Gerwyn Price has lost nearly three stone in weight and there is nothing complicated behind his method to get in better shape.
The 40-year-old begins his World Darts Championship campaign against Adam Gawlas on Tuesday night, hoping to lift the Sid Waddell Trophy for a second time.
He will step onto the Alexandra Palace stage having dropped a lot of weight since the summer and feeling much better for it.
The Iceman, a former rugby player, has always been a gym-goer, but it was just a tweak to his diet that has seen the pounds fall off.
‘I just started to eat a little bit cleaner,’ Price told the Daily Mail. ‘I eat at the right times, try and keep in a calorie deficit. ‘I have lost almost three stone I think.
‘It makes me feel a lit better in myself. I am slipping on a large shirt rather than an extra large and my waist size has gone down. I feel a lot more comfortable in myself when I’m on stage – the energy is obviously still there – I have got a bit more energy for the longer days I think.’
Darts players are not known for great levels of fitness, but Price feels being in shape is beneficial in the longer games, such as late in the World Championship.
‘I wouldn’t say you have to be an athlete,’ he told The Sun. ‘But it’s obviously in your own interests and it benefits you if you aren’t overweight.
‘Or if you’re in a bit better shape, especially when it gets to the bigger tournaments where it’s longer formats.
‘I’ve done it for myself to get in the best physical shape and mentality as well. Obviously, it makes it a bit easier when you’re not tired.’
One key to getting in shape for Price has been not eating too much at his own chip shop, Chippy501 in Markham, Wales.
‘I live right next door so I am in and out there all the time, especially when I am at home,’ Price told the Mail.
‘We have always had a decent fish and chip shop in the village and the one we had had closed down. I had a building and I didn’t know what I was going to do with it. When it shut, I thought it was my opportunity to keep one in the village, so I opened up my own.
‘I don’t eat a lot of it. I try not to, hence why I have lost a little bit of weight.’
