WHAT YOU SHOULD BE DOING THIS MONTHÉ FUELLING EARLY SESSIONS MOVE 1
EVER HEARD of recovery or smoothie bowls? Our nutritionist James Morehen believes they are the next big thing in elite nutrition.
“They are a brilliant way to add in key nutrients depending on what the day or session looks like,” he says. “They are similar to smoothies but a lot cheaper than the ones you get at the shops!” He thinks they would make a perfect, pre-prepared breakfast addition.
Regular readers know that we preach this a lot but for the uninitiated: the golden commandment for breakfast is to ensure that you take protein on board. When you sleep, it’s the longest period of the day that you go without
“The golden co mmandment f o r breakfast is take
o n p r o t e i n”
consuming any protein, so it’s vital you get a good source in first thing.
Later in the day, on competition or heavy days, is another time you could have a smoothie bowl – like the green tea bowl recipe to the right – alongside lunch or dinner. For example, your pre-match meal on Saturday could be a chicken pasta bake and then this bowl.
Some people like to do their exercise early in the mornings, particularly on recovery days after a gruelling match. According to Alex Adams of Performance Pro gym, low-intensity, aerobic recovery sessions can be done after fasting but only for 30-40 minutes max. He advises that fat-burning sessions should only last that long too.
If you do an early recovery session, Adams recommends ‘beach weights’ – isolated movements that enhance blood flow to specific areas (like the arms). You can add body-weight exercises too.
Many people have busy lives and the early morning is often the easiest time to fit in a gym session. Is this
advised and if so, what should we eat beforehand?
APeak testosterone levels in the morning may help some, but not everyone does well lifting weights first thing, High cortisol and lack of fast-acting energy substrates can make lifting tough. If I was advising a client I’d suggest two options. Either do fasted, moderate-intensity sessions for aerobic training and fat loss, limiting this to 30-40 minutes. Or take in some branch-chain amino acids and have an espresso in order to perform strength and hypertrophy work, even taking on carbs in the later stages of a 60-minute session.