S P O RT S
PERFORMANCE
L EW I S HO OK
ML: Ice Hockey is coined as one of the fastest and
most explosive sports in the world...can you explain
some of the physical demands in more detail for us?
LH: Ice hockey is a very physically demanding sport
due to the sheer speed it is played at and it’s brutal
physicality. Trust me, you know that you’ve played after
a game! Sometimes on a Sunday it’s tough to get up
and compete again after a Saturday night game.
LF: You have to be strong, fast, mobile, agile, resilient
and have plenty of endurance to go with everything else
too! As Hooky just said we play most of our games back
to back on consecutive days so recovery and rest become
huge during the season.
ML: The goals are tiny and the keepers are huge.
You play on ice wearing razor thin blades. The pitch
is surrounded by a wall. It is one of the fastest and most
violent sports in the world where fighting is part of the
game...are you both mad?
LF: Haha. I’ve asked myself that question so many
times, but the truth is that I just love to watch
and play this sport. I’m so glad that I get to do it
as a job.
LH: When you put it like that it does sound crazy, but
from the moment I first saw the speed and physicality
of the game I just fell in love with it. These days the
level of skill is even higher and it is always getting faster,
which I think just makes the game better and better.
ML: What is it about the sport that makes it so
appealing to players and fans alike?
LF: The speed, the big hits, the fights and the
competitiveness. Players are willing to do whatever
it takes to win, and that makes it very interesting
to watch.
LH: I love everything about it. The speed at which it is
played is phenomenal, but with a really high skill level
too. Then add the physicality and competition when two
teams go to battle and it makes Ice Hockey the perfect
sport to follow.
ML: The Winter Olympics is fast approaching so Ice
Hockey will get more mainstream coverage than usual.
In as simple a way as possible could you explain the
key rules??
LF: You aren’t allowed to use your stick to trip, hit
or pull anybody back. Any contact to the head is not
allowed either, and you can’t go over the oppositions
blue line before the puck has or you will be offside.
LH: Don’t forget another important one - to score more
goals then the opposition team haha.
ML: Haha thank you Lewis ‘stating-the-obvious’ Hook.
So if the idea is to score more goals than the opposition
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MUSCLE & FITNESS / MARCH 2018