How Important is Body Composition in Making the Jump to Junior Hockey?
In the time since we’ve begun working with youth hockey players, there is one question and issue that pops up more than most when we take calls and discuss working with new athletes and their parents:
Do I have too much body fat? Or do I weigh too much?
I have to admit, I was a little surprised by the queries, as they aren’t necessarily direct performance related questions, even though there’s a strong correlation to performance and body composition.
Still, we get just as many questions and inquiries about body composition and having “too much body fat” as we do actual gym-related and performance questions, so the topic merits its own discussion.
To answer the question simply: it depends entirely on the age of the athlete, their actual body composition and weight relative to their height (again, at that age), and their ultimate goal. Their training off the ice will also have a sizeable influence and impact on this question as well.
Let’s explore the topic more.
Who is Asking?
Strength coaches and performance professionals have a very common refrain that sometimes annoys clients and athletes when they have questions: “It depends,” and “who is asking?” Both answers are extremely important from both a context perspective and for giving the right advice.
It’s very important to consider both the age of the athlete and level at which they are pursuing hockey. A 13-year-old asking body composition and training questions will get very different answers than a 17-year-old making the jump to junior hockey from any knowledgeable professional.
As a rule of thumb, the younger the athlete, the more we like to focus on creating habits that can be built on as the athlete gets older. The earlier those habits are created, the easier it is to make a big impact when they reach more physical maturity from training in the gym.
Similarly, the younger the athlete, the more we like to focus on quality rather than metrics alone, as puberty and physical development stand to change a young person’s body as much as interventions on our part. For example: working in the gym with a 12-year-old is much more about teaching them good technique and movement patterns than moving large amounts of weight. No matter how good they are, they simply are not physically mature enough to move meaningful weight.
Understanding Age Groups and Physical Development
Puberty and physical development are major factors in answering these questions. There will be changes that happen to a young athlete’s body at every age until they’re nearly 30 years old. The one constant however, is if you are training and fueling properly, you are giving yourself the best chance to have the most ideal results and development during that time.
That’s why the best thing you can do is learn to fuel your body properly and build consistent habits that keep you in the gym.
Being Undersized and When It’s a Problem
This is of course a case-by-case basis, but it’s usually the undersized athletes that have the most difficulty making the leaps in their career. When I say undersized, I do not mean in height, as that is not something anyone can control, I’m talking about weight.
All underweight athletes are simply not eating enough. I know they’ll often tell you, “I do eat a lot!” or on the other end of the spectrum, “I am not hungry/I have a poor appetite.” Whatever the case, their consumption is not meeting the demand of their daily movement load.
Sometimes, the solution is as simple as instructing the athlete to eat more and giving them permission to eat until they’re full and slightly beyond. However, sometimes the work is a little more involved. Eating is habitual, and changing or making new habits can be difficult.
In the case of an athlete who needs to gain weight, we work with them to change their daily habits and leverage in more calories and nutritional value in everything they eat. This process takes time, but is done through our nutrition coaching program.
Overweight Athletes
In my experience with youth hockey athletes, reducing body fat is closely tied to three things:
Age
Consumption/Quality of Food
Quality training (to support an increase in lean muscle mass).
Making modest adjustments to one or all three areas listed above can yield very positive changes.
It’s important to note that no matter the athlete’s eating or training habits, their age and stage of development alone may play the largest role.
For example, if an athlete is under 13 years old: it’s best to support them through providing nutrient dense, quality food, and plenty of lean protein, all while introducing them to age appropriate work in the gym. The reason being: these kids are simply not done growing and puberty will influence a lot of the body composition in the coming years.
Once you’re closer to 15/16 years old, the equation changes a bit, as most young men are rapidly developing and these hormonal changes can very positively affect body composition. Jumping in at this age with the right training methods while being fueled properly is vital for the hockey player looking to make it to a major junior leagues or D1 level of play.
Body Image Issues and Mental Health
To share some personal experiences from my own past as a youth hockey player and now strength and conditioning professional: there is a definite body image issue among a large number of young male hockey players. This is not so different from the general population at large, but for many reasons that are beyond the scope of this article, an unfortunate amount of body dysmorphia and dysfunctional eating habits are not uncommon in hockey circles: from 12U all the way up to the professional ranks.
Often times, one of the first things my team and I are going to attempt to discern is if the body composition concerns are coming from a place of real concern or unfortunate thinking patterns that are incorrect and could lead to eating disorders.
It’s important to note as well that sometimes bad information is the culprit of disordered patterns and that’s where we will usually intervene with our nutrition coaching and meetings. In these sessions, we talk to athletes 1-on-1 about their own personal situation and eating habits that support their goals.
When we do see dysfunctional eating habits and signs of possible disordered eating that aren’t easily solved with some education and coaching, we will refer out to the appropriate professional as necessary.
Thus, it’s very important to make sure your concerns of body composition are related to maximizing performance or rooted in concern relative to competition.
I have unfortunately heard stories from professionals at the highest levels of the sport that body image issues persist and without handling the issue with care, you can easily lose a room.
Don’t Focus on Factors Beyond Your Control
Still though, as a coach in the world of combat and weight class sports for over a decade, I am fully aware of the focus and comparison games an athlete can play relative to their opponents, competition and teammates. Unfortunately, that focus on being like everyone else distracts and takes focus off maximizing and developing your own personal attributes.
Unlike combat sports, or even sports like basketball that are often impacted largely by genetics, there is room for athletes of all shapes and sizes in hockey. Smaller players can excel with skillsets across all four lines that are drastically different from a large power forward.
That’s why it’s important to be coachable, and develop the attributes that will contribute to your success. Being coachable, willing to work where others won’t, and being a team player will always take you farther than tertiary concerns, even if they are important.
About the Author: Mark DiSalvo, CSCS
Mark is the founder and owner of DiSalvo Performance Training. He brings over a decade of experience training clients and athletes of all backgrounds and is the strength and conditioning coach to athletes of all levels and disciplines, from youth to professional and Olympic-level.
A lifelong athlete, Mark started playing hockey at a very young age in Pittsburgh, PA, and played competitively for over a decade before getting into martial arts.
Mark is currently purple belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, with over 10 years of experience grappling.
A graduate of Northeastern University, he’s an NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and Sports Performance Expert. He’s also a Steve Maxwell Certified Kettlebell Instructor (Levels 1 & 2).
You can read more about him here.
Ready to Train?
If you’re a parent of a youth hockey player—or a young athlete yourself—looking to build strong nutrition habits that support performance, growth, and long-term health, we’d love to help.