Chris Lowe

I think it’s safe to say that sleep quality and quantity is a fundamental performance tool that is greatly under-utilised by athletes. It’s been very well established that sleep is vital for both brain and body and plays a large role in mental and physical well-being. Sleep loss impairs cognition, learning and memory retention, disruption of growth … Read more

As mentioned on previous #D2EW episodes, the depletion of carbohydrate stores within the muscle is one of the main factors than causes fatigue in athletes. When muscle glycogen (stored form of carbs) hits a critical level of depletion, the muscles contractibility and ability to produce force is impaired – this is one of the main … Read more

It’s been reported that approximately one third of people who lose weight on a diet will regain more weight than they originally lost. Therefore, it’s been highlighted that we don’t necessarily have a weight loss problem; we have a weight maintenance problem. In the overweight and obese, this is largely down to the obesogenic environment, … Read more

Today, we examine a supplement that not many of you would have come across… Sodium Citrate. Long story short, it’s very similar to Sodium Bicarbonate (SB) but without the nasty gastrointestinal issues (kinda). SB is an extracellular buffer (outside of the muscle) that serves as an ‘alkalizing agent’ to improve performance during intermittent type exercise … Read more

30-50% of endurance athletes experience gastrointestinal issues whilst training and competing. This can lead to underperformance and in some cases, the inability to complete an event or training session. Previous #D2EW episodes have covered how to mitigate gut issues on race day – such as training the gut prior and following appropriate fuelling strategies during. But are … Read more

It’s been incredibly well documented that a fat loss phases involve a calorie restriction – This is fat loss 101, simply consume fewer calories than you expend. Albeit sometimes isn’t so simple. Actually, most of the time… However, once your fat loss phase has finished and you’re at the desired bodyweight or body composition that … Read more

Last week, we found that higher carbohydrate intakes (90-120g/hour) during ultra-endurance exercise are beneficial for optimising performance and recovery. This however is only beneficial if the gut can tolerate this quantity of carbohydrates during exercise. It’s been very well established that high amounts of carbs and fluid during exercise can cause gastrointestinal distress (GI) and … Read more

Carbohydrates are an incredibly important performance enhancing nutrient when it comes to supporting performance. Your carb intake is very much dependent on the type, duration and intensity of your sport. I.e. the greater the duration or higher the intensity, the more carbs you need. When it comes to ultra-endurance events where you’re running or cycling … Read more

For any athlete to maximise their performance, they need to be in the right shape for their sport and position. Rugby encapsulates this perfectly. Firstly, they need a high power to weight ratio to accelerate harder, reach a higher top speed, and be super agile whilst reducing the energy cost of running. Secondly, they need … Read more

It’s been well established that a high carb diet is needed to fuel performance. Once the competition, game or training session has finished, it’s highly advised that you consume carbohydrates to start replenishing the fuel used. Under normal circumstances, rates of glycogen replenishment post exercise becomes accelerated due to the muscle ability to uptake more carbohydrates on … Read more