Off-Season Rest

Are you accomplishing and or exceeding all of your personal goals?  Or are you still in off-season rest mode?

Too many young Ottawa goalies fall victim to the off-season rest trap.  For hockey players and goalies to ensure that we are consistently improving throughout the off-season, we must push ourselves to go to the gym, workout, sleep and eat right.  For so many however, this is not the case.

Some athletes fall into the off-season rest trap after their regular season and playoffs end due to the need to take a break to heal injuries, or a general break from activity to allow themselves a get little R & R.  In some of these cases, these off-season breaks get longer and longer because it’s what the young athlete may grow accustomed to, due to their off-season rest having stayed way past its welcome.

If you’re still in off-season rest mode, you are behind in your training objectives.  But this does not mean that it’s too late to start.

One mistake that many young hockey players make during the off-season is thinking that if they fall into the off-season rest trap, that they’ll be able to make up for lost time.  WRONG!  Instead, training should be a progressive advancement in the athlete’s physical abilities over time, rather than pushing for success at accomplishing training goals at the last minute.  Think of it as studying all year, versus cramming for an exam in the last month.  You may pass the exam, but you will not be prepared to move into the next section or level of your learning.

 

Training hard and pushing one’s self is a given for athletes, however approaching training with a mindset that one can make up for lost time is a mistake.  Athletes who attempt to train this way, risk the possibility of injury, or illness.

 

So what can be done if you’ve fallen into the off-season rest mode trap?

There are a few steps to take in order to attempt to be physically prepared for pre-season evaluations, even if you took an extended break from training.  One of these steps is setting realistic expectations.  Look at your training plan to determine what your initial goal was at the beginning of the off-season before falling into the off-season rest mode trap, and then evaluate your training.  Then, attempt the final training expectations of the off-season to know where measure up against your training plan and how much ground you have to cover.  From there, modify your plan in order to come as close to your off-season goals as possible without risking overtraining.  Just make sure to be realistic with planning your training routines.  Because you may be trying to get more accomplished in a shorter amount of time, a lot of time should be spent on stretching in order to lessen any potential risks of injury.

Another step is to eat right.  So many young people have high metabolisms.  But just because you can eat anything without gaining a pound of fat, does not mean that you should.  Concentrate on eating nutritious whole foods while ensuring that plenty of proteins, fruits, vegetables, and water are being consumed.

Take advantage of having the opportunity to sleep in, but don’t stay up all night just because you can.  During the summer months, it’s easy to fall into a trap which allows you to stay up all night watching television or playing video games because you may have minimal commitments in the early morning without the need to go to school the next day.  This is where some of the discipline that you’ve learned from coaches comes into play.  Sleep is essential for the mind and body to perform.  Therefore, sleep is just as important to your off-season workouts as the physical rest time for your muscles.  Keep in mind that the brain controls the heart and lungs which allows for oxygen to be pumped through the blood stream and into your muscles.  If the brain is tired, your body will be too; therefore lowering your chances of attaining your off-season goals.

Working on sharpening your skills is just as important as physical training.  Physical training and conditioning is extremely important for any athlete, however if you’ve lost some time due to falling into the off-season rest mode trap, you cannot sacrifice honing your skills because you’re spending so much time working out.  Instead, you need to make additional time for refining and perfecting your technical skills.  For some, it may be a requirement to be able to run 5 kilometers as part of the off-season team training program, but should a goaltender’s eye-hand coordination suffer because they were too lazy to put their Xbox controller down during the first month or so of their off-season?  Of course not.  Technical areas are just as important as physical conditioning for goaltenders as they allow them to practice, get used to, and feel comfortable with advancements in their physical training throughout the off-season.  Therefore enabling them not to look or feel awkward on the ice during their pre-season evaluations.

Walk the Walk & Talk the Talk

By now, you’ve probably taken a couple of weeks after your season ended to get some rest, heal injuries (if you had them), and take a step into life without hockey.  But hopefully, you have begun your off-season training journey by now.  If not, what are you waiting for?!

Don’t fall into the off-season rest mode trap.  Instead, show up to your conditioning camp and evaluations ready to impress.

There are still spots available to join our August Conditioning Camp; Registration is now open!