Fuel, 5 of 9. From Week 5 of the Hockey IQ book.
From the locker room: My recovery score on my WHOOP is terrible all season: ice before school, practice after, homework till 11. The one thing I can control in under an hour is the wrap and chocolate milk in my bag. It shows up in the numbers.
The rule: Within 30–60 minutes after a game or hard practice: carbs + protein together. Then a real dinner. Then sleep.
Why: Right after hard exercise your muscles are a wrung-out sponge. In that first hour they soak up whatever you give them. Give them nothing and tomorrow feels heavy. Give them the right thing and the next day looks like a different player. On a tournament weekend, the snack after game one is the best thing you can do for game two.
If it has carbs + protein, it works:
- 🟨🟥 Chocolate milk
- 🟥🟨 Turkey wrap or sandwich
- 🟥🟨 PB&J
- 🟥🟨 Bagel with peanut butter
- 🟥🟩 Yogurt + fruit, cottage cheese + fruit
- 🟥🟨 Cheese and crackers + fruit
- Leftover dinner
The recovery meal that night is where the real repair happens: chicken, steak, or eggs (protein; lean beef also brings iron), nuts (healthy fats, magnesium), blueberries or any dark berry (antioxidants), and carbs on the plate, always. You can build that off any dining hall line: grilled chicken instead of pizza, eggs at the omelet station, rice or potatoes, nuts from the salad bar, berries from the fruit bowl.
The habit: The snack goes in the bag before you leave the house, not after the game.
Make it: The Locker Room Wrap. Tortilla, hummus or cream cheese edge to edge (it’s the glue), turkey, cheese, spinach or cucumber. Fold sides in, roll tight, foil, cut in half. Pack with a chocolate milk. Survives the bottom of a hockey bag.
Parents: the long version, with the stories, is on the Athlete Nutrition guide.
FIND. A. WAY.
