This observation is not specific to hockey players, I have seen it in track athletes and even baseball players.  Some athletes seem to get addicted to the LEG PRESS machine.  In fact when I was the Strength Coach to teams at The University of Western Ontario this was my typical experience during Fall testing…despite the fact that even back then I never prescribed leg press during their off-season hockey training program I would always get 3-4 athletes who would ask to do their max testing on a leg press rather than do squats like the rest of the team. 

Turns out these athletes found that their back was feeling tight and fatigued once they started trying to raise the load on their squats.  Their back was getting tired before their legs.  When they sat in that comfy leg press seat and took their core out of the equation they could lift three times more weight without the fatigued feeling in their back.  Sounds logical right?  Read More→