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Gym stuff for hockey fic

I love both research and working out, so here’s a post about things that might add a little verisimilitude to your hockey RPF, if you’re interested in that sort of thing. Please note that while I’ve been weight training for many years, I’m by no means an expert, and I don’t have any particular insight into the details of hockey-specific training, so I welcome corrections/additions. Hockey players do a lot of agility and conditioning work that I’m not very familiar with.  

First, protein shakes don’t taste disgusting. Both whey powder and casein powder are tasty, if you don’t buy total crap—and believe me, NHL players are not drinking crap. It comes in powder form, and you mix a scoop with milk or water. Flavors include chocolate, vanilla, and mocha cappuccino (the best). Your favorite hockey player is not choking down an unpalatable shake. 

Strength training is organized into “sets” and “repetitions.” You do a certain number of repetitions of a specific exercise in a single set, then rest for a while, then do another set. I’ve seen references in stories to players “doing reps,” which is kind of nonsensical without naming the actual exercise! Doing reps of what? 

Another thing to keep in mind is that it’s almost impossible to converse during a set. You’re typically performing the Valsalva maneuver (holding your breath) during each rep, and you’re working really hard. Maybe you’ll chat between sets, but your characters are probably not talking to each other while they’re actively bench pressing. I can squeeze out maybe a word or two, usually “HELP” to my spotter. 

Now I will move on to addressing a few of the actual exercises hockey players perform as part of their dry land training regimens! We’ll be using videos of Penguins players as our reference material, because that’s what I’m into. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdKyEibE104 This is a very interesting video because Andy O’Brien is some kind of crazy hockey training genius. None of these exercises are traditional strength training moves; it’s all hockey-specific stuff that’s clearly designed to maximize on-ice performance. Every video I’ve seen of Sid working out is kind of bananas, but it obviously works for him. He seems to focus on agility and plyometric work versus pure strength training. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9m4D8RkJjYE Here’s Tanger doing more run-of-the-mill strength training work, with some conditioning stuff thrown in. In order: plyometric work (jumping), agility work (footwork), weighted chin-ups (very hard to do), bench presses in the power cage, Bulgarian splits squats (AKA rear foot elevated split squats) (he is INCREDIBLY STRONG, this is A LOT OF WEIGHT), weighted inverted rows, more plyo work, and then some sled pushes because I guess he wasn’t tired enough already. Tanger has stated that working out is his hobby, and I believe it. This dude is intense. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwKvG0o68SI Now we move on to Geno. He starts off doing rack pulls (a deadlift variant) in a power cage (please do not arch your back like that if you ever perform this exercise). Then, he does some dumbbell squats on a BOSU ball (he’s holding dumbbells and standing on the BOSU ball). His legs are very skinny. He then shows us his pit stains. Then he starts doing something weird with a kettlebell (that’s the red thing he’s holding), this is I think some kind of hockey-related exercise that maybe his trainer invented for him. Next, some cable rows mixed with squatting, this is again probably a hockey thing. Then he goes swimming, and I don’t swim because I hate cardio. Then we have some kettlebell squats combined with overhead presses with the kettlebells. Finally, some push-ups with a modification to make them more difficult. My impression from this video is that Geno does not really enjoy or care about working out, but I still love him.  

I hope this is helpful! I’m happy to answer questions! Hit me up with any additional videos of players working out and I will do the scintillating play-by-play. There was a nice gifset of Carl Hagelin working out that I saw literally yesterday and now can no longer locate.

Edit: Thanks to ehghtyseven for hooking me up with the gifset of Hags, and I found video!

https://youtu.be/kh57BrH40tk?t=127 This is a nice workout combining strength work and conditioning. He starts with some power cleans with a barbell, which is a good movement for explosive power. Then he does step-ups onto a bench while holding a plate. I can’t tell how much weight it is, from the size i’m guessing 35 pounds. Then he does some bent-over side raises with dumbbells. Next, pushups. Then some modified crunches and other core work (I don’t know what that exercise is called) before he gets on the bike. More ab work, then single-leg glute bridges with his feet elevated on a bench. He has nice thighs. Then more core work and more step-ups. He finishes with some front raises with dumbbells, which is a total bro move. Hags wants to have sexy shoulders. I respect that.

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Do you think, if they survive the second apocalypse and the end of the show, that Clarke and Bellamy could ever have a family? How do you see each of them handling parenthood?

This has been sitting in my inbox forever, mostly becauseparenting and to have/to not have kids is a topic that risks alienating peopleand it is so difficult to talk aboutwithout someone feeling like you’re shitting on their choices and I have nothad the brainpower recently to navigate it. However, @wellamyblake‘s awesomelymorose headcanon on this subject (I loved it. I cried. I loved it some more and then yearned for fluff) has inspired me toput digit to keyboard at last.

This may border on fluff. You have been warned, but WE ALLNEED HAPPINESS RIGHT.

Disclaimers out the way first, because this stuff isimportant.  Women in all walks of life faceso much pressure to have kids and it annoys me immensely that happy story endingsfor ladies almost always involve children somehow, even if a female protagonisthas repeatedly said she doesn’t want to procreate (I’m looking at you SuzanneCollins). THAT SAID, it also annoys me immensely that parenting isrepeatedly shat on as a lesser (i.e. feminine) choice more generally, as inbringing up other humans could not possibly compare to the Very Important ManJobs that also make the world go round, and I wish that parenting and itsassociated joys and terrors were tackled more frequently in the media moregenerally.

You see the minefield we’re dealing with here.  (Sidebar: my feminism is undoubtedly not whatyou were after with this ask but I offer no apologies for delving into it.  THIS STUFF MATTERS.)

So what follows is just my read of Bellamy and Clarke and myown personal headcanon – no more valid than anyone else’s – and is inevitablycoloured by my own experience as a parent.

OK, so the question at hand. Could I see Bellarke family? The short answer is YES PLZ, because mybeautiful space babies have been through so much and I would dearly, dearlylove for them to have a shot at family life after everything they’ve beenthrough, and to reap the rewards thereof. Not actually in-show, mind you (JASONNO), but this is what my headcanon looks like.

I’m going to reference MJ throughout because her headcanonwas so beautifully put together and I super agree with lots of it. Bellarke’slegacy will absolutely be cemented in the lives they’ve saved over and overagain and I don’t think Bellarke kids would be relevant to their legacy per se.So too, Bellarke’s legacy will exist in the found family they have amongst thedelinquents.

But honestly, I think that having a family would besomething selfish, just for them and just aboutthem as a couple, and that’s what I like about it so much after all thesacrifices they’ve made for their people.

Let’s rewind for a second. Why would Bellamy and Clarke evenwant kids?  Well so much of it for me isbound up in their respective childhoods. Bellamy’s family life was clearly veryimportant to him.  He loves his sister.He loved his mother very much too. It is this love from which he derived somuch of his strength in impossible conditions in the Ark, and later on theground. In fact, Bellamy is basically made of familial love – the love for hisactual family, his love for his found family, and his love for the variouswaifs and strays he picks up on the way (Charlotte and, *cough* Riley).  How awesome would it be for him to have afamily on his own terms?  A family whichhe chose to have (rather than foisted upon him), with the woman he loves? Thethought of it warms my tired, grizzled heart to a veritable furnace.

Need I mention this:

Clarke’s situation is slightly more complex, as biologicallyshe would bear the initial brunt of parenthood, and let’s face it, Clarke is aperson with Shit To Do. But in my headcanon, Clarke is tired of saving theworld, ready to try something different even if it’s just for a little while,and take on a challenge of a different nature. And my girl NEVER shies awayfrom a challenge if it’s something she wants. I get the impression that Clarke’schildhood was relatively happy, and I think Clarke, like many people, wouldlike to recreate that childhood happiness for someone else with someone sheloves.

Also this

And just, drawing from my own experience, having a familytogether is about building a life together, and while achieving that through kids is not the right thing for everybody, I think Bellamy and Clarke’s depleted family connectionsand unique situation would drive them to create something new in their ownimage.

Now, MJ made the absolutely valid point that Bellamy andClarke wouldn’t feel worthy of passing on their legacy via the gene pool,having had  hand in circa 1,600 deathsbetween them. This is 100% fair, but one thing about being a parent is this:you want better for your children than you had for yourself.  You want your children to be BETTER THAN YOU.You want to pass on the wisdom gained from the mistakes you’ve made so thatthey don’t make them.  And Bellamy andClarke, who have made so many mistakes and had the courage to face them all,would have more than a little invested in passing on their wisdom to a secondgeneration of Skaikru.

As for how they’d handle it. Well parenthood is and alwayshas been about sacrifice, but (where it is a choice) it is also a selfish thingtoo – about bringing life into the world partly for your own benefit. And whoknows more about sacrifice, or deserves more selfish pleasure than Bellarke? What’smore it has always struck me that Bellamy and Clarke are both naturally very affectionatepeople.  They enjoy lavishing love andaffection on people and receiving in return. Again, own family, own terms.

And most importantly, Bellamy and Clarke have each other.They are a team. Bellamy may struggle with letting his impulses get the betterof him, or expressing himself; Clarke may struggle with relating to those sheloves, but between them they’ll muddle through because they always have andthey always will.

(Before embarking on yet another sacrificial journey though,both Bellamy and Clarke deserve a long, long rest of several years, just them,spending lots of time together lounging in long grass, swimming in lakes andscrewing in caves. Just have a look at the fanfic, OK? It’s all there.)

I warned you about the fluff. Now I’m embarrassed and I’mgoing to shove my face in a cushion until you all go away and stop looking atme.

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“Everybody donned motorcycle vests with nicknames on the left side of their chests as part of an “Easy Rider” theme that was created by strength/conditioning coordinator Tim Buss.”

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Medicine ball throws improve power output and incorporate movement in the transverse plane: a big ✅✅ for athletes of all sports. Use light weight (no more than 12 lbs) and focus on explosiveness. 5-6 reps per side for 3-4 sets is plenty 💪🏻

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What Happens When You Imprison an Old Timey Strongman,

Born in 1888 in Lithuania, then part of the Russian Empire, Alexander Zass was an old time strongman circus performer who is now known as the “Father of Modern Isometrics”. Zass taught that the key to superhuman strength was not just weightlifting, but by strengthening the hands, wrists, and arms through isometric exercise. Zass was very strong. VERY STRONG. Just how strong was he? Working as a circus performer as “The Great Samson”, he would bend iron bars around his legs, neck, and teeth, break chains with his chest, tie bars into knots, he would appear on stage carrying two lions, or suspend a piano from his teeth. One time he even carried on his shoulder a piano compete with pianist and a dancer.

When World War I broke out in 1914, Zass was conscripted into the Russian Army in order to fight the Germans and Austro-Hungarians.  In the midst of battle he was captured by the Austrian Army.  While a prisoner of war, he quickly gained a reputation as an escape artist, making three escape attempts.  On his fourth and successful attempt, the guards locked him in a cell, then shackled him to the floor by his arms and legs for good measure.  One day, when the guards checked his cell, they were astounded to discover that he had broken his shackles, bent the iron bars of his cell window, and climbed to his escape.

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Pushing your knees forward in the Squat.

I’m sure most of you on here know how to squat, or have at least done it before. And I’m sure almost all of you have been told the same cue when squatting.

“Push your hips back”

While I wont say that is the wrong way to squat, I will say that it is an extremely inefficient way to squat. Inefficient meaning you’re dumping energy into less than optimal positions, that will take away from your ability to lift more weight and recruit more muscle engagement. 

Above is the way I see most people try to squat. Hips are pushed back, back is hyper extended to keep the chest up, and the knees are behind the toes. 

This is how most people should squat. Notice the knees PAST the toes, hips are sunk low, and the back is vertical and FLAT, not arched. 

Now I know most of you have probably always heard that the knees coming forward in the squat is bad because it puts too much pressure on your knee joint, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. The knees coming forward in the squat is only dangerous when the squat mechanics are off. 

Check out the picture below. 

On the left you have an extremely efficient squat position. Notice the bar high on the lifters back directly over the middle of foot (center of gravity) and the back flat and upright, keeping the hips close to the center of gravity. This will allow for maximal quad recruitment when coming out of the bottom position and it will also reduce strain on the back because the vertebra are stacked on top of each other.

On the right you will see the bar out in front of the center of gravity and much lower on the lifters back. The knees behind the toes which cause the hips to be further away from the center of gravity which creates a more horizontal spine. This can cause a lot of stress on the back to keep the bar/chest from falling forward further which would result in the lifter falling down. 

To me the answer is obvious, when it comes to efficiency and safety, get that back up, those hips low, and those knees forward. 

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Jim Thornton