Contact athletes are exposed to high-end impact forces that affect the entire Kinetic Chain on a daily basis. I have written in the past about the training implications of building “functional hypertrophy” and the demands contact places on the body, in particular the shoulder complex. Without a doubt, the biggest issues we deal with at Donskov Strength and Conditioning during the coarse of the competitive hockey season are shoulder related (AC joint) due to high impact collisions. Keep in mind that we perform a healthy dose of T-Spine mobility; horizontal/vertical pulling and “direct” cuff training in order to prevent these occurrences and we will continue to do so.   However, I am beginning to re-think the volume of horizontal pulling that we incorporate into our programs at DSC. This is a number that will increase in the future and will directly affect the push/pull ratio within our program design.

The “Functional” training era is upon us in the strength and conditioning world. The importance of multi-joint movement is paramount in building effective, results driven programming. Just mentioning the word “isolation” elicits the same response as someone trying to steal the family dog.

Hockey is a high impact, high intensity, physically demanding sport. At the highest level of play, the game moves at amazing speeds. Scott Niedermayer won the 1998 “fastest skater” in the NHL Skills competition by circling the rink in 13.56 seconds, which translates to about 28 mph. Can you imagine absorbing the impact of a car traveling at this speed, yet alone two cars colliding at similar speeds? Welcome to the great sport of hockey!

There is currently a major buzz going on in the strength and conditioning field centering on the concept of thoracic spine mobility. Coaches are actively seeking ways to build mobility in this anatomic region in order to reduce lumbar rotation and enhance scapular stability. The idea revolves around the concept of Kinetic Linkage where each joint is affected by the integrity of the joint above or below. The T-Spine is extremely important. A proximal to distal linkage of the thoracic spine, scapula and GH joint is critical in long-term shoulder health (as is ankle and hip mobility). The thoracic spine needs to be mobile to allow adequate translation of the scapula over its surface. This enhances the GH joint and prevents anterior/superior humeral head migration, which leads to impingement. Take a look at the picture below.

As a former competitive athlete, I enjoyed being pushed in the weight room and on the ice. Intense workouts, overnight bus rides, three games in three nights and a body the recovered faster than David Hasselhoff’s lifeguarding career.