Your Maintenance Tips
Maintaining weight sounds simple, but most hockey players drift either up or down during a season.
Maintenance is really about matching fuel to workload so your body stays consistent and reliable.
The Real Goal
The goal is energy balance... which is eating enough to recover and perform, without accidentally bulking or slowly dieting.
Maintaining is a form of performance protection.
Eat Consistently
Large swings in food intake cause unwanted weight change.
Why consistency works:
Stabilises energy
Keeps hormones balanced
Supports recovery
What to do:
Avoid skipping meals
Eat similar portions daily
Adjust slightly based on training load
High load days need more fuel.
Light days need a little less.
Build Balanced Plates
Every meal should include:
Protein - muscle repair
Carbs - skating fuel
Fats - hormones and recovery
Veg/Fruit - health and digestion
Example:
Chicken + potatoes + vegetables + olive oil
Match Day Fuelling
Most maintenance mistakes happen around games.
Before:
Carbs for glycogen
Light protein
Hydration
After:
Protein to repair
Carbs to refill
Fluids and electrolytes
If you under fuel matches, your body compensates later with poor choices.
Control the Weekends
Maintenance fails mostly because of social habits.
Big hitters:
Alcohol
Takeaways
Mindless snacking
You don’t need to avoid them; just control portions and frequency so two days don’t undo five.
Adjust With Training Changes
Your calorie target isn’t static.
More training → more food
Less training → slightly less food
If workload drops but food stays high, weight creeps up.
If workload rises but food stays low, weight drops and performance follows.
Monitor Performance
Watch:
Body weight trend
Strength levels
Speed and conditioning
How you feel in sessions
If strength drops, you’re accidentally dieting.
If conditioning feels heavy, you’re likely over fuelling.