Hockey

4 Hockey Stretching Exercises To Perform Regularly

As you get going with your hockey training, it's important that you pay attention to some of the important hockey stretching exercises that you should be doing. By performing stretching regularly you will help to reduce the amount of post-workout muscle soreness you experience while also ensuring that you can work through a full range of motion in all the weight training for hockey exercises you perform as well.

Stretching really only takes five to ten minutes at the end of each workout or on-ice session, but will make a big difference on your progress overall.

Let's take a quick look at four good hockey stretching exercises that you should be including regularly.

Quad Stretching

The first stretch is the simple quad stretch, which will help to loosen up the legs which often become quite tight after hours of skating.

To perform this one simply bend one leg upwards and grab a hold of the ankle underneath the bum while pulling backward ever so gentle.

You should feel an instant stretch in the quad region upon doing this.

Hip Flexor Stretch

Second, the hip flexors are another area of the body that can get quite tight with regular skating practice so make sure to stretch these as well.

To perform this stretch simply get into a lunge position with the knee and feet on the ground and then shift the body weight forward until you feel it pulling in the hip region.

Don't push so far that you feel sheer pain however - you're just looking for a gentle pull when performing all of these hockey stretching exercises.

Shoulder Stretch

The shoulder stretch is the next one to complete and will help to loosen up the upper body really quickly. Since your shoulder muscles will be constantly contracting as you puck-handle throughout the session, if you're not stretching these out after a game you are very likely to be tight the next day.

To perform a shoulder stretch simply cross one arm over the body and then grasp the forearm with the hand of the other arm. Pull on the crossed arm gently until you feel a slight stretch in the shoulder and then hold for 10-15 seconds. Switch arms and then repeat.

Spinal Column Stretch

Finally, the last of the hockey stretching exercises to perform is the spinal column stretch. Since the chances are high that you will be constantly twisting and turning as you go about your on-ice session, by performing the spinal column stretch you'll help boost your flexibility to ensure you don't suffer from a back injury.

To perform this stretch simply stand upright next to some object that you can grab a hold of and then twist to one side, grabbing the object and gently pulling the body so you feel the stretch along the back.

Once finished with one side, twist to the other to work both sides equally.

So there you have the main hockey stretching exercises that you should be doing daily if possible. Make sure to add any additional stretches you can think of to this that work any given muscle group that's feeling especially sore on that day.