Diet: For Matt Duchene, it meant getting rid of gluten, dropping 10 pounds and adding more quickness and energy.

Exercise: For Duchene, it meant not just going through the motions, but learning more what the motions could do for his body.

The result of Duchene’s new diet and exercise regimen: 28 points in his first 25 games, after a 2011-12 season in which he had only 28 points in 58 games. The Avalanche center is too busy to write a diet and exercise book, but if he did it might become a best seller. His NHL career is back on the right track, and Duchene said it’s largely because of new eating and workout habits that started soon after his frustrating, injury-filled season.

“Getting leaner was a step I needed to take, but I couldn’t figure out why I was having a hard time doing it. And what we figured out was my body has a really high intolerance to wheat and gluten,” Duchene said. “You learn in school from the food guys that you’re supposed to have a certain serving every day of wheat and grains, and it’s not true. You shouldn’t eat what’s not great for you.

“It’s been a big difference for me, not just in getting leaner, but in how I feel. I just feel like I have energy all the time now. It used to be a roll of the dice whether I’d feel good in a game or not, and there were some games I didn’t play the way I could because I just didn’t feel good. During a season, I used to lose some weight, and think I had to pound the food down. So that meant a lot of bread and pasta and things like that.”

Gluten, that sticky compound that gives elasticity to so many of our favorite foods, but makes pounds stick to the body, has become phased out of the diets of many athletes. Duchene had always had a nominally healthy diet, preferring foods such as salmon and sushi over burgers and fries. But like a lot of players, he had a passion for breads and pastas, foods plentiful with gluten. He also learned how much sugar is in food, such as a slice of whole wheat bread.

Now that gluten is mostly free from his diet, Duchene’s weight has dropped from the 204 of last season to 194. He also is much stronger, and that’s where the new workout routine comes in.

After last season, Duchene enlisted the services of Andy O’Brien, a fitness trainer whose clients include Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Last summer, Duchene and Crosby trained together under O’Brien’s guidance.

O’Brien, based in Calgary, Alberta, emphasized workouts for hockey players that strengthen core muscles in the abdomen, back and hips, and in ways that better connect those muscles to the rest of the body.

“Two years ago, before I came into camp, I was squatting 500 pounds eight times. But the problem was, it wasn’t functional,” Duchene said. “OK, my legs were strong, but it wasn’t connected to my core. This past summer, I would do 150 pounds, but with perfect form where I was activated everywhere. You get so much stronger doing that, and get so much more out of it because whenever you’re lifting too heavy, your form isn’t right and you’re not connected. Before, I had some weaknesses, like my hip flexibility was awful. That’s the biggest thing I’ve improved on, hip flexibility.”

On the advice of Crosby, Duchene shortened the length of his stick by 2 inches. Because his legs and hips are more flexible, he can skate lower to the ice. The shorter stick has helped his passing and puck handling.

“You can really see the difference in Matt’s game now. He really worked hard and it’s paid off,” said Avs coach Joe Sacco.

Duchene plans to train even harder this summer with Crosby, O’Brien and others. But he hopes his offseason workout routine begins later than usual because the Avs are in the playoffs.

“It’s been rewarding to get so much improvement personally from this. But the only thing that will really mean anything to me is us being a winning team,” Duchene said.

Dining with Matt Duchene

Breakfast: “Usually, I’ll get up and have some scrambled eggs or some sort of protein right away. I have some supplements I take, like some fish oil and sunflower oil, which helps with body fat and stuff, and some pro- biotics.

Lunch: “I’ll try to keep it as low carb as possible and mostly just protein. If I do a carb, it’ll mostly be brown rice, and then I’ll grab some sushi (spicy tuna roll with avocado is a favorite).”

Dinner: “I eat a lot of fish. The other night I had a seared ahi tuna as an appetizer and then the main meal might be salmon, sometimes a steak, and a veggie on the side. (Recently in Minnesota) I had a filet of salmon, with some potatoes and a side order of broccolini.”

Dessert: “Not very often, but from time to time. You can do it during the season because you burn so many calories. My favorite? Molten lava cake.” Adrian Dater, The Denver Post