Stay Strong All Season: How to Lift During Hockey Season

Why You Should Keep Lifting Once the Puck Drops

Most players build strength all summer, then stop lifting the week tryouts end. By the playoffs, a lot of that strength is gone, and players feel slower and more banged up just when games matter most.

You don't need big gym sessions in-season. Two short, focused workouts a week are enough to hold on to the strength you built, protect your joints, and stay fast into March. The goal shifts from building to maintaining, and that takes far less time than most people think.

How Much Is Enough

In-season lifting is about doing less, but keeping it heavy enough to count. Use these guidelines:

• Frequency: 1–2 sessions a week. One is enough to hold strength; two is better if your schedule allows.
• Length: 30–45 minutes, including warm-up.
• Volume: cut your sets roughly in half from the off-season. Think 2–3 sets per exercise instead of 4–5.
• Intensity: keep the weight fairly challenging, but stop each set with 2–3 good reps left in the tank. Never grind to failure.
• Exercise count: 4–6 exercises. Pick the big ones that give you the most for your time.

The weight on the bar is what keeps strength around. The number of sets is what makes you tired. So in-season, keep the load and trim the sets.

Younger players (roughly under 13) can skip the heavy loads entirely. For them, one or two short sessions of bodyweight strength, balance, and agility work a week does the job.

Fitting Lifts Around Games and Practice

The simple rule: lift as far from your next game as you can. A hard leg day needs about 48 hours before your legs feel fresh again.

• Best day to lift: the day after a game, or two days before the next one.
• Avoid: heavy leg work the day before a game.
• Same day as practice? Lifting after a light practice is fine. Skip the lift after a hard, skate-heavy practice.
• Weekend tournament? Make that a no-lift week, or do one short session early in the week.

Here's how that looks in a few common schedules:

• Games Saturday only: lift Sunday or Monday, and Wednesday.
• Games Saturday and Sunday: lift Monday and Wednesday.
• Game Wednesday, game Saturday: lift Thursday, and a light session Sunday.
• Tournament weekend: one lift Monday or Tuesday, then skip.

If a week gets crazy, one session is far better than none. Rink Ready builds your week around the game days you enter, so you don't have to work this out by hand.

A Sample 40-Minute In-Season Session

This covers legs, upper body, and core in one workout. Rest about 90 seconds between sets of the main lifts.

• Dynamic warm-up, 8 minutes: opens up tight hips and gets you moving.
• Trap bar deadlift or goblet squat, 3 × 4–5: keeps your leg strength for stride power.
• Rear-foot elevated split squat, 2 × 6 each leg: single-leg strength and balance for skating.
• Lateral bound, 3 × 4 each side: keeps your first steps quick.
• Push-up or dumbbell bench press, 2 × 6–8: upper-body strength for battles.
• One-arm dumbbell row, 2 × 8 each arm: balances out pushing and protects shoulders.
• Copenhagen side plank, 2 × 15–20 seconds each side: groin strength, a top injury protector in hockey.
• Pallof press, 2 × 8 each side: core control for shooting and contact.

Use a weight that feels like a 7 out of 10. You should leave the gym feeling better than when you walked in, not wiped out.

Signs You're Doing Too Much

In-season, the ice comes first. Back off the gym for a week if you notice:

• Legs that still feel heavy on game day
• Soreness that lasts more than two days
• Trouble sleeping, or feeling run down and cranky
• Your skating feels slower even though you're working hard
• Nagging aches in the groin, hips, or lower back

When in doubt, drop a set from every exercise or skip a session. You lose very little strength from one missed week. Pain that is sharp or sits in a joint is a reason to see a coach, athletic trainer, or doctor.

Your RinkReady In-Season Checklist

• 1–2 lifts a week, 30–45 minutes each
• Keep the weight challenging, cut the sets
• No heavy leg work the day before a game
• Stop each set with 2–3 reps left
• Include single-leg and groin work every week
• Skip or shorten the lift on tournament weeks
• Back off if your legs feel heavy on game day

The players who keep lifting all season are usually the ones still skating hard in the playoffs. Short, smart, and consistent wins.