Well, back from a week of holiday; Paul & I had a great break.  We stayed home and did some work around the house.  It may not sound cool, but it was really fun and very relaxing.  

Now that I am back to work, I cannot believe how close we are getting to my busiest season – the hockey off-season!  I will have another full HockeyStrong group training five days per week at the Revolution Studio this summer plus I have noticed a little spike in interest at my downloadable off-ice training programs for skaters and off-ice training programs for hockey goalies.  Glad to see athletes planning ahead.  If you are planning on doing some sled training this summer, check out the video.  Dennis sent me a really nice email asking for some sled training ideas, so I put this video together – enjoy! 

I include the sled in my ‘functional’ strength training for things like side steps, cross overs and striders.  I have the athlete focus on staying low, maintaining level hips, maintaining level shoulders and getting a push through the full range of motion.  I do not load the sled very heavy on these – basically start at 25lbs and add weight until the hockey player cannot maintain stability through the torso. 

I typically include the sled push and the squat and pull in the power portion of the cycle as I use this in short bursts with a heavy load.  When the athlete is pushing the sled I want to make sure they keep their hips low and when they are performing the squat and pull I want them to maintain a neutral back throughout.  The squat position for this off ice drill should look the same as your barbell squat (butt down and chest up), then the athlete drives with the legs and hips to initiate the pull.  Please let me know what questions you have.