Rugby Sevens Fitness: Alice Richardson: Supplements, Cheat Meals and the Paleo Diet for Sport

from UR7s:

Today our resident nutrition expert Alice Richardson focuses on what fuel rugby 7s players should be putting into their bodies to maintain performance and recovery on the rugby 7s field. Alice is a current England women’s sevens player and has just returned from winning the Houston Sevens on the IRB Women’s World Series and guaranteeing the top seed for England for the Women’s World Cup in Moscow. She splits her time between being a nutrition expert and personal trainer and being an international rugby player with England women.

Alice, I found your last article really interesting. I have been trying to eat Paleo or near as too it but your article was a little different to that. How would you reccommend getting enough calories on board but through a Paleo diet. Can you also explain the benefits of Paleo for a sportsman a little more.

The Paleo diet takes eating back to basics, you consume meat, fish, vegetables, fruits and nuts and exclude grains, refined sugars, dairy products and potatoes. It’s a very healthy concept but does pose a few issues for athletes especially orientating around high energy demand and recovery.The modern day athlete trains very different to in ancient times and sport science has developed our understanding of nutrition and its interaction and importance alongside optimising training and performance.

The exclusion of dairy products restricts some good protein choices especially for post training re fuelling with milk based products. The exclusion of grains and potatoes does mean that carbohydrate needs to be sourced from alternative vegetables, an important macro nutrient for athletes due to its energy content. There are many benefits and with organised shopping, plenty of variation, meal planning and the correct choices its a great diet to follow. For athletes in particular there is a high intake of BCAA’s (Branched chain amino acids) which aid muscle function and development.

There is also high intake of vitamins and minerals which is beneficial for athletes for a number of reasons including recovery and repair. In my opinion it might be necessary to follow a slightly modified paleo diet if wishing to follow its principles alongside training like an athlete to ensure it can be sustained long term without missing important macro nutrients and achieving greatest adaptation to training stimulus.

Hi Alice, I loved the last column. I have real energy level problems, often eating alot (healthy) but still remaining hungry and having mid-afternoon energy issues. What would you say was the issue? Are there certain foods that I should get on board before training etc that will stop this?

Consumption of some slower releasing carbohydrates earlier on in the day, especially at breakfast could help sustain energy levels later in the day and making sure you have a snack about an hour before you train is important to ensure you enter a training session in a fuelled state. Carbohydrates such as sweet potato and Quinoa are good sources of energy, along with breakfast porridge oats and for snacks a balance in protein and carbohydrate is ideal. Depending on your session and your current training goals the use of caffeine may be appropriate, but sufficient calories and fuel from nutritional sources are always necessary.
Hi Alice, what are your thoughts on supplements? Not just protein/creatine but all forms of supplements, should I just try and get all of it on board through real food or take on supplements pre/post training/before bed/ etc…..

I think in an ideal world you would obtain all your nutritional requirements through natural food sources and not supplements, however being an athlete often poses a couple of problems for this. It’s very expensive and time consuming being an important one. The time it takes to obtain and prepare foods that cater for every need is high as is the cost. Supplements essentially provide nutrients for convenience and optimal performance. Your protein shakes for example are a readily available source of lean low fat protein that can be brought in bulk, at reasonable prices and carried around on you easily for use after/before and during sessions.

The other main consideration for athletes trying to obtain enough nutrients without use of supplements is that their daily requirements are going to be higher do the the demand on the body physiologically being greater. Training is a stress on the body and nutrition is a method of replenishing the body and repairing stress, higher amounts of vitamins, minerals and nutrients are required and therefore supplements often provide additional sources that are hard to achieve in the normal daily diet especially over a long period of time and sustaining a good diet meeting the demands you place on your body, it’s no good doing it well for the odd day here and there its got to be for the long haul!

Alice, what is your cheat food. You MUST cheat sometimes.

Cheat food….I think I have a few……massive weakness for anything peanut butter.