Protein Shakes Nutrition

NHLers at the School of Robs

It is a Civic Holiday. Most stores are closed and the city feels empty. Folks have either fled for the cottage or are out relaxing on a patio with a beer. But for 15 or so hockey players — almost all of them multi-millionaires — it is just another day of training to the point of exhaustion at Gary Roberts High Performance Centre.

“Working out doesn’t take a holiday,” says Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steven Stamkos.

Think the NHL is a winter sport? Think again. The real work takes place in the summer, inside hot and cramped gyms with no windows and no rest.

Arriving at 9 a.m., players begin the day by having their body fat measured. This involves pinching a player’s skin with a pair of calipers that resemble lobster claws. When the skin around the waist of Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Sam Carrick is too easily grabbed, wisecracks are made.

“He spent a week fishing,” someone says. “Obviously, he hasn’t been doing sit-ups.”

Carolina Hurricanes forward Jeff Skinner also gets the gears for taking the last two weeks off. “Rookie of the year,” says someone. “I guess you can do whatever you want.”

The trash talking is to motivate. Many of these players might be opponents during the season, but during the summer they are all students enrolled in what they call “School of Robs.”

This is not your local gym’s BodyPump class. This is an intense summer-long program that includes physical training, nutrition and mandated rest. Roberts’ advice to anyone interested: do not sign up unless you are serious.

For those that are, serious gains can be expected. Stamkos won the Rocket Richard Trophy as the league’s top goal-scorer in 2009-10 after working out with Roberts the previous year. Skinner, the youngest player in the NHL last season, won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie.

Those testimonials is what brought brothers Jordan and Jared Staal here. They live in Thunder Bay, but both travelled to the Toronto gym, located in the north end of the city, to learn the program for the first time this summer so that they can do it at home.

They do not mind that Roberts is not a certified strength and conditioning coach. Or that he did not go to school to be a nutritionist. They trust that Roberts knows what works because, as he says, “I’ve learned from life experiences.”

You probably know the story by now.  Roberts’ career came to a halt in 1996 with the Calgary Flames when his physical playing style left his neck in shambles. Nerve and disk damage led to surgeries, which led to scar tissue and bone spurs, which left him weak and unable to play. He was out of the game at the age of 30. After six months of eating junk food and doing nothing, he decided to change his life around. He saw a chiropractor and a yoga instructor. He discovered protein shakes and organic foods. Eighteen months later after retiring, he returned to the league in 1997 and played another 11 seasons.

Big-Ass Protein Shakes: What NOT To Do When You're Trying to be ...

I have to confess I have a love-hate relationship with protein shakes. On the one hand, they’re great for getting that extra boost when you wanna pack on some muscle. On the other hand, if you take it to the extreme like I did many years ago, well… it ain’t pretty. This is the story of ‘The Protein Incident’ – my old radio morning show partner LOVES it when I have to re-tell this. Gets her off I guess, but whatever works for ya

Back in ’97, I was doing a radio morning show and we did a promotion with a local gym and bodybuilding company where me and my morning girl would start a nutrition/exercise program and keep our listeners updated on our progress. Great. I was excited because we’d get to workout with these personal trainers and I needed the motivation. So we set up a program, the guys gave us a bunch of free supplements (their brand of course) and told us what to eat and when. We met them at the gym a few days a week and powered through some pretty intense workouts. In fact, on my first day, the trainer asked me what I normally used when doing biceps curls. At the time, itwas only about 25 lbs. He told me to pick up the 50′s and go for it. I cried. He slapped me, and I was OK.

Anyway, obviously the nutrition was a big part of the program. Well, being in radio, I didn’t have a lot of time on my hands to formulate a plan of attack and consume tons of food. So, brilliantly, I figured I could replace several meals a day with protein shakes. No biggie – lotsa people do it. As the weeks went by, I started getting bigger and more ripped. In fact, those were the most incredible results I’ve ever had (of course like an idiot I never thought to have pictures taken). Loving the results, I increased the amount of protein I was drinking, until towards the end I was taking in a 1,000-calorie shake THREE times a day. Now, for lotsa huge bodybuilders, that may be nothing. But for a smaller guy like me, I might as well have had a feeding tube jacked in to my stomach pumping protein 24/7. It was a recipe for disaster.

After about 3-4 weeks of these shakes – and understand that I wasn’t drinking NEARLY enough water or eating much real food at all – I started feeling tired more often. One morning after drinking my shake, I felt like I had just run a marathon – I had to literally sit down in a chair during our morning show – I was that drained. Wasn’t sure if I was getting sick or what, so I went another day or so before realizing something was wrong. Saw a doctor and told him what was going on, and he immediately told me I was doing WAY too much protein. He mentioned something called “renal failure” and I thought “Great – my ass is gonna fall off.” Actually, renal failure means a major problem with your kidneys, and mine were on the brink of shutting down. In fact, I had taken in SO much protein that my entire digestive system went haywire.

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