Suppose you performed skating tests like those we've given to thousands of hockey players, and the results showed that to make a major step up in the next year you should work to improve speed and quickness.  Also, suppose you know the arena manager and have unlimited free ice time.  Should you skate every day or every other day?  Or should there be periods of the off-season where you might not skate for weeks, even though the ice is available?  It may sound surprising, but for most players the answer is that you should not skate for certain (three-week) periods of the off-season.

The reason can be found in the way your body adapts to training.

In the last ten years, scientists and athletes have learned that the human body adapts best to drastic changes in the training schedule.  For example, years ago it was believed that to keep increasing strength in the weight room, all you had to do was keep increasing the training weight. Recent research has shown it is important to change the way you train every 3-4 weeks - - and the more drastic the change, the greater the supercompensation.

Periodization means setting a different priority for each phase of the training year.  European athletes and coaches have used this concept in planning their training calendar a year in advance, and their results have been spectacular.  So, to understand how periodization can help in hockey, let's examine some factors that will make you a quicker skater through your training.  The solution will always involve some combination of skill and athleticism.

1. For some players, skating technique might need improvement, and this usually involves knee bend, extension, recovery, or body position;

2. Stronger, more powerful legs will help every skater;

3. Quicker strides are also critical;

4. Rhythm, balance, and coordination help put the pieces together in an effective package.

Now, let's examine the value of periodization.  Suppose during the month of May, you plan to emphasize leg strength.  If your body is mature enough to handle the stress (sometime after fifteen years of age), in order to really make great gains in leg strength some workouts will have to be incredibly stressful.  I've said this to some college-bound or Olympic athletes who had already earned reputations as hard workers.  But, when they finished the first of their three-hour leg workouts, they agreed they were just beginning to learn about intensity.

Whether doing sprints, running up hills, jumping, or lifting, if you're really going to change your physiological makeup, the workout cannot be average.  This might be one of the reasons some people have incorrectly concluded that you can't really improve sprint speed by training.  They may not have stimulated the body with enough intensity to cause supercompensation.  So, during the phase of the year where you really stress the legs off-ice, fatigue would not allow you to skate with quicker feet, perfect technique, or more powerful strides in the next few days. Without quality repetitions on-ice, skating skill might actually get worse.

This is a rather obvious example, especially for anyone who has done lower body workouts so strenuous the legs are shaky for two or three days.  However, there might be even greater fatigue from a highly intense sprint or plyometric workout, although the athlete may not even feel tired at the end of the day.  The coordinated recruitment of muscles by the nervous system is greatly diminished by fatigue which is not even apparent during the workout.  The next day, and sometimes for several days, the athlete is simply not able to make quick, powerful strides.  This is called neuromuscular fatigue.

Therefore, when we really train certain aspects of athleticism with great intensity, we'd be wise not to skate in the next day or two.  And, if this type of intense training is done two to three times per week, it is easy to see why skating improvement should be left for another period of the year.

Remember, the best skaters combine great skill with tremendous athleticism (speed, strength, etc.).  So, to plan your off-season of improvement, you should use periodization as the Europeans do and prioritize different elements of skill and athleticism during different phases of the calendar.