WHAT YOU SHOULD BE DOING THIS MONTH… TREAT FOOD AND WEIGHTS EQUALLY
1 PHYSICAL TRAINING, gym sessions and lifting weights is one way to stimulate a change in muscle, writes Bristol Bears nutritionist James More hen. A second way to do it is via nutrition.
Consuming carbs pre-exercise will result in an increase in blood glucose, more fuel availability and probably a better training session, and therefore more stress to the muscle.
Likewise, consuming protein before and after a gym session can help stimulate muscle protein synthesis (MPS), which in layman terms is the ability for the body to build, repair and grow muscle. Without this protein, you might only get a small change in muscle adaptation. Players can have an amazing lifting programme but if their nutritional intake isn’t evidence-based and supportive of genuine performance nutrition then they simply won’t adapt, recover, repair and grow optimally.
This is why it’s essential that S&C coaches work hand in hand with
“Without protein you might only get a small change in muscle adaptation”
performance nutritionists. Together they can drastically improve a player’s body composition, fitness, strength and power.
In my own practice, working with a close unit of performance coaches and nutrition support, we have seen brilliant changes with players. Some have put on the most muscle weight they’ve ever done and maintain it in the season, which they’ve not done before. Others have lost a serious amount of fat mass and become the leanest they’ve ever been (measured via DXA scans).
To build a world-class programme,
S&C and nutrition have to work hand in hand and must be aligned on the individual goals of each player.
A Many see it as vital – if you want a recent real-world example from the top of the game, look at France. Before Fabien Galthié took over as head coach, they had no nutritionist. Then they brought in two nutritionists.
Talking to insiders there, what they wanted to focus on was treating how nutrition is approached depending on their athletic content each day. For example, a rest day is very different to a day with lots of neuromuscular work. So France’s performance coaches will sit with their nutritionists, looking at the schedule for the week, to plan how nutritional intake can support them.