Mmmmm…chocolate milk.

I drank way too much of the stuff when I was a kid - always trying to pass it off that I was really drinking “milk”.

Deep down inside, I knew it probably wasn’t what the commercials had in mind when they said,
“Milk - It Does A Body Good”.

But…

As it turns out, chocolate milk does do a body good.

Scientific research has shown that chocolate milk is one of the best recovery drinks for athletes to have after they finish a tough workout or game.

1% chocolate milk has the perfect blend of:

–> Simple sugars (carbohydrates) from the chocolate that will get absorbed by the body quickly in order to immediately replenish lost energy stores

–> Protein from the milk that will help the muscles recover from the wear and tear of the on-ice (or off-ice) session.

Athletes ideally need a carbohydrates-to-protein ratio of 3-to-1 or 4-to-1 after exercise.

Chocolate milk has that ratio; unflavored milk doesn’t.

It turns out that I was on to something when I was a kid - except that I drank it by the jug and definitely did not restrict my consumption for after practices and games.

Chocolate milk just might be the perfect hockey recovery drink.

It tastes great and helps players to recover faster.

Sounds pretty perfect to me.

Until next time,

Kim

As a young player, there was one “secret” I had that allowed me to continuously take my game to the next level all season long.

I did off-ice training all year around.

Speed, strength, stamina - you name it, I was working on it.

But for most young players, the season starts and the training stops.

And they are missing out on a HUGE opportunity to get better.

More and more young players are using off-season training to arrive at training camp in shape and more and more coaches are doing a good job of getting their team physically prepared during the pre-season.

–> But what are you doing to get better once the season starts?

–> How can you make sure that you are still ?tter and faster than
your competition in December?

Developing on-ice skills, strategies and systems will only take you so far because everyone else is working just as hard on the ice.

Off-ice training might just be the difference between a long playoff run and an early summer.

You may not have the time to go to a fancy training facility or the budget to work with a strength and conditioning coach.

And that?s ?ne. Because you don?t need to.

The “secret” of in-season off-ice training is that it can be done anywhere and anytime, with an entire team and without any equipment.

–> Exercises like the Partner Row, Bridge Push-ups and Stick Squats will help players shoot harder and skate faster, without having to touch a single weight.

–> Drills like ABCD/1234 and Calf Tag will help players think, react and move more quickly on the ice, without having to waste precious ice time working on agility.

The truth is that building speed and strength is much easier and efficient to do OFF the ice than is it ON the ice.

If you can ?nd 30 minutes twice a week to get faster and stronger off the
ice starting today, you will leave the opposition in your dust come playoff time.

Now all you need is the right plan.

Until next time,

Kim

If you have seen the movie “Miracle”, you remember the scene where coach Herb Brooks lines his entire team up on the goal-line and skates them into the ground after they played a sub-par game.

Herb was sending a message to his players:

–> If you can’t work hard and stay focused during the game, there will be a price to pay.

The problem is that coaches everywhere are re-enacting this scene every night with their teams at practice.

They line the players up on boards or across the blue-line and have them skate widths, lengths, circles or laps until players have to drag themselves off the ice.

Coaches may think that they are sending the message by having their players skate “Herbies”, but the truth is that they are sending a very different message to their players…

That SKATING = PUNISHMENT

If the team fails to perform up to expectations, and the coach punishes them by
“skating” them into the ground, it makes sense that the players might develop negative attitudes towards conditioning.

And that is the wrong message to be sending.

On-ice conditioning is a critical piece of the puzzle for teams and players looking to take their game to the next level.

But it has to be used properly.

It is important for players to learn to push themselves when they are already fatigued, as they must be prepared to maintain a high-level of intensity throughout the third period, overtime and the entire season. Players have to understand that this type of conditioning is a part of the season-long plan to improve and not just something the coaching staff decides to do at the last minute to “send a message”.

Coaches must stick to the fundamental principles of hockey-specific conditioning
if they want to take their players’ fitness and performance to the next level.

And that means no more “Herbies”.

Kim

When I was a young hockey player, I never warmed up before hitting the ice.

I used the 30 minutes between when I arrived at the rink and when the buzzer went to start the game (or whistle blew to start practice) focusing on the “important things” - chatting, gossiping and messing around with my friends.

It wasn’t until my last year of high school that I started doing an off-ice warm-up before practices and games. I was the only one on my team that did it.

While everyone else was gossiping in the dressing room, I was doing my warm-up routine in the hallway by myself.

And you should have seen the looks I got from people around the rink.

That was just over 10 years ago now and very few players in the NHL warmed up before putting on their gear, let alone young female hockey players. I was definitely a rarity running around the rink.

Now you can go to any rink anywhere and you’ll see kids running around to get warmed up for their game.

Forget the fact that most of them aren’t doing a proper off-ice warm-up - the fact that they are warming up at all is a major move in the right direction.

Last night I saw a team of 7 year olds doing jumping jacks and skipping before they hit the ice. I didn’t start warming up before hockey until I was 17.

And that made me feel a little old.

It has taken 10 years - but hockey coaches, parents and players are finally getting the message.

Off-ice warm-ups are mandatory.

It’s never too late to start doing a warm-up routine - don’t wait until you are “over-the-hill” like me.

Kim