Sports Performance

Today’s post is inspired by a recent insta poll regarding how much sleep you’re getting every night. Apparently, 68% of you are shafting yourselves by not getting enough… If you think about it, sleep takes up roughly 1/3rd of our lives, yet we completely overlook its importance. For optimal health and performance, we can’t over-prioritise … Read more

Today we answer the question; ??? ????????? ?????? ???? ???????? ?????? ??????? ?????? ? ????? In short, yes! There are several possibilities where inadequate nutrition can impact mental performance, characterized as; increased perceived exertion (RPE), or loss of skills and cognitive abilities. These possibilities are centered on brain function and the central nervous system (CNS)… … Read more

Today, we’re going to investigate whether ingesting beetroot can add 19% to your bench press. If you’re unfamiliar with this claim, it was stated on the Netflix documentary ‘Game Changers’ that this is possible… Well, in short…yes and no. When we think of this statement, we think that it can add slabs of beef onto … Read more

In the world of modern day sports nutrition, there’s much debate and confusion surrounding topics looking to enhance performance. That being said, two certainties exist that I hope we can all agree on; 1) You should always follow a food first approach and not prioritise supplements.2) Carbohydrates drive exercise performance and are rate limiting to … Read more

Today, we’re looking at a new cure for the shocking pain in the ass that is known as…the exercise induced muscle cramp. Without delving into a huge amount of detail, the occurrence of muscle cramps during exercise is often associated with poor hydration or electrolyte imbalance. I remember back in the day when the red … Read more

Today we’re asking the age old question; ‘How much of a calories surplus do I need to build muscle optimally?’ This FAQ is down to many wanting to find that magical ‘sweet spot’ of maximising muscle gain without the unwanted fat Before giving you the recommendations, we first need to know where these extra calories … Read more

Today, we’re taking a trip down to the nearest coffee shop and seeing how super high amounts of caffeine is beneficial to recovery from training, games or events. Now, just because you could, it doesn’t mean you should…let me explain. Pedersen et al (2008) wanted to see if adding in high amounts of caffeine post … Read more

Today, we’re looking into some new hype surrounding curcumin supplementation and accelerating recovery Curcumin supplementation has been shown to reduce inflammation and something called oxidative stress (OS) post exercise. Reducing both OS and inflammation sounds like a great idea for recovery of the muscle, however looking to abolish this may sacrifice adaptation. When they’ve tested this … Read more

Today is a brief, yet super important intro into RED-S. RED-S stands for Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport and is the impairment of many key physiological functions caused by energy deficiency. Energy deficiency is also coined as Low Energy availability (LEA), which is a mismatch between energy intake (food consumption/portion sizes) and energy expenditure via … Read more

For our Rugby World Cup special edition, we’re looking at the extra calorie demand playing puts on our body. Long story short; Collision induced muscle damage (CIMD) increases your total daily energy expenditure. This would suggest that the more contact you experience in a game, the greater the muscle breakdown and the greater need for … Read more