Henrik Lundqvist's Goalie Training Program

Being a goalie is not the easiest thing to do in sports. Its arguably one of the most difficult cause you have to grab pucks coming at you at 90 miles per hour. Try catching a baseball from a starting pitcher. Next try doing it on ice. Goalies have to be the most skilled skaters on the ice to manuever around the ice in such a small space. Henrik Lundqvist discovered that moving up to the NHL wasn't so easy. He needed a program to get him up to speed:

STRENGTH TRAINING

Legs, legs, legs. “The best goalies are the most explosive,” says Grant, and all of the force should come from the lower body. While holding a set of free weights, Lundqvist runs through a sequence of ten to fifteen lunges, squats, and one-legged squats with no rest in between. “The repair process from a strength workout takes 48 hours,” adds Grant, so Lundqvist does his muscle-building right after games for maximum rest time.

PLYOMETRICS

Side-to-side hurdles. Another off-season favorite. Grant sets up a six-, twelve-, or eighteen-inch plastic hurdle and has Lundqvist jump over it laterally. Next, he’ll stand in front of a two-foot-high box and spring onto the top with both feet, then step down, repeating this eight times. This improves his ability to make lightning-fast movements from a standing start.

[ More exercises at Nymag.com ]