Useless Legs

[Znqt 3]

What's up everybody. I apologize if this is already a thread but I could not find anything on the topic. Usually when I play a hockey game my legs feel good and I feel full of energy. I play about 4-5 times a week and usually I am one of the quickest guys on the ice. However, once in a while, I get this sensation in my legs like they are buzzing, or tingling, and they feel so heavy and numb. Last night I played a game where I could barely move and I was getting out skated over and over. I felt very slow and it was really frustrating. Anyone every had this happen to them before? How do I prevent this sensation? It's like my legs just didn't want to move no matter how much I tried.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Sounds just like you were tired and/or didn't have sufficient energy. What do you normally eat on game day?

[MThockeydad 469]

Hydration and nutrition

[psulion22 402]

I'll often play 4 or even 5 games in a 3 or 4 day span. By the last day, my legs are shot. They feel energetic, but getting them to move is difficult.

I've found that BCAA's, especially Glutamine, before and after the game really help with my fatigue level, especially later in the week. Those combined with proper nutrition and hydration are the keys to playing a lot in a row.

[Chadd 916]

Hydration and nutrition

That would be my guess as well.

[Utterkaos94 11]

What's up everybody. I apologize if this is already a thread but I could not find anything on the topic. Usually when I play a hockey game my legs feel good and I feel full of energy. I play about 4-5 times a week and usually I am one of the quickest guys on the ice. However, once in a while, I get this sensation in my legs like they are buzzing, or tingling, and they feel so heavy and numb. Last night I played a game where I could barely move and I was getting out skated over and over. I felt very slow and it was really frustrating. Anyone every had this happen to them before? How do I prevent this sensation? It's like my legs just didn't want to move no matter how much I tried.

Do you do any leg workouts on your off days?

[Quintin 16]

This seems like more of a training adaptation fault to me. Hydration and proper nutrition (ie. right ratio, amount and type of proteins, carbs, and fats - along with micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals) form essential components for your body to adapt, but if your only means of using your legs is to fatigue yourself every game, it's no wonder you're having trouble.

If you were one of my players, I'd have you take time away from the game to train your weak areas in the gym - which seem to be lack of muscular endurance. You are going to find it very difficult to make any significant training adaptations whilst playing all-out hockey.

[tenfour 1]

This seems like more of a training adaptation fault to me. Hydration and proper nutrition (ie. right ratio, amount and type of proteins, carbs, and fats - along with micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals) form essential components for your body to adapt, but if your only means of using your legs is to fatigue yourself every game, it's no wonder you're having trouble.

If you were one of my players, I'd have you take time away from the game to train your weak areas in the gym - which seem to be lack of muscular endurance. You are going to find it very difficult to make any significant training adaptations whilst playing all-out hockey.

What type of exercises would you recommend to build better muscular endurance in the legs?

[lahockeyplayer 0]

It's not so much the exercises, but the means in which you do them. Someone who is squatting for instance, with 250lbs for 5 reps is pushing 1250lbs compounded. Another individual is squatting 125lbs for 10reps. Each is pushing 1250lbs in total but the means in which they are doing so is different. High weight/Low reps is for strength/size building. Low weight/High reps is for lean muscle/endurance building.

I would suggest a workout regime that included lower weight with higher reps. I would shoot for a weight in which you struggle, but can complete without assistance, the last 1-2 reps for 3-5sets.

Best leg-centric exercises are as follows

Barbell Squat - Back (Top exercise for your body in general) example 135lbs 15reps 3sets

Barbell Squat - Front

Single Leg Squat

Seated Leg Press

Seated Leg Press Incline

Romanian Deadlift

Deadlift

Calf Raises

Power Runners

While the legs/core are very important, if not the most important, muscle groups don't neglect the rest of your body. You need to train your entire body to keep balanced. Also good old fashioned cardio is fantastic. Try circuit training ie High On/Low Off. Sprints for instance are amazing.

[AfftonDad 88]

I find Vitamin B-12 (particularly the sublinqual type) helps with energy (particularly in the legs)

http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/wellesse-vitamin-b-12-sublingual-liquid-berry/ID=prod6149680-product

It's a thing that I became aware of many years ago when I used to be a cyclist. It's been used in cycling for a very long time. However, there is apparently no medical evidence about it's efficacy for this purpose so it may just all be in my head. I don't use energy drinks but pretty much every energy drink around has pretty significant amounts of B-12. It's water soluble (which means you'll pee out what your body doesn't use... won't get stored in body tissues). The liquid sublingual type is fast acting and taken a few (let's say 30) minutes before the activity. Be advised though that if you are playing late, you may have a bit harder time getting to sleep.

[pittu 15]

I find that I sometimes get a warning ahead of time that my body is fighting off a cold or something in the form of general fatigue on the ice for no reason. I feel fine, but my legs feel dead and my wind is gone. For me, it usually means I am about to get a cold or something.

Besides that, I'd say hydration is the biggest culprit. Water, water and more water. I think many of us go thru life pretty dehydrated...

[YesLanges 127]

I don't disagree at all with the importance of good nutrition or optimal hydration, but I don't think that's necessarily the issue here. Vitamin deficiency develops over a longer period than the time between your last good skate the day or two before and your bad skate, notwithstanding that B vitamins aren't fat soluble; and I don't know that it's a good idea to supplement only 1 specific B vitamin unless you've been diagnosed with a specific deficiency. Likewise, chances are you're not doing anything different hydration-wise on those days from other days.

In my opinion, you may just be skating more often than you can skate at your usual high level. Overtraining (regardless of the sport) isn't an all-or-none phenomenon; rather, it's more a matter of degree. So, if this is something you experience only once in a while skating 4-5 times per week, it probably just means that your body's limit for peak performance is closer to 3-4 days per week if you want to be playing at whatever you consider an acceptable level every time. Overtraining can be subtle and cumulative as well, so you might be able to skate hard 4-5 times per week for a couple of weeks before it catches up to you in the third or fourth week of that cycle.

The one dietary changes I might consider would be to consume a complex carb drink supplement immediately after every skate because you might absorb it and convert it to glycogen more readily immediately after depleting it, and maybe some simple carbs (like a teaspoon of honey or a honey-filled stick) during your skate after you're already into the aerobic heart-rate zone instead of before your skate when simple carbs can actually reduce performance.

Weight-training wise, I often did high-rep squats in the 15+ rep range with 275-315 or even 20+ rep range with 225-275 back in the day and sometimes played an hour or two later because back then, my weight training took priority over playing and I lifted 5-6 days/week. Curiously, I often skated better on those nights than with more rest because the muscle trauma hadn't set in yet and I was obviously very warmed up already. But I found that simulating game shifts on an aerobic machine on a hard setting (in general, definitely not right before skating) was more helpful than weight training, because it was a much closer match to playing (obviously) in terms of the energy-output pattern than even the best high-rep leg workouts. Today, I'd use an elliptical machine on the highest possible incline setting for that, but I can't even remember exactly what machine I used back then, except that elliptical machines hadn't been invented yet, so it had to be something else that was the closest gym simulation to a skating shift that I could find.

[Hat_Trick_Hokie 49]

I can't even remember exactly what machine I used back then, except that elliptical machines hadn't been invented yet, so it had to be something else that was the closest gym simulation to a skating shift that I could find.

Haha, all I could think of was the old Nordic Trac :)

[YesLanges 127]

No, it was definitely something with much more resistance and an uphill feel to it. It might have even been the original "Stairmaster" that came out in the mid-1980s.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Haha, all I could think of was the old Nordic Trac :)

I always wanted one of these as a kid.

[tenfour 1]

So how does one improve legs during the season? Taking a break?

But I found that simulating game shifts on an aerobic machine on a hard setting (in general, definitely not right before skating) was more helpful than weight training, because it was a much closer match to playing (obviously) in terms of the energy-output pattern than even the best high-rep leg workouts. Today, I'd use an elliptical machine on the highest possible incline setting for that, but I can't even remember exactly what machine I used back then, except that elliptical machines hadn't been invented yet, so it had to be something else that was the closest gym simulation to a skating shift that I could find.

What kind of intervals do you run on the machine? 1 minutes shifts with 1 minute breaks?

Thanks :)

[YesLanges 127]

Something like that, but I think I rested for two "shifts" after each set. I'm not sure that it needs to correspond that closely to shifts, but I do think that anything in sets that forces your legs to work moderately hard for about the length of a shift is more beneficial than a traditional weight training set of squats, even high-rep sets. This was something I used to do at the gym after a full leg workout after a heavy day when I did fewer reps than a light day and because I did sets of 20 on "light" day, I considered heavy day to be my "easy" day instead of vice-versa. If I were going to do that focusing on hockey instead of just as a supplement to more of a focus on weight training, I think I'd do it as a stand-alone workout on a non-weight training day and definitely not just tacked on to the end of a leg workout. In general, the pace of a machine intended for aerobics on a hard enough setting that it limits you to approximately the length of shifts is probably better for hockey than just longer sets of a slower, less aerobic squat-like motion. Then again, Eric Heiden did pretty well squatting in sets of 200 reps (x 200 lbs.), too.

[ktang 34]

I do low rep squats during the season to keep the strength from dropping off. So, in the summer, work up to 3 sets of 5 at the work weight. During the winter (around playing and reffing), work up to 2 sets of 2 whenever possible. If I'm not too tired, even after a game.

[beerleaguecaptain 999]

Ok.. maybe you're just tired and need a rest?