Game On Magazine - April 2017 GameOn-Apr2017-P001-144-ONLINE | Page 44

CONDITIONING
Mentally Prepare
for
QUINTON HOWDEN WORKING
OUT AT THE MTS ICEPLEX WITH
JETS DEFENSEMAN
MARK STUART AND JETS
HOCKEY DEVELOPMENT
SKATING COACH DAVE CAMERON
W
Success
hile a lot of our work done at the gym and at the
rink determines our level of success. there are many
things such as nutrition, sleep and mental wellness
that can be done away from the rink. All of those things will aid in
achieving our goals.
The most often overlooked of these factors is mental wellness and
preparation. We do a lot to prepare ourselves physically for success
in athletics as the nature of sports themselves are physical, but we
don’t do enough to prepare mentally for success. Here is a step by
step plan for you to do every morning which will allow you to get the
most out of your day and put yourself in the right frame of mind to
dominate on the ice.
A. J. ZEGLEN
your arm’s reach so you physically have to get up to turn it off.
Step 3: Visualization. Now that you’re up. Take 7-12 minutes to visu-
alize yourself having success in whatever you are doing that day. Sit
up, close your eyes and see yourself dominating your day. If you’re
going to the gym, see yourself completing great reps. If you’re going
to the rink, see yourself scoring the goal, making the pass or blocking
the shot. This applies to everything, if you’re not training or playing
hockey that day. but you’re going grocery shopping, see yourself at
the store with your well-prepared list so you don’t forget anything,
being efficient with your time and being friendly to every person who
crosses your path, so interacting with you is a positive experience for
everyone.
Step 1: Bedtime Journal. There is a popular saying, “win tomorrow Step 4: Gratitude Journal. Keep a second journal handy and take
today,” which applies nicely to our first step. If we are trying to have
a great day tomorrow, it starts with a good night sleep the night be-
fore. In order to have a great sleep we want the proper environment:
dark, quiet room without distractions. If you have tried this you
may notice that being in a dark, quiet environment leaves
you alone with your own thoughts which can be pretty dis-
tracting in their own right. Having a journal beside the
bed where we can write down all our thoughts, ideas,
and concerns will allow us to empty our mind. Knowing
that all these thoughts have now been acknowledged
and our ideas or important things we don’t want to for-
get the next day will be on paper waiting for us, allows
us to relax, clear our minds and have a better
sleep.
Step 2: First Alarm. If you use an
alarm clock to wake up in the
morning get up on the first
alarm, no snooze button.
We don’t want to start
our day by putting it
off five minutes at
a time. We should
want to start
the day with
conviction
and purpose.
A
helpful
tip can be
to place your
alarm
clock
away
from
44 GAME ON
2017 PLAYOFF EDITION
a couple minutes to write down one thing for which you’re grate-
ful. Nothing is too big or too small. It could be something specific
that happened to you the previous day or something more general
like an overall appreciation for how awesome your friends
and family are. Pick something new every day. Once
you start, and think it about it for a couple minutes,
it will become easy. There’s always something to be
grateful for and acknowledging it daily will put you
in a positive frame of mind to continue to think and
attract positivity throug