Hockey Strength & Conditioning GUNNAR MACH, CSCS, USAW HEAD STRENGTH & CONDITIONING COACH - SIOUX FALLS STAMPEDE
Who am I? Wisconsin Native; Currently engaged. Participated in Football, Powerlifting, Track & Field in High School. Cut from football in college, immediately started interning in Sports Performance Center at UW La Crosse. Father was my coach for both football and powerlifting. My inspiration for pursuing strength & conditioning. Why do I do what I do? All I do, I do for God, my family, and athletes. People do care how much you know, until they know how much you care. Humans First, Athletes Second.
My Background Attended The University of Wisconsin La Crosse (2012 2017) Interned at the University of Wisconsin Madison (Spring 2017) Graduate Assistant Strength & Conditioning University of Sioux Falls (June 2017 April 2018) Co-Head Strength & Conditioning Coach Sioux Falls Stampede (August 2017 April 2018) Graduate Assistant Strength & Conditioning Winona State University (June 2018 -???) Have worked with Hockey, Football, Volleyball, Soccer, Swimming, Golf, Track & Field.
Why do we need Strength & Conditioning? Increased Strength & Power Faster on the Ice Increased power on shot Increased Mobility & Flexibility Able to get into better positions, feeds into injury prevention Injury Prevention Increased resilience to soft tissue and contact injury
Quick Note: When can I start on basic strength & conditioning? From the NSCA Guidelines on Youth Resistance Training. Despite outdated concerns regarding the safety or effectiveness of youth resistance training, scientific evidence and clinical impressions indicate that youth resistance training has the potential to offer observable health and fitness value to children and adolescents, provided that appropriate training guidelines are followed and qualified instruction is available. In general, if a child is ready for participation in sport activities (generally age 7 or 8 years), then he or she is ready for some type of resistance training. https://www.nsca.com/uploadedfiles/nsca/resources/pdf/educat ion/tools_and_resources/position_stand_youth_resistance_training% 20-%202009.pdf
Needs Analysis: Hockey Lower Body Strength Acceleration, Multi Directional Movement, Checking Upper Body Strength Shooting, Puck Control, Improved Checking Total Body Power Contributes to Shooting, Speed, Agility, Checking Anterior Pelvic Tilt (Lower Back/Hamstring Issues) Plenty of Hip Adduction/Abduction (Groin/Hip Issues) Thoracic Spine Mobility and Shoulder Stability/Mobility Postural Alignment and Mobility of Hips (Flexed Trunk Position)
The Warm Up Generally 15-20 minutes in length. Goal is to increase blood flow, myofibrillar alignment, pliability of muscle tissue, address typical mobility/flexibility issues, and prime the body for complex/explosive movements. Typically broken down into Soft Tissue, Active Stretch, Mobility, and a Dynamic Portion.
Soft Tissue Foam Roll: 20 seconds on each body part. Calves Adductors Quads Glutes Psoas Lats Pecs Increase tissue quality and pliability of the muscle. Increased blood flow, myofibrillar alignment, increased temperature of muscle belly.
Active Stretch Typically single joint movements; allows contractile units to move in a correct pattern. Also reinforces actual changes in tissue. Tissue is more pliable after soft tissue work. Examples: Lying Toy Soldier Seated Alternating Knee-to-Knee Stretch Full/Half Kneeling Adductor Stretch Knee to Chest Glute Stretch Knee to Chest T-Spine Rotation
Mobility & Dynamic Warm Up Mobility Begin to involve multiple joints together. Squat/Hinge, T-Spine, Shoulder, Single Leg, Etc. Assessments can begin to be made here as well. Examples: Squat to Stand Quad Lean + Reach Knee Hug + Lateral Lunge + OH Reach Dynamic Warm Up Further increase temperature and assess on a more global level Foot Fire / Plyometrics will be used to increase neural activation. Examples: Inchworm, Glute March, Lateral Glute March, High Knee, Heel Ups, Quick/Power Skips
The Training Session Exercises are dependent on the movement selection and needs analysis of the team. 2 Day In Season Program. Session 1 is more strength focus. Session 2 is more of power/speed focus to prep for weekend games. Typically program for 3 week blocks. Cycle through accumulation and intensification phases. Movement Categories: Hip Hinge / Squat Multi Directional Hip Posterior Chain Multi Directional Shoulder Vertical Pull/Press Horizontal Pull/Press Total Body Coordination
Post Workout Recovery Soft Tissue Work Similar to warm up; may focus on more problem areas. Active Stretching Usually involve band stretching to hit hamstrings/hips better. More Mobility Again, may be used to concentrate on areas that are bother individual players.
Thank You! Sioux Falls Stampede Hockey Rob Kittay Questions?