Preparing for the hockey off season
You know us, we bloody love hockey.
The early mornings, the late nights, the smell of the kit bag that should’ve been binned three seasons ago… it’s all part of it. But just like that, the season wraps up, the skates get shelved, and the ice time disappears until Autumn rolls back around.
Now here’s the bit a lot of players get wrong…
They either do nothing… or they go full Rocky montage and burn themselves out by June.
Let’s do it properly.
The Off-Season Isn’t “Off” – It’s Your Advantage
The players who come back flying in September aren’t the ones who trained hardest for a week. They’re the ones who trained smart for months.
This is your window to:
Fix weaknesses
Build strength properly
Improve conditioning without game fatigue
Actually recover (aye, properly recover)
Think of it less as a break… and more as a rebuild.
Step 1: Recover Like You Mean It (First 2–3 Weeks)
Before you start chasing PBs, your body needs to calm down from a full season of impacts, sprints, and probably questionable decisions on a Saturday night.
Focus on:
Light movement (walking, cycling, swimming)
Mobility work (hips, ankles, thoracic spine especially)
Sorting niggles before they become injuries
Sleep… actual proper sleep
If something’s been nagging you all season, now’s the time to deal with it. Not ignore it and hope for the best.
Step 2: Build Strength That Actually Transfers to the Ice
Hockey isn’t just about being fit — it’s about being powerful.
Your priorities:
Lower body strength (squats, deadlifts, split squats)
Posterior chain (glutes, hamstrings — your skating engine)
Core stability (anti-rotation, not just crunches)
Upper body strength for battles along the boards
Keep it simple. Get stronger at the basics.
If you’re lifting properly now, you’re not just “in shape” later — you’re harder to knock off the puck.
Step 3: Conditioning Without Killing Yourself
Here’s where most players mess it up.
They either:
Run 5Ks and wonder why their legs feel dead
Or do nothing and gas out after one shift in pre-season
Hockey is short bursts, not marathons.
Focus on:
Interval training (bike, rower, sprints)
Short, high-intensity efforts (10–30 seconds)
Full recovery between efforts
Think: simulate a shift, not a jog round Kelvingrove.
Step 4: Mobility = More Speed (Yes, Really)
If your hips are tighter than your old shoulder pads, you’re leaving speed on the table.
Work on:
Hip flexors
Groin/adductors
Ankles
Thoracic rotation
Better mobility = deeper stride = more power = more speed.
No fancy gimmicks needed. Just consistency.
Step 5: Don’t Completely Bin the Fun
You don’t need to live like a monk.
Have a beer. Enjoy your weekends. Take a holiday.
But don’t completely switch off.
The goal is balance — not going from elite athlete to “I’ll start again in August.”
Step 6: Set a Target (Or You’ll Drift)
If you don’t have a goal, your off-season will drift quicker than a puck on fresh ice.
Set something like:
Increase squat by 20kg
Drop body fat by a few %
Improve beep test score
Fix a specific weakness (speed, endurance, strength)
Give yourself something to chase.
Final Thought
Anyone can turn up in September and say “I wish I’d done more.”
Very few turn up and think, “I nailed that off-season.”
Be the second one.
Because when the puck drops again in Autumn, you don’t want to be catching up…
You want to be setting the pace.
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