From the Trainer’s Room

Offseason check-in

How is your offseason training plan coming along?

Are you getting ready for the upcoming season?

Let’s check the list to see where you are.

— Did you take time off at the end of last season to recover from injuries?

— Did you take time off the ice to get away on vacation?

(Still a little time left.)

— Did you go through some corrective exercise and general preparation phases of a program to build strength and a balanced body?

— Did you work on your aerobic endurance to aid in recovery between on-ice shifts?

— Is your diet full of clean whole foods and are you getting the proper number of servings of macronutrients to fuel your body for sport? (More on this in another column.)

as the “specific preparation” phase that can last approximately until the end of August.

Our goal in this phase is power and anaerobic development. Players need to focus more on training for speed. Generally, the workout intensity goes up as the overall volume goes down. Training will be less general and more specific in nature to benefit the hockey player’s needs.

Ice time will also become more important as training becomes more focused on the needs of being a hockey player.

Now is the time for hockey players to start training as hockey players.

Mike Hannegan

If you answered “no” to any of these, don’t worry, but the season will be upon us soon, and we need to train accordingly.

We are now shifting into Phase 4 of the offseason training plan. We spent Phases 1-3 building strength and increasing lean muscle mass. Ice time was not as important except for some stick time sessions to keep up on perishable skills.

We now move into what is known

Don’t forget the foundations of getting good sleep, good nutrition, and proper care of injuries.

Mike Hannegan is an athletic trainer and strength coach with 10 years of experience in the NHL with the Anaheim Ducks and St. Louis Blues. He is currently the director of the Compete Sports Performance and Rehabilitation facility inside The Rinks-Yorba Linda Ice, located in beautiful Orange County, Calif.

He can be reached at mike@competeperformance.com.

Core stability isn’t just sit-ups

When most people think about core or abdominal exercises, they think sit-ups and planks.

Though these exercises can be effective, can we do it better?

Many of the most popular core exercises are performed on the floor.

The issue is that most of the sports we play occur standing up.

With this in mind, adding core exercises in a standing position, either in a squat, split-squat or single-leg position can improve the benefit of core stability exercises.

The result of standing core exercises is a more stable athlete that can hold off an opponent, provide a better base for movement and reduce injuries.

There is an infinite amount of core exercises that can be performed in a standing position and be extremely effective.

One simple exercise that needs little equipment is the Palloff Press.

It is a great antirotational exercise that works the abdominals, low back and hip musculature and helps create a more stable athlete.

Start with a resistance band attached to a fixed point. Facing 90 degrees from the band, start in a squatted or athletic position with the band in both hands and pulling your body sideways or laterally.

With the hands at your chest, press the arms out, extending the elbows all the way. The resistance of the band will pull back towards the fixed point.

The objective is to resist this force. The resistance does not have to be too high.

The biggest focus is to stay nice and stable as the arms extend directly in front of you.

To add difficulty, change from a squatted position to a split-squat position.

Chris Phillips is a certified athletic trainer and strength and conditioning specialist with over 25 years’ experience working with amateur, professional and Olympic athletes. Chris is the owner of Compete Sports Performance and Rehab with locations in Lake Forest, Yorba Linda and Westminster, Calif.

He can be reached through the Compete Perfprmance website at www.competeperformance.com.