RIRLift app icon RIRLift

Exercises

Hockey warm up: an off-ice routine before you lace up

Published October 24, 2026

A good off-ice hockey warm up takes about 12 minutes before you dress: 3 minutes of stationary bike or jump rope, 3 minutes of leg swings, cossack squats and walkouts, 3 minutes of Copenhagen planks, lateral band walks and clamshells for the groin and hips, then skater hops, lateral box jumps, fast feet and med ball woodchops at rising effort. Then lace up, so your first stride on the ice is already your second fast effort of the night.

  1. Stationary Bike Quads, Hamstrings
  2. Leg Swings Hamstrings, Glutes
  3. Cossack Squat Quads, Adductors
  4. Copenhagen Plank Adductors, Abs
  5. Lateral Band Walk Abductors
  6. Skater Hop Glutes, Quads, Abductors
  7. Lateral Box Jump Quads, Glutes, Abductors
  8. Med Ball Woodchop Abs

Raise: bike or rope

Arena hallways rarely have room to run, so start with three minutes on a stationary bike if your rink or team bus has one, or jump rope in a corridor. Easy, then a bit faster. Get a light sweat before you move the hips.

Raise, low impact

Stationary Bike

Quads, Hamstrings

Many teams warm up on a bike before games because it raises heart rate without pounding the legs and uses a hip and knee bend close to skating.

How to do it

  1. Set the seat so your knee keeps a small bend at the low point of each pedal stroke.
  2. Pedal at a light resistance and a comfortable cadence for the first few minutes.
  3. Raise the resistance or cadence a little each minute.
  4. Finish breathing harder than at the start but nowhere near hard.

Cues

  • Small knee bend at the bottom
  • Add a little each minute
  • Sweat, not strain

Common mistakes

  • Pedaling against heavy resistance from the start: begin light.
  • Seat too low, knees jammed up: raise it until the leg nearly straightens.

Swap for: Running, Jump Rope, Air Bike

Build a session with Stationary Bike

Raise, small-space option

Jump Rope

Calves, Quads

Rope works in a hallway and gets the calves and feet quick. Keep it easy for the first two minutes.

How to do it

  1. Start with the rope behind you and your hands just in front of your hips.
  2. Flick the rope over with your wrists and take a small two-footed bounce as it reaches your toes.
  3. Stay tall with your eyes forward and your knees soft.
  4. Run the set at a pace you could keep talking through.

Cues

  • Small bounce, soft knees
  • Hands stay by your hips
  • Talking pace

Common mistakes

  • Tripping and stopping every few turns: slow the rope down until you can string a minute together.
  • Kicking the heels back on each turn: both feet leave and land together.

Swap for: Jumping Jack, Skipping in Place, High Knees

Build a session with Jump Rope

Mobility: hips and groin

The skating stride pushes out and back from a deep hip bend, which loads the groin and the hip flexors more than almost any other sport. Ten leg swings per leg, six cossack squats per side and four walkouts move the hips through that range in about three minutes.

Hip flexor and hamstring mobility

Leg Swings

Hamstrings, Glutes

Swings loosen the hips through the front-to-back range of a stride without parking in a stretch.

How to do it

  1. Hold a support with one hand and stand on the leg nearest it.
  2. Swing the free leg straight forward and back with a relaxed knee.
  3. Keep your standing knee soft and your hips pointing ahead.
  4. Increase the range gradually, then switch legs.

Cues

  • Relaxed knee
  • Hips face forward
  • Grow the range

Common mistakes

  • Twisting the hips with each swing: keep them square.
  • Rushing the rhythm: smooth swings, no jerks.

Swap for: Standing Cable Hip Flexion, Walkout, Cossack Squat

Build a session with Leg Swings

Groin and hip mobility

Cossack Squat

Quads, Adductors

The low side-to-side shift of the cossack squat is the closest dry-land move to a deep skating stride.

How to do it

  1. Stand with your feet about twice shoulder width apart, toes turned out slightly.
  2. Shift your weight to one side and sit down into that hip while the other leg stays straight.
  3. Let the toes of the straight leg point up as you sink as low as you comfortably can.
  4. Push back through the bent leg to the middle and go to the other side.

Cues

  • Sit into the hip
  • Heel of the bent leg stays down
  • Chest up

Common mistakes

  • Lifting the heel of the working foot: only go as low as you can with the foot flat.
  • Collapsing the knee inward: keep it over your toes.

Swap for: Dumbbell Lateral Lunge, Barbell Lateral Lunge, Kettlebell Lateral Lunge

Build a session with Cossack Squat

Hamstrings, shoulders and trunk

Walkout

Abs, Shoulders, Chest

Walkouts loosen the back of the legs and warm the shoulders and trunk for battles along the boards.

How to do it

  1. Stand tall, then hinge and reach your hands to the floor, bending your knees as much as you need.
  2. Walk the hands forward one at a time until you reach a push-up position.
  3. Hold the plank for a breath with your hips level.
  4. Walk the hands back toward your feet and stand up. That is one rep.

Cues

  • Hands walk, feet stay
  • Level hips in the plank
  • Bend the knees if you need to

Common mistakes

  • Letting the hips sag at the front: squeeze your glutes in the plank.
  • Locking the knees and straining to touch the floor: bend them; this is a warm-up.

Swap for: Bear Crawl, Plank to Push-Up, Leg Swings

Build a session with Walkout

Activation: groin and the side of the hip

The groin pulls the leg back in on every stride, and the side of the hip pushes it out. A short Copenhagen plank, a pass of lateral band walks and a set of clamshells per side switch on both. Long static stretches belong after the game.

Groin activation

Copenhagen Plank

Adductors, Abs

The Copenhagen plank works the inner thigh that pulls the leg back on every stride. A short hold per side switches it on before the game.

How to do it

  1. Lie on your side and rest your top leg on a bench at about knee height, or the inside of your foot for the harder version.
  2. Prop yourself on your forearm with the elbow under your shoulder.
  3. Squeeze the top leg down into the bench and lift your hips so your body is straight.
  4. Hold for the set time, then switch sides.

Cues

  • Press the top leg down
  • Hips high and straight
  • Breathe

Common mistakes

  • Letting the hips sag toward the floor: shorten the hold or use the knee position.
  • Rotating the chest toward the floor: stay stacked.

Swap for: Side Plank, Band Hip Adduction, Hip Adduction Machine

Build a session with Copenhagen Plank

Side-of-hip activation

Lateral Band Walk

Abductors

Band walks make the outside of the hip work with each step, the push-out phase of the stride.

How to do it

  1. Put a mini band around your legs above the knees or at the ankles.
  2. Sit into a quarter squat with your feet about hip width apart.
  3. Step sideways with the lead foot, then follow with the trailing foot without letting the band go slack.
  4. Take all the steps one way, then come back the other way.

Cues

  • Stay low
  • Band stays tight
  • Toes forward

Common mistakes

  • Standing up as you step: hold the quarter squat.
  • Letting the feet click together: keep tension on the band.

Swap for: Band Standing Hip Abduction, Clamshell, Fire Hydrant

Build a session with Lateral Band Walk

Deep hip rotators

Clamshell

Abductors

Clamshells wake up the muscles that turn the thigh out, which help hold your knee in line through a crossover.

How to do it

  1. Lie on one side with your knees bent and your heels in line with your hips.
  2. Keep the feet together and raise the top knee as far as you can without rolling your hips back.
  3. Pause at the top.
  4. Lower slowly and repeat, then switch sides.

Cues

  • Feet stay together
  • Hips stacked
  • Pause at the top

Common mistakes

  • Rolling backward to lift the knee higher: keep the top hip stacked over the bottom one.
  • Rushing the reps: slow and controlled.

Swap for: Fire Hydrant, Lateral Band Walk, Band Seated Hip Abduction

Build a session with Clamshell

Primers: skating power, feet and rotation

Finish with moves that look like skating and shooting: skater hops side to side, lateral box jumps, a burst of fast feet, then kneeling med ball woodchops to rehearse the turn behind a shot. A few sets each, rest a few breaths, then go dress.

Primer, skating stride

Skater Hop

Glutes, Quads, Abductors

Skater hops are the dry-land version of a stride: push sideways off one leg, land on the other. Build from short to wide.

How to do it

  1. Begin in a small single-leg squat on one foot.
  2. Bound laterally to the other foot and swing the free leg behind the standing one.
  3. Touch the floor with the hand opposite the landing foot if you like.
  4. Bound back and keep alternating, getting a little farther each time.

Cues

  • Lateral push
  • Soft landing
  • Grow the distance

Common mistakes

  • Knee falling inward on the landing: keep it over your second toe.
  • Bouncing straight out without a pause: control the landing first.

Swap for: Lateral Box Jump, Single-Leg Jump, Fast Feet

Build a session with Skater Hop

Primer, lateral power

Lateral Box Jump

Quads, Glutes, Abductors

Lateral box jumps add a harder sideways push for the first strides out of a corner.

How to do it

  1. Stand beside a low box or step.
  2. Dip and jump sideways onto it, landing with both feet.
  3. Step down on the far side and turn back around.
  4. Repeat, leading toward the other direction on alternate sets.

Cues

  • Push sideways
  • Both feet land together
  • Low box

Common mistakes

  • Clipping the box with the trailing foot: lift the knees.
  • Using a box that is too high: lateral jumps need a lower box.

Swap for: Box Jump, Skater Hop, Single-Leg Jump

Build a session with Lateral Box Jump

Primer, quick feet

Fast Feet

Calves, Quads

A burst of fast feet sharpens the short, quick steps of a tight turn or a race to a loose puck.

How to do it

  1. Drop into a ready position, weight on the front of your feet.
  2. Chop your feet as fast as you can without moving from the spot.
  3. Hold your posture and keep your eyes up.
  4. Stop crisp when the time ends, then rest.

Cues

  • Chop the feet
  • Eyes up
  • Crisp stop

Common mistakes

  • Letting the heels touch down: stay on the forefoot.
  • Hunching forward: chest up, hips back.

Swap for: Agility Ladder Drill, High Knees, Skater Hop

Build a session with Fast Feet

Primer, shooting rotation

Med Ball Woodchop

Abs

Woodchops rehearse turning from the hips through the trunk, the motion behind a slap shot and a wrist shot.

How to do it

  1. Kneel on one knee and hold a light medicine ball with both hands beside the hip on the down-knee side.
  2. Lift and rotate the ball diagonally across your body to above the opposite shoulder.
  3. Bring it back down the same diagonal under control.
  4. Finish the reps, then switch knees.

Cues

  • Diagonal path
  • Turn from the trunk
  • Stay tall on the knee

Common mistakes

  • Leaning to the side to reach higher: keep your torso upright.
  • Moving only the arms: let your chest turn with the ball.

Swap for: Cable Woodchop, Dumbbell Woodchop, Plate Woodchop

Build a session with Med Ball Woodchop

In the weight room: ramp up the first lift

Dryland days open with the front squat, which keeps the torso upright like a skating stance. Climb to the working weight through three lighter ramp-up sets. RIRLift logs those lighter sets as warm-up sets, separate from your working sets.

Leg strength in an upright position

Front Squat

Quads, Glutes, Adductors

Dryland days open with the front squat, which keeps the torso upright like a skating stance.

How to do it

  1. Rest the bar across the front of your shoulders with elbows high.
  2. Stand with feet about shoulder width and brace.
  3. Squat down keeping your chest tall and elbows up.
  4. Stand up. Build to your working weight across the warm-up sets.

Cues

  • Elbows high
  • Tall chest
  • Brace

Common mistakes

  • Elbows dropping, letting the bar roll forward: drive them up.
  • Skipping the ramp sets: they are part of the warm-up.

Swap for: Barbell Back Squat, Goblet Squat, Dumbbell Front Squat

Build a session with Front Squat

Put them together: example sessions

Each session below picks from the exercises above for one situation, with the sets, reps, rest and RIR filled in. Open one in the session builder to change a pick, price it from a recent set, and add it to RIRLift.

Session 1

Game day, off-ice before dressing

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets30 a week
  • Per workout~20 min
  • EquipmentExercise Bike, Resistance Bands, Plyo Box, Medicine Ball

You have 15 minutes in the hallway or dressing room before you put on gear.

This is the full page at 3 to 5 reps in reserve: get warm, open the hips, switch on the groin and the side of the hip, then build to skating-like power. The primers stop well short of tiring you, so the off-ice work hands you to the ice warm and fast.

Off-Ice Game Warm-Up
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Stationary BikeSeconds. Easy, then a bit faster. 3 × 60 4 0 s
Leg SwingsPer leg. 1 × 10 5 0 s
Cossack SquatPer side. 1 × 6 4 10 s
Walkout 1 × 4 4 0 s
Copenhagen PlankSeconds per side. 1 × 15–20 4 15 s
Lateral Band WalkSteps each way. 1 × 10 4 15 s
ClamshellPer side. 1 × 10 4 10 s
Skater HopPer side. 2 × 6 3 20 s
Lateral Box JumpPer side. Low box. 2 × 3 3 30 s
Fast FeetSeconds. 1 × 8 3 15 s
Med Ball WoodchopPer side. 1 × 6 4 0 s
How to run it
Start 45 to 60 minutes before puck drop, then dress for the on-ice warm-up.
How to progress
Keep it the same every game. If the first shift feels slow, add a second set of skater hops.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

Practice night

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts3× a week
  • Working sets24 a week
  • Per workout~10 min
  • EquipmentJump Rope

You skate two or three nights a week and want five minutes of off-ice prep.

Before practice there is less time, so this keeps one move from each stage and gives the groin work an extra set at 2 to 3 reps in reserve, since that is the area that pays off most with steady work across a season.

Off-Ice Practice Warm-Up
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Jump RopeSeconds. 2 × 60 4 0 s
Leg SwingsPer leg. 1 × 10 5 0 s
Cossack SquatPer side. 1 × 6 4 10 s
Copenhagen PlankSeconds per side. 2 × 15–30 2 20 s
ClamshellPer side. 1 × 12 3 10 s
Skater HopPer side. 1 × 6 3 0 s
How to run it
Do it in the dressing room before you put on skates.
How to progress
Add 5 seconds to the Copenhagen hold each week until 30 seconds per side.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

Dryland strength day

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets24 a week
  • Per workout~25 min
  • EquipmentExercise Bike, Resistance Bands, Barbells

You do off-ice training in the gym and open with front squats.

On a dryland day the warm-up leads into the first lift. After a short raise, mobility and groin work, the skater hops go in while you are fresh, then the front squat opens with three ramp-up sets logged as warm-up sets. Working sets stop at 2 to 3 reps in reserve, building leg strength without leaving you heavy for the next skate.

Dryland Day
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Stationary BikeSeconds. 3 × 60 4 0 s
Cossack SquatPer side. 1 × 6 4 10 s
Walkout 1 × 4 4 0 s
Lateral Band WalkSteps each way. 1 × 10 4 15 s
Skater HopPer side. 3 × 5 3 30 s
Front Squat3 warm-up sets firstWorking sets after the ramp-up. 3 × 5 2 3 min
How to run it
Use it before every lower-body dryland session.
How to progress
Add 5 to 10 pounds to the front squat when every working set reaches 5 reps at 2 or more in reserve.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

What is a good off-ice hockey warm-up?

Three minutes of bike or rope, leg swings, cossack squats and walkouts for the hips, Copenhagen planks, band walks and clamshells for the groin and side of the hip, then skater hops, lateral box jumps, fast feet and med ball woodchops. Then dress.

How long should a hockey warm-up be?

About 10 to 15 minutes off ice, before the on-ice warm-up. Five minutes is a solid minimum before a practice.

Why do hockey players warm up on a bike?

A bike raises the heart rate without pounding the legs, uses a hip and knee bend close to skating, and fits in a small space at the rink.

How do you warm up your groin for hockey?

Leg swings and cossack squats for range, then a short Copenhagen plank per side and clamshells to switch on the muscles before skating.

Should hockey players stretch before games?

Before the game, use moving drills. Long static holds are a better fit after the game.