Off-Ice training centers can help you improve

Increased strength, improved quickness and agility and a better fitness level are goals

There is no truth to the rumor that the cost of ice time is related to gasoline prices. No, OPEC doesn’t control our frozen water.

But with ice time at a premium, coaches and teams strive to get the most out of on-ice practice time.  With breakouts, systems and time spent on individual skills like passing and shooting, it’s up to a player to put in some extra time off the ice to build strength and increase fitness and agility.

So more and more hockey players are improving their game at off-ice training facilities, which are excellent for getting in shape and strengthening core muscles, and can also help players improve their hockey specific skills.

Each facility offers a little different twist on basically the same goal – to create a better athlete. And in our case, to create a better hockey player.

Michigan Hockey took a look at a handful of these off-ice training facilities that tend to focus on developing hockey-specific skills and areas that will make hockey players stronger, faster – and better:

Triad Health & Fitness

Farmington Hills

The word you will often hear at Triad Health & Fitness is potential. And the goal of Triad Health & Fitness is making sure their clients reach that potential.

Founded in 1995 by owner Kirk Vickers, Triad features a process that helps the athlete meet whatever specific goals they are trying to achieve. And leading this process is Vickers.

With his experiences as the head trainer for the Detroit Red Wings and the Detroit Drive (former Arena League football team), Vickers is uniquely qualified to guide athletes of all ages in their quest to maximize their athletic potential.

So where do you start?

“We believe in beginning with the foundations of athleticism and building from there,” said Vickers, who has a combined 15 years of clinical physical therapy experience. “We really begin with an assessment of the basic aspects of biomechanics, balance and posture.  These elements are the backbone of all movement.  When an athlete is deficient in one or more of these areas, their performance is compromised in many ways, such as speed, power, control, agility and, especially, efficiency of movement.

“You must walk correctly before you can run correctly.”

Triad, designed to give people an alternative to the traditional gyms and health clubs, features a high performance training center with a variety of non-traditional equipment. Inside Triad you’ll find a 3,000-foot turf room, 40-yard sprint track, balance beams and wobble boards, medicine balls, body blades, weight training and cardio equipment, speed bags and much more.  

The “equipment” however is only a small part of what makes Triad unique.

“Our trainers are more like teachers,” Vickers said. “We work hard to educate our athletes about their bodies and to dispel common myths. Our goal is to arm our athletes with the Triad of knowledge regarding performance training, nutrition and mentality.”

Triad, which also specializes in injury prevention and post-therapy rehabilitation, also will get goal-specific with the athlete. And that includes focusing on areas that will improve his or her skills in the particular sport they play.

Working with the Red Wings gives Vickers a unique insight into exactly what areas can make an athlete better at playing hockey.

“Our trainers build custom programs for each of our athletes, while keeping in mind the special requirements of the sports they play,” Vickers said.  “Hockey, for example, presents a unique set of challenges for both the player and the trainer.”

For dry-land hockey training, the program trains for speed, quickness, strength and control on the ice.

“Although we treat the athlete’s body as a whole unit functioning as one, we still must place a focus on certain aspects requiring extra attention due to the specific rigors of hockey,” Vickers said. “As an example, the core of the body – the midsection of the body, from the rib cage down to the mid thigh – is an area especially susceptible to injury.”

This area of the body is the source of most of an athlete’s power and control.

“Since hockey is played on a thin blade of metal atop a slippery surface of ice, control and power are paramount to performance,” Vickers said. “Without proper conditioning of this area, a hockey player becomes susceptible to many of the common injuries associated with the sport: groin, low back and abdominal injuries.  Even knee injuries often can be traced back to a player’s inability to control the pelvic region.”

Simply put, Triad’s No. 1 goal is to reduce the chance of injury and improve on-ice performance.

“By working with more movement-specific exercises, we can help a hockey player’s body learn how to perform under the specific conditions required in their sport,” Vickers said.  “We use a lot of multi-directional, rotational, agility, plyometric and balance exercises because they improve the on-ice performance of hockey players, while providing the control and stability necessary for explosive power and injury prevention.”

Athlete Performance Sport

Grand Rapids

An athletic performance facility has a lot to do with the person running the show. And at Athlete Performance Sport in Grand Rapids, Daimond Dixon is running the show.

While Dixon knows little about ice skating, he does know plenty about playing sports at a high level and what it takes to reach that pinnacle of athletic achievement. Dixon was a walk-on football player at the University of Miami (Fla.) and is currently the starting running back for the Grand Rapids Thunder, a minor league football team.

“Athlete Performance Sport was created as a way to help athletes become faster, quicker and stronger and to increase their jumping power and endurance,” Dixon said. “We offer the finest selection of top quality performance equipment designed to make sure that athletes in all sports get the most out of their training.”

The APS facility is over 2,500 square feet and offers access to the “best strength, conditioning and performance training around,” Dixon said.
What about hockey?

“We take a close look at what a hockey player does on the ice and then carry it over to what we do here at APS,” Dixon said. “Core muscles and hip flexor muscles are used a lot in hockey so we will make that a big part of the program we develop for the hockey player. It’s also important to strengthen the lower back and abs so we will use a lot of medicine ball drills.”

And while Dixon is more comfortable in shoulder pads and a helmet, he has quickly become an expert in training and conditioning the hockey player.

“We have really increased the number of hockey players and teams we are training,” said Dixon, who is working in-season with the both the Junior B Owls of Grand Rapids and the Capital Centre Pride.

“We continue the same program as we would have in the off-season except we just cut back on the volume. I believe that using the program in-season will help reduce the chances of injury and keep a player fresher.”

Dixon said one of the first hockey players he trained in-season saw immediate results. “His parents told me that he was stronger and in better shape than the rest of his teammates were at the end of the season,” Dixon said. “You can see the results.” 

The training program at APS is designed for explosive first-step quickness, vertical jumping ability, speed and acceleration, agility and balance and core strength. For hockey players, Dixon will use specific drills to improve the areas that will show results on the ice. For example, “we will use agility ladders where each rung is 18 inches apart and have them jump through different configurations. It strengthens the feet, ankles and legs, all important to hockey players.   

“We adjust the program to the needs of the individual and really recommend one-on-one training. One athlete and one trainer. This will give you the most impact.”     

Velocity Sports Performance

Canton

Muhammad “Mo” Farha helped open Velocity Sports Performance inside the Arctic Edge Ice Arena in November. “We are happy to be part of this sports complex here in Canton,” Farha said.

The Canton location is just one of 64 centers in the United States and another 50 more are planned to open in 2006. The company has been in the training business for four years and their growth is an example of how well they are doing.

“We’re doing well, as a company and here in Canton,” said Farha, who is upbeat and seems to know everyone’s name that walks through the doors of his facility, located on the second floor complete with overhead views of both rinks. “We work with all ages and all skill levels, from beginners to professional athletes.”

Velocity’s programs are designed to provide results. In fact, they put their reputation and their guarantee on the line with every athlete that walks through the doors.

“We have both a pre and post-training test,” Farha said. “These tests include vertical jump, standing broad jump, pro-agility test, three cone test and 10, 20 and 40-yard dashes. Our program makes you a better athlete for every sport.”

The test is an effective way to measure an athlete’s progress and also to determine what areas need more work. Velocity doesn’t have one set program for each athlete.

“Hockey players, for example, will focus on different things than soccer players,” Farha said. “Of course, there will be similar drills, but our coaches and trainers understand the science behind what we do and they understand the techniques and know why we are doing each drill. Because of this they can adjust the routine to each athlete.”

Velocity gets specific when it comes to hockey: To get a player to skate faster, they teach proper movement techniques and work on the lower body to help provide the power necessary to reach a higher top speed; For a harder shot, hockey players work on increased rotational power, flexibility and joint mobility and to reduce the chances of injury, you work through an integrated training program that helps develop flexibility, stability and strength.

Velocity’s Canton facility is over 11,000 square feet and includes a 50-yard track (with a laser timer), 35-yard turf field and a wide assortment of weight training and cardio equipment. Velocity also features the popular Vertimax machine that is great for hockey players.

“We believe that performance training is just as important as ice time and skill training,” Farha said. “It not only makes you stronger and faster, it helps reduce the risk of injury. It’s an important part of becoming a more productive and successful athlete.”

CORE Sports Fitness Training Center

Troy

Located in the Troy Sports Center, the CORE Sports Training Center is owned by Dr. Jeff Pierce and Detroit Red Wings player Kris Draper. But unlike some sports stars who just put their name on a company or product, Draper is very involved with CORE.

“He’s a big part of the program here and he offers a lot of input and advice,” said Jerade Parks, director at CORE, which just opened for business in December. “The CORE is the center of gravity and it’s critical to athletes, especially hockey players. It’s where all your power comes from so it’s important to focus workouts in this area.”

The wide variety of programs offered at CORE include functional-strength training with real-life activities such as feet on the ground and full-body movement; leg training; agility drills that teach how to better change direction; balance training; and multi-directional movement techniques.
CORE also features the Blade, a skating treadmill. The Blade is a “hockey-specific training treadmill  designed to increase and maintain speed, correct skating mechanics, improve movements, stride length and stride frequency.”

The specially designed ice surface is comprised of replaceable plastic components attached to dual aluminum slats. You can even work on your stick handling on the Blade.

American Hockey Academy

Canton

Kevin Porter is one of the “students” at the American Hockey Academy, which runs out of the Arctic Edge Arena in Canton. He’s also a prime example of how well the program works.

A forward from Northville, Porter scored six goals last year as a freshman for the University of Michigan hockey team. This year, he had 13 goals in the Wolverines’ first 24 games.

“We want to see results on the ice,” said Mike Donnelly, who helps run the academy and is a former standout player at Michigan State University. “Our program lasts six weeks which is a little longer than most, but we feel it’s important.”

The academy specializes in shooting the puck, stickhandling and teaching proper techniques.

“We do both on and off ice training,” Donnelly said. “We will have generally an hour and a half on the ice and an hour off the ice. We do some weight lifting and agility drills.”

This isn’t a learn to skate program.

“We are unique because we provide a program for the elite hockey player with the purpose of increasing strength and conditioning,” said Donnelly, who gets help from the training staff of the Detroit Red Wings.
“We have players from the USA Hockey NTDP to Division I players to several members of the Red Wings. It’s for mites all the way up to professional. But it’s for players serious about hockey.”

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