Fitness Friday #5: Weightlifting

Many of us would like to be in better shape. Making small tweaks to daily habits or workouts can make all the difference. With new fitness and diet fads popping up on the regular, deciding which regimen is right for you can be confusing. Habs strength and conditioning coach Pierre Allard is here to help, offering up tips to help you reach your fitness goals. In his fifth blog post, the man responsible for Canadiens players' fitness explains the benefits of weightlifting.

Weightlifting works on strength and power, and closely resembles hockey movements because we're pushing against the ground to lift the weights. Weightlifting exercises are a big help for coordinating intermuscular movements. We've noticed that with young athletes, the muscular chain of command is not yet fully established. Weightlifting helps work on both muscles and technique at the same time.
Nowadays, we start these exercises with kids as young as eight, nine, 10 or 11 years old with very, very light weights - with only a hockey stick. By doing it only with the stick, they learn the movement and master the technique and when it comes time to add weights, they're comfortable with it. Even for people in their 20's or 30's who have never done weightlifting but want to get into it, start with a stick before taking on any heavy weights.

When people think of weightlifting, they often only think of the big, stocky guys you see lifting huge weights at the Olympics. Actually, your body and muscles are built through compression. Putting pressure on the spinal column aids in development. But if your weights are too heavy, it's no longer beneficial or helpful. That's why working out, in general, is very, very good. Start by learning the technique just with a stick when you're young, and then when you get to 15, 16 or 17 years old, you can add some weight.
It's also very important to not lift weights that are too heavy, too fast. Some younger people's muscles grow really fast, but their tendons don't follow. The risk of injury here is very important to keep in mind.