Page 16 - The Hockey Academy News September 2018

4 Pillars of Athletic and Hockey Performance
Article by Scott Prunier, Top Fitness
At TOP Fitness we believe that there are 4 pillars to athletic performance. The 1st pillar is Movement, 2nd is Nutrition, 3rd Recovery, and 4th is Mindset. Over the next few months as the newsletters come out we will highlight in a little more depth what each one of these pillars means and how we use them to help hockey players become better performers.
With the first Pillar being Movement we will cover the elements within this category. Movement is a very broad word but for us at TOP Fitness we feel movement includes: warm-up (or preparation), speed, agility, balance, strength, and coordination. In ice hockey you must have all of these to be a great player. If you
are lacking in any one of these physical areas you are leaving a lot of athletic potential on the ice.
The best time to improve your movement ability and these physical qualities is in the off-season. Since it is the fall and the start of the hockey season, not to mention school is back in session, time is limited. Here are some in season strategies we use to help our players improve their flexibility, speed, power, balance, and general athleticism.
In Place Warm-Up: (small space warm-up, Time:
Dynamic Warm-Up: (if you have more space, 10-20 yards, Time: 5-6 minutes)
1. Straight Leg March 2x’s
2. Butt Kicks 2x’s
3. High Knees 2x’s
4. Carioca (short stride) 2x’s
5. Carioca (longer strides) 2x’s 6. Lateral Shuffle hips low 2x’s 7. Split Stance Start Sprint 2x’s 8. 2 Crossovers to Sprint 2x’s
5-6 minutes)
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
6. 7. 8. 9.
Standing Quad Stretch x 3/side Sweep the Floor Hamstring x/side Spiderman w/ Twist x 5/side Backwards Inchworm x 5
Bowler Squat -> into Standing Fire Hydrant x 5 each/side
Lateral Lunge x 5/side
Squat Jump x 5
Lateral Bound x 5/side Hip Turn x 5/side
16 SEPTEMBER 2018 | THEHOCKEYACADEMY.COM