UPPER-BODY MOVEMENTS

In our Strength Training System, most exercises that are being considered for a specific program will be placed into one of three general movement categories. Upper Body Movements involve rotation of the shoulder joint, elbow flexion and extension. These exercises will increase strength of the chest, upper back, traps, shoulder region, and arms. Typically, the movement patterns are either pulling or pushing in either a vertical or horizontal plane dependent upon body position.

CHEST PRESS

A Chest Press, also known as a Bench Press, is a weight training exercise that strengthens the upper body by pressing a weight vertically while lying on a bench. It’s a compound movement that primarily works the pectoralis major, anterior deltoids, and triceps brachii muscles.

PUSH-UP PROGRESSION

HockeyPerformance.com has a simple progression that we have used to help athletes properly progress in building upper body strength. Relative to the Chest Press, we start with push-ups because they are considered an important exercise that effectively works multiple muscle groups in the upper body, including the chest, shoulders, back and triceps. The Push-up also simultaneously teaches an athlete to engage their core and hip muscles, which ultimately helps them improve and maintain athletic posture. Both the Kneeling and Elevated Push-up help in learning the movement pattern with a reduced intensity allowing synergistic joint integrity to develop under lighter loads.

The progression is pretty simple. Each athlete is required to perform as many push-ups as possible for 3 sets, with a 1:30 rest between sets. Once they can attain 3 x 15 reps, then the next movement pattern is prescribed. The Push-up progression starts with Kneeling, followed by Elevated and finally Standard Push-ups. A player must be able to perform 45 straight push-ups before attempting any weight related chest press movement pattern

Push-ups:             Boys: 13U/14U        Average: 25    14U Goal: 40

Girls:  13U/14U        Average: 10    14U Goal: 20

Each specific movement and protocol for the Push-Up Progression is explained in detail in our exercise library.

• Start positions will vary based on ability
• Kneeling begins on knees in prone (face down) position. Knees hip width apart.
• Elevated begins in a high plank position with hands on top of a 15” box
• Standard Push-up begins in a high plank position, hands on the floor
• Hands placed directly under shoulders, elbows bent, palms flat, fingers pointed forward.
• Legs should be straight, with feet dorsi flexed, toe up for elevated and Standard position
• Head facing the floor while activating the glutes and core to maintain spine neutral position
• While maintaining this posture, slowly descend until your chest barely touches the floor
• Your elbows should be at a 45° angle from your body
• Pause for 2 sec and return to starting position