Shift Simulation Intervals
The Elite Hockey Drills app builds drills like this into your personalized off-ice program, week by week. Your first week is free.
How to Do It
Choose a modality: bike, treadmill, rower, or court sprints. Sprint at 90-95% effort for 45 seconds — maximum sustainable intensity. Rest at easy pace for 90 seconds (1:2 work:rest ratio). Repeat 10-15 rounds — building to 18 rounds over the season. Track output on each interval — aim to maintain within 10% of first interval. Cool down 5-10 minutes.
Why It Works
Shift simulation intervals replicate the exact work-rest ratio of a hockey game — 45-second all-out effort followed by 90 seconds to 2 minutes recovery, repeated 12-18 times. Training this specific ratio develops the metabolic fitness to maintain high-quality play in shift 15 as effectively as shift 1. No other conditioning protocol more directly transfers to game performance than game-specific interval training.
Hockey Transfer
Bodyweight shift simulator — 45 sec near-max effort + 90 sec rest mirrors the actual on-ice work:rest ratio. Twice weekly off-season, once weekly pre-season, zero in-season (you get conditioning from games). Cycle accordingly.
Coaching Cues
- "45 sec mixed effort: broad jumps → burpees → run in place — go HARD the whole 45. 90 sec full rest between rounds. Simulates a real hockey shift: short max effort"
- "Full recovery"
- "Repeat."
Common Mistakes
Going too easy on the work intervals — 90-95% effort is mandatory. Rest too long — 90 seconds simulates the bench rest between shifts. Don't extend it. Not tracking output — performance monitoring is what makes this a training tool, not just fatigue. Starting with 18 rounds — build from 8-10 and progress over weeks.
Progression / Regression
Extend to 18 rounds or increase work interval to 60 seconds.
1:3 work:rest (45s work, 2:15 rest) — more recovery for less-conditioned athletes.
Primary Muscles
Energy System
Alactic / glycolytic (repeat-sprint)
Put it to work
on the ice.
The Elite Hockey Drills app builds exercises like this into a personalized off-ice program — created by a sport scientist and former national-team coach. Your first week is free.
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