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DAN GARNER

YOUTH TRAINING FOR HOCKEY 2

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 3

IS IT SAFE? .................................................................................................. 10

WHY TRAIN FOR YOUTH ATHLETIC DEVELOPMENT? ...................................... 13

TRAINING YOUTH ATHLETES ......................................................................... 20

CONSIDERATIONS FOR TRAINING YOUTH ATHLETES ..................................... 28

YOUTH NUTRITION ...................................................................................... 35

THE WARM UP ............................................................................................ 46

SAMPLE WARM UPS .................................................................................... 48

STRETCHING .............................................................................................. 50

SAMPLE STATIC STRETCHING ROUTINE ........................................................ 52

RESISTANCE TRAINING: PHASE 1 ................................................................ 53

PHASE 2 ..................................................................................................... 55

CONDITIONING ......................................................................................... 59

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER ........................................................................... 61

CONCLUSION ............................................................................................ 62


INTRODUCTION

As it currently stands in the hockey strength and conditioning world

today there just isn’t near enough quality youth training and nutrition

advice on the market as there should be. If you google hockey

training more often than not you will get a bunch of search results

with a bunch of random workouts that are supposed to accomplish

single random goals. These usually come in the form of a single

training session or workout with no further guidance on what a full

training system should look like for a hockey player or what the

training periodization should look like throughout the seasons.

On top of this, these workouts are always designed with the pro

athlete in mind using extremely advanced techniques, heavy weight

loads and gym equipment that the average person doesn’t have

access to and the youth athlete shouldn’t be doing anyways.

To be taking full advantage of your athletic potential would be

running a complete hockey training system that is structured properly

on a month to month basis to build from one phase to the next.

Coming in the form of an off ice training system created specifically

for the inseason or offseason that addresses the common problems

hockey players run into during these times such as local tightness’s,

strength imbalances and mobility. Completing the program a better,

stronger, faster, more explosive hockey player.


Now, what separates youth from this ideology?

Nothing.

Youth athletes can and should be doing additional training if they

are serious about their athletic development. On top of this, they

should also be eating more like athletes as well.

This is where parents or coaches normally start thinking:

“Well I don’t want my team lifting heavy weights every day after

school, or even at all”

“My son is 11 years old! He is not going to eat perfect, that’s

impossible!”

You know what? You’re absolutely right. The keys to youth athletic

development are:

#1: It has to be fun.

#2: It has to be safe.

#3: It has to improve performance.

The order of importance probably comes in that order as well. Those

three have to be in place for it to be effective, fun and good for long

term use. The problem I see is too many coaches offer too much of

one category, and not enough of the others.


For example, many well-meaning coaches out there in local

communities just simply don’t have an understanding of sports

physiology and train their teams in inefficient ways, and sometimes

completely counterproductive ways. Offering up long distance

running or skating for their hockey teams while being totally oblivious

to the fact that long distance aerobic activity does not have much

carryover into the game of hockey and at the same time making the

kids do something they don’t enjoy doing. That’s both ineffective for

boosting performance and not fun.

In another example, you will get some wanna be tough guy Dad who

has decided to coach the team and blitz the athletes with a grueling

conditioning system. More often than not this program design is also

structured incorrectly but he will try and make up for that with

something along the lines of “no pain, no gain”. Sure, no pain no

gain. Got it. But when these guys run their teams through workouts

that haven’t been thought out from a sports physiology perspective

it’s more along the lines of “Lots of pain, no gain”. Additionally, if

you’re going to be driving the kids to work hard you had better also

be offering nutritional ideas to the parents to support proper recovery

between practices and games. If not, you’re missing a huge part of

the performance pie and creating a huge limiting factor in

performance development.

Last but not least, we have the guy that is a little too fun with the

design of the practices and/or workout program. Too many fun

games, too much sitting around, no real long term structure to


measure progress. Although the kids love this coach, performance

ultimately suffers. Now this might seem like a scenario where you can

say “Let them have fun! They’re kids! They can focus on trying harder

when they’re older.”

That might sound like an ok idea on the surface, but as you will see

throughout the content of this book, optimizing movement during

youth is probably one of the most effective things you can do for any

athlete at any stage of their life. The central nervous system is being

molded like clay during this time period and how your kid goes about

their daily life determines important long term ability in qualities such

as coordination, balance, kinesthetic awareness and stride

frequency. Absolutely huge components to an athlete’s potential.

The best thing you can do is find that fine line between work, fun and

measureable progress. Doing something correctly doesn’t mean it

has to be monotonous and boring. In an ideal scenario it would be

fun, safe and offer performance enhancement in both the short and

long term. You don’t want to be putting your money into something

that has no benefit to your kids or your team. But you also don’t want

to be putting your money into something that your athletes are going

to hate.

Keep in mind, some parents are totally happy with their kids not

improving performance at all so long as they have fun. And I can get

that, if that’s not what the kid wants to do with his/her time or if the kid


offers resistance before going to every single practice and game,

then this book/program is probably not for them.

This book and training system is for the coach or parent who has a

kid or team who genuinely likes spending their time playing hockey

and is open to incorporating additional training either by themselves,

with the team or with a group of friends in order to get better. The

main objective of this system is to improve hockey performance, but

in doing so you also accomplish many other things. All very important

to a youth athletes physical and mental health. Training improves:

Body composition – What your ratio of fat to lean muscle mass is.

Confidence

Speed

Agility

Strength

Athletic performance

Health biomarkers

Relationships with whom they train with (group, friends, team,

parents, coach, etc)

Flexibility

Mobility

Co-ordination

Short and long term athletic potential

Decreased body fat levels in overweight children


I will get it out of the way very quickly here that youth athletes running

this system are not expected to lift heavy loads or work with much

additional resistance at all. Body weight exercises, light dumbbells

and specific movements provide more than enough progressive

resistance in order to make substantial and meaningful progress in a

safe and effective way.

People seem to forget that forces and resistance are applied to the

body in a sport setting even more so than when properly resistance

training. In addition to this, it can be applied during awkward

physical movement which can put the athlete at a big risk for injury.

That’s why you always hear of athletes getting hurt actually playing

hockey, not training for it.

Think about the idea of resistance training. You are applying an

external force on the body in order for the body to make positive

adaptations to that force and come back stronger next time. Now

think of the sport of wrestling. When you are going for a take down

and picking up your opponent or grinding to gain a superior position;

that is applying very high levels of force and resistance on the body.

These forces happen all the time in sports and do not differ from body

weight exercises from an adaptation perspective. Only in the fact

that they are less predictable and include the forces of an external

unpredictable stimulus. Which is precisely what makes them more

dangerous to perform than strength training.


It always blows me away that parents won’t think twice about putting

their kids in martial arts, wrestling, football and hockey around the

year but then when it comes to training they immediately think it’s

dangerous. It’s the same types of forces, but in training you’re

actually able to safely control them. Why do you think a kid gets

stronger after a year of wrestling? His body adapted just like it would

from strength training.

The dangers of strength training in youth couldn’t be further from the

truth and I actually believe this to be the exact opposite. I think it is

more unsafe to put your kids in full contact sports without having them

train.

Training improves strength of the muscles, tendons and ligaments

while also increasing bone density which all contribute to

immediately decreasing their susceptibility to injury. When training is

conducted with proper program design and performed with good

technique, training not only increases performance but also

improves health and resistance to injury during competition. Which

means less games, practices and workouts missed. All directing to a

bigger picture of a better athlete.


IS IT SAFE?

Absolutely.

Kids are playing contact sports in general at a much younger age

now and in this case the training should also begin at a younger age

as well. Resistance training is going to allow safety for the youth

athlete in question more so than not training due to the fact that

resistance training is going to build his/her ability to better deal with

the forces being placed on the body during hockey while also

improving their performance on the ice.

As stated above, resistance training improves the strength of the

tendons, ligaments, muscles and bones. Bone density respectively is

incredibly important not just to prevent injury now, but also later in

life. The higher you can build that bone density up before the age of

35, the better. I will also take the time to say this now while on the

topic of bone health is that resistance training will not stunt the growth

of a child. That’s a myth that just won’t seem to go away.

If this were true, probably all farm boys in existence today would be

4 feet tall. Bailing hay, moving machinery and carrying buckets of

water to the horses are all forms of resistance training.

Bone densities and strength have even been improved even in non-

contact sports. Research just recently in 2014 showing differences in


both bone and muscular strength in young tennis player’s racquet

arm in comparison to their non-racquet arm. The racquet arm

showing greater bone density and muscular strength in comparison

to the non-racquet arm. Now you tell me, are tennis players stunting

their growth now playing tennis in youth? No.

Again, the body adapting to a stimulus to create a stronger more

stable body. If this adaptation were to not take place, injury rates

would be massive. There is no differences between the adaptation

here in tennis and the adaptation that would occur if a youth athlete

performed some body weight squats to improve his/her leg strength.

It is totally safe when following a proper plan designed by a

professional to build the muscles up properly and set the foundation

for long term progress. Where kids normally run into trouble when

training at a young age is just going in the basement, lifting as much

as they can, always doing the same movements and then that’s it.

Just trying to train themselves. That can cause repetitive strain injuries

by always doing the same movement plus only provide very short

term results due to improper program structure, additionally those

results will also probably only come in the lift that they are training

and not actually on the ice.

By training unsafely you would be missing the biggest point on the

side of youth athletic development, long term performance. Youth

training isn’t about making your kid the absolute best in the world right


now. Proper youth training is building the necessary foundation an

athlete needs to have at a young age in order to create a higher

athletic potential and overall greater athletic ability in the long run.

Do you want to be a high level hockey player at 10 years old? Or 18-

20 years old?

One of those answers means much more than the other.


WHY TRAIN FOR YOUTH ATHLETIC

DEVELOPMENT?

Despite previous concerns that children would not benefit from

resistance exercise or that the risk of injury was too great, clinicians,

coaches, and exercise scientists now agree that resistance exercise

can be a safe and effective method of conditioning for children. An

increasing number of boys and girls are participating in resistance

training activities, and major sports medicine organizations support

children’s participation in resistance exercise provided that the

programs are appropriately designed and competently supervised.

In the research, children as young as 6 years old have benefited from

resistance training and children in a variety of different research trials

have been exposed to all types of training modalities with a

demonstrated positive benefit including:

Modified adult sized machines

Child sized machines

Medicine balls

Free weights

Body weight calisthenics


In addition to the various benefits I discussed above involving things

not just physically, but also mentally and emotionally; we have a

window of opportunity to develop athletic ability when an athlete is

still in their youth. This window of opportunity here is maximizing their

central nervous system development which is arguably the biggest

impact you can make on a hockey player’s (or any athlete for that

matter) career and maximum athletic potential limitations.

As the nervous system develops children improve their performance

in skills that require balance, agility, coordination, kinesthetic

awareness, strength and power. It is during these precious years that

you want to expose your kids to as many different movement patterns

as possible because although some coaches still believe

specialization at a young age leads ultimately to the best athletic

performance long term, the growing body of research suggests

otherwise.

The nervous system plays a huge role in motor unit function and

muscle recruitment patterns and the more different movements you

can expose your youth athletes to in the stages of this development,

the better. Meaning, year round hockey every year from a young

age to a mature age is not ideal for long term athletic potential. A

youth athlete would be better served playing hockey in the winter,

and only maybe once per week or once bi-weekly in the summertime

while he/she picks up other sports throughout the seasons such as

baseball, martial arts, gymnastics, tennis, soccer, football, lacrosse


and basketball. More sport and movement exposure = Greater

nervous system capacity for athletic movement mechanics.

I encourage all kids to play outside and play each and every sport

they can. Doing this helps them learn how to properly move. One of

the biggest problems with the generation growing up right now is they

don’t know how to move, which is a breeding ground for structural

imbalances and poor nervous system development. They spend too

much time playing video games or surfing the internet and then when

you ask them to squat, their movement mechanics are completely

off. Often bending completely over with the back instead of keeping

a good posture and initiating the movement at the hips. To give your

kids the best chance at excelling in athletics and sport development

you need to:

Have them learn to move

Have them learn to play

Have them perform as many sports as possible

Begin resistance based training once they become emotionally

mature and willing to try it out

Once you understand movement in sports, you understand that it

demands perfect timing and perfect movement to be one of the

best. Competing in as many sports as possible allows children to

develop strong motor patterns and movement ability in all planes of


motion. This translates perfectly to each and every sport and this

learned movement ability is highly central nervous system

dependent.

Very young children should be playing, running, climbing, running

backwards, throwing balls around, jumping, crawling and playing

with their parents so they can learn from the parent’s movement

patterns.

From being children to a more teenage age, in these years you

should enroll your kid in as many sports as possible, but not at the

same time. Do not overwhelm your kid, in the case of hockey, keep

it in every year, but the other sports should be rotated based on the

season. Martial arts is one of the best things you can do for a child

for increasing athletic ability and discipline. Additionally, martial arts

helps to build total body strength with plenty of explosive body weight

movements. Gymnastics is also excellent for all of the same reasons.

Martial arts and gymnastics would be my top two recommended

sports for optimal athletic development.

Now all this talk about nervous system molding during the youth years

and you’re probably asking yourself:

“Can’t we develop this at any stage in life? Why are you bringing this

up now?”


The answer to that question is no. The development of the central

nervous system tends to peak and complete upon the onset of

puberty. This is why I made the statement above that proper youth

training is arguably the most important factor you can do to

potentiate an athlete’s career. He/she is going to have that nervous

system for life and how well, or how not well you optimize that window

is going to determine a lot of things.

Are movements still trainable at a later stage in life? Of course! This is

where most of the money is training is, developing athletes in a

mature stage of their life.

Are they as trainable now as they were when they were young? No,

they are not.

You can think of the example of a child learning a new language

when they are young compared to a parent learning a new

language in their forties. A child growing up with people speaking a

second language all around them picks it up quite well and without

much effort. But a parent in their forties trying to pick up a new

language runs into many difficulties and it will require much research

and study to get it down correctly.

A real world example of this phenomenon in reference to sport

performance is the relationship between the two biggest factors in

speed development for hockey athletes; stride length vs. stride


frequency. Stride frequency is the amount of steps an athlete takes

in a controlled distance. For example, one may complete the 100m

dash in 50 steps, another may complete it in 47 steps. Whereas stride

length is the amount of distance covered per stride.

Here’s the thing, stride frequency becomes much, much less

trainable once the central nervous system is developed (upon

puberty) so for me, coming from a strength and conditioning

professionals perspective the biggest component I have to work with

in order to improve speed development in hockey players is focusing

on stride length and the many factors that go into improving that.

But if I have access to the athlete at a young age and mature age

we can take advantage of both worlds of speed development. And

this is just a single example, as mentioned above nervous system

capability is responsible for balance, coordination, kinesthetic

awareness, agility, strength and power.

“So what does any of this have to do with resistance training?”

Considering the fact that when working with youth you have to

maintain proper program progression and variation of exercises to

optimize gains, I’d say we are getting 5 stars in the nervous system

development category.


Why?

Because program progression + variation = Exposure to new

movements on a regular basis.

These new movements drive new neurological recruitment patterns

and promote maximal nervous system molding for athletic

performance. That’s the benefit you receive from alternating sports

year round, exposure to thousands of new movement patterns. But

with resistance training you get decreased risk of injury due to

improved tendon/ligament/bone health, increased strength,

increased health biomarkers, increased confidence, decrease body

fat and improved nervous system adaptation!

Now you tell me why youth athletes shouldn’t be training?


TRAINING YOUTH ATHLETES

Coaches and parents must understand that children are not

miniature adults and cannot be trained as such. Adult programs

volume and intensity recommendations are too severe for a youth

athletes base fitness level to recover from. When starting out with a

plan, it’s always best to underestimate their fitness level and work up

to a recoverable volume. To put it short, start slow and slowly work

your way up.

The kid in questions’ competition performance should not be suffering

due to a non-recoverable volume of training. The training should be

enough to create a positive adaptation, but not too much to where

their recovery ability isn’t meeting the demands of the training. Don’t

get me wrong being sore for a short period of time after a new

workout is ok, but being excruciatingly sore and mentally fatigued on

a regular basis is not ok. Grueling workouts are not the point of youth

athletic development and if a kid is suffering his or her way through

the training it is up to you to augment the plan as necessary so they

can still train and make progress, but also still properly recover.

Fatigue management for youth training is crucial. Number one,

because you can only make progress based on what you can

recover from. If you’re not recovering, you’re not making progress,

you’re just digging a deeper and deeper hole of fatigue debt. This is


why pro-bodybuilders don’t train 8hrs per day. If they could, they

would. But in that scenario they would never ever be able to recover

from that and therefore never make any progress.

Same goes for youth athletes. Keep the training sessions less than an

hour with an aim for 30-45mins total and a training frequency of 2-4

times per week. This provides both a good volume of work but also

isn’t long enough to where the kids become disinterested and start

looking for bugs on the ground instead of doing an exercise.

Number two reason for fatigue management in children is

psychological in its roots and runs along the same line of coaches

who make their teams skate and/or run laps if they have a bad game.

Look, the idea behind this punishment is incredibly flawed

physiologically but also psychologically.

Why it’s physiologically flawed is because hockey is not an aerobic

sport, so making your athletes run or skate a high amount of laps has

very little carryover into the game of hockey. So even though you’re

athletes hate it, it’s also not doing you or your team any good. But the

second reason behind this flawed punishment tactic and is also my

main point behind fatigue management in youth strength and

conditioning is that this type of work begins to ingrain in the athletes

mind that training is bad.


When you tie a physical activity to a punishment, at a subconscious

level the athletes are going to associate that activity with feeling bad

and that they don’t want to do it. We want to promote strength and

conditioning for these kids through positive means, not negative. This

also goes for fatigue management. If you’re driving your kids into the

ground during training, they are not going to recover properly and

they are going to hate it and not want to come back. A fun

atmosphere where everybody is making progress is the cornerstone

to long term adherence. Recovery is a huge part of this because if

you are coming back for your next workout and you feel 100%,

you’re ready to go! But if you feel 50%, you want to go home.

Don’t think short term when developing youth athletes, they have their

whole lives ahead of them and the entire purpose of youth training is

to build a solid foundation so that at a later stage in life you can build

upon that.

You can think about it like a skyscraper. These building stand

extremely tall but do you know how they begin the construction? They

dig. The first step in making a skyscraper is to dig downwards so you

can build the most solid foundation possible for the build to reach

maximal heights.

Same goes for youth athletes. The greater you build their foundation

during this crucial stage of their life, the greater amount of structure

you can add on top later.


Remember, it is very likely that this is the kids first time ever performing

these movements. Proper technique must be taught and slow

progression from there can be introduced to create a stronger

adaptation. Technique makes up a large part of the pie when I say

the word foundation.

When training youth hockey players, proper progression and

program variation will optimize gains, prevent boredom, and reduce

the stress from overtraining. All things important to keeping a kid not

just making progress, but also staying interested.

When structuring a resistance training workout for youth hockey

players it should contain:

1. A proper warm up

2. Foundational exercises to improve health and hockey

performance

3. Finish off with stretching routine

A proper warm up has to be in play to increase the core temperature

of the athletes, lubricate the joints to prime them for physical activity

and get their heads in the game. Warm ups drastically decrease risk

of injury and create a more “in the zone” psychological state for kids

who are there to truly get better. Additionally, this “in the zone” state

will improve adherence to the exercises and slow down the

distractions kids find themselves in.


Foundational resistance training exercises that are safe and effective

for hockey youth development include:

Chin up variations

Pull up variations

Dip variations

Squat variations

Split squat variations

Lunge variations

Push up variations

Abdominal circuit variations

Always keeping the intensity low with rep ranges anywhere from 10-

30 per exercise while keeping a close eye on proper technique. From

a non-bodyweight perspective, youth athletes can also safely use

light dumbbells, medicine balls and light weighted sled drags.

What you want to stay away from is directly loading the spine; squats,

overhead press, etc. It’s also wise to stay away from barbell

movements in general, unnecessary at this point in time and to be

later introduced in adolescence. Stick to dumbbells, body weight,

medicine balls and light sleds.


Frequency of training sessions depends on the athlete’s interest and

overall schedule. If the kid is loving the training and saying things at

home like he/she loves making progress and getting stronger. Or if

you can clearly see they are having a great time with their friends,

coach or parent who is training them then don’t be afraid to increase

training frequency. This is a perfect world scenario if you have got

them loving it. In this case, 3-4 times per week would be ideal.

Coming in the form of 2-3 resistance training sessions and 1-2

conditioning sessions.

If the athlete isn’t so sure yet, or is still totally brand new to the idea

and you don’t want to rush into anything; two times per week works

here.

The reasons why I stick to the 2-4 times per week strategy is:

a) Even at the max end of 4x per week, they can still effectively

recover from that.

b) Even at the low end of 2x per week, they can still effectively

make progress from that.

c) Even though progress can be seen at 2x per week, greater

progress is seen at 3-4x per week.

d) Even at the max end of 4x per week, they can still compete in

any sport throughout the year and effectively recover. But once

puberty hits and heavier movements are incorporated, training

volume goes down during the inseason of hockey and a more


educated eye should be monitoring training, ice time and

nutrition.

When structuring a conditioning workout for youth hockey players it

should contain:

1. A proper warm up

2. Energy system specific conditioning to improve hockey

performance

(or)

3. Fun activity that still “secretly” improves energy system specific

hockey performance

4. Finish off with a stretching routine

From a conditioning perspective, youth athletes can make great

progress with both aerobic and anaerobic work. But for the

anaerobic work, opt for no bodyweight loading, i.e. no conditioning

systems built entirely around the use of weight circuits, prowlers or

weighted sleds.

From an aerobic perspective, playing sports year round is enough for

a proper aerobic capacity base for hockey development in youth

athletes. This can sometimes get off track in mature athletes in

adolescence or adults as they tend to more neglect aerobic work

and gain unwanted weight. To address aerobic capacity in these

scenarios while not sacrificing hockey performance would be done


through tempo work which is thoroughly discussed in my book Next

Level Speed. But doesn’t truly apply here as children tend to already

have that aerobic base simply by playing various sports and playing

outside with their friends.

But when it comes to anaerobic work, youth athletes should work on

this 1-2x per week based on a needs analysis (how poor is their

conditioning on the ice? How do they look in the 3rd

period?) and

should be performed without additional resistance. When

anaerobically training youth athletes, here are your best options:

Sprints

Hill sprints

Other sports

Games

Variations of these workouts will be provided in the workout section as

anaerobic conditioning is a key factor in making the team for tryouts.

Conditioning can separate you from the pack even if another player

has a greater skill development. Consider this, if you still have a full

gas tank in the 3rd

period while an opponent who may technically

have better skills than you is totally exhausted, you’re going to blow

by him 10 times out of 10. Just on conditioning alone.


CONSIDERATIONS FOR TRAINING

YOUTH ATHLETES

If you’re a coach who has purchased this book and is looking for

ways to improve the team’s performance or if you’re a parent looking

for ways to optimize your kid’s athletic potential, some considerations

need to be brought up before starting up the youth performance

system.

#1: Emotional maturity

Although we are talking about kids at a young age here, they must

possess the required amount of emotional maturity to be able to

perform technical movements repetitively and stay on task for 30-

45mins. Parents and coaches more often than not know right away

which kids are ready for this and which aren’t, which is always great

and even still, you can always try it out for a few weeks or so with

some teammates whom you may believe can hang in there. It should

also be noted that in a team or group setting, the more emotionally

mature children performing the given tasks will influence the other

kids into joining in without too much distraction.


#2: Pre-training medical examination

The reasons for this go without saying. Especially if you are a coach,

liability could be a serious issue. Always smart to have the kids go

through a medical examination to ensure they are fit to perform the

given tasks or have them fill out individual safety forms that are similar

to those filled out with all contact sports.

#3: Education and inspiration

The goal with youth training is not just to increase strength and

performance, but should also include teaching children about their

bodies, promoting an interest in performance based training and just

having fun. A real hallmark to show you have done a great job is

when kids begin to not tie exercise in with negative implications.

Being active should be a positive thing and becoming healthier and

stronger should be a positive thing. Making the training session fun

and not focusing so hard on performance markers makes the kids

enjoy it much, much more and this will not only improve their

performance short term due to training adaptions, but long term as

well due to the fact that they have a different outlook on training and

being active. Ingraining at a young age some very healthy habits

that will be with them for life.


#4: Quality of instruction

To tie in with the above statement on ingraining healthy habits at a

young age, you want to do this the right way. Because if they learn

poor technique and poor training strategies at a young age you

don’t want them taking those lessons with them later on in life as well.

This is why you want an instructor who has lots of experience and

education in the field guiding the youth athletes through my provided

training system. This can’t be stated enough, quality of

movement/technique is key and a good instructor also knows how to

make it fun.

#5: Rate of progression

Although education, inspiration and keeping everything fun are

extremely important to the process I am a very results driven strength

and conditioning coach. Throughout the process the youth athletes

can and should be making considerable progress in the program

exercises. The use of workout logs can be of incredible value here to

both the coach and the kids. First and foremost it is a direct

measurement of the rate of progress they are making on the

program. If they perform 15 squats this week and 16 next week we’re

doing well. That is a no-nonsense way to measure and have a record

of progress for all athletes. But, it is also a tremendous opportunity to

teach kids the concept of progression and what it means to them.


“This means you are getting stronger!”

“This means you are getting faster!”

This teaches the kids why they are there, what it does, what

progression means and instills healthy habits in their minds and

psychology that exercise is fun and productive. In addition to this, it

sets goals each and every week for the kid and their individual

progress.

For example, if Bobby got 10 squats next week, his goal is to get 11

next week. If Jimmy got 20 squats this week, his goal next week is to

get 21. This would all be on paper for you and very easy to organize

in your head. You have what targets they need to hit and you are

also guaranteeing a higher rate of progression as opposed to just

going out and doing exercise not knowing whether or not they are

truly getting better. What’s also helpful about recording it on paper

beyond all of the above benefits is you have something to show the

parents to prove progress.

#6: Play down competition between athletes

Look I’ll be the first to tell you that competition between kids is a good

thing, and I’m not always a fan of “every kid gets a medal” type of

stuff. It’s not how I grew up and I honestly don’t think it drives home

the important lessons surrounding the fact that you have to earn your


medal. When every kid gets a medal I think it drives “well, I’m getting

something anyways” type of attitude which breeds non-

competitiveness and laziness.

But, there is a time and a place for everything and when working out

this is not the time nor the place. In this setting there should be no

award for who can do the most push ups, pull ups or squats.

Everybody has a different starting point and everybody is making

their own progress. It is also likely that one or two kids are going to

dominate the other kids in all the exercises and they will always win,

which doesn’t give a team feeling to the activity and promotes

separation during the workout.

To instill long term healthy habits and a positive attitude towards

physical activity, an emphasis should be placed on individual

progress and technical execution of the movements. Not who’s the

strongest or fastest. This is especially true for those on the team who

may be overweight. Overweight individuals can lose a tremendous

amount of weight with resistance training and it is also much, much

more manageable and enjoyable on their body then aerobic work

(running). Creating competition from the word go is going to crush

the confidence in an overweight kid who could have found

something that is going to reverse their current situation.


#7: Children should be given the opportunity to

develop proper technique

This goes hand in hand with consideration #4 which should include

whatever means at which you feel is the best fit for your current

situation. Here are a couple options:

If you’re a coach looking to train his team and you have solid

experience and education in the field of strength and

conditioning simply take 1-3, 15-30min sessions to just teach the

team proper technique before actually performing your first real

workout. Technique should not be taught on the fly and the kids

should have a reasonable understanding of what the exercises

are called and the technique to perform them properly before

the first training session.

If you’re a parent, best case scenario is to hire a strength and

conditioning coach who is familiar with the youth training setting

and can run your kid through it. But, personal training isn’t

always for everybody as the price can get high pretty quick. If

this is the case, you have a couple more options.

#1- You could hire the strength and conditioning professional

for just a few sessions in order to teach proper technique and

get the kid started on his way and then he can perform them

with friends or with you after that. In this case, you could also ask


the professional for feedback based on your kid’s current

individual needs.

#2- If you have some reasonable experience in strength and

conditioning and want to run your own kid through it, this is ok.

But to ensure you are doing everything as correct as possible

check out online databases of video exercise demonstrations

and get them down to a T prior to training your kid. And don’t

forget, you need to be able to do what he’s doing if you’re

planning on coaching him.


YOUTH NUTRITION

At the end of the day we can talk about the activity levels and

training application of youth all we like but in my opinion the

decreased activity levels of modern day kids is the lesser of two evils

when compared to their typical daily intake. Youth nutrition is at an

all-time low, consuming copious amounts of sugars day in and day

out in the form of snacks (that are usually sadly marketed at healthy),

candy’s, ice cream, fruit juices, pop, lots of ketchup, sports drinks

outside of the training window, chocolate bars, fast food, etc. You

name it, kids are eating a lot of it.

You are what you eat.

Most people pass off “oh well they are just kids they can eat whatever

they want and their metabolisms run right through it”

This logic is becoming more and more flawed as the years go on and

childhood obesity rates keep steadily climbing. Children are still

humans, they can’t be expected to maintain optimal health and

performance on a diet filled with junk. Not to mention, the highs and

lows of sugar intake leads to both highs in lows in physical and mental

energy. Offering up physical hyperactivity for a brief period of time

followed up by a crash in energy but also mental fatigue. Decreasing

focus, attention span, retention of new things learned while


simultaneously increasing whining and complaining because they

are tired. Sugar highs and sugar crashes played out in real scenarios.

These physical and mental crashes lead to less focus and attention

span on the ice and during the youth workouts, but also less focus

and attention span in school. Take breakfast cereal for example,

even the so called “healthy” cereals are completely full of various

sugars leading to a high on their way out the door and maybe for the

first couple hours of school but then a crash during school. This can

be offset by snack time or lunch time, but the circle will always

continue. Highs and lows.

The best thing a parent can do for their child’s diet is not actually to

make it perfect. The average kid is going to hate that and drive you

crazy along the way. What your job to do is to make the best of the

current situation.

Do they get a bunch of snacks at school? If yes, they probably don’t

need ice cream, juice or pizza pops at home.

Is there packed lunch at school bang on the money in terms of health

and nutrient density? If yes, a small dessert at night time is totally cool.

Is there breakfast everyday a cereal that more resembles candy then

it does breakfast? If yes, this should probably just be eliminated

entirely.


“So the number one goal is to decrease daily sugar intake, got it.

What else can I do?”

The next most important thing that is missing from the average kid’s

diet is adequate, high quality sources of protein. Especially with

breakfast. Research has shown that higher protein breakfasts are not

only more effective for fat loss in the long term, but also provide more

mental focus and physical energy throughout the day. This is also true

regardless of what they eat for lunch. Meaning, so long as you have

a high protein breakfast, your brain is going to be much more on

point for the rest of the day and you will have more physical energy

even if you alternate your lunches throughout the week. This is perfect

for kids who need to be paying attention both on the ice and in

school as well.

A perfect way to get this done is a nice omelette for breakfast, this is

an especially good choice as well because you can add lots of

vegetables into the omelette mix and it will still be palatable for kids.

Sending your kid on their way with a high protein high fiber breakfast.

Sounds good to me!

In a perfect world, here’s what you would try to improve:

1. Decrease sugar intake

2. Increase high quality protein intake

3. Increase fruit and vegetable intake


The decreased sugar intake can be done without much resistance

from the kids, they already receive more than their fair share of sugar

and when something is absent it normally creates zero issues as it

goes unnoticed. Just removing the frequency of juice / pop alone

without even touching anything else drastically brings down weekly

sugar intake. That in combination with less fast food and you’re off to

a great start.

The increase in high quality protein intake is also not met with much

or any resistance. But keep in mind, I say high quality protein. Not

pepperettes, not packaged deli meat slices, not cheese strings; real

actually good sources. Such as chicken, steak, whey protein powder

(yes it’s safe for them), Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, fish, eggs etc.

Choosing your kids favourites out of the higher quality sources and

incorporating them more often is going to do good things for their

mind and body. This can be done simply with an omelette for

breakfast, little meat on their sandwich at lunch time and some

chicken for dinner.

But, number three is probably the one met with the most resistance.

That is, increasing their daily fruit and vegetable intake. That latter

being the tougher between the two. Kids normally have no problem

with fruit. Peaches, apples, bananas, berries and anything of the sort

are all met with little to no resistance. Vegetables on the other hand

can be a battle for some. The best thing you can do here is pick their

favourite vegetables and use them as often as you can. If their


favourite vegetable is broccoli (which oddly enough is one of my

niece’s favourite foods all together) then repeatedly use this

vegetable as much as you can and add in other ones whenever

possible. When it comes to other vegetables, there are many ways in

which you can sneak in vegetables into other recipes such as:

Omelettes

Smoothies

Pastas

Chicken or steak fajitas with lots of added vegetables

Veggie meat balls

Casseroles

The options are endless and if you’re ever stuck for ideas, simply

google “kid friendly vegetables” or “vegetable recipes for kids” and

you will get tons of options to choose from and you can pick the ones

you think your kid would like best. Don’t brush vegetables aside as

non-importance, they improve health and athletic performance.

One of my favourites is actually the smoothie option. In a well-

designed smoothie you can get tons of vitamins, minerals, protein,

fiber, antioxidants and healthy fats all in the same shake. Offering

way more nutrients than your average meal and is packaged in a

way kids enjoy and won’t know what’s all in there.


Here’s what you do.

Pick a protein source:

Whey protein powder

Hemp protein powder

Protein blend powder

Cottage cheese

Greek yogurt

Protein powders, cottage cheese and Greek yogurt all add a high

quality protein source to the meal and help thicken up the shake

making it taste much better. Plus, you can use flavour variations here

too. If you have chocolate protein powder, you can use natural

peanut butter as your healthy fat and you have a chocolate peanut

butter smoothie. Don’t be alarmed about the cottage cheese, you

can’t taste it in the smoothie, it simply adds a smooth creamy

consistency once blended up and the other flavours take over. For

youth athletes, 10-15g of protein is what you should be looking for

here.

Pick a vegetable:

Spinach

Swiss chard


Kale

Pumpkin

Sweet potato

Cucumber

Celery

Beets

Disclaimer! Vegetables change the colour of your smoothie, but you

can hardly taste them. Especially spinach, it is one of the most

nutrient dense foods in the world and yet when you add them to a

smoothie their taste completely disappears. 1-2 handfuls of any of

these would be a huge nutrition bonus to the day. Vegetables add

plenty of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber to the shake.

Pick a fruit:

Berries

Peach

Apple

Banana

Cherries

Dates

Mango


Fruits sweeten the deal here. Cut into manageable pieces so your

blender can deal with it and if you’re using frozen fruit you won’t need

to add ice cubes. Normally 1 fist size serving does the trick. Fruits add

even more vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber to the shake.

Pick a healthy fat:

Raw nuts

Ground flax

Chia seeds

Hemp

Natural nut butters

When blended well, the nuts add a good texture to the smoothie and

offer tons of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and healthy fats. Walnuts

especially provide a large amount of omega-3 which is crucial for

proper brain development. Ideally here you are looking for 1-2

tablespoons.

Pick a flavour boost:

Coconut

Cinnamon

Ice cubes

Oats


Cacao

Yogurt

I mentioned cinnamon here but all spices work well, it just depends

on what you’re making. Cinnamon goes well with banana, PB +

chocolate mixes, vanilla and sweet potato. Oats is a good option if

it’s after a workout or game when they’ll need extra carbs and yogurt

can add some more thickness and protein to the mix.

Pick a liquid:

Water

Almond milk

Cow’s milk

Avoid juices and other sugary drinks all together here. The flavour

profile should be coming from the above ingredients and not from

the liquid. Keep in mind, the less liquid you add the thicker it is going

to be and the more liquid you add the thinner it will be. In most cases,

8oz is a good consistency.

Done!

Tons of different recipe options just from the above lists alone, but feel

free to experiment and do what’s best for your kid’s favourite foods.

Just always remember the goal, it’s supposed to be healthy! If you


can nail down a recipe they love you will be giving your kid a ton of

good nutrition every day.

Here’s an example:

Chocolate peanut butter banana smoothie

10-15g chocolate flavoured whey protein isolate

1-2 handfuls of spinach

½ banana

1 tablespoon all natural peanut butter

A pinch of cinnamon

6-8oz milk

4 ice cubes

When real comes to real, forcing your kid to eat like a professional

athlete (like the meal plans I provide in Next Level Performance) is just

flat out unrealistic. So the best thing you can possibly do is just to

simply improve their current situation. Eliminate the frequency in

which the obvious bad things enter the diet such as fast food and

junk food and add in some more nutrient dense options. In a perfect

world, these would be your targets:

Replace other liquids in the diet with water. Lots of water should

be coming in every day.

5+ servings of fruits and vegetables per day


High quality protein sources coming in 3+ times per day

Healthy fats coming in 3+ times per day

A protein rich breakfast being offered in the morning

Grains coming in a more fiber rich form than their processed

brothers. For example, opt for 12-grain bread over white bread,

quinoa instead of white rice, oats instead of cereal, etc.

Overall intake should be coming in the form of whole, minimally

processed foods. This more often than not means less things

should be coming in boxes and packages and more things

should be food in its natural state you would be able to find

outdoors.

If you can slowly introduce 1 small thing at a time here, you’ll be off

to a great start and you will be giving your youth athletes a distinct

advantage both on and off the ice. You can’t put regular fuel in a

premium sports car, and you can’t put junk food in a growing athlete.

The limiting factors will present themselves very quickly.


THE WARM UP

Warming up youth athletes properly is crucial to their safety and

progress development. Some guys like to rush through the warm up

because they feel it is boring or unnecessary but trust me, if it was

unnecessary or if it wasn’t going to improve their performance I

wouldn’t be writing about it.

Proper warm-ups increase body and core temperature which is

going to improve mobility and in turn decrease their risk for injury.

When you’re doing resistance training or conditioning the amount of

power output and velocity that is required puts you at a high risk for

injury if you are not properly warmed up. Think about just putting an

athlete into a wrestling match cold, he is going to be tight and have

a much higher risk for injury when compared to if he had properly

warmed up for the competition.

Once the body has reached top speed in a sprint the forces coming

down on your body each stride can reach 5-6x your own body

weight. That is a tremendous amount of weight when you think about

it especially when you consider how many sprint steps are taken

during a given run. Being warmed up to properly absorb these forces

is critical for both safety and performance.

Additionally, a proper warm up stimulates the central nervous system

which is going to improve performance earlier within the session. You


know that feeling you get half-way through a workout and you’re like

“Man I’m really killing this thing I feel great!”

That’s your central nervous system waking up. The object of a proper

warm up is to get that nervous system woken up at the beginning of

the session so their performance is strong right from the beginning

and all the way through. This nervous system effect will also transfer

over to attention span and focus, getting them more “in the zone” for

training.


SAMPLE WARM UPS

WARM UP #1

1. Jog for 3-5mins

2. 10 jumping jacks

3. 10 push ups

4. 10 walking lunges

5. 10 Cossacks squats

6. Hip circles x 10 in each direction

7. Big shoulder circles x 10 in each direction

8. Small shoulder circles x 10 in each direction

9. A-skips x 10yds there and back

10. B-skips x 10yds there and back

WARM UP #2

1. Jog for 3-5mins

2. Body weight squats x 10

3. Cossacks squats x 10

4. Leg swings forward/backward x 10 per leg

5. Leg swings side to side x 10 per leg

6. Hip circles x 10 in each direction

7. Scapula floor slides x 10

8. Push ups x 10

9. A-skips 10yds there and back

10. B-skips 10yds there and back


NOTES:

Ensure all exercises are performed with proper technique.

The kids should have a light sweat on, but still be fresh by the

end of it.

The warm ups were designed so you can perform them either

individually or in a group setting.

Squats should be below parallel.

Push ups should be all the way to the ground.

An emphasis has been placed on hip mobilization as that is the

#1 issue with hockey players entering the offseason and if we

can improve hip mobility in youth you will be saving a lot of

corrective work at a later stage in life.


STRETCHING

When it comes to youth, keeping it simple with a static stretching

routine post-workout is going to hit the nail on the head. Some

dynamic stretching movements are already incorporated in the

warm ups and it’s always wise to finish off with some static stretching.

Keep in mind, this doesn’t have to be immediately post-workout if you

are in a time crunch. Static stretching can be done either post-

workout or whenever they can fit it in later on that night. I do want to

make a note though that there has been much conflicting research

on static stretching actually decreasing performance when being

done prior to competition or a workout. This is why it is always best

kept afterwards. You get the benefits of stretching without the acute

performance detriment.

Static stretching has been shown to effectively improve range of

motion and not to mention it is very easy to learn for anybody at any

level. Which is why it is such a good choice for youth athletes.

Best case scenario for a hockey player would be to incorporate any

and all static stretching after games and workouts, hold the stretch

for no longer than 15 – 30 secs and use the static stretches on the

areas of the body where hockey players so often create the same

tightness’s.


For hockey players, this means working the static stretches for the:

Hips

Calf / Achilles tendon

Lower body in general

Shoulders


SAMPLE STATIC STRETCHING ROUTINE

1. Groin frog stretch – Hold for 2 rounds, 15-30secs

2. Seated piriformis stretch – Hold for 2 rounds, 15-30secs

3. Seated glute stretch – Hold for 2 rounds, 15-30secs

4. Hip flexor stretch, rear foot elevated – Hold for 2 rounds, 15-30secs

5. Calf/Achilles tendon stretch on a stepper – Hold for 2 rounds, 15-

30secs

6. Anterior delt/pec stretch – Hold for 2 rounds, 15-30secs

7. Posterior delt stretch – Hold for 2 rounds, 15-30secs

8. Lying, internal rotator cuff stretch – Hold for 2 rounds, 15-30secs

9. Lying quad stretch – Hold for 2 rounds, 15-30secs

10. Seated hamstring stretch, reach for the toes – Hold for 2 rounds, 15-

30secs

NOTES:

Best performed post-workout, or sometime in the evening.

In addition to counting 15-30secs, focus on taking deep

diaphragmatic breaths.

Ensure that the kids are not trying to be impressive and start

overdoing it, there is no trophy for who can do the most.

When trying to improve ROM, perform this ideally 3-4x per week. For

range of motion maintenance, 1-2x per week is appropriate.


RESISTANCE TRAINING:

PHASE 1

Duration: 4-6 weeks

WORKOUT A

1. Body weight squats 4 x 15-30 with 60secs rest in between each set

2. Russian step ups 4 x 10-15 per leg with 60secs rest in between each

set

3. Push ups 4 x 10-15 with 60secs rest in between each set

4. Chin ups 4 x max with 60secs rest in between each set

5. Walking lunges 3 x 8 per leg with 60secs rest in between each set

WORKOUT B

1. Bodyweight split squats 4 x 8-10 per leg with 60secs rest in between

each set

2. ¼ squat to vertical jump 8 x 3 with 60secs rest in between each set

3. Bench dips 4 x 5-8 with 60secs rest in between each set

4. Pull ups 4 x max with 60secs rest in between each set



WORKOUT C

1. Alternating reverse lunges 4 x 8 per leg with 60secs rest in between

each set

2. Wide arms push ups 4 x 10 with 60secs rest in between each set

3. Partner towel resisted rows 4 x 10 per arm with 60secs rest in

between each set

4. Box jumps 8 x 3 with 60secs rest in between each set

5. Backwards light sled drag 3 x 10-20yds with 60-90secs rest between

each pull

NOTES FOR PHASE 1

No additional resistance in this phase even if they are showing large

improvements

No additional conditioning in this phase even if they are showing

large improvements

Emphasize good technique

For those who cannot do chin ups or pull ups, it is ok to do light one-

arm DB rows for 15-20 reps per arm

Workouts should be completed in 30-40mins MAX

Begin with a suggested warm up and finish with the suggested

stretching routine

Workouts are built so they can be performed in a group setting with

kids at each station. Meaning, they do not all have to start at 1 and

end with 5. They can be placed at different stations and work their

way around to completion.


PHASE 2

Duration: 4-6 weeks

New optional conditioning sessions 1-2x per week

WORKOUT A

1. Light DB resisted goblet squats 3 x 15-20 with 60secs rest in between

each set

2. Front foot elevated reverse lunge 3 x 10 per leg with 60secs rest in

between each set

3. Push ups 3 x 10-15 with 60secs rest in between each set

4. Chin ups 3 x max with 60secs rest in between each set


6. V-ups 2 x 10-15 with 60secs rest in between each set

WORKOUT B

1. Bodyweight split squats 4 x 8-10 per leg with 60secs rest in between

each set

2. Broad jumps 8 x 3 with 60secs rest in between each set

3. Bench dips 4 x 8-10 with 60secs rest in between each set

4. Pull ups 4 x max with 60secs rest in between each set

5. Cossacks squats 3 x 8-10 per leg with 60secs rest in between each

set


6. Elbow to knee crunches 4 x 10-15 with 60secs rest in between each

set

WORKOUT C

1. Front foot elevated split squats 3 x 8-10 per leg with 60secs rest in

between each set

2. Light DB flat bench press 3 x 15 with 60secs rest in between each set

3. Bent over two arm DB row 3 x 10 with 60secs rest in between each

set

4. Single leg box jumps 8 x 3 per leg with 60secs rest in between each

set

5. Backwards light sled drag 3 x 10-20yds with 60-90secs rest between

each pull

6. Band resisted anti-rotation alphabets 1 alphabet per side, no rest

between sides

NOTES FOR PHASE 2

Keep the additional resistance very light in this phase even if they

are showing large improvements

A decrease in repetitions and sets has been made to accommodate

new training stimulus with the added resistance, conditioning and

core movements

Emphasize good technique

For those who cannot do chin ups or pull ups, it is ok to do light one-

arm DB rows for 15-20 reps per arm


Workouts should be completed in 30-40mins MAX

Begin with suggested warm ups and finish with suggested stretching

routine

Workouts are built so they can be performed in a group setting with

kids at each station. Meaning, they do not all have to start at 1 and

end with 5. They can be placed at different stations and work their

way around to completion.

SUBSTITUTIONS FOR PHASE 1 AND PHASE 2

I designed the workouts so everything can be performed outside in a

park setting with minimal equipment. To complete both phases in

their entirety, all you need is:

Light dumbbells

A band

Something you can step on for step ups (park

bench/stepper/stairs/bleachers)

Something you can do pull ups on (monkey bars, playground

equipment)

Something you can do bench dips on (park

bench/bleachers/playground equipment)

Weighted sled

Towel

Something you can jump on (park bench/stepper/stairs/bleachers)


You are expected to bring some light dumbbells, a band and a

towel. In addition to that pretty much any local park is going to have

some combination of the above substitutions with the exception of a

weighted sled and a bar that works for pull ups. In a scenario where

you can’t do pull ups or the athlete isn’t strong enough to do pull ups

yet, bent over one arm or two arm DB rows is a totally viable substitute.

When replacing sled drags, any weighted carry is fine. DB farmers

walk is a perfect substitute here and still only requires some

dumbbells. Also if the kids are strong enough, they can always work

in partners and fire men carry each other the 10-20yds per set, this

would also work well and would be a fun time for the kids.

Last but not least, the flat DB bench press can be substituted with a

weighted push up. Simply add a light plate on the center of their

upper back.


CONDITIONING

Choose anyone of the following and add 1-2 sessions in max per

week into phase 2. Only add these sessions in if they have been

recovering well and are still showing positive interest in training.

WORKOUT A

Sprints: 10 x 15secs all out sprints with 90-120secs rest in between sprints

WORKOUT B

Hill sprints: 10 runs of a steep hill at an all-out speed with 90-120secs rest

in between hill runs. To perform this workout in a partner setting have one

kid run up the hill and come back down and as soon as the kid gets back

to the bottom the other kid runs up the hill, once he gets back the first kid

goes back up again, etc. This can be performed just in partners, or if you

have the team out at a hill have them be in groups of 2 or 3 and have

them take turns and race to 10 completions.

WORKOUT C

Here’s an option that is totally conducive to hockey training development

and the kids won’t even have any idea it is part of their youth training

development. That is unless you want to tell them. Simply pick a high

intensity sport or game, and have them play some scrimmages just for fun.


But, switch it up just a bit so they are forced to work a little harder.

Here are some examples:

3 on 3 basketball

5 on 5 soccer

1 on 1 or 2 on 2 tennis/badminton

3 on 3 ball hockey or ice hockey if you have the ice

Touch football

Game of dodgeball

Game of tag

Any sport that is high intensity but is still a lot of fun is the best

conditioning in my opinion. It is my experience kids like the

competition of the 10-hill run, but they like the competition of sports

and the enjoyability of the games much more. That’s just a given. Not

to mention, remember all that nervous system talk we discussed

above? Playing new sports is huge for optimal nervous system

development, that’s why I recommend playing different sports year

round. But if you can include it in your conditioning routine that’s even

better! Not to mention the above listed sports I mentioned are directly

specific to the same energy system substrates the body is using to

fuel hockey performance so believe it or not, playing basketball is

sport specific training for hockey speed, conditioning and agility

development. Who would have thought?


PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

PHASE 1 SCHEDULE

DAY 1: WORKOUT A

DAY 2: OFF

DAY 3: WORKOUT B

DAY 4: OFF

DAY 5: WORKOUT C

DAY 6: OFF

DAY 7: OFF

Proper warm up performed prior to every training session and proper

stretching routine performed after every training session.

PHASE 2 SCHEDULE

DAY 1: WORKOUT A

DAY 2: OFF (or) OPTIONAL CONDITIONING

DAY 3: WORKOUT B

DAY 4: OFF (or) OPTIONAL CONDITIONING

DAY 5: WORKOUT C

DAY 6: OFF

DAY 7: OFF

Proper warm up performed prior to every training session and proper

stretching routine performed after every training session. This includes

conditioning.


CONCLUSION

I kept this book almost completely science-talk free because I

wanted to give you the most straight forward youth training

techniques that produce results and will have you ready to apply

them today. Instead of back tracking and trying to make sense of all

of the “why” that goes into intricate training design and create more

confusion than results.

You know why I did that?

Kids don’t care. They really don’t. All they want to do is get stronger

and better at their sport and it is our job to provide the most effective,

fun and safe way to get the job done and that’s what this book

provides. A no nonsense approach to proper youth development

and what you should be looking for when seeking out a youth

athletics trainer or when incorporating some of these techniques

yourself to use with your kids or team.

I hope you enjoyed the book and thank you so much for supporting

hockeytraining.com

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