PHS OFF-ICE CONDITIONING
 

Fall of 2009 will be another important time period, which will allow all of us to recharge and get ready for repeated success, or better yet, more success than in past years!  Our team is a strong group and our goal is to be the best team that enters the ice for each and every contest.

 

Our goal is to have better proportional body weight with more functional strength, so as to be able to generate more speed, power, quicker recovery, and application with movements on the ice.

 

Enhancing your physical capabilities takes time, commitment, discipline, effort and hard work. Our goal is to have more lean muscle mass through exercising and to have less body fat through watching your nutrition with specific aerobic and anaerobic exercising.

 

Conditioning will help enhance your needed physical capabilities with skating and will not only allow you to report to Try-outs and Training Camp with functional fitness goals, but will allow you to maintain those standards through-out the entire season.

This season will be very challenging with a major focus of increased speed and intensity levels.

 

You can also help eliminate injuries while strengthening your immune system. There is no substitute for skating, on ice conditioning and games, but challenging yourselves to enhance your fitness and skating skills to be more than what you should need, will provide greater positive physical and mental benefits.

 

Here are the Off-Ice programs and terminology to help offset erosion of skill sets and  enhance our physical tools:    

 

Aerobic Conditioning:

1.   Energy system used for sub-maximal exercise workloads for long periods

of time. It helps with recovery after hard exercise and with decreasing body fat. Heart rates are between 60 % & up to 80 % of your maximum heart rate. Exercise programs such as Bike Programs of steady rides or Treadmill Programs running at the same pace are types of aerobic training methods. This type of conditioning is for slow twitch muscle development and should not be used to develop quickness, speed or power.

 

 Aerobic/Anaerobic Thresh-Hold:

  1. Point where you move from your oxygen induced system of sub-maximal loads of exercise into maximal loads of high intensity exercise for a short time or your non-oxygen induced system. Heart rates are at 75% to 80+ % of your maximal heart rate and 30 to 60 seconds of high intensity work. This is an excellent training area to improve fitness, recovery after exercise, immune system and decreasing body fat. Interval Bike Programs, Interval Treadmill Programs & Interval Skate Programs are types of conditioning methods. This is also a positive form of conditioning which helps you “fight” through “pain” of lactic acid development while trying to stay mentally focused during tough bouts of exercising!  

 

Anaerobic Conditioning:

  1. Energy system that is produced from your body’s glycogen storage or carbohydrates. This system produces energy for as long as 120 seconds, but usually peaks between 30 to 45 seconds. This system is used for speed, quickness, strength and power. Heart rates go from 80+ % to your maximum heart rate. This system produces high levels of lactic acid accumulation, which presents fatigue and thus, prevents you from performing any longer. Programs such as Bike Sprint Programs, Treadmill Sprint programs, Shuttle Runs and Skating Shuttles are such training methods. This type of training method is the toughest and becomes the most neglected type of training area as years go by and we become older.

 

ATP-PC Conditioning:

  1. Energy system that is used to produce immediate energy for maximum intensity up to 10 seconds. Bike Sprint Programs, Track Sprint Programs, Skate Sprint Programs and specific Functional Development Programs are such training methods.  You must exercise with all out intensity with not many repetitions.

 

Strength Training:

  1. Resistant exercises with your own body weight or with stronger resistances & heavier loads. This is a form of development enhancement to strengthen muscles, tendons, posture stability and increase your lean muscles, which then, allows your body to generate more power, speed or quickness. Programs such as Circuit Training Programs, A-B-C Exercise Programs and Gym Workout Programs are excellent for strength and multi tasking with awareness development. Strength training is very necessary to coordinate your whole body from head to toes, allowing movement as one unit and with strengthening your weaker “links” which can cause injuries or decreased speed of movement. 

 

Functional Movement Enhancement:

  1. Exercise development programs that work your skill and movement demands that are needed with skating and mental awareness. This type of training is “key” towards faster application from off ice to on ice development. The use of “Functional” Track workouts, Thera Band exercises and the A-B-C Strength Programs are all beneficial. Exercising with transitions of movements, are extremely demanding, but necessary!

  

Skating Enhancement:

  1. This is the “key” area where you must incorporate and apply all of your development skills from off ice to on ice. Only, skating can help you attain and maintain better posture, balance, agility, quickness, speed, power and transitional movements. When you have sharpened these on ice skills to a level of consistency with competency, then your focus and awareness abilities increases during movement, while watching action in motion.

 

Awareness and Focus Enhancement:

  1. Training your mental skills while you develop your physical skills to stay more focused and alert during movement will help with your decision processing, read and reaction and utilizing “sports anticipation”. This area of your “sniff” development can separate you from being “non-elite” to “elite”!  Sports like tennis, racket-ball, pick-up hockey, badminton, etc.

 

Nutrition:

1.    To establish better eating habits responsible for fueling both your body and mind allowing better energy and focus ability. To understand that excess ingested calories that are not used in exercise, become stored as fat! Understand that good nutritional habits, exercise and rest with restoration, all go hand and hand to attain a greater goal! “Key” areas, such as eliminating specific foods, eating smaller portions, time of day when you eat, drinking plenty of water or replacement fluids, and eating better food choices are some simple components of nutritional awareness. Resources such as contacting a “Nutritional” expert and reviewing the information from previous nutritional guidelines would be beneficial.  A better “Life-Style”, with your proper body weight will truly help you as a professional!!!
 

 If you keep in mind these simple “key” areas for enhancing your personal development during your workouts and remembering that you should “hit” each and every category, you will be giving yourself the best chance to be as successful as you can, within areas that you can control.

  

Anaerobic Programs:

 

Bike Program: Foot speeds of 90+ rpms or 100+ rpms with heart rates between 80% to your maximum. Your resistance levels will be from 350 watts to 500 watts with heart beats/minute of 152 to 172 and higher for 30 seconds to 60 seconds then 60 seconds of recovery before your next bout.

  1. Warm-up: A constant foot speed at 90rpms or 100rpms with resistance levels of 150 to 200 watts for 5 to 10 minutes.
  2. Anaerobic: Do 5 to 10 repetitions of 30 seconds or 60 seconds of your maximum wattage with heart rates between 152 beats/minute or as high as your maximum heart rate. Your foot speeds are either 90+rpms or 100rpms during workloads and recovery. Do between 5 to 10 bouts of work.
  3. Cool down: Go easy for about 3 to 5 minutes to allow your heart rates to become normal.
  4. The use of your heart rate monitor would be beneficial.
  5. This program can be performed one time every 7 to 10 days.

 

Explosive Weight Program: Performed with moderate to heavy resistance.

  1. Squat/lunge A-B-C’s: Perform in a rhythmic pattern between 30 to 60 seconds of work.
  2. Chest Press A-B-C’s: Perform in a rhythmic pattern between 30 to 60 seconds of work.
  3. Core/Torso Twists: Perform from your skating profile with your hips locked and your arms holding the weight plate away from your body. Swing from left to right and back between 30 to 60 seconds of work.
  4. Your heart rate will reach an anaerobic level at the end of your exercise bout.
  5. Do these “Big” 3 exercises from 2 to 3 bouts of each.

 

 

Run Program: Run as fast as possible up a hill or a steep up grade.

  1. Warm-up: Jog for 3 to 5 minutes.
  2. Anaerobic: Do 5 to 10 repetitions of running up the steep incline between 30 to 60 seconds. Run with your hands on your hips will increase the loads on your legs and body balance.
  3. Cool down: Walk or jog for 3 minutes to allow your heart rate to become normal.
  4. Your heart rate monitor would be beneficial.