We’ve all seen those practices where the coach forces his
players to run laps outside the hockey rink once ice time is over. However, is
long distance running really necessary or smart for youth hockey players? The
answer is, most of the time, no.
Hockey is a game that requires a lot of strength, which is
why most hockey workouts are conditioning-based. This means their focus is on
building muscle, not on burning fat or getting the heart pumping. The reason
for this is because the game, other than in a few short bursts, doesn’t require
a ton of cardiovascular exercise. It’s more about strength, stability, and
stamina.
The Exception to the
Rule
Of course, there are always exceptions to any rule.
In some cases, it may be good to have your players –or at
least some of them- work to incorporate running or other cardiovascular
exercise into their regimes.
If, for example, you have a player who is overweight and/or
has too high a percentage of body fat, running and cardio could help this
person to drop the extra fat. This, in turn, would help the player to achieve
greater speed in control on the ice.
Running can also be useful for injured players who can’t
easily participate in all of their usual exercises. In this matter, it’s a case
of “something is better than nothing.” It’s better for injured players to get
in a nice, low-impact workout like running if they can’t do other workouts. At
the very least, running will help them to maintain their endurance and keep
them from putting on extra bulk.
Keep it Short and
Simple
As mentioned, hockey really only calls for quick, short
bursts of energy.
For this reason, there’s no need to force your players to
run for long periods of time or for long distances. In fact, doing so can
actually be detrimental by reducing energy and potentially causing injury.
For players who do need to run, quick bursts of running for
twenty to thirty minutes is all that is needed.
The bottom line is that conditioning workouts are more
important for hockey players than cardiovascular ones in most cases. But, when
cardiovascular exercises do need to be incorporated, keep them short and
simple. Following these basic guidelines should benefit your players and your
team as a whole by allowing them to focus on the exercises that are actually
going to benefit them…instead of waste their time.
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