In order to effectively prepare an ice hockey player for the season, it is necessary to have a thorough understanding of the specific demands of the sport.

It is important in a coach’s journey to be motivated to find solutions instead of just unimportant problems. Steve Hess shares some of the lessons he has learned in his 21 years with the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

This article reviews the use of heart rate as a way to program cardiovascular exercise.

The purpose of this article is to present the reader with the prescription of a daily specific stretching routine that can help athletes avoid the onset of injuries and chronic pain in muscle-tendon structures of the lower extremities.

This excerpt from Developing Agility and Quickness highlights the high-intensity, reactive agility hockey players require, and provides two agility drills that challenge that skill.

This article features the recharge skate—an in-season hockey conditioning drill, designed by the authors, to maintain hockey-specific energy system fitness throughout the competitive season.

Strength and conditioning professionals who incorporate a properly designed and supervised training program can help their young athletes train, compete, and reduce the likelihood of injury.

Kevin Neeld, Head Performance Coach of the Boston Bruins National Hockey League (NHL) team, joins the NSCA Coaching Podcast to share about strength and conditioning practices in the NHL. Neeld connects with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, on his path to working in professional hockey, the involvement of strength and conditioning at the annual NHL Draft Combine, and the partnership between the Strength and Conditioning Association of Professional Hockey (SCAPH) and the NSCA. The discussion includes perspectives for aspiring coaches about working in professional hockey, on-ice and off-ice training, and the recent growth of performance staffs. Connect with Kevin on Instagram: @kevinneeld or Twitter: @KevinNeeld| Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs

The variables of an NBA season constantly change, which requires strength and conditioning coaches to adjust accordingly. The success of a program is often influenced by the coach’s ability to combine strength and conditioning principles with common sense and the ability to adjust to the schedule.

Isolated muscle training methods do not necessarily transfer to better sports performance, because technique as well as strength contributes to successful performance. Resistance training for dynamic sports must involve ground-based movements that incorporate the coordinated stabilizing and dynamic functions of multiple muscles.