Complex training in ice hockey: the effects of a heavy resisted sprint on subsequent ice-hockey sprint performance

Matthews, M; Comfort, P; Crebin, R

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate the acute effect of a heavy resisted sprint when used as a preload exercise to enhance subsequent 25-m on-ice sprint performance.
Eleven competitive ice-hockey players (mean 6 SD:
Age = 22.09 6 3.05 years; Body Mass = 83.47 6 11.7 kg;
Height = 1.794 6 0.060 m) from the English National League
participated in a same-subject repeated-measures design,
involving 2 experimental conditions. During condition 1, participants performed a 10-second heavy resisted sprint on ice. Condition 2 was a control, where participants rested. An electronically timed 25-m sprint on ice was performed before and 4 minutes after each condition. The results indicated no significant difference (p = 0.176) between pre (3.940 + 0.258 seconds) and post (3.954 + 0.261 seconds) sprint times in the control condition. The intervention condition, however, demonstrated a significant 2.6% decrease in times (p = 0.02) between pre (3.950 + 0.251 seconds) and post (3.859 + 0.288 seconds) test sprints. There was also a significant change (p =
0.002) when compared to the times of the control condition.
These findings appear to suggest that the intensity and duration of a single resisted sprint in this study are sufficient to induce an acute (after 4 minutes of rest) improvement in 25-m sprint performance on ice. For those athletes wishing to improve skating speed, heavy resisted sprints on ice may provide a biomechanically suitable exercise for inducing potentiation before speed training drills.

Citation

Matthews, M., Comfort, P., & Crebin, R. (2010). Complex training in ice hockey: the effects of a heavy resisted sprint on subsequent ice-hockey sprint performance. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 24(11), 2883-2887. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181e7253c

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Nov 1, 2010
• Deposit Date: Jun 1, 2011
• Journal: Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research
• Print ISSN: 1064-8011
• Publisher: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 24
• Issue: 11
• Pages: 2883-2887
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181e7253c
• Keywords: postactivation potentiation, sprint training, skating
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181e7253c