You can spend hours on the ice and still feel like the game got faster than you. Most of the time, the gap isn't skill. It's strength, power and the ability to repeat both for a full 60 minutes.
A good hockey workout plan closes that gap. It doesn't take a commercial gym or a two-hour block after school. The right exercises, done consistently and in the right order, are enough.
This guide breaks down what to train, how often, and how to fit it around a real schedule of school, practices and weekend games. You'll find the best leg exercises for hockey players, an upper body workout for hockey players, hockey speed training drills and a weekly plan you can start this week.
What a hockey workout plan needs to cover
Hockey is a strange sport to train for. You skate on one leg at a time, push out to the side, rotate through your core and fight for pucks with your upper body, all in 40 to 60 second bursts. Then you sit, then you go again.
That means a solid plan hits five things:
- Leg strength and power.
- Every stride, stop and crossover starts here.
- Single-leg stability.
- A skating stride is a balance exercise on a thin blade.
- Upper body strength.
- Board battles, puck protection and shot power all live in the shoulders, back and arms.
- Core and rotation.
- Your shot and your hips both depend on how well you transfer force through your middle.
- Speed and explosiveness.
- Being strong helps. Being strong quickly is what wins races to the puck.
Skip one of these and you'll feel it. Lots of squats with no lateral work leaves you strong but stiff. All upper body and no single-leg work leaves you flat-footed on your edges.
One note before we start. If you're under 16, or new to strength training, learn the movements with bodyweight or light weight first and have a coach or trainer check your form. Good technique early saves you from bad habits later.
Best leg exercises for hockey players
Your legs do most of the work in hockey, so they get the most attention in the plan. These are the moves worth building around.
Squats
The squat is the foundation. Goblet squats (holding a single weight at your chest) are a great starting point because they teach you to stay upright and sit deep. As you get stronger, move to front squats or back squats.
Aim for depth you can control. Keep your chest up, knees tracking over your toes and heels planted.
Try: 3 to 4 sets of 6 to 8 reps.
Bulgarian split squats
Put your back foot on a bench or step and lower straight down on your front leg. This is one of the best leg exercises for hockey players because skating is a single-leg sport. It builds strength in each leg separately and shows you quickly which side is weaker.
Try: 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps per leg.
Romanian deadlifts
Your hamstrings and glutes drive your stride, and Romanian deadlifts train them with a hip hinge. Push your hips back, keep a flat back and feel the stretch behind your legs before you stand tall again.
Try: 3 sets of 8 reps.
Lateral lunges and skater jumps
A skating push goes out to the side, not straight ahead. Lateral lunges build strength and mobility in your groin and hips, which is also where a lot of hockey injuries show up. Skater jumps (bounding side to side and landing on one leg) turn that strength into power.
Try: 3 sets of 8 lunges per side, then 3 sets of 10 skater jumps.
Box jumps and jump squats
Power is strength delivered fast. Box jumps and jump squats teach your legs to fire hard off the ground, which is the same skill you use to explode out of a stop. Land softly and reset between reps. Quality beats volume here.
Try: 3 sets of 5 reps with full rest.
Calf raises
Strong calves help with every push and protect your ankles and Achilles. Do them slow, pause at the top and lower under control.
Try: 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps.
Hockey speed training
Speed in hockey is really three things: how fast you get going, how quickly you change direction, and how well you hold your pace late in a shift. Good hockey speed training touches all three.
Build the first three strides
Games are won in the first few steps. Short sprints (10 to 20 metres) and sled or hill pushes teach your body to drive hard from a standing start. Keep the work short and the rest long. If you're gasping, you're training conditioning, not speed.
For the on-ice side of this, our guide to on-ice acceleration exercises walks through three drills that carry the same idea onto your skates.
Train lateral movement
Your edges do the work when you cut, pivot and defend. Slide board training mimics the side-to-side push of a skating stride and builds the glutes and groin muscles you use every shift. You can do it off-ice, in a basement, and it's easy on the joints. The Slide Board Pro is built for exactly this kind of work, and the full range of hockey skating slide boards covers every rink and basement size.
Add balance and edge control
Speed falls apart when you're off balance. Simple single-leg work, and a few minutes on a wobble surface, teaches your ankles, knees and hips to stabilize while you move. If you haven't tried it, these balance board drills are a good place to start, and they take about 10 minutes.
Use intervals for game speed
A hockey shift is a sprint followed by a rest. So train it that way. Try 30 seconds hard, 60 seconds easy, repeated 8 to 10 times on a bike or running track. It builds the engine you need to skate fast in the third period, not just the first.
Upper body workout for hockey players
You don't need to look like a bodybuilder to play hockey well. You do need to win board battles, protect the puck and get power into your shot. A good upper body workout for hockey players balances pushing and pulling, with plenty of rows.
Push-ups and bench press
Pushing strength helps with board battles and clearing space in front of the net. Push-ups are a great start, and they train your core at the same time. Add a bench press or dumbbell press as you get stronger.
Try: 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps.
Pull-ups and rows
Pulling is where many players fall short, and it's what keeps your shoulders healthy. Pull-ups, inverted rows and dumbbell rows build the back and rear shoulder muscles that stabilize you when you shoot and check.
Try: 3 sets of 6 to 10 reps. If pull-ups are still out of reach, use an assisted band or start with rows.
Shoulder work
Overhead presses and band pull-aparts help build resilient shoulders. Keep the weight moderate. You want control, not ego.
Try: 2 to 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps.
Grip and forearms
Every shot, pass and stickhandling move runs through your hands. Farmer carries, dead hangs and wrist curls build the kind of grip that lets you handle the puck with confidence. Here's a full breakdown on grip strength for a harder shot if you want to go deeper.
Try: 3 sets of 30 to 45 seconds for carries and hangs.
Core training for hockey
A strong core connects your legs to your shot. It also keeps you steady when you take a hit.
Skip endless crunches. Hockey core work is about resisting movement and creating rotation.
Planks and side planks
These build stability. Hold 30 to 45 seconds.
Dead bugs
They train control through the midsection. Do 8 reps per side.
Pallof presses
Use a band to resist twisting. Do 10 reps per side.
Medicine ball rotational throws
They train the same twist you use in a wrist shot or slap shot. Do 8 throws per side.
A weekly hockey workout plan
Here's a simple structure. It assumes a 4-day off-season week and a lighter 2-day in-season version. Adjust it to your schedule, and give yourself at least one full rest day.
Off-season (4 days a week)
| Day | Focus | Main work |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Lower body strength | Squats, Romanian deadlifts, split squats, calf raises |
| Tuesday | Upper body and core | Push-ups or bench, rows, pull-ups, planks, Pallof presses |
| Thursday | Speed and power | Sprints, box jumps, skater jumps, slide board work |
| Saturday | Full body and grip | Goblet squats, rows, farmer carries, med ball throws, intervals |
In-season (2 days a week)
| Day | Focus | Main work |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Lower body and core | Split squats, Romanian deadlifts, lateral lunges, core circuit |
| Day 2 | Upper body and power | Rows, push-ups, jump squats, band shoulder work |
In-season, keep sessions shorter (30 to 40 minutes) and stop a couple of reps before failure. You're maintaining strength, not chasing personal records the day before a game.
A quick warm-up for every session (5 to 8 minutes): light cardio, leg swings, hip circles, bodyweight squats and a few band pull-aparts. Cool down with stretching for your hips, hamstrings and groin.
Don't forget your hands
Strength and speed get you to the puck. Your hands decide what happens next. Most players don't get enough touches during team practice, so short stickhandling sessions at home make a real difference.
You don't need a full hour. Ten minutes before school or after dinner adds up over a season. The SuperDekerPro turns a basement or garage into a stickhandling lab, and it pairs well with a lighter workout day.
If you'd rather build out a dedicated training space, dryland flooring tiles give you a smooth surface for shooting and stickhandling without needing ice.
Recovery matters as much as the work
Training breaks you down. Recovery is where you get stronger. Keep these basics in place.
Sleep
Aim for 8 to 10 hours if you're a growing player. It's the most underrated part of any plan.
Food and water
Eat protein at every meal and drink water throughout the day, not just at the rink.
Mobility
Ten minutes of stretching or foam rolling after a session keeps your hips and groin loose.
Rest days
If your legs feel heavy or something feels sore in a sharp way, back off. A missed workout beats a missed month.
Put your hockey workout plan to work
The best hockey workout plan is the one you'll actually do. Start with the basics: a few leg exercises, some pulling and pushing, a bit of core and one speed session a week. Do them well, add weight or reps slowly, and keep showing up.
Pick your training days, write them down and run the first week. Ice time is scarce and someone else sets the schedule, but your training doesn't have to work that way. The reps you put in on your own time are the ones that show up on the ice.
