MMA & Hockey in Vancouver

Toughen Up on the Ice with MMA Workouts

MMA in Vancouver has grown popular, training for athletes in a variety of sports in recent years. Hockey players in particular are finding that adding MMA drills into their regimens can improve both their physical abilities and mental game. Whether you’re a hockey expert or have never watched a bout in the Octagon, certain aspects of MMA training could transform your performance on the ice.

Conditioning Drills for Endurance

Hockey games require power and bursts of intense speed, but also the endurance to play aggressively for long periods of time. MMA fighters utilize a variety of conditioning drills that translate well to hockey training:

  • High-intensity interval training (HIIT) – Alternate intense cardio with short rest periods. This mimics the stop-and-go of hockey shifts and overtime periods. HIIT rounds, cycling through stations like sprints, jump rope, bodyweight circuits, battle ropes, etc. will vastly improve cardio stamina and recovery between explosive efforts.
  • Explosive power drills – Techniques like flipping tractor tires, slamming medicine balls, throwing sledgehammers, and more build the explosive leg, hip, and core power needed to deliver checks and power past opponents. As tire flips, mimic the hip and leg drive to dig hard out of the corner or pop off the boards with momentum in front.
  • Endurance-testing exercises – Exercises like 5-minute, non-stop rounds hitting the heavy bag or Thai pads will push your endurance to its limits. If you can last against a barrage of strikes for 5 straight minutes, you should be able to outwork your opponents come the third period.

Strength Training for Power

Developing functional, hockey-specific muscle mass and power gives you the edge in scrums, battles along the boards, delivering massive hits, and blasting shots past a screened goalie.

  • Compound heavy lifts (deadlifts, squats, presses) plus Olympic lifts (cleans & snatches) recruit multiple muscle groups to handle barbells and heavy loads – translating directly to hockey performance. Train the same muscles you use to whip off the boards into traffic.
  • Bodyweight exercises like pushups, pull-ups, and squats use your full body weight for resistance. MMA fighters use them for cutting weight classes and reinforcing proper movement patterns and strength endurance.
  • Strongman implements like sledgehammers, ropes, heavy bags, and farmer’s walks build MMA-style explosive and functional strength. Develop a deadly grip strength for your stick while improving shoulder health for delivering slashes, shots, and hits.
  • Core strengthening exercises prevent injury and reinforce proper movement for generating power from the legs and hips to your shot. Strengthen all angles of your mid-section. A huge benefit in scrums.

Flexibility Training

Hockey overloads certain movement patterns while requiring force and mobility in all planes. This increases injury likelihood as seasons wear on players’ joints and connective tissues. Borrowing from MMA flexibility methods can help.

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  • Dynamic stretching routines before and after workouts enhance mobility, prepare your body for explosive efforts, and help fatigue muscle recovery. Address commonly hunched or strained muscles.
  • Yoga techniques open up compressed or overused hip flexors, IT bands, quadriceps. Alleviate low-back pain from repeated bursts from stationary bent-leg postures. Deep stretches promote blood flow.
  • Increased range of motion in loaded positions (like skating stride, explosive shot motion, delivering hits) can prevent nagging injuries. Pull muscles are lengthened and activated to balance push muscles.

Mental Toughness Training

Competing in MMA requires extraordinary mental toughness. Bouts test – and reveal – your character, confidence, and will to persevere through exhaustion and pain. MMA training can improve hockey players’ mental games in key ways:

  • Visualization and imagery training strengthens ability to focus, block distractions, and “see” desired outcomes. Imaging game scenarios or desired performances enhances actualization.
  • Increased discipline to stick training commitments, technical adjustments, video review, and game plan adherence. Fighters fix holes; players avoid risks.
  • Decreased reaction to intimidation factors like opponent showboating, fights and scrums. Exposure to MMA builds emotional control.
  • Playing through pain/fatigue without constant adjustment or complaint. MMA practitioners push hard limits in training. Hockey players can handle deep bruising or playing with cracked ribs.

Adding MMA workouts into your training can transform strength, stamina, flexibility, and mental toughness on the ice. Test yourself against the demands of MMA training to build your game.