Knees and elbows pumping, hockey skates flashing, sweat flowing, lungs burning, Michael Spiessbach powers through a 30-second sprint.
And ends up exactly where he started.
Spiessbach, 14, a student and junior hockey player who attends East High School in Denver, is gliding in place on a 2,500-pound, $96,000 contraption known as an ice skating treadmill.
This particular model, made by the Canadian company Endless Ice, has become very popular at the Big Bear Ice Arena in east Denver. Hockey types from pee-wees to men’s rec-league players to college players jump on the machine whenever they get the chance.
“You get really tired. A 30-second shift is tough,” Spiessbach said. “And it feels almost identical to being out on the ice.”
Not your typical treadmill
With its mounted cameras, used to create DVDs for analysis, to its laser lights pointing the way to proper stride for optimum speed and power, this machine is light years removed from the dusty treadmill hiding in your neighbor’s basement.
The “ice” surface is actually a large conveyer belt covered by a dense, sturdy plastic called UMHW polymer (ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene). The surface measures 72 inches by 56 inches.
The treadmill’s speed can be set at just a few miles an hour for beginners or cranked up to 20 mph for advanced, in-shape skaters. The treadmill’s grade also can be increased to modify stride lengths or increase workload.
All skaters are attached to a safety harness — little kids and beginners have been known to fall — and there is a crossbar to hold onto, too. The best skaters go freehand, often with a hockey stick in hand, simulating a trip down the ice.
Canadian native Mike Caple, program director of Pro-Athletic Development, based at Big Bear Ice Arena, expects the demand for skating treadmills to increase as costs come down and demand goes up.
“Skating treadmills were introduced in Canada in 1984, but they’re becoming increasingly popular in the U.S.,” Caple said. “The cost of ice time keeps going up, while the availability of ice time keeps going down. So this is a very time-efficient way to train skaters. Hockey players come in for a 30-minute session, get a great workout and work on their skating technique. They can get in and out.”
Avalanche forward David Jones used a similar skating treadmill in the offseason and came away impressed.
“It’s definitely a great tool for players,” Jones said. “It’s very realistic to actual skating on ice. It’s good because you don’t have to be at a rink and have to have ice available to be able to skate.”
Few available in Colorado
A number of companies now produce skating treadmills, but few are in use in Colorado. There is one in Vail and another near Fort Collins, but according to Caple, the Endless Ice skating treadmill at Big Bear is the only one in the Denver area.
Caple trains hockey players on a daily basis and says Endless Ice has become one of his favorite tools.
“The one big variable is who is coaching on it,” Caple said. “The thing to remember is that this takes an expert watching you and analyzing your body movements for this to really work. We look at lower body movement and stride length and really look to improve a hockey player’s performance.”
While an occasional men’s league player at Big Bear will use the treadmill simply to get a good workout (paying $30 for the half-hour sweat session), and a few figure skaters have tried it out, its primary purpose is to improve serious hockey players.
“As they gain more confidence, we introduce stickhandling and puck work,” Caple said. “One of the best things about this is it builds muscle memory. We take them off the machine and right out onto the ice.”
Spiessbach has been training on the Endless Ice machine for nearly 18 months. He believes it has honed his basic skating skills.
“It really makes you think,” he said. “It teaches you to do all the mechanics right. Now my legs last longer and I’ve gotten a lot faster.”
Denver Post staff writer Adrian Dater contributed to this report.
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com
Skating in place
What: Endless Ice skating treadmill
Who it’s for: Hockey players seeking to improve skating technique and on-ice performance.
Where: Big Bear Ice Area, 8580 E. Lowry Blvd., Denver
Contact: Mike Caple, 303-343-1111, ext. 104, mcaple@bigbearice.com
Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post
