It starts with a plan

Nobody should just show up to a gym without a plan. 

• Why are we here? 
• What are our goals? 
• How are we going to accomplish them?

There is a shift among elite athletes occurring. It’s no longer about getting into your gym shoes and loading up the squat rack with as much weight as possible.

We are always going to want our athletes to be strong. That will never go away.

But strength comes in many different forms. What if we are training to be strong and play at our fastest speed possible? 

How does that training differ from just bench pressing our maximum weight three times?

What if we are looking to activate the exact same muscles we use when skating? Could we accomplish that in our running shoes?

The gym can be compared to taking your car to the mechanic. When you drop your vehicle off, you expect it to be in better condition when you pick it up..

As the athlete making a plan, setting goals and working out, you are the mechanic, and your body is the vehicle. 

When we get home from the gym, is our body in a better spot to succeed tomorrow and for the long term?

Our goals for working out are more than just building muscle.. 

Working out is a form of preventative medicine for an athlete. We spend our time and effort to better prepare our bodies for the rigors of a very physical and demanding season.

We are trying to create a body type that delivers physicality and can also receive it. Yes, throwing body checks and catching opponents with a big hit is fun. 

But taking hits is part of the job description too. 

That is why you see so many high-performing athletes spending time doing yoga, stretching their bodies in ways that seem to defy our limits.

Elasticity is critical for absorbing punishment. 

When we play at a very high speed, our body can find itself in some contorted and awkward positions. If we can prepare for those in advance, we can sustain the hits and awkward falls in a much better way.

What if, as a hockey player, we could perform those exercises in our skates? 

The advantages of working out on an unstable surface, while targeting skating specific muscles, are huge.

We start by building a strong foundation for our body, and then we build mass on top of that. We want to get stronger, and we will always want to lift weights to accomplish that goal.

But building a foundation that can both deliver and absorb physical contact will keep us on the ice more.

We want the best possible chance to succeed during a full six month season and well past our hockey career.

Not six games.

This is our first blog of what we hope will be many. There will be a recurring theme within our blogs. Form and proper technique are everything. Strength is earned. There are no shortcuts.