I see a lot of youth hockey players with low back pain.
The #1 reason I see that youth hockey players have low back pain is because they are undertrained. Most people will tell you the opposite. That year-round ice times has kids overworked. I don’t disagree, but that doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon. Although I still encourage them to get off the ice, my approach has changed to help them better tolerate the high volume of ice-time.
The majority of youth hockey players lack the strength and endurance to stay in a strong athletic position for long periods of time. When their legs get tired, they straighten their knees which adds strain on the low back.
Strong skating posture
Tired skating posture
Here are the 4 key areas to build strength and endurance to reduce the risk of low back pain in youth hockey players.
#1 – Quads:
Skating is a very quad dominant skill. When the quads get tired, the knees straighten.
To build quad strength and endurance, I use a lot of low position yielding isometrics and slow tempos. I’m a big fan of split squat variations because most of skating happens with one hip flexed, one hip extended and both feet on the ice.
#2 – Posterior chain:
Strong glutes and hamstrings can share the load with the low back in athletic stance positions.
I like long-lever bridging, hamstring curl variations and various hinge exercises. A device that I’ve recently fallen in love with is the glute ham developer. There are so many variations of raises and holds you can do making it a great way to target the posterior chain.
#3 – Bent-knee gastroc/soleus:
I think of the gastro/soleus complex (GSC) as an anti-flexor of the ankle. Making the GSC an important muscle to maintain a bent-knee position.
Isolation exercises like seated calf raises are a good place to start. I’ll eventually integrate the GSC with low position holds like a floating heel split squat hold.
#4 – Upper back:
The thoracic longissimus has a greater mechanical advantage over the lumbar erectors on the low back.
I like to use prone and incline horizontal pulling variations. When rowing, athletes will get some thoracic extension. Putting them prone or in incline gives them feedback of thoracic extension by cueing them to slightly lift their chest off the bench. Again, I prefer to use yielding isometrics or slow tempo reps to build strength and endurance.
If you can’t change their direction, don’t leave them to the wolves. Grab an axe and help them build their own path