This break from normality has provided a brilliant opportunity for people to review their routines and change bad habits. There's no GAA being played at the moment, and there won't be any time soon, but this is the perfect opportunity to review the way we prepare for games.
Daniel Davey is one of the most interesting voices on sports nutrition in Ireland. The Sligoman has worked with Leinster Rugby and Dublin GAA and he knows how to fuel elite athletes.
This week he appeared on The 2 Johnnies show, and while he had a lot of interesting things to say about chicken rolls (don't eat them) and fasting, his tips for prematch nutrition will be particularly enlightening for GAA players out there, as well as footballers and rugby players
A conversation with Johnny Smacks on halftime shites was the highlight of the programme, and captured the struggles of all amateur athletes perfectly.
Smacks: "I remember one time holding it for a whole half...I didn't run for the first half."
Davey: "You're actually talking about the exact kind of issues I'm trying to avoid. You ate too much food on game day too close to your game. That is an absolutely beautiful example of what not to do. If you do preparation on the day before - eat light, you don't need to eat that much on game day, you're fuelled, you're ready to go, you're light on your feet. you're ready for a game.
He added:
"The best athletes are focused on their preparation and they're thinking a week out 'what am I going to have two days before, what am I going to have a day before, what am I going to have the day of'."
Davey says you should get too caught up on what you're eating on the day itself and that the real results come from what you eat the day or two before a match. On the day before a game he urges 'a good bowl of porrdige, or muesli or granola with fruit...the day before, that's where the energy is coming from.'
The day before is your critical preparation day, particularly if it's a midafternoon game
His day-before tips are for a lunch with pasta or rice and a carb-heavy dinner like shepherd's pie or pasta. On match day, he urges a light breakfast. "70% of the calories or energy you're looking for are carbs." He says Sean O'Brien goes for creamed rice on match day. Others like pancakes.
He especially warns against high fibre breakfasts on match day, and says that will send you straight to the jacks.
Davey also urges people not to experiment with energy drinks on match day. He tells the story about having two bottles of Red Bull with his breakfast on game day and having to make a sudden sprint for the jacks at the stroke of halftime.
