One Thing

[HockeyIsLife 0]

What is the biggest one thing you can do off ice to help you skate faster. Something you'll notice the difference.

Also are skate treadmills any good. I'm thinking about going on one but it is $35 for half an hour.

[tips09 0]

running/ sprinting is always good. it definately helped me this summer as i feel quite a bit quicker

[Jason Harris 31]

Squats

[LkptTiger 1]

Also are skate treadmills any good. I'm thinking about going on one but it is $35 for half an hour.

If by "good" you mean "terrific torture device," then yes, yes they are quite "good."

Overspeed (running downhill) and resistance (running uphill, running with a parachute, running while dragging weight, running while someone behind you slows you) sprints are terrific. Going out and sprinting back and forth across a flat field with no resistance isn't going to do much more that build-up your anaerobic endurance (which is great, but it isn't what you're looking for).

Squats (and muscle-isolating variations of the exercise) are awesome, too, but you want to make sure that you're doing them correctly. Doing squats improperly will do you more harm than good.

[Gongshow11 1]

Squats

squats are overrated nowadays. After talkin to an NHL team strenght and conditionign coach this summer, he doesnt even give his players squats. The focus is turning from heavy strong legs to powerful explosive legs, which is understandable, and after watching NHLers train this summer, they didnt do straight up squats but rather variations

[Kovy_Ribs_Fedo 3]

Gongshow is right. Squats doesn,t make you faster but it makes you stronger on the puck and things like that.

Squats

squats are overrated nowadays. After talkin to an NHL team strenght and conditionign coach this summer, he doesnt even give his players squats. The focus is turning from heavy strong legs to powerful explosive legs, which is understandable, and after watching NHLers train this summer, they didnt do straight up squats but rather variations

[Spreedizzle 1]

Running is a great off ice trainer as long as you do it with a goal in mind and don't simply step out of your front door and just go and jog 4 miles. Doing intervals is a great way to simulate the same physical exertions that you would have on the ice. Try light jogging for 45 mins, but with intervals. Jog for 4 minutes and then sprint all out for 1 minute and then go back to your jogging. Do this cycle for 45 minutes and it will be a great off ice trainer.

[willy0314 0]

What is the biggest one thing you can do off ice to help you skate faster. Something you'll notice the difference.

clicking on the search button

but seriously, take a power skating class. If you go and pay attention, and practice the things they teach you, you will get a hell of alot faster alot sooner then with anything else. Everyone can pick their feet up and put them down again really fast, form is what makes a skater faster.

If you dont want to do that, then do some form of HIIT, preferably on a reasonably steep hill.

[Hockeyman9621 0]

Gongshow is right. Squats doesn,t make you faster but it makes you stronger on the puck and things like that.

Squats

squats are overrated nowadays. After talkin to an NHL team strenght and conditionign coach this summer, he doesnt even give his players squats. The focus is turning from heavy strong legs to powerful explosive legs, which is understandable, and after watching NHLers train this summer, they didnt do straight up squats but rather variations

For explosiveness, players do power squats with no weight/light weight. This type of squat is very useful and you'll feel a nice little jump in your stride doing these. Proper form is vital though.

[hockechamp14 0]

1) Unloaded straight sprinting IS useful for hockey. Place the emphasis on working on your acceleration. Learn how to do a sprint start. Fully recover between sprints. It's not a conditioning workout.

2) Squats are extremely useful, regardless of what anyone here says. If you have a higher maximal strength, you're going to get greater force application in each stride... period. If you add plyometric training with some box drops, rebound jumps and what have you that will increase your force application speed. If you have a low maximal strength, increasing your force application is like trying to fill a full glass. You need to increase the size of your glass (your maximal strength) before you can get more water in your glass.

[swede 49]

Squats

squats are overrated nowadays. After talkin to an NHL team strenght and conditionign coach this summer, he doesnt even give his players squats. The focus is turning from heavy strong legs to powerful explosive legs, which is understandable, and after watching NHLers train this summer, they didnt do straight up squats but rather variations

bullshit!!!!

first off.. heavy legs has nothing to do with squats or any other leg exercise. IT'S ALL ABOUT NUTRITION. If you don't eat more than you actually need you wont gain any mass/size and therefore the actual exercise has nothing to do with the size of the muscle POINT!

You can gain strength without gaining muscle mass. However, overeating will make it alot easier to gain strenght. But it is not needed.

2:nd off.. When youre at NHL level you should allready got the needed strength/size, and be able to focus on other things such as your tollerance for lactic acid, explosivness etc..

[Jason Harris 31]

Gongshow is right. Squats doesn,t make you faster but it makes you stronger on the puck and things like that.

Squats

squats are overrated nowadays. After talkin to an NHL team strenght and conditionign coach this summer, he doesnt even give his players squats. The focus is turning from heavy strong legs to powerful explosive legs, which is understandable, and after watching NHLers train this summer, they didnt do straight up squats but rather variations

1) He asked for one thing. I believe that one exercise would have the most impact of any choice.

2) Just estimating the descending affect from muscle most worked to least worked, I'd say a squat works quads, glutes, calves, lower back, hamstrings. I think it would be impossible to have stronger quads and glutes and not be a faster skater.

[Gongshow11 1]

Squats

squats are overrated nowadays. After talkin to an NHL team strenght and conditionign coach this summer, he doesnt even give his players squats. The focus is turning from heavy strong legs to powerful explosive legs, which is understandable, and after watching NHLers train this summer, they didnt do straight up squats but rather variations

bullshit!!!!

first off.. heavy legs has nothing to do with squats or any other leg exercise. IT'S ALL ABOUT NUTRITION. If you don't eat more than you actually need you wont gain any mass/size and therefore the actual exercise has nothing to do with the size of the muscle POINT!

You can gain strength without gaining muscle mass. However, overeating will make it alot easier to gain strenght. But it is not needed.

2:nd off.. When youre at NHL level you should allready got the needed strength/size, and be able to focus on other things such as your tollerance for lactic acid, explosivness etc..

whats wrong with you? you think after a whole season the legs dont lose strength? 6x a week on the ice? I know at my level they do. And let me tell you, they do different leg exercises, even the guys not in the show but in the A and stuff. Hell go to niketraining.ca and tell me who does squats there.

Gongshow is right. Squats doesn,t make you faster but it makes you stronger on the puck and things like that.

Squats

squats are overrated nowadays. After talkin to an NHL team strenght and conditionign coach this summer, he doesnt even give his players squats. The focus is turning from heavy strong legs to powerful explosive legs, which is understandable, and after watching NHLers train this summer, they didnt do straight up squats but rather variations

1) He asked for one thing. I believe that one exercise would have the most impact of any choice.

2) Just estimating the descending affect from muscle most worked to least worked, I'd say a squat works quads, glutes, calves, lower back, hamstrings. I think it would be impossible to have stronger quads and glutes and not be a faster skater.

hes better off doing light plyos or sprints since hes obviously never squated an will probably hurt himself. if he had done squats there would be no thread

[Hockeyman9621 0]

Peter Twist(Complete Conditioning for Ice Hockey for those who don't know) recommends doing squats on top of other exercises. But once again, he says they are only useful if you have proper form.

Here is a quote from his book. "...hockey can tear down your knees, but correct squats build up your knee strength." He then goes on to tell you how to do proper squats and finishes with, "Soon it(squat form) will feel natural and you'll be on your way to safely developing important skating muscles."

I'm not saying squats are the best for speed, I was just surprised you guys find them useless and unimportant.

[willy0314 0]

hes better off doing light plyos or sprints since hes obviously never squated an will probably hurt himself. if he had done squats there would be no thread

What the hell are you talking about? If hes never done squats, then they are going to be the single best thing he can do. And why would you assume hes going to hurt himself? All you have to do is go to any bodybuilding / weight lifting website and you'll get a description, pictures, video, personal trainer that pops out your CD drive, that will show you the right way to do squats. (www.bodybuilding.com is what you want).

You get all the sprint work you need in practice. What you dont get is the kind of lifting that you need to develope strength in your legs.

but I still stand by my first post that the single best thing to increase your skating speed is a powerskating class.

[biff44 0]

Squats are the one thing that will best improve straight ahead speed.

Lateral cone jumps and one-legged body-weight squats are probably best for lateral agiliity.

Various types of plyometric jumps and bounding are best for front and back acceleration.

Running an agility ladder is probably the one thing that will improve your game in the fewest number of hours trained.

Why pick, do them all!

[willy0314 0]

picking your feet up and putting them down really fast won't make you a faster skater if you have crappy form and take short choppy strides.

[trox_355 0]

Peter Twist(Complete Conditioning for Ice Hockey for those who don't know) recommends doing squats on top of other exercises. But once again, he says they are only useful if you have proper form.

Here is a quote from his book. "...hockey can tear down your knees, but correct squats build up your knee strength." He then goes on to tell you how to do proper squats and finishes with, "Soon it(squat form) will feel natural and you'll be on your way to safely developing important skating muscles."

I'm not saying squats are the best for speed, I was just surprised you guys find them useless and unimportant.

A lot of knee injuries stem from underdeveloped gluteus medius and gluteus minimus muscles and other groups in the core. Abduction exercises help with these.

Developing leg strength can definitely help speed. Important however, is core stability. Powerskating and isolation exercises both help with this.