This spring we converted all of our Keiser air pieces to their new display option that provides more information to the user and to us as coaches. The internal mechanism is fitted with a force transducer to allow us to monitor the amount of watts performed with each repetition. This is indicative of power and more importantly as the athlete completes an entire set, we can monitor the drop off. This is important, because unlike high intensity circuit training, where you reps continually loose speed with no feedback, and you loose training power, this Keiser system allows us to completely focus on the quality of the reps and provides feedback to the athlete on how much harder he or she should be pushing.
One interesting new test we have created, is the Lateral Skate Test. The idea of this test was provided to me by Pierre Allard, strength coach of the Montreal Canadiens. I made a few modifications and came up with the test we have today.
As you can see in the video, the load is set up to be in line with the athletes waist. The board they are jumping off of is set at a 20 degree angle, biomechanical research into the skating stride demonstrates that the skate is at an 18 degree angle with the ice. The Athlete gets low, and explodes off of one leg. They land on both, and re-set for the next rep. We use a load of 20% of body weight for resistance, and measure the left and right leg to determine if there are any discrepancies that should be addressed.
Have a look below as Zach Bogosian of the Winnipeg Jets goes through his evaluation, and one of the players from the Nepean Wildcats women intermediate team. Great form here and excellent power by both of them.
