Eat and drink like a Pro

One food someone should be eating every day?

There is no single one food stuff, all macro and micronutrients are important as they work together to achieve optimal performance. However, we would say the biggest mistake elites and non-elites make is to under-consume protein at breakfast and so for this reason,

What supplements have improved drastically over the years?

We can’t say that supplements per se have improved but the quality of manufacturing procedures have certainly improved and SiS is leading the way in this regard. The scientific study and resulting commercial awareness of the role of protein in an athletes diet is gaining increased acceptance (as opposed to the carbohydrate focus). In contrast to conventional protein powders, we shall highlight SiS Whey20, which with a truly innovative method of delivering 20g of leucine rich protein.

What will be the next big thing in performance?

In terms of performance, the concept of nutritional periodization is the future of sports nutrition. This simply means changing what you eat in terms of type/timing and quantity of food intake each day according to the goals of the particular session. For example, one day the goal might be to promote high training intensity, the next day might be a day with lower volume and intensity that does not need to be fuelled in the same way as the day before. In the same way our training loads are periodised, so should our nutrition!

What foods are commonly under-eaten by athletes?

It really depends on the culture of the sport and age of the athlete but across the board and in my experience, most athletes prior to receiving sports nutrition support, often under consume oliy fish in their diet e.g. salmon, mackerel etc. There is too much reliance on chicken only to achieve protein requirements! Of course, most of the general population under-consume vegetables let alone the elite athlete!

How much should you drink per hour when exercising?

Typically aim for between 500-1000 ml per hour but this will depend on sweat rates, weather conditions and thirst. Thirst is typically a good indicator.

How to eat when you’re injured?

Injury is certainly a time when you need to maintain or even increase your daily protein intake to 2.5 g/kg body mass given that one of the requirements is to prevent any loss in muscle mass. Given that training load is likely stopped or severely reduced, then we also believe that carbohydrate (and calorie) intake should be reduced accordingly. So…its ramp up the protein and cut back on the sugars!

How to make right choice from BCAA supplements?

• BCAA shot is more suited to pre or early into endurance exercise as the 60ml single serve shot is an easier to consume format
• BCAA perform is a powder would be more suited to sip-on during resistance exercise or during low-carbohydrate endurance exercise (eg fasted training)
• SiS rapid recovery powder would be used post-exercise as this is when you need a full protein source, i.e. full amino acid profile