Hockey Players are Strong – And There are Many Reasons Why

It takes a strong body and a lot of stamina to play the game of hockey, that’s why your workout off the ice is just as important as perfecting your game-time skills. Hockey players need to be strong for many reasons – more than just slamming their opponents into the glass or skating straight through people. This is why many people say professional hockey players (and those playing at amateur levels for fun and for fitness purposes) are some of the strongest and most agile athletes around.

You think a guy like Henrik Zetterberg is strong just from spending a few hours on the ice? Think again. he is putting in intense work in the gym with guys like Joe Neal of 2SP Sports and Stack.com, sometimes even doing some pretty crazy workouts.

Check out this Men’s Fitness workout from Pittsburgh Penguins strength and conditioning coach Mike Kadar here. The article talks about the importance of explosiveness for hockey players, which is key to dominating the puck game and playing incredible defense. The workout shows step-by-step guides for using a foam roller, doing a skater stride, and much more to help not only improve your game, but prevent injury from over-use.

Stamina is a must in the game of hockey, but so are strong legs, which will power your skates through long battles back and forth on the ice. This Men’s Journal piece with New York Rangers Chris Kreider includes exercises like box jumps, squats, side planks, deadlifts and much more, which have given Kreider a distinct advantage when it comes to strong, powerful and explosive legs, helping him get to the puck first.

If you’re really serious about getting into NHL shape, check out this NHL video teaser of Sidney Crosby sharing some of his workout tips. And if you’re more of the Chicago Blackhawks fan, here’s another NHL video teaser of Jonathan Toews and his workout tips, which all provide unique insight into some of the toughest training regimes in all of professional sports.

If you’re interested in learning more, a quick Google search of “why are hockey players so strong” can prove rather interesting. We all know hockey players have strong body parts all over, but for example, do you know why hips on hockey players are so important to keep strong and in shape? It’s to help push off during an intense skate – a lot of that motion comes from the hips. Sometimes to take your hockey game (or just overall knowledge of the sport) to a new level, you need to spend some time studying up on the dynamics of fitness related to sport – it’s incredibly interesting.

Are you a hockey player with a unique workout routine? Let us know in the comments below. We love hearing from our favorite fans and customers.

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