Stride Lunge with Reach
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
Stand tall. Step forward into a long lunge with the right foot. As you lower into the lunge, reach the LEFT arm forward and down toward the right foot. The right arm drives back — cross-body opposition, like a skating arm swing. Hold the bottom position 2 seconds — feel the hip flexor stretch of the rear leg. Drive through the front foot to return. Switch legs. Alternate continuously for 8-10 reps each side.
Why It Works
The stride lunge with reach combines the single-leg strength of a lunge with a contralateral arm reach — mimicking the rotational mechanics of a full skating stride where the opposite arm drives forward as the leg pushes back. This integrated pattern trains the cross-body coordination that separates efficient, fluid skaters from mechanical ones. It also develops significant hip flexor and thoracic mobility simultaneously.
Hockey Transfer
Dynamic stretch that mimics the full skating stride extension. Useful as dynamic warm-up before skating or lower-body lifting. Two birds, one drill.
Coaching Cues
- "Lunge forward"
- "Reach front arm forward and low (puck position)"
- "Hold 2s"
- "Alternate"
Common Mistakes
No rotation — the reach must be cross-body and involve thoracic rotation. Short stride — take a genuinely long step to get the hip flexor stretch. Front knee caving inward — drive it out over the toes. Rushing through it — slow down to feel the rotational coordination.
Progression / Regression
Add a light dumbbell in the reaching hand — increases rotational demand.
Standard forward lunge without the reach — master the lunge first.
Primary Muscles
Energy System
Strength/neural
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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