Nervous-system activation.
Deceleration training.
Movement versus muscle.
Today's advanced training
techniques roll off Peter Twist's tongue like an exuberant chef reciting
the ingredients of a memorable meal.
And that's the challenge for
the Canucks' strength and conditioning coach -- creating a recipe to
maintain off season fitness gains made by players during the
regular-season grind.
Twist employs conditioning
staples such anaerobic sprinting and power training -- without
weight-stacking machines -- to help link muscle and joint, mind and
body.
But he adds a measure of new
movement and equipment, plus a pinch of persuasion, to maintain the
Canucks' status as one of the NHL's fittest teams.
It must be working.
The Canucks lead the league
with just 10 man-games lost to injury.
They've accomplished that by
manipulating massive medicine balls, scaling unstable platforms and
bouncing on mushroom-shaped balancing contraptions called Bosu balls.
"They're used to weird
things from me," says Twist. "You can't just do what's been done the
last few years.
"Our philosophy is that we
can continue to improve through the season. The key is maintenance.
Olympic athletes peak every four years and we need to peak every 48
hours."
CREDIT: Jon Murray, The Province
In a variation on the theme,
left-winger Todd Warriner works out while applying the
principles of Peter Twist's training technology. |
By emphasizing pre-practice
routines and short-but-demanding post-game strength training, the
Canucks can get in 40 more workouts a season at GM Place.
Time for recovery means that
nagging injuries such groin pulls seldom hit the Canucks. There hasn't
been a regular-season groin strain since ex-Canuck Adrian Aucoin
suffered one Nov. 1, 2000.
"It's a long-term process,"
cautions Twist, who has jokingly been referred to as the Prince Of
Darkness for his dogged determination. "I've been here 10 years and,
year by year, you pull more guys on board.
"This is definitely our best
year. We've got full buy-in and that almost creates a life of its own.
It's like a snowball that gets rolling."
It's a stark departure from
when Trevor Linden broke into the league in 1989. Back then, players
primarily trained in the summer. During the season, they'd toss around
the odd weight or occasionally ride the bike.
"I wouldn't even say there
was bike riding," says Linden. "It wasn't really looked on as something
you did during the season. You played hockey. Now, it's just part of it.
You feel weird walking into practice and just walking out.
"It's gotten more
sports-specific and not only prevents injury, you're stronger and better
balanced.
"I don't want big biceps or
triceps. I want to be strong through the middle and strong through my
core. I don't want to look like a bodybuilder. There are times when
you're dragging a bit but Peter keeps it fun. He works with the guys and
doesn't tell them to just do it."
Linden, 32, is a Bosu
believer. From bouncing from ball to ball and maintaining balance while
working weights, he's receptive to new ways of maintaining fitness and
prolonging a 14-year career. Need proof?
Here's what Linden and
company did last week after a four-game road trip and a day off. They
worked out for an hour before practice.
Players used a balance
apparatus such as a board or Bosu ball.
The idea is that instability
will start firing muscles in the proper order, especially if players are
doing a multi-joint lift as in a sequence of squatting, driving and
rotation -- all while staying in proper balance.
"You're working the body
together and firing the body in the right order -- legs, hips, core and
upper body," says Twist. "It's the same way the body has to rehearse to
move on the ice for shooting, checking and skating."
As much as the mind-body
connection, balance and deceleration drills -- braking and quickly
changing direction to increase elusiveness -- are the latest raves in
the workout room, sprinting and strength training remain the fitness
foundation.
However, Twist cautions that
a reliance on machines and standard regimens of overloading muscles from
body-building techniques don't work in hockey.
"We train movement and not
muscles," he stresses. "We don't use weight-stacking machines. They're
counterproductive and lead to injury."
Twist cites the common
sitting leg-press routine.
Isolating one muscle through
a restricted range of motion builds wrong movement patterns and isolates
the muscle away from the sequence of muscle firing needed through the
entire body.
"You're really doing players
a disservice because they need to be up on their feet and moving very
athletically in more complex patterns," he says.
Players understand post-game
cycling to reduce lactic-acid build-up. But Bosu balls?
"You spend a lot of time
off-balance on the ice. You have to be strong or you're going to be
pulling or tearing muscles," says winger Trent Klatt, 31, who had
surgery in April to repair an abdominal tear that cost him 47 games last
season.
"That's why I've done a lot
with those big exercise balls. I'm looking for anything to keep me in
the game as long as I possibly can."
That's why Todd Bertuzzi
built on a raw frame to become one of the top-five conditioned Canucks
and why Markus Naslund came back from a broken leg to be the
best-conditioned last season.
And it's why Mattias Ohlund
is the top conditioned Canuck this season after overcoming conditioning
setbacks from eye problems.
Twist has even recommended
yoga to improve flexibility and unload from strenuous training.
Of course, different players
have different needs.
Those who bang and crash may
do their power training the day after a game. And following
team-oriented workouts in September and October, more specialized and
individual training follows the rest of the season.
However, not everyone easily
grasps the new techniques.
And maybe the trainer
overstated the squad's "full buy-in."
Murray Baron is pure
old-school. The veteran defenceman is a fitness fanatic with a personal
trainer. He works with weights and tried karate in the off season. But
balancing on a Bosu ball?
"Apparently, it works,"
chuckles Baron, 35, who has yet to add the regimen to his training. "I
should do it because it has paid dividends. I'm kind of set in my ways.
I've been doing the same stuff for years. I'll try new stuff but whether
I stick or go back is the hard part for me."
