Off Season Day 13

As introduced here and here, I am in the throes of the strength training part of my off season.  My daily schedule has been:

July 10 Upper core, arms
July 11 Rest (social ice skating)
July 12 Rest
July 13 Core, Legs
July 14 Upper core, arms *projected*

I have introduced the following into my drill repertoire - backwards chair lift, single leg balance, giant lunge, hamstring balance, lean back.  I spent 45 minutes on it tonight, concentrating on legs more than core.  Thus, the usual 2x10 lunges, 2x10 squats, 2 Sumo Squats of 30s, then the single leg balance 2x3 reps (3 mins), giant lunge 2x2 reps of 30s, hamstring balance 2x2 reps of 15s, upwards leg raises 10+5, side planks 2x2 reps 30s, bridge 2 x 30s, side leg raises 2x3x30s.  This was a good workout for the legs in particular, didn't greatly engage the core. 

Maybe it's time to divide the three day exercise cycle differently, with one day on legs, one day on upper body and one day on central core?  Of course it's too academic to believe that there are such categories of body engagement in the world of ice hockey (though there may be in such fields as that of body building).  Hockey is, afterall, a whole of body dynamic sport, and thus engages the entirety of the body's physical apparatus towards execution of the play.  To be of any use to a hockey player, an exercise program must be as precise in execution as any play, and yet as blurry of boundaries between the disciplines as improvisation makes possible.

Thus, weight for stress on muscle mass, muscle manipulation under load for more subtle development.  All the exercises except for the dumb bells come from core development programs, so I think I have done fairly well to hone them into a potentially useful tri-categorical arrangement.

On Wednesday (July 15) my intention is to commence the aerobic phase of my off season.  I hope to be going social ice skating, so will have to emphasise an aerobic approach to the exercise.  The following week, training (Wednesdays) and games (Saturdays) commence with the Vikings, so I will have my basic aerobic activities almost laid out for me.  I might find it necessary to introduce a running session at least once a week from Week 4 to guarantee the complement of aerobic training is catered for before Anaerobic exercise starts supplanting the aerobic qualities of Vikings activities (supplemented in week five with either commencing ice hockey training, high intensity sprints, or some such).

It's a lot to take on board, but the clock is ticking.