On average, a Twinkie will explode in a microwave in 45 seconds.

Curiously enough, 45 seconds is also the average length of a shift in a hockey game.

This has led many ill-informed players and trainers to believe that the best way to condition for hockey is to bathe ​athletes in lactic drills like shuttle runs, 300m sprints, or good ol' bag skates lasting - you guessed it - around 45 seconds per round.

While hockey does involve a lactic component (anyone who has had to stay on the ice to kill an entire two-minute penalty can appreciate my sentiment), it's important to realize how each regular 45-second shift involves periods of gliding, repositioning, standing, etc. You won't see a player skating at full speed for the entire shift.

This means that from an energy system point of view, we're dealing with a primarily alactic-aerobic sport, not a lactic one.

Other than the last few weeks of off-season training, I don't prescribe lactic work for my players. Improving speed and strength will have a much bigger carryover to your game, and those are the qualities we focus on.

In fact, just the other day, I realized one of the players on our U20 team had been smashing his old squat records many times over, and - more importantly - had been doing so pain-free for over a year now.

(He underwent surgery for FAI a couple years back. And was told he would never barbell squat again by his physical therapist. Little did the PT know...)

When I pointed this out to him, he told me he no longer gasses out toward the end of a shift.

All thanks to pushing up his squat numbers in the gym.

Not because of performing endless lactic drills like so many mistaken hockey players do.

Just something to keep in mind.

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Yunus Barisik