We are always looking to improve our guys’ explosive power. While in the in-season phase, we will back off on some of the olympic variations that we use such as Hang Cleans. The reason is that some of our guys will have problems with the hands and/or wrists due to getting slashed or from fighting. Also, I like to stay away from exercises where lower back problems can occur. We’ve found DB jumps to be a great alternative in improving our players’ explosive power- especially in-season. Typically, we will do 2-4 sets of 5-8 reps on these. We focus on getting our guys to be as elastic as possible while keeping the chest up, and preventing the knees from caving in.

Whenever I have the opportunity to interact with coaches and parents, I’m always asked the question: When can my son/daughter start strength training?

My general response is around 12 to 14 years old, depending on the physical maturity level of the child, but I always have to take into consideration their perception of strength training.

Usually, the perspective from a parent’s view is lifting really heavy weights with barbells or dumbbells while grunting and straining through each repetition. That’s probably not something I’d recommend for kids under the ages of 12-14.  

But when you think about it, kids are already strength training in lots of different ways; it just may not seem like it because it doesn’t have any real structure.

Some of the most basic strength-training advice is to “master body-weight exercises first, and when proper technique is established, add resistance.”  

That’s true in a traditional sense, because we wouldn’t want to put a barbell with weight on a young kid’s back and ask them to do squats without being able to execute a proper body-weight squat. However, how many times do see young kids doing body-weight exercises without thinking that they might be “strength training?”

Have you ever seen a kid squat down to pick something up?  Or maybe they do some plyometrics while playing games that include jumping or hopping at the park?  I really enjoy watching my 3-year-old son do this all the time; so is 3 years old too young for plyometrics?

As parents and coaches, we may tend to be afraid of having our young athletes participate in a series of exercises because we may view it as traditional strength training. However, we may not realize that kids may already be strength training or doing plyometrics without even thinking about it.  

When kids put on their hockey equipment and go out and practice, that could technically be considered strength training when you think about adding resistance to body weight.  Off the ice, kids are squatting, lunging, running, hopping and skipping all the time; unfortunately, there are also many kids who are sitting on their butts way too much while playing video games or surfing the Internet after school.

First and foremost, I would recommend young kids to start playing more sports and games. As for a traditional routine, in my opinion, there’s nothing wrong with kids doing body-weight exercises such as push-ups, pull-ups, squats, lunges and step-ups, which are movements that kids should be doing. These exercises done with strict adherence to proper technique are beneficial.

Kids can start understanding that strength training for hockey should include exercises that involve multi-muscle and joint movements.  Leave the single-joint exercises, such as bicep curls and leg extensions, for the aspiring bodybuilders.  Then, when they’re 12-14 years old, they can start adding resistance in the form of a barbell or light dumbbells and start progressing from there.  

But first, we may need to get some of them off their butts and start moving.

Many times while I am leaving the rink and I am get in my car after work; I may see some young hockey teams doing their “dry land training” before their practice on the ice.  I may see something that I think is really good where the coach actually put in some thought into a progressive session with the focus on helping the players get better in a fun environment.  Unfortunately, and most of the time, I may see something that in my opinion, isn’t beneficial at all for young hockey players.  What is the good and what is the bad?  To me, for a young player, they need to be having fun while working on the physical components that would help them become better athletes.   Drills such as agilities, plyometrics, tag games, and speed drills that promote competitiveness and enjoyment should be what are most important.  What I don’t like to see are kids being told to take long runs around the block or the arena.  Sometimes, and I still see this at much higher levels, I may see young players riding stationary bikes at a steady state pace for a long period of time.  Ask yourself, how many marathon runners play hockey to help them get prepare for marathons?  Or, does Lance Armstrong play hockey to prepare for the Tour de France?  It makes no sense and unfortunately, in a lot of situations, today’s training for hockey is done this way!

At a recent seminar that I attended, a speaker talked about an athlete’s “speed window”.  He was quoting a researcher who is the world’s expert on young athletes and the maturation process. What he said was that boys and girls have 2 windows of developing speed in their maturation.  For boys, the windows are ages 7-9 and 13-16.  For girls, their windows are between 6-8 and 11-13.  Basically, what he was saying was that during this time, to take advantage of this opportunity, kids should be doing athletic movements as fast and hard as possible.  In relating this to hockey, it could mean sprinting and jumping while doing dry-land training, while also skating fast and shooting the puck as hard as they can on the ice.  Usually, when I see these youngsters on these long, slow runs or rides, guess how old they are?  They are usually between 11 and 13.  They are training to be slow during the optimal time for developing speed. 

It now makes even less sense to have these youngsters go out on these long distance runs or these long stationary bike rides to help them play in a game where speed is the most important factor.  Some of the best quotes I have heard from some of the strength and conditioning coaches that I have learned from include “Train Slow, Be Slow” and “Want to run fast then you better be running fast”.  (I think this would also apply to skating).  Off-Ice training sessions and on-ice practices should always take this into consideration.