The First Three Strides: Why Your Squat Numbers Aren't Translating to Speed

We see it in the gym every single off-season. An athlete walks in, loads up the bar, and hits a personal best on the back squat. They are moving serious weight—315, 405, maybe more. They are strong. They are dedicated.

But then they get on the ice in September, and they are still getting beat to the puck.

It is the most frustrating paradox in hockey training: "I got stronger, so why didn't I get faster?"

The answer lies in the difference between Force and Rate of Force Development (RFD). If you want to win the race to the puck—specifically those critical first three strides—you need to stop training like a powerlifter and start training like an explosive athlete.

The Physics of the First Step

To understand why your heavy squat isn't automatically making you fast, we have to look at time.

A heavy maximal squat is a slow movement. Even if you are trying to move the bar fast, the weight is so heavy that the actual velocity of the movement is low. It might take you 0.5 to 1.0 seconds to grind out that rep.

Here is the problem: A skating stride happens in roughly 0.1 to 0.2 seconds.

On the ice, you don't have time to recruit maximal force. You only have time to use the force you can generate instantly. If you have a massive tank of strength but a narrow faucet, you can’t get that power out fast enough to propel you forward before your skate leaves the ice.

This is why we talk about "Gym Strength" vs. "Play Strength."

The "First Three Strides" Mechanic

The first three strides in hockey are unique. They are more like a track sprinter's start than a gliding skating stride. You are digging into the ice, your body angle is low (45 degrees), and you are trying to overcome inertia.

To win these three strides, you need two things:

1. Relative Strength: How strong you are compared to your body weight. (If you squat 400lbs but gained 20lbs of bad weight to do it, you didn't get faster).

   
   

2. Explosive Power: The ability to go from zero to 100% tension in the blink of an eye.

If you are only training heavy, slow movements, you are neglecting the second part of that equation. You are building a bigger engine, but you haven't upgraded the transmission.

How We Fix It: The ALT Training Approach

We don't tell you to stop squatting. Absolute strength is the foundation—it’s the size of the cup. But once that cup is big enough, we need to fill it with explosive qualities.

Here is how we adjust your programming to target the first three strides:

1. Contrast Training This is a staple in our programming. We pair a heavy strength movement with a high-velocity mechanical match.

• Why it works: The heavy lift "excites" your nervous system (Post-Activation Potentiation), making the subsequent jump more explosive. You are teaching your body to access its strength fast.

  
  

2. Intent to Move When you are in the gym, every concentric portion of a lift (the "up" phase) needs to be performed with the intent to move the bar as fast as humanly possible. Even if the weight is heavy and moving slowly, your intent must be explosive. If you are lazy with the bar speed, you will be lazy on the ice.

3. Single-Leg Stability Skating is a single-leg action. If you have "energy leaks"—meaning your knees cave in or your core collapses when you push off one leg—you are losing power. We use heavy lunges and split squats to ensure 100% of the force you generate goes into the ice, not into stabilizing a wobbly knee.

The Bottom Line

A 500lb squat looks cool on Instagram. But beating a defender to the puck, creating a breakaway, and burying it? That looks better on the scoreboard.

At ALT Training, we love heavy iron. But we love speed more. Don't just build the muscle this season—teach it how to move.

Ready to translate your gym numbers to on-ice performance? Check out our programs or book a consultation to see how we build athletes who dominate the ice.