Team GB Pyeongchang 2018

Having just watched #teamgb 's Andrew Musgrave (@musgraveandrew) and Callum Smith (@callum_r_smith) in the Skiathon during the #pyeongchang2018 Winter Olympics here are some tips on improving performance through nutrition.

There are many ways to assist the hard hours of training that endurance athletes put in, the main one is recovery. In the recovery aspect of improving; nutrition should be one of the top considerations. For example, the management of the various foods consumed within a training cycle can add a massive improvement to the overall performance gained.

People often drink or eat large amounts of protein after going to the gym in the belief that this consumption will help their recovery and aid performance. This is only true to an extent and nutritional intake is much more complex than this. Planning your nutrition around the type of training you are undertaking and consuming the right nutrients at the right time within your training plan can give you great benefits.

For example an athlete like Andrew Musgrave could benefit from a professionally planned fasted training regime with tailored nutrition to improve his overall performance. This would entail depleting the available glycogen and limiting any muscle protein breakdown whilst performing moderate cardiovascular exercise in training.

Consideration could also be given to the inclusion of nitrates within his diet, both in training and in the run up to competition. Nitrates assist in increasing metabolic recovery and has been shown to improve the economy of ATP production (which your body needs to exercise). You never know, the addition of beetroot and dark chocolate to Muzzy's diet, at the right time, could assist him in placing on the podium.

The benefit does not only apply to Olympic #crosscountryskiing and biathletes, it is applicable to all endurance athletes. If you are interested in having a nutrition assessment and support to develop a tailored nutrition plan then get in touch with