Physical fitness in hockey

Since hockey is a very challenging sport, its training need to be concentrated on extreme physical challenge and multi-sprint activities. Hockey resembles soccer in terms of the pitch, the duration and some physiological characteristics.

Physical Requirements of Hockey

Hockey players need to be capable of withstanding 70 minutes of continuous physical engagement, with only 5 to 10 minutes pause intervals. In order for a person to be able to perform adequately, he/she needs to develop his/her aerobic system and endurance, going through high intensity exercising regularly.

Experienced hockey players have high levels of anaerobic power and endurance too. Namely, even though hockey players spend most of the game walking or light jogging, they also get involved in high speed sprints, where they need to be capable of tolerating the lactic acid produced by the muscles.

Other Physical Fitness Factors related to Hockey

Hockey players need to be strong and their training enables them this. They do not hold off physical challenges, but use raw power for accelerating and acting quick, through rapid movements and changes of direction. Thus, their upper body is strong, making it possible for them to shoot powerfully and pass over great distances.

Thus, hockey training and the sport itself boost one's strength, endurance and explosive power. Thus, the training for physical fitness required for hockey needs to be carefully planned, allowing you to develop all three factors without overstraining or excessive fatigue.

Also, due to the fact that you are playing hockey on an artificial surface, your joints and ankles need to be strong enough to withstand this without getting injured. So, hockey training improves your body in this respect as well.

Training for Physical Fitness for Hockey

Combining strength and endurance training will result in an increase of your ability to perform repetitions against a specific resistance over a course of time, improving your performance on the hockey pitch. Thus, lifting moderate loads for about 25 times is excellent for these purposes.

Every training needs to be beneficial for the sport you are involved with, boosting your physical fitness so as to improve your performance. So, the resistance you will use during your strength and endurance training needs to match the one you commonly meet while playing hockey. Also, the time of exercising should match the length of a match.

All in all, hockey is very beneficial for your physical fitness, since it is a sport requiring strength, agility, endurance and power. Yet, in order to improve in hockey, a proper physical fitness training for this sport is a must.