Recently I was hired by the Babson College Hockey program to run 10 strength sessions this spring. Today will be my 3rd session with the team. I wrote up a 7 page manual of a bunch of thoughts on how to make the most of their training for ice hockey. I will publish bits and pieces on the blog because the advice is applicable for people who get to the gym 3-4 times per week.
This is the nutrition section that I wrote and the last piece features how to eat at the dining hall. This advice is also applicable for the lay person looking to eat healthier and build a more impressive physique. Check it out and let me know what you think.
Nutrition
Let’s shift gears a little bit and talk about another huge part of the equation. Nutrition. Nutrition may be as important as training, seriously. Here we go with another list to keep things simple.
1. Drink 1 gallon of water everyday. Water should be your beverage of choice. The occasional Diet Pepsi or coffee is fine. Green Tea is excellent for you, and good old, plain, unflavored water is best.
2. Gatorade, Fruit Juice, High octane soda, Vitamin Water, and the rest of them are rubbish and have no place in a healthy diet except if you enjoy them during competition.
3. Post workout nutrition is critical. You should be having a serving of whey protein immediately post workout with a full, healthy meal within 25 minutes.
4. While we are on the topic of supplements, there are only a few that I recommend. I recommend using 5 grams of creatine pre workout, and another 5 grams post workout. Basic creatine monohydrate is all you need. You don’t need anything named after a snake, crazy goblins, or anything with XXX on the label. The only other stuff I think you need is fish oil. Go to CVS and buy yourself a big bottle of fish oil caps and take 3 with breakfast and 3 with lunch. Personally I like a little caffeine pre-workout in the form of iced coffee with no cream or sugar but this is personal preference only. Sometimes a little boost can go a long way during your tougher sets.
5. When you go home for the summer, your first responsibility is to find a farmer’s market, a fruit stand, or a place to get good quality produce (not stop and shop). Eating produce that is locally grown, seasonal, and free of genetic modification is the healthiest thing you can do for your body. Most times these places will also have nice things like locally laid eggs and flowers for your girlfriend.
6. For your bread products, the only brand I can recommend is Ezekial Bread. It is made from sprouted grains and is full of proteins. White bread, and bread with tons of preservatives and chemicals wreaks havoc on your insides. Recent research has shown that grains in fact are not good for your health. Is whole wheat bread and fruit from stop and shop going to kill you? No, and if this is your only option, that’s fine, I want to present you with what is optimal, whenever possible. Whenever you can, you want fresh stuff without preservatives.
7. You must eat 5-6 times per day (at least 4). Shakes, healthy snacks, and meals count as feedings. If you are trying to gain weight, eat 8 times a day, with something before bed.
8. Keep your shitty eating habits for 3 meals per week. If you want to have a blowout every Sunday where breakfast is pancakes, lunch is a bacon cheeseburger, and dinner is Chinese food, that is fine, or you can spread it out over the week. This planned cheating helps satisfy any cravings you may have. You should try to eat to support your goals 90 percent of the time.
9. Start preparing your own food. This is the healthiest option and a great habit to develop.
10. With all of this in mind, I realize your options and habits will be different when you are on campus. Gordy Trim doesn’t always provide what seem like good options. So here would be my recommendations for eating at Trim.
a. Get out of bed and get to breakfast everyday. If you aren’t willing to do this, nothing else matters. It’s that important. This is an opportunity to get your body jump started with 500-800 quality calories. Scrambled eggs, bacon, two pieces of fruit. NOT cereal, waffles, and bagels.
b. Stay away from pizza and pasta. These are poor choices from Trim. Twice a week max you can have a couple of slices of pizza. Pasta is almost void of nutritional value.
c. Hammer the salad bar. Try to have 2 salads everyday (one with lunch, one with dinner). Use your head. Lettuce soaked in ranch isn’t a good choice. Try different things, the more colors the better.
d. Crush water. Not juice, not soda, not milk. Water.
e. Bring a shake or a bar to class with a handful of nuts or stolen trim fruit if you have 3 classes in a row. Don’t do more than 2.5 hours without eating.
Here is a weekly shopping list for you (or Mom).
Frozen Berries (biggest bag you can find)
Fresh Apples
Box of Clementines
Pile of bananas
Bell Peppers
Onion
Green Leafy stuff that you like (broccoli, spinach, romaine lettuce)
Bag of sliced almonds
Bag of shelled almonds
All natural peanut butter or almond butter (pricey but way better for you)
2 frozen loaves of Ezekial Bread (found in freezer section)
Strawberry Preserves (all natural if possible)
Lean Ground beef for burger patties
Any type of steak (flank or skirt steak is nice and lean)
Boneless chicken breast
Any kind of fresh seafood (must be used that day)
Lean cuts of bacon
2, 18 packs of omega 3 eggs
Chobani Greek Yogurt with fruit on bottom (strawberry, blueberry, and strawberry banana)
No comments:
Post a Comment