Your Physical Wellbeing is important!
With support from Target Physio, Strikers Hockey Club provides the following information to help you prepare physically to return to hockey. Alex has recorded a brief introduction video in this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77_WdfJohqM&feature=share (the links he mentions are below under Strength).
Target Physio have also provided this handy report showing how to conduct some of the excercises.
With hockey making its return very soon we have pulled the following information together to help guide your progression back to hockey with an appropriate level of fitness and a reduced risk of injury.
Injuries:
Key injuries relevant to hockey include:
Muscle strains of the hip and upper thigh account for approximately 30% of total injuries in hockey.
Knee and ankle sprains account for approximately 15% of total injuries in hockey.
Overuse injuries account for approximately 17-28% of total injuries in hockey.
Overuse injuries have been identified as a major risk factor in return to sport following long periods of inactivity or detraining. The German football league (Bundesliga) has seen the number of injuries suffered in games triple since it has returned from time off, with a significant proportion of these being soft tissue injuries. It is critically important to get the loading patterns right.
Strength:
We have provided these performance measures to test muscular strength and power, identifying key areas relevant to hockey.
Outcome measures have been covered in the training programs in the links below and take you through testing procedures of the each outcome measure and the ins and outs of how to put together a training session that you can kick-start your road to matchplay again:
There are other great vidoes on the Target Physio Facebook page here
Running Volume:
Chronic Load Trajectory
Your chronic load trajectory is your consistent level of training you have completed over a minimum of four weeks. It includes variables such as:
- Volume: training and playing minutes. Five kilometres has been suggested as the average distance covered by players in a hockey match.
- Intensity: this can be simply rated out of 10. This refers to the effort levels you put into an activity e.g. 0/10 is no effort required, 10/10 is your maximum amount of effort you can put into an activity.
- Type of training: e.g. strength training in the gym, aerobic training (e.g. running).
- Your weak areas: this might relate to old injuries or injuries specific to hockey that you have assessed in the above videos.
Once you have an average of what your current exercise routine looks like and where it needs to be on the return to hockey, work out a graded plan on how you can build towards game ready. Increases in loads by more than 20% has been suggested to significantly increase the risk of injuries. By gradually increasing your chronic load each week within appropriate levels significantly reduce the risk of injuries and ensure your hockey performance is appropriate.
To effectively integrate back into matchplay, it is important to consider your trajectory. By gradually increasing your chronic load towards the first game, this will help guide your approach to beginning matches. For example:
- If your chronic load matches the match requirements (e.g. running 5km with good strength outcome measures), it would be appropriate to enter into full match play.
- If your chronic load is a third of the required load for hockey (e.g. low running volumes and decreased strength scores), then it would be appropriate to enter into a third of your match play, e.g. with reduced time on the field.
