the gym still) with a lot of weight. I finally just decided to get the maximum performance benefit, and now I go as deep as I can. When I switched to deep squats, I could barely do sets of 200 at first, but my legs were 10x more sore the next day than ultra heavy pussy squats. The lesson is, go deep.

[Lfntn10 0]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50AmHV3AvFA

this was interesting

[kovalchuk71 212]

So when I do squats, how many reps should I do? I dont want to do like 5 because that wount help with endurance. Should I do 2 sets of 10 and 2 sets of 5? What do you guys think?

[drisco487 0]

3 sets of 12 for the squats

[usahockey22 0]

So when I do squats, how many reps should I do? I dont want to do like 5 because that wount help with endurance. Should I do 2 sets of 10 and 2 sets of 5? What do you guys think?

When you are lifting weights for strength and power, you need to go low reps. "Endurance" is fine, but you train for that while you skate on the ice, running, biking, plyometrics, speed lifting days, etc. When you are lifting for a sport, your goal is strength and power. This means low reps, in the 3-6 range.

For core lifts like squat, bench, incline, rows, deadlifts, etc, doing a 5x5 is a good start. 5 sets of 5 reps. Bump the weight up for each set, starting pretty light, then ending with a set that goes close to failure at 5 reps. Switch this up occasionally and put on heavier weights for a 3 rep set, or use your 5 rep set weight and try for 8...

It would be good to stick with 5x5 for squats, then maybe hit 2-3 sets of high rep leg press, or squats if you want afterwards...but there really isn't much point to this, as it wont cause anymore strength increase than ending after 5x5 of hard squats. It woudl be better to go for a run or bike later in the day after lifting if you really want to get the "endurance" in your legs...

I would really recommend you try this program:

http://www.geocities.com/elitemadcow1/5x5_...ediate_v0.3.zip

It's already laid out in an excel program, so all you have to do is enter your maxes for a few exercises, and it will fill out the exact weights you need to do for every workout...it's based around a 5x5 program, and is great for an athlete. I've been using it for the last couple months (with a few additions of my own), and have gained considerable strength on all of my major lifts. This will cover everything you would need, aside from ice time, cardio, and plyos.

[kovalchuk71 212]

what do i fill my maxes in under? Does the max mean my goal or what I can 1RM at now?

[usahockey22 0]

Under "Inputs" there are yellow boxes..

test your strength in squat, bench, row, deadlift, and incline. meaning, do the heaviest weight you can (to failure) for a set of 1-5 reps...then enter the weight and number of reps you got in the yellow boxes. The rest of the program will automatically adjust to the weights you should be doing.

I am doing the same program, except I add 2 sets of clean & press, then 2 sets of cleans at the end of the monday workout. I also do 3 sets of weighted dips and 3 sets of weighted chin-ups at the end of wednesday's workout. Then on Friday I do the 3 sets of biceps and triceps...

[Ghostrider 0]

Here is a program i received from my buddy who was a nationally ranked powerlifter.

As an asided there was an interview awhile back with Buffalo's Briere who commented that his game picked up when he spent his off season training with Hugo Girard.

The progam plus comments

Regarding the workout, I typically do that workout each leg day.

Usually I'll work out 6-8 times in a 4 week period but I'll always

decide the day of. If I'm still sore from the previous workout, I'll

give it another day.

A sample of what I'd do:

Squats (when I'm in shape):

135X8repsX2 sets

225X5X2

Those are to warm up and make sure everything is working.

315X2

365X2

385X2

405X2

275X2X2-3 sets--I'll do 3 if I'm still accelerating the bar on the

second set of 2.

Also, the top set of 2 (405) is only done if the 385 set is done with

acceleration. If the 385 set isn't moving well, rather than do a

heavier set slowly, I'll just go straight to the sets with 275.

Bench Press:

135X5X2

225X3

245X2

275X2

295X1

315X1

325X1

245X2X5 sets (I find I can do more 'work' sets since the overall body

exhaustion from the Bench Press is a lot less than from squats)

Chins or Pulldowns:

3 sets of 6-8 reps

Military Press (I use a barbell)

135x5

155x5

175X5

195X3

Dumbell Seated Rows:

65X8X3

Superset Incline Dumbell Curls with Dumbell Tricep Extensions

3 sets of 5-8 reps for each.

I usually try to add in some leg raises and torso twists too.

If I hustle, I can get out of the gym in about 1 hour and 20 minutes.

The reps are relatively low but I concentrate on trying to accelerate

the movement and I don't do any forced reps. Depending on the movement,

I might do a couple partial reps at the end of a set if I haven't done

6-8 full reps.

I'm also not a big fan of 'pumping up'. I like to alternate movements

from different body parts to keep the blood moving around and I don't

mind working the entire body each workout. I find that I have a limited

amount of recovery ability and doing the classic 3 on 1 off type routine

just overloads my too fast. Doing the whole body each day provides a

natural limiter to the temptation to over-work.

I also do use protein supplements before, during and after a workout. I

know it's probably better to just drink water or a diluted gatorade type

drink during the workout but I don't eat enough during the day so I try

to get the protein grams in me when I can. Aside from moderating my

workload to prevent over-training, the next biggest factor that's worked

for me is making a concerted effort to get over 200 grams of protein a

day (combination of food and protein powders). ((he weighted 225 at the time)

Hope this helps,

IF you want to understand the full concept of powerlifiting to achieve speed read this article (it is long but well worth it)

http://www.dragondoor.com/articler/mode3/269/

title "The Holy Grail in Speed Training"