Since the very first games, Olympian athletes have been highly revered for their health and wellbeing and their winner’s crown was actually made of a foodstuff: olive leaves. Needless to say, an Olympian’s diet is founded on the best sports-specific nutritional advice on the planet.
Fortunately, you don’t need to have qualified for the games to use this information for your own training because Matt Lovell – one of the chief nutritionists who for London 2012 oversaw the diets of almost the entire British Olympic squad – will give you all the insider secrets here.
Apply his expertise in your kitchen and you’ll soon be holding a few medals of your own.
REINFORCING THE POWER OF PROTEIN
The word protein in Greek means ‘of great importance,’ because your body demands protein to build muscle and create the hormones essential for victory. “There are various studies that cite the ideal amount of protein to eat, but we’ve found that regardless of what activity you’re doing, you should be eating 2.2–2.8g of protein per kilogram of lean body mass,” says Lovell.
So if you’re an 87kg fighter and have 15% body fat then your lean body mass is only 74kg because you have approximately 13kg of fat on your frame. You should therefore be eating 163–207g of protein per day to maintain your muscle mass and gradually lose fat.
To add muscle mass quickly you can increase the amount you eat by taking your goal lean body weight in kg and multiplying it by 3.5. This is the amount of protein in grams you need to consume in a day.
For example if you want to weigh 100kg then your calculation would look like this: 100kg x 3.5 = 350g of protein each day. Now divide this by four and eat this amount of protein all in one sitting at breakfast, lunch, post workout and at night. E.g. 350 / 4 = 87.5g per sitting.
Try to get this from three different sources each time so vary up the chicken, beef, pork, lamb or eggs.
HOW MUCH IN ONE SITTING?
There has been some debate about how much protein you can eat in one session. “It’s unrealistic to think your body can only absorb 25–30g of protein in one sitting,” says Lovell. “This is a myth and you can eat 500–700g of protein in a session, though you probably shouldn’t or you might feel more than a little full.” So try and stick to the guidelines set out by your own personal calculations from the formula provided.
PERFECT TIMING
Whey proteins have been found to be the best for muscle growth and fat burning so make sure you have a whey protein shake before training. You can also take a leucine supplement because this helps you to absorb more of the protein you eat which will trigger even more muscle growth. “Take 0.2g of leucine per kilogram of lean body weight.”
THE FATS OF LIFE
It’s no surprise there are good and bad fats, but they might not be the usual suspects. Lovell encourages all Olympians to increase their intake of essential fatty acids from fish oils because they stop your muscles from breaking down and increase your levels of growth hormone – a powerful recovery aide.
He also suggests avoiding transfats (they’re the ones you’ll get from your local burger joint) and eating plenty of unsaturated fats and saturated fats. It seems saturated fat has received a reprieve because Lovell suggest that Olympians eat foods high in arachidonic acid (AA) and saturated fat in the meal immediately after the hardest training sessions during the week.
Here are some examples of post-workout meals with these components:
Meal 1: Beef, onions, garlic and pineapple with sweet potatoes and mayonnaise.
Meal 2: Prawns with garlic mayonnaise on toast with cheddar cheese topping
Meal 3: Pork, stuffing, egg and cress sandwiches
Meal 4: Roasted almonds, coronation pork with brown rice.
AA supplementation has been seen to increase sports performance because it plays a role in inflammation and increase the capacity for muscular contraction. For you the tasty fatty foods, when eaten correctly, will make your muscles snap into kicks faster and deliver quicker punches.
