Getting in Shape

By Jack Blatherwick Ph.D. Sports Physiologist, former Strength and Conditioning Coach for US National and Olympic Teams


As the winter season gets started, many coaches - - in fact most - - are planning practices to get their teams in shape after the summer months. However, the time to start is in the early spring, not the early winter. Training at the beginning of a new season should be just a continuation of a well planned twelve-month program. This does not mean that nothing can be accomplished now if the off-season was wasted, but certainly those who spent long hours building the base will get much more from in-season training. The base is not built playing spring leagues or summer leagues/tournament.

For example, the players who spent the last six months running sprints and hills,lifting weights, and doing skating-specific plyos like Russian box jumps - -these players will get the most from intense interval training on the ice. Their newly-developed leg strength will transfer to skating speed and technique. On the ice it is easy to pick out those who have spent long hours training their legs. Quicker feet from running sprints, greater knee bend from doing squats, powerful extension from hours of skating-specific jumps,endurance and quicker recovery from the sum of all different types of training in the off-season.


Getting in shape is not in the vocabulary of the most intelligent athletes. They'd never consider getting out of shape. Imagine a gymnast trying to become an Olympian by taking six months off to get out of shape before starting a season of training. In fact; all the best athletes use the noncompetitive months to train with the greatest intensity, so intense it would not be possible if they were competing regularly.
Young hockey players with aspirations to play at a higher level also use the off-season to train differently than in-season, where team systems and winning games becomes the highest priority. Periodization is planning in advance to change your training program from one part of the year to the next. The human body adapts to change more efficiently than if the training stimulus is these same way all year. {That means skating - which is a training stimulus - should NOT be done for 12 consecutive months. Those that do not take time off and train properly fall behind}

“Summer exposure leagues/tournaments are a big waste of time”.
Dave Conti, NJ Devils.

“ Development does not occur in these identification camps. You only get better through intelligent practices. The Satellite Training Program is the way to go.”
Herb Brooks, Pittsburgh Penguins.


For a hockey player, the early weeks of spring might emphasize strength training. For many, running and general conditioning are also important. Late spring might be the time to incorporate more jumping and sprint-training along with the workouts in the weight room. Usually there is much less skating or none at all in the spring, so a serious hockey player can really fry the legs at this time. Later in mid-summer, when there are Select camps and other hockey activities, the training should be reduced in intensity at times.Then, in the early fall, when there is very little serious hockey, the off-ice training can focus on tougher interval training: hills and plyos with longer work intervals, stairs, and anaerobic sprints on the track to improve endurance and recovery rate. This means that by the time the season starts, teams have done their homework for six months can concentrate on extremely high tempo execution in every practice.


It is this high tempo practice - - called overspeed /interval training - - that prepares a team to play each game in a comfort zone that is simply too fast for their opponents. This is how the Soviet National teams defined `being in shape' during the 50's, 60's, 70's, and 80's.They practiced at such a high tempo - much faster than comfortable -- so that when they played a game, their comfort zone was extremely uncomfortable for opponents. Their coaches practically fought with players, pushing them to practice faster and faster. Execution of skills was so difficult at this speed that players resisted this type of training. But, the coaches never relented, and eventually their teams could execute skills at this pace. None of this would have been possible without establishing the physiological base in the off-season months.So, the Soviets prepared for the on-ice `overspeed' training with the most rigorous off-ice workouts in hockey. Endurance, speed, coordination, agility, leg strength, core muscles of the back, hips, and abs - -the preparation was endless. While it is nearly impossible for amateur players in our country to spend as much time in preparation, the model is worth remembering. Everything they did off-ice was designed to help them improve from on-ice interval training. The model should have been copied by every team sport. Consider how much more intelligent this would be for a football team. They could meet at pre-season training camp with one goal: to execute every skill - - every play - at the highest possible tempo.


Instead, football coaches forget that their athletes have already done the base work, and they start each season with hours and hog of basic conditioning. The net result - - if their players survive is to execute plays at a reduced tempo, slow down by fatigue, injury, and dehydration Then, when games start, and everyone psyched up to execute at full-speed, they are out of the comfort zone they established practice. This is typical in most team sports. When the hardest practices of the year ; in training camp,you know that the teary not realizing the benefits of periodization.Training camp practices should be the fastest, not the hardest. The grueling leg workouts are already the bank - - an investment by the most committed athletes, who spent the off-season months making sure their in-season workout would be an extension of the base that was built when others were fishing.