Strength and conditioning for hockey players and athletes

Strength and conditioning isn't about doing as much work as possible. It's about moving faster and more explosively on the ice, the pitch or the court – and getting through the whole season without avoidable injuries. At Winning Fitness Nové Sady it's led by trainers who have lived elite sport themselves.

Winning Fitness founder Jozef Balej spent more than 20 years in professional hockey, in the NHL and in Europe. He knows a season is won long before it starts – in the gym, through honest work on strength, speed and resilience. That principle is the backbone of how we prepare athletes.

Who it's for

• Hockey players – from young players to professionals who want more strength in battles and quicker first steps
• Athletes from other sports – football, volleyball, combat sports, athletics and anywhere speed and explosiveness decide
• Players in summer preparation who want to start the season in full shape
• Athletes in season who need to maintain strength without being overloaded before games
• Anyone returning from injury who wants to get back into training safely
• Parents of young athletes who want their child to build strength with proper technique

How it works

Every programme starts with you and your sport. A hockey player needs a different emphasis than a volleyball player or a sprinter, and a player mid-season needs a different load than a junior in summer. So your trainer first finds out where you are, what your sport demands and how much time is left before the season.

In the off-season we build the foundation: strength, quality training volume and movement patterns you can build on. In pre-season the focus shifts to speed, explosiveness, plyometrics and the conditioning your sport really needs. In season the goal is to maintain strength and speed with a load that doesn't drain you before games. Injury prevention – stability, mobility, a strong core and controlled landings – runs through every phase.

You train with Eleiko and Rogue free weights, on Technogym and Arsenal Strength machines and in the functional training zone. If you want your progress to rest on more than feel, you can work with a trainer who uses objective data and technology.

Coming back from an injury? Talk to a doctor or physiotherapist first. We are trainers, not doctors – we build on their recommendations and increase the load gradually.

Your first session, step by step

1. Get in touch via the contact form or call the Nové Sady branch and tell us what sport you play and what you want to improve.
2. We recommend a trainer whose experience matches your sport and goal.
3. At your first meeting you go through your season, club training, previous injuries and goals with the trainer. For an objective starting point you can add the Technogym checkup.
4. Your trainer checks your basic movement patterns, technique and strength level and shows you where your reserves are.
5. You train your first session together: warm-up, technique on the main lifts and first work on speed or explosiveness.
6. You get a proposal for how often to train with your trainer and how to fit it around your club training.

Where to train

Strength and conditioning takes place at Brno-Nové Sady, Fuchsova 28. You'll find Technogym and Arsenal Strength machines, Eleiko and Rogue weights, a functional training zone and a studio. The Úzká stop is about 2 minutes' walk away and you can park right at the branch.