Pandemic experiences part 1 – Lockdown 1.0

If you’ve lived under a rock for the past year or have just been woken up from cryogenically induced sleep, the world as we once knew it seems like a distant memory. The COVID-19 pandemic has limited our lives quite a bit. It has taken an immeasurable toll on families that have lost loved ones as well as a mental toll on those that are working on the frontlines fighting this pandemic. As many have said before, we owe you a debt of gratitude (I’d like to see frontline workers properly rewarded as opposed to a symbolic calp).

Before I get on my political high horse, the thing I wanted to share were experiences living in the pandemic. I wanted to write this as honestly as I could, but also as concisely as possible to summarise the past 12-months of the strangest of times. This turned out to be a longer text than planned, so it will be released in sections: Lockdown 1.0, Lockdown 2.0 and Lockdown 3.0

Lockdown 1.0:

Before my country of residence (UK) was placed on lockdown, the company I work for moved all of us to work remotely at the end of February. I thought that this would be a short term thing and early indications were that things were going to go back to normal quickly. Haw Haw. How wrong was I.

When the government announced the lockdown of all non-essential facilities on the 23^rd of March, I started with a sense of relief. Before this, we were always on the go. There were very few free weekends. During the week, I’d get back home from work, eat dinner, play with the kids, do bed time and head to the gym. During the week, I felt like my home was kinda like a hotel that I just slept at.

After about two weeks into the Lockdown, I started to struggle. As I’ve detailed in the past, I’ve struggled with mental health issues and the isolation of being at home and not able to train properly or seeing people started to grind me down. It was the lack of routine and not getting a daily release from exercise that really wore me down. That combined with the daily news briefings that offered little to no hope of a better future.

During this time my mental health collapsed to the point that on one of the rare times, I bothered to workout in my garage, I was looking at the beams and picked out the one that I would hang myself off of. My head was telling me that I didn’t want to be alive anymore. My past struggles with these issues told me that I needed to open up to someone, or else I would really be hanging from the beam. My friends and family were a massive help in all of this and really helped me through the dark time, whether it was checking in, or just by sharing a joke on WhatsApp or text.

Those small touches really helped me through. It was difficult to see the kids struggle as well. Stripped of their routine and with no structure to their days with the absence of distance learning, my daughter reverted to drawing on the walls and furniture to get attention she wasn’t getting due to having to work full time. My son who is older, didn’t start doing that, but he was open with us that he was struggling with the isolation and not seeing his friends or having his hobbies. He’s a really active and social kid, so having all of that taken away from him hit him hard.

In the years to come, I worry about the impact that the lockdown has had on their learning, but also on their mental health. Being exposed to such drastic measures at such a young age will certainly leave a psychological scar in many people, that I fear will develop into a pandemic of its own in the years to come.

With my own routines disrupted heavily and falling to the grips of depression also impacted a variety of things during the first lockdown. I began drinking heavily and nearly daily, just to escape the dull mundanity of life. For those that don’t know me, I get drunk maybe 3-4 times a year. This time I was getting hammered every week, sometimes even mid-week. Where we did try and go for walks and stuff during the weekend and there were weekly quizzes, they weren’t enough to give me the hope of something better coming along.

Normally during spring, I draw my energy from it being light and on the rare occasion that the sun is out, I get a boost from that. In my mind, I had hoped that once we got to May time, my mood would get better. However, there was none of it. In other times, I would get this energy to workout and to improve my physique and get ready for the hockey season. Now as the sun was out I grew depressed that I was not able to use this time to effectively train and to get into shape. With the rumours circulating from the league and leagues above, it grew more and more likely that we were not going to have a 2020-2021 season. There was literally no reason for me to do anything.

Despite being at home, and seemingly having more control over my time, my eating habits slipped. Combined with my declining mood, lack of exercise, my diet slipped to eating at irregular times and eating whatever was quick to make. I was so dedicated to work as it was distracting me from the dullness of life that I worked late into the afternoon and the would eat some toast as to anything nutritious. With not spending money on anything apart from groceries, we had money to have takeaways and as usually happens with depression, junk foods give you that feeling of euphoria and you just crave more. So yes, my weight went up and physique changed. Something I regret to this day.

There were some bright parts as well. At least when the restrictions were eased, we were able to go away for a holiday back home in Finland. Even when there we ensured that we kept to our bubble and only saw grandparents at the end of our stay to ensure that we did not develop any symptoms post travel.

Where getting away from the UK for a couple of weeks was welcome, it was bitter sweet at the same time. Being back home was like going to utopia. Things back home were much closer to normal life in comparison. To this date, Finland has recorded less than 700 deaths during the pandemic and comparatively, the rates of infection remain relatively low on a day-by-day basis.

So come July and things were opened up and life, to be fair, started to feel more normal again. I had pretty much accepted that hockey was not going to happen, despite clinging on to the hope that it would be. I was able to start working out again and using the glimmer of hope that there would be a season drove me to actually do something. It was also refreshing to go out somewhere. Even if it was just a trip to the local mall (shopping centre) felt like a welcome break from reality.

In the first few weeks I wasn’t really flexing my muscles or anything, but just the clarity of mind that regular, vigorous exercise gave me. I know it’s often easy to say that exercise will be good for your mental health. For me it works, but I know that for some it’s not a cure or a “pick-me up”. I know full well from personal experience the struggle it can be to get into habit of exercising or doing anything when you’re severely depressed. It works for some and it not for others. For me personally, it is a lifesaver.

By July, I was somewhat accustomed to working from home and had developed ways of getting some variety in my days, but my eating habits were still all over the place. My lunches weren’t particularly nutritious or well timed. Looking back on it, it’s peculiar as when working in an office, I had a regimented pattern that I would pause for lunch at a certain time and I would actually look at what I ate. I still haven’t figured out why it all went so horribly wrong when we moved to work from home and whether it was all down to my overall mood, that I was seeking comfort from just eating whatever made me feel happier. Probably, but it’s not like I changed anything too drastically.

Then there was the opening of the rinks. I was able to get some ice with a local rec team to get back into skating, again with a view of being ready if there was a season. It provided some semblance of normality that things that kept me grounded and that were part of my personality were still there to be enjoyed.

From July onwards, life was easier as I had access to the things that kept me going. My fitness journey started to show results and I started to feel better about life in general. However, as we know, when summer turned to autumn, we were in for a rougher ride.

From the Ashes I Rise

It has been a long time since I wrote anything on the blog (in fact last time was in 2017) but over the past month or so, I’ve had the urge to start up again.

Before we dive into the stream of consciousness, I feel like I owe you an explanation as to why the blog fell silent. The blog was started way back when as a way for me to analyse my performances in hockey games and how I can best develop as a player. It was an outlet to vent frustrations I had of myself and so on. Since then it evolved to talk about all things hockey and started to include product reviews, which I loved doing.

However, I thought that I would try and monetize the blog and draw an income off of it. This was ultimately its downfall. In fact, it seems it is a downfall of everything I think of monetizing. It didn’t feel natural anymore and started to transform into a full-time job with no pay next to my ACTUAL full-time job. As my job already involves a lot of writing and content editing, the last thing I wanted to do was write some more when I got home. I still love playing and absolutely miss being on the ice and with my team, but the blog was just that stretch too far to think of click baity articles.

The biggest reason was that, I had two young children that I wanted to spend time with and I wasn’t actually “living and breathing” hockey as much as I was before. I still have the kids by the way. It’s not like I sold them on eBay. The kids are bit older now and with the pandemic, I have a bit more free time at my disposal.

So I’m bringing it back. But this time, I’m taking no pressures over it, much like with my social media platforms. I’m not obsessing over readership numbers, I’m not stressing over a content schedule, I’m not going to lose sleep about how many clicks an article might drive. I’ll just write this as a personal thing as and when I feel like I have something to say and feel like writing.

I would love to do some more gear reviews in time, but those might be difficult as I’ve not kept in touch with the manufacturers in nearly 3-4 years. We shall see where we’ll end up with that.

In the main, I want to keep this as a journal about my progress again. I have a particular goal in mind that I want to achieve, and want to use the blog and my Instagram account as ways of tracking my progress and my thoughts throughout the journey.

So if you’re tuning back, welcome and sorry the blog fizzled out. If you’ve decided to move on to different content streams, no hard feelings. If you’re a new reader. Welcome.

#offseasonproblems

****This was written originally in July, but given issues with laptop I’m only publishing this no

Every day is arm day

w. The one thing that may have changed is the body fat %, as I’ve been mostly sitting in my underwear eating Haribo. Oh and I’ve started skating.***

So as we are hurtling towards the start of the season, I thought it’d be a good chance to update on the struggles that hockey players go through every summer, otherwise known as off-season problems. Summer is obviously a chance to take some R&R time from the game and kick

 

 

back, but it is also the time when you build the foundations for the year ahead.

I thought that after the season was over I’d give myself a good chance to rest and

Progress in mid July

recover, both physically and mentally. I had planned on a two week break once the season had wrapped up, but that didn’t really go to plan. I got bored after a couple of days and started doing light workouts and then after a week, I was fully vested into my off season workout plan.

 

In terms of strength and conditioning, I am using a program that I’ve used for the past two summers, so this is the 3^rd summer I’m using this particular routine. Last summer I added 3kg of muscle, so I thought that it’s the right program. Plus given the fact that I’m at 100% health and not having to contend with any injuries, I felt I’d be able to push harder at the gym.

 

I’ve not just been a meat head for the summer. I have spent time with my family too

Additionally to the program I’ve added few layers to it, to improve my grip strength as it supposedly helps with shot velocity (and who doesn’t want bigger fore arms) and speed workout which I’ve been carrying on in parallel to the strength and conditioning workout. Last season I felt that the strength and conditioning side worked well, but I wanted to add another level to training. With the league getting harder, it’s important to respond to the increase in competition in the right way.

 

The speed workouts really work on the ‘engine’ of the hockey player, so it’s focussed on the glutes, hamstrings, quads and core. That is where your speed is generated and given my history with back injuries the last two seasons, I felt that I need to improve this area in my body. Besides, who knows, maybe it will help me look better naked.

 

What has been different about the off season so far is that I’ve not really thought about

I also drove a bunch of fast cars. Didn’t get killed or kill any cars. 

hockey while I’ve been working out. I’ve been doing it because it has been fun and it has been a journey of self-discovery again. I’ve found that I’m able to push myself more and more and I’m actually finding enjoyment out of seeing that puddle of sweat by my feet at the end of the workout. I think, in comparison to last summer, I didn’t go to those levels with training.

 

One philosophy that I’ve carried with me subconsciously, though, is that the off season is still competition. You are building for the season ahead, but you are also competing against your future team mates by wanting to be fitter than any of them and you want to make sure that you claim your spot on the roster. That is one of the reasons that hockey is such a fascinating sport. You compete all year round, in the summer, against your teammates and then you put all of that aside and you compete with those guys to help your team win. It is a never ending competition.

 

So what about the results from the training then?

 

Well, to the end of June, I had slashed my body fat % by 3% to get it sub 10% for the first time since before my back went. I’ve maintained the muscle mass that I had, but I feel quicker, if that makes sense? I’m yet to skate, but whenever I’m doing sprints, my legs feel lighter and I feel like I’m producing more power through my legs. One shall see when I hit the ice whether that feeling is all in my head, or whether it is all results.

 

The next steps are to start skating. Whenever regular training starts, I want to have the cobwebs worked out of the system. Simultaneously to this, I’m going to start working on some stickhandling stuff. I’ve got hands like cement blocks so if I can soften my touch a little bit that should all help. It will be interesting getting back on the ice. I’ve not skated since April, so I’m bound to be rusty as anything. It’s the first four sessions that are the worst and after that it starts getting easier.

 

Until it does, I’m dreading those four sessions.

 

Without competition, there is no progression

Without competition, there is no progression” – This was a line from August Burns Red song “The First Step” (from their rather awesome album Rescue & Restore). As that line blared through my headphones at the gym and I had to stop my workout for a bit and start taking stock of the line. Without competition, there is no progression. I put the societal, corporate and capitalist ramifications of the line aside and considered it purely from a sports point of view.

Nowadays at the gym, I prefer to workout alone. I used to enjoy working out with a good friend of mine, but since he’s moved to Canada, those workouts are quite difficult. For me working out on my own is a release and I can focus on my own goals and objectives and keep to my tight regimen as opposed to having to wait for a workout partner to finish their set before I get to have a go. After a hard day, all my stress and everything is taken away by the iron. But as my workouts are geared towards hockey, a competitive team sport, how do I progress as a lone wolf at the gym?

In the main, I compete with myself at the gym. I normally suck at math and avoid anything to do with numbers like the plague, but when it comes to working out, my competition is to better what I’ve done the week before, the month before or even the year before. What I also do – and this is going to make me sound like an utter dickwad – is to compete against other hockey players I know that use the gym.

I may not know the players personally, but I know them from having played against them or having watched them play. Now, I’m fully aware that different people work to different programs at different paces and I respect that. I have my areas of focus, where another player has their own. But, by and large, the exercises and lifts that we do are the same. The way I compete (and this is without even them knowing that I’m competing with them), is to check how much they are lifting and make sure that I lift more than they do. I want to make sure that the conditioning work that I’m doing is ahead of what they do, whether they play in the same league, a higher league or lower. For me this level of competition has allowed me to push myself further. If it is a player that I know plays in the same league as I do, it is about sending a message. A message that I will out work you in the gym and I will outwork you on the ice.

Also, there is some sort of glee and I guess a dick headed alpha-male attitude in knowing that you can do deadlifts for more reps with higher weight than a pro player.

But where I’ve perhaps had the competition/progress relationship wrong is in on ice training. Don’t get me wrong, whenever I am out there, I go hard till I have nothing left in the tank, but maybe I don’t pick similar competitions as I do in the gym when in training and perhaps that is what I should start seeking to do. Whether it is to outskate certain players in drills that focus on speed or start keeping score on who has scored more goals in training, me or another randomly selected player.

It’s all well and good to play to my strengths on the ice in trainings and keep bringing high energy and intensity, but what if I ‘competed’ with my team mates in the same sense that I do in the gym with other lifters. Perhaps, I should start looking to bring more of my gym mentality to the ice as well and see whether that works. The only thing that I worry about is whether or not my competitiveness and being a sore-loser will eat away at my overall progress. But I think it is worth a shot. To start pushing myself even more and to achieve some of the goals that I’ve set for myself.

It is also said that satisfaction is the death of progress and in many ways I live by this ethos. However, I think I need to add more to the mix to start making more on ice gains and to evolve myself as a player.

As the last line in ABR’s First step says:

Evolve, or die.

104 Days

There’s a common conception among people that hockey players are wild party animals. To an extent we are. You might’ve heard the stories of the Bruins’ epic Stanley Cup party bar tap, or other legendary tales from within the game. Or just recently how the NHL has a rising number of players allegedly using cocaine. For me, having a good time is part of the game, but for me, the parties are more or less a thing of the past.  Boring old fart? Let me explain this

I’m not saying I’m teetotal, or that I don’t drink at all during the season. I usually have a beer after the game in the pub, but I very rarely get to a stage where I would be classed as drunk. For me, hockey is about setting guidelines and being disciplined in your day-to-day life, both in-season and off-season. Perhaps that is what fascinates me in the game so much – the personal discipline that is required. I usually schedule four times into the year when I allow myself to let loose a little bit; Cup Final (providing we win), Conference championship, Play-off championship (Providing we win) and end of season party. Last season I let loose three times out of the four. Anything else to me is excess and one thing I’m trying to cut out is excess. Of any kind. If we don’t achieve any of the big wins, then there’s no partying either. 

I’m all for blowing out a little steam. We all need to do it and it is a very human thing to do. Some people like to go out, some people like to relax at home, go to the cinema and so forth. For me, going out during the season, or the reason why I go out so rarely is a conscious decision that has reasons behind it.  

The first one is that if I go out, I know I will miss a workout that I have scheduled for that day and invariably, the day after will be a total write off too. If we didn’t take into account the above criterion when I allow myself to let loose and assuming that you go out every week it would mean that I would miss 104 workouts per year. That is 104 chances of making yourself a better player and a better person through hard work. In those 104 days, someone else will be pounding the streets and lifting the weight that I should be lifting to get better, stronger and faster. I would cheat myself and my team if I allowed myself to slack that much during the year.

Second reason is that I enjoy having clarity of thought. When I was straight edge, it was one of the things that I really enjoyed was that my thinking wasn’t cloudy (or impaired) and that I could rationalise all my actions to myself and be accountable for what I did and didn’t do. Now, if I for some reason skip a workout, that is on me and trust me, it will eat away at me like it does when we lose a game. No matter how well I reason the decision to myself, be it an injury or if I just need to sleep. Being hungover or drunk is a piss poor excuse to me. Sure you could train hungover, but the quality of your work output would be so diminished you might as well not do it.

Thirdly, like I mentioned, I’m trying to cut out excess and drinking would – in my mind – ruin the work that I have already done during the week. Hangover is a state, where effectively, your body eats itself as it is trying to get rid of all the toxins. That’s not to say that I only eat kale and that my body is chiselled from stone. Far fucking from it. I’m a human being, not an antique Greek god statue.

Fourth reason being – and I’m going to be showing my age here – I just do not see the point of going out. When I was a teenager and through university, I partied… I partied hard. I think I got all the ‘crazy’ out of my system.

Photo courtesy of Flyfifer Photography.

Fifth reason is that I simply cannot cope with my hangovers. They are brutal and they last for days. After the end of season party, it took me three days to feel ‘normal’ again.

Hockey is a sport where nothing is given to you. You need to take everything. And I mean EVERYTHING. You need to be able to take possession of the puck by checking opponents, you need to create space for yourself and your line mates, you need to be able to take space away from opponents, you need to take your place in the roster and so on. The only way to do that is to be in good enough condition strength and fitness wise that you are able to take everything that is needed. Nothing is given to you and it is therefore so important that you are able to put in the work off the ice, so that life on the ice is that much easier.

This is in no way saying that everyone should adhere to my school of thought. Because that is what it is. It is my school of thought and I’m not going to be pressing my views on anyone else to say that “this is the way you should do things”. I’m not judging guys who go out (except if they turn up drunk or hungover for a game). It is a way that works for me and what I have found gives me the greatest focus. It is frustrating as hell sometimes and there are times that I just want to grab the bottle and drink it all away, but then, I tell myself that I’m being a fucking idiot.

Your shelf life as an athlete – and especially as a hockey player – is limited. Your career could end every time you step on the ice. The way I look at it, I want to enjoy every minute of the game and when – inevitably – the time comes to walk away from the game, I can look back and look at myself in the mirror that I did everything I could. I pushed myself above and beyond my limits and I left it all on the ice. No compromises.

I only wish that I would’ve realised all of this when I was younger, but I am happy that I HAVE realised it. This journey in hockey, fitness and self discovery has been truly amazing and long may it continue.

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Review: Monkey Nutrition – Moodulator

Monkey Nutrition was a relatively unknown commodity to me. I had not heard of the company before and hadn’t seen it on the shelves of the typical supplement stores you might expect to find on the high-street.

About the product:

The product I have been testing is Monkey Nutrition’s Moodulator. It has been designed to calm pre-event, or in our case, pre-game jitters. Usually, in a hockey situation, the pre-game jitters are a good thing and can be used for extra energy and adrenaline on the ice, but there are cases where they can get so bad that the jitters and the anxiety actually hampers your performance.

Moodulator contains natural ingredients, including Chamomile, calcium, vitamins B1, B2 and B6. It comes in a capsule form and it is easily added to your morning supplementation/vitamin intake. I have been taking it in the mornings with our other supplements and our morning water in-take.

Side effects:

I did notice a slight side effect from taking the Moodulator, in that I experienced a very slight case of vertigo for about two days after taking the product, but this soon subsided and it wasn’t something that debilitated or affected day-to-day life.

Other than that, there were no negative side effects from taking the product.

Benefits:

After about a week or so of taking the product, I noticed that our sleeping patterns were getting more pronounced and the quality of sleep was a lot better and deeper, which was a positive sign as rest was in a key role during the test.

Moodulator has been effective in calming nerves both in a semi-professional athlete life as in life at home. The product has been more than beneficial to personal life as well. My mood has been calmer at home and in the office and I have found additional confidence in all aspects of day-to-day life. It has also effectively reduce other anxieties, apart from sports related anxieties.

Results:

Overall, I have been positively impressed with the results of the Moodulator. I have been more relaxed at training and on the ice and have not experienced pre-game jitters. Prior to trying Moodulator, during a big game, I was a complete nervous wreck, but after that I was able to exert myself better and not worry about nerves.

The Moodulator has had a positive impact on other aspects as well. As mentioned, sleeping patterns and sleep quality has gotten better and having woken up more energised in the mornings has been a positive. Additionally, the effects have been seen elsewhere. In an office environment the Moodulator has calmed nerves to the point where delivering presentations has not been affected and the confidence in speaking in-front of chief executives has felt natural.

At the gym, I haven’t noticed the Moodulator having much of an impact on weight lifting. This is down to the training programme I was undertaking during the review period. The programme was a maintenance one that also focussed on explosive strength for play-offs.  Also during this time I was rehabbing a sports related injury, so I wasn’t going after big lifts.

Conclusion:

Moodulator does an effective job of calming any pre-game nerves. It is, however, recommended that you start using the supplement well before a competition for it to have an effect. I did experience slight vertigo at the start of using the product, but this subsided in a few days. It effectively calmed nerves for big games. Where the Moodulator has a positive impact on your mood as well, I would recommend that you do not use it to treat burgeoning symptoms of depression, if you suffer from those. Additionally the packaging states that you should not use the product if you are on anti-depressants or medication that treats Bipolar disorder.

I would recommend Moodulator to anyone who suffers from pre-event jitters and to those who are about to deliver a presentation or any other work related stressors that cause anxiety. So, if you are a hockey player who struggles with pre-game anxiety, I would recommend you try Moodulator as you will be positively impressed with the results. As long as you start taking it in advance of a game and not start it on a game day. As always, before embarking on any fitness journey and supplementation you are thinking of using, if in doubt, speak to your practitioner.

For more information about Monkey Nutrition and the Moodulator, check out http://www.monkeynutrition.com/

Science says: Eating crap food is bad for you

The British Journal of Sports Medicine recently published a story to say that unhealthy eating is a key cause to obesity. I’m surprised that it has taken this long for doctors to come out and say it. The study dispels the fact that as long as you exercise you can eat whatever you want, which to be honest sounded like total bullshit when it was first announced. The main gripe I have with the study, or rather the way it was reported, was that the headlines lead you to believe that  just by eating healthy, you could get away with doing no exercise.

The eating habits of people in general are bad and are too marketing driven. It is every day that we are bombarded with different marketing messages from producers that proclaim that their product is the healthiest thing going, or some athlete peddling overpriced sugar water to us, with the promise that if you drink it, you will be a shit hot athlete.

Where I actually welcome the findings of this study, the scientific community has to take some blame in the way that we are eating, simply because we have been exposed to a number of ‘scientific’ reports to say that you should eat XYZ foods, whilst the studies are often sponsored by parties with a vested interest in their outcomes.

As I mentioned in my previous blog post where I was venting about the crap that we eat, I don’t claim to be a nutritionist, but I pay more attention to what I put in my body and try to avoid processed foods as much as I can. My main weakness is energy drinks, which in honesty are probably the worst things to hit the shelves of the supermarket and in my honest opinion should carry a health warning the same as cigarettes. (Then again all fast food should as well. I’m looking at you McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC etc).

The only thing I disagree with the study is that I think that healthy diet and exercise are core fundamentals of a healthy lifestyle. Just eating healthy doesn’t mean that you are going to be able to shed weight as fast as you can if you exercise AND eat healthy.

Eating healthy is sometimes challenging, well it isn’t if you’re willing to make small adjustments, but given the modern lifestyle, it is easier to go to the nearest store /café to get your lunch. Where I do want to support smaller, independent businesses and café owners, the fact of the matter is that the lunch options at supermarkets are inherently bad for you. You have sandwiches filled with sugar laden sauces and with a meal deal you get a fizzy sugary drink, a bag of crisps and/or a Mars/Snickers bar. If you work in a sedentary environment where the only physical exercise you get is the walk to the store, or worse yet, you drive. Do this for a full year, with all the vending machine snacks, the pounds are bound to start piling on. Then if you rely on your lunch from places like Costa or one of the other million Starbucks stores, your choices of a decent meal are pretty slim. There are advertised ‘healthy options’ such as salads, which on their own are fine, but add in the sauce that is included with the salad, and hey presto, you’ve got yourself another sugary meal. Also, the sandwich options often leave something to be desired for.

Like I said in my previous post about food, I’m not a nutritionist and everything I know about it is purely trial and error and finding what works for me. Due to the sport that I play, I try and eat a high protein and low carb diet during the off season and then increase the amount of carbs for game days during the season. From my personal view, I try and make sure I eat plenty of greens, lean meats and try and avoid the bad things in life, but I am only human and I do allow myself a treat every now and again.

I think what the food industry has done over the years is that it has lobbed us to eat wrong. Not a day goes by that we aren’t reading about this and that food being bad for you or increasing your risk of serious diseases. We’re being told on one hand that green tea is good for you and then on the other that it can increase your risk of cancer. What is often left out in the reports such as these is the amounts you would need to consume for it to have effect, but a headline of “FOOD X GIVES YOU CANCER” will drive more clicks to your website than a reasonable “Consuming too much of food X is bad for you” headline.

I feel that supermarkets are not in it to promote the healthy lifestyle as much as they should and still too often promote products that should not be part of a healthy lifestyle. Additionally, a lot of the ‘healthy’ range of products are something that I wouldn’t put in my mouth. If you look at it from a political point of view, it being the election and all, there’s even greater threat to the food supply if the powers that be push through the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which would potentially allow genetically modified foods to enter the supermarket shelves.

In either case, what I guess I’m trying to say is, eat healthy. Cut down on the sugary foods you have at home. Make sure you teach your kids about food and involve them in cooking. Do the exercise. Yes I know the gym isn’t for everyone, but you don’t have to necessarily go to the gym to be healthy as there are other ways to get fit.

Just let them workout (a gym rant)

Past couple of times I’ve been at the gym there’s been a few things that have seriously fucked me off. Firstly, before going any further, let me make sure to iterate that the following doesn’t apply to all gym goers, but to a small minority who can just make the whole experience really, really shit.

1). Laughing at people: I’ve seen this happen to a few guys, mainly those who are overweight. Don’t laugh at someone who is working out. Do you seriously think that the overweight person is likely to come back and continue with their fitness regimen if there’s some snot nosed punk laughing behind their back? No! Similar to those kids who have just started hitting the gym. Do you think they’ll come back if there’s some meat head there laughing at them if they can’t curl more than 5kg?

At least they have taken the effort to go to the gym and improve their overall well being and physique. Just because you’ve developed delts and biceps as big as your head doesn’t give you the right to laugh at someone who is trying to better themselves. Remember how hard you had to work to get your body? Other people are working just as hard to get theirs, so when you come to the gym, leave your clown attitude at home.

2). Leering at girls: similar to the above. Do you think all girls at the gym go there so you can check out their asses? If you want to look at girls asses in yoga pants google it or go on Instagram, place is full of shit like that. Let the girls workout the same as the guys. They don’t care if you’ve got the biggest guns in the gym so don’t try and flex your muscles or show off like a peacock.

3). Attitude: walking around the gym looking like you’ve shit your pants or like you’ve eaten a wasp doesn’t make people think you’re hard or that you’re an UFC all-star. There’s no need to carry that attitude or look at people through the mirror with that kinda look. Just let people work out and worry about your workout. No one there is looking to take you on.

Additionally to that point, if you see someone doing a move you’ve never seen before, don’t just stand there and look at the person like they’re from mars or something. If you’re really that interested in it, ask them about it, I’m sure they won’t mind telling you about it.

4). Taking slefies: OK I admit, I’ve done this a few times and I hate myself for doing it, but taking slefies at the gym is not cool. What’s less cool is if you whip off your shirt to pose in front of the mirror and take pictures. Or even worse, strip off and have your friend take pics for you. Wait till you’re home and then take the pics.

Similarly, don’t use the mirrors to check your hair. You’re not Justin Bieber or a spunk trumpet from one direction who has to have the perfect haircut or otherwise their day is ruined. Just fucking workout and get a sweat going. You’re not in a fashion show.

5). Keep your clothes on: yeah, yeah I can see that you’re benching 150kg, but do keep a shirt on you shit-head.

Speaking of clothes; it’s a gym. Wear comfortable workout clothes, whether its compression or lose stuff. What ever is your thing, but just as above, it’s not a fucking fashion show. You working out in the latest designer gear doesn’t make least bit difference to your performance, if anything you’ve been an idiot for buying some expensive brand shit that will get sweaty and smelly. Quick!

That’s my rant over. As I said, this doesn’t apply to everyone, but there are some right old gym idiots who can ruin the experience for someone else. I genuinely love working out and going to the gym, but sometimes people’s behaviour in these places just puzzles me. It’s almost like going back to school where if you don’t have x,y or z, you Don’t really belong.

So in essence, when you’re at the gym, whether its by yourself or with friends, just work out and let other people do the same without any laughing behind backs, attitude or other shit.

Season in the books and Off Season Plan

The 2012-2013 season has now wrapped up. It has been a season like no other where as a player I put in more mileage to games than during any other season before. As a team we visited all of the rinks in the league and then had our ‘home’ at either Swindon, Basingstoke, Solihull or Oxford. What a weird ride.

 

All gear and sweats washed for the summer

As a team we achieved some great things against the adversity we faced, going 11-straight without a loss is a great streak that is rarely seen in any level of sport. Unfortunately it was not quite enough as Oxford City Stars claimed the league title. My personal feeling has a hint of disappointment in it as the league only has one trophy and when that trophy isn’t in yours or your teammates’ hands, well, it’s a bit disappointing. But our fourth place finish is certainly a great achievement given what we have had to go through.

 

On a personal level, I’m extremely mixed up whether or not to be happy or not. As a player, in terms of my position, I feel that I have taken great strides and – despite some mistakes along the way – I can now play in my position better than ever before. However, I wanted to beat my points tally from last season, but I fell painfully, PAINFULLY, short. I don’t know what it is as I know I am capable of more, but for some reason I didn’t get the bounces and didn’t get going. Why this frustrates me is because, well, as I said, I can play better than that and I know I can contribute offensively.

 

So what’s in store for me now?  I eluded to doing something a bit different this off season. While I am taking a week off to recover (I got a bad case of man-flu from the last game), I am going to be starting to work out with the help of Brandan Schieppati from Raise Above Fitness. Some of you might know Brandan from his career in music with bands like 18 Visions and more notably Bleeding Through, but he’s also a personal trainer who cut his teeth drilling hockey players.

 

My previous off-season workouts were adequate, but I wanted something to push me a bit further and harder, both in terms of in the gym. One of the biggest aides that Brandan has already done is a tailored diet plan, which is something I’ve struggled with in the past.

 

I will be blogging about the progress of the project and keep you all up to date with the crazy workouts that I’ll be doing, I can tell you that the programmes are more intense than anything I’ve done before, which is something I feel will help me find that extra level in my game.

 

You can check out Brandan’s website for training tips and contact info at: http://www.brandanschieppati.com/

 

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Review: Nike+ FuelBand

Device: Nike+ FuelBand

Price: £129

Retailer: Apple stores and amazon.co.uk

 

This high-end fitness gadget has been a topic of many-a-debate. Is it actually a useful training aid, or just an expensive time vampire? That’s the question we have been trying to find an answer for.

The Nike+ FuelBand has a feel of a really high end gadget from the way that it is packaged and how the actual product is designed. It oozes panache and is likely to appeal to the techy crowd rather than the hard-core body builder (more about that later).

What’s in the box:

In the box, you’ll get your Nike+ FuelBand, a USB connector cable, an extension piece to ensure best fit and a tool to insert/take out the existing  piece. What is also supposed to come in the box is a USB dock, which would make the FuelBand stand up nicely when it’s hooked up to your laptop, but alas, there was not one included in our box.

You get an instruction booklet to get you started, though it isn’t really rocket science to get the bracelet up and running.

 

Getting started:

First off, you need to download the app to your Mac or PC from Nike (address is in the booklet), connect your FuelBand via the USB cable after you’ve installed everything and customise the device for yourself and create your Nike+ account. This shouldn’t take you forever to do.

You then need to let the FuelBand fully charge, which takes up-to an hour via the USB lead. There is also an app available for your smartphone if you want to track your progress on the phone as well, but it isn’t a necessity to get going.

I actually found that the phone app took longer to set up than the one on the computer and at times felt a bit frustrating.

 

After all this you are ready to go and start hitting your goals, which you can set for yourself, or go with the pre-determined goals that suit your activities. Ther

So does it actually work?

Well, apart from looking shnazzy, the Nike FuelBand gives you an idea of the steps and calories burned. The reason I say “an idea”, is because I don’t think the readings are entirely accurate, but do give you a good idea. The device measures your body’s move through an intricate set of features built into the band.

 

However, what we discovered is that it is easy to “cheat” the FuelBand. We discovered that if you wave your arm around whilst standing stationary, the FuelBand actually measures the swings of your arm as your steps and “burned” calories. Though having said that, I don’t think anyone would just sit there and wave their arm to reach their daily goal that is in the thousands of Nike Fuel.

 

The other way where the Nike FuelBand has a shortfall is in the gym. It doesn’t measure all of the activities you do i.e. squats or leg press. Additionally, it is harder to accumulate the fuel points, when you are doing exercises that involve free weights. Additionally, the FuelBand has a hard time picking up movement from push ups or sit ups, mainly down to the fact that your arms (wrists) are mainly static.

 

When it comes to cardio vascular exercise, the Nike+ FuelBand comes to its own.

 

What compliments your daily fitness goals are pretty cool videos when you hit achievements, which make the FuelBand a fun experience to use. 

 

On the ice

Having used the FuelBand in trainings and games, it does pick up the moves and does give you a good idea of how many calories you burn during a game. As with running or plyometric exercises, the FuelBand picks up the motions and tracks your progress.

 

It is relatively un-intrusive in the glove and doesn’t interfere with stick handling or add anything that would hinder your performance. However, be sure that you don’t spend your shift staring at your wrist tracking how far you are off your goal.

 

The FuelBand has added an extra edge in terms of performance. As the FuelBand gives you more fuel points the faster you move, so both on and off the ice, it has improved the way in which I push myself, be it on the ice or when my feet are pounding the road.

 

What the FuelBand has helped out with, is definitely in the motivation. The daily goals do become a bit of an obsession and make you do more, which is great. Though there are some shortcomings, the FuelBand does add a new level to your fitness regimen and makes challenging yourself more fun and a bit of a game at the same time.

  

Conclusion:

The Nike+ FuelBand is a decent fitness aid, however it does have some shortcomings. It is in its element when you are doing cardiovascular exercise, like running, cross trainers or hockey, but if your main form of exercise is body building or weight training, it might seem like a waste of money.

Once you get accustomed to wearing it, you are more obsessed about hitting your goals, which means that you are looking at doing more exercise to reach your targets, which I’ve noticed as being a great help.

The graphics and charts that the FuelBand provides either on the phone or the computer, do give you a good idea of when you are most active and helps you to identify times of the day when you could be doing a little bit more.

If you are a goal oriented person and wants an additional challenge to your fitness regimen, I’d recommend the Nike+ FuelBand. However, if your fitness routines revolve around free weights, I’d say that your money would be spent better elsewhere.

 

 

Pros

• Well designed and fashionable gadget
• Good set of features
• Complimented well with online and mobile features
• Great motivator tool
• Water resistant
• Great for cardio vascular exercise
• Great for goal oriented people
• Helps identify times of day when you can do more
• Pushes you to do more

 

Cons

• Device can be cheated
• Does not work too well on weight and power training exercises
• Doesn’t pick up moves from push-ups
• Box came with no stand for dock.
• Calorie and step counts might not be that accurate

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