Okanagan Peak Performance Inc will be presenting an educational seminar, The Truth About Off-Season Hockey Training, on Wednesday April 18th at 630 pm. With over 34 years of combined experience, Chris Collins and Shawn Stead, will do a review of the research and share the most-effective evidenced based ways to train during the off-season for hockey. Sample topics will include: How to prevent the most common injuries for hockey. Which NHL Combine tests translate to a higher draft position and ultimate success in professional hockey. How players at varying levels of hockey should approach off-season training differently. How to get stronger as safely and efficiently as possible. And when is a player strong enough? [caption id="attachment_5463" align="aligncenter" width="212"] The Truth About Off-Season Training for Hockey. The seminar will be hosted at Okanagan Peak Performance Inc at 1511 Sutherland Ave in Kelowna, BC at 6:30 PM on Wednesday April 18, 2018. Space is limited and pre-registration is required. To register send call (250) 212-2972 or email athlete training (at) shaw (dot) ca with the name, phone and email of the attendee(s).   

Every summer we see a number of hockey players come back to Kelowna and return to Okanagan Peak Performance Inc for their off-season hockey training. These players want to get to the next level, to produce at the highest level and finally to have a lengthy career at the highest level. This summer we welcomed back a number of players who had played professionally, played in & won at the Spengler Cup and played at the World Championships. But also had a number of younger players training with us. One in particular was Alex Swetlikoff. [caption id="attachment_4680" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Alex Swetlikoff Now it might not be easy to recognize Alex underneath his helmet and gear but maybe this will help. He is the son of Dr. Garrett and Tammy Swetlikoff and attended KCS in Kelowna while playing bantam hockey.When he's at the gym he always goes about his workout. He comes in grabs his program, warms up and gets to it. And he finishes every workout the exact same way. He seeks me no matter where I am in the gym, comes over and shakes my hand saying 'thanks Chris'. It's always been this way over the years we've been working with Alex. It all started probably about 5 or so years ago when training a number of young hockey players. Besides Alex there was Gio Sambrielaz who stood about a foot taller than Alex as he was a couple of years younger. Fast forward to this summer and Alex has grown and matured to the point where he is now going to venture away to play hockey in the Fraser Valley. This coming year Alex will suit up for the Yale Academy Lions of the Canadian Sport School Hockey League as a second year bantam. Other teams in this league include...

Do you, or someone you know, play hockey? If so, have you ever wondered what characteristics the top players share? If you put a number of hockey players through a battery of tests which ones would the top hockey players excel at?This would be important information to have if you were a hockey player. You could see what the top players all do well. Next you could get an assessment done to see how you rank in these areas. Finally you could have a top level strength coach design and coach you through an effective program to develop these abilities as well.A recent study in the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research compared three groups of hockey players with respect to the their anthropometric measures, dryland and on-ice testing. 45 players at either the  D1, D3 or junior elite level of hockey participated in the study.These players were assessed on-ice for their top end speed as well as a repeat shift test. Off-ice looked at their vertical jump, Wingate test, grip strength and skate treadmill VO2max.Here's what they found.First of all, D1 players typically had lower levels of bodyfat than D3 players. So if you are a young player that has had success in the past but has poor nutritional know that this will catch up with you. You cannot get the majority of your calories through a window and maintain a lean body mass.Secondly they found there was no significant difference between the groups in terms of the aerobic capacity of the players. Whether the player was at the D1, D3 or elite level of junior did not make much of a difference on their VO2max.However what they did find was that D1 and elite junior players had better anaerobic fitness, vertical jump, Wingate performance, grip strength, top speed and repeat...