Pre-Game Prep

[Choppy 0]

I have a full time office job I have to get up early in the morning for and leave around 7:00 pm on average for. I usually play hockey right after work and I have been doing this for about a year now. Lately I have been getting more tired and my level of play has gone down. Since I cannot take pre game naps I am am trying different supplements and energy drinks. So far the only effective one is Lipovitan B3 (the small glass bottles) but you have to eat before hand or you will hit the wall very quickly. Caffeine based drinks like Red Bull just make me feel bad. You guys have any good solutions?

[seanmccann 3]

I have a full time office job I have to get up early in the morning for and leave around 7:00 pm on average for.  I usually play hockey right after work and I have been doing this for about a year now.  Lately I have been getting more tired and my level of play has gone down.  Since I cannot take pre game naps I am am trying different supplements and energy drinks.  So far the only effective one is Lipovitan B3 (the small glass bottles) but you have to eat before hand or you will hit the wall very quickly.  Caffeine based drinks like Red Bull just make me feel bad.  You guys have any good solutions?

How many days a week do you play hockey? Do you currently workout?

[Chadd 916]

That's not bad. it's the 11PM games that are killers.

[Choppy 0]

I have a full time office job I have to get up early in the morning for and leave around 7:00 pm on average for.  I usually play hockey right after work and I have been doing this for about a year now.  Lately I have been getting more tired and my level of play has gone down.  Since I cannot take pre game naps I am am trying different supplements and energy drinks.  So far the only effective one is Lipovitan B3 (the small glass bottles) but you have to eat before hand or you will hit the wall very quickly.  Caffeine based drinks like Red Bull just make me feel bad.  You guys have any good solutions?

How many days a week do you play hockey? Do you currently workout?

I play hockey 4 times a week. 2 league games, one pickup, and one stick time to work on my skills. In between hockey days I do 30 min on a exercise bike on an sprint-rest program, one legged squats (need work on my technique though), wrist curls, 20 min with a gyroball for wrists (helps a lot, recommend it for everyone), pushups, and crunches. I have been skipping days here and there because I have gotten so tired lately but I have been doing this for about a year.

I am 24 and I have no aspirations of making it big in the pros. I play in a competitive adult league and just want to keeep improving so I try to do as much as I can.

Most of my games are at 8:30 pm or 9:30 pm with the occasional 10:30 pm game thrown in. 11:00 pm games just sound plain evil though...

[Shorthanded67 0]

I feel the pain. I work a stand-up medium labor job 6 days a week, and play hockey 5 nights a week. I work from 5am to about 4pm and my gametimes start anywhere between 6pm to 11:30pm. The 6pm games are tough because I'm still tired from work (and rush-hour traffic sucks) but the 11:30 games are especially brutal because my alarm clock goes off at 3:45 every morning. By the time I get home from an 11:30 game, shower, and wind down (which I'm currently in the process of as I type this), I don't hit the bed until nearly 2am. Basically any free time I get, I use to sleep (nap).

I'm 27 years old so I have no aspirations of "playing pro" but I do like to remain competitive in upper house leagues and tournaments. I feel like my skills are there but the biggest thing hampering my development over the last 10 years has been lack of training time. I've never had time to hit the gym, workout, get proper sleep. So many players in this same boat... Skills will get you so far, but proper training time puts you over that hump.

[freq019 0]

That's not bad. it's the 11PM games that are killers.

preach it brother although I'm getting good at faking work the day after on 4hrs of sleep :D

Edit: To answer the question or to take a stab at it. my first guess would be that you are probably not eating enough or not eating properly, if you're playing at a highlevel 5 nights a week plus working you're cranking through the calories which would explain why you're tired. Also it may just be too much, with work 5 days a week and hockey you're asking a lot of you body.