ORIGINAL: LTD
I am 14 years old, 5"10 and 145 lbs. I play AAA hockey and wanted to become stronger in order to improve my game. At home i only have dumb bells. Any suggestions of what i can do or what i can take in order to get bigger and stronger?
A guy who plays in the AHL trains at my gym and I get a lot of good exercises from him.
Remember that just putting on mass isn't the best for hockey. You really need strength and stability. For hockey you need to find a balance between pure size and strength and agility and quickness. Strength in your core and legs is most important. All hockey players you see will have quads bigger then your waist. Remember, when you hit a guy, your driving up from your legs and your core. Your not picking him up and curling him (biceps).
The best hockey specific exercise I know of is a modified squat.
Take mabye 1/2 the weight your normally squat with. The first time you do it, do it with no weight at all. The movement is:
1) feet slightly wider then shoulder with the part
2) step back and a bit out (think like your digging your back skate into the ice) with one leg and rotate your toe outwards as you are steping back.
3) Now keeping your head forward and barbell parallel to the squat bar (not twisting) do a squat with the feet positioned as mentioned in 3.
4) Most important! "Push off" your back foot just like when you are skating and bring your back foot up to where the front one is and slightly wider than shoulder with the start
5) you should be in the start position again. Repeat with your other leg.
This exercise is amazing for the explosive speed that is needed in hockey.
Various other leg exercises and balance exercises using the exercise ball and other equipment are key for training in hockey.