title: The effects of heavy upper-body strength training on ice sledge hockey sprint abilities in world class players.
abstract: The current study investigated the effects of 6 weeks of heavy upper-body strength training on maximal strength and sprint abilities in eight world class ice sledge hockey players. Before and after the strength training intervention, all subjects performed a 30-m maximal sprint on ice (where time for each 10 m section was measured) and 1 repetition maximal (1RM) strength test in the bench pull (BP), pull-down (PD), pull over (PO) and front pull (FP) exercises. Three weekly sessions with 3×6-8RM for these strength exercises were added during the intervention period. From pre- to post-test, 1RM in the strength exercises improved by 4-8%, whereas 30-m sprint time, all 10-m section times and the calculated power output in the 10-m acceleration phase all improved by 2-3% (all P<.05). The pre- to post-test changes in 30-m sprint time and the initial 10-m time correlated significantly with the changes in 1RM for BP (r=0.59 and 0.55) and PD (r=0.60 and 0.68) (all P<.05). In conclusion, the results of this study strongly suggest that heavy upper-body strength training improves upper-body strength and ice sledge hockey sprint abilities, and that the magnitude of improvements in strength correlates with the improvements in sprint abilities.
authors.affiliation: Center for Elite Sports Research, Department of Neuroscience, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway. Electronic address: Oyvind.sandbakk@ntnu.no.
authors.forename: Øyvind
authors.initials: Ø
authors.lastname: Sandbakk
authors.affiliation: Center for Elite Sports Research, Department of Neuroscience, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
authors.forename: Mads
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.affiliation: Center for Elite Sports Research, Department of Neuroscience, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
authors.forename: Gertjan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ettema
authors.affiliation: Section for Sports Science, Lillehammer University College, Lillehammer, Norway.
authors.forename: Bent
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rønnestad
mesh_terms: D000054:Acceleration; D000328:Adult; D056352:Athletes; D054874:Athletic Performance; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D015444:Exercise; D006688:Hockey / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D053580:Muscle Strength; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology; D010806:Physical Education and Training; D010807:Physical Endurance; D055070:Resistance Training / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Acceleration; Disability sport; Maximal speed; Maximal strength; Paralympic athletes