Russian Box Skating Jumps

By Jack Blatherwick

Russian Box Skating Jumps are probably the best plyometric exercise for skating.

Everyone has a limited amount of time and energy to devote to training, so it follows that you want to spend your efforts in the most productive way. You can't do everything, and there will be experts at every turn selling their personal bias. So, making intelligent decisions and planning your off-season training will ensure your effort is rewarded. Remember, you are training to be a hockey player - not a distance runner, a competitive cyclist a body builder, or an Olympic lifter. These are great sports, but not your chosen field, so make sure you focus on your goal when planning your training.

That is why I believe the Russian box is the best off-ice training tool for skating I've seen in four decades of searching - THE BEST!

You are changing your comfort zone, developing strength and muscular endurance in a range of motion that is difficult to achieve on the ice. No matter how often you remind yourself to skate corners with greater knee bend, there are distractions - pucks, opponents, fatigue, and competition - distractions that prevent you from maintaining optimum knee bend.

The priority is to emphasize knee bend with each jump!

It is not important to keep up a fast skating rhythm; instead, gather your weight over one knee and jump as high as possible right out of the squat position. Do not straighten your leg even slightly before jumping. This is difficult, but an important fundamental for skating.

Beginning stages:

Do not worry about how high you jump. Simply bend the knees and step side-to-side. The squat position is critical to improve technique and power in skating.

The isometric squat is a good starting point in this training progression. Move from that to an isometric squat on one leg, then dry skating (stepping side-to-side with knees bent), and then the Russian Box when players are able to get into the right position.

USE INTERVALS OF:
30:90 (work to rest) seconds at first,
30:60 seconds for more endurance, and
40:80 seconds for advanced training later!

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words!!!

Imitate this position for jumping and skating. Don't mistake bending at the waist for a knee bend. Keep your shoulders up and your butt down!

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