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By Clint Steele, President and Founder of Better Hockey
Illustrations by Mike Curti
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One of the areas that most players, especially younger players, don't work on is an area commonly referred to as the core.
The core consists of the abdominal muscles - which include the rectus abdominus and probably more important, the transverse abdominus - and the internal and external obliques.
A strong core will allow all your movements to be more powerful, quicker and more precise. A strong core will also help decrease your risk of injury.
Before you can take a slap shot, the core muscles must contract to help stabilize your body. As you follow through with the slap shot, much of the force generated is
created in the core muscles.
Strong core muscles make you more stable on your skates and give you more balance. As you begin to skate, you must first be able to hold your midsection and upper
body in a position that allows you to extend your legs. This also helps in the recovery by helping to pull the leg back to the midsection.
The following exercises can be performed by just about anyone - anytime, anywhere - as you get ready for next season.
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Superman Push-Ups |
Beginner- Start by laying face down on the floor.
- Simply raise your body so that your
toes and your elbows/forearms are
the only areas of your body touching
the floor.
- The elbows should be located directly
below the upper chest.
- Hold for several seconds and let
yourself back down.
- This will be easy for many, but for
some who have poorly developed core muscles this will begin to burn when
holding the position for 10-15 seconds. Try to hold for 30 seconds before
moving on to the next level.
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Intermediate
- Perform the same exercise as
described in the beginner section
but now move your elbows out
farther from your feet, more
towards the top of your head.
This will create more stress on
the core muscles.
- Make sure your midsection does
not "sag" while you perform this exercise.
- To place more stress on the oblique muscles you may want to move your
upper body to the left as far as possible and then to the right as far as possible
while staying on your elbows.
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Advance
- Lay flat on the floor with arms
extended out over your head.
- Now attempt to lift your body off
the ground allowing only your
toes and hands to touch the
ground.
- This is very difficult and most
athletes I work with, even some
pros, have a hard time performing this exercise.
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NOTE:
- Make sure you warm up properly before attempting the above exercises.
- In addition to the above exercises, you may want to perform the exercises
while lying on your side. Instead of your toes and elbows touching the
ground, you will be working on lifting your body off the ground while only
the side of your feet and your hand or elbow are touching the ground.
- The farther you move your arm out towards your head, away from your
body, the more difficult the exercise.
- Be sure to perform the exercise on both sides of your body.
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Crunches and Modified CrunchesAnother great exercise that can be performed to help develop a strong core is the world-famous crunch exercise. |
Beginner- Start by laying flat on your back, and bend your knees so your feet are flat on the ground.
- Slowly lift your shoulders off the ground, forcing your chest to move towards your knees.
- A great way to picture the movement is to pretend someone has a string attached to your upper chest. As
they stand above you they pull on the string, forcing your shoulders off the ground.
- Keep your head looking up and try not to flex it forward.
- Keep your arms crossed on your chest.
- To work the obliques, you will want to alternate touching the opposite knee and elbow as you rise off the floor.
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Intermediate- Find a beach ball or a Swiss training ball, if you have access to one. If not, you may even use a basketball or
soccer ball.
- Position yourself as described above. Place the ball under your knees so that you can pinch the ball with your feet up against the back of your legs.
- Simply perform the crunch as described in the beginner section, but now you also want to lift the ball off the ground as you raise your shoulders off the ground.
- This does two things. First, it allows you to work the very important lower core muscles. Second, it allows you to focus on your core muscles without working the upper leg muscles that are often worked when doing crunches and sit-ups.
- To work the obliques, simply twist your knees as your feet come off the ground and again attempt to touch opposite elbow to knee.
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Advanced- You will probably want to use a smaller ball for this exercise. Instead of a beach ball or Swiss ball, try using a
soccer ball.
- Lie flat on your back with the ball in your hands. Raise your feet so that your legs are straight and your feet
are above your body.
- Raise your upper body off the ground with the ball in your hands and attempt to place the ball between your
feet.
- Leaving the ball between your feet, slowly lower your upper body to the floor. As soon as your shoulder
blades touch the ground, perform the process again, only this time pulling the ball away from your feet.
- To work the obliques, put both hands on one side of the ball when placing or taking the ball between the feet.
Be sure to work both sides.
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