Hockey and..cycling, running or swimming?

[JR97]

Originally Posted by nystromshairstylist

For me its cycling as I don't like swimming and intensely dislike running. Running is also not a healthy sport as it will likely damage your knees and ankles. I cycled for years before I started hockey, and it has helped tremendously, as does the P90X program, which I use selectively as some of the videos are a bit boring. The core, abs, and cardio are especially helpful for retaining my energy level for hockey.

P90X is good. the vids do get boring, though. I have the app on my phone and after the warmups just go to the app instead of watching the vids.

[Lonny Bohonos]

If I could only choose one sport/exercise for the rest of my life its hands down swimming.

Theres so much you can do with swimming. And its a total body workout not to mention very low impact.

As for hockey training it has to be cycling. Low impact and easier to control and get into high heart rate zones.

[Lonny Bohonos]

Originally Posted by tijuana knuckles

According the U.S.A. Hockey strength and conditioning coach, biking is a terrible activity for hockey players. The motion of pedaling tightens the hips. The motion of skating needs flexible hips and the pedaling motion tightens the muscles necessary for the skating motion. He recommends tennis because of its side to side movement and because of the short bursts that simulate hockey bursts. He also said lacrosse because of the short run up and down the field and of course the stick work.

Of your 3 choices swimming would be the activity that would probably be best so to not tighten your muscles. It would probably let your retain flexibility needed for hockey

Dont know if Id say terrible but I understand his point. Anyways for rec players it probably not that much of an issue. And you can always do stretches for hips.

[noobman]

Originally Posted by IslesZoso

If you could choose only one of these 3 activities as it might relate to hockey fitness, which one would it be and why?

It depends on your goals.

I'm more of a general fitness guy seeing as how I only play hockey 2-3 times a month, so I'm not exactly training with the intent of improving my game... although being in generally better shape always seems to have a positive effect on my game.


Distance biking isn't the best for hockey, but a spinning class will challenge both your aerobic and anerobic capacity in an effective way. Running isn't bad, especially if you're doing intervals/sprints/suicides. It's not something I do anymore because it's too hard on my knees. Swimming is a good for all-around fitness but it doesn't do anything specific for hockey.

A good training program will never say "choose one". A good training program will say "choose one of these for 3-4 weeks and then do something different". Periodization is fundamental to overall fitness, especially if you are training for a sport.

[triggrman]

I lift twice a week and vary my routines and run 3 times a week in intervals on a treadmill, no more than 6 miles each run and no less than 3 and I try to keep the overall average to under 9 minute miles, some days are better than others.

I splash more than I swim so I don't think my technique is good enough to be too beneficial so I stick with the things I actually know how to do.

[SCritical]

The womenfolk in my club seem to have decided that running is the natural enemy of all hockey players because it slows the foot speed. I don't buy that, I've found that running is the best way out of the three to increase your fitness. If you're out of shape the quickest feet in the world aren't going to help you.

Personally though I would be cycling because I've been sick for ages and lost all of my leg strength. It's not a good feeling for your legs to be out of juice before you even break a sweat.

[Jarick]

I had read that jogging will help your cardio but could hurt your muscle mass, and that Mike Boyle had the US women's team sprinting instead. Of course, these are elite athletes.

[predfan24]

Originally Posted by SCritical

The womenfolk in my club seem to have decided that running is the natural enemy of all hockey players because it slows the foot speed. I don't buy that, I've found that running is the best way out of the three to increase your fitness. If you're out of shape the quickest feet in the world aren't going to help you.

Personally though I would be cycling because I've been sick for ages and lost all of my leg strength. It's not a good feeling for your legs to be out of juice before you even break a sweat.

Running long slow distances all the time isn't going to help much for hockey and if you aren't strength training and keeping your nutrition up you could go in a catabolic state and break down muscle.

On the other hand sprints are great for hockey. You build explosive leg strength and anaerobic endurance both which are crucial for hockey.

[KidRobot]

No matter what you go with, do some High Intensity Interval Training. Will do wonders for your hockey endurance vs what a normal jog around town would do.

Basically youre sprinting for 45 seconds (kinda like hockey, eh?) and then resting 45 seconds (again..).

I personally like a mix of all 3.