If you’re like most adult hockey players, you’ve probably wondered:
“What muscles should I train to improve my skating?”
It’s a fair question.
The problem is, it’s the wrong question.
A lot of adult hockey players spend too much time focusing on the muscles they can see in the mirror. Bigger arms. Bigger chest. While those muscles certainly matter, they aren’t what determines whether you have a powerful skating stride. Speed comes from how your entire body works together, not from one muscle looking bigger than the others.
Think about your skating stride like driving a car.
You don’t just stomp on the gas pedal and expect a smooth ride. You accelerate, ease off, steer, and get ready for the next turn. Your skating stride works the same way.
Every stride has two jobs:
- Produce force.
- Recover quickly so you can do it again.
The best skaters are great at both.
Phase 1: The Gas Pedal
The first half of the stride is all about creating speed.
As you push into the ice:
- Your glutes generate a large amount of force.
- Your quadriceps help extend the knee.
- Your hip rotates outward (external rotation).
- Your adductors (inner thigh muscles) help control and transfer force into the ice.
This is where acceleration happens.
Research measuring muscle activity during maximal skating shows that the gluteal muscles, quadriceps, and adductors all play important roles during the propulsive phase of the stride. Faster skaters don’t rely on one muscle. They coordinate several muscle groups to generate force efficiently.
Phase 2: Getting Ready for the Next Stride
Here’s the part that most adult hockey players never think about.
Once you’ve finished pushing, you have to get your skate back underneath your body.
Fast.
During this recovery phase:
- Your hip rotates inward (internal rotation).
- The muscles that just created force now help slow and control the leg.
- Other muscles help reposition your foot so you’re ready to push again.
This transition has to happen over and over again, every few tenths of a second.
If you’re slow bringing your leg back, you’re slow taking your next stride.
It doesn’t matter how powerful your push is.
Speed Is About Coordination, Not Just Strength
Imagine two players.
Player A can leg press 800 pounds.
Player B can “only” leg press 500 pounds.
But Player B recovers the leg faster, moves through a greater range of motion, and wastes less energy between strides.
Who skates faster?
Probably Player B.
Strength is your engine.
Coordination is your transmission.
One without the other leaves performance on the table.
Studies examining elite hockey players consistently show that skating speed depends on the timing and coordination of muscle activation throughout the entire stride, not simply how much force one muscle can produce.
Why Adult Hockey Players Lose Speed
As we get older, we often assume we’ve simply gotten weaker.
Sometimes that’s true.
But just as often, we’ve become less efficient.
Years of sitting at a desk, commuting, and living life off the ice can reduce:
- Hip mobility.
- Internal rotation.
- Single-leg stability.
- Coordination.
- The ability to quickly transition from pushing to recovering.
Research has also shown that limited hip strength and reduced hip rotation are associated with groin problems and decreased skating function in hockey players.
What Should You Do?
Instead of chasing one “magic” skating muscle, train the qualities that make a better skater.
Focus on:
- Building stronger glutes and legs.
- Improving hip mobility, especially internal rotation.
- Strengthening your adductors.
- Training single-leg balance and stability.
- Including lateral movement patterns.
- Spending time on the ice refining your technique.
The gym builds your physical capacity.
The ice teaches you how to use it.
The Bottom Line
There isn’t one muscle that makes you a faster skater.
Your stride is a coordinated sequence.
The glutes, quads, adductors, hip rotators, and stabilizers all take turns acting as the gas pedal and the brakes.
The better those muscles work together, the smoother and more powerful every stride becomes.
So the next time you’re in the gym, stop asking:
“What’s the best muscle to train for skating?”
Start asking:
“How can I build a body that moves better on the ice?”
That’s the question that leads to faster skating.
References
- Kaartinen S, et al. Lower limb muscle activation patterns in ice-hockey skating and their association with skating speed. Journal of Sports Sciences, 2024.
- Buckeridge E, et al. An On-Ice Measurement Approach to Analyse the Biomechanics of Ice Hockey Skating. PLOS ONE, 2015.
- Tyler TF, et al. The Association of Hip Strength and Flexibility with the Incidence of Adductor Muscle Strains in Professional Ice Hockey Players. The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 2001.
- Suits WH, et al. Acute Effects of Ice Hockey on Hip Range of Motion, Strength, and Functional Performance. Sports Health, 2024.
