For the next 18 weeks, I will be making a blog entry for each one of the 54 workouts included in Total Female Hockey’s Complete Off-Season Program.
Today is officially DAY #1.
For some of you, the exercises and drills found in this program are brand-new. There are over 15 different movements included in the Warm-up and 7 in the Strength program. Adding in the 8 different Speed drills and 10 Stretches brings the grand total to over 40 exercises!!!
And you need to learn how to do each and every one of them PERFECTLY.
The above statement isn’t meant to overwhelm you.
Perfection takes time. There is always a learning period for every skill and movement we learn whether on or off the ice. Think back to when you first learned to skate. Your feet probably seemed to be disconnected from your body and you likely took your fair share of falls. But over time, you were able to master the movements required to skate efficiently and now you can skate effortlessly. Well, the exercises in this program are no different.
PERFECT THE WARM-UP FIRST
Although the Warm-up has been designed to take 10 minutes, it may take 15-20 minutes to complete in the beginning. Much like when you were first learning how to skate, your muscles and joints simply don’t know where they need to be during movements yet. I don’t expect you to be able to do all of the exercises perfectly today, but I do expect that you will master these movements before long. Be patient and stay focused. Soon the warm-up sequence will seem as simple as skating.
In your quest to master the Warm-up exercises in the Complete Off-Season Program, there is ONE exercise in particular that players seem to struggle with initially.
The Inchworm
The key message here is: Do NOT Bend Your Legs!
One of the main goals of this warm-up exercise is to stretch out the hamstrings (the muscles in the back of your thighs). The only way to get a proper stretch in your hamstrings in this movement is to make sure that your legs stay completely straight as you walk them in between your hands. In the beginning, you may only be able to walk your feet in half way to your hands while keeping your legs straight.
And that’s great!
As soon as you let your legs bend in this exercise, you lose the effectiveness of the stretch…and you are cheating. When I do this exercise with my players, if any one of them bends their legs in order to get their feet in closer to their hands, everyone has to repeat the drill. There have been workouts where the players have had to do this drill 4 or 5 times in a row!
Remember, I am not expecting you to be able to walk your feet all the way in between your hands on Day One of doing the inchworm, but you should be “inching” closer and closer to perfection as the summer progresses.
Over the course of the next two weeks, take the time to learn how to do each exercise in the warm-up properly and focus on performing each movement perfectly. By committing to mastering the warm-up sequence, you are laying the groundwork for a great summer of training.
See you on Wednesday!
Kim
