Anaerobic training can be broken into two broad categories; anaerobic alactic training, which uses the ATP-CP energy system and anaerobic lactic training, which relies primarily on anaerobic glycolysis. Because the work intervals in hockey are relatively short we will limit our discussion to the anaerobic alactic system, as this will determine your success on the ice.

 

Anaerobic alactic training can be divided into three different training zones;

This is training to improve how quickly you can get up to maximum speed and power, this type of training will help with first step quickness and acceleration. This type of anaerobic fitness is developed when plyometrics and explosive strength training are brought into a program. 

This training zone focuses on the development of the ability to maintain speed and power. This is extremely important for the majority of the plays you will see in a game.  

Capacity training extends the length of time that the anaerobic alactic system contributes to an activity. The longer the alactic system contributes the less the anaerobic lactic system needs to contribute, helping to keep lactic acid and fatigue levels lower. Hockey players typically won’t do a lot of capacity training although those who play on an international ice surface where the game is more wide open may need to spend some time developing anaerobic capacity. 

Anaerobic training is always done as intervals. The duration of the work interval depends on the average work time in your sport. Since most sprints in hockey are under ten seconds , the majority of your sprints should also be under ten seconds. See chapter 1 for a breakdown of work times in hockey.

 

 

In order to stress the energy system and force it to adapt, the rest period should not be as long as in speed and agility work. The rest period is 5-6 times the duration of the work period to start and slowly moves towards the more football specific four times the work interval. In other words if you do a 10 second sprint your rest time will be 50-60 seconds. Many people try to shorten the rest periods because they don’t feel they are getting anything out of their training when they are sitting still. It is very important in any type of interval work that the pace or power output for each work segment of the interval is consistent. If the rest period is shortened, there will not be adequate recovery between sprints and the pace of the work period will suffer, making the training session less effective. Once you are able to get through a full training session with less than a 10% speed drop from your first interval to your last interval you can start decreasing the rest period.

 

 Work Volume

 

Work volume is measured in total work time. A volume of 4-6 minutes is the goal for serious hockey players. This is accomplished by doing several sets totaling 60s of work per set. Each sprint is a repetition so if you were doing 10 second sprints you would need to do 6 of them, with appropriate rest between sprints, to complete one set, if you were doing 20 second sprints you would do 3 per set. At the end of each set you will take a 10 minute break, where you can walk or jog slowly, to help remove the lactate you have produced. Then you repeat the whole process 4-6 times. A sample workout can be seen in the table below.

 

 

 

A good aerobic base needs to be built prior to starting anaerobic training. When you perform anaerobic training you are training your body, particularly the fast twitch fibers, to produce more energy from the anaerobic energy systems. As a result you also train yourself to produce more lactic acid. We all know that lactic acid is a major cause of fatigue in football so it seems like we have a problem here. To overcome the extra lactate that is produced following anaerobic training you need to have trained the slow twitch fibers to use that lactate as an energy source. This is done through low intensity, high volume aerobic base training. Without a good aerobic base you won’t be able to recover enough between intervals to get an anaerobic training effect from your sprints and you may even hurt your performance by causing premature fatigue during games. If you are new to hockey or just getting back into it after several years off it may take 2-3 years before your aerobic base has returned to the level it needs to be for effective anaerobic training.

 Time of the Year

 

The adaptations your body makes to anaerobic training happen very quickly. This type of training should only be done during the final 4-8 weeks before your main competitions of the year. Training the anaerobic system for more than eight weeks a year will not improve your football performance further and may actually take away from other types of training that are crucial for success. 

Anaerobic training, because it is all out efforts, is very stressful and requires a long recovery period of 72-96 hours between training sessions. This means that you should only perform anaerobic sprints 1-2 times per week. Even very elite players find it difficult, because of all the other training they must do, to recover fast enough to do more than two anaerobic sessions per week.

 

 

Strength and anaerobic work are better done later in the day when body temperature is naturally higher. For most people, body temperature and strength and power levels peak between 3 pm and 6 pm. This time is not always the most convenient because of work or school commitments. If you are doing multiple sessions in the day try to do the anaerobic session as the second or third workout. If you are doing only one session per day try to do at least 30 minutes of steady state work before starting your sprints to make sure you are sufficiently warmed up. If you normally train very early in the morning you may want to consider doing the anaerobic training sessions on a weekend when you may be able to start a little later in the day.

 

Regardless of when you decide to do your anaerobic training remember to pay close attention to technique. The chance for injury increases with any activity as the intensity goes up. Warm up thoroughly and stay focused on what you are doing and you’ll get the most benefit out of an often overlooked part of a training program.