The 5 Nutrition Principles to

Offseason Excellence

#1. Meal Frequency

In other words, make the meal plans fit your schedule. Working in

nutrition and helping people with their meal plans for as long as I’ve

been doing it, one thing I can tell you is that if you don’t prepare,

you’re preparing to fail. This holds true with meal planning almost more

than anything else. Establishing how many meals you are going to eat

per day and matching in up with your current schedule is giving

yourself an immediate huge advantage over the other hockey

players who were too lazy to do this.

The problem most guys have is actually not the meal plan itself, it’s the

execution of the meal plan that gets them. They don’t think ahead,

they don’t cook meals ahead, they don’t grocery shop ahead and

they don’t establish the meal cadence that is going to make the most

sense for their current lifestyle and schedule.

The execution of the meal plan, day in and day out for months on end

brings massive results. That’s the thing with meal plans, you may feel

better short term and that’s all good and well. But it’s the long term

results where meal plans shine. One guy staying true to his meal plan

vs. another guy not following any meal plan could be the difference

of 10lbs of muscle by the end of the offseason. That’s a completely

different hockey player right there.

Look, at the end of the day, getting your calories in is more important

than anything else. If you miss a scheduled meal, don’t scrap it! Add

it to another meal later on or add an extra meal somewhere in the

mix. Ensure you make up for the loss because your digestive system is

still going to take all that in. The whole “you can only take in X amount

of protein per meal” is complete crap and is not supported by any

science. If you miss a meal, make up for it in any way you can.

Having said that, when you have a set out optimal meal cadence,

this is where true rapid physique transformation occurs. You can’t be

making mistakes all the time with this, or else you will get the results of

the average attempt, not the exceptional attempt. If you’re making

mistakes all the time you are not prepared enough. It’s as simple as

that. The guys who want the most results and want to make the jump

to the junior or pro leagues are the guys who will never be caught

unprepared.

Have a look at how the meal plans are laid out and measure it up

alongside your typical day and plug in when you’re going to have

what meal at each time. This gives you a bulletproof schedule for your

eating and will get you the results that you’re after. A meal plan

doesn’t mean anything unless you find a way to make it fit your

schedule. If you don’t put forth the effort to make it fit your schedule

then it is just a piece of paper.

Ideally, whether your goals for this season are to mass up or lean down

you should be getting anywhere from 4 – 8 solid food meals per day

plus 1 shake. That one shake should always come post-workout or if it

is a busy day then that shake should be out with you on the road. But

you should never rely too much on liquid nutrition. Like the world

famous strength coach Charles Poliquin says “You need solid food to

be solid”. This is exactly right, nothing out performs solid food for

putting on solid muscle. No shake can replace this.

Establish that meal cadence to your schedule and make sure it’s solid

food. This principal can truly make or break you, regardless of how

hard you’re training. The body cannot create muscle out of thin air, it

doesn’t work like that. You need ample amount of foods and the right

kinds of foods to give your body the raw materials it requires to create

lean muscle tissue.

#2. Food Rotation

Rotating all food sources is one of the best things you can do to ensure

optimal health. Eating from the same sources all the time both limits

amount of muscle you can build during a given offseason while

increasing your risk for developing any food allergies or food

intolerances.

Protein is made up from 22 different amino acids, and it is in the ratio

of these amino acids that determines the quality of the given protein

source, and also what functions it can bring to the table. By ratio I am

referring to the density of one amino acid to the next to make up the

total protein. For example, leucine is an extremely anabolic amino

acid found in protein that greatly impacts protein synthesis. But if

you’re choosing a protein source with very low levels of leucine and

very high levels of other amino acids you are doing yourself a

disservice if muscle building is your goal. By having a variety of protein

sources throughout the day, you can ensure all your amino acid pools

are going to be topped off evenly.

For example, the normal go-to for most people is chicken breast. Ok

cool, no problem, that’s a high quality source of protein. The problem

with only sticking with chicken breast is that you are limiting yourself to

one specific amino acid profile. Whereas steak has a different amino

acid profile then chicken, eggs have a different amino acid profile

then steak, wild game meat offers some of the best amino acid

content available, I think you’re getting the point.

The more variance you bring to your protein sources, the more well-

rounded your overall muscle building amino acid uptake is going to

be. In this case, you will be receiving the maximum amount of benefits

you can by consuming a variety of amino acid profiles and not limiting

yourself to one. The higher your amino acid intake across all 22

sources, the better. And the best way to do this is eat different sources

of protein.

This goes for protein powders as well. You don’t have to limit yourself

to just whey. This is something you should always switch up as well.

There are tons of good protein powder sources available such as egg,

casein, pea, brown rice, etc. Rotate all of these and get the best from

all angles. In my opinion, whey isolates should always be kept at your

intra-workout protein source while protein blends should make up your

post-workout and during the day protein powders. You are getting the

best from all angles structuring your protein powders this way.

I wanted to emphasize protein, but this rotation policy fats and

carbohydrates as well. You always want to be rotating everything,

rotation of foods allows you to take in the most amount of nutrients

because each class of foods and each particular food always has

their own particular benefit. All foods contain various essential and

non-essential ingredients including phytochemicals, antioxidants,

vitamins, minerals, macronutrients among many other things. Which is

why rotating all of your food sources ensures you are receiving the

highest level of health and physique transformation.

It doesn’t have to be difficult, it can be something simple. Like for

carbs, if you like potatoes, rotate potato colours. Go from white, to

red, to yellow and sweet potatoes. Small changes like this can make

a big impact, especially in avoiding food intolerances. Or if you like

berries, go from blueberries, to raspberries, to strawberries and

blackberries. It doesn’t have to be from different corners of the planet,

just a minor change will bring about a big result.

One thing that happens when you eat one food every day for a long

time is that your body can become sensitive to it in a negative way,

and begin to create an intolerance to it. The overconsumption of

certain foods can lead to your body creating stress hormones that

often go under the radar with most people and can hold them back

with their muscle building and performance efforts. Sensitivities often

times come in the form of extreme fatigue, stomach discomfort,

bloating, lots of gas and skin issues.

For example, if you always eat bread all the time, you could very well

develop an intolerance to it. In this case, your body’s immune system

would see the bread as an invader and attack it upon digestion. This

creates a bad digestive environment, very poor muscle building

potential and the increase in stress hormones in the body which

actually promote muscle breakdown as opposed to muscle building.

In addition to stress hormone elevations, food sensitivities and

intolerances can create inflammation in the GI tract. The body has to

dampen and treat inflammation with immune defenses. But here’s the

thing, exercise creates inflammation as well, it’s one of the reasons we

are sore after training. If our bodies are dealing with GI inflammation

and muscle inflammation, it is going to take much, much longer to

recover from exercise. This put us in an ever growing debt to fatigue

that will accumulate until you eventually burnout. GI tract health is of

extreme important to all aspects of health, including exercise

performance and recovery. Because you can’t perform if you can’t

recover.

Rotate your foods whenever possible and once you become lean,

you will be able to better see which foods you are intolerant too. You

will retain more water and bloat in your mid-section. This often goes

unnoticed in those with higher body fat percentages simply because

they cannot see it. This leads to continuous consumption of the same

food and little to no muscle gain.

Now don’t take this principal and immediately sprint to the grocery

store to buy 20 different meats, 20 different carbs and 20 different fats.

Just hold on a second.

Comfortable rotation with food, like everything else, comes with time

and continuous application. We want long term adherence and

that’s only going to be possible if it’s easy. Here are two easy rules to

follow to begin your rotation:

1. When you eat out, always choose a meat you would never have

at home: We have the luxury of going out for food each and

every week and when you go out to a restaurant there is often

a variety of choices; chicken, salmon, steak, beef, lamb, shrimp,

lobster, pork, etc. You name it, everything except wild game is

pretty much at most restaurants. Anytime you eat out simply

choose a meat that you wouldn’t normally have available to

you at home, very easy way to rotate protein sources.

2. Another great rule to get you started is to try one new meat,

vegetable, carb and fruit at home each week. So each and

every week you go to the grocery store, try something new.

Remember the selection can be super easy, just think colors.

There are tons of choices at the grocery store that should keep

you busy for a long time and when you want to, feel free to go

back to your old favorites. Sustainability is key but so is rotation.

In any case, Enjoy!

#3. Food Composition

Food composition refers to the chosen foods overall measurement in

quality in regards to your goals and lifestyle. Many factors come into

play when trying to rank a given food especially considering context.

Some foods might be better than other foods in one area, but fall short

in a different category. For example, one food may exceed another

food in antioxidants, but have less vitamins and minerals.

Measurements of protein composition include:

Bioavailability

Amino acid profile: Essential vs. Non-Essential Amino Acids

Vitamin / mineral content

Antioxidant content

Insulin index value

Overall nutrient density

Measurements of carbohydrate composition include:

Glycemic index

Fiber content

Vitamin / mineral content

Antioxidant content

Overall nutrient density

Measurements of fat composition include:

Amount of monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, saturated and

trans fats present

Omega 3 content

Vitamin / mineral content

Antioxidant content

Because of all the factors that come into play when ranking food

composition, the idea of a “superfood” doesn't exactly exist.

A lot of these super-foods (or multi-level marketing projects) claim

antioxidants as the Holy Grail to health. They throw around words like

oxidative damage or oxidative stress and more often than not don't

even know what oxidative stress actually is at the cellular level. Why

MLM people sell something they don't even understand completely

confuses me to no end.

Fact is, oxidative stress is a part of health. Every cell has both anti-

oxidants and its counter parts (Reactive Oxygen Species [ROS] /

Reactive Nitrogen Species [RNS]) and the homeostasis between these

two is very tightly controlled by the body. Much like your pH is

controlled. Oxidation provides protection through inflammation

against outside invaders. For example, if you get cut, the inflammation

surrounding that cut is helping the healing process and the protection

process. There is also another interesting example whereby an

element of oxidation from nitric oxide is being investigated for its

potential cancer preventative ability. Oxidation is not all bad, it is a

very normal, healthy process. Oxidation is excess however is not.

Isolating anti-oxidants in supplement form has been very unsuccessful

in research and has shown very neutral or even negative implications

at times. Beta-carotene, vitamin C and Vitamin E have been shown

ineffective in isolation in most controlled trials, along with many other

anti-oxidants.

Food on the other hand, in its unprocessed state is very complex in the

amount of nutrient content, interplay/synergy of nutrients and

structural components. So, while it would be convenient to say “X”

type of anti-oxidant does this or that, it is more often than not:

A) inactive outside of its natural mix of food

B) not the correct anti-oxidant found in the food which shows

correlation of protection or health in the first place

“Super-foods” don't exist. It is impossible to use a single parameter,

such as antioxidant content, to rank foods on a pyramid of “positive

effectiveness” against extremely complex diseases whose causes are

multifactorial. ALL FOODS are integrally functional within the context

of what your diet looks like as a whole. No one ranking accounts for

the foods potential positive benefits. This goes for all faucets of

nutrition, including performance nutrition for hockey.

No one thing can save a bad diet, the diet as a whole has to serve a

functional purpose to make you a better hockey player. In which

case, choosing a superior food composition more often than not is the

best route to take, and not eating like crap but drinking a cup a

greens extract every day to try and make up for it. It doesn’t work like

that.

Where food composition comes into play is the foods you choose that

make up your daily every day nutrition. Let’s compare two snacks with

identical macronutrient profiles.

SNACK #1: 1.5 cups blueberries = 34g carbohydrates

SNACK #2: 1 can of coke = 34g carbohydrates

BENEFITS:

SNACK #1: Blueberries

Great source of fiber

Anti-inflammatory

Antioxidant rich

Brain food for a number of reasons including: Improve neuron

connection in the brain communicate with one another which

improves memory, improved processing for co-ordination and

balance, enable new brain neuron creation.

One of the highest ORAC values in existence

Can be eaten frozen or raw, health benefits remain the same

Rich source of vitamins / minerals

SNACK #2: Coke

Contains artificial sweeteners, preservatives and colors

34g of simple sugars

Source of high fructose corn syrup which has been shown to

have a host of negative impacts on health

Creates no feelings of satiety and can actually raise hunger and

cravings

No real source of any vitamins, minerals or antioxidants

No fiber

No real health benefit whatsoever

Looking at them side by side, who do you believe is the victor? Of

course blueberries! Now I am not saying never ever have any junk

food (although that wouldn’t be a bad thing), I am simply saying

quality over quantity translates not just with your physique, but also in

other aspects of life. You can see blueberries had a massive impact

on brain health aside from the fact that it will help your body

composition and performance goals.

For the best food composition choices, check out the Offseason

Preferred Foods List.

#4. Nutrient Timing

First thing’s first. Nutrient timing is just a detail in comparison to total

intake. Meeting your total daily intake for calories and macronutrients

is far more effective than any nutrient timing strategy will ever be

when it comes to meeting your offseason goals, or any goal for that

matter.

Don’t be a hypocrite.

When I say don’t be a hypocrite I am talking to all those guys out there

who are completely wound up about having their pre-workout

exactly 30mins prior to exercise, and making sure that they have a

protein shake immediately after exercise. The guys who are extreme

about these kinds of things but yet don’t know how many grams of

protein, fat and carbohydrate they are getting in throughout the

entire day are completely missing the point. If you’re going to be

serious about something, make it about your total day nutrition. Not

about what time you have certain things at.

Now having made that point clear, there are advantages to certain

nutrition timing strategies. Sometimes the differences between

making the team and not making the team is because another guy

was just 2% better than you. Another example, sometimes the

difference between being a regular guy on your team to the team

captain is a difference in 10% of ability. Nutrient timing maximizes your

potential both in the short and long term and can make up these little

percentile differences and have you performing at your best.

PROTEIN TIMING: Without a doubt, the best strategy for protein timing

is all day amino acid availability. Meaning, you’re feeding your body

and its anabolic systems throughout the entire day with a higher meal

frequency (4-8 meals per day). Protein is not always just used for

muscle growth, it has many functions in the body.

Digestion of protein has 4 ultimate pathways for use and absorption:

A) Amino acids being used elsewhere in the body to create

hormones, transporters, enzymes, supporting detoxification

pathways, supporting immune system function, etc.

B) Amino acids being used as energy substrates to support

physical activity.

C) Amino acids being used to feed the Fractional Breakdown Rate

(FBR). The fractional breakdown rate is the rate in which muscle

protein is being broken down. Your body will tear down its own

muscle tissues to support either of the above to options. Also,

the body undergoes a natural breakdown rate due to

resistance training to build back up stronger than before.

Without incoming food, the breakdown of this muscle tissue will

not be replaced and you will have lost muscle mass.

D) Amino acids being used to feed the Fractional Synthetic Rate

(FSR). FSR operates in a curve pattern and is the measurement

of how much muscle you are putting on post-exercise. FSR

functions 24hrs a day and is adding muscle tissue to your

muscles after resistance training for up to 3-5 days on average.

This is of course depending on volume of the workout and

muscle groups trained.

As you can see from the above, you need protein to support many

bodily functions which require amino acids on an “as needed” basis.

But for you guys looking to build muscle tissue, FSR and FBR curves

operate 24hrs a day. So to maximize overall muscle growth and

muscle building potential it is best to have circulating amino acids in

your system feeding these curves at all times which is best done by

eating 4-8 meals per day, all containing some source of protein and

always meeting your daily intakes.

Having a high protein frequency is far more effective than just having

a shake post-workout. Especially since post-workout shakes normally

just contain whey protein which is in and out of your system in a hurry.

A typical solid food meal provides the body with amino acids for up

to 6hrs on average, making it much easier to sustain amino acids

levels in the body throughout the day.

Going back to what I said above about nutrient timing offering both

long term and short term results. Protein is the main component

bringing about long term results. It will not provide short term

performance enhancement and you will not “feel” anything. But if

you are feeding the FSR and the FBR curves round the clock and your

buddy is not, you will be the one who receives more results in the big

picture. That’s for sure.

CARBOHYDRATE TIMING: Because the primary requirement for meal

frequency is amino acid availability, carbohydrates role in meal

frequency becomes much less important. Carbohydrates area of

opportunity comes in the form of timing around the workout.

Carbohydrates are best eaten pre-workout, intra-workout, post-

workout and with your meal after the post-workout shake.

Carbohydrates are simply a fuel source for the body, they are not

essential for survival. Which makes them from a health perspective,

quite irrelevant. But from a muscle building, fat loss and performance

perspective, extremely relevant. A hockey player should never

embark on a low carb meal plan. Hockey players need

carbohydrates to support many systems that are responsible for

improving body composition and performance.

Technically, carbohydrates are best consumed during and within the

6 hours after training. You will notice in the provided meal plans that

almost your entire days’ worth of carbohydrates comes within this

window. This timing strategy is for two main reasons:

Reason #1: To keep elevated glucose levels during training.

Carbohydrates are provided during the training session for many

reasons:

They feed the FBR rate helping to reduce any muscle protein

breakdown.

Provide your body with an immediately available source of

energy during training so you can train harder, longer.

Carbohydrates are the preferred energy source for the nervous

system as well as the muscular system, adding a recovery benefit

with a more globalized approach rather than localized.

Increases nitric oxide levels in the gym leading to bigger pumps

and better performance

Reason #2: To replenish glycogen (carbohydrates stored in the muscle

cell as energy) more efficiently. It is very clear in the research that

glycogen is both more effectively and more rapidly replenished using

timing strategies and composition strategies. Meaning, ensuring your

carbohydrates come within the 6hrs after training is the best possible

time you can maximize carbohydrates being stored into the muscle

cell as energy as opposed to being stored as fat.

From a composition standpoint, during training and immediately after

training it is superior to have a very high glycemic index carbohydrate

source, normally in the form of powder. But as you get further away

from the training session, lower glycemic index options are better.

Such as brown rice, sweet potatoes and quinoa.

To put the carbohydrate timing strategy into a scenario, let’s pretend

you trained chest today. During and within the 6hrs after your chest

workout your chest is going to be very sensitive to insulin and is going

to uptake carbohydrates in the form of glycogen very effectively.

After the 6 hour point, this window starts to close.

You see, one thing a lot of people don’t know in nutrition is the fact

that elevated DOMS decreases insulin sensitivity. Which means, as

your muscle progressively gets sorer from training, it also becomes less

and less sensitive to the effects of insulin and therefore resistant to

uptaking carbohydrates. What does this mean for you? More fat

storage if carbohydrates are taken in ample amounts outside of this

window. Which is why we cram them in when we can because they

play a very important role in the big picture in performance.

Another relatively unknown aspect in nutrition is the fact that simply

just having a low amount of glycogen stored within the muscle sets of

intracellular signalling mechanisms that reduce your ability to build

muscle mass. That is, simply just having low levels of carbohydrates in

your muscles decreases muscle growth regardless of how hard you’re

training. That’s powerful stuff.

Once again I would like to tie back to my original statement on

nutrient timing having both a short and long term effect on

adaptations. Protein was seen to be the main long term provider but

carbohydrates is the obvious short term provider. Carbohydrates

increase the amount of energy you have on a day to day basis which

can have immediate short term effects on your training intensity.

But in the case of carbohydrate, too much isn’t a good thing. Stick to

the guidelines in the provided meal plans.

FAT TIMING: Fat timing simply runs opposite to carbohydrate timing.

Fat slows down digestion and absorption of nutrients so this is not

something you want around the training session. Fat should be

included in healthy amounts every day in your daily intake, just not

around or during the training session. Some fats have been tested for

performance in the past, such as MCT’s, but don’t even come close

to the effects of carbohydrates on training intensity.

So to put it short, if you train in the PM, have your fats in the AM. Or if

you train in the AM, have your fats in the PM. It’s as simple as that. So

special timing strategy or benefits to certain timing strategies

required.

#5. Hydration

I've gone into detail in the past in both videos and posts on certain

aspects of hydration although I hope to make this principal easier on

the eyes and make for a quick reference guide for everybody.

People generally overlook hydration as a minor point in physical

performance. Well I’m here to tell you it plays massive roles in all

aspects including health, muscle building, fat loss and energy levels in

and out of the gym. Think about it, muscle is around 70% water, how

much muscle do you think the dehydrated man is going to build?

None!

Additionally, research has shown even slight levels of dehydration can

not only affect performance but also create rises in the stress hormone

cortisol. Cortisol runs antagonistic with testosterone, meaning; if you’re

dehydrated, your testosterone levels are suffering as well. Regardless

of whatever diet and supplements you’re on. Water is that important.

Defining the problem: Levels of dehydration and their negative

implications

1. A 0.5% loss in body water: increase cardiac output (more stress

on the heart)

2. A 1% loss in body water: Decreased aerobic endurance

3. A 3% loss in body water: Reduced muscular endurance

4. A 4% loss in body water: Reduced muscle strength, reduced

motor skills and increased heat cramps

5. A 5% loss in body water: Heat exhaustion, cramping, fatigue,

reduced mental capacity

6. A 6% loss in body water: Physical exhaustion, heatstroke, coma.

7. A 10-20% loss in body water: Death

As you can see, the decreases in overall athletic performance begin

at such an early stage of dehydration. So for those of you who know

you don't drink enough water day in and day out, a simple increase

in water intake could be next push you need in the gym or on the ice

to better yourself.

QUICK STRATEGIES FOR HYDRATION

1. A weigh in pre and post workout. Simply put, if you weigh less

after your workout, you didn't drink enough. If you weigh more,

you drank too much. For proper hydration, for 1kg loss in body

weight you need to replace with 1.5L of fluid. Having said this,

don't become a manic stress ball and weigh yourself every

workout, once you have done it a few times you know your rate

of loss and can estimate from there.

2. Taurine + Electrolytes seems to help drastically with cramping if

you are still cramping after proper rehydration

3. Your pee should be clear or slightly yellow throughout the whole

day. If you're peeing 5x throughout the day and 2x after a

workout, you're doing well.

4. There are many water intake guidelines out there, my personal

favorite is Body weight / 2 = daily intake in ounces. Example:

200lbs / 2 = 100oz daily water intake (this shouldn't include

exercise as different people sweat at different rates, this is simply

a guide for throughout the day hydration)

HYDRATION MYTHS

1. Water is the only re-hydration beverage. This is complete non-

sense. We gather hydration from all fluids (aside from alcohol)

and also many foods. In fact, milk has been shown in the

research to be provide more hydration to muscle cells post-

exercise then water in some cases.

2. Coffee dehydrates you. Coffee does have a mild diuretic effect

but not one that is strong enough to outdo its own fluid you drink.

Caffeinated drinks will not net-dehydrate you. You gain more

than you lose.