This is a difficult time for everyone, but there is not much we can do about it now.  We can only control how we react to the changing world.  This will pass, and we will resume our lives again.  Sports will return, and we will get back into our routines.  We do not know how long that will take.  Will it be 2 weeks, 4, 6, 8?  There will be two types of athletes when this resolves itself.  Those who got ahead and those who fell behind.  Which one will you be?   

While you do not have your team, you do not have your coach designing practices, you do not have pre-scheduled workouts and training, you do have time.  We all have a lot of time, and what we do with that time will determine where we are at when we come out of it.  Are you sitting around and falling out of shape?  Are you losing strength?  Are you dropping shot velocity?  Are you creating life habits that will be difficult to change or are you creating the habits that will ultimately lead to success? 

You can choose to come out of this as a better player.  A better athlete.  When will you have another opportunity to dedicate your time to only training your body?  In this era of physical distancing and isolation, you have hours to fill.  What are you filling it with?  Are you playing video games and binging on Netflix?  Are you living a sedentary life or are you working out?  Are you finding time to improve your aerobic and anaerobic capacities?  Are you working on your skills like puck handling, shooting, hand eye coordination?  Are you working on your explosive power with plyometrics and short sprints?  Are you developing the fast twitch muscles so you will be faster when you get back on the ice?  We have choices, and some of you will throw away an opportunity.  This is a rare opportunity to spend some time developing yourself as a person and as an athlete.  Here are 5 tips to help you place structure in your day.   

Normalize Your Sleep Patterns 
 

Staying up until 2am and sleeping until noon is not where you want to be when you come out of this.  Get to bed at a reasonable hour and wake up in the morning hours.  Create a routine that replicates your normal life before we were asked to Stay at Home.   

Make Your Bed

Accomplish something as soon as you wake up.  In the military, one of the first things they teach you is to make your bed.  Complete this task and you have already accomplished something for the day.  It will set you up for success for the next 24 hours. 

Take a Shower 
 

One day turns to two, to three.  Then you are just getting lazy and unmotivated.  Shower like you would any other day. 

Schedule a Workout 
 

Set a workout time and stick to it. Since you have the time, dedicate some real time.  A 45 minute workout and 30-45 minutes of skills.  What else are you going to do? 

• Find a specific time during the day and stick to your workout routine 
• Shoot some pucks 
• Work on some stickhandling 
• Strength workouts mixed with plyos and sprints 
• Increase your heart rate and cardio 

Find Time to Read 
 

Take the time to read each day.  Do not just rely on your schoolwork but read something outside of school.  Read for enjoyment and read to exercise your mind.  Pick a time each day and schedule reading time.   

Many of you have relied on team training sessions for your cardio, and without those, it will be a challenge to push yourself.  Those of you who can establish this as a habit will ultimately separate from the pack.  You have an opportunity in front of you, but you will have to make some difficult choices.  The decisions you make for yourself will have an impact on where you end up.  What choice will you make?