Flexibility Should Be The Name
Of Your Game

by Greg Siller - Pro Learning Systems

Properly warming up and stretching your muscles, tendons (tissues that connect muscle to bone), and ligaments (tissues that connect bone to bone) before every practice and game will improve your flexibility and range of motion, lubricate your joints, and reduce the risk of injury. This provides your body with the ability to start, stop, turn, get by an opponent, and shoot as quickly as possible; in other words--allowing you to play your best. Time spent warming up and stretching can also help you channel any pre-game or pre-practice nervous energy by allowing you to relax and focus.

Benefits of stretching after your game or practice are that since your muscles (tendons and ligaments too) are already warmed up, they can stretch further and increase the range of motion over what they could do before your practice or game. This helps improve your overall long-term flexibility. Stretching after your practice or game also reduces delayed muscle soreness--the soreness that you may feel 24 to 48 hours after playing.

Types of Stretching

Static stretching isolates and stretches a specific muscle while you are in a stationary position (sitting, standing, laying on your back, etc). This type of stretching can be done before or after your game or practice, or while you are on the bench.

Dynamic stretching is used in conjunction with slow to medium-paced skating and is best utilized during the start of practice, during the pre-game warm-up, or following a practice as a cool-down. Dynamic stretching before your practice/game provides the muscles with the opportunity to both warm-up and stretch in game-like scenarios.

The 6 Flex Areas You Need To Work On

1. neck - allows your head/eyes to view the entire playing surface.
2. shoulders, upper back, and upper arms - supports the shooting movement, glove and blocker saves by goaltenders, and 1-on-1 confrontations.
3. wrists and lower arms - supports stickhandling, passing, shooting, puck deflections, and stickchecking.
4. lower back - supports an effective and efficient skating posture, passing, shooting, and 1-on-1 confrontations.
5. upper legs and groin (including hips, hamstrings, quads, and knees) - supports quick and powerful skating strides, a balanced stance, strong shooting, and for a goaltender, the ability to make quick leg saves.
6. lower legs and ankles - supports full leg extensions for powerful skating strides, balanced movement, and provide for quick turning, starting, and stopping.
   
   

Stretching Pointers

• Warm-up using an activity such as walking. This increases blood flow and warms-up muscle tissue, preparing it for your flexibility conditioning.
• Move slowly and smoothly through each stretch.
• Do not over-stretch. When you feel a slight tension in your muscle, you should stop at that point and hold the stretch. While holding the stretch, if the tension does not lessen within five seconds, reduce the stretch to a more relaxed position.
• Do not bounce during your stretch. Bouncing the muscle (stretching it too quickly) ends up tightening it and does not effectively allow the muscle to relax and loosen.
• Hold each stretch for a minimum of 10-15 seconds (30 seconds is more optimal). The longer you hold your stretch, the more likely the muscle will relax and loosen.
• Stretch every day. If you want your overall flexibility (and playing ability) to improve, you need to warm up and stretch frequently.
• If your stretching produces continued discomfort or pain, you should see a physician to make sure that you do not have a strain/sprain or other condition.

Putting It All Together

The Pro Learning Systems Quick-Flex™ Hockey Flexibility Program was created by Bill Zebley, an ACE Certified Personal Trainer, and I to allow hockey players to achieve maximum flexibility benefit in a short amount of time. The program can be used as your guideline for executing your pre- and post-game (practice too) flexibility program and should take between 10 and 15 minutes to complete. Getting a teammate to work with you will help keep you focussed, challenge you to continue (and improve) the program, and get you ready to play your best. As with any physical improvement program, follow my Stretching Pointers above and consult with a physician or your own certified personal trainer before getting started or if you are feeling any pain or discomfort while executing the program.

Contact Greg Siller @ Pro Learning Systems