Most hockey players and coaches generally pull training methods from other arenas (e.g. lifting methods from body building, conditioning tactics from cross country) and just hope for the best.
Regarding conditioning, it is commonplace for youth hockey players to “condition” by running laps around the rink. Think about this. Why would a sport characterized by short-duration repetitive explosive movements necessitate being able to move continuously at a submaximal speed for prolonged periods of time? In other words, why train slow when you need to move fast?
The Problem with Aerobic Training for Hockey Players
Michael Boyle, who is widely regarded as the world’s greatest authority on training ice hockey players, has been outspoken about his distaste for traditional aerobic training for hockey players. He points out that this aerobic training (especially during the developmental adolescent years) actually leads to physiological changes in muscle fiber types that lead to a reduced capacity to perform high force, high power movements. In other words, having kids perform aerobic runs will decrease their ability to perform explosive movements. Unfortunately this means that your “hockey conditioning” could be hurting your athletic potential, permanently. Boyle jokes that the best way to create a terrible athletes is to have them run cross country.
There is an old argument that hockey players need a well-developed aerobic base to help facilitate recovery between shifts. While conditioning can help facilitate recovery between shifts, it is the case that this “aerobic” base is better developed through anaerobic interval conditioning.
Interval Training vs. Aerobic Training
Interval training is by far a superior conditioning method for ice hockey players over traditional aerobic training (continuous submaximal speed running or biking). When comparing the two methods, interval training leads to greater increases in anaerobic capacity (the ability to work at a high intensity) AND aerobic capacity! This is hard for some people to believe, but VO2 Max, which is the most widely accepted marker of aerobic capacity actually increases more following interval training programs than steady state aerobic training programs. This is despite the fact that the interval training programs took about 20 minutes and the aerobic training programs lasted either 60 or 90 minutes! Combine this with the fact that interval training has also repeatedly been shown as a superior method to shed body fat and you have a no-brainer hockey conditioning solution.
In the off-season, it’s important that hockey conditioning programs incorporate multi-directional movements and lots of deceleration work. In general, it’s best for hockey players to combine interval training through shuttle runs and on a slideboard throughout the off-season. This allows you to condition in both linear and lateral movement patterns, which should lead to a better transfer to on-ice performance, as well as decrease your risk of hip flexor and adductor (or “groin) tears at the beginning of the season. Proper hockey conditioning is your key to a successful hockey season.
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