4 week Summer Off-Ice Program for Youth Hockey Players

By: Ice Hockey Systems Ice Hockey Systems Inc.

4 Week Off-Ice Summer Hockey Workout Program

If players commit to this 4-Week Summer Training Program, they will see an increase in their strength, power, and speed.

The program below consists of great hockey specific exercises and no weights or gym membership is required! There are 4 workouts scheduled for 4 different days of the week, along with Thursday being a dedicated off-ice stickhandling & recovery day. The workouts are organized into the following categories:

Workout A: Sprints and Acceleration
Workout B: Hockey Specific Leg Strength
Workout C: Aerobic and Core
Thursday: Stickhandling and Recovery
Workout D: Leg Strength and Power
Wildcard Weekends: Choose Your Own Activity

All of the details for each workout is explained below. Video demonstrations are provided so you can easily replicate the workout anywhere. All players should focus on correct technique without weights. If an extra challenge is needed, you can increase the number of reps, or add weights to some exercises if the technique is not compromised.

At the bottom of this page, we will provide a downloadable PDF that can be printed, along with additional bodyweight exercises that will allow you to customize this program further.

Workout A: Sprints and Acceleration Day

Monday will focus on speed and explosive acceleration. This workout is the best at a location that has an inclined hill of about 40 yards for sprinting, and a series of at least 20 stairs. If you do not have access both a hill and stairs, just find one set of stairs or a hill and use that for the exercises below. Using stairs and hill inclines places an extra emphasis on hockey-specific leg muscles.

Warm-Up

Half mile jog and 5 to 15 minutes of off-ice stickhandling with a ball or puck.

Incline Hill Sprints

Mark 20 yards on an incline hill.
Do 8 repetitions of 20-yard sprints and start a new rep every 60 seconds.

Russian Lunge Jumps w/ Stair Sprints

At the base of the stairs start with 10 Russian lunge jumps. Right after the lunge jumps are completed, explode up the stairs, two at a time. Aim to do a section of at least 20 stairs. You can do more if you want an increased challenge.
Below is a quick demonstration of Russian Lunge Jumps.
Do 3 repetitions with a 2-minute rest between each rep.

Incline Broad Jumps

For this exercise, you can use the same incline that was used for sprints. This is is a great leg exercise as long as it is done correctly. Mark off 20 yards and do two-footed broad jumps. Make sure to stick each landing and explode from about 90 degrees with each jump keeping the chest up. Here is a video example of a broad jump.
Do 3 sets of 8 repetitions. Rest 60 seconds after each rep.

Incline Rollerblade Sprints

Find a flat surface with a slight incline and sprint the entire 40 yards. Work on keeping your head up and full leg extensions.
Do 8 repetitions and start a new repetition every 60 seconds. If you do not have access to roller blades you can double the Incline Hill Sprints section above.

Cool Down

Stretch 5 to 10 minutes at the end of the workout.

Workout B: Hockey Specific Leg Strength Day

Workout B focuses on leg strength using hockey-specific exercises. A box or some sort of safe elevated platform is used in a couple of the exercises.

Warm-Up

Quarter mile jog and 5 to 15 minutes of off-ice stickhandling with a ball or puck.

Skate Walks

Find a 40-yard flat area with a smooth surface. This exercise imitates the skating stride. Go slow and make sure to get a good stretch and get the leg muscles warmed up. Keep your chest & head up and bend your knees and pretend to skate using full extensions and full recovery. Your head should not bob up and down.
Do 4 repetitions of 40 yards. Rest 60 seconds after each rep.

Skating Lunge

Use the video below as a reference.
Using the same 40-yard stretch do 4 repetitions of 40 yards. Rest 60 seconds after each rep.

Skater Hops

This exercise emulates the skating stride by bounding side to side. Watch the video below for a demonstration.
Do 4 repetitions of 40 yards. Rest 60 seconds after each rep.

Forward Falls

A demonstration can be viewed in the video below.
Do 3 sets of 10 repetitions of this exercise. Rest 60 seconds after each rep.

Side Step Jumps

This exercise uses a box or elevated flat surface. The focus should be on the explosion from the leg. The exercise is demonstrated in the video below.
3 sets of 8 repetitions. Rest 60 seconds after each rep.

Single-Leg Box Squat

This is a tough exercise but it is a great one for the hockey leg muscles. The demonstration is shown below.
3 sets of 8 repetitions on each leg. Rest 60 seconds after each rep. Again, no weights are required but stronger players can consider using weights on this exercise if the form is not compromised.

Cool Down

Stretch 5 to 10 minutes at the end of the workout.

Workout C: Aerobic & Core

On C days we will give the legs a bit of a rest after two days of tough work. This day will focus on the core, a little bit of upper body, and some interval training.

Warm-Up

Quarter mile jog and 5 to 15 minutes of off-ice stickhandling with a ball or puck.

Mountain Climber Push-Ups

These push-ups also engage the core. At the end of each push up you bring your knee up to the shoulder and then back down. Here is a link to a video demo of the Mountain Climber Push-Ups.
Do 3 sets of as many as you can do. Rest 60 seconds after each rep. Each week try to do more than the previous week.

Plank with knees to Chest

Watch this video for a demonstration.
3 repetitions of 40 seconds each. Rest 60 seconds after each rep.

Bike Intervals

This is a 20-minute circuit that is geared towards a stationary bike in which you are able to adjust the resistance. If you do not have access to a stationary bike you can ride your own bike in a safe place. Instead of increasing the resistance you can increase the gear or go up a hill.
- Start with a 3:00 minute warm-up with medium resistance.
- Then go for 10 intervals of 30-second sprints at high resistance (7 out of 10) followed by 60 seconds of medium pace on low resistance (3 out of 10).
- The cool down at the end is 2:00 for a total of 20:00.

Cool Down

Stretch 5 to 10 minutes at the end of the workout.

Thursday: Stickhandling & Recovery Day

Thursday will include NO bodyweight exercises. Your body has worked hard Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and needs a rest. You can take today completely off, or get in an extra 15 - 30 minutes of off-ice stickhandling. Below is a video demo of some examples of what you can work on.

To see more tips on developing an off-ice stickhandling routine, click here.

Workout D: Leg Strength & Power Day

Back to the legs for the group D days. You will notice on the schedule that you will have tomorrow off so it is important to go at it hard and make the legs BURN!

Warm-Up

Half mile jog and 5 to 15 minutes of off-ice stickhandling with a ball or puck.

Split Squat Jumps for Height

Jump as high as you can. Use the video below as a demonstration.
Do 3 sets of 20 seconds on each leg followed by a 60-second rest between sets.

Russian Lunges

This exercise is demonstrated in Workout A and is used right before the stair sprint. Please view the video at the top of this page if you need to see it demonstrated.
On this day you do 3 sets of 20 seconds followed by a 60-second rest after each rep.

Squat Jumps with Hold

Here is a great leg burn! View the Squat Jumps with Hold Demonstration below. Start with a wall sit (without the wall) so that the knee bend is at 90 degrees, the chest is up, and hands out in front of the chest. After 10 seconds do three squat jumps then get back into the sitting position.
Each set should be 30 - 45 seconds with 2 minutes of rest.

Cool Down

Stretch 5 to 10 minutes at the end of the workout.

Wildcard Weekends

Wildcard weekends are completely up to you! Take a rest, hang with friends, play different sports or unstructured games! We left Saturday and Sunday completely blank so you can add in whatever activity or rest you would like. Below are some ideas on playing sports and unstructured play.

Sports: Playing other sports can help prevent hockey burnout and overuse injuries. Playing different sports will develop different muscles and coordination skills that will contribute to the growth of your overall hockey game. Additionally, playing new sports will help you meet friends while trying out something new. The additional sports do not have to be through a structured organization (although they obviously can be). Having fun with activities like playing football in the backyard, tennis at the local court, soccer, baseball, basketball, golf, etc. can help improve the athlete as a whole and can be a lot of fun.
Off-Ice Unstructured Play: All hockey development does not have to take place on the ice. Taking out a hockey stick with a parent, sibling, friends, or solo and playing with a ball (tennis, golf, street hockey ball, etc) is extremely beneficial. Unstructured play (such as 1 on 1 hockey games, 2 vs. 2 games, free shooting & stickhandling around a cone, games that you make up, etc) can help improve skills, coordination, creativity, fitness levels and most importantly, further develop a passion for the game. Throw on some music or hockey highlights in the background during unstructured play and make it a fun activity. If you fall in love with practicing, great things will happen.

Nutrition Tips

Don't waste all of your hard work by eating poorly! One of the best ways to improve your physical and mental performance is to make sure you are fueling your body correctly by eating well. Poor foods will rob your body of energy, will negatively impact your focus, will hurt your sleep, are detrimental to your health, and will fluctuate your hormones and mood.

It is important to teach kids to develop healthy, sustainable eating habits that they will carry with them for their life. There are many resources online to get more specific nutritional programs. For now, especially with kids, it is important to keep things simple. You can drastically improve your diet by simply adding vegetables to your meals. Here are four simple guidelines to follow:

Eat more whole foods. If the food came directly from the earth (fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, meat, etc.) the food will include essential vitamins & minerals for you and be easier for your body to process.
Reduce processed foods. If the food comes in a colorful box or wrapper, it was manufactured and will include extra chemicals, sugar, and preservatives that are unhealthy for your body and harder for you to breakdown.
Reduce excess sugar, sweets, and candy. The extra sugar will spike your blood sugar and impact your energy, sleep and mood.
Drink lots of water. 8 or more cups of water a day will help keep to keep you hydrated. During workout days it is important to drink more.

Rest & Recovery

Rest: Getting quality sleep is extremely important in muscle recovery, along with new knowledge and skill retention. During the summertime, it is easy to neglect sleep and think that it is not important, but it is one of the most critical aspects of training. Develop a nightly routine before bed that helps you wind down and get to bed.
Recovery: Listen to your body during training. It is important to push and improve on your limits, but if you feel any pain and think you might be injuring yourself stop immediately, and let your parent, coach or trainer know.

4 Week Training Recap

At the end of the day, it is important to let kids be kids after a long hard season. Make sure they get recovery and "kid" time in after the season. When the time is right and if kids want to improve, follow our 4-week road map to help players develop strength, power and speed without the need of a gym membership.

To fully commit to a 4-week program, it can be helpful to work with your team, or a group or with a partner to help keep everyone accountable. Print out a PDF of the workout, hang it up in your room and cross off the days that you have completed and add in any notes or extra activities you have accomplished. Have fun with it. Celebrate gains. Blast music and make it enjoyable. If you fall in love with training, great things will happen.