| It is not your fault; I know you are not trying to tear | | | | like hockey goalies to include in their gym program. |
| your groin. What hockey goalie wants to spend weeks | | | | Squat Lateral |
| (and dollars) in physio? Who wants to be nervous | | | | Begin with your feet double hip width apart. You will |
| every time they step on the ice - worried that your | | | | hold dumbbells in your hands with either your arms at |
| groin may not hold? You are a diligent athlete, you do | | | | your sides or with the dumbbells up on your shoulders. I |
| all of your goalie drills on the ice and even go to the | | | | prefer the shoulder location because the weights to |
| gym 2-3 times per week to work on you off-ice | | | | not get in the way of my legs, but some find that their |
| strength training. It is that off-ice strength training | | | | shoulders get exhausted. To initiate the exercise to the |
| goalies do that I would like to focus on in this article. | | | | right side you will reach back with your hips and bend |
| Think about what you typically do during your strength | | | | your right knee as you shift your hips over your right |
| workout; it might look something like this: | | | | foot. When you are in the bottom position your right |
| - Bike for 20 minutes | | | | knee should be bent to approximately 90 degrees, |
| - Barbell or Dumbbell Squats | | | | your chest should be up with a neutral curve in your |
| - Knee Extension | | | | lower back (not a rounded low back) and the hip, knee |
| - Hamstring Curls | | | | and ankle of the right leg should be 'stacked' in a line. |
| - Lunges | | | | Your left leg should be straight and you should be |
| - Crunches | | | | feeling a gentle stretch in your left groin. Start slowly |
| - And then an assortment of biceps curls, triceps | | | | with this one; it will be quite a stretch if you are not |
| pressdowns, bench presses and lat pulldowns or rows. | | | | accustomed to it. Never force the movement or the |
| As I write this I am thinking this will lead to a series of | | | | range of motion, work within your range. Return to the |
| articles dismantling your current gym routine. If your | | | | starting position and repeat to the other side. Begin |
| workout resembles this workout in anyway, there is | | | | with 8-12 reps on each side. |
| great news! Here it is: for the same amount of time (or | | | | Sumo Squat |
| less), you can get way more benefit from your training. | | | | Again you will begin with your feet double hip width |
| Sorry, let me get back on track here. Look at the | | | | apart holding dumbbells at your sides or at shoulder |
| lower body training - biking, squats, lunges, etc. See | | | | level. For this variation, you will reach back with your |
| how all of those exercises keep your thighs parallel to | | | | hips and squat straight down. The key is keeping your |
| one another? This is called movement in the sagittal | | | | lower legs straight up and down. Do not pinch your |
| plane. There is no lateral movement so you are training | | | | knees inward; keep your knees over your ankles. If |
| your groins or adductors in a shortened position. Have | | | | you cannot get your knees over your ankles, then |
| you ever seen a hockey goalie tear his or her groin | | | | narrow your stance slightly. Squat down until your |
| when the adductors were in a shortened position? I | | | | knees are bent to approximately 90 degrees while |
| am sure it has probably happened at some point - and | | | | maintaining a neutral arch in your lower back. You |
| if it has happened to you, please email me and tell me | | | | should feel a stretch on your adductors and may even |
| exactly what you were doing when the injury | | | | feel a slight stretch in your hips and lower back (not |
| occurred; I am interested to learn about that. | | | | discomfort). Press back up to the starting position. |
| Now think about the way you move when you are | | | | Remember, you are a hockey goalie, not a bodybuilder, |
| playing in net. Do you keep your adductors in a | | | | so do me (and your groins) a favor, take out the |
| shortened position all the time? Are you pads | | | | seated knee extension and the lying hamstring curl and |
| squeezed together all the time or do you need to | | | | add these two frontal plane (lateral) exercises to your |
| reach and stretch through your legs? Of course your | | | | off-ice strength training. |
| answer is the latter, so here are two exercises I would | | | | |