- Your metabolism slows as you get older, probably due to a reduction in muscle mass
- Restricting your calories too much slows your metabolism. If you don’t eat enough, your body goes in to starvation mode, and slows down the metabolism
- Aerobic exercise raises the metabolic rate during and for a few hours after exercise. Anything that get’s you out of breath is good: running, cycling, fast walking, swimming etc. the more vigorous the better!
- Add muscle. By doing resistance exercise and building muscle your metabolism is raised. Muscle is a metabolically active body tissue, so will burn calories even at rest.
- Eat regularly, ideally spread your daily food intake between 3 meals and 2 snacks. Digestion of food raises the metabolism
- Eat protein at each meal. Protein foods eg. Meat, chicken, fish, eggs, stoke up the metabolism as the body uses more calories to digest than carbohydrate or fat
Beetroot Juice – worth the hype?
Beetroot juice has been one of the biggest stories in sports science in recent years, after researchers at the University of Exeter found it enables people to exercise for up to 16% longer.
The startling results have led to a host of athletes – from Premiership footballers to professional cyclists – looking into its potential uses.
Concentrated beetroot juice (shot)
When consumed, nitrate found in beetroot juice has two marked physiological effects.
- widens blood vessels, reducing blood pressure and allowing more blood flow.
- affects muscle tissue, reducing the amount of oxygen needed by muscles during activity.
The combined effects have a significant impact on performing physical tasks, whether it involves low-intensity or high-intensity effort.
Professor Andrew Jones, from the University of Exeter, lead author on the research, said: “The findings show an improvement in performance that, at competition level, could make a real difference – particularly in an event like the Tour de France where winning margins can be tight.”
Beetroot juice is an easy way to quickly ingest a substantial amount of dietary nitrate. However, some may find the taste of beetroot juice unpleasant. Fortunately, beetroots are just one of many vegetables that are high in nitrate. Leafy green vegetables tend to be the top sources.
The dose of dietary nitrate used in the research to reduce the oxygen cost
of exercise, improve athletic performance, and lower blood pressure ranges from 300 to 500 mg. This is about 300-500ml of Beet It 100% Pressed drink.
This amount can also be obtained by eating the following foods:
Very high nitrate levels: celery, cress, chervil, lettuce, red beetroot, spinach, and rocket (more than 250 mg/100 g)
High nitrate levels: celeriac, Chinese cabbage, endive, fennel, leeks, and parsley (approximately 100 to 250 mg/100 g)
Ultimately, eating beetroot, drinking beetroot juice, or eating foods high in nitrate is unlikely to increase your exercise endurance unless you are already an athlete and at the peak of fitness. Even for athletes, it is fundamental to get the basics of diet right before putting your faith in nitrates to improve performance.
For most of us, the best way to increase endurance is to exercise regularly so aim to work towards achieving the recommended 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise, five times a week.
Beetroot Salad – high nitrates for athletic performance
High in dietary nitrates (a very good thing!), recent research has found beetroot improves performance in athletes by 16%. Here’s why.
This is a recipe my Mum has been making for as long as I can remember. I don’t know why it’s called Winter Salad, as we’d usually have it in the summer with quiche (how 80s!)
Ingredients:
- one apple chopped
- about 5 slices of beetroot from a jar
- 2 sticks of celery
Chop each ingredient in to small cubes and mix together in a bowl. No dressing needed!
It’s all about the lucky pants – player superstitions
Professional sports people are notorious for routines and rituals before a big event.
2nd ACL injury
For Dec, he has same meal every evening before the game and will never wear the number seven jersey, even when playing that position. It was while wearing number 7 that he sustained two consecutive ACL injuries, requiring surgery and 9 months to recover. Rituals can change from year to year, I remember one season there was a particular pair of lucky pants that barely made it to the end of the season in one piece.
I asked some of the rugby wives and partners about pre match rituals………..Matt Parr will always put his left sock on first, and likes to last out of the changing rooms, while Setaimata Sa will never have his hair cut on the day of or day before a game. Tomas O’Leary, being the laid back Irishman, has no such superstitions!
Why do some players need rituals? Before a game, the atmosphere will be intense with anxieties running high. It’s not unusual to have boys throwing up before exiting the tunnel to the pitch. Rituals give a player something to control, a routine can be like a meditation mantra helping to fight back the nerves and keep the sanity. When much of the game is down to chance, such as the bounce of the ball, or an unlucky tackle that could result in injury, a ritual can give some locus of control.
So it is the morning of the second pre season warm up game against Wasps, and we are already in to the Danaher rituals. The day before a game Dec increases his carbohydrate intake to approximately 550g, thats about 100g more than normal. This is to ensure that the muscles are fully loaded with glycogen, the fuel for powering through 90 minutes. Dec divides the 550g between 6 meals and snacks. Here is a list of 50g carbohydrate portions
Yesterday at 5pm he had pasta with pesto and chopped up chicken breasts with spring onion and pepper, followed by a bowl of rice pudding (homemade!), at 8pm it was noodles with tuna, more spring onions and pepper. And more of rice pudding. If all goes well at the game today, this is likely to be the food of choice for at least a few months.
Agnes thinks children should be seen and not heard
The meals weren’t terribly inspiring or gourmet, but it’s fuel. Meals need to be easy and tick the nutrient boxes. Ideally, we would have varied the vegetables in the second meal, as the more variety and colours the better. However, in real life I had three children with me at the supermarket, the 1 year old having just thrown up before we left and the middle daughter celebrating her 4th birthday, so was over excited and not displaying what I would call ‘calm’ behaviour. I was one of ‘those mums’ that people frown at.
So today is match day. Dec will leave for the Sunbury training ground at about 10.30. Until then he lies in for as long as possible, has his porridge, bagel and coffee, then gets his kit together and heads off. He needs to get his head in ‘the right place’, so that will mean that I take the 3 children out so that they aren’t raking around the place heightening the tension. We need to keep things as calm as possible.
Before leaving for the Wasps game in High Wycombe, there will be a meal at Sunbury. Pre match meals should be high carb, low fibre and low fat for easy digestion. I’m not going to the game with the children today, but will be keeping a close eye on the Twitter updates from London Irish, then nervously awaiting the phone call after the final whistle to tell us than he’s come through in one piece . Until then, I’ll be crossing my fingers, avoiding walking under ladders and looking for black cats crossing the road.
50g carbohydrate portions
Food Portions Providing 50 g of Carbohydrate
| CEREAL | |
| Wheat biscuit cereal (e.g. Weet Bix) | 60g (5 biscuits) |
| ‘Light’ breakfast cereal (e.g. Cornflakes) | 60 g (2 cups) |
| ‘Muesli’ flake breakfast cereal | 65 g (1-1.5 cups) |
| Toasted muesli | 90 g (1 cup) |
| Porridge – made with milk | 350 g (1.3 cups) |
| Porridge – made with water | 550 g (2.5 cups) |
| Rolled oats | 90 g (1 cup) |
| Bread | 100 g (4 slices white or 3 thick wholegrain) |
| Bread rolls | 110 g (1 large or 2 medium) |
| Pita and lebanese bread | 100 g (2 pita) |
| Chapati | 150 g (2.5) |
| English muffin | 120 g (2 full muffins) |
| Crumpet | 2.5 |
| Muesli bar | 2.5 |
| Rice cakes | 6 thick or 10 thin |
| Crispbreads and dry biscuits | 6 large or 15 small |
| Fruit filled biscuits | 5 |
| Plain sweet biscuits | 8-10 |
| Cream filled/chocolate biscuits | 6 |
| Cakestyle muffin | 115 g (1 large or 2 medium) |
| Pancakes | 150 g (2 medium) |
| Scones | 125 g (3 medium) |
| Iced fruit bun | 105 g (1.5) |
| Croissant | 149 g (1.5 large or 2 medium) |
| Rice, boiled | 180g (1 cup) |
| Pasta or noodles, boiled | 200 g (1.3 cups) |
| Canned spaghetti | 440 g (large can) |
| FRUIT | |
| Fruit crumble | 1 cup |
| Fruit packed in heavy syrup | 280 g (1.3 cups) |
| Fruit stewed/canned in light syrup | 520 g (2 cups) |
| Fresh fruit salad | 500 g (2.5 cups) |
| Bananas | 2 medium-large |
| Large fruit (mango, pear, grapefruit etc.) | 2-3 |
| Medium fruit (orange, apple etc.) | 3-4 |
| Small fruit (nectarine, apricot etc.) | 12 |
| Grapes | 350 g (2 cups) |
| Melon | 1,000 g (6 cups) |
| Strawberries | 1,800 g (12 cups) |
| Sultanas and raisins | 70 g (4 Tbsp) |
| Dried apricots | 115 g (22 halves) |
| VEGETABLES | |
| Potatoes | 350 g (1 very large or 3 medium) |
| Sweet potato | 350 g (2.5 cups) |
| Corn | 300 g (1.2 cups creamed corn or 2 cobs) |
| Green Beans | 1,800 g (14 cups) |
| Baked beans | 440 g (1 large can) |
| Lentils | 400 g (2 cups) |
| Soy beans and kidney beans | 400 g (2 cups) |
| Tomato puree | 1 litre (4 cups) |
| Pumpkin and peas | 700 g (5 cups) |
| DAIRY PRODUCTS | |
| Milk | 1 litre |
| Flavoured milk | 560 ml |
| Custard | 300 g (1.3 cup or half 600 g carton) |
| ‘Diet’ yoghurt and natural yoghurt | 800 g (4 individual tubs) |
| Flavoured non-fat yoghurt | 350 g (2 individual tubs) |
| Icecream | 250 g (10 Tbsp) |
| Fromage frais | 400 g (2 tubs) |
| Rice pudding/creamed rice | 300 g (1.5 cups) |
| SUGARS and CONFECTIONERY | |
| Sugar | 50 g |
| Jam | 3 Tbsp |
| Syrups | 4 Tbsp |
| Honey | 3 Tbsp |
| Chocolate | 80 g |
| Mars Bar and other 50-60 g bars | 1.5 bars |
| Jubes and jelly babies | 60 g |
| MIXED DISHES | |
| Pizza | 200 g (medium -1/4 thick or 1/3 thin) |
| Hamburgers | 1.3 Big Macs |
| Lasagne | 400 g serve |
| Fried rice | 200 g (1.3 cups) |
| DRINKS | |
| Fruit juice – unsweetened | 600 ml |
| Fruit juice – sweetened | 500 ml |
| Cordial | 800 ml |
| Soft drinks and flavored mineral water | 500 ml |
| Fruit smoothie | 250-300 ml |
| SPORTS FOODS | |
| Sports drink | 700 ml |
| Carbohydrate loader supplement | 250 ml |
| Liquid meal supplement | 250-300 ml |
| Sports bar | 1-1.5 bars |
| Sports gels | 2 sachets |
| Glucose polymer powder | 60 g |
(Source: Peak Performance: training and nutritional strategies for sport J. Hawley and L. Burke. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1998).
Recovery Nutrition – supplement drinks
Post-exercise nutrition can improve the quality and the rate of recovery after a bout of serious exercise, such as a one hour swimming, a weight training session, or a longer run. Post workout nutrition for recovery is also important if you will be exercising within 8 hours of your last session.
Recovery – the essentials
Research has shown that nutrition ingested right after training, and up to two hours later can drastically improve one’s recovery time. Ideally, this should be a meal consisting of protein, carbohydrate and fruit/veg, or for convenience a recovery drink followed by a meal as soon as possible.
Recovery drinks are convenient, easy, portable and good if you have a poor appetite after training. Not only can they replace carbohydrate and protein, but also fluid.
Ideally, a drink should contain at least 50g carbohydrate and 15-25g protein. More protein does not equate to more muscles or better recovery.
Most commercial supplements have additional amino acids such as glutamine, Branch Chained Amino Acids eg. leucine. The evidence for BCAAs and/or glutamine supplements for muscle formation and enhanced athletic performance is controversial with conflicting evidence from studies.
WARNING: if you are trying to lose weight or body fat, be careful with increasing your overall daily calorie intake with shakes. Adding extra calories to your daily intake, even if from protein, will not help.
Here is a comparison of some of the most popular recovery shakes and a homemade version:
| Calories (kcal) | Carbohydrate (g) | Protein (g) | Cost | |
| Aim | >50 | 15-25 | ||
| Homemade | 350 | 57 | 22 | 50p |
| Maxifuel Recovermax | 290 | 55 | 14.5 | £3 |
| MyProtein Recovery Evo | 295 | 49 | 23 | £1.50 |
| Kinetica 100% Recovery | 267 | 41 | 25 | £3 |
| For Goodness Shakes | 275 | 52 | 17.5 | £2 |
You can easily make your own recovery shake in seconds. Here’s
Make your own
the recipe. It won’t break the bank, has optimal amounts of protein and carbs, as well as fresh fruit for the antioxidants. And it tastes really, really good.
Recovery – nutrition essentials for better performance
Between each workout, game or race the body needs to adapt to the physiological stress that has just been applied, so that it can recover and become fitter, stronger and faster. This can be challenging when an athlete has two or more session each day, for prolonged training periods and for multiple event sports.
What’s happening during recovery?
- refuelling of muscle and carbohydrate stores
- replacing fluids and electrolytes lost in sweat
- manufacturing new muscle protein and blood cells
- allowing immune system to manage damage caused by exercise
Nutritional management of recovery:
- Replace muscle carbohydrate (glycogen) – with in 1 hour of exercise: 1-2g/kg – this is when carbs are most efficiently utilised by the muscles. This is especially important if the next training session is within 8 hours.
- Rehydrate – dehydration negatively impacts on performance during subsequent sessions. Aim to replace fluids lost with 120% fluids with electrolytes. Sodium reduces urine losses and induces thirst, therefore encouraging increased fluid intake.
- Build and repair muscle – High intensity exercise leads to breakdown of the muscle. The recovery phase is an opportunity for building muscle. 15-25g high quality protein within 1 hour increases muscle building. Adding carbohydrate enhances recovery of muscle by reducing muscle breakdown.
- Protect immunity – immunity is suppressed by intense training, making athletes more susceptible to infectious illnesses. Carbohydrate is an immune protector as it reduces the stress hormone response to exercise. Carbohydrate also fuels the activity of the immune system’s white cells.
Supplements for recovery
Many athletes rely on sports supplements during and immediately post exercise, then double up with a meal soon after. This is fine if there are very large calorie needs, however, for moderate to low energy needs this is excessive. Food provides the same plus additional benefits to supplements eg. iron, calcium, fibre, antioxidants etc.
Good foods for recovery – providing carbohydrate & protein:
Rice pudding, milkshake, breakfast cereal with milk, beans on toast, cheese roll, jacket potato with cottage cheese, tuna wrap. Any balanced meal with protein, carbs and veg.
Next blog post: Recovery shakes – when to take, a comparison of the most popular, and making your own in one minute.
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