This is very interesting to me. I&#x27;m 48 and play hockey 3 days a week, often against guys in there 20&#x27;s currently playing college or Juniors.  I have been actively increasing my leg workout for the past year and it&#x27;s noticeable, esp. in my quickness and overall speed.<p>I&#x27;m actually about to start doing squats which are something I&#x27;ve never done much of because I&#x27;ve been lucky genetically and have always had very large calves and thighs.  I picked up a book recently espousing the benefits of squats in particular (Starting Strength for those interested) and I think that&#x27;s the next thing for me to keep or maybe even increase my speed.<p>The other thing I started doing about  a year back now is a upright bike &#x27;sprint&#x27; where I basically peddle easy for around 20 seconds, then 10 seconds of full-on max aerobic type sprint. I then rest another 20 seconds peddling easy, followed by 10 more seconds, and finish the same on a final third sprint. When I say full on sprint I mean to the point where I nearly barf every time I complete this part of my workout; you really have to push yourself and not just go a little faster. Prior to switching to this sprint type workout I did a rotation of long day&#x2F;short days on an elliptical; on my long day I did 40m and on my short I&#x27;d do 20m.<p>What I noticed as I&#x27;ve gotten older is that my endurance remained fairly consistent but my &#x27;explosiveness&#x27; was going away. Just switching to the sprints has helped me regain a lot of my speed. In fact a good friend that I&#x27;ve skated with on and off for about 15 years remarked that he thought I was faster now than I&#x27;ve ever been. Considering I&#x27;ve been chasing down 20-something Junior players on break-aways, it seems about right to me.<p>I think adding in the squats will further help diminish my leg muscle decline and hopefully give me a bit more quickness my first three &#x27;chops&#x27; from a dead stop.<p>I write about all this stuff on my personal blog which focuses on fitness, health and most of all hockey such as this recent post: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;existentialquandary.wordpress.com&#x2F;2015&#x2F;09&#x2F;07&#x2F;sunday-night-sept-6th-drop-in&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;existentialquandary.wordpress.com&#x2F;2015&#x2F;09&#x2F;07&#x2F;sunday-...</a><p>Edit: Book title was wrong - link is in another comment - thanks for linking to it!