FEATURE ARTICLE
A GUIDELINE FOR DESIGNING AN OFF-SEASON
RESISTANCE TRAINING PROGRAM FOR HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY
for young athletes come from utilizing optimal training programs
rather than outdated ones that are ineffective in promoting
maximum strength gains (3). Players at the high school level are
in various stages of physical and mental development, and their
physical abilities change from year to year as they grow; these
players range from 14 – 18 years of age. Because of the physical
immaturity of most athletes at this level, the hypertrophy or base
strength phase is of great importance for proper progression of
strength in the off-season and should not be overlooked.
WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS?
Ice hockey requires anaerobic endurance and predominately
uses the phosphagen energy system. Ideal shifts last 30 – 45
s, although some last longer. An aerobic base is necessary for
general fitness and improving further anaerobic efficiency.
Obviously, muscles of the lower extremities are used for on-ice
skating skills. Therefore, strength and power development of the
hip flexors, hip abductors/adductors, gluteus maximus/minimus,
quadriceps, hamstrings, gastrocnemius, and core muscles are of
major importance. The starting point for this strength and power
development is the off-season strength training program and the
design of the program should be based on the sport requirements.
PLAYER EVALUATION
At the beginning of each off-season, the coaches involved in
running the hockey program should evaluate incoming freshmen
and any new athletes as soon as possible in order to establish
their baseline parameters (i.e., speed, strength, agility, flexibility,
training age, and emotional maturity). Most coaches will have
specific tests for determining these parameters.
Two aspects that are not addressed in many programs are
training age and emotional maturity of the athlete. Coaches need
to understand that a 14-year-old freshman may not have had a
supervised resistance training program at the junior high level;
while other players of the same chronological age may have
been involved with club or other recreational programs before
high school that included heavily supervised training programs.
The idea with player evaluation is to establish where they are
physically and determine how much experience they have in
weight training techniques. Many young athletes do not start
weight training until their first year of high school, but not all. It
is important for strength coaches to become more familiar with
new athletes to determine who needs extra attention with weight
training techniques. Determining all of the athletes’ training age is
usually a good place to start.
TRAINING AGE
Training age represents the amount of time an athlete has
been involved in an organized resistance training program run
by certified coaches at any level (1). This can include club and
recreational sport programs. Those athletes with a training age
of 2 – 3 years may be able to perform some of the multi-joint lifts
(e.g., hang cleans, power cleans, bench press, and squats) if they
were taught how to perform those lifts in the past. Athletes with
a training age of 0 – 1 year will likely need extra direction and
instruction on the technical proficiency of the multi-joint lifts.
Because time is at a premium at the high school level, some
coaches may train athletes with a lower training age with the
rest of the athletes that have a higher training age in the same
resistance training program. For example, it is not uncommon for
a junior or senior to decide to play any sport at the last minute
without having any experience. He or she may have a low training
age (0 – 1 year) and will need to be progressed accordingly
despite their relatively high chronological age. In organizing
training programs, it may be more useful to categorize athletes by
their training age instead of their academic year or chronological
age in order to break them up in different groups. Regardless
of their academic year, the athletes with lower training ages will
need more instruction time with developing proper form of all
movements and progressions of exercises.
The high school athlete continues to build their training foundation
through each year—something all coaches should understand
when designing their training programs (4). Although ideal, it is
not practical for each athlete to have an individualized program.
Therefore, the program has to have some modifications for the
younger, less-skilled athletes. High school coaches should be
cautious not to inhibit older, more experienced athletes and not
to overtrain or injure the less experienced group. When designing
and implementing the program, explain the reasoning and need
for separate training groups so they will understand the purpose.
Having separate training groups and modifications to the training
programs will require alterations to the training phases and
recovery plan.
PERIODIZATION AND TRAINING PHASES
Periodization is a program design tool that can help plan proper
recovery between yearly training phases. The periodization model
consists of phases or cycles of training throughout a calendar year
that are designed to get progressively more intense and sportspecific (1). Programs at all levels that use a periodization model
include an active rest period between the different phases of
training. Active rest periods between off-season, ?K\?X\??[??[?\?X\??\?HH ?[?\? \?? H \?[?^?][?[?[ ?X??[????? \?X?[[?Y[?[ ?X??\?H?] ?Y[?XX? ?X\?????X?]\?H? H ???? ??Y [KX?]?H ?\?X^H?H ??Y [Y? \?[???Y^H??XZ??[?[?? YHH ?YZ?? ?? \?[?? ?[[Y\????XZ??\[?[?? \? H ?X?Y?X? ??Y [K???[?\?[ K ???? ? ?\?[?ZY P]Y?\? ????X?\?\?HX?H ?Z]\???[?YH H??\?X\?? ???[H[???\ [X?\?? ?\??Z\??? ?K\?X\?? ???[H[?]H]Y?\? ?[??\?? [? ]???X?\???[ \?H\?H[?[ ][?? Y\?H?K]?YZ?8?' ??\??'H???' XZ?[???'H \?H] H[??XX? \?K??????x?&T?T???PS??H?RS?S????T??S T??QH L??B??????