His One-Two-Three Punch: Hockey, Boxing, Brazilian Jujitsu

While league games last an hour with stop time, group skates are 90 minutes of nonstop action. Players use the honor system in lieu of a referee, which speeds up the game. There are usually 15 to 20 players, ranging in age from 35 to 72, at any given game. They throw their sticks in the center of the ice and the game organizer randomly tosses sticks into two piles to select teams. “It is a totally different vibe,” he says. “I can compliment a great play by an opponent without having my own colleagues frown at me.”

The Naperville, Ill.-based owner of Performance Lighting Chicago, a lighting design and production company, credits 10 years of boxing and mixed martial arts training for keeping him physically and mentally fit for the ice.

“Mixed martial arts works your lower body, upper body and core, and it’s improved my reaction time and agility, which translates on the ice,” he says.

The Workout

Mr. Peterson plays hockey Wednesday afternoons and Thursday nights in Darien, Ill. During the winter he also plays Sunday mornings at an outdoor ice arena at a nearby YMCA. “A few weeks ago we played in a blizzard,” he says.

Mr. Peterson’s daughter, Jasmine, now 25, helped introduce him to mixed martial arts 15 years ago. “Now when she’s home, we spar. At Thanksgiving, I thought I could hold her off, but she locked me in a choke hold seven times.” His new favorite style is Brazilian jujitsu, which focuses on ground fighting and self-defense. He also boxes. “I love the rhythm of the mitt work: jab, cross, slip, slip, jab, roll under, hook,” he says. “And it’s kind of fun hitting things hard, but not another person.”

He boxes for one hour and then does a 75-minute Brazilian jujitsu class twice a week. He takes an additional 75-minute jujitsu class Wednesday mornings. “I skip the boxing so I have energy for afternoon hockey,” he says.

Mr. Peterson is religious about stretching after hockey and before bed. He says performing stretches such as the iron cross, where you lay on your back, raise a straight leg in the air and lay it back down to the ground across your body while keeping arms outstretched in a T-shape and shoulders on the ground, have helped alleviate lower-back pain.

The Diet

In the morning, he eats blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries and Quaker Oats with raisins and apples. His guilty pleasure is Frosted Mini-Wheats. A “not too yellow” banana is his go-to post-workout fuel. He also enjoys a protein powder shake and mixed nuts. He tends to skip lunch.

Throughout a hockey game he keeps hydrated with diluted Gatorade G2, a low-calorie version of the sports drink. Dinner might include short ribs, kale and a spinach salad. “Five minutes before dinner is served, my wife yells out, ‘Honey, go ahead and make your broccoli,’ ” he says. “She won’t eat it, but that is my power food. I steam it in the microwave to go with almost every meal.”

The Gear & Cost

Mr. Peterson bought his Bauer Vapor skates for $950. He owns a half-dozen high-end sticks ranging from $100 to $300 each. Protective gear cost just over $1,000 and includes helmet, shoulder and elbow pads, gloves and shin and ankle guards. He contributes between $15 and $20 for ice time.

Mr. Peterson pays $135 a month for MMA and boxing classes at Carlson Gracie Team MMA studio in North Aurora, Ill. He wears a gi, a kimono-like outfit comprised of pants, a jacket and a belt ($100) made by Fuji, with a 100% polyester Nike Dri-Fit shirt ($35) underneath. “I perspire a great deal when I work out, and this fabric wicks so well that I barely look like I’m covered in sweat,” he says. His Ringside boxing shoes cost $56 and his Title Gel boxing gloves cost $120. He swears by the TriggerPoint neck and back roller that his daughter gave him.

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