Skating

[Nic#19 0]

what is the best way to work the muscle in your legs for pure strength.

[Chadd 916]

Squats and leg presses always worked for me. Make sure you get good information from a professional before you begin lifting if you are under 16. If done incorrectly, you can do more harm than good.

[Gongshow11 1]

basic->squats, lunges, step ups

[crosskore 0]

So like 100 sqats before you go to bed? that kind of thing? and what are lunges? thanx.

[Chadd 916]

Doing a quick workout is a great way to start the day.

[Kirsch 1]

I need to work on my explosiveness. When I get up to speed I am faster than pretty much anyone else on the rink, but its starting and getting up to that top-speed fast enough that I need to work on. Any ideas for this? I play inline only btw so anything involving ice isn't going to help. Thanks a bunch.

[D3nZ 0]

I thought of something new the other day, just go to a running track with your roller's and some weights with the long bar(like when you do squats) and put some weights on them and skate around the track with them on your shoulders while holding with your hands maybe put a towel on your shoulders that will put less direct weight on your shoulders but will still put some on your legs.

[Gongshow11 1]

i dont know how much that would do since your not going in an up or down motion. not sure....have to think about that one

[D3nZ 0]

i dont know how much that would do since your not going in an up or down motion. not sure....have to think about that one

It helps for your leg endurance and your trides.

[Guest 2048]

Of course if you fall, the barbell could break your neck. Something to think about.

[D3nZ 0]

Of course if you fall, the barbell could break your neck.  Something to think about.

First you don't put 100 pounds of weights on them, second you don't skate in the road you go to a local track or rink and third you don't skate like a crazy bitch, you just skate around. I will probably try it this summer, if you don't you just don't, don't have to be critical about everything someone says, it's just personal preferences and sugestions. SHeesh.. Sorry for giving ideas.

And what about putting barbels in a backpack?

[Guest 2048]

Jeeze, constructive criticism. There's a reason people don't run with barbells to train their legs.

Anyway, calf raises, leg presses and prisoner squats are great ways to improve your leg strength. Prisoner squats are great if you've got lots of space, you'll improve your leg strength and be working on improving footspeed as well b/c they involve plyometrics.

If you don't have access to a calf raise machine, simply stand on anything raised and do them. If you want to use weights, you can hold a weight in one hand and stand on a single leg while holding on to something with the other arm. Not sure if it's the same or the opposite leg, I'll tell you tomorrow.

Edit- what you can do if you want to skate with weights is get a weight vest. Jagr uses them to train in the offseason. Might be why he has all those groin problems. Can't imagine how bad hitting a rut with 40 extra lbs on you in addition to gear would be.

[crosskore 0]

Maybe describe a prison sqaut? I have never even heard of a prison squat before. thanx.

[Guest 2048]

Guess I got the name wrong, that's what a friend told me that they were called.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/likness23.htm

Look down the page for the jump squat.

In fact, all the links on this page are pretty helpful

http://bodybuilding.com/cgi-bin/perlfect/s...e=&q=squat+jump

[Gongshow11 1]

i dont know how much that would do since your not going in an up or down motion. not sure....have to think about that one

It helps for your leg endurance and your trides.

alright i got why it wouldn't work.

When you have the barbell on you back for prolonged period sof time, chances are you would begin to lean forward, hurting your back and your stride.

wear a weight vest and rollerblade, that would help.

with the barbell you sowuld skate so upright you would look stupid...if you wanted to do it properly

[Kovy_Ribs_Fedo 3]

Squats and leg presses always worked for me. Make sure you get good information from a professional before you begin lifting if you are under 16. If done incorrectly, you can do more harm than good.

There's only one thing I would like to be explain...8 guys on my team can squat 2 times more weight than me. The thing is I'm the fastest skater on my team.

[Gongshow11 1]

some people are naturally built. you can be strong and have bad strides, but if you have good techinique and can squat a lot, then you'll be liek the wind. if you're already fast you'll be even faster. kid on my team has biggest legs i'v ever seen, squats 500 lbs easy, and has NHL speed, just no hockey smarts or heart

[Kovy_Ribs_Fedo 3]

some people are naturally built. you can be strong and have bad strides, but if you have good techinique and can squat a lot, then you'll be liek the wind. if you're already fast you'll be even faster. kid on my team has biggest legs i'v ever seen, squats 500 lbs easy, and has NHL speed, just no hockey smarts or heart

Yeah, I understand what you mean, a lot of time, players who are extremely strong, have often poor hockey sense.

[Biskitindabaskit 0]

If you want to be faster you must have a decent stride. The longer your stride the more speed you gain with each stride. The trick is to complete more full strides in less time than you could do before.

You should be working on this as your gaining strength. Agility only really comes into play as your starting and when your at top speed. Footspeed helps with winning short races for the puck or a great positition when your not at top speed. Try to incorparate that into your stride. For example: Bure has great foot speed. He can go from a stand still to top speed in 2 or 3 strides. This helps him win races for he puck and get into position for scoring chances. Try to emulate him.

[Kovy_Ribs_Fedo 3]

If you want to be faster you must have a decent stride. The longer your stride the more speed you gain with each stride. The trick is to complete more full strides in less time than you could do before.

You should be working on this as your gaining strength. Agility only really comes into play as your starting and when your at top speed. Footspeed helps with winning short races for the puck or a great positition when your not at top speed. Try to incorparate that into your stride. For example: Bure has great foot speed. He can go from a stand still to top speed in 2 or 3 strides. This helps him win races for he puck and get into position for scoring chances. Try to emulate him.

Nice point. Another player to check at with his footspeed is Samsonow. He can fly in short distance.

[MDE3 0]

I believe there is such a thing as a "speed trigger" which some have and some do not...of course all the exercises you mention will help an individual max out his/her potential, but it seems that some people have a faster neuron/synapse reaction than others, and that this seems to be a hereditary thing.

I have seen it in kids I have coached from the time they are 3 or 4 years old, with no training to modify their natural reactions/movements. It may show up later sometimes, but not always.

[Chadd 916]

Actually it's fast twitch-slow twitch muscle fibers not synapses. You can improve your footspeed a certain amount but some people will always be quicker than others.

[crosskore 0]

What about swimming? Can that help?

[bulletproof_funk 0]

Unless you're able to do skating motions with your legs while swimming, I don't see swimming helping with usable foot speed on ice. I could be wrong, but the footwork exercises I've seen or read about for hockey usually involve similar foot movements that would be used when skating. It's like you have to train specific muscles to move quickly in a certain motion.

[Fire0nIce228 1]

Are those skating machines expensive or really worth it. Theres always a bunch of them in that USHockey magazine that I get.