Nowadays, athletes have entire teams of sports scientists breaking down exactly what's best for them in every facet of their health - especially their diets. In a recent interview, Wayne Gretzky revealed that his pre-game diet looked nothing like the nutrition a current-day hockey player would get.
Gretzky said he'd be crushing four hot dogs, a slice of pizza, a piece of cake, and two diet cokes before a game. It's still normal for athletes to load up on calories before a game, but they'd look much different than the junk food athletes were putting back in the past. Plenty of NHL players used to smoke cigarettes in the dressing room, and even now, some players still reportedly step out for a dart in between periods.
In the modern NHL, athletes pre-game routines consist of a nap, loading on carbs with rice or pastas, and low fat protein - meaning a lot of chicken.
These stories have obviously come out before, but it's great to imagine a player of Gretzky's calibre having unprecedented success without any of the advances in science and technology we have today. If anything, it's a testament to how far and above the competition Gretzky was.
Source: GinoHard on X
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Do you think food before sport makes a difference? | ||
Yes, proper nutrition is important | 158 | 78.2 % |
Nope, if Wayne can do it anyone can | 33 | 16.3 % |
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