Brought to you by retired pro hockey player and owner of Ript Hockey Training and partner of the Hockey Think Tank, Jeff LoVecchio.
Today I am giving you a two for one!
The first exercise is a prep exercise you can use at the end of your warm-up to really get your hamstrings firing and ready to work.
The second variation is the exact same exercise but by slightly changing up how you perform this exercise, it will now become a strength exercise!
You’ll need a slider for this exercise, I sell these as part of my Gym2Go Bags but you can also get them from Wal-Mart or Target, etc. If you don’t have a slider you can use a towel on a slippery floor and it will do the same thing!
- Start by lying on your back.
- Slam your back into the ground, try pulling your abs through the ground beneath you.
- Bend one knee and bring it towards your chest as if you were about to perform a single leg glute bridge.
- Place opposite heel in the MIDDLE of the slider.
- Lift your butt off of the ground so that you are in a single leg glute bridge.
- Explosively kick that foot out that’s on the slider and try to rapidly decelerate as fast and as efficiently as you possibly can.
- Hit a slight pause in the extended position (leg should no be straight, about 85% straight).
- Drop butt back to the ground, pull your heel into the starting position, and repeat for only 5 reps or less!
To turn this into a strength exercise you will complete steps 1 – 5, and from there, nice and slow and under control, you will pull your heel towards your butt and then, while keeping your butt off the ground, slide the heel back out again – you will repeat this for reps, usually two to three sets of 8 and building up from there.
Always remember to keep a neutral spine while performing this exercise!
Find more great hockey training tips and insights from Jeff LoVecchio at RIPT Hockey and the Hockey Think Tank website, Podcast, YouTube, and Facebook. And check out his Give More Be More (GMBM) apparel.