Complete Conditioning for Hockey

Excellent 200 page Book with DVD by Peter Twist, former strength and conditioning coach of the Vancouver Canucks.

The original version of this book was published in 1995. The 2007 version comes with a DVD that helps illustrate over 150 on-ice and off-ice hockey-specific training exercises.

Twist's comprehensive training approach is Based on the 5 Pillars of Conditioning:

• Balance
• Agility
• Strength and Power
• Speed and Quickness
• Agility

"The Best Athletes are the best hockey players."

Twist provides an effective balance of both the technical theory along with practical explanations in straightforward language.
While aerobic conditioning helps your body recover from fatigue, and gives you the endurance you need for longer shifts, Twist's Hockey-Specific exercises focus on anaerobic conditioning to provide the explosive energy needed to play hockey.

"If all you do to train for Hockey is aerobic conditioning, you're basically training your body to go slow. Racing for the puck is purely anaerobic."

If you incorporate just a fraction of the exercises in this book, you're sure to notice an improvement in your game.

For example, Twist is not a big fan of stretching before a game. Instead he recommends a dynamic warm up. These are exercises like swinging your leg, or rotating your upper body with your stick across your shoulders while skating around the ice.

This type of warm up raises the temperature of your muscles and loosens them up. Your taking a big chance of a tear or a strain by going full-out on your first shift before your muscles are warmed up. Save your stretching for after the game to increase your flexibility and improve your range of motion.

Highly Recommended!

Here's Peter's website: Twist Conditioning