Bundee Aki: 'I get a very honest answer about how I’ve played from my kids'
Ireland’s Bundee Aki in action. Pic: INPHO/Ben Brady
I try to sleep in at weekends but only manage to get to about 8am. The weeks that I train, I’m up with the alarm at 6am.
For breakfast, I’ll have six Weetabix, a bagel, a banana, and orange juice.
On days that I’m not training, I might reduce that down to three Weetabix and wouldn’t have a bagel. I also love coffee, so that’s a priority!
On the drive to the training grounds, I enjoy listening to a podcast. I’ve listened to a lot of Joe Rogan’s podcast.
I’ll also listen to , a podcast from the wives of athletes, who I know very well. I usually laugh along.
Other times I listen to music when I’m on the road. Sometimes I’m a techno guy, other times, I’m in the mood for R&B or reggae.
People are often surprised when I tell them that I’m a huge country music fan too.
If we’ve downtime, I’ll spend it playing chess on my phone. I love playing chess or doing puzzles. It keeps me from getting bored, but it also keeps my mind fit.
Then we’ll usually start into rehab, doing stretches, and going through videos of past performances, as well as looking towards the next team we will play. There’s a lot of work that goes into video analysis and behind-the-scenes strategy. Some sessions we split into backs and forwards, or we go into jump sessions.
I’m always fully focused and zoned into training. At this level, you have to be.
Every day, I write down my goals of what I want out of a training session, what I’m targeting or what I want to achieve. Afterwards, I reflect on how it went and what I can do better.
I have long-term goals too which I write down and tick off every now and again. But if I’m not focused on rugby, I’m trying to be present with my family.
When I’m at home, I’m home. My children are 15, 12, three and one. It’s a crazy, hectic household at the moment.
The older girls watch the game; they aren’t really into sport themselves, but they watch it with an eagle eye and are very critical of how I play. I get a very honest answer about how I’ve played from my kids.
Our on-site chef is amazing. He looks after all our lunch and snacks throughout the day. You can tell there’s a lot of time and effort into the nutrients in our meals and he always changes up the snacks.
Recently, we had a steak sambo. We also have things like duck pancakes, and that isn’t the lunch – it’s just the snack!
If I’m at home, afternoons are all about the kids. Depending on the weather, we might go for a walk or meet friends. When the little ones are having a nap in the afternoon, and I’m off, then it’s my time to hit the PlayStation. I usually play .
If we’ve been at training, I get back to the hotel about this time. Once we get back, I’ll do a review of how training went. You do get time to switch off, but sometimes you might have something on your mind from training that you want to have a look at, so you go to the computers and then, of course, you end up watching a couple of hours of various games.
My door at the hotel is always on the latch, so a few of the lads come into my room. We sit around and chat away and have a cup of tea. We also watch a bit of TV.
My room’s always open for the boys to come in. I think when you are away from family, you rely on one another. There’s a great camaraderie.
My wife Kayla cooks amazing food for us at home, I’m very lucky. But I also try to cook with the kids because they absolutely love that. We’ll bake together, usually whatever they want to do that particular day.
We might make banana cakes or cornflakes with chocolate; whatever it is they’ve decided on.
At the moment, I’m trying to cut my eating and balance nutrition wisely so it’s hard to resist. Different players in different positions have different diet programmes, but it’s not massively strict.
By now, we are well-drilled into finding that balance. My guilty pleasure would be a good Chinese or a Supermacs.
When I sleep, I sleep. No one is waking me when I fall asleep, but trying to get to sleep is the problem sometimes. I’m either on my phone or watching something on TV, and suddenly it’s 12.30am and I’m up at six.
I do have a nice hot bath before I fall asleep. I find that really helps me to wind down.
- New Zealand-born Irish rugby player Bundee Aki is a brand ambassador for Intersport Elverys. He recently received the prestigious Guinness Rugby Writers of Ireland Men’s Player of the Year award.
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